Well, I heard some very exciting nws today. My old buddy Bender from Seattle wants to come to Memphis and go to work for me. He is a great guy whom I miss an awful lot. He's about the only one who gives me a real challenge playing 40K just because he knows ALL the rules. He would be a tremendous asset in the store just because we need someone that can run excelent games and keep up with the know-it-alls that come in. If everything works out I plan to bring him on at the end of this month and make him my XO shortly thereafter. I think this is the answer to my prayers to bring life back into my job. And frankly, It'd be good to have a friend here that I can trust.

In other news, I had a talk today with the HR person for Games Workshop about our financial troubles. The company has been taking money out of my pay to cover the expense of moving here. Well, it seems that I can have the amount taken reduced by a significant amount. Right now it's over $400 a month. That will help our pathetic financial situation alot.

It turned real cold here today. A sure sign that Autumn is on the horizon. I'm in the position again this year that I'm not ready for the cold weather yet. I still want the hot and sticky days. Oh well, all good things come to an end I guess. There'll be another summer next year.

My wife an I made the decision to look into bankruptcy. Our bills are just piling up higher and we simply cannot pay everything off and continue to pay our current bills and buy food. We want to buy a house sometime in the near future but our credit is a mess. It seems like no matter how much money I make we can never balance the budget.

Our new cat is a joy. He's a big tabby cat but he acts like a big lovable stuffed animal. He tolerates the kids carrying him around everywhere and he always greets me both in the morning before I go to work and at night when I get home. The best part is I've seen no sign of that damned mouse. It is true what I said before... a cat around the house makes this place feel more like a home. Now if we could just get some furniture.

Ugh! It's on again off again at work. I'm frustrated again at my co-workers. My sympathy lies with my boss because I think he has painted himself in a corner with a potential mistake he made. It's as obvious to me as a sore on the roof of your mouth. He hired a friend to be the bunker steward. The person he selected is anal retentive and a horribly blatant brown noser. This person follows my boss around like a lost puppy and can't seem to do a project on his own without being watched. I have a real fear of how the bunker is going to have a nice assortment of tables built in time with this kind of goings-on. Then, to top it off this person plays office politics. I've caught him several times interloping in the affairs of my store and my staff. Where the problem lies is in that because this pee-wit is my bosses friend I worry that my boss tolerates way too much from him and my actually even give ear to the petty politics he seems to thrive on.

It is disturbing to me because the first thing I was taught about managing people is to be friendly not friends with your staff. I've had to sacrifice friendships in the past because I was the boss. Now I have to deal with it from my boss and a co-worker? I want to get along, I want to be a team player, I want this place to succeed!! But, how can a trust someone who undermines me?

The thing is that I know my boss is a good guy. I know he can handle this job and that he is smart enough to balance everything. I'm just deathly afraid that his judgement is clouded by his friendship with this wyrmtongue. The sad part really is that I don't feel comfortable talking with my boss about this again. Yes, I complained once about him. But, a second time just feels like I'd come across as petty. I want to be known as a team player.

So, I think my only solution is to remain faithful and to tolerate "Grimma" as I will now call him. A fairly wise person once said that everything will come out in the end and that the "hobby" will protect itself as long as you are faithful. Which reminds me of another principle of management... Faith not Heresy.