I love cats, dogs and other animals (sometimes more than people). I love my work too.
Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn’t learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn’t learn a little,
at least we didn’t get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn’t die;
so, let us be thankful.
-The Buddha
Well, it appears I will crush in fantasy football this week, easily. That will put me at a 5 game winning streak and hopefully cinch me getting into the playoffs. I have 119 points with Gado still left to play tomorrow night. My opponent has 51 points and has 2 players left to play on Monday night as well. I don't see him closing the gap with 2 players, though. For this being my first year to play fantasy football, I don't seem to be doing too badly. It's kind of funny because the commissioner of the league I'm in wasn't too keen at first about me being in the league not having played fantasy football before. He wanted to make sure he got a group of serious people that would do their homework and be competitive in the league. I only got in because someone else backed out and they needed another person. To be fair, though, I have gotten some help on the side from a friend, who will remain unnamed. I figured it best to ask advice from someone not in my league. The last few weeks I've made more decisions on my own without getting advice and some of my decisions have worked out fairly well. I don't care whether it's good advice from my friend or my own decision making, as long as I keep winning.
I played 3 mini tournaments of Texas hold 'em tonight. I came in 2nd on two of them and won a couple of T-shirts and a couple of free drinks. Originally it was supposed to be a $10 bar tab for 2nd place, but the bar downgraded it since they didn't have many people there. I thought that was kind of lame of them to do that. But I didn't really care, because I just like playing and at least winning something. On the last table I took 4 people out with one hand. Unbelievable. Evidently it's my heads up play that needs a bit of practice now.
Well, I got registered for school last week. I had hoped to take one of the classes online, but by the time I could get registered, all the online classes were taken. I had to go to the college in person on Tuesday just to be able to get 2 of the classes I needed since they haven't finished evaluating my transcripts yet. I couldn't register online because it said I needed to take English Comp I, which I've already taken. I've taken several English courses, so I knew that should transfer, but I just had to go there and show them my unofficial transcript so they would let me register for the 2 classes that needed that as a prerequisite.
So I'm taking Art Appreciation, World Religion and Spanish I. They are all classes I have to take as part of the required core curriculum. The Art Appreciation is the Humanities course I need 3 credit hours in and the World Religion is one of the courses I can take to fulfill my History requirement of 3 credit hours. Then I have to have some foreign language courses, so that's what the Spanish is for. I had a bit of Spanish in high school, but don't know if that will count towards anything or not.
The way my schedule is, I won't be home Monday through Thursday until after 9 p.m. I have Spanish on Monday and Wednesday starting at 7. I can go from work to the college and spend the downtime studying or preparing for class, etc. plus maybe get a bite to eat. I won't have as much time on Tuesday and Thursday between work and class. I'm glad I don't have class on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Still, I'm going to be extremely busy, it appears. I'm taking 10 hours and working full time.
This week is going to be a short week at work. I have Thursday and Friday off. We don't have any plans for Thanksgiving. Last year we cooked, but I'd just as soon eat out and not deal with it this year. It's only the two of us and while sometimes it's nice to have the big dinner (and the leftovers), it's also nice not to have to do the big clean up afterwards. Of course this just reminds me that I still haven't done any Xmas shopping yet. I really am broke too. I've already told most of my family that if they want to get me anything, it would help if it was something that could go toward school. I'd like to get one of those smaller laptops that will be easier to cart around. I don't need the biggest, baddest top of the line. I saw one at Wal-Mart a while back that was about the same price as what we paid for our used laptop. I might be able to find one of those used even cheaper. I'm just going to wait and see because I don't know what financial aid I'm getting and I know some of it can be used for buying something like that, plus the school sometimes has deals with some computer companies for getting a discount. I'm not in dire need at this point, but it would be nice to have something smaller and lighter. I plan to rewrite (or retype) my notes. It helps me learn the material better and frankly my handwriting sucks. Especially if I'm writing stuff in a hurry, like trying to take notes quickly. If I rewrite or retype the notes the same day, I seem to remember it longer.
