Not having and can't have

First off, tomorrow I start working for the Man. Well, technically, I have been working for the man, but this time the paycheck is a federal one. The general new job fuzzy stomach feelings are here; am I going to be good at it, will the kids like me. Along with other feelings; this job doesn't have benefits, needs to find one that does, and now I need to factor in a 40 hour a week position to schedule around.

In writing met the deadline yesterday for reading all first 50 of four manuscripts. And while we only needed to read, I did commentary. Then uploaded my preferences. With only the possibility of 5 of us at the retreat, I have a feeling we're going to be critiquing everybody else's pieces. And I still have hopes of being the 5th wheel there. Should know more this week. There's also the possibility if I would get this parks job that the retreat would happen right at the end of a two-week notice and before starting.

I hate this uncertainty. While I don't mind juggling balls, I've been juggling these particular ones since February. I guess I should have just said I couldn't do it, but I almost did that last year and I ended up being able to make it and had a great time. So I'm hoping that I'm able to do it again this time. After all, working for the Man is technically a temporary part-time position. I'm hoping that asking for days off (or having to quit in the middle) isn't going to be a big thing. But you never know until you're into the middle of it to be sure.

We had a little bit of "normal" temperatures for this time of year (30's at night, 50's during the days), but now were back to it being in the upper 60s out there. My neighbors have all started mowing their lawns. I know my grass is growing, but not by that much. I think I'll try and give it another week or two before hauling out the mower. The good thing is that our ornamental tree had budded out. I was beginning to worry.

And now to the not having nice things.

John Scalzi explains why eARCS are not necessarily the best idea since sliced bread. Now, to be fair, if the publicity department sent John say a Kindle with the book preloaded, I'm guessing he might take a wack at it, but I really don't want to speak for him. Now, what John does say, pretty much mirrors my own thoughts on much of the eBook hoopla. Notice, he's not saying the tech is a bad thing, but why make these things harder than they have to be? A printed book is a damn fine piece of kit. It's technology only seems primitive because you've had them around all your life (and I'm going out on a limb here, but I think for most of you that read this blog, the way a book gets printed, physically, has gone through two major technological jumps since you've been alive, and I'm not even including the Print-on-Demand paradigm - which is still occurring) so they seem "boring." Making ebooks difficult to use is not making them more attractive. And there's that whole thing of reading a whole book off the screen. (I'm doing that right now for the critiquing, I'm fairly tech savvy, and it's not a picnic for me).

And now, why we can't have nice things.

When the opposition:

• Doesn't know the Constitution, even as they tout how much they do and the other side doesn't.


• Intentionally lies to themselves by omitting the exact evidence, mid-sentence, that contradicts their statements.


• Only reads the headlines, but fakes the in-depth analysis, which, again, is contradicted by what has actually been said. Hell, even Evelyn Wood speed-readers get more context that this.


• Somewhat out of context, a blog response that can no longer be made because the Anon Commentator was booted off the discussion, but can be used to paraphrase a lot of what I see going on in the "but they did it first" arguments. "There is a difference, Anon, between someone saying, 'Given my druthers I would...' and 'Won't someone rid me of this troublesome priest?'" Calling someone a "liar" and backing it up with evidence is slightly different that saying "They commin' for your daughters!" on what you think may happen in the future.

Story Bone

(mistyped in Twitter to friend - fixed before sending though)

No good dead goes unpunished.

Jumping sharks!

If I weren't using linkedin to find a job I would so link to this profile. Just high-larious.

Grokked from the ever fabulous eBear (matociquala)

The conferences you don't attend

Last night my head was filled with dreams of a Viable Paradise I didn't attend.

"Well, of course Greeks place their feathered antennas behind the TV sets. And Egyptians place them beside the TV. That's how you can tell when you're in a Greek's or Egyptian's home."

The same feelings were there, the rushed, hectic not really knowing what the hell I'm doing. The close camaraderie of the participants. The lectures that I think I know what is going on, but later wonder just what I had missed.

"It's all the same Armageddon, it's just that everybody sees their own version of it."

And this was a persistent dream, the kind you wake up from, roll over, and fall back into. So, one, besides remembering dreams, which doesn't always happen (although, with getting enough sleep, I know that I have been dreaming), and two, having the dream carry over between sleep sessions, it was a unique circumstance. The participants were all the same, with the addition of some other friends. The place, however, was an overly decorated Victorian Mansion with lots of overly glossed woodwork.

