Nothing Going On.
It is strange how one day you can feel like the whole world is weighing so heavily on your shoulders, and the next, barely recognize that the day before you felt so discouraged. I guess it just takes a while to put it all in perspective that's all. Sometimes there are things that just can't be helped. I hate that, but it's real, and there is no way around it.
Our children aren't always what we expected, our lives aren't always what we expected, things don't always turn out the way we planned. I trod along every day thinking my marriage is made of stone, and that nothing can ever change that, I picture us together the rest of our lives, and then there is a disagreement, or an argument, and for a split second I think, "What if we never make up?" "What if we don't ever reach an agreement?" For me that is a cold and dreaded thought because I have truly dedicated myself to the idea that he and I will be together forever, as long as we live, period, end of subject.
Then it happens one cold morning, we have an argument that ends bitterly without words, in silence. Silence is such a deadly thing to let enter a marriage. Silence builds on so many weaknesses, it will drive a wedge, and do the worst thing possible: cause distrust. Not distrust in the obvious way like, I can't trust you to leave the house without seeking out another woman's company, no, it's much more sinister than that, it is when you wonder, is there a possibility that this person does not want to spend the rest of his life with me, and they are just playing along? Oh it's such an awful feeling, it hurts so deep in my soul just to think of the possibility.
That is why you "don't go to bed angry with each other", that old saying that older, and wiser people tell young people in love. I remember being told that so much when I first got married, and I thought, "well, what if you're tired?" So, we went to bed angry, and woke up angry, and we stewed, and we ignored each other, and I absolutely would never want to go through that again. I HATE the silent treatment. I think it's cruel, mean and petty. It lends an ear to all sorts of demons, doubts and mistrust.
It is in those times, when we are too upset to speak to each other that I realize how fragile a marriage can be. That one fight, one big long unresolved argument can drive a wedge the size of Texas in there, and there isn't a damn thing that's going to remove it other than a court of law. I hate the thought of that, but like a tango, it takes two people, and they have to agree to not let a small crack in the bedrock become an enormous canyon that will divide, and separate us.
It's not always easy. I don't mean that just from my perspective either, I know he feels the same sorrows and pains when we fight. I guess it will just take time for souls to heal.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Account Violators
Email Rapers.
I think it's terrible that someone would stoop to the level of violating someone's personal privacy and get into their email account, and not only that, but that they would publish such on the web. I have no idea where the emails are posted, and I would refuse to even look at them. No website of any credit should be willing to publish such things, but we know scum exist as do low life websites.
As this topic was discussed this morning, I found myself thinking what a horrible violation that it is. What these hackers have done is no less repugnant than peeking in a person's window and watching them undress. They have gone even a step future and published the evidence of their perverted deeds. It is disgusting.
Civilized people should be truly outraged by these filthy acts, and yet, what is even more sickening are the talking heads that suggest that we somehow need to be privy to the contents of this woman's hacked email account. I want no part in it, I don't want to know what's in her emails, and anyone of any sort of class at all would refuse to be a witness to anything produced by such a violation.
I think it's terrible that someone would stoop to the level of violating someone's personal privacy and get into their email account, and not only that, but that they would publish such on the web. I have no idea where the emails are posted, and I would refuse to even look at them. No website of any credit should be willing to publish such things, but we know scum exist as do low life websites.
As this topic was discussed this morning, I found myself thinking what a horrible violation that it is. What these hackers have done is no less repugnant than peeking in a person's window and watching them undress. They have gone even a step future and published the evidence of their perverted deeds. It is disgusting.
Civilized people should be truly outraged by these filthy acts, and yet, what is even more sickening are the talking heads that suggest that we somehow need to be privy to the contents of this woman's hacked email account. I want no part in it, I don't want to know what's in her emails, and anyone of any sort of class at all would refuse to be a witness to anything produced by such a violation.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
So Tell Me
What's the Deal?
Are 95% of the men in America impotent or what? I mean, I don't mean to be crude, but why not, I can't watch 30 minutes of television without being inundated with numerous ads for erectile dysfunction pills. I know more about Levitra, Cialis, and Viagra than I ever wished to know. It's really my biggest pet peeve right now, I'm tired of it.
Oh sure, I could change the channel, but guess what, the commercials are on the next channel and the next channel. It's annoying.
No, you know what it is, the pills must not be selling enough because American men are so virile. I don't mean that sarcastically at all, I mean that sincerely, stud muffins that they are. I thank God I was born in this country where women aren't treated as less important than the family goat. I wish everyone had the rights and freedoms we have. I really do.
But, I'm really sick and tired of those commercials.
Are 95% of the men in America impotent or what? I mean, I don't mean to be crude, but why not, I can't watch 30 minutes of television without being inundated with numerous ads for erectile dysfunction pills. I know more about Levitra, Cialis, and Viagra than I ever wished to know. It's really my biggest pet peeve right now, I'm tired of it.
Oh sure, I could change the channel, but guess what, the commercials are on the next channel and the next channel. It's annoying.
No, you know what it is, the pills must not be selling enough because American men are so virile. I don't mean that sarcastically at all, I mean that sincerely, stud muffins that they are. I thank God I was born in this country where women aren't treated as less important than the family goat. I wish everyone had the rights and freedoms we have. I really do.
But, I'm really sick and tired of those commercials.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Before I Read Any Other Blogs
I Want To Speak My Mind.
I'm dying to see what all of my favorite bloggers have been writing about all of the current political happenings, but first I want to put down my observations before I read others. First and foremost, I LOVE Sarah Palin. I watched the speech tonight, and found myself in awe. She's so incredibly plain spoken, and brave, and that line about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit-bull being lipstick was hilarious! Just Wow!
I've never been a big fan of McCain's, but I have to say, this campaign has brought me from highs to lows to highs again. Before I say anything else, this is going to shock people, but I tell you, I really like Obama. I never thought I would say that, but I really do. I like him so much that I even considered voting for him. That's how strong his charisma factor is with me. When I hear him speak I think to myself, he seems so good, so honest, so genuine, I like him. BUT, then reality sets in, and I remember what exactly he stands for, and it's nothing that I stand for. Nothing.
The truth is, Obama is more of the same extreme liberal politics that have infested so many of our institutions of today. Our schools, our courts, our work places, our media, our entertainment, so many of these are completely and unabashedly left leaning, and/or left controlled. The conservatives I work with speak in whispers amongst themselves, ever cautious of "offending" the delicate flowers who will quickly run to management if a conservative dare do so much as defend an unborn child's right to live. We're not supposed to speak about these things you see. Luckily, conservatives are pretty good at spotting a loon quick enough, and know to hold their tongues around these types, when in the work place at least.
I watched as much of both conventions as I possibly could, and even though I had a momentary lapse of sanity and actually considered voting for Obama, I've come around again. All it took was listening to a liberal attack Palin 5 minutes after she was announced. It was disgusting. It was disgusting when I accidentally flipped to MSNBC and some commentator was saying, "we will see how she explains this pregnancy of her 17 year old, and her husband's dui when he was 22 years old" Oh for crying out loud, you have got to be kidding me.
Anyway, I always knew I would vote for the conservative candidate, McCain was not my choice, but I believe he is a good man, and will make a great president. My choice is made, and it will be McCain. Other notable mentions though, Fred Thompson and Rudy Guliani totally ROCK!
Now, I've just got to go read blogs and see what's being said. Back later!
I'm dying to see what all of my favorite bloggers have been writing about all of the current political happenings, but first I want to put down my observations before I read others. First and foremost, I LOVE Sarah Palin. I watched the speech tonight, and found myself in awe. She's so incredibly plain spoken, and brave, and that line about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit-bull being lipstick was hilarious! Just Wow!
I've never been a big fan of McCain's, but I have to say, this campaign has brought me from highs to lows to highs again. Before I say anything else, this is going to shock people, but I tell you, I really like Obama. I never thought I would say that, but I really do. I like him so much that I even considered voting for him. That's how strong his charisma factor is with me. When I hear him speak I think to myself, he seems so good, so honest, so genuine, I like him. BUT, then reality sets in, and I remember what exactly he stands for, and it's nothing that I stand for. Nothing.
The truth is, Obama is more of the same extreme liberal politics that have infested so many of our institutions of today. Our schools, our courts, our work places, our media, our entertainment, so many of these are completely and unabashedly left leaning, and/or left controlled. The conservatives I work with speak in whispers amongst themselves, ever cautious of "offending" the delicate flowers who will quickly run to management if a conservative dare do so much as defend an unborn child's right to live. We're not supposed to speak about these things you see. Luckily, conservatives are pretty good at spotting a loon quick enough, and know to hold their tongues around these types, when in the work place at least.
I watched as much of both conventions as I possibly could, and even though I had a momentary lapse of sanity and actually considered voting for Obama, I've come around again. All it took was listening to a liberal attack Palin 5 minutes after she was announced. It was disgusting. It was disgusting when I accidentally flipped to MSNBC and some commentator was saying, "we will see how she explains this pregnancy of her 17 year old, and her husband's dui when he was 22 years old" Oh for crying out loud, you have got to be kidding me.
Anyway, I always knew I would vote for the conservative candidate, McCain was not my choice, but I believe he is a good man, and will make a great president. My choice is made, and it will be McCain. Other notable mentions though, Fred Thompson and Rudy Guliani totally ROCK!
Now, I've just got to go read blogs and see what's being said. Back later!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Okay, Okay, I'm Awake Now
You Can Stop Licking My Nose.
It seems there is a new trend developing in this house, one that I'm not sure I agree with at all. Apparently, Puppy has learned, like Pavlov's dogs, certain behaviors bring about a positive result. For instance, he knows if I stir ever so slightly in the morning that if he jumps on my chest and starts licking my nose I will reluctantly get out of bed, and this pleases him to no end.
Oh I've tried everything from burying my head, to turning over, but no, once he starts he will persist until I get out of that bed come hell or high water. He won't give up. I don't know exactly what he wants, but my first instinct is to put them outside which I do, but I have usually already let them out a couple of hours earlier. For some reason I've been waking up at 5 a.m. regularly and been letting them out.
He's become a bit of a cat dog in some ways. You know how cats will always flop themselves down on the magazine you are reading, or on the computer keyboard when you are typing at it, well that's Puppy. I lay across my bed reading a book, and he picks that very time to come and snuggle up under my chin begging for petting and affection. It's too darn cute to ignore, so I have to pet him, then when I stop he keeps nudging for more and more, completely taking away from my book reading time. Well, he's spoiled I guess.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I could just teach him how to make coffee first. My life is a Folger's commercial, I simply cannot wake up without it anymore. Sometimes when hubby is home he brews the coffee then wakes me up to the sweet aroma of Folger's in my cup, and I love him more than ever, if that's even possible.
Puppy is actually a year old now, but he's still very much puppy, so we keep calling him that. He had his bath this week and is in extreme fluff mode. He has a bath once a month, he's usually dirty within the hour of returning home from the groomer, but he'll smell good for at least a week. She put some type of leave in conditioner on him last time, and he was like a freshly bathed little baby you just wanted to cuddle him.
My husband is quite taken with him. I even heard him refer to him as "My little Pumpkin" once, and of course I couldn't help but find that endearing. When I got Pumpkin I did so without consulting him, which I usually never do, but he was at the rig so I didn't have a way to get ahold of him, anyway, it's done now, but I did send him a text message and a picture saying, "I got a puppy, I hope you don't get mad", and of course he was very annoyed with me for that. He cussed and told the guys, "she got a puppy", and he showed them the picture, to which they all exclaimed, "awww." He told them we named him Pumpkin.
Now, every week when he returns to the rig, it's "How's Pumpkin?" and "Pumpkin this, and Pumpkin that" they are relentless about it. It's all fun though, and he takes it in stride.
Everyone should have a Pomeranian, they are so much fun. Even so, he likes to drag things out and make messes, which has been a pain, but when I come home from work and find him wearing a pair of underpants around his torso because he's practically climbed into them, I can't help but laugh at what a little clown he is. They weren't my underwears anyway.
