You know, when I started this blog I was all full of piss and vinegar, looking for a place to write all of the good things that were happening in my life. Wouldn't you know, there haven't been a whole lot of good things that have happened since I started it. It's almost as though it was a bad thing I started to do here....lol.
I may just wind up having to change the name and outline of this blog. You see, the ghost hunting group that I was a part of has changed so radically that I have absolutely no desire to continue on with them. The ownership has changed, the management has changed, and to be honest, my will and drive to continue doing this type of work has dwindled greatly over the past year.
I originally started Ghost Hunting back in 2005 when my life partner, Al, got sick with Cancer. We really didn't know back then that he was going to die (I had a sneaking suspicion) but the subject had always been one of fascination for both of us, and I think he was just as intrigued with it as I was, even though he wasn't physically capable of handling the demands of the busy hunting schedule. I started at the worst possible time....late September. October is the crazy season for Ghost Hunters.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Anatomy of a Betrayal--
This is kind of an off topic post, as I know that someone has been scouring the internet seeking ALL of my email addresses, and has actually found them....so maybe the next time does a search string on me he'll read this. If you aren't actively harrassing me at this moment, please disregard this message.
William, what you did to me was wrong. I don't know if it was your intention to stab me in the back from the moment that you walked in the door here at my place of work or not, but either way, what you did to me and the others that work here was WRONG.
Lets not even mention the things that were done to Mark, that I'm sure by now you've managed to weasel your way out of. Of course I have to pay in cash for that too since the money that I loaned to him to help him get through the effects your betrayal of him is obviously not coming back to me.
You managed to steal at least $50 from the second station, and considering that I can't imagine what else you managed to help yourself to with a five finger discount. I can't even believe that you have the audacity to try to get your final paycheck two months after the fact, and do it threatening to use the labor board. Guess what--the threat is moot. The labor board has already been contacted, so you can just knock that crap off right now.
The thing that bothers me the most is that you are going to scour the internet, get all of my email addresses, and for what? To steal my identity too? If you wanted to talk to me all you had to do is pick up the phone. Instead you are going to be total jerk about the whole thing, sending me email's addressing me as "Mr. Hamilton." as if I were the one who did all this horrible betrayal crap that you just pulled before Christmas--going so far as to even STEAL A TRUCK to satisfy your own sociopathic needs.
William, the problem is yours. Grow up and deal with it.
William, what you did to me was wrong. I don't know if it was your intention to stab me in the back from the moment that you walked in the door here at my place of work or not, but either way, what you did to me and the others that work here was WRONG.
Lets not even mention the things that were done to Mark, that I'm sure by now you've managed to weasel your way out of. Of course I have to pay in cash for that too since the money that I loaned to him to help him get through the effects your betrayal of him is obviously not coming back to me.
You managed to steal at least $50 from the second station, and considering that I can't imagine what else you managed to help yourself to with a five finger discount. I can't even believe that you have the audacity to try to get your final paycheck two months after the fact, and do it threatening to use the labor board. Guess what--the threat is moot. The labor board has already been contacted, so you can just knock that crap off right now.
The thing that bothers me the most is that you are going to scour the internet, get all of my email addresses, and for what? To steal my identity too? If you wanted to talk to me all you had to do is pick up the phone. Instead you are going to be total jerk about the whole thing, sending me email's addressing me as "Mr. Hamilton." as if I were the one who did all this horrible betrayal crap that you just pulled before Christmas--going so far as to even STEAL A TRUCK to satisfy your own sociopathic needs.
William, the problem is yours. Grow up and deal with it.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Was that a Presidential or a Preschool debate?
This morning I awoke ashamed to call myself a democrat. I guess it was around 6 am when I subconsciously heard all the screeching on the television in my bedroom, and so I ascended into consciousness to see what in the heck was going on. To my chagrin, there was my chosen presidential candidate embroiled in petty squabbling with her opponent over absolutely asinine and inane nothingness.
All I have to say is this--"Shame on you Both!" If you both would like to see Sen. Edwards win the party nominaton, then you are doing good job. Knock this childishness off and get down to running for president rather than spending so much time trying to knock eachother down.
This whole situation was truly pathetic, and I am embarrassed and shamed to call myself one of your supporters.
