It’s Never Too Late

A very good friend of mine is “stuck” in their job. They can’t easily change jobs due to finances/spouse/kids. I feel sad and horrified that my friend is chained to this job like a proverbial slave. To  make matters worse, the workplace that my friend works in does not seem to appreciate the talent my friend has. It’s a weird situation, but my friend is totally wasted at their position. A fine case of not taking the talent available and putting it to it’s best use overall. But, that is any corporate environment.

Thinking of that, I realized that I have started “over” nine times in my life. I’ve changed jobs, moved cities, started school, graduated, started school again, moved cities again. I admit, it has been harder sometimes over others. One time I literally left where I was with my suitcases, proving that material things can be replaced. Other times, I had the largest moving truck available and the boxes to prove it! *whispers* the suitcase move was way more fun and easy, trust me!

What chains us to a job? Our fears? Fear that the spouse will have a kitten if we quit? Fear we won’t be able to pay the cable bill? Or is it a more basic fear of we won’t be able to keep the roof over our head or eat? If it’s the latter, that’s not a fear that a reality check. Do we stay in a crappy job just because we are supporting a lifestyle? More often than not, just from listening to friends, that is the case.

Only time I stayed in a really crappy job: I didn’t want to catch shit from the hubby and I was supporting a lifestyle.  We really didn’t need my job to pay the mortgage/food/utilities. We would not have been homeless nor starved if I had quit a crappy work environment. Eventually, I did the nerve up to quit the job..and guess what…we were just fine. The world did not end, everything muddled along as it had been doing. And I got a much better job in the long run.

The lesson here…is that you can do with a lot less than you think. You can start over in a new job/new town/new circle of friends. It just takes you packing your fears into a box and taking a chance on yourself.

One of my favorite websites is Life Without Pants. I have followed this blog for a few years now and it just gets better with time. Always puts things into perspective for me.

It's a Sunbeam kind of day

The birds are singing, the sun is shining, the cats are hogging sunbeams and I can see through my windows.  Yes..I actually cleaned my windows! I know...some small part of hell is now frozen over, I'm sure. I have no qualms about admitting I am the worst housekeeper on the planet. I really have to work at what seems to come naturally to others. I have embraced that I was not born with the housekeeping gene. I am a late bloomer at this deep cleaning thing.

I've also fully embraced the "natural" cleanser brigade. I avoid purchased cleansers due to the chemicals in them. The only thing I'm still buying is carpet cleaner and that's due to I've yet to find a "homemade" version that is as good or better.

Today I made up a batch of window cleaner and it was fantastic.

• 1 cup of rubbing alcohol *easily purchased at the dollar store*
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar

Mix in a spray bottle and spray away! I use flour sack towels and my windows came out kind of kick ass. Now I have to just get the outside of them done. 

What gets me...is I never set out to be all "green" or "back to nature". It just sort of happened. I ran out of all purpose cleaner one day and couldn't get to the store. A friend of mine suggested I mix up some borax, washing soda, vinegar and water. Yeah, you're all going, who the hell has that shit on hand. *laughs* I happened to have it all due to making some bath bombs for xmas.  Any how, I mixed up a batch of that stuff and holy canapes...it worked better than the stuff from the store. I figured if that worked, why not other stuff. So I made jewelry cleaner, dishwasher detergent, furniture polish, antibacterial spray, shower cleaner and toilet bowl cleaner. All of it works perfectly...and most of it uses the same damn ingredients. Buy it in bulk, shove it under the counter and mix as needed.   

I never set out to do all this, but once I started looking at labels I was kind of icked out over it. While I don't have kids, I do have my two cats and my dog. They are my babies and I don't want them around all that crap either. 

So, I have five or six generic bottles that I just fill as needed. Can you imagine what I would be like if I was anal about cleaning? The deity above help us all! *laughs*

Knitting in my sleep.

I think I fell asleep knitting today? Or I was knitting while I was sleeping? Either way it was a surreal day.  Admittedly, it was just surreal.

I started off by chatting with @Rilana. Then found out that the local Girl Scouts got gypped. Some girl called in and pretended to be her mother, who is some local business woman. She ordered $24,000 in girl scout cookies (the daughter pretending to be the mother). When the order came in, she was called and naturally she had no clue, then when she was told, she said "I didn't think it was that big of a deal". What a bitch!  It's the GIRL SCOUTS!!!!

