Just Another Campfire Story

Do you practice religion?

Not at all. Once, many years ago I practiced religion, I was raised catholic and went to catholic school from pre-school to 8th grade. Church twice a week! I bought in at a young age, I believed the stories, I read the scriptures. Then I grew up, I got curious, I had questions!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any issues with anyone who practices religion. I don’t have any issues with anyone who doesn’t practice. I do however, have a big issue with those who try and shove it down others throats and those who don’t have rational thinking or the ability to discuss the truths and non-truths of religion.

To me, religion is just another campfire story. Someone started a story, and for whatever reason, a lot of people bought into it. People generally need something to believe in, so the boogie man, Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot & aliens are out! That stuff is just too scary if true. So the majority chose to believe in religion!

Back to me, I follow the science. I believe in truth and all things proven. Dinosaurs, real! They existed and we have endless amounts of proof of their existence. Many will always revert back to how man was created. This varies on the perspective of scientific, religious or philosophical.

Scientifically, we were created as a result of millions of years of evolution. (this is what I believe in)

Religion perspective is that people believe god created the first humans, Adam & Eve. You know the story, created from the dust and breathed life into him, then from a rib bone, created Eve! (Like I mentioned above, a campfire story)

That was the Christianity version, as there are too many other religions to mention here, but essentially all leading to the similar ending, not real!

Finally, the philosophical perspective. This thought is human creation comes from the nature of existence, consciousness and the essence of being human. This does not focus on the physical creation but rather the purpose of human life.

So the question, do you practice religion? I do not! You may, you may not, and which that I respect your values and beliefs, just don’t start wars and arguments over your beliefs! Remember, we all have the right to believe and practice what we choose without fear of judgement.

My Legacy

What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

What I would like for my legacy is to leave behind positive impacts on my friends and family along with memorable contributions to my community.

It took a long time, but I finally understand that treating others with kindness and compassion will leave a lasting impression, which is one thing I’d like to be remembered for. Building positive relationships and contributing to my community by sharing my skills, talents and knowledge. In hopes that my existence was enough to help guide and change others for the best!

Ultimately, I’d hope my legacy makes people feel good and have a better outlook on life because of something I may have said or done to advice I may have given.

It’s never too late, your legacy is yours to create, be the change you want to see in others!

Happy reading!

Fruitaholic

List your top 5 favorite fruits.

This is my kind of prompt! I am a fruit freak. My refrigerator is always stocked with grapes, blueberries. Raspberries. Blackberries, and either pineapple or watermelon chunks.

On the counter, there’s always some grapefruit, honeycrisp apples, bananas and cuties!

You could say I really love my fruit! If I have to list them in order to decide my top 5, it would look something like this:

#5 Red Seedless Grape

#4 Watermelon

#3 Kiwi

#2 Grapefruit

#1 Honeydew

One of my favorites is taking multiple different fruits and putting them in the juicer. PERFECTION! Nothing better than a multi-fruit fruit juice!!!

A top five list is tough, because there are so many other fruits. Pending ripeness, freshness and current mood, there are a dozen other fruits that could easily be number one and knock a few others off the list.

No matter what your fruit of choice is, never stop eating fruit!!!

Where To Now

Where do we go from here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those crazies who is mad prepping and living in fear daily. I live quite well honestly, however, I do pay attention and wonder what is wrong with this world?

Nothing is how it used to be. I ask, where do we go from here, mainly because we have a choice to make and some choices have consequences. There’s an election coming, and I assume there’s as many out there who care about November 4th as there are who don’t care.

Worldly issues to issues in our own country are popping up daily. Ever since the Covid -19 “pandemic” our lives have changed, and not for the better!

Product unavailability, price increases, lack of workers, elimination of social freedoms, rights are now wrongs, and wrongs are now acceptable.

So, where do we go from here? Many of us just want to move forward and work and support our families and enjoy what time we have left on this earth. That is easier said than done! A lot of people can’t afford to get out and enjoy life, others can’t find employees to help their businesses and employees who do show up can’t get time off.

I honestly doubt there’s an actual answer, the only two choices for the next presidency is not very good and really, the two running most likely are just figures who are not in charge of anything! one is an elderly idiot and the other is a ticking time bomb idiot!

Why even vote? Because it’s your right! Seriously though, does your vote even count? They want you to believe it does, I’m not so sure about that!

