Keeping your job

It's no surprise that the internet is buzzing with advice on how to keep your job (and how to find one if you already lost it). After all we are in a recession and job losses are still high. But some of the advice makes me laugh.

I tell my staff manager off.

I argue with my district manager when he's wrong and have proven him wrong several times.

I rarely show up on time (I'm generally running a few minutes late in the morning).

I goof off when I feel like it.

I send joke emails to management.

Why do I still have a job?

Maybe I should write my own advice column on how to keep your job if you work for the government...

Madoff

In no way do I condone what Madoff did. I have no sympathy for his wife and think she should be stripped of ALL the money. I don't think she should be allowed to keep even 2.5 million. She should be broke and have to get a job and work for a living as, say...a waitress, a housekeeper...

But (you knew it was coming didn't you),

I have very little sympathy for his victims. The little bit of sympathy I have is all for the recipients from the charitable organizations that he ripped off. Those people are the real victims. Everyone else was complicit in the crime. There's a saying "if it's too good to be true then it isn't true". Madoffs clients were greedy and let their greed overtake their reason. They asked for what they got. They should have known. They should have asked more questions. They didn't because all they cared about was the money.

Madoffs victims cheered when he was sentenced to 150 years. Personally I think that was a ridiculous sentence. Anything over 50 years is a joke. The man is 71 years old. He isn't going to last 50 years in jail. It's doubtful that he'll last ten years. The sentence is petty and vindictive. The sentence highlighted a serious flaw in US culture. The reverence of money. Money is not the most importnat thing in life but Americans seem to think that it is. Sad.

Personally I think Madoff should not go to jail. I think that he and his wife should be stripped of every penny they have and forced to fend for themselves. I want to seem them how homeless people live. I want them to see how desperate homeless shelters are for money. Money that they took from them. In my opinion that would be a much better punishment and life lesson for Mr. and Mrs. Madoff.

I'm so confused

A while back I participated in a rather sexual post that got deleted from the forum (and rightfully so). It was a lot of fun talking about the crazy things we've done and I expressed a desire to "play" now that I'm free from the overbearing extremely jealous relationship I was in. So a friend suggested I try a "swingers" group. She told me that I could pick and choose and only go with straight guys if that's what I want. That sounded about right and I found a group on Yahoo that is based in Albuquerque. I haven't participated in any of the get togethers and I'm somewhat turned off by the whole thing.

I keep telling my friends that I don't want a real relationship right now but I'm not a swinger and I want something. I don't want to get into a relationship and lead someone on and make him think it's serious when it isn't. Between work and school I don't see how I'd have the time or energy for a relationship. But I miss having a man in bed with me.

What do I really want?

I miss the good times.

I miss the look on his face when I'd say something totally outrageous.
I miss having him sneak up behind me and give me a hug while I'm cooking dinner.
I miss the silly wacky stuff we would come up with.
I miss the serious science conversations.
I miss sex.
I miss having someone to spoil.

There's a lot I don't miss that outweighs what I miss.

I don't miss the false accusations.
I don't miss the wild jealousies.
I don't miss the paranoia.
I don't miss the put downs.
I don't miss the lies.
I don't miss the mind games.

Will I ever find the good without all the bad?

When Will the US WAKE UP!?????

After 9/11 we thought the US would wake up.

After the suicide bombings in Iraq we thought the US would wake up.

Now that Iran is saying that the CIA killed Neda will the US wake up?
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-285768

I hope so but I doubt it. There are too many people out there whose minds have been poisoned by Arab propaganda to believe the truth.

Cap and Trade

Thank You!

Thank You!

Thank You!

Thank You!

....

Abortion is Murder?

Where does that notion come from?

http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/Cavalier/Forum/abortion/background/judaism1.html

Coffee

Like most adult Americans and Israelis I need my morning coffee.

No one brews coffee in Israel. Latte's are made with espresso. I used to drink instant all the time. I've slowly developed a taste for brewed coffee and started brewing my own about a year ago. During that year I've discovered many ways to screw up.

1. Forget the water.

2. Forget to close the lid on the water reservoir.

3. Dump the coffee grounds into the water reservoir.

4. Pour the water over the coffee grounds instead of the water reservoir.

5. Fill the pot with water and forget to pour it into the reservoir.

6. Forget to turn the coffeemaker on.

7. Forget to plug in the coffeemaker.

I wonder what my foggy uncaffienated brain will come up with next.

I Wasn't Born Yesterday.

