Am I boring or unorganized?

"...If you're bored then you're boring..." is a line in a song of which I can't recall the title or artist. But it's come to my mind several times recently and I fear it could possibly be applied to my life presently.

I've been feeling bored at work many times in recent weeks. I wonder, though, if it's really boredom that I'm experiencing, or something else. I seem to have plenty of things that I need to do, but most of these tasks I have no desire whatsoever to accomplish. Things like...

• contacting my auto finance company to settle a dispute I've been trying to settle with them for nearly a year;
• contacting my wife's health insurance company to inquire as to why they debited my account two weeks before I expected them to;
• shipping some books back to my book club for credit;
• organizing the cluster-fuck that is my desk;
• et cetera.

I also have plenty of things that I want to do as well. These are in much more abundance and have a much wider range of importance and urgency. As varied as...

• taking some required paperwork to the financial aid office at the college I'll be attending;
• continuing in the current book I'm reading;
• studing the Arab-Israeli conflict;
• writing letters about many issues to send to government officials;
• editing and updating Wikipedia articles;
• packing and mailing some film to Snapfish;
• et cetera.

So I've come to this question: if I'm feeling bored, am I boring, or just unorganized?

I don't have a problem taking care of tasks associated with my job. I usually take care of those things immediately. Business, however, hasn't been as fast as it used to be, so there is a lot of down time.

I don't mind the down time, but it has to be organized. I have to find a way, a method, to organizing and prioritizing the tasks I need to accomplish.

I found a great quote from The Quotations Page, attributed to Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), which says, "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."

Have any tips or suggestions? Leave a comment!

A good Wednesday

A few very good things have already happend today. Even though I slept too late to make my 8:15 AM doctor appointment, I rescheduled it for 3:15 PM and it worked out fine. After the appointment, I dropped my prescription at Walgreen's and went home for a few minutes.

I grabbed the mail and opened an envelope from Target. I had recently applied for a Target credit card, so I expected it to be a letter stating that they could not "extend any credit to [me] at this time." I was wrong; I was shocked! Enclosed in the envelope was a Target charge card. It seems that I am moving up in the world.

An Eventful Weekend

A family visitation
After my wife, kids, and I have been living here for eleven weeks, my sister was finally able to visit Chicagoland. She and my mother flew up here last Friday morning. It was good to have family visiting again.

Unlike when my mother visited during Thanksgiving, the weather during this visit has been horrible, filled with gray, wintry skies overflowing with misty rain, sleet, ice, and flurries. A noteworthy accumulation of snow, the one winter result we did want, did not make its expected appearance.

Also due to the weather, I wasn't able to take Priscilla to see the city. It would not have been a pleasurable experience under the conditions. Her tour of Chicagoland was limited to downtown Elmhurst and the surrounding areas. Next time, hopefully, will be much different.

I finally meet Roscoe
After having received his phone number from a mutual friend, and after speaking with him many times and trying to find the opportunity to "hook up", I finally received a call from Roscoe Brown on Friday (the same day my mother and sister flew in). As soon as I saw his name on the caller ID I said, "Yessss!!"

Roscoe is a really cool guy, and he lives in a real cool part of Chicago near the lake. I hung out at his place for a little over half an hour talking until I had to leave.

Hudson and I visit Houston
Around February 5, I have to take Hudson back down to Houston for a minor surgical procedure at Texas Children's Hospital. We will probably stay down there for about a week. During that time he and I will be able to visit family and friends.

In addition, I will be able to make the Family History Research trip to Tyler County that I've long been wanting to. I plan for this to include visiting my oldest relative, whom we call Uncle Lee Roy, who can answer questions about my families history and tell some stories that are perhaps unknown or not remembered by anyone else in my family. It is necessary for me to document this priceless information before it's too late.

The Arab-Israeli Conflict

I am determined to learn as much about the Arab-Israeli Conflict as possible, and from both sides of the spectrum. As of now, my current feelings are that Israel has taken a harsh and abrasive stance against Palestinians and Lebanese -- generally, all Arabs -- since after WWII.

