Wow. Two days without a post. I know, I know. I am not dead. Just dead tired. I have a pretty long post coming but Working almost 90 hours in the past week and a half has filled my time. In the interim, I have a friend of mine who commissioned a pony picture that uses my pony!!! I will say enjoy
!
So I had my parents visit this weekend. They drove 13 hours and made the long trek to see me and my family. It was a pleasant visit that refreshed me very much. I was not able to keep up to date with the blog so I am playing catch up.
Family is so important to me. My family has given me strength and helped me through some tough times. I do not want to know where I would be without my wife. My daughters have brought me joy and strength. I am coming up on my 9 year anniversary in marriage. I worked hard on it and am proud of it.
I do not get to see my parents very often anymore. Being a couple hundred miles away makes it difficult to see them more than once a year. When come down it is a special time.
It takes me back to a time of me being younger.
I end up pushing the shopping cart at Walmart.
I find myself laughing at my dad’s “dad jokes” only now with more understanding.
Its family.
and they came to visit.
Hug a pony my friends.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger. . . .
Henry The Fifth, William Shakespeare.
This was my 30 day check up today. This was a day back to the doctor. I was feeling a bit nervous as most of you know, I had a bad reaction to when I ran out this last time.
I was not a pleasant person coming into this.
I had quite a few things to say to the doctor. I was hurt, I felt betrayed. The feeling of trust I had was gone due to the fact that I had been through one of the worse weekends in a long while.
I was a bit nervous at first but it has gotten easier talking to her about everything. I explained everything I had been through and what dose I was taking. She agreed that it had been helping and that she say a difference.
So now, here I am with a 3 month supply and hope in my heart that I now have ally in this fight against my depression.
And I still have a pony to hug.
So, I managed something really cool this past week. I have decided to venture further into this realm of blogging and taking a few awesome steps in a big way. The first one was me taking the initiative and doing something professional in this. I had thought of a few things that would throw me in the mix but it really came down to my wife and a great opportunity that fell into my lap.
My wife is part of a networking group that helps small business. She is part of a direct sales company and was reaching out to expand her business. One of the gentleman in the group, Scott, runs an online podcast about people’s stories, businesses, and more. My wife suggested that I speak to him to further my career.
We talked about it and I agreed to do this and I did not know what to speak about to promote myself professionally. I do have lots of skills and talents and I wasn’t sure which to speak upon. My dear wife then suggested that Ispeak on my blog.
Me?
Talk about my blog?
In a professional format?
Oh my.
So I met with Scott and he was fantastic. He had an awesome setup and his demeanor was bar none.
And so without further ado, me.
In D flat minor.
I took this weekend off because of a few personal things (some of which I will get to talk about) but all in all I had a great weekend. First time in a while.
One of the cooler things about my job is that I am a training store manager. This means I get to let my store and go help other people. I also get recognized for going to special events and meetings. I got chosen to go to the Diversity Leadership meeting, formerly our Women’s leadership meeting (don’t know WHY they would send my pony loving self to this meeting…..oh wait).
Still it was a good meeting with good information that I get to take back to peers and all that.
Personally, I was excited for another reason as well.
So one of the first activities the group (about 40-50 people) did was your introduction and something special about yourself. I, personally, knew exactly what I wanted to say. #Ponies4life
But I wasn’t alone.
It got halfway around the room and a wonderful young lady stood and said her introduction and told everyone “I can quote anything from MLP!”
I froze.
My group (who know me so well) all turn and point to me with cheer on their faces and wide smiles as they know how much of a fan I am. I just sat there with a big grin on my face.
When it came to my turn, I was a bit nervous. While I have been outspoken about my Bronyism with my peers and coworkers, this was a meeting at my corporate offices. Could I brave the waters that I would be treading? I was of two minds about saying something when they first asked what made us special.
But a certain fellow manager spoke out and had given me courage.
I proudly stood up and let everyone know that I had an online blog (with a wonderful readership [Thank you!!]) and that I too was a huge fan and supporter of all things Pony.
I want to say thank you to this fellow PonyGal who gave me the strength to ensure that I would stand up. You keep rocking it. It fills me with joy to know you are out there.
Hug a pony my friends.
I love helping people. I have done so in my life as many times as I have been able. I will go out of my way to make someones day, if it is in my power to do so. Customer service has been part of my life. I have done quite a bit of counseling in my life as well. I have always felt I have done my part to help my fellow man.
or woman.
or Brony (especially this one)
Case in point. I had to run to the bank the other day and take a deposit for my store. On my way back I stopped to get some water for my guys (we do not have a water fountain or anything at the store so I buy some bottles so we don’t go thirsty). On my way to the car, I found myself stopped by a gentleman in another car who pulled right up next to me. The man started to talk to me but was having trouble getting words out. He kept stopping and putting his hand to his mouth like he had bitten a rotten apple.
Nice way to try and talk to a stranger.
He finally calmed down enough to tell me that he was a hydraulic engineer and he was on his way home from work in town A (an hour south of me) and was going another 30 minutes to town B (30 minutes north of me). He had left for work that morning and he had left his wallet at home. He was almost on E and just needed some help getting home.
