pondering gun control

yesterday someone and i got into a discussion on gun control. probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. he started off by making a comment about the president trying to take away the 2nd amendment. i asked what he meant by that and he said, "the president wants to do away with our god-given right to bear arms."
WHOA.
so i said, actually, as far as i knew the issue had to do with semi and fully automatic weapons and large capacity clips, not his right to go out and stalk and murder bambi.
(yeah, i do realize that there was probably a nicer way to say that)
then he says, it's true, he personally doesn't use his fully automatic and giant banana clip to hunt. i nodded and said, of course, since you and i both know that if you need all that, maybe you need a different hobby.
so then he says, "i agree -- but i don't think the president should try to take away my automatic and banana clip because they are necessary. when i get really fed up or upset, i LIKE going out and just shooting at schitt. i ain't gonna kill anybody. i just use it to get rid of tension."

at which point, i'm standing there thinking ... OMG ... and THIS need to go out and shoot the crap out of stuff to 'get rid of tension' is EXACTLY why i support gun control.

adventures in wallyworld

so, today we went to wally world to do our weekly grocery run. (the idea that this is going to be the ONE day we buy groceries will, of course, be the subject of yet another rant.) we should have realized it would be wally world hell because it took a while to find a parking space. why? because of RUDE, INCONSIDERATE ppl yakking on their cell phones while they drive down the middle of what should be two lanes and people who have a need to walk in the center of the lanes and don't hang on to their small children who think it's funny to step in front of your car and watch you brake and swear. and u gotta love MN drivers who need to park centered ON the line so no one will ding their paint jobs.

but we got a space, and grabbed a cart on the way to the entrance because RUDE, LAZY ppl don't have the time or energy to push their carts TWO spaces over to the cart corral. no. instead they leave em pushed up against other cars, or tangled halfway across a lane. and we walked toward the entrance, dodging LAZY INCONSIDERATE ppl who pull up and park in front of the store to wait for their person inside.

so we start trying to walk through the aisles, dodging small children pushing carts and playing bumper cars while their parents block the rest of the aisle yakking on their cell phones; pushy soccer moms who are pissed off and bitching with other soccer moms that their kids aren't playing soccer (oh HELLO there's still snowbanks out there???), and delivery ppl who are pushing huge racks of product and swerving to try to avoid the teenagers jumping in front of the racks just to freak them out.

we find things like product that has been opened and played with (did we mention that ppl seem to think it's okay for their kids to do things like open frosting and write their names with it???) and partially consumed beverages. we forge on. we maneuver around the four families with carts and assorted kids, who think there's nothing wrong with blocking the employee access doors and the entire aisle because it's important to tell each other a few jokes. they glare at us and swear when we end up saying very loudly (they ignored us the first three times), "EXCUSE ME. WE ALL WOULD LIKE TO GET PAST YOUR BLOCKADE." yeah. we did.

and we finally make it to the self serve check out. where we wait. not because the computers weren't working. not because there wasn't an available scanner. no. because there is a person raising holy hannah at the wally world employee because that person's sweet little angel has jammed something or other and somehow it's the employee's fault.

i think i can count on one hand the number of employees there that i think are as rude, inconsiderate, lazy, and dishonest as a great many of the ppl we encountered today. i take the time to say please and thank you to the employees i interact with -- it doesn't cost me anthing to use the good manners i was raised with, and it's got to be pretty damned difficult to deal with customers who act like some of the ppl i described.

here we go again ?????

thinking about this thing we call american politics. here in neverneverland (edge of nowhere, population 14 and a cow or two <-- okay maybe i'm exaggerating a tad ... i counted the cow twice) it's a sort of odd thing.

according to people here, the president raised their health insurance rates -- "noooo it's not the fault of insurance companies -- business has to make a profit -- it was the president -- he also cut what's covered -- no, extending family planning, preventive care such as annual physicals -- that's just a trick because the democrats want to control our lives. and more people having access to health insurance of some kind or another? good lord, next he's going to want universal health care."" i worry about that person who said that.

