Tattoo's and Me

One thing I have always wanted to do but never had the cajones to do was to get a tattoo. It's not that I'm especially scared of the pain (however, that's definately a factor, haha) it's more the problem of looking back in 10 years and asking myself, "What the hell was I thinking?".

Well today I went into our local tattoo spot and picked out a Stone Angel (baby looking) with a cross, underneath I will have the names of my two little girls in a rock type font. I'll take a picture of it and post it after it's done. I'm a bit nervous about it, but to be honest, I've wanted one for a very long time and this is a good time to do it.

I went for blood tests today, and an ecg. I think there will be more tests soon, we'll see. As for now, I still have a pain in my left arm, and I find it very uncomfortable to lay on my left side. So I'm pretty confident something is up. My doctor believes that it is all anxiety related, but I have a nagging suspicion it's more serious than that. He's the expert though.

Also, on another note, I've decided that I'm going to trade in my 2001 Ford Tauras SE, for a 2006 Ford Mustang GT V8. It's black with a burgandy interior, detailed, and two front air intakes. The payments will be roughly what I'm paying for my Tauras now, so that makes it an even sweeter deal. I've always owned family orientated sedans and this time I'm getting something for myself. I love Mustangs, and I love the look of the new ones. So, I'm off to the bank tommorrow to try and get the financing all arranged. Hopefully, by the end of the week, I'll be ripping up the highways in my new Mustang...and yes...I'll be nekked...err...nevermind that part.

-Sethalos

Tunage Extremicus

"...and if you leave me...Furious Angels shall bring you back to me." Rob Dougan.

For all of you out there that are like me and love to listen to new music I've found some pretty darn good tunes to listen to.

Furious Angels - Rob Dougan
Black Brick Road - Lake of Tears (EXCELLENT)
Stone the Crow - Down
Vindicated - Dashboard Confessionals
Slow Chemical - Finger Eleven
Nothing at All - Rob Dougan
Furnace Room Lullabye - Neko Case and her Boyfriends
Time for People - Atomship
Put your lights on - Everlast Santana
Ordinary - Train
Release - Anathema

These are just a few of the tunes that I'm listening to at the moment, give them a try, you will like I'm sure.

My saturday plans kind of went up in smoke when the folks decided to take off for the evening, lol. So no babsitter. I've been going through my 100+ gigs of music and put together a few good cd's. I'm one of those people that has to have music no matter what they are doing.

If you're one of those, toss some songs my way, let me know the Artist, the Song Title, and possibly the album.

-Sethalos

Let the Relaxation Begin

Well, it's done. I spoke with my doctor yesterday and he wrote me about a note giving me an inedefinate amount of time off from the job for medical reasons. He's a bit upset at me that it took this long for me to do, actually. He thinks that I may have permanently damaged myself.

Of course, work is extremely pissed off that I am taking stress leave (for medical reasons) and I'm sure they are looking for every possible way to let me go now. I used to love that job, teaching the students, learning new things, and the camaraderie that went along with working with a single bunch of people for 3 years. We have alot of laughs during that time. But, things change, the company went through a takeover by SkillSoft (Previously SmartForce), our management was so concerned about the bottom line (financial) that they forgot to take into account the employee. We use very out of date equipment (replaced by equipment that was equally bad, only newer), 15" CRT Monitors that the dinosaurs generally used (very hard on the eyes), a pention for never giving praise but quickly firing off emails if something was wrong, no management interaction, untrained management, and the list goes on. The workplace went from an enjoyable place to be, to a place you dread going to every morning, wondering what email would be in your inbox telling you that you fucked up some how.

Not to mention all of those, but the writing of certification exams every 6 weeks. I mean, people take college courses to learn this stuff and it takes them a year usually for one or two certifications, we do these every 6 weeks. Do you think we have adequate resources, hell no, they buy us a book, and tell us we can only study at home...not at work. The company won't pay for technology lectures that come around to help keep us in the know, either. There are so many things about this company that I hate now, that I can't even possibly get into it all. Suffice as to say, that I will be looking for something else immediately. Hopefully, I'll find something of interest. Until then, i'm taking time off to relax and get my health back up.

