Two Little Words...

WORK ETHIC - I know, it doesn't seem like much to you. But in reality, it is nearly everything. A man is only as good as his words - these two in particular. This is a foreign concept for most people. I'm not sure what the world is coming to, but if the percentage of employable persons that are actually conscientious of the meaning of these words is any indication, we might well expect something epic like the great flood to be coming our way. 

I find it absolutely incredible the lengths and depths I have to go to to get even the littlest things out of the people I work with. It's worse than trying to feed squash to a toddler! 

God grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Pray for me, folks!

but wait! There's more!

So he never showed up yesterday. When my director called him, he bitched and complained that he is being harassed! Wait. You get paid a large sum of money to do something for me and when I try to get you to actually do it, you complain that I'm harassing you? Hmmmm, I'm confused. Didn't you say that you were going to do all of this work for me in exchange for the large sum of money? And didn't you sit on that very balcony and demand that if we were going to work together that you needed to be respected? You didn't think that respect should be earned? Like maybe by showing up and doing the things you said you would do? So now we are on to day # 3 that I have been waiting for this dude to take me to immigration and get this paperwork done. It's 9:20 and he was supposed to be here at 9am. Harumph!

Frustrations

Remember that commercial for Heinz Ketchup where they used the Anticipation song and you had to watch while the ketchup moved like molasses out of the bottle? That's what it's like getting nearly anything done in Haiti. I'm posting this here because this is my Rant and Rave page and I don't want to put it on the other. 

It seems like everything we try do do here is a matter of one step forward, 17 steps back. 

I have been waiting since October 11th for this man to get me my permanent resident documents. He has so far stood me up over 20 times, even refusing to take my calls for a period of two weeks. And when I try to confront him on it, he has absolutely no sense of wrong-doing. 

So here I sit and wait, he is over 2 hours past due. The days just keep passing and nothing happens and there's no way to compel anyone to do anything except for threats of bodily harm. 

Harumph!

Oh how I long for the days when I could just make someone do push-ups when they pissed me off! lol

Keep praying for me. I'm sure to evolve eventually!

Facebook Wisdom of the day #3

okay, so this one isn't exactly a wisdom, but for anyone that knows my family, you will admit that it is perfectly apropos!

Misrepresentation

This trailer is almost 9 minutes long but worth the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8__GFHYkdZo

Facebook Wisdom of the Day #2

And in the case that you don't accept that this is my philosophy, well then, I revert to the old Marine Corps toast:

Here's to you and here's to me

and if we ever disagree,

here's to me

and @#$% you!

Peace, love and applesauce!

Facebook Wisdom of the Day - #1

I choose...

to live by choice, not chance;

to make changes, not excuses;

to be motivated; not manipulated;

to be useful, not used;

to excel, not compete;

I choose self esteem, not self pity,

I choose to listen to my inner voice,

not the random opinion of others.

And the fun just keeps going

I heard a speaker say that sleep is the preparation for the next day and so if we are having negative feelings before we go to sleep, we will generate that negative vibe into our new day. I think I did that. So after my dinner digests, I will be working on improving my attitude and mood for the rest of the evening. Hope tomorrow goes better.

FML

crappy days, i has it

WTF Video of the Day - Just a little love for your verticle smile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oKvLd_XxFuw

Rapidly Having Fun

If you're my friend on Facebook, you should be able to see this photo album...if not, I'll try to post some of these shots here. Needless to say, we had a spectacular time! Just wish I hadn't waited til I was in my 40s to try this!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2284851240365.140694.1221401296&l=44e350b002

(okay, I've apparently forgotten how to post links to my blog and blogger isn't helping me much. Anyone with hints, please post in the comments)

My new Haiti Blog

Follow me here:

http://micheleisinhaiti.blogspot.com/

31 Hours and counting...

So, I am now counting down the hours til my first departure for Haiti. I am leaving Saturday morning and coming back Monday night. I can't wait!!!

