Were Not Kwadin Anymore

What a long week, but it sure was fun. First I went downstate last Friday for a job interview that went very well. It’s an accounting administration position so it incorporates that two things I enjoy the most. So start crossing fingers and toes. Then I went to Mommy’s to see Adrienne and await the arrival of Jackson and Erika. The TV was muted to the Pistons/Pacers game while we watched Jackson, and we looked up to catch what we thought was the end of a rare fight in basketball. It turned out to be only the middle of an outright ugly brawl. Another black-eye for Detroit sports. One article I read regarding this disturbance mentions John Stewart’s take on Detroit sports when he is discussing a massacre of five people, in his book John says, “this is back when 5 people dead was a massacre and not just a Detroit Piston championship celebration.”

Saturday and Sunday were busy with the kids and getting things ready for our trip to Kewadin. Mommy and Adrienne got here Sunday afternoon, after the Lions disappointing loss to Minnesota, and we went off to Ponderosa for dinner. Sunday night was relaxing in front of the TV with American Dreams for Adrienne and Mom and football for Gordon and me.

Monday morning we were off to Kewadin with Mom and Adrienne on the bus and Gordon and I following in the car. We started in St. Ignace where we said hello to our angry bees and pouting gophers. We had lunch in the new restaurant at the casino and Mom and Adrienne boarded the bus to continue to the Soo. Once we were checked into the hotel and unloaded into the room we ventured down to the casino for a while and then took a ride to Brimley for Bay Mills Casino and then King’s Club for gambling and dinner. I don’t think I have been on a Monday before and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds at any of the casinos. Usually we nap around 8 pm during the casinos’ busy time and go gamble around 3 am, this time we were able to continue gambling throughout that time period and go to bed at a decent hour.

Up early (early is a relative term) to get Mom and Adrienne back on the bus to collect their package in St. Ignace. The hotel was great and allowed Mom to check in for Tuesday night before the bus left so we were able to just move our stuff down the hall instead of having to load it up and then unload it later. Gordon and I followed the bus down to St. Ignace and collected Mom and Adrienne, we gambled there for a short time and then got back on the road, more casinos to see. With a stop in Hessel we returned to the Soo and crossed the bridge to the Canadian side to check out what they had. We dropped Mom and Adrienne at the casino and Gordon and I went to the mall to pick up some favorites that are only available in Canada (Aero candy bars!), of course we were not able to leave without checking out all they had to offer. We found a great place called the Bulk Barn that had the best display of bulk items I have ever seen, and many, many items that I had never seen. I found the coolest thing there the fact that they rented cake pans and had hundreds of them lining the walls. They also had an extensive display of cake decorating items including colored sugars and sprinkles in every color imaginable. Gordon picked up some salt and vinegar popcorn salt that smelled so strong I immediately declared that it could only be ate when I wasn’t home. In Zellers we found the Aero bars and a Hershey bar called Sidekick, it is like a Three Musketeers with peanut butter in it. We also found some sea salt and pepper potato chips by Lays for Gordon. We went back to the casino to meet Mom and Adrienne who declared the casino a wash so we went back to the US to gamble there. We had dinner at the casino and drove back to Brimley in an attempt to earn enough points to get Gordon a birthday package. Unfortunately the points earned on this trip will go towards next year’s birthday but we did qualify for a $10 gas coupon. We had filled up before going to Canada so we didn’t need a lot of gas, and the coupon was only good at the Bay Mills gas station so we refilled up on the way back to the Soo ($3.45 worth, but out of habit Gordon pumped in the cheap gas), back in the Soo we played the gold tokens that Mom had accumulated. Playing $90 in tokens we cashed out $56 in quarters and split that 4 ways. By then it was nearing midnight and I was done. As Gordon and I made our way back to the lobby to go to the room we heard music coming from the concert hall in the casino. The Guess Who was scheduled to play the next day and they were rehearsing. Right out side the concert hall was a lounge area with comfortable couches and coffee, so we got comfortable and listened to them rehearse. At one point Gordon said that he wanted to go in and tell them that he would like to hear American Woman, and sure enough they started playing it. Mom joined us after a while, and they stopped playing. The lead singer came out to get a cup of coffee and we thanked him for the entertainment. With the show over we went up to the room for some much needed sleep.

Wednesday we checked out and drove down to St. Ignace for senior day (OMG Gordon qualified!) and more gold coins. We said goodbye to our gophers and bees and returned to West Branch just before the arrival of Erika and Jackson and the start of the snowstorm. Mommy and Adrienne met Erika at the hotel and helped her unpack. Gordon, Megan, and I met them up there after Megan got out of school for pizza and swimming. We then came home to begin preparation for Thanksgiving dinner.

The turkey was juicy, the potatoes perfect, and the company awesome for dinner on Thursday. Jackson absolutely loved the cat, Erika not so much. After dinner things got hectic as more people started arriving, soon we had a houseful of kids and parents. Adrienne had her camera going so look for pictures soon. We slowly threw them out of the house – although some are still sleeping on my couch.

