No AIR?

I know. I promised to stop bitching. And I am going to keep that promise. But I am going to share a few facts with you.

THE AIR IN MY CORPORATE AMERICA OFFICE IS OUT! IT IS KAPUT! AND CORPORATE AMERICA DOESN'T REALLY CARE!

I KNOW THAT COMES AS A SHOCK TO MOST OF YOU!

I called a repair man. He let me know that the condenser had to be replaced. Estimate $1650. Corporate America said, No. We will shut the office down before we will pay that for an office that will be closed in 5 months. So I appealed to the landlord. I explained to him he would have to fix the air before he could rent the space out after we leave. So he agreed to get the unit repaired. Well, by 5:00 this afternoon, repair person #2 concurred and it is decided the unit will be replaced. But it is an all day job. So I will be hot all day tomorrow too. But next week should be better.

I am really looking forward to a long weekend. Nothing but food, pool and fun. And boy, do I think we all need that kind of weekend.

Oh, yeah. And in my quest to expose Corporate America for what it is, I wish I could go into detail about how much trouble it has been to get Nicki and me out of the Agency employee status to Corporate status. We are forcing them to do really awful things, like pay us. It has gotten to the point of hilarious. I actually asked the woman I have been talking to about all this if Charles was the first agent to ever die! She said no, they have it happen all the time. And everytime, it is just like this. What an awesome testament to the largest insurer in the world. Don't die!

Anyway, we only have 2 night left with our visiting Schnoodle. He has been such a good house guest. I am going to post the video of him playing soccer. It is the cutest thing ever. Don't be jealous Sadielillie. You can't play soccer. your noses are too long!

I will be posting much happier pictures from the weekend. Everyone just hang on. We are almost there!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2161998293367

I'll figure it out.

Surprise!

Today was very busy. I was working alone today, since Nicki is only approved by Corporate America to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There was a lot of crap, but it was normal crap, like one would expect. And not starting the day with a speeding ticket really helped the day.

So, the storm is not over, by any means. Corporate is send out a letter soon advising everyone that their agent has died. So the 75% of our customers that have not called WILL call in the next couple of weeks. But I'm getting ready for it. And my frame of mind, while decidedly is a little bit on the bitchy side right now, is much stronger this week.

According to my retirement clock, 185 days, 5 hours and 33 minutes. Or maybe, 13 1/2 paychecks! That's how I need to look at it!

But all is good. Looking forward to a long weekend, and planning on getting some serious floating and hamburger burning done this weekend.

I tried. I really did.

I got up this morning. Great attitude. It's going to be a great day today. Why? Just because. I need it to be a great day. People aren't going to annoy me, and it is going to be good.

Well, I was cruising down Macon Road, top down, 80's radio station playing "Jessie's girl". I cross the Shelby county line and the is a prick standing in the middle of the road. Whoops, I mean an officer with a radar gun motioning me into the driveway where he was hidden. Butt wipe. The speed limit goes from 50 to 45 and he got me. I smiled and presented my drivers license. Then started looking for my insurance card.

This is a test. Go through you glove box, and see how many out of date insurance cards you have. Anyway. I was not able to find the right card.

Well, Mr. nice policeman, gave me a warning for the speeding. But he wrote me a ticket for no insurance. He said all I had to do was go to court with my insurance card and they would throw it out. So I handed him the card, since I had seen it. He said, ma'am, if I were to see that insurance card, I would have to change this ticket to a speeding ticket, and I have not yet seen that card. So I said, what card? So after pleasantries, I went on my way. I have to be abused by the police every so often, because I forget they are the boss. Seems like everybody in my life is reminding me I'm not boss of NUTTIN'!

Everyone- Go check your expiration date on your insurance card.

The great day I was going to have ended, just across the Shelby County Line.

As for the rest of day. Pretty crappy. I know I have justified what I want to do the the next 6 months. But chances are, I may not can do it. Just gotta keep plugging every day. 186 more days.

There was more, but I'm really tired tonight. So maybe we will have a better day tomorrow.

Fun Sunday

Logan watching TV


Sweet little Mitchell

Precious Mitchell

Guess I should have chosen the other picture for the blog. He looks evil here.

Sadie eating Bennie's Face off.

Lillie on her throne.

Precious Sadie!

The cute couple on Paula's porch

Bennie relaxing while Paula slaves in the kitchen

I think today was just about what I needed. I actually feel almost ready to face the week!

