Winter solstice is always a good time for reflection. Fall has bottomed out, we've turned the corner, and although winter lies ahead, there's the light of spring at the end of the tunnel. The older I get, the faster the seasons seem to fly, and while I hope to live to a hundred and ten, there's this sense of panic that any one of these next few seasons could be the last winter, the last spring. I'm not morbid, really. But things change, the world changes, people enter your life and leave it, you enter theirs and go away. There's no static place - the only thing constant is change. I'm tired of feeling like the rock in the river, gradually being worn away by the force of the stream. I'd rather be the river, raging one minute, meandering peacefully the next. I want to be the force of change, not the result of that change. I was called to do great things - if only I knew what those great things were.
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Friday, again. I haven't accomplished much today, not that anyone but me seems to be paying attention. I fixed one crisis in the patient accounting area (rebooted, ta da, problem solved), sent out an e-mail to everyone about the latest virus (when in doubt, DON'T OPEN IT!!!), sent instructions to someone about how to get access to our VPN (and she's not even my user - her current LAN manager is too busy to be bothered by requests for such things as secure remote access - the asshole), and created a PassportHealth account for a new user (again, not anyone I support, but we don't have enough security officers in other departments, so I just do it myself). And now it's almost 11:00, I've got to go get Heather since today is only a half-day, then I get to go to my boss's 50th birthday party. It's over at 2:00 - I'm finding it hard to justify driving back. But we'll see. If not, then Monday's another day, I'm sure.
Nine more shopping days until Christmas! Excuse me while I panic.
The good news is that I only have to put up with this bunch of nutcases for three more business days, then I'm disappearing until next year. I'm taking off Wednesday and Thursday, Friday and Monday are official observed holiday days, then Tuesday through Friday of next week, followed by the Monday after New Year's, which is the official holiday. Factor in weekends and you're talking almost two weeks of vacation. Sweet :)
After Friday's rant I had fully planned to go get stinkin' drunk at the Wildhorse - it's our office party destination of choice, and it seemed like a good idea. But I didn't. I only got a coke to drink, nothing remotely resembling TAB (tasty alcoholic beverage). I still had fun watching all my work buddies get on the dance floor and bump their booties. Then we left to get Heather, went home and relaxed for a few hours, then went back out into the wind and cold to see a show at the Ryman. Carbon Leaf was good (Heather got an autographed CD and a hug from the lead singer - "I HUGGED A MEMBER OF THE BAND!!!" - totally forgetting that she'd spent the entire set laughing at him because he didn't play an instrument. They did a spiritual in the middle of the set, a cappella, which was so appropriate given the location, and ended with a rousing version of "Life Less Ordinary." Grant Lee Phillips was okay for about the first two minutes of his set, t
Well, folks, looks like we're in for another round of horn-honking at the capital. The local radio talk show hosts will whip the uninformed masses into a frenzy, getting the ones most likely to benefit from an income tax to be its biggest opponents. I do not know how Steve Gill can sleep at night. In an ideal world for Mr. Gill and his cronies, there would be no taxes that they couldn't find a loophole for, allowing them to enjoy the benefits those taxes pay for without ever paying in a cent. Taxation isn't fun, folks, but it's a necessary evil to pay for our road system, our education system, our local and state police forces, fire departments, all the things we benefit from in this great land of ours. Because the funding system for each state is independently managed, then each state must tax its citizens. Tennessee chose sales tax, a regressive form of taxation that does not meet our expenditures. Don't try to tell me that it is a fair tax - those who make very l
What a world we live in: NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- An 8-year-old girl was suspended for nine days for bringing to school what appeared to be about 30 "Jell-O shots" -- though it was unclear whether they contained alcohol. The story goes on to say that the girl claims her mother told her to sell them at school, three for a dollar. I have to be honest here - the first thing I thought was, "Damn - not making much profit." I am so ashamed.
When I was a kid, I couldn't understand why the adults in my life seemed so uninspired by Christmas. I was happy - the prospect of a few days off from school, of cookies and candy, of lights and ornaments, of family and feasting, and of course, of giving and getting presents. I believed in Santa until I was eight, maybe nine, before I finally relented that maybe Santa was more than a jolly old elf, that maybe he was the spirit of Christmas in all of us. I'd like to think that as my kids grew up, I was as big a kid about Christmas as they were. I love to get out the tree and the lights and the old battered ornaments. I love sending out Christmas cards to everyone from my family. But things have changed. There's a sadness to it I didn't want to face last year. My Grandmother Bowden has been gone for several years now, but she had been lost to Alzheimer's years before, so I didn't mourn her passing as much as maybe I should have. This year my Nana died, and my fri
December kinda snuck up on me. I was so focused on getting funds and family together for Thanksgiving that it didn't occur to me that November was over. And now it's Christmas, and I have a whole new set of challenges to tackle. My mother-in-law had back surgery yesterday to correct a slipped disk/pinched nerve that had left her with no reflexes in her left leg. She's aware that the timing sucks, but she was afraid to wait, afraid that the damage might be permanent. I'm not sure what we can do to help her from here, but I'll think of something. On a less important note, I'd like to host Christmas dinner here again this year for Momma and Larisa, but first I've got some more remodeling to work on. There's no way in hell I'll get it finished, but we've GOT to get some kind of flooring in place in the remainder of the kitchen, and decide once and for all if we're pulling out the island and replacing it with an U-shaped configuration. Do we pull