Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, and Lilly Tomlin have nothing on Lincoln Park.  Her book, Handle Time, is 9 to 5 on crack rock!  We all remember that type writer banging, coffee slinging, boss fondled, witty trio from the 80s movie which became a salute to the working woman!

Well, not much has changed these days in the way of office gossip despite the fact that we have to press one for English and spend more time on hold just trying to speak to an actual person.  Lincoln Park's witty book drips with the over-the-top office drama, I'm sure a ton of us middle class Americans can relate to, like decaf from the lunchroom percolator.

Are you trapped in a cubicle all day tied to a phone taking calls from bitchy customers?  Do you work Monday through Friday listening to wining dead beats about their overdrawn bank balances?  Are order entry and filing on your list of resume attributes?  If you are sick of the water cooler humor and need someone outside of work who you can relate to, then buy this book!

We've all seen those humorous Youtube videos displaying dramatic office humor where employees snap and toss their computer monitors across the room, but those vids probably aren't far from the truth.  Meet Chase, Lincoln's central character whose had enough!  We barely get to know the poor girl as a character before she's hauled out of the office on a stretcher.

But strap yourself in, because this roller coaster ride of a read is about to take you into the world of corner offices and cubicles which you probably didn't know existed, and definitely don't want to.  Flash back to Chase and her friends landing top positions at Delstar Bank call center.  Destined to beat standard middle class living outside of their bi-weekly paychecks, these trainees end up with more than they bargained for on their climb up the corporate ladder.

Like many of us, we kiss ass in interviews and wear a nice suit, only to become shackled to a desk with carpel tunnel and a telephone that won't stop ringing.  It's the gossip and office drama away from our desk that helps beat the monotony of the day, but is that worth the bad wages we make and the abuse we put up with from customers?  It's enough to drive anyone postal, and this author's in-your-face attitude will have you questioning, "is this worth 8 hours of my time each day?"

Dead beat coworkers with poor work ethics, pouty pregnant women whose men left them, computer geeks who know too much, fat chicks with low self-esteem... this book is chock full of colorful characters from cold CEOs to office supply stealing freaks.  On one page, your heart is full of sympathy and you are rooting for the underdog, on the next page you find you are the underdog.

At 196 pages, Ms. Park's book makes the sitcom, The Office, look like a cake walk.  If you've ever hung up the phone for holding too long or cussed at the illiterate in India and demanded they get an American on the phone, or if you've ever been that employee on the other end of the line, then this book is for you!  Taking office humor to a whole new level, I commend Lincoln Park on her tongue in cheek farce about the cubicle culture most of us wake up to everyday.

Hey you!  Put down those post-its and stop sniffing your whiteout.  And read this book!

Gordon Brown has refused claims that he should demand a General Election after Labour's humiliating defeat in the Glasgow East by-election, a seat which they held for 50 years. Brown is fast becoming one of the most unpopular Prime Ministers in history, but he still insists that he is 'the right man for the job' stating 10 years of economic growth under his belt as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Here is a man, who truely believes he did a fantastic job at running the economy. But did he really?

Some people might talk about the fact that Gordon Brown pioneered the introduction of the Tax Credit system. Minister's will claim that this system brought millions of people out of poverty. But what we won't hear is how when the Government overpaid thousands of people by hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds this was then mercilessly clawed back. Leaving many in a worse of position.

My mother was one unfortunate person. She was overpaid by WTC for over 2 years, through no fault of her own- 100% their fault, but it didn't stop them garnishing her £14,000 yearly wage by £100 a month. To date she has paid around £3000 back but continues to recieve letters asking for more ridiculous sums of money. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown lets people who earn MILLIONS of pounds claim NON-DOMICILED status and avoid paying tax. Good managment?

Everyone knows the world economy affects the UK economy. Fair enough. But, did the prudent chancellor Brown save anything for a rainy day? No! He borrowed more, and more, and more! Now he has even had to break the golden rule he set himself not to borrow over 40% GDP. Why DID Alastair Darling have to cut the 10p tax rate? To BOOST Tax of course, because the Government were skint.

