Murphy’s Law
07 Apr 2012 Comments Off
Friday, March 23, 2012 at about 3:25 or so in the morning, my husband calls me.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Immediately, I panick.
“What, what happened?! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m so sorry.”
He proceeds to tell me that he crashed the car because he was tired.
Which isn’t a surprise. You see, my husband was working 2 jobs at the time. The first, and main job, is Chase bank, as a teller. The second, was EPO Gaming, as a table manager for the Houston area.
He had spent 3 days working back to back. He would get off of work at Chase, only to drive about 45 minutes to go to the second job… Just imagine, working and driving nonstop from about 6 am one morning to 3 am the next. He wasn’t getting enough sleep. I knew it, he knew it.. but we were trying to make ends meet, and this second job had really helped fill the savings.
But it all came to a halt. That morning we didn’t get to sleep until 5 am, due to the car and wrecker service. Poor JD was like a zombie. We got up at 10:30 or so to a phone call from his mom, and if I was dead tired, JD might as well have been buried. It was not good.
I never saw the car that night. It was our only car. We had set aside 2500 of our tax return to try to get ME a car so that I could get a real job. And by that I mean, a job where I don’t rely on tips and customer generosity to get a paycheck. We had both been working the night shift job at EPO gaming, and man, did our take-home suck sometimes!
It became painfully evident that day, with all of the stress, me being sick with an upper respiratory infection, and JD tired and sore from the accident, that we would need about a week before we could return to the second job.. but the owner/ceo/our manager decided that wasn’t acceptable. We had been told he was on his way to take over for a couple of weeks. By the vice president/our other manager.
Instead, I receive a phone call asking if our boss can come pick us up at our HOUSE to take one or both of us to work. THE SAME DAY AS THE ACCIDENT. Is he insane? Yes, I think he is. I tell him that JD cannot work because he is still to tired to function, and I’m still sick with a URI..(Which developed later into a 3 week URI..which I’m still fighting. O_O). He was pissed off. That’s the best words to describe it. Sorry for my language. But he was.
JD and his mom get information from the insurance and go find a rental car that night, and JD comes home and sleeps. And sleeps.. and sleeps.
Mind you, JD has a main job, and he had to cover his Saturday shift since NOBODY was available. That is a full time job. That job pays our bills. And they DIDN’T try to force JD to come into work the day of the accident, either. So he goes to work, and gets off early. He runs errands in town that have to do with the car.
I’m taking a walk.
It’s all I’ve got to do, my breathing sucks, and my daughter is with her grandma at a birthday party. So I’m free to walk alone, and enjoy the scenery. And try to breathe, damnit!
The boss apparently calls JD and asks if he can “come by your house to get the keys, cards, and supplies” for the company.. EPO Gaming company.
Jd says he’s just heading home and that he will be there in 5 to 10 minutes, and asks the boss where he is at..
“I’m on 290.. at Cypress Medical Center.”
That’s about 30 minutes away.
JD suggests that they meet at the BucEe’s at Mueschke and 290..
The boss asks “Well where is Cali?”
And JD answers “Stuck at home.. she doesn’t have a car, remember?”
The boss says “That’s… interesting.” in a tone of voice that suggests that he caught the culprit.
After he hangs up, JD calls me to find that I’m NOT at home, and that I’m down one of the streets in our neighborhood. So he picks me up to go back to the house.
The boss is driving out of our driveway..
He said he was 30 minutes away.
Liar?
So he waits for JD to get all of the supplies and materials, cards and keys, and then accuses JD of lying. I am livid. I walk away to get the dog from her pen and put her on her running line, and by the time I get back, I’ve calmed down enough to listen. But the main fact was that he called my husband a LIAR about everything we had been trying to do for the company. And he did it outright.. to our faces..
After lying, over the phone, about where he was.
He informed JD that the VP/other manager wanted to keep us as part of the company, just not as management, but “I’m not so sure.”
We told him ok.
but after much pondering and frustration that night, we decided to quit. I took the time to outline WHY we were quitting, and that we no longer wanted any contact with the CEO/manager of the company.
