8 Months, 2 Weeks, 4 Days

That's how long it's been since my last cigarette. I offer the following thought: If it was just a question of money, I'd be broke and happy. God how I miss smoking.

Hey, I just noticed that it's been over a year since I last put anything on this narcissistic (spell check confirms I got that word right first time :P) overindulgence called a blog. Actually I suppose a true narcissist would post more frequently, but I really am too lazy to be a shameless self-promoter. That reminds me...

For non-residents of my territorial stomping grounds; we are gonna be havin' ourselves an 'lection! YEEee... haw. Yet another social exercise in futility where we play the political equivalent of "duck, duck, goose" combined with the "musical chairs game". I seriously plan on going to the polls and writing things like 'On Drugs', 'Booze Hound', 'Pill-Popper', and all manner of insulting bullshit next to the names on the ballot just to give the ballot counters a little laugh - anything to break up the tedium.

I may view what passes for politicians in these parts as little more than some particularly vile species of mealy-mouthing, semi-literate troglodytes, with less self-respect than the average prostitute, but at least I will be able to say that I cast my ballot on election day. I truly believe that going to the polls is an important civic duty, and not one to be passed up (if for no other reason than to be a wise-ass and make loud fart noises while in the booth spoiling your ballot).

So, PSA time: Go out and cast your ballot this election cycle, you'll have fun - I promise.

Been A While...

So here I am again after a very long hiatus, and I have to admit that I have just about run out of ideas. But here goes.

After my last post (about five months after) I was asked by my boss if I was 'alright'; without boring anyone with the precis of the ensuing conversation, I ended up taking four weeks of "unofficial stress leave" starting that day to recover from the incredibly excessive overtime and over-working that I had, up until then been putting in. I now work very much to the clock and I have decided that if the job suffers... TOUGH.

A month off to get my headspace was, if not what the doctor ordered, then at least what I needed to ensure that I didn't suffer a full-blown psychic meltdown. When the people that you work with say that you seem to be less stressed out after watching your daily fight with an impending psychotic break and really nasty mood swings, you wonder just exactly how bad it got. I still wonder, mostly because I don't ask. I really don't want to know.

Good Times, Better Memories

RIP Isis

Born: Sometime in 1997.

Deceased: Sept 3, 2008

Sometimes a man's best friend isn't a dog.

Workin' Overtime

If you've never worked unwanted or unpaid overtime, then you can stop reading now... If you are still reading this, then I am going to assume that you are either incapable of taking directions or have, indeed, worked unwanted or unpaid overtime.

It just so happens that I've been doing a lot of both just lately, and I'll be honest: I think I'm starting to like it, and that worries me. "As it should" you say; a little hard work never killed anybody, and most of the people who look at me like I've taken complete and total leave of my senses when I tell them that I am putting in - yet another - 12 hour day, should be thankful that I do. To be really fair, most of them are. Problem is, that they are ground level grunts in the Mincing Machine that is my workplace, and while I appreciate their sympathy and occasional thanks, it's not enough to offset that casual neglect that comes from higher up the ladder.

That's the kicker. The neglect (perceived or real, you take your pick) is never out of malice or ill-will, it is truly casual. There's no real drive to it, it's just there. It would be a lot easier for me to take, I think, if it did have some intelligent design behind it; I'd feel more justified about 'working to rule'. But every day takes its toll, and time is coming when my desire to be professional is going to dissipate, and all that is going to be left is a razor-sharp desire to work to the clock and not the job. When that happens I truly do worry that I am going to become the kind of miserable prick that, right now, I am desperate to avoid becoming.

Advertising genius David Ogilvy once said "Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine". Right now, I'm still aiming for remarkable, but it's a question of 'when, not if', I am going to start settling for routine.

2008

Just a little thing I found. I like it; it kinda says it all at once...

Seriously, though, I hope you all had a relatively good 2007, and a 2008 that is at least no WORSE.

The Christmas Perils of the Salary Man

Colourful lights, decorations, and bad music: Bah Humbug. There I said it. The more time I spend in the world of salaried retail management, the more I begin to wonder why. Hunter S. Thompson once wrote: "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." I would like to say that also applies to retail sales in a BIG way. The Christmas season is supposed to be a celebration of new life, a time of giving; but what I seem to see is a time when all of the nation's retailers go absolutely bug-fuck nuts trying to make as much money as possible, and ordinary people will trample each other for knickknacks and gewgaws.

Why?

I suppose it all comes down to one thing. Conditioning. We have been programmed to believe that we have to prove our love for friends and family by buying as much as possible in the shortest span of time. Act NOW, Save BIG, or the people closest to you will be unhappy. What a crock. If only life were so easy, but watch just one hour of TV and count the number of commercials that play on these sentiments. It'll shock the hell out of you. Most of us don't notice it, they just see it and their brains file it all away. You don't even think about it, but you go out, you act now, you (supposedly) save big, and you come away feeling that you are making people happy.

Here's the funny thing: You are now a little poorer, and someone (several someones probably) are now a little richer. All so that you don't have to feel guilty about the slim possibility that you might not have appreciated people enough. I have a better idea. Give people who have nothing (or next to it) something; donate money in someone else's name and save the tax receipt, give the tax return to someone you love and tell them that they've made a difference.

Hey, it's Jesus' birthday, so ask yourself: What would He want for Christmas?

Where Did My Summer Go?

It is now mid August and I have to wonder: What happened to summer? After a crippling heat wave that destroyed the front lawn (and will probably guarantee me a few skin tumours later in life for all the time I spent in the sun), I find myself going out at night with a sweater on just to stay warm. I would like to point out that I'm not complaining, just sort of idly curious, I may not like the oppressiveness of the 30+ Celsius degree heat that lasted almost three weeks, but I am even less enamoured of the biting cold that I have to guard myself against every winter.

When I look back over the last two months, I can't even remember anything I did that screams out 'hooray'. I worked, that's it. Ok, ok, I nearly broke my ankle at a friend's birthday party and was in so much pain I blacked out for a couple of minutes (which freaked people out enough that they called an ambulance), but that hardly qualifies as a good time; although working my way through the last four bottles of beer from the six pack I brought made up for it - a bit.

Summer is viewed by many as a time to relax, and I have no idea why. I only used to like it when I was a kid because it meant I was out of school, which I can now say that I hated with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. I find now, however, that my favourite time of year is the fall, and if I can arrange it, I am going to use up the five weeks of vacation time that I have banked up to enjoy it to the best of my ability (and as my budget allows). To that end I have decided to spend a week in Montreal this year, my sister lives there with two of her friends, and as such I will have three potential tour guides who can steer me around the town and help me maximise the enjoyment of my stay there.

Here's hoping, at any rate, that the last of the reasonably good weather holds until the first week of September.