Commander in Brief / Desperate Soundbites

I think this says it all. Nothing more that I can add except...very funny, as usual.

My Thoughts on Wal*Mart Will Probably Piss Some People Off

I wasn't going to get all serious today, 'cause I feel like my last few entries have been, so I was going to wax poetic or get all spiritual and touchy feely. Well, as I was reading yesterdays paper I happened across an article by Sebastian Mallaby, of the Washington Post, and I just couldn't help myself but to highlight, I always carry a highlighter in my purse as an old habit from my college days, and go along through his article entitled,"Centrist Democrats Lose Their Bearings". Now this is where I assume the outrage might begin.

Mr. Mallaby begins by pointing out that both Hillary Clinton & Sen. Joe Lieberman both have had ties, in the past, to the mega giant and have cut off anything to do with them. Hillary even went so far as to return a campaign contribution from them, but did accept one from Jerry Springer. Hey, there's a paragon of virtue!! But, I digress. The point of the article stresses this; some of these Democrats that consider themselves to be more centrist are now trying to put some serious distance between them and Wal*Mart. They are saying that the company needs to make certain changes in the way they conduct business with their employees and the US market. They are all on board for the "Wake Up Wal*Mart campaign." They claim that their beliefs have never wavered, but that the chain has changed. That in the early 1990's the company bought mostly American goods and today they purchase cheap stuff from China. "Since when did the party's centrists believe that trading with China is evil? It was the Clinton Administration that brought China into the World Trade Organization."

Sen. Clinton and Sen. Kerry have attacked Wal*Mart for their offering health care to too few workers. But Kerry's former economic advisor, Jason Furman of New York University, concluded in a paper last year that the mega giants health benefits are about as generous as those of comparable employers. You just need to read a few previous posts to read about the crappy and absolute joke of health coverage that my SO's company offers!! Maybe I should get a sign and protest where he works!!

Mr. Mallaby continues,"...perhaps the knowledge that the grocery workers union, which launched the anti-Wal*Mart campaign, is strong in the key caucus state of Iowa." According to a paper for the National Buraeu of Economic Research by Jerry Hausman and Ephraim Leibtag, neither of whom received funding from Wal*Mart, big-box stores led by Wal*Mart reduce families' food bills by one-fourth." Because Wal*Mart's price-cutting also has a big impact on the nonfood stuff that it peddles, it saves the American consumers upwards of $200 billion a year, making it a larger booster of family welfare than the federal government's $33 billion food-stamp program.

In closing he adds," By beating up Wal*Mart and forcing it to focus on public relations rather than opening new stores, Democrats are harming the poor they claim to speak for."

Now than you are totally pissed off let me just add my own personal thoughts here before you log off totally!! As someone who has been VERY poor for the last 4 years while SO was laid off, and just about $20 dollars too rich, to qualify for any government assistance, Wal*Mart was one of the VERY few places that we could actually shop and afford things AND actaully buy them. Sure places like Target have some nicer things and they have a better corporate image, but they don't have lay-a-way, which as any poor person can tell you is a MUST HAVE at Christmas time, birthday time etc. Lay-a-way is often a must for the poorer segment of society.

I don't drink cola any longer, but when I did how can I turn away from $2.00 for Sam's Club soda as opposed to $4.00 and higher for the big name stuff? Even Target doesn't have low enough prices on their food stuffs. I could not have gotten materials, such as tires, or clothing at the prices I did at any other sources. Making the kind of money I was, as a bottom feeder alternative school teacher and SO's unemployment benefits we were left to shop there for our misc. and other VERY low cost bag-your-own grocery stores. You know the kind, with name brands that you have never heard of type places.

I don't agree with many of their practices myself and I am sure if I worked there I would be especially pissed off, but necessity plays a different role than we sometimes wish.

This News Just In!!!

Well it seems that the lady I spoke to several days ago gave me a bit of info that was not quite correct. She took all my info, yes, but she did not tell me to NOT try to access the ODJFS web site, even if they send me e-mail, UNTIL I get my new PIN number via snail mail. A choice bit of information that would have come in handy this AM as I temporarily SCREWED MYSELF!! Thank you very much red tape et al.

