Cold and Dreary and Monday

It rained and rained and rained yesterday and last night. At least it didn't snow...

Snow and the Elderly
I called my parents today to give them grief about the snow. The rain we got in Atlanta on Sunday went on up the coast and turned into snow in Virginia. My mom hates snow, we always tease her about crawling under the bed until the snow melts. I called them and Mom answered the phone, just sounding horrible. Seems she's been sick since 2am, her body purging from both ends. Dad, too, is ill, and their kitty is pissed off as she's got no one to cater to her. The cat bothered my mom so much, she crawled out of bed and let the cat out, let her in, let her out again. The kitty won't drink the water in the bowl in the house, and since all the water outside is frozen, mom has to put the water bowl outside on the porch, where the cat drinks. Can you say prima donna?

When it Rains..
In the past few weeks, I've had to purchase a new telephone answering machine as mine died. It was actually killed by fresh flowers being dumped over (by guess who?? ) and the water killed the machine. So I went out and purchased a new machine. Not top of the line, but more lower middle. Remember, I don't have much money to spend. So now my microwave is dying. It's been in Death throws for awhile, the turntable hasn't worked for a long time, and the some of the lights for the numbers are burnt out (Is it 2 or 6 minutes???). Lately, I've had problems with the circuit breaker being tripped when I try to heat my dinner. The fridge, computer and a lamp are all on the same circuit, and it's been fine until recently. So instead of calling an electrician, I'll replace the ailing microwave. I need a new one anyway, so lets hope that's the problem. If you hear of a house burning down in Decatur, it wasn't the microwave...

In-store Meals Development and Marketing
I spent the last weekend cooking Sweet Orange Shrimp, 4 and 5 times a day. I can almost make the dish in my dreams. It did taste good, it was easy to do, I sold lots of product. I've decided my new title is 'In-store Meals Development and Marketing'. Hey, it works. I have to coordinate with all the departments to be sure the product has been ordered, any advance preparation has been done and all product is on display. I have to make sure I have enough support product and coordinate with the Assistant Manager to ensure inventory levels are maintained correctly, then I have to prepare, display and sell the product, adhearing to all state, federal and local regulations. Because all the recipes and product are decided on a chain level (you can get the same recipe in Florida, Georgia or Tennessee), I don't have to find the recipe or special order all the ingredients. The sales of these items can be tracked, so my success can be measured by dollar volume. I know I was directly responsible for selling at least 10 lbs of shrimp, the people tasted what I was cooking and went to the case near me and bought all the ingredients.
So I'm going to start watching Emeril and Rachel Ray to include some of their trademarks into my schtick. I'll be 'Bam'-ing the chili next week, making it really 'Yumo'. It's ashame I can't be the Galloping Gourmet and drink all the cooking wine.

Job Hunting
Even though I really enjoy what I'm doing now, I need to pay my bills. I'm off tonite (I hope) to the Roswell United Methodist Church for their career Networking meeting. They meet twice monthly for speakers, networking and resume critique. Tomorrow is the International Institute of Business Analyst meeting, if I can get in. I missed the deadline to RSVP, but I'll see what I can accomplish.

Presendential Candidates
Looks like, no matter what happens, we'll have a Historic election this year. I think it's high time we had a female or minority president. One of my friends has the opinion that there have been no successful women CEO's due to a womans' nature (this friend is a woman herself), but what about Golda Meier, Margaret Thatcher, Condi Rice, Benazeer Bhuto (of India), to mention a few? They may not have been popular, but I don't recall any countries disolving due to their leadership. Lots of people have mentioned that Hillary Clinton is evil. I'm not sure what this is based on except her 'underhanded' tactics when dealing with past issues. But was she really underhanded, or was she underhanded for a woman? (Can you say Double Standard?) Some say she had a hand in the offing of Vince Foster, but she never manufactured proof to invade a country and kill thousands of young men and women, did she?

Sorry, BB.

I don't see anything wrong with Hillary, except that she's a powerful woman. I think Barack Obama's(D-IL) biggest issue is his inexperience. Maybe next election. But let's not overlook John Edwards from North Carolina (not the TV psychic!) And on the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani, former mayor or NYC and John McCain (R-AZ). But who it the Libertarian candidate?

I don't think I could go with the GOP unless they presented a more moderate candidate. Let's hope the Family Christian Values thing isn't the Big Issue. I hate people who legislate morality. I'm all for balancing the budget, ending the war in Iraq, better education, alternate energy source research, more reasonable medical coverage, stem cell research (to a degree. Let's not create embryo's specifically to destroy them for the benefit of a few) and the Bill of Rights. I think the government should be out of my business: my mail, what I check out from the library, my phone calls, my sex-life, my medical choice, my refridgerator (if I want to buy beer on Sunday, let me do it!). So does that make me a Liberal, Conservative, or a Fence-sitter? I'd describe myself as moderatly liberal. Or would that be Libertarian??

More to come...
As things happen, I'll be posting. Thanks for taking the time to read. You're opinions are welcome but if you have to start calling me names, don't bother, I won't read them. As my Dad says 'Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one.'