Ok now all the Holidays are over it is time to return to work! CRAP!!!! I was enjoying my time away from work. I think we should all get a week to return to the normalicy of work.

 We took the family to: Out of Africa (Camp Verde, AZ),  Flagstaff, and to ride the Polar Express. The kids had a blast. We played in the snow (thank god I dont have to live in it). It was great! Then the wind picked up and it got cold and we had to break out the jackets.

Out of Africa gets better EVERYTIME! The Polar Express was FANTASTIC!!! The kids really love it.

Ok, fun over and we are back at home. It id freaking colder here than playing in the windy snow. GRRRRR!!!! I guess the two week cold snap we get is here. That means I have to break ice every morning for the animals. I want another two days off, I don't want to be at work today!!! Waaaaaaa!!

Ok, my fit is over!

Hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year. 

That's right Peevers.  The end is NOT near!

Pet Peeves is not going away anytime soon.  We’re here to stay (and hope that you are too).

Iggy is in Chicago this week trying to buy a Senate seat from the Governor, so let me take a couple minutes to explain and update you all further on his behalf.

1) The Rant of the Week was originally designed to temporarily drive more users to the Rant-and-Rave forum.  We used it as a feature (along with the Rant of the Week free-prize promotion) in our weekly emails to our membership data base.  It worked.  Traffic to the
Rant-and Rave page increased significantly.  Although many of the new visitors chose to merely “lurk” and not contribute — but that's OK too.  After six months (and over 25 prizes awards), as Dawn observed, “it got old.” Without the free prizes, a weekly rant just
didn’t seem to make sense anymore.  It’s apparent that you folks are perfectly capable of carrying on a lively discussion without any further prompting from us.  Peeve On!  You know you want to.

2) Traffic to the Web site remains strong and the advertising revenue continues to make the site profitable.  So don’t worry.  We have no intention of shutting down the site.  In fact, we are exploring new ways to expand the site in 2009 and integrate it into our
overall Pet Peeves business.

3) Finally, let me explain that the primary core of the Pet Peeves business model is product licensing  — not necessarily the Web site.  You’ve probably noticed on the Web site that we license our Pet Peeves brand name to dozens of licensees who produce and
market products under the Pet Peeves brand.  Honestly, this is how we make most of our money (which is a good thing, since we don’t make any money off of you loyal-but-freeloading Peevers).  For instance, each year millions of our Pet Peeves dog chew toys are sold through over 18,000 retailers nationwide, including leading national
chains such as PETCO, PetSmart, Walgreens, and ACE Hardware.  We continue to sign new and interesting licensing partners all the time.  I’m pleased to announce that a huge deal with Wal-Mart was just signed last month and Pet Peeves products will be appearing on
Wal-Mart’s shelves early next year.
 
So there you have it:  Everything you wanted to know about Pet Peeves, but weren’t afraid to ask.  Thanks for your concern, but I’m pleased to report that all is well in Peeve Land these days.
 
Finally, as you know the Holiday season is here.  And what better way to express your Holiday wishes than to send a free E-card to your Holiday list of friends and family.  Just click here (http://www.mypetpeeves.com/ecards. html) to get started. It’s free. It’s fun. And you know you want to.  So just do it.  Now.
 
From everyone here at Pet Peeves, have a Peevey Holiday, and an even Peevier New Year!

Judge allows civil suit over co-worker's perfume

DETROIT – A federal judge says a Detroit city employee can proceed with a civil suit claiming she couldn't work because of a co-worker's strong perfume.

The Detroit News says U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff determined Susan McBride has a potential claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The city is asking to have the suit dismissed.

McBride says she's severely sensitive to perfumes and other cosmetics. She says the perfume worn by a co-worker in the city's Planning Department made it difficult for her to breathe.

She says the co-worker also used a plugged in room deodorizer.

The suit says the co-worker later agreed to stop using the room deodorizer but kept using perfume.

___

Information from: The Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com

Warrant, cocaine lead to job seeker's arrest

JACKSON, Mich. – A mid-Michigan man who'd been looking for work found trouble after an arrest warrant popped up during a background check at a police station. Police also found cocaine in his pocket. The company the man was applying to required a police background check.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot reported that after running the 29-year-old man's name through their computer system Wednesday, police learned he was wanted on a domestic violence charge.

