War of Words

I can't say I've never had trouble with authority before in my life, but never ever to the extent I was having an issue with it a week ago. This is the first time ever that I've gone to upper management about a manager of mine. For anyone who is thinking 'Oh noes, you were reaching too high, Sugar' I was right there with you. Desperate times call for desperate measures though. With whom was I contending you may wonder. His name is Jesse. Before December ended my old belt manager Lance ( not to be confused with boyfriend Lance) decided it was time to throw in the towel at our good ol FedEx. He'd been there for about 5 years I think. Maybe more, I forget. Any who. To fill his position as our belt manager Jesse was taken from our outbound load and put on preload with us on our belt. All was well in FedEx land.... at first... After Lance's last day I think it's safe to say the crap hit the fan, BIG TIME. We were still in the middle of peak, which was weak for this year, but still enough of a peak to make us work harder than usual. Had our unload NOT been on crack I think this whole thing could have been put off for at least three or four more months. Oh well though, so be it. I think, if I may be so bold as to imply this, that our difference of opinion, mine and Jesse's, began when my splitter at the front of the belt got frustrated one day and decided to throw boxes. He hit one of the home girls a few times before they both cleared out and left him to his own devices up there. Now, me being the person I am, I believe everyone has a given amount of respect they are entitled to by just being them. Anything more is earned. That means that no matter how angry or upset I get I will never yell at a co-worker or belittle them or anything of that sort. The fact that the splitter knowingly threw those boxes at those girls and intentionally hit the one really got my hacks up. When I approached Jesse about it I merely said "you need to do something about Mike, he's throwing boxes at people and we can't get our jobs done" which I think he interpreted as something more like "you dork face! go crack your Overlord's whip at that boy and make him do what we say! Gosh I hate you!". He completely ignored the situation so instead I went to the front of the belt, helped clean the place up and when all was well in the world I let Mike know in no uncertain terms that he was to go apologize to Danielle and promise her that it would never happen again and he was to be sincere about it. I think that was the thing that really got Jesse, because Mike did go apologize and it was sincere and he's become great friends with both Danielle and I since then and that upsets Jesse. Things went downhill fast from there. I'd basically painted a big huge target on my back at that point. I didn't care though, as long as he was keeping it at work and nothing else. Little did I know how low the man would go, however. My final straw, the one that broke the camels back so to speak, was when I made it into work 15 min late a few Saturday's ago. I was not the only one late, I was just the one with the target. I had finals that Saturday, not something I could be late to, and two people from class who needed a ride to get to school for finals. I had talked to my loverly belt manager about this three days prior to the event and was assured that I would get out on time so I could shower, go pick the guys up and get to school on time. About a half hour after I arrived at work, however, I was approached by Jesse, whom, by the way, we lovingly refer to as Princess. I was told that the terminal was behind because of me, it was my fault. It was my fault the belt was a mess, it was my fault the unload had to go slower, it was my fault apparently that everyone else who was late was late. Up to this point I had no idea I had such an impact on our little terminal. Goodness me, if only I'd KNOWN! Needless to say I was a bit upset about this because then I was told that I would be staying till the entire terminal was cleaned up and the trucks loaded appropriately. That would have kept me there till almost 10am. Class started at 9:30am. I kidd you not, I have not been that angry in a very looooong time. I'm talking so angry that I was shaking. I wanted to go Rambo-chick on this kid that's how angry I was. Criticize my work, cut my hours, do whatever you want but DO NOT interfere with my school. I repeat, DO NOT interfere with my school. Any way, long story short, another manager made sure I got out on time, I talked to the building manager who had very looooong words with both the sort manager and my belt manager and I'm not the one on watch, he is.

Go me Go!

My new quarter goes well, by the way. Having fun. Groovy Comp I teacher, reminds me of my seventh grade English teacher, Mr. Moffatt (Naomi, you can appreciate that).

Gotta jet!

