It is what it is.

I've been real lazy about posting lately. I don't have any excuses and I don't make any apologies.

So it turns out that my losses from the trip could be recovered under insurance, but we were advised not to do it for a number of reasons. An early Christmas gift from my mom replaced the jacket, so I'm just out on the camera. I'll replace it eventually.

Christmas started off with some mixed emotions. As most of my (two?) readers know, my kids now live in Germany and it sucks that they aren't here for the holidays. I miss them, and I talked to them on the phone, but I was determined not to let it ruin my Christmas, and it didn't. It's not my fault that they are over there, and as much as I wish I could, I can't change the fact that they are there. I just let them know that they were missed, as I always do, and then we talked about their cool new toys hehe..

I think I'm going back to Michigan in a few days to visit some family and just get out of the general area for a while. I need some new motivation to start off the new year.

P.S.

Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, or whatever else you might celebrate. Hope it was enjoyable!

Mark's series of unfortunate events..

I'm back from my trip and I have to admit that it was bittersweet. You'll realize why when you read the rest of the post.

Early Thursday morning I met up with my Dad and Uncle and headed up north. The trip up is pretty uneventful, it takes 4 1/2 hours, and I slept a majority of the time.

We arrived at our cabin around noon and unpacked a few necessary things (we brought a lot of food with us). The cabin that we stayed in was outstanding. Our party had 8 men and we all slept comfortably in seperate beds or futons. The interior is all wood, the tile floors are heated, and it included a full kitchen. It also had a full deck overlooking a huge lake. On the grounds there was also a bar and a resturaunt. The cabin only cost $99/night. Divided by 8 people, it was a steal.

There wasn't enough snow to ride directly from our cabins. I'd say there was between 6-8 inches on the ground, but the trails weren't groomed yet and the swamps weren't completely frozen. The great thing about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the lake effect snowbelts. We only had to drive 20 miles north with our trailors to get to an area that had over a foot of snow and usually rode in areas that had between 1 and 2 1/2 feet of snow. We rode the remainder of the day Thursday and were back at the cabins by 8pm. We had a chicken dinner that we cooked up at the cabin.

Friday morning we woke up around 7am and we were riding snowmobiles by 9am. We rode all day Friday and had an absolute blast. No breakdowns or problems of any kind.. that is, until late Friday night/early Saturday morning. We finished riding around 8pm again and had a Ham dinner then proceeded to drink the night away. I went to a local bar with my Dad and a couple of the other guys and it was great! We were in a tiny, tiny hole-in-the-wall bar, but there were at least 50 people in there and there was a DJ over in the corner.

After a 6 pack of beer and 10 or 11 Whiskey-Sour's it was bar time and I went to grab my new jacket off the coat rack as the place was clearing out. My jacket was gone. Someone either mistakenly grabbed it in a drunken daze, or just plain ripped me off. I lost a Columbia jacket, my digital camera, a box of contact lenses, and my snowmobile registration. I even found out where an afterbar party was being held, and went there looking for it, but it's gone.

We checked back with the bar a couple of times on Saturday, but nobody had turned it in. I was pretty bummed out as you might imagine. Not only did I lose my jacket, but I lost the pictures I wanted to share with you. Luckily my uncle had a spare jacket, so I didn't miss out on any riding. The trails were great again and we came back a little earlier, around 5pm to eat. Since the plan was to leave somewhat early on Sunday morning, 4 of us decided to go on one last ride. We headed out from the cabin (it had snowed a couple of inches, so we could ride the shoulder of the road until we got to good trails), and went for a ride. When we left the cabin I must not have completely zipped my pocket because I found out about half way through the trip that my cell phone was missing! This was also the point where we started having problems with my snowmobile and it needed to be towed by another. I was the only one getting a good signal all weekend, so I was the only one carrying a phone but now we couldn't arrange for a truck to come pick us up, so I had to ride double for about an hour, which on today's snowmobiles isn't the most comfortable thing to do.

So, I have no pictures to share with you unfortunately. I spent about $300 on my trip, and lost about $600 worth of items on the trip. The only bright spot so far is that it looks like I'll be able to get my losses covered under our home owners policy. I still can't replace the pictures though..

Oh, yeah my top speed for the weekend was 115mph on an unplowed seasonal rode. The top speed for our group was by my Uncle, with 133mph!

Cookin the books.

With some creative accounting that doesn't involve a loan shark, a pawn shop, or a cash advance store, I'm happy to report my trip is back on.

Ok, it really isn't all that creative. I just bucked up, saved some pennies and hustled a few extra dollars where I could, plus I've got a tidy little cash job I'm working at the moment.

So, this is probably my last post until Monday or Tuesday. I'll be gone from Thursday morning until Sunday night. Pictures to follow!

Screaming won't help.

The job.

So about 3 weeks ago I accepted a position working in the warehouse for a local Heating and Air Conditioning company. Things were going well and I was enjoying the work. At times it was physically challanging work, but I can't beat the feeling I get when I know I've put in an honest and hard earned day. It's a much more satisfying feeling than what I used to get working for a couple of Fortune 500 companies, sitting in a cubicle.

My job consists of putting received items away, pulling items from inventory for the Installers, delivering materials to various jobsites, and other general warehouse activites. I had one semi minor/major screw up on day 4, where I mistakenly only pulled half of the required items for a job and the error wasn't discovered until the most inconvenient time possible. I received a minor ass-chewing for that screw up, and vowed not to let it happen again. In hindsight, I think I lost the support of my only coworker at this moment, but I didn't yet know it.

Fast forward to today. It's been snowing all day, the roads are horrible, and I've been out in it all day long, dodging crazy drivers and potential accidents. I arrived back at the shop at 2P.M. and walked inside:

Coworker: (with a smile on his face, and an upbeat tone) I've got bad news Mark, we're gonna let you go.

Me: Let me go? What? for the day?

Coworker: No, I mean for good.

Me:

Coworker:

Me:

Coworker:

Me: Um, ok. How come?

Coworker: It's just not working out. The installers are upset that their deliveries have been incomplete and/or getting the wrong items.

Me: This is the first I've heard of this? When did this come about?

Needless to say I was blindsided with this one. I've never heard this complaint about my work, and the only complaint I've ever heard was directily related to my day 4 snafu. If fact, the installers have gone out of their way to compliment my work. It turns out Coworker was actually my Boss, and the one who I thought was my Boss was actually my one step higher on the foodchain. My Boss never made mention of this "offense" before.

Tomorrow I have to turn in some supplies. More answered will be learned, no matter how uncomfortable things end up getting.

Who terminates an employee after 3 weeks who shows devotion to the company by arriving early (usually an hour prior to shift) and stays late, does every task asked of him, as quickly and as accurately as possible? Things aren't adding up in the semi-white north, and I think I've become the designated fall guy for something.

Scratch my snowmobile trip next week. Won't be able to afford it.

Scratch the laptop I was just about to buy.

Christmas is probably going to be pretty lean, from the giving standpoint.