More Proof Mama Lohan is a Pimp and Not a Mother

Here's the story if you want to read it.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,395283,00.html

Basically little sister Ali tried out for a movie role for a producer that happened to also be behind a some porn movies. This isn't one of them but supposedly Dina was furious when she found out. Right!!! Everything like this is calculated. She knew and thought it would make great publicity to be "furious" about it. Well the TMZ article link in the above link states she got the part. I don't hear her mama Lohan refusing to allow her to work for this guy. She's not "furious" now, is she!!! It's all apart of her evil plan to get her kids working so she can make bank off of them.

Need I say more???

Onto the entertaining part of this post
http://bittenandbound.com/2008/06/23/plastic-surgery-disasters/

Check out these plastic surgery disaster. Scroll down to the bottom and there are several pictures to click on to see the terrible after shots...Look at Tara Reid's stomach....what happened?!?!? better question. Why would you wear a bikini after that?!?!?!? anyways maybe I'm the last to see these either way, look again, they'll make you feel better about yourself when you hate your job, or think you're ugly, or just generally not feeling good about yourself. At least you didn't pay a lot of money to get butchered.

Have a great weekend!!!

Lola's Corner - Meet Barkley and Winston

Hello and welcome back to my corner. Today it's smokin' hot here as I have 2 very sexy men to introduce you to. The first one is my boyfriend. His name is Barkley and he benches me over his head to work out. He weighs 100 lbs and he's the studliest dog at the dog park. This last week I tried to kiss him while we were resting and he spoke harshly to me. I like it when he exerts his manliness over me.

Sometimes I just can't help checking him out from behind!! You ladies know what I'm talking about. He has such a cute butt!!

This is us just chillin'

Don't we make such a cute couple? I'm going to marry him but he doesn't know it yet.

Do you remember when I introduced you to Duncan a couple of weeks ago. He was the foster brother of my 2nd cousins once, twice, three times adorable boxers named Aspen and Buster. Well it's celebration time because Duncan got to go to his permanent home where he will get lots of love and attention.

Now Aspen and Buster have a new foster brother and his name is Winston. He's quite the stud at 75 lbs. Aspen has decided he's her boyfriend since they aren't REALLY brother and sister. How could she not. He's so handsome. I hear he's really sweet too. With a face like that, how could you not be sweet?

Don't they make a cute couple too!!!

Way to go Aspen, I think you've found a keeper!!!

That's it for this week folks!! Send me pictures of you furry friends to lolafrog@gmail.com. It's ok if they've been featured before. You can send more if you catch them in cute poses or doing something silly.

Until next week
Love,
Lola Finola

Personal Finances – Buy a House You Can Afford

Whether you’ve been through the house buying process or not, you have probably dreamed of owning your own house or at least property of some sort. But when we dream of our first house, we dream of something really nice in a nice neighborhood, comparable to what our parents live in now. Ah but we forget that our parents were also just starting out in life once before, and they didn’t have anything as nice or as expensive as they have now. They worked up to that house they have now. Perhaps they set a bad example and they can’t afford that house either. Whether you had a bad example or just have pipe dreams, neither are an excuse to get a house you can’t afford the mortgage payments on.

Owning property is a good thing. It’s the one solid investment you can make even if you just own land. Over time, the value will increase. The real value is in the land. The building you put on it or that has been put on it already is just adding value. But the land itself will never loose its value. If you bought a piece of property with a house that you found was worthless and needed to be torn down, it is your responsibility to be aware of the condition of the structure on the land before agreeing to buy it.

When you make that plunge, mortgage brokers or banks will tell you what their formula says you can afford based on your income, your debts, and your monthly liabilities (bills). But you see, they don’t ask how much do you spend eating out or buying clothes or going to the movies. They just want to know that you will have money left over for food after your mortgage payment and bills. They don’t care if you put money in savings every month or want to put money in savings every month. Their commission is made on the size of mortgage they sell you. It is your responsibility to set the limit on what you can actually afford. No one expects you to have a 2500 square foot house the first time around. They just expect you to pay your bills each month and not become a drain on the economy.

Here’s the other thing you must consider. Depending on where you live, home values can be outrageously high and volatile, or reasonable with slow and steady growth. In some markets, it’s perfectly acceptable to take out an interest only loan. Here’s my rule on that. If you can’t make a payment that includes the principle loan amount as well as the interest on the loan, you can’t afford it. I don’t care if it’s a hot market and you’re convinced 3-5 years from now you will be able to sell it for $50,000-$100,000 more than what you “paid” for it. That’s a risk. What if home values drop dramatically? You are then stuck there paying interest on a loan worth more than the house.

That leads me to my next rule. If your income is not outrageously high to afford the volatility of the “markets” out there, only take out fixed rate loans. This means that the interest rate you pay will stay the same for the term of the loan unless you refinance. The only change in your monthly house payments will be on your property taxes and insurance. Those of you that can’t afford a down payment on the house but can afford 2 mortgage payments, you can get both loans fixed. Fixed rate loans will keep you out of trouble later.

When you have a loan that you are systematically paying on the principle, you are building equity. In essence it’s like a savings account. It’s just not a very liquid savings, but when you are paying rent or interest only, you are not building ownership or equity. You are throwing all of that money down the drain. Just start out with something reasonable and within your means. Only you know what that is. Don’t get caught up in the process of looking for a house either. You’ll find a yard you like or a house that appeals to your emotions and that’s when you can get in trouble. Keep logic at the forefront when going through the process. Set a maximum you can afford and a preferred amount. Sometimes you’ll find that houses at the maximum need more work than houses in the preferred range. Use logic. You can always trade up later on when you have the means to.

Venice Part 1

I have so many great pictures of Venice that it was hard to pick and choose. So this first round will be of St. Mark's Square.

These two shots are of the St. Mark's Cathedral. I think someone famous is supposed to be buried there but I can't remember, nor do I care to look it up.

This is the other side of the square from the cathedral's view.

This is the bell tower there. Every famous square in Italy has a corresponding bell tower.

This is the view from the back of the square. You can see the bell tower close to the cathedral.

And this is the view of the square from the bell tower. You have to climb a couple of towers while you're in Italy. The view is always spectacular. More views from up here next time. Just not of the square.

Me With a Gun is Such a Beautiful Image

So one day last week I come home. Shut the garage door and walk into the house. As soon as the door closes I hear what sounds like a cabinet closing in the kitchen. I freeze instantly because Lola’s locked up in her kennel so it couldn’t be her. I peek my head around the corner from the hallway and look into the kitchen. As we have an open floor plan, I can see the kitchen at the back of the house from just a few steps after I get in from the garage at the front of the house.