I still have alot of tests that I have to go through to be sure that my heart and arteries are ok. I'm on a diet now (forced this time), hehe. So at least that's a good thing.

I haven't had a chance to talk to my special lady friend now for about 4 days, no answers to me emails either, so I'm beginning to think that maybe this was all one sided. I'll keep up hope though and maybe it can work. We're only about 2 hours away from each other, so it can't be all the distance.

Well, there is where i'm at today.

-Sethalos

Cars and the Companies that Build Them

I was reading about the recent GM employee buyouts and early retirement offerings with a bit of skepticism. Not from a corporate or economic view but from an overall perspective of business in the US.

Much of the innovation that is ongoing for automotive makers is coming from Europe of Asia. Most of the automobiles that are being purchased are not the big SUV gas guzzling beasts that are the North American standard money winner. With the cost of fuel on the rise, and no hint of it slowing in the near future, it's time for American companies to wake up and smell the coffee. We are in a global oil crisis, and it's only going to get worse. The type of automobiles that are created must reflect this.

My question is where are all the true hybrids? Where is all of the innovation for new types of fuels? Why aren't these automobiles flying out of the dealerships?

One big reason is that they aren't worth it yet. They aren't true hybrids for the most part (some exceptions apply), and they still require gas.

I would love to see new fuel options available (cooking oil anyone?) . I'd love to see some new modern vehicles (ones that are truly awe inspiring) come down in price. A good example of what I'm talking about is the new Pontiac Solstice which I can see would be a HUGE success if they can manage to keep the price down.

I currently own a 2001 Ford Tauras SE 6cylinder family car. Let me tell you, this sucker is HELL on fuel. I have owned Ford vehicles for the last 3 cars that I've had. This will be my last one. I am strongly considering picking up a new hybrid Toyota or even a Honda. I'm in the market now for a car, and will soon start researching vehicles in my price range. I'm a bit skeptical to be honest about my choices.

Many people are losing their jobs in North America due to outsourcing and such, but many others are losing their jobs to the fact that some companies just are not on the ball as to what their customers want. When they finally do luck into something that is a hit, they over price it to the point that many who had considered it won't purchase it anymore, and go on to a less expensive alternative, that actually is quite comparitive in all departments.

I feel so bad for people losing their jobs for reasons such as this. It's terrible.

-Sethalos.

Sleep...or lack thereof

How many times have you been lying in bed, tossing and turning, staring at the clock saying, "Three more hours before I have to get up, ok...going to close my eyes and sleep now." then "two more hours...need sleep."..."One more"...."SHIT!!".

Sleep disorders are quite common and they can be solved by something as simple as buying a new pillow or a mattress. Or...you need serious drugs, therapy, and meditation.

I'm one of those folks that it takes a very long time for me to get relaxed enough to fall asleep. I toss and I turn, and I toss and I turn until finally at some juncture of which I'm oblivious...I fall asleep. However, if there is the slightest little noise, or nuisance I'll wake up, and it will take another hour or so for me to get back to sleep.

Well, this goes hand in hand with my previous blog about Stress and anxiety, because sleep deprivation is part of the big three. Stress, Anxiety, Lack of Sleep. The problem with the lack of sleep is that it is culmulative, so if you get 5 hours on mon, 6 hours on tues, 4 on on wed...come thursday you're working on no sleep. No sleep, leads to stress, which leads to anxiety, which leads to death or worse.

It's funny because I brought this subject up with some friends, and not a single one of them sleeps well. Not one! That's pretty scary.

I've even gone so far as to pick up sleeping pills and use them when I absolutely must rest and cant' seem to. But, they are addictive, and the more you use them, the less they work. The next best thing....NYQUIL...hell yeah that stuff is a godsend. But again, addictive.

A girl I'm very fond of at the moment gave me a tip....meditation. Relaxation techniques. So, I'm about to go all samurai on everyone's ass, and actually give it a shot. I keep picturing monks and their chanting while sitting cross-legged in a temple. Well at least I have the bald head to fit in.

Too many times I've woken up from a sleep only to find myself as or more tired than when I first lay down. Too many times, I've watched the mintues tick away trying to get that few hours of desperate rest. Too many times, have I woken from a sleep only to find I've only slept for an hour and then can't get back to sleep.

