The Wheels on the Bus....

go round and round...all through the town. And boy, am I glad they do!

Did you ever wonder, how in the world, in this day and age, does a couple survive without a vehicle. Yeah, I wondered that too, until a year ago, when Dave and I decided to bite the bullet and get rid of our car.

When I became disabled in May of 2010, and we decided I needed to apply for disability, we also had to find a way to cut some expenses so we could live on Dave's disability until mine comes through. The biggest expense we had was the car. Could we make do without it? Luckily we live in a state and a city where mass transit is pretty normal.

Since I had no insurance, I had no way of getting the powerchair that I needed to get around. (Walking any distance is impossible for me....long story...). There was a man at the church that sponsors our Bible study whose wife had passed away, and he donated this to me.

What a blessing that was. Now I can zip around the apartment complex, and I can go up to 3 miles in my neighborhood. Soooo....I can go to the grocery store, the drug store, and the Plaza where all the fun stuff is...shopping and movies and restaurants.

Dave gets around on this one, and he can go 15 miles. He has the super-whammy jazzed up model.

So ok...shopping and entertainment is covered. For other things, that go farther away from home, we rely on the Senior and Disabled bus from Riverside Transit Authority. They have a chair lift and will take us anywhere in the city for $2 each way. The only downside is we have to schedule our bus 2 days in advance of need. But that takes us to the mall or the doctor's office or anywhere else in the city that is too far to travel to by powerchair.

It's been a year since we gave up our car. There have been some compromises we've had to make, and we've had to give up some of our independence and some spontenaety, We can no longer travel like we used to, but since it's not safe for either of us to drive anymore, that's ok. If we want to go bad enough, there's always Amtrak.

Plus we save the $375 a month lease payment, $120 a month insurance, $400+ per year registration, $30 per month AAA, and the $4.00 a gallon gasoline. Not to mention anything like oil changes, tires and cute little cat stickers for the backend.

Yep, it can  be done. And not only do we save money, we're a little bit 'green'.

OOPS!!..I did it again!!!

I know I said I'd never do it again, but I did...I GOT INKED AGAIN!!
If you remember my first soiree into the world of tattooing (see OH MY GARSH WE GOT INKED 8/16/11) it was pretty painful and I really didn't think I'd do anymore. But....it's kinda like childbirth...by the time you're ready for another one, you forget how much the first one hurt.
Besides...my friend had the cutest little bracelet on her that said
<3 BABY GIRL <3 in the prettiest script. I'd been looking for some way to have my grandson's names on me, and that was it...a bracelet with Jacob's and Adam's initials and the little hearts.
So off we went today to Twilight Fantasy to get my bracelet.We'd gone last week and gotten a quote and went over what I wanted with Craig, my artist. He's a very nice guy and made me feel very welcome and comfortable,

That first little sting reminded me why I waited 55 years to do this. YOW!!!

But it didn't last very long.

Before I knew it, Craig was done and I had my cute little bracelet for my boys.

And all it took was one Aleve, two sonsabitches and one Holy Shit!!

The "Change"

Remember when All In The Family was on? During one season, Edith was going through 'the change of life' and Archie wanted no part of it. He finally looked at her and told her..."Ok...now CHANGE already!"....Oh if it were that easy.

I am now on a first name basis with the 7 Dwarfs of Menopause:

There should be 9. They left out Leaky and Weepy.

The thing is...I shouldn't even be discussing this...much less living it. Due to my PCOS (See....."Let's Call This My PSA" from June 16, 2011), when I got fixed in 1995, I got totally fixed. None of the plumbing left at all. Definitely no troublemaking ovaries to cause this bunch to come try to run my life now. My friend Donna said I've taken being 'green' to new levels with my free-ranging hormones.

In case you haven't had the 'pleasure' of their company yet, allow me to introduce you.

Itchy. I have found myself scratching places I didn't even know I had. You'd think I had poison ivy. Medicated powder doesn't help. Lotion doesn't help. Vagisil just laughs at the itch. The only thing that helps is an antihistamine pill. And y'all KNOW how I hate to take pills. I'm beginning to understand why dogs scoot on the carpet.

Sweaty used to show up just when I'd done something worth sweating over, like housework or sex. Now all I have to do is think about exerting myself and you'd think I'd run a marathon.

Bloaty. I'm not really sure when Bloaty shows up. It's hard to tell anymore, since my waistline took a hike about 10 years ago.

Sleepy. Always. I could stay in bed around the clock if I didn't have to get up and feed the cats. I can't seem to get enough sleep lately. It's been 2 years since I was able to watch a movie from beginning to end. I sit down on the couch, put my feet up, and before the opening credits are done, I'm out like a light. For hours.

Leaky is the one who really likes to make trouble. God forbid I sneeze or cough unprepared anymore. I thought once I got 'fixed', I'd never have to ride the cotton pony again. Boy was I wrong...Still riding, just not a pony anymore. More like an old nag.

Weepy. Gosh, what a drama queen she is! She cries over everything. She cries watching kittens play. She cries over Extreme Home Makeover. She cries over the final rose and she cries for all the American Idol contestants. She is getting annoying.

Bitchy. This is the one who scares me the most. I find myself saying things to people that I never would have said before she came to live with me. Things that a nice Southern girl just wouldn't dream of saying. Sometimes I don't even like me. If I'm not supposed to be 'changing' then who am I going to blame HER on??

Poor Dave. Pray for him.

