Hi friends, I am still not really back, but in the mist of my personal battle, my friend Jen had me laughing, and I thought I would share it with all of you because I see by looking around that a lot of you need a smile this week....I will be back again soon.

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What Religion is Your Bra?

A man walked into the ladies department of a Macy's and shyly walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, 'I'd like to buy a bra for my wife.'
'What type of bra?' asked the clerk.
'Type?' inquires the man, 'There's more than one type?'
'Look around,' said the saleslady, as she showed a sea of bras in every shape, size, color and material imaginable.

'Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only four types of bras to choose.'
Relieved, the man asked about the types. The saleslady replied:
'There are the Catholic, the Salvation Army, the Presbyterian, and the Baptist types. Which one would you prefer?'

Now totally befuddled, the man asked about the differences between them.
The Saleslady responded, 'It is all really quite simple... '

The Catholic type supports the masses.
The Salvation Army type lifts the fallen,
The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright, and
The Baptist makes mountains out of mole hills.

Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H are the letters used to define bra sizes? If you have wondered why, but couldn't figure out what the letters stood for, it is about time you became informed!

(A} Almost Boobs...
{B} Barely there.
{C} Can't Complain!
{D} Dang!
{DD} Double dang!
{E} Enormous!
{F} Fake.
{G} Get a Reduction.
{H} Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up !

They forgot the German bra:
Holtzemfromfloppen

I am between the proverbial rock and a hard place in many areas of my life, friends.....

No, life isn't going bad, but I am sitting here wondering at the ethics of my employer.  Not when it comes to his employees-although I do question that, but with his customers.

My friends, in all the years that I have worked in customer service-waiting tables in restaurants and running the counter at dry cleaners, I have NEVER in any of those places EVER heard my bosses or the owners treat their customers with anything less than respect, especially when they had comments or questons or even complaints concerning the quality of the product they recieve!

Today, I had a customer come in with the same complaints...easy enough to just credit his account and shut up about it....we HAD promised the gentleman this after all, and the man asked if the boss would please contact him, and he left his card with me, but the owner said that the guy was "an a$$&^*" and he wasn't going to credit the man's account., or call the man...not even to give him the courtesy he deserved of answering his questions. 

So, I went lower to the manager and made a comment about it, and she and the other woman who works there proceeded to go through and credit the man what he deserved, and to make sure that the stains that he complained about were handled in a different manner so that they wouldn't happen again...when the manager called him, they  must have figured his credit wrong, and he came in again to speak to me about it (he knew it wasn't me, becuase he asked my name earlier and I told him, the manager gave him her name), all the while, I was hoping that the owner would come in early like he always does, because I was secretly HOPING that the owner would have to be forced to confront the man...guess what-he did, and I was glad because I thought that the customer was being treated unfairly because my boss didn't want to deal with him....he had no other choice.

The way my boss spoke to that customer (who is a sales rep by the way, and interacts with businesses AND customers) was atrocious!  I felt so horrible, and the customer saw that on my face!!!  Absolutely NO respect, and talking to the man like he was a liar!!  After all that I had done to set the situation up so that there would be a sociable and pleasant, even amiable way for the two to discuss the situation...I sympathized with the customer, talked to him like the intelligent (and did I mention cute??!!) man that he is...I showed him that we are willing to find a solution, only to have the OWNER talk to the man like he was some evil creature out to take him down.  I personally was upset, and embarrassed because I felt like he was discrediting everything that I was trying to do for the man...and for him-which is keep a customer, keep him happy, and make it so that that man will go out and tell others of the postive outcome of the whole thing. 

There is a rule in any and every business:  Give a customer great service, and they will come back, and reccommend you to 1 other person.....give a customer bad service and they will not only NOT come back, but they will TELL AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE, and you will loose even that!!!

This isn't the first time that the owner of this company has done this to a customer...he lost another last week because he tried to accuse a customer of 5 years and  brings in$50-$100 every week that she was pulling a fast one on him...she mentioned telling "everyone who would listen to her" not to bring their dry cleaning to us....my friends, I have no doubt that there will be many she tells that to, even strangers....