Today's lady was so nice and very helpful. She informed that she is the person that made up the program and she knows how it works and I may have locked myself out by using an incorrect PIN number. She also informed that the previous worker should have told me NOT to get online yet. Well, we proceeded to get more info into my file and the NEW development that I must now fax a copy of my separation letter to the facility that handles my case so that they can coclude that there is "an assurance that I have no hope for re-hire" this school year.

By the time we were finished conversing I was ready to gouge out my own eyeballs!!!!! I bet this won't be the last time...............( heavy sigh)

Last I'll say About the Gulf & Unemployment SNAFU's Continue & Shopping for School Stuff with a Teenager

The last thing that I want to say about the Katrina mess was summed up best by Paul Krugman who is a columnist for the New York Times. In an article titled," From Gulf to Gulf, a Trail of Broken Promises", he sums it up best when he says that the "failure to get moving on reconstruction reflects lack of leadership at the top". He also states that"the Bush administration likes to talk about all the money it has allocated to the region, and it plans a public relations blitz to persuade America that it's doing a heck of a job aiding Katrina victims. But as the Iraqis learned, allocating money and actually using it for reconstruction are two different things, and so far the administration has done almost nothing to make good on last years promises." He also speaks about the $18 billion that he asked Congress to allocate for Iraqi reconstruction it turned out that only 2% of what had been asked for had been spent for a handful of projects. The gulf Coast is the same. Monies asked for, but nothing to show for it. Lots of talk, but little action.

I apologize as I wish I new how to find the actual article and link it for you all nice and tidy, but as a novice I have not yet gotten that handy!! Soon I hope.

So, I get several e-mails from ODJFS telling me that I had some very important messages from them and I had better check my web site for timely info. So I try to log on to get these messages and don't you know that the web site tells me that I do not have an existing account!!! After I spent that time on the phone, the other day, talking to the live person and setting it all up they say I don't exist!! I am going to scream, although even if I scream today I am sure this is not the last time that there will be road blocks where my dealings with them are concerned. So I am waiting for the office open so I can call the 1-800 number and find out where the gliches are in the matrix.

I had SOOO much fun during the final running stages getting those last items with my son yesterday. He is 16 and going into the 10th grade. I can't complain about his clothing choices because , by today's standards, he is a "low maintainance" kind of kid. Name brands and labels are really not something that he is concerned about. So we can buy most regular jeans, just a bit baggy, we don't do the "look at my boxers" look. He is a skater, and has been since he was 10, and goes more for vintage tees etc. He once raided his dads closet and was thrilled to have all those 70's shirts. Fine by me. With his new height and weight we had to try on jeans, something that we both hate, and find out the new size. By the time that was over we were ready to go home. Not to mention the traffic and crowds at the stores. We live in a college town and those students are all back and so the traffice and jay-walkers were abundant. CRAZY!!!!!!!! I was happy to get home and have a glass, or two, of wine. We selected a cheap, but useful book bag that may last a few months because he is really hard on them. He carries tons of crap in it as well as his skateboard on weekends when he goes on his bike to the skateparks.

We were able to find many cool tee shirts, for awesome prices, at a local outlet. I think $5.99 was the most costly shirt. Two were cool Grateful Dead tees. Although don't think that he is a stoner, just likes music as he is a musician too!! I was never a huge fan.

Got him up at 7:30 this AM in preparation for the first day of classes tomorrow and he is nearly comatose. Without me going to work tomorrow and driving him to class we are off to an unusual fall. Dad will be dropping him off and I will be starting my new life as student and unemplyed house frau.

Let's see what happens next. As another blogger said, Indigo Luna, it will be interesting to see what the universe has in store for me!!

Driving Dogs, Mark Wahlberg & Katrina Aftermath

I am not usually a fan of the "sports themed" movie, but I think that I will go and see Mark Wahlbergs new film, Invincible. I have become quite a fan of his in the last few years. I never thought much of his acting until I saw him in a great movie, although violent, Four Brothers. He plays a very good role and does a good job. Even though it is violent it is one of those films where that is just an important and vital part of the story that is being told. There are a few others, that he has done where the titles escape me right now, but I am a fan.


