The down side.

One of the down sides of social media is being exposed to the stupidity that is floating around in the world.  If not for social media, I could acknowledge that such existed, but not actually have to see it.

The shooting in Charleston has brought out some truly stupid crap in my facebook feed. One person had been dropped a couple of years ago because he decided he need to pick a fight with me over guns.  Tonight, he popped up on my company's facebook just to be a jerk.  I know him well enough to know that he just wanted to incite a fight.  He'd posted several "pro gun" bits/responses to the Charleston shooting, and then turned his sights on our page.  His desire to pick a fight just resulted in his irrelevant comment being deleted.  Sadly, our policies prevent us from blocking him from our feed . . . yet.

Then, on my personal page, someone's totally ignorant screed about the confederate flag got her unfriended.  If EVEN Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney have realized that there are no points to be scored by continuing to cling to the "stars and bars" . . . then shouldn't the morons of the planet follow?

Sheesh.

Finally took the hint

For several years now, I've participated in a lunch group we call SMLF.  It has been said that I was one of the original founders.  I prefer to think that the group, more or less, developed organically.  At its peak, it was a loud, hilarious, fun group that got the members through many a frustration.  We supported each other.  We pulled together for the common good.  We were perceived as having power.  Hee hee.

But, members started taking different jobs and being less available for lunch.  But, we still managed to throw together a rocking baby shower for a member, recently.  But, I'd noticed something of a drifting.

Since the start of the year, I had really noticed that we hardly ever got together any more.  Even the mainstay members were unavailable.

Then weird things came up . . . like a lunch invite that was revoked 10 minutes later.  (The invite was initiated by one member, and then ten minutes later she claimed she wasn't in town and couldn't have lunch.  Very weird.)

Today, I was having lunch across town with an associate.  It's a restaurant the SMLF never goes to because it's so far from most of our offices, the travel time would severely cut into our lunch hours. But, then I looked up to find that the SMLF were having lunch.  I had not been included.   And I assume the choice of restaurant was to minimize the chance of me seeing them.

And, suddenly the weirdness of the past several months made total sense.  This is what they do when someone is no longer welcome . . . they just quietly stop including them.  FUCK.

So, tonight I removed myself from the spider monkey lunch forum list.  There is just a tiny bit of dignity in removing myself . . . after weeks of hints . . . than to go on thinking I'm part of the crowd.

I would like to know what transgression merited this treatment.  Was it the gifts I brought back from my travels? The many treats I've made? The birthday and holiday lunches and baby showers I've organized (and paid for) ?  I think the Old Woman was right . . . I try too hard.  No one likes the kid who wants it too much.  Only, I thought I was just being generous to my friends.  Silly monkey.

Never Poke a Sleeping Bear

I had a professor write this on the board, prior to the final, once.  Apparently, at 3am while grading term papers, he got poked.  A student wrote a rant about how much he hated the class, how it was a pain in his ass that he had a term paper due right before finals, and other critiques of the professor's fitness to continue breathing.  I'm sure the paper would have provoked at any time of the day, it was just the student's bad luck that it was 3am.

I've moaned about my abandonment by ESK.  Then, we hired her replacement.  We will soon be rehiring her replacement.

The Replacement's downfall has been an interesting example of how people can be their own worst enemy.  Also, how once a pattern of behavior is created, how difficult it is to break it.

To be fair, I hired The Replacement knowing that she had the reputation of being "difficult."  Silly me . . . I thought I could over come her prickliness with my charm and monkey fun.  Nope.

She refuses to be a good colleague.  When I pointed out that she needed to work harder to "fit in" with the staff, she took that to mean that she must stomp up the hall and bark "good morning" to each of us and flee before we can even return the greeting.  She seems to have created rules for our office and insists on abiding by them.  (I have told staff that they schedule their time off, just let me know your plans and if there is some task you'll need another employee to assist with in your absence.  She insists on sending me painfully formal emails requesting permission to take an hour here, and hour and a half there, of vacation leave.  Always adding in that if I will not grant her permission, please name the time and date on which I wish her to come work that tiny increment of time.)  A friend would call it being "maliciously obedient."

