My last child is off to college this fall. He got into the school he wanted and got good financial aid too. Here is the problem--it's 1000 miles away. We decided that we needed to get ride of our clunker that got 9-13 mpg and had 114,000 miles on it. Really the only good thing about it these days was that it was paid for. It was not going to reliably drive 1000 miles and with the cash for clunkers program it was at least worth something. Plus I write articles about tree-hugging and then I had that car. What a farce. We traded it in for a Toyota RAV4. We got a low payment plan and a pretty car with good room, decent milage (a little better than twice what the clunker was getting) and 4wd. I test drove a hybrid Camry and oh I liked it. Such a smooth ride. it was used and a good price. But no trunk space at all. Maybe someday. I have to ease into my new downsized life gradually. I wished for a hybrid escape but they were so expensive. A dealer said that they were being made scarce in the Midwest to drive prices up.
Now we have college payments and car payments. I think I can make it though. Where I work business is fine but they are not giving raises and are laying people off anyway. They got rid of custodians and told us now we had to clean our own offices. You should see some of the men--they don't even keep their labs clean. I can't imagine them cleaning their offices. I might not do mine just because it seems un-American to fire people at a time like this. The bosses should be taking pay cuts to show their leadership.
This is a busy time for my family. My brother from Texas came to visit and we celebrated 4th of July and 2 birthdays and an anniversary. My brother is a bit straight laced. He didn't used to be but moving to Texas did it perhaps or maybe having three daughters pushed him over the edge. I have a little tradition of inadvertently taking his kids to movies he would not let them watch. One time it was War of the Worlds and then this horrible Adam Sandler thing called Click that they wanted to see. This time we went to see Public Enemies--rated R. Hmm. it was kind of good and kind of monochromatic and slow. It made the 30s seem very dreary. The men all looked the same. I sort of recall my grandpa looking like that--a black overcoat and a hat. There was far too much shooting with Tommy guns for my taste. And yet, shooting with Tommy guns seems rather bland compared to all of the explosions and such that you get in a modern action movie. It is kind good and fascinating too but I'd rate it H for historical.
Monday, 22 June 2009
Hi, How is everybody?! Tonight it was so hot but the dogs needed walking. I walked them without wearing a bra. Conformity is not all its cracked up to be.
Has it been so long? All of the collapsing of society and all going on since I contemplated turning out my lights for a peaceful Earth Hour. And peaceful it was. Across the street in the scary looking house, the man turned all of his lights on in protest. What a fool. I also have a neighbor who went to a tea party protest and one who got evicted. Ah yes.
And some slimy virus crawled out of the Smithfiled hog lot in Mexico and has us all in a state of hyper-alterness. That cough. Is it THE cough or just an allergy? My daughter works in an ER and people are flooding in. Most have bronchitis that they have been ignoring for far too long. The doctors and nurses take some nose swabs and send them off. I feel a tiny bit jealous not to be an epidemiologist or a virologist about now. But I worry a bit about my daughter. They have a protocol. When things are serious you have a protocol. Otherwise, you have a method.
This all reminds me of being a little girl living in Washington DC and lining up to get some of the first ever polio vaccine. It was given out free to all. No more summer polio fears--just running and playing and freedom. I have a friend who had polio and her feet are a size 4. Otherwise you would not ever know it. I wish we had continued putting money into public health like that. Kennedy was president.
I seem to have a lot of freelance work right now which is weird given the economy. I guess the war on science is over. And I have been going to graduation honor events and track meets. Getting a little burned out. Or am I sick? Haha. Paranoia.
I hope you have a happy May Day. You are supposed to dance in the sun and make love in the grass. I might just hang clothes on the clothes line. I really know how to celebrate.
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