Tuesday, September 30, 2003  

I had to go to some retarded "Road Show" today for work. My district manager specifically requested that i go... which i thought would be fine, because you know you get paid to sit there and listen. OMG. It was so dang boring i can't even tell you. First of all, I would have arrived right on time, but TWICE i took the wrong frontage road (there were 3 choices and instead of taking the one it said on the directions i kept thinking it was the wrong one,) which set me back a half hour. I was soooooooooo mad! I didn't want to go then, knowing i'd have to walk in, late.

The area is under major construction so whatever.

I get there thinking i could just quietly walk in the back and sit down. NOOOOOO. The door to get in is practically in the front of the stupid room! So i take the very first seat i find right by the door at these ridiculous little skinny long tables and set my jacket on the floor. I was thinking OK i know everyone saw me but there was a video playing so i thought i would be inconspicuous at least a little bit. And then...

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

as i pull up my chair which gets caught on the old loose carpet, my right knee bangs into the leg of this stupid table and it makes this incredibly LOUD NOISE and knocks over a bunch of glasses and free coffee mugs they were giving away and stuff that was on the table OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. I'm like "Oh my gosh i'm so sorry" i said to my table as the whole room of like 100 people turns and GLARES at me some with very angry looks... OMG i was dying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA omg.

It was one of the most excruciatingly boring things i have ever had to go and do... to listen to these vendors talk about their stupid printers or their stupid furniture or their stupid whatever and the IDIOTS who work for Office Max kept asking more STUPID questions... just so they could get raffle tickets to get entered into drawings to win free desks and stuff. Albeit yeah, they gave away a digital camera, a chair, a desk, a huge multifunction printer... blah blah that was cool ( and i got some free stuff too but nothing$$) i'm like SHUT UP WITH YOUR STUPID QUESTIONS SO WE CAN GO HOME!!! Oh i can't tell you how irritating it was to sit there from 8:30-4 blah blah blah omg.

Then i didn't feel so bad because in the course of the day i think i saw someone bang their knee or knock something off their tables about 4 times (different people) and i wasn't so embarrassed anymore. When my sales manager saw me later during break i think he wanted to know why i was so late... but i didn't tell him that i kept taking the wrong exits and then got lost turning around in traffic and whatever. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

On a lighter note, nah i don't have one.

   [ posted  @ 5:04 PM | ]

Happy

Birthday to

meeeeeeeeeee!

New version KT 2.8

(get it?)

   [ posted  @ 4:00 PM | ]

Spent most of yesterday playing guitar, learning new songs. Some of the guys at church taught me some variations on E, C#m, and B chords so now that's like in every song i play. Edge (jr. high church) was a complete hoot today bc i was the sole worship leader. I conned this girl Joanna to come up there and sing with me and she did terrific... i think she was mesmerized to the point of wanting to do it again! All the sr. high is on retreat and the choir and adult worship teams are also gone on retreat this weekend so there was no one to back me up. As i was up there going thru those songs it kind of occured to me that i like leading by myself. (More control?)

The teens there are real fond of Chris Tomlin (where i come from at River of Life, all music seemed to originate from Hillsongs) and so we did
Forever
Famous One
I Lift my eyes up (vineyard version with doot doo's)
We Fall Down
and Eagles Wings (had to get one hillsongs in there!)

They really liked my version of I Lift My Eyes up... they never heard the doot do's before and they were belting it out by the time we were done. And they even got my joke that the "doot do" words are scriptural because the bible says "do unto others..." hahaha!

Add to that my endless singing about cheese curds and i think everyone has me pegged for being clinically insane (which i probably am.)

Then i just hung around and let the little guys plunk on my guitar (remind me to change the battery in my tuner, it be dead). Then we got kicked out bc the Vikings game (puuuuuke) was starting in the powerhouse and we had to get out of the commons.

I didn't stay for the game.

   [ posted  @ 3:55 PM | ]

Every man for himself.

So i went to work on my day off to help clean and fix stuff that is overdue for recalled mechandise, and i just got a lecture and got yelled at for the messes everyone else made. I told someone that just because it's left in a cart in the back by someone else who doesn't want to throw it out or put it away, how does it suddenly become my responsibility? So if someone leaves a dead body in one of the carts is it my job to call the mortician and order the casket and plan the funeral so the dead person can have a proper burial? Someday i'll learn to quit my codependant ways and quit cleaning up after the irresponsibility of others. Losers.

   [ posted  @ 12:28 PM | ]

Did you know that i sing about Cheese Curds a lot? I do.

It's my day off. Guess what i'm doing today!

Going to work!

Got up early and made my breakfast (cheerios, 2% milk and sugar) and coffeeeeeeee and in my haughtiness am going in plain clothes to clean up the $%^&$ hole that our receiving bay has become in the last two weeks when i wasn't able to be back there. I am not too mad about it because this means a lot of overtime. I literally cannot and willnot work back there when it is in such a mess. You can barely walk anywhere and my desk is piled with about two or three feet of just garbage, crap, junk, poo, and other such niceties. Our boss gets back from vacation on Tuesday. I wouldn't want him to see that mess for anything.

Mind you, i'm the only person on staff who commits one second of overtime to help around there... Mike always leaves early and well i could go on and on how i'm better than everyone but we already knew that.

I love everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pastor Craig never called about what songs or people i'm going to have to work with tomorrow. Our sr. highers are on a retreat, who make up 90 percent of the band, and i may be doing a solo up there with maybe one jr. higher singing by my side for worship. That would still be fun. As long as we have a sound man. They have a two 24 channel sound boards plus a "little" 18 channel one i think, and all this mixing equipment along with computers and other gadgets back in the sound booth and i don't think i could figure out how to work it even if i only had to open two channels. Well i think i know where the key is to turn the whole thing on, but anyways. We still would need someone to run powerpoint.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

   [ posted  @ 6:49 AM | ]

   [ posted  @ 7:56 PM | ]

Holy Crapazoid. Dude today proved to me once and for all that a woman can do anything a man can do ( and probably better ). Want to hear about OfficeMax? No? Too bad.

So last night we had our annual FLOOR CARE people come. When this happens, everything (and i mean -everthing-) gets taken off the floor so it can be stripped cleaned and waxed or whatever. Kind of like what happens at a beauty salon to women who don't enjoy their own facial hair. When this happens, a manager and an associate have to work the overnight to babysit the floor cleaning people and help move stuff. So ALL the floor pallets, displays, corregated boxes, anything that goes on the floor that isn't literally bolted down gets either put up on the registers, on the carpeted areas (like the furniture pad) or wheeled back to receiving (where the floor is never cleaned). The process takes all night.

So Mike and Hector worked the overnight. They spent their time working in our back storage areas cleaning up and stuff. When it came time for my morning crew to get there at 6 a.m., the boys were of course tired etc. Mind you, today my morning crew was 3 powder-puff girls which was ME, SHANNON, AND REBECCA. Mike and Hector were already busy moving stuff back into position. The girls had not been there more than 10 minutes and the boys announce they are LEAVING. The entire furniture pad is squished together with all the desks and all floor displays jammed on there, there are about 10 yellow shopping carts full of all of our software boxes on the pad as well because they had to move the shelves that hold the software (they are beastly heavy to move!!!) and none of that was put back.

They left us 3 girls alone to put all this back. Dude i was drenched sweating... store opens at 8 a.m. and it's completely unshoppable. I nicknamed myself ROCCO from THE RESTAURANT and started to freak out... Rebecca is brand new and knows where NOTHING GOES. Shannon is about the biggest wuss ever created by the hands of a loving God and is not used to working up a sweat bc she's usually a cashier... So she is useless to me... and i made her put steel fixtures back on the bottoms of all 11 aisles (that's about 8 fixtures an aisle.)

In the middle of this chaos, Shannon lets out a huge scream and starts cursing the living Lord and using the f* ball and i'm get super pms irritated and i'm like what's wrong?? And she somehow dropped a steel fixture on her foot,,,,,, while seated,,,,, indian style,,,,,, on the floor. She wears these cheap little brown shoes that look like moccasins so that had to hurt, bad. That would have never happened to me, bc first i wear thick Doc Martens that weigh about as much as car tires, and i'm just the type of person who would be more careful. (well that's not true but anyway.) I didn't quite know what to do, and i have no sympathy for weaklings, especially girls like her, so i just went back to work after she asked me "can i just sit here for a minute?" I said yes. It was a legitimate question, because i don't let people stand still when i work with them. (This only makes her despise me more, which just feeds my power trip.)