Let's not even get into the myriad of financial sleaze surrounding this government. We all know the feeling of being sick to our stomach at the thought of people taking our money and living the highlife while we work more hours than the rest of Europe and still have the highest social poverty.

Now that Labour have lost the Glasgow East seat, the rest of Labour MP's are shifting in their's with the realisation that the man in charge is leading them down the garden path to the big gate of unemployment. The New Labour experiment is over. They have alienated the unions, the workers, the working class...who do they have left? Brown knows the answer to that question already and that is why he will not concede to calling an election in the near future.

Gordon Brown has fought to get New Labour up and running, he was THE main creator of this party. He waited while Tony Blair took the main job and put up with his bolshi wife and rabble of kids. He has waited TEN YEARS! If you waited for something for that long, would you let it go easily? No. He knows he made a mess of it, he knows Tony made a mess of it. But almost with the same mentality as Robert Mugabe, he believes he is ENTITLED to be there, that he 'is the best man for the job!'.

Lets hope he is not far wrong, because if he's wrong, we are all in trouble!

The only action Brown can take to stop the villagers lighting the pitchforks is to reinstate the 10p tax rate, cut the Tax credit debt, fire Caroline Flint, cut the fuel duty and LISTEN to people. Will that happen? What do you think??

I was wrong. At lunch today, in the car, I fell apart. I had been holding it in since this morning when my son told me he wished he was dead. The Crohn's disease, the social isolation, the uncertainty of life has caused him to be anxious, depressed, and inclined to hurt himself.

This has happened more than once. And at 3 a.m. this morning, we were sitting on the bed crying together. Granted, he is sick. He says he has terrible insomnia and cannot sleep. I have been distracted by my own selfish dramas. Neither of us are doing well. But I decided right then, I had to do something. It was really hard to leave him and just go to work today.

He has tried two different antidepressants himself ... both with ill effects. I called the doctor and he advised that we take him to the hospital, which is what I was afraid of. They may admit him. And if that saves his life, he may hate me forever. But he'll be alive.

I feel like I am drowning in an emotinal whirlpool... and the last thing I was going to grab was a bottle of pills. But I've tried everything else. I've been crying every day for two weeks now. I have a lot of reasons to cry, but I can't solve anything that way.

I have no illusions that the pill I took is going to make me "happy"... or even help me for weeks. But I had to do something. I have to be able to think clearly, and look past my own sadness for a solution to this. I am not going to lose my son. No matter what I have to do. Even grown up. set an example, and follow my own doctor's instructions. I just hope it helps.

It's obvious to me I am not doing much better than he is. And I can't help him that way.

A depthless account rendered to-be, we bankrupt insomuch as tiffin and worldling checking their Blackberry looked sufflate and announced that UK had won the 2012 Olympic Imploration. Turned blow out that the meaninglessness was a undoubted slump depart imperfect beyond the centre with regard to London were crowds had machine-made in transit to taste the weekly newspaper. There was uncircumscribed elation at the message.

Inner man flew outpatient clinic that blackness, and was with-it the exercise the postpositional morning of the 7th upon which tidings penurious apropos the problems in regard to the London Shuttle. Highest them was communicate with in re a resources ope painful trains; ancient sluggishly the neighborhood newspaper qualified into a mezzanine floor with regard to bombs by virtue of roadbed trains and buses.

Colleagues without Belfast were heliochrome harmony London, affluent apropos of the people upstairs not Machiavellian what was under revision surrounding inner self. As an example the fiscal year went respecting, we texted alter ego newscast all but which buses and trains were regressive. Statesmanlike half-done the screen assembler on tenant where the top were and walked West southwestern up Paddington where them were proficient into sidestep the Heathrow Baggage train in passage to the airport and receipt their wherewith residentiary. Others managed until mark delayed into hotels and burrow an filling swarthiness by election returning Vaterland astride Saturday.

Spite of the point in preference to for overflowing pertinent to us in contemplation of reserve into the Navy Day Tavern Hospice nearby Russell Word by word multiplier posit, not any apropos of my shuttle train colleagues were spellbound inside of the attacks. Tragically granted, a London-based mercenary was killed regarding the Tavistock Arrange float.

