Thursday, April 19, 2012

Bumper Sticker Of The Week

One has to wonder sometimes just what exactly those guardian angels are thinking of when they pull stunts like this week's finest.

The sewer pipe replacement project continues at our corner where the front loaders and crane thingee with the tank-like appearance grind away our street, rattling the windows and coating the sidewalks with grimy dust.  Those guys work hard and drive those huge pieces of machinery around the corners at amazing rates of speed.  Not one collision.  Knock wood somewhere.

However, my laptop crashed last night with some kind of DOS warning page that led me to call Dell.  You know what I am going to say.  A man who called himself "Charles" with a very heavy Indian accent spent an entire hour putting me on hold and not helping me one bit.  I was civil and calm until the end when he charged me another $20 for the program disks that Dell never sent with my laptop two years ago.  Funny, he didn't ask me how he could "provide me with excellent service."

I am now writing on our desktop computer. If and when the disks come to me via some freighter from somewhere, I will try to do it myself.  Maybe my laptop is toast but I am not ready to recycle it just yet and I still know what excellent customer service is and that was not it.  Somewhere in Texas, Michael Dell is sipping his California Chardonnay or Pinot and I am wondering how I will afford a new computer two years after I bought it.

Seconds come via the job market in life or something that looks like a chance to put money in my dwindling savings account via Craigslist.  "ORGANIC PRODUCE STOCKER" was listed on Craigslist and yes, all caps.  That should have been my forewarning. True enough, the small market in Occidental would be a hard, 30-40 minute drive west from here with only 16 hours promised on the weekends for a minimum wage.  Still, I felt a tingle at the idea that I might be able to gain some experience.  I applied for other jobs this week as they came along, keeping Occidental in my mind.

Yesterday, there was a missed call and no message.  Hmmmm.  Telemarketer?   I called Occidental Market today once my volunteer morning stint was done and was told the job had been filled.  I thanked the woman and wondered if her all caps and her lack of a voice mail were my work of just grinding along trying to find something that will sustain me no matter what or my guardian angel keeping my Mini from scooting off Occidental Road in the fog? Believing the later keeps me from feeling bitter.

Third, yet another volunteer orientation to walk dogs at the Sonoma County Humane Society, three weeks after the first volunteer orientation led me to feel like it was all just a terrible waste of human effort.  I understand, from that two hours of "orientation", that the entire dog behavioral department had been laid off and the Director rehired with no support staff.  Additionally, only five volunteers could handle the dogs with behavioral issues, of which there were more than not, and I wondered what was really wrong there.  I am not a dog trainer though I walk three Greyhounds each morning and it just felt so wrong.  I want to help where I can but don't make it so freaking complicated.

Fourth, I showed up to do some office volunteering at a local organization, only to find that the volunteer coordinator was out sick.  I had driven 20 minutes to get there so I was angry.  She called me and apologized and it is hardly her fault.  Overworked and understaffed as well, they use volunteers to get by on a string and a prayer.


From an underpaid produce job to a home made latte this afternoon,  I wonder if there is something out there for me or is this going to be a very long summer.  It is not true that if you do good deeds you will be rewarded though most of us that were raised in our Judeo-Christian culture know that message so well.   However, if I have angels flying close to me-one has to be a white and red, party color Greyhound with big freaking white wings, I wish they would get to the punchline.  I am plum worn out and it isn't funny anymore!

Finally, I saw the best bumper sticker this week and that is my big finish here-and really, this blog is something I write from my true self so I want that other me to listen up:

"What is right is not always popular.
What is popular is not always right."