Deputy Police Chief John Holda said that while searching him at the station, an officer found several rocks of cocaine.

The man was being held in the county jail and will be arraigned on the domestic violence charge and possession with intent to deliver cocaine.

___

Information from: Jackson Citizen Patriot, http://www.mlive.com/citpat

don't even know where to start!  I'm at work and we have a buzzer for people to ring so we know to get up and help them but like this one lady, some people sit there and say "hello, excuse me".  but whatever, so I get up and ask here what she needed.  now BEFORE I go on, I need to give you background info of my job.  I work at bunny bread and there is a thrift store next door to us that sells bread items/desserts and it is also where people who have set up donations of bread to be picked up need to go to pick up their requested donations.  this lady then begins to go off the handle about "WHY CAN'T I GET SOME HOT DOG BUNS?!"  I asked were there any in the store and she said yes BUT she wants to know WHY all these white people are walking out with trays and trays of buns and why can't she?  now of course at this point you know she's black and older, about late 50's, early 60's.  but that has NOTHING to do with it!  those people had set up donations beforehand!  she asked how she could do that.  I said you need to fax a letter on the company or business letterhead requesting this.  and she said well I don't think people in the african american community know this.  I want a letter stating the procedures on this.  **OMG**  I'm ready to choke her now.  I told her that all she needed to do was call and ASK!!  so I gave her the phone and fax # for future ref.  and she proceeds to say how she needs to buy buns for 42 schools?!!  IS SHE CRAZY!?  the day BEFORE Halloween and she wants to find enough buns for these people?  who the EFF does that???  the whole southeast La. won't have enough buns for this lady!  why did she WAIT til last minute??  lots of churches and schools are doing things for Halloween so we had to order extra to compensate for that BUT even we have a limit.  we don't want to have too much and risk it going bad. I mean yeah we're a bread factory BUT we don't have an OVERLOAD of buns on hand!  certainly NOT for 40something schools!!! unless it was planned already for them!!

Have, errr, HAD this young employee tell me Saturday that she MIGHT be quiting next week for a job she has been offered since June. The only thing in her way of said job, is her passing a drug test (she claims she knows what will wash the drugs out of her system so she can pass this test) and her age (she is now 17, but will be 18 next month).
Now I told her that IF she ever wants a good reference from this company OR me, she better give her notice in written form at least two weeks ahead, but I would allow her to make it a week if she does so by Monday. She, being 17, did not understand what the 'big deal' was, and then she asked that she was afraid that if she did turn in her notice, and she didn't get the job, she wouldn't be allowed to take her notice back. LOL I congratulated her on feeling the apprehension of being a 'real' adult and told her if she turned in her notice, that showed responsibility and would likely be allowed to cancel her notice. Great right? She agreed to tell me Monday (today) IF she got the job and if I needed to cover her shifts NEXT week. Fine fine fine, just as we discussed. Still with me? Good, because apparently this responsible appearing young lady must have forgotten our discussion:

She MISSED her shift yesterday! Day manager texted her (wow, NEVER thought I would EVER say that as a way to reach someone!) and she texted back that she was up in Sacramento buying a car, had to leave earlier that day and had no time to call in. Then she followed that lame excuse with, 'Sorry, hahaha'.

So now I gotta cover her shifts (luckily there are plenty of people looking for her job, inside and outside the company) but what a FRUITCAKE!!! She thought I was kidding about her reference rating, I am not, I will do everything I can do (legally, of course) to wreck her employment life for at least the rest of this month, after that, I am over it.

Heck, just writing this has gotten me over it, but now I still have to handle the rest of the week with another 'headache' of mine at work. This new kid (kid is 28) started off like gang busters his first two days, but since has shown who he really is, a lazy, dirty, cantankerous (fill in the rest), back-talking (to the supervisors) little BOY! I have made him my personal project, either he re-impresses me or I will have his resignation 'on my desk'! (I always wanted to say that)

'Funny' thing is, of the two guys I hired last month, the one I thought would be the first out is the one that is actually trying the hardest to stay. He NEVER complains about the same thing more than once, he ALWAYS remembers what he was taught, and, other than how slow he is, is ALWAYS 'perfect' in executing his duties. Now if you ever saw him you would swear he was around 50 or 60 years old, but this guy is 43!!! But he is also a recovering alcoholic and his last twenty+ years were working in Arizona and Reno, mostly outside, so mix the sun and the drink, you get twenty plus years added on. His slowness I attribute to what the alcohol may have done to his brain over the years (no police record, but drunks don't need the police to get their heads bashed in, he isn't allowed a DL and he is just about to move out of his Alcohol treatment center home, so he is moving along with his life. Hope he keeps on this track. He is also going to get more hours, he is too slow to open, but he can close and work the mids well.