Back to, Where do we go from here? Maybe we don’t go anywhere, maybe we have to accept this is the new normal, this is what life is going to be like now! Go out in public and take a look at all the people still wearing masks! It’s absurd. Try and afford a grocery store steak or gasoline at the stations.

Do you own a business? If so, you already know how much of your product has suffered!

I really don’t know where we go from here, I don’t really know if there’s an answer and I really don’t know if it’s going to get better or worse, the realist in me says, worse!

Change only happens when We The People stand up and stop being quiet and start fighting for what is right. The problem with that is so many people have lost touch with what is right and what is wrong!

Until next time, happy reading!!

Pet Peeves

The list is long! However, since becoming a business owner and having employees, I’d have to say my latest and greatest pet peeve is when people don’t put things back where they found it! There’s nothing worse than cooking on the line and needing something that isn’t where it belongs. You walked over to take it PUT IT BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT!!

Inability to follow instructions, would be my next pet peeve! Even when the instructions are explained and demonstrated, some just continue to do shit wrong! How hard is it to pay attention, watch, listen and learn then do it properly?

My third pet peeve, is, if you work in an industry where you handle cash. At the end of your shift please organize your cash in order and have all bills having the same way! Nothing worse, than having to count several hundred dollars all while spinning and flipping bills to be in the correct order!

Another pet peeve, when out, if the server / bartender asks your for your ID, give it to them! There’s absolutely no need for any bullshit comment about your age, how you’re the oldest in the bar or you have children older than the server. Guess what, no one fucking cares, just show your ID and let them do their job!

I feel like the lack of caring and the lack of monetary punishment is to blame here! If people had to pay for their mistakes, that might make them care more and do better at job performance.

All I know is, the two listed pet peeves above drove me crazy! I really don’t think I’m cut out for being in charge of people!

Enjoy, and comment some of your work place pet peeves..

Medical Misfortune

A few years ago, I had an issue with my lower back. Seen a local doctor, I was then sent to physical therapy. During PT, I was put in traction. during this time, traction caused a slip. I laid there for several hours waiting for the disc to calm down. Once i was able to move, the doctor ordered an MRI. The MRI revealed two annular tears.

After returning to the doctor, I was advised these tears would not heal and the disc will continue to slip. What I was then told was, I could do some therapy and core strength exercises to help strengthen the area to avoid any further disc slips.

I bought in and began a serious gym regimen to help strengthen my core. Seemingly all was ok! For two years, I was pain free and mobility was near perfect. Until it wasn’t! What came next was a series of mishaps and painful days that led to my inability to move.

The disc slips several times a week now. So back to see the doctor. This visit, in my mind, warrants a new plan, based on the frequency of slips now. New plan, according to the doctor, “learn to live with a bad back”

How inappropriate is that? After a few weeks of unhappiness and pain, a nurse friend suggested a different doctor. Prior to visiting the new doctor, I have a new symptom. Neurogenic bladder. Frequent disc slips and now bladder issues, I 100% assume we have enough problems to schedule something to fix me.

The new doctor requires a new MRI due to my current MRI being two years old. Unfortunately, this doctor can’t get an MRI scheduled in a decent time frame. This is when it was suggested to see if I could get an MRI scheduled quicker in my home town.

Off to see my primary physician. I explained the problem and the request to have a new MRI. My PCP, gave me an injection, prescribed some meds to help my discomfort and got an MRI scheduled faster than the new doctor.

After waiting a few weeks, I head in for my lumbar MRI. Waiting a few hours for results, I check the patient portal to see results for a thoracic MRI. WHAT TYE FUCK?? They didn’t even MRI the area of issue!

I called to primary doctor to advice the mistake and was told they’ll send these results to my specialist and see what he thinks.

I’ll tell you what he will think, why in the hell would you MRI a completely different area than the area of issue?

So, here I sit, in pain, with a completely wasted day of hospital BS all for absolutely nothing. Not to mention, how I need to have a new MRI scheduled and hopefully approved. But more importantly, is my insurance and myself responsible for paying for a wrong MRI??

Why is it so difficult for people to do things correctly?

Does Anyone Really Know

Are we in a recession or not? Well, unfortunately that all depends on your political views vs real life views! Are you a democrat or Republican? If you listen to our current president, he’ll have you hearing how jobs are soaring and the economy is the best it’s ever been.

I don’t speak for anyone else and I don’t speak for other cities or states. What I can tell you is my town is dying!