All I have to say is this--"Shame on you Both!" If you both would like to see Sen. Edwards win the party nominaton, then you are doing good job. Knock this childishness off and get down to running for president rather than spending so much time trying to knock eachother down.
This whole situation was truly pathetic, and I am embarrassed and shamed to call myself one of your supporters.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Can anyone stop the Paparazzi? Good Try Brittany!
You know, I hate to admit it, but I really did like Brittany Spears. In a strange sort of way, I still do. I'm going to rant about her for a while here and pretend that she may actually read this, so if you really don't care about her at all, or are going to hate me for admitting that I like her, then please just move along to the next blog!
I was thrilled to giggles today when I read that Paparazzi following Brittany Spears last night were jailed after demonstrating unsafe driving techniques to the police while attempting to keep up with her last night following an after hours shopping spree in Los Angeles. Hoo-f-in'-ray--someone finally caught these bastards in action, thus proving what lengths that these insane bastards will go to to document this poor girl doing such inane things as picking her nose or taking a dump.
The truth of the matter is, with the way that you folks in the Paparazzi have been acting, I don't think that you want to document Britanny's life so much anymore as you want to document her death...which is most likely going to come to her in a Princess Diana manner due to the constant harrassment that you folks put this poor girl through. Don't you realize that it's way past time to leave Ms. Spears alone for a while and allow her to put her nightmare of a life back together? While it's admirable that you are going to such extreme lengths to keep her name at the top of the Hollywood Celeb list, really....give her a minute or three to breathe. EVERYONE in America pretty much loves this young woman, and we want her to be able to get her head screwed on straight and to finally return to the superstar status that she has so dramatically come crashing down from.
Now, Brittany...I Love ya girl, but you are missing some golden opportunities here. You are embroiled in this nasty, awful divorce/custody thing with K-Fed, and you are experiencing some things that you simply need to disappear into the studio and write about. You need to go to work, cause if you do it will most likely save your life--and I'm not just blowing smoke at you. I remember back to some of the most influential bands of my time when I come to that conclusion. Lets think about Fleetwood Mac, and their "Rumors" album.
During the creation of that, one of the most popular music compilations of all time, nearly all of the members of the group had some sort of inner turmoil brewing. Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham were going through the first part of what was to continue as a very nasty breakup for a long time to come. John and Christine McVie were also gearing up to split. Only Mick Fleetwood had the brains to keep the group together during this terrible time, and the result is one of the most soul felt musical accomplishments of all time--not to mention one of he best selling albums/CDs of all time.
Lets now take a look at the Madonna and Sean Penn breakup. Now THAT was a nasty one. Madonna took her feelings and emotions into the studio after that breakup, and the resulting music was some of her best accomplishments ever. Then she went a little crazy....but I don't ever remember anyone ever fearing for her physical safety, like they are over you.
To put this whole thing in a nutshell, if you want your life and your kids back, you need to start acting like the superstar that you are, rather than they spoiled teenager that you really didn't get the chance to be until getting out from under your mother's thumb. Get your rebellion out in ways other than the ones that are going to detrimental to you! There's an old saying that goes like this "Living well is the best revenge!" Go out and get that. Work-stay home and away from the paparazzi. Leave Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan to do their thing and screw up their own lives. Take care of yourself, and use your musical and dancing talent to get back on top of the world.
Okay, I'm done. Now, I don't EVER want to hear about this again.
I was thrilled to giggles today when I read that Paparazzi following Brittany Spears last night were jailed after demonstrating unsafe driving techniques to the police while attempting to keep up with her last night following an after hours shopping spree in Los Angeles. Hoo-f-in'-ray--someone finally caught these bastards in action, thus proving what lengths that these insane bastards will go to to document this poor girl doing such inane things as picking her nose or taking a dump.
The truth of the matter is, with the way that you folks in the Paparazzi have been acting, I don't think that you want to document Britanny's life so much anymore as you want to document her death...which is most likely going to come to her in a Princess Diana manner due to the constant harrassment that you folks put this poor girl through. Don't you realize that it's way past time to leave Ms. Spears alone for a while and allow her to put her nightmare of a life back together? While it's admirable that you are going to such extreme lengths to keep her name at the top of the Hollywood Celeb list, really....give her a minute or three to breathe. EVERYONE in America pretty much loves this young woman, and we want her to be able to get her head screwed on straight and to finally return to the superstar status that she has so dramatically come crashing down from.
