merry christmas to ya'all. and sheesh what a cold one. good thing I got tons of heat. we've been working outside all week siding a house and I'll tell ya what--it is one cold fucker out there. aint too bad the first couple of hours but as the day goes on and the sun moves farther away, it gets nasty. we usually quit earlier cuz its simply too cold to do a good job. its hard to wrap aluminum around a door or window frame when your hands are shaking, and gloves just dont work for that cuz of the tiny nails it takes. so I nail a bit, put my gloves on and smoke a ciggy, then have at it again. works for me.

thing is, I really like what I do; all my complaining is not as heartfelt as I make it sound. Id rather be shivering hanging siding than any other kind of work.

for example: Id be a lousy telemarketer cuz Im too fuckin set in my ways and if somebody gave me a hard row to hoe (like I do when on the receiving end of those calls) then Im afraid Id get fired for telling them to take a long walk on a short pier and slamming down the phone.

I wouldnt be any good in a coalmine (if there were any jobs in that market) cuz I dont like being underground for 8 hours.

counter sales? been there done that. sold hardware for 9 years, sold flooring for 2 or 3 at Lowes. and I just can barely deal with the public. Im a fuckin clerk, not a fucking mind reader--I do no know what your living room will look like with a lighter-grained wood contrasting against your persian rugs. I cannot tell you whether the 2 1/4" or the 3 3/4 base trim would look better behind the fridge. Im wearing green plaid pants and a yellow and orange striped shirt; one sock is gray and the other is white with a hole in the heel and you want my opinion on what fucking throw rug would look good in your entryway? what a fucking joke you are! go hire a yoga teacher to beautify your house cuz it sure as hell aint me gonna make it happen, ya fuckin mook. go home.

and the biggie--theres no timeclock* to punch in this line of work and to me, thats worth a zillion bucks. I dont know exactly why, but having a timeclock is like being in prison. I come and go [within reason] as I please and if I gotta do something before work, it aint no big deal. or leave early, same thing. I just hate clocks when it comes to working.

sheesh, was just gonna say happy xmas and ended up yakkng all over the place. go figger.

guess I better go warsh my skankass and get ready for tonight. we McGee's do all of (or most of, I guess) the gift opening on christmas eve, then laze about all day tomorrow and play with our new toys and eat and watch TV (not me, I dont do TV) and whatever.
by the looks of the forecast, I think I would rather be working cuz tomorrow looks to be the warmest day outta the following 4 or 5. but oh well...Ill just sleep in and then drink coffee and read and play with my fire downstairs. I might clean the chimbly, its a wee bit sluggish. I aint been on the roove yet this year, and Im pretty sure I didnt do it late last season. prolly got a full year of soot to be removed. now that my boss' garage burned down, Im kinda more careful. I totally revamped the exhaust this week, plus rerouted the main trunkline and basically refurbished everything I could from the inside. now all I gotta do is go up-top and drop a rope attached to a length of chain and beat the crap offa the inside. takes about 15 minutes. but I do not go on any roove solo. I want someone here in case I fall, and my cohort in crime doesnt usually get here til after dark.

maybe tomorrow, while the temp is slightly higher and Im not alone, Ill crawl up there and do my thing (which besides the rope-work also includes me yelling: "top of the world, momma!"...sounds like a plan, eh?

again: Happy Holidays to everybody...









*according to wordweb, time clock is two words whereas timecard is one. who makes up these fucking crazy rules anyways?