A Theoritical Question - My Answer

Some time ago, someone asked me if I could ask ANYONE one question,
who would it be and what question would I ask? Knowing me as well as
this person did (and does), they probably assumed I'd ask something
religious. But those questions - the whole messiah thing included -
isn't a matter of fact as much as it is a matter of faith. So, would
it be something currently in the news like global warming? Or
something more historically mysterious like who really shot JFK and
the possible conspiracy theories that have been raised? Would it be
something political?
I ended up refraiming the question, because I couldn't narrow it down
to one question. The best I can do is narrow it down to two people.
The first one is obvious for true American historical scholars, or so
I believe. I would bet most of you are thinking President Washington,
but you'd be wrong, but in the right era. I'd love to sit down for
even just dinner and talk with Thomas Paine, who in his day was
revolutionary in his thought processes and beliefs that many thought
he was TOO revolutionary. I think even if he was alive today, he'd
still be one of the most revolutionary thinkers. In this time of
divisive politics and social issues, I think we as a country need a
strong patriotic voice like his to bring us back to the core of what
it means to be Americans. We need a rallying cry to unite us against
true enemies and off of those that aren't true threats.
So who would my second choice be? Would it be Washington? Lincoln?
Franklin? JFK? This is going to surprise a LOT of you... Especially
Walter I bet!
I'd love - and this goes back even to when he was alive - to have had
the chance to sit down and talk to the late Pope John Paul II. I know
we might not always agree on religion, but that's ok, and he knew that
too. But to even be in the presence of a human who so earnestly and
genuinely believed - and lived - what he preached is rare. Add on all
the work he did, uniting Christian denominations, starting the healing
of two millenia's pain between Christians and Jews, being a major
force in the end of the Cold War... The man was a giant amongst us,
and though I have my complaints against certain Catholic tenants
(heck, as I do with most organized religion), I truly believe the
angels welcomed him in a fashion rarely done for us mere humans. His
impact will carry on for generations, to the degree that few other
humans have ever done. Few have changed the world, even fewer changed
it so dramatically.
So what would I like to discuss with the late Pontiff? I'd start with
current world issues and how he would suggest dealing with the
terrorists, and then going into how to start mending fences with those
in the Islamic community who aren't bent only on death and war. I'd
listen as he talked of his struggles against communism and
anti-semitism. I'd ask him what in his life inspired him the most to
do what he did. Anyone can talk TO God, he was one of the few that
talked WITH God. There is no doubt in my mind, there was constant
two-way communication there. His faith was so strong and pure, any
person of faith should admire that. He was one of the few in his time
that recognized that Jews and Christians worship the same God, the
differences only go back a couple thousand years (that's not that long
in historical context).
But heck, if we're going to go on this theoretical trip, let's go with
my version of a roundtable. We'll go with seven chairs (seven's always
a good number). My seven guests would be:
1. Pope John Paul II
2. Thomas Paine
3. George Washington
4. Benjamin Franklin
5. Abraham Lincoln
6. Albert Einstein
7. Job (Biblical)
Did that surprise you? Now do I need to give reasons? I'll skip
numbers one and two as I already discussed them.
3. War strategy and nation-building.
4. Constitutional issues and treaties.
5. Nation healing.
6. Science, math, history. Need I say more?
7. Overcoming obstacles.
Wow, that's quite a list!
So who would you love to sit down to dinner with?

Input Please!!

I'm putting together a list of the most outrageous things I've heard
out of politicians' mouths the last few weeks and months, but I need
your help in case I missed something (and how I did that, I don't
know, the way I've been watching tv). So send me your lists, you don't
have to detail them, just a list would work, so I can make sure I
covered everything. And my list will appear in a week or so!

Notice

To all my friends and readers,
Soon I will be receiving a special item in the mail for my PDA which
may require me to go semi-offline for a day or so as I try to resolve
many issues while I have the opportunity. It in itself will not knock
me offline, but if I have problems, I will be unavailable in all
likelihood. I will try to do this during normal downtime but I cannot
guarantee this. I will post when I start this process if at all
possible. FYI, I was able to get my new CF Card that is better and
bigger thanks to some generosity on my birthday so I am going to try a
hard reset and manual restoration while I have the opportunity. I have
issues with several programs that can only be resolved this way, and
considering the PDA is my main internet source, a delay may cause me
to be offline for an extended period of time. Thank you for your
understanding.