I went to inspect a test hole today. There was about a foot of water in the hole and the contractor started telling me that it was rain water from all the rain that weekend. I told him that it looked like ground water to me. He tried to argue and I suggested that he dig another hole while I wait. The ground was so cobbley that he could barely scrape a few inches with the back hoe each time and the machine was really being stressed. After a few minutes I knew I was right. I could smell the water but it wasn't surfacing yet so I told him to keep digging. At 6.5 feet I stopped him and walked around to the pile and showed him the wet muddy rocks. There was no water in the hole yet but he conceded that there was ground water there which made it about the 7 feet I saw in the first hole.

I may be a woman but I wasn't born yesterday.

Never!!!

I'm surrounded by Christians at work. It doesn't really bother me for the most part because I like the people.

A few days ago one of them said to me "we'll make a Christian out of you yet". I laughed and said "never" and he said "harder hearts have been won over".

I despise Christianity. Christianity is the biggest lie of all time. Christianity has been the motivation behind the persecution of Jews for 2000 years. Now all of a sudden Islam has become a common enemy and we are being embraced by Christians as their "brothers" and "Gods chosen people". The problem is that leopards don't change their spots and as soon as Islam is back under control we will be the victims again. Even if there wasn't so much other evidence that Christianity is a total lie and sham I could never become a Christian for that reason alone.

I don't believe in God but I would rather die a Jew than live as a Christian.

Help

What do I get for a gay friend who just got married?

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Update:

I asked a guy at work what I could get as a gift for a guy I have no romantic interest in (I'm the only one who knows Jim is gay and just got married) his answer was "beer". I said "something more lasting?" and he said "tequila".

So this is what I got

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007G2IX/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Iran

I have always been against the war in Iraq. Not because I disagree with the war on terror. I support the war on terror and the terror is very real and very dangerous. I disagree with the war on Iraq because we attacked a nation that was literally on it's knees after the gulf war and over a decade of UN sanctions.

We never should have attacked Iraq.

We should have attacked Iran.

If we had attacked Iran we would not be in the position we are today. We weakened ourselves in a useless war and will be had pressed to be able to deal with Iran when we need. I deliberately said when and not if. Ahmedinejad will not back down. The only way to stop him is a full blown attack.

One more huge mistake to lay on President Bush Jr. He was so caught up in revenge that he led us into the wrong war, weakened our military, cost us our best and bravest and billions of dollars while the real problem grew stronger from our oil money.

I've been saying this for years. I wonder if anyone is listening yet.

This is AWESOME

There are 19 parts to this. I really enjoyed this. This is why I have no doubt that if I ever decided that I believe in God I would go back to Judaism. No other religion makes any sense to me at all.

WTF!!!!!!!!

This guy is nuts. There is no impetus in Judaism for anyone to convert and become a Jew. A gentile can have all the rights of a Jew by simply believing in Judaism and keeping the seven laws of Noah. In fact, trying to convert people to Judaism is against the Torah. I'm protesting this video and the message he is trying to send.

What Would You Do?

I ran into a situation that sickens me. Someone I thought was a friend and works for the same department I do tried to get me fired.

I found out about six weeks ago that her septic system wasn't permitted. Not a big deal, most septic systems in the state aren't because until 2002 the state wasn't enforcing permitting. When we come across an unpermitted system we have the owner register it and that solves the problem. Part of the registration involves us inspecting it to make sure it's sound and isn't posing a threat to the environment and/or public health. She was going through a difficult period so I waited and finally went to talk to her about it last week. Her reaction was to call my division director and tell him that I was threatening her.

This person is a political appointee of the Governor so her word carries some weight. I weighed the situation and realized that I was being told in not so many words that if I pursue this I'll be fired. Since I'm still on my first year probation, (the year I worked in superfund didn't count), it wouldn't be too difficult for them to "let me go". I decided to shut up for now. Getting myself fired wouldn't change anything. Richardson has about one year left and when that year is over she loses her clout and we can go after her.

I'm pissed off beyond belief that she would do this. And I feel like my integrity is being compromised. But I think I'm making the right decision.

What would you do in my situation?

Laugh or Cry?

This country is in terrible shape and it's mostly our (the people) fault. We've lost every sense of pride, work ethic, frugality, caution...

Pride and work ethic are things I run up against every day. when I deal with a homeowner liquid waste installation I know I'm going to find some weird things. Undortunately when I go to a contractor installation I know I'm going to find weird things too.

Here are a few things that stick in my mind. They are funny but at the same time alarming because they represent the deterioration of our society. Bear in mind that these people are "professional" installers.

1. Even though the distribution box was color coded, yellow for the inlet and orange for the outlets, the contractor put it in the wrong way. (The inlet is one inch higher than the outlet, think gravity if you're wondering why it's important).

2. Gravel is supposed to be 3/4 - 2.5 inches in diameter. The contractor used river rock that's about 6 - 10 inches in diameter. Did he not know what gravel to use or did he think we wouldn't notice?

