You see, both my parents worked for Miller Brewing Co. in the can plant when I was younger. I remember the opposite shifts they worked and the hand-off moments when they would cross each others  paths when working those shifts. Sometimes sitting in the large cafeteria while numerous people adorned my cute looks and bought me things from the vending machines when my parents probably were not looking. I remember my grandmother watching me as a child, in years before her schizophrenia got worse. I also have memories of sitting in union meetings with my McDonald’s Happy Meal living in my own little world and I also remember the picket lines when my parents were on strike.

Now I am not quite clear on all the details but at some point my mom had been while working there and ended up on worker’s comp. I also remember that due to other medical concerns she was never able to go back to work, but for many years my mother has volunteered her time to the local education where I grew up. She served a number of my early years working on the PTA while working for Miller’s. Following her PTA work she served on the Fulton City School Board where she still serves today. To note this was never a paying job, it was all volunteer and my mom is now in her 20th year of service.

She grew up in a household as the 3rd eldest child out of 9 brothers and sisters. Only recently did I start to understand how much she really did help in raising her siblings. Having grown up with a mother who was ill and a father who was trying to provide for the family, I am sure made times difficult. My mother is high school educated by paper but I believe that had the opportunity presented itself she could have held a PhD. She is one of the smartest people I know and I feel she is smarter and wiser than myself. Her 20 years of service to the Fulton City School Board has given her a great opportunity to use the many skills she has to offer this world. I am the better person for being her daughter.

As for my father, he continued working at Miller’s Brewing Company until it’s closure in 1994. I remember the layoffs but only in retrospect, the details are quite blurred. I remember my father looking for work and the struggles he faced, the stress he must have felt along with the financial concerns for providing for a wife and 3 children. It is here that things become unclear and a long conversation with my father would be necessary to understand when and what jobs he held during a 2 year span. It was not until the summer before I started Junior High that a possible job opportunity in Virginia would play out for him.

In 1996, my father took a job in Virginia working for Breyer – Good Humor Ice Cream company as a machinist. So he temporarily left his family in Fulton to see if this would be a lucrative job. He stayed with friends for whom he had once worked with at Miller’s. I remember the road trip that we took to Virginia to look at homes with a stop at King’s Dominion amusement park for me and my brother. All I can really remember is that the homes were beautiful and that at the time I did not want to move away from my friends back in Fulton.

I do not remember when my father came back except that it was in the beginning or just before the school year started. He stated that he was not happy being away from us and that he just wanted go home, so he quit the job in Virginia and headed back home to once again look for work.  Now as I have stated I do not remember all of the details but my father did work a couple of different places before getting the job he is at now. He currently works for a hospital in Syracuse, NY as Supervisor in the Maintenance / Engineering Department.

Over the years he also dabbled in side work having obtained continuing education to do refrigeration work wherein he has done a few side jobs. I am unsure the number of side jobs he has done but I do know that he did an excellent job installing central air in my childhood home. All-in-all, my father is a hard worker who struggled to provide for his family. He did an excellent job I must say and in the face of a number of adversities.

In conclusion, I find myself wondering where the various forks in the road may have taken us and wonder if the outcomes would be different for any members of my immediate family. This story is probably one of many for those who my parents worked with at Miller’s Brewing Company and this type of story continues for a number of people who live in my hometown who had lost their jobs over the years to the major manufacturers who have left, such as Nestle.

As for me, living in a generation where unemployment has increased drastically and receiving a Bachelor’s degree has become equal to that of a high school diploma, I wonder how truly similar history really is and how different. Maybe we need to take a deeper look at where we are going wrong in this economy and how much we need to re-analyze the educational system. As jobs  seem to sometimes get replaced by technology and how increasingly jobs require a graduate degree, it is important to understand and support trade type jobs. Jobs such as nursing, mechanics, etc.

As for my parents, they did a wonderful job at providing for me and my brothers. I do not remember ever wanting for nothing. At times it may have been a struggle personally, but the two of them worked together to make a home, provide education and love us unconditionally. Thank you to them.

…. An old article reflecting the closing of Miller Brewing Company where my father worked for 14 years and my mother worked for some time as well …

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/oswego_countys_miller_brewery.html

Ethanol Plant to Go into Old Miller Plant

Don’t get me wrong though, I am still young and am quite adventurous to go out on my own, making my life-long memories. I’ll take an adventure driving in my car anytime rather than being stuck inside doing these types of activities. At least in the future I’ll have these things to fall back on. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll be one of the people who benefits from them. Happy knitting, happy baking, happy cooking!

