Week 4 Farm Share

Beets, potatoes, spinach, green beans, peaches, plums, eggplant, blueberries, bread, and apple sauce. I hate half the blueberries in the car ride home.

Obamacare

Generally, I am pleased the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare. While I have reservations about it, I find it hard to be against any bill that will help people with pre-existing conditions and people under 26 years old.

I hear a lot of rhetoric to repeal the law, which effectively means keep excluding people because they have asthma or diabetes or high blood pressure. I can't get behind that.

There are people who must keep working in order to keep their insurance. If you suffer from a chronic illness, you better pray not to ever get laid off. That's unacceptable.

Though, if we stop talking repeal and start talking about fixing the holes in the law, I'm all aboard. My concerns are this:

1. General practice doctors.
The point of the law is to reduce medical costs. Some of the high costs are people using the ER for minor concerns. They could go to their regular doctor, if they were insured and had a regular doctor.

So now you have a whole new population with medical insurance. Do we have enough general practice doctors, internists, and family practices? I have a feeling the answer is no. It may mean your doctor has less time to see you, and you can't always get an appointment when you need one.

You know, when you are suffering from the flu and it's god awful and you just want your doctor? Mine always has time for me. But if she takes on another 100 patients, that's not going to be the case.

I think we need programs to get people into medical school and push them into general practice, not cardiology or surgery. Possibly help them repay student loans.

2. Employers dropping insurance.
What is to prevent employers from dropping expensive insurance and pushing their employees into the government exchange. Particularly small businesses. Yeah okay, the exchange doesn't sound too bad. It's still based on free market policies with insurance companies competing for customers. Still, it's change and people don't like change.

3. Enforcing the penalty.
I guess this will fall on the IRS. Our 1040s may have a new box, "are you insured?" "If not, calculate 8% of your AGI here." "If the least expensive plan in the AGI is more than 8% of your income, please write a zero here." "If the least expensive plan in the AGI is less than 8% of your income, please send a penalty fee to the Government."

Well, shit. People are going to hate that new complication on their taxes.

That is how Chief Roberts ruled. The mandate requiring health care is a tax, not a penalty. If you think about it, there's actually some precedence for taxing people on what they choose NOT to do. I do not have children and therefore pay more taxes than a family that does. I don't use the public school system, but still pay taxes to support it. I don't benefit from Medicare or Social Security but still pay into it.

Everyone at some point in their life will need a doctor. Call it a mandate or a tax or a penalty, it does seem reasonable that everyone should pay into healthcare at the federal level. States don't bear all the cost of health insurance; a lot of it comes from the federal government. So what happens in Mississippi affects the taxpayers in North Carolina. If the SCOTUS needs to justify it by calling a tax, okay, let's call it a tax.

So I guess this is up to the IRS to enforce. Hello new 1040s.

4. Parents.
Honestly, I've always found it stupid that I can't include my parents on my health insurance. Or at least have the option of Self, Family, and Extended Family. Yeah it would be expensive as all shit, but it would still be better than what they can purchase independently. If our parents can carry us under their plans until we're 26, I should have the option to return the favor. In a way I'm already doing it, as I pay into Medicare and Social Security.

It would remove the cost of treating the elderly from the federal budget. Yes it would be deferred to families and employers, but if it decreases federal spending, I call that a win-win.

I know I'm in the minority on this issue.

Anyway, I'm glad it's been upheld, even though it has some issues. We should focus our energies on addressing those issues, not repealing the law.

I Contemplate Murder

Who the fuck invented cube farms?

I sit in row G. There are rows A-J with 16 people per row. I sit on the even side of the building. If you slice the building in half with a giant mirror, there are even and odd sides. With rows A-J on both sides.

If you are following the math, there are 320 cubicle workers per floor, all sitting in an open air environment with 4ft cubicle walls.

Add about another 100 offices and you get a shitload of people.

I'm telling you this to paint a picture of my irritation. Massive cube farm - keep that image in your head.

Now, subtract the noise. Which is a constant roar throughout the day. Phones, conversations, keyboards. Hit the mute button.

Subtract the people walking by. They gotta get coffee, go to the restroom, go to meetings, go to the printer. Remove them from the picture.

