Thursday, June 09, 2011

Back into the Routine...

Well, golly. I've been gone from here awhile, eh? I have to admit that it was even longer because I got so out of the blog habit towards the end of my absence that I put my re-entry off even longer! I dunno, I think it really all boils down to my meds and me not wanting to accept the fact that they make me pretty introverted when I have to take a big dose.

Several times a year, I get my arthritis meds intravenously, which the latest was the week before my last post. Sometimes there is not much of that effect, but other times, wham. The mimic symptoms of ADD hit me, and along with that is just not being able to communicate a lot like I normally can. So, just know that for the future, and I will likewise try to remind when it's that time again.

So, okay, then. Wow, May was very active for me. There were a few family birthdays, Mothers Day, graduations, company dinners, and a visit from my Arthurs a couple times. I have planned for June to be a non-working vacay at home to rest up. I'm taking a couple of much-needed online classes in art, but otherwise I plan to do a lot of reading and resting and photo organization and painting of backgrounds.

However, I've developed an annoying habit this week...cannot quit giggling "Weiner's weiner!" like some 7-year old kid. Man, I've never liked Anthony Weiner that much and will definitely never forgive him for his atrocious bullying of Meghan Kelly on her noon Fox show a few weeks before she went on maternity leave(which she graciously endured, much to her credit, as it really showed him to be the ass we all now know he is).

So, I really have zero empathy or sympathy for him in his current scandal. He acts almost all the time on TV like some pubscent pimply-faced teenage know-it-all, and I think David Letterman should be his bff, quite frankly. However, I don't particularly think I'll be angry should he not resign, and I'm not holding my breath as I would say if I had to predit that he's not gonna go voluntarily. The whole thing is just *ick*, though, and then tonight we hear that his wife is pregnant and the ironic icing on the cake is that she is one of Hillary Clinton's aides. Oh geez, it just never ends (and on both sides of the aisle as well).

There has been a multitude of contentious and major issues that I could have blogged about, but I do not dare to unearth any of them right now as the new ones keep coming. Remember that Lucy episode where she and Ethel were on that chocolate candy assemly line? Yeah. That. But what has struck me as appearing all of a sudden is the real wave of pessimism and fatalism in the American spirit lately. People are scared and trying to act like they aren't. Scared or nervous...something like that.

I devoted a little time earlier this evening to thinking about this, and had to stop as it was bumming me out (as I guess it logically would, right?). And I lucked out with a feel-better escape as it happened. I surfed onto Piers Morgan interviewing Jack Welch. And that was all I needed to feel better. Weird? Probably. But that Welch can make you buy swampland in a desert. His enthusiasm is so contagious. How old is he? 75, I believe. Amazing. And hey, Piers Morgan does a great interview. I don't know why he gets a bad rap cuz I think he is better than Larry King. I always try to check out whose on his show.

About the country's bummer mode, what I do know is that the Lamestream liberal media is not even trying to sweep it under the rug this week. Guess too many unemployment numbers and negative polls came out to allow them to downplay it (which it turns out they have been doing for weeks now -- Fox has been the exception, was bumming me out, so I've been watching a greater amount of CNN and MSNBC for awhile now...so I know.).

I am even hearing predictions of another dip, this time worse than the first one. And that with no QE3 to soften it, look for even higher prices for everything, in particular commodities and interest rates. Yeah, that's good if you have a lot of savings and don't drive a lot. Or use electricity. Or water. Add in that housing is calling out "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up." winkwink

Now, my empty nester Hubster and I do happen to be sitting on a lot of cash savings, and you know that evil Exxon feeds and clothes us, so I could just say lettem eat cake. But that's not my style, plus I'm superstitious. Say it and watch it catch in the wind and go splat back in your face. I am hoping actually that this is just a short-term adjustment for the adults in Congress cutting the spending strings. I mean, even though they haven't successfully passed any huge cuts, you can bet your bottom dollar that Bernanke would be begging for some QE3 money and Obama would already have proposed another bail-out by now, but the message is frugality + no tax increases. So we sit and make the economy struggle to right itself. We rely on capitalism to save the day. It will be a long wait.

Personally, I don't think it hurts most of us to do without some things. I know that we are watching things, choosing just a few faves and not doing everything we like. I do worry about those who fall apart because they were week to week and then lose a job or incur big unexpected expenses. All I can say is that I hope those folks run to the govt safety nets we do have in place and if they get screwed then yell at the top of your lungs and don't quit til we pay attention. In bad times, you want these systems to be running on all cylinders and not need a tune up. I mean, I know they are the subject of debate over continuing to fund them, but while they are here and now, they should be used. I don't know what upsets me worse, a gov't program that is not absolutely necessary, or one that is and under-utilized.

Not really firing my sparkplugs over any of the GOP prez candidates, but I really do wish that Sarah Palin hadn't opened her mouth to opine on Paul Revere. See, I know exactly what she meant. I think I can figure out what she says because I have kind of the same problem she has. I call mine verbal dyslexia. And I consistently score a 151 on Mensa's IQ test, so don;t be calling ME an idiot. Likewise, I doubt she is, either.

But, this latest gaff of hers gets replayed over and over. And after awhile, I'm like, cringing. I really hope she doesn't run for prez. I mean, I like her and admire her, but she is like version 1.0, full of bugs. Essential to the evolution, but at times really uncomfortable to live with.