Friday started at 5:30. Since I had not gone anywhere on Thursday I had to clear the now frozen solid snow from my car and then I made my way to Wal-Mart for the mad rush of shopping. I was extremely impressed with the way they ran the sale, as you came in they handed you a printed out sheet with their main sale items and what aisle they could be found in. They must have had every employee working as anywhere you turned there was somebody there ready and eager to help, with cashiers standing in front of the registers. I picked up everything that I remembered I wanted and was out of there by 6:45. I came home, finished my email to the interviewer from Friday, typed this up and am awaiting the boys in about an hour (Sabrina just woke up, had breakfast and is now reading a basketball card to me – did you know that Jay Humphries is a ga uh a rd?). Mom and Adrienne are stopping by before they leave for Indiana, but I’m guessing that Erika and Jackson are already on the road.

The Best Laid Plans

The plan for yesterday was to drive down state, leaving here between 2-3 in the afternoon, go to the tobacco store, go to Mommy's, go to a meeting and be back home around 11. The reality is around 11 Monday night Bob called and asked if I could take him and Dorothy down state with me on Tuesday since he bought a new car down there that they needed to pick up and Dorothy can't drive at night. They do a lot for us so of course I said yes. He then said that he got off work at 5 and should be ready to go by 5:30, eew. I said the sooner the better as my meeting started at 7 and though you are never late for a meeting I would like to get there as early as possible. He said no problem. As Bob was Gordon's ride to work on Tuesday, Gordon would be getting off at the same time and could go with us. Gordon called around 4:15 and said that they would be leaving Houghton Lake in about a 1/2 hour and be here around 5:30. He then called at 5:10 and said they were at Dorothy's and ready to go. Now ready is a relative term and I know what my relatives mean when they say ready so I went to Dorothy's. Ready there means, we still have a few phone calls to make, put some chicken on for those not making the trip down state, and oh yeah make a pot of coffee to drink on the way down.

Finally on the road several comments were made about Mario Andretti and about my pilot's license but nothing was said about hurtling through space.

At one point we had a visitor who wasn't a freeway traveler as we were making a trip to Bay City I offered to take the side roads but was told the freeway was fine. As I was getting on to the freeway, with a speed limit of 70 where I knew the only two people going the speed limit or less were somewhere in front of me riding side by side, I heard, "Is it just me or does it feel to anyone else that we are hurtling through space?" I slowed down and drove under the speedway the rest of the way.

So I just continued on my way. Many comments were made about where they get gas, and the lack of space in the back seat. But I said I'm planning on stopping at Grand Blanc at my gas station unless anyone needs to stop sooner. They all said they were fine, and my gas station came through for me with the best price on the freeway. Of course stopping for gas is also relative and in this case included fixing up hotdogs, changing minds on drinks and going back in to get napkins. We made it to the car dealer at Plymouth and Telegraph by 7:45 (they closed at 8:00) I assume all went well since I dropped Bob and Dorothy off and have not heard from them yet.

We made it to the meeting and then to Mom's dropped off stuff, picked up stuff, took stuff out, down, and off. Missed the tobacco store but I will be back down on Friday for a job interview. The interview is on Northwestern between 13 Mile and Middlebelt. I picture 13 Mile and Middlebelt crossing, so Northwestn must run crosswise. I will stay and see Adrienne but can't stay for the pizza party as I have kids on Saturday. But Adrienne and Mommy will be coming here on Sunday and then Kewadin on Monday.

Watching Football

Watching football with Bryan used to be a struggle. He loves watching the game and spent the entire game saying “who’s winning?” “who do you want to win?” “is that the white team or the blue team?” “how many touchdowns do they have?” from the moment the game started until the final buzzer. At which point became “who’s playing the next game?” “who do you want to win?” “is that the blue team or the white team?” “how many touchdowns do they have?”

But he’s finally starting to get it. Watching with him on Saturday (MSU v WSU) was like watching with a whole new kid. When the game came on he said, “they’re tied – nobody’s winning and nobody’s losing.” We moved on to explaining first downs, that if they went past the yellow line they moved the line and got four more tries. He would watch real close and if the didn’t make it would count down the number of tries they had left. All the while watching the top of the screen to see if a flag was thrown. He was amazing, then the quarterback threw a pass out of bounds and he reminded me of Erika as he yelled “Foul Ball!”

We didn’t really root for MSU as we much as we rooted against WSU. A loss for WSU meant if U of M beats OSU this weekend they (U of M) go on to the Rose Bowl. MSU came through with a final score of 14-49, lots of touchdowns. (Pronounced sushdowns.) GO Blue!

Photos

Okay anyone trying to get to the yahoo pictures try again and let me know if it works. Apparently they updated their system, just signing in seemed to work and I was able to access them after signing out but I may have had a cookie on my system.

