Year's end

Here's how exciting my New Year's Eve is so far: I'm sitting here at 8:30 p.m. with the laptop watching "The Replacements" (for Keanu Reeves, of course, not the footbal) while Buster snores on his bed. Dinner was pretzles and a Pepsi and maybe later I'll make cookies. And then, if I can actually stay up to midnight, I might open up that little bottle of champagne I got at Day of Caring.


Wheee! OK, actually I'm not sulking over that or anything. Just in a mood for a quiet evening, really. Today was work at the paper, and tomorrow afternoon is work at the mall, so not a lot exciting going on anyway.

This week, though, I did get to visit with some people I haven't seen for awhile, which was cool. There was my friend who I had lunch with today. We used to work together, and she works for a paper in Indiana now, so it was nice catching up and talking shop (and about her upcoming marriage!). A friend I don't get to see too often and her husband took me out for a birthday dinner Wednesday. Nice to talk to her someplace besides online and get to know her husband a bit better. And while there, we ran into another former co-worker of mine and her husband back for a visit with family. Earlier that day, while stopping at the mall to visit with a friend I don't get to see often since she works days now, I ran into one of my favorite college professors and caught up with her. And earlier in the week, it was lunch with another friend from the mall who's moved to another town.

So a good week, overall. And I'm looking forward to 2010. This year hasn't been the best, but it wasn't the worst. But I think this coming year will be a good one, despite the uncertainties of the economy and what affect it might have on my job and all the other unknowns that are out there, but I'm going to do my best to make it a good one.

Happy New Year, all. You go out and make it a good one, too.

WORK FAIL

I am soooooo tired right now. I should be going to bed but I really do need to keep up with posting here, so excuse me while a depart from the merry holiday attitude and bitch a little.

I have a second, part-time job. I need this job, because I want to get some debts paid off in case the main job goes south. Which, considering I work for a newspaper, is not that far-fetched. So I work at the local mall as a janitor. We actually have more than one mall here, but it is actually called The Mall, and everybody knows what you're talking about when you say The Mall. The other mall you have to call by its name, which is really just the name of a nearby side street off the main drag. It's a small town, what can I say?

Soooo, anyway, Friday I go into work -- after putting in a full day at the main job -- and I'm scheduled for my regular hours, 6 to 11. Normally, I get done around 10 to 10:30, so it's not a big deal, but since I work in a different town than what I work in, it is a real drag to be away from my home for that long. Anyway, Friday was a pain because apparently it was "drop off your tweens and let them run amuck" night. Then, when stores finally started closing at 9 p.m., Penny's kept their doors open. I got most of the doors locked, then went by Penny's, and their doors were still open. I figured maybe they were staying open an extra hour. No big deal. I went to ask. "We're open til midnight." Holy crap. At least I got my Christmas cards done.

Then today, I was scheduled for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Well, today is the day the mall started holiday hours -- 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. There are a lot of stores that don't have their own entrances, so employees have to use the mall entrances. Obviously, they can't do that if I'm not there to unlock the doors. So I went in a half hour before I was scheduled, and there were already a bunch of store employees waiting to get in. And they weren't happy. At least none of them took it out on me. But I knew I'd get home kinda late because there are I things I can't do, like dust-mop the hallways and clean the bathrooms, until we close. And it was really too busy to get the trash before we closed, so I had to do all that after 7 p.m. So with coming in a half-hour early and staying late, plus Friday, I've put in an extra almost 3 hours above my schedule, including a nearly 10-hour day today. That's a hell of a lot to ask a part-timer. Expecially one that makes less that $8 an hour.

There's a new motel being built in the little town I live in that's supposed to open in spring, by summer for sure. I think I might just go apply there when the time comes. It'd be nice to actually maybe have some dinner at home and see Buster before heading to a second job anyway, and not have to drive such a distance through crappy weather, too.

OK, bah humbug over. Back to merry. Maybe.

Will they finally be right?

So three times already in the last couple months we've been told THE BIG STORM IS COMING! MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR WINTER SAFETY KIT IN THE CAR! RUSH THE GROCERY STORE! BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES! IT'S THE STORM OF THE ... oh, you get the idea. And three times we got, at most, a dusting of the white stuff.

Yes, it's always a good idea to be prepared for a big winter storm, and I guess that's especially true for me since I have a 20 mile drive to my work. But I have to wonder if the TV news media doesn't make a bigger deal about it all than is really necessary. I mean, one of the local news stations even started off the 10 p.m. newscast with a story about how they make the same report about "the big storm" year after year after year after year.

So what's the deal? Is it all about ratings? Is everybody trying to be the Weather Channel, with their heroic, daring on-the-scene reporters? Probably. It just seems like everybody's trying to outdo each other on the local weather. I have to laugh when I watch one of the other Wichita stations and their weather guy is literally surrounded by a bank of monitors. None of which seem to actually be showing anything, by the way.

It's been snowing lightly most of the day, and, depending on where you look, we'll get anywhere from a trace to 12+ inches of snow by tomorrow night. Whatever.

Guess I'll go make sure I've got a blanket and stuff in the car. You never know, after all.