The more things change, the more they stay the same

I find myself staring off into space more than I used to. With nothing to distract me, it's easy to plan out the rest of my week while boring a visual hole into the wall. This differs from being jobless only because I now have things I can't do every day that I wish I could.

Purchasing a massage/mani/pedi package for someone yesterday makes me more aware of my own self. I could do with an hour-long rub-down and cuticle adjustment. You know the massage kiosks in the malls now? No one ever offers me a massage there. They accost the overweight and the elderly instead. More cushion for the pushin'? No one wants to try to work out the kinks on me... I assume because they're not sure what's a kink and what's a rib or shoulderblade. Moo ha. Skinny-joke, you see.

I didn't eat breakfast this morning and I don't have any bagels left. Yesterday, I discovered that they'd turned green and blue with mold. It was disheartening. That peanut butter under the ledge of the desk/counter is calling my name, though. Surely no one here would be surprised to see me eating it by the spoonful.

Lou Dobbs is on to the President and his wiley law-avoidance. Unfortunately, not enough people are aware enough of what it all entails to actually DO anything about it. So the example of law circumvention will continue and the public at large will continue to bemoan the disregard for law that's so prevalent in big business and small children.

You don't think it all trickles down?

Some things just never change.

At Stream, a good portion of my day passed before I was even truly awake. Our schedule was 7-6, four days a week. This is a good schedule to have, you know. Your work day starts before you're conscious enough to rebel against it and ends before it's too late to accomplish worthwhile tasks.

This morning I got up, showered, watered the front yard and flower beds and then drove to work before I had even really stopped yawning. I'm still yawning. The more I read this entry, the more somnambulant I'm becoming.

Thinking about the similarities makes me miss my morning pastries. :( I have a feeling that once I'm on my own with the driving, I'll still be leaving early just so I can stop at a gas station and pay a dollar and a half for a semi-healthful pastry. But Yoohoo is out of the question. That shit will fuck you up.


Have you seen the video clip with Tony Blair and Dub talking about the Hezbollah/Israel issue? I can't stand the way our president chews with his mouth open and SMACKS constantly but I do think he was right about the Syrian and Lebanese gov'ts needing to take charge and stop this shit. It's insane. Call off your rabid dogs or put them down, methinks.

It's been a while, I know.

Superfast updates because I'm ready to pass out:

Job is going well. I've been there a little over a month now and I'm pretty sure I've got it down. There are still the occasional puzzlements but I don't feel bad when they puzzle everyone else, too.

Work on the house is advancing. New floors in the office/kitchen/laundry room/bathrooms and new cabinets in the kitchen.

The kiddo is going to stay with us the rest of the year. He's currently spending weeks at Gram's house till I have a license/car situation sorted out and school starts.

License and car are in the works. I've done enough driving to get almost comfortable with it and definitely enough to get excited about the whole prospect. Now if only purchasing a car weren't such a fiasco. Finding the right one is the major pain in the ass. Someone should read my mind, know what I want/need and then offer it to me for cheap.

That's all I have for now. I'm tired all the time and I think my brain is shrinking.

Bill Gates stepping down from Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Thursday he will transition out of a day-to-day role at the company in 2008 to spend more time on global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "This was a hard decision for me," Gates said in a statement. "I'm very lucky to have two passions that I feel are so important and so challenging," Gates said.

There's nothing I would rather do.

It's 12.17pm. I need to vacuum and dust and make sure all the dishes are put away and maybe do some laundry and walk the dog and figure out dinner and a few other things. And I need to finish quilling a bonsai tree. I'll have to go to the hobby store for more papers first, though. This bonsai tree design is very simple but very time consuming.

In two weeks, we should be in Florida. I'm excited about this. I think. I've never been to Florida. I should be trying to get a better tan before we go but that requires being outside and the heat is NOT agreeing with me lately.

Looking at house plans bugs me. I wish for money to be no object.

Things I dislike today

The taste of teeth-bleaching strips. *gag*

Having to buy ONE more piece of tile for the bathroom and then finding out that the tile is discontinued.

Having to buy 7 extra pieces just in case something crazy happens.

Crooked bathroom walls. Putting a vanity in becomes a hassle.

Excel 12 Beta. Don't tell me to use the Tools menu when you know damn good and well it's not there anymore.

Getting phone calls from people I don't know. On my cellphone. That's just obnoxious.

Sounds like someone's got a case of the Mondays.

Today is May Day. Years ago, it was still tradition to leave May Baskets on neighbors' doorsteps or even hanging from doorknobs. People don't do that anymore. We don't celebrate the seasons by reaching out to each other. Why not?

I'm celebrating May Day (Beltane) by working in my yard and soaking in all the prettiness of the flowers and birds.

Stars hockey is over for the season. They lost game 5 yesterday, putting the Avs up 4-1 in the series. I guess I should have expected it? The whole season has been a series of freaky occurences and the other playoff series going on have also had unexpected results in several cases. Edmonton is trying to bowl over Detroit (8th place knocking out 1st) and the Rangers had pretty much no chance against the Devils. Nashville lost out to the Sharks yesterday. Blah. Hoping to see the Stanley Cup finals star the Oilers and the Devils. I'd be happy with the results no matter which way it went.

Today is also Day Without Immigrants. Lots of businesses are closed, lots of people not going to work. All in support of... what? I don't remember anymore. I know the bill in question proposes tighter immigration laws, fewer convictions of felonies necessary to lead to deportation, tougher penalties on businesses hiring workers without verifying their status/withholding taxes/offering insurance, and assigning 'ward of state' status to children of illegal immigrants if the parents are deported. Some of this is unfair, sure. Children shouldn't be separated from their family like that. Maybe the immigration laws need to be overhauled, not just battened down. I can't help but agree with the felony = deportation concept, though. When a citizen commits certain crimes, they are (hopefully) punished accordingly. When someone who has no legal right to live in the country commits certain crimes, they should be punished as well. Since they have no right to live here, sure, send 'em home. That's getting off easy, if you ask me.

If one wants to be in the US because their home country doesn't grant them the liberties they desire, I can understand trying to come here by any means necessary. But why not protest your government? Why not support reforms in your home country when possible? Meh. I know, people come here because sometimes they have no recourse in their own country. But I see no reason for an open door policy. Might as well change the name of the country to "Big Dumb America" and get it over with.

Anyway. What's the protesting for? The people showing up to protest are likely legal immigrants or children of immigrants. Those with questionable citizenship/residency status aren't likely to march in the streets demanding to be allowed to stay. That's an invitation to be arrested and deported. So if you're already here legally, enjoying all the rights/privileges the rest of America enjoys, what gives? What're you asking for? What actions are being taken against you that you feel are unfair? I don't think I've seen or heard a clear case for why the Day Without Immigrants needs to happen. The laws are not being changed to close the borders completely and halt all immigration. It's about making the borders more secure and establishing a clearer path towards legal immigration. In theory.

Our Statue of Liberty announces to the world, "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Maybe it's all just a big miscommunication.

Actually, it sounds like our school grant system. If you're making just enough money to get by but not so much as to be able to shell out tuition up front, you don't get any kind of help. You either have to drive yourself into debt to pay for school or you can just forget about going. Only the absolute bottom gets a leg up. You're nothing if you're not filthy rich or dirt poor.

Ignore this.