A picture is worth…. hmmm…
15 Nov 2008 1 Comment
in Funny, Political Statements
Last weekend Wes and I stopped by Dillon’s to pick up a few groceries and were astonished to see THIS in the toy vending machines:
Apparently THAT’S what they do with leftover campaign merchandise once the election is over. And how’s that for a pretty crappy rendition of McCain?
What’s even funnier than this, is that last night at our girls’ soiree Jo Minor piped up “you’re NEVER going to believe what I saw at Wal-Mart!” We both whipped out our handy-dandy cell phones and compared photos. You can see hers here (when she posts it there will be a link!).
History
05 Nov 2008 Leave a Comment
I honestly don’t have words eloquent enough to describe what I watched last night; the tension, the elation, the sense of relief I felt. I feel proud to be an American today.
I would also like to say how impressed I was by both speeches last night. Senator McCain was gracious and patriotic, and respectful to President Elect Obama. I admire him more for his speech last night than I have during his entire campaign. I found President Elect Obama’s speech moving as well. He was hopeful, but also serious about what challenges lie ahead. I can’t wait for January 20.
Guess what I did today?
31 Oct 2008 2 Comments
Today, on Halloween, I experienced a first. Although I’ve voted in every Presidential election (and some of the state ones in between) since I turned 18, I have never physically gone and voted. Today I waited in line for approximately an hour to vote early. I can’t wait until next Tuesday so see who our next President will be.
Happy Halloween!
We interrupt…
05 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
your regularly scheduled knitting news to bring you this important announcement.
Oh sweet Jeebdus I hope this is true.
Found courtesy of Jamie.
The only way I’d vote Republican….
04 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
Current status: SCARED SHITLESS FOR AMERICA.
My life in Bullets.
01 Sep 2008 2 Comments
in Knitting Content Ahead, Political Statements, Weekend Update
Let’s try this update in bullets, since I’m probably a bit scatter-brained as it is.
- Operation “Find a Job” is in full swing. Unfortunately the mission isn’t even close to accomplished yet. Actually I forgot how depressing it is to look for work, especially in a city without my full professional and personal network behind me.
- Labor Day weekend has been a weekend without labor. My thank you notes are completely done, most of the presents are put away, and I even managed a little cleaning. I also managed some meals out with the girls, quality time with hubby and lots of knitting.
- I have a HUSBAND! (that’s still new!)
- Knitting progress. I seem to have a parade of knitting in progress as I’m currently rotating 4 projects (and I’ve got more to go!) From top to bottom: a lush Cozy Cable Scarf in Angora for The Studio, the Roped Shell from Interweave for A Mano, and some socks out of yummy hand-painted for me!
- My new temp job as a receptionist starts tomorrow. Let’s hope the internet isn’t blocked cause nothing but phones for 2+ weeks will be a challenge.
- Packrat on Facebook is an addiction. I can stop any time I want… NOT.
- As Jon Stewart would say: Clusterfuck to the White House 2008 is in full swing. I was totally inspired by Obama’s speech at the DNC. I was totally uninspired by McCain’s choice of Veep – apparently Palin’s family values include her 17-year-old daughter getting knocked up and married.
Denied?
23 Jul 2008 2 Comments
in Political Statements, Ranting
When I made the decision to quit my job in Los Angeles and relocate to the Midwest, I knew certain things wouldn’t be easy. Since starting work after college, I hadn’t given much thought to what it actually takes to get medical insurance coverage, since I was always eligible for the group plan at the company for which I worked.
I’ve made no secret on here of the fact that I struggle with anxiety, and sometimes a bit of depression. I was diagnosed in college and have spent a lot of years working with some great health care professionals to the point that I’m not constantly in therapy any more and my medication is simple and consistent. For the most part I don’t wake up every day (or go to bed every night) really even thinking that I have a problem.
But try and apply for individual medical insurance these days, and it’s a problem. When I quit my job in January I immediately went to apply for coverage at a large, well-known insurance company, which promised great individual coverage. Now I’m a moderately fit young woman. I fit into my weight percentile, I exercise a little (ok not enough, but I have no physical limitations), my blood pressure is normal and I don’t smoke, use illegal substances or drink to excess. I’m young and healthy and you would think that I’d be an insurance company’s dream.
