Making the most of a day

Well i wanted to write this post a while back on the 30th of may... but i really haven't had time to ponder about this subject and write for the past couple of days... Its seems that everyday is now packed with some sort of event or activity, and I've begun to realize time really flies when your working, have a girl friend, and try to plan time in between to meet old friends/make new, and enjoying life...

As long as your content with a day,
You made the most,
of what you could.

On another note:
I must admit, tomorrow (Sunday) I'm finally going to take a well deserved nap and probably continue reading a book.. I could go out and see a movie or try to do an event but i also realize that making most of your day could be resting for the next. The book I'm into right now "Dracula" is completely different then what i expected... I like it so far, but won't cast my two cents over the side until i finish the book..

I like these older horror books because of the way the writers write (Frankenstein is my favorite book). And I'm beginning to realize that could improve my own writing by reading...

Currently:
That's the hold up at the moment with my book... I'm just taking a small break and reading...
Dracula....

Muhahaw..   <---- Spell check has this as Muhammad

longer work weeks

I've recently started my rotating weekends at my job and i must say it does make the work week a little longer.. To start, i work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... Have Thursday off, then work Friday, Saturday Sunday, Monday.. have Tuesday off.. work Wednesday Thursday Friday and then its the weekend.. Repeat Schedule...

With it being Monday today, i can't wait for tomorrow, because it marks the 2/3rds point of the weekend and I'll only have 3 more days to work until the weekend. Typically, people get this way around hump day, but i began to realize that my hump day is Saturday night/Sunday morning where i only have 5 days to work but have a day off in between...

Trapping

My dad caught a squirreltoday,
In one of those traps,
That makes an individual wonder,
how stupid animals really are...

It went in the trap,
that had one entrance,
my father placed food placed in in the center,
so once it entered the front door for the food
the door would close...

Now this squirrel,
clawed all around the trap in the morning,
but did not enter the trap,

It took until i came home from work that i discovered,
the squirrel by a rustle of noise,

I was surprised to see a squirrel so big that filled the whole trap,
(probably a good foot, foot and a half long...

Realizing the squirrel was successfully secured in the trap,
I listen to it rustle against the metal cage,
for a little while,
amazed that the squirrel actually went in there,
and I waited for my dad to get home,
so we could take the squirrel out of town,

when he arrived,
we drove to the forested area just past a wood mill,
and I pulled the car over so my dad could get out,

when we released it
my father had,
a proud look on his face,
followed by a surprised expression on how fast the squirrel moved,

he got back in the car,
and told me,
his friends catch these squirrels,
and release them into the forest,

one of his friends,
caught more then 20.

On the drive home,
I thought this was something i would do,
if i didn't have to do anything else,

something i would of done if i had some money
when i was younger,

so
I guess its a game,
you play when your older,
trying to find things,
to occupy the mind.

Sounds like re-living a childhood...

Drive, Keep Looking Forward

I've learned a lesson when driving to work.. I use to look at people when i passed them if they did something idiotic to piss me off while driving ... By looking over i would have a face to blame and a typical stereotype to throw an individual into... I always thought this brought closure to my situation knowing who the individual is... but more and more I'm learning that its just not worth knowing exactly who did what stupid act on the road at any point.. I mean yes I'll look over and glance at the car to see if it has dents in it to see if they're a bad driver...

But i don't want to remember a specific face that will stay in my mind the rest of the day.. I now tend to just notice dented cars and drive a little more cautions... Look in my mirror and notice a speeding car approaching which is either a cop or a person going to get pulled over by a cop... so its always a good idea to slow down...

Basically the lesson to learn is anyone can be a bad driver, the best signs of bad drivers are by the actual cars. Putting faces to a situation puts emotion into a situation and its just not needed. Everyone's able to make a mistake and the mistakes that are showing are the ones to look out for...

Submitting

I've decided that the best way for my book to get published in the near future (which by the way is still a good ways off) is to have some creditability... How do i exactly do this? buy submitting some work to literary journals across the country to try to have some of my work published..

I also realized that when submitting work to these journals that the vast majority of them are hard to get work published and very competitive. its typically takes 2 to 3 months to get work considered depending on which journal I'm submitting to..

So to start, I'm not going to swing for the fences and try to get my work published in the "paris review" my favorite literary journal. But I am currently searching for smaller journals and submitting work to at least get something published and get that monkey off of my back..

