August Updates

Just a couple of topics to touch base on today, most of which are updates of previous topics.

You may have noticed some subtle changes to my site lately. The heading on most pages has changed to a small graphic, and the navigation panel is kind of cluttered around the graphic. I know this isn’t the most user-friendly interface in the world, and I’ll be making some changes soon. Also, recent posts have had greatly reduced links, and I’ve completely eliminated the Google and Yahoo search links. If you’d like more information on a term or person mentioned in an entry, you can simply copy and paste it into your search engine of choice, or into the Google search box that appears on every page of Average Joe Blogs. Additionally, you can download Firefox, which includes a search bar in the menu bar that will allow one-click searching of any major search engine, including Wikipedia, Amazon, and more. I found the amount of time I invested in creating the search links was encroaching on the time I spend with my family. I hope you don’t find this to be a major inconvenience.

Now for a few updates.

TERRI SCHIAVO

In March, I brought you regular updates on the Terri Schiavo story. I’m a little behind on this update, but the autopsy results have determined not only that Terri Schiavo has not been abused since the incident that so tragically rendered her into what has been called a state of vegetation, but also that there are no signs that her husband did anything to contribute to that incident. This of course doesn’t do anything to bring her back or to help her family find closure, and I’m still not convinced that Michael Schiavo’s motivation was pure when he fought to have her food and water supplies withheld, but I guess we have to call this case closed with these results.

SEX OFFENDERS

In April, I spoke in depth about Sex Offenders and whether I felt they could ever truly be rehabilitated. Last night while watching the local news, my wife picked up a couple of links to online Sex Offender Registries for the states of Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. Out of curiosity, we spent a little time checking out our neighborhood, and were shocked to see that a convicted Child Molester lives less than two blocks from our house! In fact, my son and I have passed this house over a hundred times on our frequent walks over the past year or so. There is often a man sitting on a bench on the front porch of this house clutching something red in his lap that appears to be about the size of a small musical keyboard, though I can’t make out quite what the object is. My wife and I have often wondered why he sat on the porch and what he was holding in his lap. Of course, I still wonder what he’s holding in his lap, but I’m now more concerned that this individual might be the Registered Sex Offender we discovered last night, and that he may just be sitting on his front porch watching all the kids go by. Naturally, on top of the recent theft from my wife’s car as it sat safely in our driveway, this causes us great concern.

To make matters worse, the nearest elementary school is only two blocks away from this Registered Sex Offender’s home, and there is at least one other elementary school within five miles. As I stated in April, I’m not so sure that these deviants – the worst our society has seen – can every truly be rehabilitated, and it infuriates me that we release them from jail and allow them to live in our communities, so close to our homes and to the elementary schools where our children attend.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this matter. If you find this as upsetting as I do, please drop me a line. If I receive enough feedback, I may consider drafting a petition for legislation that might help to make us all feel a little safer in our own homes.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

I began May with my rants about Daylight Saving Time. Since then, the Indiana legislature has passed a bill and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has signed into law the implementation of Daylight Saving Time for the state of Indiana. Next March, Indiana will join the majority of the world in springing forward in observance of Daylight Saving Time.

Just this month, President Bush signed into law a new energy bill which, among many other things that don’t include relief for the rising gas prices, includes a provision to spring forward earlier and fall back later, extending Daylight Saving Time by a full four weeks every year. I still don’t understand the logic in this change, but then I also disagree with the logic of observing Daylight Saving Time at all. As Paul Harvey so adequately stated, no matter what you do with the clock, you simply cannot make a day any longer or shorter, or save any Daylight. There are still only twenty-four hours in a day, and the number of those hours that are dominated by daylight will always be Divinely determined.

As I stated in May, I stand firm behind my belief that we should indeed spring forward in March, once and for all, never to fall back again. While there may be true economical reasons for the observance of Daylight Saving Time, there is no logical reason for switching back and forth every year.