Seriously, I felt like Rocco on opening night. We were flying around... my glasses are nearly unwearable bc they have sweat dripped on them... and i am cracking jokes and trying to remember where everything goes. Rebecca held up very well... but i don't think she'll be wearing that blue rayon shirt again... Jim told her to get a cheap polo like the rest of us... So five minutes before the store opens, we are all finishing Shannon's job of putting in the fixtures on the bottom of the shelves, and of course there is always the MORON customer waiting in their SUV outside of the store 3 minutes before 8 just chomping at the bit to run their self serve copies or buy their stupid toner or get a clip board for their busy business day. (I can't say how much that irritates me...) So guess what. We opened the store right on time. Never did get any of the software put on the shelf. That's 3 entire aisles of merchandise sitting in the middle of the store in yellow shopping carts. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. And guess what the first customer needed. Software. I just laughed at the guy and said help yourself... Terrance was just getting in at that time and he helped him.

It gets better. Our truck was supposed to come at 9:30 (i had no one to unload him) and it was delayed until about 2:00, just when i had to leave. And i had to stay two hours LATE till 4, because Shannon was only scheduled till 2, and will never stay late and i was THE ONLY PERSON on the floor, the only cashier in the whole store for 2 hours while Chris, Jim and Justin unloaded the truck. So i worked 10 hours without a break and i can barely move bc i 'm so sore right now LOL Memo to the world, if you are shoplifter, you should come to our store. You could get away with murder in a situation like that... There is no way to police or help customers if you are stuck at the register... I was running around like crazy trying to help everyone. I was making jokes to customers "Do you have a job? Are you happy there? I'll hire you right now on the spot if you want a job. I'm serious... I need help..." haha.

But we had Zone tonight so that was cool. Dean took a group pic again. Hopefully this time it will turn out. He has a Canon A70, and i don't think he knows how to use it. Everytime he would try to take a picture, he shut the thing off. (Do you think it matters what button you push up on top there? Yeah.) I'm a little miffed that i couldn't have off this weekend like i requested to go to the sr. high retreat. And i couldn't get off for the jr. high retreat either.

I have to go stretch now, or i'll never be able to get out of bed tomorrow. But tomorrow's my day off. So... yeah.

   [ posted  @ 7:55 PM | ]

I asked to be referred to as "poopoobutt" over the walkie talkies at work. No one does it. Should i write them up?

   [ posted  @ 2:18 PM | ]

that last post is blank bc i was trying to put a picture in but this proves i still can't because i can't. it's not available to free users. users. users.

   [ posted  @ 2:13 PM | ]

Retarded song of the day that i can't stop listening to: Pop Musik by M.

Today i have to say that i highly respect bi-lingual people. This girl i'm training at work understands more English than she can speak... And it takes SO MUCH COURAGE to go into a mostly white store and try to help customers and not be real fluent in their langauge. She does so good! Today I had her scan all the price tags in aisle 4 and check for price changes we missed (there were a lot) and make new shelf tags if needed. She is a fast learner. It's nice to work with someone who works as hard as i do. I try to have her teach me Spanish and it doesn't work so well. We spend most of the day bent over laughing because i just make jokes when i can't understand.

Got an encouraging e-mail from Pastor Craig today (jr. high pastor). He's real excited about me doing more with the youth band(s) and stuff bc they needed help. It's hard for me to imagine how they needed this much help with 60 adult volunteers but i guess not everyone can play a guitar and sing and wants to do both of those things with distorted screechy guitars in the background and the constant noise of teens in the background.

I'll do it.

   [ posted  @ 2:09 PM | ]

Not sure i like this new template. I'll try my best to adapt to change. Anyways this should be easier to read.

Not much one can do with a free site. Wish i could post pictures.

Blogger used to offer tons of templates for free and now it only gave me like 8 choices.

Work was interesting today. We hired an Hispanic lady to work with me in the morning... i talked all day long and was out of breath from talking so much. I know she won't remember anything i said but she's a quick learner. I know she'll do great (because she has a great teacher.)

Gee i thought i had a lot to say but i guess i don't.

   [ posted  @ 1:10 PM | ]

Went to the powerhouse last night........ met some new kidz and we had a half way interesting band rehearsal... after it took us 1/2 hour to figure out how to turn the sound system on right w/out kyle there, and then to tune. I don't understand why they don't like using a tuner to tune everyone's guitars to the same thing. Oh well.

I learned the song "Everyday." this one girl Kelly she sings so goooooood like she should be on American Idol.

I beat a 7th grader named John at air hockey like 7 times. i love air hockey!

   [ posted  @ 8:15 PM | ]

Just so you know, I will be posting regarding Survivor a lot on here probably, so if you didn't see the first episode tonight but read this regularly, you should really get caught up.

I joined a fantasy league (first time i've ever done one of those) for the game and my tribe is called RULERS and my larger tribe is tribe30401. There are 99 spots that will compete for the head of that tribe. I picked Andrew, Christa, Osten and Rupert for my tribe. And i will get points every time they do stuff on the show, like catch fish, drink alcohol, read tree mail or whatever. I plan on winning and if i do, i get an SUV which i'll sell or donate to ... donate too... who would want one of those things? A missionary. Yeah that's it.

I certainly don't want one. Can't afford the gas as it is and i just drive a little putt putt!

   [ posted  @ 10:14 PM | ]

We had a See You At the Pole rally tonight at the powerhouse. It was jam dude packed in that room... hundreds of kids in a small space. I'm sure we were breaking a fire code or four. Both jr. and sr. high were together for this one, so it was really crowded. I loved it that parents showed up too. Sang a lot of songs i never heard before. (Which is good.) Someone even went around today and got video of all the different schools and the kids praying around their flag poles and still pix as well and video edited them together and had the song "Everyday" over it. It was so cool!

After worship they had kids stand up and share what happened at each flag pole, how many kids showed up at each school and where their bible studies were being held on campus this year. Then they shared what they were praying God would do in their school. There was one girl who was the only one at her school. And there were two boys that were the only ones at their pole as well. I remember when i was the only person at my flag pole my senior year. An adult from my church came and prayed with me there because her kids couldn't make it for some reason.

Pastor Aaron gave me the go-ahead to use the commons on Friday night for an informal musician's practice for jr. high church and i got a student directory so i can call the right kids to get them there. That's when the Powerhouse is open, which they normally don't let kids go in the commons then but he said it would be OK if it's just us. I have to track down Kyle to do sound for us.

The building that houses the student ministries used to be a health care center and it's all interconnected, which makes the PowerHouse really cool... they have the walls all painted with crazy pictures and stuff and one big room leads into another with pool tables, ping pong tables, a cafe', couches, vending machines, arcade, you name it. Very cool. There is even a room to play basket ball ( just one hoop ). I saw more of it tonight that i didn't even know existed. :)

Pastor Craig talked to me about taking more charge of the worship leading in jr. high church. The only obstacle is my work schedule, and the fact that these kids have something going for church so many nights of the week already. So we are just going to try to work something out after church on Sundays when i'm there. I want to teach them about what being a worship leader really means... Up until now they've had no direction at all.

P.S.
Cheese is good.

   [ posted  @ 8:23 PM | ]

Last night i had a dream that i was part of the new Survivor cast. The commercials they keep showing reveal that the castaways are not allowed even a change of clothes or any belongings. First, we were carted off to a hotel to begin with, before going to the island - to do interviews and briefings, and i got to know some of the people. I even got to play tennis! (Except it was a combo of tennis and ping pong and i couldn't swing good enough and kept hitting my raquet on these dark brown cabinets.)

Somehow i knew that we were not going to be allowed a change of clothes haha..... and when it came time to board the ship that was taking us to the island and do press pictures, everyone else had their bags of "stuff" with them and i didn't bring mine because subconsciously i knew i wouldn't be needing it. But then i thought "oh no, these people will think i'm a cheater or an insider! I need to go get my bag so i don't look conspicuous!!!!"