To Do List:

• Homemade Pumpkin Bread
• Homemade Apple Bread
• Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• Knitting a match to a missing fingerless mitten
• Knit a hat

Recently Completed:

• Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
• Homemade Basil Pesto Bacon Cheddar and Mozzarella Pizza
• Homemade Alfredo and Chicken Pasta

I tried explaining to the woman that I don’t even get paid until Friday so I wouldn’t even be able to pay anything until then anyway. As always Sallie Mae had disappointed me. Their letters and emails always make you think that an arrangement can be made when it in fact is a lie. At this point I am in way over my head just looking for a bit of air to breathe. I really did want to finally make good on my loans, but I have a current net worth of 11 thousand plus dollars before my student loans. Any suggestions of how to make money fast without having to do something illegal or sell my car??? It seems Sallie Mae says I am out of options without really admitting to it. Plus their whole “Dream. Invest. Succeed.” motto is BS … how can anyone do so in this economy???

I am not innocent in my financial problems, but I shouldn’t have to be worrying about getting a decent education and affording to live after it. I will continue to push ahead and hope that maybe I can encourage a younger generation to be more involved in their financial future especially the part related to their education.  If you are going to be the one paying back the loans then don’t let your parents do all the paperwork themselves. Be a part of every bit of information in full. You’ll be happy you did.

More on this another time … for now I am trying to de-stress and reduce my current anxiety level before work.

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It’s Saturday night, as I sit here watching Meet Joe Black for the millionth time I wonder about this whole dating thing. I think deep down that my hopeless romanticism is the center of my soul. I believe that I’ll probably meet that someone by a chance encounter and not through some dating site endeavor. There’s no forcing it, no going on a zillion dates just to find out that they may not call the next day but yet it kills time and maybe …. maybe there is a little hope that one of those dates will bring me to someone that just makes me “sing with rapture and dance like a dervish“.

In life I’m not looking for perfection, but I am looking for someone I can connect with on a number of levels. Someone that I just cannot live without. I know that in today’s society we’ve all become to busy or scared to just go up to someone and say hello. Maybe that hello will only lead to friendship but maybe, if we’re lucky, it could lead to something more.

As for myself, I will continue in my dating endeavors but maybe I need to try something different. We’ll see how it goes… and remember to “stay open… you never know, lightening may strike”.

*** Quotes taken from the movie Meet Joe Black.

It was here that my friend noticed a very delectable man so she walked by him, slightly running her hand across his shoulder but kept walking. He then quickly followed her so he could introduce himself …. way easier that what I could pull off. I can be quite the shy one.  Me and my roommate headed back to the other end of the bar where I closed out my tab before going back over to where my other friend had been conversing with the gentleman she met.

Come to find out when we arrived back over to our friend that the guy she was talking with happened to be there for a bachelor party. We then someone got invited to ride along in a hummer limo which would be taking the bachelor party to one of the strip clubs in Providence. Sadly though the only guy that I would probably have any interest in happened to be married. Oh well, at least my friend had met someone that seemed nice.

All in all, it was a pretty crazy night and yes I am leading quite the crazy life.

Best part of the night had to be the Mac and Cheese at TEN … SOOOO GOOD! Click for the recipe!!

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I woke up today ready to bake a cake. I wanted to test some of my kitchen skills so I decided to do something different but I also don’t usually have much time before work. To save time I did a Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting but I added a homemade filling I made from scratch. Here’s how it came out ….

Here’s the recipe for the homemade raspberry filling …

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Frozen or Fresh Raspberries
• 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch ( I used a lot more, at least 5 or 6 tablespoons, if it doesn’t thicken the way you need it to adjust accordingly)
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (fresh is best, but…)
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. In small saucepan, combine all ingredients and slowly bring to a boil over medium – high heat (keep stirring until thickened for best results).

2. Let cool completely before spreading onto cake.

TIPS … extra tsp cornstarch for a slightly thicker consistency.

For the cake just buy lemon cake mix and lemon frosting or look up some recipes for a from scratch version for those parts. I did have some issues when it came to frosting the cake because I put too much filling and it had begun oozing out from the sides of the cake. In the end though everyone at my work loved this cake, even myself! Next time though I think I might do cupcakes with filling instead to make it a little more fun looking. Anyway, happy baking!

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I love starting out with a title of a song I danced to when I was around 5 years old …. classic. Anyway on to what I really wanted to write about this evening … my dating life. I find it amusing sometimes when I try out a new site and as of last night I now have a profile on OKCupid.com …. I must say they did a really nice job with this dating site offering one, free services and two, an entertaining forum for meeting people.

You start out like any other dating site by filling out a basic profile which more or less has you answer the basics, but I love how they ask you to name six things you can not live without. I found that reading through profiles and going right to this question alone I felt I could find out if a guy had a decent sense of humor. There were a few guys that did a really great job with this and I felt they would even make great friends. Hmmm, I think I’ll have to keep that in mind.

So yeah after all the basic stuff the site then has you answer some pretty random questions which once again entertained me for quite a while. I answered about 200 questions that are to help match me with people. It almost reminds me of E-Harmony but with a better sense of humor. It also allows you to offer questions you think should be asked.