Because in all honesty, that was the creepiest thing I have EVER had happen. EVER.. It was so eerie to find some guy driving out of my driveway when I’m normally home, ALONE, without a vehicle to get me anywhere.
So, to sum things up..
1) JD works too much, no sleep, crashes our only car
2) Boss tries to force one or both of us to come to work a night shift til 2 am on the same day as the crash.
3) the next day, he appears at OUR house, unannounced, and accuses us of lying about “everything.”
4) We quit the job that was enabling us to put money away for a house.
Murphy’s law!! Everything that CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong! haha!
Our dark, metallic blue 2006 Scion XA is no more.. it was totaled in the accident. I’m so lucky that my husband is still alive, too.. because the road he crashed on has had about 1 death per year in the past 10 years. This year 2 teenaged girls lost control when it was wet and crashed.. both died.
When JD finally got home (the wrecker service dropped him off) all I did was hold him and cry.. the though that I might not be holding him at that moment.. that he might have died.. it scared the ever living hell out of me. Our daughter was asleep the WHOLE night.. she woke up once, cried, and went straight back to sleep.
We purchased a used 2003 Chevy Cavalier with only 29000 miles on it yesterday night. We went car shopping and found that it was the best deal, for the best mileage. I was so sick on Sunday and Monday that I didn’t brows craigslist.. on Tuesday I was busy, and Wednesday I find a Scion XA, same year as ours, for 5900.. and I pounce! JD calls the guy and he says “I have someone coming to look at it who is bringing cash.” and WE tell him “Okay, just let us know if he buys it.” When we should have said “We will give you 6300 instead!” because it was a killer deal, even if we DID pay more. Instead, he sold it before we even got to see it 
So we missed out.
To be honest I loved our little Scion. Great gas mileage, great look, fun to drive.. Makes me sad. I took photos with my phone because it was all I had on hand.. still makes me sad.
Anyway..
We put about $100 of our personal spending money on the business a couple of days ago… buying more supplies for jewelry~ I started using some of them last night.. SO PRETTY! We got some great deals, but it was still a lot of money.
If you’re looking for unique jewelry, please come check out our Etsy shop!
Thanks for reading!
Cali
EPO Gaming Logo Contest
21 Mar 2012 Comments Off
I work a night job now, and they have two shifts. We’re currently hiring, but even cooler than that, EPO Gaming LLC is hosting a logo design contest! They’re looking for a new logo, and want to see if our friends and fans can come up with something GREAT!
Terms and Conditions
This contest is organized by and prize winners are selected solely by EPO Gaming LLC
GENERAL CONDITIONS
This contest is for the selection of a new company logo for EPO Gaming LLC. There is no limit to the number of submissions an individual may submit, so long as each submission meets the individual requirements under “How to enter.”
This contest is open to any U.S. resident.
All submissions belong to EPO Gaming LLC and may not be submitted to any other company for any other reason, submitted for entry into any other contest, nor sold. Submissions become the absolute and sole property of EPO Gaming LLC for its exclusive use, whether a winner or not.
All designs must be original, created by the individual submitting the entry with no copyright or trademark ties. By making the submission the individual is certifying that the design is unique and original.
Design Requirements
All designs must be high resolution, and/or scalable
Design must be submitted in both color and black and white in one email
Design must be original and unique
How to enter
Submissions must be made via email at the following email address: logocontest@epogaming.com
One submission per email. No limit to the number of entries. All contest email entries should have a subject line of “Logo Contest Entry.” Logo submission should be attached to the email.
Entrants must include in the body of the email their full name, email address, home telephone number, and mailing address. The winners will be the person whose name appears in the body of the email when submission is made.
Prize
There will be one Grand Prize winner and 3 lower prize winners. Grand prize winner will be awarded $200.00 (Two Hundred Dollars). Second place will be awarded $100.00 (One Hundred Dollars). Third place will be awarded $50.00 (Fifty Dollars). Fourth Place will be awarded $25.00 (Twenty-five Dollars). Fifth Place will be awarded 1,000 Player Rewards Points valid at any EPO Gaming table.