Momma

I got a call Saturday from the place mom stays at. I was informed in no uncertain terms that Lance and I were going to go visit her Sunday. There, of course, was no argument. We spent a good five hours with her and it was wonderful. I know she sick and there's a good chance she wont be with us much longer, but she was more alive for those five hours than I've seen her be in a long time and I loved it. She joked with me, wanted to hear stories I remembered from growing up that she had long forgotten, even told Lance that he was to marry me. He got to see how mom used to be. It's only a mere shadow of the woman I remember from growing up, but it was enough. He's grown quite fond of her. Our weekends are now to be devoted to her. As soon as I get out of classes we are to jump in the truck and spend Saturday and Sunday with her. Of course, I would love nothing more, but this was his decision, I didn't have suggest it. I think that after three years he's finally realized that he's been with me long enough that it doesn't matter how much he wants to fight it, he's part of the family. He's starting to slowly accept that fact. He adores my nieces and nephews just as much as I do and is starting to learn the different personalities of my many sisters and brother in laws. He's even starting to get the couples right! Hahaha! It's taken a while, but I think he really does realize that I'm not going to go anywhere and my family will love and accept him too. It's a big step for him. Mom likes him too. She says that any man who loves me she will like, but I think he gets along better with her than she wants to admit. He likes her sense of humor and he can take the zingers she delivers well. The visit was wonderful for the most part. There were a few moments, however, that put a real damper on the whole thing for me. Lance had to take a call from his little brother and left me in the room with mom alone. I'm not sure what made her say it or think of it but she informed me that when she passed they would call me first so I could come take out her feeding tube. I think my stomach dropped into my toes. It was like someone threw a rock right between my eyes and I couldn't see straight for a few minutes. I'm not sure if they have to have a family member take the tube out or if that's something she wants me to do personally because... I don't know... because I'm me? I don't like to think about the day I get that call, no matter how much I know it's coming. There's no avoiding it at this point, I know that as well as any one else, but I still don't want to think about it. She also asked me to make sure that if people want to leave flowers on her grave that they be plastic and pretty so they last longer than real flowers. I love that she can say it so calmly though. She's not afraid, at least not as far as I can tell. I think, when you've lived with a disease like MS for as long as she has you can't fear the inevitable. She's always been a strong woman, despite her body. She asked a few other things of me, but I think I'll keep those private for now, until I have time to think them through and figure out a way to accomplish the goals she has set before me. I will do what she has asked though, one way or another. I wish I could spend every waking hour with her, just to be with her and talk with her. She and I always used to talk when I was younger and took care of her. Losing her I will definitely be losing the best friend I've ever had. She's been the best mother, teacher, friend and confidant a person could ask for. I only hope that I can be half of the woman she is.

Aside from that, I've been busy with school too. The High Honors list is a bit out of reach for me this quarter, thanks to college math 1. There was a whole section that left me scratching my head like a monkey and looking like Naomi when she first wakes up in the morning. (Sorry Nomo, low blow, I know, but you know the look I'm talking about) Next quarter should be a bit easier. One of my classes is Composition. Writing. English.... muahahahahaha. I've already got a few of the guys in my program asking for extra help in there. They do well with numbers, for which I use them as tutors, and I do well with words. It's a fair trade.

So, there ya go. A nice update on what's going on in Marandaland. Ta Da! I do hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed their Valentines day. Until next time. :)

Ze List

I'm a dork, I know. I blame this one on Carisa and Kim, lol. Copy and paste and highlight the things you've done! Then when your finished add something you've done that wasn't on the list!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland or Disney World
8.Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18.Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21.Had a pillow fight
22.hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a 1/2 Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31.hit a home run.
32.been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Visited Africa
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44.Sung karaoke
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67.Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone.
78.Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82.Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Made amends with someone who offended you
101. Flew in a small Cessna plane with just you and the pilot
102. Ran out of gas
103. Eaten fried okra
104. Swam in the Caribbean Sea
105. Peed in a swimming pool
106. Stayed in a beach house
107. Hosted an exchange student
108. Been a Secret Santa to a family
109. Worked on a political campaign
110. Coached a sports team
111. Baked bread from scratch
112. Driven from coast to coast
113. Paid off all of your debt
114. Roast marshmallows over a campfire.
115 Cut up a credit card
116. Drove a car through a flood
117. Been on t.v
118. Had braces
119. Been to the twin towers in NY.
120. Have played in both the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans
121. Been to ground zero
122. Bite my fingernails
123. Likes to scrapbook
124. Hates pie
125.Visited Mexico
126. Seen a Tornado in person
127. Have ever been lost at sea!
128. kisses a frog.
129. Gave birth to twins.
130. Received 2 moving violation tickets in 1 day.
131.Been Life Flighted.
132. swore
133. stranded in a motel for Christmas.
134. Been in 2 countries at once!
135. Adopted a pet from Humane Society
136. Did a triathlon
137. Never received a speeding ticket
138. Live with one kidney
139. Slept on the floor of a train station in Poland
140. eaten rocky mountain oysters
141. Volunteered at an orphanage in Chile
142. Stayed in a Bed and Breakfast
143. Stayed in a Hostel
144. Been chased by a bull.

Up In Smoke

I realize this is a bit past my time, but can I just say that Cheech and Chong are possibly the best stand up comedians in the world? Next to Jeff Dunham.

