Pauliemac's World

Tomorrow begins week three of my unemployment and while we have enough for a few months it is still worrisome. Last Tuesday I tested and interviewed for a customer service position with Geico. I passed their initial test and I felt the interview went well but have not received a return phone call. So I am disappointed and feeling a bit down. But I look at any prospective job with the attitude that if I don't get it I was not meant to have it. I will keep sending the resumes with the belief that something will come through. Tough game to watch the Dallas Cowboys game today, not sure how they managed to pull it out. But as they say, a win is a win. It is a lot easier to work on correcting the problems after getting win. Hopefully the Raiders will still be enjoying their upset of the Bengals today once Thursday comes around and the Cowboys will be able to take care of business without too much drama.

watching the new medical drama "Three Rivers" and while it is a feel good medical drama, it just does not portray an everyday hospital realistically. The doctors are a little to pretty, the technology a little too exotic and overall just too slick for it to be accurate. I don't think I will be watching it again.

is the big day. I will find out if I still have a job and Tammi should find out when we can meet with the surgeon to discuss the next step in her treatment. What did you think of Lady Gaga on Saturday Night Live? I have heard of her but had not really listened to her music, so I have been checking out her videos on youtube and I do like her music. Is she the next Christina Aguilera? She sells sexiness, but the what today doesn't? Even ads that have nothing to do with sex use hot young women as there spokespersons. I like a lot of her songs that I have listened to and I feel I do not have to apologize for that. As for SNL, it just is not funny like it used to. Every Saturday night I stay up just to watch it but increasingly I do this to listen to the guest host opening monologue and to watch the musical guest. The skits just are not funny for the most part. I have also noticed that the musical guests are now being included in the skits. I think anything that may make the skits more interesting and humorous is a good thing. Well, my Cowboys lost again today, another game the could have and should have won. I have to face it, they just are not as good as I want them to be. All the ingredients are there but for some reason they are just not getting it done. I don't know if this current group is ever going to be top tier so I may have to wait another 5-7 years until a new group of players goes at it. Who knows, they may turn it around and in a year or two be that team but I just don't see it happening this year. They may go 10-6 and make the playoffs but then it will be one and done. Again. Mixed up some ground beef, spices, onion, and fresh peppers today for some awesome skillet grilled hamburgers. Tam loved them and she is my yardstick. If she loves it, then I did a good job.

just read an article in the ny times regarding the unionized workers at Walmart in Canada. went to the union website to see for myself what the talk was about. talk about whiners! "i work hard but haven't gotten a raise". what kind of bs is that? I work hard, haven't gotten a raise and I am just happy to have a job. if you don't like what your doing or who your working for, then move on. we were not born being owed a job. we learn a trade, work our way up some kind of ladder and if we (and that means me too) are not smart enough to save enough money in the event something goes wrong, then we suffer the consequences. "they know i have two kids at home" does not work for me. it is not the employers responsibility to make sure you handle your private life properly. people need to be accountable for their actions and quit blaming others. if you job does not pay enough, then get a second job or change jobs but don't blame the company.

don't think i will upgrade my laptop to windows 7. 2 reasons mainly. one, my current laptop, a dell inspiron b120 is probably a bit underpowered for w7. the other is i have read where just as with vista, a lot of older hardware does not work with it. i have a some older hardware and software that works just fine with my xp system so i think it would be good keep an older system running xp around for those times i want/need to use something incompatible with w7.

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what a hard weekend! worked 5 hours in the 103 degree sun loading the trailer to take a bunch of stuff to our oldest daughter. then yesterday, because i am insane to do the cooking i spent 2hrs outside grilling brisket (mostly precooked, just adding some flavor), chicken and sausage. but it was worth it in every way! it was absolutely delicious and everyone ate their fill. including the little ones aged 9,6, and 5. they usually take forever to finish their dinner but they couldn't get enough of the chicken. now that is a compliment. drove home yesterday evening with a shower and bed in our vision. so much still to do here to get our apartment looking like a home but we just have to take a day of rest. so for today it is movies, net surfing, and rest. after all it is a holiday weekend.

Yesterday I read an article stating that due to the formula used to calculate the COLA (cost of living adjustment) for Social Security, there will not be an increase for the next two years. This after an increase every year for the last 30 years. Apparently, inflation is going to remain low for the next two years and low inflation is what keeps the COLA from kicking in. I am just an average person but when I can see my groceries continuing to cost more and my utilities have increased, I would say inflation is still with us. On this same theme, today my company put out a newsletter stating it was paying a very small dividend for the quarter just ended. Of course, the can pay this because they put a freeze on merit raises this year. Once again, shareholders take precedence over the most important resource a company has. Ah, the sign of the times. We are supposed to be happy we have employment (and I am) with the hope that when good times return the company will give back a couple of hours of overtime and annual raises (which they probably won't). Found a cool site for listening to music. Pandora is different than just streaming a radio station. You sign up, enter a band you like, and they choose other music based upon that style. Streams very good, sounds great, no hiccups, and free with advertising to support it.