The Jewish people have been persecuted and have persecuted other ethnic groups throughout their history. Not including the present conflict, the most recent trauma suffered by the Jews was WWII itself, where millions of its people were exterminated at the hands of German radicals. Did this onslaught result in the creation of Jewish radicals, a title of which has been averted, instead being called "Zionists"?

Who is entitled to the land once called Palestine? The Zionists say that they are entitled, as God has promised it to them. I have no respect for any people who say they know what God says, or what God wants. Therefore, their argument of divine entitlement holds no water as far as I'm concerned.

The Arabs also say much about God. The difference in their case, as far as I see it, is that their homes were in Palestine. But perhaps they have been seen by much of the West -- namely white Christians -- as less "civilized", less organized, less united, therefore less entitled.

I think history will shed much more light on the issue than can be determined now. However, I believe it is necessary, for the sake of humanity, to ask questions regarding the validity and fairness of this conflict. My goal is to determine first what questions are necessary to ask.

My first resource is a book by Debra A. Miller, appropriately called The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Your comments on the issue are welcome and encouraged.

A week of struggle

Workplace Mishap
I fucked up at work this week. I won't go into details, but I'm feeling regretful. My supervisor's supervisor says that he "will be expecting a Corrective Action Report on this incident." Fantastic, I'll be looking forward to that.

I need a day off in a bad way. It's recently come to my recollection that, despite having two weeks available, I have taken absolutely no vacation time this year. Am I stupid, you ask? No. It was a combination of not having the money to go anywhere for vacation, being back and forth between Chicago and Houston for the past two months, and a year that has flown by without me noticing.

Hellth Insurance
I'm having to go through hell to get a healthcare insurance policy for my family and myself. It's a big pain in the ass. The group insurance policy offered through my company would put me out just under $1000 a month. No thank you. I have plenty of other expenses to worry about.

If I could I would move us to another country that offers universal health coverage. Sure, they take it right out of your payroll through taxes, but it would be worth avoiding the painstaking hassle of sorting through which insurance companies want to fuck their policy holders over the least.

I hate that because of the move I am unable to vote tomorrow.

There are so many things I want to take the opportunity to stand up for. But because I'm not in Houston where I'm registered to vote, and it was too late for me to register here, I'm unable to do that one small thing that involves me in our "democracy."

In states like Texas, mostly Republican -- or at least think or pretend they are Republican -- a Democrat's vote literally doesn't count. One's vote only counts if her or she is part of the majority in a certain area.

After this fiasco, they don't need you anymore. Citizens have little audience with their government until the next round of "voting". Citizens do not take part in the choices that their government makes. By definition, this means that the United States is not a democracy; it is a republic.

Unpacking

We live in Chicagoland now-- my wife, our three boys, Grammy, and myself. We got here (permanently) last Wednesday evening -- the first of November -- on a not so bad SWA flight from Hobby (HOU) Houston to Midway (MDW) Chicago. I'd already been here for work on and off for two months now. It has become our new home. A new chapter in our adventurous lives.

Our new home is in the village of Elmhurst, about fifteen minutes from downtown Chicago. It's a very quaint, historic, and comfortable town of just over 40,000 persons. It used to be the corporate home of the Keebler Elves.

I dispise disassembling and reassembling furniture.

Relocation, relocation, relocation

I can say for sure that this is the last time I'll be posting a blog from Houston. From now on indefinitely I will be posting from Chicagoland, my new home. I'm very excited to be moving there, and to be bringing my family into a new chapter in our lives.

A cold chapter though, as we will be relocating right at the beginning of the snowy winter season in Chicago. But, I'm looking forward to it.

Until next time...

Many things turning

The tables, the tide, the leaves -- they're all turning. I'm back up in Chicago again. I arrived on a United Airlines express jet, a first for me.

I found the small plane much more comfortable than average planes, it seemed like each person had more room to breathe, which is important. What I want to know is, are small planes like that more likely to crash? I just might have to look up that information.