It's Only Work If You Hate It

As I'm going through the process to retire, I've been thinking lately about some of
the jobs I've held and the bosses I've known. Wanna join me for a little stroll down memory lane?

My first job was at Kentucky FRIED Chicken. We wore those cute little red and white striped dresses with red aprons. My friend Margaret got me the job. I only worked there for a few weeks til I got fired. WHY, you say? I was fired because I "didn't have enough bounce in my walk". I told my boss as I was leaving that it was pretty hard to bounce when you had an inch of chicken fat on your shoes cause nobody would mop the nasty floor. Looking back, I think it was because I was kinda flat-chested.

My next job was working with my mother at a family owned department store. It was ok. I got a good discount, and got to pick from all the new clothes before they hit the racks. I was only making about $1.65 an hour, so as soon as something else came along, I jumped on it.

Unfortunately the something else was working under my brother at an injection molding company making all kinds of little plastic doodads, and toxic flea killing discs for dogs. He got me on the 4pm til midnight shift, which was ok at first cause I got paid 10cents an  hour extra for the night shift...a whole $1.90 an hour!! That lasted about 3 weeks.

My next job was really my first 'grown-up' job. I worked for Thrifty Drugs as a cashier. That was a pretty cool job. You could smoke behind the counter, as long as you kept your ashtray where the customers couldn't see it. I worked in the tobacco department. Sunday was our busy day. As soon as noon rolled around (due to the Sunday Blue laws) we started selling cases of Coors beer. Back then you could buy a case of beer and a carton of smokes, pay with a $10 bill, and get change back.

My next job was at SuperX drugs, another retail place. I remember when my boss interviewed me, he asked all kinds of questions that you couldn't get away with now. He even asked me if I fooled around.I never knew if he was serious or not.
I  became head cashier and head bookkeeper and got my first taste of pharmacy work there. I used to stand behind the pharmacy counter and type labels on a typewriter for the pharmacist. He wasn't supposed to let anyone do that, so if anyone came in who looked official, I had to scoot out of there real quick!

After SuperX, I had the best job ever, for 12 years....I was a stay-home mom to my two sons. The pay stunk but the benefits were great.

Once the boys were in school all day, it was time for me to start earning some real money again. We lived around the corner from the mail order pharmacy for AARP. I wanted to work there so bad. I went in and  asked for an application, but I was told that they were not hiring. So instead, I took a job at Sam's Club. It was supposed to be as a cashier, but I wound up lifting 100lb bags of rice, which I think was the beginning of my back problems. Two days after I took that job, the manager of AARP called me and asked if I was still looking. I told him I had already taken another position (not knowing that Sam's Club = Hell) After another two days in Hell, I called him and told him I was available if he was still interested in me. He said to come in, he interviewed me, and hired me on the spot. I became a part-time order taker. Within 6 months, I was a full time trainer, and a year later, I became supervisor of the RX Verification department. I had 6 phone techs, 6 phone pharmacists, and two file clerks. We processed about 600 prescriptions a day for the 5 state region, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. I loved that job for 8 years. I would still be there, if they hadn't closed down the Texas plant and moved it to Pennsylvania. Idiots.

When AARP closed, they held a job fair for us. I was the only supervisor who was recruited by Eckerd Drug. They created a position for me. Pharmacy Assistant Manager. I was a full store assistant manager, who could open and close the store, but I also was in charge of the pharmacies in 3 other stores. Scheduling, compliance, hiring techs, that sort of thing. That evolved into working out of the district office in all 33 stores. Then THAT evolved into becoming the secretary to the district manager. I did that for 3 years until I moved to California in July of 2003.

Oh California....the Silicon Valley.....I tried for months to find a job, but seems I got there just in time for the bust. No job for me. So when my friend Lisa told me to come to Southern California and stay with her, find work there, I did. I went to work as a temp for a company that stored and shipped auto parts for Isuzu, in April of 2004.I took phone calls from Isuzu dealers who ordered parts from us. In November of 04 I was hired full time and in August 05 I was promoted to office manager.I really liked that job until we got a new PDC manager. She thought she was just IT. I always wondered who she slept with to get the job. She was a micro manager of the worst kind. She decided that she needed to be copied on every email sent, and she had to give permission for every fax sent. She made it impossible for me to do my job. She cut my staff in half, and then punished me if I jumped in to help them get the work out. (Although it was ok for her to go kill time scanning boxes...a no-brainer job).
This woman actually went into my email, when I had a day off, and re-organized it to be like hers...got rid of all my flags and folders....I couldn't find a thing after that.
I got sick with pneumonia in October of 06, right after we moved into Limpdik Park. I was in the hospital for 4 days and home for 4 weeks. The only time she called was the day after I went into the hospital, because she wanted to make sure I was really sick, and once more to see when I was coming back.No card...no flowers...no nothing.
Then two weeks after I came back....8 days before Christmas....she fired me. WHY???...Because I didn't have stripes painted on the warehouse floor for UPS and Central and the other carriers. HELLO>....you have a warehouse manager.....Never mind the fact that I completed 5 training manuals in one year, when my two predecessors couldn't complete one. I fully believe there is a special place in Hell for this woman. She will get her payback someday, and I doubt she'll be able to sleep her way out of it.

Thus began my downward slide into temp jobs...Honda recall customer service....Well's Fargo home mortgage (the worst job ever)....and now here I am....seeing various doctors to confirm that I'm now too deaf to do my job anymore. Hopefully, my working days are over. I have had enough.