One Person

If you were given the opportunity to sit down and have dinner and a
conversation with one person, who would it be? It can be anyone, dead
or alive, as far back in history as you want, or someone still alive.
Who would you choose? I'll tell you mine in a later blog, but what say
you and why?

Update

Still cold as **** here, but heck, it's late January, what do you expect.

Project box is coming together nicely. All I got to do is put the sides of the box lid together and onto the main part of the lid itself. So another day or two's work and it's done. In an hour it could be done, but me sitting down that long anymore is rare, much less doing one thing. The only thing I do consistently is sleep, and even that is patchy right now.

I'm holding off making any decisions right now as my mind isn't in any condition to do so. Once I'm able to sleep decently, I'll be fine. Honestly, a neighbor bought me regular soda for my bday instead of caffeine-free (purposely) and I didn't regulate my caffeine, so I'm all loopy from the caffeine my body isn't used to!

I'll drop a line when I'm more alert and me-like LOL.

A Note for the Rich and Famous

Ok, I've heard it all. First of all, it's sad when the rich and famous
stick their noses into the campaign to try to influence us just based
on who they are. We, as a whole, don't care. We vote issues. Not who's
got the best celebrity endorsements! So right there you know where I'm
going. Chuck Norris, shut your ugly*** trap. For a man who stars in so
many violent movies and tv shows, I find it hypocritical that you
support an evangelical candidate who seemingly is against everything
your movies show. But to say that Mr. McCain is too old to be
president is ludicrous to say the least. Have you ever thought that
maybe we need someone with the wisdom and experience that he has to
get us out of this situation we're in? I'm not saying he's the right
candidate, but get your nose out of it and let us decide based on REAL
issues, and not such discriminatory tags like age, race, or gender.
You know, if you'd said that on the job, Mr. Norris, you could be sued
for age discrimination, so if I were you, I'd shut up!

Update

First of all I want to apologize to all those who have tried to leave
comments on my blog or have tried to email me the last day or two and
have had to wait longer than normal to get my attention. The recent
dip in the temperatures and yesterday's snow has affected internet
strength and quality, and I'm too lazy to go walk to the library to
use their computers. And considering it's supposed to get even colder
over the next few days, I'm not planning on going much of anywhere
anytime soon!
I've been catching up on my news, slowly but surely, but of course
there's nothing much going on. I hate to say this, but I'm starting to
really hate all the democrats at this point. And let's face it, the
last thing we as a country need right now is MORE government. So right
now, unless we can get the Constitution amended to let Bill run for a
third term, I don't see much hope. His wife isn't nearly as smart, and
Barack has too much baggage. Both of them don't seem to have a clue as
to how to keep spending down and get rid of the deficit at the same
time.
On "warmer" news, I have found myself having a tail as of late - a
20lb black one by the name of Curzon LOL. I think he is as much
interested in politics as I am, but I can't be sure, because he could
just find it boring and THAT'S why he's been wanting to sleep on my
lap.
I don't have any plans for tomorrow, and am quite hopeful that it
passes by quietly and calmly. I am not sure that it will happen that
way, but a girl can dream, can't she? I will be on when I can get on
tomorrow, though I'm not sure I'll be on messenger. I've been quite
shy lately on that front for several reasons.
Anyways, nothing else really going on here, not yet at least, so I'll
quit yapping before I fall asleep at the keyboard... Laziness is in
full effect!