I see nothing but am still scared so I think to myself, get the gun but let Lola out because that’s her job to be a guard dog. At least that’s what boxers were bred for. Lola’s kennel is in the room right by the garage so I let her out then head straight for the bedroom to get the shotgun. I figure if there is someone there, I what to scare the crap out of him by cocking the gun. Plus the sight of a crazy-eyed woman holding a shotgun, who may or may not have raging hormones now or constantly, has to be terrifying to anyone who has trespassed into her home.

So I get the gun and Lola runs out ahead of me back to the living room. Picture this. Me with one of my crazy faces if you know me, or if you don’t know me one of Screech’s dorky faces on my body, which can be found in the Lake Tahoe posting, sneaking around the house like Elmer Phud hunting for that wabbit. Those that know me and my faces will attest to this being the most accurate description possible to help you picture me.

Right before I get to the living room, I figure this is a good time to cock the gun as I have the safety of a hallway that I can duck back behind if necessary. So I cocked the gun, which was loud, and seemed to confuse Lola a bit which is understandable since this is her first time hunting. Since there were no cries for mercy, I proceeded through the living room into the kitchen. Looked around the island and proceeded to the pantry/laundry room as this is where someone would potentially decided to hide if they were in the kitchen and heard me come in through the garage door. So I now have the gun pointed in front of me, safety off I assume, and my finger right behind the trigger as I don’t want to accidentally shoot a bazillion holes into the wall unnecessarily. Around the corner I fling myself with the shotgun to nothing but a bunch of towels. To be safe though I still have to look behind the door. No one is there. This is actually a good thing for the would-be burglar.

Since I heard a noise I can’t just assume that because I didn’t find anything in the kitchen that I should let my paranoia go. So next it’s to the various rooms and closets. We have a sliding closet door in Lola’s room, so I go in there, put the barrel of the gun in the end that’s cracked open and slide it open with the barrel. No one had better dare try and grab this gun from me. I’ll shoot. I’ll do it!!! Then after that, I’ll beat the crap out of you for being in my house uninvited. Then I’ll call the cops. No one was there or in the other room’s closet.

Next stop was the guest bathroom. What a better place to hide than in the shower behind the curtain. But again I let my gun do all the hard work just in case. Because I want anyone who’s there to be shakin' in their shoes if I find them there so that we can put an end to this peacefully and without injury to the house. Because really, I don’t want to pay to fix all the holes in the wall because you decided you had the right to trespass.

After all the bathrooms, bedrooms, and closets had been checked, I finally felt comfortable that no one was in the house and some kind of air pressure had caused one of the cabinets to open and close. Either that or a rat is running loose in them somewhere. YUCK!!!! But now I had a problem. There was a shell in the barrel and the only way I knew how to get rid of it was to shoot the gun. Can’t do that without someone to shoot at. So I put the safety back on, I assumed. At least back to the position it was in when I pulled it out. Call my husband with no answer. Well great what am I supposed to do now with a loaded and cocked gun? So I put it on the bed and shut the door, so Lola couldn’t jump on the bed accidentally discharging it, and we went about our business as normal waiting for the call back.

Now I never have made a call like this before so when he calls back he’s not expecting this question. “How do I un-cock the gun?” Ummmm…right….Lola and I were playing “catch the burglar” for you know what and giggles. Well and because we wanted the practice in case a real one ever comes. Anyways we immediately work the problem, and now I know how to “un-cock” the gun for the future. Although it is a little nerve-wracking to point the gun at the ceiling and pull the trigger to make sure that I indeed got all the shells out. Luckily I did and there aren’t a hundred holes in the ceiling to make future buyers ask questions.

This woman isn’t afraid to kick some butt. So burglars beware. I hope you enjoyed what I now see as a humorous look into my life. Since most of my stories about me aren't nearly that exciting.

Austin City Limits Festival - The Opportunity of a Lifetime

This is a plea to any of you that like music, used to really like music, or still dream about having musical talent and appreciate the musical talents of others.

Wolf-Rayet is my sister-in-law's band, and they have the opportunity to get voted into the line up for Austin City Limits Music Festival happening September 26-28. Please support them by voting for them. Click on the link below, scroll down until you see the "vote" button with the heading "vote for Wolf-Rayet." Click the button and it will ask for your email address. It will then send you a link to that email address that you have to click to confirm the vote. The link below also has one of their songs posted for you to listen to as well.

http://www.delllounge.com/music/sandj/contest/band/?id=31eb9ace-5426-4798-a46a-bf11b6f7f3e4

Here's also a link on there to their MySpace page if you want to check them out.

http://www.myspace.com/theuba

You can vote everyday until August 23 from any email you use. There's more information about the contest there.

I realize this is posted to the side of my blog, but I know some people probably don't bother to look over there much and anyone passing by my page randomly, might miss it. This post will be up all weekend so to those of you that read this, the link is also posted to the side at the very top under the lovely picture of Lola and will remain up until voting closes.

Thank you and have a great weekend.

Lola's Corner - Meet Lucky

Hello and welcome back to my world. I trust that you've all had a good week so far. I'm distracted right now by the swinging closet door. It's kind of fun to play with. Not as much fun as playing with poo though.....

So right before the 4th of July I went on a trip to my Granny and Pa Pa's house that they are building out in the boondocks. While mommy and I were walking out to the road, we overheard the neighbor lady shooing a dog away. That dog happened to see us and decided to follow us back to the house. She found shade and hung around that night too. She found water and wasn't skinny so presumably well fed be it through her own skills or the kindness of someone else. The next day daddy made a sign to put out by the road while Pa Pa decided to clean her up. Her fur was all knotted up and she needed a bath. So he cut the knots off. And he decided to name her Lucky. Because she's lucky to be alive and lucky to have found them.

Well no one has claimed her and they've decided to keep her. So this is my new aunt Lucky. She's real smart. Stays around. Has even caught a rat or something like that if I heard correctly. She even herded cousin Altoid back to the fold when he ran off. One of these days, mommy will remember to take a picture of cousin Altoid to share with you.

That's it for this week. Send me pictures of your cats, dogs, birds, lizards, or any other pets you may have to lolafrog@gmail.com.

Have a great week.

Love,

Lola

Personal Finances – Pay Off Your Debt

Apparently it’s really easy for people to rack up a bunch of debt. They get credit cards at a young age and think it’s ok to go hog wild buying anything and everything they want. They decide they are ready to buy a new car while carrying the debt of credit cards and school loans. Before they know it, they are in over their heads and don’t know what to do.

