On a happy note. Happy 4th B-day Milaynah!

Every year on or about my grand kids B-days, I pick them up and go do something one on one. It was my youngest ones b-day the 30Th of June and I had not gotten around to picking her up for an outing. On Monday, Rich gave me a few bucks to take her to Blackberry Farms.

http://www.foxvalleyparkdistrict.org/?q=node/2










We had a real nice time. She rode the ponies, carousel and the train 3 times each, and the tractor-pulled wagon once.

She had ice cream at the park and then a happy meal on the way home.

She loves animals so it seemed like the perfect outing for her. She had me running to catch trains...hurry gramma, we have to catch the train. She is a good little girl and was very well behaved.

She went up to the billy goats and said BAAAAAAA. She actually got an answer back. It was fun spending the day with her and making memories together. I think I will always remember hearing that tiny little voice...hurry gramma, run gramma.

Thanks to grampa Rich for a perfect day.

No job in sight!

I spend at least 2-3 hours everyday trying to find a job. Either they want a degree with years of experience or you have to be bilingual. What's that crap!!!

I'm all for people trying to make a better life for themselves, but how about learning our language so we don't have to learn a foreign language just to fit in with them and work in our own country.

My grandparents...mom's side...came here from Germany...dad's side...Irland and worked for the locals in return for teaching them and their children English. My daughter-in-laws father came here from Mexico and speaks perfect English. Why is it that the majority of immigrants now refuse to learn English?

My unemployment has run out earlier than some since the extensions have been cut. I don't think I'm entitled to a life time free ride. I really want a job, not a handout...so much so, I am going to be sitting in with the bookkeeper at the company that Rich works at just to get hands on experience. No pay, just experience. They only have her come in 2-3 days a week. It's not a large company...just 10 employees.

I live in a small town and absolutely no jobs here. I can't drive 45 minutes for minimum wage. The shop Rich works at is 35 minutes away but I can ride in with him and after his last job of the day, he can stop back at the shop to pick me up. He's a road tech for a forklift company. They are not hiring office help since they are slow, but they can give me some experience. The lady that currently does the books may be retiring soon. She is in her late 60's-early 70's. I would even be willing to work 2 part time jobs if I could get medical at one.

We normally give to charities; paralyzed vets, VFW, disabled vets, etc. We have always tried to support our troops. We can't give any more since I am not working and I'm sure others have had to stop giving also. If Rich was still getting 40+ hours we would be fine, but his work is slow too. There are so many of our own that are in need. I get so frustrated when I hear that we are sending money to other countries when we have so many in need here and our deficit is so high.

I'm really starting to get depressed. Any one need their house cleaned? How about a home cooked meal?

4th of July weekend

It's been a very long weekend. Rich is upstairs nursing his back after all the moving. I tried to get him to use the dolly more but he said it's faster to just pick it up and go.

Friday we went to a place that we used to go dancing at every weekend. It was closed a few years ago and was just reopened . It's just not the same. We used to have the dance floor packed all the time. There were a few of the old crowd but mostly younger people. It seems like the younger people don't dance much and when they do, they have any dance floor etiquette. They take drinks out on the floor and spill them all over making it easy to slip and fall. Most bars near us don't bother to have a dance floor because the spills just ruin them, not to mention they don't want to be sued. I miss the dancing and gained weight from lack of it. I guess I'll have to start to exercise...that's no fun.

Saturday we went to a party at a friends house and of course, we stayed too late as usual, getting home at about 2 am. The hostess was on the floor in need of help getting into bed and there were at least 12 people still there. Bet I know what she did all day yesterday. As for us...we rode up to Fox Lake and to the Volo Auto Museum, then down the 355 Expressway to the 290 and east toward the city to Forest Park to a place our friend likes to go to. I hate riding the expressways, it's insane most of the time. It wasn't too bad being a Sunday. I expected it to be worse since Chicago was having their forth of July celebration Sunday. After that we stopped at their house in Villa Park for a short visit then another short visit in So. Elgin before heading home.

The only thing I have done today is study and blog. I think it's time to get some groceries and start thinking about what's for dinner.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe fourth.

The move is done.

Finally done! We moved right down to the last few minutes. We left the house with the last load just before midnight. We got home about 2:30 am. I woke up this morning with a migraine and after taking some migraine meds, I slept for 2 hours this after noon and woke up without the headache but felling very groggy. The meds are so strong, they do that to me. Today was a minor one, it only had me down till 1:30 this afternoon. Usually when I get one I am down for at least a day to two days. I think it may have been the vicodine last night. Codeine triggers migraines for me and I got my knee pissed off in the move...I need to have it scoped...the result of yeas of dance. They had some vicodine and I usually do fine with it unless it has codeine in it...I never even thought to ask. I was having trouble walking and in allot of pain. I hope Rich did OK at work today. He was beat. I know he pushed the snooze more than once this morning. He usually gets up the first time.

The daughter really came through during the last week. I found out allot and I can't say I would have been any different. She is carrying allot of baggage from her childhood over past evictions. Just goes to prove you can't judge people on appearances. Apparently they owned a store, lost that then came into money and lost it. The only work the dad has done since losing the store is the balloons and that's seasonal and spotty. The son finally showed late on Wednesday thinking it was the last day...to put in a few token hours to say he did something.

