Hurt and Pissed

Dontcha just hate it when someone asks you how you are, and they really don't care or mean it? This past week has been the week from Hell. One of the guys that lives in the house I manage has been in the hospital since Thursday with a broken hip. I have been filling in many hours where I couldn't find coverage otherwise. This has not been fun, seeings how we have to provide 24 hour "sitter" coverage. In the last 2 weeks, I have worked over 100 hours, and I am only getting paid for 80. That's 20 hours of work I don't get paid for. That's 20 hours I didn't get to spend with my wife and kids. If I got paid like my staff do, that would be 20 hours overtime at time and a half. Translation: That's $448.20 I didn't make. I even travelled all the way to Poughkeepsie (26 miles) in a friggin' snow storm, just to ensure that my guy was not alone, and that the staff who did the overnight could go home and start his vacation (what's that?). Then I had to travel 26 miles home in a snow storm on top of that. Today my guy was discharged from the hospital (in Poughkeepsie) and transferred to a nursing home for rehab (in Kent, CT). After spending 9 hours at the hospital today, I then had to drive all the way to Kent to help him settle in there. After I left there (7pm), I still had to drive all the way to Stormville to my job, to do grocery shopping for the house. I didn't get out of work until 11pm (a 16 hour day). In passing conversation with a person who works for me, she asks "How are you?" My reply was that I was doing alright despite that fact that I am on a steady diet of hours worked this week. Her response? "Well, I don't feel sorry for you one bit." Well excuse me bitch! I wasn't looking for your sympathy, but maybe a little empathy would be nice. (I didn't actually say this, though, as I couldn't keep my jaw from dropping aghast). You know, I bust my ass for my job, and I do whatever I can for my guys. I have worked with them for 22 years, and they are more like brothers to me than anything else. Why the hell ask me how I am, if you ain't gonna at least try to understand how I feel?



In Essence Of Reality by:me

Don't stop for me, please,
No, don't waste your time.
'Cause you've got your own world,
And I'm here in mine.

Don't ask me my thoughts,
Just to put down in rhyme.
It just wouldn't matter
To you or your kind.

I know not of love,
Or the depth of a heart.
I can't even see
The light from the dark.

Don't ask how I'm doing;
To tell how I feel,
If I speak of ruin,
It would still be unreal.

For love hath no fear;
Nor a fury to tell,
It scorns me with coins
For an old wishing well.

How To Change Poopy Pants (for Daddy's)

Tonight I was getting my daughter, Lily ready for a bath. Easy enough, right? So I lift her up to the changing table, and begin to strip away the layers of clothing. First the shirt, then the pants, the onesy, the socks, and then the...UGGGHHH!!! Major blow out! From her belly button down to her back...nothin' but poops. Did I mention that I was getting her ready for her bath? Good thing, or so you would think. I didn't realize I would have to give her a sponge bath, before I gave her an actual bath. So I grab the squirt bottle with the water in it, a few baby rags, and set to it. First you spray, then you wipe. Then you spray, then you wipe. and finally...you spray and then you wipe. Nope...wait...one more time...you spray, you wipe. OK...what do I do now? I have a naked baby on the changing table, and a masterfully rolled up poopy diaper next to her. Oh good...here's comes the wife. I was able to coax her into taking the diaper into the laundry room for me. I give Lily her bath. She is now clean with a clean diaper and pajamas on. I'm done...NOT!!! I still have a diaper to contend with. Now mind you, this wouldn't be a bad thing if my wife had decided to do this for me. I almost considered leaving it there and saying..."oops...I forgot because I was distracted by giving Lily a bath." It also wouldn't be so bad if we used disposable diapers, but noooooo! So there I am, at the laundry room sink. First you swish the diaper in the toilet. Then you rinse the rest of it under hot water in the sink. Because we double up on the diaper, and we also you and extra absorbent thingy, this alone requires 3 toilet swooshes. Then I used about 4 baby rags, which also need swooshing. Then there is the diaper cover...yup...swooshing. After everything is swooshed, it is strategically placed into a diaper pail. Now keep in mind, that when I say strategically, I actually mean, you step on the thingy that lifts the lid, and with one hand you drop the swooshees into the bucket, while you turn yer head and hold yer nose with the other. Now yer done, right...wrong again. Because I keep smelling poopies, I now have to wash my hands and face , like 100 times to ensure that there is no remnant of whatever on me. Now I'm done. Man, I hate poopy pants!!!


Author's note: when doing spell check, my computer was nice enough to suggest poppy for poopy...yeah...right...I wish!

Hope Chest by:me

There's a box upon my dresser
I'd say it's rather small.
Of all its one time contents,
There's almost nothing left at all.

That box is very old,
Much older than you or I.
Yet its treasure is as new,
As the light of morning sky.

It's up there on my dresser,
Just up there gath'ring dust.
I don't dare take a peak,
All I can do is trust.

For long ago, and far away,
A woman did just that.
And just as you have heard it said,
Curiosity killed the cat.

Yes, it is that famous box,
Notorious you might say.
The box in which all evils
Once were safely locked away.

That woman was Pandora,
Who, in her curiosity,
Opened the box and let escape
All evils of history.

But the box holds one last treasure,
A present from above,
To help us cope, there's one last hope,
And that treasure we call Love.

The box has told a tale of pain,
Of the evils in man's past.
But it brings a gift for the future,
A gift of ever - last.

And so you see, Pandora,
Naive as she could be,
Has given us a future
Amidst reality.

Lost by:me

I'm lost again from Yesterday
I don't know where to go.
I once thought that I knew the way
A long, long time ago.

I thought that I would get there
No matter what the cost
But Chaos always finds a way
For me to remain lost.

There isn't any end in sight
Should I go east or west?
And even when I think I'm right,
My thoughts are all that's left.

'Round every bend, and every turn,
Each long and winding road.
In my head a fever burns
And yet my soul is cold.

I look ahead and try to move,
I'm frozen in my tracks.
I look behind, the trail is lost,
There is no turning back.

I know - somehow - I'll find my way,
'Til then I'll sit and wait.
Tomorrow is another day
Closer to Heaven's Gate.

Groundhog's Day

So today is Groundhog's Day. What a scam. How silly is it that, we pin all our hopes and dreams of Springtime on a furry little animal who is really just coming out of his hole to see if there is a mate nearby? And what are we hoping to find? Does "Phil" see his shadow, or not? And what of it? If he sees his shadow, then this means 6 more weeks of winter. And if he doesn't...6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!!!! C'mon people...wake up and smell the coffee!! If you ask me, I'll predict 4 more weeks of this cold weather crap, and then we will start to see a more steady stream of at least 50 degree weather. At this point, you are probably thinking "Ok Mike, to what do you base your prediction on?" I base my prediction on the birds. This past Saturday (1/30/10), I spotted at least 15 Robins and at least 10 Bluebirds flittering around the back yard of the house I work in. As we know, birds are migratory. They fly south in the winter, and come back to the north when nature says it is time. Generally, birds start heading back about a month before spring hits. So based on these facts, I say by the end of February, we will start seeing some warmer weather. Although it could be another 6 weeks at the most...What a scam!!

Long Into Night by: me

Long into night
You lie there still,
Safe in my arms
For it is your will.

You take my love,
You take my all,
And make it hard
To break the fall.

A flame, a flicker,
The candle burns.
Deep into night,
I still haven't learned.

You come, you stay,
You say hello.
Caress the night,
And then you go.

Long into night
And straight into day,
I wish there could be
Another way.


Author's Note - As you can tell, the name of my blog was actually taken from the title of this poem...clever, huh?. This poem was written sometime in the summer of 1992.