Office Spaced

So I spent 8 hours in work related training today...None of the training was either timely or useful. The trainer was so boring she makes oatmeal look exciting. I could have listened to my 8th grade history teacher Mr. Benson tell the history of oatmeal with more interest. (Mr Benson had been teaching 8th grade history since history began. Every day he would stand in front of the class leaning on a lecturn, staring straight ahead. As soon as the bell rang for class to start he would take a deep breath and deliver a single monotonoues lecture. No roll call was asked for at any time. No questions answered. No human acknowledgment whatsoever. I could have spontaniously combusted and he wouldnt miss a heartbeat.) oops, I digress..
As the class started she went around the room one by one asking us soulless introductory questions. She eventually had the misfortune to arrive at me. "How long have you been with company?" she asked condescendingly. I flatly answered "nineteen years." She then droned on "Interesting, what department?" I sighed "quality control and customer service for the last nine months. But mainly I have spent the last 18 years in various warehouse positions." She perked up and asked with eagerness " Oh really?? What made you decide to go into an office position." I answered like a hollow void. "I died." She at first smiled..I didn't smile back. She then became uncomfortable and asked "I'm sorry?" I answered in the same tone. "Last year I got sick, died and came back to work six months later." She decided to skip to the next person.

For those of you fortunate not to know me in my work life, I provide the following information. I am the scourge of all management. I despise logos, slogans, acronyms etc. I make it my cause to fight any stupidity and waste that comes my way and I usually win. So, useless training earned a lecture to my manager. I made him admit we are just going through the motions with this shit. That is an important admission to me. It means I can sneer at the pep rally mentality and not get into trouble.They leave me alone, and I will leave them alone.

It's a good thing they tolerate the idiosyncrasies that go with my competencies.

Ted the Cat

I love cats. There has always been at least 1 cat in my life, my whole life. My Black Cat Ted is 10 years old and I am his property. From head to tail, stretched out, Ted is 36 inches long. He weighs 27 pounds of mostly muscle. He looks like a miniature panther.

Babies. Ted loves Babies of any species. We have 3 cats, all of them have been raised from kittenhood. Ted adopted the other two the instant they were brought home. The funniest sight is a 27lb cat running from and acting like he is scared of a 6 oz. kitten so she will chase him. As I said he loves other babies too. 3 years ago, friends of mine brought over their newborn. The wife was concerned about Ted and his size and she asked me to put him in another room. I understood and complied with her request. But, it was too late. Ted caught sight of the baby. I forced him into my bedroom. He howled and howled like he was dying. The sound was so guilt wrenching, the wife finally couldn't take it and reluctantly asked me to get Ted out of the room. I brought him out and plopped next to the baby carrier. He sat and stared, it was his first human baby. Ted was so happy and he wanted to give the baby a bath sooo bad. I stopped him but let him stay in the nesting position next to the carrier as guardian of the baby. He was quick to react with concern or alarm at every coo or goo sound. When my friends went home he was heartbroken. I believe he thought he was getting another baby to raise. He moped around the house for two days.
Flashforward to the present: I think Ted is reacting to my hormones and my physical change. He has been taking a far more dominant role in my life than before. When male friends are visiting he has been sitting on me or right next to me the whole time. He has been far more clingy than usual. All of the these issues are noticeably different than before. Has anyone else had any other experiences with their animals and hormone changes?

Trans-continental exchange

Last night a friend and I were having one of our long distance, late night brain storming sessions. He is extremely intelligent, but scattered when direction is required. I have an excellent grip on logic and am hyper focused when my mind is made up. Put the two personalities together and get the hell out of the way. Last night I came out of the closet to him. I wasn't too worried about his reaction, but there is always doubt fluttering about in the belfry. For one thing he is naive about gender and sexuality. Those were the parts that worried me, I didn't want to scare him away. We started our session with warm up talk and then got synchronized and sank below the surface. Synchronizing consists of gauging the persons mood, energy and sensitivity for the upcoming exchange. We both dialed in faster than usual and that was a relief since I was distracted. A half hour into our conversation I prepped him and then spilled it. His reaction was at first subdued. So I ithen nquired about his knowledge on transsexualism. He confessed that he didn't know much outside the pop media. He despises the media and so he was saying he knew nothing constructive. Step by step I explained the whys and hows of transsexualism and he absorbed it quite well. His reaction turned from neutral to positive as the evening progressed. I answered all his questions, defined everything and shared my feelings. It was a heart warming experience for both of us. He said that he was honored that I would trust him with a "soul's secret" and he supports me 100%. Now that's friendship! I am so lucky to have friends that have (so far) accepted me.

Who are you?

I am a Geek! Hear my wheeze! Feel you retinas burn as you try to avert your gaze from my pale skin!

I spent most of Saturday at a private screening of Season 3 Babylon 5 on DVD! Season 3 is my favorite, so I was in Nirvana! Severed Dreams and Zhahadum are my favorite episodes!
Listening to the interviews with J. Michael Straczynski naturally made me salivate and think about the creative process. I have written works of short fiction and have been internet published. Obviously this isn't a major accomplishment, but it does have base satisfaction. But, I have always wanted to create something on a grand scale like Straczynski, Tolkien, etc.. The only things holding me back are minimal skill, unmanaged time and I lack the drive of a true writer. Other than those few minor issues a grand project would be fun! Watching StraczynskiI I could hear the pitch in his voice raise with excitement as he described his ideas and thought processes. All these years later he is still so proud of the work that he and everybody involved put into Babylon 5. It's an amazing accomplishment and the sense of fulfillment must be comforting and a relief to know it all worked out. Maybe someday I can pull all of my shit together long enough to accomplish a creative feat. (-;