Here’s one example of the random questions that have come up.

Do humans and modern primates (apes, chimps, etc) share a common evolutionary ancestor?

* yes

* no

* unsure

Answer’s You’ll Accept:

*yes

*no

*unsure

This question is…

* Irrelevant

* A little important

* Somewhat important

* Very important

* Mandatory

OkCupid is listed as a top site in an article on MSN website for being highly used by people in the Boston area which is why it intrigued me to give it a shot. Check out the article and if you’re into it check out OKCupid because it is free even to message and get a hold of people. Good luck!

~A

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It’s Sunday morning and a beautiful one it is … Fall seems is on the way! Leaves will be changing colors before our eyes and smells of fresh-baked apple pies will be escaping from people’s homes. I also seem to miss being is school this time of year, I kind of miss buying school supplies and attending classes.  Speaking of Fall, I am about to get ready to go to the Fall Festival being held on Hope Street here in the Mount Hope Neighborhood of Providence today. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures that I can post later.  Enjoy the day!

Update: Well I don’t have any pictures of the festival today but there was only a small section of Hope St. that had been closed off. Outside on the sidewalk most of the shops and restaurants on Hope had tables and were selling various items. If you ever get a chance check out all the shops they’re pretty neat. There’s also various types of eateries like Blaze where I had lunch the other day. Me and my roommate walked down to Hope St. then walked down to Thayer St. after which has more shops and eateries. Most Brown University students hang out down in this area because of its location near the campus. Here we stopped and had pizza at Nice Slice which was then followed by some coffee from Starbucks.

Once we finished here we walked the rest of the way into downtown Providence and stopped at Providence Place mall. We checked out Guess, NY & Company, and Bath and Body Works. I only bought two of my favorite scented candles at B & BW ( Spiced Cider and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin). We headed back home after the mall to meet up with a friend to go out to dinner on Hope St. We relaxed at the apartment before walking back over to Hope wherein I stopped into J. Marcel Shoes to buy a necklace I had seen when walking by earlier. We then had dinner at Apsara across the street.

$15 at J. Marcel Shoes ....

When we got home we headed out once again but this time we drove over to Wickenden St. to hit up Coffee Exchange for a latte and dessert. It was a great day for a walk and some company. Overall, I got to walk 6.8 miles and part of it included one ridiculous hill to get to my street.  A very productive day I must say …. Off to relax with some television before bed. Oh and congrats to my friends downstairs for their baby boy born this afternoon!!

I somewhat remember the dating site originally started out for those only looking for more serious relationships but over the years extended into other types of relationships as well. Some of the members would state in their profiles what they were really looking for and some stated that they were looking for relationships. One of the men I had met at one point in time had been looking for a relationship but after months of seeing him he had stated that we were both too busy for a relationship. Honestly though I think he preferred the status of the relationship being the friends with benefits type. He never truly wanted a relationship but I being young and foolish, at the time, stuck around for three years.

Although the non-relationship kind of ended when I moved away from Albany, NY he still tried to stay in touch. Only when I moved to Rhode Island did he finally stop trying to get in touch with me. I felt long before I moved to this state that his statement that we had both been too busy was a poor excuse for not taking the next step. It was too bad because he had a decent personality and was fun to hang out with. Sometimes I wonder if he ever got to meet “the one”. Hopefully he did and I wish him all the best.

As for me I am still unsure of which way to go. I am sure I will just go on my own adventures and build myself the life I have always wanted. Eventually I will venture off and find that dream career as well but for now I just go day by day looking for something new to challenge me. I have a list of things I would love to learn and do in my head. There is nothing that will stand in my way to doing them, except for myself, but I am not about to let that happen.

~A

Now there is one concern I have, but out privacy issues I will not discuss names or which hospital I work for. I have crossed paths with one person who seems to rub me the wrong way. Now in professional experience I have dealt with a number of differing personalities and feel that I am very capable of staying professional in all matters. As for the perspective of my training, I find it very difficult to receive decent training from those with a brazen attitude.

To better explain this I will give a scenario:

Person A states to Person B about taking care of the trash and putting it in one bag as was shown on previous nights at work. Person C (seasoned evening person or shall I say Miss Attitude) jumps in and says, “Don’t touch my trash.” Okay, Person A and B decide to do the others, but once again Person C interjects about touching the trash. Person D moments later (another seasoned but more professional staff) states that trash cannot be removed until a certain task was completed to make sure that the specimens have all been received so that nothing would be lost. Now had Person C stated this when she said not to touch the trash along with using better manners, the two trainees (Persons A and B) would have fully understood. Person A and B did not know this process. Thank you to Person D for being so polite  enough to explain this process.

What would you do if you were Person A or B?

After a quick discussion with my co-worker, we both relaxed and let go of the situation. Both of us felt that if this were to become a continued issue it would be best to take it further at that point. Just being professional.

~A