Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 2003 > Early XMas 2003 Edition
The snow was steadily falling on Friday, but not as heavily as predicted. Nonetheless it looked like winter had arrived at last. I shoveled the walkways to the garage, to the street, and to the front door.
Somebody out there was praying for a white Xmas and got it early.
The lawyer factory at IU Bloomington is making a fool of itself over a Xmas tree, removed because one of its professors is offended by its presence, removed even though the Supreme Court permits such displays as nonreligious. This is the place that is supposed to crank out lawyers, not cranks! This really does not bode well for the state's future to have extremists like that determining our laws.
I myself have no reason to celebrate Xmas this year, but I did once again put on the front window sill the two Xmas Coke bottles with the fake white poinsettias.
The ladybug plague I don't mind so much, but I've been getting flies in the house, too. They've been flying outside in the sun during the past few weeks, trying to get in. It hasn't been cold enough to kill the critters. But it's enough to make them sluggish, though, and I've had no trouble killing them when I find them.
Soon the snows will come, my dear;
And then the flies will disappear.
That's my hope, anyway.
I've done a lot of walking to the folks, to the post office, and to the grocery—a three-quarter- to one-mile round trip. I've been cutting back on how much I eat. I've been staying away from restaurants, grills, and vending machines because I can no longer afford to eat at them. It's having a beneficial effect: I've reached the 200-pound mark for the first time Thursday morning.
Madre had to go to the hospital Monday to have her gall bladder removed. She was home by Wednesday. I have been feeding the birds and giving the cats food and water (esp. water) while she was gone.
It's the third week since I got the boot, and I got my first unemployment check this week. I also got my first ding (rejection) letter today. I managed to keep my food and gas spending down. But, while I set the thermostat to 64°F (15°C) and wear sweaters around the house, the gas and electricity bill will still hurt.
On Monday afternoon I drove to the bank's main office to see Phil, the representative for Mutual Financial Services. I needed to have my retirement fund rolled over to an IRA. The conversion, I am told, will take several weeks, after which I must decide how to better distribute the funds within the IRA. There were lots of forms to fill out and sign.
I wish Phil hadn't told me about his son, who majored in information technology and then couldn't find a job after he graduated. The son dumped a truckload of his résumés onto the job market, and still couldn't find work. Then we have IT managers claiming they have to outsource their work because of a lack of qualified people, and are mystified when nobody believes them!
Unlike Phil's son, though, I have the advantage of hardware repair, programming and some customer support skills. I should have better luck in finding work.
I read about a possible return to the moon. Is this so? I doubt it seriously. Bush and his kind are adverse to the radical change needed for NASA to get us to the moon again and stay there. And you can see how a fossilized management at NASA was ultimately responsible for a second space shuttle disaster years after the first. They haven't learned a thing. No, I say, it won't happen.