Better, right?

NO.

Because on top of the cube farm environment, the construction company that made this building didn't put enough dampeners in the floor.

What does that mean?

It means the jerk next to me has a nervous habit where he bounces his foot when he speaks. Or breathes. It means when he does this, the beam below the floor picks up the movement and amplifies it down the row.

Yes, the slightest movement of someone bouncing their leg is enough to turn my cubicle into a toddler's bouncy house.

My chair bounces up and down and my monitor shakes. This isn't a once-a-day phenomenon. This is because a nervous person can't stop twitching.

I've talked to him about it. Daily. We discussed other outlets for his energy. Putting his feet, standing when he's on the phone, or chewing gum to release energy.

He's either inconsiderate or too fucking dumb to change.

My supervisor just laughs and doesn't do anything about it. I think he fails to consider how much people HATE this guy because he shakes our cubes all day long. Well, I had my final conversation with him. He has been served the final warning.

I will either 1) kill him, or 2) file a complaint. Sic the bastards from HR on his ass.

Rumor is another cubicle is opening up in August. I have called dibs, and I'm not afraid to defend my turf with deadly elbows if necessary.

This is the constant mental state of cubicle worker O4G58G.

Now, remember that picture of cube farm? Bring back the noise, bring back the commotion, and add the bouncy house. Welcome to my job.

How to make a collar

I made this video. Enjoy!

Book Review - The Knife Of Never Letting Go

This is one quirky book. I liked it, I really did. But it had a weird-ass plot and really strange characters....somehow it all came together into a pretty decent book that was hard to put down.

I promise to do this review without any spoilers. Everything I'm about to tell you happened in the first two chapters.

Todd is the youngest boy in a settlement of 149 men. Men only. They are colonists who settled on this New World. Except when they landed, the resident aliens launched a bio attack that killed all the women and now all the men can hear each other's thoughts.

Yeah, weird, I know.

Not only can they hear each other, but they can hear all the animals. Todd's only friend is his dog.

The book is really hard to read. The grammar, spelling, and punctuation is all in the vernacular of an uneducated 12 year old boy who can't read. It makes the first chapter a little hard to suffer through. But Todd and his dog find this really weird quiet space where he can't hear anyone's thoughts. He goes home to tell his dad about it, and then it gets really weird.

His dad is overcome with fear. He pulls out an already packed backpack filled with food and tells Todd to run for his life. Dad grabs a rifle and turns to meet a posse heading up to the farm ready to kill Todd. The poor kid has no idea what's happening. As the reader, you have to keep reading just to find out what it all means.

You'd think in world where everyone's thoughts are public, there would be no secrets. Just the opposite actually. See there's nothing but NOISE. Just chaos and sound. The adult men also have ways to hide their thoughts, mediation tricks and chanting. It's harder for 12 year old Todd, so they often know what he's thinking.

I have to say, I never read a book that had better cliffhangers than this one. Every single chapter ended in such a crazy, unexpected way that I had to turn the page. Each time I said to myself, just one more page, but it never ended there. You get used to the vernacular after a while and start tearing through the pages. I do recommend this book because it was darn entertaining despite it's weirdness. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, heart pumping at times. Before you pick it up, know that it is a series. So don't expect a neatly packaged ending.

women's healthcare

I've been in my 30s for a year now. I'm not exactly sure what changed from my 20s, but it seems like healthcare really sucks.

Well, not healthcare exactly, but people's reactions when you tell them you're not feeling well.

Me: I have a headache.
 Friend: Is there a chance you're pregnant?
 Me: What? No, I just need some Excedrin.
 Friend: You shouldn't take aspirin when you're pregnant.
Me: Jesus, what? Nevermind.


It doesn't matter what the ailment is.

My stomach hurts, I think I ate something bad.
Are you pregnant?

Ugh, I'm so tired today.
Are you pregnant?

My feet hurt.
Are you pregnant?

WTF people. Stop already. Why can't we have a normal conversation anymore? Why is everyone so concerned with my uterus?