I picked up a book in Lansing at a cute little shop that explains everything you ever wanted to know about Michigan. I plan to bring it with me to demonstrate to the children where I come from.

I picked up my passport Wednesday. I'm all set to go.

Wednesday evening I had a meeting with Mendle and Herbert from the foundation. They gave me a pretty good work over. Fingers crossed they decided favorably on my future.

I've got my stuff ready, just gotta get my FAA approved containers filled to take in my carry on.

In 48 hours I will laying down to sleep for my first night in Haiti.

Stay Tuned...

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

It seems like it has been ages since I've had an opportunity to write for fun. I have finally finished school - finished with a 4.0 and most distinguished graduate honors - even got to give the commencement speech. It was an exciting night. My grandma was there along with my children and closest friends. I was interviewed for the local paper, too! My 15 minutes of fame were the highlight of my college career!

Now on to the next adventure - I'm working on going to Haiti for a year. I had lunch with a local icon who is exec director of a charity organization that runs an orphanage in Haiti. I am flying down next weekend to check it out and if all goes well I will be moving there next month.

It is going to be a crazy month between now and then. My son moved home last week and I will be busy packing away my belongings and transferring over many of accounts to keep things going back here while I'm gone. I plan to set up a program so friends and family can donate money or supplies for the orphanage so that the compensation I ask for will be covered so stay tuned for information.

I am so excited!

Arrrgh! You can't be a writer if you don't write!

So, I've been so swamped with school I haven't really had time for anything! But the payoff has been sweet.
I just received notice today that I have been selected as most Distinguished Graduate and will speak at my commencements. I am so super stoked. I've got the next week off of school which I hope to use to get a little ahead on my school work and give myself some breathing room.

Stay tuned for the next chapter in the Rager saga!

Woot!

Sleep, you elusive thing, you!

For the past week and a half I have been having some trouble sleeping. I am coming up on the midpoint of my last semester of school. We have a new person in my department at work. My son is having a hard time accepting that he has to make grown-up decisions. My knee is falling apart. And now I've had to make the hard decision to put my faithful companion of 15 years down and soon.

So this morning when I had an opportunity to sleep in and maybe catch up a little on my sleep account, my stupid vinyl windows wouldn't stop rumbling! I've been sitting her watching episodes on HULU for the past 2 hours and haven't heard one single rumble. How is that? Grrrr! Think I'll try to take a nap!

Sikkie Germs

So, anybody that knows me knows that I'm not a big proponent of taking pills to fix what ails me. It's not that I don't believe in it. There are those times when I have overdone it at the gym or tweaked my back or something of that nature and I bow to the pharmacological gods in the form of a Naproxen or two or three. And I faithfully take my Claritin every day. (yes, I've tried all the homeopathic allergy remedies and this is the only thing that alleviates 95% of what irritates my sensibilities!)

Okay, I'm rambling...the point of this is, I don't like to take pills. I would prefer to find a home remedy and power thru most ailments. I believe our bodies were designed to heal themselves and I believe we were endowed with all of the ingredients and resources to do so. I also believe that the body can only really heal itself while we sleep. So the first prescription for any illness should be plenty of rest.

I think people are so worried about their jobs, their incomes, their schedules, that our society has become obsessed with treating symptoms and not with treating the causes. So on the rare occasion that I get sick beyond some sniffles and a sore throat, I will generally take a sick day and make it my #1 priority to beat the germs out of myself!

So last week I got hit with a really bad allergic reaction combined with an oncoming cold or virus of some sort which when combined had me nearly out for the count and then I got tummy symptoms. So I retreated to my boudoir for 72 hours, gargled with salt water, drank herbal detox tea, slathered myself in Vick's Vapor Rub, and eventually gave in and popped a couple of NyQuil tabs.

