Sunday, August 24, 2008
Ira Glass Replaced My Mom
So , some months back , my daughter, knowing that one of my keen interests in life is the stories of my fellow human beings, sent me a CD of several such stories. My first exposure to This American Life . If you've not heard of it, it is a radio ( and now TV ..on Showtime apparently. ) program broadcast by Public Radio International and recorded in Chicago. The host of the show is Ira Glass.
Well after listening to the three stories on that CD, I was pretty much hooked. The perfect blend of human interest, slight sarcasm at times and plenty of humor. The kind of thought provoking humor that I like and a bit of touching or sometimes just plain sad moments that cause real tears to well up..
While in Montana my son-in-law ( first time saying that! ) burned me a CD of about 20 podcasts of the program.. and Ira Glass began his non violent takeover in my life.
See, I have this old Bose radio/CD player next to my bed, and I have discovered that instead of reading when I went to bed at night, I could put a CD in and Ira Glass would soothe me to sleep. Sort of like my mother reading to me or telling me stories at night when I was a child.
The only downside is that it takes me a real l o n g time to hear a whole program. Because , well, I fall asleep! Just like when Mom would tell me stories . Typically I eventually put the CD in my car and finish listening while I drive.
(Fortunately I don't fall asleep at those times!)
Now I subscribe to the podcast myself.
So Ira, if you find this little story on an rss feed or something. Know that a middle aged lady in Kansas, with a love for the stories of my fellow earthlings, is soothed to sleep each night with your presentation.
Oh... and also Ira, don't quit singing along with the theme song of The OC ! That's exactly the kind of human interest story that makes humans interesting!
Well after listening to the three stories on that CD, I was pretty much hooked. The perfect blend of human interest, slight sarcasm at times and plenty of humor. The kind of thought provoking humor that I like and a bit of touching or sometimes just plain sad moments that cause real tears to well up..
While in Montana my son-in-law ( first time saying that! ) burned me a CD of about 20 podcasts of the program.. and Ira Glass began his non violent takeover in my life.
See, I have this old Bose radio/CD player next to my bed, and I have discovered that instead of reading when I went to bed at night, I could put a CD in and Ira Glass would soothe me to sleep. Sort of like my mother reading to me or telling me stories at night when I was a child.
The only downside is that it takes me a real l o n g time to hear a whole program. Because , well, I fall asleep! Just like when Mom would tell me stories . Typically I eventually put the CD in my car and finish listening while I drive.
(Fortunately I don't fall asleep at those times!)
Now I subscribe to the podcast myself.
So Ira, if you find this little story on an rss feed or something. Know that a middle aged lady in Kansas, with a love for the stories of my fellow earthlings, is soothed to sleep each night with your presentation.
Oh... and also Ira, don't quit singing along with the theme song of The OC ! That's exactly the kind of human interest story that makes humans interesting!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
J-E-T-S jetsjetsjets! or B-R-E-T-T brettbrettbrett!
Okay, so I know it's popular to be down on Brett Favre.... but honestly who on earth makes football more fun to watch?! Secretly ( or maybe not that secretly) I'm hoping that Green Bay rues the day they cut him loose to the Jets. Not that I have anything particularly against Green Bay, just that I'm pulling for Favre to go out in a true blaze of glory!
Gawd I love football...
Gawd I love football...
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Heh-heh!
You Are 85% Tortured Genius |
 You totally fit the profile of a tortured genius. You're uniquely brilliant - and completely misunderstood. Not like you really want anyone to understand you anyway. You're pretty happy being an island. |
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Rant Free Zone
I officially declare this blog to be a rant free zone for at the very least one month!
You see, one week from today I will be in Missoula,MT helping my beautiful little daughter in any way that I can, to finish preparing for her wedding!
Yay! Happy times.. lots of family, lots of pictures, lots of fun.
AND as a bonus, I am gaining a remarkable and very sweet son-in-law!
It just don't get any better than this!
Yay Mandi and Luis!
Yay me! Yay my family!
...Mandi and Luis a few years ago. Photo credit Luis' Mom...Doris
You see, one week from today I will be in Missoula,MT helping my beautiful little daughter in any way that I can, to finish preparing for her wedding!
Yay! Happy times.. lots of family, lots of pictures, lots of fun.