So, I'm off to another day of back breaking physical labor, err I mean, I'm off to clean house and do laundry, tomorrow is trash day, and I'm truly of a mind to just start chucking stuff into the cans outside. I'm so tired of all this clutter.
And, there is a pie to be made today. I guess that will be a nice reward.
It seems there is a new trend developing in this house, one that I'm not sure I agree with at all. Apparently, Puppy has learned, like Pavlov's dogs, certain behaviors bring about a positive result. For instance, he knows if I stir ever so slightly in the morning that if he jumps on my chest and starts licking my nose I will reluctantly get out of bed, and this pleases him to no end.
Oh I've tried everything from burying my head, to turning over, but no, once he starts he will persist until I get out of that bed come hell or high water. He won't give up. I don't know exactly what he wants, but my first instinct is to put them outside which I do, but I have usually already let them out a couple of hours earlier. For some reason I've been waking up at 5 a.m. regularly and been letting them out.
He's become a bit of a cat dog in some ways. You know how cats will always flop themselves down on the magazine you are reading, or on the computer keyboard when you are typing at it, well that's Puppy. I lay across my bed reading a book, and he picks that very time to come and snuggle up under my chin begging for petting and affection. It's too darn cute to ignore, so I have to pet him, then when I stop he keeps nudging for more and more, completely taking away from my book reading time. Well, he's spoiled I guess.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I could just teach him how to make coffee first. My life is a Folger's commercial, I simply cannot wake up without it anymore. Sometimes when hubby is home he brews the coffee then wakes me up to the sweet aroma of Folger's in my cup, and I love him more than ever, if that's even possible.
Puppy is actually a year old now, but he's still very much puppy, so we keep calling him that. He had his bath this week and is in extreme fluff mode. He has a bath once a month, he's usually dirty within the hour of returning home from the groomer, but he'll smell good for at least a week. She put some type of leave in conditioner on him last time, and he was like a freshly bathed little baby you just wanted to cuddle him.
My husband is quite taken with him. I even heard him refer to him as "My little Pumpkin" once, and of course I couldn't help but find that endearing. When I got Pumpkin I did so without consulting him, which I usually never do, but he was at the rig so I didn't have a way to get ahold of him, anyway, it's done now, but I did send him a text message and a picture saying, "I got a puppy, I hope you don't get mad", and of course he was very annoyed with me for that. He cussed and told the guys, "she got a puppy", and he showed them the picture, to which they all exclaimed, "awww." He told them we named him Pumpkin.
Now, every week when he returns to the rig, it's "How's Pumpkin?" and "Pumpkin this, and Pumpkin that" they are relentless about it. It's all fun though, and he takes it in stride.
Everyone should have a Pomeranian, they are so much fun. Even so, he likes to drag things out and make messes, which has been a pain, but when I come home from work and find him wearing a pair of underpants around his torso because he's practically climbed into them, I can't help but laugh at what a little clown he is. They weren't my underwears anyway.
So, I'm off to another day of back breaking physical labor, err I mean, I'm off to clean house and do laundry, tomorrow is trash day, and I'm truly of a mind to just start chucking stuff into the cans outside. I'm so tired of all this clutter.
And, there is a pie to be made today. I guess that will be a nice reward.
I Promise No Whining
And Minimal Complaining For Once.
I know, I know, it just won't be the same without my usual whine fest going on, but I get tired of hearing myself. There is more to me than bitching and complaining.
I bet you're wondering what has put me in such a good mood? Only spending about 5 hours straight with my mom doing crosswords on a cool rainy Sunday afternoon. It was just so nice to spend the day with her. She even conned me into cooking dinner for everyone, just like old times!
My dad laughed himself into a tizzy during dinner, because he found a piece of mail on the table from his "financial advisor" and my mom had wrote an arrow next to financial advisor, and wrote the name FELIX in there. It was her way of expressing her disapproval over his choice to discuss their finances with a complete stranger. You see, for years my dad used to jokingly call his cat, Felix, his financial advisor, which she kindly reminded him.
So, I look at dad during dinner, and his face is beat red, and he's obviously concealing laughter. I asked him what's so funny, and he holds up the letter, and says, "Felix", and then cracks up really bad. It was because earlier that day mom had been quite forceful in her opinion about him seeking financial advising from anyone other than her. According to her, "I've kept you out of the poor house all these years" she informed him.
Anyway, it was just good to see him laugh so much over it all.
I spent most of the day there, and completely blew off the stuff I needed to do at home, but it was totally worth it. She wants me to come over tomorrow and bake a peach pie, and truly, how could I refuse? Even though, I will have to get my hind end in motion right away in the morning to get all the stuff I need to do done so I can have time to go help with the pie.
I bought a brand new beautiful red vacuum, and I won't let anyone touch it. I refuse to have these heathens ruin my new vacuum again. My vacuums always work fine until other people use them, and for some reason, they just go to pot after that. Because I am having such control issues about the vacuum, I am stuck doing all the work.
Before you say anything, I HAVE tried to instruct these people, namely my daughter on how NOT to clog the thing up beyond all repair, and my vacuums still get murdered horribly. Even my brother in law resisted instruction and ruined two working vacuums while he was staying with us. That and completely drinking up every drop of liquor in the house was enough to ingratiate himself with me.
It's the chinchilla you see. All the live long day he throws his food, and his turds out of his cage. We have a severe problem with him doing this. Trust me, he may have a brain the size of a peanut, but I swear to you, he knows what he's doing. I've seen him throw his bowl across his cage when he wants a raisin. He stands at the bars and drives the dogs mad with his heckling. And sometimes, I think he secretly wants us all dead.
That's the way it is with caged animals. Somewhere in the archives are probably some posts about the bird. That guy had it in for me really bad. I could just sense his desire to pluck my eyes from my head. Honestly, I've never been big on having animals in cages, I don't like the feeling of it, it makes me feel bad for them, but he's here so we do the best we can by him.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend any caged animals as pets as I said above, it makes me feel guilty keeping them in cages. I do enjoy the little guy, but they are not cheap pets, and do require special situations, for instance, chinchilla's can't take high temperatures, so we have an air conditioner especially for him. Our house is 90 degrees some days, that type of heat will kill a chinchilla. They are fun, but with the dogs, we have to be careful of him getting out. Anyway, he's really funny, and has a cute personality, but his hair really clogs up my vacuums.
Well, there is a storm brewing outside, which means time to get off this computer. Thank God for some rain. Goodness knows it has been a hot dry summer.
I know, I know, it just won't be the same without my usual whine fest going on, but I get tired of hearing myself. There is more to me than bitching and complaining.
I bet you're wondering what has put me in such a good mood? Only spending about 5 hours straight with my mom doing crosswords on a cool rainy Sunday afternoon. It was just so nice to spend the day with her. She even conned me into cooking dinner for everyone, just like old times!
My dad laughed himself into a tizzy during dinner, because he found a piece of mail on the table from his "financial advisor" and my mom had wrote an arrow next to financial advisor, and wrote the name FELIX in there. It was her way of expressing her disapproval over his choice to discuss their finances with a complete stranger. You see, for years my dad used to jokingly call his cat, Felix, his financial advisor, which she kindly reminded him.
So, I look at dad during dinner, and his face is beat red, and he's obviously concealing laughter. I asked him what's so funny, and he holds up the letter, and says, "Felix", and then cracks up really bad. It was because earlier that day mom had been quite forceful in her opinion about him seeking financial advising from anyone other than her. According to her, "I've kept you out of the poor house all these years" she informed him.
Anyway, it was just good to see him laugh so much over it all.
I spent most of the day there, and completely blew off the stuff I needed to do at home, but it was totally worth it. She wants me to come over tomorrow and bake a peach pie, and truly, how could I refuse? Even though, I will have to get my hind end in motion right away in the morning to get all the stuff I need to do done so I can have time to go help with the pie.
I bought a brand new beautiful red vacuum, and I won't let anyone touch it. I refuse to have these heathens ruin my new vacuum again. My vacuums always work fine until other people use them, and for some reason, they just go to pot after that. Because I am having such control issues about the vacuum, I am stuck doing all the work.
Before you say anything, I HAVE tried to instruct these people, namely my daughter on how NOT to clog the thing up beyond all repair, and my vacuums still get murdered horribly. Even my brother in law resisted instruction and ruined two working vacuums while he was staying with us. That and completely drinking up every drop of liquor in the house was enough to ingratiate himself with me.
It's the chinchilla you see. All the live long day he throws his food, and his turds out of his cage. We have a severe problem with him doing this. Trust me, he may have a brain the size of a peanut, but I swear to you, he knows what he's doing. I've seen him throw his bowl across his cage when he wants a raisin. He stands at the bars and drives the dogs mad with his heckling. And sometimes, I think he secretly wants us all dead.
That's the way it is with caged animals. Somewhere in the archives are probably some posts about the bird. That guy had it in for me really bad. I could just sense his desire to pluck my eyes from my head. Honestly, I've never been big on having animals in cages, I don't like the feeling of it, it makes me feel bad for them, but he's here so we do the best we can by him.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend any caged animals as pets as I said above, it makes me feel guilty keeping them in cages. I do enjoy the little guy, but they are not cheap pets, and do require special situations, for instance, chinchilla's can't take high temperatures, so we have an air conditioner especially for him. Our house is 90 degrees some days, that type of heat will kill a chinchilla. They are fun, but with the dogs, we have to be careful of him getting out. Anyway, he's really funny, and has a cute personality, but his hair really clogs up my vacuums.
Well, there is a storm brewing outside, which means time to get off this computer. Thank God for some rain. Goodness knows it has been a hot dry summer.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
One Day
Today.
I've got one day off then it's back to the grindstone, I'll work two days, then have two glorious days off. My house has gone to hell in hand basket, and I've got a list as grand as the pile of laundry needing done. Plus! The kiddo and I have come up with a decorating project for her room that will take some doing. Am I the only fool dreaming if we fix her room up nice she'll keep it clean?
Then there is the rest of the house, not for decorating, it just needs a good cleaning, but what else is new. Honestly I have no intention of making this post about cleaning although I've got plenty of material for it.
No, this post is to ask a question. What the hell has feminism done for me lately? I ask this question all the time. I ask my girlfriends, what has feminism done for you lately? Hmm? They all have pretty much the same answer, which in summary is: I now get to work as much as a man, and still try to mother at the same time, which any mother, except for Supermom's will tell you is a total crock.
Actually, I admit feminism has really done a lot for women. I think we are much more free today than ever, and I literally shudder when I think of how other women in this world have it. I have a say over my own life and destiny, well, I can work in any career I choose anyway. That is nice. Not all women want to be housewives. Not all women are in a position to be dependent on a man. I get that.
Now, it is expected that women will work outside the home, that they will be equal earners, or at least put in the same amount of hours at it as their faithful husbands. Guys don't want to carry the burden alone anymore, I don't necessarily blame them for that.
What are we to do when it comes to having a family? Well, men are supposed to help out more with the children. Men are supposed to help more with the household chores.
My mom was a supermom, she worked a hard physical job for over 30 years. She was a nurse. She ended up with a broke back, and a handicap sticker. She worked until her back just couldn't allow anymore. She took care of us kids, and the house. Dad kept the outside chores done, mom never pushed a lawn mower, or planted a flower. She was too busy running after us rug rats to deal with that stuff.
I don't know, I just know I wanted my mom home. I missed her when she was working. She never acted tired, even though I know she must have been exhausted. We were latch key kids. I'm sure that works for a lot of people. I'm sure my parents felt they couldn't make it without my mom's income. It's just the same with my husband and I, we have become dependent on my paychecks as well.
So, I better get to work. I've got one day off now, I shouldn't waste it lolly gagging around blogging and surfing the internet. This pig stye isn't going to clean itself. Today is the day.
I've got one day off then it's back to the grindstone, I'll work two days, then have two glorious days off. My house has gone to hell in hand basket, and I've got a list as grand as the pile of laundry needing done. Plus! The kiddo and I have come up with a decorating project for her room that will take some doing. Am I the only fool dreaming if we fix her room up nice she'll keep it clean?
Then there is the rest of the house, not for decorating, it just needs a good cleaning, but what else is new. Honestly I have no intention of making this post about cleaning although I've got plenty of material for it.