Today, I  had planned on treating my staff to a "fire drill" which would give them a bonus hour off just before the holiday.  Today was selected because it is one of the few days she planned to work the same schedule as the rest of us, and I felt it wasn't fair to all the staff when she was working such a very different schedule.  But, then she came in 15 minutes "early" but stayed in the work room, playing on her phone, until the "official start of her work day (8-4).  It annoyed me to the point I seriously considered cancelling the fire drill.  Lucky for everyone else, I decided to go ahead with it anyway.  Miracles of miracles, she suddenly dropped the snotty tone from her voice.  I know it is temporary.  But, we're basking in it for the moment.

I'm pretty sure this is karmic payback for being smug about how "girl games" don't infect my office like I hear about in other places of business.  I'm firing her next week.  Soon, calm will be restored.

Damn You, Esquire!

So, in my little world, there has been much discussion about the recent Esquire Mag. article about how some wanker has sent out the word to other wankers (and I use the term wanker as a noun and a verb) that "42 year old women" are now totally "boner worthy."

Yeah, it's offensive. These are the dudes who couldn't work up the courage to talk to a woman in their 20's, had crushes on totally out of their league women in their 30's, had some fairly unsatisfying trysts in their 40's, and now that they are balding, sporting a beer gut, and realizing they will probably die alone, have decided to do woman-kind the favor of expanding their definition of those worthy of their attentions.  Barf.

But, it annoys me for another, totally selfish, reason. If the creepers out there are now going to be turning their sights on persons in their 40's, I lose my invisibility.  DAMN IT.

When I was a teen monkey, and hit puberty, it was a weird mix of exciting and mortifying.  Then, by college, I'd kinda gotten use to it.  AND SHAZAM! in college the dudes appreciated me for being smart and cute.  So much different from high school where I was pretty much an undateable nerd.  It was fun.  There was some power in it.

When I settled down to being an adult with a real relationship and real job, I wanted to be taken seriously for my character and hard work, so I became very modest.  In my 30's, I decided that I was no longer in danger of not being taken seriously because of my age.  Then, I hit my 40's.  And I became invisible.  Men no longer looked at me like bait anymore.  Any flirting that happens is of the totally harmless sort.  And, I have the luxury of not giving a flip about what people think about how I dress or what I do, because I'm mostly invisible anyway.

Hopefully, the knuckle draggers around here are too busy wanking to read the manifesto in over rated men's mags to make my existence to difficult.  However, I think that the dudes who are likely to think they are doing 42 year old women a "favor" by hitting on them may find that our bullshit meters are very delicately tuned these days.

Into the Fray

So, um, Paula Deen.  Yeah.

I read this article.  And then I read an article about the on-stage interview she gave in the fall of 2012 in which she claimed that slaves were "like" family and then called out one of her employees to demonstrate to the audience that he was so dark skinned he would be invisible against the black backdrop of the stage. 

Now, I will admit, I didn't like Ms Deen anyway.  She represents a stereotype of southern woman hood that I just can't stomach.  She's loud, and uncouth, and seems to revel in being ignorant.  (Remember that just terrible country-bumpkin-gone-to-town special of her and her husband gaping their way through London?) 

When I read the NPR article, I thought that the most generous interpretation was that she really is dumb and clueless.  Sadly, I think that it probably more a matter of she's dumb and simply doesn't much care about the "little people." 

I think much attention has been given to the tangible evidence of her racism . . . the 40 plus year old admitting to using the "n word."  But, if you read more, you see that racism is deeply ingrained in her belief system.  And, that she doesn't much care to address this in herself.  That offense is someone else's problem.

