The Chief!

My dad, the Chief, is not feeling well. He has been in and out of the hospital several times this week. It seems to be the case that his meds are making him sick. He takes cumadin to thin his blood to make his blood pressure normal. But the cumadin worked excessivley and thinned his blood too much. Now we have to take him to a Nursing Home for a week while the Doctors try out new medicines for him. He is just one mile away in this Nursing Home, so Mom and I visit him every day. He survived WWII fighting Hitler, and he survived 40 years of fighting fires, so I hope he will survive this latest challenge.

In other news, Mario, I have to reinvent my job scene once again. My boss couldn't pay us and I did not get a paycheck this last friday. I don't work for free. It's called work because you get paid for it. If it was fun, we would call it play and do it for free. So once again I am online to search for a career type job this time, I am not going to waste my time searching for just any job. Maybe I ought to give up my career in printing and go back to school to study electronics. That is what I would really like to do. May the Force be with you!

Happy Father's Day!

Okay, so maybe I'm a bit premature on this greeting. But Dad's day is just around the corner and my Dad might not make it to receive his greeting. He's 87 now and not in the best of health. It seems that the "Chief" will leave us soon, not too soon I hope, but the inevitable end will come as sure as "death and taxes." I call him "Dad" and "Chief" because even though he was not my father, he was the man who raised me when I was a foster child and he was Fire Chief in the three cities Northshore area for 40 years. He is my hero of my heart and I don't like to see him grow so old and feeble. Mom refuses to put him in a nursing home and maybe that is what keeps him alive. Average life expectancy in a nursing home is two years! My own father passed away a year and a half ago and I never knew him, I only met him once when I was 30. So to all you Dad's out there, I wish you to have a happy holiday--and mow the lawn on your day off because I hate to do it myself!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy mom's day to all you mom's and wanna be moms. My own mom and I celebrated with a movie tonight that was more suited for Halloween, but she enjoyed the movie anyway. My mom is Virginia Jarvis, the great grandniece of Anna Jarvis who is the founder of Mother's Day. I can come by late for Christmas, forget Mom's birthday, but woe be unto me if I dare to forget Mother's Day! We all have moms and maybe it is like being a child again, but I love to watch movies with my mom. Except now I bring mom a beer to help her relax while we watch the movie. Life is good, drink it up, get some more beer, soak it up, relax-Monday is coming soon enough! I'll talk to ya later!

A new job already!!!

I did not have to search for months and weeks to find this job, Hooray! I went downtown Seattle for a job interview yesterday with United Reprographics and was immediately hired! Wow! What luck, but I guess it is really my print, photocopy, and bindery skills that impressed them. It is a young company with 17 other employees, but they put out twice the work of their nearest competitor who has 25 employees. Being a young company they have started out with the newest machines and the latest techniques for improved quality and efficiency. I will start out in bindery, which I know best, but I will train for their new machines in copy. They have a large format color copier that I have used before and they were glad that I already know how to use this machine and many others. I guess I have a pretty good resume if the owner's decided to hire me before even interviewing me. I come across as a dedicated and cheerful employee in interviews, so I wasn't too suprised that they wanted to hire me. Today was just orientation and I have my usual paperwork to fill out for a new job; you know, the social security page, W-2 form and employee handbook to read and sign. The primary owner/manager wanted to hire me right away to get me started when they are busy and not only need help, but so I can experience the rush of the work flow during a busy period. It was EASY, I've done this so many times with so many different companies that I could practically do it with my eyes closed. No more 1000 pound rolls of paper falling off the forklift, the heavyiest roll of paper they have is for the large format color plotter and only weighs in at about 50 pounds. It's downtown Seattle though, and I plan on taking the bus instead of driving since Seattle is known as the worst city in the nation for parking space. The commute is only two busses and only takes 50 minutes, which ain't bad, I can listen to my Russian language lessons while on the bus. I feel that this will be a better company to work for than IKON or Kinko's. Yes, I will be eligible for benefit after 30 days and I need new glasses, so I feel less pay and greater benefits is worth this job change. This kind of job is easy work, but they keep you busy, busy, busy! Damn I'm glad I quit my last job and found this one.

I have bad luck with jobs!

I'm going to look for a new job! I know, I know, I just got this one, but I need a safer job. The pressman was moving a 1000 pound roll of paper and dropped it off the forklift. It rolled over my foot and I think it broke my big toe! I feel no pain and I think that is because it damaged a nerve. Labor and Industries will pay me for the month that it takes to recover, but I'm not going back to that place for work ever again. That 1000 pound roll of paper could have killed me! I am desperate for a decent job that will pay me a living wage, without the dangers of killing me. Nor do I want to work at a back-breaking job that requires a lot of overtime. I'm not a young man anymore and I want to be treated with respect on the job. Is that too much to ask? Ela, how are you? I haven't heard from you in a while. Mario, are we still on for pizza this summer? Maggs, I miss you and your friends, I guess that is my fault for not stopping by because I was busy with work. I should not have to kill myself with work in order to make a living! Talk to me Nidhi!

Sonny Shine