All is fine here, I have all three boys today and Megan. Megan can be extremely helpful unless she's not. She gets along with Bryan a lot like Melody got along with her when they were the ages she and Bry are now. Of course Megan does not remember it that way, Melody was mean to her for no reason and Bryan is a brat that deserves for her to be mean to him. But she will be leaving soon for cookie booth, and then I will be on my own.

Playing with the toys. We have under the tree all the fun noisy christmas stuff we have collected over the years. With the boys here we had many different carols going all at once. Tomorrow when we have Sabrina and not Joshua the kids will be putting on the rest of the ornaments which are in the cookies boxes right now. 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas 

Family Values

Yesterday as I watched reality TV it hit me that this is the best reflection of Family Values we have. Through these mommy switching shows we have 'met' 20 or so different families. All real families, this is not the Brady Bunch where everything works itself out in a 1/2 hour, or Springer where - well you all know who goes on Springer, but real families. Now I am willing to admit that the producers picked the quirkiest of the quirky for the show, and of the two weeks that are taped we only see the juiciest moments, but we are given an insight to the daily lives of a wide variety of families. Each of these families has their own set of family values. And what a wide range of values it is, there seem as many variances in family values as there are in red nail polish. And yet each family works in its own way. In each family the kids were taken care of and loved. There was no abuse or neglect. I think one of the clear differences was this week's Monday episode, one family had walls full of animal heads the other more crosses than the unknown soldier cemetary, and yet each family had their own unique connection with a god. America is great, and unique, in that diversity. The ability to worship at the altar of your choice, whether it be synagogue, mosque, chapel, church, TV, or refrigerator. This is what I am fearful of when the family is no longer allowed to pick their own alter, as laws designed to make us better people are decided by people who clearly define what 'better' is based on their own altars.

The other great line from TV last night was on West Wing when a homosexual senator wanted an ammendment to ban all marriage he said, "You don't approve of my lifestyle and I don't approve of yours, so let's take the government out of the business of marriage and put it back where it belongs in synagogues and churches, and casinos and department stores."

Day of Mourning

I must have slept through the announcement that today was a day of mourning and no new blogs could be posted!

I'm not sure who Milo2020 is but here is my reply:
Depends on your concept of God. Personally, I would have to believe that someone who considers this election proof that God hates America, or that God had any say it in at all would see this as a move towards God. To me this election clearly shows that the American people are ready to remove the separation of church from state and move towards a society closer to the Taliban. The proposal in 11 states that passed adding the definition of marriage to being between one man and one woman, is clearly a biblical declaration bent on stripping human rights from a section of the American population. The election of a man clearly against Roe V Wade, who created Faith-based initiatives (one of which the Helping Marriage initiative goes into homes of low-income, non-married with children couples counseling on the benefits of marriage and assisting the father - the mother needs to be home to take care of the children - in getting a job) shows that the American people see government and religion as serving the same purpose in their lives. And the willingness to demand the same religious beliefs of the general public as religious beliefs become law. It's starting to seem to me that the terrorist have already won, all of the freedoms that they hate us for will slowly slip away under a Bush administration and a republican run congress.

In other news, locally we were successful in ousting our local prosecutor. One huge ego which will have to find a new nest.

I have not seen any new commercials, with the 3 hours per day that have been freed up by political ads one would think they would find something interesting to fill it. But I guess it's like a baby getting potty trained, you feel like you should have all of that diaper money just lying around but even the first week it is sucked up without notice.

All in all a pretty blah day with no new posts to give a ray of sunshine.

Never Underestimate the Stupidity of the American Public

I know that they said it was going to be a close race, but I really just assumed that the pollers weren't talking to the correct people. I mean Danielle had my phone number, and yet not one poller called. I certainly thought Kerry had it in the bag when Green Bay beat the Redskins on Sunday.

Listening to the radio as I drove back home tonight they were talking to a nineteen year old student named Emma waiting to vote in Ohio. She got to the poll at 2:00 in the afternoon and was finally able to cast her vote at 11:57, almost a full ten hour wait to vote. How many people couldn't wait that long? How many had jobs or families that they had to go to?

As I type this some networks have given Ohio and 269 electoral votes to Bush meaning the best Kerry can hope for is a tie to be broken by a Republican House of Representatives. I am totally stunned at the thought of another 4 years of Bush.

Locally, Michiganders are no smarter than the general American population and have passed the casino and the ban on gay marriage proposals. Speaking with someone the other day who herself had been married three times, she said she was against gay marriage as that would damage real marriages. I asked her which one of her marriages it would have affected? What I wanted to ask was which one of your husbands would not have married you had he had the option of marrying another man? I really just don't get the way some people think. But with another four years of Bush I'm sure I will be seeing more and more that is harder and harder to believe.

