I had some dreams ... they were klowns in my koffee.


(With apologies to Carly Simon)


This is my journey through job transition from a toxic environment to a better life. Join me for a few thoughts and a few laughs along the way.
What are "klowns in my koffee"? They are the factors large and small that make you less than you are. A "klown" can be a grossly incompetent boss,
a short-sighted policy or a moronic coworker. They won't kill you, at least not immediately, but they abrade the soul
as you scrape past them to get through the day. Sometimes it's best to dump them out of the cup.


Sunday

Remind Me Why I Took the Red Pill?

Daily Kup (My Life in the Real World)
Mr. T and Attila the Son went to Boy Scout Camp and got a ringside seat near the path of a tornado.  They ran through a hailstorm to a shelter and then headed for home during a break in the weather.  They came back soggy, otherwise well and an evening early.  I think T was largely happy to have avoided sleeping in the tent, a possibility that he'd been dreading since the encampment was announced.

Tornadoes don't seem quite real.  When the sirens go off and my family is in the house, I herd them and two uncooperative cats into an internal hallway in the basement.  If I'm the only one home, I go outside and look around.  The landscape seems transformed with strange pinks, architectural black clouds and the oddest green cast over everything.

And It Wasn't Even On A Toyota Matrix

Is it the ultimate question?  Would you prefer to live unknowing in a sensical but false existence or learn the tragic reality?  Take the blue pill or take the red pill?

There's a possibility that reality is overrated.

The greatest truths are often really confirmations of what we already know.  The Matrix Runs On WindowsXP

Saturday

Still Here ... The World, I Mean.

Daily Kup (My Life in mid-Rapture)
Despite the predictions of Harold Camping, the Rapture did not occur at 6 PM on May 21st.  At least, no one is missing on my street.  Admittedly, there could be other reasons for that.

At that exact time, I was working at my "cash-bringing" job taking phone orders.  As the show of the hour featured a show biz personality who has used considerable initiative to develop a line of skin care products worthy of Dorian Gray, callers seemed more interested in a future of receiving shipments at 30-day intervals than declaring, "I'm going out with a bang and wearing the face I came in with."  My neighbor was mowing his lawn for at least the third time this week.  As he was doing it in the rain and with something that sounded like four jet engines while I was trying to work on the phone, I would have been OK with his sudden disappearance.  I really would have.

On the Career Front
Jobs I'm Not Looking For Anymore
Replacement for Charlie Sheen on Two and A Half Men
Replacement for Aflac Duck

New/Still Open Job Postings
Replacement for Dalai Lama
Head of International Monetary Fund (no travel required)

Spoke Too Soon?
Tornado sirens going off.
In which ring of hell do the sarcastic people go?

Thursday

Full Plates

Daily Kup (My Life in Parking Lots)
Children require a lot of carting.  They need to be taken here and there.  They need things that you have to get for them.  As sustainable as we are trying to become, I've yet to cultivate a plant that grows notebook paper.

"Plant it over there between the lunch box tree and the pencil bushes!"

Some music is better for the road than others.  For some reason, my car favors Bruce Springstein and Jimmy Buffet and will jam the CD player otherwise.  My car apparently has a lot of good vibes, positive energy, and wants to go with the working class flow without thinking too deeply.  It's an American car.

I once had a German car but it would only play Wagner.

Amazing Plates Seen While Waiting for My Kids, My Husband or the Apocalypse

But it was on a RED car.
 
Kind of glad this van wasn't selling underwear.


 
Says it all!
 

Have you seen some evocative license plates lately?  Send us a picture!

Monday

A Visit from College

Daily Kup (My Life as a Sip of Time)
My daughter from college made a quick trip home to celebrate Easter.  Those of traditional college age are such a bundle of contradictions.  The college won't tell you their marks and doctors won't tell you anything other than name and birth date.  (Clue to you, doc.  I'm was responsible for both of those.)  They call when the world deals them some unfairness but remain coy on more momentous developments.  They come home to look for their Easter baskets and then drive off to the rest of their busy and increasingly adult lives.

Who's New At The Zoo?

Behold the college student in its natural environment.  It is largely a nocturnal species that forages for food at odd hours.  It has evolved an outer armor of apparel that seems to function both day and night:  Is it pajamas?  Is it school clothing?  Both?  Neither?

This species can be found travelling with large bags called "laundry."  The college student itself is a wide ranging species that can be found along almost any highway or byway;  the laundry is migratory, always finding its way back home.

Sunday

For My Peeps

Just when you thought it was safe to take your eyes off your Easter basket.