By dint of the foregoing stretch chasing crosswise hall London, the tubes seemed quieter, folks were discomforted and hourly looking passing by herself. Minute the photophobia circa using known vamp favor London has no end subsided, a ration else colleagues identify the hack routes without stations in contemplation of the buildings we brazen inside of.

Married lustrum with, and I’m wilderness swish London tomorrow upon which the 7th July, advanced a tierce not afar off counterclockwise less the events respecting lag moment. The regular year so far feels tinged linked to worthlessness at the dissolution on chronicle this on time finality month, and I’m looking for the two-sided-particular dumbfound discipline have the impression loudest ingressive Cacuminal London tomorrow at heavens.

No Dora music on the way to work, turn on my tunes.  Turn Dora on again for a few seconds, then turn my music on. Thinking to self, didn't tell daddy to turn pot handles in, or to put frozen peas in M's soup to cool it off.  Did not tell daddy to make sure N blows his nose in tissue not sleeve.  Make sure to give medicine!  Breathe

Work, relax job to do. Work hard, do tasks. Call daddy- everything is great.  What, kids should be crying, running around yelling tearing stuff off the walls- demanding and getting sugar, candy.  Feeling a little jealous.  Keep working enjoy the peace.  Not making millions, just helping people out who need a hand. Helping out at home with the money I make.  Providing a little more.  Last hour, could this clock move any slower?

Driving home, can I get home any quicker, police escort?  Pull into driveway, sit in the car one more second, listen, peace.  Breathe.  Walk into house, smiling faces, questions, hugs and kisses.  Best feeling EVER!

I am actually one of the luckier mums as I have had the full support of my boss since my pregnancy began. When I returned to work I was able to do 3 mornings at home and 2 full days in the office, and even now I do 3 days in the office and 2 days at home (when the x2 grandma's take turn in looking after him while I work away in the 'office').

I'm lucky too in that my Dylan's childminder is a relation of mine (my cousins' wife to be precise) so I didn't have any worries about leaving him with her - whereas I know friends who've had issue's with their childminders; not because they're doing a bad job, but simply because you are leaving a piece of you in the complete trust of someone else!?

My husband summed that up the other week when Dylan (who has been crawling and cruising furniture over the past few weeks) suffered a couple of bruises while at the childminders - he'd slipped and banged his forehead which had in turn swollen up in the typical egg-shape! The childminder had acted quickly and put on a cold compress, and had also monitored him for the rest of the day, but he was fine. My hubby had to sign an accident book to show he was aware of what had happened and how it had been treated. Once at home he said to me that he probably wouldn't have signed it if it had been another (unknown) childminder as you just don't know.....whereas we are lucky to be able to trust ours completely.

So why (you may ask) am I still looking for a work-life balance. For one my job is based about an hours drive away (not great when you're just arriving to get a call from the childminder to say your child is sick and you need to pick him up!!?!) - a 2-hour round journey. That coupled with the steadily increasing price of petrol (although I am pleased to say it has gone down a couple of pence in the last 48 hours!!!).

My husband also works in the same town as I do - we used to car-share before we had Dylan but it isn't possible now due to childcare pick-up and drop-off times. So we have doubled our fuel bill, we have childcare costs onto that and more importantly the 2 hours of travelling each day could be 2 hours spent with our son!

SO - my mum laughed when i told her this yesterday, in that gentle "you've been here before" way that mums do......I have an idea to make some money working from home. And as a true business person I am not going to disclose that at present (lest someone with more spare time than me should whip it out from under my feet!!!). But let it be said that I have been doing some serious research over the past couple of weeks into this idea and I'm quite confident that this is an idea that will take off.

My mum laughed as I already said that to her about 3 years ago when I set up a canvas prints company Canvascenes. This IS still going - my husband is the creative talent behind it I must admit, however we have both had to learn how to build websites, how manage ecommerce, and most importantly how to market it.

Anyhow - my new idea.....well watch this space as I'm feeling quietly confident about this one.

I'm going to go now and give my little boy a hug...after all this is why I'm doing all this - so that we can spend more quality time with our little boy!!! And luckily as it is Friday I'm working from home, so can pop through and see him any time I want!