BONUS CHECKS

Also in May I lamented about my non-existent Bonus Check. I am happy to report that there were several errors found in the accounting process used in May. Adjustments were made that resulted in the payment of a very modest bonus in my last paycheck. In addition, the second quarter bonus payout is expected next week. Through the month of June, I’m expecting a payout in the neighborhood of $1600. That is, unless the July numbers that should be out this week negate that. Stay tuned for further updates in the weeks to come.

If there’s anything you’d like to see or hear on my site, drop me a line, and I’ll do my best to oblige.

Joe

Movie Review: Madagascar

My wife and I don’t actually go out to see many movies. We’re not really movie people, and most movies these days are so filled with filth that they aren’t worth seeing, anyway. So we pick and choose our movies based on their content, then usually rent them and watch them quietly at home. It’s rather nice, actually.

This week we went to the theater for the first time since Passion of the Christ came out. We went for primarily one reason: to take our two-year-old son to see his first big screen movie. The movie of choice? Madagascar.

Granted, it’s been out for a while and isn’t quite what you would call a “current” movie, but it was the best choice going for a two-year-old’s first trip to the movies. We have a pretty well behaved son, for the most part. I’ve seen parents out in all sorts of public places with their little demons that are either ill-behaved or ill-parented (or, most likely, a combination of the two), and I thank God every day that my son isn’t like that. As well behaved as he is, I expected he might make it through at least three-fourths of the movie before growing restless.

We arrived about ten minutes before the movie was scheduled to begin. We went to a bargain matinee at a bargain theater, so I didn’t anticipate there would be a long run of previews before the movie began, and I didn’t expect there to be a large crowd, either. I was right on one count, and wrong on the other. There were virtually no previews before the movie began, but it was still at least five minutes late getting started as they waited to allow all the latecomers to get seated. (If you’ve read my review on Les Miserables at IU Auditorium, you know exactly what I think of latecomers holding up the show.)

My son was, of course, a little restless waiting for the movie to start. He still had no real idea what to expect. He was more interested in exploring the strange surroundings than he was in sitting in his seat looking at a blank wall.

Then the movie began, and he was captivated for the longest time. He had never before seen such images projected on such a large screen. He pointed out the zebra (“Marty”) and said, “Horse.” He jumped up and down with the monkeys, and laughed at the penguins. At one point late in the movie, when the lion was reverting to his wild nature and trying to eat his friends, my son stood up in his chair and mimicked every move the lion made: jumping up and down and spinning around in his chair, even slapping me in the head as the lion did the same in the movie.

It was a wonderful experience and some wonderful memories my wife and I will always treasure. I guess this isn’t really review of the movie Madagascar so much as a review of my son’s first movie-going experience, so how about this: I highly recommend Madagascar to all parents looking to take their toddler to his or her first movie. It kept my son’s interest from beginning to end. In fact, he was better behaved than most other kids at the theater. And when the credits rolled at the end, he stood up like a little gentleman, took my hand, and started leading me out of the aisle. Needless to say, I was a very proud father!

Joe

Discovery, Gas Prices, and More

I spoke with Eric, the “gentleman” I spoke of in Friday’s posting, over the weekend. I actually recorded the conversation, but the sound quality was so horrible that I don’t think I’ll be posting it here.

He didn’t seem too disappointed when I told him that the car wouldn’t start and offered to give him his money back. I played that all out, got him to sign a receipt for the refund, and gave him his money. Then I sprung it on him: “By the way, what time were you here last night? It was dark out, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was about nine o’clock,” he said.

“You didn’t happen to see anything suspicious did you?” I had been avoiding direct eye contact with him throughout the conversation until this point. “Because someone broke into my wife’s car last night and stole some stuff out of it.”