And from what I have seen lately, he treats his employees the same way.  I have been the brunt of his rudeness and false sarcasm plenty of times...he has gone behind me AFTER I have told him something...he has treated other employees with blatant disrespect, and comments about replacing them.

Now, I only stay because I need a job, and the insurance because I need to go to a dentist, but this goes against my morals and ethics to treat anyone who comes into my presence as a customer....how can the employee treat them so well, only to have the owner rude and disrespectful....I can't stand to see and hear him doing this, it burns me up inside....every human should be treated as such, and when they have issues or problems with you or the product you deal with, it's YOUR responsibility to at least acknowledge it and do what you can to correct the problem...am I wrong?

I know I should leave this alone, and it isn't my concern...but if this continues to happen, and he looses business....he has to shut down, and if he shuts down, I am out of a job, and I have to start all over again....I won't call him out on this, but  how can I live with this, in all consciousness?  It burns me up to watch humans being treated this way-customers, employees, manager or no.....I am beside myself.  I want to find another job, but  I know it's going to be hard.

I thought about waiting until the man left the building and sending him to the old place that I worker...I know they will treat him with courtesy, kindness and respect....I didn't, because that would be morally wrong too...even if I told him to tell the old boss that I sent him (they'd get a crack out of that one for sure).  It still wouldn't be right.

I want to say something to the boss, but how can I? Other employees said that it won't matter, he won't listen to anyone...so I guess he may eventually run his own business into the ground.

The other place where I feel trapped right now is something that I feel that I must work out on my own...no one else can now or ever help me....I may not be on here to do more than check messages, comments and things for a while.  I need to go within myself on some things, and being on this site or in other places might prejudice my decisions.  I do love all of you, and I cherish you...and I know that you would help me if you could, but this is my battle to fight within myself.  I will be on my Yahoo and MSN and AOL checking emails, and I will stop by  to see how everyone is doing, but for the moment, I am not sure how long I will be away from Covenspace....

Everyone have a great day, and know that you are loved!!

I feel bad.  I have been neglecting my Myspace and LiveJournal for a little while now...I don't know why I have so many places to write about things....half the time, I am not writing about the same things anywhere, and it's just funny to watch my personality split to accommodate all of these sites.

On Myspace, I don't talk about the things I talk about here because i fear certain friends will never understand...especially since the one person in general is messed up in the head, and I am convinced that the war did some crazy things to a mind that was already having troubles grasping ahold of the roles of women in society and other religions-including the Protestants...he has become worse in his bigotry over the last year or so, and I am thinking that he is slowly disconnecting from me as a friend...sad to say our friendship is dwindling and dying before my eyes, but it's true.  However, there are other reasons to continue to be like I am on Myspace...my brother and sister are in my friends' list, and they tell Mom everything!!! 

Then there's my beloved LiveJournal, which i have neglected a lot recently....I used to speak in mainly verse there because it is aptly called:  A Versemaker's Mind...nice, huh?  I have just posted an entry for the first time in 4 weeks there.  I should be ashamed because I have been on that site since April of 2006...and I have written more in this blog than there...I need to get my head back to where it needs to be.  I wrote poetry there, and about my life in general, and about me...I miss going to that site like I should go. 

Then there's blogspot...ok, I don't go there that much, and sometimes I don't have much to say there because it is, for the most part, not a social site like here or Myspace-or any other 'space' for that matter-it's more a place to just write...and there I write about things that no one here would understand, and was the central focus for my spiritual warfare...the one that I semi-raged here and very few knew, or picked up on...I am worried about that site because it is the only link to my dearest Mountain Celt, and while I want to go forward with writing there as I do here more often as not, I am not certain how my dearest friend will take it because she is Christian, but she is accepting of me in any and all that I do, and I know she will be fine now, knowing that I no longer ping pong back and forth on religion...she loves me dearly, and so I have kept that blog up as much for her as for me...although, I still write similarly between here and there, there was a lot of differences and thought weavings there.  I may still be fighting a spiritual war within myself, but at least I am focused on finding out what it is that i am meant for, and how I will proceed on my paths.

