Wall Street & $18 Billion Bonuses

There are so many things that are disturbing to me right now but this is downright unbelievable.

There are suicides and murder-suicides happening at an increased rate in our country simply because people cannot afford to exist. And at the same time our government is giving financial institutions billions upon billions of dollars in a bailout, the big-wigs of those corporations are getting paid huge bonuses? WTF?! Why on earth wasn't this covered when the bailout was proposed? Um, hello...if your company is getting money from the government then there should be NO BONUSES! The taxpayers are bailing their asses out and they are shoving it into their pockets. The people receiving these bonuses do not even need them. Their salaries are so high to begin with that the bonuses mearly pad their retirement savings. This is going on while there are so many people in this country struggling to feed and house their families, nevermind trying to save for retirement. Nice! The government even had to step in and keep Citigroup from taking possession of a new $50 million business jet while they were receiving their bailout. Have you ever heard of flying coach you pompous asses???

I for one would love to know where the hell all the common sense went!

A little weird

Recently I wrote "Taking One's Life" . Today I found out how he killed himself. It was raw. Shocking. I won't share. They think there may have been some drug use involved that lead to him taking his life. In addition to a history of depression. It has been on my mind all day.

I have been working today and keep seeing his name all over the projects I am working on. Notes he wrote in the system. His name in pulldown menus within the project mgmt system as an assignee or project manager. Maybe my boss is not ready to delete him as a user . . .

I am taking over his work now. It is hard to believe he is gone. I keep refering to his notes he gave me the first day about his projects in case I ever needed to work on them. Well, the time has come. I am pretty sure back then he did not give me the notes for this reason. In my line of business people can come and go. So it was probably for when he wasn't with the company anymore or in an emergency if he was on vacation or something.

It is all a little weird and it makes me sad.

My thoughts on the Inauguration

So I am listening to the Bob Greene/Oprah webcast and she keeps talking about January 20th and drinking. I am not easily catching on to what she is refering to. She said it many times but never said the event. She assumed everyone listening knew what she was talking about. I eventually figured it out after some thought and especially after she said she expected all her viewers to raise a glass with her. But at first I was sorta thinking she had some personal event or something that she mentioned already and I missed it.

I started to think, yes, I have always known the president was sworn into office the January following the election but I don't recall ever actually watching it. In fact, I don't recall my parents ever watching it when I was a kid. Maybe recaps on the news but not the actual live event. Probably because they were working . . .

So then I am listening to Martha Stewart's radio show "Living Today" and a caller asks what she should make for her Inauguration dinner she is hosting. A dinner? Who has a dinner for an inauguration? Then, Martha proceeded to explain her plans to serve her guests the same meal Abraham Lincoln had at his inaugural dinner. Seriously? I mean, I was questioning having a dinner let alone following a specific meal from another historical inauguration . . .

So I mention this to my husband. He explains that Barack actually took the train from Chicago to DC like Lincoln did and madeall the same stops like Lincoln. He is also getting sworn in with Lincoln's bible. So I ask, "What is with the whole Lincoln thing?"

Well, Saucy, my husband explains. "He freed the slaves, remember?"

DING! Fries are done. I get it.

Here is what I want to know. The whole black and liberal population are doing a jig over Barack taking office but I want to know where the hell all the Lincoln dinners were when other people of color took some very important roles in our government. Like, oh, say SUPREME COURT JUSTICE!

I am proud our country can elect a person of color. But it is not like there weren't people before him that acheived great positions. I know, I know. They paved the way. But if I were them I would be mad as hell that no one paid as much attention to their accomplisments. In fact, I think it a disgrace that black people discredit Condelezza Rice and Colin Powell in saying they are too "white" and don't count. The hell they don't!

I also want to know who the hell is paying for this massive celebration? Like I said before I have never watched an inauguration. Even for someone I voted for. Since when do we have a rock concert with multiple famous artists? Is this where my tax dollars are going? I thought we were in a recession? Just in case, I inquired with my husband if he remembers such elaborate doings and he says "not that I can recall."

I only hope that Barack delivers during his presidency. I wish him luck. Because he is going to need it. There are a lot of people expecting big things from him.