What would your reaction be? Shock? Surprise? I’m not sure how to best describe Eric’s reaction. He said nothing, and his only facial expression was that his eyes opened wide. My immediate first impression was that he was trying to appear surprised or shocked. “No, I didn’t see anything, but I was doing this mowing job last week….” He went on to explain how someone else had their car broken into while he was doing a mowing job. Then quickly changed the subject again to the time when his car was broken into at work and his radar detector was stolen.

Bottom line: yeah, I still think he did it. But he doesn’t owe me any money anymore, and I don’t have any of his money, and hopefully I’ll never have to deal with him again.

GAS PRICES

In my line of work, I sometimes get an inside lead to upcoming increases in prices at the local pump. Not much of an advance notice, but enough to run to the gas station and get filled up before the price changes, if I wish.

A week or so ago, I was filling up for less than $2.20 a gallon. Did you ever think you’d see the day where less than $2.20 a gallon seemed like a good price? Neither did I, but here we are. Then last week, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia passed away. King Fahd, of the largest oil producing country in the world. King Fahd, a man who was King in title only, since his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, has been ruling the country for more than a decade. So why, then, if Abdullah is now King, but there is no real change in the actual leadership of the country, did gas prices suddenly jump as much as twenty cents a gallon? They expect there to be no significant change in policy in Saudi Arabia under now-King Abdullah.

Today, as I drove in to work, I passed a local gas station selling gas at $2.33 per gallon. Insanely high already, by my standards, though I’m sure many of my readers still pay much more. Then I got a tip today from my inside lead that the price would be climbing to $2.50 per gallon before day’s end. WHY? What happened this time? Did King Abdullah stub his toe, or something? Why must we be so dependent upon the whims of another nation for our very survival (as we certainly could not survive at today’s standards if we lost access to all Saudi oil)? President Bush has a plan to begin off-shore drilling in Alaska, but the environmental activists are strongly opposed. Off-shore drilling has become so advanced that there will be minimal impact to the environment and wildlife, but they would apparently rather keep filling the coffers of King Abdullah and the other OPEC nations.

It’s time we stand up and take action. It’s time we become an independent nation again. Is there really any difference between England taxing tea and OPEC overcharging for oil? I say it’s time to repeat the Boston Tea Party , with a little Washington Oil Party. Call your Senators. Call your Congressperson. Call the President. Let them know you SUPPORT change that will reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. CALL TODAY! If you are uncertain who to contact, click here.

By the way, on my trip home today, as I passed the same gas station, a gallon of 87 octane unleaded was priced at $2.49.

DISCOVERY

The crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery today remained in orbit as weather in Florida prevented them from being able to return to Earth. Should Discovery safely reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and all the crew return home safely, then their mission will have been a great success! Regardless of your view on space travel and the Space Shuttle program, no human being with even an ounce of compassion can say that these men and women aren’t heroes. That applies to the current Discovery crew, the crews of both Columbia and Challenger, and every man, woman, or monkey that has ever left the Earth’s atmosphere in search of greater knowledge and advancement.

Average Joe Blogs salutes the crews of Discovery, Columbia, Challenger, and Atlantis – past, present, and future – and the entire NASA organization, as well as a President who has the vision to continue exploring the outer reaches of our galaxy.

I wish the Discovery crew a safe and problem-free ride home.

Joe

Caught In The Act

On June 16, I relayed a story here about how one man helped to restore my faith in the common man. I mention that only to say that I'm not so sure I wasn't too quick to judge his actions in such a positive light. Here's a little back-story that isn't in my June 16 entry.

This guy named Eric first made contact with my wife in May because I had a car for sale that was parked in my front yard with a For Sale sign on it. He lives a few blocks down the street from us and passes our house several times a day. He asked my wife if he could drive the car. As I was at work, my wife told him he would need to come back to look at the car when I was home.

A couple weeks later, as we were heading out the door, Eric showed up with his rag-tag family in tow. They drove the car and declared that they were very interested, but wouldn't be able to give me any money until he got paid the following Friday. I told him I would hold the car until Monday and took the For Sale signs out of the window.