No, this post is to ask a question. What the hell has feminism done for me lately? I ask this question all the time. I ask my girlfriends, what has feminism done for you lately? Hmm? They all have pretty much the same answer, which in summary is: I now get to work as much as a man, and still try to mother at the same time, which any mother, except for Supermom's will tell you is a total crock.
Actually, I admit feminism has really done a lot for women. I think we are much more free today than ever, and I literally shudder when I think of how other women in this world have it. I have a say over my own life and destiny, well, I can work in any career I choose anyway. That is nice. Not all women want to be housewives. Not all women are in a position to be dependent on a man. I get that.
Now, it is expected that women will work outside the home, that they will be equal earners, or at least put in the same amount of hours at it as their faithful husbands. Guys don't want to carry the burden alone anymore, I don't necessarily blame them for that.
What are we to do when it comes to having a family? Well, men are supposed to help out more with the children. Men are supposed to help more with the household chores.
My mom was a supermom, she worked a hard physical job for over 30 years. She was a nurse. She ended up with a broke back, and a handicap sticker. She worked until her back just couldn't allow anymore. She took care of us kids, and the house. Dad kept the outside chores done, mom never pushed a lawn mower, or planted a flower. She was too busy running after us rug rats to deal with that stuff.
I don't know, I just know I wanted my mom home. I missed her when she was working. She never acted tired, even though I know she must have been exhausted. We were latch key kids. I'm sure that works for a lot of people. I'm sure my parents felt they couldn't make it without my mom's income. It's just the same with my husband and I, we have become dependent on my paychecks as well.
So, I better get to work. I've got one day off now, I shouldn't waste it lolly gagging around blogging and surfing the internet. This pig stye isn't going to clean itself. Today is the day.
Friday, July 11, 2008
I Know I'm Not Supposed to Say This
I'm Tired.
I've been really tired lately. Not in the I need a nap sense, although I could use a nap, and we all know how much I love napping, but in the working, mothering, wifing, and taking care of the house sense, I'm just tired. Of course, I increased my hours at work, but really I should be able to handle that.
Should is a word I use quite often. I should clean house, do laundry, shampoo the carpets, stock up the cupboards, make appointments, pay the bills, clear clutter and so on. I should do a lot of things, and I shouldn't really complain about any of it. I try not too.
I know women who manage these things so much better than I do. I shouldn't compare, situations are different.
My mother did all of these things with 3 kids. She was a nurse, and she was tired. She didn't even make it until her retirement age before her back gave out. She just couldn't do it anymore. Sometimes I think I'm like my mother, and that I will continue doing what I'm doing until my back can't take it anymore. She was a feminist, went to nursing school at age 17 and worked as a nurse for 30 years.
She told us girls, make sure you can support yourself, my dad made more money than she did, but her income made a huge difference. She did it all, and I wonder now if she thought it was worth it.
I told myself, I will be there for my kid. My mom was there, but there were times she was not physically present, and those were hard times for us kids. I still work outside the home like my mom did, but I work part-time, and I am home in the evenings, and at night. I could work full-time, but I honestly don't think I can handle more to deal with in less time. Two days off a week is just not enough anymore.
My father worked the grave yard shift for as long as I can remember. He still does. He's past retirement age, but he is scared to retire because of gas prices. He puts off his retirement for six months at a time. Now, he might retire in October. He has hardly missed a day of work in 30 years. He often cashes in his vacation hours, instead of taking vacation.
My husband works his butt off on an oil rig. He is gone for a week at a time, and then home for a week. He drives 9 hours to get to his job. He makes more than a lot of college graduates. He never complains, but I know he's tired too. His body hurts, he tells me every week that his shoulder hurts, and wonders what is wrong with it. His week off goes so very fast. I feel horrible when he gets in that car to start his long journey back.
I guess we're all happy. The funny thing is what people do with the money they make. They spend their whole lives working for a big house, newer cars, and all the stuff that fills these spaces up, then they die, and all that stuff is given away, or donated to goodwill. They get old and want a smaller house, with a smaller yard, they sell the big house, and downsize, the money ends up being spent on health care, or assisted living, if they are fortunate and the government permits it, they are able to leave a small amount of an inheritance to their children, who will most likely spend it on a new car, or a down payment on a new home, or pay off credit card debt.
As my dad says, "you never see any U-hauls at the cemetery". And he's right you know.
Although I've thought about going full-time to help with the ever increasing demand for our money, I don't really think it's worth it, yes, I have that luxury because my husband works full-time, he also makes 4 times what I make. Because of this, I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to make sure that he has all the comforts he wants when he is home. That means coming home to a clean house, nice meals, and clean clothes.
I drop the ball about half the time. I've spread myself too thin at times. I probably spend more time relaxing than I should. I probably should spend more time cleaning, and so on. When he comes home we enjoy spending every waking moment we have together. I don't get a lot done when he is home, but it sure is nice to spend time with him. He likes it too.
What am I complaining about? I think we have a good life even if our home is not fancy, or clean, or well decorated. Priorities. That's what is needed.
I've been really tired lately. Not in the I need a nap sense, although I could use a nap, and we all know how much I love napping, but in the working, mothering, wifing, and taking care of the house sense, I'm just tired. Of course, I increased my hours at work, but really I should be able to handle that.
Should is a word I use quite often. I should clean house, do laundry, shampoo the carpets, stock up the cupboards, make appointments, pay the bills, clear clutter and so on. I should do a lot of things, and I shouldn't really complain about any of it. I try not too.
I know women who manage these things so much better than I do. I shouldn't compare, situations are different.
My mother did all of these things with 3 kids. She was a nurse, and she was tired. She didn't even make it until her retirement age before her back gave out. She just couldn't do it anymore. Sometimes I think I'm like my mother, and that I will continue doing what I'm doing until my back can't take it anymore. She was a feminist, went to nursing school at age 17 and worked as a nurse for 30 years.
She told us girls, make sure you can support yourself, my dad made more money than she did, but her income made a huge difference. She did it all, and I wonder now if she thought it was worth it.
I told myself, I will be there for my kid. My mom was there, but there were times she was not physically present, and those were hard times for us kids. I still work outside the home like my mom did, but I work part-time, and I am home in the evenings, and at night. I could work full-time, but I honestly don't think I can handle more to deal with in less time. Two days off a week is just not enough anymore.
My father worked the grave yard shift for as long as I can remember. He still does. He's past retirement age, but he is scared to retire because of gas prices. He puts off his retirement for six months at a time. Now, he might retire in October. He has hardly missed a day of work in 30 years. He often cashes in his vacation hours, instead of taking vacation.
My husband works his butt off on an oil rig. He is gone for a week at a time, and then home for a week. He drives 9 hours to get to his job. He makes more than a lot of college graduates. He never complains, but I know he's tired too. His body hurts, he tells me every week that his shoulder hurts, and wonders what is wrong with it. His week off goes so very fast. I feel horrible when he gets in that car to start his long journey back.
I guess we're all happy. The funny thing is what people do with the money they make. They spend their whole lives working for a big house, newer cars, and all the stuff that fills these spaces up, then they die, and all that stuff is given away, or donated to goodwill. They get old and want a smaller house, with a smaller yard, they sell the big house, and downsize, the money ends up being spent on health care, or assisted living, if they are fortunate and the government permits it, they are able to leave a small amount of an inheritance to their children, who will most likely spend it on a new car, or a down payment on a new home, or pay off credit card debt.
As my dad says, "you never see any U-hauls at the cemetery". And he's right you know.
Although I've thought about going full-time to help with the ever increasing demand for our money, I don't really think it's worth it, yes, I have that luxury because my husband works full-time, he also makes 4 times what I make. Because of this, I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to make sure that he has all the comforts he wants when he is home. That means coming home to a clean house, nice meals, and clean clothes.
I drop the ball about half the time. I've spread myself too thin at times. I probably spend more time relaxing than I should. I probably should spend more time cleaning, and so on. When he comes home we enjoy spending every waking moment we have together. I don't get a lot done when he is home, but it sure is nice to spend time with him. He likes it too.
What am I complaining about? I think we have a good life even if our home is not fancy, or clean, or well decorated. Priorities. That's what is needed.
Monday, June 30, 2008
How About Some Pictures?
Coolest Story about this picture, a very good friend of mine that I met while stationed overseas actually got to come and visit for two days last week!!! We became great friends while working together, and haven't seen each other in 5 years. She, her husband, and their two sons came to visit, and we went to a hot spring about 100 miles from my house.
We found this place which was recommended by another friend of mine, and headed up there and had a very nice time. The view? Stunning. The camera, a cheapy kodak disposable one did nice, but nothing could do that view justice except seeing it with your own eyes.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
What's Been Going On
A Lot.
I know I've been absent quite often lately, but I honestly have been really busy. First, to be honest, I've had to increase my hours at work, to be even more truthful, it's because of gas prices. Yep, gas prices are officially kicking us in the rumps. Hubby drives Oh, I don't know, about 8 hours to work and 8 hours back. Of course he doesn't make that journey every day, but he does do it approximately 4 times a month, at say 100-150 dollars each way, well that takes it's toll on the old pocketbook dontcha know.
Gas has always been an expense that we endured because he was making so much money, it was still worth it, but now, now things are different somehow. We just can't get a handle on things. My car, it costs almost 15 dollars more to fill up now than it did the day I bought it 2 years ago. And as we all know it's not just gas that is rising, there are groceries, and our health care costs add up quickly, with several hundred dollar bills for things as simple as an ultra sound.
We've discussed at length that perhaps we should move closer to his work, but that would mean losing my income. Income we've come to rely on, that would not necessarily be as easily replaced in the market we would be moving to, and besides, there is that little issue of being unemployed which I'm not too crazy about. Plus there is that sticky issue of buying this house, and the prospects of selling it are not all that great right now. We're not in the position to become landlords by renting out the property, it doesn't seem feasible right now.
We've discussed that perhaps he should move to a job closer to home, but that would mean leaving a crew he's really really happy with, and frankly, good crews are hard to come by. Those guys put their lives in each other's hands every day, and it is a comfort knowing he works with competent people out there, and not a bunch of drug addled drunks. Besides there is not really a job close to home that would provide equal compensation, or even close for that matter.
No easy solution to our problem, though we have thought and thought about it. We just don't know what to do, but the bottom line is we've decided to ride this thing out as long as we can. That seems the most secure choice at the moment. That means toughing up on a lot of spending.
Speaking of spending, I'd like to know just where exactly our stimulus check is. The letter said it would arrive May 2, and we still haven't received a darn penny. The letter said, if you don't get it, then call, well I called, and was redirected to an office somewhere on Mars or something because the chance of speaking to a human was nil to zero. I would love to stimulate the economy if we could just get our check please! Don't worry, we paid in way more than what they are sending us, so it's not like I'm being greedy here. It's just some of our money back.
That in a nutshell is what has been going on around here. I know it seems a silly reason not to have even a few minutes to blog, but I've practically gone full-time to work, and I'm pretty much useless when I get done with working all day at that job.
The thing that gets me is I'm not even sure if putting money into my 401k is even a wise choice right now, but I see every check I am contributing to it. I hope it is not in vain.
It's amazing really what a few more dollars at the pump has done to our finances. I'm really in awe at the effect. All in all, I guess we're better off than a lot of people, and I'm not complaining about our situation, just noting the effect these prices are having on us. We'll be all right come what may. We're grateful for what we have. Just have to hang in there I guess.
I know I've been absent quite often lately, but I honestly have been really busy. First, to be honest, I've had to increase my hours at work, to be even more truthful, it's because of gas prices. Yep, gas prices are officially kicking us in the rumps. Hubby drives Oh, I don't know, about 8 hours to work and 8 hours back. Of course he doesn't make that journey every day, but he does do it approximately 4 times a month, at say 100-150 dollars each way, well that takes it's toll on the old pocketbook dontcha know.
Gas has always been an expense that we endured because he was making so much money, it was still worth it, but now, now things are different somehow. We just can't get a handle on things. My car, it costs almost 15 dollars more to fill up now than it did the day I bought it 2 years ago. And as we all know it's not just gas that is rising, there are groceries, and our health care costs add up quickly, with several hundred dollar bills for things as simple as an ultra sound.