my health insurance currently covers nothing i need. my annual check-up doesn't count as a physical. why? they draw extra blood which i'm charged for and demand to see me at least twice which i'm charged for, it doesn't count as a physical because i won't let them do extra testing. i sort of like having enough blood in my system to be able to stand up and walk. i know ... silly me ... my medication isn't covered either because it's not synthetic ... the doc doesn't even read my chart because it's not computerized but she tells me that a life threatening allergy to synthetic just means we haven't tried the right one yet. i beg to differ and it isn't only because i don't like getting stabbed with needles to treat anaphylaxis ... it's because i don't agree that a new drug on the market means that we all need to change to it ... i don't agree that synthetic anything is better than natural.

so i don't have a problem with the idea of universal health care. i don't have a burning need or desire for elective surgery. i just want to see people get access to basic health care.

so i am terribly saddened by senator tim johnson declining to run for another term. i understand why he's decided this. i totally agree with his stated reasons. i just am terribly saddened that the edge of nowhere will be represented by thune (remember his big expensive poster of dollar bills to the moon??), noem (apparently tea party stands for pushing for the pipeline through farm land whose owners are on record saying NO), and i hear the other person will be a former governor who saw nothing wrong with cutting education while promoting a whole line of statues of governors -- which is wonderful to see if u happen to be able to afford taking time off from work and life to go to the capital and walk around. which i unfortunately can't do.

monku monku monku

here it is, years later and i'm still dealing with ppl who don't seem to understand that i just want to do my work. don't want to get pulled into their head games, don't care what their issues are with other workers, so long as they're doing their job. just let me do my work. leave me alone. wow. that sounds bitter. but here's what it's like on a normal shift: U doesn't even say hello, just says "well schitt, here we are. i wonder if R is going to show up. L will probably have all kinds of excuses about why that section isn't getting done. personaly, i think it's all bullshit and i think you should say something." from my perspective, i'm thinking if U has such a huge issue, U should say something. don't try to get me involved. J comes in and starts bitching about the ppl wandering around. L just sits there, screwing with a cellphone and reading all the crude jokes that we're supposed to find funny. R comes in, grabs stuff and heads off to work. doesn't talk. my kind of person. so i grab stuff, and head off to work. 15 minutes into the shift, i'm mentally reworking my schedule because i've run into issues that are going to slow things down -- 5 minutes mentally bitching about idiots who can't put things back, while i hunt for stuff. L comes in and follows me around bitching about how much work there is to do. i say, then L should get back to it. L leaves to find U to complain that i am not being a team player. U follows L and they spend time walking around looking at all the work that needs to be done. 50 minutes later and i've managed to get back on schedule and this is a good thing because i hit another delay (gotta love meetings) but i can work around that. U comes over to follow me around telling me that L is not working fast enough, and that R is not doing things the way the boss said, and that K really shouldn't be working because K can't handle the pace, and that S is an idiot and shouldn't be here, and i should do things the way U does because it's more efficient. what ever. after U finally leaves, S comes over to tell me that something was done. which is fine but why tell me since it's not my work -- it's U's work. S also tells me that A helped to do U's work. L comes over to tell me it's break time and asks where U is. i keep on working until i'm at a good stopping point (10 minutes later) then head out to take a quick 15 minute break. i go back to work after taking 10, because there's stuff i really want to get to and i won't miss the 5 minutes. 35 minutes later as i'm hitting the halfway mark in my tasks, i hear U and L coming back from break ... which means they took a 45 minute break on top of spending most of the work time walking around ??? what ever. i know that i'm the only one who sticks to the 15, but as long as their work is getting done, it isn't my concern. i get most of my work done (only three things left), and take a mental moment as i work, to smile over the compliments and thank you's miscellaneous ppl have said today. even if my coworkers have nothing good to say about me or to me, it's still nice to know someone noticed what i do :) lunch time. i know everyone else went to lunch 10 minutes ago, but i had to finish a tricky task. only 2 things left on my to do list. yay! i leave for lunch (it's only 30 minutes, but i leave so i won't have to listen to bitching lol) back at work, i finish up the two remaining tasks. i hear U and L come back from lunch (they sit around for 10 until time, punch out for lunch, punch back in on time, then sit for another 15 or so). i have been told to NOT finish their tasks for them -- that they need to get their own work done. which is fine with me. i start on the "group" work only to find that U did the "easy" stuff while K, S and A did U's work. hmm. this leaves the "grunt" work ... the stuff U avoids with U's idea of ingenious excuses like "R needs help" (R says this means U walks around checking R's work) or "L needs help" (which means the two of them walk around bitching about what needs to be done) or "I'll be right back" (it takes U about 65 minutes to do a 20 minute security check). whatever. suddenly it's break time and U and L don't understand why i don't want to go on break with them. (i cherish my quiet down time!!!) 10 minutes later (i don't generally take the whole break ever) i'm finishing up the grunt work and mentally bitching about ppl who don't seem to grasp the concept of putting stuff where it belongs. at 10 minutes to end of shift i'm supposed to sit down and write a summary report -- what's done, not done, what needs attention. this is a problem because everybody else had something that didn't get done, but they don't want it written down because i got my stuff done and they think it will make them look bad. what ever.