This is where the June 16 entry picks up. Jump there now, if you aren't already familiar with it, because it's an important part of what I have to say today.

Go ahead. I'll wait.....

That didn't take too long, did it?

If you paid any attention to the dates that I've mentioned here, you know that it is now August, nearly three months after Eric first approached us about buying my old car. Three months after agreeing to a selling price of $600. Three months in which he has given me a grand total of $150 and asked me twice to put a lien on the car and allow them to take it while they continue to pay for it. During that time he has come to me to explain why he didn't have any money to offer me more often than he has brought me money. The excuses included such things as "I lost my job," "I have to pay the rent," and "My other car broke down." I'm not normally one to judge people, but looking at Eric, any one of those excuses is totally believable.

Last night as my wife took my new car to run to the store, leaving her Jimmy and the old Saturn sitting in our driveway -- which is long enough to fully park five to six cars and runs the full length of our house -- there came a knock at the door. It was dark, so I flipped on the porch light to illuminate the trespasser, thinking it was probably just my wife with her hands too full to open the door. Smiling back at me through the window was Eric.

I opened the door to find him standing on my front porch, his bicycle laying in the front yard, and my wife getting out of the car. She later told me (and this could be key information) that she saw him ride by the house once as she was coming down the street before she pulled into the driveway.

I stepped out onto the porch and greeted him: "How ya' doin'?"

Foregoing the traditional greeting, he jumped right in with both feet: "She --" meaning his girlfriend, for whom he was buying the Saturn -- "wanted me to ask you if you'd put a lien on the car."

Here we go again, I thought. "You mean put a lien on it and let you take it now?"

"Yeah," he said, as he proceeded to explain to me that he was promoted and was now the third man in charge of the lawn detail (he works for a mowing and landscaping company), and how he got a raise and his boss offered to sell him a "big boat of a car for $200" that he was considering as his second option. He continued, "I get about 46 hours a week, and the overtime is banked for when I need it. I just have to give them two weeks notice that I need the money and they'll pay it out to me, so I can use it to help pay off this car. Until then, we can give you fifty dollars a week."

As I haven't seen fifty dollars a week since he agreed to buy the car in the first place, I had some serious doubts. "Well, I won't be off work to do anything like that until next Wednesday."

"Okay," he said. "I'll be back tomorrow when I get paid to give you some money."

"I'll tell you what," I said. "Let me think about the lien. I'll be home tomorrow night around seven. Come by then and I'll let you know what I decide." I now wish I hadn't told him when I get home, though he knows where I live and what car I drive and could probably have figured it out.

Fast forward to this morning. If you're a regular reader, you know I'm a Retail Store Manager. I work two hours from home, and calls from home to work are long distance calls. For that reason, my wife always calls me on my cell phone, and I call her back from the store phone. It saves us on long distance and cellular airtime. She very rarely ever calls me direct at the store.

This morning, she did just that. It always means something is wrong when she makes the long distance call to the store to contact me.

"Did you take the portable CD player out of my car?" We had just put a portable CD player and a wireless FM transmitter in her car two days ago. I told my wife then, "You have to start locking your car all the time now." She never locks it in the driveway, and I usually have to remind her to lock it when we go out somewhere. "If someone sees that CD player and your car is unlocked, they'll take it."

"Those are only twenty bucks now," she said. "Who would steal one for twenty bucks?"

I said, "Anybody that wants one and doesn't have twenty bucks to pay for it."

So she asks me this morning, "Did you take the portable CD player out of my car?" I have a factory CD player in my car, so I thought she was playing a joke.

"No, why?" She obviously thought I was the one playing the joke.

"Because it's gone."

If it's not already too late to make a long story short, we've lived in our house for almost three years, we live on a relatively quiet street in town, our neighbors all appear respectable, and we've never had anyone mess with anything yet.