Anyway, gotta go to work now, got to call a purveyor that shorted my store but were happy to charge us for it! Somebody tell me what the best way to get through CS without getting mad at them, I am mostly sure it isn't their fault, but. . .

Rant: Work internet sucks!! We have to reset constantly, and we can't seem to hold our connection. Satellite internet blows chunks, but there is nothing we can do about it unless we want to spend a few million. And we're not big enough of a company to do that!

Rave: Hockey meet and greet tonight, I get to meet ALL the players and it's free. Also, I bought my ticket for the opening game on Friday night! I'd hit on a player but they don't have enough teeth!

Rant: My roommate with his "you should" nonsense. Just because I live with him does not mean he is welcome to tell me how I should live or what I should do in terms of ANYTHING that does not effect him or our living conditions. He did it when I bought my car "you should get this, you should get this" he did it when I talked about getting a laptop "you should get this, you should look into this". And now he's done it with my winter tires "Well you should have done this or this or this instead". SHUT IT and stay the HELL out of my business!

Rave: Winter is TOTALLY here. It's been snowing all day, and they're saying 9" by tonight. AND my studs (that my roommate said were a waste of money) have already come in handy TWO DAYS in a row!! My Equinox is a freakin' tank!! I ♥ it so much!

I'll try to stop by again tomorrow, but if it's cloudy in Canada we probably won't have internet again at the office… Wait did I say Canada? I think I meant Tahiti… no no wait I mean France… oh no I mean… who the hell knows!

I got an email this morning.  I am being laid off from my job.  My last day of work is the 26th of this month.  The people in charge of the contracts that I work under decided to pull the rug out from under myself and my clients.  They won't renew the contract for the next fiscal year.  Now I am scrambling again to try to find a job before I lose this one.  I have even broke down and ask my daycare provider if they have a position open that I could do.  I told them I was willing to get whatever I needed to work there.  I have to talk to the director later this afternoon..

I have no idea how pay my bills after this month.  The hubby comes home the first week of next month but I remember the fights we had when I wasn't working.  I don't want to go through this again.  I have a couple of prospects but I won't get my hopes up b/c it is hard finding a job in my field of work.  Esp. since I haven't finished my degree yet.  I have the experience but no piece of paper saying that I went to school.  I have some college. 

What do I do now?  Other than sit here and cry all day.

as an employee,however, this MIGHT be a 'good' thing!

Check out the button in the upper right hand corner that reads, 'Boss is Coming'!!!

http://www.tnt.tv/dramavision.jsp?cid=40379  

As you may recall I am looking to get a job with this company I have interviewed with. I was last in contact with their head of Human Resources and 'all' they needed from me at this stage was an application (emailed to me).

No worries, I'll just fill it out and FAX it to their headquarters in Minnesota, eh! So, I filled and faxed and waited for the call of offering all day Monday. I get an email from their HR person saying the fax didn't go through! Now, follow me; the headquarter received MY fax, but apparently THEIR fax didn't make it to the HR (which is actually based in San Diego, why? Who knows, but there it is). Headquarters even had some sort of 'proof' that the fax did come but what they sent was NOT my fax AND they apparently LOST my fax. So, I sent the fax again!

This time, MY fax wouldn't even connect to THEIR fax machine (still don't know why ) for about ten minutes. Guess what? IT DIDN'T GO THROUGH!!! I emailed the lady in SD to ask what was going on with my app (didn't know it hadn't gone through yet) when she emailed back saying she hadn't gotten it.

Now, I asked her if I should drop it in the mail or what since somewhere between here and Minnesota and San Diego there is a glitch. No, she answered just fax it to this number! This time she gave me a whole DIFFERENT number (I think it went directly to her this time)!

Why didn't she just GIVE me that number to begin with? She knows she is gonna offer me a job, THEY (headquarters) knows she is gonna offer me a job, I know she is gonna offer me a job! Just give me the 'quick' numbers and let's quit messing around with my SaNiTy!!!