And I will close with my prediction: A woman of color will deliver a baby during the inauguration tomorrow and name it Barack.

Oprah/Bob Greene Webcast

So I listened to the webcast that Oprah and Bob Greene held the other night. I took notes and thought i would share them with you.

1. Rate yourself in the following areas to see where you life is not going so hot and that may be what is causing your weight gain. Give each area a + or -. Once you rate each area, focus on making each area a +.

Health
Career
Family
Finance
Fitness
Friendships/Relationships
Intimacy/Romance
Fun/Recreation

2. Eat Breakfast! And make it healthy. Suggested a Smoothie using 1% milk. Egg white omelet with veggies or cereal with no added sugar.

3. The reason you may be overweight just may be because you are not committing to yourself. You feel and make yourself worthy to others, but not to yourself. As they say on an airplane, "Put your own oxygen mask on first." Bob Greene suggests taking care of yourself first!

4. Another reason you may be overweight is you have a deficit of pleasure in your life. Not just sexual pleasure but also just pleasure in life. Do you and your partner simply do things together that are practical - like grocery shopping, taking care of the kids and running errands? Or do you make time to have fun, enjoy life, relax, talk, etc.

5. For women to experience long term results and change their metabolism, they MUST exercise 30 mins. a day 5 days a week. Work at a level where it is difficult to hold a conversation with someone but not so hard you can't speak.

6. Make a daily appointment to exercise and keep that appt. like you would for anything else. Consider it as important as picking your kids up at school.

7. 6 foods to avoid for 1st month of getting back on track to weight loss and being healthy. Gradually add one in at a time after first month.

a. Alcohol - will slow your metabolism

b. Soda - regular and diet - diet sodas and artifical sweetners can lead to metabolic syndrome

c. Fried foods and trans fat - read labels for trans fats.

d. White bread - eat wheat or whole grain.

e. 2% milk and yogurt - 1% milk ok.

8. You can subscribe to Bob Greene's Best Life website for 30 days free by going to BestLifePromo.com

GOOD LUCK!

A facebook high school reunion

Well, I joined Facebook and hooked up with some old high school girls. I won't even say women because they don't deserve such a title.

They have not changed one iota! They are still high school girls stuck in 10th grade.

They are acting catty, cutting up each other, saying, "Hey Bitches" as a greeting and so on. The part that gets me is I somehow got included in an email conversation on FB about someone else we went to school with. It was between 4 girls who were in a click back in high school and very snotty and rude. Why I got included was a fluke and I have sat back and watched a continuing conversation about this other person that is very childish and mean. It reminds me of the all the movies and talk of "Mean Girls". We are talking people who are in their mid-thirties doing this!

And then, they have continued this conversation making fun of someone who is not on Facebook but somehow came up in the conversation. Someone who used to be part of their group that they have since come to dislike.

It is sad, pathetic and sickening. Grow up "bitches"!

Fireworks

I absolutely LOVE fireworks...the real ones. The personal version that you can buy at some roadside tent or some warehouse with an obnoxious "Fireworks" sign bigger than my house...yeah, don't like those so much. You see, I am from the north and personal fireworks were illegal where I lived and in my opinion, for very good reason. Now I live in the south and it's a whole different story. I don't mind them at all when they are used on the actual holiday. I expect them to keep my small children awake or even wake them from a restful sleep if it's a holiday. But here we are, 10 days into the new year and my hillbilly neighbors still see the need to set them off. For some reason, they are under the impression that we live out in the stix even though that is so not the case. We live in an actual subdivion with a pool, tennis courts and hefty HOA dues. I mean, COME ON...even though it's fun for you to be standing out in your driveway setting them off, it's NOT FUN for your neighbors who are having to listen to it. And if you have neighbors with small children, at least have the sense to realize that they take naps and have early bed times. Both of my children are sick and have been woken up either during their naps or after they've gone to bed by these same hillbillies three different times since the new year. Oh how fun it is to live near them!

Wiley Willis

Wow.