So i tried to run in and get it and i had to pass all these camera crews and go down these stairs to this room where they were doing this room-makeover show (i've been watching too much reality tv haven't i???) and by the time i got down there i couldn't find my bag and then i think that's when i woke up.

This is series seven of survivor. I've watched all of them except for the 1st half of the very first one. It begins tomorrow night. I have to work but i'll tape it, don't worry. One of the tribes is called MORGAN which is cool bc that is the name of the road i grew up on.

   [ posted  @ 3:29 PM | ]

I just want to remind everyone that i hate summer. I hate hot or warm weather. I hate the wind and the wind and hot when they are combined. I hate having to turn on my air conditioning in the middle of September. (Well i like it that it cools it off in here but... yeah.)

I want to wear my hoodies from American Eagle with my ringer tee's from Old Navy underneath. I want to wear layers again and i don't want them to make me sweat. I want them to warm me up because it's so cold out. Some people get depressed in the long cold winter months. They need direct sunlight and warmer weather. I am the opposite. I can't stand a long summer. I want to wear my Columbian winter coat with the lining zipped inside because it's so penetratingly freezing out. I want it to get dark at 4:00 p.m. and i want to make hot cocoa and curl up under a blanket and watch Fred Astaire dance around in the HOLIDAY INN. I want to turn on the local news and see warnings about blizzards and snow falls that shut down the town and worry that i won't have food in my cupboards to last thru the power outage (i never have food in my cupboards anyway but it would be fun to worry.) I want to be working early in the morning setting plan-o-grams and as the sun comes up look out the huge windows in the front of the store and see big snow flakes falling and covering up the parking lot and my car and making it be a slow traffic day so we get a lot of work done and don't have to deal with customers. I want to smell the cold and the ice when i open a door to the outside. It would be nice to have to wear ear muffs and mittens and have snow soak the bottoms of my jeans when i have to walk from the parking lot to the grocery store.

I want WalMart to start selling those huge Christmas-tree scented candles that only cost like $5 and last me all winter so i can walk in my apartment and smell Christmas time all the time. I want the ice to form on the inside of my (badly) insulated windows and feel the icy draft at night from the windows by my bed. I want to have to turn the furnace on.

I hate summer.

   [ posted  @ 1:42 PM | ]

Hey, i got ANOTHER one for you!

Can you tell me where this quote is taken from?

"In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church... is separated from the State, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens."


I'll tell you where it is taken from...

From the constitution of the U.S.S.R.

Chin up... Just some food for thought tonight.

   [ posted  @ 9:23 PM | ]

Hey, i got one for you!

Guess which American said this quote, and what year it was said? (I'll give you a hint... it comes from a speech given on one fourth of July...)

"Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before?"

I want you just to imagine a politician saying this today... in our multicultural sewage dump of a nation... where we are quickly getting rid of every mention of our CHRISTIAN Heritage. Dang.


You'd probably never believe it was from 1837 and comes from the mouth of our longest living Founding Father, John Quincy Adams.

And i reprint it courtesy of this article: Is This The End of Christmas in America?

Who were our Founding Fathers? Were they really Christians?

Remember that hymn "Faith of our Fathers?" Hmm.

   [ posted  @ 9:10 PM | ]

A tax on expresso?!! Oh well, it's for a worthy cause.

   [ posted  @ 8:09 PM | ]

Check this out. Some pix of our kids ministries at Crystal last year.

   [ posted  @ 4:56 PM | ]

And now it is time for this week's installment of...... "I AM READING PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?"

Today's humility is brought to you by the letters K & T.

OK like i said i didn't ever think i'd read this book. But it's not bad. It's actually very beginner-Christian material which should never be beneath anyone. It's very very very recommended if you are new to the faith or are inquisitive about what the Christian life is about (and don't want to read Mere Christianity.)

From chapter 4, "Made to last forever" Mr. Warren quotes C.S. Lewis (a fave of mine, though some of his stuff is admittedly over my head -- must be my immaturity) So i guess i could say i liked what Warren quoted of Lewis, and then i really don't have to endorse Warren. HAHAHA. No, Rick is fine (though there are some questionable teachings which i will get to in a second...)

The quote from C.S. is this (p. 37) "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God 'Thy will be done' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'"

When i originally read this, i thought it said that there were two kinds of people:
1. those who say to God "thy will be done"
2. those who say to God "all right, then, have it Your way"


But now i see Clive meant that God says #2 to US.... But until i re-read it my way was correct as well. Some people submit to God and truly say, "Whatever Your will is for my life, I embrace it." And there are those who say, "Whatever... if this is the way it has to be... this sucks but ok whatever. Have it your way then, God, but i'll hold on to my misery and sing swing lo sweet chariot as loud as i can so everyone can hear how miserable it is to be chosen for this christian life. Thanks for choosing me for this endless painful 'joy.'"

And the reason that really hit me (to be painfully vulnerable to you) is because i was singing #2 all year here!!! Woe is me. Romans 9... i'm chosen and there's nothing i can do about it and look at what a mess God is dragging me thru here. I'll serve Him but i'll keep my quiet questioning going all the time and knowing there's a reason for all of this doesn't help much when _________ & ____________ & ____________ are going on and blah blah blog.

So, that one kind of hit me across the face. There's a big difference between being selfless/ serving as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-3 is our youth ministry bedrock verses) & being prideful and serving as a lifeless sacrifice. (Wow i'm really intelligent & wise sounding. I should write a book. What do you think? hahaha a little prideful humor to keep me going).


So that's what i'm working on... my attitude is changing. Good book helps that.

Now, there are some questionable things in the PD Life book... First of all, Warren does a lot of what i would call "taking too much liberty" with the scriptures and a lot of it is severely unannotated. If that is not a word i just made it up. He implies things are in the scriptures without footnotes. Sentences like "In heaven we will be reunited with loved ones who are believers, released from all pain and suffering, rewarded for our faithfulness on earth, and reassigned to do work that we will enjoy doing." REALLY?????????????????????????? Where on earth is that in scripture? Reassigned to do what work? Is he confusing the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth with heaven? And where in Scripture does it say we're going to be reunited with people? I am just not familiar with that. The pain and suffering i can find references to. Rewarded for our faithfulness yes. But working? ON WHAT?! [I will admit it is an assumed belief that we will still know each other in heaven and have reuniting taking place, but that is only assumed. I don't think anyone can find a verse that points to that specifically. It's a natural assumption but then so was a flat earth.]

It's stuff like that which make me a little squinty about the whole thing. He often says "the bible says that.... " and then gives NO references at all as to where he's getting it from. That just ticks me off when people do that. The least you could do is put a little footnote number there and we'll look it up in the index if we're so curious. You wouldn't have to start the sentence like "Ps. 27:5 says blah blah" but you know what i mean. He could have been more careful. [I will also admit because i know there are those of you reading this who have read the book from our yahoo youth ministry forum, that there are footnotes through out the book, and he probably more often than not does put a footnote in. But there are specific places when footnotes are omitted, because I would say: there is no proof in the bible as to what he's teaching. That makes me frown.]

Anyways you know all i'm doing is passing the time until Cupid comes on tonight and we'll see who Lisa marries. I hope it's Hank. That's the end of my book report.

   [ posted  @ 3:57 PM | ]

Dude did you see Madonna on Oprah today? That woman seriously needs Jesus. She was preaching all this Kabala crap and she admitted her spiritual hunger could not be satisfied in earthly "material" things and says now she practices this garbage ... and stupid Oprah is sitting there going "gee i believe that too" when Madonna talked about Kabala. Frustration. And she (Madonna) didn't realize what the big deal about her mtv kisses were and claimmed she hadn't even seen it on tv yet (the oprah show was taped today and it's been 2 weeks since the vma's were on)... and grrr! And to the unsuspecting would-be believers, everything she said sounded so "good" and "true." How we're responsible for our own actions and have to submit to "God" which is the all-loving and all-giving unseen most powerful Light force... Dude... how deceived.

She sends her daughter to a spirituality school. It's actually called that.

Oprah says "it sounds like you've had a 'born again' experience, but just not the religious kind" and Madonna says, "Oh God, yes, but not religious!" She said the word religious like it made her want to puke.

But maybe i don't blame her for being disenfranchied with organized religion. It's not in the most healthy public relations representation right now!