Waaaaay back in October Lance won tickets to their show here in town. The show wasn't until this last Saturday, the 24th of January (Happy birthday again Nomo!!) so we had a bit to wait for it, but man was it worth it! They are freakin hilarious! I didn't happen upon them through this experience, I've known of them since I was but a wee toddler. How? Dad exposed me to bits and pieces of their skits through their movies that were shown (after extensive editing) on TV. He thought they were pretty great and I suppose was only telling me about them to help me understand why he'd watch something like that with me in the room. I can't really relate to the kind of comedy they do, but I have to say it cracked me up. We were sitting in the center of the second row from the stage at the Convention Center. Both of them have aged quite a bit, but they both still look very much the same. Tommy Chong was by far my favorite part of the whole show. His wife tried her hand at some stand up, but her pretty couldn't cover the stink of her performance. There was a lot of talk about marijuana (surprise surprise) and some of it made me cringe a bit inside, but it was, over all, a good show. They did a skit as dogs. That was... priceless. It was to illustrate the differences between men and women. Women are cats; strong, independent, free thinkers, and we're pretty while we do it. Men are dogs. You'd have to see the skit to understand why it was so freaking funny. It was great though.

Can I just say, also, that people who are obnoxiously loud at those things shouldn't be allowed to stay? There was a lady at the end of the row we were sitting in who kept responding to Tommy Chong's rhetorical questions with loud "YES!" "HECK YES!" and other such exclamations. He kept looking at her when she'd do it like "man lady, shut up, I'm trying to talk here". I kinda wanted to throw my shoe at her.

If for nothing else, I think I'll keep Lance around cause he does take me to some pretty excellent shows. Yay!
That was a joke. I love the man to pieces.

New Year

Yay, made it through one more with my head still attatched. Go me go! I can't say I'm sorry to see the holiday's go though. I remember a time when I used to get excited about this time of year. Family, food, gifts, a lot of togetherness. Not this year though. A brief greeting among sisters was as close to "family time" as I got. As for all of this snow... I am so very much over it. I haven't had time to play in it therefore it must go. I am excited that school is back in session though. ITT plays by its own rules. While other area colleges and highschools are closing down they're over here sayin "Nope, sorry guys, you know the deal. You get here one way or the other. Hitch up your dogs if you must, class is gonna go." Yay for excellerated educations! For reals though, I am glad they're not shutting us down. Too much down time will delay me wanting to get back into the grove and it will be that much harder when the time does come. I need to keep the steam rolling, don't let the fire die! Oh, and for those who were curious, I didn't get to rub the grades in my dads face, I'm not even sure my mom heard what I had to say about it over the kids screaming, people talking over eachother and the TV being on. I forgot what it was like to have all of us together. For the last three weeks I've been at home alone with the dogs most of the time, if I'm not working or shoveling. It's a very lonely exsistance. Lance has been working for the street department of the city, making a lot of over time and out of grade pay for plowing the streets, which brings up another gripe. How ungreatful can people get? I mean, good grief! Lance comes home with stories of people flipping him off as he plows their roads, one guy pulled a gun on a grater operator, and people throw snowballs at them as they drive by as well. You guys complain that you can't get down your streets, but when they do finally get to your neighborhood you get angry at them for plowing you in. Do forgive, good citizens, let us all bow and kiss your feet, and while we're at it, we'll take all that snow in front and on top of your house for you and just, I dunno.... put it in your living room? Get over yourselves people, and count your blessings. Things could be SO much worse for you than having to dig your driveway out one more time.

Any way... I could possibly be in a bit of a bitter mood. I'm sorry. I do hope everyone had great holidays though. That's about all the cheer I can spread at the moment. Much love my people.

How far is too far?

I'm asking only because I have this neat little certificate thinger that the Dean at ITT gave to me. I made the Honors List this last quarter because of my grades. Not many of us made that, FYI. Knowing I passed my classes and knowing I got a great GPA is one thing, having physical proof that my teachers noticed, that the DEAN noticed... I want to frame that cute certificate in a pretty frame, admire it for a moment and then mash my dad's face in it. Not litterally. Well... kinda... but more like figuratively. I'd like to see him at our families Christmas get together, whenever that is, and have that certificate handy so I can pull it out and say "Oh boy! Whatever could this be? Honors?! ME?!" and then look pointedly at my dad and wait for that millisecond when his face drops in shocked disbelief and hopefully get a picture of it. Who was it who told me I couldn't pull off 'Sariah grades'? Who was it who sat in front of a complete stranger and asked me why I was even bothering with college? Who was it who has never really expected me to make anything of myself? Oh yeah, that'd be dad. I don't want to completely break him with this one yet though. My goal is to continue to stay on the Honors list and hopefully, by the end of my schooling, when I graduate and get that pretty little certificate that says I WIN, all of those good grades will have completely broken every misconception he ever had of me. He won't know what to think of me then, then he'll be FORCED to actually look at me and see me for who and what I am. He wont be able to brush me aside and tell me I'll never go anywhere because I'll have made it further than him by then. Because with that last super sweet certificate I have so many more doors open for me than he ever hoped to see open for him. He can't ignor me then.

