Friday....

Allow the world to live as it chooses, and allow yourself to live as you choose.” -- Richard Bach

“Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.” -- Stephen R. Covey

Wow! The hits on the blog have gone absolutely crazy over the last couple of days…thanks so much for reading. I am agog… I was going to take the comments off again but many people have asked them to remain, so they shall for the moment. But, if you prefer to email me with a comment – please do – amarinda_jones@yahoo.com.au

“For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis is not only in bad taste, it’s a bad strategy, and I will not tolerate it as president,” Mr. Obama said. He said such pay is “exactly the kind of disregard for the costs and consequences of their actions that brought about this crisis — a culture of narrow self-interest and short-term gain at the expense of everything else.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/us/politics/05pay.html?_r=1

I am sure I am not alone in agreeing with the US president. I have never understood why CEO’s who basically do stuff all at work get paid exorbitant amounts of money while their staff members get a pittance in comparison. One of the major banks in Australia has a CEO just like that…okay, there are many but he is just one of them. He is being rewarded with millions of dollars while thousands of staff are being retrenched with some pissy little amount as farewell-piss-off-and-look-for-another-job-because-we-don’t-want-you-here money. They are thrown out onto the job market to fend for themselves while this corporate wanker gets to retire with millions for sitting on his arse all day. It’s criminal in this economic climate when corporate greed and financial ineptitude by Wall Street and others have got us to where we are. Utter fucking wankers. And that countries are bailing these banks and other business out with taxpayer funds that actual workers have paid out of their less than CEO type wage packets and then the CEO expects to get paid lots of $$$ as a bye-bye-see-you-later package...it is so wrong that it fascinates me that they neither see it at all or care a damn. Sure – work hard - rise to the top – earn a good salary but when it comes down to it no one, in my opinion, is any better than any one else and to be rewarded for a title is insane.

At work things have tightened up a lot as you’d expect. Staff have gone and those that are there are juggling other duties. I was asked could I take on this or that and I said yes, I could - my job is a doddle. Okay, I didn’t tell them that because the less they know the better. I surprised the crap out of them when I said I would even join those going down into the factory the odd afternoon during the week to work down there for a couple of hours. The factory is down to skeleton staff. They work bloody hard down there. If you have worked in a factory you know what I mean and I don’t think it kills the office staff to wander down into another work area and pick up some tools for a few of hours a couple of afternoons to help out. And it gives me a chance to wear my steel cap boots…man, they are so comfortable. So yesterday, I got checked over to make sure I could lift stuff. You know, the factory physio makes you pick something up and put it down - add a weigh to it now pick it up again and put it down again - pick it up and walk with it – left hand, right hand, put it down – pick it up - add another weight and pick it up – walk to the door - then put it down and pick it up…it was so funny I could not stop laughing. Sure, it's necessary but it reminded me of a Monty Python sketch or maybe it was Candid Camera. And hell no, they’re not going to let me do anything important in the factory in those odd couple of hours here and there…damn shame that…I like power tools…

That’s it for Friday…for those of you freezing your asses off – keep warm. For those of you sweating in record heatwave conditions – keep cool, drink lots of water unless you are up in FNQ and you are probably sick to death of water with the floods – yet all of us still battling the drought would love to come up and take some of it off your hands…….strange planet we’re on….

www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

You're terrible Muriel...

There is a commercial on television at the moment where an animated banana is running for its life. It runs along roof tops, jumps over things, shinnies down a fire escape, hides panting behind objects in its desperate plight to avoid destruction. It’s quite a dramatic commercial. I was on the edge of my seat watching it. What is it about? Breath fresheners – of course. The banana is trying to escape the same fate of donuts and other unhealthy foods – they get obliterated by the mouth fresheners. Interestingly this is often followed by a commercial that promotes people eating 5 serves of vegetables a day and two of fruit. Last check - a banana is a fruit and on most accounts healthy for you. Let the banana run free I say. I think I'll set up a petition.

Speaking of donuts…I passed by this well known international donut shop and people were lined up for a block…for a donut. I don’t understand. A donut? You’re waiting for a donut? It’s fried dough with icing or cream or something similar on it. Now I like eating unhealthy crap as much as the next person but it’s a donut. Am I missing something? What’s the big deal? Can someone please explain why people line up to buy fried dough and is that fried dough different to any other fried dough by any other company… I don’t get it….

What else I don’t get is the pressing need for people to have job titles. It has been discussed ad nauseum at work. Yes, I suppose some people need to be called something at work in order to feel like they belong but honestly as long as I’m paid and Ida, my car, can slot into a car space at work and I can run screaming from the building at 4pm on the knocker that’s really all I require. Does self esteem require a title? Or can you get by without one? I’m serious…is a title at work important to you?

So, I’ve had this glandular thing for the past couple of days that has had me dragging my arse around. Everyone keeps telling me I ‘look terrible.’ Oh bugger off. I am not good at being sick. I’m too impatient to be good at it. Some people are though…have you noticed? Mind you they aren't all that sick but manage to make their dying swan sick act quite an art form . We had a woman at Promptel, called er…Sharon. She was excellent at being sick. She would be sick for days on end. Truly you would not see her for weeks and then she would suddenly appear hale and hearty and act like nothing had happened. She would sit down, do her job and then the next day she would
be gone again. Of course, we all later found out she was working at another job at the same time and trading on sick leave at both. I really admired her as she had no scruples at all when it came to work and always had management in an amazing state of pissed-offed-ness at her sick leave. Why they let it go on for so long I never knew.

I got offered two free light bulbs when I got home this arvo. Yes, how exciting. I got out of the car and this official looking woman with a badge and paraphernalia of one of the electric companies was waiting at my door. I loathe door knock people. Did I ask you to come? No? Well what are you doing here and especially after work? Anyway she went into her "stay with our company for electricity supply and we’ll give you a gift." Oh yeah? What? Two free long life, light bulbs. Woo hoo! Where do I sign my life away on a 24 months contract for two light bulbs? Seriously light bulbs as an incentive? I believe in deregulation and competition but light bulbs are no incentive for me. She was most disappointed I would not sign. What she did do was also offer me
a free shower head as well. A showerhead? Seriously? That’s an enticement? Yes, most amusing in a drought. But alas I resisted and did not sign. I get the fact that was her job but how many people sign up for 2 light bulbs? And how annoyed would you be if you did not hold out for the shower head as well?

'Got home this arvo and the internet was not working - again. Well it’s been a week since the last problem. Anyway, I was not in the mood to deal with it so I rang up and stamped by size 8’s loudly and used big, annoyed sounding words and the problem got fixed. This is hysterical as this morning I got this email from Promptel about reasons why the internet may not work and why they are such a swell company and why I should not defect to the enemy. Oh I’m defecting baby. Anyway common problems, as far as Promptel is concerned – none of them have anything to with them of course…

- have you turned the computer on?
- have you put in the correct password?
- have you paid the bill?
- is the power on in your house?
- have you clicked on the internet icon?
- do you know how to find the internet icon?
- have you used the internet before?

By the way – no problems are apparently caused by Promptel. It’s all the customer’s fault. Yes, they are absolutely serious…roll on Saturday when I am away from these intellectual giants.

Oh, and I never heard back from anonymous…damn shame that. I wanted to understand the anonymous culture.

Just quickly – why, when we have so many other problems in the world, is the news media fixating on Tom Cruise’s interview with Oprah? Huh? What happened to real news? Get over yourself Tom

Thank god for pseudoephedrine...I am now going to collapse on the sofa in my pj’s and scoff pills.

Anny and Kelly are all sparkly and wise and to the best of my knowledge drug free. Go check ‘em out.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?