Why do we need faxes when emails can carry the SAME info and be quicker and less likely to NOT go through? The people on the other side can make hard copies if they need, that will save a tree or two and etc.!!!!

Not sure which category this falls under so I just pick out a few that are kinda close (no 'Faxes' cat!!! Don't need to make one, just know that there isn't one)

Picture yourself walking down a nice quiet path in the woods, you can hear birds chirping, but they are in the distance. Picture hearing a bubbling brook up ahead, you are calm, you are calm, you walk on. . . .

Now just picture yourself next to this brook, or maybe a stream, you are calm as you listen to the water running by, you are calm, you are calm.

Now picture yourself holding that <enter name here>'s head under the water, you are calm, he WILL stop struggling soon, you are calm, you are calm. Now there is nothing but silence, you can’t even hear the birds, only sound now is the stream as it carries your disruptions away, because you STAYED CALM, YOU STAYED CALM. (C:}

I just watched an 'interesting' sight, a woman that worked at the restaurant where my wife's shop is just QUIT! She and the manager (owner?) ARGUED about why she was quitting OUTSIDE IN THE COURTYARD!!! Now, when I was a manager, I have had many people quit on me, and left angry. Not once in my whole life, would I have EVER considered arguing 'in public', that to me is the epitome of rude and unnecessary as well. And even worse, she was accusing him of treating her badly (unfairly) because she was a woman.

Alright, perhaps she had a point, but the place to argue that point was NOT in the middle of 'the street'! Am I somehow just too old and conservative about where people should 'air their laundry'?

As I write this, my wife just informed me the manager says she was apparently drunk as well, and this was the third time showing up to work this way!!! Dang Swedes, can't hold their liquor!!! 

My husband works for ALCOA. It is an aluminum smelter in the town I live in. Alcoa can't reach an agreement on electricity costs to run the smelter with a local electricity plant "Luminate", so because Luminate won't seel Alcoa energy at blow cost rates, Alcoa is freakin laying off people. They are starting with 300….and Clint's name is on the list. F_U_C_K. He has been there quite a while, but now we are going to be in the hole. We didn't live above our means, but he had unlimited amounts of overtime he could pull in, so he usually worked about 64+ hours each week. Well now he can only get 40, and we won't know if he will be laid off until the middle of August. They have to legally post a list 60 days before lay offs occur, then it is kinda wait till the last minute before you know anything……..so now the fun of waiting begins.

On a lighter note; Reesie got her cast off on the 23rd, and she still walks funny, but hey, the cast is off…..so I am at least a little happier. Hope to run into you knuckle heads again soon.

Last Tuesday when I was at work Pearl the other lady that works with me had a major asthma attack. She came through the door asking for help. So I call up stairs and tell the manager to call 911 Pearl is having a severe asthma attack.

Now I would have called however I did not want Pearl to get out of might sight. So the manager does call 911 however the manager fails to tell anyone else what is going on. Not the manager that is in charge of my area no one.

That is not the worst part NO ONE called any of her emergancy contact numbers not her family or anyone. So the building director comes up to me and asks did you tell any managers that you called 911 man I just gave him that blank stair and after about what seemed about 5 seconds I calmy said I called the manager that was upstairs and told them to call 911. He dropped it after that he must of known I pissed for that question.

Now it is really Friday, and since I thought yesterday was Friday, I am NOT being productive at all.  I am acting like it is Saturday, and I was forced to come in the office against my will, so I am protesting and just being here in body only! My productivity level is zero.

I keep thinking today is Friday.  That sucks. I am taking next week off, so I am over-anxious for the mini vacation to start.

Finally, the Pet Peeves people have changed the poll on the home page to something I can relate to, all the jerks in the office!!!  They forgot a major one, my boss that farts all the time!

I was looking for some paperwork this morning and of course as I look around I see old outdated paper to get rid of.  I was also looking for receipts for some of the things that were stolen.  as I'm doing this I came across VERY old paystubs, LOTS of old QVC receipts, old credit reports and other papers with confidential info on them.  so I gather it all together, a big pile of it and decide to have fun shredding.  UGH!!! 

FIRST of all it doesn't even fit a whole piece of paper, I have to tear it in half. 

SECOND, after a few pages of stuff, it clogs up and starts to jam!!! then, I stick my fingers in there to unclog it.  of course it is off so I'm not shredding my fingers. duh… but I really shouldn't wait so long between doing these things so I won't have so much but it's not something that I'm always looking into.