From my perspective, there are two kinds of debt. One adds value to your overall wealth, while the other chips away at it. Mortgages and school loans fall into the first category. While you are still throwing money away on interest, you are still building equity as long as you have a regular mortgage that you will eventually pay off in 30 years or less and own the house completely. Just be smart when you buy a house. Don’t get into a mortgage you can’t afford to pay each month. The bigger, nicer house can wait until later in life. School loans, if utilized properly and efficiently can increase your earning potential. This is why these are two perfectly acceptable forms of debt.

Credit cards, department store cards, vehicle loans, boob job loans, and whatever else you can think of fall into the second category of debt. These are debts chipping away at your wealth and the sooner you pay them off, the better off you will be. So your top priority should be to pay these various cards and loans off ASAP!!! Find ways to cut back elsewhere so you can put more each month towards them than you already are. For example, are you buying coffee every morning or eating out for lunch every day? Getting coffee once a week could save you as much as $12 a week, which adds up to about $50 per month. Eating out for lunch only once a week can probably save you at least $20 a week or about $80 a month or more. So now you have an additional $130 a month that you can be using to pay down your credit cards faster. I’m sure if you really think about it, you can find other ways to cut back The sooner you pay off those debts, the sooner you’ll free up that money to increase your savings, or the principle amount you pay each month on your mortgage. Both of which increase your wealth.

So if you can’t keep your credit card balances at $0 each month, cut them up and throw them away. If you don’t have it, don’t spend. If an emergency comes along, you can always get a new one. Also resist buying a new car. The longer you can go after it is paid off, the more you’ll have to put towards paying off your other debts, or towards savings each year. And remember, adding to your wealth is far better than throwing it all away, because 5, 10, or 15 years from now, you don’t want to have nothing to show for your hard work.

I don’t think I can say it more simply than that.

Lake Tahoe - One of My Own Personal Wonders of the U.S.

If you ever get a chance to go to Lake Tahoe, I highly recommend it. I am particularly fond of it in the summer, but wouldn't mind seeing it in the winter too. I still think one of my sets of parents need to retire there so we can come visit on a regular basis. It is a very beautiful and fun place, especially if you enjoy camping, hiking, and bears. I did see a baby bear there but didn't get close enough or stick around long enough to find out where it's momma was. But it looked so cute and cuddly.

If I could cut myself out of some of these picture I would. But for now you'll have to deal with my face being colored in.

This is actually the lake. It is very very very very cold even in the summer. This is because it's very very very deep. If I ever go skiing in that lake, I will have a wet suit on.

This isn't actually part of Lake Tahoe, but an hour or two from there in northern California. This wouldn't be a bad place to live either. What a view.

I hope you enjoyed Lake Tahoe as much as I did. And if you haven't been there already, put it on your list of places to go to.

Socially Ignorant or Just Atagonistic?

So I have a coworker who's completely inappropriate in more ways than one. He likes to look the ladies up and down and rarely looks at them in the eyes unless that's the only option you give him. i.e. never turn your body to face him, only your head, and if need be, turn your body away so all he can look at is your head or your shoulder. This coworker has told many an inappropriate stories about his own family, I can't even share the one that scarred us all for life, because there's no need for you all to be scarred as well.

Occasionally when we go out to lunch on for birthdays in our groups, he has been know to make politically provocative statements. No one seems to know if he's trying to get a discussion going, or if he's ignorant to the fact that we are such a diverse group that we will not all agree politically, hence the a bad idea to bring these topics up. Either way, the discussion is always quickly changed by any of the rest of us to more appropriate topics of conversation, because the statements he makes are so ignorant, his own political peers don't want him representing the views of their party. I say this not because it's inappropriate to discuss politics, but we are in a working environment where we have to get along and work together, and politics is so polarizing that unless you know you all agree, it's socially a bad topic to bring up in the workplace. Especially because most of us are reasonable and agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion no matter how right or wrong it is. And we all feel strongly about ourselves being right that we aren't even open to changing our minds.

This is all build up to tell you about our last staff meeting. He decides to tell the boss that he will potentially be out for jury duty (this is not something I would bring up in a staff meeting. I would go to the boss's office or send an email explaining this). Then he continues on to say he doesn't think he'll be picked because it's a capital case and he's against the death penalty. First of all. He lives in a county that's most likely going to share his point of view. Second of all, it's the defendant's lawyer's job to try and pick a jury of people that won't give his client the death penalty if he is found guilty. So there is no logic to your statement. Second, I really couldn't care less of what your opinion of the death penalty is, but a staff meeting certainly isn't the appropriate time to throw out those kinds of statements. Because 1, it wastes the rest of our time. And 2, you know that no one is going to challenge your point of view, because the rest of us know this is an inappropriate time and place to do so.

So I've decided to go into tomorrow's staff meeting and declare to everyone, "I believe in abortion, but only as a form of birth control, because if this had happened to all the criminals on death row, then their victims would still be alive and we wouldn't have to have this silly debate about whether or not the death penalty is right or wrong."

My conclusion is now just antagonistic.

Stacey Dash - You're How Old!?!?!?!?!

Since I'm probably talking mostly to the Clueless generation, meaning we all have a crush on Paul Rudd (he's so cute), and we all watched the movie Clueless back in the 1990s. I'm going to remind you of one of its stars. Remember Dionne, Dee, Cher's bff? She was 29 in 1995 when that movie came out! 10 1/2 years older than Alicia Silversone! Then she continued the character on TV for 61 episodes from 1996-1999!!! I couldn't pass for a highschooler now if I tried. Granted they never can on TV either, but I didn't think she was playing a highschooler at 30!!!! I wonder if she's got the record for oldest actor to play a high school student. Hmm...

She's old enough to be my way under aged mother!!! Yes but I knew someone that got knocked up at 12 so she really is old enough depending on when puberty hit for her.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.hollywood.com/cms/300x375/5222337.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hollywood.com/photo/Flip_Book_Stacey_Dash_/2400159/5222337&h=375&w=300&sz=53&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=KHrjthtfwdUQRM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=98&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstacey%2Bdash%2B2008%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7ADBF

Anyways the point of bringing her up is, have you seen her lately? Check out the link below for a slide show of pics unless you want to google her and see the her nekked booty. She's a knock-out. I would never have guessed that she's 42 ever. She was born January 20, 1966 according to her bio on Internet Movie Database. I thought she was probably around 34 to 36 based on when the movie came out. I had no idea.