Contest Period
Contest will begin March 15, 2012 and end April 15, 2012.
Who is eligible?
Contest is open to any U.S. resident 18 years of age or older.
For the purposes of this regulation, the entrant is deemed to be the person whose name is indicated in the entry email.
Selection of winners and drawing date
The prize winners will be selected from all eligible entry forms received during the contest period. EPO Gaming LLC will make every effort to ensure that winners are notified no later than May 1, 2012.
Entry deadline
Only duly completed electronic forms, received no later than 11:59 pm Central Time April 15, 2012 will be eligible to win.
Yay! An Update!
16 Sep 2011 Comments Off
I haven’t been good at blogging, have I? I apologize.
We have updates!
Alex conure has a new room-mate! He is now living with another cage. We last heard that they sing, and play, and Alex is VERY happy. I felt so bad sending him away, but I knew Linda’s aviaries would make Alex a much happier parrot! So now we only have Jack and Mango.
We were evacuated during the Tri County fires in Texas. It was frightening. They were 4 miles away from us for a couple of days, and the smoke was very heavy. I took all of our important paperwork, clothes and items of necessity for Evie, and all of our jewelry and jewelry supplies. Our business is SO SMALL that we could pack it, and most important aspects of our life, in a Scion xA car! Ahhh!! It was really tight, but we did. 
My parents last tenants in their house left a 40 gallon tank, and my parents gave it to me. The catfish I got at 1/4 of an inch is nearly 5 inches long now, living with a blue crawfish, Black Convict cichlid, and a plecostamus .
I have some really beautiful pieces of jewelry I’m planning on making out of Murano Glass pendants. I hope to do it soon, but I’m also working on Beaded Flowers.
Here is a pair of Feather Earrings
A pair of our lovely earrings
Here’s a photo of our new flower earrings. we have quite a few on Facebook!
Handmade lucite flower earrings
Besides that.. evelyn is 15.5 months old. She’s smart, fast, and incredibly FULL of attitude! Hah! She talks back, glares at me, and points at me when I’m scolding her, pretending to scold me back! It’s hilarious, and sometimes it’s just annoying hahah.
anyway.. that’s about all the updating time I have. I hope you enjoyed a peek into the new jewelry and Evie’s hilarity!
Cali
It been a while
08 Aug 2011 Comments Off
in Family things, Jewelry things, NEWS, PETS
Hello out there!
Well I guess I will give you a rundown.
We are starting a line of feather based earrings, focusing on cruelty-free feathers, which so far is great! 90% of our feathers are collected during molting seasons. 
Alex is in his new flight aviary at Linda’s Feathered Affair Headquarters. We should find out how he is doing soon.
Evelyn is 14 months! She blows kisses, runs, walks, crawls, dances, shouts, and talks. Not great talking yet, but she has said hi, hello, dog, bird, look at that, and other random tidbits.
I accidentally cracked our iPhone! While at the pool. It is very bad, but because of our low income, we aren’t able to fix it.
Jd got a second job to supplement his first one, since I am not making enough money on my jewelry. (none, actually.)
Childcare is so much that if I were to have gotten a job instead, 80% of my income would have paid that, and the othe 20% would have covered fuel for our shared car. Not a good bit of math!
Anyway, that’s my update for now! Hope to get back into the swing of things soon!
Cali
The Three Amigos are no more
24 Jul 2011 Comments Off
in Uncategorized Tags: parrots birds home new baby child update
It’s been a hard choice for my husband and I, but we are re-homing Alex today, with the same lady we bought our Green Cheek Conure from.
It basically came down to the safety of our child’s fingers and hearing, and the health of the parrot. After the dog, Lilah, and Evelyn walking so well, Alex took to plucking so badly that he has no tail feathers, no chest or belly feathers.. he looks terrible.