But more problematic than the overt or more subtle racism is the sexual harassment side of the law suit.  Sexual harassment is based on the interpretation of the victim, not the intent of the perpetrator.

Addressing that side of the law suit, Paula seems to have totally bought into the idea that men are incapable of controlling their animal instincts and that women must simply learn to accommodate this weakness in the men they work for/with/around.

Here's the thing . . . Paula Deen is a functioning, competent adult.  As such, she has the very basic, human responsibility to be aware of how her actions are interpreted by the people around her.  She has the responsibility, as a person, to not cause harm intentionally or accidentally.  And, when harm is discovered, apologize and offend no more.  Because she's human . . . not because she's going to lose her job hawking Smithfield hams.

Knuckle Draggers

I listened to a good portion of the oral arguments to the Supreme Court today over the Prop. 8 issue.  Frankly, I am flabbergasted that the primary argument to keep homosexual people from enjoying the many, many benefits of legal marriage is heterosexual reproduction.   Really?  So, a marriage that cannot naturally produce children is invalid?  And, the response to Justice Kagan's query about denying marriage licenses when both partners are over the age of 55, was to argue that "one of the partners would remain fertile" ? WTF!!!?  If you are so concerned that children be born of heterosexual, monogamous marriages . . . aren't you killing your argument to point out that children could still be conceived outside this particular marriage?

But, there is a much broader issue brought up by this argument.  Nearly half of all babies born now are born outside a heterosexual, legal marriage.  And, many legally married, heterosexual couples cannot produce children without outside intervention or assistance.  If "protecting" legal marriage were only about insuring that children are conceived naturally and born into stable, two parent households, then making sure the thousands of children already living with same-sex parents have the legal safety-net that marriage affords to their parents would be an easy and natural decision.  And, if it is the state's primary concern to regulate the production of children, then they should require a fertility test of all persons seeking to legally marry . . . and extract a pledge that they will, in fact, choose to reproduce.

Recent media reports are that one of the factors driving conservatives to accept (if not actually embrace) same-sex marriage is personally knowing a gay person.  If personal experience is what is truly changing people's minds . . . then gay marriage isn't about morals or religion or "how it's always been done" . . . and that makes those folks who viciously oppose it even more ridiculous.

I told you so

One of the manifestations of my yellow-bellied, wet-the-bed liberal ideas is that you will never convince me that the vast majority of people "need" or should have guns.  I realize, if the media is to be believed, that this puts me in quite the minority.  And, I do notice that those friends of mine who are avid hunters take gun safety very seriously.

But, the fact of the matter remains that the vast majority of people shot with guns are not shot in self-defense.  They are generally shot in vicious, violent and senseless crimes.  (Including that weird "stand your ground" crap in some states.)

I hear from a lot of people that gun control won't work because criminals don't much care.  But, I argue that it is a start.  We have radically changed our culture around smoking.  It took a few generations, but it happened.  I think gun control laws can be the start to major changes in our cultural attitudes around guns.

First, I don't understand why every single gun isn't tracked by the government.  If the government can keep track of how many sinus tabs I buy, surely they can also have a central registry of gun serial numbers and track the purchase of bullets.

Second, assault rifles, semi-automatic, and kevlar piercing bullets are made for hunting people and/or cops.  Thus, should be outright banned.

Third, it should be much more of a hassle to own a gun.  You should have to insure your guns.  And, there should be liability attached to every gun registered to you.  If a gun registered to you is used in a crime, you are liable . . . and that crap line about the gun being "stolen" . . . well, if you didn't report it stolen, then you still bear the responsibility for the gun.  In order to insure your gun, you should have to demonstrate that you store them properly.  Guns should be strictly registered to specifically licensed individuals.  If your child or brother-in-law is caught with your gun, it goes against your liability insurance.