OK new subject.

I must say that i rule... My district manager was in the store yesterday and although she found plenty of things to nit-pick about, I guess she said some really nice things to Izzy about the work i've been doing, with different sales leader observation forms and such that i've done... and this is a woman who doesn't praise anyone. So i spent the whole day dreading hearing what Izzy had to say about what she said yesterday and he had things to work on but had some really nice things to say too. Which put me in a better mood about work. It's nice to hear you're doing a good job.

I rock.

Well I was looking at the back counter at CopyMax, and i found this really large laminated art-work poster. It was cartoon art drawings of all these black kids in different clothes and poses and they had funky black people names... and guess what it said on the top of it?!! WHO DAT !!!!!!!!!!!! Dude i swear i made up that phrase and it's got around now! I really think it was me. Yes it was me. I was freaking out! I'm like dude i made that up! I couldn't figure out what the posters were for (it was a customer's order just for the paper to be laminated.) It looked like some type of teaching tool.

OK i probably didn't make it up but i have no idea where i got it from if i didn't.

   [ posted  @ 3:26 PM | ]

My brother Jon-Paul answered my question about the way retail does weekly ads. He used to work in retail too. He served his tour of duty which is now over. Here's his answer...

You're ads are NATIONAL ads. They cannot guarantee any item in stock (and I'm sure they do have a disclaimer about "first come first serve" or that "quantities are limited"). I saw this many times while at Media Play, Office Depot, and Circuit City. Some times we'd substitute an item or give the customer a rain check. Other times it was, sorry, the ad says limited to quantity on hand.

Bait and switch would happen when you purposely advertise an item knowing that you don't have it and plan to sell another unit. Most places get around that by offering to upgrade you to a better model for the same price. Most people don't complain about that.

Stores are also stocked on how much people are buying of any once certain item. If you're not selling brand A that fast...you're not going to be replenished. Hence those ads feature items that don't sell well or accompany other items or are deals to get you in the store hoping that you buy other things as well. On the other hand it is also a responsibility of the Store Staff and corporate planners to to check product levels...but if items are discontinued, or are not being stocked...you can't do much about it. Some stores obviously have the items in stock...

You also have to remember that you sell a number of items "below cost" just to get people in the stores. Most big electronic superstores like CC or BB loose money on CD sales or lower end TV's, video games, etc... They're "traffic generators". They get people into the store. Your store does the same thing with certain items and those items are often prominently featured in ads to get your attention.

I know it's not fair but that's the nature of business, marketing, and making money.

Thanks Jon!

   [ posted  @ 4:44 PM | ]

Geoff & Hannah's mom was in the hospital so they weren't there for worship practice this morning. Steve led worship in Geoff's place. Steve's a senior and he is really good @ guitar. His heart is very much in the right place. :) (He does need help with the vocals haha.) I was only there for practice and church and then had to go to work so i don't know what ended up happening during jr. high church. I am going to see if when the powerhouse is open this friday if i can round up a group to go jam in the commons. Usually if you're there for the powerhouse, you can't leave it... so the commons is out of the question. But maybe if i'm in there (and i guess i'm somewhat of an adult) they'll change the rule. I don't have to work friday so we'll see what happens.

It is exciting to see this team work together and also to lend my experience and musical ability to help train them. Hopefully i can really help develop it. They definitely have been winging it up until now.

Pastor Steve is back for the next two weeks. He's going to have knee replacement surgery. When he walks in on his crutch it is so cool bc everyone jumps to their feet and happy to see him give him a standing ovation. That's happened the last two weeks. He is an awesome leader. He's had quite a few health problems but he seems to be weathering the storms at least ok. (He's preaching on Job so go figure.)

I got to attend church with Kenton, a 7th grader who is being trained to run sound for us. What a godly guy!!! Little dude who's voice is changing showed me all around the church and told me all about his family and when it came time to worship he was singing his heart out and lifting his hands; it was so cool! Just a neat kid. I am going to try to include him more with the worship team, who are mostly high schoolers and i know he feels out of place and left out but they would include him. So i'm going to try to get him to sit by me and by the rest of the teens next week. We were up in the balcony but just across the church from the rest of them. I had let him pick the spot. :)

Gee can you tell i love working with students???
Then, there's...

Work. I had to close the last three nights and i have to open @ six tomorrow. Yeah i am tired and sick of counting money. One thing i have to complain about is OfficeMax weekly ads. Dude why do they put stuff in the ad if we are not going to have ANY in the store besides the display, which is discontinued and no other stores have it, and you can't even order it? That makes no sense. By the end of the day we pretty much told people we have nothing in the ad. Free after rebate CRAP is gone within a few hours (any of the good stuff) and the machines/furniture/chairs that are in there, we had none of to start with. I so desperately pray a customer will turn us into the attorney general for false advertising. I would be so ticked off if i came all the way to a store and told not only are we out, but every other store is out and it's not even available for delivery. GRRR. I mean, we'd be selling the stuff if we had it.

Anyways. Someone should answer that one for me, because it's really kind of a bait and switch and that's just plain illegal.

And we go thru that every single week. It really makes me wonder about the status and future of this company. Makes me wonder if it's not going to go belly up and they're just trying to suck dry the little bit of profit that might be left.

   [ posted  @ 6:38 PM | ]

Constitution party backs Moore.

I just wanted to alert those of you who are politcally minded. I usually vote CONSTITUTION Party for local elections... and up until voting for GW Bush in 2000, i voted that party in all elections including national. Check them out. I put a link to their homepage on the side there.

   [ posted  @ 8:02 PM | ]

Finally it is really cooling off. I am happy to report that i checked the weather forecast for my neck of the woods and it's supposed to be in the 60's and 70's this whole next week. Me=happy.

Had to stay late at work tonight with the guys to set the ad for tomorrow. Not my favorite thing to do. And i'm sure they'll find all the holes we left instead of noticing how hard we worked all day long.

I have to work tomorrow 12-close but i'm going to go practice with the band in the morning @ church so i can continue to build relationships and learn their songs. Pastor Craig called yesterday to find out what the deal was as far as when i'm available and stuff.

This is boring. Bye.

   [ posted  @ 7:14 PM | ]

I wish it would snow.

   [ posted  @ 4:54 PM | ]

Have you seen the new designs and plans for the World Trade Center site rebuilding project? I watched a documentary on it the other day. I was spellbound. Prior to hearing the vision of Daniel Libeskind, i was really opposed to anyone rebuilding on that gravesite. I thought it was arrogant and soooooooooooo messed up for anyone to capitalize on that trauma. And I also thought it's just another death trap waiting to happen. I still have mixed emotions about it, but after viewing the plans, I really am amazed at what they are going to do (or if it's not for sure, what they want to do, i mean.) And it seems like it would really honor the victims and show the triumph of the American spirit. The freedom tower, for example, will be the world's tallest building at 1776 feet. That's COOL!

   [ posted  @ 2:33 PM | ]

New Reality TV Show ala Kt Rocks

So i was thinking of contacting CBS to see if they would want to make a reality TV show called "THE STORE" (kind of like "THE RESTAURANT" but for a store, duh) and it would be filmed at the Shakopee Office Max. And it would follow the lives of those who work there in and out of the store (but mostly in the store). There is so much drama at any given store like this i think it would be a great great great great idea. And it is a win-win because i think OfficeMax would go for it because people would come from all over to shop at our store just to be on TV and increase our average ticket.

I've been thinking about this for a long time. And I really think it could work. What do you think?

   [ posted  @ 2:25 PM | ]

Well Dean took a pic last night of the whole group on his digital cam and for some reason it didn't turn out. Otherwise i'd show it to you. Next time we meet is the 24th so we'll do it again then.

Work was awful today. Izzy was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo mad that we didn't do his little to-do list and he had been gone for 2 days and when i 'm there as the only manager i run my own show no matter what lists are left for me because that's the way i am and i do what works for me. He didn't want excuses so i didn't give him any. I was really suprised at how far i've come at taking criticism and critique. I can just sit there and smile now thru a scathing review and nod my head. And i throw in a few self serving sarcastic comments to help me feel better but for the most part i've learned how to tell people what they want to hear and then do whatever i dang well want to when they turn their back. I roll my eyes and huff and puff (like this) when they are not around. And that gets me thru the day.