Now, Brittany...I Love ya girl, but you are missing some golden opportunities here. You are embroiled in this nasty, awful divorce/custody thing with K-Fed, and you are experiencing some things that you simply need to disappear into the studio and write about. You need to go to work, cause if you do it will most likely save your life--and I'm not just blowing smoke at you. I remember back to some of the most influential bands of my time when I come to that conclusion. Lets think about Fleetwood Mac, and their "Rumors" album.
During the creation of that, one of the most popular music compilations of all time, nearly all of the members of the group had some sort of inner turmoil brewing. Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham were going through the first part of what was to continue as a very nasty breakup for a long time to come. John and Christine McVie were also gearing up to split. Only Mick Fleetwood had the brains to keep the group together during this terrible time, and the result is one of the most soul felt musical accomplishments of all time--not to mention one of he best selling albums/CDs of all time.
Lets now take a look at the Madonna and Sean Penn breakup. Now THAT was a nasty one. Madonna took her feelings and emotions into the studio after that breakup, and the resulting music was some of her best accomplishments ever. Then she went a little crazy....but I don't ever remember anyone ever fearing for her physical safety, like they are over you.
To put this whole thing in a nutshell, if you want your life and your kids back, you need to start acting like the superstar that you are, rather than they spoiled teenager that you really didn't get the chance to be until getting out from under your mother's thumb. Get your rebellion out in ways other than the ones that are going to detrimental to you! There's an old saying that goes like this "Living well is the best revenge!" Go out and get that. Work-stay home and away from the paparazzi. Leave Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan to do their thing and screw up their own lives. Take care of yourself, and use your musical and dancing talent to get back on top of the world.
Okay, I'm done. Now, I don't EVER want to hear about this again.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Iowa MUST Change it's Democratic Caucus Process or, How Barack Obama won in my precinct
I've been thinking, wondering and debating whether or not I should post this, as I know it won't make a darn bit of difference in the world, but something in me has to find a way to publicize what happened in my precinct on the night of the Iowa Caucuses. I really want Mr. Obama to hear about this...but I know it's silly to think that he will.
You all knew that I was being wooed by the Hillary campaign, and I might as well tell you that I did go to the caucuses to be counted in her corner. I'd never been to a Caucus before, so it was a new experience for me, and I actually relished the chance to experience it. In hindsight, I wish I never would have gone and seen what this antiquated method of politics was all about. It was singularly the most appalling thing that I've ever seen that could directly effect my future.
As usual, my clerk that was to relieve me at work was late by about a half an hour the night of the caucus. I was still able to make it to the site in plenty of time to be counted though, so it's no biggie, even though I did arrive much more stressed than I normally would have. After taking care of all the paperwork and pleasantries, I positioned myself on the side of the auditorium where the other Clinton supporters were located. After a while, I began talking to the guy who was in charge of our section, and I volunteered to do all of the counting for the Clinton corner. Cool for me! I get to actually do something important that might make a difference in the world!
After we all got settled, they took a count of everyone registered to vote in the room. We started with 118 people. We had 32 for Hillary at the start, and I don't know what the others had. You needed 18 people in your camp for your candidate to be considered viable, which we easily accomplished. It turned out that in our precint, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich (sp?) turned out to not be viable candidates. Since they weren't viable, the other groups had to do whatever they could to convince these folks to move over and support the candidates that were considered viable--within a one hour period of time. Easy enough to understand eh? Well, the Obama folks had another trick up their sleeves other than just trying to convince the inviable to move to their camp! By using intimidation and scare tatics, the Obama supporters were successfully able to scare off two of the Hillary supporters, making them leave the caucus site-and the votes for Hillary-altogether!
Lets face it folks...when you have two or three large black women screaming not so nice things at little old blue haired ladies across a school auditorium for absolutely no other reason than politics, one can't consider it to be anything other than an intimidation tactic--and I was absolutely horrified to see that our election system could be influenced by methods such as this. This is the way that the mob got people elected back in the 20's and 30's for petes sake! This couldn't possibly be happening in my precinct at my first caucus??? Wow. The whole thing really pissed me off.
