Rain, Building, and the Search for a New Purse

I will start out by saying, the weather here has been insane over the past few weeks.  As a result, I am alternating between having a cold, and ... well, feeling okay, but still having a cold.  I work overnights, and the lows have gone, within the past week, anywhere from 32F to 58F.  I have no idea on a day to day basis, whether to leave my heater on, or turn it off ...what to wear, or if I need that extra blanket on my bed.  I am weather confused, people!!  But, I guess it proves what they say about living in my part of the US ... "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."

Loki - Eater of Purses

And, I need a new purse, now.  My cute, adorable puppy, Loki, took a liking to it.  I forgot to not put it on the foot stool last night, and he not only got the zipper open, but devastated the zipper.  As in, I found the zipper a few feet away from my purse.  My cherry all - day sucker is history, as is my remaining lip gloss - yes, the chocolate cherry one, and I am going to need a new tube of Orajel. (I bet he enjoyed that one, heh.)  I have a fiendish delight out of imagining him sitting in the middle of the living room floor, looking puzzled, thinking, what the hell happened to my mouth!!? I can't feel my mouth!!  It makes me sad - its the only expensive purse I've ever owned - a Guess one, and it was a really neat shade of ... well, lime green is the best way to explain it.  And, it had a matching wallet!  (I did manage to save the wallet.)  But, it's my own fault, he's a puppy, and it had tasty cherry flavoured stuff in it, and I left it down, where he could get it.  And besides, he looks so utterly content, curled up in the corner of the couch, that I can't possibly be mad at him. So, I guess we'll just go with, slightly miffed.  

Besides, it's raining.  And I can't be angry when it's raining outside. As I sit here, typing this lovely blog post, I can hear the sound of the rain coming off of the roof and hitting my porch, outside. Just this gentle pattering of water, and it's lovely.  Its very relaxing.  I adore rain, have I mentioned? Now you know.  Its a balmy 61F outside, and the sky is dark and gray and lovely, and I just want to open all of the windows in my house and let the air come inside.   But, I can't, because we have a water treatment plant a ways down the road, and sometimes, you can smell it.  Today is one of those times.  It kinda smells like rain, mixed with fish (from the river), mixed with ass.  So, my windows will remain closed, and I will simply gaze upon the wonder that is the gently falling rain, through glass panes.

Today is Jynxx's RL anniversary - 24 years!! Congrats, woman!  She and Mr Jynxx went to Medieval Times, I am assuming, in Orlando.  This is where I hate her for a few seconds.  OK, all done.  Oh hey, Jynxx?  6 days.  WOOT!

Anyway, obviously, she isn't going to be on SL today.  Master and I went on this morning, and had a bit of a brainstorming session in the new club build.  We decided that the library needed to be moved, and we also added a connecting bit of walkway to make it more accessible from the other side.  Satre came in and dropped the new couches and dance podiums for us, and gave me the new Exile texture for the dance floor and signage.  I left Jynxx a message on FB that we had mildly altered a few things, and her reply was, "Ut oh", and of course, she had to log in and check it out before they left for their night o' fun.   Apparently, she quite liked what we had done! YaY!  I really enjoyed getting to do a bit of building.  Jynxx and I have an agreement - she builds, I texture things.  But, it's been a long time since I played with building, and it was great fun.  I discovered that I am a bit rusty, but once I got started, I remembered things fast enough.

Now I am going to close out the blog for the evening, and enjoy my rainy night, talk to my Master on Skype, and maybe play some WoW.  The possibilities are endless.  

~R

Peace, Quiet, and Other Things

This is going to be a catch-up post, because I have been really bad about posting to my blog for the last few days.  Bad River!

Lets start with Friday.  I came off of my break from SL on Friday, just in time to do my Awesome 80's Flashback set at Exile.  Being Halloween, there weren't exactly a lot of people around - RL Halloween parties and Trick or Treating and all - but I still had a great time.  I have always said, it doesn't matter to me if the music reaches one person or one hundred, as long as its being enjoyed! After my set came Master's "Aussie Style" set, and he had a few more people than I did.

"Aussie Style"

 I did manage to snap some pictures this time, despite being his host, because Isis is away on vacation.