responsibility ... how exactly does that work?

ok if someone we won't name has lost at least four debit cards, three IDs, and a laptop, not to mention broken several cell phones, a couple doors, a few locks, and other miscellaneous things above and beyond the fake fingernail thang ....

WHY would she not understand why we would not want to give her key to our place?

how embarrassing is it? (reference to previous post)

it's soooooo embarrassing that:

our republican friends here are planning to change party affiliation (by mail since they don't want to be SEEN doing it)

it must be soooo embarrassing to be a south dakota republican

think about it ...
south dakotans are sposed to be totally republican, right?
and totally conservative, right?
and ... well ... totally heartland, right? u know ... the whole america's heartland and breadbasket thaaaaaang u learned in 4th grade ...

it must be sooooo embarrassing to be a south dakota republican right now tho.

it was embarrassing when john thune stood up on national telly to argue that if u stack real bills to represent the national debt, it would reach the moon ...

AND SHOWED HIS POSTER TO PROVE IT ....

omg

when ur kid makes a poster like that, u pat her or him on the head and say oh, how nice

when a united states representative does that ....

u CRINGE!!!!

ok but we move on and forget it, right?

so then a few weeks later, we're watching national telly again and omgggggggggggggggg

four state legislatures have voted for secession.

four.

three are the usual states, like texas which hasn't decided yet whether they're republican or mexican, according to the tejanos i know ....

and the fourth.
omg.
the fourth is SOUTH DAKOTA??????

how would THAT work?????

like .... children, this is a map of the united states and that blot in the middle towards the top? ummmmm ... well .... they used to be south dakota. they're ... well ...

CONFUSED MUCH????

*sigh*

so not gonna say i told u so (AGAIN???)

just read through parts of this blog and thought OMGGGGGGGGGG ... the post "so NOT gonna say i told u so" (25 Nov 2007) ... LMAO! cos the description of the guy is sooooo like how i'd describe the current one. as alex used to say, HOLY CRAP.

NEway, was interesting spending a little time yesterday talking with one of her friends. i don't actually know her name (so much for the courtesy of INTRODUCING ppl eh), but, as i said, it was interesting.

barack obama

I don't really enjoy campaign years. I really really don't. I really truly don't like politics. That said, I sat myself down in the parlor this weekend to work on some origami designs. My other half walked in and turned on the evil tv to (*GASP*) a CABLE news thing. In spite of my repugnance, I actually found myself paying attention and being impressed. WHOA! Mr. Obama definitely gets my vote.

why?

To begin with, he wasn't speaking simple-minded "dumb it down for the masses" campaign rhetoric. He was actually giving thoughtful, thought-provoking responses. He didn't mud sling on the gas tax holiday boondoggle (which he could have). He talked about what the gas tax is used for, and why a few cents a day per car makes a HUGE difference in the national transportation system. (Something I've been harping on at work.)

