So�K to start again.

I have had a very rough, irritating and frustrating past couple of days. It started on Sunday and continued thru this Manic Monday that has, at least for this week, become my night of hell. I just hope the Big Guy Upstairs doesn��t get any bright ideas on testing my patience or control anymore this week. I lost them for a bit tonight. And I wasn��t too proud of myself or the least bit happy about it.

Sunday started out pleasant enough even though I had to work. I managed to get up at 11 a.m. Just in time to nab a quick shower, dress and hit the road and make it to our Union meeting. The meeting went well, and I like being kept up to date on everything. The only thing there that ever pisses me off is when people make a big flipping deal out of me being there. Yes, I was a vote no company gal. But golly gee, the Union got in. And whether I wanted it or not, it��s here to stay. So I have been trying to keep up with it and all it is doing. I also wish to be an active part. Even today, someone made the comment when we were discussing the possibility of striking over our benefits when our contract runs out.

The one gal is like, like you are gonna strike. I said, ��I��m a Union member aren��t I?�� She acted shocked. I told her, more people think they know who I am and what I��m about when they haven��t a clue at all! So I didn��t want the Union. I voted no. Majority voted yes. So now I do my best to be as active as I can.

Hell, being the no voter I was, I am gonna make damn sure that my union dues are not for naught�K right?

Some people��s children- I swear! (And I swear a lot!)

Work went okay. I hadn��t been on the GMT Dial line in eons. But I made it with little issues and no crashes�K so it was all good. Even got home to a cooking man! WOOWEEE! So what if it was Hamburger Helper�K it was food not cooked by me!

Today was a bit worse. I got to work to find out one of my colleagues, Michelle, had quit. She didn��t give much notice. Just called in Thursday to say she wouldn��t be in and didn��t know if she would be back. Today, she quit. And on top of losing a friend (she moved out of state) and a co-worker which meant extra line gauging for me- we were down a set-up guy. Ugh.

And, as if that wasn��t enough- there was a power surge just before my arrival that stopped a few machines mid-cycle. Always hell for any QC. Let alone one working 2 lines solo. I was able to call Julie and get her to come into work a bit arly to help cover, and she got there at 6 :30 p.m. In the time before that, One machine on each line had broken taps and drills, one was caught right away, one was from the power surge and took a long time to sort out and quarantine the bad shit. A major mess that left e cussing and hair pulling.

And then, like an angel, Julie walked around the corner gung ho to take over one line and save me from self destructing, God bless her! So things slowly, I do mean slowly, got better.

Until�K I was standing near one of my gauge tables with Julie and another co-worker. There were 2 more across the way from us when Tara and Ray went walking by and Tara said all snottily:

��I got my occurrence you were so worried about me getting.�� And just kept walking.

And that��s when I heard it�K ever so prominently�K

****SNAP****

My final nerve had been severed clean and I came unglued, telling her off in a not so king tone, in a not very quiet voice that left me shaking with rage and bursting with fury at the seams.

An occurrence is what we get when we are late or miss a day. Tara happened to be late one day, and I have been asked on several occasions by several different people if she got wrote up for it, if she put a full 8 hours on her time slip, etc. And each and every one of the got the same response:

��It��s not any of my fucking business, and its SURELY not any of yours!�� That��s it case closed. I guess people (Though she can��t come up with who said anything oddly enough, though I have 2 suspicions of who might have said something- one who would not have said it the way she described it.) Not that it matters one iota.

What does matter, is the fact that she once again took another or other peoples words over mine. She didn��t say, hey, so and so said or I heard�K blah blah blah. Nope. Instead, she walked by all bitchy and made a snide comment on an already very ugly day- talking smack like her shit doesn��t stink and walking away like she didn��t want me to reply. Heh. I gave her one hell of a what for. Not that it matters.

I even caught her in the office with the boss when I knew she��s be in there and asked another guy to leave and confronted her. Asked the boss to verify what was said about her occurrence. She sat there. She didn��t say much. Just that she didn��t want to get into it.

This happened once before. Someone told her I called her a bitch and she went off. I did and gladly admitted it. I called her a bitch on the phone. Who was I talking to? HER! She STILL stopped talking to me for over a year.

What��s sad is that for 4 years, minus the almost full year she quit speaking to me, we have come through a lot, as friends. I thought we had was solid. I found out tonight, it was not. It hurts to know she will take someone else��s word over mine. I can��t have friends like that. I don��t WANT friends like that. I don��t need the drama, the headaches or the let downs.

Kind of sad. Really sad, actually. Tara��s friendship meant a lot to me. I wish I could say that same about mine to her.

I don��t know what will come out of this whole ordeal. I can forgive, sometimes I can even forget. But twice? Third times a charm, right? Not.

Oh well, I guess it��s time to roll with the punches.

Simply, Unashamedly and oh so frustratedly,

Sara