For years I kept journals -- in composition, spiral bound, and French graph paper books. This blog is an attempt to get back to writing and documenting the world around me using photos, newspaper headlines, and other articles.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Counting down to midnight

At least there is a chance that we will get paid even if there is a furlough.  According to the Federal Times, BHO said that he thinks government workers should get paid even if there is a shut down, see full story here.  That eases my mind.  And I know that I will report to work on Monday and pick up my furlough notice if a budget agreement has not been reached.

The amount of time that the senior executives have spend over the past two weeks preparing for the shut down could have been put to much better use.  Their time could have been spent much more productively tackling regular business.  What a shame that our country's interests were put on hold while the executives were trying to make up essential personnel lists.  The whole thing is a waste -- of time, resources, good will, and energy.

At least I can look forward to warm spring weather while we have a family yard work weekend.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Tomorrow midnight

The leaders of our government have until tomorrow at midnight to pass the budget or we go into a shutdown.  I'm mad at all sides -- the Republican's for not standing up to their Tea Party wing and for continually moving the goal posts of spending cuts.  I'm mad at the Democrats for not dealing with this last year when they controlled both sides and it was their job to pass the budget before October 1 and they didn't.  I'm disappointed in BHO for not getting off his lofty perch earlier and start fighting for his work force.  I'm equal opportunity irritated. 

I'm sorry, but government does matter.  We have a system that is envied by so much of the world.  It is envied because it is participatory; based on secular laws; divided into branches so that one aspect of it can't get so egotistical that it swallows up the others.   It takes people to run that very government, to provide the services that its citizens need, want, and expect.  Critics say that they want to shut the government down as if it was just a building and they are going to lock the doors.  But it is real live people who make up the government who rely on the income to feed their families and keep this economy going. I may be non-essential, but try leaving the country and then re-entering without the service I provide.  Good luck with that.  Would the critics rather add 800,000 to the ranks of the unemployed tomorrow? 

In the news the other night was the fact that the company that was part of the issue of the Deep Horizon oil spill of last year is providing safety bonuses for their executives.  Excuse me?  And in one of the proposed budgets is a five year pay freeze for me because I need to share in the sacrifice.  Show me the executives who are sacrificing?  I don't see any. 

And then don't get me started about Trump continuing the nonsense that our president was not born in the US.  Do you think that the other Democrats would have let him contest in the primaries if he hadn't been born in Hawaii?  Get over it already.  That's my rant for the night.

I have gotten to write this because my lovey-lamb is at the park with our neighbor and my hubby is at a town meeting to discuss the road improvements in our area.  I cleaned up from our delicious dinner (bean and rice soup, Turkish fried bread stuffed with mashed potatoes and feta cheese, cucumber slices and hummus) and plopped myself on the couch to watch the news, followed by golf.

I love watching golf.  But I am so not into the reverence that is Augusta National.  I appreciate the beauty of the course, the history of the tournament.  However, you're not going to get me to wax poetically about a place that still won't have women as full members.  Hello?  What century are we living in? 

Clearly I need to get out into the garden and do a little weed therapy.  I need to start pulling out the dead stuff from last fall and getting ready to plant next month.  I worked with Mom out there today for the first time.  I came home from work and she was raking the back lawn.  I got into raking the herb boarder and uncovered chives and lemon balm green shutes.  I hope I can move the pea fence this weekend and plant peas where I had the dill last year. 

OK. Selim is back. Time for batch and bed.

Friday, April 1, 2011

April Fools

We did indeed get 5" of snow last night and through this morning.  The office was quiet.  I was there with another TDYer and our Regional Director.  That was it.  I'm glad I went into the office even though at 4:30 I really wanted to turn off the alarm and get back under the covers.

I've been thinking about Grammy B ever since we heard on Wednesday that she is in the hospital.  At 93 she is still a remarkable woman.  Twenty years ago I started watching golf on TV so that we would have something in common.  She liked Greg Norman and I chose Fred Couples to follow.  When Freddie (her nickname) won, she would send me the newspaper clipping of his victory.  She also kept record of Greg's wins.  At one point before she moved, she threw out her folder of clippings because she didn't want anybody to find it and think she was a stalker.  As if...She is in the hospital because she has been falling a lot.  But she didn't want to be a bother anyone in the living facility so she didn't tell a nurse.  The other night she fell and wasn't found for hours.  When Mom spoke with her yesterday she said it has been "rough."  She never complains, even when she is entitled.  I have always known that I can learn a great deal from her example.

So right now I'm sitting on my bed watching the Shell Houston Open in honor of Grammy.  Freddie just made a birdie and I'm sure if she knew, she would smile.