Then, there's Covenspace...the mirror for the other pagan "spaces" that I have been on.  I come here and do things completely different.  I am pretty much obsessed with this site because I love all of you  here.   For some reason, I can be more open and forthcoming with my words...the versemaker in me loves sharing because I get such a reaction out of people here...people willing to open their hearts and their minds to share what they think of what others write...giving advice, insight, and love to others.  I don't fear much censure here because everyone here is what they are....although, I don't share everything with Covenspace in my blogs, I share the majority of myself...it makes a lot of sense....I have written quite a lot of blogs here.  I had a lot to share with people here for some reason.  Reading my first posts here the other week, I couldn't help but smile over the friends that I have made and the ones who continue to warm my heart and have become brothers and sisters to me in the course of the past year or so....yes, I believe that my addiction with Myspace in the beginning was replaced with an addiction to my beloved Covenspace because I come here first, and I often think of what I would share with my Covenspace family.

I even laugh now when I chat with friends online or on the phone...we reffer to this place as CS...and that is just going to show that many of us here have considered this so much a home, and a comfortable one at that, that shortening the name is common place.

Then there are the other places I go, newer ones that I haven't spent much time on...AC, KSC, Wicca Online, etc...I am not sure how many of these other "spaces" that  I need anymore...

Then there is the website...a new place that must take away some of my journal/blog time...I am happy with the new site, even though I need to finish editing and working it out...but it may end up replacing other sites, and giving freedoms if that is what I need for the moment.

Yes, I have many voices on many different sites...I play with my heart in my words where ever I go...maybe I do too much writing about various things to the point where I am becoming disorganized beyond redemption, but that is alright for now...I have friends in many places, and I am so happy that I have them...

When I get my new place, which I am going to spend the majority of the next week searching for, I will be able to organize every site and work in each one daily...or I will figure out which of them are not necessary to my personal wellbeing and are redundant.....

My friends, I don't know wny I wrote about this today, only that I felt that I needed to for some reason...I am goofy.

Everyone have a great evening, I am off to spend the evening with yon Robin of Locksley in the Hood.....know that you are all in my heart!

~Raven

http://raven1746.webs.com/

Well, I have been working some more in my web page...as soon as I can fix it so that I can actually see the Poetry that I am writing, I will be just fine...lol  I am organizing it very well, and I cannot wait to get everything into shape there.  I may end up putting up links to other pages as well...I will let you know as soon as I can figure out what I need to do with the site next...

I am feeling kind of down today.   I have a massive toothache that consumes the entire mouth...but there is good news.  I became eligible for benefits this week, so I will apply and get dental and medical.

Great timing too, because I need to see a gynocologist...I have some plans in the near future, and I want to make sure that what  I want to do is possible.  I will fill you in on that one later on, but let's just say that The Crone is slowly coming, and I have things to do before she does.

My sister, Jen (Darth Underboob-DON"T ASK!!!)  will be getting married in August and her fiance is giving her a trip to the Carribbean for a honeymoon...damn, I love this guy...it's too damned bad that he was an only child and adopted when he was young....I would love a carbon copy...lol   Just kidding!!!

My youngest sister actually started her first day on a job.  She is working this summer for the Cincinnati Nature Center (which is a very beautiful place to go walking-yes, Talon, you need to bring the little one down to see it, she'd definately love it)...MEL will be working with Jen until it's time to go to Illinois State for her Ph.D.   MEL is spoiled....my mom got up this morning and made her breakfast for her first day of work...now you all know why I giggle at the adorable things you do for your children-my mom does it for the baby of the family...lol  I don't think Mom will get up every morning and make MEL breakfast-she is a grown woman and can do these things on her own once in a  while...lol

I am reading Edain McCoy's book WITTA, and  is so fascinating reading about the Irish Pagan Celtic Tradition....the book is so informative and very intelligently written...

I am also in search of a certain poem called Tam Lin, has anyone heard of it?  I wanted a copy of it for my page here because it is an excellent poem...if you know where I can find it, or have it yourself, could you direct me to it?  Thank you my beloved friends!!

Well, everyone, we have a delicious thunderstorm coming our way, and I am trying to cool down from my day in that sweat box where I have come to the conclusion that those people are lazy and do not know how to run a business....and I am also hungry, so I am off to find those things that will make me very happy for the moment, since chocolate will send me into fits of screaming spasms of pain, I will have to settle for tea or coffee and something soft to eat for the moment.