Coming in under the category of, "Are you crazy?", we find this article about a woman letting her dog drive because he liked to get behind the wheel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/29/ap/strange/mainD8JPOG481.shtml

I have enough to worry about with my 16 year old driving to even begin to think about letting my dogs behind the wheel!!





Articles in USAToday reported that depression and other mental illnesses are on the rise following Katrina, not that that is a surprise, but what is so troubling is that while the numbers are increasing the hospitals are stretched to their limits. They estimate that maybe 50% of the 2,000 doctors have returned, and even fewer nurses. Paramedic Jed Tate said,"All the hospitals are overwhelmed.They just can't accept patients, they are booked solid." A loading dock has been turned into a makeshift emergency room and a former Lord & Taylor department store has been converted, by the city, into another emergency room.

About 200,000 people are estimated to be suffering from PTSD, depression, anxiety and other forms of mental illness.

"I just want the trash picked up", said Bill Hines, an attorney. Every other week, he says, the trash haulers don't show up on his Uptown street near Tulane and Loyola Universities. "That's a sign that the wheels have fallen off. It's like the Third World. I just want the place back to normal. I am tired of explaining it away". In neighborhoods all over the city, 80% of which flooded, houses still sit empty.

The stories go on and on and on. The lack of responses, the lack of funding, the inept work by FEMA. There is just so much that went wrong and has not been rectified. I am sure that there are things that have gone right, I don't want to bash everyone and everything, but it is hard to believe, when you see entire neighborhoods still looking like they did the day the water was gone and that people can not get help and have to just leave and make a new life somewhere else. People who can't afford to pay more to rebuild than their homes were worth. It is a sad, sad story. A sad, sad mess.

I'm a Statistic

Well, I am now officially a number in the system!! I just knew, when I thought that I could do all the filing online, that there would have to be some hang-ups. I mean, how can anything that has to do with a gov't . entity go smoothly?

So, I log on and type in/create my passwords etc. and then as I sit back and prepare to navigate my way through unemployment bliss it begins to go awry. I spent the next 30 minutes going back and forth between two pages. I would sign in and use password and then it would go to the " begin my account" page and then it would tell me that I didn't even have an account. Then I would fill out all the pages and re-start an account and then it would take me back to the page that said I didn't need to do that page because I already had an account!! So I went back and forth like this for 30 minutes until I finally called and did it with a human on the other end of the receiver. We got it done together in less than 15 minutes.

I am now on my way to a "waiting week" and then the sticker shock when I get that paycheck that will be 40% of what I used to make. Sigh, well with a new class starting I guess that I will take advantage of this opportunity and make the best of it before I begin to get all freaked out about another job/or part-time job. Aside from the coffee mega giant there are other things that I can take advantage of, so I'm not freaking out.

Welcome Wagon

Welcome to new addition Veni Vidi Vici the blog of Esteban. Because it is always good to have conversation and interesting viewpoints. It would be very boring if we always surrounded ourselves with people who only share the same views and thoughts as us.

So, I welcome and add Esteban to my world and those that are readers!!

Jack Blacks Birthday & Scary Political Folk

Happy 37th birthday to one of my favorite chubby, comical actors!! Actually, I think he is the only chubby, scruffy actor on my list of favs. But I adore him. He reminds me so much of a dear deceased friend from high school. People can say what they like about him, but I thought he was quite charming in movies like Shallow Hal & School of Rock. I also have enjoyed his band Tenacious D. Did you know that both of his parents ARE actually rocket scientists? I believe they both work for NASA or some such entity.

Now, lets get to those scary political types!! Yikes, can they really be this crazy to say such things out loud? Well, just when you thought they couldn't be any more spookey they prove you wrong!!

Seems that Catherine Harris, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, said that if Christians are not elected, that politicians will" legislate sin," including gay marriage and abortion. Speaking to a magazine called the Florida Baptist Witness she went on to say even more. That separation of church and state is "a lie that we have been told" and that separation of church and politics is "wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers."

Well, does this frighten anyone else? That we have these people running around and trying to run more and more of our government? It also gives others, that may consider themselves a Christian person, a black eye. Not everyone is as kooky or dogmatic as she represents herself.

