FIRST OF ALL:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELVIS!!!!

I have not been online in weeeeeks. Voluntarily at first because I have been very busy with work and dad, and then involuntarily when we lost cable at home.

I have never been able to access LJ from work. So I was
working late and did a google using a user name and got around the firewall. Or maybe I'm not that clever and it just isn't blocked anymore for whatever reason.

I want to start everything off with April 26th cause that is the day something journal worthy happened. Elvis and I went to have a late lunch/early dinner with Rosetiger and Dream Wolf (sorry I don't recall how to do that link thingy). We hadn't seem them in sooo long and were happy to spend some time as they were in town after her sister's wedding.

We were at Ru San's at Ansley, and dinner was about over. All of a sudden, I felt like I had to P real bad, but when I went to the bathroom, didn't have to go. It had that UTI feel (you ladies know what I mean). Not too much later, the feeling happened again.

Then my back started hurting out of the blue. I thought "great, maybe its a kidney infection I'm getting." But the pain became more urgent, and I unfortunatley had to abruptly excuse us as it was 4:30 and my doctor's office is open on Sunday til 6 p.m.( Read more )

Happy Anniversary to my love!

Looks like I may be moving to Pittsburgh!

I'm in Pittsburgh now. Will be here all week training on the new ADP e-time payroll/HRIS software. Snow flurries tonight. I went to work at 8 a.m. to prepare my assistants for me not being there and preparing month end reports. Elvis took me to the airport which was a total traffic quagmire. I pride myself in not having to check a bag, but at the gate was told "its a very small plane" and had to check it anyway.

Nice flight, though the lady sitting next to me reminded me of my arch enemy from elementary school. Yes, arch enemy that wasn't my fault. She was my best friend in 6th grade. Then in 7th grade, this new girl showed up to school. Everyone was so mean to her, so I decided to be nice. then my best friend accused me of ... how to put this ... like cheating on her as a best friend, then started being best friends with another girl that didn't like me. then I was stuck with this girl who loved being my BFF because she was shunned by all. I tried to explain to my first best friend I was just being nice, not trying to replace her. But she didn't believe in being nice to people that didn't deserve it. I know - wtf? She didn't even know the girl.

In the end, the shunned girl who became my bff turned out to be a funny and great person and not shallow like the girl that left me to BFF the other girl. We could have all been friends. Get it? Well, its not as simple as that, the old BFF made fun of me and played mean pranks on me, etc. just because I was nice to the "loser."

So, it was hard looking at this lady that looked like someone that was so mean to me. But the lady was nice and we chatted. She said some funny things and I made her laugh. As we parted ways in the walkway, I thought I'd ask her name...

Met up with my company peeps flying in from all over the country, got to the hotel, knoshed at Chili's. checked on my computer pals. getting sleepy.... calling my baby now. Oh, the hotel has a pool. YAY!

I keep waiting for my computer screen to type "Wake up KAT. The Matrix has you."
Then it will all make sense.
TECH SUPPORT! TECH SUPPORT!

Special thanks to the all star cast of greedy leaders with fannie mae, freddie mac, aig, banking/credit cards, oil, big 3 unions, politicians, etc.

As you may, or may not know, my company does an internal safety audit twice a year. A lot rides on getting a good score - not just keeping my job, but also keeping my boss happy, cause when he ain't happy.... This is more worry and trouble than I am being paid for, but in this economy, I can no longer complain that I'm not being paid enough for this crap and stress. I'm lucky to be getting paid. (we laid off 40 last April of 08, and 26 in January of 09).

We didn't do well on the audit. I can't take all the blame because the rating is in every department and they should have done their right thing.

What would have put us in the green is .06 points. But because we score 84.94 instead of 85 we are getting yelled at, threatened, and after we've done all this work to make the place better. we got better scores on everything that we've screwed up in the past.

What got us????? Irony. Yea, like cancelling sledding at stone mountain due to snow.

We lost 5 points due to ice being outside one of the fire exit doors. ICE! We NEVER HAVE ICE, but we have it the one day she shows up. I showed her receipts where we had to go buy sand and kitty litter to shovel it up. No one thought about salt because we never have this problem.

The auditor wouldn't budge, give us a warning...nothing. That would have put us into the green. I can't argue with a lock out/tag out being wrong or a conveyor with a macguyvered gard installed than by a "professional". But ICE?????

I am livid. The line item said, "Fire exits should have no obstruction." Is ice and obstruction???? A slip hazard yes. But to me an obstruction is a trash can in front of an exit door, or a broom or whatever. She said, what if there was a fire and someone went out the door and slipped? Well, they didn't and the ice is gone and now we have kitty litter we'll store for the next 5 years for when it ices up again.

GOD......BLESS AMERICA! You seen that movie Idiocracy? that is this nation...that is this world... and we will all go down together ....

more animals

...we can be together all the time. - Hobbes (of Calvin and Hobbes)

I haven't been writing lately because so busy with work, dad or my darling E. I missed work Tuesday because I was sick. I'm debating if it was food poisoning (did I eat any peanut butter? No...) or a bug that I was told was going around. Anyway, after sleeping in so late, now I can't go to sleep. So hungry, but too afraid to "risk it". LOL.

I've been having a mental brakedown. Yes, spelled correctly. The brakes are on when it comes to getting anything done. I'm having a bad spell with procrastination. I'm just overwhelmed at work and with stuff I need to do around the house. I'm just tired all the time and want to sleep. So I've been sleeping instead of surfing on my free time - or getting things done.