Politics, Issues, and Questions

Hello my dear blog friends. I have to say that it definitely FEELS
like winter outside, though it still doesn't LOOK like it outside. My
birthday is quickly approaching and, as I told my roommate, we didn't
get a white holiday season, we won't see white this weekend either. If
I see a few flakes I'll be impressed LOL. It's ok though, I intend to
stay home as it'll be bitterly cold outside. I was out today, and just
the light breeze was enough to go up the coat and through the thin
scarf that my better half brought home for me. Luckily I brought the
main piece of the scarf I'm crocheting for myself, and during a quick
pit stop, was able to get it underneath the main scarf and was warm
(on the cheeks at least) for the majority of the rest of my time
outside. I was in a definite hurry to get home though, as the wind was
directly in my face for most of the way home.
So what's with this former congressman now indicted on charges of
financially supporting terrorists and lobbying fellow congresspeople
for donations under the auspices of an orphanage in need. We're not
talking Hezbollah, we're talking Al-Qaida itself. Someone needs to let
him die the way Al-Qaida killed 3000 of our own citizens if you ask
me. I know, I know (so don't get preachy on me Walter LOL just
kidding) vengeance isn't my place, but just hearing of a creep like
that makes me angry and sick all at once!!
And what do you make of the FDA now saying that eating meat and
drinking milk from cloned animals is as safe as normally produced meat
and milk? Do you agree? Would you eat or drink products from cloned
animals? And do we know for sure we aren't already? Is it like the
city out in California turning liquid human waste into drinking water?
Would you drink it if you knew what it was and/or how it was produced?
Ok, last question, and you get to ask it. What issue would you like to
know my opinion on that's currently in this political debate? You name
it, I'll answer it, or at least try to. From abortion to zoos, I'll
tackle it the best I can. I can't guarantee you'll agree, or even that
I won't offend you, or that I might change my mind later as I do more
research, but I'll give you my current opinions! I'll even do it in a
blog, unless it's too private. But good luck getting one of them, I'm
pretty open most of them time.
I await your questions and your answers to my questions!

Campaign 2008 Mudfight Starts

Another day, another load of bullsh*t in the political arena. I'm
sitting in front of the tv juggling between MSNBC, CNN, and Fox
listening to the spins - both liberal and conservative - on all the
words being exchanged. Clinton and Obama are going at it, Clinton
supporters lobbing (supposed) insults at Obama and Obama accusing
Clinton of (apparently) disrespecting Martin Luther King Jr. On the
Republican side, McCain and Romney are going at it about Michigan's
lost jobs, mainly in the automotive industry, as all three major US
automakers are based in Michigan and are struggling financially and
competitively. McCain says that the jobs that have been lost, many of
which he says have gone overseas or lost to foreign automakers, are
gone forever, and Romney says that he will fight to get every one of
those jobs back, that they're not lost forever.
Frankly, on the Republican battle, both are right. A lot of the jobs
that have vanished, both in the state of Michigan and nationwide, are
probably gone forever. But not all of them are, and a lot of the
unemployed can be shifted to other careers or other sectors of the
automotive industry. As "hybrid" vehicles take off in popularity, more
people will be needed to manufacture them, and there will be plenty of
jobs in research, parts manufacturing, and other components of the
industry.
On the Democratic side, Clinton isn't stupid enough to (at least
deliberately) disrespect someone who the African-American community
reveres so dearly, especially considering she needs a significant
number of them voting for her to win in several upcoming states and
nationwide. And these accusations that Obama is still doing drugs is
ludicrous, though he has admitted (in his book) to trying "blow" as a
teenager. But come on, if we threw out every candidate that did
something stupid in their teens, we'd have next to no candidates if we
had any at all! And is it possible that Hillary is trying to shift the
focus of the election to race? It is, in theory, but she would be
stupid to do so, considering she's the first viable female
presidential candidate, anyone at any time could quickly shift the
debate from race to gender. Considering the vast discrimination in
this country, both race- and gender-based, dragging either one's
particular demographic difference into the race would not only be
illogical, it would be outright stupid.
Here's my point today. It is up to US, the voting public, to decide
who we will vote for based on the issues important to us. Do not let
the candidates dictate what information you use in your decision. They
are famous for lying and slandering opponents. Listen to them, but
listen to what they say about what they will do to fix our problems.
It's been said more than once, candidates run on problems, they win on
solutions. Listen to all the news, all viewpoints. Do some research.
Read the newspapers. Use fact-checking websites to filter the lies out
from the truth. Then base your judgement - and vote - on the truth
that's left from all the muddled lies and half-truths. Don't vote
party lines or personal loyalties, vote for what's best for the
nation, and the rest will come.
Personally, thank you all for your support the last 24 hours or so.
I'm not fully back yet, but I'm getting there. There's such a range of
emotions right now, the same set that hit me a year ago. I must say
that this blog has introduced me to a wonderful group of people from
all corners of the world, and I am very thankful. I know some of you
are truly more concerned about me than others, but relax! I'm ok, this
latest round isn't a knock-out blow. It was honestly kind of expected.
But the situations around it, though it should've been expected, still
blindsided me to a point. I thank all of you for your kind words, and
I am adding my prayers to all of yours for those dealing with this in
a much more personal manner. So once again, thank you from the bottom
of my heart.
For those of you who are wondering, the cats are doing just fine. The
friggin furballs are probably enjoying the cooler weather, though
right now all three are sleeping. Nimbus is napping with his human,
and the twins are trying to get me to nap on the couch. Curzon thinks
laying on my lap will work, but it's kind of hard to move with a 20lb
cat on you!
Anyways, this'll be all for now, I'll talk to everyone at another
point and time, when I'm more able to write clearly.