I believe that if the current admin. had their way that we would be totally under control of all the "born again" against everything folk. I personally don't think that God has any desire to get involved in our political activities, I have heard that he has much bigger fish to fry, and didn't we get something called "free agency" where we have the ability to choose and make our own mistakes? Isn't that part of the whole forgiveness and learning from your mistakes thing?

About Jon Stewart, Sunday Starbucks & Unemployment Filing

I am both excited and disappointed at the same time, which can happen often in this life, sad to say. I read that Jon Stewart is bringing the Daily Show to Columbus, Ohio in October and I will not be able to go see it. They will be at some auditorium on the Ohio State campus, but I don't know a soul down there that I could stay with and even try to get in to see a show. I believe the article said that they were going to be there for a week. Drats, just my luck!! So close and yet so far. I could become one of those stalker types that goes around pretending that I am married to him etc. Does anyone remember that crazy woman that did that with David Letterman? No, seriously I am not a nut!! Hell, I don't need the cyber police from the Bush admin. chasing me down or reporting me to the appropriate authorities because I might be a threat to Jon Stewart, although Fox news, if you can call them news, does feel that Mr. Stewart is a threat.Because you know how they moderate e-mail and cyber traffic, although I would like to think that this type of thing is not even important, but maybe it's a slow watch day for Agent 99.

So, went to the coffee mega giant this AM for my grande "something fattening and caffeinated and sugary" and read the New York Times, because occassionally I like to get away from our local paper and their "Susie won the spelling bee and lack of REAL news" format. Sat and made some small talk with a few people and had my mini interview with the manager.

Got the usual,"How do you handle stress"? questions and the ,"Do you think you can handle this"? Blah, blah, blah...... Not hiring anyone until the first week of October etc., so I can just go ahead and file for unemployment, but that still means that we will have to hook up to the health insurance at Significant Others place of employment. Did I mention that his company offers just about the worst insurance benefits I have EVER heard of in my life??!! This was the main reason behind my going to the coffee mega giant, they have one of the best plans in the corporate world.

SO's company's plan says you pay the first 2200.00 out of pocket and then they cover 80/20. What good is that!! Crap, it will take forever, baring anything crazy, to hit 2200.00. We rarely have any reason to see a doctor, aside from my recent and unusual foot surgery. But they will not allow him to work there without some coverage and since I am laid off my insurance expires on the 31st. I am still going to make calls and try to get into see the OB and get a mamogram ASAP if I can fit it in. I don't even expect all companies to offer the type of coverage like the coffee place, but I think his company managed to find the bottom of the barrell coverage!!

So later today I am going to get on the OBES web site and file online. I can only imagine what sort of SNAFU's are going to come along with that little slice of heaven!! Although I am sipping a pinot grigio and hope that will help to make it more of adventure. It is still muggy and warm enough today to call for a pinot grigio.

Cheers & 30 Days

This morning I have added 2 new links for your reading pleasure. They are Cheers,which is the USA Today section on wine and Morgan Spurlocks blog that is both personal and about his show 30 Days.

Jerry Shriver is the guy that blogs about the wine over at USA Today and I have tried many of his reccomendations. Almost ALL are $15 and under, which I consider to be a great price, as I even have sipped MANY a wine in the $9.99 category. Heck, for those of you who know me, you know that I just sip allot of wine!! Although the last time I had anything out of a box was at my wedding reception.

Aside from his most current reccomendations you can also browse through the wine color spectrum etc. So I hope that you will enjoy that little read and maybe find something new to try. Personally I must tell you that I did a little wine tasting yesterday, at a local wine establishment, and found out that the Rose of my youth; Riunite and Annie Green Springs, is not the Rose of the here and now!! I tasted 4 different, modern and grown up Roses and found them to be, not only different and very beautiful in color,but 3 of them were dry enough for me and wines that I would buy!! Wow!! I faced my fears and got away from the chardonnay world and expanded my horizons. Now you all get out there and do the same.

