Gigantic Messes

Today's Theme: Quagmires, Messes, Disasters, Morasses, etc.

Number one: I found out on Friday that my paycheck bounced. That's right, my paycheck. From the organization with a few million in the bank. Yeah, it was the bank's fault. Some confusion over account numbers. They got it fixed yesterday, but in the mean time, I got overdraft notices and charges. Luckily, they reimbursed me (the bank is reimbursing them). Today, I went to the bank to drop off the new checks in person. I'm not withdrawing or writing any checks until I can see the money credited. What a hassle. I'm glad it's over.

Number two: Due to my obsessive nerdiness, I've been keeping a timeline as I read the book on British history. It gets really complicated in the 1400s, when a few gazillion different people tried to become king. In a series of events called the Wars of the Roses, these different families argued about who was more related to an old dead former king. And it makes it virtually impossible to keep everyone straight. Today, I actually made a kind of geneaology chart. I had out about 5 encyclopedias and I found myself googling various Henrys and Edwards. A sad, sad day in my life....

Number three: The Bush administration now says that the Iraq insurgency could last up to TWELVE more years. They also say the insurgency is in its "last throes" Which is it, I wonder? My mom suggested that maybe 12 years is how long it will take before we can get all of Iraq's oil....

Maybe We Should Just Light a Candle

Courtesy of Craig's (as in Craigslist) Blog:

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?

1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed;

2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed;

3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb;

4. One to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of light bulbs;

5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb;

6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner: Light Bulb Change Accomplished;

7. One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally in the dark;

8. One to viciously smear #7;

9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along;

10. And finally one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

Is it 2008 Yet?

I haven't done any political-themed posts recently, mostly because I'm too overwhelmed by the number of horribly ridiculous things going on to pick just one. So instead of ranting at length, I thought I'd just include a list of a few political issues/events that have caught my attention.

Good
1) Bush's numbers down
2) Arnold's numbers down
Maybe folks are starting to catch on. But when you see the incredibly low numbers for Congress and the CA legislature, it suggests that maybe everyone's just given up hope. And maybe they have reason:

Bad
1) Say goodbye to free speech--Flag Burning Bill Passed
2) Nobody seems to care that there's actual PROOF that Bush lied to everyone. SF Chronicle We even apparently attempted to goad Saddam Hussein into war a full year before we technically attacked.
Sunday Times
3) Oh, boy. Just what we need. More nuclear power plants.
4) Democrats in Congress will stand up for nothing, as was evidenced by the fact they rolled over and let Bush have his way on oil drilling in Alaska, among other things. This leads me to:

The Mini-Rant
See, I'm limiting myself. Democrats refuse to stand up for anything because they're afraid of political fallout. But the thing is, what voters want is to have candidates who stand for something--candidates with vision and leadership. Bush has vision--tunnel vision, and he's great at leading us to war. Until Democrats can offer Americans a vision-based platform, they'll continue to lose elections.

The OC: Obama and Clinton 2008

The OC: Obama and Clinton 2008
Originally uploaded by kamio.

Lots of fun stuff is available at this site: Angry Left

Voluminous Writings on Scattered Themes

To start off the post, I want to announce the creation of a new word. Coined by Kate's friend Amy, after launched a search for a term that would describe the narcissistic tendencies of us web users.

Meegle:(verb) to search for one's own name on Google

I'm just posting it now, cuz I was hoping to come up with a complementary word that would reference other forms of internet narcissism, like keeping track of who reads your blog, posting those memes, or making polls to ask your friends what to do with your life. It's all just part of the wonders of the internet.

Starting off with a book recommendation, at least for all the girls. It's You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-up Girls, a fun book that offers guides for achieving all kinds of goals, like traveling, learning another language, knitting, getting published, starting a rock band, surfing, or fixing cars. And when you accomplish your goal, you can award yourself one of the cute sticker badges at the back of the book. Ooooh, stickers!

I'm working on the budgeting badge right now. Once I get this whole "write down everything you buy" stuff down, I'll be well on my way...

In good news for those who talk to me por telefono (I'm also trying to get started on that foreign language badge), we may have heard the death knell for the dreaded "Ring of Death." For those who don't know, my cell phone does this thing where people I talk to hear a horrible ringing sound occasionally (I don't hear it, which might be why it's taken so long for me to do anything about it). Anyhow, I'm supposed to get a replacement phone in the mail soon. Yay!