Izzy left a note for the management staff and in it, he flat out said no one has come to him with any suggestions or ideas, only excuses and complaints. I took offense to that big time because i've written him several very lengthy memos as to what i think needs to be done. So i marched my fat little butt over to the Copy Max computer, and ran off copies of those memos, and left them on his desk saying "i've written several idea sheets to you but they never got implemented. All i kept getting was 'excuses' so i quit giving ideas and suggestions because no one wants to hear the truth of what i have to say."

:) I rule.
(He in turn wrote all over my sheets and tried to show it to me and i wouldn't look at them.)

He's up for his review so this will tell if he gets promoted to store manager or not (he's not officially one yet.) I don't know what they will decide. So i was in a lot of hot water all day. I have plenty of excuses if anyone ever wants to stop playing games and hold me actually accountable. I would say "I'm not making an excuse. I'm telling you the truth. Honest is called being held accountable for my actions. If you want to hold me accountable as to why none of the back to school stuff is put away, i can tell you. If you want to stick your head in the sand and keep playing big boss man, then keep your eyes closed and i'll do whatever i want to." But i did get a dig in about how i should never be left alone bc if i'm alone i'll make whatever calls i want to make... but whatever.

I kissed some butt and let it go and i'm glad to be home now.

   [ posted  @ 2:11 PM | ]

Our first Zone went really good. Kind of disorganized from the standpoint of what my preferences are, but that's what i get for not being in charge. I'm learning to just ride the waves instead of fighting the sails. If that makes sense. I am disappointed i was scheduled to work both weekends that the sr. high and jr. high retreats are being held on. Those were my two best shots early in the school year to hang out with students informally and get to know them more. Now i'll have to be more creative i guess.

Danny is teaching on WORLD VIEW for the next five weeks for us. Really good stuff. Then we'll switch to a new topic and a new teacher for 5 weeks. We had eleven sophmores show up tonight, i think everyone that was on our lists, except one who is in Mexico on vacation. Everyone liked the song books a lot.

I am tired. Good night.

   [ posted  @ 7:59 PM | ]

From HappyChristmas.com

A New Mixer Bah HumBUG!
Cindy - South Carolina
Fri 13th December 2002

It was my first having the whole family (28 people) over for Christmas dinner. I had been up since 4:00AM cooking. I had bought a new mixer since my old one was about shot. I was starting my baking and decided my first project was to be my chocolate cheesecake. This was the first time to use the new mixer. I started mixing my cheesecake and decided to hold the mixer up and look in the bowl to make sure all was blended. I guess I was not used to the new mixer and hit the start button. This of course startled me and I jumped. This started a chain reaction that would go down in my family's book of funny stories to tell the grandkids. The mixer grabbed the ends of my hair and very quickly (since it was on high) made its way to my scalp and proceeded to pull my hair out. I quickly thought to unplug the beast so it would stop. My daughter ran over to me because she had seen the whole thing and asked if I was OK. She helped me push the button to release the mixers. As I stood there with two metal mixers sticking out of my head, I started laughing. (it must have gotten to my brain after all.) It took me about 30 minutes just to cut the mixers out of my hair as I could not get the knots out. I washed out the Chocolate cheesecake, then with a big fussy ball on one side of my head continued to cook. My sister showed up around 7:30AM as promised to help me cook. When she walked into the kitchen she asked, "What happened to your hair?" I told her in a not so happy tone that I got my head caught in the mixer. She said "No, really what happened?" I said,"REALLY, I GOT THE MIXER CAUGHT IN MY HAIR!" After she got off the floor laughing, there was no need to sweep it. We made it through dinner with the family trying hard not to choke on every time they looked at me with my new hair style.

   [ posted  @ 10:42 AM | ]

this is a FUNNY STORY FROM happychristmas.com



The year the cat electrocuted Dad
Kelly - Maryland
Tue 07th January 2003

Christmas was always kind of a big deal at our house when I was a kid.
My dad loved christmas. His whole year was one long wait for christmas. His favorite part of christmas was the tree. We would all go together and cut down the "perfect" tree. The problem is that Dads perfect tree was based on criteria only known to him. This invariably led to tears on someones part. You just cant please 4 kids and a wife when you cant even explain what it is your looking for. Finally a tree would be chosen and cut down. My brothers would then half drag, half carry the tree to the car where it woud be stategically shoved into the back of our Vista Cruiser. Usually the tree fit,never leaving enough room for the kids to sit without sitting right on top of each other,leading to the "he's breathing on me" "she's looking at me" fights.
One year after getting the 8 foot tall tree into a stand made for a much, much smaller tree, Dad decided to put the lights on the tree himself. He decided to plug them all together and plug them in, so he could see how they looked as he was putting them on the tree. The lights had warnings on them not to plug more than 4 strands together. But if 4 strands were good 12 were better. We had one contiuous strand of lights well over 100 feet long!!
Dad was standing on a plank between two step ladders so he could reach the top of the tree. He had the lights draped over his feet, which were bare for added traction.
The family cat, Cricket, loved christmas as much as Dad. She spent her entire life in and under the christmas tree while it was in the house, every one of her 19 years. Well it seems Cricket saw that strand of lights moving slowly over Dads bare feet and did what cats do. She reached up, with both paws, all 10 claws ready for action,and grabbed the lights, and Dads feet in the process.
Dad let out a yelp, jumped backwards knocking over both ladders, breaking a lamp. As he was falling he tried to catch himself with the lights, pulling the tree over with him and putting the stand thru the 4ft x 4ft glass window pane. After the initial shock and making sure he was not seriously injured. The laughter started. When we finally calmed down enough, I asked him what happened. The laughter went on for what seemed like an hour when he sheepishly said "I thought I was being electrocuted." We still fondly remember the year the cat electrocuted Dad.

   [ posted  @ 5:54 PM | ]

Can't wait for christmas. I found this link fun.

And this one has some hilarious horror holiday stories.

   [ posted  @ 5:39 PM | ]

I'm so glad i found this article online. I read the magazine "Ministries Today" and have kept this article and read it several times... and wanted to share it with those of you who work in church ministry... Please read it! It's soooooooo good.

Undignified Worship

I'll just say this, because the title caught my eye (because of that catchy song that's out now...) And the opening story he tells about being at the Western Wall in Israel... really good stuff.

Oh now i see it's only an exerpt. What follows that on the screen is a plea for us to not fall into emotionalism and a form of worship ... but you know the heart of the matter... One thing i'm working on with the youth at church is not getting into a pattern of needing loud distorted guitars and lighting and powerpoint slides to worship but making a connection with God meaningful even if it's just acapella singing, or silence, or whatever. He bridges the rest of his article by saying, "I tried to imagine a cultural equivilant in the American church to what i was observing. I could not. One of the concerns I have about worship in the church today is that we've become much too professional. Somehow we've begun equating music and worship, as if they're the same. clearly that's a mistake. Worship is the 'intangible' that is revealed when the soul begins to proclaim the greatness of God and enter into His presence. It's a spiritual thing that goes much deeper than the music that accompanies it. So let's consider our current worship paradigm: 90 minute worship-team rehearsals, well-rehearsed modulations, carefully written horn parts, color-coordinated outfits for the vocal team, slick video presentations to 'enhance' the experience with scenes from nature. Selah."

:)

One night at their large group, the sr. high worship team was leading that song "Undignified" (which is a very fun song) -- and Pastor Aaron (who was leading the singing) stopped everyone and really tried to get the crowd going you know... and asking everyone to be undignified and dance around or whatever; let loose you know. And some were going along w/ it, and of course some weren't. And the question isn't about how undignified you look, but "if you won't let go, why don't you?" AND "If you do let go, so what? What does that really mean?"

This article was timely for me as i pondered those questions... and i wish you could read the whole thing. :)

   [ posted  @ 5:03 PM | ]

So since i'm reading Purpose Driven Life, i have to share a few thoughts. First of all, it kind of reminds me of when i read the book ROARING LAMBS... I got SO MAD in the beginning of that book. You can read my handwriting in the margins just angry and mad at what he had to say. And by the end i was so sold on it and it's one of my all time highly recommended books for people who work w/ youth.