I'm not even going to go into all the details about this. All you have to do is Google Wiley Willis and you can read all about it. The bottom line is he arrested a woman, Angela Garbarino, for drunk driving, she was uncooperative during booking, and he beat the hell out of her. You can see him roughing her up on the police video, he turns off the camera and when he turns it back on she's lying in a pool of her own blood in the middle of the room. He claims she fell down while trying to leave the room. Um, yeah...she's nowhere near the door...nice try though. Oh, and she was handcuffed the whole time he beat her.

Mr. Willis, didn't anyone ever teach you not to hit a woman? Especially one who is handcuffed??? You need some serious anger management classes. It's ok to beat the hell out of someone because they won't sit down? Because they want to make a phone call? Because they try to leave the room? Why wasn't a female police officer present during all of this?

You know what Mr. Willis got for doing what he did? Fired. Yep, that's it...fired. No charges have been brought against him. He assaulted her! It sure as hell looked like it could be considered attempted murder. And this sorry excuse for a human being has the head of his union, Michael Carter, defending his actions. And his attorney, Eron Brainard, defending his actions. Chief Henry Whitehorn is basically blowing it off. DA Paul Carmouche needs to get his head out of his ass and prosecute him.

"What we find to be unreasonable was the behavior of the suspect from the point she came in the room" is what Shreveport police union president Michael Carter had to say. Well no kidding...she was DRUNK!!! Show me someone who is drunk that behaves reasonably. Give me a break! The whole damn point is that a drunk can't drive a car, can't walk in a straight line, can't touch their nose, can't recite the alphabet...and you expect them to be reasonable and do what they're told? Newsflash moron...they are not physically capable of following directions when they're drunk!

"There was not enough (evidence) to pursue criminal charges" is what Chief Whitehorn had to say. Oh really??? That is a complete load of BS and you know it!!! If I were alone in a room with a man and came out looking like that, the hell you wouldn't arrest him! If he weren't a cop, he would have been arrested immediately.

By no means am I defending this woman. In fact...Angela Garbarino is an idiot. You're an adult, if you want to get that wasted, keep your pathetic self at home. And DON'T DRIVE DRUNK!!! You may have been beaten to a pulp by a cop but at least you didn't kill anyone with your MAJOR LAPSE IN JUDGEMENT. You have that to be thankful for.

Mr. Willis, Mr. Carter, Mr. Brainard, Mr. Whitehorn and Mr. Carmouche, I hope that your mothers, your wives, your daughters and your grand-daughters never, ever look at you the same again. A couple of you still have the opportunity to do the right thing. Shame on you Mr. Willis. You sir, should be rotting in prison. You are a disgrace. And something equally disturbing about you is the fact that you have no conscience...you're actually contesting your dismissal! You aren't even being a man and owning up to your actions. You are a very sad human being.

I know, this is all over the blogs but I had to comment about it anyway. It's just that OUTRAGEOUS to me! And this just reiterates what you were saying about unions Saucy!

Taking one's life

The other day my boss called me at home. He had been trying to track me down for a few days. We played phone tag. I kept thinking why doesn't he just email me or leave a message about what he wants. I mean we rarely talk on the phone unless it is important info about a project I am working on.

When he finally reached me he said, "You may have heard or read about this already, but J passed away last week." I was in shock. I asked how and did he have health issue? There was a long pause and then a deep sigh. He said, "I am not sure you want to know." I guessed.

He committed suicide.

I am still trying to get my head around this news. J was not someone I knew very well. I have known him about a year. We work for the same company, but not in the same office. I visited his office to be trained by him. After that our only interaction was via email or telephone. He was such a upbeat, cheerful person. I enjoyed our conversations which usually would drag on and surpass their original intent. What little I know about him I find this news disturbing and shocking. Why?

I didn't ask how he did it or why. Not even sure my boss knows the answers to those questions.

Was he depressed?
Did his girlfriend break up with him?
Did he do it accidentally?
Was he on drugs?
Did he do something severly bad and knew he would get caught and be in big trouble?

Suicide is something I can't grasp. I guess my mind would never let me get to that point.

I can count on one hand how many people I personally know or have met that have committed suicide. A lot less than the Clintons . . .