I was really impressed with his speaking abilities. He didn't resort to bubbababble, hilaryspeak, or mccainbraindrain. (yeah, I admit, I really do refer to stuff that way.) He was articulate -- a quality you don't often find in politicians. He is intelligent -- something that somehow doesn't seem too evident in our last few leaders. And he is believable -- something I didn't think I'd EVER say about a politician. I actually DO believe that he cares.

wow.

Okay, so, I guess that means yeah ... tomorrow I have to haul tushy down to the courthouse and change my voter registration to democrat. I think if they'll let me, I'll also absentee vote at the same time, because I really can't afford to miss time from work. (Okay I admit it ... it's also because I know darn well that those little old ladies working the polling places are staunch Republicans who know me by name.)

4get the drama ...

today at school, i asked who people thought would be the next president. (BOY was that a mistake)

• Peg: "You're running for president?" <-- hmmmmmmm.
• Angie: "I think McCain. The other one is a woman and we're just not ready for a woman president."
• moi: "Really? why not?"
• Angie: "Well, women get all emotional and stuff. And you know, who wants a president with mood swings?"
• moi: "Mood swings? ummm ... Doesn't McCain have kind of a short fuse?"
• Angie: "Well, he's just under pressure. But if McCain gets like that under pressure, think how bad Mrs. Clinton would be, because she'd get emotional."
• moi: "Just wondering because I guess I just don't want to see her husband back in the White House ... you know, the whole third term thing?"
• Angie: "Oh that. That wouldn't be so bad. Just not his wife. She'd be too emotional."
• Peg: "Well, I think McCain would be a mistake because he'd just be a third term of Bush."
• Angie: "Maybe, but anything's better than a woman."
• moi: "But there's a third choice, too."
• Angie: "No, I don't think so. He's just too popular."

... i was like ... HUH ????? The more I think about it, the more I'm sure ... I'm switching parties and I'll vote Obama. If he doesn't get the Democratic nomination, I'll vote in the general election but I'm leaving the presidential box blank.

I seriously think the other two candidates have HUGE issues. Think about it.

Hilaryspeak portrays herself as "one of the boyz" ... but she certainly DOESN'T know what it's like for us common folk since she clearly doesn't know how to pump gas or get coffee from a coffee machine at 7-11

... why? because she says she hasn't actually bought gas in a long time ... the SECRET SERVICE has taken care of that.

Come on, folks! You know what THAT means ... that means WE HAVE BEEN PAYING FOR HER GASOLINE AND ENTOURAGE! do we really want to put her in office????

and McCain isn't much better. both he and Hilaryspeak want us to go to war with iran. OH HELLO we can't even afford the present wars and they want us to wipe out iran as well? i don't think there's moral justification for that is there?

... and by the way ... the so called gas tax vacation would mean that we'd have even cruddier trips this winter when the department of transportation won't have those dollars to do things like clear up after blizzards, or haul people out of ditches because the ROADS weren't FIXED ...

or, as suki pointed out, when grandma was dying, she asked for the reverend to come pray with her. when the reverend walked into the room, he freaked out when i stood up. he thought i was her. then he looked at the hospital bed and saw grandma. he was like, "but she's still alive. i came to pray FOR her."

we were like, "okay, but she would really take comfort if you would pray with her now???" and he was like, "but she's still alive."

as suki pointed out, ya can't be held responsible for the beliefs of other people or associations you have. the reverend not willing to pray with grandma certainly wasn't what we believed was buddhist thought or tradition, and yet, we're still buddhist, even if we still think the reverend is a horrendous pain in the ass.

mr. obama isn't responsible for what that crazy wright guy is saying or has said in the past. after all, this IS a free country ... you know ... freedom of religion, freedom of speech ...

if we aren't suppoosed to hold bush against mccain, or bubba's cigar antics against hilaryspeak ... exactly why should we hold wright against mr obama?????

coolest shirt quote:

Forget the drama --
Vote Obama!