I get that I'm old. Stop fucking telling me my eggs shriveling up. I'm aware the best breeding years are behind me. But do you know what I was doing when I was 25? I was going to bars with my boyfriend and trying not to be a dumbass at work. I got married at 26 and spent the rest of the year trying to figure out why were arguing about chores. At 27 we got a puppy and being responsible for another life was just NUTS. At 28 I had to restart my career from scratch because we moved to MD after the market crashed.

And you know, I look around at my relatives and friends the same age. Many of them aren't even married, and very few of them have kids of their own. If they do have kids, they're less than 1 year old. So even though my eggs are past their prime, maybe it's time for evolution to catch up to the modern female's lifestyle. Eggs should be viable into your 40s. Life, make it happen.

These last two weeks I wasn't feeling well. Just general pains and the overall feeling that something isn't right. I wanted to talk about it with friends and family, but I knew what the reaction would be. Though it's completely normal to use other people as a sounding board to when to see a doctor.

Should I get this rash on my arm checked out?
Nah, just take some Benadryl.

I can't shake this cough.
Yeah, it really doesn't sound good. Call the doctor.

Should I get my ingrown toenails removed?
Hells no! The treatment is worse than the problem.

I broke down and started talking to people about it. Are you pregnant, are you pregnant, are you pregnant? Right now I think there are 3 people waiting for me to show them a fetus in an ultrasound. Despite me telling them over and over that I feel like something is wrong.

Finally a friend suggested a cyst, and my brother suggested my appendix. That was enough to make me get it checked out. After 4 hours of testing, the results were inconclusive, which goes back to my first statement that women's healthcare really does suck. We can treat schizophrenic people with voices in their head, but can't figure out why I have stomach cramps?

I have to go back next week because who knows? Maybe in 7-10 days something will have changed, or maybe the problem will go away on it's own. Meanwhile, hang in there Trooper!

And wow, do I miss my 20s more than ever.

Homeland

We have a free trial of Showtime, HBO, Cinemax....all the premium channels. We get it about twice a year, and they run marathons of all their popular shows. We fill up the DVR with movies, Dexter, and whatever else they want to give us for free.

I don't understand why people subscribe.

But anyway, we started watching Homeland. It's wonderful. It's character-driven, unlike 24 which relied on one crazy event after another to speed along the plot.

The main character is Carrie Mathison. She's a CIA intelligence officer and was tipped off that an American POW is now working for the terrorists. She is fearless. She breaks laws, lies to people, puts herself in danger, and has cried 3 times in the first 8 episodes. She has a hidden illness she keeps from people. She doesn't date but she is sexual. She's kind to her nieces, relies on her sister, and works all hours of the day.

They wrote a character. A real, believable, could-be-an-actual-person character. 

And she's female.

And the lead.

A few years ago, an interviewer asked Joss Whedon why he writes such strong female characters, he famously replied, "because you're still asking me that question."

I think writers heard you, Joss.

A good, strong character is someone believable, likeable despite their flaws, and is interesting enough to carry the story without weird plot twists and shit blowing up.

Hello Carrie Mathison.

CSA Week 3

This week we got Romaine lettuce, peaches, cauliflower, spinach, patty pan squash, cucumbers, blueberries, mushrooms, eggs, and bread.


We now have two dozen eggs to eat in a week. Any ideas? We already ate a bunch of spinach quiche.

House Hunters International

I saw this episode of House Hunters International yesterday at the gym. I didn't get a chance to watch all of it, but no worries! It's online.

You need to watch this episode. It's the craziest, messed up shit I've ever seen on this show.

Most HHI shows are about people moving abroad to accomplish their dream of having a scuba shop on the beach. Or they have to move for work. Or they are buying a second vacation home.

This crazy-ass episode is about a young couple - a Parisian and his Nepalese/American girlfriend. He lives in Paris, she lives in NYC. He decided he didn't like corporate life and didn't want to have a boss anymore. (normal so far). So he decides to study French cheese making techniques so he can build a diary farm hours from any civilization in Nepal.

WTF?

Yeah. So he gives his criteria to the real estate agent. North facing, high elevation plot of land that is at least a few hectares. It can't be near any village, at least 2-3 hours from Kathmandu, and needs to be accessible by road.

Remember, both of these people grew up in cities.

