confoozled.com

a friend is gone forever	Thu 10/09/2008 10:36 AM
We took this photo of our friends John and Joy at the Rose & Crown Pub in Disney's Epcot during our trip last year. Though both from Rhode Island, they have lived in Florida since college. That day, they met us at Epcot and spent the day with us there. They showed us all of the best rides to go on and bought us lunch. We had a great time hanging out with them and catching up. Little did we know that it was the last time we would ever see John. John passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in his and Joy's home on Monday. The cause of his death is a complete mystery at this point, at least to his family and friends. An autopsy was performed on Tuesday and the results are supposed to be released to his family by tomorrow. We are all in complete shock and looking for answers, and it's surreal to me to think that if there's an answer to be had, someone out there knows what it is, but hasn't yet given it to any of the people who cared about him. John was thirty-one years old. 1 comments/trackbacks
vixen and the squeaky football	Wed 10/08/2008 9:50 AM
I finally got Vixen on video growling at the squeaky football. It wasn't as funny as the first time when her growls were turning into whines of frustration, but I think it's still pretty darn cute. The microphone on my cheap camera sucks, so you'll have to crank the volume up to actually hear her growl. And as usual, excuse the shaky camera work. I edited out as much of the shaking as I could, but there are still a couple of moments. That "No. Hey!" at the end is when Brooskey decided to take Daddy's wallet for a run. 2 comments/trackbacks
barbara wins the gopher iii	Tue 10/07/2008 1:46 PM
Congratulations to Barbara Baker, winner of the Gopher III pick up tool! Your prize will be mailed by the end of this week. If you weren't our lucky winner but still want one of these babies, you can pick one up from SHOP.COM for just $14.99! 0 comments/trackbacks
irresponsible sick leave policies	Mon 10/06/2008 2:24 PM
This weekend I came down with the cold that Chris tried hard not to give me, but when you live with someone and sleep in the same bed, it's inevitable. It robbed me of my weekend, because I had to stay home and do absolutely nothing all weekend. I even stayed home from a christening we were supposed to attend, because even though I felt well enough to go, I didn't want to get anyone else sick. But today, despite feeling worse, I'm at work. And why am I at work? Because my employer only allows two paid sick days per year, and even though my boss had been lenient about this in the past, he recently decided he was going to make me give back the two extra days I have used in the past three years, which he had previously let slide, which means I have no more paid sick time until my four-year hire anniversary this coming March. So if I stayed home today, I would not get paid. I simply can't afford that. The web is full of articles about why sick employees should stay home, like this one and this one and this one. But all of these refer to the employee who goes to work sick as the selfish/irresponsible one. The truth is, most people go to work sick because their employers give them no other choice. Most of us can't afford to lose any of our pay. And what about the employers who choose to lay off those employees who have taken the most sick time when it's time for a reduction in force, or those who offer special rewards and bonuses for "perfect attendance"? Why are we not calling any of them irresponsible? Where are the articles telling employers why they should offer reasonable paid sick leave, and encourage their employees to stay home when sick? I don't want my coworkers coming in sick and passing their germs to me, any more than I want to be at work myself when I'm sick. It's not just about me feeling lousy and wanting the excuse to stay home; it's about being responsible and not getting everyone else sick. I've heard that there is a push for federal legislation to mandate all companies to offer a reasonable amount of paid sick leave. Businesses oppose it because they think it's just lazy employees wanting something for nothing. That's not what it's about at all, and I would vote yes on such legislation in a heartbeat. 2 comments/trackbacks
gopher still up for grabs	Fri 10/03/2008 2:15 PM
Does no one want this Gopher III reacher? The giveaway ends at midnight tonight, and so far there's only one comment and I'm not even sure if that comment was intended as an official entry. If there are no other entries Randy is going to win by default, and if he didn't actually want it then I'm going to Freecycle it. But I'd much rather give it to one of my awesome blog readers, so come on! If you really have no use for it yourself, I'll bet you know someone who could use it. Why not send them over? You'll be helping them win something useful, showing them this cool blog you love to read , and helping me get new subscribers! 0 comments/trackbacks

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about the webmaster

My name is Carly, aka HelloKit. I grew up in Oregon, and now live in Rhode Island. I'm queen of IT and administrative assistant for an electrical contractor, but blogging and web design are my true passions.
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