Well, the story hit the news and my guilt got played. I used to be a girl scout *sighs*. So off I went, thinking no one would be there. Holy crap was I wrong. The news was there, there was a line of people, it was unbelievable the way the community rallied for those poor kids.

They sold 3,000 boxes of cookies and had to turn people away to come back. Many people in line said they could probably sell more cookies if they set up a store or something. I had to explain it's not just about the money. Selling girl scout cookies is some girls first exposure to business and handling money. It's their first real "outside their family" responsibility.  It's not just about the cookies.

So, I bought cookies. Not like I didn't buy girl scout cookies from my friend..they will be arriving on Tuesday via UPS. Her daughter is in Detroit.  Can't say I do not support the Girl Scouts.

Then there was the moving stuff and purging that I mentioned earlier today. It's hard tossing stuff out. It's physically tiring to be honest. I have donating all of the books and games though. Goodwill is just around the corner from me!

I'm off to bed before I fall asleep sitting here typing. God know what I would type.

So it begins....

My nephew started football today. He turned four yesterday and our gift to him besides the bubble mower was "Soccer Tots". I played footy when I was little and through school. It was a fabulous experience for me and I hope he finds the same amount of fun that I did.

Look at the tiny footballs!!! They are 1/2 size so they can learn proper footwork. *sniffle* I'm so damned proud of him.

Slow Down Friday

Today is my nephew's fourth birthday.  Seems like yesterday he was born! I'm afraid to blink and see that he's graduating high school and going on to who knows what? The gift this year was the fisher price bubble mower.

My sister was going for "outside toys" this year. Good call, the kids bedroom looks like FAO Schwartz. Seriously, he's got enough toys for five kids much less one.

As for me, I texted this morning for about an hour, grabbed a shower and then took a nap. Yeah..I know. *laughs* It's vacation time and I'm taking advantage of it. I watched two tv shows about tracing the lineage of King Tut and how they are able to identify mummies to build the family tree. Again..this is purely a geek thing.  I knitted a bit, talked with some friends. Surfed the web and decided that I wish to partake of dinner outside my residence this evening.

I have no great plans for this evening. Wine, snacks maybe a game and some tivo. Exciting? No. Relaxing and comforting, Yes. I do want to redo the bookcase this weekend and move it. I had plans for the 17th for downtown, but it's supposed to be rainy and cold..yeah..I'm over rainy and cold. I can do them but separately please. I'm sure I can find something to get into on Sunday though. 

Is it April yet?

I'm ready for March to be over already. Why? Because March is a fickle female who can't make up her mind. April...I'm well aware, she's full of rainy days, spring flowers and the odd chilly day. March, however, is warm one day, cold the next, and so on. Can't make up her damned mind.

Yesterday was a good March day apparently. I had on flip flops, capris and a tshirt. Today, I"m in sweats, socks, two shirts and a hoodie. *insert roll eye*  I even got a pedicure to celebrate first day of flip flop weather! Oh well, at least my toes looks springy.

Okay, rolls on to rise for second time. Who ever suspected that I would turn out to be a baker? I have NEVER been successful with yeast..but suddenly..it's all working. I blame the mayans.  My best baking tool...latex surgical gloves! I know...I go through boxes of them in the kitchen. I can't stand touching raw meat nor do I like dough under my nails. I buy them  five boxes at a time. I'm sure the lady at Walgreens thinks I'm into some serious ass kinky stuff. She always gives me the squint eye when I check out. Honestly...I use them for preparing food in the kitchen! Kind of like the PROFESSIONALS DO?  And that reminds me, I need to resupply, almost out.

Little knitting has been done today..I've been busy doing oh this and that. Nothing over constructive, but time consuming non the less. I do plan on "marathoning" on Netflix tonight and knitting. Hmm, apparently, "marathoning" is not a word according the red line spelling nazi that is my spell checker. We need to petition the dictionary people and have it entered.

Marathoning: Verb: the act of watching episode after episode after episode of a television show on a streaming provider.  "I plan on marathoning this weekend because there is nothing on network tv".

See, it just rolls off the tongue and fits perfectly into our modern world.

Dinner and Conversation

Gabbed with my old pal, Rilana  while cooking. One of those people that you don't talk to for awhile and then start talking and you pick up right where you left off? One reason I love her so much.

Dinner tonight was sauted ground turkey with italian seasoning, cheddar cheese soup thinned down and mixed in, all served over hot egg noodles.  I meant to bake rolls today, um, did NOT happen. I'll bake them tomorrow.