As soon as i hear back from a reviewing magazine/journal that a work of mine has been published i'll let everyone know on here.. but until then.. The daily task of writing envelops my life.

Budget

As much as i really enjoy spending money, i also learned that its important to try to save as much as possible when were younger... So recently its come to my attention to start keeping a budget... When going out to the store, or mall i look at my bank account and shrug.. I'm getting a paycheck next week my funds will be replenished...

But then i realize i have other bills I'm not accounting for yet, the car insurance, rent, loans, and other future bills that will pop out of no where... Its wise to have at least a little bit saved in the bank for when these come around...

It sucks this time around because my bank account was zero going into this job so i payed my parents back for borrowed gas and gave them some rent money as well as bought 4 presents for various people this week. So with the goal is to try to save as much as possible from every paycheck, even though i was only able to save 200 from this one.. Stupid occupation privileged tax and not getting my shift differential of 7% for second shift (because i worked first shift for training) made my pay check just a little under what i expected.. But after i get my bank account replenished in the next few months i can start to do things that i really wanted to do for a while...

I did splurge though this week and bought two cds i thought i would really enjoy... Wilco's sky blue sky and elliot smiths new moon... But i think I'm going to limit myself to one CD/DVD per paycheck just until i get a firm footing...

A New Perspective on Age

With age comes responsibility... i think that's a fair assessment that everyone realizes when they get older... Theres certain ways to act in a variety of situations and your expected to act more professionally in these situations rather then letting them spin out of control.. I think everyone realizes this part of age and will not argue...

My new perspective while driving home from work tonight was the realization that I'm not important.. While yes i am important, my inner goals in life should not be centered around my own selfish viewpoint... Adults grow older and realize this, they want another part of themselves and thus a relationship is born.. Your no longer dealing with your own singular views anymore and have someone to help you along the way...

Eventually I might have kids, they start to grow up, become teenagers... But every little event they have seems like the most important thing in the world.. When in reality, in a few years a couple people might remember that event and tell a story about a particular event.. That's all we are when we leave for adult hood... Stories and ideas...

Talking

The vast majority of my job is trying to figure out what exactly is going wrong from another persons standpoint without physically being there... This task is accomplished over the phone, and with proper communication skills however emotions quite often get in the way of this communication process and your left with an individual yelling about an issue that you can't fix..

At this part of communicating you normally say can i put you on hold for a minute i need to look up some information.. and you let them cool down for about 30 seconds and then answer the phone.. When you do your few seconds of research, you realize while the issue has been a problem for 3 or 4 months. No one at the store reported the problem and they have no real right to be angry with anyone in the department. (i should technically have the right to be angry that this person when they don't report their problem and then proceed to yell at me because we didn't fix the issue 4 months ago... but that's neither here nor there...)

Regaining my professional composure I pick up the phone again, and thankfully the individual has calmed down a little bit to allow the communication process to flow more smoothly.

Now, when dealing with people across the country women in the south are the coolest to deal with. Their laid back and will do what you ask, and eventually you will get their problem fixed... Southern women are comparable to the mountain time zone individuals.. Time in the mountains goes slower it seems and their willing to take the extra step to solve problems...

People in the north east, central states, southern males are about average to deal with.. They'll do the majority of what you say, but a few things they won't do because they've done them already and think they know what's best... Typically you can see that they've done it hundreds of times and they know what they're talking about so you can let them slide on a few steps...

People on the west coat are the worst to deal with.. While i always though i would one day want to move out west to California, I'm beginning to realize that people out there move too fast for their own good.. they don't realize how they fit into the general picture with the rest of the united states because they're so far ahead of everyone; and they don't realize they could stop and look around once in a while... Problems can often be solved if you stop and listen for the answer rather then racing for the finish line..

The Playground

black blood drips across the icy asphalt,suffocating,
the rats only playground.

an empty bottle rolls over,
the inky streets,
like a limerick off an Irish man's tongue,

a child peddles forward,
down cemetery hill,
observing the darkness,
of a centuries past killer,

picking up speed,
the pedals spin furiously,
as the small boy blazes by,
a cracked headstone,

a cough echoes,
displacing the warmth,
inside lungs,

the child gasps,
as the wind chills his lifeless breath,

it overcomes,
losing grip on the handlebars,

the gliding tires,
begin to skid on a patch of sand,

Disrupting the center of gravity,
the boy tumbles,
a violent head over heels,
onto the frozen blackness...