Okay, I’m having problems all over. This is the second attempt to post this blog so let’s see how it goes. Got a nice message from Myr the first time telling me the site was updating.

Let me begin by apologizing. This blog is going to be a bit of me just complaining. Feel free to read other things. In the meantime if you have been looking to see what I am up to I do say I’m sorry. Things here have been a bit out of whack.

My father is now home from his vacation. The only problem seems to be the dog has now imprinted on me. He might be home but she is running to see and will only seemingly listen now to me. All I need for him to say is the dog is mine so he is getting a new one and I will be moving into a new place. The room will have a nice padded walls and my new jacket will have long white sleeves that tie in the back, if you catch my drift.

Now of course comes the time I describe the joys of my job. I started off today by having to be up before dawn to go to a morning meeting. It wasn’t a store meeting, it was a department meeting. Why? Because instead of reinforcing the employees positively, they feel by having meeting after meeting while screaming we are dropping down will be a good way to get those in the department to perform. After all threatening your job works, right?? At least at first till people begin to tune you out. So there I was at work bright and early then had three hours to waste between my meeting and my scheduled shift. I went home with plans of catching a nap but that never happened.

Then when I went back in it was confirmed that the two weeks I had put in for vacation was denied. This wasn’t the first time I had been denied. I’ve been told before that too many put in for this week or that. You were last so we had to deny you. I’m all about being fair but that is how I ended up without a vacation last year.

To be honest usually I don’t care about vacations. Every year you accumulate 40 hours of vacation time to use when and as you would like. Presently I have one hundred and twenty one hours. Do the math. Right. I haven’t had a vacation now in three years. Normally even when I take time off it doesn’t mean I plan to do anything. I can be extremely lazy. I mean, time off is supposed to be used to recharge your batteries. Some people lay on the beach. Me, I would prefer to curl up on the couch and plow through the books I bought and haven’t had time to read, or maybe just sit down and write for a while. However, this time was going to be something different for me. Two solid weeks off with pay and I had plans. Originally I was going to spend a few days from the first week going back up to Connecticut to see friends. I have not been able to see them as I would like so this would give me free range to check in on them and I had made some loose plans. Okay, so if I lost the first week it would have been a pain but I wouldn’t have complained too much.

The second week was sort of special. Yes, I’ll admit it. I have been one of those chatting with someone from the internet. It has been going on since May. You finally reach the point where you just want to sit down and talk to someone face to face. See if you click and if you can be friends. We had hoped to spend three days together solidly down in Pennsylvania or even taking a trip to DC. Those plans now of course are also gone.

Why? Well I can thank my company and indirectly my boss. My boss I blame for not posting the changes. I’ve worked at this company for six years. They have always blocked out from the first full week in November to the middle of February and told the employees in my department there would be no vacations at all. They joys of working retail, and in plain English, they suck. However you get use to it. That was why I took the last two weeks of October off. It would give me the time to relax, have fun, and recharge before the holiday bull crap began. Of course no one bothered to tell me that this year the company had announced the new blackout dates would be from October 24th to February 15^th. That is right, Ladies and Gentleman, my vacation time was requested in the blackout dates and I never knew it so they were instantly denied. To add insult to injury I was told I could request two days off together to do what I needed to. So basically I could get like a Wednesday and Thursday off to drive six to eight hours down to see him, maybe have dinner, talk and find a hotel room where I could crash over night. Then get up, find him, maybe have breakfast and begin the six to eight hour drive to get home so I could be at work on Friday morning. Thanks, but no thanks.

I’ve put in for another vacation time for the 8^th to the 15^th of October. Who knows if they will accept it or not? Me, I’m just tired of it all. Even if I get this new time off I won’t be able to do as I wanted or see who I had planned because this won’t work for any of them. I’m thrilled, so it will probably be just me home alone with Dad.

I’ll simply say I miss the days when I taught school. You had a set schedule, you were off for holidays, and you had summers off too if you wanted them. You knew what you were paid for, and meetings were done when it was convenient for everyone. Instead I work in retail hell and wonder if I will ever finish up.

I hope your day and life is going better dear reader. Sorry if you read this all. I am sort of tired and burnt, so please forgive me.