Oh well, California came through, Michigan is still to close to call but Kerry is leading. Indiana only needed 500,000 more flip-floppers and we could've had 'em. And we all know in Florida "My brother Jeb has some votes set aside for me, for me!"

This election will probably not be official for days, and even those of us unemployed must sleep.

Halloween more available at htp://photos.yahoo.com/gretchengerth

Explain That To Me One More Time

The phone rings and:
Me: Hello
Them: Hi, is this Gretchen Gerth?
Who is this?
My name is Danielle is Gretchen there?
Danielle from what company?
The publishing company, is this Gretchen?
The publishing company? What publishing company?
Is this Gretchen?
Now I want to know what is going on
Yes, what publishing company?
Oh hi, my name is Danielle and I'm with the publishing company, were really sorry about your magazines not arriving on time and we want you to know that we will make sure that you receive every issue on your subscription and we want to continue your subscription for an additional 60 months free of charge.
I did have a problem a few months ago with Entertainment Weekly getting here late and I called them, they corrected it.
What publishing company?
The one for your magazine.
Which magazine?
All the magazines your get at your house.
And which magazines would those be?
Correct Answer: TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, Time, Discover, Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Reader’s Digest, Parenting, Good Housekeeping
Oh I don’t have that list here, but even if you want to change your magazines you can. I just need to get…
You don't know what magazines I get, but you are going to give me a free 60 month subscription to all of them.
Yeah, if you'll just answer a few questions.
What kind of questions
Like what is my credit card number?
Do you still live at 128 N. Valley?
Yes
And are you happily married or happily single?
What is this happily crap?
I'm married
Oh congratulations
Even though I left off the happily, I am still congratulated. I should have told her I was widowed yesterday, but they probably have a line there for widowed.
And what is your occupation right now?
I don't see what this has to do with my magazines
I just need to fill out this survey first, what is your occupation right now
Okay, well right now I am unemployed
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,
Thought maybe I'd blown it and didn't qualify for their free offer
What does your husband do?
Drugs?
He does General Labor
Oh, that's hard my husband does that too,
I thought maybe for a second that I had said drugs out loud.
Ok somebody's going to call you back to confirm the answers on the survey and then you'll get the paperwork in the mail, you just need to send it back with $4.99 per week
What - $5.00 a week
No ma'am it's only $4.99 per week
For what
For this service to keep your subscriptions going and if you want to change magazines you can - say you don't want to get Glamour any more you can change it to Vogue.
OK so I'm supposed to pay you $260 per year for
I don't know about the year, it's only $4.99 per week for all of your subscriptions.
Well that's $260 per year, for subscriptions I already paid for.
Yeah but say you don't want Glamour anymore
I never wanted Glamour to start with. You tell me that you're going to send me 60 months at no charge, except for the $4.99 per week.
Yes that's right.
That's not right that's ludicrous, you want me to pay $4.99 per week for subscriptions that I have already paid for, and can cancel at anytime all by myself if I so choose and then subscribe to another if I so choose.
At some point Danielle hung up

Totally non related there is a Chocolate Festival show on Food channel right now, one line I really liked was the 12 Step Chocolate Program - make sure you are never more than 12 steps away from something chocolate. Of course then one of the facts they flashed before commercial was that a single chocolate chip provides the average adult enough energy to walk 150 feet. The other thing they had was international chocolate delicacies, the one from India was naan covered in chocolate syrup. If I remember correctly Jackson didn't care for the naan, but I'm willing to bet you didn't put any chocolate syrup on it.

Time to Think Green

Those of you who know me, and I'm not sure anyone reading this does, know that I would never root for the Green Bay Packers. Especially not against the Washington Redskins. But folks I beg you turn your think red off and begin to think green. For, in election years when the Washington Redskins play at home on the Sunday before the election a Redskin win also meant an incumbent win for the party in the White House. Superstition, undoubtedly so. But a chance I would not like to take in an election this close, with the solicitation of more and more dumb voters. Fortunately most of the people I know, who spout how Kerry will raise taxes and put Suddam back in charge are good at pretending they know everything based on the few commercials shown on Nick at Night, don't even know if they are registered to vote much less where to go or how to do it. I am planning on driving down to Mom's to vote on Tuesday depending on the work situation.

Work - I have no idea what happened with the Kelly job, the only thing that I can figure is that I was too smart. I did spend a lot of time fooling around on line, because I got the feeling they were tired of me standing in the door of their office saying "OK what's next". But Kelly had originally told me that it was a long term to permanent position, and when I first talked with my supervisor there she told me they were looking for someone permanent. Kelly will tell me nothing other than the assignment has ended. Oh well, live and learn. I regret giving up the other position, but I did what I could with the information I had at the time. I have scheduled three interviews tomorrow with temp agencies in Saginaw, Snelling (which is not affiliated with the Snelling downstate who will not work with me now), Kelly (which is affiliated but is separate) and American Personnel Services which has a position listed on a job web site that I use. So we will see how those go.