On that note, I already know i'm going to really like the purpose driven one, but i do have to say, the beginning notes are quite grandiose and "out there." You would think by reading it that all your life's problems would be solved in 40 days of reading one chapter each. Why do people have to do that?

This is a direct quote from the first page... "By the end of this journey you will know God's purpose for your life and will understand the big picture - how all the pieces of your life fit together. Having this perspective will reduce your stress, simplify your decisions, increase your satisfaction, and, most important, prepare you for eternity."

I mean, people, come on. No book can do that... Doesn't that sound sooooooooooooo infomercial? Buy this floor wax and your life will improve overnight. That right there is a turn off. And then the contradiction starts in chapter one... this is how it starts... See if you immediately notice the same contradiction i just did...

"It's not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose."

And Rick goes on saying that self help books get it all wrong bc we can't find the answers in ourselves. But doesn't the "you you you" found in the introduction sound a little different than the opening of chapter one?

It's a question i will answer as i read the book, i'm sure.

And my guess is he's going to tell us all what we already knew, our puprose is to know God and make Him known. Bam. Done.

ok.

   [ posted  @ 4:42 PM | ]

Oh my oh my! I got to watch the finale of FOR LOVE OR MONEY 2! I totally didn't know what to expect. Erin picked Chad over Wade and it almost seemed like Chad was going to take the million over her and he picked her instead (so the twist is he'd get both but he didn't know that.) I was soooooooooooooo happy! Though she really disguised her feelings and if i were a guy i wouldn't have picked her because she's not a sure bet ... but whatever. That was a nail biter.

I made my sister in law Tracy's tuna salad recipe on Sunday and am still eating it today. It is so good. I finally took some to work, so i don't have to be buying candy bars out of the vending machine. So here's that recipe, folks. One box of some type of pasta. I picked bow-tie, in honor of my favorite show of the week, all those guys on For Love or Money2 wearing suits when the elimination comes up. OK actually that's not the reason i picked the bow tie pasta stuff but i don't think i ever used that kind before and i was looking to try something new. But just so you know, all that pasta tastes exactly the same. Ok. Then i got two big honkin cans o' chicken of the sea chunk light tuna. And a bag of frozen peas. And a yellow (vadalia) onion. And i had some light hellman's mayo already in my fridge. (That was about the only thing thing that was in there, besides my milk for cereal, my full brita water pitcher, and a can of Minute Maid Lemonade way in the back from like the year 2000. Don't drink that.)

It turned out grrrrrrrreat. I even called her from the grocery store to ask what to get bc i couldn't remember.

Today I got up at 4 a.m. to go for a walk/jog/run. That was fun. My legs hurt some now! I was going to do that yesterday but just decided to sleep instead and i did a workout when i got home. My walkman (cheap-one i got at target) is too lame to really play a tape well but it has like 100 presets for radio stations (which is stupid bc are there even 100 frequencies to pick from in any given location?) and i programmed 6 and just flipped through them as i strolled about the neighborhood. Last night it was weird bc i kept having these dreams of falling stars and shooting stars. And now that i think of it, i've had dreams like that a few times before... and the sky is just filled with them. DUDE WHAT DOES THAT MEEEEEEAN????!!!!!!! If someone knows, please tell me. It's usually in the context of me wanting to watch them and trying to get others to look up at the sky too and no one seems to care (much like my re-occuring endoftheworld dreams where i'm trying to warn everyone of impending nuclear blasts and get them to shelter and people could totally care less)...

I dream a lot every night because
a) my bladder is one size bigger than a dime and i have to get up to pee every 2 hours without fail, even if i didn't drink a lot during the day
b) the amt. of caffiene i drink in a day so i don't bite people's heads off because of edge-iness doesn't help
c) i sleep light to begin with i guess

   [ posted  @ 4:31 PM | ]

Just got home ( pretty much ). Dear Lord God in heaven, creator of all cool things PLEASE SEND ANOTHER KEY CARRYING SUPERVISOR TO OFFICE MAX! Golly gee i can't tell you what a stressful situation it is to be the only manager in the building. And i had to do that all by myself until 1 today (from 6-1, when Jim got there.) Me and Hector had a very prodcutive morning throwing out everything i wanted to throw out from back in receiving. It's been a goal of mine for over 2 years to throw away a lot of things of paint, steel fixtures, old ad signs, tiles, just crap people won't throw away. And it's so cluttery. So this was my plan:

Even if i get in a lot of trouble for throwing it all away, what is done is done, and maybe this will teach them never to leave me on my own anymore. Because there is A LOT MORE i plan on throwing out, and i will do it too... until i get yelled at. They left me this enormous list of things to do....... with two associates and me. What a joke. I just pretty much put the note in my pocket and did what i wanted to do because we aren't getting any help from anyone. So, the dumpster is full, and i'm exhausted and that's why you hear coffee brewing in the background.

Tomorrow is my day off.

I can't wait to go to our first Zone tomorrow. :) I'm meeting one of the other leaders for supper beforehand too.

There was a very angry customer today who came into copy max, of course just at the time Miccy (my copy max associate) went on her break. This always happens to me. He is furious because someone took an order for him yesterday for 5,000 fliers and said it would be done by this morning and i go searching thru all the cabinets and can't find anything. Can't find his order form. Nothing. Then i discover a piece of scrap paper with his order on it, and he says that is it. (We ran out of work forms yesterday.) There is no master included with it. Nothing to copy. I start asking over the walkies if anyone knows about this. No one knows anything. Miccy comes up (her break is now over). She starts looking too. Nothing. We deduce that Pam ( a new person) took the order. We start to wonder if she sent it off to the hub store to get done.

He is furious. LOL swearing and using unheavenly language. I am calm but can really do nothing. Miccy asks if he could get us another master, we'd run it right away. He doesn't have one. He goes to his car and finds one. We only have 2000 sheets of the paper he wants. Pastel green. Minutes after he leaves (we did a rush job and somehow got it done when i went to help another customer) his order arrives from the hub. STUPID.

I was irriated about that to the max (max haha) because we have no supervisor over there. No one is being trained how to do anything so the whole copy center is a MESS with work orders everywhere, unfinished jobs, and don't you know really ANGRY customers who have to meet deadlines and are counting on us.

I love my job.

I'm going to go sit in front of the tv now.

   [ posted  @ 2:05 PM | ]

I'll have to wait to watch the FOR LOVE OR MONEY 2 tv show tomorrow. i had to tape it bc of church tonight. I hope they don't talk about it on the radio tomorrow at work because that always happens and then it's all spoiled, who she picked. Tonight is the finale.

That also means SURVIVOR starts in a few weeks. I'll watch that for sure.

My leader's meeting was good. Met more new people. Won't remember anyone's name. We are all going to read a book together ... one that i've "purposely" been avoiding... it's called The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (Saddleback.) I have read Purpose Driven Youth Ministry (back in '97 or '98 whenever it came out) and that was foundational to my concept of how to do youth ministry... but then everything started coming out purpose driven this and that and it was sooooooooooooooooo over done that i wanted nothing to do with the new buzz word gag me with a fork crap. And then i saw people who really annoy me reading it. So then i didn't want to read it even more. But add to the fact that a lot of people that i really respect were getting so much from it. Churches do whole retreats based on this book and the accompanying journal ... and there's no doubt that Rick W. is a man of vision and integrity. But it all just reminds me of...

It's like the Jabez (gag) prayer thing came out on mugs and ash trays and kleenex boxes and mints and blankets and you just want to puke it all out. I read thru Jabez and it was OK -- nothing earth shattering but the moment i saw those little books everywhere and pastors were preaching whole series on this one little obscure verse it was like dude... are we this desperate for "new truth" in the church! sheeeesh! (Same thing that's happening with the term EMERGING and the worn-out POSTMODERN zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz). Anyways. This book that i've purposely avoided will now be one of my favorites i'm sure. That's the way things go around here. KT should stand for KICKING AND SCREAMin'T.

I read Leadership Journal. This article is what i've been all about the last three years... Now i know i'm not alone... A friend recently told me that he heard a quote (can't remember if it was Finney or who) said that every pastor should have to work and sweat in a factory for one year of their life, so when they preach, they understand why the blue collar christian is falling asleep during every sermon. (I would like to add to that that every minister should have to work retail management for one year of their life so they know how to deal with people who will never be happy no matter what you do... the pulse of the nation, ya know?)