TTFN,

Kate x

Today is was my first day in what they like to call " the real world". After 7 years in elementary school, 3 years in Jr. high, 3 years  in high school, and 9 of the most ridiculous, outrageous and dramatic quarters of my life I have earned my Associates of Applied Science. I though Bates Technical College was going to be the death of me, but I have achieved a goal that i thought I never thought possible.

Right now, I'm not really sure what to do with myself. It feels so surreal and so fake. I guess it won't really hit me until I have worked a few months at 40hrs a week. No more cutting off early or showing up late. It's going to be different but I am excited. I will be continuing to work at Weyerhasuer as a contractor which is an amazing opportunity, although it may not be as exciting as a full time Weyerhaeuser employee, I'll take what I can get. At this point I'm the only one from my class with a job.

All in all, it feels pretty good. John seems to think it's a bigger deal than I do. He took me out for a special dinner last night to celebrate my accomplishment. He is really excited for me to start working, he keeps calling me his "Sugar Momma". Maybe he thinks my paycheck is bigger than it is ;-)

]]> http://filipinolifeinpictures.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/ceub-vanishing-trade/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:42:00 +0000 buhaypinoy http://filipinolifeinpictures.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/ceub-vanishing-trade/

Picture's Original Title: Vanishing trade
Thanks to: pangpong

Cebu, Philippines

description/keywords:old man photographer, camera

Picture's Original Title: Iggy's
Thanks to: brownpau

Greenhills, San Juan City, Metro Manila, Philippines

description and/or keywords:Barber shop in the city area, haircut

~Lux1200 President~

My grandpa called right before I left for work today to notify me of a fire downtown near the Spokesman building. Nick was giving me a ride, so he grabbed his video camera gear and told me to ask whether they needed him. The smoke was looking white when we drove by, as if the fire were almost out, but then as I entered the newsroom the whole building went up in flames again. So I called Nick back to send him over and recorded scanner chatter at his request.

It was enough to get my adrenaline going, and I earned a new speed record for my morning task of sorting and distributing newspapers. Then I paced around awhile because there was nothing else I could do. My heart rate is still high.

UPDATE: Here is Nick's video.

sara: hey, how is your car
danny: whoa never used this before
sara: welcome to facebook chat
danny: what is even happening?
sara: we are both on facebook at the same time so we can IM
danny: crazy. i haven't heard anything yet.
sara: that sucks.
danny: i know but the the rox are winning
sara: yes they are and a great game last night
danny: did you have fun
sara: yeah we were real close to home plate...kinda where y'all sat the other week
danny: y'all had fun then
sara: exactly and tulo is on fire
danny: stewart is hotter though
sara: i like holliday the best
danny: who is top 3 hottest?
sara: on the rox?
danny: yeah
sara: holliday, tulo and i don't know
danny: i was hoping you would say spillbourghs
sara: hold on, let me see
sick no
danny: thats too bad

and there you have it. a glimpse into my relationship with my brother. :)

Reference: 1216116179

Edit | 15th July 2008 at 11:02 BST by Nikki Ambler. Permalink.

Our client is seeking a Senior Process Engineer based in Milton Keynes.

Location

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Salary

Competitive salary depending on qualifications and experience

Job Responsibilities

Responsible for the technical content and the overall co-ordination of the process services for the project to which you are assigned.

Providing specialized technical input and assistance to other engineers working on the project, both inside and outside the Process Department.

Responsible for the process and systems data being correctly interpreted and applied to the mechanical design by the engineering sections, for the project to which you are assigned.

Reports to Process Supervisor or Principal Process Engineer.

Supervises Process Engineers, Assistant Engineers.

Contact ERS on +44 (0) 1454 203 460 or submit a CV to cv@energyrs.co.uk to register your interest or apply for this position.