Anyways so I hope I look half as good as she does in 12 years. Shoot I wish I looked half as good as she does now. I might be right at half. So I better do some work to keep it that way. Dang You go girl!!!!

Yeah yeah in case you're wondering, I watched celebrity circus and she got robbed. But it was at least by Antonio Sabato Jr. Now I'm going to say something stupid, but I can't help it. "He can rob me any day!!"

Lola's Corner - Meet Duncun

Hello and welcome back to my corner. As you can see my pampas grass is growing back quite rapidly and soon my corner will be nice and shady again.

So I survived surgery!!! Stupid jerks kept me over night and didn't let me out to pee. Now I can hold it a long time, but I'm still a little puppy and when daddy picked me up, I was so excited I peed all over the floor. But that's what they get for not taking me out that morning. I always go out first thing in the morning. Then I had an extra long pee as soon as we got home too. Kind of like I had a reserve tank in there that needed emptying too!! So here's a picture of my stitches. I'm quite proud. I get them removed this weekend and then I'm free to be a maniac again. Right now I'm a maniac against doctor's orders, but they didn't take me out to pee in the morning so pppppppllllllllllllllttttttttttttttttt on them!!!



Today I'm going to introduce you all to Duncun. He's a foster living with Buster and Aspen. As you can see he looks a lot like Aspen. He has been living with them since the 4th of July. What a way to celebrate this country's Independence!! He's kind of skinny, but he's in a real good place to get all the food he needs. Apparently he has a permanent home to go too soon and Buster and Aspen and his foster parents will miss him a lot. Just look at that sweet face.

This is Aspen and Duncun

Duncun

This is Aspen displaying her working skills. Since she's a working dog, it's her job to carry the keys, phone, and doody bags when they go for a walk.

A boxer with a job, is a happy boxer

And this is Buster's birthday party. Happy Birthday Buster!!! you can see Aspen and Buster's girlfriend Abby the doberman. Or should I say doberwoman. What a hottie she is. Way to go Buster. They had pupcake cupcakes and the recipe is provided for you below. I'm going to nag my mom to make me some. They sound delicious!! Thanks for sharing with us Buster.

Pupcake Cupcakes:
1 large apple
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oatmeal
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of honey
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheese - MMMMM I LOVE CHEESE!!!!!
Frosting:
18oz lowfat cream cheese
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons of honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Grease muffin tins.Core, slice, and mince the apple. Set aside.In a large bowl mix flour, oatmeal, baking powder, and baking soda.In a medium bowl blend yogurt, water, oil, honey, and eggs. Then stir in the apple and cheese. Add to the flour mixture and stir until mixed. Spoon into muffin tins until the tins are about 3/4 full.Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
For the frosting, combine the cream cheese (at room temperature), honey, and yogurt until smooth. Spread on the cupcakes.
Makes about 16 cupcakes. If you prefer a single-layer cake, spoon the batter into a sheet pan and bake for an extra ten minutes.


There you have ladies and gentlemen. Go out and make your beloved pups some cupcakes this weekend. I promise, they'll give you extra kisses to thank you .

Remember to keep sending me pics of your pets for me to share lolafrog@gmail.com. Next week I'll introduce you to a lucky little stray dog named Lucky. As long as she is still where she is.

See you next week!
Love,
Lola

Personal Finances – Your Credit Score

Helping people out of financial strain has always been sort of a dream of mine. Kind of like Suze Orman without the tan. But I hate the thought of charging them for advice when they’ve already gotten in over their heads. So this is potentially a way for me to offer what I consider to be common sense advice but what many schools and parents fail to teach causing endless cycles of families struggling to survive. Maybe someone somewhere will stumble across this blog and it will reach them somehow…Ah who am I kidding. That’s not going to happen.

So lesson one is about our credit score. Your credit score says a lot about you. The higher your score, the more responsible you have been with credit and money you owe. The lower the score indicates that you are more of a risk to lenders. There are 5 elements that make up your credit score; payment history, total debt owed; length of credit history, available credit, and types of credit used.

There are things you can do in each of these categories to improve your score. For example too many credit cards can be perceived as a negative, especially if they all carry balances. However, having no credit cards can also be a negative since it decreases the amount of credit immediately available to you. As some of you may have noticed, the longer you have a credit card and have consistently paid off the balances you carry, the more credit the card companies make available to you. This is a good thing if you are responsible and don’t carry a balance for long or if you make sure to pay off your balances every month.

Another habit you can get into is to make sure to pay all of your bills on time. This includes loan payments, credit card payments, and utility bills. Establish a history of honest dependable repayment. This tells potential creditors that you care about your financial obligations and that you are less risky than someone who sporadically pays their bills, or gets behind on their bills. People that do that are potentially in over their heads, and potentially don’t care about being in over their heads. As you can see someone lending you money wants to lend it to someone who they can trust will pay it back.

As you can see many of these things improve your credit score with age. This is because generally with age comes more responsibility of bills. I must say though what seemed to cause my credit score to jump most dramatically was buying our house and paying on it for a year on time and in full every month. I can make a guess that it has to do with being able to handle a larger, longer-term loan responsibly with all of our other payments.

The benefits of having a high credit score include the best interest rates, access to credit, and plain ol’ pride in yourself for being a financially responsible member of society rather than a drain on society. Because people that don’t pay their bills or run up high credit card balances and pay the monthly minimum if that, or get in way over their heads and find themselves juggling their bills from month to month are a drain on the economy.

I’m not saying people don’t run across hard times. We all struggle from time to time. But even when you are struggling, you can still live within your means. Maybe that just means, that new car will have to wait another year, or buying a house will need to wait another year or two, or you go without satellite or cable TV, or go without the Internet since you have access to it at your local library or at work during your lunch hour (or all day for most government employees J). Basically speaking, look at how much money you bring home each month, subtract your necessities, and I’m sorry but a cell phone is also not a necessity, negotiate what you will save each month and what excess wants you can afford. That’s living within your means, since keeping up with the Joneses is really impossible since as you get more, they get even more. Trust me, the Joneses are probably in over their heads too. At least you can hold your head high if you live within your means.

Now let’s all hold hands and sing cum bay ah…or however you spell it.