AFK for a minute

Due to another death in the family, I am taking at least a day or two off. Please don't worry about me, I'm alright, it's just I feel it's best that I take some time off. Thank you.

Universal Health Care

Why am I so against "Universal Health Care" you ask? Well, here it is.
Government screws things up. They're famous for that. Whenever
government mandates something, it's full of errors and red tape. Ask
anyone who's ever been on Medicaid, like me. You go to the dentist for
a minor repair, and the dentist gives you a temporary fix and tells
you to come back in a few weeks or months. But you can't because the
government only allows you one visit a year that they'll cover, and to
try to do it out of your own pocket will cost you more money than they
give you for at least two months. You're thankful though that you at
least have a temporary fix, and hope it lasts.
So here's my point. Making everyone get health insurance is ludicrous.
If you work full time, chances are you are at least offered health
insurance. And if you're working part time, chances are you qualify
for Medicaid. Putting the government even more in charge of health
insurance only takes away competition, decreasing quality of care and
increasing prices. And if it's all government-mandated, who's going to
pay for it? Do you really expect to support everyone in this country
without raising taxes? I don't think that'll ever happen!
So what are we going to do? Here's what I think should happen. We need
to beef up the economy, bringing in new jobs, and making pre-existing
jobs better. We need to perhaps give businesses incentives for making
employees full time instead of part time, and require them provide at
least basic health insurance. We need to get rid of NAFTA and all the
other free trade agreements. We need to seal up the borders and give
the jobs that the illegals took back to our citizens. We need to focus
more on teaching our children how to think critically, use common
sense, realize the value of the basic subjects like math and science,
and quit just spending all year preparing them for test after test. If
you want a national test to check the progress of the students, do it
at the end of the year when they've studied everything they're
supposed to have learned. Let's make use of the need to get off of our
oil addiction by building plants in economically hard-hit areas of our
country to better use and produce alternative energy sources like wind
and hydrogen. Let's get off of the corn-based ethanol bandwagon, as
it's only making food too expensive for our families. We can do
better, we must do better for our children and for ourselves.

I LOVE MY PACKERS!

