What a Thanksgiving. It was probably the most memorable Thanskgiving our family has ever had, and it was well worth the hassle of the drive to Portland Maine and back. I look forward to going back, but next time I'm flying.
Quote of the day:
Life's about friendships, the way you love your partner, the way you care for your children. That is what life is about. Not anything about earning a hundred zillion dollars because you toured America more than anyone else. I want life to be about creativity.- -- Joe Strummer, former lead singer for the Clash rock band.
Posts
I may have to stop following football. It's just not a good year for me as far a sports are concerned. Hockey season is gone, my beloved Titans are on the on the brink of implosion, and Vanderbilt managed once again to find a season's worth of new and exciting ways to lose football games. Don't talk to me about basketball, because I like it only a little better than baseball. And tennis is senseless. Golf is fun to play, but boring as hell to watch, and thanks to a computer game I played YEARS ago, has reduced my response to most things in golf to "Oooh.... can't be too happy about that one, Jim." But football - God, I love to watch football. I joined the friggin' color guard in highschool for two reasons: 1) days out of school in the spring to march in the parades and 2) free football all season. I wasn't coordinated enough to twirl a flag and march at the same time, but I tried REALLY hard, and I loved doing it. I sold my Titan's tickets to Sunda
Got a bit of good news on Friday - we're getting a bonus on Wednesday. It's not much, mind you; just a flat $200 per person if you've worked here at least a year. It's been 4 1/2 years since the last time they did this. I know because I hadn't been here long enough to get a check. But $200 is $200... makes taking this trip to Maine a little easier to manage. Has anyone checked the Weather Channel lately? I need to see the forecast...
Cold rain... well, I guess it had to start feeling like November eventually. Besides, it makes my cup of coffee seem that much better, warming my hands before I take that first sip, the wonderful aroma riding on the steam..... ahhhhh..... much better. Everyone has a drug of choice - mine just happens to come in a cup.
Today is Veteran's Day, the most significant and least celebrated of all holidays. I am opposed to war, mostly because I'm a talker and I'm convinced that as intelligent people we should be able to settle our differences without coming to blows. But I understand that there are times when it is inevitable, and I have the utmost respect for the men and women in our military. My father served in the Army, my grandfather worked on a support ship in the Pacific in WWII the Big One. My father-in-law earned a purple heart in Vietnam. There will always be those who flout the world's opinions and laws, and try to become a law unto themselves - the Hitlers and t
Cold morning ;) At least the sun is shining. I've had my two cups of coffee, answered a handful of e-mails and phone calls, and in general feel like I'm in charge. I've read my buddy Dave's blog (www.sudrin.com) and learned how divisive the election can be, even days after the concession speech. Like Dave, I saw the news blurb about the error in Ohio that gave nearly 4,000 votes to Bush - I say 'gave', because the district reported 4,258 voted for Bush, while 260 voted for Kerry - which was a neat trick, given that only 638 people voted in that precinct. This is just one precinct, one reported problem, which could have been cancelled out by an overage to Kerry in some other locale, or to Nader . But the fact remains that we have no way of verifying, much less certifying, how many votes went to EITHER candidate. Here we are, leader of the free world, and we can't conduct verifiable elections. Does that bother anyone else out there?
3 years, 364 more days.... I'm better now, really. I haven't tried to drown my sorrows with my buddy Jack, although the thought crossed my mind. I've realized that there's no point in feeling sorry for myself because my 'team' lost. I just have to get up, dust off, and figure out how to do the best I can to prevent this from happening again. God forbid that Jeb try to fill W's shoes... I'm beginning to question whether or not Barbara had any children that lived ;) So, I guess I'll be contacting my party headquarters to see if there's anything I can do to help.
Welcome to Bush-land. Please try to enjoy the next four years, while you ponder what exactly the GNP numbers will be based upon, considering that there are so few products produced in this country for export. What DO we make, exactly? Hell, we've started outsourcing the data entry for our tax returns to friggin' INDIA... and let's not even talk about the phone banks for tech support for our computer software and hardware producers. It doesn't matter. Oil prices will go up, car mpg's will NOT go up, SUV's will continue to be the model of choice until there is no more oil, until Alaska's drilled dry... Minimum wage will probably not go up, more people will go without insurance, drug and medical costs will continue to skyrocket, and those of us squarely in the middle class will continue to be bled dry to pay for the "war" in Iraq and the "war" on terrorism. Osama bin Laden will continue to thumb his nose at us, and will never be caught. Four
Election Day 2004. I voted this morning at the local Methodist church, which holds voting for two precincts. By virtue of living in a small "orphaned" piece of my precinct, my line was non-existent. This was a bonus, since the other line had at least fifty people standing in it. The process was relatively painless, since we only had three selections to make. Now if only the election itself would go as smoothly. I'm trying not to panic, but I still remember agonizing for days over Election 2000, the recount, and the final result. My favorite bumper sticker this election year was a tie between "Somewhere in Texas a village is missing its idiot" and "Re-Defeat Bush."