Waiting

I’m in pain and waiting for a kidney stone to pass.

I’m hungry and waiting for lunch.

I’m sitting here hurting and hungry but mostly waiting for the FedEx driver.

What The ?!

Prescription drugs are part of our society. People can and will abuse prescription drugs. These are facts I understand. Why though can’t people be subtle about it? Overtime was offered at work recently so some of the night workers came in to work the extra hours. I witnessed some drug deals go down at work on the call center floor the other day.  I saw one co-worker say to another that her contact was coming in and wanted to know what he needed. It seems he needed some pain killers and various other pills. They negotiated a price, he paid her and she fired off a text message that contained the order. About an hour later a co-worker from the night shift came in for the overtime and stopped to drop off the pills. It looked like he had robbed a Skittles store. Money changed hands, pills changed hands and the deal was done. I thought that was the end of things but I was wrong. I watched him stop and talk to a few other co-workers making deals as he went.

I was one of three people to notice this. Want to know what the sad part is? None of us are management.

And She Was Gone

On Sunday my friend left work for the last time. I walked her out to her car so we could have our own goodbye. We hugged, she cried and I was man and didn’t let a single tear fall. It’s going to be a bitch when I do cry though. I’m really going to miss her.

Synthia said it best before she left: “We could always talk honestly to each other. We never used any bullshit.” She was right. Sometimes she would tell me I was being a fucking idiot and sometimes I would tell her the same thing. Any time we disagreed we would hear each other out, present our differing points of view and then agree to disagree. Along the way we each learned something.

Work isn’t going to be the same without her there. I must admit I’m a bit worried about my job performance now. All too often she served as an anchor for me.

For now I’m going to turn away because I think there is something in my eye.

This Sucks

This sucks. This really %*#*ing sucks. It’s another one of those things I’ve known about for a while now but haven’t written about.

As I’ve mentioned in the recent past it was around a year ago that I went bonkers. Most people didn’t know what to think and responded to me with anger. I can’t say that I blame them. There was one person though that saw what was going on. She didn’t speak up at first and I’m not sure if it was because she wasn’t sure what to say or because she thought I would just snap out of it. Either way, one day Synthia told me “Tony, you really need to get help. There is something wrong and you need help.” She has always been willing to listen to me when I needed to talk and I’ve tried to do the same for her. Hell, there are things I’ve told her I couldn’t tell my wife!

So what sucks? She’s moving! It’s time for her to be closer to her daughter so she needs to move. Although we’ll stay in touch, as much as people do when friends have to move away, it won’t be the same. This hurts and it really sucks.

It’s A Beautiful World

Just let the music take you away. It’s a journey you’ll enjoy.
I really enjoy this song and have even sampled a bit of it for one of my ring tones.

*CLICK*

Here’s something for those of you that are into that sort of thing.

Click Me!

Promotion

This morning a customer called. Before I could finish my introduction on the phone this guy is yelling about how long he has subscribed to the newspaper, about how he has never been late with a payment, about how he tells everybody how great the newspaper is, on and on and on. When he reached the end of his spiel he said “And I demand you give me a promotion!” What he meant was “Give me the newspaper at a cheaper rate than what you normally charge.”

I thought about it for a few seconds and said “Ok sir. Here’s the promotion I have for you . Instead of being a pain in the ass you are now a MAJOR pain in the ass! Congratulations major.” and hung up on him.

A Friend With Cancer II

My friend arrived at the hospital on the morning of April 21st ready for surgery but not feeling too well. The early tests before the surgery showed an elevated white blood cell count and she was running a fever. A little more work revealed she had a bladder infection and the surgery was called off. After seeing her primary care doctor the surgery was rescheduled for April 29th.

Tuesday, the 29th, came and she once again arrived at the hospital. Everything was good to go and the surgery took place. The doctors managed to complete both parts of the procedure in just over four hours instead the seven they had predicted. My wife and I felt that Wednesday our friend would be too out of it for visitors so we waited until Thursday to go see her. We stopped at the hospital on our way home from work and she was looking great! Well, great when you consider what she went through. We asked how she felt and she told us she felt well enough to go home. I didn’t think she was serious until I saw her bag was packed. She actually was ready to go home and was waiting for her son to get off work so he could come get her. We couldn’t see the sense in keeping her in the hospital when she could be at home in her own bed so we drove her home. Her daughter met us there and will be taking care of her for the next month.

She’s sore and has some difficulty moving around but she was thrilled to be out of the hospital and back in her own bedroom.

Shake A Tail Feather

Today’s post is a response to this post by Barrier Island Girl. When my wife and I went to the NW Florida Zoo on our anniversary last year we kept waiting for the white peacock to spread it’s tail feathers but it just didn’t happen while we were there. The photo I took is below. Follow the link above to see the photo Barrier Island Girl captured over the weekend.

Border Crossing In Pensacola

If you have ever spent any time in Pensacola, FL then you know we have two things in abundance:

• Churches
• Bums

Any directions given in Pensacola are bound to include “Go down this road until you come to a __________ church then turn left. At the _________ church take another left. Pass two ___________ churches and make a right.“

Sometimes you can even give/receive directions like “What you want to do is head down this road until you see the bum with the white bucket and black dog, that’s old Bob, and turn left there. About three blocks after you turn you’ll reach the bum camp, the sights and smell will make it obvious so roll up your windows, and make a right there. Head on straight until you pass __________ church and take the second left after it.“

I know this sounds crazy but it’s true. Come spend some time here, not just at the beach, and you’ll see what I mean. We have every kind of church and every kind of bum. If you’re local you may recognize the dancing bum at Brent and I-110 (look for the straw hat held out for the money) or the lady bum at Navy & 98 with her bucket or …… well, you get the idea. As far as churches go there is just no stopping them. They pop up like weeds! Most of them seem to have an elementary school program and they all advertise their school programs. You can see billboard after billboard about these programs one after the next going down the road. There is a rumor that the Pope came to town one year and while flying saw all of the churches and remarked to a bishop with him “Wow! And I thought I was dedicated. These people are nuts!“

Driving around town the other day I noticed something different. Between the bums and the churches I saw Mexican restaurants. I don’t mean the occasional Taco Bell or even the Taco Rock (local thing) but I mean full on Mexican restaurants. These things are popping up almost as fast as the churches! I know I sound crazy but if you’re in town see if you can go five blocks without coming across one. You may have to look closely but they’re there. Remember the bread store on Michigan Ave next to Hungry Howie’s? It’s a Mexican Restaurant. Of course it’s no bigger than a closet but it’s there. The condemned Barnhill’s next to Arby’s that used to be a Hardee’s? It’s a Mexican restaurant. And yes, they have fixed the sign so it no longer says “Comeing soon” and “Deener buffet.” The Mexican grocery store North of West Florida Hospital? It now has a rolling Mexican Lunch Wagon.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Mexican food. It’s just surprising to see so many suddenly pop up. This is even a good sign for the local economy. I would rather have a Mexican restaurant open than another empty store front.