For more information related to your credit score go to http://www.myfico.com

St. Peter's Basilica - Vatican - Rome

Welcome to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican compound. For those of you that don't know, the Vatican is it's own little city in Rome. Meaning it's its own municipality. I could be off in my understanding of it so check wikipedia if you really care. It has it's own post office I know that. Anyways so my St. Peter's Basilica is my focus today. This is because Italy is filled with so much art and none struck me the way this place did. If you only have time for one museum of art, or if art gets really redundant to you as it does for me, go to the Vatican, take the full tour, but make sure you hit St. Peter's Basilica before you go into the Vatican. St. Peter's is free and if you go early enough in the morning, the square will be empty and it's worth the view. See this first picture that I so brilliantly blotched out our faces (as I have a no humans allowed on this blog rule except for terrible pictures of celebs maybe) all with the aid of my paintbrush program. hmmm who knew you could do that? I'm for hire if anyone wants to pay for my obviously fantastic skills.

Wait too long and the square fills up quickly, this shot is still very early in the morning. You probably want to get there at the crack of dawn. Get yourself an overpriced coffee at one of the shops on the block next to the Vatican and then head into the square to enjoy the peacefulness. I promise there will be a Japanese tourist there to take your picture.

The rest of the shots are from inside the Basilica. It's huge and very beautiful, and these pictures don't begin to show you all that's in there. It's worth the visit if you get the chance though.

Postpartum Depression Not an Excuse for Murder

We have all heard the notorious case of Andrea Yates, the Houston woman who systematically killed her 5 kids by drowning them in their bathtub at home. There have been many other cases of mothers killing their kids all over the country and the world for that matter that go to trial with an insanity defense due to postpartum depression.

I am not about do deny the fact that postpartum depression exists, or that having a new baby can be overwhelming and stressful. This is because my babysitting experiences caused all kinds of pictures to pop into my head that I knew better than to act upon. And I was only with the kids for a few hours. So I can sympathize with being around the baby 24/7 and becoming overwhelmed by it. However, I do believe that it is our responsibility and the responsibility of those close to us to recognize signs of this and to ask for help. If you don’t ask for help, that doesn’t relieve you of your responsibility to care for and protect your child from danger, including yourself.

I’m a firm believer that insanity of any reason is a ridiculous and invalid defense for murder ever. This is because you have to be insane to be able to kill someone with the exception of defense. So I don’t ever believe this should be a reason someone should go to a psychiatric hospital rather than prison. There’s not a doubt in my mind that those women are insane. What sane woman drowns, or stabs or strangles their child? None! I don’t care if they say they don’t remember it. There are always warning signs. Right I know I don’t know what I’m talking about I should just shut my mouth and feel sorry for them because they need help. Well everyone that’s in prison for murder, rape, or any other crime needed help before their crimes too. You have to take responsibility and reach out for help because if you don’t, people don’t always know you need it. Although it’s possible some of your closest family members may just be in denial that you need help.

There has been enough open discussion about postpartum depression in the last several years that I think it’s our responsibility as women to keep ourselves in check for that if we are going to choose to bring another life into this world. They didn’t ask to be brought here, so we shouldn’t take it out on them. I know it’s shameful, embarrassing, and people will judge you for having it postpartum depressive thoughts. I’ve got news for you; they’re going to judge you much more harshly in a courtroom for killing your baby or injuring it. There’s no shame in asking for help. We all need it at one time or another.

There’s really nothing more I can say about it.

Nat's Still Running the Peach Pit!

My post just got lost. dangit!!

blah blah blah

Nat's running the Peach Pit and he's freakin 71. Retire already. Oh by the way 90210 the new class is set to be on the CW network for those of you that haven't heard the mediocre news. Kelly and Donna are coming back. Kelly as the guidance counselor and Donna presumably as Kelly's BFF!! I'm sure she'll be a super rich and famous fashion designer who designs the school uniforms. The girls' uniforms of which will be extra slutty. How else are they going to get people to watch?

Rumor has it Brenda might too. But that makes no sense since she couldn't even make it back for her brother's failed wedding. It's not like she didn't have access to enough money. Her parents were filthy rich. Especially by then. Maybe they just had the worst case of sibling rivalry that they failed to address on the show. Or maybe she at twintuition that the wedding wasn't actually going to happen, so why bother.

My husband is convinced I'll watch. I say I won't. But I said I wouldn't watch the O.C. and look what happened. But that show really was terrible. Sometimes you watch crap when you're bored. The only thing I would be interested in is if more of the original cast came back and they showed tremendous personal growth. So it's possible that I'll check out the first episode or so, but if they focus in on the new class I'll lose interest fast. If they could get all of the original cast back together, that would be a reunion not unlike the New Kids on the Block reunion. Well except without the money making reunion concert. So not really anything like it.

Lola's Corner - I'm Getting Fixed!!!

Hello again. I've missed you all. I hope you have been eagerly awaiting this day when I share my beautiful mug with you. Really, I'm shocked that I haven't been offered a high dollar modeling contract yet. That's just how gorgeous I am.

So great news. I'm getting fixed tomorrow!!! The reason I'm so excited is that this means I can go have as much sex as I want with whatever dogs I want, and not have to worry about getting knocked up!!! So I plan on offering myself to every male dog that will have me. Especially that 100 lb boxer I've been playing with at the dog park the last two Sundays. He's a real stud. A real man if you know what I mean....not one of those sissy boys. I'm very excited!! I told him to wait for me and he said he would. Then he smacked me around a bit. But I liked it. I went back for more.

So no one emailed me any pics this week, but here's a link to a picture of Moxie the boxer I wanted to share with you. http://mominreallife.blogspot.com/2008/05/time-for-quickie-was-it-as-good-for-you.html

Rachel, is Moxie a boy or girl because I want to say boy, but that may be wishful thinking considering my soon to be infertile status. If Moxie's a boy, I'm way interested in going out with him. He's a sexy beast with that marshmellow (I refuse to call it marshmallow). To everyone else out there, there are more pics of Moxie on the "How to Celebrate the 4th of July" post still on the main page, which can be gotten to by deleting everything after .com in the browser and hitting enter. Since they have a human in them, I'll have to let you all navigate to see them, as it would otherwise violate my no humans rule. They are really cute though. I need a pool to go swimming in too!!!

So send me your pictures of you pets for next week. I'm out, with the exception of Christmas pictures which will have to wait until then. Lolafrog@gmail.com

Have a wonderful weekend which is almost here, and wish me luck and pray for me as I go under the knife tomorrow and for the doctor.

Lola

Victimization or Just Poor Choices?

I have this theory or perhaps perspective that I know for a fact I’m not alone in. It has to do with the fact that we are more in control of ourselves and our lives than we like to admit to. You see this is because it’s so much easier to blame a slew of poor choices on something like, oh say, a poor childhood, or something bad that happened to us rather than taking responsibility for our poor choices. Because then we have an excuse to continue making poor choices if we just aren’t ready to start making good choices. It’s not my fault.