So the leaves that were green just two weeks ago are transitioning to yellow and orange. So lovely! I can't wait to see what it looks like when they've all turned. And I will.

I'm up here now pretty much on a permanent basis. Even though we haven't yet located a house to rent, we're working on that diligently, and hope to move into one by the first of November. It's going to be an interesting and exciting fall and winter.

The Return of Smith

What a crappy day last Friday was! Ughh, horrible!

I won't go into the details, but I'll say that I arrived at Chicago's O'Hare Airport at 6:45 to catch my 7:15 flight. It was by the luck of Randomness Almighty (R.A.) that there wasn't a line at the check-in counter or the security checkpoint, and I arrived at the gate with a few minutes to spare.

Unfortunately that wasn't the last of my Friday woes. Dayna was planning to pick me up after I arrived. A flat tire on the car changed all that.

It was as if R.A. said, "Well, I'll let you make your flight this time, buuut you're going to have to sit at passenger pickup for at least an hour, aaand I'm afraid it can't be Dayna that picks you up. Sorry, Murphy's law."

Eventually, I arrived home and was glad to be back. It will be short-lived though. I'm flying back to Chicago on October 1, and will be there for an indefinite amount of time. I'm hoping that AJ will allow me to come back periodically.

Until then, just thank R.A. that it's a beautiful, sunny day in Houston. What will it mean for tomorrow, though??

Short Suburban Honeymoon

I was thrilled to be picking Dayna up at the airport. We weren't sure that she was going to be able to come up because of the babies at home, but she made it happen and I was glad she did.

On Friday evening, despite not having slept much the night before, Dayna wanted to go bar-hopping downtown. We drove down and I took a random exit, not knowing which was most appropriate. We drove around for a while looking for an area with people and bars, there didn't seem to be one near the loop. I remembered from the weekend before where I had seen an area with bars, so I tried my best to get there.

When we made it there I found a parking lot to put the car. By that time Dayna and I were both hungry and wanted to eat before going into a bar. Dayna wanted to sit and eat, but all those places were closed. We walked around for a couple of blocks with no success. By this time, Dayna was hungry and tired. We decided just to go get the car, find somewhere to eat, and call it a night.

The rest of the weekend was spent between driving around in the suburbs and "relaxing" in the hotel. We had originally planned for Dayna to fly out on Sunday morning around 11:00am, but we both wanted her to stay longer. So we rescheduled for a 5:50am flight this morning. We both overslept because I hadn't set the alarm clock properly.

Ultimately, Dayna caught a flight out at 9:50am this morning. Presently, she is about an hour from landing back in Houston. I was so sad to see her go, and I'm going to miss her this week. We had such a terrific time together and away from the babies. It was like a short but productive honeymoon that we never had. I miss her so much.

I'm going to have to re-adjust myself back to being up here alone until Friday when I fly back to Houston. I hope it goes by fast.

Chicagoland

I'm here
I arrived at Chicago O'Hare International Airport last Friday evening. I met up with Rob from BMP's corporate office in Miami, who brought me out to the office in Elk Grove Village so I could see it and know how to get to it. He gave me some good news about future prospects, which I was glad to hear.

That same evening, I had planned to just stay in my hotel room since it was late by the time I'd arrived. I got hungry though and decided to make a trip to McDonald's. (The McD's corporate office is in Oak Brook, Illinois, just a few miles from the office.) Instead of going back to the hotel, I detoured onto North Avenue from Mannheim Road (the road on which is the hotel). I needed to drop off a prescription to be filled. I didn't find a pharmacy close enough that was open, but I continued driving all the way until I reached downtown.

Although I didn't stay there long, I did get to get a glimpse into what it was like. I dipped into the northmost part of downtown, and, getting tired fast, I headed back toward the hotel.

