Days of Bushie's Life (Update Thread v4)

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

It's official...

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Damn you, King...just damn.

We need to start bipartisan compromise.  We can't get Bushie to eat healthy, so eating better tasting unhealthy food seems like the next best solution.  At least that way he can enjoy the slow death.

I'd like to start the slow death diet with that burger, my friend. 

I second that, but add in a good beer, and a cigar.

And a glass of whiskey or scotch.

I like where you are going with this.

I always like where you go with things

I'm not sure about whiskey or scotch, but I might take a little white wine.

Nonsense BushKE. White wine is for little southern sorority girls who want to get white girl wasted before going out to the bars.

We are men, and as men, we will drink whiskey and scotch either up or on the rocks.

Alright, no white wine, then I'll take some amber ale.

Listen man, you committed incest. The least you can do is have some scotch with Andrew and I. Don't get soft on me now!

Fine then.  I'll have some Dr. Pepper on the rocks!

Come on, the dark side is pretty good. You can't make Andrew and I drink all that scotch by ourselves.

I'm always down for Scotch...

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Think I should turn up the heat a bit?  It is currently 11 degrees with a wind chill of -4.

No, if anything, at that point you could turn it down...

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Its slow today, but I'm still at work.  Overtime has been canceled for this evening, but I'll be leaving work at the normal 2:30.

For 2 days in a row... see!

As for the incest... can you draw us a chart of the relationship?  I can never get these stupid second cousin-twice-removed crap things figured out.  Too freaking complicated.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I would allow Inks to drink with us if he promised not to give us any death points for posts made after our excursions.

I strongly disapprove of posting under the influence.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Why would one need to "turn up" or down heat. Don't you guys have automatic thermostats? Extremely standard equipment where I live.

He means he say set the heat at 60 degrees and the furnance will regulate that temp all the time he has the heat on and set at that temp. But he feels it's too cold so he's wondering if he should turn it up to 65. It's pretty common termonology outside the south.

Actually, I have the heater set to 73.  It is a little cool in this room, so I may bump it up to 74-75.  I don't pay the utilities in this apartment, so I don't have to worry too much about excess energy.  I'm not going to abuse it, naturally, but I don't have to watch it like a hawk.

Oh, and remember, I'm from Oklahoma and while that's not exactly the "South", its close enough especially when it comes to climate.

I'm uncomfortable higher than 67 (only when it's a heater, obviously not in the summer), mainly due to difficulty breathing.  I'm most comfortable around 62.  I can't imagine 73, let alone 75.  Your energy bill has to be HUGE.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

As for the incest... can you draw us a chart of the relationship?  I can never get these stupid second cousin-twice-removed crap things figured out.  Too freaking complicated.

A chart is too complicated.  Here's a quick rundown of the relevant relationships (with made up names):

Bushie & Bob = third cousins (that is, they have one set of great grandparents in common…..and thus 1/128th of their DNA is the same)
Bob & Alice = married
Alice & Charles = sister/brother
Charles & Susan = married
Bushie & Susan = formerly engaged

Thus Bushie is "related" to his former fiancee Susan if you use a somewhat preposterous definition of being related.  You have to go through two marriages to get the relation.  By that definition, and by the loose relations involved here, going back three generations to include third cousins, each of us is probably related to hundreds of thousands of people alive today.

The only person in the above list who's a blood relative of Bushie is Bob (again, a name I invented since I don't know the real name), and a distant blood relative at that.

Nope... you lost me.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I got it... and this if this is right, in no way are they anywhere remotely related.  That's not incest...

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I still don't understand why a thermostat would need to be set to a hgher temp just because it's colder outside. We all have an ideal temp, perhaps influenced by a desire to keep heating costs low, but a temp we are shooting for nonetheless. Why does the outside temp matter at all? I don't make my house any cooler on a 95 degree day than I do on an 85 defree day.the machine may have to work harder but I don't have to do anything.

It depends, if you have a larger house or a ah less than ideal HVAC system certain parts of the house will get cooler or warmer than others. If you have drafts, you may also need to turn up further on windy days.

Yeah, if for some reason the thermostat wasn't representative of the whole house, you'd have to, but I doubt that's the case with Bushie's reasoning.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

"Weighing myself everyday" yet again igoring what EVERY expert on weight loss will tell you ... stop, let me repeat for effect, STOP weighing yourself so frequently. It's a guaranteed way to screw yourself over. If you don't have the self-discipline to say I'm going to keep on track and only weigh myself once a week ... then you've got NO chance of succeeding long-term.

Have you not read Inks advice?  Is your advice somehow more credible than Inks?  One style does NOT fit all.  I will weigh myself everyday mainly because I HAVE to know how I am doing EVERY single day.  I go crazy otherwise and am even more prone to misjudge how I'm doing.

I'm not challenging Inks advice, but I speak as someone who lost 40lbs and has kept it off for 10 years. All I can say is day to day weighing is a nightmare for someone so easily distracted. I threw out my scales and only measured myself every fortnight.

