So, today is my second day off of two, before I return to work for another 6 days.  I missed the Halloween/Christmas bulk truck (which I'm really upset about, if you couldn't tell).  It's crazy to think that we're already converting our promo aisle to Halloween.  I spent all this last weekend completely redoing the promo aisle at work.  I had to take all of the back to school stuff that was on the "A" side of the aisle, try to work it back in to the regular stationary aisle, then move what was left over to the "B" side of the aisle, then begin setting the Halloween aisle with what we had.  And, I was doing pretty well, at least I thought.  Then, all of the sudden the other assistant comes in and thinks that he can do it better, and basically criticized me for how I did it, telling me that the store manager wouldn't want it that way and blah blah.  I was told to set it to plano, which is what I was doing, and I don't know any differently anyways, because that's how I did it in Worthington.  So, whatever.  He decided that he needed to take 7 days off, and I worked my ass off those entire 7 days.  It's funny, because he says sarcastic things to me like "Oh, it's good your back.  The store was going to shit" when I take days off.  He must think that I have a HUGE head and I'm the only one that thinks the store doens't function without me.  I must admit, I feel that this store has gotten a lot better since I took over, but I wouldn't necessarily say that the store doesn't run when I'm not there.  I dunno.  I used to like him, but I'm not sure I do anymore.  I went on vacation for a week in June, and I got back and he said "boy, it's good your back.  We could definitely tell you were gone.  Nothing looks good around here anymore".  I don't know if that's a knock on me, or a knock on himself, because he's always told me that he keeps the store together, and he does all the hard work, and he does all the EXA's work for him, and yet, in the almost 3 full years he's worked for Walgreens, he's been to 8 stores, and has ended up back at AV Plaza everytime.  And, I don't think that's necessarily a good thing.  Oh well.  I can't wait to get out of this store.  I actually don't mind it as much as I used to, but I hope that I'm not stuck there for 2 years like I was in Worthington.  I was actually eligible to start my EXA application on Monday, which I did, and I only have a question or two left to do before I submit it.  I almost think it's too early, but I don't think it's a bad thing to get it in early either.  I already know I'm getting promoted, but I want to make the application as good as possible, so I had to think about a few of my answers before I submit it.  So, that's my rant about work.

On to more pleasant things.......let's talk Twins.  I'm getting a little bit frustrated, because they are in the middle of a 14 game road trip in which they only had one day off (14 games in 15 days), and as off this writing, they are 5-7 so far on this road trip.  They need to win the last two games.  They are currently in Toronto, which is a pretty decent team, and they lost last night's game after being up by 4 runs.  It seems like the bullpen always screws it up at the end of the game.  Even Joe Nathan hasn't been as lights out as usual.  However, they are currently still tied with the White Sox for 1st place in the AL Central.....I think it's going to come down to the last day of the season again.  They need to win the division to make the playoffs.....I think that the Red Sox have a really firm grasp on the wild card spot, so they'll be SOL if they don't win the division.  A couple years back, the Twins won the division when the Royals beat the White Sox on the final game of the year when the Twins won....this year, the Twins play the Royals on the final game of the year, so hopefully it doesn't reverse itself.  That would suck.  They need to make some improvements this off-season, although, they did well considering they lost Santana and Torii Hunter.  I believe that they need to get rid of Carlos Gomez (who came over in the Santana trade), as he has been completely worthless, and Denard Span has done a excellent job playing outfield, and next year we'll have Michael Cuddyer back (hopefully, unless he decides to injure his finger again).  So, we'll see what happens.

Now, Vikings talk.  I was watching Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN2 this morning, and they were giving their Super Bowl predictions.  Mike Greene picked the Vikings to beat the Jaguars in this year's Bowl.  Golic had the Cowboys beating the Steelers.  Either way, that's pretty damn exciting.  SI had it's annual scouting reports edition this week, and they had the Vikings losing the NFC Championship game to the Eagles.  So, overall, it seems as though the prognosis on the Vikings this year is very favorable.  They went 8-8 last year, but they won their last 5 games in a row.  So, we'll have to see what happens overall, but they'll be an exciting team to watch, even with Tarvaris Jackson injured.  Go Gus! :-)