We've discussed at length that perhaps we should move closer to his work, but that would mean losing my income. Income we've come to rely on, that would not necessarily be as easily replaced in the market we would be moving to, and besides, there is that little issue of being unemployed which I'm not too crazy about. Plus there is that sticky issue of buying this house, and the prospects of selling it are not all that great right now. We're not in the position to become landlords by renting out the property, it doesn't seem feasible right now.
We've discussed that perhaps he should move to a job closer to home, but that would mean leaving a crew he's really really happy with, and frankly, good crews are hard to come by. Those guys put their lives in each other's hands every day, and it is a comfort knowing he works with competent people out there, and not a bunch of drug addled drunks. Besides there is not really a job close to home that would provide equal compensation, or even close for that matter.
No easy solution to our problem, though we have thought and thought about it. We just don't know what to do, but the bottom line is we've decided to ride this thing out as long as we can. That seems the most secure choice at the moment. That means toughing up on a lot of spending.
Speaking of spending, I'd like to know just where exactly our stimulus check is. The letter said it would arrive May 2, and we still haven't received a darn penny. The letter said, if you don't get it, then call, well I called, and was redirected to an office somewhere on Mars or something because the chance of speaking to a human was nil to zero. I would love to stimulate the economy if we could just get our check please! Don't worry, we paid in way more than what they are sending us, so it's not like I'm being greedy here. It's just some of our money back.
That in a nutshell is what has been going on around here. I know it seems a silly reason not to have even a few minutes to blog, but I've practically gone full-time to work, and I'm pretty much useless when I get done with working all day at that job.
The thing that gets me is I'm not even sure if putting money into my 401k is even a wise choice right now, but I see every check I am contributing to it. I hope it is not in vain.
It's amazing really what a few more dollars at the pump has done to our finances. I'm really in awe at the effect. All in all, I guess we're better off than a lot of people, and I'm not complaining about our situation, just noting the effect these prices are having on us. We'll be all right come what may. We're grateful for what we have. Just have to hang in there I guess.
Monday, June 23, 2008
What Part of Bug off Do You Not Understand
Tired.
People, I'm tired of it. T.I.R.E.D. The last few days it seems like everywhere I go there are people waiting around just to bug me into getting involved in their pet causes, or buy something. Seriously, I can't walk in a store without getting "ma'am, would you like to sign our petitions?" or "ma'am can I talk to you for a minute?" or "ma'am, are you registered to vote?" Now, most of these people have been satisfied with a one or two word response, but not the boob lady. Oh no.
The boob lady was as determined to talk to me, as I was to get our pizza. I ordered the family a pizza, and when I went to pick it up low and behold boob ladies were staking out the frickin' entrance. As I pulled into the parking lot and saw them there in their pink shirts, I sighed to myself and thought, "oh great, what are they selling?"
Luckily, a hapless couple leaving the pizza place provided what I thought might be a nice diversion so that I could jot past them and get right in without being accosted. I glanced over before I started to make my bee line towards the door, and could see the older couple in the 60's slowly backing away from the boob lady that was so intent on their attention, but she kept talking. I jump out of the car and start walking briskly, not making eye contact, not making eye contact, oh my gosh, I might just make it, reaching for handle of door, going to make it, then, I hear, "Ma'am, Ma'am!" Busted.
I look over and see boob lady staring right at me, "Ma'am" she says again, "Can I talk to you?"
"No thank you." I reply. Which in a civilized world should be enough. Shouldn't it? "Oh ma'am, we're not selling anything."
"No thank you." I say again much more firmly.
Then I open the door and duck inside. I could feel the hate. I get to the counter and find that our pizza is not quite ready so I take a seat, and sit around nervously thinking the boob lady might just persist enough to come inside to talk with me about whatever it is she's not selling. I notice on the counter there is a big plastic bin that says something like "walk for breast cancer" or something. I know the boob ladies have been here. I had surmised from their signs outside they were doing something to a) raise funds for breast cancer or b) recruiting people for their walk i.e. raising funds for breast cancer.
It doesn't matter, I was not particularly interested in knowing. I just wanted to pick up my pizza, and not be bothered. Which I did, and then took a deep sigh and opened the door to head to my car, luckily another woman was walking up right when I headed out, and I heard, "Ma'am, can I talk to you for a minute." Whew, off the hook.
I imagine the boob ladies thought I was uncaring for not stopping to discuss breast cancer with them, but sometimes I just don't want to talk to strangers. I'm sure they have good intentions, but that doesn't mean I'm obligated to get involved.
It's not just the boob ladies though. Yesterday afternoon when I was leaving Wal-Mart, there were people outside gathering signatures for about 5 different petitions. The guy told me briefly about each one, and after he was done I said, "Hmm, I don't think I want to sign off on those." and walked away.
Oh, but I'm not done. We have out of town visitors coming, so we spent most of the day tidying up the house. Ha, that sounds to simple, in actuality, we spent the whole day sweating our asses off cleaning up this pig stye. After scrubbing the toilets, the kitchen floor, vaccuming, and generally busting butt all day, I went out on the front porch to have a smoke and cool off. I sat and watched as two young men on bikes wearing identical uniforms of black pants and white button up shirts park their bikes and chain them to the street sign in the corner of my yard.
"Mormons" I thought to myself, and of course, I was right. "Hmm, guess they won't bother me after seeing me out here smoking." Phone rang, I went back in, and the Mormon kids started up my street. Some time later the door bell rings, I'm gathering laundry. I hear my husband say, "who the heck is that?" I yell back from the laundry room, "Oh it's Mormons, don't worry, I'll go answer it."
I run to the front door with laundry basket in tow, "Hello ma'am, how are you today?" The nice kid asks. "I'm fine, but we already have a church" the mean fat lady with little patience replied. (that would be me by the way) "Oh ma'am, we just want to talk with you about getting closer to Jesus" and then I give it, my pat response, "No, thank you" and I walk away from the door. Leaving them looking sorta disappointed.
Geez Louise, yes, I am actually a person who uses this term on a regular basis, that's not all though. Last night about oh, 7:30pm ish, some young fresh faced kid comes to the door, all I'm thinking is that I want to put a sign on my door that says, "Lay off my door bell." I go to the door, kid starts in on his speel about my roof, and all the hail damage from all the storms we've had lately, I'm thinking, "Umm, you've got to be kidding me".
We've barely had a drop of rain in months, let alone hail for goodness sakes, I want to blurt out, "Yeah, I think you're about a 1000 miles away from the actual places getting a lot of hail storms lately" but I don't, I just cut him off and say, "You know, I think it would be better for you to talk to my husband about this roof stuff, I'm a lady and don't even know what a roof or a tool is." Well, that last part I didn't say, but I assume it was implied. Hubby dealt with that one.
But all this left me thinking, when is enough enough. It's simple, you approach me, and if I feel like selling you my time, or interest, I will, if I say, "no thank you" then kindly bug off. I'm not rude or hateful about it, but if you continue after the first time, I will say it much more firmly, and maybe even rudely. I don't owe you my time, I don't owe you anything.
What I really hate are the people who send kids around selling stale candy bars for like $2.00 a piece, and they always have some line like, "I'm part of a program to keep me from becoming a thug and a thief, if you buy my candies, I basically will not come back 5 years from now and steal your hub caps, or your barbeque grill" I've actual seen these kids get dropped off in the neighborhood by this big burly man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth driving some big passenger van with a hand painted sign on the side, I mean, by gosh, he looked like a criminal himself. They always tell you they are trying to earn money for a special trip or something, like going to an amusement park is going to keep them from a life of crime. You either become a criminal or you don't, I don't think Six Flags has much to do with it, and no I don't want any candy bars, sorry, and like most children when told no, they basically get to the "oh but please", and then skulk away if told no again.
Gosh I sound so mean, what a heartless bitch. But that's just the thing, that's what these folks want me to think. They want me to feel bad, and guilty, but I don't anymore. I just say "no thank you" and walk away.
People, I'm tired of it. T.I.R.E.D. The last few days it seems like everywhere I go there are people waiting around just to bug me into getting involved in their pet causes, or buy something. Seriously, I can't walk in a store without getting "ma'am, would you like to sign our petitions?" or "ma'am can I talk to you for a minute?" or "ma'am, are you registered to vote?" Now, most of these people have been satisfied with a one or two word response, but not the boob lady. Oh no.
The boob lady was as determined to talk to me, as I was to get our pizza. I ordered the family a pizza, and when I went to pick it up low and behold boob ladies were staking out the frickin' entrance. As I pulled into the parking lot and saw them there in their pink shirts, I sighed to myself and thought, "oh great, what are they selling?"
Luckily, a hapless couple leaving the pizza place provided what I thought might be a nice diversion so that I could jot past them and get right in without being accosted. I glanced over before I started to make my bee line towards the door, and could see the older couple in the 60's slowly backing away from the boob lady that was so intent on their attention, but she kept talking. I jump out of the car and start walking briskly, not making eye contact, not making eye contact, oh my gosh, I might just make it, reaching for handle of door, going to make it, then, I hear, "Ma'am, Ma'am!" Busted.
I look over and see boob lady staring right at me, "Ma'am" she says again, "Can I talk to you?"
"No thank you." I reply. Which in a civilized world should be enough. Shouldn't it? "Oh ma'am, we're not selling anything."
"No thank you." I say again much more firmly.
Then I open the door and duck inside. I could feel the hate. I get to the counter and find that our pizza is not quite ready so I take a seat, and sit around nervously thinking the boob lady might just persist enough to come inside to talk with me about whatever it is she's not selling. I notice on the counter there is a big plastic bin that says something like "walk for breast cancer" or something. I know the boob ladies have been here. I had surmised from their signs outside they were doing something to a) raise funds for breast cancer or b) recruiting people for their walk i.e. raising funds for breast cancer.
It doesn't matter, I was not particularly interested in knowing. I just wanted to pick up my pizza, and not be bothered. Which I did, and then took a deep sigh and opened the door to head to my car, luckily another woman was walking up right when I headed out, and I heard, "Ma'am, can I talk to you for a minute." Whew, off the hook.
I imagine the boob ladies thought I was uncaring for not stopping to discuss breast cancer with them, but sometimes I just don't want to talk to strangers. I'm sure they have good intentions, but that doesn't mean I'm obligated to get involved.
It's not just the boob ladies though. Yesterday afternoon when I was leaving Wal-Mart, there were people outside gathering signatures for about 5 different petitions. The guy told me briefly about each one, and after he was done I said, "Hmm, I don't think I want to sign off on those." and walked away.
Oh, but I'm not done. We have out of town visitors coming, so we spent most of the day tidying up the house. Ha, that sounds to simple, in actuality, we spent the whole day sweating our asses off cleaning up this pig stye. After scrubbing the toilets, the kitchen floor, vaccuming, and generally busting butt all day, I went out on the front porch to have a smoke and cool off. I sat and watched as two young men on bikes wearing identical uniforms of black pants and white button up shirts park their bikes and chain them to the street sign in the corner of my yard.
"Mormons" I thought to myself, and of course, I was right. "Hmm, guess they won't bother me after seeing me out here smoking." Phone rang, I went back in, and the Mormon kids started up my street. Some time later the door bell rings, I'm gathering laundry. I hear my husband say, "who the heck is that?" I yell back from the laundry room, "Oh it's Mormons, don't worry, I'll go answer it."
I run to the front door with laundry basket in tow, "Hello ma'am, how are you today?" The nice kid asks. "I'm fine, but we already have a church" the mean fat lady with little patience replied. (that would be me by the way) "Oh ma'am, we just want to talk with you about getting closer to Jesus" and then I give it, my pat response, "No, thank you" and I walk away from the door. Leaving them looking sorta disappointed.
Geez Louise, yes, I am actually a person who uses this term on a regular basis, that's not all though. Last night about oh, 7:30pm ish, some young fresh faced kid comes to the door, all I'm thinking is that I want to put a sign on my door that says, "Lay off my door bell." I go to the door, kid starts in on his speel about my roof, and all the hail damage from all the storms we've had lately, I'm thinking, "Umm, you've got to be kidding me".