Well, if I was talking about the Cincinnati Bengals, I'd yell WHO DEY,
but since I'm not... WHO DEM CHEESEHEADS!!!! LOL Mr Old Quarterback
(Brett Favre is old in QB years) showed the world today he can still
win a playoff game. Here's to hoping for a New England vs Green Bay
Super Bowl... a girl can wish can't she? LOL But even more
importantly, Eli and the rest of the New York Giants, KICK DALLAS' @SS
RIGHT BACK HOME!!!! *grumble* *cuss*ing cowboys!! lol

Questions

So here I am, Wednesday, a quiet night in the house (for the most
part), everyone's getting along better it seems, and the job situation
seems to be improving, though I'm not getting confident yet. I
seriously believe we are inching closer to a recession, though I want
to believe I'm wrong. I want to believe this economy will stabilize
before that happens, but I'm not seeing any evidence of it. The
housing market is crumbling, the credit market is tight, the Federal
Reserve is fighting a loosing war trying to stave off inflation (if
that's even possible). It's more expensive than ever to buy basic
foods (just in the last few months I've seen a half-gallon of milk
jump 40 cents and a small loaf of generic bread jump 30 cents). So
tell me that we're not in the midst of at least a downturn in the
economy, if not the brink of a recession.
So my dear American readers, have you decided which presidential
candidate to support? And my foreign readers, IF you were American,
who would you vote for? And all of you, why? I don't know about all of
you, but I'm still undecided. I hate Hillary's "universal insurance"
which Edwards and Obama are pretty close to her on (can you imagine
how high our taxes will get?) and I hate Huckabee's killing the income
tax altogether, instead of putting it all on sales tax (putting it at
25% when we currently average 6-8%). Romney strikes me weird for some
reason, and I hate McCain's stance on illegal immigration and the
border. So who am I supposed to support? I'm lost, confused, and
disenfranchised. No one fits my bill. I want to see lower taxes on the
lower classes but I want to see the national debt down too (so taxes
would have to go up a little but I want to at least see loopholes
closed), I want the border fence BUILT all the way. I'd rather have a
cement fence than no fence at all. I want to see a president that
understands the gravity of sending our children to war and therefore
will redeploy our soldiers out of Iraq. I want to see an increased
focus on education, but not just on test scores, but on actual
intelligence. But will I ever see this candidate? I don't think so,
sadly.
So on top of my earlier question, I'm going to give you all a chance
to get my stance on any political issue, to which I'll answer in a
future blog. So ask away. I'll answer the best I can.

High School Maternity Leave?

Very few things ever blow my mind completely and leave me unsure, confused and totally open for debate. But, catching up on the news today, this is exactly what happened.
Denver has a major problem, both statewide and nationwide. It has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state of Colorado, and much higher than even the national average. Now why has this hit national news?
A pregnant woman who is already receiving services that many adult pregnant women don't even receive is trying to make the school board give her four weeks maternity leave from her education. It's not like she's in college. She's a high school student - a kid in herself. Now I know being a new mother is hard enough. This is in no way a judgement against her, her choices (poor as they may be), or anything else. Let us just deal with the issue at hand.
So what do we do in a situation like this? Do we say "No, you're a child and by law you have to be in school, so have your baby and come back to school" or do we say "Take some time off, and come back in four weeks" to this young woman? Do we focus on her education (which, statistically, she's several times more likely to drop out already), or do we focus on her new role as mom? Which side do we take?
And what does this say about our society? That our school districts are now going to have to set up day care so that their children's children can be taken care of? And wasn't abstinence-only supposed to solve this problem? Does letting a teen mom take a month off of school (even if she's still working on her studies at home) in some way glorify teen sex and pregnancy? Does the inevitable "ooh" and "aah" that the teen mom gets while in school do it? Or are we not giving our young women enough credit? How do we at least get the kids to at least use protection if they're not going to at least wait until they themselves aren't kids any longer?
I anxiously await everyone's opinions as I can see both sides of the coin here. Help me find the third side of the coin!

Changes!