AND as a bonus, I am gaining a remarkable and very sweet son-in-law!
It just don't get any better than this!
Yay Mandi and Luis!
Yay me! Yay my family!
...Mandi and Luis a few years ago. Photo credit Luis' Mom...Doris
Monday, July 28, 2008
Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope
..I have been a Postal Worker for 15 years...
that being said, I can not sit idly by and watch postal management continue to trash the United States Postal Service in the manner that they have been in recent months.
For instance, did you know that 14,000 new jobs have been created at headquarters in DC? True, although I may have to modify that number with further research. My information did come from someone in management (which, by the way inspires me to comment here that management on a local level is becoming quite disenfranchised with new operation procedures)
And yet, they continue to cut bargaining unit jobs and continue to apply pressure to management on the field to cut work hours. When I say "cut work hours" that means fewer people to do the same amount of work that more people previously did. Some of those people in the newly created jobs do nothing more than sit on a computer and monitor the activity in offices on the field. In real terms that means that when you go to the post office to mail a package, that computer that the window clerk is using is being "watched" from headquarters. I don't really have a problem with that on the surface,( being watched is part of the deal for a postal worker. We are after all handling very personal items that belong to millions of individuals. We are always being monitored on that level. The sanctity of the mail is always at stake and should be in my opinion) but if you break it down a bit and think about it logically, it makes no sense at all.
The individual sitting at their desk monitoring activity is making significantly more money than the person actually involved in the transaction. I don't even really have a problem with that except that they've put on all of these high $ jobs to monitor the lower paying jobs to see where they can cut . How on earth does that make any sense? Plus they tell us to beef up our transactions by using extra keys on the computer. Ever notice when you buy 3 books of stamps the clerk will scan each one separately instead of keying 3 and scanning just one book? They tell us to do that because it adds to our total transactions. So..... why make a rule and then figure out ways around it?
I have actually heard, with my own ears, someone from our district headquarters in Omaha say, "We aren't a service anymore, we're a business" Huh?! With business practices like these, we're sure to fail.
Which now brings me to the crux of the whole issue.
In 2006 george bush ( not only can I no longer refer to him as president, I can't even bring myself to capitalize his name. That would imply that he was an actual human being. ;-O )
signed into law the "Postal Reform Act of 2006" http://www.usps.com/postallaw/ Essentially lining up his good buddies in big business to swoop down and devour the remains of the USPS. Whatever is left after the current Postmaster proves that it can no longer be done the way it always has been. We are trying to fail!
Well, the truly sad thing about this is that the American public hasn't got a clue. They stand in line for 20 minutes to buy a book of stamps and by the time they get to the clerk they are PISSED OFF. Where are the damn stamp machines? Why are you guys so slow? How come you make so much money? ( one of my favorites) . Well, officially a 20 minute wait in line is OK with the big guys. They don't care. This has actually been discussed with the higher ups.
Gee, I wonder why they don't care? Could it be that they need the American people on their side when they humbly approach bush's big business cronies and say " help us please. we clearly can't do this right"? Did you notice that ALL of the stamp machines nationwide are gone. The one in WalMart, the one in your office, the one in the lobby of the damn Post Office? Believe me, there is a reason for that. They say that the cost of maintenance was becoming prohibitive. I don't believe it for a second. It's all part of the Design To Fail.
So, in my best Dennis Miller style I have ranted on about the topic long enough. My only advice, to anyone that cares, is to write to your Congressman, complain loudly, and PLEASE don't vote for any fat cat good old boys in your elections. We need some fresh thinking in Washington. Desperately... I'd imagine that the USPS story is just one of many that the American people are left in the dark on. It's scary to think about...
photo courtesy of-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholaslopez/
that being said, I can not sit idly by and watch postal management continue to trash the United States Postal Service in the manner that they have been in recent months.
For instance, did you know that 14,000 new jobs have been created at headquarters in DC? True, although I may have to modify that number with further research. My information did come from someone in management (which, by the way inspires me to comment here that management on a local level is becoming quite disenfranchised with new operation procedures)
And yet, they continue to cut bargaining unit jobs and continue to apply pressure to management on the field to cut work hours. When I say "cut work hours" that means fewer people to do the same amount of work that more people previously did. Some of those people in the newly created jobs do nothing more than sit on a computer and monitor the activity in offices on the field. In real terms that means that when you go to the post office to mail a package, that computer that the window clerk is using is being "watched" from headquarters. I don't really have a problem with that on the surface,( being watched is part of the deal for a postal worker. We are after all handling very personal items that belong to millions of individuals. We are always being monitored on that level. The sanctity of the mail is always at stake and should be in my opinion) but if you break it down a bit and think about it logically, it makes no sense at all.