We've barely had a drop of rain in months, let alone hail for goodness sakes, I want to blurt out, "Yeah, I think you're about a 1000 miles away from the actual places getting a lot of hail storms lately" but I don't, I just cut him off and say, "You know, I think it would be better for you to talk to my husband about this roof stuff, I'm a lady and don't even know what a roof or a tool is." Well, that last part I didn't say, but I assume it was implied. Hubby dealt with that one.
But all this left me thinking, when is enough enough. It's simple, you approach me, and if I feel like selling you my time, or interest, I will, if I say, "no thank you" then kindly bug off. I'm not rude or hateful about it, but if you continue after the first time, I will say it much more firmly, and maybe even rudely. I don't owe you my time, I don't owe you anything.
What I really hate are the people who send kids around selling stale candy bars for like $2.00 a piece, and they always have some line like, "I'm part of a program to keep me from becoming a thug and a thief, if you buy my candies, I basically will not come back 5 years from now and steal your hub caps, or your barbeque grill" I've actual seen these kids get dropped off in the neighborhood by this big burly man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth driving some big passenger van with a hand painted sign on the side, I mean, by gosh, he looked like a criminal himself. They always tell you they are trying to earn money for a special trip or something, like going to an amusement park is going to keep them from a life of crime. You either become a criminal or you don't, I don't think Six Flags has much to do with it, and no I don't want any candy bars, sorry, and like most children when told no, they basically get to the "oh but please", and then skulk away if told no again.
Gosh I sound so mean, what a heartless bitch. But that's just the thing, that's what these folks want me to think. They want me to feel bad, and guilty, but I don't anymore. I just say "no thank you" and walk away.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
We Interrupt This Blogging Interruption
Or, Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
I've noticed my lack of blogging lately. It's quite bothersome to me especially since I read my blog more than any other soul on this planet. It is so annoying bothering to open an internet browser and come to this blog looking for new content only to find the same old post that's been there for who knows how long now! Sheesh, I'm boring the heck out of myself, and I suppose I sound quite kooky right about now.
YOU try being the mom of a 13 year old girl who went from playing dolls one day, to thinking boys are suddenly the coolest creatures to ever grace this planet the next. What? This is nothing new? Every parent of every girl ever born has gone through this? Well, this is my first time around so I'm a little shaky. I thought I had AT LEAST 10 more years before I would have to deal with this type of thing.
Guess what else? 12 and 13 year old girls are NOT the sugar and spice and everything nice we've been hearing about all these years. In fact, they are pretty darn vicious at times, particularly to each other. So there's that as well, which involved a heated trip to the guidance counselor, and talking. That's basically what guidance counselors do, they just sit around and talk about stuff all day, and nothing changes. I guess they hope that if they nag these kids long enough they might suddenly get the concept that it is necessary to respect other people's feelings, their property, and their beings.
Who am I telling? These are things that should actually be taught by, you know, parents? I'm forced to wonder just what kind of homes these kids are growing up in. We're not perfect by any means, but my goodness, I wouldn't dream of sending my child off to school without at least her own pencils to use. Those kids cleaned out every bit of school supplies I sent with my daughter the first WEEK of school. They constantly take her things, get into her back pack, and take whatever they like, I mean there is absolutely no respect for other people's property at all. Then, they even have the nerve to demand she buy them things like candy and soda from the school store, which why in the hell are they selling those things to these kids any way?
I couldn't figure out why my daughter wanted so much money every day, it seemed like every morning she was asking for money, 5 dollars here, a couple there, suddenly I woke up, and demanded to know what all this money was going for, that's when I found out that my daughter was basically running her own personal charitable organization and providing treats nearly daily for all of her friends, and even kids who weren't even her friends. Needless to say we cut that off immediately. No more money. Suddenly, she has a lot fewer friends. Funny how that works.
She's learning some hard lessons, 1. you can't buy friends, 2. you can't let other people define you, 3. some kids have no home training at all.
Not only did these girls stop being her friend, they have been particularly nasty about it as well. One has taken to smacking my daughter in the head all the time, which she only just told me was happening a couple days ago. Of course, I've been very frustrated with everything and have been trying to talk her through all of these things, but I draw the line at her being smacked in the head by some little twerp at school, so we had to have a "meeting" with the school about it, in which I laid out in no uncertain terms that when my daughter is at their facility she is in their care, and they are therefore responsible for her safety, and are to ensure that my daughter will not be smacked in the head on a regular or semi-regular basis.
So far the smacking has stopped, but it's only been a couple of days. We will see. My first instinct was to tell my daughter to punch the girl in the face, but my kid is apparently scared of this girl. All right, I understand that, so I had to go in there and stomp my feet a little about it. I had a bully in my life when I was my daughter's age, I would have loved for my mom to go the school and speak up for me, but that didn't happen.
Anyway, the school year is almost over, and I can't say who is more glad about that. I'll be back later. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner this time.
I've noticed my lack of blogging lately. It's quite bothersome to me especially since I read my blog more than any other soul on this planet. It is so annoying bothering to open an internet browser and come to this blog looking for new content only to find the same old post that's been there for who knows how long now! Sheesh, I'm boring the heck out of myself, and I suppose I sound quite kooky right about now.
YOU try being the mom of a 13 year old girl who went from playing dolls one day, to thinking boys are suddenly the coolest creatures to ever grace this planet the next. What? This is nothing new? Every parent of every girl ever born has gone through this? Well, this is my first time around so I'm a little shaky. I thought I had AT LEAST 10 more years before I would have to deal with this type of thing.
Guess what else? 12 and 13 year old girls are NOT the sugar and spice and everything nice we've been hearing about all these years. In fact, they are pretty darn vicious at times, particularly to each other. So there's that as well, which involved a heated trip to the guidance counselor, and talking. That's basically what guidance counselors do, they just sit around and talk about stuff all day, and nothing changes. I guess they hope that if they nag these kids long enough they might suddenly get the concept that it is necessary to respect other people's feelings, their property, and their beings.
Who am I telling? These are things that should actually be taught by, you know, parents? I'm forced to wonder just what kind of homes these kids are growing up in. We're not perfect by any means, but my goodness, I wouldn't dream of sending my child off to school without at least her own pencils to use. Those kids cleaned out every bit of school supplies I sent with my daughter the first WEEK of school. They constantly take her things, get into her back pack, and take whatever they like, I mean there is absolutely no respect for other people's property at all. Then, they even have the nerve to demand she buy them things like candy and soda from the school store, which why in the hell are they selling those things to these kids any way?
I couldn't figure out why my daughter wanted so much money every day, it seemed like every morning she was asking for money, 5 dollars here, a couple there, suddenly I woke up, and demanded to know what all this money was going for, that's when I found out that my daughter was basically running her own personal charitable organization and providing treats nearly daily for all of her friends, and even kids who weren't even her friends. Needless to say we cut that off immediately. No more money. Suddenly, she has a lot fewer friends. Funny how that works.
She's learning some hard lessons, 1. you can't buy friends, 2. you can't let other people define you, 3. some kids have no home training at all.
Not only did these girls stop being her friend, they have been particularly nasty about it as well. One has taken to smacking my daughter in the head all the time, which she only just told me was happening a couple days ago. Of course, I've been very frustrated with everything and have been trying to talk her through all of these things, but I draw the line at her being smacked in the head by some little twerp at school, so we had to have a "meeting" with the school about it, in which I laid out in no uncertain terms that when my daughter is at their facility she is in their care, and they are therefore responsible for her safety, and are to ensure that my daughter will not be smacked in the head on a regular or semi-regular basis.
So far the smacking has stopped, but it's only been a couple of days. We will see. My first instinct was to tell my daughter to punch the girl in the face, but my kid is apparently scared of this girl. All right, I understand that, so I had to go in there and stomp my feet a little about it. I had a bully in my life when I was my daughter's age, I would have loved for my mom to go the school and speak up for me, but that didn't happen.
Anyway, the school year is almost over, and I can't say who is more glad about that. I'll be back later. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner this time.
The Loss of a Great Woman
R.I.P.
A very good friend of mine lost her mother last week. It has been a sad and difficult time for their family. I was fortunate to have known her mother fairly well, and know what a huge loss her passing is for their family. She will truly be missed by a great number of people. There was a beautiful service for her which I attended, and it was quite touching. People had many wonderful things to say about my friend's mother, all of the things they said were absolutely true. She was a kind heart with a sweet spirit. God Bless and keep her soul, may she rest in peace.
A very good friend of mine lost her mother last week. It has been a sad and difficult time for their family. I was fortunate to have known her mother fairly well, and know what a huge loss her passing is for their family. She will truly be missed by a great number of people. There was a beautiful service for her which I attended, and it was quite touching. People had many wonderful things to say about my friend's mother, all of the things they said were absolutely true. She was a kind heart with a sweet spirit. God Bless and keep her soul, may she rest in peace.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Should Be Ashamed Of Myself
I'm Not.
I know I should be ashamed at having nearly completely abandoned this blog, but I haven't and I just can't get too mad at myself about not posting, although, I do feel bad for anyone coming here looking for something new only to find nothing. Nothingness has always sort of been a theme around here, I post about nothing all the time. Lately, I've literally been posting nothing at all.
There are tons of reasons for it, but they are all the common type things like being busy. Busy busy busy, that's me. My sister says, "You are the most busy person I know that NEVER gets anything done!" She's right. I'm usually just busy being busy, and this occupies a lot of time you see. Being busy takes planning, planning keeps me busy. It's a vicious never ending circle, which is kind of redundant to even say because ALL circles are never ending. Good thing I'm not paying by the word on this blog. In the end, I don't get anything done at all because I'm so busy with the details, the actions elude me. Which I think in reality, where other people live, makes me only slightly crazy.
Well, I've got something to post, got it at Road Kill Cafe. And she got it somewheres else and so on and so forth, but it gives me something to talk about, namely myself, and let's face it, most people do like to talk about themselves, and I'm not immune to that phenomenon. Please, read the following all about me, also your favorite subject I'm sure otherwise all 7 of you people would be spending your time elsewhere on the internet. I know this because this blog is really just a trap for me to find out how many other people love me as much as I do. Out of the millions of people on the internet, I am beloved by 7 of them. Thank you!! Have a cookie, I just made them. Here we go:
Hugs.
I know I should be ashamed at having nearly completely abandoned this blog, but I haven't and I just can't get too mad at myself about not posting, although, I do feel bad for anyone coming here looking for something new only to find nothing. Nothingness has always sort of been a theme around here, I post about nothing all the time. Lately, I've literally been posting nothing at all.
There are tons of reasons for it, but they are all the common type things like being busy. Busy busy busy, that's me. My sister says, "You are the most busy person I know that NEVER gets anything done!" She's right. I'm usually just busy being busy, and this occupies a lot of time you see. Being busy takes planning, planning keeps me busy. It's a vicious never ending circle, which is kind of redundant to even say because ALL circles are never ending. Good thing I'm not paying by the word on this blog. In the end, I don't get anything done at all because I'm so busy with the details, the actions elude me. Which I think in reality, where other people live, makes me only slightly crazy.
Well, I've got something to post, got it at Road Kill Cafe. And she got it somewheres else and so on and so forth, but it gives me something to talk about, namely myself, and let's face it, most people do like to talk about themselves, and I'm not immune to that phenomenon. Please, read the following all about me, also your favorite subject I'm sure otherwise all 7 of you people would be spending your time elsewhere on the internet. I know this because this blog is really just a trap for me to find out how many other people love me as much as I do. Out of the millions of people on the internet, I am beloved by 7 of them. Thank you!! Have a cookie, I just made them. Here we go:
A - ADVOCATE FOR: Free coffee or iced tea for employees at my work.
B - BEST FEATURE: Hmm. I guess my eyes. Maybe my hair.
C - COULD DO WITHOUT: Having to shave my legs. I really hate doing that, but I like the results.
D - DREAMS & DESIRES: My answer was the same as Morrigan's here, except mine is mostly a secret, I would love to own and operate my own restaurant, just a nice little cafe would be so neat.