I'm just saying, it seems a little suspicious that this guy who has been out of work, with no car, riding a bicycle wherever he goes, and struggling to pay the rent and buy a new car, rode past my house before stopping on the same night that we had our first case of theft. My car was clearly not in the driveway, and he's familiar with my car. It was dark. The Saturn was pulled all the way into the driveway by the garage, and my wife's car was parked behind it. My wife saw him ride past the house as she was coming home.

I believe it happened something like this.

He may actually have come by to ask me about putting a lien on the car. I believe that because he has asked me to do that twice already, and he's getting desperate for transportation to keep his new job. He sees my car isn't there and thinks that we're not home. He strolls up the driveway to take a look at the car he's trying so desperately to buy. Out of curiosity, he glances in the window of my wife's Jimmy as he walks past and sees the portable CD player sticking out beneath the stereo. At this point, he's still innocent. He may even have walked past the Jimmy and took a look at the Saturn before the curiosity got to be more than he could handle. In either case, I believe he then walked back and checked the door of the Jimmy. Of course it was unlocked because my wife has a horrible habit of never locking her car. He grabs the CD player because it's sitting there loose and easy prey. He opens the ashtray probably looking for money stashed in the car, and leaves it open when he's done. He then rifles through the glove box leaving it more organized than it was when he found it. I think at this point he might have heard a car coming, because he ignored the CDs that were in the car and there's no sign of any other tampering. I believe he then jumped on his bike and started his escape, until he saw that the car he had heard was my car. He then tried to nonchalantly ride past the house, which is what my wife saw when she pulled up. Thinking he was seen and had to create a quick alibi, he dropped his bike in the yard and knocked on the door to ask me about the lien. He didn't make eye contact with my wife at all as she walked up on the porch, probably hoping she wouldn't see anything in his eyes that might betray him.

He probably thinks he is now safe at home with a new portable CD player. He's supposed to return tonight to give me some money and find out about my decision on the lien. I have a surprise for him. Not only do I plan to refuse his request for a lien, but I also plan to tell him that I can't seem to get the car started now and that I feel it wouldn't be fair to hold his money for a car that doesn't start. I will then offer him his $150 back and ask him to sign a receipt for it. He'll certainly hem and haw and I may even have to show him that the car won't start (the battery is disconnected, but it's been sitting there long enough now that it probably wouldn't start even with the battery hooked up).

As he walks away with his $150, hopefully never to return, I plan to spring it on him: "By the way," I'll say, "did you happen to notice anything suspicious when you were here last night? Somebody broke into my wife's car and stole some stuff out of it."

His reaction, I'm sure, will speak volumes.

Stay tuned.

Joe

Book Review: The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg

It has been quite some time since I've posted a book review here. I have read several books since my last book review posting. But none of those books has stood out in my mind strongly enough to make it worth recommending, or worth recommending you avoid. Nothing really worth mentioning. Until I read The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg. We constantly hear today about stories, movies, books and TV shows that are ripped from the headlines. Well, Joel Rosenberg wrote a book that is absolutely ripped from the headlines. And he wrote this book prior to the Iraq war.

The book is set in a post George W. Bush Presidency. The President is a conservative Republican from Colorado. And his life is targeted by -- well, you'll just have to read the book. But his life is targeted. Someone is out to assassinate the President. Saddam Hussein is still the President and dictator of Iraq, and Iraq is still believed to have Weapons of Mass Destruction. In this book Osama bin Laden has already been found dead, and the Taliban has already been evicted fully from Afghanistan. Israel and Palestine are the targets of an oil and gas deal that is expected to make every citizen of both -- Israelis and Palestinians -- wealthy beyond their imagination. And the book takes you on a ride through those lines. There are several twists and turns and surprises that will make you want to keep turning the pages. It is a difficult book to put down. All of the surprises were believable.