The individual sitting at their desk monitoring activity is making significantly more money than the person actually involved in the transaction. I don't even really have a problem with that except that they've put on all of these high $ jobs to monitor the lower paying jobs to see where they can cut . How on earth does that make any sense? Plus they tell us to beef up our transactions by using extra keys on the computer. Ever notice when you buy 3 books of stamps the clerk will scan each one separately instead of keying 3 and scanning just one book? They tell us to do that because it adds to our total transactions. So..... why make a rule and then figure out ways around it?
I have actually heard, with my own ears, someone from our district headquarters in Omaha say, "We aren't a service anymore, we're a business" Huh?! With business practices like these, we're sure to fail.
Which now brings me to the crux of the whole issue.
In 2006 george bush ( not only can I no longer refer to him as president, I can't even bring myself to capitalize his name. That would imply that he was an actual human being. ;-O )
signed into law the "Postal Reform Act of 2006" http://www.usps.com/postallaw/ Essentially lining up his good buddies in big business to swoop down and devour the remains of the USPS. Whatever is left after the current Postmaster proves that it can no longer be done the way it always has been. We are trying to fail!
Well, the truly sad thing about this is that the American public hasn't got a clue. They stand in line for 20 minutes to buy a book of stamps and by the time they get to the clerk they are PISSED OFF. Where are the damn stamp machines? Why are you guys so slow? How come you make so much money? ( one of my favorites) . Well, officially a 20 minute wait in line is OK with the big guys. They don't care. This has actually been discussed with the higher ups.
Gee, I wonder why they don't care? Could it be that they need the American people on their side when they humbly approach bush's big business cronies and say " help us please. we clearly can't do this right"? Did you notice that ALL of the stamp machines nationwide are gone. The one in WalMart, the one in your office, the one in the lobby of the damn Post Office? Believe me, there is a reason for that. They say that the cost of maintenance was becoming prohibitive. I don't believe it for a second. It's all part of the Design To Fail.
So, in my best Dennis Miller style I have ranted on about the topic long enough. My only advice, to anyone that cares, is to write to your Congressman, complain loudly, and PLEASE don't vote for any fat cat good old boys in your elections. We need some fresh thinking in Washington. Desperately... I'd imagine that the USPS story is just one of many that the American people are left in the dark on. It's scary to think about...
photo courtesy of-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholaslopez/
Friday, July 25, 2008
Don't want to be an American idiot..
Just yesterday, a co-worker, after rudely attacking my political beliefs , went on to say that
the economy is stronger under the Bush administration than it has been for years.
I felt that I needed to get this written down immediately lest in the next week or so when I have recovered from some sleep deprivation I look back on it and assume the incident and comment to be a dream ... or something... because I truly can not imagine that I really heard a grown adult human being American type make this comment.
Do you suppose that Rush Limbaugh or a similar personality has truly gotten these people to believe that?!
The word that comes to my mind is unfathomable.
I can not fathom anybody buying into a blatant lie like that.
I'm pretty sure that people such as my co-worker are convinced that they will go to hell if they watch an actual credible news cast, so in light of that, I guess you can't know anymore than you've been taught.
ps. the title of this is a link to information regarding our economy in the US
the economy is stronger under the Bush administration than it has been for years.
I felt that I needed to get this written down immediately lest in the next week or so when I have recovered from some sleep deprivation I look back on it and assume the incident and comment to be a dream ... or something... because I truly can not imagine that I really heard a grown adult human being American type make this comment.
Do you suppose that Rush Limbaugh or a similar personality has truly gotten these people to believe that?!
The word that comes to my mind is unfathomable.
I can not fathom anybody buying into a blatant lie like that.
I'm pretty sure that people such as my co-worker are convinced that they will go to hell if they watch an actual credible news cast, so in light of that, I guess you can't know anymore than you've been taught.
ps. the title of this is a link to information regarding our economy in the US
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