Debt ceiling

There has been a lot of talk about the debt ceiling lately. Most of it has centered around the idea of the federal budget and the national debt. However, as has been pointed out very nicely, the budget, while important, is not what should be the center of debate. It's really about transparency and accountability.

A national treasury is only accountable when the people have real power over the government.  When the people don’t hold such power – when they can’t remove officeholders at will, or expect to have their electoral choices respected – the accountability of the national treasury is one of the first casualties.  Honesty and transparency with the public is not the natural state of affairs when it comes to public treasuries.  Those qualities have to be guarded with the vigilance inherent in consensual, electoral systems of government, where the citizen’s rights are respected, and the rejection of incumbents results in peaceful transfers of power.

 The people of this country currently do not feel that their federal government is respecting their electoral choices or being transparent about how things are being run.

Today, I hate (some of) my coworkers.

Normally, the idiots that I work with don't bother me too much. I know that they're immature and too stupid to insult. Then, they step up their game. Here's the scoop.

So I got a phone call asking me to switch shifts on Sunday, so my coworker can go to her boyfriend's work party with him. Now, I have just finished making plans with family for next Sunday, so I say no. I would have had no objection to helping, but I have already made plans with my brother-in-law. No dice. That should be it...right? No. She gets this whiny-ass tone and asks if there's any way I can change or cancel my plans. Um, no. I already told you that. Now, I hear that a third party is upset because I won't change schedules - and someone had the audacity to call her to see about switching schedules to work when she has off.

Do I work in the freaking Twilight Zone here? One person is pissed that I won't cancel my plans, so she can go to a party. Another is pissed that I won't cancel my plans, so she got a call asking if she'd mind working on a day that she normally has off.

What is wrong with these people? This is only the third time overall and first at our store since I started working that I have not agreed to switching hours or covering an extra shift for people. I take calls and answer questions from home. I agree to cover for someone who couldn't make it on 15 minutes notice - and that includes getting changed and driving. Have I just been so accommodating for so long that everyone expects me to automatically drop everything? I've got news for you folks. I'm done with covering for your stupid asses. Piss off.

Lipstick Feminism and the Fly Lady

I used to want to be Donna Reed...the clean house, baking yummy stuff, nutritious meals, and handsome husband. I've updated that. I want to be Laura Petrie instead. She did everything Donna Reed did except she got to wear capris instead of dresses all the time, and she had a wonderful handsome goofball of a husband.

 
Enter reality. Baking, cooking, and the wonderful handsome goofball of a husband....check. Even remotely clean and organized house...not a chance. Now, I've seen people in real life have clean and organized houses, so I know that it can be done outside the magic of television. However, it has always seemed like the harder the perfectionist me tried, the worse things got until it reached a totally out of control point.

Enter the fly lady. It's about two weeks into things, and the major milestone here is that it's the longest EVER that I have been able to maintain any sort of cleaning/organizing routine. The coolest part is that the clean areas are growing just like the cluttered mess used to grow. Don't get me wrong. The house is still a mess, and there's no way that I'll be hosting a party any time soon. The point is that it is slowly getting better and staying that way. (Sure, boxing some stuff up for storage has helped too even though they're still sitting in the living room. However, clutter is not going in the boxes. We know that we are going to be moving in the near future, and getting a jump on packing should ease that stress when the time comes.) Pretty soon the only thing that's going to be keeping me from being Laura Petrie is having two twin beds in the master bedroom - and I think that I'll skip that part.

Casey Anthony Trial

The recent trial in Florida makes me wonder a few things.

#1 Why have so many people obsessed about it? I did not pay any attention to this trial. Why? Because the people involved have nothing to do with me or anyone that I know, and the entire situation is outside of my ability to influence or control it in any way. Why do people make such a huge emotional investment in stuff that has nothing to do with them? Instead of watching all of the TV coverage of a trial like this, turn off the boob tube, hug your kids, and tell them that you love them. Call your parents and let them know that you appreciate all that they did to raise you.

#2 Why is it that many of the people who are up in arms about the fact that a mother would kill her kid are the same people who do not see a problem with abortion. Just because a baby that hasn't been born yet doesn't have cute dimples or pigtails doesn't mean that it's any less a human being. I'm not saying that people are overreacting. I'm saying that they should be more upset. Thousands of kids are killed by their mothers every year, and people aren't as upset about it as they should be. Life is life.

Hmmm

I thought that giving myself permission to speak my mind freely would be fantastic.There are so many things that have been bottled up for so long that it is hard to know where to start. It's probably going to take a little time to get used to the idea that I can say what I want to say.