Aside from the two ladies from the Clinton camp, one of the ladies who was there to support Bill Richardson absolutely refused to join with any other group, so she took off. One of the John Edwards supporters had something he needed to get done at home, so he left during the half hour of democratic party news that had to be forced upon unwary caucus goers before we could actually count each other, so that left 114 people in the room that were eligible to be counted in our precinct on caucus night.
After the hour of endless banter attempting to get the people who wound up with unviable candidates to support a candidate that they really didn't want or like, we had been successful in pulling in only 4 people from the Richardson camp. We gained one of the two Kucinich supporters as well...not too bad when you added that The person in Charge of this mess was also a Hillary supporter that I had not previously counted into the Hillary numbers. So heres is a breakdown of how it all worked out that night:
We started with 30 Hillary Clinton supporters
We lost two to scare tactics, which left us with 28 people remaining
We gained 5 from other candidates, giving us 33 supporters for Hillary
We had the Democrat who lead the caucus giving us 1 more for a total of: 34 Votes for Hillary
Grrrrrr.
Our precinct had 5 delegates total and it took 18 people to be awarded one delegate. We desperately tried to get double that amount, or 36 people, so that we could have a second delegate awarded to Hillary. Unfortunately because of the two people that were scared off, we came up two people short of the second delegate. Very very aggravating!
Here's how the tally's came in--pay attention to the numbers, please.
45 people for John Edwards
38 People for Barack Obama
34 People for Hillary Clinton
Now...that adds up to 117 people. How in the heck did that happen, and better question is "WHY" did it happen? There were only 114 eligible voters in the room when it came time to be counted, so it shoudn't be possible...except...
The democratic party allowed non eligible people to sit in amongst the eligible voters. This MAY have caused some counting discrepencies. Why didn't the party chair at the precinct make these people that weren't eligible move out of the room during the final tally? I don't know and I'm afraid to speculate on the subject.
To summarize this rant--yeah, I'm upset because my candidate lost, but do you know what? I'm more upset with the fraudulant practices that lead up to my candidates loss than by the fact that she lost. I'm curious just how many other precincts saw this kind of behavior here in Iowa? Any voting process that can allow people to be influenced by intimidation tactics and then allow those who used them to steal those lost votes and add them to their own candidates final tally absolutely makes me nauseous. It leads me to believe that the Iowa Democratic Caucus system is just too antiquated to be a viable method of conducting a primary election in the 21st Century in the United States of America, where everyone is supposed to have the right to stand up and be counted!
I'm really glad that you were happy with your win here Mr. Obama. In my book, Mr. John Edwards is the man who really took Iowa that night. Your team should have been disqualified.
You all knew that I was being wooed by the Hillary campaign, and I might as well tell you that I did go to the caucuses to be counted in her corner. I'd never been to a Caucus before, so it was a new experience for me, and I actually relished the chance to experience it. In hindsight, I wish I never would have gone and seen what this antiquated method of politics was all about. It was singularly the most appalling thing that I've ever seen that could directly effect my future.
As usual, my clerk that was to relieve me at work was late by about a half an hour the night of the caucus. I was still able to make it to the site in plenty of time to be counted though, so it's no biggie, even though I did arrive much more stressed than I normally would have. After taking care of all the paperwork and pleasantries, I positioned myself on the side of the auditorium where the other Clinton supporters were located. After a while, I began talking to the guy who was in charge of our section, and I volunteered to do all of the counting for the Clinton corner. Cool for me! I get to actually do something important that might make a difference in the world!
After we all got settled, they took a count of everyone registered to vote in the room. We started with 118 people. We had 32 for Hillary at the start, and I don't know what the others had. You needed 18 people in your camp for your candidate to be considered viable, which we easily accomplished. It turned out that in our precint, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich (sp?) turned out to not be viable candidates. Since they weren't viable, the other groups had to do whatever they could to convince these folks to move over and support the candidates that were considered viable--within a one hour period of time. Easy enough to understand eh? Well, the Obama folks had another trick up their sleeves other than just trying to convince the inviable to move to their camp! By using intimidation and scare tatics, the Obama supporters were successfully able to scare off two of the Hillary supporters, making them leave the caucus site-and the votes for Hillary-altogether!
Lets face it folks...when you have two or three large black women screaming not so nice things at little old blue haired ladies across a school auditorium for absolutely no other reason than politics, one can't consider it to be anything other than an intimidation tactic--and I was absolutely horrified to see that our election system could be influenced by methods such as this. This is the way that the mob got people elected back in the 20's and 30's for petes sake! This couldn't possibly be happening in my precinct at my first caucus??? Wow. The whole thing really pissed me off.