Fourth and last, it should be a whole lot easier to lose your guns.  If your child brings a gun to school, you lose your guns.  If you fail to report a gun stolen and it is used in a crime, you lose your guns.  If you demonstrate in any way a lack of vigilance in keeping your guns properly, you lose your guns.  If you make threats, ever and to anyone, you lose your guns.  You post pictures of your guns on your facebook page like it makes you tough and bad, you lose your guns.

We take sinus tabs and cars and birth control pills more seriously in our culture than we do guns.  It's about time we start looking at how desensitized we have become as a culture, and work to create meaningful changes that will make gun violence a rarity.

Dear Mr. Romney

Every morning, I check my "words with friends" games and "facebook" while, um, attending to morning needs.  This morning, I saw a story posted on FB that elaborated on Mr. Romney's recent comments about the "gifts" Obama gave to non-white and young voters to "buy" the election.  He said that Obama gave out "free contraception" which was popular with young college aged women. 

Then, I realized that perhaps Mr. Romney has never been in the position to know anything about contraceptives.  He is a man in his 60s, and mormon, married young and had only sons.  Perhaps he never had to learn the more delicate details of, you know, "down there."   

First off, it isn't "free" contraception . . . it's no co-pay contraception.  That means the "college aged women" who benefit from this "gift" are either covered by school based or their parents' insurance.  So, health insurance companies (you know, companies you probably have some investment in) benefit from no co-pay contraceptives.  Even if they pay out more for the prescription coverage, the premiums are priced such that the companies (and shareholders . . . you know about shareholders, don't you Mr. Romney?) make a profit.

But, you know who else benefits from no co-pay contraceptives?  Young men.  These days, young men are bombarded by a culture that tells them they need to have sex with as many women as possible in order to be thought "manly."  While they are working through becoming mature enough to ignore these cultural messages, they surely aren't ready to become parents.   But, not just young men benefit from no co-pay contraceptives . . . so do full grown adult men, married and not.  And, looking around the news these days, it would appear that people who are screwing around outside their marriages, also benefit from no co-pay contraceptives.

Not just young men and women, and adult men share in this benefit.  But, also married couples.  Married couples who understand that planning their families will help give them opportunities to give their children the upbringing they want for their children.  Not having to pay that $30 - $50 a month for pills means more money to pay for your son's trumpet or fill up the mini-van for your daughter's ball team tournaments.  Additionally, women who have just given birth benefit from no co-pay contraceptives because they understand that spacing out their pregnancies is better for their health and the health of future babies.

So, Mr. Romney, lots and lots of people benefit from the "gift" of no co-pay contraceptives.  Which might explain why you lost more than just the young womens' vote.

Screaming at the radio

One of the observations I have of many humans is how easily their lives tumble out of control.  I have found my self observing the occasional mess of a person and thought "it was probably one or two decisions, probably seemed harmless enough at the time, that snowballed into the disaster you have now."

Since the revelations of the horrifying sexual abuse perpetrated by former Penn State coach Sandusky, there have been many conversations about child abuse, responsibility, and who should have done what and when.

Which is what led me to screaming at the radio today, while some dip of a student was interviewed on a news program I was listening to.  This poor, stupid child, was nearly in tears as she declared that the sanctions imposed on Penn State by the NCAA were going to ruin her opportunities to get an education.

Um, how?  Are you losing your football scholarship?  Does your degree depend upon Penn State going to a bowl game?

These sanctions are not about the actions of Jerry Sandusky.  They are about the actions, and lack of action, from the administrators who decided to take the cowards' way out.  This punishment is about the athletic director, head coach, and president who KNEW they should have (legally, ethically, and morally) reported the abuse to off campus authorities, but put their own comforts, the reputation of the school, and the game of football above the well being of untold children.  In doing so, they communicated to the victims that football is more important than their very lives, and to Sandusky that so long as they didn't have to confront it themselves, carry on.

Lots of talking heads have plead that JoePa's lifetime of achievement shouldn't be forever tainted by the criminal acts of another.  But, when JoePa's influence convinced others to not act, he committed a crime nearly as great as the abuser himself.  One decision, seemingly harmless, snowballed into a tragedy.