Next is Morgan Spurlock. I do not know if any of you watch his show 30 Days, but I recently became a convert. Maybe it was while I was having wine..........hmmmmmmm. But seriously, I caught a new episode where a youngish pro-choice woman went to spend 30 days with a pro-life husband and wife. It was interesting and I have mentioned that episode on Mixter's blog. Also the episode on outsourcing jobs from the US to India was a good one. An American guy went to India, after losing his job due to the outsourcing, and he spent 30 days in the training center vying for the job he lost among all the Indians vying to get the jobs that were once in this country. Also a very good episode. I have not tapped this program yet, but I think that I am going to add it my my collection of tapped shows as the topic seem to usually be of very current interest.

So, there you have it, and maybe if you have not already seen this program or read this blog, I may given you a small temporary diversion for the moment or evening. Maybe, while having that glass of wine and a nice cheese, hey even string cheese works for me, you might sit back and catch an episode that catches your interest.

Cheers!!

Good Day & Evil Twin

I chose these two different pictures because they really seem to convey the different personalities that I can have at any given time. Even from moment to moment!! Interestingly, I took both of these myself. One was in May & the other in June. One was a really good day & the other........ wasn't.

Still Life with Dogs

Done learning how to do this part. Next I will need to learn how to add other types of things and photos from other sources. Also news and links!! This IS fun!! If you could see opur photo files you would laugh at how many pictures we have of these two dogs doing this very same pose, but in different settings.

Burt & Casey

I am learning every time I am on here. I have now learned how to post a photo. Although I am not sure if I remember every step, but it is a start.

These are my dogs by the way. Casey is the 7 year old Golden and Burt is the very old Beagle mix that we got from the APL.

Five on Friday Meme

Back To School Blues

1. When you were a kid, do you do back-to-school shopping?
Had to go with my mom.

2. Do you still peruse the back-to-school aisles now that you're grown up?
Yes, I have to shop for my son. He's 16. I also still always need pens.

3. What back-to-school item did you just have to have, only later to find out it wasn't as useful as you thought?
A Trapper!!

4. What is your favorite TV show about school?
Welcome Back Kotter

5. What was your favorite and least favorite part of going back to school?
favorite part was new clothes & shoes & friends. Least fav was math & science!!

Magazines in the Doctors Office & Unhealthy Body Images

As I was sitting on the big leather seat, waiting for the doctor to come and examine my healing appendage, I was browsing through the endless pile of typical doctor office magazines. You know the ones I am talking about; People, Us and Star. It beats beginning to hum along to the muzak!!

Well, I came across and article entitled," My Bag Is Bigger Than Me". It was about 4 famous females who are SO thin & anorexic looking that they look like concentration camp survivors or those Bratz dolls that are so popular. Ashley Olsen, Victoria Beckham, Nicole Richie and Keira Knightley. Oh my god!!! These women look like they are barely strong enough to hold up their own heads, let alone a large purse full of the usual crap!!

They were completely without any shape, no hips, no breasts. Just pointy, sharp shoulders and knees and long stick arms and legs. I would like to know who are the men that find that attractive!! They had on sunglasses that looked more shapely than they did!!

No wonder young females have such a hard time defining their self image when this is put out there as the "norm". I am so happy that I am not a teen any longer and can forget having to worry about being thin enough for some guy. The great thing about being a woman at 40 is that we have learned how to use our god given talents and tools.

I have had this discussion with many of my friends and we know that the 20 somethings might have a small, tight ass, BUT we 40's know how to work IT!! We have skills and abilities that those chickies have not even mastered!! As a matter of fact, in a discussion with Sam Spade recently, it was brought to my attention that many, if not most men, find a 35+ woman to be much more desirable & attractive.

Those that claim that conversation is not important are shallow and don't deserve the time of day. There is also body language and that my good gals is also a great "turn-on". Nothing like a strategically placed touch to accentuate a comment.

Friday Feast

Friday Feast is a site that offers simple questions to answer, a type of meme, if you will. I have not yet figured out how to import that sort of thing & you may go and check them out at Fridays Feast, but in the meantime I will copy and answer for fun.

Appetizer: If you could have one magazine subscription for free what would it be.
Don't really have /or take the time to read them. It is a rare occasion for me to pick one up. Especially with the unreal images they depict of women.