And if you're as sick of the word "postmodern" in church ministry as i am, read this one... And follow the links for the lively debate.
Ok. Bye.

   [ posted  @ 6:59 PM | ]

Hi.

I want to happily report to all concerned drivers that kt has her signal lights working! They are back! And it didn't cost me a dime! I had Hector take my owner's manual home. He looked it over. Found the fuser, said it was loose, tightened it, and now everything works again. So i will have to get him a spongebob towel or something bc he loves spongebob.

I am so glad the lights are back and that i don't have to stick my arm out of the window anymore.

I have a leader's meeting for church tonight! Plus they feed all 50+ of us so i'm also glad about that. Food is good.

I miss Jodie. We are back down to 4 managers and that makes it really hard to get work done because if someone needs a day off then there will not be a mid shift person and that means i run around all day helping people instead of making the store look sparkly. So, please pray we get a CopyMax supervisor and either an operations supervisor w/ keys, or an additional sales supervisor with keys. Yes. thanks.

   [ posted  @ 3:21 PM | ]

In my last entry, I was thinking Nalbandian was still in it but i forgot that i blocked it out of my mind that Roddick had beat him... Even though I was hoping Ferrero would win (i don't know why i am inclined to root for the underdogs) - I did start crying some big tears when Andy broke down after his winning ace. And that wouldn't be the first time i started crying at the end of an open :)

   [ posted  @ 3:42 PM | ]

Well Clijsters lost last night. I will cope. I am probably going to root for Nalbandian today. :)

Church was GREAT! I got there around 7:50 and met the team and the sound guys. We have Jake on drums, Steve on electric guitar, Heather on bass, Hannah is my other singer and me on guitar. Then there's Kyle and Kenton in the sound booth. Geoff, Pastor Geoff's son, usually leads but he had the day off since i was not there (he's a sophomore). I was thinking about it this weekend and realized this is my 3rd youth worship team i've led. Kinda cool. We did these songs:
1. I've Got a River of Life
2. Banner (Prosch version)
3. Light the Fire Again (Prosch version)
4. Step By Step
5. Light the fire (slow version w/ echo's)

So we practice from 8-9:15 and then head over to the main campus (we should have taken the shuttle busses, it would have been a lot faster because 1000's of people trying to park is not fun.) We went down to the cafeteria, the kids had a quick breakfast and then we went up to the balcony where the students sit for church. Church was good. Pastor Steve (head pastor dude) is having knee replacement surgury so he has been off his feet but made an appearance today and everyone stood up and clapped. He is so cool. Then we cut out at the closing prayer and ran out to the parking lot to get in my car and get back to the extended campus to get ready to lead ! It went really well! There were about 100+ students in the jr high church. I couldn't count. It was the biggest crowd i've seen there. Normally after worship Pastor Craig gives a talk and then the students split up into small groups (called Edge groups) to discuss the message. I filled in for Cyndi since she's gone this week.

After church then the kids hang out at the powerhouse to watch football and goof off. I was going to stay but had to go grocery shopping so i headed home. The rest of the times i go i 'll probably take some students out to lunch and stick around and get to know more people. I really feel at home there!!

   [ posted  @ 1:29 PM | ]

OH MY GOSH I am so excited about this years US Open. I have just been watching non stop. So far i have picked all the winners. Ferrero just took out Agassi. I know i'm an American, but i usually root for the underdog so i am so happy Ferrero won. (I find Andre's game kind of boring.) Last night i was rivited by Henin-Hardenne taking out Caprioti. I wasn't sure who i was going to root for in that one but of course i ended up jumping up and down when i saw Justine taking it to the top. She is so good! So tonight i don't have any clue as to who i will pull for because my two favorite women players (Clijsters and Henin) are going head to head in the final. And all the men who are left (Roddick vs. Nalbandian & Ferrero will play that winner) are my faves. I was very happy Nalbandian won yesterday over El Alanoui. I can't stand him.

WHOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And last night i cleaned my bathroom and now it sparkles. And i vaccumed and cleaned my kitchen too. So you can stop cringing now. P.S. Use KABOOM. It is by the makers of Oxy Clean and really works well!

   [ posted  @ 12:15 PM | ]

Ouch.

Today i restrung my mandolin for the first time. Quite a different adventure than restringing a guitar (something you should do every 3 or 4 months.) My guitar was due for new strings so when i went to the shop to get them i asked the guy about mandolins and he said change them about once a year unless you play a lot then you will just know when it's time. I asked if he had any tips for me. The dude just laughed. That should have been my first tip.

My 2nd tip that it would be very difficult came when i looked at the new strings and they had a loop on the end of them, and then my mandolin is made with a cover where the strings are "caught" so you can't see what you're doing. I figured that tail piece must somehow slide off but it's on there real good! So i looked up on the internet and found this good page which helped me know what i was doing. The tail piece does slide off. It was just really hard. My finger tips are kind of bruised. Plus the tuning pegs are a LOT tighter than on a guitar and i had to wind them with my hands, not a tool bc it would have broke my tool that i use for guitar.

Anyway. Now i have a new sounding instrument again.

I had today off. I went to bed last night at 6:30 after watching "After the Show" with Oprah. That is how tired i was. Israel called me last night somewhere around nine and we talked for a little while... but he was laughing at me bc i obviously had just woke up and sounded really tired. Then i was awake sometime around 3:30 (when i normally get up for work) and watched some tv then went back to bed for a few hours. Izzy called me from work to ask me some questions and revealed that they still have not put my raise into effect, so he needed to know when i started my training for supervisor. That was back on June 2. So it's been over 14 weeks and i still haven't got a raise. Supposedly it's been approved but keeps getting lost in paper work or today the new excuse was that my name was not even in the payroll computer what a joke. He feels really bad. The same thing is happening to him only worse bc he's acting as a store manager but still has not been officially promoted from assistant sales manager... and they won't even talk to him about it. This company is really screwed up if you ask me. So if you think i'm grumpy about it, think about him. He's busting his butt and is getting no reward and has no hope in sight.

I know it's a big company. I just don't see (for my situation) what the deal is. Why someone can't just punch it into a computer and get it squared away. What a nightmare this is going to be if it somehow gets denied for good. I can't even think about that right now.

I did some other shopping too... went to the mall. Got a few new shirts and pants for sunday church. Went to pick up my (small) paycheck and took that to the bank. Picked up one of those fiesta Turkey subs at Subway. Dang those are really good!!! I like guacamole so of course i think it's good. I got a footlong so i could have lunch and supper. My apartment is a complete messy disaster. I just filled two garbage bags of crap that was lying everywhere. Don't even go near the kitchen. I haven't gone grocery shopping in about a month or more so it's just fast food bags everywhere and empty cereal boxes and milk containers all over the counter. I am ashamed.

I'm not quite sure what to do about leading jr. high church worship on Sunday. I don't have a copy of their song book. It ought to be interesting. Tomorrow i'll probably pick out some that i hope they know and make copies of them in the key i want to do them in. And then just hope for the best.

I have three days off in a row, so this is a good feeling... hopefully i'll CLEAN too! haha

   [ posted  @ 3:08 PM | ]

Do i need to grow up?

When the small groups were introduced to their leaders on Wed. night, we were sent off to sections of the family center... and introductions were made. Remember i am leading a group of sophomores. One of the girls was introduced to me by another leader and she said to me, in the plainest voice, "Are you a sophomore?"

I just laughed.
I know i act like a geek most of the time... and in some ways i guess i dress like the students too (not a whole lot but sometimes)... I got home and looked in the mirror and shook my head.

   [ posted  @ 12:57 PM | ]

The lesson is... trust your instincts.

So i'll tell you about church last night in a few paragraphs but first the retarded news about me. I already knew i was losing my mind. Aging does that to people. I already knew that i am an idiot. But yesterday when i had the inkling to call work and double check my schedule for today, i should have listened to myself. It's not a big deal, kt. Just pick up the phone and ask someone to see and make sure you're really scheduled for 4 a.m. this morning. (Me and Mike have been coming in at 4 a.m. thru back to school season to stock, and then two additional morning people come at 6 a.m. to help us too.)