So I guess now I can now claim to have attended the uber-ultra-secret Viable Paradise seventh lecture.

And, because it makes me squee, picture of a Martian landslide.

I'm still a bit slow

Just realized how many blogs I haven't added to my Google Reader. To all my friends, I'm sorry I'm slow to getting back to normal, but I've been a bit distracted lately. I'm working on it. The things that makes it a little difficult is the google reader gives me the blog's name, instead of their actual name (which is how I have most of my RSS folder organized).

The good news of starting at the Census is that this week the market for designers swung to all "WEBWEBWEBWEB, oh, and you better be an expert in print design as well." I still have hope for the parks job. I put getting my old job back at somewhere slightly above winning the lottery. And hopefully, if all else fails, by mid summer we'll be back to some sanity in the market.

Fairy Tales and Hobgoblins

Tonight, after the meeting, the sky held 37 buzzards. I've been seeing them for over a month here and there, but tonight's grouping was the largest this season. Not all turkey vultures (what we call "buzzards" here in NE Ohio) migrate, so seeing them over Winter isn't a new thing. But when they appear in numbers, the travelers have returned. It was an extra bonus that the sky was overcast with plenty of swirling and bulbous clouds. Large black birds against a field of mottled grey.

Next Monday we start Census training. The more I learn about being a Crew Leader the less I feel like I know what the heck I'm going to be doing. I guess that's why we have the training. Also, a bonus in that out county was the only county in Ohio that didn't deliver Census Materials to Post Office Boxes. And we have a lot of people who use boxes instead of planting a mailbox. So our crews will have plenty of work.

Also, my guess is there are many people who didn't like the government asking all those pesky questions and spending their money. So we'll now spend a whole lot more being more invasive by having to knock on their door. Probably twice.

Well, I have to say watching Fox News through out the day has entrenched my believe that at the entrance doors to NewsCorp they have a cutout of a clown holding out his hand and a dialog bubble coming out his mouth that reads, "Your IQ must be below this level to enter here."

I guess "diplomatic immunity" is a brand new concept for them. Also the ever present quoting out of context and "Well, technically they're right, but they're still stupid about what it all means," comments in regard to "liberals" and HCR.

Oh, and let the breast beating begin on the lapse of President Bush's Tax Cuts. Say, remember how tax cuts would save our economy, and instead they lead to the worse decade of GNP growth since the Great Depression? Those tax cuts that did such damage to long term revenue projections that even with a Republican majority in the House, Senate, and President that they couldn't stomach making them permanent? Those tax cuts that lowered the high end tax brackets to the lowest they've ever been since the start of the 20th Century, and yet we now hear about how we have the highest taxes in the world (when in fact we have the fifth lowest - it all has to do with what you define as "taxes" - we have the highest if you only include the kinds of taxes that we collected in the US, we're much lower when you look at total tax burden)? Yeah, those. Some of them are about to expire. And the "ZOMG, taxes are going up, it's 2012 two years early," wackiness has begun.

Stay on the something-side, always on the whatever

Saw the first bumble-bee, fly, and wasp today. The trout lilly is starting to bloom and the trees are leafing out. Way to early for a climate that can expect their last freeze as late as Mothers Day.

Also, form what I have heard from local farmers, this year's maple syrup season lasted only 3 weeks. That's very short. So, if you're looking for maple syrup, it'll be a little more expensive now. And we didn't have a lot of the weather swings that leads to good syrup. Sigh.

So many things that need to be done, and I just don't want to get them done. Feeling a bit defeated right at the moment.

Just some more things to think about

Well, because "end of life care" and "respecting the wishes of those who don't want 'heroic actions' made on their behalf" came up in the discussion over the weekend at Mom's, here's opinion piece on the 5th Anniversary of Terri Shiavo's passing. It is definitely skewed anti-conservative, but gives good reasoning for such. As I remember, Sen. Majority Leader BIll Frist, a doctor, stood in the well of the Senate and gave his medical diagnosis on Terri Shiavo's condition. Fortunately, elected representative have legal liability immunity over their speeches given in the House and Senate, or Dr. Frist may have been looking at a violation of his medical license (not is specialty, he hadn't examined Terri Shiavo personally, and he gave his medical opinion "as a Doctor" - here in Ohio if you'd do that on the street the state board would be asking for their paperwork back). Also, is this the working of the party you want to trust with your medical decisions?