I can’t handle him anymore, when before I was the only person who could handle him, and we had adjusted him to being part of the family. We did some research, and decided that he would be better off without a plethora of stress factors, which he has in our house now.
I will be continuing to make him hand made toys, and sending them to him in his new home, and he will get a huge 4ft by 4ft flight cage. Linda has promised he will be well cared for, and we are so excited to see how he does. If it works out, he may get to spend the rest of his life as a bird, and not have to deal with fighting for attention. He may even get a lifelong friend, if he is well behaved enough. We are hoping for him.
Evelyn is growing, walking, and she’s so clever. She said “Look at that!” just the other day, and has been babbling sentences at us that we can’t completely comprehend. She is getting to be soooo pretty.
The Bird Chronicles
21 May 2011 Comments Off
The email I received when I posted that I was interested in a mini macaw who needed to be rehomed because of issues was probably the most intriguing email I had ever gotten.
“I realize this is not the type of bird your asking for but I thought I’d see if you were interested or knew someone that would be. We have a blue crowned conure that is 6 years old. He has not been the right pet for our family, but have kept him because our kids wanted him. He is loud and squawks when we speak and to strangers. He bites at random and has bitten guests and our family. He will sit on my 5 year olds shoulder then bite without warning. He also plucks because I don’t think he gets enough attention. I feel bad for him because I do not feel like he is getting the attention he needs.
His name is Peek a Boo and he does speak some and he can be really sweet when you talk and sing to him… It’s the handling part that is scary and the squawking.”
So as you may know, we adopted Alex (Previously known as Peek a Boo), a cage aggressive, possibly abused Blue crowned Conure, about a year and a half ago. He plucked severely, and we discovered that they were feeding him store brand seed mix, which was lacking nutrition he needed badly. In an effort to quiet his squawking, they placed him in the garage, which only made things worse.
After about 6 months we got the cash to take him to an avian vet, and he had grown some of his feathers back in. We got him tested for giardia and a couple of other things, and he was clean. Needless to say, he was getting much better, and appeared happy. About 8 months later we adopted Jack, (a needy Hahn’s macaw) and a few months later, bought my husband a Green Cheek Conure, Mango, and all of them got along (somewhat. Mango thinks it’s funny to pick on the bigger birds.)
After we moved, Alex got a little more stressed and plucked more, and we worried. Then came the dumped dogs. We wound up keeping one, (Lilah) and ever since then, Alex has gotten so jealous of Jack (which is weird, they all got the same amount of attention when it started.) He has started threatening, biting (Even trying to get me, which he has NEVER done) and plucking BIG time. We added some new foods to their diet (they get a great mix of pellets, nuts, seeds, dried fruits and veggies, and fresh foods) and he seems to be throwing most of it aside in a hissy fit.
Our local bird expert says it’s breeding season, which is why he’s so aggressive.
Alex went from being our “Grumpy old man” to some kind of demon bird!
I feel kind of guilty for keeping the dog now, as we think that was the trigger, but it seems like Alex just keeps getting worse, not better. Plus, I can’t find any treats he likes, so I can’t work with him very easily. He’s just so finicky!
It’s been a long, hard road with Alex, the Conure, and a short, sweet road with Jack the Hahn’s macaw. In fact, you wouldn’t recognize Jack from the obese birdy he was when we adopted him. His favorite food was sunflower seeds, and he was regularly fed a wild bird mix with 80% black oil sunflowers. Talk about a fat birdy! Needless to say, in the beginning Jack was an agressive little booger, because he thought he could get away with it. Now he is a sweetheart, and snuggles, and sings. It’s really been a pleasure to work with this “mean” bird.
Back to Alex.
Alex has taken to plucking again, so we built him a few feather toys and some paper shredding toys, along with some cardboard tube toys and a bit of fluffy cotton string. He is so violent with them. I get the feeling that he does better with those, though, because a few days after introducing the fluffy feather toys and shredders, he stepped up on my hand and was less aggressive towards Jack.
