Silent Auction Update

Howdy! 

First, I said I would update ya'all on the benefit where I provided a vase for the silent auction.  I dropped by event thinking I would have a couple of drinks, maybe bid on a few things... little did I know...

The organizer of the event saw me and said... "Good!  You're here!"  and set me to work... I spent most of the evening working the room selling raffle tickets.  I personally raised about 140 bucks before I had to leave to get sleep... it was a Thursday and I have to work on Friday morning.   So, being slightly obnoxious and having some PR experience does come in handy.

 Also featured at the event were a few of the local Drag Performers who were also working the room.  If you've never been to a drag show, generally the 'girls' get up, talk, fling some tude around, then lip sych a song while collecting tips from the crowd... on the night in question, all the tips went into a bucket and were donated to the cause. 

I don't know exactly how much my vase brought in... but the total for the event was $2040 towards the food pantry.  And the food pantry people are very good and ensuring that each and every dollar donated is stretched to the max.  They'll be repeating this event quarterly, and they've asked if I can help do some PR for it.  I have every intention of doing so...

Started work yesterday with a drive out job... here's the difference.  A direct job is when I pick something up here and deliver it 130 miles.  A drive out is when I drive 130 miles to pick up something and then drive it back... so, yesterday morning I drove to Wichita Falls to get something that was terribly important and bring it back. 

Now, as a courier, I don't always know exactly what's in those boxes.  There's very good reason for this... unless it's haz mat or dangerous, it really doesn't matter.  I get the box, I take it where it goes.  No big deal.  Also... there's security reasons... for instance, if I'm picking up a lockbox full of cash, jewelry, etc... and they're only paying me 25 bucks to deliver it... well... they'd just rather not let me know about it for some reason...  Eyeballs they'll tell me about, simply because there's very little chance a driver is going to disappear with them.  And I'm sure they like to watch some drivers turn green. 

So I ran up to Wichita Falls, get to the pick up and watched them pack the box.  Two cans of paint thinner.  Which prompts the response... "REALLY?"  I mean... are they honestly going to tell me there's no paint thinner in Dallas/ Fort Worth?  Did anybody think to check with the local Home Depot?  Lowes?  Wal-Mart for Christ's sake?  I mean, for the amount your paying me... I'd be perfectly willing to drop by any of those places, buy the blasted paint thinner and you can pay me back when I get there.

On the other hand... if you wanna pay me a decent sum of cash to drive your paint thinner all over the state of Texas, I guess I can do it... I've certainly done sillier things in my life. 

Regardless... I used enough gas that I had to call dispatch and arrange for an advance on the paycheck, since I used up my gas budget for the next two days... 

And as grateful as I am that I have a job... I soooooo want a new one...

Rainbows and Eyeballs...

Well, the title probably sounds far more interesting than it was when it happened... basically, I had a really bad day at work.  Only 4 deliveries all day... I'm used to doing a dozen.  True, they were good deliveries in that they paid well, but still, there weren't enough of them. 

As for the eyeballs... well, I delivered eyes today.  There's a vision lab here in the metroplex, if I said the name you'd probably all recognise it, but I'm not comfortable giving out client information... anyway, at various times I have had to deliver eyes to them.  Sometimes they're pig eyes from the abattoir where the pigs are butchered... I understand that they extract the corneas and prepare them for human implant.  Last week I delivered a box of 70 to them.  I have also picked up human eyes from the airport and ran them out there... It's not really as creepy as it sounds.  Well, maybe it is, but I'm just over it... anyway... today I went to the lab and picked up a few eyes to deliver to one of the local medical schools. 

I'm pretty sure they were swine again, as if you are shipping human parts there are usually haz mat certificates and such... Don't know why human eyes would be haz mat and pig eyes wouldn't, but then I've learned to just go with the flow and not worry about it too much...

So... as I'm driving down the road on what was really a dingy kind of day, with a box of disembodied eyeballs in the seat beside me, lo and behold, I see a rainbow in front of me... hence... eyeballs and rainbows. 

And in many ways... that seems to be how my life has been lately... kinda gorey and weird with strange rays of light shining through. 

I work very hard at being grateful.  I know I shouldn't gripe about my job when unemployment is reaching record numbers and yes I know I'm struggling financially, but here in my county of Texas, approximately 17% of the population is on food stamps... which is a record number.  And, according to the news tonight, a large group of the food stamp people are employed, but due to pay cuts and such, they just aren't able to make ends meet anymore.  It's depressing if I think about it too much. 