So, Penn State student who thinks this is about you . . . perhaps you stop to consider that JoePa and your athletic director and your university president were criminals too.

Super Pro

Today I witnessed someone being more than a professional.  It was a thing of beauty.

I stopped of at a grocery store to pick up more eggs and cream to make a second attempt on creme brulee for ESK's birthday.  (Yesterday's attempt didn't turn into custard.)  As I was in the only open check out lane, I noticed that the guy two people ahead of me was being very chatty with both the girl working the register and the guy in front of me.  It all seemed very small town pleasant.

As he stepped away from the line, I noticed him step over to a display near the door.  But, it really looked like he was just getting change stashed in his pockets and arranging his bag for a walk to where ever.  Then, he stepped back to the register and said loudly "you short changed me. . . I gave you a ten and you only gave me a dollar and change back."  The check out girl apologized and looked at her register.  It was high tech enough that opening the draw wasn't something she could just do.  Then, she looked back at the man and said, "if I can see your receipt, I can punch in the transaction number and open my drawer."  He handed her the bag and said it was in there.  It wasn't.  She helpfully suggested that maybe he put it in his pocket?  And he fumbled around, you could see a fair amount of movement as he was pulling the paper out of his pocket . . . and there, tightly rolled up inside the receipt was a $5 bill.  She smiled sweetly and said "oh, there it is" and he acted shifty and tried to explain he didn't know how it got into his pocket and away from the rest of his change, sure he'd been busted.  And the girl just said "I'm sure it was a mistake.  I could have made the mistake, too.  I'm just glad you got your change." and the guy left.

As she turned to my purchases, she looked at me and rolled her eyes.

What a pro.

Squandered

I've said, more than once, that I seriously dislike stupid people.  Not people who can't . . . but people who can and decide not to.

So, the train wreck that is/was Whitney Houston kinda bothers me.  Well, the unabashed romanticizing of her life bothers me.

It seems to me that there are so many humans who start out life with so many disadvantages.  Sometimes it's poverty or lack of access to proper medical care or isms or disabilities.  But, you so often see people who start off with disadvantages work and struggle and create something of their lives.  Whether it's the intellectually disabled person who has faithfully arrived at their job at the sheltered workshop for 20 years without a single absence, or the person from the third world who was just awarded a Nobel prize, they made something of their lives and contributed to the planet.

Whitney Houston started out life way ahead in the race.  She had a family pedigree that bought her instant entry into the world of entertainment/fame/fortune.  She had an incredible talent.  She was beautiful.  She could have seriously contributed to the planet.  (I know, some would say that her music did contribute.  I won't argue with that, but I was thinking that she could use her position to advocate for medical care for the poor or food for the hungry or music education programs in the inner city.)  But, instead, she threw it all away on a spiral of self-pity and drugs and booze.

That's the stupidity I dislike in humans.

The Trouble with Paula

The news cycles around the whole diabetes thing and Paula Deen has finally quieted.  As someone who is fascinated by the subject of food and addicted to cooking shows, I have spent too much time on this news story.

First off, I don't watch her show.  She personifies a form of southern womanhood I find pretty annoying . . . the fuzzy haired, incredibly loud, taking pride in being uninformed, overly entitled stereotype.  You know, women who have a theme sweater (many with blinking lights) for every day of October and December.

And, I followed the media fueled "feud" between her and my boy, Tony.  He was right.  The diet she promoted on her show wasn't healthy.  She elevated indulgence into the everyday.

On one hand, her signature style is "too much is not enough."  And, you wouldn't really expect her to do a complete about-face just because she could no longer handle the diet.  She had a formula that worked, why change it because of her personal health problems?  I get that no one wants to become the poster child for their particular circumstance.

