It's the beginning of my favorite season...fall! I absolutely am in love with the smells and beautiful colors that surround us during this time. I just love pulling out my favorite old worn ratty jeans and sweaters and heading off with my dad to a high school football game or just taking a book to the park and enjoy the world around me.

Does this sound corny? Oh well I don't really care if it does. I love this time of year. Some prefer summer but for me it's just too damn hot ( well not so much this time around ) and others like spring ( too wet ), while others enjoy the winter ( oh HELL no, too damn cold ). I wish I was a little kid again so I could rake up a giant pile of leaves and just jump into them! My brother and I used to do that all the time and it was just so much fun. I guess the innocence of youth may have had something to do with that but it was just plain AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Living here in Pittsburgh I have noticed for the last few years that we don't get the whole 4 seasons like we used to. I miss them, well not winter anyway. I'm no environmentalist but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out - our climate is changing. No this is not going to be a post about global warming or the hole in the ozone layer, just a happy, nonchalant blurb about my love of autumn.

I've been struggling the last few months and having this good feeling is a huge relief for me. If you've never stopped by you wouldn't know what I'm referring to but any of you guys out there that have been here since the beginning know what I struggle with. I don't want to go into it and spoil the warm feeling in my heart so I won't. I'm just going to sit on the back porch and enjoy the beautiful fall evening!

Anyone else out there a fan of autumn? I'd love to hear from you....

I love you Suzy grandma

If anyone reading this is from the Pittsburgh area you may have seen on the news recently about a dirtbag that owned Penn Hills Monument Company. If you have not heard of this jerk off here's the jist.... this creep was taking people's money for headstones and instead of paying granite companies and engravers he took the money and purchased such items as concert tickets, jewelry, restaurants etc. Well his ass finally got caught in the sling. Allegheny county detectives finally had enough evidence to arrest his ass. I believe there were roughly 62 people that he did this to, my family being one of them.

My Suzy grandma, that's what I called her, passed away in March of 2011. My parents who are blue collar, hard-working American citizens believe in giving the "little guy" business over a big shot company. So when it came time to order my gram's headstone they decided to use the guy I mentioned above. Needless to say they had no idea of what he was doing. So we got robbed along with many other grieving families. This man took my parents money and bought everything but the headstone they had ordered.

Just when they thought they were going to have to buy another stone, one of the granite companies this jagoff screwed over called my dad and told him they had 5 blank stones and we were one of the lucky 5 to get one. I don't know why or how it all happened but my grandmother finally has her marker. So now when I go to visit her I can see her name and touch it too. And of course it's no match to having her here but it is a relief to know that she will never be forgotten.

I may have written a blog when she passed, I can't remember but if you had the chance to meet this woman you would've loved her instantly. She was special. She was the most generous, honest, faithful, compassionate, fun-loving lady you'll ever meet. I don't say this just because she's my grandma, I say it because it's true. She was truly remarkable and she is missed terribly.

I miss her. She always said the same thing whenever I was having a bad day or was feeling down. She'd say, "everything is going to be okay". And you know something grandma - you were right everything IS going to be okay!

I am outraged, pissed off and ready to fucking hurt someone right now! 

I am currently looking for a new job and someone told me that Cigna was hiring in its claims department. So I logged onto their site and actually found a position that seemed to fit what I was looking for. I cliked on the job description and everything seemed to be good until I got to this little blurb, which I will share with you in a just a moment. When I read this paragraph, a measly couple of sentences I became instantly enraged and went completely apeshit! I literally screamed out loud, " ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?". My poor cat took off running I yelled so loud.

Ok so I am a smoker (cigarettes here folks, not crack or pot) and yes I understand that it's bad for me. I also get the 2nd hand smoke thing too, well to a degree. I'm just being honest. But in my eyes it is what it is, so I smoke big fucking deal right? WRONG according to Cigna. Here is the paragraph that was embedded in their job posting:

Cigna strongly embraces the scientific evidence that the use of tobacco products is harmful to the health of the user, the user’s family, and the general public.  Cigna's mission is to improve the health, well-being and security of the people we serve, which starts with our employees. Starting with job offers dated January 1, 2014, Cigna will no longer hire – where state law permits -- applicants who use tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars and chewing or smokeless tobacco.  Currently, these states are: AL, AK, AZ, AR, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, KS, MD, MA, MI, NE, OH, PA, TX, UT, VT and WA.

If you’re passionate about making a difference one individual at a time, and would like to join the Cigna team, you’ll be screened for nicotine as part of the pre-employment drug screen in states that allow the screening. If you test positive for nicotine, although we won’t be able to offer you employment, we encourage you to check with your medical provider to explore your options and resources for quitting. Once you’re tobacco-free, you may re-apply for jobs with Cigna in [six] months.

So no matter how qualifed I am for this position or how hard of a worker I am I would be turned down simply because of a choice that I make to smoke. Since when did America become a communist country? Is it really any of their business what I choose to do on my own time? I cannot fathom how this is possibly legal. Is this not discrimination? Are they turning down applicants because they may have a drink of wine with their dinner? Are they turning away people who overeat? 

I could understand if I filled out my online application, got an interview but got turned down because I wasn't qualified or didn't answer their questions the way they wanted them to be but to not even be considered because I smoke is a fucking outrage. Who the hell do these people think they are?

I hope somehow someone from this people-bashing company gets wind of my post because believe me I searched their site for a place to contact them to give them a piece of my mind but couldn't find one. God please let someone see this! I am just so pissed off right now I don't even know what else to say.

So to anyone who reads this thank you for being my sounding board.