So I have a little sign I made to put on my dashboard that says simply... "Be Grateful"   The strange thing is... it works.  It keeps my mood up.  When I pull up to a delivery, I look at it, I am grateful, and I enjoy my customers more.  It seems to be changing my attitude.  I'm being a little more cheerful, and that makes the customers easier to deal with. 

Really, I'm just babbling along here. 

Don't know what my point is. 

So... no sooner was I ready to get a new blog started (for the flea market) than my computer developed scizophrenia and by the time that was figured out, I couldn't get on the internet... UGH...

Anyway, it seems to be all right now.  But six days without the internet is not something I wanna go through again. 

Regardless, I'm putting off the Flea Market blog for the moment.  There's a very good reason for this... I'm being actively recruited to manage another flea market... and there's another job offer too... things are starting to look up around here.  Not sure about anything yet though. 

Well, the flea market is talking to me about maybe starting a blog for them... It wouldn't be too extensive, probably a weekly post on what's new at the store, maybe pics of the Christmas parties and such... What y'all think? 

Just for clarification...

I apologised for the political rant because I just don't do them... It's been my experience that a Republican and a Democrat can argue all day every day for a solid week, and neither will ever change their mind about anything, despite logic, fisticuffs and tornadoes... (I know this because I've seen them do it, and I still don't know how that tornado was the democrats fault, but there's somebody out there who swears that's the case.)  So, in my opionion, political rants are pretty much useless.

Everybody is convinced they are correct and everybody else is wrong. We seem to come to our views as a result of our individual life experience. And that's OK.


When I made this blog it was about some of my things at the flea market. 

Then it segued  into cactus with the occasional gripe about whatever had crawled up my nose that day... or whatever I happened to see on the road when I was driving that I decided was interesting enough to talk about. 

I have, or rather had, an unwritten rule about talking about politics and religion in that these discussions are divisive and, for the reasons stated above, largely useless.  And the blogs I read about politics primarily seem to be some schmuck stringing together a few "facts" that are dubious at best to prove their point so they can say... "told you so, na na na na nah na"  Not all of them, but a large amount of them.  There's some good ones too...

But... I guess the political rant can come under the heading of whatever crawled up my nose that day, so I guess I can allow myself the occasional tantrum. 

One thing I do feel very strongly about, both by politics and religion, is that we are all here to help each other.  That's why, when I heard that they were having a silent auction to support the AIDS Outreach Nutrition Center, I grabbed this from the flea market stall and donated it...

It's Royal Haegar by Royal Hickman... (BTW... Royal Hickman was one of the designers for Haegar Pottery, and that's where the "Royal" in "Royal Haegar" pottery came from... it's basically a line of better pieces)  These vases were produced from 1938 to 1944 and the picture does not do the piece justice... There is no way a photograph can capture the colors... Actually, they've never been able to adequately reproduce Mr. Hickmans glazes.  Retail price for the vase is in the 100 dollar range, but no matter what it brings in the auction, it will go to feed men, women and children who are struggling.  Most of them are struggling because their medications, without which they'd die, cost about 1200 a month, and insurance companies are often discontinuing their coverage. 

I'll give an update on how much it brought it after the auction on November 17th. 

I've worked in a lot of bars in my life.  One thing I have learned... no matter how many Vodka /7"s you've had, you should always avoid discussions about politics and religion.  Another thing I've learned is that it's easy to avoid them if I confine myself to vodka/7's, but the minute tequilla is involved... all bets are off...

I have strong politcal beliefs... and I'm an army brat who was raised to believe that if you don't take part in the system then you have no right to bitch about it... so I vote.  I was also taught that the voting booth is confidential, and that you have no obligation to tell ANYONE who you voted for. 

I also go to church, but I know people from all backgrounds and religions.  Among my friends I know Athiests, Pagans, Wiccans, Islamics, Buddists, as well as the full spectrum of Christians.   I don't try to convert them... they don't try to convert me.  We get along just fine, If I'm absolutely honest, the church I go to is non-denominational, and several of our members have one or more of those belief systems in their past.  I'm pretty sure that there are very few of our members who found their way to our church on a smoothly paved road.  That's part of our strength. 