The thing that irks me is how she continues to flaunt her poor diet.  And, like my previous rant about Newt and the personal nature of what makes my left eye involuntarily twitch when I hear his voice, there is a fairly personal reason I find Ms Deen's current behavior so troubling.  Years ago, I had a friend who had diabetes.  She was advised to try to control it with her diet.  She was scheduled to see nutritionists and dietitians to help her develop eating habits that would both satisfy her as well as meet her health needs.  And, she stubbornly refused.  I remember one day, speaking to her on the phone, when she told me that she was having to go on insulin because the diabetes had progressed.  Then, she told me that her nutritionist had told her that she shouldn't eat more than 1/2 a banana in a day, due to the sugars in the fruit.  My friend didn't like bananas, so this should have been easy, right?  No.  My friend hated being told she couldn't or should do something more than she disliked bananas.  She went out that day and bought and ate 5 whole bananas. Then, she bragged to me that she hadn't ended up in a medical emergency, so maybe they didn't know what they were talking about after all.

When I see Ms Deen scarfing cake on morning talk shows, I have to think back to my friend . . . now dead . . . who also flaunted the diet that would have made her life more comfortable and longer.

I yelled at the wrong person

Tomorrow, I go in for some "tests."  Read, the hospital is gonna make another payment on the machine that goes ping.

I'm not a good patient.  I intensely dislike the way medicine is practiced in this country.  I dislike that there are still vestiges of the misogyny the AMA sanctioned 100 years ago in preventing women from entering medical schools.  Seven minutes is not sufficient time for trust to be established for a relationship that is beneficial.  And, what's with all the getting naked?  You humans are a kinky bunch.

I also resent that insurance companies have created a dynamic in which doctors are more responsible to them than to patients.  At no time, during the endless chatter over health care reform, did anyone suggest that perhaps too much damned profit is being made from disease, injury, and death.

And, I really don't like being touched or looked at real hard.  (I know, my own issue.  But, you're not gonna put me back in that cage!)

The doctor's office was suppose to make arrangements for these tests.  I ended up having to chase down an appointment myself.  Then, today, the billing department for the hospital called to "pre-register" me.  Meaning, shake me down for $800.  Seriously.  They told me what my out of pocket costs would be and demanded to know exactly how much I would be paying prior to my appointment.  I think mob hits have been more polite.

While I was still ranting to the Phenom about the gall, the indignity, the sheer greed . . . the hospital called again.  And, I was very rude to the caller.  When she mispronounced my fairly common, old fashioned, not-at-all-exotic-or strangely-spelled name, I questioned her primary education.  And, the poor dear, she was from a totally different department just calling to confirm my appointment.

I feel a little bad for yelling at her.  But, I'm still pissed off that the billing folks are acting like I owe them some gambling debt.

Tomorrow should be even more fun.  Especially since Phenom refuses to promise to kick in the shins anyone who is mean to me.  However, I did use my tantrum to justify buying myself a new electronic toy.

Airing

The other day, someone quipped that we were celebrating Festivus.  So, in the spirit of festivus, I am going to air a few grievances.

1. Spitting.  I have a weak constitution for vomit and spitting is just smaller vomit, in my mind.
2. People who are late to their own events.  If you think your event/meeting/party/appointment is so important as to infringe on my time, don't you think you ought to let it infringe on yours too?
3.  People who walk in the street when there is a perfectly good sidewalk available.
4. People who air their dirty laundry on social media.  Your date stood you up?  That's why we have texting.  Your mate been steppin' out on you?  See a lawyer . . . don't change your relationship status to "it's complicated."  Someone talking trash about your child?  Call their parents.
5. Companies with piss poor customer service.  I'm talking about you bellsouth.  Don't make me key in my phone number, mash 15 buttons working through your phone tree, waste 15 minutes of my time, when you could start off with a recording that there is an internet outage in my area.  Don't make me repeat the same information to your service peoples that you made me key in during your phone tree.  I think you'll find that the relationship between me and your employees will be so much improved it you don't start off by wasting my time or annoying me before I even get to a live person.
6. Store clerks who seem to think that I want their commentary on the products I'm buying.  I don't care if you don't know what tofu is, you're not buying it.  I don't really care if you like walnuts more than pecans.