I only had time to watch the first location. I burst out laughing on the elliptical when the real estate agent gives them a tour of the property and points to a pile of stones and says, "look! The stones are all right here so you won't have to carry them when you build your house."

Good amenity.

The couple nodded like that was a real perk. Actually, that's the only perk, besides the view. There's no electricity, no hot water. There is water but you need to pump it.

There is brave and there is crazy. Brave is leaving your corporate job to start a scuba business in the Caribbean. Crazy is building your own house of stone and mud in Nepal.

Hey, I don't like working in a cubicle for a bunch of bosses either. But I also like healthcare and electricity. Maybe I'm crazy.

The most shocking thing about this episode was these people were calm. Who the fuck can look at a pile of stones and not panic? Yeah, we do DIY projects around the house all the time. We don't build a house on the side of a fucking mountain far away from any other living soul.

Hell, I get upset when there's no hobby store nearby. If you drive 20 minutes or more to the supermarket, you are flipping rural, man. You live in the stix.

This is rural x 1000.

Oh I know, this is the part where you defend them from my crazy rant. "This is no different than what the pioneers did."

Oh yes it bloody is. The pioneers fled their homelands because of famine, poverty, disease, pogroms, and oppression. They stayed and died, or they left in droves to America. They settled in neighborhoods with people of similar culture. When they heard the promise of land and gold, they made west, together, into the unknown.

Scary and courageous yes, but they did not leave a developed  country to live by themselves making cheese. And the pioneers never heard of healthcare and electricity. So they didn't know any better.

I thought the people living in remote cabins in Alaska were nuts. This is another layer beyond that.

Book Review - Cast in Shadow

Zah Gods. So bad. Terrible writing. Mostly sentence fragments. Everywhere. Fragments. Throughout the book. Hard to develop characters. Impossible.

My review will be fragmented. Just like the book. Give you an idea of extreme irritation. Complete sentences? Bah.

Plot good. Character sucked. Sucked hard. Constantly late. Failed all school subjects. Always hungry. Always sulking. Why do people befriend her? No redeeming qualities. Dumb. Late. Self-centered. Please kill her.

Confusing. Dialogue had holes. Many holes. No one explained to protagonist. Too dumb to understand anyway. She sulked, reader stayed confused. "I can't tell you that." Most used sentence in book.

Fragmented writing added confusion. Please stop. I want to read this. Seemed interesting. Idea is not bad. Can't make sense of it. This how protagonist thinks? She too dumb for sentences?

Why? Publisher, please why. This was published? 7 books in this series?!?!?! Who is reading? Who!

Book Review - Divergent

Loved it! Divergent by Veronica Roth is another young adult dystopian novel. Not as good as Hunger Games, but enough for me to tell everyone I know they have to read this.

It's not perfect. The writing and worldbuilding. The characters and the pace are perfect though.

So here's the idea. There was some kind of world war (it was never explained what happened). Now there's no communications or computer access. There's technology, but really only the government has access to it. Not really sure why.

It takes place in Chicago with a fence around the city. The fence is locked from the outside, kinda resembling a prison. Again, not sure why.

The city is broken into 5 neighborhoods - the factions of society. There's Abnegation, who are the government leaders. They believe the end of the world was caused by selfishness, and they dedicated their lives to serving others.

There's Dauntless, who believe the end of the world was caused by cowardice.

The Amity faction believes it was our warlike nature, and dedicate themselves to peace, friendship, forgiveness, and agreement.

Candor believes it was dishonesty.

Erudite thinks the end of the world was caused by ignorance.

The factions live separately from each other, except when you reach 16. You are then put through a simulation, where, depending on your choices in the simulation, will be asked to choose which faction you'll spend the rest of your life.

Each faction has an initiation process. Fail that process, and you become one of the roaming factionless in the city. This is every imitates' nightmare.

The only thing being worse is being Divergent. Which means you don't fall into one of the 5 boxes and will be put to death if the gov leaders discover it. Our protagonist is Divergent, btw.

You can see from the very beginning where this is going. Five separate factions, generally believing the same thing, but with very different ideas on how to achieve it? Where in the history of the human race did segregation ever work?? Imagine today if all liberals lived on the east side of the city and all conservatives took the west.