We headed down to Tunica this morning, to feast at Paula Deens. Bennie and I were sitting on the faux front porch of Paula Deen's restaurant, in 2 rocking chairs waiting on the fam, and a complete strangers just looked over at us, said you 2 look like you need your picture taken, got my phone and snapped a picture of us. She said we just looked so cute we needed our picture made. Then she went on into the restaurant. (Guess I should be glad she didn't snatch my iPhone and run).

The the crew got their. Ghia, Paw, Lu, and Eric and Chris from the Orpheum. We did as much damage to the buffet as we could. Then we started out. Bennie and I were headed to the door. Our usual payment for the honor is depositing a $20 bill into a machine, and playing for 3 minutes, then leaving. Well, I wasn't going to even play. Bennie decided to put a $10 into a penny machine. He pressed 1 time and won $15. So we decided that was close enough to paying for our lunch, so we left. How did I get to be so cheap?

We left Tunica, and had to stop by Cindy's. She and Mike were both working, but she had made a request that Bennie PLEASE come fix their toilet. So we went by Lowe's and got the part he needed, and went by Cindy's. Got to see me Sadielillie. I WUV those girls.

While we were still there, Lu called and gave me warning that Mitchell was in Olive Branch. So we made a stop by Olive Branch and got some Mitchell sugar. He is growing and getting prettier by the day!

After we left, I begged to stop at Sonic and get me a drink. It was 105 degrees and I was DYING! Happy hour at Sonic. We waited 20 minutes for my coke. But oh, well. I wasn't thirsty any more.

We got home, and Brad, who was supposed to be finished with Bennie's car earlier, was still working on the car. But it looks good. Both cars got good wax jobs this weekend. He is a mobile service, if you need his name, holler at me. He does a very thorough job.

After he left, I got in the pool for a couple of hours. I'm not sure what the official weather reading was for today, but on the car is was 100. I can't tell you how good that pool feels. It is so relaxing to me. And Bennie comes out after the sun goes behind the house and floats with me. It is kinda nice to have float time instead of computer time.

My doggie roommate behaved himself while we were gone today. I will let you know how tonight goes. Last night, he just curled up at the foot of the bed and slept all night. (Sadielillie, read that sentence over again)

Well, off to bed, then on to week 2 for Corporate America. It is going to be a better week this week. I think we will make it just fine. I will keep my post to a minimum and not report any more drivel. Compared to other peoples real problems with real corporate bullshit, my stuff is minimal. I have merely been venting frustrations that were much easier to vent on a faceless corporation than to have to deal with the bigger picture. But hopefully, this rested weekend has allowed me to gather up the strength to make it through this week. It is the first Sunday night in recent history that I have not dreaded going in to the office. So I am taking that as a sign that healing has started.

Saturday-

Sparkling inside


And out

Logan has settled in just fine.

Him's a pretty boy.

Bennie blowing up our rafts.

Pretty much a wasted day. I was waiting on a fellow to come detail our cars. A son of a friend does it. And he was later than I expected, so I kept waiting and not getting in the pool, because I didn't want to be in the pool when he came. So day 2 of being able to swim was wasted. But that's ok. I will probably be able to swim another day. Ya think????

My car looks awesome. He spent 3 hours on it. Wash, wax, shampoo floor, sparking windows, It is the first tie we have put wax on it since we bought it, so it was time! He is coming back tomorrow to do Bennie's car, and my neighbors car.

Bennie went to lunch today with Kelley. He didn't get a chance to see her Father's day, so they went today. On his way home, he went to Brenda's and picked up my co-dog. Brenda has gone to Florida for the week, and I get to keep Logan. Please don't tell Lille and Sadie. They will be upset. They have never gotten to stay for a week. They are too delicate to leave for 12 hours alone without having a nuclear disaster to clean up. Logan is a little hardier. Or so Brenda says. We will see! But he is a good boy.

After a quick diner of Totinos Pizza, we did make it to the pool for a few minutes. To all you people in Florida this week without me....thththththth.

Lu says the gang is going to Paula Deen's tomorrow for lunch, so we are going to make a Tunica trip for lunch. Cindy has asked Bennie to come fix her toilet, so we will stop by and I will get a picture of Sadie and Lillie for you. I know you have all forgotten what they look like. (And I have a feeling Cindy may be coming to spend the weekend next weekend. You know...Mom's Bed and Breakfast with a pool!)