Okay . . .that should do me for the year.  Now, who wants to fight me for the feats of strength?

Now, I get it

Remember the Eat More Kale dude? How the evil, and somewhat illiterate, corporate empire is trying to shut down his little business? Even though there isn't even a franchise of the evil empire in his home state and the nearest one is 120 miles away?

I finally understand why Chick-fil-a needs to shut him down now.

Tonight, I'm making beans and greens for dinner (with a parm/crouton crust). As I was pulling the kale off their stalks, I realized . . . kale stalks . . . chicken bones. . . more or less exactly the same. . . only not.

To further my understanding, as I was putting the kale into the pot, handful by handful, I found that the curly leaves were a tad unruly and didn't really seem to want to go into the hot, bubbling pot. . . as I assume a chicken would react if being dumped into a pot.

It's so clear now. And, the good news for the evil empire is that I now have more compassion for the poor, helpless, no-doubt-grown-indoors-and-in-inhumane-conditions kale.

Progress, maybe.

Years and years ago, I served on a local community committee. We would meet monthly, over lunch, and discuss ways to promote better living in our community. The group had both men and women of various ages, but I was the youngest of the bunch. During these lunch meetings, the men would sit at one end of the table and discuss sports, and the women would sit at the other end and discuss child birth.

I would sit at the mens end and talk sports. The men seemed to think it was a tad weird, but didn't openly object. The women looked at me like I had two heads.

The other day, as I was sitting down with the SMLF, I realized that the table of men sitting next to us were discussing their wives child birth experiences. I recognized most of the men in the group . . . some of them have worn badges and guns in previous lives. I thought, wow! now that's progress that men can openly talk about the births of their children without being viewed as less manly.

Then, this morning, I read about how selling the HPV vaccine to parents of teen boys is an easier sell that for teen girls because parents expect their sons to have sex. Sigh.

Two birds, one liquor bottle

Well, actually more than one liquor bottle.

I once had a regional VP tell my immediate supervisor that I was "anal" and she meant it in the best possible way. As in uptight about the details. And, I'm a planner. I like thinking ahead and having a sense of what is going to happen and my role in it.

So, 6 weeks ago, when I was down to my last shot (for my arthritis), I called my doctor and asked her to issue a fresh prescription to my local pharmacy because my company had recently changed insurance companies. She sent the prescription on, and given the new insurance, the pharmacist had to get approval from the insurance company first. Which I knew and is why I moved on it two weeks before I would actually need the shot. Two weeks should have been plenty of time, right?

Well, it's now 6 weeks later, three free shots from my doctor, multiple trips to the "big city", several faxes, many phone calls, quite a few profane words, and a royal run around later, and I haven't gotten a shot this week because the insurance company is doing everything it can to delay paying for my prescriptions.

Chances are, next week, it will all be ironed out. . . but until then, I'm one kinked up mess of a monkey. I've been on this drug for so many years I'd forgotten what an arthritis flare up was like. I can't sleep, because I can't get comfortable. Arthritis exhausts you and you compound it with no sleep and pain you can't get rid of . . . it is one ugly pile of monkey. Add to it the frustration of knowing that you're in this shape because a group of asshats would rather line their pockets with a few more dollars than serve their paying customers.

So, I'm self medicating this weekend. Yup, hittin' the sauce. But, the upside is that my new annual New Year's Resolution is to "clean out" the liquor cabinet. So, this weekend, I'm finally getting around to that project. So far, we've finished off a bottle of vodka and the bottle of Jack Daniels the Old Woman passed on to me that she'd taken from her sister's house after her sister passed away 20 some odd years ago.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll pick up some limeade and tackle the tequila.