Last night I dreamed that me, mom and dad went on vacation to this resort by the sea. Mom (was alive in the dream of course) and she and dad were younger, but I was the same age. The resort looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie. The buildings were all crowded and the sky was black and the sea was red. It looked like a gothic Van Gough painting!

At some point, I woke up, hit the privy, and went back to sleep. This time, I was outside of a weird deserted hotel that was seemingly haunted. I don't know who the guy I was with, but he seemed more like my body guard. He was working on a broken down Rolls (which I assumed was mine). while he was under the car, I was telling him about the dream I had had - the one before I woke up before this dream!

Then I went exploring. It was a creepy narrow hotel, nestled in this city that I've dreamed about before (with giant block buildings with no windows). The hotel had windows looking onto the sidewalk, but they were the kind of dirty that haven't been cleaned in a long time. Whenever I turned out a light in one room, another room would turn on. Same with the TVs. When this body guard guy came in to look for me, I asked him if he'd ever heard of the Overlook. ha ha. Then I found a gift shop and all they had were t-shirts about tomatoes. Like artsy pictures of tomotoes, and sayings about tomatoes. And they didn't have my size.:(

Man, I wonder if I can have some tomato soup without getting sick? Nah, thinking about it makes me want to..you know. Back to bed.

actually, i just think this is so funny

I made a video of some of the still photos I have taken from ghost hunting trips and adventures from 2004-2008. Shots include orbs, ectoplasm, funery art and cemeteries.

I actually started ghost hunting as a teenager when I lived in a "spiritually occupied" house and had a close encounter.

Back in the early '80's, never having heard of an EVP, I set up a tape recorder and captured voices. My best friend and I tried setting up "ghost traps" (to no avail, of course).

Ever since, cemeteries and hauntings have interested me. I even became a volunteer tour guide in the early '90's at a local cemetery and never once had an encounter with a ghost. The tours were more for historical value, and the visitors had stories to share of their own.

I never seriously thought about ghost hunting until back in around 2001 my husband shot a wedding in a church that was over 100 years old. Every shot was ruined by dozens of orbs. We thought something was wrong with the camera. But it was fine. The camera worked everywhere else.

Then we started to research, go out ghost tours in places like Savannah, and generally getting out there on our own, getting some great shots, experiencing weird goings on, learned a lot of history, and best of all - met some wonderful people along the way.

If you go to my web site at http://www.pbase.com/southcresent/orbs a lot of these photos are there, BUT when you click on the photo, there is a story about what was going on at the time. :)

Hope you enjoy my endeavor!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun celebration!

I was on the phone with my sister last night and we were talking about traditions for the new year, when she reminded me of one my mom always did, that I've neglected to continue. I did a google and could not find this tradition. Let me know if you've heard of it.

Exchanging dimes.

Every New Years day, mom got one dime to represent each person in our immediate family. As the years went by and new spouses, children and grandchildren were added, there were of course more dimes. Then those people physically at home would get in a circle and mom would divvy out a small pile of dimes so we each held some. Then we started exchanging them with each other, mixing them up and passing them back and forth for several minutes.

The meaning was that money would flow throughout the year. Money coming in and money going out - meaning we were able to buy what we needed, and the money would be replaced.

After all the back and forth, mixing up, we gave them all the dimes to mom, and she would put them all in an envelope with the year written on it, and seal it...

Last year, I ran across a box at dad's house. Inside were envelopes dating all the way back to the 1970's! One envelope had only 8 dimes. By the year of her death in 2001, the envelope had 21 dimes.

It seems like when I quit doing that tradition, things got worse and worse financially for me. So, today, I'm going to start the tradition back up. There will be 35 dimes. (I added some other relatives and friends that need it, too. :)

1 An interesting good luck custom is to eat fish specialties at the New Year’s Eve Party! It is said that you’ll swim through the New Year like a fish. You will be able to move smoothly and easily and go beyond obstacles with facility in the New Year.

2 At midnight, between the year ready to conclude and the one to follow, make sure you have some money in your pocket or purse. If the New Year finds you with money in your pocket, you’ll not miss them in the year to come.

3 Another good luck custom is to wear something new on New Year’s Eve. You don’t have to buy the entire outfit for the New Year’s Eve Party; it’s enough to have one new item. The proper way to welcome the New Year is by wearing something new.

4 The Dutch are eating donuts on New Year’s Day. They say donuts bring fortune because they have the shape of the ring, which symbolizes the full circle, the year’s cycle. If you don’t want donuts as New Year treat, you can try any ring-shaped food, like onion rings for example. Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.

5 Make sure you have a bell in your proximity, to announce the New Year. It’s a proper way to welcome the New Year and, guess what, it will bring you fortune.

6 Be aware at the first visitor on New Year’s Day! He or she would bring either good luck or bad luck. It is said that if the first person who visit is a tall, dark-haired man, he will bring good luck to the house and hosts. Its good if he exits the back of the house so he takes the old year with him.

7 It’s a very well-known New Year’s custom to make a lot of noise by organizing fireworks, confetti showers and striking crackers on the night between years. This way, it is said that the old year is getting scared and runs away, making room for the new one. So, be noisy on New Year’s Eve, scare away the concluded year and prepare yourself for the beginning of a lucky one!

And lastly, you know that song you sing at midnight? Its an old Scotish tune, "Auld Lang Syne" literally means "old long ago," or simply, "the good old days."

New video! The song is from the Zoorave 2 techno compilation cd from the early 90's.

This is my latest viddie. I actually did this in a PowerPoint verstion back in 2006. I had to change a couple things...like the gas prices! Also, there was other newsworthy stuff back then that I took out so it wouldn't seem too dated. Let me know what you think!

It's a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero.

What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? http://www.johndiesattheend.com