Aside from the two ladies from the Clinton camp, one of the ladies who was there to support Bill Richardson absolutely refused to join with any other group, so she took off. One of the John Edwards supporters had something he needed to get done at home, so he left during the half hour of democratic party news that had to be forced upon unwary caucus goers before we could actually count each other, so that left 114 people in the room that were eligible to be counted in our precinct on caucus night.
After the hour of endless banter attempting to get the people who wound up with unviable candidates to support a candidate that they really didn't want or like, we had been successful in pulling in only 4 people from the Richardson camp. We gained one of the two Kucinich supporters as well...not too bad when you added that The person in Charge of this mess was also a Hillary supporter that I had not previously counted into the Hillary numbers. So heres is a breakdown of how it all worked out that night:
We started with 30 Hillary Clinton supporters
We lost two to scare tactics, which left us with 28 people remaining
We gained 5 from other candidates, giving us 33 supporters for Hillary
We had the Democrat who lead the caucus giving us 1 more for a total of: 34 Votes for Hillary
Grrrrrr.
Our precinct had 5 delegates total and it took 18 people to be awarded one delegate. We desperately tried to get double that amount, or 36 people, so that we could have a second delegate awarded to Hillary. Unfortunately because of the two people that were scared off, we came up two people short of the second delegate. Very very aggravating!
Here's how the tally's came in--pay attention to the numbers, please.
45 people for John Edwards
38 People for Barack Obama
34 People for Hillary Clinton
Now...that adds up to 117 people. How in the heck did that happen, and better question is "WHY" did it happen? There were only 114 eligible voters in the room when it came time to be counted, so it shoudn't be possible...except...
The democratic party allowed non eligible people to sit in amongst the eligible voters. This MAY have caused some counting discrepencies. Why didn't the party chair at the precinct make these people that weren't eligible move out of the room during the final tally? I don't know and I'm afraid to speculate on the subject.
To summarize this rant--yeah, I'm upset because my candidate lost, but do you know what? I'm more upset with the fraudulant practices that lead up to my candidates loss than by the fact that she lost. I'm curious just how many other precincts saw this kind of behavior here in Iowa? Any voting process that can allow people to be influenced by intimidation tactics and then allow those who used them to steal those lost votes and add them to their own candidates final tally absolutely makes me nauseous. It leads me to believe that the Iowa Democratic Caucus system is just too antiquated to be a viable method of conducting a primary election in the 21st Century in the United States of America, where everyone is supposed to have the right to stand up and be counted!
I'm really glad that you were happy with your win here Mr. Obama. In my book, Mr. John Edwards is the man who really took Iowa that night. Your team should have been disqualified.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Once a Con Man, Always a Con Man.
Well, I said that I wasn't going to use this blog to wrote down all the negative things that happen in my life, but this is one of those times that I think that someone else might be able to learn from the mistake I've made, and I think that I should post about it in case you are to find yourself in a similar circumstance.
About a month ago, I hired a gentleman (and he WAS, at the time) to work in my store that I'd known for several years as a great guy gone astray. He had gone to prison a few years back and had served all of his time, exiting the system almost completely free, with only the "felon" tag attached to him, and not having to do the probation or parole thing. He had gone in for identity theft, and had spent nearly a full three years in the prison system.
He came to me as a friend about a month back, and asked me for a job. He had been going to school to learn computers while he was in prison, and he was sooo excited to get out in the world and get a job, as well as continuing his education. I just happened to need a night clerk, so I told him yes, and that he could even use the dead time in the boutique in the evenings to do his homework. It SHOULD have been perfect.
After he and I forged this new "working friendship," I contacted the person which whom he had committed the prior Identity Theft charge on, as coincidentally he is now one of my roommates and told him about this hiring that I had done, and convinced the guy that he had really changed since the time of that incident, and that he should talk to the guy and maybe they could work out some kind of personal restitution. At first he didn't want to, but after a time he reluctantly agreed. Even they began to form a new friendship, and the two of us were invited to spend out Thanksgiving evening with my new employee and his new roommate. It was a great time, and we thought that all was going very well.
