Update on the truck situation...

Yep...more bad news in the world of Ang!! After the leaking radiator and water pump were replaced, it was time to trade vehicles back with Mom and Dad. (I had borrowed Mom's Suburban when mine broke down, just to have a way to get home and get around. Thank goodness I was blessed with such awesome parents!!)

So we were going to meet up halfway between us to have dinner and trade out vehicles...and as I was getting ready to leave my house to head that way, I got a call from Dad. Yep, the truck over-heated on the way to meet me and they were headed back home. No need to try and come meet them, they would take it back to the mechanic and figure out what was wrong...

The next call I got was the bad news...the block was cracked and will have to be replaced. Which means a whole new engine!! Are you freakin' kidding me??!! What have I done in the realm of Karma that has brought this huge thunderstorm down upon me??? Ugh!! So now, not only is there NOT a light at the end of the tunnel with my finances, but that tunnel has become more like a deep, cavernous pit of doom!! I know, a bit dramatic for me, huh? :-P But I do feel completely overwhelmed by it...

I'm stuck with the truck because I am still making payments(bought it used in '07 after a deer killed my perfectly good former truck that was completely paid for). If I scrap it and go get something else, I still have to finish making the payments on this one...counterproductive. So, I am going to be on my bike through the summer and hope I can make enough with the extra jobs over the next few months to get the damn thing fixed by fall/winter.

In the meantime, I will be buying a lottery ticket here and there and hoping for the best!! Y'all keep your fingers crossed that I hit it!! One can only imagine what kind of party there would be if THAT ever happens...LOL

Can someone tell me why....

Why, at every point where I SEEM to be getting control of my finances and reaching an even keel, SOMEthing happens? I know that everyone says this, but it really is frustrating for me!! As most of you know, I work a couple of "extra jobs" and I have been putting in lots and lots of hours at both of them lately, in an attempt to regain control.

One of the extra jobs is pretty steady and has served as an equalizer, basically filling the gap in my salary when I changed jobs. If not for working this first extra job, I would not have been able to stay at my present employer for the time frame that I have. The pitiful salary that comes with my job simply does not pay the bills. I knew this going in, and CHOSE to work at a place where I actually enjoy going to work as opposed to a job where I was miserable but made a decent living. I would make that same choice again tomorrow...

But that being said, the bills still have to get paid, so I do what I have to do. No big. Not looking for sympathy. I am a grown ass woman who made a conscious decision....

All the extra work had begun to pay off and I was just about to get caught up enough to start making a serious dent in my debt. Seeing a light at the end of that tunnel is HUGE in order to keep pushing forward and struggling with the added hours, lack of sleep and just general fatigue that comes with all that extra work time. AND THEN my truck breaks down...and it is going to cost between $600 and $800 to fix it! OUCHIE!!!

On the surface, I thought "No sweat, I have a extra job paycheck coming that should cover it". Which is true...it would...had I not made a double payment on another bill THE DAY BEFORE the truck broke down. LOL So here I am, wondering how I have induced this Karma upon myself...and wondering how to shake that off and find the good kind of Karma for a change!!

I know I will get it taken care of, because that's what we do. I guess I just wish that it wasn't so damn hard all the time!!

Okay....vent session complete. Onward and upward!!

Laterz,
Ang

So what DOES a wandering Texas girl wonder...

Well, I honestly wonder about a LOT of things, usually quite randomly, but mostly I wonder about PEOPLE. I wonder about the awful things that people DO to one another. I wonder about the awful things people SAY to one another. I wonder about the really amazing things that people do for one another. I have been witness to a whole lot of all of these...but mostly the really awful stuff.

Okay, so I grew up in the country, and I am very proud of that fact. I was raised to be a basically kind person...I was taught right from wrong and I was taught basic manners. When and where I grew up, this was the rule. It has now become the exception, and this pisses me OFF!! What I consider to be "common courtesy" is simply not common practice anymore.