Well, I'm going to take my shower, so I think I've babbled long enough.
Cats in the Cradle
by Harry Chapin
A child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."
My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."
Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I'm proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?"
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."
I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."
I am hoping that this post gets read and passed around enough that the person responsible for this horrible act will be caught.
This is what we know so far.
This morning, Nov. 11, 2005, a co-worker of mine was traveling on Interstate 95 going south from St. Augustine. While he was coming up to the LPGA Blvd on-ramp in Holly Hill, he notices a vehicle accelerating onto the Interstate. To get onto I-95 from LPGA, you have to go in an almost complete circle, passing underneath LPGA once you are merging onto the Interstate.
My coworker was in the next lane over so he was next to the vehicle, not behind it. He notices the driver has his window down and he watches in horror as the driver drops a small cat or kitten out of the moving vehicle onto the Interstate. The fate of the cat or kitten is unknown at this time, but I've called the Humane Society so they can go look for the cat. It's a white and gray cat or kitten.
We don't have a tag number on the vehicle, but it was one of the newer and bigger pickup trucks and it was white. Something like a Ford F-250 instead of the F-150 or a comparable Dodge or other make. The man driving was white and was wearing a gray uniform that appeared to be a police uniform. The uniform had what appeared to be gold lettering on blue or black background. He had sergeant insignia on the uniform. The large white truck must be the man's personal vehicle.
What makes it even worse was that the Halifax Humane Society was just down the friggen' road! They are on LPGA and that's the road he was on prior to getting onto I-95.
Animal cruelty is bad enough, but the fact that this person may be a police officer is just unthinkable. I certainly don't want a person like this to be in a position of power and I think most people would agree. If he didn't want the cat or kitten, taking it to the Humane Society that was just down the damn road would have been so much more humane, even if they had to put the animal to sleep than speeding up onto a major highway and throwing the poor animal out the window. I want to find out who the person is and make sure this is reported to his superiors. They probably won't do a damn thing to him. But they ought to know just what type of person they have working under them. Maybe they'll have to do something if this generates enough bad publicity.
I will post more information as it becomes available. I wish I knew if the cat survived or not. But at this time, I don't. I hope this man doesn't have other pets because he should never own a pet. This is just downright cruel.
If anyone does have any other information, please let me know by leaving a comment here. Feel free to pass this post on to anyone else you know.
I know I've been neglecting my blog. I really haven't felt like writing, so I didn't. Maybe I'm getting bored with it. I don't know. I suppose everyone goes through these stages where they just don't feel like blogging.
Every time I sit down to write, I do other things instead. I open up a new entry window and it sits there, blank. I surf other blogs, I read email, I comment occasionally or just look at other stuff on the Internet. But I don't write and eventually I just close the new entry window and go on. Maybe it's because I feel I write about the same things over and over and that my life is just as boring to read about as it sometimes is living it. I dunno.
Once I get started writing, I can babble on incessantly about nothing, just like I'm doing right now. So I suppose I will give a bit of an update of what I've done the past few days, which isn't much really. I did write a journal entry since my last one on here, but I wrote it over on LiveJournal as friends only and wasn't even sure I wanted it to be read at all. But I left it. I don't feel like posting it here, even as Friends Only. I wrote it more to vent, anyhow, and I felt better after writing it, so it served its purpose.
FRIDAY
Bored at work still. It does seem that my company may not get bought out so maybe we'll still be around. I don't know and just like everyone else at work, I take it one day at a time. This is a slow time of the year anyhow. It was last year, so this isn't unusual.
The weather was beautiful and I just didn't want to be stuck indoors. I rode my motorcycle and as always, it made me feel a bit better.
Friday night, I didn't do anything. I guess I was tired because I ended up going to bed early.