By the way, Jack was originally named Indiana.. Indie for short. haha
“Indie is a good bird and we wish we could keep him. But since Clyde(English Bulldog) came along,
Indie has become very withdrawn. Jealousy? We don’t know. But Chuck(my boyfriend) has always paid attention to him.
He used to carry him on his shoulder and Indie would come out of his cage. He doesn’t do that anymore. He wants to
bite Chuck, and stays in his cage even thought he door is open.
I truly hope that with him being there with you, he will thrive again, and be happy.
I’m sad to know that we couldn’t make him happy. But the best thing we can do for him is find him a good home with
people who will love him. He has been around other birds. I had a Yellowhead amazon, and a beautiful
Cockatoo named Elvis. She was the best bird ever. She passed away after only having her for nine years.
She passed away on Fathers Day(2009). I miss her very much. I also had two bearded dragons but gave them away
after Elvis passed away. I found that I couldn’t bear the thought of not having her and I
slowly began to ignore the dragons. I mean I would feed them and made sure they had water, but I quit picking them
up and cuddling them. Yes, I did that.
I now am the proud owner of five beautiful dogs, and of course Clyde is like my own too.
Indie has been living with Chuck for almost four years now. And he was happy.
But again, it was when Clyde came to live with him that Indie became withdrawn.
He has the potential to be a very good family bird again. He was once and I know he can be again.
If there is ever any reason that you feel that you cannot keep him please call me and I will pick him up.That’s all I ask other than giving him a good home.
We will wait for you tomorrow. Have a safe trip.”
I messaged her to let her know that Jack (Indie) was doing great, but I never heard back. It was a bit disheartening. I hope it was only because she was busy. :S
Either way, we have some amazing parrots. I just wish I knew what to do with Alex. He has such depressing moments at times, and it really makes me wonder what we did to displease him. After all, he has a good food, handmade birdy toys, and lots and lots of squawk time LOL.
Anyway,
Signing off for today!!
Cali
A small rant.
20 May 2011 Comments Off
” Similarly, other polls shows that over two-thirds of Americans want Congress to raise taxes on wealthy Americans making more than $250,000 per year.”
People are saying it isn’t fair to tax people making more than 250,000 per year. Of course, they don’t have to think of people who are NOT using medicare, NOT using foodstamps, NOT using Wic, in an effort to support themselves, and they’re still making under the “poverty level,” according to the government. We are one of those families right now. We wanted to see if we could get along without foodstamps or Wic, and we are paying for Insurance through my husband’s work. We barely cover our costs, and that’s considering that the animals have only cost us about $15 dollars a month (we have been bulk ordering their food and supplies.) So when people try to blame it on our pets, I look at them and inform them that:
a) my husband is rationing his gasoline for the only car we have, and that 15 doesn’t even cover half a tank for us anymore.
b) We make sure that our daughter has food and diapers before we feed ourselves or the birds.
c) We can’t afford to purchase a more fuel efficient car! Our car is getting 30-35 mpg as it is, it’s tiny, and the next size of car seat for our daughter won’t even fit in it!
d) With rising costs of supplies and food, we can hardly afford to eat healthy.
e) We are trying our hardest to start an at home business in order to save for a house.
f) If the Gov’t really cared, they wouldn’t let people get food stamps after winning the lottery ( Millionaire on Foodstamps )
g) If the Gov’t really cared, they wouldn’t let people like THIS live off of Food Stamps : Adult Baby
h) And if the Gov’t really cared, they would put their money on the engineers who have already FOUND ways to make cares fuel efficient (my husband met one. He has a care from the 80′s that he engineered to get 45-50 mpg, with his own technology.)
Basically, from everything I can see, the government doesn’t care. And why should they?
Salary of the US President…$400,000.
Salary of retired US Presidents…$180,000.
Salary of House/Senate…$174,000.
Salary of Speaker of House…$223,500.
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders…$193,400.
Average US Salary…$33,000 to $77,000.
We are making BARELY 22,000 a year.
Anyway, that is my rant. I think I will go do something useful.