Everyone have a great evening, and know that I love you....and if you check out my site, please sign the guestbook, I would absolutely love it!!!

~Raven

http://raven1746.webs.com/

I often have spoken of my late grandfather...a man that I loved so very much....a man who could love anyone without thought...

Today would have been Grandpa's birthday. He would have been 84 years old....June 25, 1924.  

I am thinking of him today, not just because it would have been his birthday or that I am lamenting his death 21 years ago, but for other reasons.

You see, Grandpa could find many reasons to laught...even in his seven year battle against first, colon cancer then the spreading throughout his entire body. 

In his day, Grandpa loved to dress in his suits and enjoyed his daily clean up...he loved being a clean cut gentleman.  My great grandmother told me about my grandfather as a child that pretty much summed him up perfectly:

"When he was a young boy, he hated getting dirty....he would always have a handkerchief in one pocket and a comb in the other.  When he played marbles in the day, he would put down a piece of paper under his hand because he didn't want to get dirty...did the same thing with his knees.  He hated getting his clothes muddy and dirty."

My grandfather was half Cherokee. (I think because there is definately Cherokee blood coming from his mother and I think there was some from his father's side...either way, I am 1/8th Cherokee and the rest is a combination of Scots, Irish, English and German, and the unknown which was my father's mother), he had this awesome skin that would tan in the summer and his neck would actually turn red (he was born and raised in southern Kentucky...so that makes a bit of sense..lol), his smile was amazing...I think that my mind always associates handsomeness because of his smile-it reached his eyes and he always found a reason to be happy or to make someone else laugh for a while.

His mother was beautiful.  No one believed me when I told them that she still had black in her gray hair in the end...nobody believed me when I told them that her hair was past her waist at the age of 78 years old...until they had to cut it when she died.  She was 78 years old, three years younger than her beloved husband, and he was 78 when he passed on to the Summerlands...my grandpa died 6 months before she did, and in my heart I know that  she was way to healthy to died when she did...she died of a broken heart, her husband had been gone 3 years, and she had her children at least-until she had to look into a coffin bearing her first born son-even though he was 62 when he died, he was still her baby...her little clean boy and the second love of her heart....

I am thinking of all the things my grandfather has done in his life, and his love for me....and his ability to control a "spoiled rotten little blue eyed brat"....

When I was little I was prone to temper tantrums.  When that would happen, my grandfather turned on the old home movie camera and I would jump up, dry my tears and start preening and posing for the camera....funny!!  He would also get me just as I was about to smack my brother in the head...sometimes it actually stopped my from hitting him, sometimes not (actually what stopped me was when  Len learned to run, and my mother gave him permission to hit me back-and ONLY me-BACK)

Grandma told us how she loved Grandpa, but  there were times throughout their lives together that she would wake up in the morning and not like him...even wish he weren't there, but then she would think about how lucky she was  because he was the most handsome man in the town, and he had chosen her over all the other women in the town-and there were many that were prettier...and she felt lucky to have him.   This was a rare compliment for my grandmother to give anyone, but it was true....even as he aged, Grandpa was a handsome man.  She said that marriage wasn't always perfect, and it wasn't just illness that can cause issues in relationships, but many other things...that  it's alright at times to not like your spouse, as long as when you go to bed at night, you remember how much you do love them.  My grandparents married when she was 17 and he was 18...October 16, 1946, he would bring her red roses every year on their anniversary and never forgot....when he passed away, Mom tried to do that for her, but it wasn't the same.  I sent her whlte roses instead of red ones, and she loved that, but it still made her a bit sad, so I stopped (and I was broke half the time anyway lol).

Alright, I am rambling today...it's just that I am remembering a great person who shaped my life and my world. 

Am I like my grandfather?  I couldn't say...we have the same nose, and the same skin pigmentation in the summer....I wish I had his dark hair (I probably do), and his awesome eyes.  I know I have his smile, and his zest for life....I want the world to have a reason to smile, even when the world is spitting nails at you!!

Everyone have a great evening, and thank you for reading this Birthday That Never Will Be Again rambling session!!!  Also, know that I love all of you!!