SATURDAY
We had a tee time of 10:45 a.m. which is probably another reason I didn't go out Friday night. The weather had been so nice that I figured we'd go play some golf. Hubby's friend that moved to Melbourne was supposed to come up Friday night and go with us Saturday to play, but we got a phone call and he and his friend hooked up with some chicks and were going out somewhere else, so that was pretty much the end of that. He said he might be driving up later, but I knew when he said 'chicks' and 'party' that it would be a no go.
So we played 18 holes. I suck at golf, by the way. But I thought it would be fun to get outside anyhow. I also lost half my bag of balls in various water hazards along the way. Like I said, I suck at the game. If there is a water hazard around and it doesn't even have to be in the path to the green, rest assured my ball will find it.
After a full day on the links, I was pretty bushed. Naturally that's when we would have company come over. But after fighting for so long to keep my eyes open while they were here, I ended up going on to bed and leaving hubby to deal with them. I felt bad about it, though. I just couldn't stay awake. I kept thinking I'd catch my second wind, but I never did and I fell out pretty quickly once I was in bed.
SUNDAY
Hubby had to work during the day, so I did a bit of cleaning and watched football. My asthma was acting up for some reason too. I'm not sure why. I got out in the sun for a bit and even was getting in the pool, except the water was cold (at least for me). I got in part of the way but could never get my top half in. That's the worst part because cold water takes my breath away when I have to get my chest and shoulders in it. And having asthma doesn't help. Makes me wish we had a heater for the pool. They are expensive, though and no telling how much more the electric bill would be if we had one.
So I had a pretty lazy Sunday. I'm in the lead in fantasy football, but my opponent has Indianapolis for his defense and they are playing tonight. So far they have not done worse than 8 points all season and I need them to get 6 points or less for me to stay in the lead. So I'm hoping New England scores big time. I really need this win if I want to advance up to possibly make the playoffs. I think only top 4 go and the top 3 right now are pretty far ahead of everyone else.
I did manage to choose a few good players off the waiver wire last week. But this coming week I need to pick up another QB (I dropped Culpepper since he's out for the season) and another kicker. The kicker I'm not too worried about. There's a few out there that would do. On the QB, there isn't a whole lot out there I would want, but I got a couple of possibilities. As usual, I'll probably be sitting waiting for the commissioner to unlock the free agent pool and I'll be right on it. There's at least one other guy who does the same thing and the last two weeks I beat everyone out getting the free agents that everyone probably had their eye on. I guess it's one advantage of sitting around bored at work...
Sunday night another friend dropped by, just in time for dinner. He has a knack for that. He hung around for a bit and then left after we watched some Family Guy, American Dad and more Family Guy. I played a bit of poker online and won about 6 bucks. I haven't been winning as much online, so I sorta took a break from playing. I've been playing more live poker and enjoy that more, I think. Later on, we watched Squidbillies. That is one funny ass show.
TODAY
Really bored at work. Took some time today to clean off my golf clubs and write this entry. Tonight is my usual poker night, but I'm not sure if I'm going or not. I get the feeling hubby would rather I stayed home, but just won't come out and say it. He may be doing some work tonight, but I don't know yet for sure.
They aren't letting me register for classes until next Monday. That sucks. I hope I'm able to get the ones I need. I'm basically just needing to take required core education type courses which of course everyone else has to take and I have a feeling they fill up quick. They let the returning students register today and probably all this week and first time students and new transfer students register next week.
RANDOM
I have felt very lacking in energy and motivation lately. I'm not sure if I've been partially depressed or what, but it is a possibility. Sometimes I feel I'll never get to where I want to be. Sometimes it feels like a struggle to even maintain where I am. I feel like no matter what I do, it isn't a good enough effort as far as other people are concerned. I know I try hard at some things, but if others can't see that I am, then they seem to think I'm not trying at all. It gets very discouraging and sometimes I just feel completely overwhelmed. I think that there's no way in hell I'm going to remember to do everything I'm supposed to do and it's not because I don't want to, but because I do feel so overwhelmed at times and I have 20 million thoughts racing through my head which means that something is going to be forgotten. It really does get frustrating at times.
Well, I've babbled long enough, I think.