You see, I work in public service and I have done so for about the last 15 years. In general, I see the very worst of people. But there have been a few exceptions to that...and these infrequent exceptions are what allows me to keep at least a wee bit of faith in humanity. It's out there, it's just not very visible, and it does not happen very often.

So this all comes to my question....How do we overcome this and revert back to a way of thinking and acting that is not completely divisive to our fellow man? I have no idea how this happens society-wide, but the best way to accomplish something as huge as this is to start with the smallest of steps. I can endeavour to stick to my own guns, and to not lose heart and give up on others. It is a basic lead by example issue. I feel like if enough people PRACTICE common courtesy, it will rub off on others a little bit at a time. For those with children, or in a position to influence children, you should be even more vigilant about this than the average Joe.

So, as cheesy as it sounds...practice those random acts of kindness and common courtesy daily. It may just rub off on enough people around us to make a difference, even if that difference is only for yourself and that one other person.

So that's what I was wondering about today...such deep thoughts it hurts my feeble brain. LOL

Good night and God bless!!
Ang

A Maiden Voyage into the world of Blogging...

This is my maiden voyage in the blogging department. I have always been told that I have a certain talent for the written and spoken word, and several friends have suggested that blogging would be a good avenue for me. So I finally decided I would try it out, and then a while after that I finally "got off my ass" and started putting words to paper.

So I guess I should tell you a little bit about myself, but honestly I think I will let my stories/limericks/bullshit tell the story for me. I will warn any reader coming in that I have what my mother calls "colorful" language. If you are easily offended by foul language or by a large amount of sick and twisted humor, TURN BACK NOW!! This may NOT be the blog for you!! To you, I will just apologize and say that I am who I am, and you should make the conscious choice to ignore my blabbering and cursing and go find a kinder, gentler blog. PLEASE!! ;-)

SO, that being said...on to the regularly scheduled programming (in other words, my bullshit!! LOL) Because one of my talents with the written word has always been making creative rhymes, I can generally come up with a decent rhyme or limerick on demand (if one could actually call that a talent). It helps if I know the person pretty well, because it is always more funny to work in a personal tidbit about that person!!

I am ALL about finding the humor in every dull, exciting, happy and sad part of life. There is not a lot more satisfying in life than knowing that you have made someone smile or laugh during a time when they would not normally even think about laughing. I have that ability, and have been blessed with a large number of great friends that have that same talent. We enjoy each other, and enjoy life a lot more because we have each other!! Thank God for my friends!!

So this particular entry doesn't have any particular topic or any real aim besides getting me started and allowing me to receive some feedback about whether I suck at this or not. If I do, I'm totally okay with that and will probably keeping writing crap, but just not share it with anyone. I have always found writing to be very therapeutic, I've just never written in anything other than a journal format, and then only for myself.

My general rule is that I don't debate politics or religion. On these two topics, there is never a winner of the argument/debate. Neither side will be swayed, as these are ingrained beliefs and ideas that will not be changed. So I won't discuss that particular brand of crap. I recently broke that rule after the passage of the "health care reform" bill by making several comments around Facebook and almost automatically regretted even saying anything. It is not the first time I have regretted the words that came out of my mouth, and I assure you it will not be the last!! In regards to religion, I will just say that I believe in God and in the power of prayer and leave it at that.

I guess that is a decent introduction into my aimless ramblings and how they may appear in the future. If it tickles your fancy, GREAT!! If not, TOUGH SHIT!! MOVE ALONG!! I tried to warn you!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! As I get more accustomed to the format and play with the blog some, I hope to add music and some other stuff here and there, so try and be patient with me on that one!!

I will end with a quick limerick, just to say I did at least ONE thing original in my first ever blog entry...For those that have witnessed previous limericks, you will notice the tame nature of this one. LOL

Ol' Angela sure likes to drink a cold beer;

And tries to live her life without fear;

Sometimes it works, and sometimes it don't,

Sometimes she will, and sometimes she won't,

But have no doubt, her friends she holds very dear!!

Laterz taterz....Ang