Now, I had to stop myself because I am not a fan of panhandlers. Where I live it can be a serious problem. I have 2 uncles who have lived the transient life style and I know quite a few do so by choice. Before you start bombarding me with messages about homelessness and the problems, let me tell you I agree that this is a serious problem and should be addressed. Just, not by panhandling. But this guy pulled up in an Acura Legend. Not the kinda car (or anything) that a homeless person would drive.
So I listen carefully to his story and he is stuttering trying to tell me that anything I could do so he could get home would help. He offered me his hoody, his crossword puzzle book he had, anything he had in his car. He stopped at that point and choked back tears.
He was ashamed to ask.
I stopped him there and told him that I would give him all the cash I had (more than a dollar less than a hundred). He face lit up. He started muttering a thank you as he tried to get his hoody off when I stopped him. I told him to keep it on. No need to give me anything. He offered his crossword book and I said to keep that too. I told him to just pass it on to someone else. He thanked me profusely and drove off.
Now, this is not a story of kindness, as much as I would like it to be. This is a story of a society that has come to a point that people have forgotten the random acts of kindness. The self-centered nature that has become embedded in us is separating us. Sure we hear of the news of a Starbucks who did a “pass-it-forward”. But seriously, what good is that?
“I paid for the coffee that I would have purchased anyway to give it to someone behind me”
You want kindness? You have to give it.
I only hope I can give enough.
Hug a pony my friends.
I know. A quick update. Its a bit early for a post but this was too good to wait for.
A fake commercial for Pony shampoo.
Maybe she was born with it, maybe its Nay-belline.
Ah, retail. How you make me feel so loved. I honestly feel like shopping brings out the worse in people. Be it from the people who tell their children to not say please or thank you to me because I am there to serve them (true story). Or the people who think they should be the exception to every rule and I should be glad they gave me a chance to fix an issue (also a true story).
Or my personal favorite at the moment, “You should have told me about this.”
“But Ma’am, we sent emails and let 2 phone messages and the automated calls went through for everyone else”
“Well you must not be trying hard enough!”
Still, we enter a scene were I was told we did not inform the customer of when an item was coming out. And play:
“Excuse me sir, My son said he cannot have the item he put money down on a while ago. Why won’t you let him have it?”
(Me) “Let me see sir. Ok the item he is wanting is not out yet, It was delayed by a few months and won’t be out for a few months.”
“That is Bull****, he wasn’t informed of this. Why didn’t you tell him?”
“Well sir, I just believe I did. I am sorry I don’t have the item. If I did, I would be glad to sell it to you.” (And come on, what retailer wouldn’t love to sell more stuff? “No please, I don’t want your money”)
“Well what are you going to do now?”
“Well sir, I can refund your money, no problem.”
The gentleman grumbles and hands me a receipt. I process the transaction and give him his son’s money back. As I am handing him the money I notice his old receipt.
“And here is your full refund. Also sir, I wish to point out that on the receipt itself it shows a date of June for your item. It printed out the date when you put the hold on it”
The man looks at me.
“What? You expect me to read that? Why would I read that?”
*exasperated sigh
I am hugging a pony……
I love a good build up. Bring people in, get the interest and hopes up, leave them hanging for just the right amount of time. The biggest thing is to deliver and to leave them wanting more. The biggest thing is to deliver. So I hope to do so now.
I mentioned that I had a few surprises coming and that I would be sharing them “soon”. Well soon is here for one of them (2 more to go after this *squee).
I have been wanting to have myself put into pony form (ponified) as I have yet to do so. For me this is kinda a big step as I am very picky. I am a stickler for details and for wanting things done a very certain way. When it has to represent me, I want it to be me. I want people to look at it and go, Yup, that is Daniel (yes I know my name, I said it [all kinds of surprises today]).
So I had put the word out and starting looking at people. I had a few very good suggestions and I liked a few people but nothing was popping out at me. Then I had a friend come to me and told me he had an artist he used when he was needing an emblem for his business. I asked who it was and he told me Luke McKay.
-Now enter shameless plugs for Luke here –>
http://roosterteeth.com/lukemckay
Luke was an artist that I know of in many of the circles I run in as he is the main comic artist for Rooster Teeth, a website dedicated to all things geeky and gaming. I remember when they first started up with the web series Red vs Blue made from the original Halo and help pioneer online web series and such.
Really really big name for me.
I geeked out.
Not gonna lie.
So I was put in contact with him and some email correspondence took place. Through a gracious commission fee (bribe) and some heartfelt conversation (begging) I managed to score a Luke Mckay original version of a pony named after me. So without any more build up. I have me, in pony minor.
Thank you @lukemckay
Pain can be good. It is a meter in which we can adjust ourselves. Unfortunately, I have had my share of it today.
My doctor has denied my prescription until she can see me next week. I am disheartened because there was no explanation. I let her know that I was doing great and feeling great. I have cut back on my dose severely (hence body not reacting well, hence pain). I have enough to be emergency only at this point. I do not like the fact that I have cold shocked my body like this. I wish I could write more.
It has been a very rough night.
So now I go back to my original Stuffed Therapy that this blog is about. IT is helping (like always) though I have been more aggressive to using it. I had not curled up in the fetal position and hugged my pony in quite a while. Yesterday I did.
Hug a pony my friends.
My Stuffed Little Therapy 