The book is very well written. It would appeal, I imagine, to anyone who enjoys political thrillers, military thrillers, suspense and mystery books, alternative history, and even the Christian fiction genre. Though, as you read through this book there is no overt Christian fiction influence. Too many books in the Christian fiction genre are written as if they're an article in Guideposts magazine. This book is written more like it's an article in the Washington Post, or Time magazine, or a report on CNN.

If you can't tell, I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy of The Last Jihad by Joel C. Rosenberg. When you've finished it, move on to The Last Days, which picks up the story just three weeks after the ending of this book. And his most recent publication is the third story in this little series, called The Ezekiel Option. These books are prophetic in nature, very timely, and very believable. And very much what is happening, what has been happening, and what could start happening in the world today.

I hope you enjoy it.

Joe

Insane Political Fundraising

I heard a news report today that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, the former First Lady of Slick Willie is averaging approximately six million dollars per quarter in political fund raising. At that rate they estimate she'll have 48 million dollars in her coffers by the time of the New York Senate elections coming up. They also estimate that she will spend approximately eighteen million dollars on her campaign for reelection to her seat in the Senate. Now the Reporter made the comment that that would leave her thirty million dollars should she decide to run for President in 2008. Thirty million dollars. Now that disturbs me on so many levels. Most of which, of course, is the thought of Hillary Rodham Clinton as President. I mean, come on, we thought John Kerry was bad?! But that's not the topic for today.

How can anyone raise that much money for a political campaign? 48 million dollars. We have people living in the gutter in our country. We have people dying of diseases that have no cure. We have people screaming about government funding for embryonic stem cell research to try to cure things like Parkinson's Disease. And we have idiots giving so much money to a political campaign that a wannabe, not qualified, Senator, former First Lady, Whitewater scamming, former Whatever has 48 million dollars for her political career. Am I the only one that sees anything wrong with this? I just cannot imagine -- 48 million dollars.

First of all, I think it's insane that it would cost eighteen million dollars to get reelected to the Senate. Eighteen million dollars can feed a lot of mouths. Eighteen million dollars can provide a lot of medicine and a lot of medical care to the underprivileged in our country. Eighteen million dollars can provide a lot of aid to hurricane ravaged parts of our country. And we're talking almost three times that amount that she expects to have by the time of the Senate elections. Whatever happened to campaign finance reform? If this is what happens after campaign finance reform, then I think we need to reform the reform. I just cannot imagine that kind of money.

You know, I started voting for President back when George Bush 41 was running for President -- and yes I voted for him, and I voted for his son. And in the first George Bush's reelection campaign, he had the misfortune to run against Ross Perot. It was like it was Slick Willie and Crazy Ross versus the President. I am a firm believer that if Ross Perot had not run, that George Bush would have been reelected to a second term in the White House. I firmly believe that Ross Perot misdirected -- or diverted -- many votes from our President to himself, causing Slick Willie to get elected to office. And so I've never had much respect for him because of his whole mindset and the way he wanted to run the country like a business, and -- that's another story. But one thing I've got to think about is, he did spend a lot of his own money running for President. Every time that he ran he, being the millionaire that he was, spent a lot of his own money. And you know, as crazy as old Ross Perot may have been, I've got to admire a guy that's willing to put his own cash on the line to further his own career.

Is our President doing something great for the world? Sure he is, and he's a great asset to the world, a great asset to the country, leader of the most powerful nation. And what's he get out of that? You telling me he gets nothing? He gets his name in history. He makes a decent amount of money if you compare it to the average citizen. A lifetime pension. A protection detail. Free medical care. He doesn't have to pay for anything. And we're paying to put him in that office? Those of us who throw our money at these candidates by the millions. I think the kind of reform we need -- if you're a candidate, if you want to seek office, you pay up the money. When I go out looking for a job, do I look for donations to help me get through, to help me get to the job? Do I ask someone to buy me a suit for the interview, or to give me limo rides to the interview? No. No, I pay the money myself. I come up with it, I put it up, I go, and I do it. I get the job, or I don't get the job, but it's all on my own terms. And yet we're taking these people who are making our laws and deciding the fate of our people and our nation, and we're giving them millions of dollars of our money -- your money, maybe, because I'm not giving it to them -- to get into office. I think it's about time they put up their own money. I think it's about time that we stop the insanity and we see some real finance reform. Maybe then we won't see nutso crazy people like Ross Perot running for President. Maybe we won't see people of such low moral character as Bill Clinton elected twice to office. And maybe we won't see the total disaster that it would be should Hillary Rodham Clinton ever win election to the White House. I just don't think we're ready to see something like that.