THIRD, it's very small, so I have to empty it so often. and I can't put the top of the shredder directly on top the trash cuz it has a safety switch that only allows it to work ON the small base.  I really want a nice big good one but they can get pricey.

And to top things off, big brother has blocked all internet music from all computers.  So if i want to listen to music I had better drag my music along with me.

Sometimes I wonder………..

OK. I understand that we are beginning to come into the summer months and that I live and work in NC.  I also understand that I can't always have what I ask for.  But this is for the birds.

Last weekend the AC went out in my office building.  I come to work and find that my Beta fish died b/c the water was too hot.  It was 95 degrees.  Ok I was sad for a few and plan on buying a new one.   Somehow the AC just started working the same day.  Not a problem I think.

This past weekend the AC quit working again.  Now we are in the midst of a heat wave and when I came to work on Monday it was no BS 110 degrees in my office.  The two remaining fish that I had, an angel fish and a sucker fish, were upside down floating dead.  The water temp. was 120 degrees.  I have been sitting in this oven for three days.  I had to turn off all the computers so they wouldn't overheat.

The guy came out today and said he 'fixed' the AC.  As soon as he pulled out of the parking lot the damned thing quit working.  So here I sit, with my windows open, fan going, roasting like a little pig.  I will not go up to the superviser's office which is three miles up the road b/c I will never get any work done under his micromanaging ways.  

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I posted a little while ago about the guy that isn't licensed to be doing design but is… Well the Fire Marshall finally called the guy (my superior) who's name and license IS on them. I work with this superior all the time on projects, and went down to talk to him about it just as he got off the phone with the Fire Marshall. I explained everything that was going on with Mr. "I can do it even though you told me not to". He called the guy, and this guy had the nerve to complain about me! He said "Oh she keeps pulling this 'it's not my job' crap".. so my superior told him "It's not her job - it's the technicians job. She does drafting, she doesn't know about products". It's always good to know the guys above me are on my side and know what my job IS. I have NO problems with helping people out, but when they expect me to do something I know nothing about with no help, SCREW THEM.

So yesterday this guy was in the office for a few hours fixing a stair. Now the stair was only wobbly, not broken. He spent over 2 hours fixing this stair but not ONCE asked about these drawings. So luckily my superior was back in the office today and he sat down with me and we went through them (thanks to me going to him). Guess how long it took the two of us….. HALF AN HOUR. That guy avoided me for two weeks and he SHOULD have just sat down and looked over HIS mistakes and it would have been done and resubmitted a week ago. Instead, because he's not in today, my superior and I are going to have to go LOOK at the site and get a few answers. It's ok though, he and I were planning to have lunch together anyways… Just something more to spread out the day!

I am glad my superior got to see what this guy was doing.  The guy wasn't supposed to bid the job in the first place, and I remember my superior saying "Watch, it'll all end up in my lap" and it did. This guy is a good worker in the field, but he needs to NOT bid jobs when he's told not to. I am glad I'm working with my superior, he's nicer because he knows WHAT I know how to do, and what he needs to do. Hence the reason he's a designer!!

I am PISSED!!!!! Granted I love my new job and my worst day here is better than my best day with my old employer.

BUT…..The boss didn't quite have the paychecks ready when I left yesterday (payday). OK, whatever I wasn't going to go to the bank till thursday anyway. Then I get to work this morning and my check is on my desk. Ok good…I open it and I thought it looked too small (not enough $). So I look at the hours I got paid for. I only got paid for 1 hour on the holiday not 9 like I was supposed to!

 The boss is gonna bitch and complain because there are all kinds of errors on it. My address is wrong (not a big deal), I was shorted .19 hours (not a big deal BUT it is wrong EVERY payday .02- .47 hours) and I just let it slide. My OT was calculated wrong (I got paid $5.00 more than I should have) and the pay period is wrong (it is wrong EVERY payday). He will bitch at me then go and bitch at his wife who does payroll.

I just don't want to hear it today!!! He will be mad I didn't say anything before about the errors.