SO i get up at 3 a.m. Get ready. Show up a little before 4:00 a.m. No one is there. (We can't go in the building alone, no matter who you are.) I crack open my Mocha Frappuccino and chug it down in a few swallows... trying to get pumped for the day. I figure it's better to drink it all now than carry it around with me and let it get warm. Drink it while it's ccccold. Then, I wait ten minutes. I start thinking to myself, well sometimes Mike is this late, but he just went on a rant yesterday about how Terrance is always late and how we should not be late. Fifteen minutes go by. It's now 4:15 and no Mike. So my thoughts at that point are...
1. i hope there's nothing wrong with the baby (he and Andrea are pregnant and baby is due in Dec.)
2. gee, am i suuuure i was scheduled at 4? Not positive but i sure thought so... I should have called last night. I should have called last night. I should have called last night...
3. If Mike is at home sleeping, i'm going to kill him
4. Why am i killing myself like this for a living? What is my problem?
5. What else is on the radio?
6. This is just another test of my faith... how will i weather this storm?

Another two minutes go by. I'm getting angry and frustrated... promising to myself that if he is not here by 4:25 i might as well go home. But of course now i have a full 9.5 FL OZ (281 ml.) of caffiene in me, and going home and sleeping until the next set of morning crew people get there at 6 a.m. is going to be pointless bc now my energy is rushing and i want to get to work on our freight! I am now thinking...
1. I don't think i was scheduled at 4 a.m.
2. Why didn't i call?
3. I really hope that it's mike's fault and not mine. I hope i can be mad at him when i get in there at six and find out he screwed up. And if he's calling in sick, why isn't he calling me on my cell phone? It's not like if the phone in the store is ringing, that i can pick it up!
4. Now that i'm all awake, what is there to do at home? I want to work! I want to be done by 1:00! Now i'll be stuck there till two! GRRR! It's not like i'll be able to fall asleep!
5. If this is a test of my faith, i am still going to somehow pass.
6. I will only have myself to blame if i was scheduled at six...

And i went home. Kind of laughing. I actually got in bed and slept for a good hour and then got up around 5:37 and put my boots back on off i was back to work. I slept OK, considering the coffee, which is weird, but i was really tired bc i was up late last night. And then while i waited, i had another Frappuccino with me so since Shannon was about 10 min. late i was sitting there for another 20 minutes waiting (bc i always get there early.) So that gave me an interesting start to my day.

Thankfully Jim (sales manager) came at 8 so i was not the only person with keys in the building. It was a busy day. We didn't get much done. Shannon was her moody grumpy sick self and she puked around 12:30 and we let her go home. She really gets on my nerves in a big way... I will miss Jodie a lot. Change change change.

I also have everyone calling me "THE ORACLE" now. Jim asked me if he could just call me "THE" for short. I said, OK.

========================================================================
Church last night... Went very well. Man there are a ton of students in that ministry. I still can't get over it. A few hundred in the sr. high and a few hundred in the jr high. They said they have 6,500+ in their database! So they are trying to get it updated. Obviously that is counting visitors and stuff over the last 4 years. But still. I met most of the kids from my zone. Some were not there. That was good. We did an icebreaker and just introduced ourselves. Good mix of guys and girls... Some of the girls seemed upset bc their friends got put in the other sophomore group. But we'll have a great time. Check out Alyssa's artwork...

I think she's amazingly talented... So let's see. I already had met Landis. He's a hyper one. Then there's Spencer, Mike, Jake, Kiersten, Alyssa, and Ashley. We were missing a few students... Anyways it's going to be fun. The leaders liked the song book too :)

   [ posted  @ 1:18 PM | ]

I am thoroughly depressed now.

I found out that Friday is my operations supervisor's last day... (Jodie.) She JUST STARTED!!!!!!!!!! Got a much better $$job offer at another company where she did her internship for her degree. I left really hanging my head because she told me just before i left. It's her day off tomorrow and i don't work friday, so that means today was my last day with her. Now who will i make up stories about Justin Timberlake concerts too that don't exist???? I will miss working w/ her because she's really driven, organized, bossy, and takes no crap from anyone. And she's blonde so her head is basically empty and you can mess with her brain a lot. At first i thought she was kidding because of all the jokes i've played on her in the last two months. And then she said she's not kidding, that i should check the schedule.

GRRR.

This is going to make things harder because my hours might change again... and that could affect my time available at church. GRR.

Anyways. Pastor Craig (Jr. High pastor) called last night and said he wants me to start THIS SUNDAY leading worship at jr high church at 11:15. I am supposed to go and meet with the students at 8-9:15 to work on songs. That will be AWESOME. I hope everything goes ok. i can't really plan ahead because i don't even know for sure which songs they all know and do. But i'll show up ready anyways. Got to change my guitar strings this weekend then. They are ready to pop.

So that is the GOOD NEWS. And tonight i'll meet my Zone students for the first time (and show everyone my cool book i made for singing.)

The other good news is the weather. Last time it was really hot and cooled down, i said a prayer that it would not be that hot again this year. I think so far that is coming true. It is almost like fall weather out where you could wear a sweatshirt. Or, i could, i should say. But my favorite season is winter, not fall. But i'll take fall over summer any time. My least favorite season is SPRING. Because it is so muddy and yucky out.

   [ posted  @ 12:06 PM | ]

More Amish questions / Answers

   [ posted  @ 1:56 PM | ]

I am so embarrased at the OfficeMax back to school commercial i saw on TV last night. Dang. Our advertising department is AWFUL! But we already knew that. Did you know at OfficeMax that everything they do has the word "max" associated with it? TimeMax (payroll). StickMax (that stick man they don't use in ads anymore). CopyMax (printing department). TechMax (electronic dept). FurnitureMax. AtMax (info-network online for reference). StoreMax (inventory numbers). MaxNet (phone network). BabyMax (prenatal insurance, and no i didn't make that up. It is a real thing.) MaxAssurance (extendend warrantes.) MaxRanks (district contests to see which store is performing better in what areas). MaxTracking.

I am sure there are more i can't think of right now. But anyway i had a customer tell me today that we have way more stuff than Target (right next door) and we are much more friendly.

Yeah. But i shouldn't forget to mention that all the customers who came to our store this last weekend got the wrong rebate book... because no one ever put out the September book with the special free after rebate crap in it so we're going to get a lot of angry people. Great.

Had to work at 4 a.m. so it's after 3 p.m. now and i'm so tired.

I'll probably head off to bed a few hours. And that's my day.

   [ posted  @ 1:19 PM | ]

Booklet update (boring!) i am proud to announce that the booklet is set up, run off and ready to be bound. I just made a white copy to show the rest of the leaders on Wednesday and then what i want to do (if it doesn't get too $$) is to make each page a different astrobrite color. Did you know that if you take a normal 8.5x11 size document and put it in our CopyMax copier and change the settings it can make a little booklet for you? All in the right order? It's so cool! Dan is going to bind it for me tonight and i can't wait to see it tomorrow. I love making stuff like that. I'm still gathering the chords for a few of the songs and getting them ready to play.

Work was busy today... typical for a labor day. I was glad i came in two hours early because i was really ready to leave at two, when i was off. I was originally scheduled 8-4, but instead i worked 6-2. My sales manager was a little too hyper and was driving me crazy so i was glad to leave. They are trying to pressure Hector into taking my job (in the theory that i would be promoted to manager if Mike left ahemmmm)... and Hector is being smart about it and not caving. I think they would be very angry to hear that i am not interested in another promotion! But i'm not going to show all my cards at this point. I tried to tell Izzy that he can't afford Hector (bc Hector works two full time jobs and OfficeMax would never pay him what he is worth) but no one listens to me...

I'll be proved right in the end. Or wrong... since i've usually been wrong lately.

It has been very strange for me not having part of the weekend off and working 10 days straight. I wake up in the morning wondering which day it is... Yeah. I haven't been putting in any over time though because i'm getting worn out.

On a different note, though the temps outside have been dropping i have a tree outside my window that hosts about 500,000 birds loudly chirping (i think they are black birds) and they are so noisy. I can't sleep with the windows or door open because of that. I wish i could shoot them. I wouldn't even have to be a good shot. Just aim for the tree and i'm bound to get about 15 at a clip.

   [ posted  @ 1:00 PM | ]

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