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vacation

B and I are going away for the weekend. We'll be robbed blind, of course. I'm just boonswoggled at the cost of accommodation in a holiday area on a holiday weekend. You end up paying through the nose for a hotel that may or may not be as nice as Mot*el 6. People talk about gas prices - we're going on a driving vacation, and there's no doubt the increased price in gas will affect us, but the *increase* is really not significant compared to the price of a fleabag hotel.

Nevertheless, it's going to be really, really nice to get out of here for a few days. We're heading to Winthrop and Leavenworth, East of the mountains. In theory, it should be sunny and warm out there.

Anyway, here is our planned route.

View Larger Map

Friday was a really bad day at work. This week has been much better. On the whole though, I think I'll be lucky to retire without an ulcer or facial tick. When I get irritated, I look at the things other people have to deal with, both coworkers and people who just have miserable jobs. Earning a living is not a walk in the park. It's not supposed to be.

1:17 p.m. - May. 22, 2008

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more elections

Obama takes a majority of delegates (not counting FL and MI) but Clinton declares that this is not a win. Ridiculous? Maybe, but on balance I think not.

Why not, you ask? Well, we are not counting the votes from FL and MI because we are "following the rules." The same rules state that the winner is the candidate who takes 2026 delegates.

I think it's interesting that because of not counting FL and MI, and because this 2026 rule was not, and is not likely to be, changed - it's quite possible that even *with* the superdelegates, a winner might not initially be chosen at the convention. (I haven't heard many say this, so maybe I'm missing something.) They may have to count all the votes for Mr. O to win. Such irony.

The popular vote discussion is an interesting one. Clinton has in fact won the popular vote in terms of votes cast in primaries. Caucuses, where she does poorly, conviently do not include a popular vote. I believe that if you exlude FL and MI, Obama leads, but I'm not certain.

It's basically impossible to calculate a true popular vote. That to me is a negative indicator of the election quality. I'm a bit annoyed with caucuses, because they will cause her to lose, but I have to say I do like the fact that they encourage the people who really care to make the decision. Of course, caucuses aren't great if you have to work on Saturdays or are elderly or handicapped. Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted to be at the caucuses I went to if you had any kind of illness that made it difficult to sit around for hours on end.

3:38 p.m. - May. 20, 2008

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cafeteria food

The Post has been doing a series on childhood obesity. Having read some of the articles and of course Good Cal, Bad Cal, I still don't know what's really causing it - and I'm pretty sure no one else knows for sure either, whether it's a ton of little factors or what.

However, it caused me to reflect on the food offerings at the schools I went to. At RCS, they introduced a new food program when I was in eigth grade where a different vendor came to the school and served lunch every day. Two of the five days were pizza - Pizza Hut and Domino's. Another day was some kind of fried chicken. I think there was Taco Bell another day. I don't remember the rest. You could also buy chips and ice cream. I don't remember there being any other food offerings. At the time, I thought it was fantastic. I LOVED having pizza for lunch. In retrospect, I don't think it really hurt me, partially because my parents were stuffing me full of healthy food (clean plate required) at breakfast and lunch. However, I'm a little horrified. Teenagers love fast food - and to make unhealthy fast food the ONLY option in the cafeteria seems ridiculous. I also remember when they moved in a Coke vending machine. I had extremely skinny arms and was actually able to stick my arm up the machine and get cans without paying. Oh, the sins of my youth. Anyway, we also had a Coke scoreboard, and I am pretty sure in both the cafeteria case and the vending machine case, the school made money off of making highly unhealthy food readily available to us.

At Cave Spr*ing, being a bigger school, there were a lot more options. I remember most of them being unappetizing. I rarely bought lunch. Mom made me lunch - how nice of her for all those years. She'd even bring it in to me if I forgot it. It makes me a little misty thinking about how nice she was to me.

11:31 a.m. - May. 19, 2008

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forecast

I just checked the weather and was amused to see that today's warmth is indeed a fluke. The forecast for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday is showers with highs of 69, 55 and 57 F.

2:28 p.m. - May. 17, 2008

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trapped II

I am sick, sick, sick. It's about a million degrees today (actually in the 80s) for about the first time this year. It's actually been highs in the 60s forever. Anyway, I have a sore throat, cold, and just generally don't feel so hot.

In addition, work really sucked on Friday. It's kind of been going downhill lately, and Friday really, really sucked.

What to do? I'm sure all jobs suck sometimes. After all, it's a *job*. B always tells me I should be happy because most people hate their jobs most of the time, and I only hate mine occasionally. Even when I hate it, there are things about it that I really like. The things I hate about it, though, are not about to go away.

The thought of getting a different job, though, just makes me a little ill. I can't avoid thinking of the stress of moving and starting a new job. It's just overwhelming. And what if I didn't like that one? Maybe I should go back to school. But for what? I think I'd enjoy doing a PhD, but I don't think I'm cut out for what comes after.

I save like crazy, and I AM going to retire early, but that's still a long way off. A really long way off.

I know I have options, but sometimes I feel trapped.

2:07 p.m. - May. 17, 2008