As you have noticed, I'm online a little more lately, not cause anything's really changed dramatically, but sometimes the desktop cooperates and lets me get online for a minute. And I switched browsers from IE to Firefox, and there's this cool toolbar that u can download that allows you to blog in a separate mini-window and it provides the link to the page that you were looking at (making it very easy to link over to Tom's blog). So in the moments my desktop is actually online, I can actually send emails much more efficiently than on the PDA. But it's always fleeting, I don't think a single connection's lasted even 5 minutes. Sheesh. You'd think my desktop wireless card would be stronger than my PDA one, but nope!
The ebook list is forever growing, but much slower now. The last time I added, I got up to like 498, and I'm merely up to 504 now. But that's slightly misleading as I found out a few of my Sherlock Holmes books were parts of collections I also had. So 6 of them got trashed and new ebooks took their place. All that's left for me is to update my category list. I'm thinking about posting my updated list to my Google Documents page, and perhaps also my blogroll, since I keep losing my links! But that's for another time, right now I don't have time.
I go back down to the supposed part-time job tomorrow, hopefully to get final word on when I start training (like it's that friggin hard). I'm also going to run all my other errands while I'm at it (the cats need litter, I need to meet with the manager of the convenience store, and a couple other joints) so I am going to be busy walking my rear off tomorrow. Plus I have to go to the bank, put some money in, and probably take some out for the man, what little we have. But on the good side, my weather toolbar is saying it'll get up to 64 tomorrow so I won't be so fkn cold like I have been the last few times! But seeing as how it's the dead of winter, I know this won't last. Heck my birthday ain't even quite here yet, let's not forget, so I know it's still winter.
And please, I know ya'll care, but don't wish me a happy birthday. It's never happy until it's a past birthday and no one died this time. So save your jubilation for someone who can actually celebrate. Me, I'll just work (hopefully), eat and sleep. That's the plan. I don't even want to go out and eat this time, even if we could. I just want to stay home and sleep as much of it away as possible.
As for everything else, all is well. I haven't worked on my scarf yet today, I honestly haven't been up all too long today. I felt lazy, and getting up at 345 am is killing my body. It's funny how even half an hour makes such a difference. But at that early hour, trust me it does. I can't wait for things to return to normal here. But considering everywhere I look the economy is tanking, I don't think that'll be anytime soon. I hate to sound pessimistic, but I really think this country is on the threshold of another recession. We've fought it off a couple times, taking a hit but it not lasting that long. This time I do think it'll last a while, and you can start by blaming the banks who gave out subprime loans to people who couldn't afford it, so they defaulted, then the banks started hurting, and couldn't loan any businesses any money, so they couldn't build, so builders couldn't build... you get the point. You'll see, even McDonald's will feel it before it's over as no one can afford to eat out as much and they got 1000s of people applying for a fraction of that number of jobs. Hold on tight people, but don't fret, we always come out of it stronger. One more year and there'll be change (of some sort or another) in DC and maybe that'll stave off this nightmare on the horizon. I remain hopeful, but not so optimistic. LOL, if that makes any sense.
So off I send this b4 the connection drops again! Laters!

Politics Plus: Super Delegates: A Democratic Travesty

Politics Plus: Super Delegates: A Democratic Travesty

Part two... PLEASE READ. See if your elected representatives are involved with this. If you live in NJ, your GOVERNOR is in on it! No surprise... LOL

Secondly, look at my stat counter... 1700!!! I'll take credit for a bunch of them because of editing etc, but still, at least 1500 are you guys! Thanks!

And again, Thanks Tom for bringing this to my attention. See why he's one of my fave reads folks?

New Blogs!

I've been saving these up for a while as I haven't had time or opportunity to do much blog surfing and/or reading, but I did stumble across the Cincinnati one today. So here's my additions!!

Cincinnati Blog

Cutest Cats

Josie

Mary

post-note: I keep seeming to loose links on my roll, so I'm going to have to come up with a different way to do it. keep posted!

Politics Plus: The Tyranny of Super-Delegates

Politics Plus: The Tyranny of Super-Delegates

PLEASE everyone in the US, read this... and add this to the list of reasons to go independent! If the dems are doing this, what are the reps doing that we don't know about? Just a thought!

A Sign I Needed Years Ago

When I first started coming online nearly a decade ago, I quickly became addicted to IRC (chat), literally spending many a month juggling work, college, net, and homework, barely sleeping, and often chatting and doing homework at the same time. And on my days off from work and/or college, you could either find me sleeping or chatting! I was addicted, and bad, up to the past about 2-3 years as I weaned myself off of chat - and got pushed out either by kick or just by the way people were. The last year or so has been merely an addiction to blogging, but it's been a great addiction as I finally have a forum - and an audience - for my rants, thoughts, and laughs. I was sifting through my gmail on the emails I've stashed for a time when I could actually get to them, and one of them had this picture attached to it. Boy I needed this a long time ago, and I know people who still need it! haha!


