Just Friends

We are "just friends"
I hate that phrase!
You have no idea
how I really feel.

When you smile at me
My heart skips a beat....
When I hear your voice
I search for you.

My head tells me
"STOP being a fool"
My heart tells me
"Love unconditionally"
Which one do I listen to?
How do I go on being...
Just Friends?

300?!?!

Well, as some of you know from reading this, I work in a call center. What some of you might not know is that I deal with banks all day long. One would assume, that the people who call me know what it is that they are "selling". So, when I got a phone call asking for a desk register, I assumed that the bank rep knew what it was they were ordering. For those of you who do not know, a register, is the "book" that you log your transactions in. Date, check #, amount, etc., so that you can keep a running balance. Now a desk register is bigger, as it is made for the 3 to a page checks. It is about 20 pages, each page has about 26 lines front & back.
So I was very specific when I verified that the customer wanted to order the register, NOT the checks. Yes, the register was what was asked for.
So my next question is, how many would you like to order? Well, imagine my shock when the reply came back as "300".
"Excuse me?, Did you mean 3?"
"No, 300"
"O.K., they are $ (insert price here) each"
"We want to waive the charges" They can do that on some types of accounts.
"That would be well over $3000 we would not be able to waive that"
"Let me verify how many the client wants......(insert hold music).....can we get 2?"
"Of course, I would be more than happy to place that order for you. Just for future reference, do you know what it is that you are ordering for the customer?"
"Ummm, no."
*sigh*
One of my co-workers laughs at me, saying that I create too much stress. I say, no, I just get frustrated because I have high expectations of others knowing how to do their job. I am trained, and do what I am supposed to and I expect others to know how to do their jobs as well. Is that REALLY asking too much? I try to put myself in the shoes of the customer, I empathize, try NOT to cold transfer the customer so they are not lost in the automated system for hours, I educate and explain..... things that I would appreciate if I was the one calling in. So how do these people get these jobs? Jobs where they have to deal with customers face to face daily. What is the screening process? And how can I get a job that seems like it would require skills, and a bit of common sense, but obviously doesn't require much of either?

Survive

Somewhere along the way I got lost
Between here and yesterday
My signals crossed trying to distinguish
Between the future and the past
Wondering just where I’ll be and how long it will last.
If I jump into the future what will I see?
Marriage, kids, or just a lonely me?
If I stay in the past
Would I live in pain?
Holding onto memories
and going insane.
Or shall I live in my dreams?
Where I strive on fantasy,
Only to be crushed when faced with reality.
What shall I do?
How shall I live?
Will my dreams come true?
How much will I have to give up to survive?

Change

Well my mom finally got her dream job. Massage Therapist in Corpus Christi. (any beach would of done) After 12 years of being a massage therapist, struggling with making ends meet, living with her children and relying on other to help support her, she FINALLY has the opportunity of her life. She will be moving to Corpus Feb. 1, 2009. My son and I will be moving into a smaller apartment next weekend, and he is thrilled about not having to live w/ Nana anymore. It will just be until September 1st, then I am going back to school full time to get my degree, and we will be moving in with my sister for a few months. Finally @ 37 it seems that my life is going to take shape and become something that I can be proud of.
Change, is good, but scary isn't it? Don't get me wrong, I have lived on my own a few times, but it has always scared me, and I doomed it, making me HAVE to move in with family. BUT this time, it will be different. I will be making a life change.
I have been reflecting upon my life and looking back I can see such huge mistakes. At the time of course I felt like each choice I made was the right one. Each argument I had I felt, at the time that I was in the right.
WOW! Was I ever wrong. Friendships that I let slip away due to my own selfishness, or stubbornness. Jobs that I left due to my now apparent laziness. Money that I threw away after silly things. Who knew that @ almost 38, I would finally grow up?
Change is good..... Reflections are healthy.... Life is scary....
*sigh*

" I want to be a hobo"

BAH!! That is what I wanted to tell my 8 year old son when he told me "I want to be a hobo". We were discussing (o.k. so it was more like him crying and me telling him) why reading was important, and we were both trying to just get his homework done. Reading, the one subject that makes me break out in a cold sweat and my son curl up in a ball on the floor. So I ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Ergo the hobo comment. I should of known. I have asked that question too many times. So instead of saying BAH! I chuckle and say "Well too bad, because Mommy is not going to let you follow THAT dream. Pick something else."

So how do you motivate, without choking, your child to read. I do not want to scar him for the future and associate reading with me yelling and punishing, and him crying and getting frustrated. I need to find some creative constructive way to get him motivated to read. Perhaps I will mute his T.V. and make him read the closed captions that run along the bottom of the T.V., or just take away the T.V. altogether. Maybe some type of reward system. For every book you read you get half an hour of T.V. time. But do I really want to bribe him? I read to him, and he "pretends" to be interested. So anyone out there have any ideas?

New Year

So we are all supposed to be all about Change and improvement. I mean those Electoral Colleges dudes gave us a big ole helpin of change by deciding that we needed to have someone with basically NO EXPERIENCE in much of anything over seeing the BIG RED BUTTON, and answering the red phone.
For myself, I have resolved to quit smoking, and not sweat the small stuff. So I bought my last pack of cigarettes Friday, and "yeah me!" I have not bought another one. Maybe if I wasn't a smoker I would not of broken my ankle. I am sure that there is a joke in there somewhere, but I don't know where. I broke my ankle 2 weeks ago @ work, walking down some stairs, on my way to smoke my lunch. While that probably sounds funny, the best part was having to crawl up 3 sets of stairs on my hands and knees because the person who finally came out to help me (I had been sitting there crying like a baby for 10 mins) is pregnant and could not help me up the stairs.
Anyway, I think that I got side tracked there.....
So no more smoking, and not sweating the small stuff. Sounds simple right? Well perhaps I should not of tried to tackle BOTH of these @ the same time. Seriously, I work in a call center, I do not always get the brightest people on the other end of the phone. And while I want to tell them to by a vowel, and get a clue (that is if they can afford it these days) I vowed to smile and be happy. "No I can not cancel your order, it has already shipped" "So you canceled it right?" "Well, if by cancel you mean, it shipped out and is on it's way to you then yes, idiot" is what I'd like to say. I was pissy enough that once I actually responded with " Unfortunalty there is no way for me to chase down the US Postal Truck and say, 'Hey mind if I get that package back from you? The customer changed their mind.' " I heard nothing for a few seconds then "OH! It already shipped!"
I am pretty sure that I have vented enough for one night, but no worries (my motto for '09) I will be back for your amusement another day. I am thinking that I can spew about tail gaters for a bit.