Sometimes you find angels when you least expect them

I'm aethist. you knew that right? I am and I appreciate not being hassled about it. But this week I have discovered I have 2 guardian angels. Both my minions are on vacation this week leaving me to mind the store 12 hours each day this week. I can't leave the premises and under no circumstance can I not show up. I have 2 temps and 1 super-part-time cashier. Well one of the temps is a total flake and has called in twice this week (that make 4 times total in her 3 weeks of employment.) Then my part time cashier fell and busted her ass at her other job and is out of commission for at the very least the rest of this week. So I'm panicked. Why? well cause I just had 110 boxes arrive from one carrier and another 42 from another carrier. I have to run the register, do all my managerial mundane daily duties and also do Corina's job etc. I don't know if I'm coming or going. my "breaks" have basically consisted of my shoving what ever food I could get in to my mouth as fast I could before someone else needs me. BUT one of my temps, Eric, totally stepped up to the plate and has gone above and beyond what his temp duties call for. Not to mention he's got a new born at home. He has stayed late, come in early and said yes with a smile to all of my crazy whims that I've had to throw on him just to keep my head above water. He and I knocked out all the boxes in less than 24 hours. Fabulous. Today he told me how much he had learned about doing his job more efficiently just by watching me the day before. Holy shit. Then as if that wasn't good enough, Amy (you remember Amy, my text manager that moved away and then moved back again) comes to my rescue each night this week buying and delivering me dinner and helping out at my store for the last 3 hours of the day all three days so far. She came from her store after working 8 hours and worked with me cause she knew how panicked and stressed I was. I can't even believe the generosity that Eric and Amy have shown me this week. Plus Jackie brought me lunch on Tuesday and Ramin is bringing me lunch tomorrow. Everyone stepped up when I needed them. There's so much wrong with this world but they managed to make me believe in the goodness of man, if only for a while until some shit head ruins it again. I'm gonna go to sleep now so I can wake up and do it all again. weeeee.

All is quiet on the western front

Everyone is out of town. I mean just about everybody. It is very quiet and really boring all by myself. I find myself staring off in to nothing with a blank look on my face and I realize hours have gone by and I haven't spoken to anyone or done anything. It's like a ghost town. Karin keeps me company, mostly on the phone and were it not for her I may have already gone mad. The other night I was so bored I started organized my things and I ran across the last journal I kept from when I was 18. I had kept many journals starting from age 10 or so until 18. My mom found it once and read it and I was so upset that she invaded my private thoughts that I stopped writing. She thought I was doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing and I wasn't but she didn't know that until after she had read it and by that point I was so pissed that I just didn't want anyone going in to my brain uninvited ever again. I've been blogging for 3 years now and this has been my journal sort of but no real personal stuff, other than my painful pee. I laughed out loud a bunch of times at my 18 years old self. I've changed so much and I haven't changed that much. I still bitch and moan about random stuff and in the same sarcastic manner as I ever did. It was also funny to see what mundane "problems" I had and what I wasted my time worrying about. I'm sure when I'm 38 I'll re-read my blog entries and laugh at myself again. I enjoyed my stroll down memory lane. But then it got me thinking about other stuff and pondering philosophical stuff like 'why are we here' and 'what's it all about' and so on. I heard this lady on the radio the other day talk about this 2 week vow of silence she took and how crazy hard it was at first and by the end she had learned to calm her mind and clear it of the unnecessary debris that was cluttering it. I need to do this. But I have a full time job that won't allow me to not speak. In August everyone and I mean everybody will be back and chaos and drama will ensue again. I don't know if I should enjoy my quiet time or relish in all the fun that will come back with all the vacationed folks I'm missing so much. see...always more questions and silly problems.

An open letter to APS and the City of Peoria

I'm a good person. I pay my taxes and obey all traffic laws. I don't drive drunk or sell drugs or spray paint public property. I'm an average girl just trying to keep my head above water during these grueling summer months. So it really chaps my hide when I get my electric bill for June and it's $238. I've NEVER had a bill that high before. Especially not for June. What the hell is it gonna look like in August? Apparently we used just over 2000Kwh in May. I think that is a big load of horse shit! We're two people living in a 1200 square foot home, for crying out loud. We are so careful. You don't even know. We don't ever turn our thermostat below 78 and we don't run anything that doesn't need to be run until after 9:00p.m. or until the weekend when it's "cheaper." So I call APS and I very nicely ask "how could this possibly be? we are extremely careful." She gave me all retard questions and I answered them all right and then I said the meter must be wrong. She said "no...they're not wrong....they're never wrong." Apparently I missed the notice of the 16% rate hike. I probably just tuned it out with it being like the 3rd rate hike in under 2 years. Now, I work in retail and I know what it's like to have angry customers take their frustrations out on innocent workers, hell half my blogs are about those assholes. But this will not stand:

Dear APS,

How do you bastards sleep at night? I mean really? You think it's okay to jack your prices up every time we aren't looking just because you can't stay in the black? that's really not my problem. how about you take the financial hit for a change instead of passing it on to us working stiffs who do our damdest to use electricity wisely! Do you even have a soul left? how about you renogiate your deal with the devil to at least make it cooler outside so we stand some sort of chance against you, you evil nuclear montsters!!!!! To quote a great teacher "You go to hell. You go to hell and you die!"

Sincerely,
Romanian Cracker

Furthermore, I get a day off with my sweety and it's 117 outside (at 1:00 today it was 111 in the shade on our back padio) so we laid low and had a nice nap on the couch, a lovely dinner and then decided to go watch fireworks at the Peoria Sports Complex. So I get online and see that they begin at 9:15. Great. That gives us plenty of time to drive out and find an empty space to sit. I love fireworks. They make me so happy. At 8:40 we leave and what do I see as I'm pulling out of my neighborhood? You guessed it. Peoria jumped the gun and was already blowing fireworks at 8:45. What the hell? My store hours are posted and I don't get to close even a minute early from what we promise we'll stay open. So where the hell does Peoria get off blowing their wads early? I don't care if all those families got to go and get their rug rats to bed. I pay my city taxes. Jesus Christ if you say you're not fireworking until 9:15 then don't freaking start fireworking until 9:15!!!

Dear City of Peoria,

Who died and gave you permission to put your show on 30 minutes early? I mean if I hadn't looked over in your damned direction I would've missed the whole thing. Do you enjoy making us look like fools pulling off the road and pulling out lawn chairs in the middle of the freaking desert like little jackasses in front of all our neighbors? You must because there you went and did it, you limey basatards. My mother didn't sell everything and pack us up to move to this country for me not to be able to enjoy my rights as an American citizen, you pricks. I get one freaking holiday with fireworks and I gotta watch them from an empty field next to my house and squint my eyes to see your pathetic excuse for fireworks from 6 miles away. You're lucky I didn't get bit by a motherfing scorpion cause god damn it would've been soooo on.

Sincerely,
Romanian Cracker
P.S. That was the lamest finale I ever saw! Your momma!

So I hope you had a great 4th of July....we did. God bless America.