Then you have a large population of people living outside society. Hmm. I wonder what will happen.

Still, it was a superior read. I loved reading all the crazy initiation trials. And there was a romance too! It had a lot of good thoughts about society too. Like how being selfless was the hardest form of bravery. And what's the point of being smart if you had no morals or compassion? It doesn't work to exist on the extreme end of things; you have to value in others what you lack in yourself.

It was a great book, I loved the protagonist. Definitely worth your time and money.

Farm Share Week 2

We did a darn good job of finishing last week's farm share. All that remains are some cucumber slices and 7 eggs.

This week we have bread, eggs, strawberries, zucchini, string beans, English peas, Swiss chard, lettuce, kale, and potatoes.

The strawberries were gone the first night. We made smoothies.

Birthday Haul

Yes it's my birthday and I already opened presents. Here's what I got:

1. Two ceiling fans with the promise to install them and get them to work.

2. A pet drinking fountain (thanks Brian and Merle)

3. $100 cash (thanks Mom and Dad)

4. A flexible tripod for taking videos. I hope to post some next week

5. Work out clothes

6. A quiche pan - not sure about this one. I don't cook much. I did attempt a quiche this week to use the rest of the spinach and eggs from the CSA. It was....edible.

7. A citronella candle for the deck. No more bugs when I read!

The thing I'm looking forward to most is the Tastykake cherry pie in my lunch. It's a rare treat. Hubby went out special last night looking for one.

Classes

I'm taking online classes to get a masters in telecommunications management. My hubby likes to say I'll be 1 of 100 people with that degree, but hey, it's what I need to learn.

Need to learn and want to learn are different things. I need to learn this stuff in order to do my job better and get promoted. I want to learn it because I'm tired of other people explaining things to me all the time.

Still, I noticed the success of taking classes online greatly depends on your natural curiosity for the subject.

I'm enrolled in two classes at the moment. One is really fun. I look forward to the new readings and assignments every Monday. We do our group work in Google Docs, we made avatars of ourselves, we submitted a video blog (or podcast, depending on your preference). It's fun, it's an innovative way to teach, and it gets us to use a variety of online tools.

My other class is the extreme opposite. The prof wants us to respond to discussion questions with sourced material, putting a lot of thought into the discussion before we post. In other words, a complete academic discussion panel.

Sucks the fun out of everything.

It's hard, joyless, and mostly theoretical debate. I hates it, my precious.

So those are the two types of professors. There are also two types of students.

1. The people who respond to discussion questions with personal experiences, thoughts, and a general conversational tone. It's okay to be wrong, just put your ideas out there.

2. The people who search through books and journal articles, copy entire paragraphs from them, put it in quotes, then source the material in proper APA format.

The latter is like talking to a textbook. I also hates that, my precious. Seriously, would it kill these people to lighten up? So what if you get the wrong answer. You tried. At least it's your original thought, not your best effort to Google.

I noticed the two types of students don't mix. The conversational people talk amongst themselves. The academic copy/pasters like to copy/paste differing articles at each other. 

The difference is, in one class the conversational people are favored by the prof. In the other, they are considered "anecdotal" whose opinions are not equal to a published author.

One class enhances natural curiosity; the other squashes it.

Kayaking with Dog

I made this video for those thinking about kayaking with your dog. For some reason the video wouldn't embed here.

CSA Week 1

Beets, cucumbers, mushrooms, spinach, radishes, squash, bread, and eggs!

Good haul!

Stupid Sayings

There are a lot of stupid sayings out there.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Live each day like it's your last.

If you can dream it, you can do it. 

Live like there is no tomorrow, Sing as if no one can hear, Love like you have never been hurt, Dance as if nobody is watching, Laugh like no one is listening. 

It's 5 0'clock somewhere! 

Try to be the person your dog thinks you are. 

Okay, there are more, but these are ones annoying me lately.

First, what doesn't kill you gives you PTSD. Ask anyone in the VA hospitals. Even if this saying is about broken hearts or whatever, you aren't "stronger". You're scarred. You might actually skip the next guy because you are afraid of getting hurt. What doesn't kill you makes you suffer trauma.