Not sure if there are any answers for this yet, going to bring it up to my doc when I see him on Thursday, but I have to say, this is just way to common, and what is this really saying about the method in which people live their lives.

Sethalos

The Heart vs Work

I went to see the doctor this morning about some pains I've been having in my chest and left arm. I immediately chalked it up to something to do with my heart obviously and it scared the shit out of me.

However, apparently my heart is fine, i'm in good shape (although I need to drop some weight), and my blood pressure is good. The problem: Stress.

Apparently, stress is rapidly becoming one of the most common reasons that people have heart problems, high blood pressure, migrains, etc. The hours I work, the job situation, family problems, single parenthood, and many other contributing factors have finally pushed my Stress threshold to the limit where my body is giving me a very clear warning. Stop it or die.

I've decided that I'm going to look into another position with another company. Something with daytime hours, and not as much corporate crap. There will always be stress I think in any job, but I can at the very least minimize it as much as possible. My doctor is going to see me again on Thursday, and on his recommendation he is giving me a letter to allow me to leave my job for stress related reasons. He's actually broached this with me last November when I went to see him about pains in my chest, and he's happy to do it now.

The issue for me is leaving a position because of stress. I feel kind of wimpy to be honest. Real men don't leave there jobs because of stress do they? I mean, shit, if I lost an arm maybe...lol...but stress. I'm trying to justify it all and I'm really having a hard time with it. It means that I'll have to go on Unemployment for a bit until I secure another position (which I could do immediately if need be), but I may just take a month or two to catch up and get healthy. Get some sleep finally and relax.

Doohead had a great blog about something similiar (check it out if you haven't read it, link to the right of my blog) and I responded then, before this happened this morning, and it really just enforces my belief now.

You can't really put much stock in statistics but here is a very good read about stress and what it can do to you if not taken seriously: Great Work Related Stress read .

After my little bout with chest pains this morning...I'm taking this shit seriously now.

If you feel or have felt this type of stress, you've had chest pains, depression, anxiety, or get sick often. GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!!.

Seth the Stressed.

It Comes In Threes

Well, they say that bad luck comes in threes, and I'm on number two already.

I was supposed to go to Boston to write an exam this morning, a pretty big deal at work. Well when I got to the airport they wouldn't allow me to board the plane because my birth certificate didn't match the name on the ticket...let me explain.

When I was 7 my Mother remarried, and along the way we took on my step-fathers name. It never really occurred to me that it was an issue because I seldom use my birth certicate and I've yet to have any problems. However, on the one day that I actually need it, they turned me down.

So not only did I miss my flight (which cost the company 1300 bucks), I missed the exam (which cost 496USD), my only excuse is that they wouldn't allow me to board because of the above explained reason. So, pretty much next week I'll most likely be looking for a new job.

Then later today, I got a killer deal on a new treadmill, $1000 dollar treadmill for $20 bucks. I paid the lady, and ran my buddy back to where his truck was to pick it up, when we got back some guy in a minivan is taking my treadmill. So I yell, "Hey there buddy, I've already paid for that."

Apparently, the lady double sold the treadmill, and this guy had the minivan there. She apologized profusely, but I'm still out a killer deal. Needless to say I was a bit miffed at it.

Now, I'm just waiting for the hammer to fall. I'm pretty sure it'll be my job loss, which wouldn't be altogether that bad for me. I've been wanting out of that job for awhile now. I already have other positions opened up, and you know what, I don't think I'd mind going on unemployment for a few months. I really could use the break.

One good thing that has happened lately is I have met a like minded lady. The problem. She lives about 2 hours away which makes dating difficult. She's a sweety though, and I really really like her. I'm doing my best to try and arrange times to meet up but it's a pain in the ass. Especially, those times you could really use someone to be with both emotionally, physically and err..cuddly. I'd really like to see this work out though, so I'll make every effort.

The girls are doing great, but lately they have been fighting like cats and err..more cats. I'm honestly considering picking up boxing gloves and letting them go at it until they are tuckered out, lol. Either that or find a tranquilizer gun.