I'm not sure if that's the right word for it, but here goes. My coworker had a job that he wanted to bid. His superior told him NOT to bid the job. He bid the job anyways, and now we have the project. He was told that he was in charge of all the design work being he bid it after being instructed not to. He does not have the qualifications to design, but the person with the qualifications does not work with the type of system being installed. Mistake #1 - bidding something you were told not to.
So then it came down to my drafting the plans. I was patient being it was his first time doing this, but he had no clue what he was doing, or how to do it. He kept saying "well you know how to do this" and I kept explaining "No, I don't, I just draw what is handed to me". I don't know how systems work, or spacing requirements, or part numbers, or wiring information. I am handed a piece of paper and I draw what is on it. Mistake #2 - thinking I know things I am not paid to know, or went to school to learn.
Yesterday I got a call from the Fire Marshall (luckily a former coworker) who had MAJOR problems with the plans. He knew it wasn't my fault, but wanted to let me know the issues so they could be taken care of. I wrote them all down, and left a note for the coworker that he needed to see me. This morning I came in and saw him and said "You need to get with me so we can correct these plans". He has not gotten with me. I have been having allergy problems and wanted to get it done before I took my meds, but he left and did not sit down to figure this out. Mistake #3 - pissing off the person that can save your ass, the same person that is now loopy on meds and worthless.
One of the issues the Fire Marshall had was that when the plans were submitted, there was no product information (cut sheets). Coworker just called my superior and asked him to tell me to print these off for him. I just went to see my superior and asked him "Did he tell you where they are or am I doing an internet needle-in-the-haystack search". He told me to talk to this coworker when he gets in. Now again, I do not work with products or in the field. All smoke detectors look the same to me, and some heat detectors look like smoke detectors to me. It's not my job or responsibilty to be able to tell them apart, it's my job to draw where they go on a floor plan. Mistake #4 - ASSuming people know things that are above and beyond their level.

I'm just furious. I have tried and tried to maintain my cool with this guy on this project, but it's just getting to be more and more of a headache (on top of the sinus one I already have). I have tried to explain things to him on what HE needs to give me and he always says "chill out, we can figure this out". I just want to say "No, YOU need to figure it out as that is what YOUR job as a designer is, my job title says Drafter". So there's an hour left in the day, not near enough time to get this all done, and he's still not here. I hope he doesn't expect anything when he gets here! Thank god it's a long weekend.

Hey wait - I have to add this now that I've done some thinking… It IS a long weekend, and he SHOULD have come to see me today! The more days that pass, the farther the items the Fire Marshall said get from my brain. Yes I wrote them down, but I was on the phone and wrote short little notes, no major details.  So then… Mistake #5- Not doing things when they are fresh in someones head!

Ok, it might not be exactly that, but from what I am seeing that was the only thing that I could think to call it at this moment.

Just to make sure people understand that I have nothing against May/December relationships, because my 1st hubby was 26 years older than me (he passed away in 2003), and the second was 20 years older than me (divorced in 2006).  I just don't agree with my boss at this point and time.

Her hubby is 36 years older than her (she just turned 33!), they married after she joined the military.  Here is the issue.  He has some really bad medical problems that he had prior to getting married to her.  Since they have been married, he has had to have a kidney removed, half of his liver and pancreas.  She spends more time not working because he has so many medical issues.  His good kidney that is left is failing, so they have put him on dialysis 3 times a week (which takes 4 hours each time) until they can find a kidney replacement for him.  Yesterday, she had to take off because he had another medical appointment.  He has been having chest pains, so they induced a heart attack on him.  Well, he was supposed to be able to go home after the test, needless to say, that isn't happening, he is now in the hospital because he had a minor stroke as they brought him out of the induced heart attack.  Which means more time off of work {mind you, she is the commander and supposed to be leading her troops and she is never around to do that}.  So now it looks like she won't be able to work at all for at least the next week!  Let's top things off here, she has been trying for the past 2 months to have another child because as she puts it "my biological clock is ticking!".  She already has two boys with him, and step kids that are older than her!  Like she really needs any more.  Oops, forgot to mention, both of her kids also have serious medical issues.  Plus she has her own made up illnesses now, like severe allergies and she goes once a week to get a shot that is supposed to cure her allergies.

I know people have medical issues from time to time.  I just honestly believe that he hook, lined and sinkered her into marrying him so that he could latch onto some good medical because of how sickly he is.  I don't know who to report this to, plus I would think that someone higher up would start to realize this and force her either out of the military or cancel the insurance on him due to how much he is costing the government.