Live each day like it's your last.  What a crock. I wouldn't go to work, would you? By not working, I don't earn money, and therefore would die young on the streets. And I fully intend for my last day to be at home, in bed, blissfully unaware. Oh I know,  this saying wants me to make peace with people, love fully, have adventures. Seriously, I work in a cubicle. This is impossible advice.

No I cannot do everything that I dream. I would like to be a moon colonist one day. I also wouldn't mind being 3 inches taller. Maybe I could buy regular sized pants instead of the petite sizes.

Live like there is no....blah blah blah. If you do this, you are either the world's greatest extrovert or have gone nuts.I guarantee you if you act like this, outside the boundary of the norm, no one will like you. Why aren't there more introvert sayings?

Don't speak unless you thought about it first.
Not everyone wants a hug.
If you have a question and can look it up on the internet, don't ask the person next to you.
Read someone's posture before you start speaking to them. Maybe they don't want to be interrupted.
If someone is reading, leave them alone.

It's 5 O'clock somewhere. Yes it is. And where they are, it's perfectly acceptable to have a drink. However, if you are saying this, you are trying to justify your alcoholic consumption, and if you are  trying to justify your alcoholic consumption, try ordering a soda instead.

Try to be the person your dog thinks you are. What? I am the person he thinks I am. I'm the person who walks him, feeds him, plays with him, and gets mad at him when he steals my shoes. That's kinda the point of having a pet...something to love you for who you are, not your potential.

Hey, here's an idea. Don't rely on used sayings and old tripe to maintain conversations. Use your own brain instead.

Homework

I went back to school to get a second masters. Well, online school. This is the second week in the first semester.

It's a bit of a struggle, finding the time to do the reading and completing assignments. The reading is killing me the most. Last week I had 3 chapters to read plus class notes; this week it's 4 chapters and class notes.

Then I have to do the assignments. Typically it's answering discussion questions, which require a bit of research to answer.

For example, this week I have to record a 4 minute podcast for a diary entry 10 years from now. I have to describe what new technologies I will use in my daily life. I know there's no right and wrong answer, but I still don't want to be ridiculous. Obviously we won't have hover cars, but what are the chances of having an electrical car? Or fuel cell?

Anyway, so you see what I mean. These assignments take thought and time. It's been a struggle managing time to walk the dog, do homework, make collars, manage chores, and relax before going to bed. I'm starting to feel tired all the time.

I think I just have to find a rhythm. Get used to the extra responsibility so I don't feel drained.

So why am I bothering? Will it be worth it?

Honestly I don't know. I'm getting a masters because for the last year, people had to pause the meetings to explain stuff to me. I need that, but I hate that. I'm supposed to be an effective team leader, and I feel like I would do a better job if I had more understanding of the technical bits. I'm pursuing a masters because I don't want to be the person my coworkers need to educate.

Not to mention once I know the technical bits, maybe a whole lot of other jobs will be available to me.

Our Fawn

This little one was born in the yard last weekend. Inside the fence. I'm not sure how long it'll take before the fawn can jump over. Doesn't matter. It's not hurting anything.

The dog is completely unaware of its existence. Which is a good thing because we can still use the yard and not have to worry about baby deer blood on our hands.

The mama is around. She is usually in the  yard or just on the other side of the fence. She sometimes charges at us.

Anyway, there's not much to say. There's a fawn in our yard. Go nature!

Book review - Overbite

It's very difficult to do a review of <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9462815-overbite">Overbite</a> without some spoilers. I will try though.

I love Meg Cabot, but not when she writes like this. The last half of the book was hurried; the last 10% was mashed together with the bare minimum story poking through. That's why it's difficult to do a review on this; most of my issues with it are at the very end.

So know this - the ending sucks.

Not Meg Cabot caliber work. Not a very good sequel at all.

Meena, the protagonist, has the ability to see how everyone will die. This should prevent her from being surprised, no? She was surprised 4 times in the book, by my count.

I think this is an example where conforming to industry word counts hurts the story. Maybe if it were longer, another 100 pages, the story would have room to develop.

If you read the first book in this series, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6953500-insatiable">Insatiable</a>, you  might as well read Overbite too. Just to complete the story. Then come back here, and we'll complain about the ending.