And, I feel as though I need to put in my two cents about politics.  This election is going to be something else.  I'm getting really tired of the bullshit though.  Barack Obama delivered a really great speech last week during the Democratic National Convention in Denver.  And then, last Friday, John McCain introduced his running mate, Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, and she gave a speech that completely overshadowed Obama's from the night before.  Now, it's gotten out that Palin's 17 year old daughter is pregnant, and the media is having a field day.  It's a PRIVATE Matter!  Who cares if her daughter is pregnant!  It happens hundreds if not thousands of times a day!  Yes, I understand that she's in the spotlight now that she's running for Vice President, but it still doesn't matter.  It just proves that she's normal and has a normal family.  Palin's stance is pro life, and she has stated that her daughter is keeping the baby, and she is marrying the baby daddy.  So, what's the big deal?  Grrr.

I was watching the Republican National Convention last night, and they had Laura Bush, who gave a great speech, followed by President Bush, who to be honest, kind of seemed like he didn't care, and the former senator Fred Thompson gave an oustanding speech, followed by Democrat Joe Lieberman, who ran for VP with Al Gore in 2000, who's speech I didn't really enjoy.  Anyways, it almost seems like they are putting Sarah Palin on the ticket above John McCain, which is sad, because McCain would be the president, not Palin.  They made an interesting comment last night, and that was that it has basically become the Sarah Palin convention.  Having said that, I am very much looking forward to her speech tonight.  I think this ticket is going to be great, and John McCain will be the candidate to get the most done.  John McCain is very moderate, and he sees things from both the Democrat and Republican side, therefore I believe he'll be able to accomplish more and be more bi-partisan than Obama will.  Obama will raise taxes.  Obama wants to take troops out of Iraq and put them in Afghanistan.  Which isn't a great thing either.  We are winning the war in Iraq, and things are going well and troops will be able to come home.  Obama wants to go after Osama, which is great, but don't send our troops in there for absolutely no reason.  I don't feel as though Obama will work with Congress Republicans very well, and like I said, McCain will work with both parties.  He's a bit of an outsider on the Republican side, because he's voted Democrat so many times on a lot of things, as well as voted with Republicans on others.  I dunno.  They said on the news last night that they think this election will come down to whether people look at the past or the future when they vote.  They suggested that if they look at the past, Obama will win because of the last 8 years under Bush (who did a lot of things others had tried and failed), but if they look to the future, McCain will win because he has better principles, and he has plans to change the government.  I personally will be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket.  I think that it would be great, and McCain and Palin are BOTH in favor of offshore drilling in Alaska, and Palin would have a large part of that being from Alaska.  McCain's record shows that he would definitely put the country first before party, before himself, and before his family.  McCain/Palin 2008!

There's a lot of changes in my life as well!  Starting yesterday basically, we are starting the Dave Ramsey envelope system, which basically entails us having cash for major expenditures instead of using our credit cards, and that will help us get our finances under control.  I feel as though ever since we've moved up here, money is very short, and we are living paycheck to paycheck, which isn't very fun, considering one of my paychecks is just barely enough to cover rent.  Not only that, my wife and I are both trying a new diet which will hopefully help us lose weight and get healthier!  Although, going to Olive Garden yesterday didn't really help! :-P

And finally, to wrap up my Livejournal for today, my wife got a job yesterday at Walgreens in Savage, which is about a 15 minute drive (because of traffic lights).  She got put in the photo lab at an outstanding starting rate ($1/hour more than she makes at Target) because of her experience, and she was already offered an assistant manager job.  They asked her if she's like to be one, and she said yes, and because her store manager is an Emerging Leader and does hiring for the district, she told her to just let her know, and she'll keep her updated on when there's an open position.  She's going to train her everywhere in the store so that she already has a leg up when it comes time to go through the MGT training.  It would be great if she got a assistant manager job.  We'd be back in the "upper tier" like we were in Worthington on just my salary! :-)  She intends on quitting Target today, which will be sad for me to give up the discount, but that's ok.

I also got my XBox back last week, and I bought Madden '09, which is a great game.

Well, I think that'll do it for today.  It's long!  It's been real, until next time....peace out!

~K