What do I do?  I am at a loss!  I have her troops calling me and asking why they can't spend more time taking their spouses/children to medical appointments when they have problems and why they have to work from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. and she can come in at 10 a.m. leave at 11 a.m. for lunch, return at 2 p.m. from lunch and then leave at 3:30 p.m. to get her kids from daycare and go home for the night!  Add it up, she works on average 2.5 hours a day, and sometimes that is more than what she actually is working.

I have tried going above her in the chain of command to report this issue, but they blow it off because of how sick her hubby and kids are.  My First Sergeant and I are pulling the weight of the company.  I am just a civilian secretary, but I do the job of the commander and have been the decision maker for the past 8 months now.  My First Sergeant is getting so burned out and I just don't know anymore how to handle this situation.

What did we ever do before email existed?

I can barely remember life "before email" (BE). Like-it-or-not, email is here — and life will never be the same again.

I think we'd all agree that there are a lot of good things about email. But what about the goofy things about email — that we've all been subjected to at one time or another?

For instance, do you have one of those "friends" that thinks you have nothing to do all day long, but read his/her terrible jokes? And why does he/she insist on sending them to everyone in their address book? So thoughtful.

How about incorrect grammar and misspelling in emails? Does that bother you, or not?

And while we're talking about it…what is the currently acceptable amount of time allowed before you must reply to an email? Is it two hours? Two days? Two weeks?

Finally, what do you think of the use of all this new online Internet lingo that the kids especially seem to like so much? "OMG, U R not a noob, R U?" Personally, it drives me nuts — but mostly IMHO, that's because I can't understand it. LOL while NIFOC (look it up).

So what do you find most maddening about email these days? Go ahead and express your comments on our Web site. Or FWIW, send us an email. TIA.

Peeve On!

The Peeve Meister

P.S. Congrats to thefensk, our Rant-of-the-Week winner from last week.

Today was insane around here!! My office STILL reeks of mildewy mold, which I found out will be shampooed this weekend. So I had actual work to do today, and no place to do it. I told the guy that needed it done that I would have to use his computer to do it, which was no problem. Sucked for me though because it was a laptop and I just LOVE that 10-key on the side of normal keyboards. Took me a little bit longer then usual, but I got it all done. Then, the office I have been "hanging out in" was needed by the actual office "owner" so I was just wandering around most of the afternoon. I had a coworker tell me I would make an awesome office manager though!! 

Our local radio guys were back on air today too (although I didn't get to hear it). They were taken off the air for "racist" remarks, which was a load of bull but whatever. It was good to have them on, it just sucked that the portion of the show I heard (and later found out the whole show) was them taking calls and apologizing and telling what they learned from their "sensitivity training". I think the people offended should have gone to "de-sensitivity training" but that's just my opinion!

I decided I hate our local hockey too. Turns out they told some of the people that played all season long that they didn't need them to play last night because people from a higher league were willing to play on the team. I just think it's screwed up that these guys worked as a team all season to make it to playoffs, then can't play in playoffs because some guys on the next level didn't make it in their league. I'm done with Hockey!! Back to Football!!!  God, I CAN'T WAIT for football to start up!!

OK, it's well over 101 outside and the wind is blowing (a nasty warm wind). Perfect conditions for snakes!

So what do the pain in the rear guys do? They leave the doors propped open again. The boss just got on to them yesterday, oh ya I forgot they have slept since then and forgot I guess.

Anyway, I am sitting here trying to enjoy my lunch and what do I see slithering inside?? Those flippin idiots! Ruined my perfectly good lunch time. Now I gotta break out with the dang mothballs and smell that stink all day!

>:(

Friday we had a blizzard come through. They told us it would rain, possibly snow - and that if it did snow we wouldn't even notice. They lied, we got 2 feet. Heck, we had a foot while I was at work. Our boss was kind enough to let us leave early being the highway getting out of town was moving at 20mph.

So today I come in, turn on my light and "ewwwwe, what is that smell"… my entire floor in my office is DRENCHED. First I thought my fish tank blew up, then I noticed there was WAAAAY too much water then was in my tank (it's only a 1 gallon tank). So now there's an air mover thing in here moving the air around, and my heater at my feet - full blast. I'm still freezing, and now I have a major headache.

Time for me to leave my office and go spend some time in the break room. Maybe I'll eat lunch now so I can get some asprin in me!