Well this is going to be my new blogging home for awhile, so hopefully I will see some of my ole blogging friends around. I will be making more of an effort to keep track of their lives and mayhem. Never know, I may have plenty of spare time shortly. hehe.

So if you see this, send me a heya.

Take care all,

Sethalos

The Move Back

Well, I have come to the rapid conclusion that MSN Spaces sucks, so I'm going to be coming back here. I guess I will just have to try and figure out how to do all of the things I'd like my Blog to show.

Move will commence immediately.

Seth.

Winters Bath

Winter needed a bath, badly. So I decided the best course of action, seeing that it has been rainy and yucky outside, was to bath her in the tub. Now the tub isn't all that small and has those jacuzzi spouts in it that sprays water out in nice comforting jets. So my wild idea was to fill the bathtub up about halfway, turn on the shower and the jacuzzi to get her drenched down enough to shampoo her.

You see, in my little reality (here after known as Seth's world), everything works as I imagine it and in my imagination this whole thing went flawlessly and quick.

Now, the one thing about Winter is that she is EXTREMELY timid (of course in Seth's Word this was not a consideration I had taken into account) and doesn't like loud noises or any type of suprise (keep this in mind for later in the story).

So, I try and coax my puppy (who is about 70 pounds and about 64cm's tall. into the bathtub...she wasn't going for it. So I picked her up and placed her in the tub. Next, I started the water, nicly warm letting it rise up to about her belly (this was mistake #1). I used a measuring cup to pour the water onto her back and head, and then using the genius given to me at birth, I hit the Jacuzzi button and jets of warm water shot out of the tub impacting my now very startled dog (mistake # 2). My normally passive animal get's into a doggy karate stance (on two legs and tries to deke me out and jump out of the tub. Well, hell, I played hockey, there is no way in hell this is going to work....WRONG!! She out deked me and jumped out of the tub, water pouring off her all over the floor, she shakes and now there is water all over the ceiling and walls (dirty water I may add) and she is now in, "Don't touch me mode".

As quick thinking as I am I dive and slam the bathroom door shut heading off an even worse catastrophe. Winter knowing now that she is cornered decides to use some of her Dog-foo on me again and rushes me. I slip and fall and smack my arm on the tub (HARD). Winter is now clawing at the door in desperation, but I recover quickly and grab her and lift her back up into the tub. I quickly turn off the jacuzzi and she seems to settle down a bit.

Then deciding that I needed more water, I turn the shower on, water sprays down and nails my puppy in the face. Puppy freaks out again, but this time knowing i'm ready for some more dog-foo or dekeing out jumps straight into my arms and knocks me back on my ass, then i slowly tip over onto my back. I now have a very very wet 70 pound scared and moderately pissed off animal on my chest shaking more water on the ceiling and the walls.

So I push the animal off me, turn the shower off, and being the stubborn trooper I am, pick up the puppy and threw her back in the water. She sits there staring daggers into my soul as I apply the shampoo and wash her fur. (Mistake #3). You see, now I have a timid, scared, pissed off, SLIPPERY dog on my hands and obviously not considering this I grab her coller and once again turn on the shower to wash the soap off. (Mistake #4).

I'm not sure what happened after that...I vaguely remember something smashing into my chest and then a blinding light. I hear voices in the distance and stinging in my eyes. I'm sure somewhere's theirs an angel ready to take me away to a far happier land..but the beotch didn't appear to help me calm down a very freaked out animal that has shampoo dripping from every hair.

Now, if any of you have ever tried to grab a slippery animal in a tiled bathroom that has a half a foot of warm bath water in it. You will agree that it is a tad difficult. So I grabbed a towel, managed to get it around the dog and lifted her up to put her back in the tub to rinse her off...not grasping the fact that the tiled floor is now very slippery with shampoo and bath water.

Again....not sure at what point I did the double back flip half gainer onto the tiled floor but I came to my senses laying on my belly, face plush to a shampooy tiled floor and a 70 pound black lab sitting on my back with absolutely no intentions of getting off of me.