For example, morbidly obese people that are confined to their bed, can’t work because they can’t move so they get on social security disability so you and I can pay for them to continue stuffing their faces. They claim they are just a victim of bad genes or some dramatic childhood experience or they are depressed. When in fact they have the power to stop eating after they’ve had enough. They have the choice to sit on the couch with a bag of chips or a bucket of chicken after dinner, or go out and take a walk or get on a bike while they watch T.V. They are only victims of their own poor choices, but they like it that way. The fact is they’ve chosen this lifestyle perhaps out of self-loathing or laziness. They aren’t unable to work. They shouldn’t get disability for this. I’d be more willing to pay for a life coach or therapist that will work with them on making better choices and changing their behaviors so they can be proud of who they are and get fulfillment from the good choices they make such as holding down a steady job, surrounding themselves with loving people rather than people that feed off of their bad choices, and just doing something worthwhile with their life.

The same goes for quitting smoking. While I won’t deny the addicting power of nicotine, I’ve known people that have smoked for years and years and years and quit cold turkey or in a short amount of time because they decided it was time. And you hear other stories like that all the time. But most people that say they can’t when they try, really haven’t made the choice to quit yet.

The past is the past. You can’t change the past and you aren’t trapped by your past. Your past doesn’t define your future. You may hate what happened to you, but you can’t change that, you can only control how you will face the future. You have to choose to let the past go. No one else can control your future, well unless you commit a crime and go to prison, but even prisoners made poor choices that led them there. They could have chosen differently.

Once people admit that they have control over their choices and take responsibility for them, then they can really live a fulfilling life. This is because they will change their perspective. They may still make poor choices from time to time, but by owning them, they can learn from them not to make the same mistakes in the future. There is no need to dwell on the bad stuff when you resolve to learn from it for the future.

I once believed that love was a feeling. Some other girls and I argued with 2 German boys about this. They said it was a choice and we said that’s crazy. It’s a feeling. That was when I was young and stupid. Thank goodness I didn’t get married back then. Sometime around the end of college or shortly after, it clicked. Love really is a choice. When I got married, I knew I wouldn’t always have the warm fuzzies for my husband because he’ll do things that make me mad or irritate me. But if I choose everyday to wake up and love him no matter what, I’ll forget next week or even the next day what he did that ticked me off. If I choose to wake up and love him every day, I’ll notice the little things he does around the house to show me he loves me, like when he cleans the kitchen for me, or washes my car, rather than dwell on the things he does that make me mad. When you make that choice every day, you feel love towards that person and it doesn’t seem like near as much work to keep the marriage together and happy. I didn’t marry my husband because I felt all warm and fuzzy about him, I chose to marry him after learning all about him and learning how we interact and how he is when times are difficult and learning how we work though problems together and learning that we enjoy spending time together. The warm fuzzies come every morning when I wake up next to him and every evening when he comes home from work. And because I chose him, I will choose to honor that commitment I made to him every day. I can control how I treat him and what I say to him. And if I let something unkind come out of my mouth, I can choose whether to woman up and apologize or just be a bitter bitch. But if I choose the latter, it will make his choice to love me that much more difficult. This can really apply to your relationships with friends and co-workers as well, just remove the warm fuzzies part.

Which leads me to the fact that we also choose our moods. I can choose to put on a happy face in spite of being miserable and after awhile of this, I’ll forget why I was so miserable. Or at least change my perspective towards what made me so miserable. For example, everyday millions and millions of us go to our jobs, and at any given time we all hate our job even if it’s only for one day or one hour out of every month. And we’ll complain to each other from time to time about something we hate about our jobs. But there are some that show up to work everyday and bitch and moan about how they hate their job. Sometimes they’ll add misery to their co-workers by droning on and on to them about how bad their life is and that they hate their job blah blah blah blah blah woe is me. But somehow these are the people that have been at the same job for many many years. Why is that? They choose to stay. They could choose to change their job situation by looking for another job. But they are comfortable. In fact if they’d change their perspective and just admit that they like the fact that they know their job and they like the fact that they don’t have to go out and interview for a new job and learn a new job, and they like the fact that they get paid for the work they do no matter how mind-numbing it may be. Work is work and it’s not necessarily supposed to be fun. Otherwise I think it would be called fun. But a attitude adjustment will keep it from being so miserable. It’s something we do to take responsibility for our own lives. And that should be fulfilling. Sometimes it will be stimulting, sometimes it won’t. I’ve also found in talking to many people over the years, that there are always going to be people no matter where you work or what you do, that are irritating or difficult. But try this perspective; they make the rest of us look really really good. So be thankful for the role they are playing at your job to help you. You can’t make their choices for them. They are in control of their destinies. But will probably find a way to blame you, God, or someone else for their misfortunes.

So the point being is victims are people who have had a crime committed against them. But just because some one had a crime committed against them, or had a bad childhood, that doesn’t make them a victim for life. They were only a victim at that point in time. They can choose to have a good life in spite of their past and they should because they will have a happier, more enjoyable life.

Iguaçu Falls

So I had the pleasure of making it down to Iguaçu Falls when I was in Brazil. It was a trip well worth making and if I ever get the chance to go back, I will. This is because of the last picture. These falls are on the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Unfortunately because of the last picture, we only saw it from the Brazil view. Only Victoria Falls in Africa can be considered larger but by standards of the largest sheet of falling water in the world. Otherwise Iguaçu Falls are much larger.

As you can see, similar views in all three pictures. This is because I couldn't walk. I could hop, but not fast enough or far enough. This little accident happened on the bus ride down there. We were at a stop to take a break for snacks and whatever, and I stepped down from the bus onto a curb. They took me to the podunkiest clinic you can imagine and all they did was take an x-ray and tell me what I already knew. That it was severely sprained. He said don't walk on it and I could maybe get crutches at a pharmacy. I had no luck so I just hopped until I got home and got lectured by my doctor for hop walking on it. What did he know???

So please search Iguacu falls and that will bring up some more beautiful pictures. Although pictures don't do this place justice.

How do you like my cankle?

The Fair Tax, It's Really That Important

I will on a fairly regular basis, reprint my write up on the Fair Tax. Or at least the meat of it. This is because I believe that it's so important that we all become aware just how badly our current tax system is screwing us over, and just how win-win the Fair Tax is as a solution to the problem. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have on it either in the comments or at lolafrog@gmail.com. Unless you have my regular email address. Then you can send questions there. This is something that I hope people will run across from time to time and become interested in.