It really depends on your personality.  If you're like me, and can realize weight fluctuates everyday (or becomes motivated when your weight gains in one day), day weighing is good.  Day weighing is what made me lose weight through wrestling.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

...if I'm running late to work, its nice to just throw on jeans, shirt, and shoes and call it good.

How can you wear jeans?  Even I find them uncomfortable, and you weigh 300 pounds.

Ahem... 265 pounds...  I have to tuck my shirt in in order for the jeans not to start hurting me.

Anyway, I'm home from a busier day at work.  The day was a fair amount busier, enough to make VTO not a possibility.  So, I managed to make it all the way until 2:30.  I did find out this morning that to accommodate my new desk assignment, I will be working 5:00-13:30 beginning tomorrow.  The person that shares the desk with me comes in at 14:00.  So, I will be getting up at roughly 3:30 am.  I would get up at 3:00, but I'm going to try to do a lot of my morning routine the night before such as my shower, so 3:30 or even 3:45/4:00 should be plenty.

VTO shouldn't be a possibility because you should always say no.  How do you expect to raise a family if you're not making any money?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

The thought of Bushie chafing in jeans has completely ruined my mood for lunch........OMG

10 points is not enough for this post...

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I bet there's a very high correlation between the number of salad bars at regular restaurants (i.e. those that don't focus solely on salads) per capita and the percentage voting Republican. Salad bars in restaurants is a very red state phenomenon.

Is Michigan considered a red state?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I bet there's a very high correlation between the number of salad bars at regular restaurants (i.e. those that don't focus solely on salads) per capita and the percentage voting Republican. Salad bars in restaurants is a very red state phenomenon.

Is Michigan considered a red state?

Only if you go by Leip's colors.

Well I've seen a pretty good amount of salad bars at restaurants in Michigan.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Gramps and BRTD, when in that post did I say I would miss because of weather?  I can't find it.  But, as always, you twist my words around.  What I did say is I would attempt to go to work, but would be a nervous wreck all the way there.  That is NOT the same thing as missing work.  The only reason I am off today is because of the call volume.

I know why you're off.  I just want you to resist temptation on other days when you're not. 

It makes sense what you're saying, but my point was its not happening right now.

Anyway, I've got a possible Plan B in the works as far as my employment goes.  Its a little farther away in Salt Lake City, but it pays slightly more. 12.55 as opposed to 12.00.  No more details beyond that are known.  It is still a very new possibility.  I don't necessarily want to leave where I'm at, but if they keep cutting my hours then I'm not gaining anything, and in fact losing pace.  Plus, if the call volume does stay slow there is an increasing possibility of lay offs which may force me to find something else, anyway.  As far as the weather goes, that's not a real big concern for two reasons. 1) I've survived half the winter already and more importantly 2) I can ride the bus wherever I need to go.

I see you're already planning on giving up the $40 bonus.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Gramps and BRTD, when in that post did I say I would miss because of weather?  I can't find it.  But, as always, you twist my words around.  What I did say is I would attempt to go to work, but would be a nervous wreck all the way there.  That is NOT the same thing as missing work.  The only reason I am off today is because of the call volume.

I know why you're off.  I just want you to resist temptation on other days when you're not. 

It makes sense what you're saying, but my point was its not happening right now.

Anyway, I've got a possible Plan B in the works as far as my employment goes.  Its a little farther away in Salt Lake City, but it pays slightly more. 12.55 as opposed to 12.00.  No more details beyond that are known.  It is still a very new possibility.  I don't necessarily want to leave where I'm at, but if they keep cutting my hours then I'm not gaining anything, and in fact losing pace.  Plus, if the call volume does stay slow there is an increasing possibility of lay offs which may force me to find something else, anyway.  As far as the weather goes, that's not a real big concern for two reasons. 1) I've survived half the winter already and more importantly 2) I can ride the bus wherever I need to go.

You have survived 21 days of winter.. you still have over 2 months until Spring.

Winter in Utah doesn't start on December 21.  It starts in October and ends sometime in March or April.

No.. it starts December 21st. October is fall.

Yeah.  Cold and snow ≠ winter.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

You should just work 2 jobs so that you're actually making 40 hours worth of pay.  It's really not that hard to do.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Methinks Bushie didn't get that new job.

That's what I was thinking... nobody thinks, "I should find a new job" and interviews and thinks, "I didn't really want to leave my old job."

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I am not buying his story. It sounds too much like his past lies - i.e. bizarre decisions and then strange arguments to support them. "I would ask for my ring back, but I am sure she will call me tonight as she said she would!" type deal. Or the weight loss episodes.

I hope I am wrong, but I am nearly certain he was let go, otherwise he'd be a fool to turn down employment because he wanted to "wait and see what xerox is going to do."

Why even interview then? Smells way too fishy for me.

Exactly... something's not adding up here.  Something is missing from the story he's telling us.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I talked this new possible position over with my parents and they say if I am offered the position, go for it.