But I knew it the minute I hit that part of the application: “Have you ever been treated for mental illness? If yes, please give us some additional information.” My application came back denied. No rider, no offers of a different plan, nothing. DENIED.
It was then I learned why so much of America is not insured. It doesn’t matter if you have money to pay the premiums (which is saying a lot since the premiums are VERY high). It doesn’t matter if you’re sick and need treatment and are willing to pay extra for that – in fact, it makes you worse off. You just can’t get covered.
Now don’t go thinking that I’ve not been covered by insurance for the last 6 months. I went ahead and enrolled in what I could: a catastrophic policy through my alumni association. It won’t cover anything, unless I fall victim to a bus crash or a magician’s slicing trick that goes awry, but I’m covered. Sort of.
But that policy is now coming to an end, and I find myself in a weird place again. I have no permanent employment yet, and though I’m getting married next month and the coverage on my fiance’s insurance could be retroactive, it would appear I have a few months before I can reliably give a sigh of relief at being covered again.
So today I filled out another application for health coverage. I filled out the application completely, even though I know that the section on Mental Illness is once again going to be my doom. So here I sit, waiting again to be denied.
Giggling through history.
20 Dec 2007 Leave a Comment
in A Book is a Woman's Best Friend, Political Statements
For Chanukah/Christmas, the l’il sis’ boyfriend gave me a book, Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. I hadn’t heard of the book, nor the author so I had no idea what I was in for. All I knew was that she had recently received quite a bit of acclaim on NPR, and that was enough.
I was in for a treat though! Ms. Vowell has written a book about taking a vacation to retrace the steps of America’s most famous assassins. What she weaves together is a humorous retelling of some of the darkest moments in U.S. history. Aside from her impeccable historical research, she spends a lot of time exploring the nuances of who knew who, who was present where and when, and all the interesting footnoted trivia about our presidents and the men that chose to kill them. I profess I’m no historical buff, but this was a truly enjoyable read and I spent most of it giggling through history. If you’re a liberal at heart, you’ll enjoy Ms. Vowell’s explorations and how she relates them to current political quagmires.
The ONLY thing Bush ever did for me.
10 Nov 2007 Leave a Comment
in Office Games, Political Statements, Weekend Update
And half of California had to burn for it.
Please be advised that as a result of President George W Bush’s declaration of Southern California as a Federal Disaster Zone (due to the occurrence of the worst fires in the state’s history), CDMRP has delayed the proposal receipt deadline in Grants.gov for the following 6 mechanisms to Monday, November 26, 2007, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
So my week ended a little more relaxed. I got the program to the printer, the DVDs are almost ready to copy and I’m just about ready for the review next week.
I’m working at the yarn store tomorrow, watching a movie with my sweetie and being TOTALLY LAZY on Sunday (other than cleaning in preparation for vacation and Wes’s Thanksgiving arrival). More knitting pictures and news towards the end of the weekend. Enjoy it!
Living in a censored state.
24 Oct 2007 Leave a Comment
in Political Statements, Ranting
I don’t know about you, but this article made me angry…really angry. No matter what side of the climate debate you’re on, the idea of the White House editing what experts have to say makes me feel like we’re living in a censored state.
White House edits CDC climate testimony
WASHINGTON – The White House severely edited congressional testimony given Tuesday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the impact of climate change on health, removing specific scientific references to potential health risks, according to two sources familiar with the documents.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Atlanta-based CDC, the government’s premier disease monitoring agency, told a Senate hearing that climate change “is anticipated to have a broad range of impacts on the health of Americans.”
But her prepared testimony was devoted almost entirely to the CDC’s preparation, with few details on what effects climate change could have on the spread of disease. Only during questioning did she describe some specific diseases that likely would be affected, again without elaboration.
Her testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had much less information on health risks than a much longer draft version Gerberding submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review in advance of her appearance.
“It was eviscerated,” said a CDC official, familiar with both versions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the review process.
The official said that while it is customary for testimony to be changed in a White House review, these changes were particularly “heavy-handed,” with the document cut from its original 14 pages to four. It was six pages as presented to the Senate committee.