I tried to be as productive as possible on Saturday. I drove through Arlington Heights, just minutes from Elk Grove Village, and was impressed with the way it looks. I got a little bored and tired pretty fast. I don't spend so much time in a vehicle that often. Much of the rest of Saturday and Sunday I spent in the hotel room. You can't do much without the funds with which to do it.

The Work Week
It was strange to be here at the office last week. I was alone in this eerily quiet place, and unfamiliar with where everything was or goes. But I made due. I talked to Dayna quite frequently -- if a few hours went by without hearing from her, I called her. There were plenty of tasks to keep me busy though.

It went by pretty fast, and on Friday, I was glad that Dayna was coming to see me. After work, I picked her up at O'Hare.

Write, and write often.

I've been trying to get myself into a routine of posting nearly every day. I'd like to one day be able to post for more prestigious weblogs like the Houstonist.

Right now I have TheSmithViewpoint, on which I can post my own more serious discussion, and I'm relatively proud of what it's become. If you look back to the "articles" I posted when I first started that one, you can see over time how much it has changed.

The reason for wanting to post almost daily is because of the English Composition class I took during the Spring semester at Houston Community College. My professor, Ms. Daily, had us start of many classes with freewriting, where the students are to write about anything without stopping for a short period of time.

She taught us this so that when we were given assignments, we would use that exercise to sort of spill out our ideas regarding the topic of the assignment.

I once complimented a fellow blogger on his admirable writing skills. I asked this gentleman to give me a piece of advice on how I might become as talented a writer as he. He replied that the best thing for me to do is "write, and write often." So this is what I'm doing.

The Windy City

I'm going to be flying to Chicago on the first of September to run my company's office up there for two weeks. I'm excited about the trip and I'll be flying Dayna up there for a couple of nights so that we can both be together and away from the babies. I have to confess though, I'm going to miss my family terribly.

However, my purpose for being in Chicago is two-fold -- one, of course, is to run the office. The other purpose is to scout out potential place to live. That's right, there's a very, very good chance that I'll be moving up there.

Our company is currently debating the future of our Chicago office. If it is decided to keep the office there running -- which, as I'm told, is what most of the influential people want -- then I've been informed that the position of running Chicago will be offered to me.

This is an unprecedented break in my life. It would include a substantial salary increase as well as other perks. More importantly, it will turn my family's financial situation around for the better. Dayna and I are very anxious as to what's going to occur in the next few weeks. We're spending a lot of time trying to learn as much about Chicago as we can.

If anyone would like to advise me on anything regarding Chicago, I'm all ears.

Super Twins

The Arrival
Alright, I finally have a chance to sit down and make the official announcement: the twins have finally arrived! Aden & Ashton were born last Friday, July 28, at West Houston Medical Center. They are perfectly healthy, no complications. Also, they're not identical. In fact, they look very much different; although they are both "white", Aden has more of my complexion, whild Ashton has more of Dayna's, with jet-black hair.

I'm really happy that they're here, and that they're beautiful and healthy. I couldn't ask for more. I told Dayna that she definitely makes beautiful babies. But these will be the absolute last that we have -- Dayna's been "tied up".

Bye-bye Freedom
One thing that I've considered is that when Hudson was born I thought that I had said goodbye to whatever "freedom" that I previously took for granted. My life was, at that point, permanently tied to both my wife (still my girlfriend, or "baby momma", at the time) and my son.

Yet, even though I didn't consider it so at the time, I still enjoyed a relatively free lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I had definitely made adjustments from when I had been completely free of responsibilities.

Now, however, I have my wife, my son, who's nearly two years old now, and two infant sons who require extra care and attention. It's going to be a busy, bumpy road ahead. But it will be absolutely worth while.

Time is running out.

Down to the wire
Dayna has now been scheduled for her C-Section to deliver the twins. Time certainly has rushed by, and we're down to the wire. Dayna called me at work today; I asked her if she wanted to know what I had done all day. Dayna thinks I spend a lot of time goofing-off at work and not enough time looking up information about babies/twins.

"No. What exactly am I supposed to be looking up?" I asked her. I told her that I had spent the morning on our financial matters and paying bills. It had literally taken all morning from the time I got to work.