E - ESSENTIAL ITEMS: Three, toothbrush, paste, and deodorant. No one should leave home without having used those items.
F - FAVORITE PAST TIME: Spending time with family and friends.
G - GOOD AT: Sometimes I think, "I'm not good at anything", but that's not true, I am good at complaining. I'm also good at seeing flaws in other people's ideas, and proceeding to talk them into the dirt. Hahaha, I'm half kidding, sort of like being half crazy. AND the older I get the better I am at restraint. I just get tired of people who want to enforce all of their stupid brain fart ideas on everyone around them. There are too many people like that, these same people like to have stupid meetings all the time to discuss their dumb ideas. Gosh I hate that.
H - HAVE NEVER TRIED: Piercing my face or other body parts besides ear lobes, and I don't plan on it happening EVER.
I - IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: I would buy a nice home, and buy my parents a nice home. The rest I would invest in real estate, and businesses.
J - JUNKIE FOR: Shopping, particularly bargain shopping. Man I love that.
K - KINDRED SPIRIT: Most of my girlfriends are kindred spirits, which is different from my husband who is my soul mate.
L - LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I'm not a good housekeeper and I live in constant fear that others will find out. Wait, I think a lot of people actually know that. Hmm.
M - MEMORABLE MOMENT: I remember best the moments where I laughed the hardest. I love to have a good gut rolling laugh.
N - NEVER AGAIN WILL I: I don't know, we always say that, but few of us actually manage it. I'm stumped.
O - OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Shopping sprees at the Wal-Mart. Leaving with a basket full of junk. But more than that, I often indulge in a good afternoon nap. Gosh I love a good nap.
Q - QUOTE: At the emergency vet clinic at about midnight, the secretary, "Mr. Trujillo? Yes, the doctor said you can come pick your goose up. Yes, she's all right, the Dr. said she's just tired from laying all those eggs!" That will be $150.00 thank you very much.
R - REASON TO SMILE: Besides the obvious having loving family and friends, life in general is reason to smile. A good life is even more reason.
S - SORRY ABOUT: Hurting the people I love with careless words, or selfish actions.
T - TAG SOME FRIENDS: Please, have at it!
U - UNINTERESTED IN: Sports <--Morrigan's answer, but I am also absolutely uninterested in sports of any kind.
V - VERY SCARED OF: Giant cockroaches, real or imagined. Even fake toy roaches give me the creeps and make me scream when my daughter throws one at me.
W - WORST HABIT: Besides smoking, which I am ashamed of, it's got to be worrying. I'm a terrible worrier.
X - X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Someplace peaceful and serene, a beach, a quiet cabin on a lake, but having my family there with me.
Y - YUMMIEST DESSERT: Tiramasu, and ice cream sundae with all the fixin's, strawberry shortcake, oh my gosh, that makes me hungry.
Z - ZODIAC SIGN: Libra
Hugs.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Free Health Care
Free? Really?
My friend and I were discussing "free health care" tonight on the phone, actually we were sorta yelling back and forth at times, I think someone just saw the movie Sicko or something. Anyway, we both disagree on it. She thinks universal health care could be a good thing, and I think it would most likely prove to be a disaster. And hey, I have $800.00 in medical bills sitting on my kitchen counter waiting to be paid, free health care sounds good right about now, HOWEVER, I know that it really would not be that simple.
For one thing, it most certainly would not be free for my family, we would be paying a lion share of taxes for it. Secondly, I don't want the same people who brought us such great institutions as the DMV in charge of my health care. Third, I've experienced socialized medicine for 10 years of my adult life, and while it's great for immunizations and pap smears and things, when something really goes wrong with your health it is completely hit or miss. I'll take my chances on a good old competitive for profit market any day of the week.
I'm sorry that some people don't have health care, but in reality I don't think it is the poor who are not covered. No, most of them are covered by state run medicaid and such. Every state is different, but I would wager the great majority of states have something to help out the poor. It is the middle class folks who can't afford health care, particularly the lower middle class. Those people who are right on the edge, they can't qualify for any "programs" and they can't actually afford health insurance and keep the lights and heat going.
There is no perfect system available. I hate having to pay so much out of pocket when we already pay $240/month for our insurance premium. That being said, I would much rather have insurance companies compete for business than be at the mercy of some government bureaucrat. It is folly to compare the U.S. to countries like Sweden and their socialized medicine programs, for one we've got about 240 million more people in this country than they do, nevermind the fact that our population is growing everyday as people cross our borders.
Let's say we entertain Michael Moore and the Democrats fantasies about universal socialized medicine, I would really like to know how the hell that's going to be covered financially. I can guarantee you that my family will be paying more than $240/month in taxes to cover the costs of such a system.
People hate the rich, they think they are spoiled and living the decadent life on the backs of the poor. Not everyone got rich that way. Some people used their backs. My husband is working his balls off in the freezing cold under the threat of thousands of pounds of machinery falling on his head, or having the place blow up from one little spark, and he's making good money at it. Good money that some bureaucrat will look at on paper and decide should be given to some fat breeder cow who decided to have 5 illegitimate children on the system, and decide that he should give more of his hard earned dollars to pay other people's way in life.
Not every unsuccessful person is just a hard luck case you know, or unfairly disadvantaged, some are not doing well in life because they spend too much time drinking and drugging to become productive members of society. They could not be sober long enough to pass a drug test to get a better job, and they most certainly would not spend a Wyoming winter working outside in the cold on a dirty old drilling rig. That's the hard facts.
You reap what you sow. Why farmer Bob would think he is entitled to a portion of farmer Jim's crops after Bob spent the whole summer down at the fishing hole drinking whiskey, while Jim was up every day at the crack of dawn shovelling shit, and doing back breaking work is beyond me, but the fact is Bob is only entitled to what he has earned, otherwise, Bob can go eat shit all winter it's as simple as that. Luckily for Bob, there are others around who will come to his defense and tell Jim at the threat of gun point he WILL give Bob some of his crop, or Jim and his family will be put into ruin and have their property taken from them and sold to the highest bidder. Oh but they didn't need to do that, Jim probably would have given some to Bob out of sympathy because he certainly would not want to see his neighbor starve even if he is a lazy fool.
That wasn't enough though, you see, there are many more Bob's around, people that Jim has never even seen, met, or heard of, and some people decided that since Jim worked so hard and had such a bountiful harvest, he should help even more people. They decide that he will give a certain percentage of his harvest to those less fortunate than he was. Of course Jim can't imagine how he came to be considered as so much more fortunate than everyone else, when all he ever did was work hard and ask for little. In fact, all he had when he left home at the age of 18 was youth and a few pairs of underwear, and maybe a couple of outfits. He didn't even have a car, or any household possessions at all. Just the clothes on his back. The rest he made for himself by showing up sober and doing what was asked of him.
Jim really doesn't mind helping people out who are down on their luck. He gives to charity, and does want to help people. He doesn't want them to starve, or go without. He just wants to have something left over to leave for his own children. He has worked hard to see to it that his kids have an inheritance, or at least a little piece of property to live on. Over the years Jim sees more and more people stepping up with a hand out to receive that which they are not entitled to. He is amazed at their sense of entitlement over his wealth. When he protests the increasing demands on the fruits of his labors he is called selfish, and greedy, and accused of making his wealth by standing on the backs of others, when all he wants to do is keep what is rightfully his.
No one remembers the kid he was when he left home with nothing. All they see is what he has now, and they think he is privileged, that he has somehow been given more advantages than others, that he hasn't EARNED what he has. Jim doesn't understand all of this, he is only of average intelligence, he just thought he was doing what a man was supposed to do. He never went to college, he just went to work. It doesn't matter the circumstances though, people only see that he has more than they do, and have decided it's not fair.
That's how it is with socialized medicine, only worse, people's lives are at stake when the government pinches and pinches as much as they can get out of the programs, and the people are left with dilapidated facilities and poorly trained staff. All of the Dr.'s who were making big bucks have left the profession because they found out they can make a lot more as lawyers and ceo's than they can on the government stipend they get for their labors. It only makes sense that most people are not going to want to spend almost 10 years of their lives in school to make socialized medicine wages.
Once we determine free health care is a right, then it is not long before it is decided that anyone demanding high wage to work in the medical profession is just being greedy, why should they ask for so much when it is a right of people to receive their services. If you think the government is going to meet the current pay these people are making now think again. Medicaid pays cents on the dollar what the health insurances pay. That is why it is often difficult to find really good doctors who accept medicaid as payment when they could fill their busy practices with insurance patients.
The government has not proven itself to be a good steward of our tax dollars. I see no reason to think this would change once they are granted the power over our massive healthcare system. We are just numbers to them. Numbers without any meaning or value. Well, we'll see what's presented to us in the future. I think all of the politicians know it won't work, but the Democrats keep offering it knowing it will get them into office, and they can just blame the mean heartless Republicans for the dismal failure at getting these things implemented. Clinton had 8 years, health care for all was something he and his wife touted in the beginning, it never happened.
We'll see what comes.
My friend and I were discussing "free health care" tonight on the phone, actually we were sorta yelling back and forth at times, I think someone just saw the movie Sicko or something. Anyway, we both disagree on it. She thinks universal health care could be a good thing, and I think it would most likely prove to be a disaster. And hey, I have $800.00 in medical bills sitting on my kitchen counter waiting to be paid, free health care sounds good right about now, HOWEVER, I know that it really would not be that simple.
For one thing, it most certainly would not be free for my family, we would be paying a lion share of taxes for it. Secondly, I don't want the same people who brought us such great institutions as the DMV in charge of my health care. Third, I've experienced socialized medicine for 10 years of my adult life, and while it's great for immunizations and pap smears and things, when something really goes wrong with your health it is completely hit or miss. I'll take my chances on a good old competitive for profit market any day of the week.
I'm sorry that some people don't have health care, but in reality I don't think it is the poor who are not covered. No, most of them are covered by state run medicaid and such. Every state is different, but I would wager the great majority of states have something to help out the poor. It is the middle class folks who can't afford health care, particularly the lower middle class. Those people who are right on the edge, they can't qualify for any "programs" and they can't actually afford health insurance and keep the lights and heat going.
There is no perfect system available. I hate having to pay so much out of pocket when we already pay $240/month for our insurance premium. That being said, I would much rather have insurance companies compete for business than be at the mercy of some government bureaucrat. It is folly to compare the U.S. to countries like Sweden and their socialized medicine programs, for one we've got about 240 million more people in this country than they do, nevermind the fact that our population is growing everyday as people cross our borders.
Let's say we entertain Michael Moore and the Democrats fantasies about universal socialized medicine, I would really like to know how the hell that's going to be covered financially. I can guarantee you that my family will be paying more than $240/month in taxes to cover the costs of such a system.
People hate the rich, they think they are spoiled and living the decadent life on the backs of the poor. Not everyone got rich that way. Some people used their backs. My husband is working his balls off in the freezing cold under the threat of thousands of pounds of machinery falling on his head, or having the place blow up from one little spark, and he's making good money at it. Good money that some bureaucrat will look at on paper and decide should be given to some fat breeder cow who decided to have 5 illegitimate children on the system, and decide that he should give more of his hard earned dollars to pay other people's way in life.
Not every unsuccessful person is just a hard luck case you know, or unfairly disadvantaged, some are not doing well in life because they spend too much time drinking and drugging to become productive members of society. They could not be sober long enough to pass a drug test to get a better job, and they most certainly would not spend a Wyoming winter working outside in the cold on a dirty old drilling rig. That's the hard facts.
You reap what you sow. Why farmer Bob would think he is entitled to a portion of farmer Jim's crops after Bob spent the whole summer down at the fishing hole drinking whiskey, while Jim was up every day at the crack of dawn shovelling shit, and doing back breaking work is beyond me, but the fact is Bob is only entitled to what he has earned, otherwise, Bob can go eat shit all winter it's as simple as that. Luckily for Bob, there are others around who will come to his defense and tell Jim at the threat of gun point he WILL give Bob some of his crop, or Jim and his family will be put into ruin and have their property taken from them and sold to the highest bidder. Oh but they didn't need to do that, Jim probably would have given some to Bob out of sympathy because he certainly would not want to see his neighbor starve even if he is a lazy fool.