Yesterday I came into work and it looked like no one had cleaned the place in three days it was so dirty. I wondered what had happened on Night Shift the night before that the normal everyday cleaning wasn't done. I decided to call my employee to find out. No answer...which I kinda expected as he had closed the night before and I figured he was still sleeping. About three hours later, his roommate called me asking "Have you seen him? He didn't come home last night! I'm worried!" Well....me being who I am just had to learn everything about what was going on...and I investigated it.
My new clerk had purchased a truck from a fellow employee just the night before, and his roommate had told me that my employee had borrowed his truck the night before, and neither truck was either in the lot at work, or in the parking lot at his home. Interesting! How did he manage to drive two trucks? A better question--It's TUESDAY, and my new employee is someone who lives paycheck to paycheck--how did he afford to buy a truck from this fellow employee last night? I call his roommate to find out...
"He made a $500 deposit in the ATM last night, and withdrew $250 after he made that deposit. I wonder where He got the $500?" is what his roommate said to me when I called him back. Alarms started going off in my head as I hung up the phone and contemplated the whole situation. The only place I could think of that he could have gotten that kind of money was here at work...in MY store! I started checking things out around the business, but never found anything missing. I began to get less worried after a while. I knew that he was scheduled to come in to work last night and I figured that I would talk to him then. Surely he wouldn't skip work having just purchased a new car from a co-worker.
BUT he did a no-call/no-show for work last night, and here is where I'm going to condense this story. My tech came in this morning to balance down a portion of the business that operates on machines, and discovered $50 missing from the total. I was once again worried. Where had the $500 bucks come from? And then I got the call. He had apparently made 3 $500 deposits yesterday! Wow!
He deposited 3 envelopes into the atm with only $1 in each envelope, and less cashed $250 each time from his friend/roommates account! I couldn't believe it. These two guys were like peas in a pod, sharing an apartment, saving for the same things, sharing their lives together, and trusting eachother implicitly. And one of them goes and does someting like this, totally betraying the other. And it gets worse...so very many things are missing from his roommates apartement now--valuable jewelry, etc. He left the house yesterday telling his roommate that he was going to work too, but he never made it here. He just lied, and now he's disappeared off of the face of the planet. There's more to this story too, but it's even more long winded, and involves suicide threats, betrayal, and even more theft.
I guess I'm telling this story because I feel hurt and betrayed. I feel as though I gave someone a chance, and they totally screwed me...and planned to do it all along. Even though he didn't do all those things to ME, I feel like a total idiot for thinking that this guy had paid for his crimes and deserved a second chance. All he did to me was steal $50 (so far that we know) and then not show up for work, so I should count myself lucky. For some reason I don't feel that way. I feel cut to the bone, as though my already non-existent faith in humanity has dropped yet another notch. I can't even imagine how his roommate feels. How could someone do that to their best friend...someone who would have gladly thrown down his life for that of his buddy? How could he treat him that way??? And then to drop off the face of the planet so he can't even confront him....what a freakin coward! He's a Liar, a Thief, AND a Coward. I can't believe it. HOW could I have been so wrong about someone?
And now, I have an added problem. I stuck my neck out for this person to have a job here where I work. I promised the owners that this guy had changed, and they allowed me to go ahead and hire him, against their better judgement. How can they ever trust me to hire anyone ever again based on my own gut instincts and my ability to know how to trust someone? I'm very distressed over this.
The lesson here is that a Leopard doesn't change his spots, or Once a Con Man, Always a Con Man. Be careful who you trust people, as people really don't change after they've grown up into adulthood. It's sad, and I hate to admit it, but I'm almost at a point where I don't trust people anymore. It scares me to think of what kind of world it will be when we've all hit a point where we can't trust eachother anymore? Will we really want to live there? I don't think I'd want to. (Not to be taken as a potential suicide threat....I like being alive!)
ciao for now.
About a month ago, I hired a gentleman (and he WAS, at the time) to work in my store that I'd known for several years as a great guy gone astray. He had gone to prison a few years back and had served all of his time, exiting the system almost completely free, with only the "felon" tag attached to him, and not having to do the probation or parole thing. He had gone in for identity theft, and had spent nearly a full three years in the prison system.
