That's what you get for thinking

Yesterday, I left work early at 4PM thinking I could get ahead of the traffic to get home a bit early. I thought wrong. Not only was I stuck in rush hour traffic, but I got back to OC at the same fricken time as if I left work at my normal time. WTF?

Robert was running late, so I picked up some El Pollo Loco for dinner and went to his house. That additional act, and I'm not complaining about doing it mind you because I was hungry, too, and because we both had to eat, tacked on an additional :30 minutes to my commute.

So my total time on the road to get home yesterday was 3 hours. Ug. I hate this commuting business.

Sorrow

I heard on the news this morning before I left for work that the police officer that was killed in the Chatsworth train crash, Spree DeSha, a resident of Simi Valley, was going to have her funeral in Los Angeles.

See: Photos of Chatsworth train crash

As I was driving to work this morning, I witnessed a large procession of law enforcement vehicles traveling on the 118 east in the HOV lanes and I'm almost certain it was pertaining to what I watched on the news.

See: Hundreds attend funeral of LAPD officer killed in Metrolink crash

I feel bad for the city of Simi Valley because it was the train stop immediately before the one in Chatsworth. Many, many residents of the town were affected by the tragedy.

One of the best

Robert made me one of the best dinners ever last night. I found it both entertaining yet sweet that he was fussing over the fact that I cannot consume milk or milk products and he never realized that there was so much milk in prepared foods.... i.e. after I declined eatting couscous, he tried to make Rice-o-Roni, but seeing it called for milk he put it back in the cupboard. Now I get to train him on living and cooking without it.

He make bbq pork chops marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, swiss chard, and white rice. I never missed the apple sauce. It was one of the best dinners I've ever had.

Great News

I got some great news on Friday. My contract for employment has been extended until the end of the year. So at least I'll be able to eat and pay my mortgage for another three months. But damn, that commute. Why can't Fannie Mae open a branch in the OC?

Then on Saturday, I got some not so great news. Robert has contracted walking pneumonia and he's on antibiotics until it passes. I've been with him for the past three weeks? or so you'd think I would of gotten sick, too, since it takes that long to develop, but no. My crazy overactive immune system has kicked in and I feel fine. I popped in on Sunday to check up on him and he's just a miserable wreck right now. Feel better soon, Robert.

Be My Co-Pilot

More adventures with the big white Ford truck are coming soon, but not this weekend. Robert's got walking pneumonia, so says his doctor. I wonder where he picked it up from because it is an infectious disease... probably work since he spends an exorbitant amount of time there.

As do I at work. I'm gone for upwards of 14 hours a day which includes the commute.

A Change in the Weather

Summer decided to creep out of town quietly after Labor Day while the morning fog and overcast began to roll in daily. It's been that way for about a week now. Friends and co-workers alike are complaining about all the hot and cold changes. You have to wear a jacket or a sweater in the AM, but by lunch you need to peel it off because the fog and overcast has burned away by then and it's kinda feeling humid. I don't like it at all.

My Imminent Happiness

There are few things in life that even come close to bringing in a new life into the world. The only other event that rivals the prior is marriage. My imminent happiness is pending. I can feel it in my bones. It's only a matter of time.

I went out with Robert again on Tuesday night for sushi and we had a great time. And again, the proprietors said we were a cute couple. We stopped, turned towards each other, locked eyes and smiled.

Just recently, I've recognized that unconsciously the friends that I've been collecting over maybe the past 10 years are the ones that will play a role in my wedding. Some have been men... the wrong men to teach me that I don't have to tolerate their bad behavior in a relationship. Some have been service providers, like my hair dresser. He said he won't do wedding hair, but I bet if I waved $2k in front of him and a free trip, he'd pack up his case of equipment for me because I asked. A few have been girlfriends that have listened in horror to the emotional toll I allowed to be placed upon my shoulders while a mistress for almost five years. Those women who listened and didn't judge are worth gold to me. Those are true friends. My uncle, who is the second smartest person I know, next to my dad, who passed away in 2005. I think he needs to walk me down the aisle. I look at every long white dress I see now differently.

I'm trying to keep things going slowly, but the pace is moving as fast as it wants to go.

The recipe of all recipes

There are two recipes guarded with more security than should be legal.

The first is a recipe for Coca Cola. People have lost there jobs over that one...

The other is the recipe for the 11 secret herbs and spices complied into a seasoning mix that is known as 'the original recipe' for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

It makes my mouth water just thinking about cold KFC for breakfast. It always tastes better in the morning, don't ask me why.

See Article:
Colonel’s chicken recipe removed from safekeeping for first time in decades

Shades of Gray

I wish sometimes my decisions could be clearer... be more black and white and not have to dwell within the shades of gray that are presented to me. Where does this idea stem from? I got it from watching the DNC and the RNC. I really don't like either of the candidates that I've been given to choose from and I'm hoping like hell I'll get a third option.

I'm mad about how the economy is right now. I'm a displaced mortgage worker like tens of thousands of my co-workers that have lost jobs in the past few years. Dishonesty, greed, and corruption fed into the housing bubble and now is hurting those hard working people that are normally employed on the periphery of that industry. I'm a mother who worries about if my son will be able to have a life equal to or greater than mine, or if he will struggle simply to put food on the table for his family as inflation becomes the norm. I hate the fact that there are no new mortgage jobs where I live so I'm forced to commute 150 miles a day in order to support myself and my family while gas prices fluctuate with the stroke of a keyboard as speculators ride their own wave of prosperity they created similar to the secondary mortgage market traders did at the wall Street investment banks. And I worry if I can stay healthy so that I don't have to loose my savings or my home while I cannot afford to pay for my health care insurance working at a temp job.

Which one of these candidates are willing to give me a chance to make my life a better one to live and not feel like I'm struggling against the flow of immigrants that have over taken my neighborhood, and put a strain on my cities schools, made my local hospital not only close it's ER, but shut it's doors for good. How do you intend to make my life better now?

If I had a hammer...

Yesterday, I took an extra day off of work to extend my labor day weekend to a grand total of four days. Work has been slow and I have a back-up, so why not take an extra day off? I also had a quick lunch with the guy I've been dating as well as had the privilege of getting to tour a commercial building under construction that he's working on. I've always been able to understand the interpersonal issues as well as the administrative ones he's been dealing with on this project because a large part of my career is dealing with those same things, but now I also have a better perspective of the extraordinary engineering challenges, limitations, and schedule he has faced and is facing each day when he goes to work.

One of my bosses at the last company I worked for used to have this Daffy Duck statue on his desk with the saying, "Bigger, Better, Faster, Cheaper". When you have a product that serves the public, that simple saying is almost always the way to a company's success.