I was able to get back on my feet after a day and a half of dizziness, nausea, and a hot, burning feeling in my throat that wouldn't end. With the aid of Cepacol throat spray I was able to attend a seminar and a few meetings. Friday night I did the steam room at the gym. Saturday I went to Yoga and really opened everything up. But I still had this tight band around my chest, and I couldn't take a really deep breath in. Every once in a while I would cough up some of the congestion from deep in my lungs. I retreated back to my room and wrapped up in a snugglie and slathered on the Vick's.

By Sunday I could tell I was at 85%. I went to church and out to eat afterward. I still had a terrible tickle in my throat and new that I must have a bit left to expectorate. Now, I'm not sissy, but that is one of my least favorite things to do. I had a coupon for Mucinex from the Costco store so since I had to pick up a few things I figured I would check it out. Man! Did I have sticker shock! That stuff is not cheap! But I figured I'd give it a shot.

I am a convert! Within 10 minutes of taking one 12 hour tablet I could already feel my lungs expanding. By the time I was getting ready for bed I realized I hadn't used the throat spray all day! That stuff is worth EVERY penny!

What's even better - I woke up this morning and barely had any residual congestion. I took one additional tablet just to make sure I got all of the yuckies out of my chest, and I think I'm definitely going to try to make it to my kick-boxing class tonight!

I highly recommend keeping a box in the house.

Mucinex In - Mucus Out

Movie Review - Long Overdue

I'm not sure what this next semester holds for me...but I'm going to try really hard to post more frequently.

So here's the first movie review of the year - stay tuned for more:

Love and Other Drugs

Maggie has Parkinson's and Jamie is a philandering ne'er-do-well. Somehow the two of them make it work. All thru the movie I kept waiting for the words, "you...complete me". So, at it's worst it was formulaic and predictable. At it's best, it was some steamy hot sexy love story. In the middle it was the story of a boy who never really thought much of himself meeting a girl that had written herself off. Together they made a pretty good pair.

My favorite scene -


Him: I never actually knew anyone, who believed I was enough, til I met you. And then you made me believe it too. So, uh, unfortunately, I need you. And you need me.
Her: no I don't
Him: yes you do
Her: no I don't
Him: yes, you do
Her: stop it! Stop saying that
Him: you need someone to take care of you
Her: no I don't
Him: Everybody does
Her: I'm going to need you, more than you'll need me
Him: that's okay
Her: no it's not! It isn't fair. I have places to go
Him: You'll go there. I just may have to carry you
Her: I can't ask you to do that
Him: you didn't

Even though I kept envisioning him and Heath on that mountaintop - I still give this one 4 out of 5 rages

A Few of My Favorite Rants

I'm tired of Comcast boasting record breaking speeds, yet my streaming video gets disrupted a bazillion times.

I'm tired of my kid telling me he didn't mess anything up, yet after he stayed at my townhouse for a sum total of 14 hours my wireless router no longer recognizes my Internet connection.

I'm tired of my laptop screen going black for no reason.

I'm tired of people who feel the need to espouse useless information that isn't even accurate, when nobody asked them in the first place.

I'm tired of everyone having an opinion on everything! Sometimes people say stuff just because they want to get it off their chest. Or maybe they are hoping to find a sympathetic ear. They sure as hell didn't offer up their gripe so you can consistently tell them why they are an ASSHOLE!

So, three glasses of wine have apparently had no effect on my temperament tonight and I have to be up early in the morning.

Goodnight cruel world. You get this one. Let's see who emerges victorious tomorrow!

New Year - Same Stuff

Well, I just realized I've been checking in here every few days to peak at my blog roll updates but haven't posted in a while. Don't get too excited. I'm not about to now. I just wanted to say hi! I'm starting classes on Monday - my last semester and then I'll hold an Associates of Business with a concentration in Marketing. I'm getting pretty good at this stuff so far. I have a GPA of 3.95 so hopefully I will get to wear the fancy shmancy gold collar and tassel! Wo0t!

I will try to get on here over the weekend and post something profound so those of you that follow me can feel like it's a worthwhile endeavor. If I forget, though, please don't hold it against me. Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans!