It's amazing that so many people believe in this theory of global warming. Half of them haven't lived long enough to have experienced any real weather cycles other than the four seasons, and a bunch of them have never really lived through four REAL seasons. Winter in California or Florida, with their possible inch of snow, is not nearly the same as North Dakota, or Upper Michigan, or Canada, Alaska, etc. Let someone photogenic or famous tell them something is true, and they believe it until some other truth smacks them in the face... like small children who really believe there IS a man in the moon smiling back at them. Global warming is just another symptom of "The sky is falling!" Thirty years ago, the world was terrified of global freezing! They believed it, and it didn't happen.
If global warming is true, and if it's caused by an excess of carbon dioxide emissions from "stuff" - my word - then perhaps we ought to just think about one of the biggest causes of carbon dioxide emissions... and it's not cars. People and animals emit carbon dioxide when they breathe. Plants and trees replace it. I'm not into science, and I'm not going to get technical, nor am I going to toss out a gabillion - my daughter's word - facts to prove or disprove either theory. All I'm going to say is think seriously about all the things you hear, and then go find the facts that disprove it. Google it! There are websites that will give you both sides: read them. You don't have to believe them, but it wouldn't hurt to say to yourself, "What if they're right?" or, "What if they're wrong?"
If there is global warming, we could fix it easily. We could just yank all the military out of Iraq, and let the Iraqis kill themselves, and let the Africans die of AIDS, and let the murderers in the big cities kill all the people, and let the druggies kill themselves. Let Iran and Korea and the rest have their nuclear weapons, let everyone in all the countries all over the world have what they think they should have. We can let all the bad guys out of all the jails and let them have at it. Give everyone guns and then let people do as they will, shooting everyone. Once we have the world population whittled down by half, there won't be any threat of global warming. Of course, taking this just a little further, we also won't have much of a globe left, either. Radiation fields, gaping holes in landscape, dead bodies stinking up the earth because no one really likes burying people or even touching dead bodies.
Forget school, too. It's too expensive, we have to save our money because someone else wants it for themselves. And kids don't like to get up anyway, they'd rather party or watch tv all day. We should all be able to do what we want, right? Because the earth is going to just fizzle out with global warming. Yeah. Right.
Or we can really think logically about all of it. Every year, like calendars tell us, we have spring, summer, fall, and winter. No matter how wet it gets in the spring, summer appears. No matter how hot it gets in the summer, fall arrives. And no matter how much we want fall to stay, winter pushes its way in, eventually yielding to spring. Cycles. Just like nights eventually give way to days, mornings stick around for a few hours and finally give way to afternoons. Days become other days. You get 365 of them, and then start all over. And just when you think you have things under control, they toss in an extra day, and then take it away again. You start to really enjoy a vacation and it ends. Cycles. Everything is cycles. If the world was totally round, and if it rotated in a perfectly formed rotation instead of wobbling - you learn this early in your school life if you didn't already know it from before school - then there would be more dependable cycles, but that wobble really screws things up.
That wobble is like the old fashioned weeble, the child's toy that has the rounded/flat bottom and the rounded/pointy head. Knock it around a bit, and it wobbles and rolls around but it never falls down. If it would just keep wobbling forever, it would wobble in a moderated circle, going out of bounds here, inside the circle there, but it would eventually come back to where it started, sort of. And it would eventually - wobbling forever - go further outside the circle, and further into the circle, and then back around again. I don't know how many times it would have to do it to get back to the original moderated circle, or if it would exactly do that again. It's that butterfly's wings conundrum, screws things up every time. But the weeble would continue to wobble, bothering some people and not bothering others. Those who see it go really far outside the assumed path would say it's never coming back. Those who see it go too far inside would say it's going to crash and burn. And the weeble wobbles... and the weather continues to go through a cycle, warmer some years, colder others...
Actually, it isn't really important that we fix global warming. The really bad effects of global warming - if they happen at all the way the panic-mongers say it will - won't happen for two hundred years. Now, that's a really long time from today. If, by that time, the citizens of the world don't have some other game plan, some other place/way to live, then don't they deserve whatever happens? Fifty years ago, people were certain that we would be able to live on Mars or Venus by now. We didn't make it, but we did build space ships that can get that far and farther. Fifty years from now, where will we be? Underground? Under the ocean? On a different planet? Or will we be worrying about global freezing?
It's all political. And the thing about politics is that you can't just believe it because someone said it. If it sounds true, look for everything you can find to prove it wrong. If it sounds false, look for everything you can to prove it isn't false. And if you look long enough and hard enough, you will find hard, provable facts; maybe you'll be the one to discover those facts! And even then, look as hard as you can to see the other side. And remember that it's really hard to believe in global warming when the oranges are freezing in California. And even if the Arctic Circle is melting, what's happening at the opposite pole?
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
What are they thinking?
Seems like every day, someone is talking about the presidential election again, and it's not for almost 2 more years. I always wonder if the people who are ALWAYS proclaiming their political party are even paying attention anymore? No one even listens to themselves!!! Me, I'm a reader, and I read a lot of stuff from both sides. Both sides have good points, and both sides have good politicians. Seriously. I've voted for both parties, in some cases because I believed what they said. For the most part, I've come out of it okay. I'm not rich. I'm not union. I'm not on welfare. I'm somewhere in the middle, actually.
I'm not really religious, and I hate it when anyone uses religion as a reason to do something. I try to live by the basic ten 'shalt nots', but I've flunked a time or two. I think we all have. And I don't want YOUR religion, or HIS, or HERS. I have my own beliefs, based on my own personal experience, the stuff I read, the stuff I see. For example, I'm more upset by the young punks that baked a puppy - I swear, they did it! and it was a live puppy, until it got baked - than I am by corporate executives that shade the truth.
So let's think about some of this stuff. Why did we really get upset about Martha Stewart? Because she tried to get MORE based on something someone told her, and we didn't have that same information? Big deal. Lots of people get more based on what someone tells them. Look at the welfare people you KNOW could work, and you KNOW they're cheating the government (federal, state, or local). Do you tell? Probably not, because you wish you had the guts to do it. The cleaning lady who is on 'disability' because of her back... the single mom who keeps having kids by different guys... the co-worker who calls in sick because he/she has other things they'd rather do today. People cheat. Get over it.
On the political side, the democrats/liberals are yammering about how the tax cut is killing the welfare system, the schools, the funds for police, yada yada yada. And besides, they hate it that the rich got a tax cut too! Well, what did they think was going to happen? We like tax cuts, because it gives us more cash in our pockets. We like having that extra money. Right? Yeah. So what's so bad about everyone having it?
Wait, there's more inconsistency coming... universal health care. All the people who don't have a terrific health care program think EVERYONE should have health care and the government should pay. Equalize it, right? But not the tax cuts... no, those should only be for the poor, right? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. NOT. Either we are all equal or we are not. Which is it? Make up your minds, people!
Here in Michigan, they passed the civil rights amendment. Proposal 2, they call it. It passed, by a pretty good margin, maybe because all the vocal politicians declared they were against it and so all the people who WERE against it figured it wouldn't pass. But all the people who wanted it, went out and voted for it, and BOOM, new law. Of course, the way it reads, it's not anything that wasn't already in the constitution anyway, but opponents say it will breed discrimination, and proponents say it won't. Who knows? It's only been a law for a month, and I haven't seen or heard anything that proves it a problem. I'm still watching.
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On the sidelines... okay, I went out to my local family restaurant tonight, book in hand. I like finding a corner table, the waitresses know me, and I read while I eat. I also listen to all the idiots around me... Lately, a lot of people seem to be drinking sugar-free carbonated drinks. I mention this because they've all started calling them the same thing, and perhaps that's because so many restaurants only offer one sugar-free carbonated drink. Anyway, there I was, deep into my book, when this group of three mid-twenties sat down at the booth beside me. The hostess had taken the drink order, two coffees and a diet... yeah, that's the new name. Diet. It amuses me that they have chosen this name - both customers and wait-staff. Almost every time I hear it, I have to look up to see - what is it they're saying? "I want a diet." "I need a diet." "Do you have a diet?" And most of the time, they NEED a diet!!! I don't mean sugar-free carbonated whatever-brand... I mean food pyramid, or low fat, or lower carb, or whatever your favorite DIET is. Most of the time, these people really need to go on a diet, not drink one!
I wonder sometimes... I know, this could get me hung by my toenails... I've heard about beer bellies, and usually this phrase brings to mind a man slumped in front of a tv drinking a beer, with this huge belly hanging over his belt. Beer is made from hops, grains, or something along that line. Those are plants... like vegetables, fruit, herbs - plants. Most plants have few calories. I'm not really sure how beer is made, but I've seen that same belly on a lot of pop/soda drinkers so I don't think it's caused by plants. And I know a few people who drink a lot of sugar-free drinks because the sugar-full kind make you fat, right? Well, they're all getting that belly! So maybe it's not the sugar... maybe it's the carbonation...
Think on this a bit. For the button-hole surgeries, doctors make a tiny slit in the skin/whatever and put in a tube and pump gas into the area to open it up so they can stick in these tiny optical surgery tools - lasers and whatnot - and so you end up with a tiny scar instead of a huge one. This is great. For the abdominal surgeries, you have a swollen belly (hint) for a bit, but it goes away as the gas diminishes. I'm not sure how it diminishes. Maybe it just dissipates, maybe it becomes foul-smelling gifts... Anyway, if just a little of that gas can swell up your belly for a few hours, maybe this carbonation stuff does too. It's a gas. It has gas bubbles. And it makes people feel full. People are ALWAYS sitting back, resting their hands on their stomachs, and saying "no thanks, I'm full." But they've only had a few calories... so they aren't full. But their belly tells them they are. So visualize it... they drink a diet or two or three - free refills, you know - and they feel full, swollen belly. A couple hours later, they have taken a few trips to the bathroom and have another diet, or two, and feel full, swollen belly. Do this a few times a day, every day, and the belly gets stretched a little bit here and there. Hmmmm. And then think about the people you know who aren't fat, just a little "tummy" on them, and they don't weigh enough to go the diet drink route. But they do drink regular carbonated beverages... maybe there's a connection: the carbonation stretches the belly, making the body want more, need more to feel full.
And I'm sure, if they really wanted to lose weight, they could pick one of the three most common calorie-free drinks... water, coffee, and tea. They come in caffeinated and de-caf, and for a few extra calories (they have zero calories in their native form) you can get flavors. But I'd keep an eye on the ones who drink carbonated water...
I'm not really religious, and I hate it when anyone uses religion as a reason to do something. I try to live by the basic ten 'shalt nots', but I've flunked a time or two. I think we all have. And I don't want YOUR religion, or HIS, or HERS. I have my own beliefs, based on my own personal experience, the stuff I read, the stuff I see. For example, I'm more upset by the young punks that baked a puppy - I swear, they did it! and it was a live puppy, until it got baked - than I am by corporate executives that shade the truth.
So let's think about some of this stuff. Why did we really get upset about Martha Stewart? Because she tried to get MORE based on something someone told her, and we didn't have that same information? Big deal. Lots of people get more based on what someone tells them. Look at the welfare people you KNOW could work, and you KNOW they're cheating the government (federal, state, or local). Do you tell? Probably not, because you wish you had the guts to do it. The cleaning lady who is on 'disability' because of her back... the single mom who keeps having kids by different guys... the co-worker who calls in sick because he/she has other things they'd rather do today. People cheat. Get over it.
On the political side, the democrats/liberals are yammering about how the tax cut is killing the welfare system, the schools, the funds for police, yada yada yada. And besides, they hate it that the rich got a tax cut too! Well, what did they think was going to happen? We like tax cuts, because it gives us more cash in our pockets. We like having that extra money. Right? Yeah. So what's so bad about everyone having it?
Wait, there's more inconsistency coming... universal health care. All the people who don't have a terrific health care program think EVERYONE should have health care and the government should pay. Equalize it, right? But not the tax cuts... no, those should only be for the poor, right? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. NOT. Either we are all equal or we are not. Which is it? Make up your minds, people!
Here in Michigan, they passed the civil rights amendment. Proposal 2, they call it. It passed, by a pretty good margin, maybe because all the vocal politicians declared they were against it and so all the people who WERE against it figured it wouldn't pass. But all the people who wanted it, went out and voted for it, and BOOM, new law. Of course, the way it reads, it's not anything that wasn't already in the constitution anyway, but opponents say it will breed discrimination, and proponents say it won't. Who knows? It's only been a law for a month, and I haven't seen or heard anything that proves it a problem. I'm still watching.
~~~~~~~~~~~
On the sidelines... okay, I went out to my local family restaurant tonight, book in hand. I like finding a corner table, the waitresses know me, and I read while I eat. I also listen to all the idiots around me... Lately, a lot of people seem to be drinking sugar-free carbonated drinks. I mention this because they've all started calling them the same thing, and perhaps that's because so many restaurants only offer one sugar-free carbonated drink. Anyway, there I was, deep into my book, when this group of three mid-twenties sat down at the booth beside me. The hostess had taken the drink order, two coffees and a diet... yeah, that's the new name. Diet. It amuses me that they have chosen this name - both customers and wait-staff. Almost every time I hear it, I have to look up to see - what is it they're saying? "I want a diet." "I need a diet." "Do you have a diet?" And most of the time, they NEED a diet!!! I don't mean sugar-free carbonated whatever-brand... I mean food pyramid, or low fat, or lower carb, or whatever your favorite DIET is. Most of the time, these people really need to go on a diet, not drink one!
I wonder sometimes... I know, this could get me hung by my toenails... I've heard about beer bellies, and usually this phrase brings to mind a man slumped in front of a tv drinking a beer, with this huge belly hanging over his belt. Beer is made from hops, grains, or something along that line. Those are plants... like vegetables, fruit, herbs - plants. Most plants have few calories. I'm not really sure how beer is made, but I've seen that same belly on a lot of pop/soda drinkers so I don't think it's caused by plants. And I know a few people who drink a lot of sugar-free drinks because the sugar-full kind make you fat, right? Well, they're all getting that belly! So maybe it's not the sugar... maybe it's the carbonation...
Think on this a bit. For the button-hole surgeries, doctors make a tiny slit in the skin/whatever and put in a tube and pump gas into the area to open it up so they can stick in these tiny optical surgery tools - lasers and whatnot - and so you end up with a tiny scar instead of a huge one. This is great. For the abdominal surgeries, you have a swollen belly (hint) for a bit, but it goes away as the gas diminishes. I'm not sure how it diminishes. Maybe it just dissipates, maybe it becomes foul-smelling gifts... Anyway, if just a little of that gas can swell up your belly for a few hours, maybe this carbonation stuff does too. It's a gas. It has gas bubbles. And it makes people feel full. People are ALWAYS sitting back, resting their hands on their stomachs, and saying "no thanks, I'm full." But they've only had a few calories... so they aren't full. But their belly tells them they are. So visualize it... they drink a diet or two or three - free refills, you know - and they feel full, swollen belly. A couple hours later, they have taken a few trips to the bathroom and have another diet, or two, and feel full, swollen belly. Do this a few times a day, every day, and the belly gets stretched a little bit here and there. Hmmmm. And then think about the people you know who aren't fat, just a little "tummy" on them, and they don't weigh enough to go the diet drink route. But they do drink regular carbonated beverages... maybe there's a connection: the carbonation stretches the belly, making the body want more, need more to feel full.
And I'm sure, if they really wanted to lose weight, they could pick one of the three most common calorie-free drinks... water, coffee, and tea. They come in caffeinated and de-caf, and for a few extra calories (they have zero calories in their native form) you can get flavors. But I'd keep an eye on the ones who drink carbonated water...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
From the past
This post is from a previous blog that got lost online someplace. It was there, but the only way I could get to it was as a visitor... and I decided I didn't want to visit anymore. So here it is, or at least part of it.
Seems to me, this blog business is strange. At one time, a website was a website, and some let you add comments, and others didn't. And once upon a time, a diary, or a journal, or a scratch pad was where you spilled your guts. Now, people do it in public. Almost seems indecent. No one has private thoughts anymore. Well, I do. And I'm keeping them private. Here, I'm only going to share the stuff I wouldn't put in my diary. After all, I just think no one wants to know EVERYTHING about anyone, even if they're married. If you know everything already, what else is there? Nothing more to learn. Nothing more to know. You know it all. I think that would be boring.
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So you don't get to know all about me. I'll share some stuff, but mostly this isn't about getting up close and personal. It's about stuff. Just stuff. Funny stuff. Angry stuff. Stupid stuff. Maybe my Angry stuff is your Funny stuff. Maybe you dont' think my stupid stuff is stupid. That's fine. I don't care.
I don't even care if people read this. If they do, that's fine. If they don't, that's fine too. If they don't read it, they don't get to comment. I don't know if I'm going to allow comments anyway. It's my "blog" anyway. My choice.
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Sometimes, I just think people have given up trying to be real. They tell you they want to be an individual, but they were BORN an individual. From that point on, no one is satisfied. I mean, really, let's look at that. Babies. Everyone thinks babies are cute. And as they grow up, and learn to smile, walk, and talk, we all think they're adorable. As soon as they start expressing opinions that diverge from our own, we stop liking them. But everyone wants to be liked, right? And this divergence continues, and gets worse, as kids grow up, so that by the time they hit teenage years, they have this idea that who THEY are has to sound different and look different and behave different because otherwise they won't be an individual. Has anyone ever looked up that word? I think you should. It doesn't have much to do with how you sound, or look or behave, really. But maybe instead, you should just try behaving the way you really ARE, like you do when you're alone in your room, before you put on your "I hate anyone who doesn't agree with me" face. You know, when your parents aren't home and you're stuck watching boring television and you laugh at the stupid jokes on that dumb program your parents watch? Yeah, like that. Or before you put makeup on... what would happen if you didn't? Someone might see those pimples, right? Like they never had any??? Come on, get real. What if everyone just put on the ordinary face?
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Sex. The whole world seems to be stuck in this "We must have sex. More sex. Better sex. Hot sex. Acrobatic sex." What if you didn't? Would it hurt? No. Guys are stuck in this rut of 'every guy NEEDS sex, or ..." what? Will it fall off? Rot? Forget how? Can you hear me giggling?
Let's get real. We are more intelligent than animals, right? We'd like to think so, anyway. The purpose of sex is procreation. No, this isn't a political thing. It's just a statement. The fact that we get pleasure from it is nice. If you did it all the time (like guys seem to want girls to think it's necessary), it woudln't be special anymore. It would be ordinary. Sure, the guys tell you that YOU are the special one, right? And after you do it a gabillion times, or 5 or 6 or 20 anyway, don't you think he'd get bored? How many tricks do you really know? Okay, I don't want to know that. I just want you to think. What would happen if you didn't have sex THIS time? Would you die? Really? Would it fall off? REALLY?!?!?! I want to see that. Really.
It's boring sometimes. Same old stuff. Same person. Same talk (or lack of) afterward. Snoring. Bad breath. Sheet wrinkles. Mascara marks. And pimples. You do all that stuff, and your hair is messed up and your makeup rubs off and the whole world (or that one special person) can see the real you. And they may not care, but what if they do? What if they don't come back? You would have given it away to a jerk/jerkette. And they WILL talk. You know they will. So would you, right? Be honest.
What if you didn't do it? It would still be there tomorrow. I promise.
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Cell phones. Did you ever see one of those choke chains they have for dogs? It's a long chain with rings on both ends, and the leash clips to one of the rings, and when you pull the leash, it tightens around the dog's neck and the dog stops everything just to do what you want. That's what your cell phone does. And you allow it. You never get to do what YOU want, when YOU want, without having to be ready for that choke chain to yank you back...
I'm all for having a cell phone available. I'm NOT about to turn it on until I need it. And there are times when no one can reach me. Anyone who can't deal with that needs to get a life. I don't want to talk on a phone when I'm eating. And I really don't want to talk to anyone on the phone when THEY are eating. I can hear them swallow and chew and I don't like that. People probably don't tell you that. They can hear it.
Grocery store conversations and restaurant conversations. Those cell phones keep you connected, right? So you can keep in touch with everyone, all the time. This means you're popular, right? So if you aren't on the cell phone, you aren't popular, right? No one likes you? Well, actually, when YOU are chatting on the phone in a store or restaurant, I'm listening to the whole conversation. I'm hearing your side. Sometimes I hear the other side, if you're talking to someone who's loud. And I'm thinking about what you're saying. I'm thinking that you're almost having phone sex in a public place, and that's not popular. I'm thinking that whoever called you doesn't want you to have any free time, and they control you.
Choke chain. If you made the call, you yanked the chain. Are you a controller? Or are you so insecure that you don't think they'd call YOU? Or maybe, if they didn't talk to you for a while, what then? Would they choose someone else? I bet, while you're going to the bathroom, you're on the phone. But when you're sleeping, are they still faithful? Or are they switching friends? If they can wait six or eight hours until you wake up, don't you think they could wait half an hour until you're done eating? Will they get upset if you don't answer the phone?
I saw a young woman the other night, her cell phone was on the table at the restaurant and she was talking to two friends. The discussion was discreet, something about tattoos or piercings or something, involving home medical care that would heal it in a couple weeks. I dont' want to know any more than that. And then, in the middle of the conversation, her phone sounded off... the conversation stopped dead... she poked a finger at it quickly, the noise stopped, and the conversation continued. THAT was nice. No call. She just calmly said, "I'll call him back after we're done." and that was it.
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I work for a privately owned company. This has its good points and bad ones. On the good side, they pay almost all the medical insurance, and it's a reasonable policy. We can pick from PPO and HMO, based on our own personal criteria. That's fine. I'm basically healthy anyway, so I picked the cheap one. They have almost enough holiday days, so that's okay too. They're reasonably tolerant of people coming in late once in awhile, and usually you can make up the time at the other end of the day. That's cool. I rarely go in late since I'm a morning person, but there are days when moving is slow and there are also days when I end up staying later anyway.
The vacation time is borderline okay. Not enough for me to be happy, but that's because they don't have personal time or sick leave so I use mine mostly for appointments.
It's a small company, and I know everyone's name - first and last - and speak to most of them occasionally. Hard to miss them in a small company. Everyone is on a first name basis, from the shipping clerk to the president of the company. There are 4 women and about 30 men - most are in their 40's or older. Most are married, or have been married, and most have kids. With the employees being mostly male, conversations can get graphic. Mostly I choose to just ignore those, or avoid them altogether. I'm not male, and not comfortable with graphic jokes, discussions, or incidental remarks. They all know that now.
The management are all related to the two original owners. Hell, one of them IS an original owner, but only because he won't retire. Some of the other employees are also related to the original owners. They're big on family. They all hope to be management someday. I hope I'm gone by then...
The problem with working for a family-owned company is that once they start doing things a certain way, they don't like to change. Think of your grandmother's housekeeping schedule. Seriously. Monday was washday. Tuesday was ironing... and on it went. Grocery shopping was done on Saturday. Sunday was church. As my grandmother puts it, everywhere you went on a Monday, everyone had laundry hanging out on a line, drying in the sun. That's what goes on where I work. They do the same things, the same way, every day. There are ways to do things faster, or more efficiently - and I've managed to help in that regard a couple times, but when it comes to changing the base methods, the foot comes down. No. It works this way. Not well, but it does work. So I've had to change my theory about why I go to work. It takes me longer to do things their way, so I get more hours.
We have to grovel for a raise. Every time, the answer is, "We don't have the money right now." This answer goes over well, especially when the top two guys go to Hawaii for two weeks, twice a year, or Virginia Beach, or Florida. Goes over especially well when we're expected to admire the Corvettes they drive, or the pictures of all the theater shows they've been to. But there is a positive side. They're gone quite often to the golf course.
Those who are "family" come in late, or choose to 'work from home' - no one hears from them. One guy called in from home one time and said he was choosing to work in his underwear that day. I told him it was a good thing he was working at home, because we would laugh at that sight. I would have!
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Overdrafts. Did you ever overdraw your checking account? Bounce a check? Use the debit card one too many times? This christmas, I did. The way it happened, I should have only overdrawn one item. However, because of the way the bank sucks those amounts in, starting with the largest, I ended up with $231 in overdraft fees. If they had started with the smallest, or even in the order they amounts had been used, it would only have cost me $33. I told them that. They kindly explained that it was their policy because if I had a rent payment or a car payment, it might not have 'made the cut' so they did it for my protection. We battled this out for a while, and they agreed that if they did it the other way I would be able to keep most of my current deposit. Their solution was to split the overdraft fees with me. I took that. I did it because I was tired of fighting. I was wrong to spend too much money in the first place, even though I didn't realize I was doing it - I simply forgot about the insurance payment that was automatically deducted. THAT was the reason I ran out of money. So we'll split the $231, and I'll live cheaply for the next couple weeks.
In my next life, I'm going to be rich. Or taller. Or thinner. I'd rather be rich.
Seems to me, this blog business is strange. At one time, a website was a website, and some let you add comments, and others didn't. And once upon a time, a diary, or a journal, or a scratch pad was where you spilled your guts. Now, people do it in public. Almost seems indecent. No one has private thoughts anymore. Well, I do. And I'm keeping them private. Here, I'm only going to share the stuff I wouldn't put in my diary. After all, I just think no one wants to know EVERYTHING about anyone, even if they're married. If you know everything already, what else is there? Nothing more to learn. Nothing more to know. You know it all. I think that would be boring.