That makes it sound like I'm doing this to get even with him or something like that, but that's not it at all. That's just a super awesome bonus for me. No, this schooling, all of this hard work, every penny I'm putting into this? This is for me. This is for every opporotunity I never got to take when I was younger cause I didn't focus on me. This is for every dream I abandoned to take care of what needed to be taken care of. This is for me and no one else. I want this and I'm going to get it, one way or another. I don't need him to believe in me, I never have. Would it have been nice? Yeah. Would it have helped? Probably. Do I absolutely need it? No, and I never will. My mom is proud of me, and really truely and honestly, that's all I ever wanted or needed.

Perhaps before I frame that certificate I'll let it sit on the fridge for a bit so I can look at it every morning and smile. This whole being proud of me thing? I'm kinda liking it. Go me go!

Ew, Cooties!

Mkay, so, going into my field of study I kind of figured that I would be a major minority and I was prepared for that. I don't think my teachers were though. I've got one teacher whom I had last quarter, she seems to handle me being the only girl in my class just fine. My math class has a few other girls, so that seems to go over well. Today was my networking class though. I don't think I could have stuck out like more of a sore thumb. I heard the giggles and felt the stares as I walked into the class before it had officially started, I took my seat two rows back from the front of the room and settled in quietly, I signed myself in when the attendance sheet came around and listened politely while the other boys introduced themselves and told the class what quarter they were in, why they were there and what they hoped to accomplish. When it came my turn, however, I think my teachers eyes bugged out a bit. He was at least polite enough to let me finish what I had to say before begging forgiveness for whatever future infraction he may commit as a result of "being a guy and saying guy things". The fact that I work in a warehouse with a bunch of vulgar men already barely phased the man. In his lecture he kept coming up short when he'd say "you guys got it? Oh! and gals? Sorry Maranda". It was cute at first, made me giggle, but after a while I got annoyed with it. He just kept going back to that one little fact. The other guys in the class seemed to make an extra effort to interject as many women jokes as they could into the teachers lecture, or at least hint at something like it. I can't say I was sad to leave that class room. The teacher is super nice otherwise, but that little thing is going to really grind my nerves if it keeps up. It's bad enough that I have to sit through five hours of class after being up at three in the morning for work, just let me be and do your thing please.

Last quarters results are in, by the way. I passed my math class with a B+ which put me at a 3.83 GPA, but I can recover this quarter. That number does not displease me though. I'm actually quite proud of myself. That's the highest GPA I've earned since... fifth grade? Something like that. And I worked my butt off for it. If I were a bit more proud of it I might have even printed it off and put it up on the fridge. Go Maranda! Woo!

Outside of school all is well I suppose. Work is work, but I have to say this; I miss living in the sticks. Oh how I miss it! Why? Why would I miss living where neighbors are few and far between, where cats run wild with the dogs, leash laws aren't enforced because there's no sidewalks to muddy, where snow can get up to your butt before the sun peeks over the mountains? Because those are the things I miss the most, especially the neighbor thing. Wednesday night/Thursday morning I almost had to call the cops. That does not please me. Why? Because at 2:30 in the morning I woke up. I didn't know why I woke up at first, but it soon became apparent. The lovely people who live in the upstairs apartment of our duplex decided that 2:30a.m. would be a SPLENDID time to have a big fat raging fight in which she ended up outside my bedroom window screaming, crying and yelling, he was inside slamming doors, stomping around and yelling back. My dogs were barking, their dog was barking, the next door neighbors dogs were barking, the dog across the street was barking, as were the dogs behind our duplex and the dogs down the side street. I was not happy. Not in the least. The only thing that stopped me calling the cops was the knowledge that if I did they would have made me stay and give a statement and tell them everything, and I can't exactly afford to be missing work because some people have no shame and no sense of decency. What in the world would make someone think it's OK to do something like that at 2:30 in the morning in a residential neighborhood? What would make someone think that was an OK thing to do ever? What good does yelling accomplish? How can that possibly fix anything? And the stomping and slamming of doors? Completely and utterly uncalled for. I wanted to open my window and yell at her to shut up and go to bed, but I was too tired and too upset.

Some peoples kids....

Aaaany way, happy holidays to all! I shall post more later. Ta!