I'm All Wet!

So what its getting dark?


I am in heaven!!! Love this!!! My blood pressure just went back down to normal.

I am holding a bag of sand to hold the steps down, but had to have a blog picture first!

Bennie finally gives up trying to wait for the ground to dry.

I couldn't put my happy blog in the same post as Corporate America. It is not anywhere near done. Moat is still full and more rain coming. But we found a semi-dry spot, and stuck those stairs in! I have missed my pool so much. My idea of relaxing is getting home from Corporate America and floating until my jaw stops hurting from grinding my teeth! I LOVE IT!

Bennie even got in and was enjoying it.

Come on! Just be careful getting in and out!

Corporate America-Another Day

The ladder to nowhere, and the moat and dirtpile


Sure would be nice to get in.

A long time back, Bennie had bought a countdown clock counting the days til his retirement. It was such a waste of a clock. So I took it away, once Charles had announced his retirement last year. Well, as it turned out, we didn't need that clock. But after 4 days of corporate America, I have renewed my interest in the clock til the end of the year. 190 days. 5 hours, 19 minutes.

 

Corporate Employee-Day 1

(But do please notice the flowers one of my clients brought me today. That was extra sweet)

I think I shall entertain you with the escapades of Corporate America, which my new employer advised me I now belonged to.

Nicki and I got to work today, after being allowed a whole day off (I will let you know when I get my first corporate paycheck if I was paid for it). Our telephones were supposed to be answered yesterday by our back up/after hours phone people. There has to be a requisition filed to get this coverage, but supposedly all that was taken care of. We got to work today and there were 15 messages on our voice mail. Not really too bad, considering we were closed ALL day Tuesday. But as I listened to the messages, 8 of them were from this one man and his car dealer wanting to verify that he had insurance. And by the last message, he was quite nasty about not being able to reach us. So I started the day by calling him back. My first statement to him was "I am about to make you feel like a dog." He was already apologetic because he finally found out that we were closed for Charles' funeral. And I handled the issue and we could not have been nicer. Asshole. But, hey. That knocked off 1/2 of the phone calls I had to return, since Corporate America did not answer my phones yesterday.

The second thing, as soon as we walked in the door, there was a metallic bumper sticker on our window. It wasn't there when we left Monday. On closer inspection, I quickly noticed that the sign over our door had been removed. So I started with the Corporate America headquarters. They denied that they had removed our sign and suggested I check with the landlord and see if her took it. So I walked down to ask the landlord. No. He had not removed the sign. Then the lightbulb went off. Charles' sons.

I texted Kristy (Lee's wife) and asked if the boys had removed the sign. Her response was "if you are just now noticing it is missing, we know nothing". I told her to tell the felons that I noticed the sign missing, but I had called Corporate America, and then the landlord to see who had stolen the sign. Chad called immediately to be sure I hadn't called the police! LOL But yes, the boys had taken the sign. He advised me that he also had removed many note pads, pens, keychains, etc. I told him I had not inspected my supply closet yet. But sure enough, they had. It was kinda cute.

Then it was time for Nicki and I to take our lunch hour. Well, actually it should be 45 minutes, so if we can get back a little quicker than 1 hour, it would be nice. (Quote from Corporate America). When we got back from our lunch 58 minutes, there was a UPS notice on the door. So I went back to the landlord's office and got my UPS package. It was a good size box, and the contents were thumping around.

Nicki had asked Corporate America if they supplied things like toilet paper. Yes, when we ran out, just call them and they would get it to us. Well, I personally am not going to call and ask for toilet paper. But Corporate America sent us toilet paper. I opened that box, and the fun began.

It was a box from Office Depot. They ordered us a 12 pack of toilet paper. One ply. 97% recycled. Marcal brand. Shipped UPS. Oh, dear God. Really????

One time, Charles brought us the cheap toilet paper. We refused to use it and sent him back to the store to get us soft toilet paper. I mean really. Our butts are delicate.

So, that is the first day in a nut shell. This is going to be a fun 6 months. I can feel it.

Funeral and New Employer

I will do this blog, because any body that blogs is supposed to keep all 3 of their readers informed of every detail. Guess I will cover the past 2 days and see if it makes me feel any better.