Other developments are as follows.  My apartment lease runs out on March 31 and I have to give them 45 days notice of my decision.  If I have not found a job by February 8, then I am going to start making arrangements to go back to Oklahoma in March.  I really don't want to do that, and I don't think it will come to that, but that is a possibility.  If I did go back to Oklahoma, I would try to find a vo-tech and get retrained in another field so I can get out of the call center trap.  Dad wants me to find anything up here that is not a call center that pays more than what I am getting now.  Dad believes my skills I learned in college are not doing a single thing for me, which I agree.  My degree has pretty much been reduced to a piece of paper.  We're still hashing out what to do.  I want to stay in Utah, I need to stay in Utah, but with my house in Oklahoma on the market, we're still paying the mortgage and the utilities, plus my rent and other bills in Utah.  The rent, mortgage, and utilities alone add up to around $1500 a month not including other bills.  Getting $12 an hour doesn't cut it and especially when I'm not getting 40 hour weeks.  I'm ashamed to say it, but my parents have been helping me out since I don't make enough right now to support myself 100%.  So I have to listen to their advice until such time as I do make enough to support myself 100%.

So, with that said, what this job is that I went to this evening is it is not a call center, but not a traditional one, rather it is base + commission sales.  You see those infomercials on late night television for products like Rosetta Stone, the non stick skillet that's been advertised, or the sham-wow products.  I will be taking phone calls for those products.  He rattled off 8 different products that we support and more coming in all the time.  The training salary is $10/hr for the first 4-5 weeks.  After that, the salary goes up to $14.00/hr with the potential to go higher.  Full benefits start after 90 days of employment and 401(k) starts after 6 months.  The training hours will be Wednesday-Sunday 8:30-17:00 and after that the hours will be primarily graveyard anywhere between 2000 and 0600 both weekend days and 3 days during the week.  I'll get 40 hours each week.  I'll make sure I get the pay in writing as well as this other statement that he made which is "most call centers give you a month or two and kick you to the curb.  We don't do that.  We will give you AT LEAST a 1 year commitment if you give the same commitment back to us."  I have a second interview with them next Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 15:00.

1. If your parents are supporting you, you should be ashamed that you took a VTO... you took advantage of your parents by doing so.  Even if it was just once.
2. Didn't we all tell you it would be a waste of time and money to change your residence to Oklahoma?  You're again taking advantage of your parents by making them subsidize your stupid decision like getting a driver's license in Utah.  Now you'll have to switch that back.  Sure, it may not seem like much at the time, but all these little expenses add up.
3. Why are you giving up on your current job already?
4. Do you really believe this guy when he says you'll have 1 year with them if you commit?  I'll bet you $100 that if you get that job, you don't hold it for a whole year.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Sales?!?!? you have to have figured out you're not cut out for that.

Commission only sales I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole as I'd starve to death!.  If it has a guaranteed base (a safety net), I'm fine.

Right now, I'm just trying to find anything to avoid having to suffer the humiliation of a 31-year old man moving in with his parents.  Its embarrassing enough to have my parents help me out, let alone possibly having to move back in with them.

OK - go get a job at McDonald's and work night while you work your other job.  Problem solved.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

At least something is happening in this tragedy now. Only 2 days after Bushie turns down another job to "wait and see what they will do," he gets canned. Of course, this is one of the reoccurring themes in this series. I applaud the writers for at least changing the topic off weather and Sizzler's steakhouse.

Wait, he got fired?  Where?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Jeff, what good is getting something in writing if you yourself said that you would never take someone to court, even for a breach of contract?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Perhaps not surfing the Atlas forum while on the job would increase your chances of retaining this job.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

No need to panic, sure. But an opportunity to give yourself a swift kick to the head and realise your constant mistakes, and what leads to them.

1. listening to your parents, who aren't necessarily as cluey as you think
2. Going into a job that you're totally unsuitable for

Maybe ask yourself... not God, not your parents, risk allowing your actual thoughts and feelings to come out... what am I actually good at? what do I enjoy doing? If those two are in conflict, always choose what you're good at. Especially in your situation.

How the hell will you be able to keep up your apartment for three months without work?

Obviously that statement I made about keeping the apartment without a job is a little misleading.  That's assuming I can get rid of my house in Oklahoma by then so I'm not dealing with $850 in mortgage + utilities and $600 in rent.  That's hard enough to do as it is.  I wouldn't be able to keep my apartment up for three months without a job.  That's why I'm searching now for a job before March 1 gets here so I am not without a job.  My desire is to stay here in Utah and that is my parents desire for me, as well.  That statement about keeping the apartment is just a scenario and nothing more than a scenario.  It is not a plan by any stretch of the imagination.  It could turn into a plan, but its doubtful it will come to that, because I plan to have another job within the next 4 weeks.  I have to let my apartment know by February 15 if I plan to extend beyond the March 31 lease expiration.

Jeff, were you still at work when you posted this?