Think about it. Put your money where your mouth is. You want to run, you put your money on your own campaign. Somebody else wants to run, you let them finance it themselves, and let's see what kind of people we get in our White House then.

Joe

Unexpected Business Travel

I'm in Chicago on business as I make today's posting, so it won't see the site for a couple of days. I expect to be back in Indiana on Saturday. The topic of today's entry is mostly how much I hate business travel.

With my current employer -- and if you've looked at my site at all and ready any of my past entries, you know that I'm a Retail Store Manager, though I've never said what Retailer and I probably never will identify the Retailer -- sends me periodically -- myself and other Store Managers -- on business trips. Trips to our Corporate Headquarters for training, or meetings. Trips to other markets for Grand Reopenings, or Grand Openings. Most of the time with very, very short notice. Most of the time with no opportunity to really plan. It's impossible to take any family with you. I've always felt that employers should allow you to travel with your family. I believe that a person is more productive when their life is disrupted a little bit less. And it is a little bit less disruptive, I believe -- I know I would be less disrupted -- if my family was here with me. I miss both my wife and my son terribly.

Yesterday I was speaking with my wife on the phone and as she does often she handed the phone to my son and I talked to him. He's not a big talker yet, but he listened on the phone for the longest time that he ever has as I spoke to him and -- well, you know I just came up here yesterday and I had only been away from home for six or eight hours at the time and it nearly brought me to tears.

I'm staying in a hotel that's too far from the store that I'm currently at to make it worthwhile. I spend way too much time driving back and forth. I'm here from open in the morning until closing at night, which makes for a very long fourteen or fifteen hour work day -- actually a little bit longer than that. Last night I went to the hotel, and the hotel I'm staying at is by the highway. My room overlooks the highway and every single car that drove down the highway past my room sounded like it was driving right through the room. So I got very little sleep and I am very tired today, and the day today has barely started.

So, that's pretty much all I have. This is my rant entry. I haven't made many of those lately. But I feel the need to rant about how companies -- about how Corporate America -- these days expects their employees to get up and go and run here and there and get very little of anything for it. I get paid mileage, but there's no additional compensation for my time away from my family, for my time away from home, for the fact that in my belief, anyway, travel is a 24 hour shift because I'm away from home and I have no opportunity to go home and no option to go home. I believe it's a 24 hour work day, and when you have three or four of them back-to-back -- or more -- as I've had in the past, it can tend to get quite old and be very demanding, both on the employee and on the employee's family.

So that's my rant, and I'll let you get back to what you've got to be doing, because nobody wants to listen to me rant forever, I'm sure. I hope that your employer -- if they send you on travel -- you get a little more notice and a little more consideration than I received, and that you get to take your family with you. I know that would make all the difference in the world. In fact, on one previous trip -- the last trip that my employer sent me to this same town -- I brought my family and we got to, in some off hours, enjoy some culture and some things in town that alone I don't bother to go out and do. I'm a family man and I'd rather be with my family. I don't get up and go out to places and go do things. I pretty much leave my work place to go back to my room and then I get up from my room the next morning and go back to my work place, and that's how my trip goes. So hopefully yours will go better when you have them -- if you have them -- and hopefully you can take your family along with you, and hopefully some day I'll be in a position where I can dictate more of that myself.

Thanks for visiting, and if you have any comments, as always, drop me a line.

Joe