At this point, I did all that a man could do in my circumstances. I grabbed a leash, and led the dog down stairs, outside and into the rain to let it do the dirty work. Not considering the fact that my semi clean animal would roll around in the mud and run through the bushes. I admitted defeat, poured myself a stiff rum and coke and trekked towards the bathroom for the hour an a half it will take to clean it up.

All of this to save myself the gargantuan fee of $30 dollars to have her washed professionally.

Winter 1 Master 0

I shall have my revenge!!!

Seth.

The Move to MSN Spaces

Well, I recently made a few changes. I deleted most of my blogs from Blogger and moved them to MSN Spaces.

My reasons were that I could display more pictures, and make it a bit more homey. I'm not really happy with MSN Spaces either because I don't have the options to customize the page very much, but for now it'll do.

If you want to visit it you can at http://spaces.msn.com/sethalos

I will be updating this blog with my blogs from there for a bit longer, and then deleting them all from here to be exclusively there.

I will most likely move from Spaces as well once I find a more customizable site.

Take care all...sorry about the deletion of previous posts, you will find them (sans comments) at the spaces site.

-Seth

Liberal View

I'm a liberal. Yep...that evil word in the present state of affairs. I have an open mind, and believe in the rights of others.

A good example of where I stand on certain issues.
I am:
Pro Gay Marriage
Pro Choice
Pro De-criminilization of Hash and Marijuana
Pro Sheep Molestation...err...nevermind that one.
Pro Religious beliefs
Pro Free Speech

I am one of those people that can't even fathom how conservatives can even justify the word convervative.

con·ser·va·tive
adj.

1. Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit.

The world is a constantly changing tapestry of views, religious beliefs, technologies, politics, and lives. How can one who is conservative face or deal with a world that is constantly in flux and changing daily with the view that they oppose change.

Change is good it breeds evolution in not only ideals, ideas, and morals. It promotes a dynamic society, not a static society.

Now don't get me wrong not all change is good, there are things that should remain constant, fitting into the category of "Don't fix it if it isn't broke." But you can always improve upon things.

I look at the governing party of Canada and the United States now, and I truly fear for us. I won't even get into the reasons concerning the United States but if you are one of those that don't involve yourselves in the Political situations, here are a few links for you to take a peek at:

http://tinyurl.com/2dcgj
http://tinyurl.com/4x9ld
http://tinyurl.com/bk45v

As for Canada, my main fear isn't in regards of world domination, but us falling back into a deep debt. I work hard and pay high taxes so that hopefully my children will not have the same burden that my generation does. It was the Brian Mulroney government that really put us all in the hurt locker, and from that stemmed the GST, and high Income Tax.

I fear that his strong empathy for the US administration will place Canada in a position where we are expected to participate in the upcoming war of IRAN. Oh yes, boys and girls...it is coming, and it is inevitable. You see both Iraq and Iran want to do away with oil being paid for only by US dollars, they prefer the Euro...and the US just cannot have that. Regardless of this, I don't want to see Canada involved in that type of thing. I don't want to see our Men and Women killed because of the US outlook on the rest of the world. I don't trust Harper, I never have since his Alliance days. Too many Canadians have forgot some of the things he has said during his political career.

The next year will be very interesting to see what type of changes are brought forth, and what the reaction of the Canadian population will be. We are a very passive people, we don't tend to take as passionate a stand on issues as our neighbours to the south, and I'm afraid that passivity will allow this government to pass some ultra conservative bills.

Let's hope this doesn't happen for all of our sakes.

What we need is a Common Sense Minister, one who can look beyond the veil of partisanship and political nonsense and say, "you know what, that makes no sense at all" and quash it with extreme prejudice.

Here are a few quotes from Harper:

"In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it. Canadians make no connection between the fact that they are a Northern European welfare state and the fact that we have very low economic growth, a standard of living substantially lower than yours, a massive brain drain of young professionals to your country, and double the unemployment rate of the United States."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"Now 'pay equity' has everything to do with pay and nothing to do with equity. It’s based on the vague notion of 'equal pay for work of equal value,' which is not the same as equal pay for the same job."

- Stephen Harper, NCC Overview, Fall 1998.


"I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans."

- Stephen Harper, Report Newsmagazine, March 25th 2002. As it turned out, Harper wasn't the only one who didn't know all the facts.

- Seth