Monday, March 30, 2009

Look in the mirror....

Someone said, "It took 8 years and some to create this mess..."

That phrase "and some" is critical. Though Bush took the ball and ran as far and as fast as he could with it, his Democratic and Republican predecessors did a decent job of clearing the way, knocking down roadblocks and laying the foundation.

It took several presidents. Over time. Elected by many people.
What will it take for the collective body known as the people of the United States of America to look in the mirror and acknowledge that the face staring back played some role?
That anyone who was 18 yrs old or older on November 2, 2008 bears part of the responsibility?
This mess wasn't created by "them". It was created by "us". IMO it's going to take the vast majority of us to overcome the obstacles and get this country healthy again. It's going to take assistance and coordination from at least the Group of 20, if not more countries.

Pointing fingers, sticking our heads in the sand, and rejecting solutions out of fear that someone will scam the system do not serve any beneficial purpose.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Brokendown rental car - a tale from long ago

A friend had problems recently with her rental car, which reminded me of this tale from over a decade ago...
For my FIL's memorial service, we rented a car. One morning, the car wouldn't start when we were in the hotel parking lot.
Destination: Church.
Contents of car: three squirmy children and two exasperated adults - and that was before the car rebelled.
  • DH got the car started, and after some back and forth about
    calling the rental place,
  • needing to use the phone in the room,
  • and - the last straw -
  • DH proclaiming that he could drive the car but that would damage something -
we finally headed for the Church. On the way, I used the oh-so-cumbersome mobile phone installed in the car. (Once upon a time, it was considered a small car phone...)



I told rental dude the story, and got the line about bringing it to the airport location for exchange.

Umm, no. We're headed to a funeral. How about sending someone with a new car for us?
..... I'm sure you can do that for us.
..... Here's the address. Car must arrive during this 30 min window.
.....I'm sure you can figure out how to arrange that.
.....No, I can't give you a phone number. We're going to be inside a Church [mentally: ya know, the one for which I just gave you the address???].


We were a bit late. The %$^&^ priest was walking out of the sacristy to start the Mass -- while the widow and the deceased two children and their spouses and offspring were still standing at the back of the Church. (He was a jerk in many ways.)

When we exited the Church, the car was still sitting there. sigh. Just then, a tow truck with a car on its flatbed pulled up. Timing perfect, the guy handed us the keys to the replacement, we handed him the dud's keys, we moved two car seats and all other kid-stuff to the new car....
The rest of the family and friends were shocked.
And that's my rental car breakdown story.



Monday, March 16, 2009

they thank me for having FUN


The swim team end of season banquet has come and gone.


In preparation, I asked everyone to upload their photos to snapfish. I gathered the photos and created a photo book for the coach. I had a BLAST! I also created a slideshow from the photos, with some extras not included in the book. I had FUN!


When we showed up, I noticed a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Very nice. During the banquet, the slideshow played throughout dinner. The presentations drew to a close. That bouquet was still sitting pretty.


I received the flowers in appreciation for the work I did with the photos!

Wow. I had FUN. And I got flowers. Do you think I'll volunteer to do it again? You bet!

Pay no attention to that lady ....

doing prop work without being obvious
you're like Reagan - just get it done, don't care about getting the credit
sit at the keyboard, read and edit
calculate the cost in hours
consider what else has to be done
just doing my job...
all in a day's work,
for weeks on end
as the deadline slides and slides to the right

Monday, March 2, 2009

Tastes better IN the mug...

It's one of those days. The predicted snow is still arriving. My office is an icebox - the heat was off all weekend. So, a hot spot of tea sounds just charming.
  • Mug? check
  • Tea bag? check
  • Hot water? check
  • Sugar packets? check
Back in my office, I wait a few minutes, stir the tea, remove the bag. I get distracted, so it's a few minutes before I sip.
Blech. Tea tastes not-so-yummy. It's just one of those days.
About thirty minutes later, I look at my desk - really look at it, not the roving unseeing gaze thing. Yup. My sugar packets are sitting on my desk, plump and untorn.

Tea really does taste better with the sugar IN the mug.
I hope this lesson helps!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Mother Nature Misbehaving... AGAIN


Home, sweet home
on a bright sunshiny summer day.
Much UNlike today.

They already cancelled school. At 9:00 pm the night before. This storm better dump at least 12" of snow on us or I am going to be really pissed.
Like I can do anything about the amount of snow. Or being pissed changes anything.


Yeah, I guess this falls under the heading "out of my control". Sigh. I do remember the days when snowstorms were always fun and thrilling and exciting. I should; it's only been recently that I don't appreciate them.
But when the student who is failing to do his homework is overly enthusiastic about a day off, well... I can be excused for being aggravated at Mother Nature. I think so, anyway.

Something like this is in store for us.
Tomorrow.
When we wake up for work.

"Am I crazy?" or Perimenopause

I am quite annoyed - though it's pointless.

Why?

My mother was menopausal when she was ~44 yrs old.

Perimenopause can last for ten years, with gradual increase in symptoms or increase/decrease randomly occurring.

*I* fell apart, collapsed, broke down, take your pick and walked off the planet for six months. I was ~45 yrs old. My period was still as regular as ever.


NOW I look back and realize that I was experiencing perimenopause symptoms! Shoot, I even read a book on the topic back then. Never did I connect the dots - even though I wondered.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia while off the planet. I tried many anti-depressants; they're known to help fibro pain. A combination finally worked.



Come April, 12 months without a period, I will be menopausal. My symptoms are tolerable and rare these days. My migraines have even stopped - they're supposed to do so, but they're supposed to stop during pregnancy too and mine got worse.

I am JUST beginning to understand the stories I've read about menopausal women becoming bolder, empowered, and often quite creative and adventurous at this time. Until a few weeks ago, I thought the claims were true for the minority. But I'm starting to feel long-dormant thoughts waking and stretching after a long hibernation.