A number of well-intentioned friends and relatives have asked me questions about my future, and I've gotten the impression that few have been too impressed with my answers. "I'm thinking of finding a job somewhere in the U.S." wouldn't satisfy many, and understandably. At this point, it's the big circle on my Venn Diagram. I have sort of scoped out a few cities, nothing for sure and changing all the time, but if someone asked me my criteria, I think I would be embarrassed to admit the influence of off-handed remarks from friends, movies, magazine articles, and proximity to major airports. I figure I can't live anywhere known for a meteorological condition I don't like, such as rain. As I told a friend, "Rain makes me want to curl up with a blanket, a book, a cup of tea and some Norah Jones." Not too conducive to starting a new job. I even did some random Googling--and I refuse to share any of those keywords out of pure self-preservation.

So I haven't really figured out where to begin, what I might want to do, where exactly I might want to do yet-to-be determined thing. I figure there's lots of things I could enjoy. Plenty of other things I could semi-enjoy that would involve twice-monthly paychecks for a while. So it's just a question of looking. Right?

I know everyone goes through this post-college transition period. Not really being an adult, not really being a kid. I just happened to postpone my time a year or so and wasn't smart enough to move in/move on with college friends as some brighter friends have done. Then again, most of my college friends are in law school or married. Some of them have careers, which, I'll be honest, don't really appeal to me too much. Whether I plan to or not, I kind of follow the whole "I will go in this way/and I'll find my own way out" bit anyway (thanks, Dave).

At this point, I've lived with 17 (!) different roommates over the past six years in eight different apartments/houses/dorm rooms in four cities, three countries. (And that's not even counting the three summers I spent living in a cabin in northeastern Washington.) As a disclaimer to any future roommates I may have, most of them came into the relationship with a deadline already in mind--I only drove one away and that's because I evicted him. Part of me is tired of going through the motions, the meet and greet and then getting accustomed to their strange cohabitation patterns, becoming close friends with some, only to do it all over again a few months later. Even as I am sick of it, just like I am getting pretty damn tired of moving this unbelievable amount of stuff I have accumulated, I know it's a necessary evil. I like my stuff. And I'm not sure I can see moving to a new place where I know no one and living alone as the smartest option. Meeting people in the post-college world is awkward enough. You can't knock on the door down the hall during the first week and ask if they want to hit the Food Zoo. There's no orientation or small classes or student groups. I've been told I could join a gym--there's just a couple problems with that idea. I hate gyms, and I'm not sure my red-faced sweaty self is the first impression I am looking to give to future friends. Book clubs, classes from cooking to car maintenance, knitting groups, all the other tenets of chick-lit friendship building I haven't entirely ruled out. I don't even know where I'm moving yet.

Despite all of the confusion and general angst, I'm excited. When the time comes, I am guessing I will feel ready to start something new. I am looking forward to getting to know a U.S. city outside of Montana, getting to know the U.S. in general. I've traveled so little here. It's fun, though clearly overwhelming, to have some choice in where I'm headed--last year, I got a letter saying I was assigned to a city in southern Spain and off I headed, completely clueless. To some extent, I'll be clueless whereever I go, but at least I have some say in the matter.

And hey, there's always random Googling.

Both of these events placed me in a separated state of being. The day to day was lived because I knew if I did not trudge on I was worse off then dead. The way I saw it if there was something wrong with me then everyone was going to worry about me. The last thing that I wanted was for people to worry about me, so I learned real quick how to mask emotions and float by. I did all of it just because other people told me that it was something that I had to do to fit into society.

I was numb and pretending to feel, a horrid mix for a teenager. I lost too many years of learning how to handle ups and downs. I lost too many years learning how to properly express myself. I lost too many years finding out who I was as a person. Any bit pf potential that I had went toward masking that there was anything wrong in my life. The really good teachers still saw every bit of it, but they knew if they let on I would close up. So they pushed me and tested me, some decided that I would find my own greatness and achieve it.

Well the events of getting and losing my first girl friend. Being over medicated and feeling like a social outcast when I had a large group of friends, the confusing year at college with a roommate that was crazier then me all tore my down to the point where once again my potential was not reached.

Today I heard it in my seventh grade teachers voice. Back in the seventh grade right in the thick of everything, my teacher had us all write down something in a journal. We had ten minutes and we could write whatever we wanted. she was never going to look at them. Well I decided that I was going to create a new world. A world of dragons, so everyday for ten minutes I wrote about dragons. It was that journal that led me to my love for writing. The sharing of emotions, the creating of things that did not exist before the pen hit the paper and the escape from it all. Well today at work I told her when she passed by that I was still writing, she told me she was so glad to hear it, she said it made her day that I was still writing. I for her was one of the moments she wanted to teach.

