• Healthcare – Yes, we need to do something about the healthcare availability and the lack thereof.  I do not agree that this is, as one doctor put it, a matter for politicians not government.  Politicians are going to skirt the issue for as long as possible and then give a solution that helps only those who donate the most money.  We need a solution that allows everyone to get healthcare, preventative treatments, medical help, etc and not depend on what the insurance companies are willing the meter out.  We spend more per person on healthcare than anyone in the world yet we still have some of the poorest care available.  What is so wrong about the government single payer idea?  Everyone else uses it with great success.  And don’t start with the stories about how bad is government-run healthcare, most of those stories are false to begin with and the others do not tell the whole truth.  We never hear about the resounding success stories like the woman just recently on a story for Morning Edition on NPR that opted to live in Canada because she could afford and receive the care she needed that she was denied in the U.S. through her private insurance.
• Iran’s elections – Seems that the people of Iran are finding out just how free they are really.  In Iran, the only rallies allowed are the ones sanctioned and sponsored by the Iranian government, the protesters of the election are being fired upon and arrested. Reporters are banned from the streets, media is being censored even more than before, internet access in Iran is reduced and at times outright banned. Even before the elections were held, social networking sites were closed to the Iranian people (who have the highest percentage of web-connected people in the Middle East) especially those that supported the opposition to the current President.  The former Vice-president that was a supporter of reform has been reported arrested by Iranian police forces. This is a prime example of what happens when church runs the state. Remember that when you want more religious-centric legislation in the U.S.

Email this post

Oy, am I bushed.  I have worked in the yard all day trying to get some semblance of order and upkeep even in the sweltering heat and humidity we are currently experiencing. I managed to get some of the worst parts of the lawn tamed and get the repairs to the pool completed before I was turned to dust.  Twenty gallons of drinking water and a shower later reconstituted me sufficiently to function in a partially humanoid capacity.

Yes, the Literal Music Videos are done for now.  I will keep an eye out for more to post in the future so make sure you have taken your pills on schedule.

Summer electricity rates as well as Summer gas prices have gone into effect full force this week as gas locally was $2.50 to $2.60 yesterday and it looks like we will see $3 gas before the end of July.  I don’t understand the mindset of the oil companies in raising the price of gas when people are using less, wouldn’t that force people to use even less during the recession?  If I was the gas company, I would be lowering the price and giving people more incentive to drive and travel.

Email this post

Remember in horror movies when the hero or victim has to go down a long hall way and it gets even longer with that special lens effect?  It felt like that yesterday when I went to mow the lawn.  Now let me explain -  I have about around nearso somewhat two acres of land where my house sits.  Yes, I have a good sized house but it sits on a thin plot – the house faces the road and the distance from the ends of the house to the property line combined might hold a three lane road with no ditch and there are trees on one side of the property border so this makes huge front and back yards.  I have to mow said yards (with a riding mower now because it was too much for a push mower) with half of the back yard having not been mowed since before we bought the land over a year ago.  Yes, weeds and what you could call grass, if you were kind and blind, knee high and hiding all sorts of little surprises like chunks of concrete blocks, metal whatzits, and strange mounds of dirt (which could be covering biological experiments gone wrong – zombie alert yellow).  Oh and let us not forget the huge tree limbs that are overgrown with ivy and weeds and are near impossible to move without using large farm animals and evil looking cutting machines.

After I was through I apparently changed my ethnicity as no pasty white skin was visible – picture a dirt monster wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Lucky for me the worst part is over and the mowing should get better.  Unless God is now reading this blog and he plans to spite me now.

Email this post

It makes the week so much easier to take when it is only four days long.  Wouldn’t be wonderful if all work weeks (we are talking in the U.S. here, other countries work week may vary) were four days long.  Yes, we would still complain that it was too long and yet complain more that about not having enough time in the week to do everything you need at work.  This is why I am a proponent for a 10 hour, four day work week.  I don’t know about you, but I get to work early and leave late anyway so the two extra hours a day would really be more like one.  Of course that might translate to me working 11 hours a day, but I’d get more done with one less start and stop each week.  I know the arguments about child care and school and such, but there will be one extra day you don’t have to worry about child care that you normally would – that is unless you wanted that day without a child.

Just a thought.

Email this post

Had a meeting today at and about work.  Yes, I have many meetings at work, but not usually about work, or specifically about my department.  With everyone laying-off people and starting furloughs, we had the sinking feeling that some really bad news was about the laid down upon us, especially since the meeting “slash” luncheon was catered.  You know how they feed you well and then when you are sleepy with food the hosts slaps you with the bad news.  It seems the bad news wasn’t as bad as we expected – no lay-offs and no furloughs, just cut backs like not replacing people who have retired or otherwise left and upgrades to equipment are put on hold indefinitely. 

And what do we hear the minute we walk back in our offices – the governor has decided that revenue is still too low so we have to cut another 25% from our budget!  So I guess we will start doing IT with stone tools and slates?

Note:  The luncheon was not on the tax payers’ dime, but came from discretionary funds from donations, most of which come from within the department itself… and the fact that it was catered by a culinary class.

Email this post

As I didn’t get a whole lot of rest this past weekend, I went into work tired… and very early.  Since my children are out of school, we don’t have to leave quite so early because we don’t have to drop them off at a relative’s house before the bus gets to the relative’s house.  Try telling that to my body.  I woke up the same time and, in a zombie state, went along my morning routine with the exception of kids lunches.  Needless to say we left at our usual time but without the added stopover. Yep, I arrived at work very early… an hour early.

Of course all hell broke loose on Monday night (not during the day when no one was around, it waited until night to go bonkers) and we spent the day fixing stuff.

Of course it was nice to get away from the office for three days since we will never have a vacation again, ever, for eternity.

Email this post

It is finally Memorial Day which means my three day weekend is almost over.  This is what I accomplished so far…

1. Got the fence up
2. Fixed the food for the family having a funeral.
3. Cleaned the bathrooms.
4. Worked on other people’s websites (and still working on them).
5. Fixed the lawn mowers.
6. Mowed part of the lawn before another big storm hit.

What hasn’t been done yet…

1. Reconfigure the home network.
2. Finish mowing the grass (doesn’t look like that will happen today).
3. Repair the pool (weather is not letting up so that will probably be off the table for today).
4. Work on my websites (yeah, like I have time to do that).

I hope all of y’all are having a good and fun holiday.

Email this post

I managed to get back out there and work on the fence this morning (yes, I know it is Sunday) and yes, the holes were full of water.  Made it interesting to splash posts into the holes and have water fly into my face.  I looked like an actor in blackface after I finished with the post.  Here I was thinking I could get the wire fencing up before the storm hits when the deluge begins.  Just like yesterday, big heavy drops for hours. Hey, I don’t have to worry about miniature wells this time.

Update:  Manage to get back outside after the rain and made an attempt to get some of the fencing up.

Email this post

Like I said yesterday, I have a whole lot planned on accomplishing this long weekend.  I am off to a good start too as I got started on the fence just before it started storming.  I should have checked the weather before making plans to be outdoors all weekend for we will be having another week of thunderstorms to look forward.  The wet ground made it easy to dig the holes for the posts but after the rain we got this afternoon (four hours of steady hard rain) I guess the holes now look like miniature wells.

I did manage to get some of my work done on those websites I mentioned (not mine but others) so the day wasn’t a total wash.

I am tired now and going to relax for a while.

Email this post