And no, this isn't the first time I've run into the argument of the Right-to-Life crowd wanting to take away the power of Healthcare Power of Attorney and Living Wills.

Three shorts

Long day full of meetings. Lots of driving. Lots of sitting around waiting. Mostly about taking classes and future directions. But that also means a day of being offline. So catching up with the internets.

Now, as the sun finished setting, the wind gathers its strength. An onrushing of night. The weather changes to cooler overnight, which was bound to happen. Upper 80s at the beginning of April is not normal.

Tonight's NOVA is about finding planets. So I'm somewhat distracted from the typing. Well, that and the cat mewlings to go outside (they've been inside all day, went out for a few hours, then back in). Compared to these two our first kitty was a blessing. I'm just hoping to get them trained on how to sleep with us, but for the littlest that may be asking too much. For such a small cat, she likes to hog the most of the bed.

Monday in the future

Well, this morning my brain was on three different tasks and I mistook the 1/4" razor comb for the 1/2" comb. So now my hair is very, very short. Well, at least I didn't use the 1/8" comb (except for my beard, which was why I originally had the 1/4" comb out). Sigh. Another lesson in "mindful living."

I still like that I "cut" my own hair. Some of you may remember when I had a pony-tail. I really like to have longer hair, but I also really like "wash and wear" hair. In the morning I no longer need a few minutes to comb out the tail. I also don't miss it wiping around while I'm driving (I like to drive with the windows open). One day I'll probably grow my hair long again. Obviously it's not going to be this week.

Tomorrow is full of meetings. And there was a late call for a freelance gig. Unfortunately that means I needed to push the freelance back until Wednesday. Not good. But, with an attempt at rearranging all the times end up wrong (noon, or 4:45) instead of meeting bright and early on Wednesday morning.

And, oh look, now that it's warm the idiots on four-wheelers are out again. Yeah, keep zipping up and down the asphalt without helmet or any other gear.

On the positive side, the other night we hear a few coyotes in the fields out back. Sure, you might not think that was positive, but it is. I'm sure the farmer out back will not want to hear about it, and will go shooting up the night like Yosemite Sam on amphetamines. Like he does with the ground hogs that have infested his fields. You know, not realizing that the ground hogs are probably what brought the coyotes here in the first place (and probably the kill I heard that night).

So, at this point, we're probably not going to see a job offer before next week. And next week is the start of training for the US Census. Yes, they want me to be a crew leader (not what I wanted). Really was hoping to have to call them and say, "Sorry, have a full time job." Now it'll be more difficult scheduling interviews and getting time to look for jobs. It seemed like a good choice at the time, but now it doesn't look like such a good opportunity. Well, it'll give me a good trail of "look, I didn't just sit around while I was unemployed." Margle.

Fridays

Bette cleaned out the flower beds and I raked the yard (collecting everything pulled out of the flower beds). Disappointed to see a lot of dead grass in the new dirt areas.

So, when there's snowstorms in January and February along the East Coast, Fox News goes on the "so much for global warming" jag. Now it was 80 degrees today, the spring peepers are singing out there tonight, today I stirred up more than one cloud of gnats doing the raking, and unprecedented rain and flooding in the NE, and not one "hey, might be something to that global warming" comment. Of course, climate affects weather, but weather is not climate. But I would expect their brains to function in a similar fashion. Guess that they can't even be consistent in their illogical stances.

Just heard the owl. He's a few months early. Going to go listen to him.

Sign of Four

Spent the day running like mad. Got to eat dinner at 8:45pm.

Good news, I'm 10lbs lighter than before Xmas (12-23-09). Officially. Doctor worked with me and just did a weigh in to see that I'm still on track. Still haven't received the quote on the service. We'll see.

Made another connection to good job. Will hopefully turn into a personal call on my behalf. Unfortunately job opening doesn't close for a few weeks. Sigh.

Ah, and just because, Ron Paul's earmark request for 2010. Wasn't there some ranting about "no earmarks." Many of them are for the Army Corps of Engineers projects, but not all of them. And there's substantial funds there.