That wasn't enough though, you see, there are many more Bob's around, people that Jim has never even seen, met, or heard of, and some people decided that since Jim worked so hard and had such a bountiful harvest, he should help even more people. They decide that he will give a certain percentage of his harvest to those less fortunate than he was. Of course Jim can't imagine how he came to be considered as so much more fortunate than everyone else, when all he ever did was work hard and ask for little. In fact, all he had when he left home at the age of 18 was youth and a few pairs of underwear, and maybe a couple of outfits. He didn't even have a car, or any household possessions at all. Just the clothes on his back. The rest he made for himself by showing up sober and doing what was asked of him.
Jim really doesn't mind helping people out who are down on their luck. He gives to charity, and does want to help people. He doesn't want them to starve, or go without. He just wants to have something left over to leave for his own children. He has worked hard to see to it that his kids have an inheritance, or at least a little piece of property to live on. Over the years Jim sees more and more people stepping up with a hand out to receive that which they are not entitled to. He is amazed at their sense of entitlement over his wealth. When he protests the increasing demands on the fruits of his labors he is called selfish, and greedy, and accused of making his wealth by standing on the backs of others, when all he wants to do is keep what is rightfully his.
No one remembers the kid he was when he left home with nothing. All they see is what he has now, and they think he is privileged, that he has somehow been given more advantages than others, that he hasn't EARNED what he has. Jim doesn't understand all of this, he is only of average intelligence, he just thought he was doing what a man was supposed to do. He never went to college, he just went to work. It doesn't matter the circumstances though, people only see that he has more than they do, and have decided it's not fair.
That's how it is with socialized medicine, only worse, people's lives are at stake when the government pinches and pinches as much as they can get out of the programs, and the people are left with dilapidated facilities and poorly trained staff. All of the Dr.'s who were making big bucks have left the profession because they found out they can make a lot more as lawyers and ceo's than they can on the government stipend they get for their labors. It only makes sense that most people are not going to want to spend almost 10 years of their lives in school to make socialized medicine wages.
Once we determine free health care is a right, then it is not long before it is decided that anyone demanding high wage to work in the medical profession is just being greedy, why should they ask for so much when it is a right of people to receive their services. If you think the government is going to meet the current pay these people are making now think again. Medicaid pays cents on the dollar what the health insurances pay. That is why it is often difficult to find really good doctors who accept medicaid as payment when they could fill their busy practices with insurance patients.
The government has not proven itself to be a good steward of our tax dollars. I see no reason to think this would change once they are granted the power over our massive healthcare system. We are just numbers to them. Numbers without any meaning or value. Well, we'll see what's presented to us in the future. I think all of the politicians know it won't work, but the Democrats keep offering it knowing it will get them into office, and they can just blame the mean heartless Republicans for the dismal failure at getting these things implemented. Clinton had 8 years, health care for all was something he and his wife touted in the beginning, it never happened.
We'll see what comes.
A Topic I've Been Avoiding
But I Would Rather Do This Than Housework.
I've been sort of avoiding the topic of politics lately because it grows tiresome. I have been paying attention and all, I just haven't been talking about it. I'm still as opinionated as ever, however, I no longer feel the need to engage people of extreme viewpoints anymore. I just nod and half listen anymore when they start on their stuff. It's better that way. I'm not going to change their minds, and I figure if I don't listen too hard I might not lose much more respect for them than I already have.
Something has been nagging at me for years now, I don't talk much about it because it just doesn't make sense. I've never been able to understand this nearly universal and irrational hatred of Pres. Bush. I just don't get it. I happen to like the man enough. I like him much better than I do John McCaine. I just don't understand the Bush derangement syndrome. I don't know who coined that term, but it's about the most accurate description I have heard of this phenomena yet, so I'm going with it.
I think he seems like a stand up guy. In fact, my only complaint about him is that he has not been more verbally forceful against his critics, but given the many people I hear talk about how much they hate him, I guess that would be impossible. I don't like Hillary or Obama's political views at all, but I can't muster the hatred for them that I see and hear people spouting about Bush. These same people when I do ask them why they hate him so much usually say, "He's an idiot!" Really? I don't think so, in fact, some of these same name callers admittedly can't even begin to articulate the difference between a Democrat and a Republican, and yet, they know Bush is an idiot, because, "listen to him talk, he's stupid!" they say.
President Bush is going to go down as the biggest and most convenient scapegoat in history. Everything and anything from Katrina, to nosebleeds is blamed on Bush, and Bush alone, and will be for years to come. When discussions of the economy arise, "it will all be better when Bush leaves office!" is what I hear out of these people. I really don't think it's Bush's fault people are defaulting on their mortgages left and right, but I guess that is a convenient excuse. You know it was Bush's fault those people didn't get the hell out when the massive storm of the century was bearing down on them.
When the economy tanks under our new liberal leaders overreaching regulation, and new social programs, it will be Bush's fault. "We inherited this poor economy from Bush!" they will say. In all fairness, that's what was said about Clinton, that Bush inherited his poor economy. It's a trend, and honestly, I think most people are too stupid to understand how it all works anyway, so it sounds good in a campaign commercial. Hell, I'm too stupid to understand our complex economy, I can't offer any wisdom there. I don't know why the heck things are like they are.
I sometimes wonder given the sheer numbers of people I disagree with on political issues, am I the one that's stupid? Maybe I've got it all wrong. I don't even agree with Republicans on McCain. How did he come to be our nominee he's nothing like what I wanted.
Someone asked me the other day, "Who do you think will win, not who do you plan to vote for, but who do you think will win?" Without hesitation I said, "Obama". But I added the caveat that is if he can overcome this scandal with his extremist pastor who he claimed as his mentor. That situation will not bode well for Obama. His glory days are over, he will have to get his claws out to overcome that. He seemed quite an untouchable candidate up until those clips of his pastor's maniacal ranting and ravings came out. The U.S. of KKK A. is going to stick. People will have lost trust of Obama now. However, his charisma is quite high, and he may be able to just move on right past all of it.
There is something about Obama, he has a very charming factor about him. Even I listen to him and think, wow, he seems like such a nice guy. Of course, I cannot agree with his politics, but I can see the draw. People like him and trust him. Anybody who doesn't see him as a contender is being seriously naive. If Obama wins the nomination, I think he will win the Presidency. Team Clinton thus far has not succeeded in bringing out very much dirt on the guy, if they can't summon the sludge needed to bring him down, nobody can.
Then again, it would not be in the Democrats best interest to throw too much mud against each other, and it is obvious Hillary has had a tight rope to walk with that. At some point they will be facing off with McCain, and it would not pay in the long run to ruin any Dem's chance of winning the ultimate power. I like to watch them slug it out though, it's nice knowing the Republicans are decided, even if I don't agree with the choice.
That's where I'm at with it right now. We'll just see what happens.
I've been sort of avoiding the topic of politics lately because it grows tiresome. I have been paying attention and all, I just haven't been talking about it. I'm still as opinionated as ever, however, I no longer feel the need to engage people of extreme viewpoints anymore. I just nod and half listen anymore when they start on their stuff. It's better that way. I'm not going to change their minds, and I figure if I don't listen too hard I might not lose much more respect for them than I already have.
Something has been nagging at me for years now, I don't talk much about it because it just doesn't make sense. I've never been able to understand this nearly universal and irrational hatred of Pres. Bush. I just don't get it. I happen to like the man enough. I like him much better than I do John McCaine. I just don't understand the Bush derangement syndrome. I don't know who coined that term, but it's about the most accurate description I have heard of this phenomena yet, so I'm going with it.
I think he seems like a stand up guy. In fact, my only complaint about him is that he has not been more verbally forceful against his critics, but given the many people I hear talk about how much they hate him, I guess that would be impossible. I don't like Hillary or Obama's political views at all, but I can't muster the hatred for them that I see and hear people spouting about Bush. These same people when I do ask them why they hate him so much usually say, "He's an idiot!" Really? I don't think so, in fact, some of these same name callers admittedly can't even begin to articulate the difference between a Democrat and a Republican, and yet, they know Bush is an idiot, because, "listen to him talk, he's stupid!" they say.
President Bush is going to go down as the biggest and most convenient scapegoat in history. Everything and anything from Katrina, to nosebleeds is blamed on Bush, and Bush alone, and will be for years to come. When discussions of the economy arise, "it will all be better when Bush leaves office!" is what I hear out of these people. I really don't think it's Bush's fault people are defaulting on their mortgages left and right, but I guess that is a convenient excuse. You know it was Bush's fault those people didn't get the hell out when the massive storm of the century was bearing down on them.
When the economy tanks under our new liberal leaders overreaching regulation, and new social programs, it will be Bush's fault. "We inherited this poor economy from Bush!" they will say. In all fairness, that's what was said about Clinton, that Bush inherited his poor economy. It's a trend, and honestly, I think most people are too stupid to understand how it all works anyway, so it sounds good in a campaign commercial. Hell, I'm too stupid to understand our complex economy, I can't offer any wisdom there. I don't know why the heck things are like they are.
I sometimes wonder given the sheer numbers of people I disagree with on political issues, am I the one that's stupid? Maybe I've got it all wrong. I don't even agree with Republicans on McCain. How did he come to be our nominee he's nothing like what I wanted.
Someone asked me the other day, "Who do you think will win, not who do you plan to vote for, but who do you think will win?" Without hesitation I said, "Obama". But I added the caveat that is if he can overcome this scandal with his extremist pastor who he claimed as his mentor. That situation will not bode well for Obama. His glory days are over, he will have to get his claws out to overcome that. He seemed quite an untouchable candidate up until those clips of his pastor's maniacal ranting and ravings came out. The U.S. of KKK A. is going to stick. People will have lost trust of Obama now. However, his charisma is quite high, and he may be able to just move on right past all of it.
There is something about Obama, he has a very charming factor about him. Even I listen to him and think, wow, he seems like such a nice guy. Of course, I cannot agree with his politics, but I can see the draw. People like him and trust him. Anybody who doesn't see him as a contender is being seriously naive. If Obama wins the nomination, I think he will win the Presidency. Team Clinton thus far has not succeeded in bringing out very much dirt on the guy, if they can't summon the sludge needed to bring him down, nobody can.
Then again, it would not be in the Democrats best interest to throw too much mud against each other, and it is obvious Hillary has had a tight rope to walk with that. At some point they will be facing off with McCain, and it would not pay in the long run to ruin any Dem's chance of winning the ultimate power. I like to watch them slug it out though, it's nice knowing the Republicans are decided, even if I don't agree with the choice.
That's where I'm at with it right now. We'll just see what happens.
Cops Called
Pomeranian Puppy Threatened With Arrest For Crimes Against Old People.
These days you can tell when I've got something to do that I don't really want to do, that's about the time that I will suddenly be overcome with the urge to update the ole bloggymajiggy. My personal motivations are not really important though, what matters is I am here now, and ready to talk bad about my neighbors.
Why just the other day I was telling someone, wow, the mean neighbors have been away since before Christmas, it's so nice not to be constantly under their watchful eye, and scrutiny. I must have spoke too soon because about 20 minutes later, it seemed like, they pulled up in their driveway, and the staring immediately commenced.
It only took a few days for all of the tension to build up again. It's my dogs you see. They HATE my dogs. And my dogs hate just about everyone, unless they come through the front door, then the furry beasts will try to lick them to death, and even have the nerve to jump completely uninvited on every visitor's lap.
So here's what happened, and I'm going to state right up front that I was pretty much at fault here, but I still don't like those people. They are not nice people. In my own defense though, these people have driven me to it. They are obviously retired and have nothing better to do than stare across the street at my dogs all the live long day. We are very aware of this and are constantly on guard whenever we let our dogs outside because one little bark, or series of barks is just TOO much, and our neighbors will view us with scorn.
We have really tried to make sure we don't let the dogs out during prime barking hours such as when thousands of children are walking to and from school. This has cut down the barking. Basically, my dogs don't really bark unless they SEE something to bark at, like people, or other dogs walking by, although I think the little one, the puppy, has a thing for barking at buses and big trucks.