Soup: Describe your livingroom.Furnishings, colors etc.
Eclectic is about the best I can muster. I have a red slipcover on my couch, a wood & wicker rocker. Odd and not so great paintings by family members, Family photos of sports & parents & much misc. Most certainly no themes here!!

Salad: What does the shape of a circle make you think of?
A torte or tarte or crepes.

Main Course: Name 3 things in your life that you consider to be an absolute necessity.
Water, sleep & learning

Dessert: What was the last really funny movie you watched.
Snakes on a Plane.

On Transitions, Feeling Joy & Books

"I let go of power struggles. Whenever I encounter power struggles or people who are negative, I connect with my soul and draw on its joy."

That was part of yesterdays reading/meditation of the week. Something that I am trying very hard to do. Let go of the negativity I allow myself to take in from other people. I did not realize what a difficult thing it was to do. Especially since some of them can be our friends and / or family. Wow. This working on onesself is a diificult journey, but certainly one that makes you sit up and take notice.

"I am a source of joy to others. My joy lifts others and makes their burdens easier to carry. I bring light to everyone around me through my expression of soul joy". This is what I aim to be. This is what I hope to be able to do through whatever life work I may fall into.

Which brings us to the whole bit about transitioning. Hard to feel like a job applicant and student once again. It is rather humorous to be a little nervous about interviewing for a job at a coffee house mega giant. Especially when you are just a little bit more grown up than the rest of the staff, including the manager!! But.... I am almost giddy at the prospect of working there. No, not like you might think for the free pound of coffee that they give you weekly, although a nice perk,BUT because it is a change from the past 5 years and I never really expected to be changing life careers again.

Then there will be registration for the EMT class either Monday or sometime that week. Studying again, homework again. Thank goodness I have lost weight over the last 3 years and will not look hidious in those hospital scrubs!! I know I am smart and I also know that I can do this. I will just have to really do my work and take it much more seriously than I did with some of my college course work. Which age helps to play a roll here too. Maturity and cash out of pocket does tend to make one approach things a bit more seriously.

So this morning I am off to get the bandage changed on my foot and receive directions on a soaking process etc. and then the job interview at 1:45. The fun just never ends!!

Time for some green tea and antibiotics. Can't wait to be able to actually put weight on the foot so I can get back to my daily tai-chi. Just a few more days I would imagine.

I know that I have not done any waxing politically yet, but I am just getting into the swing of things here and if I began a rambling epistle on poilitics I might have 5 or 6 more paragraphs here!! Although I have to say that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has been so "right on" with its commentaries on the current poitical scene lately that if you haven't been watching you might think about giving it a try & if you already are then you know what I mean.

And let me also add that I would like to discuss literature as well, but I am not personally reading anything good right now. I am trying to help my son get through his "dry as a frickin' bone" required summer reading for his college prep English class. Can I just tell you that as an English teacher I even find this book to be deadly boring!!!!!! Even I am having a hard time and that is why we are reading it outloud at the table together. It would put the poor kid in a coma.

And with that........ I bid you all a fond farewell for today as I must hobble to the bathroom and prepare for the day. Live long and prosper.

Caffeine Deprived & Vicodin Dazed

The need for foot surgery & the fact that my health insurance was running out had me laid up on the couch for the past 2 days. Watching bad daytime TV and eating WAAAAY too much junk food. Although 2 days without Starbucks has me with a headache & I think I am able to get out of the house today and get one. But, let's get to the beginning shall we?

Since I have been laid off my health insurance expires at the end of the month and so I had to get this foot thing done ASAP. I was laid off due to state funding cuts, continually over the last 5 years, that have just about brought an end to the alternative school where I taught. Seems that the "at-risk" kids don't fit into the "No Child Left Behind" drama, but that is also another story.

Had some goofy plantar warts on heel and had 2 large areas removed, OUCH, size of a quarter & the size of a dime. Now you can see why they torture people on the soles of their feet. OUCH!!! Can you say SENSITIVE area!! That is why the vicodin were good for one 24 hour period. Why anyone would have that as a drug of choice is beyond my comprehension. That is just a too sleepy and too groggy buzz for me. Give me a caffeine jolt anytime.

