Me and the Writers’ Strike

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008, 12:56 pm

Nah, I’m no writer. But there’s been a really great side effect of the strike—I’m reading more. I’m turning the TV off and just reading. (But that does mean I’m crafting less. Can’t read and knit at the same time.)

Just finished Spook Country by William Gibson. It’s like Pattern Recognition in that the story is set in the early 21st century and most (if not all) of the technology spoken about is available today. He’s returned to using the Loa as gods of technology. One of the characters, while never called this in the story, obviously serves as a horse for Ogoun/Oshun. It is a well written book, but I think that Pattern Recognition was more gripping.

Now I’m reading The Bielski Brothers (title truncated) by Peter Duffy. Fascinating account about how a Jewish family stuck together and created a partisan movement that ultimately saved the lives of more than 1000 Jews. I’ve had so much time to read that I started the book last night and I’m already half way through it.

I’m taking just a tiny break from reading medieval history, but I’m still fascinated with the period. I’m thinking about picking up Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth AFTER I read a few more books on my ever expanding bookshelves.

I’m determined to buy no books until I finish 5 books that I can remove from my shelves (that is, not save.) Haven’t done a good job with that so far—of the 5 books I’ve read this month, 2 were the property of the beach house, 1 is medieval history (in other words, saving that for reference later), and 1 is a favorite writer (and I’ll keep his books for a while in case there’s a cross-over character/event in any of his future books). That means only 1 book for the “donate-or-sell” pile. Okay I lie, there are 3 books for that pile—I have two soap crafting books that I’ve decided to part with, and maybe a cross-stitch book.

Tags: books

Why is this such BIG NEWS?

Friday, January 25th, 2008, 12:27 pm

Another celebrity crashes and burns, dies young and tragically. I feel for his friends and family. Really I do. But why is this headline news for day and days and days? Why are huge pages of newsprint in reputable newspapers dedicated to memorializing him and speculating on why this tragedy occurred? And why, tell me WHY is it so important to find out the funeral details?

When did it become more important to all of us that some cute actor died than all the other things going on in this country and the world?

We’re coming up on a tragic anniversary for my dance studio "family.” About 10 years ago on President’s Day weekend, one of my fellow instructors met with his estranged wife then shot her and himself. Both died, leaving their two sons (one of whom was still in high school) orphans. We were all shocked and devastated. And the only mention anywhere of this real tragedy was 1 line in a weekly newspaper and a short mention on the nightly news. So what if he wasn’t a movie star and she was not some celebutante? Why are their deaths less worthy of note than some movie star’s? I can tell you that our pain was no less real, that our world was no less darkened by their deaths.

Why should I really care that some movie star, who in the grand scheme of things will probably have LESS impact on the world than my co-worker did (my co-worker's day job had some importance), probably died through his own stupid actions? 

GOOB TIME!

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008, 5:18 pm

I JUST GOT MY EPIC FLYER! W00T!!!!

Sorry, I'm home sick with the creeping crud hubby gave me. Time for my nap now.

On Employment Today

Friday, January 11th, 2008, 11:11 am

I can breathe a sigh of relief again. I did indeed get a raise this year, and it was again more than I normally get. This was a small cause for concern because they did lay-off 4 employees last month so raises were of course not to be expected.

Alas, I had to make changes again to my retirement and health care accounts without knowing IF I was getting a raise, and if so, how much of a raise I would get. Probably not completely wise to do, but when one needs to get retirement ducks in a row one makes sacrifices, and well, the feet ain’t gittin’ any younger. So, I was afraid that this first paycheck might be smaller than the last just because of those changes. It is not going to be the case.

WHEW!

But it does make me wonder how much longer I should stay with this organization. I love working here—my bosses are great and they’ve worked hard to help me develop within this career. But the Association itself is not doing so well. The profession we support is not growing and our membership keeps shrinking every year. Our membership constantly works to keep out the new technology that is the future of this profession, so we are turning away many potential new members who then go to another organization. This happened once before when there was a major change in the technology. Eventually the membership did acquiesce, but I don’t’ know if that will happen again.

I’ve been here 7 years now. That’s such a long time in terms of jobs for me. Shoot, the only job I’ve held longer is my teaching position, and that has been almost 14 years with the same school. Yeah, today employers don’t value longevity with past employers at the same level it was held even back in the 1990s, but I really don’t want to move if I can avoid it. Changing jobs when one is trying to plan for a reasonable age of retirement is difficult. Stability makes such planning much easier.

But blood has been spilt. I know that this organization is having some financial problems. My feet are getting itchy.

Tags: job, thanks

A Happy New Year to ALL!

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008, 12:08 pm

Yeah, I know it’s late. I was at the beach. So sue me. *wink*

The New Year is often a time when we set goals for the next year, so here are my New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Stress Less. Don’t create stress for myself and avoid those situations that I know will create stress. For those things I cannot avoid, learn to let go of the stress. It’s not worth it.

2. Lose weight. I’m setting no goal for the amount, just to try and eat healthier and exercise more. Gearing up to walk another 60 miles next October will help here.

3. Buy less. I don’t need new clothes (ok, except for limited athletic gear). I don’t need more jewelry. I only need shoes to replace the ones I have. Buy only books that I know I will read soon or use regularly. (I’d say go to the library instead, but I’m so bad on getting books back on time and frankly certain books I want to keep.)

3. Get more organized. Clean out the closet. (I’ve already made strides by getting another bookshelf to get our books off the floor.) Get the paperwork cleaned up in the home office. Do laundry more often. CLEAN. SIMPLIFY.

4. Give more. I have so many things I just don’t use. I shouldn’t sit on them like a dragon hoarding.

5. Spend more time with my husband doing what he wants to do and not saying boo about it.

Yes, I know they recommend that one should only set 1 or 2 goals for the year. I will be happy if I achieve positive steps in all of them or only 1 of them.

Tags: goals