What I was doing was researching, through information provided on the Public Utilities Commission of Texas website, consumers rights regarding electric companies and telephone companies.

First I had to figure out a way to avoid having out electricity turned off -- on our last bill from Gexa Energy I mailed a payment $50.00 short, having presumed that the amount would roll over to the next billing cycle. I was wrong, and received a disconnection notice shortly after.

Then I had to contact AT&T and have them discount our telephone bill for five days in July in which we had a service outtage.

After those tasks, which took up the majority of the time, I had to organize the remaining bills I have, write checks or schedule payments for them. It's really a cluster-fuck with which I'm tired of dealing with month-to-month. But it has to be done.

The Corporation
Right now Wade is watching The Corporation documentary, which I've been wanting him to see for quite a while. I saw it about a year ago and recommended it to him. Of course, unless you write it down or give someone literature to remind them of the recommendation, it's not very likely that they will remember to go rent a specific video.

I rented it on Sunday and brought it up to the office on Monday morning. He finally found the time to watch it today. I would recommend absolutely everyone watch this film, it's absolutely eye-opening and motivating!

Three Class-Action Lawsuits

This morning I received an email notifying me that I had been identified as a "class member" in a class-action lawsuit that has been brought against Lexington Law Firm. Lexington is a credit repair service whose services I had used for about four months or so last summer.

The notice was in regards to a settlement that had been proposed, but not yet approved by the courts, between the plaintiff(s) and defendants in the lawsuit. The settlement included, in my case, a free month of a particular service of my choice, -- of either (a) upgraded repair service or (b) credit score consulting service -- pending court approval of the settlement.

Although I think the benefit falls well short of what I believe Lexington Law Firm is capable of providing, I do not wish to become involved in the lawsuit any more than what is required of me in order to receive the benefits offered. I have more things to worry about than the results of a lawsuit against a company I did business with for four months last year. I will just sit back and enjoy the benefits.

However, I find it noteworthy to mention that I've found myself in two similar situations before, as a "class member" in a class-action lawsuit, and I do enjoy being atleast somewhat involved in the judicial system of the United States. Coincidentally, both of these lawsuits were with movie rental services:

It was nearly two years ago I responded to a notice regarding a lawsuit being brought against Hollywood Video, regarding the "extended rental fees" that had been charged to many customers, including myself. As a result, several months after responding, I received ten rent-one-get-one-free coupons usable at any Hollywood Video store. How did this benefit me? What I wasn't told ahead of time was that (a) the first rented movie, for which I had to pay, had to be a "new release" movie, and (b) the free rented movie could not be a "new release" movie. I probably spent more money at Hollywood Video than I would have had I not received those coupons at all.

Last November I received a notice regarding another class-action lawsuit being brought against Netflix. This lawsuit was regarding Netflix's advertising claims that customers would receive the DVDs they rent online "in one business day", which, given the unpredictable nature of the United States Postal Service, cannot be true and/or guaranteed. (Netflix has since changed its advertising using more protective "adhesion contract" language.)

In this case, as in the last, the terms of the settlement were not very beneficial for the class members. It included one free month of movie rentals, according the the service plan to which the member subscribed or subscribes, after which an automatic payment would be charged to me, renewing the service, unless the member calls before the free month of service ends.

This time, instead of responding with a form stating that I "accepted" the settlement, I chose another of my options, which was to "refuse" the settlement offer altogether. If enough people refused the settlement, Netflix would be forced back to the drawing board to concoct another settlement offer. Poor them!

For the record, I refuse, ahead of time, to apologize for their inconvenience!

Germ Waste Management

I rarely get sick, and I'm proud of that fact and the reason for it. Although some people find it gross or even repulsive, ask them what they think about it when they're huddled over a toilet bowl with the stomach flu. The reason that I rarely get sick is because I'm very tempered from germs -- meaning, my body has a lot of experience in handling germ situations. In fact, my body is a professional when it comes to Germ Waste Management, straight up Tony Soprano style. Bada bing, bada bang!