I know that you all are smart enough to know that the government takes income taxes out of your check each time you get paid; taxes for income, Medicare, and social security. This is taken out for your convenience so you hopefully won’t have to write a check to the government at tax time. But it’s really a dirty trick to make you look forward to getting a refund and to forget about how much you actually pay in taxes every year. Most people of my generation already have accepted the fact that we won’t see a penny of our social security when retirement comes around. Either that or they’ll raise the “retirement age” to 90 before you can collect your social security. The problem is when the issue of privatizing social security comes up, we the people freak out in outrage because apparently letting the government control your money is much less risky than letting you decide who to help you invest it.

My intent with this is to simplify the Fair Tax enough to spark your interest to learn more about it. Basically speaking, it is a national sales tax that replaces the current income tax system that is such a drain on us today. The Fair Tax will do several things to stimulate your own personal economic situation as well as the macro U.S. economic situation.

Here’s what it will do for you and your family.
-You will keep 100% of your paycheck (I don’t know about you, but I can spend my money better than the government does)
-Medicare and Social Security stay in tact and your interest is still funded
-You will get a prebate (a check) every month based on the # of people in your house to cover the fair tax amount on basic needs regardless of income
-The cost of goods and services you use now will should stay about the same after the fair tax is calculated, if not go down
-You pay taxes only when you choose to consume
-Eliminate the tax deadline and the costs associated with filing the taxes that you already pay-Eliminates inheritance taxes, gift taxes, capital gains taxes, and all other ridiculous methods the government uses to rob you and your family on a daily basis
-Increases your ability to save tax free

Here’s what it will do for the U.S. Economy.
-Bring jobs that were sent overseas back to the U.S.
-Encourage global companies to set up shop in the U.S. providing more jobs to Americans
-Corporations will not have to pay income taxes either, thereby driving down the cost of goods and services since we know that corporations don't pay taxes, people do
-Collects taxes from tourists, illegals, and non-income earners every time they consume
-Takes the power from the federal government and puts it in the hands of the people

I can’t go into every detail here but I’m going to explain one very important thing as many people don’t understand this. Since you pay income taxes and the company you work for pays income taxes and other taxes just to have you as an employee, these costs are worked into the final price of the goods or services they offer. Their job is to make money not break even. (Even non-profits are not completely in the business of breaking even, because where would executives get their big fat bonuses?) So any increased cost a company faces, including tax increases on them, is passed on to you the consumer already. Corporations can't pay taxes because they are merely an infrastructure by which to collect and pass on taxes to the federal government, such as when you are paid every month. If those taxes go away, the cost of goods and services drop. The reason your goods and services will stay about the same is because these imbedded taxes will be removed and implemented in the form of the fair tax. But remember you’re now taking home 100% of your paycheck and keeping it, rather than 80%-90% or less of it. And you are receiving a check from the government every month to cover the taxes for the basic needs of your family.

One other important piece of information for you to ponder that should spark your interest. The fair tax is only collected once on brand new items. If you buy a used car or a used house, it isn’t collected, because all of those taxes were already collected the first time around.Here’s what you need to do about it. Read the book. I paid $5 for it at Barnes and Noble on the clearance rack. I’m sure you can find a copy of it for cheap. I’ll even loan out my copy. Your other option is to go the website http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer and educate yourself. You can see if your representatives support it or not, and if they are a co-sponsor of one of the bills, which is HR 25 for the house of representative and S 1025 for the senate. Once you are educated, start talking with your family and friends about it to spread the word. Write your representatives too.Don’t think of this as a right wing or left wing piece of legislation. Think of it as beneficial to everyone. Win-win for everyone. The nanny programs are kept that are generally seen as a good for a lot of people, but without burdening those that despise the abuse of the nanny programs. I can choose not to buy a new car if I don’t want to support it. Who knows, it may even stimulate those abusers of the nanny programs, to become productive members of society rather than the drain that they current are. I certainly can dream if I want to.

Since When Did Criminals Become the Victims?

For those of you that don’t know the story I’m about to discuss, a guy from Houston, or there abouts, shot 2 buglers dead, who had broken into his neighbor’s house and were stealing from him while the shooter was on the phone with 911. His name is Joe Horn, and last week the Harris county grand jury decided not to indict him in their deaths. As they chose correctly in my opinion.

What I’d like to talk about today is the terrible perspective written about in the following article written on CNN. If you’d like to read the article in it’s entirety, here it is. Otherwise I will post and address specific quotes that rile me up below.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/01/roland.martin/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

“Yet while folks revel in Horn's actions, it really does call for a moment of reflection about the seriousness of taking someone's life."

What about the seriousness of burgulary? What about the seriousness of drug dealing? What about the seriousness of being in this country illegally?

“But I just don't see exactly what there is to celebrate. Two men -- both illegal immigrants and one of them with a conviction for selling drugs -- are dead for stealing some personal effects, and we are supposed to welcome this vigilante justice?”

Does this mean you think we should lay out the red carpet for illegal immigrants, convicted drug dealers, and burglars? At what point do you plan to hold these guys responsible for their actions? Why is Horn the only responsible party here? They are dead because they broke into the wrong house. They are dead because they are in this country illegally and chose to repeatly break laws. Not because of vigilate justice. If someone breaks into my house, damn straight I won’t hesitate to blow them away. And If I see them breaking into my neighbor’s house, I hope the cops get there before they start to leave. I hope I’ll have the courage to stop them, follow them or something so they don’t get away with it. I don’t care if Joe shot them. He stopped them. They shouldn’t have put him in that position to begin with.

“Yes, the law was on Horn's side, whether he knew that or not when he fired. But when does our core decency come in when we make such life-altering decisions in a snap? Don't you think making the choice to kill someone should be based on something more dire, such as if your life is in danger?”

“Core decency!!!”…the criminals didn’t exhibit “core decency” and you want to talk about the “core decency” of Horn protecting himself and his neighbors? What was he supposed to do, go out there and tell them when to take his things when they are finished? And even help them load the truck? Is that what you mean by “core decency?” And who’s do say his life wasn’t in danger? Just because they were robbing his neighbor and not him at the moment, doesn’t mean that they weren’t coming to his house next. And when you see someone doing illegal behavior that egregious, you can’t assume that they are peaceful criminals, because by definition, criminals are disturbing the peace. At what point would you say it’s appropriate to interpret your own life being in danger? He was a witness, they could have left and come back in the middle of the night, or followed him one day to take his life. “Something more dire!!!!” Is it appropriate to pull the trigger before or after they put a gun to your head? REALLY!!!