In other news, my bank statement this month reflected that they had closed my account due to a long term negative balance. I received a letter today that they have finally resolved my disputed charges and agree with me that the charges were fraudulent. I should now be able to go and clear out that account, although I have checks for that account and not for the other. Decisions, decisions, if I postpone them long enough they tend to work themselves out.

Megan had a band concert last night and it went very well. Each grade (6, 7, 8) played one song, and then the high school marching band played a few, and then the high school jazz band played. They were all good in their own way, (6th played the best darn twinkle twinkle little star I have ever heard.) The only real boring part was the teacher carrying on in between each session. Did you know that a study in 2000 showed that students exposed to music scored 98 points higher on their SATs? He told us (read it to us) over and over again, I guess he felt that his audience had never been exposed to music and as such were dummies. The gym was packed and he was ecstactic at the turn out of parents he'd had never seen so many come to one event. Having been exposed to music (I think Neil Diamond and Simon & Garfunkel count) as a child I was able to determine that this was the first time all of the towns band's played on the same night at the same place, bound to improve the gate. But I try really hard not to talk derisively about Megan's teachers.

That's all from the WB.

Easy come easy go

Not quite sure why, but Kelly Services called me on my way home tonight and told me no to report tomorrow, that the assignment had ended. They told me to call in the morning and I will, and will let you know more when I do.

Sabrina and Chelyn more available at Yahoo. 

Bryan turns 6. More pictures available at http://photos.yahoo.com/gretchengerth

Jumping Ship

So the job is going along fine, getting used to it and they to me. When Tuesday morning there is an accident on 275 so I am late for work, while sitting in the traffic jam Kelly Services calls and offers me a temp to perm administrative assistant position paying the same I am making with Snelling (well maybe slightly less as it is a 37.5 hour work week). Since it s administration, which is really what I want to do, in Romulus, I tell them yes. I call Snelling on my first smoke break around 10, and they are not happy at all. And tell me that should I ever need their services they will not be available to me. Oh well. I had also called them earlier that morning to tell them that I was going to be late, as is their policy, do not call the client that you are working for call them and they will. Well they didn’t. It took them until around 4 to call the client and tell them that I would not be back, and they had told me not to say anything, not that I was having chats with anybody there anyway. But the folks I was working with gave me their phone numbers and told me I could use them as a reference.

For this new job I first had to take a drug test, I am assuming I passed as I know a lot about drugs. The new job is from 9-5, so I went first thing this morning to Kelly for the drug test. They gave me a paper and sent me to Quest Diagnostics. Now Kelly is on Hubbard just east of Southfield. The directions for Quest said to take Mercury to Michigan, go right on Michigan to Monroe, left on Monroe and start looking for Quest. Mercury sounded familiar but I didn’t remember where it was, so I asked the person at Kelly who replied, “I don’t know, but you can take Southfield down.” Which is what I would have done in the first place if their directions hadn’t said take Mercury. So I get to Michigan and then to Monroe, make my left on very busy, very congested roads, and putz along looking for Quest Diagnostics, which is about 2 or so miles down the road past Outer Drive between Carlysle and Darthmouth, (Their directions for getting to the job had me go back to Kelly and start from there, they are such fun people.) I get in for the drug test about 8:30, of course they don’t do drug tests until 9:00, but the person who does them arrived about 8:45 and took me in. Never having taken a drug test before I wasn’t aware of the security involved. They pat you down to make sure you don’t have anything under your clothes, lock up any belongs in a safe in the bathroom with you, give you a cup with stern instructions not to flush or wash your hands or in any way run any water while taking the test. Pee and open the door. Once the door is open the guard on the outside can stop listening (now there’s another job I don’t want), comes in dressed in full bio-hazard gear, pours the pee into a smaller jar sticking labels over the top for me to initial that it is indeed my pee.

I get out of there and head out to Romulus. Between Middlebelt and Inkster, between Goddard and Wick, the company is DHL Smart and Global Mail. The directions from Kelly tell me to look for a green and white sign that says Airport Complex. There’s Airport Plaza, Airport Business Center, Airport Industries, all in various colors, but I have never been good with colors. I see colors differently than a lot of people. So when I get to Goddard I turn around and try again. There is a sign that could be called green and white that says Airport something. Go to the second building and into the door between truck bays 7&8, sure enough the second building has a door between truck bays 7&8 that says Smart Mail on it. The door also has big signs saying “Please use other door” fortunately I can figure out which other door. I walk into a huge warehouse full of mail buckets and people standing around. Nobody pays any attention to me so I go over to an area that has a desk and ask for Lisa Johnson. Someone is kind enough to lead me around the warehouse to the front offices. Apparently the back door is where Kelly is supposed to send the warehouse staff, I however get to use the front door from now on! (Except for cigarette breaks.)