He came to me as a friend about a month back, and asked me for a job. He had been going to school to learn computers while he was in prison, and he was sooo excited to get out in the world and get a job, as well as continuing his education. I just happened to need a night clerk, so I told him yes, and that he could even use the dead time in the boutique in the evenings to do his homework. It SHOULD have been perfect.
After he and I forged this new "working friendship," I contacted the person which whom he had committed the prior Identity Theft charge on, as coincidentally he is now one of my roommates and told him about this hiring that I had done, and convinced the guy that he had really changed since the time of that incident, and that he should talk to the guy and maybe they could work out some kind of personal restitution. At first he didn't want to, but after a time he reluctantly agreed. Even they began to form a new friendship, and the two of us were invited to spend out Thanksgiving evening with my new employee and his new roommate. It was a great time, and we thought that all was going very well.
Yesterday I came into work and it looked like no one had cleaned the place in three days it was so dirty. I wondered what had happened on Night Shift the night before that the normal everyday cleaning wasn't done. I decided to call my employee to find out. No answer...which I kinda expected as he had closed the night before and I figured he was still sleeping. About three hours later, his roommate called me asking "Have you seen him? He didn't come home last night! I'm worried!" Well....me being who I am just had to learn everything about what was going on...and I investigated it.
My new clerk had purchased a truck from a fellow employee just the night before, and his roommate had told me that my employee had borrowed his truck the night before, and neither truck was either in the lot at work, or in the parking lot at his home. Interesting! How did he manage to drive two trucks? A better question--It's TUESDAY, and my new employee is someone who lives paycheck to paycheck--how did he afford to buy a truck from this fellow employee last night? I call his roommate to find out...
"He made a $500 deposit in the ATM last night, and withdrew $250 after he made that deposit. I wonder where He got the $500?" is what his roommate said to me when I called him back. Alarms started going off in my head as I hung up the phone and contemplated the whole situation. The only place I could think of that he could have gotten that kind of money was here at work...in MY store! I started checking things out around the business, but never found anything missing. I began to get less worried after a while. I knew that he was scheduled to come in to work last night and I figured that I would talk to him then. Surely he wouldn't skip work having just purchased a new car from a co-worker.
BUT he did a no-call/no-show for work last night, and here is where I'm going to condense this story. My tech came in this morning to balance down a portion of the business that operates on machines, and discovered $50 missing from the total. I was once again worried. Where had the $500 bucks come from? And then I got the call. He had apparently made 3 $500 deposits yesterday! Wow!
He deposited 3 envelopes into the atm with only $1 in each envelope, and less cashed $250 each time from his friend/roommates account! I couldn't believe it. These two guys were like peas in a pod, sharing an apartment, saving for the same things, sharing their lives together, and trusting eachother implicitly. And one of them goes and does someting like this, totally betraying the other. And it gets worse...so very many things are missing from his roommates apartement now--valuable jewelry, etc. He left the house yesterday telling his roommate that he was going to work too, but he never made it here. He just lied, and now he's disappeared off of the face of the planet. There's more to this story too, but it's even more long winded, and involves suicide threats, betrayal, and even more theft.
I guess I'm telling this story because I feel hurt and betrayed. I feel as though I gave someone a chance, and they totally screwed me...and planned to do it all along. Even though he didn't do all those things to ME, I feel like a total idiot for thinking that this guy had paid for his crimes and deserved a second chance. All he did to me was steal $50 (so far that we know) and then not show up for work, so I should count myself lucky. For some reason I don't feel that way. I feel cut to the bone, as though my already non-existent faith in humanity has dropped yet another notch. I can't even imagine how his roommate feels. How could someone do that to their best friend...someone who would have gladly thrown down his life for that of his buddy? How could he treat him that way??? And then to drop off the face of the planet so he can't even confront him....what a freakin coward! He's a Liar, a Thief, AND a Coward. I can't believe it. HOW could I have been so wrong about someone?
And now, I have an added problem. I stuck my neck out for this person to have a job here where I work. I promised the owners that this guy had changed, and they allowed me to go ahead and hire him, against their better judgement. How can they ever trust me to hire anyone ever again based on my own gut instincts and my ability to know how to trust someone? I'm very distressed over this.