Saturday's Naked Night was really quiet, too, but it was still a blast!  The usual suspects were there - the Bolero Family, Miss Rose and Sir Len, just to name a few.  Apparently, a lot of people were also having issues with the new Firestorm Beta release, which explained the way that people kept logging on and off repeatedly.  Apparently, you either love it or  hate it.  I happen to be in the "love it" category.

This morning, after I had gotten home from work in RL, I came online to find Master chatting and DJing at Exile, with Jynxx.  We had made plans to move the new club build from the private sim, where Jynxx had been working on it, to the Exile parcel on Crystal Cove II.  Theoretically, we had the perfect plan.  SL and reality decided not to make things quite so easy for us.  Jynxx returned the build to my inventory, where it should have settled in one large lump in my lost and found, ready to be dragged back out again at the appropriate place.  SL, however, had different ideas.  It broke it into different parts, and ate some of the pieces.  After reviewing our options and trying some different things, it was decided that Jynxx would simply re-create the build.  I logged in briefly to see how it was going, and I have to say, I was pretty amazed.  Jynxx has done a HUGE amount of work today!!  I'm not going to post any pictures yet - I want to wait until she's closer to being done, or done completely.

The RL side of things saw me sleeping in til about 5pm, which was nice.  Time changes always do me in, even "falling back".  Got up, read thru FB, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned up the mess Loki made from figuring out how to unzip my purse and stealing my all day lolli ... Heh.  He seemed to enjoy it though.

Hope you're all enjoying the beginning of Fall.

~R

Gotta Keep On Keep On Keep On ...

If the title of my blog post made you have flashbacks to the Brady Bunch, good - you're old enough to remember!  Honestly, it was part of a rather hilarious conversation between myself and Master, last night.  I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, it was funny, and completely relevant.

I've had a few days off from SL, and it's been pretty much blissful.  I've gotten to spend tons of time with Master (not that it's really different than any other time, because we always spend the majority of our time together).  I got to sneak in-world for a while yesterday morning and see how work was progressing on the new build, and Master and I offered some suggestions to Jynxx as to where to stick things.  Yes, that pun was completely intended.  (Love you, Jynxx!)   The new build is coming along very well, and I can't wait to see it put in place so that the rest of the staff can come and oogle the fantastic job that Jynxx and Marge have done.  Most importantly though, I have had some time to do some deep thinking about things that have  been bothering me as of late. While I may or may not have a solution to those problems, I will not bore anyone with the details of said deep thinking processes or conclusions.  Just know that they are there.  :)  There were tears, there was consoling ..... etc.

On the RL side of things, I did mundane things, like cleaning, and laundry, and playing with my dogs.  Maybe a bit too much playing with said dogs, because I returned home from work to find the papasan chair overturned and both dogs looking at me with utter innocence.  Its been raining, which has only added to the bliss for me.  Anyone who knows me will tell you, that I love rain.  I also love fog.  Perhaps its my English heritage peeking out again, heh.   Oh, and I made frybread.  Twice.  It was delicious both times.

Tonight is Halloween.  I have no candy, so I am hoping to turn off all of the lights in the house and hide from the wee children coming door to door.  Of course, the porch light will be off, and that's sort of the unwritten law around here - no porch light, no knock.  No, I'm not an utterly cruel Halloween grinch, I just haven't gotten to the store to buy any.  That isn't looking to change today, because there's no way in hell that I am setting foot inside Wal Mart on Halloween day.  Eek!

I will be back in SL on Friday, to DJ my Awesome 80's Flashback set at Exile, and then again on Saturday, for Naked Saturday, also at Exile.  I'm actually sort of looking forward to getting back in again after my time off, now that the brain is no longer on overload and I know exactly what is what and who is who.  Heh.  Horton is a Who .. did you know?

With that, I can only say, its time for bed, and I shall leave you with this charming gem.

You know I love ya.  ;)

Stupidity, Idiots, and Reality

So apparently, some people can't understand reality if it bites them in the ass.

I've had the unfortunate circumstance to have to deal with some drama queens in my time, but this really has to take the cake.   There's a person at Exile, who does a blog, and in this blog, she incessantly degrades the club, and the people in the club, and can't seem to get her reality straight.  She says things that aren't true at all, and when she's called on it, she cries like a little girl and hides behind the skirts of other people.