I am now sitting at the front desk the phone has rang a total of 6 times today, I have gone over everything on the daily checklist and am bored to tears. But at least I have access to the internet so I can type this in word and email it to myself and then post it when I get home.
(or before as the case seems to be)

Gordon called and left me a voice mail earlier saying that the couch was now permanently in the house. I haven’t heard the details, but I know the plan entailed taking out windows. Good to know it all happened without me having to get involved. I love it when things work out that way.

Okay I’m back.

Working – The first week I hated it, last week I could barely tolerate it, hopefully this week it will move up to tolerable. One it is temp work, so there are no benefits involved and not a lot of pay. Two, it is accounts payable entry, which is pretty mind numbing work. The first few days were straight out of my nightmares, come in there’s a stack of invoices on your desk, enter invoices, come back a new stack of invoices on your desk. The third day was more challenging since I had completely caught them up on all of their invoices and they were not sure what to do with me on Friday and oh yeah before the mail comes on Monday with new invoices. So I started working on clearing up old invoices that had problems and could not be entered (by someone other than me). Most of the problems occurred because this stuff could be done by a monkey and they were out of monkeys so they ended up with the person who thought they needed to think about it. The basic process is a PO is created when something is ordered, when it is received a Receipt is entered against the PO, when the invoice is entered it needs to match to a Receipt. Sometimes there may be discrepancies, for example a lot of what is ordered has fluctuating pricing (metals, gases, etc) and the price may be up or down, I was told 10% above is okay anything over needs to be approved. Some of the problems I had to solve were: PO number was not clearly identified as such, instead of putting POXXX on the invoice they just put the number in a box labeled customer PO number (invoice has handwritten on NO PO NUMBER); quantity received on Receipt is 680.388 KG @ .45 per unit and the invoice is for 1500 LBS @ .20 although both the receipt and invoice have an equal dollar value handwritten on invoice NO MATCHING RECEIPT; quantity on Receipt is 59,756 @ .00035 invoice is for 59,758 @ .00035 again NO MATCHING RECEIPT. In some sense it reminds me of raising children, they spend more time figuring out why they can’t do something than it would take to just do it. But I have cleared up all the easy ones, and am now working on the more complicated ones and it is at least a little challenging. Of course there is still a stack of new invoices on my desk most mornings (not tomorrow as today was a holiday for postal workers). They have someone that opens the mail (imagine having a job where all you do is open mail, thinking about that just made what I’m doing more tolerable), takes it out of the envelope and stamps it received. Then (I believe) proceeds to shuffle it so that if an original and duplicate invoice came together they end up at opposite ends of the stack to allow you time to forget that you entered one already when you run into problems entering the duplicate. The dress code is professional which means my feet hurt most days. But for now it works, and is most likely for as long as I want it.

I spent all day Sunday just watching football, a lot of great games. None better though than the awesome Lions. Gordon, of course, bet against them on his football card, that is pretty much all it takes for the Lions to kick ass. A lot of good games though.

I have cut down on TV considerably, gave up on Survivor, never tried Housewives, Boston Legal was too flaky for me, tired of Without a Trace, didn’t care for Joey, missed Savages when the taping screwed up the first week and then just didn’t try again, was glad to see Steve and Nicole win on Malibu, but was disappointed that Sam and Scotty’s went for less than Rose and Barney’s. I would like to see that again in a different city. I really like the Apprentice this season. And I like the new mommy show just as much as the old one, I can’t believe they are doing it for no money though, I do like the way the couples get together at the end to discuss the switch.

Something is better than nothing

Snelling called today with a temp offer. The job could be a week, a month, or a year. It is working in the AP department of an automotive company (FCI Automotive) in Novi. I start Wednesday, so I will be driving down to Mom’s tomorrow night and moving back in my room!

Jobs – Friday I went to Snelling Services and took their tests to be one of their many available temps. I first took a basic office skills test consisting of math, filing, spelling, and grammar (commas). I scored 100% percent on all but the grammar (isn’t that a surprise), on grammar I scored 68%. They said their average was 50% for the tests except for math and grammar, math is 60% (they give you a calculator to use) and grammar 30%. I also caused much confusion finishing the test before the person that had started before I arrived (and before I filled out my paperwork). Thus when someone was done they took the first set of paperwork put it with the test results and called me in for the interview, when I didn’t respond to the name called they noticed the name on the paperwork and the name on the test results did not match. Why is it everywhere I go they need to hire me! I did the interview, and then took some more tests. I took the Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable tests. The Office ones I got them all (I know because after each task that you are asked to complete it comes up and says “you have successfully completed the task – would you like to go on?” The AP and AR not so much, I have never actually worked in either of these departments just filling in where necessary and with AR I have created new processes and procedures. But I am sure I missed some of the questions for example: Who needs to approve a credit memo: A. Purchasing Clerk B. Accounting Clerk C. Office Manager D. Controller E. Vice President? There was no way to ask the questions, How much is the credit memo for? Is the controller anal retentive? They were very impressed with my scores although they were unable to get my scores for the accounting tests as they forgot how to do that, but assured me that there was someone that could. They had no definite assignment so I left there with a handbook and some time sheets in case something comes up. On to second interview of the day.

