I went in to work and the woman who relieved me over the weekend pulled me aside and told me about how bad the weekend went, that she barely had time to breathe... that everything that could have gone wrong, DID in fact, go wrong. I told her 'how terrible', yadda yadda. But inside... I laughed. Oh, how I laughed. Inside, I was singing songs of "Better her than Me" and thanking the good Lord, that I didn't work. Especially since she seems to have worked all of the kinks out for me. I had zero problems, everything was smooth, and it was a rather lazy day. I feel bad for Tina. But damn, I'm still glad it wasn't me.

And then I think, I am planning on signing up to work this Saturday. I could use the monies. Will I have to work out all the kinks for me? Will Tina get her chance to gloat within at me? Bahhhh. Maybe so, but she deserves it.

They laid off some people from work though. Temps only. We lost a whole shift of work in one of 3 plants. How sad for those out of a job. And the people who got to stay were dispersed into the other 2 plants... we lost a lot of our best workers, to get people who didn't know jack-diddle-ee-dookie about the machines we run. The boss was off on vacation, so when he got in it was a whole new chaotic world.

I'm a bit firghtened. IF I don't get fired soon... I wonder how long our jobs will be there. Ever since the crazies voted in the U.A.W., the company has gone down hill. Now, don't get me wrong, the union has gotten us better insurance and higher wages, which indeed is awesome. But at what cost??? We have 2 or 3 jobs going out... more to follow. And we're no9t bidding on any new jobs to come in. And if they did bid, we lost. When our sister company down state went union, they just moved all but one job and ran it down so they didn;t have to pay union wages. Is that what is destined for us? What was once a business with 350 employees with a multi-million dollar profit margin has shrunk to 250 employees and shrinking profits. And what can we do but enjoy the money and benefits while it lasts... and IF we do shut down... then 250 people all having the same skills are all on the market for jobs at once. I can see it now...

"Paper or Plastic, Sir?" or "Would you like fries and a drink with that, Ma'am?"

Tara and Vicky got moved from the other plant to ours. We 3 used to be like best friends. I went to their house EVERY day for months. We did everything together. Then the "He-said/She said" b.s. started at work and we drifted apart. But today, they said hello and talked about getting together soon. We had polite conversation and I chalked their invitation up to being polite. But at the end of the night as we all wshed the greasy film from our flesh, they invited Shawn and I over. We decided to take them up on it.

They showed me their new home. It's absolutely beautiful. Thery have velour furniture, a huge wide screen flat faced T.V., gorgeous bedrooms, added a huge deck. They're livin large. I must admit I felt a twinge of jealousy. Then as Tara and I sat at the table, we both talked about being in a strange town with no family close or any true friends. And I knew right then, she was as lonely as I was. And we could empathize with one another.

Funny, how even after being close, then "breaking-up" (in a manner of speaking) that after all this time, you find you actually miss the people you thought you could liv without. I missed Tara and Vicky. Because they were 2 people who accepted me as I was. They never tried to change me. If anything, they tried to get ME to accept me.

I'm glad they invited us out. We didn't stay all that long since we were tired. But I could do it again. I could do it a lot. I'm glad she reached out. And I'm even more glad we took her up on her offer.

.... I wonder if she likes liver.

Good night, Moon. I'm off to chase dreams and fly with angels...