3. The contractor dug a ten foot deep trench for the leach field. The permit said 5 feet, the maximum depth allowed is six feet. Can he read?

4. The contractor put the effluent (not influent, effluent) filter on the inlet to the tank.

So tell me, should I be laughing or crying?

Cheap Electric Cars

Trust an Israeli to find the way to do it.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/260496/Shai-Agassi's-Plan-to-Get-the-World-Off-Oil;_ylt=Aq.cfgIHK4ZltrLNEtv9.BJk7ot4?tickers=GM,F,SAP,^IXIC

Obsession

There are ten parts to this.

Radical Islams plan to take over the world.

One Brave Woman

There are seven parts to this. You should be able to access all of them and please watch. I can't vouch for the veracity of her personal experiences but I can vouch for the validity of the things she says about Lebanon, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Israel. Everything she says is what I experienced myself. Lebanon used to be called "The good border".

This gives more interesting information.

Maybe I was wrong

We had to get our vehicles inspected this week. I bitched and moaned about it. Why were they wasting our time on a stupid car inspection. We already have a maintenance schedule. What a waste of tax payer money to have us wait in line for two hours so they could make sure we had all our decals on the car. Not to mention the drive back and forth to Santa Fe.

When my district manager told me we (the district) would get a fine if we didn't get our cars inspected I resigned my self to the fact and just said "OK if they want to pay us to waste half a day that's their problem".

When I got into the inspection they asked me if the car met my needs. I said "not really I need 4 wheel drive". Then I added that I cover Rio Arriba County. They went white " You cover Rio Arriba County with all those back dirt roads in a Ford Taurus?" "Yup." Five minutes later they told me to contact XXXX that they had gotten authorization to have my vehicle swapped for a 4 wheel drive.

I guess I was wrong it wasn't a waste of time.

Email to The President

Dear President Obama,

I listened to your Cairo speech and as an American Israeli born in the US and raised in Israel I have some things to say. I appreciate your desire to unite the world and bring peace. I voted for you in the hopes that you would bring a much needed new order and am overall pleased with most of what you have done so far. I don't disagree with your desire to close the gap between Christians and Muslims. I have some Muslim friends who are wonderful caring people. I have met many Muslims whom I have liked and admired including Palestinians.

I also have some concerns. You grew up in Indonesia surrounded by tolerant Muslims. I have a friend who grew up in Malaysia surrounded by tolerant Muslims. I am well aware that there are many tolerant Muslims around the world. Unfortunately there are also many intolerant Muslims around the world and they really are a threat. I was living in Israel in the 1990's. I was there when the Oslo agreement was signed and I was there when Rabin was assassinated. I was also there during one of the worst bloodbaths in the history of Israel went on. Every time Rabin made a concession the level of terror rose. The suicide attacks started after the Oslo agreement. How can you make peace with people who try to kill you every time you make a concession?

The settlements are not the problem. I know the people in the settlements and some of them are fanatics but none of them are murderers. They believe that what they are doing is protecting Israel. How can you tell these people that stopping the settlements will bring peace after what happened in Gaza?

Israel wants peace. But Israel will not sacrifice her ability to defend herself. If you truly want peace you need to find a way to ensure Israels safety. When the surrounding Arab countries turn their back on terror and bloodshed and recognize the right of Israel to exist there will be peace. Israel will make any necessary concessions for real peace. But after all the broken promises that only led to more bloodshed Israel needs real reassurances that it is a real lasting peace.

I don't know if you will read this but I felt a need to try and reach out and say something. I love both my countries and want to see both of them succeed. This will never happen as long as there are terrorists like Hamas and Al Quaida. These people are funded by oil money. We need to invest more in clean renewable energy so we can stop the funding of these groups. When this happens there will be peace. Thank you for your time.

The Virginaia Graeme Baker Act

I nkow I posted about this before but I just sat through a pool regulations and inspection training and ARGH!!!!! They let their granddaughter go into their PRIVATE!!!! pool unsupervised and she drowned so they are forcing public pools to follow a stupid new regulation taht is costing them thousands in this dismal economy.

And the act was shoved as a side bill in an energy bill.

WTG Congress! NOT!!!!!

Punishing the rest of the country for your negligence is abuse of power. This bill should be revoked.

Hacked on ireport?

I'll admit that I go read some posts and comments from time to time. I found out that SirJohn was possibly banned. He had oposted some very inflamatory posts and gotten into some nasty arguments so I'm not too surprised.

The wierd thing is that the reports hewas posting were not his style. They were religious wingnut posts that the SirJohn I knew would never have posted.

Was SirJohn's account hacked? 

Is this the new wave of terror on ireport?

I'm grateful I deactivated my account before someone could do this to me. 

If you're out there SirJohn talk to me please.