The lesson here is that a Leopard doesn't change his spots, or Once a Con Man, Always a Con Man. Be careful who you trust people, as people really don't change after they've grown up into adulthood. It's sad, and I hate to admit it, but I'm almost at a point where I don't trust people anymore. It scares me to think of what kind of world it will be when we've all hit a point where we can't trust eachother anymore? Will we really want to live there? I don't think I'd want to. (Not to be taken as a potential suicide threat....I like being alive!)
ciao for now.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Look out Zelda Rubenstein!
With a little luck, Tangina Roberts will have NOTHING on the Diepart X-Team as they prepare to investigate and clean a house in Bussey, IA.
Investigating has never been a problem for members of the "X-Team," but this is the first time that they will attempt to do a full cleaning on a house. The Diepart investigative group has reviewed this house and investigated it, deeming it to be frought with potential paranormal activity. It is the "X-Team's" Job to go in and try to clean the house using any means necessary.
I think that for our first cleaning, we will most likely be doing a standard Christian house blessing. If that doesn't work, well...I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Usually a good Christian blessing does the job quite well.
Coming soon we have a cleaning on a house the previously served as home to more than 100 indian artifacts. These poor folks have been living in "hellish" circumstances for quite a while now. I'm not quite sure how we are going to proceed with this one! I've been spending some time searching out Indian Legends and whatnot, trying to find some sort of blessing that would appease indian spirits. This hasn't been particularly fruitful though. If anyone knows of any exceptional reference on this subject, please speak up! I'm all ears.
Today it's freezing cold outside, and I can't seem to wake up. I hate waking up in the morning. I think that the law should allow all people to sleep to their hearts content, and then go to work regardless of what their companies business hours usually are. I think that people would be much more productive if they could sleep in until they wake up naturally--their bodies having gotten all the required sleep to make them happy and clear headed. Right now, I'm walking around like a zombie. I'm sitting at this keyboard every so often too, and when I do, I'm usually on the brink of gettting "qwert" imprinted on my forehead. Thank god I have a customer come in every once in a while to wake me up for a few minutes, or I'd be passed out on the floor most likely.
We are trying to get the store decorated for Christmas here, and I must say we aren't doing very well. We have some good ideas, but they are all time consuming, and time isn't a luxury that we have right now. We are wrapping up old vhs cases with foil and making them look like giant toffee's, and using paper plates to create peppermints. It should be pretty cool by the time that we are done, but this is a big space, and I can't see us getting done anytime soon. We really need to put our noses to the grindstone if we are going to pull this one out of our assses.
Thats it for now. Have a great day everyone.
Investigating has never been a problem for members of the "X-Team," but this is the first time that they will attempt to do a full cleaning on a house. The Diepart investigative group has reviewed this house and investigated it, deeming it to be frought with potential paranormal activity. It is the "X-Team's" Job to go in and try to clean the house using any means necessary.
I think that for our first cleaning, we will most likely be doing a standard Christian house blessing. If that doesn't work, well...I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Usually a good Christian blessing does the job quite well.
Coming soon we have a cleaning on a house the previously served as home to more than 100 indian artifacts. These poor folks have been living in "hellish" circumstances for quite a while now. I'm not quite sure how we are going to proceed with this one! I've been spending some time searching out Indian Legends and whatnot, trying to find some sort of blessing that would appease indian spirits. This hasn't been particularly fruitful though. If anyone knows of any exceptional reference on this subject, please speak up! I'm all ears.
Today it's freezing cold outside, and I can't seem to wake up. I hate waking up in the morning. I think that the law should allow all people to sleep to their hearts content, and then go to work regardless of what their companies business hours usually are. I think that people would be much more productive if they could sleep in until they wake up naturally--their bodies having gotten all the required sleep to make them happy and clear headed. Right now, I'm walking around like a zombie. I'm sitting at this keyboard every so often too, and when I do, I'm usually on the brink of gettting "qwert" imprinted on my forehead. Thank god I have a customer come in every once in a while to wake me up for a few minutes, or I'd be passed out on the floor most likely.
We are trying to get the store decorated for Christmas here, and I must say we aren't doing very well. We have some good ideas, but they are all time consuming, and time isn't a luxury that we have right now. We are wrapping up old vhs cases with foil and making them look like giant toffee's, and using paper plates to create peppermints. It should be pretty cool by the time that we are done, but this is a big space, and I can't see us getting done anytime soon. We really need to put our noses to the grindstone if we are going to pull this one out of our assses.
Thats it for now. Have a great day everyone.
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