Yesterday, I wrote, what I thought, was a very nice letter to this person, trying to explain how people work really hard for Exile, people close to her included, and each time she posts something bad about the place, it reflects on them as well.  I tried to give her some advice, such as finding her happy place, and that she should stop complaining about things all the time - that I, as well as others, would love to see her take some pride in Exile.

Of course, today, there is another snarky blog post.  

While I understand that the blog is her own "brain dump" and her own space - and I would not, and have not, asked her to censor it, I do stand by what I wrote to her.

Honestly, lets look at this in a RL fashion.  How many employers, would continue to employ a person, if all that they did was degrade the workplace in a blog, or tweets, or any other social media?  We've all seen plenty of cases such as this in the news, and guess what? Said person was usually released from work.   I would like to note, that I have not done this.  I have tried to be patient and tried to be nice.

But, as I pointed out to Master last night, apparently, being nice isn't working.  So perhaps its time for me to become the bitch that everyone seems to think I am.

I have taken a few days off from SL to gather my thoughts, with the assurance that Master, Jynxx, Emerald and Fitch will be handling things in my absence.  I will be coming back on Friday, unless I decide that I am ready to come back before then.

But be warned.  I am not dealing with this anymore.  Master will be dealing with these people from here on out.  After all, he is the co-owner of Exile.

And please remember, the same that your blog is your "brain dump" ... Exile is OUR club, and our PATRONS' club.  That will not change.  

Please, by all means, keep up your shit-talking, sweetheart.  All it does is make you look like an idiot 2 year old drama queen, seeking attention, and so eager for it, that you'll take it even if its bad attention.  Honestly, you don't have my anger.  You have my pity.

Naked Saturday Goodness

Last night was Naked Saturday at Exile, and it was our annual Halloween bash.  Well, the 2nd one we have had, anyway, but it's going to be a tradition.  It seemed like most everyone who was there, had a great time, and there were loads of great costumes to be seen!  Unfortunately, I was so busy Djing that I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures, but take my word for it!  Ky'she was an amazing mermaid, Master was Cartman, Sem and I were both ghosts, albeit different costumes, and there were some angels and devils and demons, and even Frenzy was there with a big mallet of some kind, and a gun.  I personally thought it was a pretty good night.  Granted, there were some who werent there, but I am guessing that RL also held lots of Halloween parties, since it was the last Saturday before.  I'm looking forward to seeing them back, next week!

Today has been a pretty lazy day all around.  I got the Exile schedule out (a bit later than I like, but I overslept!) and have dinner started.  Tonight is going to be Indian tacos, with chicken instead of beef.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the Indian taco - become intimately familiar! They are delicious!! Fry bread is da bomb.

Because of oversleeping, I dont have a lot to post today.  I'll try to do a better one tomorrow.  :)

~R

The 80's, Tuna Noodle Casserole, and Other Things

Hey everyone, its me, River, again! I know, its an odd title for a blog post, but trust me, it fits in with the whirlwind that is my mind.

So yesterday was Friday.  Fridays, I do my 80's Flashback set at Exile, and it was really a lot of fun.  All of my usuals were there, and Cherie stopped in towards the end of the set as well!  The sploder was well-served, and there was lots of awesome 80's music to be had by all.

Immediately afterwards, was the Exile staff meeting.  The ones who were in attendance, seemed very excited about the news of the new build, and while we assured them that nothing is, as they say, set in stone, I think that everyone is very excited to see it.  We informed them that Jynxx and Marge are deprimming the hell out of it, and doing some parcel-fitting as well (its a bit ... large), but hopefully a lot of that will be done soon.   They were, as always, full of great suggestions and ideas.  I love when that happens!   I was really sad that Frenzy didn't make it - I had a question to ask her, but Miss Fitch said she would talk to  her about it when she came on - co-incidentally, just as we were logging off!