We are a steel mill town. Cleveland Cliffs, the former Weirton Steel, company is set to close the plant. This will eliminate over 900 jobs. A lot of families in the small town community are facing troubling times.

Other businesses, are closing up and considering closing up. With a majority of people in our town loosing their jobs, it sure does make it hard to have other businesses continue to grow.

Seems like a recession to me. A definite decline in economic activity had plagued our community. Restaurants are seeing less customers and small mom & pop stores are closing.

Is there an answer? As for our steel mill, that answer is above all our pay grades! My home town and the residents country will continue to suffer when politicians put their wealth before the wealth of the citizens!

Only time will tell, but it seems the population has decreased over the last several years, more and more kids are leaving and families moving away. The attraction to small towns just isn’t there anymore.

I own a small business, the town shrinking and jobs being eliminated has affected my business greatly. Fingers crossed and wishing for some good news in the upcoming future, that not only my business but all the businesses in our community can get back to being successful and profitable…

Myself…. I think!

If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?

This is a question that has always bothered me. Do you not like who you are? Or do you simply just want to see what it’s like being someone else?

What’s the point, what do you gain? I love who I am, sure there are days where I feel out of shape or ugly, but ultimately I still really enjoy who I am.

I’m not sure why we would want to be someone else for a day. I don’t truly see the benefits of being someone else, doing someone else’s job, duties, parenting…. if anything, I’d rather have the knowledge I have now and go back and start over as myself of course and re-live my life smarter and better.

Unveiling Life’s Journey: The Evolution Of P_ _ _ B_ _ _ _

If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?

I hear it all the time, you should write a book. Well, I often sit and think, what is it that makes people think my life is so special or interesting that other people would want to read about it?

I don’t have those answers. What I do have is some experience and some journeys and adventures that made me who and what I am today. I’ve lived a pretty good life and I never sat still very long to allow the so called grass to grow!

A book would be cool, but I still ask, “who am I?”

Instead of everyone reading a biography about me, how about everyone gets out there and lives their life to the fullest! Maybe others will want to read a biography about you!

Maybe, just maybe this is my biography, a blog site where I can unleash and describe my journey so others can be entertained!

Happy reading and until next time….

Service Industry Woes

Where do I start? Ever since covid, the entire service industry took an giant hit! Workers did not go back, jobs were cut, some businesses did not survive. The businesses that did survive did so on bare minimum man power and or extremely hard work by a few workers to keep their heads above water.

Every business is short staffed. Go visit a restaurant, the help wanted signs are plastered everywhere. I own a restaurant and we are short staffed! The employees we have do a great job, but were are all spread a bit thin. My father, about to turn 75, is the back bone of this business, he works circles around everyone, including me! Without him, we would struggle to keep open. I am forced to cover shits and cook on the line. Literally no days off! It is very hard to manage and keep up with my own responsibilities all while having to be another employee of the business. This however, is not the reason for this post!

Businesses are short handed and I understand that as well as the next guy! My issue is with the companies who hire people that absolutely can not do their job. For starters, the food industry, has been a nightmare. Out of stock, no stock, or inability to make deliveries has been an ongoing issue ever since the covid outbreak. The food distributors have nothing on the beer distributors though.

The delivery drivers don’t even know what product their companies carry. It’s a constant argument with what kegs are supposed to be returned or not returned, and an even bigger issue with invoices and orders being fulfilled. A $1000 invoice for product ordered, the deliver driver will bring in $600 dollars of product and still charge for the entire order. Seriously, is it that hard to pay attention to what is going on? I can not be there 24/7. Plus, I have a job and many responsibilities to tend to, I can not nor want to do another companies job as well. I get it, we’re all struggling to find employees, but the ones you have, you need to do a better job training them. As an employee, you should want to learn as much as possible about your job. Possible raise or advancement could be a goal, or maybe this new generation of lazy people is the way we all have to start getting used to.

It’s tiring constantly having to do the math, check the invoices, explain what is and isn’t their product. Don’t take the job is you don’t want to be good at it.

Just the other day I brought a large amount of fives and ones from the restaurant to the bank. The teller rolled their eyes and very curtly said, they have to count all that! Why work at a bank if you don’t want to count money? Isn’t that the entire bases of bank tellers?

My advice to anyone out there holding down a job, DO BETTER! BE BETTER! This world is struggling and we don’t need more help making it worse. Sharpen up, learn as much as you can and get the job done….. If you’re going to be anything in live, BE EFFICIENT!!