“At no point was Horn's life in danger. We also know that his neighbor was out of town and no one was at home. So don't try to bring up the various hypothetical situations that could alter the basic facts of the story.”

And you know that the burglers knew that his neighbor was out of town how? And so Joe Horn should have also known this to be a fact too, and should have said, “oh it’s ok, my neighbor’s out of town, the insurance will cover his stolen property, I’ll just let them walk off with his stuff and hope they don’t come to my house next,” while cowering in a corner. Are we supposed to put signs out on our lawns when we’re out of town letting criminals know that it’s ok to hit our house because we’ve instructed the neighbors not to worry about you hitting their house since they are home? Meanwhile the premiums on our homeowners insurance start to creep up as they have to pay out more and more claims.

“Two sorry men who already broke the law by coming in the country illegally chose to hasten their fate by robbing the wrong house with the wrong neighbor watching.”

Do you mean they were sorry people because they were criminals, or they were sorry because they got picked the wrong house with the wrong neighbor watching?

“Our choices have life-altering -- or life-ending -- consequences.”

“But Horn could have chosen differently. He didn't have to fire on the men. He could have heeded the advice of the dispatcher and not gone outside with his shotgun. He could have left apprehending criminals to the folks empowered to do so -- the police.”

So Horn should have chosen differently, not the criminals? Really? How is it that YOU get paid to write crap like this? I thank God that there are decent people out there who will come to the aid of their neighbors and even strangers, risking their own lives to help others. Sure he could have chosen differently, but had the criminals been deported when they were busted for selling drugs, had then chosen not to break into someone’s house and steal their things, Horn wouldn’t have even had to make this choice. But yes, the criminals are the real victims here. Not the guy who’s house got broken into. Oh right, but he shouldn’t have chosen to be out of town right?

Lola's Corner - Welcome to the World Tonka

Hello again, and welcome to my world. Don't you just love my fake forced smile? I know I should be a super model or something like that. They should pay me hundreds of thousands, no millions, for this smile.

So I just got back from a walk with mommy and I didn't know that it was a bad idea to wolf down some food before going. Shortly after getting back from our lovely walk, I barfed it all back up. Funny, most of it looked very much in tact, almost as if I hadn't chewed. Hmmm. Maybe that's why mommy and daddy keep telling me to chew my food. Well that, and I choke on it sometimes. But when I'm hungry, I just want to eat like there's no tomorrow. Needless to say, I feel much better now. Hopefully I learned a lesson not to do that again.

I'm very excited because tomorrow I'm going on a road trip with mommy and daddy to see one of my grandpa's. He and granny are building their house and we are going to help. But sadly, granny's on vacation so I won't get to see her. But I'll still have fun running around and playing.

So today I'd like to introduce you to Tonka. He's an English Bulldog, and he's even younger than me!!! But not by much. He's about 10 weeks old now. Isn't he just as cute as can be?? Join me in welcoming Tonka to the wonderful world of a loving family that will take such good care of him.

This is Tonka's big sister Kelly. Obviously not his biological sister. She likes chin scratches and computing. She could type 70 words per minute if she wanted to. But she's a cat, why would she do something silly like that when she can get one of her pesky humans to do what she tells them?

Be nice to Tonka Kelly. He's just a little puppy.

So somewhere out there, is a boxer named Moxie just waiting to meet all of you. Apparently my email didn't work the first time. Hopefully Moxie's mommy will resend me some of those oh so cute pictures for next week.

Also any of you out there that would like to introduce you furry, feathery, or swimming pets to the world, please email me pictures at lolafrog@gmail.com. I've very much enjoyed my time with you. Have a Happy 4th of July.

Lola

Workaholics

I know I know, half of you that read this will probably argue and disagree with me. But then if you have time to read this, I can't classify you as a workaholic. Maybe you’re someone who screws around on the job wasting time, leading to overtime, for whatever reason. But not a workaholic. Maybe someone who lacks the ability to prioritize their day, or focus on the work they need to get done for the day, but not a workaholic.

I have had a theory for about the last 7 years or so since joining the workforce full time, 40 hours a week 50 weeks a year, that 95% or more of jobs out there are designed to finish in a 40-hour work week if the employee filling that position works efficiently and productively. That includes time for wasting now and then, or getting caught up in various business related conversations that weren't part of your planned day. Once most people get into the swing of their job, they can easily finish up their tasks in a regular 8-hour workday. I also realize that some industries i.e. are not in this 95% the higher you get in the company. And that commission only based jobs, may require more hours for a less experienced or talented sales person. I would find a new career if I didn't get the hang of sales though. I also realize that there are cyclical jobs that require more hours during certain parts of the year. Ownership can exempt you during startup. There are all kinds of positions that are exempt from this theory, so I don’t want to hear all about the ones I failed to mention. I’m talking about people that make a daily, weekly, habit of staying late at the office, and going into the office on the weekends regardless of the job they have.

The thing is, in several of my last few work experiences, I have worked with several individuals that worked ungodly amounts of overtime almost on a daily basis. I also know that many of these people would defend it as necessary to keep their job. In my view, it was/is only necessary if everyone continues to accept the demands for it. But those places had problems with delegating work to the general staff. So that means the overtime could have been prevented. I have also witnessed several people go on and on dramatizing the amount of overtime they put in for a project or during a certain time of the year, when their consistent habits are to show up when they feel like it, disappear for several hours during the day, or waste their time talking the ears off of their co-workers. This behavior leads me to believe their dramatic overtime stories could have been prevented as well.

It’s a manager’s job to make sure that the workload for a position is reasonable, and then to put a competent person in that role that can handle that workload in a timely and efficient manner. It’s also a manager’s job to delegate work appropriately. If he is taking it all on himself or giving it all to one person causing overtime for either or both, then he needs to reevaluate his delegation determinations and perhaps work to train the other staff to be able to pitch in.

My theory is that workaholics, people that make habit of spending more than their 8 hours a day at their job on a daily basis no matter what job they are in, have some sort of martyr complex. They are dramatic in telling stories about their overtime, because they want to come across as the company and family martyr and hero. They have a way of talking about how the company couldn’t survive without their overtime. When the reality is that it could. And someone else could probably do the job in 40 hours. These people have a way of often needing to come in on the weekends as well. It’s really very sad. I suppose some of their families are glad that they aren’t home much. But I’ll bet more families are torn about by it. Some people excuse it by calling it dedication. Ok…so dedication to your job is much more important than dedication to your family.
Hmmm…
I’m glad I didn’t marry a workaholic…And I’m glad I’ve resisted that oh so strong urge I have to become one…Right…I have no such urge…