Last night was visitation for Charles. With his family living out of town, I thought maybe I would hang around and be sure that they did OK and didn't need any help locally. But they all did great through the whole night. There was a huge turnout, as expected. Charles was a local boy and everyone liked him. There were people there until closing time. I was able to see a lot of people that I only see at Christmas parties, weddings and funerals. Lots of our clients, and lots of State Farm people.

And lots of MY people. Mom, Dad, Neil, LuAnn, Bennie and Brenda all were there. Of course, they were there to pay their respects. But mostly, they were there to take care of me. I don't require much taking care of usually, but if I ever find myself feeling a little weak, one of them always knows. And I am never allowed to carry a burden alone. If you are living your life without someone like that in it, you have missed a lot. But that is what they do. They watch me and prop me up when I need it.

Last night wasn't overly emotional. The visitation is just that. It is when survivors visit and support the grieving. And share stories. And listen to everyone elses stories.

Now I should share with you my personal goal. My goal was to make it until Saturday before I fell into a million pieces. And Visitation night wasn't too difficult. So I really thought that I would make my goal.

Bennie was not supposed to be off work today. But he snuck away long enough to attend the funeral. And about 3/4 of the way through....Yep. Total meltdown. And let me tell you. If you are ever going to have a meltdown, there is nothing like a bear hug from Bennie. But i recovered quickly. And Bennie will never let me tell him I will be OK again. But that's OK. It's his job to protect me!

Back to the funeral. As far as funerals go, it was great. The preacher has known Charles for 40 years. It is so nice not to listen to a "canned" preacher reading an obituary. And he had gathered a few stories from the family. I had heard most of the stories before, because Charles's friend never minded sharing stories of his bad behavior early in life, or his farm follies recently. His abilities actually fell a little short of what he thought he could do, and there are some good tales of tearing up expensive machinery and burning many acres of land unintentionally. (I agree with Neil. I want laughter at my funeral. It brings natural tears!)

But in the end, all that does is slap you in the face with how big a hole there will be now that the person is gone. In a way, he has been away from the office for months, so it won't be too empty. We have already gotten used to him not being there.

What is bad is that now I am an employee of State Farm. And I don't think I am going to like that very much. They have already started with their crap and demands. So far, I have to work an extra 15 minutes a day, and have a shorter lunch hour. I gently pointed out that these customers are accustomed to the way we operate, and there is no need for them to make a lot of changes. We are temporary employees and this is a lot of hassle for 6 months.

Wonder why corporations are going broke and people hate them? I have had this job for 15 years. I did the same thing for Terry for 12 years. I know what I am doing. But I have had to apply for my job, have to take a drug test and have to pass a background check to keep my job for 6 more months. That is stupid as shit, in my opinion. But hey...I want this paycheck for 6 more months.

One other thing that has been weighing on my mind. I know that I have complained for years about Charles retiring. I think he should have retired years ago. He had no interest in actual work and just wanted the money. But over the past few months, I have had a chance to rethink all of this. While I do not miss having to clean up the bathroom behind him, I realize that things happen for a reason. I have made a good living for the past few years, and not hard work most of the time. There were periods of stress, usually related to bad catastrophe claims. But on a normal day, it isn't bad.

And it seems God wanted Charles at a fairly early age. No one saw that coming. But by me being in that job, dong what I do, he was able to live the past few years just like a retiree, only with full pay. He took of when he wanted to. He worked 4 days a week. He took off 1 week a month to go stay with Lee and play "farm" with him. And then he took plenty of time to "play" on his own farm. So while he technically wasn't retired, he lived like he was. He was pretty free of responsibility. As long as the paychecks were decent, he let me run the show.

So all in all, I think that is why things worked out like they did. I did a good thing by doing the thing that I have bitched the most about. I wish my heart had figured all of this out earlier, but we get so caught up in the "now" that we can't see the tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, I will show up and do my job just like I have for the past 100 years. Only I will have a new task master. And I am now counting down the days until I can find my "forever home". So be careful what you wish for. I think I prefer working for an individual.

Who knew?

And by the way. We had another rain storm today. My pool is pretty and warm enough to swim. But we can't get in because there is too much mud to put the steps up. Bennie offered to throw me over the side, but I told him he would have to rent a crane to get me out, so he decided not to injure his back just to get me in the pool! LOL!

Thanks for listening.