But the thought is there: if we added up all the time we spend online in a given year, how much time would it be? Let's do some math...

24 hours = 1 day
24 x 365 = 8760 hours a year
24 x 30 = 720 hours a month (avg)

Now let's assume you spend an average of an hour a day during the week and 2 hours a day each during the weekend.

(1 x 5) + (2 x 2) = 9 hours a week
9 x 4 = 36 hours a month (assuming 28 days instead of 30 for simplicity)

So you see, every month you're tossing away a day and a half at the computer!

36 x 12 = 432 hours a year
432 / 8760 = 0.049 (you spend nearly 5% of your year on the computer!)

Yuck! But what do we accomplish? Let's just take my normal 'net usage for example. In the average week, this is what I do online.
1. Check softpedia, freecabs.de, and a couple other websites for new pda programs
2. Check manybooks and munseys for new free ebooks
3. Use thefreedictionary.com to settle a bet or get my facts straight about someone/something
4. Check my email (usually three to four times a day as my gmail is also my job contact email)
5. When the desktop has a connection, check my 2 yahoo, 4 hotmail, and 2 aim/aol email accounts
6. Occasionally load up messenger to see if anyone's on (usually bout twice a week and for not that often, it's quiet nowadays)
7. Update my weather program on the pda
8. Update my clock via online servers on the pda
9. Check enquirer.com and kake.com for news back home (both cincinnati home and wichita home), occasionally checking other news sites

Now I know blogging isn't in there. I know... but let me explain. I write whenever, either offline or online. It doesn't count to spend all that time writing when I'm usually not online when I'm writing. And I just use gmail to email it to the blog (as is obvious on occasion when word wrap doesn't want to work) while I'm checking my email. So checking email pretty much covers it.

How about you? And do you think I forgot something? I might have! And how much time do YOU think you're spending online? And who dares me to tally up for a week? LOL

Update, Comments, etc...