As a kid I didn't wash my hands every hour on the hour (like some parents encourage their kids to do), or even every time I used the bathroom. I washed my hands only when they were really filthy. I "cleaned-out" my nose whenever I felt like it needed some attention. When I dropped food on the floor I would pick it up and eat it, most of the time without "wiping it off."

Although, growing up, I didn't know a thing about Charles Darwin, or human evolution for that matter. I know now that human beings have survived and evolved into a species well-capable of handling viruses and other illnesses. It's those who for much of their lives are not exposed to many (or any) germs and viruses whose insides are liquidated when they finally are. Evolution would allow for these people to die off quickly, never to have their own "germ-virgin" children. Modern medicine has changed that, unfortunately.

By practicing my method of non-cleanliness, I've afforded my body ample time to learn, re-learn, practice, and perfect its natural process of germ-elimination.

Now, don't get me wrong, about once a year some super-hybrid-cyborg-virus will ambush my white blood cells while they are resting peacefully, catching them off-guard. When that happens, it generally takes them a day or so to mobilize their forces and kick the shit out of the invaders.

My advice to those who don't like the inconvenience of being sick with a cold, the flu, et cetera: don't be so goddamn clean! Don't wash your hands more than two or three times a day; don't throw away perfectly good (or better) food just because it also falls under the laws of gravity; and don't recoil in disgust when someone sneezes or coughs near you.

Get plenty of exercise and rest (and vitamins if you think you need them), and you'll be just fine...every day!

Insufficient Banking

I discovered last week that my bank card was not being accepted anywhere, despite having funds in my checking account. I called the number given to me on an ATM receipt. I was told that there was an "alert" on my card; the person helping me could not tell me what the alert was about, nor could he fix the alert.

I visited my local branch last Friday just before their closing time. Chris, who was helping me, said that he had found the problem, but that it was too late in the evening to contact the appropriate person to fix it. He said that he would have it fixed on Saturday morning. On Sunday I tried to use my card.....nada.

This afternoon, I called the branch. Chris passed me to Marybelle, whom he said was the person who put this "alert" on the card and was the only one who could take the alert off. Marybelle told me that the alert was due to the frequency of my checking account being overdrawn, and that she was not going to remove it until my account had remained positive for at least ninety days. This was no good.

I told her that I understood their preventative approach to this issue, but that it made no logical sense. First of all, as I explained to her, even though my account balance is frequently overdrawn, direct payroll deposits are made into my account twice per month, which results in a positive balance.

Secondly, I pointed out that because of the overdrawn balance, I have paid over $900 in overdraft fees since I opened the account. This is not money that I get back when my account is positive. This is money that the bank keeps, which I find reasonable and have always understood. Let me explain.

Since the free checking boom began several years ago, banks no longer receive the funds that were previously charged for checking accounts. These days, those funds are replaced by outrageous fees, especially the overdraft fees they charge for every transaction that results in a negative balance.

Therefore, they should not block me from using my bank card because I often have a negative balance. No. Instead, they should welcome my overdrawn account as they would a money tree. After a brief pause, Marybelle agreed to remove the alert from my card (despite having already refused) and "let me off with a warning".

Thanks for the HASSLE, Marybelle! What's left in your wallet?

Bloody Sunday

I'm up at the office this morning sending out an order, so I'm also taking the time to get in some genealogy as well. Even though I have time to do this during the week, there are tons of other things I like to do during the week as well.

I was glad to see that Jake had responded to my last emails to him. I hadn't heard from him in several days. Apparently his "days have been hectic" as he tells me in the email, "we had some coworkers over for dinner on Thursday and spent Wednesday and Thursday trying to get everything ready," then "we went up to [Livingston, Texas] to check on [our new dog] Diego and do some more bonding with him..."

I'm glad that it wasn't an emergency keeping him from posting on his blog,Careless Memories, and our blog, The Keytar Players.