Anyway, there is just so much crap on tv. Thank goodness for DVR. I was able to watch tapped episodes of The Daily Show, Scrubs, My Name is Earl and movies. Although at times I am a COPS & Judge Judy junky. My guilty little pleasures in lfe.

Now, today, I am going to be able to shave my legs, with foot staying dry & hanging out of tub, but smooth anyway. Wash the hair which is a fright! Head down to coffe nirvana. That hot, grande cup 'o steamin' hot 2% milk and carmel mocha.................. excuse me while I wipe my drool. I also go there to do my journaling and reading and writing. The whole "trying to work on self improvement" personal time. Now that I am unemployed I am taking more time for me.

And speaking about being unemployed, I actually am feeling like a college student again. I am going to begin my EMT classes on Sept. 11 and also trying to get a part time job at said coffee haven. The class is 15 weeks and then you must spend time, 20 hours, at the hospital too. I am excited at the prospect of beginning another new era in my life. Although it does make me laugh & smile to think that, at 40+, I am moving in another new direction.

Sure, I could sub or go into public school, but once you have worked with & been more involved with those that are more needy you tend to not want to go back to"teaching to the test" and walking into someone else's nghtmare classroom. Alternative school was the best place for me and those kids needed a program like that. I will miss it greatly. If I can end up working in a hospital then I will once again be able to do something that is a service to humainty. In the end that is what I think I want my legacy to be.

And now that is enough of a post for today, don't you think?

Clear Minds Prevail!!

Once I was out of the Vicodin induced stupor I was able to get on here this morning and finally figure out how to get a few links posted. For someone with limited computer savy it takes careful looking and reading and ......... oh what's that other thing? Oh yeah, PATIENCE!!!! So, yes I was able to add a few of the odd blogs, the political and viscerial links that I like to puruse. Yikes!! Let's get out a dictionary or thesarus shall we?

Day 1 Frustration Level: High

This is one of the main reasons that I had not blogged previously. I have no patience and although I am trying to learn patience I can not maneuver my way around a blog!!!!

For several hours this afternoon, while recovering from foot surgery which is another story, I tried to add the links to several of my favorite blogs and this did not happen, nor was it easy. I also tried to add a photo, but that wasn't happening either. So, you see my dilema, this is why I have not blogged up to this point. I want it all to be easy and no fuss!!

Maybe tomorrow when I am still not recovering and dealing with a Vicodin hangover, post surgery pain of course, I might be able to figure it out.

The Beginning

And in the beginning the word was............ blog. I am not too confident or suree about this exercise, but at the urging and encouragement of a good friend I am going to venture into the world of blogging. Or I might say dabble. I am not too sure if I have anything to say that might be of interest to anyone else let alone politically important or solvent. I love to read other blogs, that I find very good by the way and will add their links when I learn how, but I am not sure that I can even begin to be up to their standards.


The only thing that makes this a bit easier for me now is .........TIME. I am going to have plenty of it for awhile. I was just laid off from a teaching position and have not yet started to collect unemployment or begin my next class/life changing course, more about that later, so my friend told me that this would also be good timing to start a blog of my own.


I am not, nor to a pretend to be, a good writer like my friend. He has written since high school and has a knack. We shall refer to him in all future writing as Sam Spade, or SS for short. I have never enjoyed the act of writing fiction, or poetry or even songs. Just not my area of talent. I was always the singer, the actor, the outgoing talent. So, we shall see how this works.


I have some stories to tell as I am also trying to improve myself and my world on a daily basis, as you can tell from the title. You can find out more about the Kaizen Exercise by locating the article at a great web site that I like to read www.innerself.com Great for personal reflection and journaling. One of many links that I will add on to this site when I learn how to do that sort of thing.


So, for now I am going to say adieu. I will contemplate what to do next and get a better look at this site.


In closing here are the Kaizen questions that you should ask yourself daily:

How can I improve my relationship w/ my spouse & family?

How might I improve my health?

What can I do today to improve my value to my company?

How can I improve my sense of enjoyment & pleasure?

What else can I improve today?