Well, so much for the one job. I'm still taking it, part time is
better than unemployed, but I'm still looking, as planned. I came
across a potential job yesterday, to which I called today. It's not
secured yet (he's not ready), but I remain hopeful it may be my
replacement job. The convenience store should hopefully email me next
week (the store manager is on vacation), so that avenue is open too,
if I could work part time there and part time at the other place. Or I
could do the one job on the weekends on the new lead full time.
Needless to say, for the first time in a while, I have options. Next
year's taxes are going to suck with all the paperwork though! LOL
I'm hand-crocheting myself a facial-area of a scarf (as all my yarn is
acrylic and I can't wear that directly on my skin so I got myself a
small ball of cotton yarn) so I have something better to put over my
face and ears. I'm trying to come up with a good way to protect my
delicate ears (which hate cold and water) - especially my left one -
from this frigid weather. Global warming? HA! Global CHAOS more like
it. Low last night: 9f. High in 6 days: 54-66 (depending on who you go
by). WTF?!? No wonder everyone I know is either sick or recently was
sick. Needless to say, this weather has my body in rattles and me in a
hurry to get myself something to keep me warm. Now why crochet instead
of knit you ask? Cause I crochet faster even though I've known how to
knit a LOT longer (I just taught myself how to crochet last summer).
So, speed wins. It's technically a violet color but it looks more
light blue to me. Once I get this piece finished, I'll take my
acrylics and match up as good as I can, though I'm not going for a
fashion award, just something long enough to wrap around my face and
ears (my hair and a turtleneck shirt should protect my neck from the
acrylic so it's not a region of focus for acrylic protection LOL),
mainly my face. I have one scarf that's actually quite soft, but it
was a "finder's keepers" one and it hasn't been washed yet. But it's
not nearly thick enough either, so I may stitch it to the front of
this one I'm making (negating any need for color matching), depending
on if I can get it clean (but I HATE pink so it may go elsewhere, as
in a neckwrap or a head thingie). And yes I've tried everything else.
The earmuffs let in just enough cold air into my ear that they aren't
the most effective, but more than the thick hats that are supposed to
keep your head warm (all they do is give me static charged hair, the
wind passes right through them - even when layered).
I've had to resort to wearing my glasses more than I usually do,
though I should wear them all the time, as I paid good money for them.
But seeing as how I'm stubborn and hate stuff hanging off of me (thus
why I never got pierced ears), I've not been a good girl in wearing
them as often as I should. I did all the time during the summer when
it was warm because they are Transitions (making them pretty good
sunglasses), but now with winter here, it's too cold to wear anything
metal anywhere NEAR my face!
The cats are doing great, they probably welcome the cooler air as this
apartment is quite drafty so they are probably in paradise.
Considering their size (14, 18, and 22lb respectively for Jadzia,
Curzon and Nimbus) and their thick Maine Coon coats, it probably feels
good, especially for the boys. However you'd never know it sometimes
the way they love to lay in the sunspots on the carpet, and sometimes
the window. Sometimes I swear I can't tell if their feline or
reptilian! JUST KIDDING - though sometimes they do look like otters!
LOL
The cats got to meet their first puppy in years, cept for Nimbus, it
was his first time around a dog, a couple days ago as the poor pooch
and one of his caretakers got locked out of their apartment. Jadzia
hid right away, as she did when she was a kitten, even though she was
almost as big if not as big as this pup (which is J R Terrier / Pit
mix). Curzon and Nimbus however were something else. Curzon didn't
take as well as he did when he was a kitten, but I'm not sure he
realized it was canine either, considering he was bigger. But the last
few dogs he's come in contact with have been smaller, or he's only
seen heads. So it went reasonably well, as he didn't attack nor did he
run away and hide for the duration of the puppy's stay either.
Nimbus was just hilarious. He let the dog sniff, but the dog got too
insistent on smelling, and Nimbus tried to get away. But when the dog
wouldn't leave him alone, he just turned sideways to the dog and
stretched out his legs, standing on four paws as high as they would
let him go. He didn't puff out his fur, though he did look almost as
big as he could possibly get. That poor puppy must've been thinking
"WTF is this, thought it was a cat!" But no one got hurt, no one got
hissed, snarled, growled or nipped at seriously, though one or two
hisses probably happened and I just didn't hear them as it wasn't that
serious. However, the puppy JUST turned 3 months old so he's in the
midst of his chewing stage and still learning to go bathroom outside,
so it was a challenge keeping an eye on him. But it was like having a
grandkid - he was fun to have around, but I was glad to send him off
too! The experience was good for the cats too, though I'm sure they'd
probably beg to disagree.
Anyways, nothing much new going on here, except the surprises at the
Iowa Caucuses. It did not go as I thought it would. I didn't think
Hillary would take third, and I thought Giulani would at least be
somewhere in the top 3, but I was wrong on both counts. The biggest
winner is probably Edwards, who was counted out just a few months ago,
but placed a strong second behind Obama. Romney is probably the
second-biggest looser (behind Giulani) as he was supposedly supposed
to be neck-and-neck with Huckabee but placed a good 10% behind. But
this is just the first test for all the candidates, so it's too early
to tell. If you go by statistics, '08 is going to come down between
Huckabee and Obama, but I don't see it happening. However, what do I
know? We will see in a matter of months. I just can't wait for '09 -
the POST-Bush era! HIP HIP HORRAY!!!!!!!!!!!! (And please, spare me,
if you are one of the less than 20% that approve of him, spare me your
hate mail, I hear it enough. We need change. We, IMHO, need Bill back.
But we can't, so we'll go with next-best. Hell, I'd take Ronnie right
now. ANYTHING is better than Dubya!)
So off I go for now before I go off on another one of my rants. Stay
safe ya'll, and stay warm/cold, depending on which applies to you. And
Walter, my offer still stands! :P Peace, folks!