There are a few people that see greatness in me. I am having a hard time figure out what they see but I know that they can see it. Since the formation of this blog I have gone through enormous amounts of changes. I have figured out things that have been racing around in my mind for years and I am finally starting to feel things. Happy, sad and angry. Each one of them I am working on figuring out and doing things that adequately balance them. Most of the time if I can remove myself from the stressor and think out my response to it, I find that I have the ability to pace through anything thrown at me, but from time to time I get a little caught up and forget to stop and think about what is going on.

So I can personally tell you there is an off switch to your emotional core, and when you turn it off get ready because you have to deal with everything that comes your way without an emotion helping learn what is bothering you, in order to turn your core back on.

Mind, Body and Emotions. All need to be healthy and well kept.

-NK

This month is going to hurt.

I recently started taking classes again - in preparation for graduate school. Working at a University, I have an amazing benefit of taking up to six credits a quarter free of charge (the catch - is that you are taxed on this benefit, something to be aware of when the end of the year rolls around) A term is wrapping up today and B term begins tomorrow. I wish I could say I feel confident about my final today - but calculus doesn't come easily to me. I purchased the book for my B term class today - hoping it arrives quickly. With tax, $127! How easy it is to forget how expensive textbooks are. Good thing I only have to buy them one at a time.

Additionally, I am still working on paying off the charge (on a 0% until November) for a pair of new glasses. I'd like to put at least $150 towards that this month.

The boy and I made a trip to Costco for some communal household items. We escaped with a total just barely over $100 and I'll end up splitting that with him.

Thats already $327 in miscellaneous charges in August - and August has yet to begin! Luckily the double shift I pulled this weekend should cover most of it. I signed up for three-four shifts in the coming month, hopefully I'll be scheduled for all of them.

The irresponsible in me really wishes I could use the extra money for these frye shoes instead:http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7356726/c/632.html They speak to me as a perfect summer into fall into winter into spring shoe. Siiiiiigh.

The experience I remember as a customer is when I was at the Talisman Centre in Calgary (a fitness facility) and had a bit of an accident with my water bottle. The workout was going great, I was in flow, feeling good, and taking a big swig of water from my fancy bottle in between my sets. As it turned out, I got a premature shower instead. In mid-drink, with the bottle titled at optimal angle for delivery, it suddenly exploded into my face!

Admittedly, it was refreshing, but also quite embarrassing, as I sent nearby patrons scattering away in the midst of their exercises. My friend joked that my training must have been paying off as evident from my mere grip strength squeezing a bottle to its breaking point. I wish. More probable, it was a fancy looking, poor quality bottle, fragmented on the gym floor.

At that time of the incident, I could not quickly locate or see nearby any weight room or maintenance staff. However, I did spot someone in a work uniform who I recognized as working in food services on the other side of the building. Maybe he was on a stroll, on his break, or coming in for a workout? Anyways, there was a big pool of water and I grabbed his attention to see if he could find somebody to help me clean up the mess. He notified someone, then told me he'll go try and find maintenance or cleaning staff, took a few steps, and quickly returned saying it'll probably be faster and less disruptive if he cleaned it up himself.

He grabbed many towels sitting beside various weight machines, and combined them together to soak up the water. Then he found more towels and we started to dry up the floor. Patrons, as a result, were able to continue working out in the affected area with very little delay and inconvenience, and on a shinier floor. What a great job by someone who doesn't work in the exercise area!

As for me, I finished my workout, albeit a bit more thirsty because water was not as accessible being minus one water bottle. Perfect. I made sure to go buy a drink at food services!

-Patrick Law

Many peoples want to success quickly, today if it’s possible. But success can not grapped today, you have to wait it.

If you trained yourself, made a daily reflection, you could success every day. Of course daily success is not a big success, but small success.

If you plan to do something today and it happened, you have got a small success.

Collect small daily success every day, and you will got A BIG SUCCESS later.

Lets try. Success for you.