why? why are people like this?

I really don't get it, but it seems to be a growing problem - or maybe I'm just noticing it more lately. I am talking about people that just don't seem to give a shit and the people who make excuses for them.

I see it everywhere lately - At work, at the grocery store, at school, at restaurants, everywhere. Sloppy work from people that don't seem to care. And it doesn't seem to do any good to "talk to their supervisor" because all they ever seem to do is make excuses for that crappy work. I have to wonder what happened to the work ethic of these people. I like to do a good job on whatever I do, to do it the right way, the way I know it's supposed to be done. And in a lot of these cases there are codes and regulations that are supposed to be followed. Obviously, they aren't being followed. I really don't understand how a person can be happy with themselves when they do that kind of sub-standard work.

Oh, and the excuses I hear are almost worse.

"I'm having a bad day"
"It's time for me to go home"
"I don't get paid enough to care"
"I don't have the budget to do it right"
"I didn't have time to do it the right way"
"I'd quit, but I need the money"
"I don't like him/her, they are lucky I'm doing it at all"

This is the crap I hear and it drives me bat-shit insane. I guess I figure that I was hired to do a job and I should be doing it to the best of my abilities and doing it according to code. Yes, we all have time and money constraints but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do the job right. Aaaargh! I guess I'll take a deep breath and continue on doing what I always do - do my best and try to persuade others to do the same.

Back to school time

...at least it is for me.

Yeah, I'm almost 40 years old and work in a technology job with a lot of responsibility and all that - but I have never earned a college degree. I started working on a degree through correspondence courses when I was in the Navy years ago, but I didn't stick with it. I got a lot of technical training and had to write evaluations of my crew and various reports and proposals for work and that type of thing and I guess I did okay.

After I left the military I was able to get jobs passed on my certifications and work experience and that always seemed to take the place of actually earning a degree. I figured that was good enough and did not take advantage of tuition remission policies that my employers had until just a few years ago. I started attending a University and taking a few classes in English, History and Computer Science. I figured the English would help in my job as I was in a position to write more and more proposals, policies, and documentation.

I'm still going along slowly but surely and earning my credits with the hope of eventually getting that degree. I now work at the University and my tuition is completely covered, so I really have no excuse not to continue. However, I did pay out of my own pocket for 2 classes when I first started there and the benefit had not yet kicked in. No financial aid, just paid for it with the vacation pay I got when leaving the previous employer.

Now it's time to head back into the classroom where I am ofter the oldest person in the room - including the instructor. But that's okay, I have the life experience to understand what I need to take from these classes to help with my career and it seems to make more sense to me that it does for some of these 'kids'.

So, what's new?

I just recently got back from vacation, which I really needed. Sometimes I can feel myself becoming more and more irritable, bracing for a fight on whatever subject comes up, visualizing the conflict in my head. Now don't get too worried, I am on medication that keeps me from going too far off the handle. When I start realizing that this is what is happening, I know it is time to get away for a bit and remove myself from the environment that makes me this way.

Don't get me wrong, I like where I work, but there are some personalities there that don't do good things for me. We all have that, but being around it all the time can really wear on me and I tend to not interact very well with them. So, I needed a vacation.

I went off to an amusement park/water park with my family. I really like doing this, we've done the same one for 3 years in a row now. Michigan's Adventure has a few roller coasters to satisfy my desire for those and then we can hit a pretty decent water park for the rest of the day. It is a bit of a drive for us to get there, but we always have a great time and blow off some steam. I also went to Cedar Point twice this year as chaperone for my daughters school trips. That is THE place to go if you like coasters, 17 roller coasters in one place - and some of the best in the world.

Back on track - so after the water park we went on to our cabin that is owned by my wife and her brothers and sister. The first day there always stresses us out, but it gets better as we settle ourselves down. It used to be easier when I drank. There are differing opinions on how the cabin should be furnished and maintained between us and the other owners. I won't go into details right now because it will make my fingers hurt to type all of that - suffice it to say that owning property with siblings can make for some friction.

I did get a chance to splash around in the lake and came back less stressed and in a better mental space to deal with the above mentioned personalities. I always feel better mentally and more positive overall after I've spent prolonged time in and around water.

Now it is time to get ready for school to start again - YAY!

The Olympics

I'm not sure why, but I can't stop watching them. I'm not sure if it's a twisted sense of national pride or to see if we can actually win the coveted gold medal in obscure sports that people train for 4 years to compete in. Whatever it is, it keeps me intrigued and I keep watching.

I also love it when the announcers have to cover an athlete that has never had a life threatening injury, doesn't have a relative that recently died, was not raised by bears, is not from the inner city, was not raised be a single parent that worked 3 jobs to keep them in training, that sort of thing. They have to struggle to find something to talk about that sounds inspiring.

I also watch the Canadian broadcast of the Olympics, it's nice to get a different spin on the games from another country. On a side note, I also like to watch the BBC news to get additional views on world events, maybe I'll post on that another time.

I miss my dog

I know I should be getting over it already...but I'm not. Today I finally dumped out the remaining food (it was dry food) and bones, removed her outside tie outs, packed up her beds and put everything in her cage and moved it all to the basement. I'm hoping this becomes some kind of therapy because the depression is really starting to get old.

I miss her more than most people that I have know who have passed away, and this funk is lasting a lot longer. I'm not sure what that says about me. I'm going on vacation soon, and I hope that kinda helps - at least takes me away from the other sources of stress in my life and lets me relax for a bit. I will be in the water for most of the vacation and that always calms me.