One last question for all of you: If you ask someone to add you to their friends list on Friendster or Myspace and they simply take no action (even after they've logged on), does it means anything? Now, if they reject you as a friend, it's pretty clear they don't like you, but is just ignoring a request a statement in itself? Thoughts, anyone?

Monday Check-in

Today's highlight: Delicious oriental chicken salad for lunch
Today's lowlight: 3 hours of meetings
Word of the day: eleemosynary
Song in my head: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (not exactly a Monday-y song...)

Moving to Sweden

Sometimes this country really p***** me off. I mean we've produced war, corporate greed, Michael Jackson, George W. Bush, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But what has me annoyed right now is our government and it's lack of utility for the citizens.

This morning, I finally managed to convince the IRS (after a few months of trying) that I really don't owe them money. See, the problem was that the fine State of California never sent me the legally required W-2 listing my unemployment tax withholdings. So the IRS couldn't figure out that they had already been paid. What a smart country we live in.

Meanwhile, I need to provide Harvard with proof of my immunizations. I've already had all the required ones-- I had to in order to attend school in California. But the issue is that I have absolutely no record of it. My doctor has long since lost them. The elementary school I attended also lost them back when I was there. So every other school I've been to has taken it on good faith that there was no way I could have gone to the previous school without the immunizations.

But Harvard doesn't care about California laws. And so, I have to go get the shots again. But I have no medical insurance, and I've called 3 local clinics. They all say the same thing: they only give immunizations to children. So I'm stuck, and all because this country can't get its act together and provide universal health care. I wish I lived in Europe.

And Me Too!

You're Tigger. Playful and fun-loving, you enjoy
hanging out with friends even though you don't
always have to be the center of attention.
You're never pessimistic or sluggish. Your
enthusiasm is at once endearing and
over-the-top. You're the quintessential
extrovert.


Which famous feline are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Sorry, Kate L, I'm Tigger! Actually, I'd totally trade for Hobbes...

The Quiet Life

Not much to post about today. I'm looking forward to several exciting posts in the upcoming weeks,however, as I get together with friends this summer.

At work, I'm on computer #3, but I'm hopeful that I will finally get my very own functional computer later today. Maybe.

A funnyism I've been saving for a slow blogging day: My favorite sign in Davis belongs to hair stylist. It says,

"The Hair Saloon: The Best Little Hair House in Town"

If you don't get why this is humorous, say it out loud. If you still don't think it's funny, blame my corny sense of humor.

P.S. Check out the new discussion board towards the bottom of the page!

Ah, Democracy

The headline for the Sacramento Bee today said that 12,000 Iraqi civilians have died in this war. (I was going to link to it, but the article has mysteriously disappeared from the website--here's an article about it though click to read)

Twelve thousand NON-MILITARY deaths: someone's father on his way to work, children playing after school, a mother going grocery shopping. The claim that this war is about helping Iraqis rings awfully hollow when we realize that 4 times as many civilians have died in Iraq as died in the September 11th attacks. But we're bringing democracy to the people, right? Right, to whomever's left alive. Pass the oil.

Technology: Everything old is new

Today, my mom was telling me about a tour she once took of a post office. Apparently, it was just after they'd started using zip codes. It had never occured to me that zip codes were so new (her tour was in the 60s, I think). I guess if I'd really stopped to consider it, I would have realized they had to be invented sometime, but I've just always taken them for granted.

It's amazing the things history can teach us. I'm currently reading a book on the history of England from 3500 BC to 1603 AD (as background for the book I want to read on English legal history [I know; I'm weird]). Apparently, there may have been indoor "loos" in England as far back as 5,000 years ago. Maybe things haven't changed so much after all.

Started my new job on Tuesday. All good, except that the hard drive on the computer they set up for me crashed sometime between Friday at 5 pm and Tuesday at 8:30 am. It seems the computer has been on its last legs for awhile, and the prospect of me using it put it over the edge. So I have to wait for a bit til I have a computer.

So to sum up: Zip codes are new, toilets are old, and my work computer belongs in the loo.