RL work was a booger.  Everything was fine until the very end, and then the car had a blow-out, back passenger side.  Being as we are in a used car that we purchased 2 years ago, we had no idea that there was a spare tire tucked away underneath the car.  Heh.  After downloading a flashlight app on my phone so that we could see, we finally managed to get the tire to release, and then changing it was a breeze.  As of 9am this morning, there's a shiny new tire in it's place.   I stayed up late to meet a man who was supposed to come over and get an old refrigerator, but he never showed.

In the meantime, I was enjoying some time with Master at Exile, as he streamed some of his awesome music.  I had already gotten dressed for the Halloween version of Naked Saturday tonight, so I was looking a little pale.  Shanique, Rosie, and Miss Eloise also showed up, and then Satre, so it was a regular little party.

Tonight of course, is Naked Saturday, and as usual, its going to be a blast.  If I can manage to, I will try to snap some pics of the fun and post them here, tomorrow.

Now, I am off to enjoy some of the awesome Tuna Noodle Casserole that is for dinner.  I have a pic of that too.  There will be much less of it when I am finished.  I love this stuff!

Enjoy the night and see you all at NS tonight at 8pm!!

A Little Tact ...

I am going to try my damnedest to be tactful in this blog, but there are some things that I want and desperately need to address.  I do not plan on mentioning any names in this posting at all, so please bear with me as I dance around the naming of people.

There is a blog that I read on occasion, and in this blog, said blogger, who is an employee of Exile, has complained and commented on multiple things.   I am going to take the time to answer those comments, here and now, for everyone to see.

1.  "Exile is a dark, cold place."
In actuality, it isn't at all.  The beauty, the warmth behind Exile are the people who come to Exile, whether they be staff or patrons.  Everyone, and I do mean everyone at Exile, is considered part of the family.  As I have said before, Exile isn't about the build, or the pictures that were on the wall (and are now in the viewer) or the couches, or any number of other things.  Exile is about the PEOPLE.

2.  "Hardly anyone comes anymore. I think its because (insert names here) left."
As an owner of Exile, I see the number of people that come through the doors each and every day, and exactly how long they stay for.  Many of the events are well-attended!  As with any club in SL, not all events are going to be well-attended.  But, if your event is not well-attended, then sit down and ask yourself why it isn't.  Is there something that you can do? Perhaps a change of music, or even a change in attitude?  Maybe some outside advertising could help.  There again, if could be because (Insert names here) and all of their alts, aren't attending your shifts anymore. Addressing the thought that it's because (insert names here) left ... so not the case at all.  So many people were sick and tired of the drama being caused, and, as I said before, and will say again - Exile is Exile .. not the (Names Here) Show.  If you were under the impression that they ran things, or had some sort of "inside track" on what was going on ... I suppose you know now, that you were mistaken. Not sure if you just thought it, or if it was something that you were told, but I can hazard a pretty damn good guess, seeing as I have heard it from others as well.  They have left.  They are gone. It's time to let the past be the past, stop dwelling in it, and rocket forward into Exile's future.

3.  "I came in twice now, and stood ungreeted for at least 10 minutes."
That may very well be.  I remember bringing this up in several staff meetings.  Except .. then it was your and yours not doing the greeting, and guess what .. You still barely do, unless it's someone that is one of your friends/family.  I still get complaints about you in that aspect, and some of those complaints are coming from managers, as well as staff and patrons.   Darling, you cannot expect people to jump up and down for joy when you walk through the door, if you are not willing to at least greet people, yourself, and show some enthusiasm in it.  No one wants to feel as though they are pushing themselves upon someone.  You cannot expect someone to be happy to see you, when they say hello to you repeatedly, and get nothing in return, but you're all too happy to say hello to everyone else.

I'm going to end this blog by offering some well-intentioned advice to you.

Stop complaining and bitching about everything.  If you aren't happy, then change it.  Get your happy on! Look for something to smile about!  Trust that the people in charge actually DO know what they are doing, and if you have thoughts or comments to make, make them constructive ones - not words dripping with sarcasm and contempt.  Stop with the "woe is me" act and FIND your happy place, and reasons to smile and be happy about all of the good things that you have in your life.  No one should have to find it for you, or provide it for you.  Inside, I know that you are a truly awesome person, but right now, its very hard to get past the drama and bullshit, to see all of that awesomeness.  Said with love, said with love.