The second interview was with an electrical company that does electrical installations for new constructions. They are looking to replace their office manager who is their only administrative support (other than a niece that comes in occasionally to answer phones and will be leaving soon to go to college). I thought the interview went well but I think they all do. I have yet to hear back from them.

Mom came home on Tuesday to two messages on her machine for me, one from Kelly Services and the other from Superior Staffing. Kelly is for a long term temporary position in Romulus with a shift from 2:30 pm to midnight. All I knew was that it was office help and the shift. I called them first thing yesterday morning and scheduled myself to go in and take their tests yesterday and then interview with the actual hiring company. I got to Kelly Services early (as I always try to do) and it was a very good thing. Their office is located in Parklane Towers on Hubbard, close to Fairlane. Parking sucked to say the very least. I filled out their paperwork and took their tests, Office skills, Excel, and Word. Everything went fine until on Excel they asked me to do something, I did it and it said, “That is not the correct answer would you like to skip or retry?” What? I reread the question, made sure I understood what they wanted, made sure I was in the correct cells, and redid. Again, “That is not the correct answer” but this time my options were quit or go on. So I went on, getting a question wrong. After completing all the tests I again interrupted the coffee klatch and said, “Now what?” They all started scrambling, one set up a video for me to watch while the other three tried to figure out where my interview was. I was told the video was 12 minutes long and they would know where my interview was when it was complete. The little video player they had had a second counter on it and it only reached 500 some seconds, which I thought put it at less then 10 minutes but they didn’t give me a calculator so maybe not. But it certainly did not give them enough time to find out where the interview was. When I completed the video they had an address but no one had been to this location so they were trying to call Martin the Account Rep to see where it actually was. I asked if they had a computer I could use to do a Map Quest and they said “Good Idea”. Martin came in just as I was leaving with my map and handbook in hand. He said he had never been to this location but he was sure MapQuest was right, wished me luck and I was off. I had no idea at this time what the position was or whether it was a temporary position working for Kelly or a recruited position by Kelly and actually working for the trucking company. I got there early found the building (big building with lots of trucks) I drove around the area (Between Inkster and Middlebelt, and Wick and Goddard) and a half hour before the interview was to start went into the parking lot. Here I discovered my dilemma, door one said 400 and had no name on it, door two said 500 and had Geologistics on it. The company I was looking for was Eagle Global Logistics. So I called Martin, he told me I was looking for Eagle Global Logistics, I asked if maybe they also went by Geologistics, he said that maybe they did. I said are you sure the address is XXX, he said yes the address is XXX suite 100. Oh, suite 100 that may be helpful. I drove around the building and sure enough in the back was another door with 100 and Eagle Global Logistics on it. Once there I spent about and hour with the Human Resource person and 20 minutes or so with the Customer Service Manager. Again, I thought it went well, but what do I know I got one wrong on Excel.

The second call from Superior Staffing is for a long term temporary (possibly permanent) position in Northville for Osram Sylvania Automotive Lighting. It is a sales administrative position. I have been dealing with this Superior Staffing for a week. They would call Mom’s and send me and email. I would reply to the email and then return their phone call and each time it was exactly the same thing. However on Monday since Mom was in Kewadin and they did not talk to an actual person and just left a message I guess they decided they didn’t need to also send an email. They wanted to set up a phone interview with the Human Resource manager out of the New Hampshire office. I set this up for today at 9:00. When she hadn’t called by 9:50 I called her, she apologized and we talked for about a ½ hour about what they are looking for and what I can do to fill that need. I now meet tomorrow with the general manager of the Northville office at 9:00 am.

TV: Survivor was okay, having watched some reality tv I wasn’t totally disgusted however if I have to choose I would take AR any day. I like the Apprentice so far and have agreed with his choices. I would have liked to see Michael win BB, but can live with Drew winning it. I was thrilled for Chip and Kim to win on AR, when Christie gave her little Karma speech and how Karma would catch up with Chip and Kim I just thought “be careful what you ask for” and sure enough Karma did catch up. When they were climbing the mountain I told Gordon they needed an eating task. Those young couples were horrible at the eating tasks, while Chip just dug in and did what he had to do. I not impressed with any of the new shows this season. I can tolerate Listen Up and stuck in my Monday comedies I’ll probably watch it. Gordon and Megan really liked Lost, I didn’t get to see it as I was driving home at that time, but Gordon said I wouldn’t like it, and I trust him. Comic has not thrilled me, some of the stand up is okay but I could not care less who is voted off. Putting Carrottop on did not help in my opinion. I have the Dr. Phil prime time show on tape to watch in case there is ever nothing on again. Adrienne did you see anything in the GMA show that we had missed?