~~~~~~~~~
So you don't get to know all about me. I'll share some stuff, but mostly this isn't about getting up close and personal. It's about stuff. Just stuff. Funny stuff. Angry stuff. Stupid stuff. Maybe my Angry stuff is your Funny stuff. Maybe you dont' think my stupid stuff is stupid. That's fine. I don't care.
I don't even care if people read this. If they do, that's fine. If they don't, that's fine too. If they don't read it, they don't get to comment. I don't know if I'm going to allow comments anyway. It's my "blog" anyway. My choice.
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Sometimes, I just think people have given up trying to be real. They tell you they want to be an individual, but they were BORN an individual. From that point on, no one is satisfied. I mean, really, let's look at that. Babies. Everyone thinks babies are cute. And as they grow up, and learn to smile, walk, and talk, we all think they're adorable. As soon as they start expressing opinions that diverge from our own, we stop liking them. But everyone wants to be liked, right? And this divergence continues, and gets worse, as kids grow up, so that by the time they hit teenage years, they have this idea that who THEY are has to sound different and look different and behave different because otherwise they won't be an individual. Has anyone ever looked up that word? I think you should. It doesn't have much to do with how you sound, or look or behave, really. But maybe instead, you should just try behaving the way you really ARE, like you do when you're alone in your room, before you put on your "I hate anyone who doesn't agree with me" face. You know, when your parents aren't home and you're stuck watching boring television and you laugh at the stupid jokes on that dumb program your parents watch? Yeah, like that. Or before you put makeup on... what would happen if you didn't? Someone might see those pimples, right? Like they never had any??? Come on, get real. What if everyone just put on the ordinary face?
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Sex. The whole world seems to be stuck in this "We must have sex. More sex. Better sex. Hot sex. Acrobatic sex." What if you didn't? Would it hurt? No. Guys are stuck in this rut of 'every guy NEEDS sex, or ..." what? Will it fall off? Rot? Forget how? Can you hear me giggling?
Let's get real. We are more intelligent than animals, right? We'd like to think so, anyway. The purpose of sex is procreation. No, this isn't a political thing. It's just a statement. The fact that we get pleasure from it is nice. If you did it all the time (like guys seem to want girls to think it's necessary), it woudln't be special anymore. It would be ordinary. Sure, the guys tell you that YOU are the special one, right? And after you do it a gabillion times, or 5 or 6 or 20 anyway, don't you think he'd get bored? How many tricks do you really know? Okay, I don't want to know that. I just want you to think. What would happen if you didn't have sex THIS time? Would you die? Really? Would it fall off? REALLY?!?!?! I want to see that. Really.
It's boring sometimes. Same old stuff. Same person. Same talk (or lack of) afterward. Snoring. Bad breath. Sheet wrinkles. Mascara marks. And pimples. You do all that stuff, and your hair is messed up and your makeup rubs off and the whole world (or that one special person) can see the real you. And they may not care, but what if they do? What if they don't come back? You would have given it away to a jerk/jerkette. And they WILL talk. You know they will. So would you, right? Be honest.
What if you didn't do it? It would still be there tomorrow. I promise.
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Cell phones. Did you ever see one of those choke chains they have for dogs? It's a long chain with rings on both ends, and the leash clips to one of the rings, and when you pull the leash, it tightens around the dog's neck and the dog stops everything just to do what you want. That's what your cell phone does. And you allow it. You never get to do what YOU want, when YOU want, without having to be ready for that choke chain to yank you back...
I'm all for having a cell phone available. I'm NOT about to turn it on until I need it. And there are times when no one can reach me. Anyone who can't deal with that needs to get a life. I don't want to talk on a phone when I'm eating. And I really don't want to talk to anyone on the phone when THEY are eating. I can hear them swallow and chew and I don't like that. People probably don't tell you that. They can hear it.
Grocery store conversations and restaurant conversations. Those cell phones keep you connected, right? So you can keep in touch with everyone, all the time. This means you're popular, right? So if you aren't on the cell phone, you aren't popular, right? No one likes you? Well, actually, when YOU are chatting on the phone in a store or restaurant, I'm listening to the whole conversation. I'm hearing your side. Sometimes I hear the other side, if you're talking to someone who's loud. And I'm thinking about what you're saying. I'm thinking that you're almost having phone sex in a public place, and that's not popular. I'm thinking that whoever called you doesn't want you to have any free time, and they control you.
