Mayday! Mayday! MAY DAY!

Happy May Day everyone! Yeah, I know, I know, it's about time I posted again! But, as it says on the top of my blog, this is a "sporadic blurt", which means I'm in no way, shape, or form, a REGULAR poster! See? I always make sure my butt is covered! LOL!

This post is gonna be a mish mash of stuff, a few rants, a few newsy items and who knows what else!

So... here we go!

First off, this just in... Has anyone else tried that new Coke Zero? I caved into the marketing hype tonight at Burger King and tried it for the first time. My opinion? "Real Coke Taste"? Not so much. In fact, for the first time in I don't know how long, I didn't finish my drink and threw it out! It was AWFUL! Ugh! It was more like Pepsi than Coke, and anyone who really knows me knows what a drastic statement that is! LOL! If you are a Coke lover, DON'T BUY COKE ZERO!!! Especially if you haven't tried it yet. If you have and you like it? Ummm... just don't tell me, ok? Ha ha!

I had a rant all lined up for tonight's post, but now that I'm actually typing it, I can't remember what it is, so.... maybe next time.

The raise I mentioned last post finally came through, and the retro-pay ended up being around $300 after taxes and other deductions. Nice little bonus that was. It didn't last long, thanks to all the bills I have to pay! Oh well... at least I'm now making the extra money each pay period which works out to an extra $120 or so take-home after taxes. Stupid government! Winston Churchill hit the nail right on the head with this quote; "I contend that a nation that tries to tax itself into prosperity is like a man who steps into a bucket, then tries to lift himself with the handle." Think about it. Speaking of taxes, we got our income tax refunds finally, and are the glad recipients of approximately $4300 and change between Mrs. Phoenix and myself. Nice to know the government took over $4300 from us last year when each penny was so dearly needed while I was searching for work! That was sarcasm, by the way!

I've been enjoying the hyacinths and daffodils in our garden this past week. I love seeing the first flowers of spring! I find it so uplifting to see all the trees and flowers blooming and leafing out. I just wish that the weather wouldn't be so extremely changeable during the Spring months. My headaches are horrible now and quite frequent. I'm very lucky that my employer has accepted the fact that I am undergoing medical treatment for these headaches and therefore I'm not in danger of losing my job because of them. That is a relief which has helped me to overcome some of the headaches and actually be able to work through them. It was just crazy how I'd get a headache, then the stress of worrying about whether or not my job was in jeopardy would make it worse and worse until I was totally unable to work, which would then make me worry more. It was a vicious cycle I'm glad is not so vicious anymore. My doctor, however, is pressuring me to quit and find a less strenuous job. He says the physical stress of the job is causing all sorts of havoc in my neck and spinal column. I've heard that the Customer Service Department is looking for people right now, so I'm hoping that I can get the required minimum one year service in one's current position before applying for a transfer waived in my case. I had applied for a CS position initially and was almost begged to accept a warehouse position first. The recruiter who called me told me that "most of their best CS and Sales people had first started in the warehouse and worked their way up." So I'm really hoping this might be an option for me. I'd hate to have to quit and lose the health benefits I worked so hard to obtain - the first benefits I've had in over 5 years! It might mean a pay cut, but, I'm thinking, if I can get a desk job, then I'll be able to come home from work without being totally exhausted every day, and be able to "moonlight" and make some other cash on the side. Right now, doing anything after work is next to impossible since I am so bone-tired every single day. Even my weekends are pretty much a loss due to the extreme fatigue I experience after a hard week's work!

Changing topics yet again... Saw some great movies recently. Bought "Alvin and the Chipmunks" for the girls and laughed myself sick though it! It was an AWESOME movie! Two thumbs WAY up! Rented "The Last Legion" and "Beowulf" and thoroughly enjoyed them too. The "Hyper-real animation" of Beowulf had my jaws open many times during that movie. Sometimes I would forget it was an animated movie! Then I'd see a minor character move and be suddenly reminded it was! LOL! Still, an awesome movie - the dragon near the end was incredible! (Burf, that was for you! Tee hee!) "The Last Legion" was another good movie. (I was amazed at the female lead actress they cast! Aishwariya Rai could give Angelina Jolie a run for the "Sexiest Woman Alive Award"! I read that she is a famous "Bollywood" actress, but I had never heard of her before.) I've always liked historical fiction, and the recent burst of "Arthurian legend" movies has really excited me. The idea that King Arthur was either a Roman legionnaire, or directly descended from one is relatively new, but there have been a number of good books and movies written about it recently, mainly the "King Arthur" and "The Last Legion" movies and the books written by Jack Whyte ("A Dream of Eagles" series) and Bernard Cornwell ("The Last Kingdom" series). Loads of fun and food for thought in those, let me tell you!

Saw Spiderman 3 (FINALLY!) recently and enjoyed it immensely. Kirsten Dunst was absolutely heartbreaking in it but I think they skipped too quickly over the "Spidey/Venom" symbiotic relationship. I guess it was too hard to cover it all in a 2.5 hour movie. I think they should have made it two movies and explored the slow realization of Peter Parker that he was being altered for the worse by the symbiont in more depth. They also failed to follow the original comic's story line about how tortured Eddie Brock was as Venom. At first, Eddie/Venom was gleefully evil, but as the comic story progressed, Eddie began to develop a conscience, thanks to Aunt May, whom he befriends, initially to hurt Parker. Eventually, Venom sides with Spidey and fights to destroy Venom's "offspring" Carnage, who takes over the body of a psychotic killer with no moral compunction whatsoever. Venom is killed in the battle, but not before sending Carnage to an alternate dimension from which there is no return. (Can you tell I was a Spiderman comic fan in my younger years? LOL!)

Well, this post has rambled on for quite a while now, so I'll wrap it up and hopefully post again sooner rather than later! Have a good weekend, all!