Father's Day

Well, I have a lot to blog about. All the way from the horrible to the greatest. But I will keep it short, because I am exhausted, and it is going to be a long week. I am conserving energy.

First, my boss of 15 years died early Saturday morning. He has had a short but intense battle with melanoma. Not really sure that there is any other kind of battle with melanoma. I think it always wins. The visitation is tomorrow night, and the funeral is Tuesday. I am anticipating the most horrible work week I have ever had this week. Hopefully, I will be disappointed. But I'm trying to be ready.

Now for more funner stuff.... Bennie brought Sadie and LIllie home from work with him Friday afternoon. Cindy was inFlorida, and Ghia was at the Orpheum. So I brought the girls out here. They make my heart smile. (Well, all except from the hours of 3:30 am and sunrise. I pretty much hate anyone that disturbs me during those hours.....)

We took the girls home on our way to our Father's Day lunch this morning. It was kinda weird. LuAnn had to work, Cindy was in Florida, so we shortened the celebration to lunch at Cracker Barrel. And we went to the one in Southaven which is convenient to everyone except me. But since it wasn't Gayle Day, I happily complied. We got there early and got our names on the list. Good thing. There was a 45 minute wait. But by the time Ghia and Paw got there, our wait was pretty short. And I will not make a comment about a restaurant, inMississippi, On Father's Day. Wow. But the service was pretty good, and the food was good. And Neil picked up the tab. So who's complaining???

After lunch, Ghia hitched a ride downtown with Neil Today was the final day of Beauty and the Beast, and she loves to work the Sunday shows, because that is when they have their cast parties. All the little old ladies bring food and feed the cast.

Bennie had a special request. Paw's computer needed some Bennie time. So Bennie and I headed to Shady Pines and Bennie undid all the messes Paw makes on the computer. It is sort of a ritual. But since Ghia gave up cooking after the tornado, and never went back to the kitchen, our family dinners are scarce, and we don't work on computers without being fed. :)
But the computer didn't take long, and we had a nice visit with Paw.

While I was still there, a friend of Charles's called and had remembered someone that probably had not been contacted. So we stopped by the office to get Charles's Rolodex. But guess what...I left my keys at home. So we went by Charles's house and got a key from his son. I made the call, and then visited with the kids for a few minutes. They have made giant steps to get things taken care of, since they all live out of town. I was glad I got to spend some time with them before the insanity hits tomorrow. All my conversations and texts for the past 6 months have been rushed and to the point. It soothed me a little to get the first contact with them behind me. We shared a few stories and they have been so sweet and appreciative of everything I have done in Charles's absence. It made me feel lots better.

-Next- The pool is full and we are getting the chemicals leveled off. But it rained about 4 inches Thursday and our dirt piles are mud piles. So we can't even get the steps to the pool just yet. Bennie has school the next 2 nights, so it will be later in the week. Oh, well. I don't swim in cold water anyway. But it should be ready by the weekend. And I am ready to float.




Paw and Neil waiting on food!


What? They are both laughing at the same thing?

Neil..You got money. Why the frown?

Paw got a card.

Bennie looking at the fish.

Pretty Sadie. Is that mud under your nose, baby girl?

Lillie loves to sleep on the back of sofas.

I was having Kodak moments. They were being so cute.

Somebody has got to put all that dirt back.

Picture is worth 1000 words

The view from my patio- Before

View of the Doggies favorite race track.

Oh- Oh- The View is starting to change.

The view from the back corner.

New View from my patio.

Yes, we have a little dirt work to do, and the pool is filling and won't be swim ready for about a week. Can't manage to get it all done by Father's Day, but it will be ready for the 4th!

It's all Brenda's fault. I had to have a place to put my green raft.

That's life...

I did not have my camera ready, and after my recent bowling for buzzards experience, I didn't want to stop and let any buzzards fly over my head, but....

As I rounded the curve today on Mebane, in the spot where we had possums on the half shell earlier in the week, today there were 2 buzzards standing there paying their final respects.

Someone cue the "Circle of Life" song from The Lion King. So touching.

Possums on the Half Shell

Don't ask me why, but this has amused me all day. I came around a corner on Mebane this morning and this is what I saw. I can't imagine what scared them too death.

But does that tell you how my day was that this is the thing that made me laugh the most?

I refrained from putting it on facebook, since I am sure someone would have been offended, but hey, this is my blog, and you looked, so it all your fault!! LOL!