Over analysis

Most folks have seen the movement on facebook to get the producers of Sesame Street to marry off Bert and Ernie to each other. Their reasoning is that Bert and Ernie are living together and are besties, so they must also have a romantic relationship, too.

Frankly, as much as I believe that our secular government shouldn't be in the business of granting one civil right to a group of people they deny to others, I think that perhaps this movement to foist muppets into the political debate is wrong.

First of all, you can easily add married or unmarried same-gendered couples to the show through the human actors. Secondly, I think that perhaps we should encourage more female gendered characters in main spots before we start hitting up less common configurations. Think about it, how many commercially popular sesame street characters are female characters? The only ones I think of are Snuffy's baby sister (who rarely appears) and Prairie Dawn, who is a bit character at best and humanoid in form. Elmo, Snuffy, Big Bird, Oscar, Cookie, Grover, The Count, the two-headed monster . . . all of them are male.

Lastly, I'm thinking that making assumptions about the sex lives of muppets is as bad as the wing nuts who tried to label Tinky Winky "gay" because he's purple and carries a magic bag.

For Sesame Street's response, check out this article.

Good and Bad

I'm feeling feisty today. Most of it comes from a rather icky showdown that'll take place later in the week. But, today I got a practice run.

A couple weeks ago, a road crew showed up and cut some lines in the road in front of my home. They disappeared. Well, this morning they showed up at 7:30am and started ringing doorbells on my street to ask all of us to move our cars. At the moment they rang my doorbell, I was midway through the morning dressing ritual, and was pretty sure they didn't want to see me sans clothing. But, I was out front within 5 minutes (in all likelihood, less than) and moving our cars. As I was moving Phenom's car, a cop pulled up. THOSE BASTARDS CALLED THE COPS?!!!

Now, if we'd gotten advance notice that the road would need to be cleared for work today, I know that the whole street would have easily complied. But, no such notice was given, and at 7:30 am, most folks are either in the shower or still dressing.

But, the brunt of the harassment seemed to be directed towards our new neighbors. Our new neighbors are Muslim. They have done a tremendous amount of work on a home that was falling into disrepair. They have two playful and cute little girls. And, likely, they were either (as I was) still getting dressed or engaged in morning prayer. I tried to explain this to the officer who was repeatedly banging on their door. The officer actually said that they should have interrupted their prayers to answer the door. I told him that if he continued to bang on their door, understanding that they may be in the midst of religious ritual, he would be culturally insensitive, bordering on religious discrimination. (And, the word "moron" may have been muttered as I drove off.)

I called the city works office and spoke to their director. He was taken aback that the police were called so quickly. He even told me that our street wasn't even on the list for work that day. He was completely reasonable and understood my frustration. So, while I didn't really get to exercise the feisty muscle fully, at least I found a person at city hall who at least knows enough to act like callers with complaints aren't just wing nuts.

Now, to contact the police chief to suggest some cultural sensitivity training for his officers.

Pot of Gold

Years ago, I use to try to entice the Phenom into running for president. My logic was that an early candidacy wouldn't be expensive and for the rest of your life, you would have to be introduced as "former presidential candidate" . . . The Phenom. Imagine the free cups of coffee and small town parades you'd be invited to grand marshall?

Then, more recently, a politically minded group of women asked me to join their efforts to get a woman on the presidential ballot. I figured my contributions to their efforts would lead, naturally, to a push for a non-human on the ballot. Of course, these women were liberally minded sorts and I'm pretty sure they disbanded once Sarah Palin arrived on the scene. Technically, they got what they wanted but totally in a "be careful what you ask for" sort of way.

I think I need to revive the push to getting either Phenom or myself to run for the highest office. It would be like winning the Lotto! Apparently, these days, you don't even really have to actually run . . . just scare people about you "mulling over" the possibility . . . and suddenly you have fame! notoriety! UNTOLD RICHES!!!

And, you don't have to damn your soul to hell with sinful gambling. Win-Win . . . right?