I am a little disappointed in one thing. The daughter was leaving yesterday as I was getting there and the son was there. I spent the morning getting caught up on school work and applying for jobs...important in my opinion. The mom was telling her daughter goodbye and she looked at me and said "these two kids are great...they really came through for me, especially her. She has been working so hard and put in so much time." I was thinking...hum...I've been here nearly everyday for two weeks and it sounds like I did nothing in her opinion. The daughter spoke up and said "you need to be grateful to her, she put in allot more time than I did and worked just as hard." She acknowledged that and said "but you did so much heavy lifting." And yes she did...she is definitely no wimp, she kept up with the men. I did what I could with 2 degenerated disc's and bone spurs in my spine. I understand that she loves her daughter...as she should...it would have been nice to get some recognition for my time too. All my efforts will come back to me someday and I'll remeber to give credit where credit is due.

A rant of a different kind.

Every morning with my coffee I look for work. Either they want a degree with years of experience or you have to be bilingual. What is that crap!!!

I'm all for people trying to make a better life for themselves, but how about learning our language so we don't have to learn a foreign language just to fit in with them.

My grandparents...mom's side...came here from Germany...dad's side...Irland and worked for the locals in return for teaching them and their children English. My daughter-in-laws father came here from Mexico and speaks perfect English. Why is it that so many of today's immigrants refuse to learn English?

I just want a job with medical insurance! I learn fast, I'm dependable and I have good work ethics. It seems like you have to know someone to get in someplace. Unfortunately, most people I know are worried about their own jobs.

I have some pretty good freinds.

One of my friends that helped out on Saturday is meeting me tomorrow morning and Friday morning to help out...Friday that is...if, I can get my homework done on Thursday while the lady in need is at work.

The friend who has the apt building is letting them rent month to month till they can find someplace, no deposit, a very reasonable rate, and 1 month rent free to give them a head start.

None of these people know them very well. They just know them from our bonfire parties. That tells you what good people they are. I am lucky.

I got up this morning and did homework for a while, took a break by ranting, then did more homework till Rich got home, and then we were packing tools, balloon fabrics and hardware from 3:30 to 7:30 tonight. Then, I came home and worked on homework some more and I'm beat. I have 2 more payroll registers and 5 employee earnings records to do for this assignment and then another whole chapter due by Saturday. It's a good thing payroll is coming easy for me. I got an e-mail from my instructor; she told me to keep up the good work and said all of my assignments so far are all A's.

I'm brain dead and this seems to be the only thing I can do to unwind. Just random thoughts in print. Most nights I have trouble sleeping...I bet I sleep tonight.

As promised...my next rant.

I found out last night that our Friends daughter doesn't work. I called to let them know that one of the girls that helped us on Saturday, called to tell me she is able to help us on Wednesday and Friday. She said she was going to have to ask her daughter for help too. I asked if she was working and she said "no, she lives the life of Riley." She said she came over a couple weeks ago and helped for a couple hours but hasn't even called since. But while she was there she managed to tell her what she wanted from the house. I managed to keep my thoughts to myself. Pat on the back for that.

Don't get me wrong...I don't begrudged passing things along, but they need to get as much cash from everything as they can, because they are going to need it. The mom only works 3-4 days a week at a low wage. He only gets SS. Once they are out of the house they are not going to have the space to do balloon work when it does come along.

Someone did call about dropping off a balloon for an annual inspection. But that is something that only she can do...we can't help her with that other than to help her move it around and help inflate it for inspection. She'll have to do the visual part of it either in our back yard or in the park. She needs a big area to inflate it enough to get inside of it and get a good look. Then she has to do a stress test on it...the heat causes the fabric to become porous and allows air to escape too fast...you could come down a whole lot faster than you bargained for. There are allot of regulations...as it should be. Every balloon has a log book that tells how many flights it has, when it was inspected, what the findings where and so on.

The pix here are some shots I took while we were helping them do an annual in our back yard back in 02. The arrow marks the spot in need of repair. It's a hole about the size of a quarter. As you can see, it takes allot of work. There are two other people behind it holding guide lines attached to the top.

Any way, that's one more thing to get done and her son-in-law should be helping her just for the experience of learning the inspection process. She does his annuals for free. It's not like he would even have to see his father-in-law...he's in a wheel chair and wouldn't be there. It won't be long and she won't be able to do it for him. Then if he isn't licenced, he'll have to find someone else to do his annuals...could be in another state. That can get very costly.

Another thing I should clear up...I keep using the term "for free"...I don't think family should pay each other for services, but I do believe they should be there for each other...not just one sided. When it's one sided like this is I get a little irritated. Nothing burns me more than people who don't do right by their parents. Mine are both gone and I would rather have them and have to be there doing things for them constantly. Maybe if I hadn't lost my parents so young I would be like them. I like to think I would appreciate them more. In the end, this will all come back at them. They will eventually wish they had spent more time with them...plus they are teaching their children just how to treat parents. The rant is not over.