Choke chain. If you made the call, you yanked the chain. Are you a controller? Or are you so insecure that you don't think they'd call YOU? Or maybe, if they didn't talk to you for a while, what then? Would they choose someone else? I bet, while you're going to the bathroom, you're on the phone. But when you're sleeping, are they still faithful? Or are they switching friends? If they can wait six or eight hours until you wake up, don't you think they could wait half an hour until you're done eating? Will they get upset if you don't answer the phone?
I saw a young woman the other night, her cell phone was on the table at the restaurant and she was talking to two friends. The discussion was discreet, something about tattoos or piercings or something, involving home medical care that would heal it in a couple weeks. I dont' want to know any more than that. And then, in the middle of the conversation, her phone sounded off... the conversation stopped dead... she poked a finger at it quickly, the noise stopped, and the conversation continued. THAT was nice. No call. She just calmly said, "I'll call him back after we're done." and that was it.
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I work for a privately owned company. This has its good points and bad ones. On the good side, they pay almost all the medical insurance, and it's a reasonable policy. We can pick from PPO and HMO, based on our own personal criteria. That's fine. I'm basically healthy anyway, so I picked the cheap one. They have almost enough holiday days, so that's okay too. They're reasonably tolerant of people coming in late once in awhile, and usually you can make up the time at the other end of the day. That's cool. I rarely go in late since I'm a morning person, but there are days when moving is slow and there are also days when I end up staying later anyway.
The vacation time is borderline okay. Not enough for me to be happy, but that's because they don't have personal time or sick leave so I use mine mostly for appointments.
It's a small company, and I know everyone's name - first and last - and speak to most of them occasionally. Hard to miss them in a small company. Everyone is on a first name basis, from the shipping clerk to the president of the company. There are 4 women and about 30 men - most are in their 40's or older. Most are married, or have been married, and most have kids. With the employees being mostly male, conversations can get graphic. Mostly I choose to just ignore those, or avoid them altogether. I'm not male, and not comfortable with graphic jokes, discussions, or incidental remarks. They all know that now.
The management are all related to the two original owners. Hell, one of them IS an original owner, but only because he won't retire. Some of the other employees are also related to the original owners. They're big on family. They all hope to be management someday. I hope I'm gone by then...
The problem with working for a family-owned company is that once they start doing things a certain way, they don't like to change. Think of your grandmother's housekeeping schedule. Seriously. Monday was washday. Tuesday was ironing... and on it went. Grocery shopping was done on Saturday. Sunday was church. As my grandmother puts it, everywhere you went on a Monday, everyone had laundry hanging out on a line, drying in the sun. That's what goes on where I work. They do the same things, the same way, every day. There are ways to do things faster, or more efficiently - and I've managed to help in that regard a couple times, but when it comes to changing the base methods, the foot comes down. No. It works this way. Not well, but it does work. So I've had to change my theory about why I go to work. It takes me longer to do things their way, so I get more hours.
We have to grovel for a raise. Every time, the answer is, "We don't have the money right now." This answer goes over well, especially when the top two guys go to Hawaii for two weeks, twice a year, or Virginia Beach, or Florida. Goes over especially well when we're expected to admire the Corvettes they drive, or the pictures of all the theater shows they've been to. But there is a positive side. They're gone quite often to the golf course.
Those who are "family" come in late, or choose to 'work from home' - no one hears from them. One guy called in from home one time and said he was choosing to work in his underwear that day. I told him it was a good thing he was working at home, because we would laugh at that sight. I would have!
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Overdrafts. Did you ever overdraw your checking account? Bounce a check? Use the debit card one too many times? This christmas, I did. The way it happened, I should have only overdrawn one item. However, because of the way the bank sucks those amounts in, starting with the largest, I ended up with $231 in overdraft fees. If they had started with the smallest, or even in the order they amounts had been used, it would only have cost me $33. I told them that. They kindly explained that it was their policy because if I had a rent payment or a car payment, it might not have 'made the cut' so they did it for my protection. We battled this out for a while, and they agreed that if they did it the other way I would be able to keep most of my current deposit. Their solution was to split the overdraft fees with me. I took that. I did it because I was tired of fighting. I was wrong to spend too much money in the first place, even though I didn't realize I was doing it - I simply forgot about the insurance payment that was automatically deducted. THAT was the reason I ran out of money. So we'll split the $231, and I'll live cheaply for the next couple weeks.
In my next life, I'm going to be rich. Or taller. Or thinner. I'd rather be rich.
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