I have to go to the laundry mat today, and personally I can’t think of anything more exciting.

I'm Back

I’m back. I know you all missed me terribly, and I am sorry to have been gone so long. I could give you a long detailed excuse but it doesn’t really matter does it.

So where did I leave off?

My plan for picking Melody up was to get up fairly early on Friday and nap from 8 until midnight when Gordon got home from work. Leave here at 2:30 and drive to the airport to get her. Everything went as planned except the nap part, the nap was only from 10:00 to 11:30, I forget now the reason but still remember the loss. We waited outside the security checkpoint and Melody arrived right on time. We went downstairs to collect her bags (why is it that the first 10 or so bags that are placed on the carousel belong to no one?), with bags in hand we turned to leave and realized that we did not have Megan. I looked around and panicked. Melody and Gordon assured me that she could not have gone far, I did not find this very assuring as I knew that and had looked as far as she could have gone and she was not there. Melody started walking amongst the crowd and Gordon suggested I find the bathroom and she if she was there. She was, apparently she had told me but could not wait for an acknowledgement that I had heard her. This trip to the bathroom cost me a dollar as it put me in the parking lot for one hour and one minute. I thought since I was now paying for an additional 29 minutes we should use them driving around the parking lot, but emotions were running high so I didn’t even suggest this.

We stopped at McD for breakfast and then went to Mommy’s where many went to sleep. Having taken my nap earlier I was unable to fall back asleep and anxiously awaited Jackson. Erika and Jackson arrived right on time, followed shortly after by Robin and her entourage. We headed up to the pool and enjoyed the last good weather of official summer, (I think it was also the first good weather of official summer). Heather and Sabrina brought with them the rain and the official party moved to Little Caesar Funland. The kids had a ton of fun and the rest of us had a ton of pizza and crazy bread. I had forgotten how loud and obnoxious those places are, thousands of kids running and screaming. I guess it’s a good thing that as you get older you forget things more often, this way my own grandkids have a chance of going there with me. Steph and Arn left us at Funland and the rest of us went back to Mommy’s. Sean, Bryan, and Sabrina ran around in the front yard playing tag. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I watched what are now the big kids running around in that same yard. At one point to voice his displeasure at appropriate playthings Sean said, “I’m so boring” I told him that I couldn’t disagree more.

Once all of the extras had left for home, with cell phones preprogrammed to call when they were lost (and they did), we settled in for a quiet evening of Big Brother and Jackson. Jackson was fascinated with the Just Jack show on Mommy’s computer screen and his face registered surprise when Sammy’s picture came up as if to say, “hey wait a minute where did you get him, he’s mine.” I can’t vouch for anyone else but I slept well that night.

Sunday we went to breakfast and then ventured out to see the other half of the family. Most of the other half was busy with their own holiday weekend schedules, but we were able to spend some time with Grandma Gerry and Darryl. And then went to Dawn’s new house and played a little with Devon. We then got on the road to home with a stop at Great Lakes Crossing for a mall fix for Melody.

Monday was a trip to see Dustin in the Cadillac area. The barbecue was rained out so it was pizza again. Melody met the dogs, and Dustin played guitar for us. The drive home concluded Melody’s scheduled events for her vacation.

Tuesday morning I got up bright and early for my interview in Farmington Hills. The car sounded funny when I was leaving the house but the faster I went the less I noticed it, by the time I was on the freeway I hardly noticed at all. Someone else driving down the road did though and flagged me down to let me know I had a flat tire. In my professional clothes on the side of the freeway I as able to use (personally for the first time) the handy dandy air compressor Bob and Dorothy got me for Christmas a few years ago. I refilled the tire and drove on. I stopped at 202 and bought a pressure gauge and rechecked the tire. It was still full so I continued on. I stopped again around 134 at a rest area and the tire was still full so I drove on to the interview, arriving early I went to a different area of the parking lot and rechecked the tire, it was fine. I thought the interview went extremely well, but I have thought that about almost all of the interviews that I have gone to. They told me they would be making a decision next Monday or Tuesday (it is the next Tuesday as I type this – oh well).

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Melody pretended like she lived here, coming and going as she pleased, stopping occasionally to ask, “What’s for dinner?” I’m not sure of the significance, but I bag up all of the trash every Tuesday so Gordon can put it out for Wednesday pick up and this last week the trash was full by Saturday, coincidence that Melody was home? Could be.

Melody is back in California safe and sound, although she will probably be emotional for a while, as she has to start missing all of us all over again. I know I certainly missed seeing that lump on the couch this morning when I got up. Heather automatically drove to our house last night and came in for a while before she remembered that Melody was not here and she doesn’t like the rest of us.

In other news, my bank has still not cleared up the fraudulent charge stuff. And I have two interviews on Friday; one is for Snelling for temporary work, and the other with an electrical company in Livonia. I have a Nar-Anon picnic on Saturday so I will be staying overnight at Mom’s.