Anyway, I'm very careful during the day as we do get a lot of foot traffic by our fence. It's in and out, in and out all darn day. My back door is wearing out from so much in and out, but I can't just leave them out or Miss Thing will call the authorities on us the second their barking goes unchecked. Fine. As soon as we hear them bark we call them in, even if we are in the middle of something, say sitting on the pot.
At night I have been a lot more relaxed about them going outside because there are not as many things for them to bark at going on. Pumpkin the baby pom pom loves to be out at night. He has that thick coat and being out in the brisk cold seems refreshing for him. I call him and call him, and he just continues to wander around the yard avoiding coming inside. He's generally quiet, so I leave him be, and sometimes I forget he is out there, and when I remember I run to the door, and he comes running all fluffy, frisky and energized from the cold.
Well the other night I forgot Pumpkin was out, I had tried to call him in, but he wasn't ready to come in. Sure, I could have bothered to find socks and shoes and a coat and gone out to get him, but he seemed fine, and I figured he wouldn't make too much noise with the two big dogs inside. I worry sometimes about leaving him out because the little rogue has figured out how to slip out of the fence and has been known to run up the street on at least two occasions. We keep "fixing" the problem, and he hasn't go out for quite a while.
He was so quiet I forgot he was outside. But around 11:30 pm officer friendly showed up at my door. I saw her walk by our front windows, and I thought, "Oh crap, who's in trouble?" because with our families you sometimes just assume they are coming about one of our relatives. I jumped up and went to the door, and she said, "You need to get your little dog he's out and barking and disturbing the neighbors" My first thought was, oh crap, he got out of the yard and is running amok in the neighborhood, so I started to go outside, but she corrected me, and informed me, "He's in the back yard, you need to get him in or I will have to give you a ticket for noise something or other." I said, "yes, I'll get him in."
But then I did something you are never supposed to do with modern law enforcement. I sort of argued with her, I wasn't rude, I just offered my side of the story. I'm lucky I wasn't tased for my insolence. Anyway, she informed me that he's been barking for two hours STRAIGHT, which I immediately gaffed off as ridiculous. He's never barked for two hours straight at anything. Then she said, "well it's late, and he's barking, are you going to get him in or not?" I said, "yes, I'm going to get him in, but I find it funny that I could not hear his barking all this time." She said, "well, I could hear him barking at me when I pulled up to your house."
Wow, a dog barking at a strange car pulling up to it's house, how very strange. Anyway, there really was no sense in arguing it, he was out, someone called the police and that's that. At least she didn't give me a ticket. I tried to explain to her that my neighbors are constantly scrutinizing our dogs every move, but she didn't care. Overall she acted like she was really put out to even be standing on my doorstep. We ended our "conversation" and I went to get the little puff ball inside. End of story.
After I let him in, I noticed that my t.v. was rather loud. Perhaps that is why I did not hear him barking outside, or I might possibly be going hard of hearing. Anyway, it was our mistake, and we won't make it again. It completely slipped my mind how late it was, we now have a strict rule that the dogs can't go out after 10pm. I'm sure the whole thing did nothing but raise the hate directed towards us from the retirees across the street.
There are dogs all around us, I hear them barking all the time. The other day I woke up from a leisurely afternoon nap to dogs barking their heads off. I looked around and saw my fat beasts were all snoring softly beside me. I know it wasn't my dogs, but who is to say they won't get blamed for it. I honestly believe that every time a dog barks in this neighborhood mine get the blame for it because they are the most visible.
My neighbor's behind me have 4 dogs! They bark at my dogs through the fence, although to hear her tell it, it's my dogs that MAKE her dogs bark. Now the neighbors behind us are friendly towards us, and they know what we've been going through with those people across the street, but she blamed my dogs for hers barking...and said, "your dogs bark at mine at the fence, and now I have to leave my dogs inside all day..." Umm, your dogs bark at mine was my response.
Anyway, I hate all this discontent. I really do try to keep the neighbors happy, but there comes a point when you just can't make some people happy. There comes a point when people are just harrassing for the hell of it, because they can.
I did find out that the retiree couple don't own that home, in fact, they only live here during our warmer months for the most part. That explains all the peace we had while they were gone. The good news is, as renters they are likely to move at some point.
Since the "incident" we have really been on our toes even more than we already were, but somehow I don't think anything we ever do will be enough to appease those people. It's a wonder I haven't stopped trying at all. Oh well, just another day in the neighborhood.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Game Is On
Not actually.
Hrmph, it seems Miss Priss has taken offense to the idea that I might post less than decent pictures of people here at this little whole in the wall! I may be a broad, but I'm not a dumb broad, I know darn good and well that acts such as those CAN be reciprocated, therefore, you all will never be treated to pictures of my little brother wearing his pink footie pajamas on Christmas morning, or him riding his new bike naked.
I know there has got to be a ton of pictures out there that would easily classify as blackmail material, or at the very least be considered totally humiliating. This in itself prevents me from EVER running for public office, not that I would but hey, you never know. Mind you they are nothing provocative, they are just really really dumb.
Let me tell you this sister girl, threatening to bring out the mullet pictures from the 80's is virtually considered an act of aggression, it was NOT called a mullet back then, it was called a "bi-level" haircut, and YOU HAD ONE TOO! We all did.
BTW, ending your post with "sleep well you old farting broad" really cracked me up. Good one.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Bad Mexican Food
All You Get Is Gas.
We went to a Mexican food restaurant tonight. We had heard this place had new owners, and it was supposed to be a lot better than it used to be. We heard wrong. We spent $50.00 on what my friend accurately described as "slop" and the service was awful to boot, our waitress was slightly passive aggressive, and completely unavailable. Anyway, maybe it was just a bad night. The food was absolutely drowned with red sauce though, and it wasn't even good sauce.
My friend, our two daughters, and I left the restaurant and headed to a furniture warehouse to look around, it was only at most a 20 minute drive from the restaurant, and by the time we got there our stomachs were boiling like mad.
We went to the bathroom and each took our own stall, and of course our daughter's had to start making really loud fart noises by blowing on their arms. Which actually got us all laughing because even at our age, fart noises are funny, especially as loud as they echo in a public restroom. Some people never grow up. I admit I did a couple on my arm, but only cause I was trying to hide the real noises I was making. Lovely.
We had a laugh and went to look around, and of course my friend met a salesman and quickly discovered they had a mutual acquaintance that they pretty much both despise. She does that. She's a hairstylist, so 90% of her day is spent gossiping. It's pretty much drama central down there sometimes. Some people just show up and sit and chat for a while. We have affectionately termed them "hanger outers" they are the sort of people who sometimes will come everyday for weeks, they are so comfortable that they answer phones, and know all of the clients by name.
I refuse to be a hanger outer because I have a job, but I do get in on conversations when I get my hair done, other than that, I don't show my face around there, even though I don't actually have an exciting life, and I could if I wanted to.
Anyway, after much debate we decided not to actually buy anything, which is what we usually do when we go to the furniture store. It just seemed easier than the mall, yet gave us something to do on a Tuesday night. My gosh, this is exhilarating isn't it?
After we went there, we went to another furniture store up the road. We got there 5 minutes before they closed. Now most people would just turn around and leave seeing that 5 minutes isn't much time to browse a gigantic furniture store, but no, not us, we just got out of the car and sprinted for the door. We literally saw the whole store in 5 minutes, and it was a huge store, we even took a few moments to lounge on the waterbeds, and discuss the new types of mattresses they have nowadays with a rather cute salesman.
My friend is convinced that everyone thinks we're lesbians. I don't know why she always thinks this, but she always has to say something like, "my HUSBAND and I used to have this exact same model of waterbed when we first got married" as if the guy thinks we're out looking for beds together for US to share. I know this because she outright told me, "he might have thought we were lesbians looking for a new bed". She's been this way ever since she got a complex about Subaru's.
Her man decided when she was shopping for a new car that she should get a nice sturdy Subaru. Somewhere in the course of all of that she realized that Subaru's are just gay ass cars. No offense to subaru owner's, but seriously, they are popular amongst the gays. It really hit home when he gave her an ad about Subaru's on sale, and the ad happened to be printed on the back of the local leftist rag which is such a totally gay paper. Really, it is completely gay, lots of gay advertising and stuff, man seeking man type things.
Anyway, she started getting really worried that he was going to push her to buy a subaru, she had to start re-examining what in her life made her feel gay when she thought about owning one. Thankfully, he did not push the issue, and she ended up not even getting a new car afterall, and truthfully, I think she was relieved, but I think there is still a small part of her that never shook the whole lesbian thing, and now she worries people think we're gay for each other all the time.
After that last place we went on home. She's going to kill me when she reads this post. Not really, I know she's totally going to crack up.
That's good for now I think. Back later. =)
We went to a Mexican food restaurant tonight. We had heard this place had new owners, and it was supposed to be a lot better than it used to be. We heard wrong. We spent $50.00 on what my friend accurately described as "slop" and the service was awful to boot, our waitress was slightly passive aggressive, and completely unavailable. Anyway, maybe it was just a bad night. The food was absolutely drowned with red sauce though, and it wasn't even good sauce.
My friend, our two daughters, and I left the restaurant and headed to a furniture warehouse to look around, it was only at most a 20 minute drive from the restaurant, and by the time we got there our stomachs were boiling like mad.
We went to the bathroom and each took our own stall, and of course our daughter's had to start making really loud fart noises by blowing on their arms. Which actually got us all laughing because even at our age, fart noises are funny, especially as loud as they echo in a public restroom. Some people never grow up. I admit I did a couple on my arm, but only cause I was trying to hide the real noises I was making. Lovely.
We had a laugh and went to look around, and of course my friend met a salesman and quickly discovered they had a mutual acquaintance that they pretty much both despise. She does that. She's a hairstylist, so 90% of her day is spent gossiping. It's pretty much drama central down there sometimes. Some people just show up and sit and chat for a while. We have affectionately termed them "hanger outers" they are the sort of people who sometimes will come everyday for weeks, they are so comfortable that they answer phones, and know all of the clients by name.
I refuse to be a hanger outer because I have a job, but I do get in on conversations when I get my hair done, other than that, I don't show my face around there, even though I don't actually have an exciting life, and I could if I wanted to.
Anyway, after much debate we decided not to actually buy anything, which is what we usually do when we go to the furniture store. It just seemed easier than the mall, yet gave us something to do on a Tuesday night. My gosh, this is exhilarating isn't it?
After we went there, we went to another furniture store up the road. We got there 5 minutes before they closed. Now most people would just turn around and leave seeing that 5 minutes isn't much time to browse a gigantic furniture store, but no, not us, we just got out of the car and sprinted for the door. We literally saw the whole store in 5 minutes, and it was a huge store, we even took a few moments to lounge on the waterbeds, and discuss the new types of mattresses they have nowadays with a rather cute salesman.
My friend is convinced that everyone thinks we're lesbians. I don't know why she always thinks this, but she always has to say something like, "my HUSBAND and I used to have this exact same model of waterbed when we first got married" as if the guy thinks we're out looking for beds together for US to share. I know this because she outright told me, "he might have thought we were lesbians looking for a new bed". She's been this way ever since she got a complex about Subaru's.
Her man decided when she was shopping for a new car that she should get a nice sturdy Subaru. Somewhere in the course of all of that she realized that Subaru's are just gay ass cars. No offense to subaru owner's, but seriously, they are popular amongst the gays. It really hit home when he gave her an ad about Subaru's on sale, and the ad happened to be printed on the back of the local leftist rag which is such a totally gay paper. Really, it is completely gay, lots of gay advertising and stuff, man seeking man type things.
Anyway, she started getting really worried that he was going to push her to buy a subaru, she had to start re-examining what in her life made her feel gay when she thought about owning one. Thankfully, he did not push the issue, and she ended up not even getting a new car afterall, and truthfully, I think she was relieved, but I think there is still a small part of her that never shook the whole lesbian thing, and now she worries people think we're gay for each other all the time.
After that last place we went on home. She's going to kill me when she reads this post. Not really, I know she's totally going to crack up.
That's good for now I think. Back later. =)
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