The Occupy movement is interesting.  I'm not saying that I agree with it, and I certainly have no intention of pitching a tent in the park... but I find it fascinating to watch. 

I've been keeping track of the local movements... there's one in Dallas and one in Fort Worth... the latter being smaller but also closer, I've probably paid more attention to it.  I also, through their facebook pages mostly, keep track of some of the other movements through the country. 

I agree that there are serious problems with the economy. 

My personal experience is this... there is nothing I'd like better than to get a new job.  I'm over qualified and over experienced to be a courier.  I've been applying for jobs at a rate of at least 2 or 3 a week for over a year.  People want to hire me.  Part-time with no benefits.  And no... they can't give me regular hours or a schedule, because that would mean I'd be able to get another part time job, and they don't want that.  So I'm stuck driving 5 days a week, and working at the flea market one day a week.  At least for the moment. 

And I'm doing better than many people I know. 

I personally know people who have a bachelors degree and are working at McDonalds. 

I know a single mother with a college degree in psychology who is working as a bartender. 

I know someone who has paid his insurance for over 15 years, only to have it cancelled when he was diagnosed with a life threatening condition. 

I know so many of these stories... that they're sadly typical.

Somethings gotta change.  Maybe the Occupy movement will be some sort of catalyst for that.  Maybe it won't, maybe it's just a way for people to express their frustration. 

I do know that I don't wanna hear about any marines who survived two tours of duty in Iraq, getting their skull cracked open with tear gas canisters, as happened in Oakland. 

I know that if Groups can drive in from out of state to stand by the road screaming "God Hates Fags" at people, then the residents of the state should have the right to stand by the road with a sign when they get off work at the warehouse. 

So... I'm watching the movement.  I'll see what happens. 

And I apologise for going off on a political rant. 

and it blooms again...

This is the second bloom from my Stapelia gigantea... tomorrow might actually be more impressive, as I think the other four buds on the plant will all open at once then.. 

It's one of my favorite plants, not only for the impressive flowers, but for the sheer ease of growing the thing.  I yank it inside in the winter and ignore it.  Then I put it outside in the summer... and ignore it, apart from it getting some water occasionally.

And, every fall, it pretty consistently puts these flowers out.  Not bad, huh?  Now, I'm not getting as many blooms as normal, we had a killer summer.  But I didn't fare as well as normal this summer either... so what more can I ask, right? 

The plant carries the common name of Carrion flower.  This is due to the fact that it does smell like rotting meat.  There are some people who prefer the name of Starfish flower.  These are the kind of people who try to change the name of Datura Inoxia from Devil Apple to Angel Trumpet.  I find these renamings silly.  Listen... you can call this plant "sweetheart with a bow on top" but it doesn't change the fact that it looks unearthly, and it smells like something dead.  Carrion flower is what I've always called it and always will. 

Just Saying...

almost a month!

Wow!  How did that happen? 

well, a week of it I can account for... I spent it house-sitting at a friends house in Burlesson... actually, dog sitting with two of the stupidest canines on the face of the planet... I will redily admit that Cocker Spaniels are not my favorite breed of dog.  They're kinda like the Anna Nicole Smiths of the dog world... pretty, and they do what they do... But lets face it, nobody ever expected Shakespeare from Anna Nicole.  

And these two were no exception... I'd been sleeping there for 3 nights, and feeding them every morning and evening... and every time I came in from work they had no bloody idea who I was... finally, on the fourth day, they seemed to realize that this was the guy with food... about the sixth day they decided that I was definitely not there to kill them and I might actually be pretty nice... oh well.

The rest is just me being busy I guess.  As Grandma would say... "Runnin' round like a chicken with it's head cut off..."

Other than panicky dogs, the house sitting thing was actually a relief.  There's something about being in a house that you're familiar with, but isn't yours, that just relaxes you.  And the fact that the only computer out there is a laptop with a tiny little keyboard that my manpaws couldn't manage gave me a break from lots of things. 

Furthermore... it was also an excuse to not do things that I didn't wish to do but was somehow obligated to do... What?  Oh I'd love to watch a 50 year old movie at church with a bunch of 10 year olds while eating cheese sandwiches and drinking Kool-aid.. Really, there's nothing I'd like more.  But you see... I have to drive all the way to Burlesson to house sit.  Can't let those sweet puppies starve now can I?  Although, Burlesson is only 15 miles from the church, so that was pushing it... but you get the idea...