I downsized alot. Got rid of a ton of "places". Made a decision. I'm going straight google! As I said earlier, I have been bouncing between Windows/Apple/Google for five years now. While I adore the iPad...I can live without my iPhone. Don't get me wrong, the iPhone is great..when it works. I've had mine less than two years and the home button has gone out on it. End of story. It can be replaced with the same model for 130. It can be repaired for 230 or upgraded for 659.99. None of those thrills me, not for a 600 phone that is less than two years old.

My phone has never been dropped, gotten wet, gotten too hot, gotten too cold, or even sat on. It's had a case from day one. A screen protector from day one. A fancy super protective OtterBox from month one. It's not been abused at all. Unless you consider heavy usage of the phone abusive? I  use my phone from the moment I wake up till the moment I go to sleep. Literally. I text, I talk, I listen to music, I surf the web, I check email, I play games, I check the weather, I mirror to the tv from it. It does it all..which is what it's job is. The phone is designed to do all the above..so why did it fail after only a year and a three months?

Then we have Windows. I've used Windows ever since I switched from DOS. Don't know what that is, look it up. I've been through every version of Windows since day one with it. I adore Windows 8. Don't get me wrong. I'm actually one that loves it. However, Windows lacks in the mobile department, although I heard the Windows 8 phones have gotten it right. Unfortunately, it's a day late in my world. I'm no willing to take another chance on a windows phone. I went down that road already and it was the worst phone I have ever had...literally. Although it had one hellaciously gorgeous screen on it. But there is more to a phone than just a screen.

Last up is Google. I was a very early adopter of Gmail. I have eagerly awaited google products as they were  released as they usually work straight out of the gate. I have forgiven Google for their first foray into the mobile business. They had never sold phones before and were totally clueless. They however, learned from their mistake.  Yes, I'm also aware of google ads..and they track your movements and make ads to fit you. So does facebook, twitter and numerous other places. Face it, we are stalked on the internet by any and everyone.

After months and months of dilly dallying and flip flopping..I have decided. I am going with google. Google works on a PC. It works on IOS and a Mac.  It is the one thing that works everywhere. Question is...do I keep iPhone or go with a Google Nexus? Only thing I have against Android..is that they really are crappy with updates. If I go with Nexus..it will update just like iphone does..and it's android.

My phone will mirror my computer.. I like that. I can make my iPad mirror my phone/computer. I am looking at a Chromebook. I saw one today that will allow me to hook up my monitor and my USB hub and work like a champ. I could hook up a USB external dvd drive if I needed it. That might be the route I wish to take.  Just move into Google and set up house once and for all.

That was fun...

Just talked with two friends that I've not spoken with in ages. It was good to touch base. Spring has sprung and I feel like I'm emerging from a cave and stepping back into the light. Oh..the symbolism of it all *laughs*

I need to figure out what to do for dinner. I need to start my sweater. I need to do some calculus. I need to get caught up on some work. What I want to do is go bask in a sunbeam! See the conflict here?

Once again....

After six years of hosting my own domain and moving around, switching things...I have decided to downsize. It's just not worth the cost anymore. My domain went from 35.00 a year to 200.00. Used to be I wanted my own domain to act as a ftp site for files. Now days I have the cloud so I don't need it anymore. Well, not for 200.00 a year!

I promise, this is my last move for awhile. I'm just going to stick with blogger. It was where I started out back in 2002 and it's not gone anyplace. I will just have to learn it and be happy with it.

As far as the downsizing goes....I'm getting rid of ALOT of my online "presence". I've been bouncing between windows/google/IOS for a few years now and I'm just tired. Too much..it's overload. I read an article by Paul Thurrott . While he was discussing phones and texting...it hit home to me in other ways.

To me the internet is not new, nor are computers or cell phones. I remember my grandparents having a phone in their car..it was hardwired and you could only call the mobile operator who would make your call for you. Yes, I have had an electronic tether ALL MY LIFE!  I had a computer when I was 12..which was back when only 1 in maybe 100 households had one. I can't remember a time when there was not a computer keyboard under my fingers. I was on the internet...before it was the internet.  I was a geek back when it was "girls aren't geeks".

I've come full circle, I don't care about the latest craze. I have played enough..that I'm settling on google as my mainstream. I love chrome. I love gmail. I will learn to love blogger. I will learn to love google+. I love my little twitter account with very few followers. The people that follow me.. I actually talk to.  My facebook rarely gets used, but I'm working on that.

I've been downsizing my household goods and now my online presence.  I blame ALL this on the mayans and that 2012 crap.