Friday, January 28, 2011

Cheeseheads

Yes, we are Cheeseheads. And PROUD of it! We now have the cheese to prove it. Go Peeackers Go!! I so love SuperBowl Sunday. Valentines Day is nothing compared to SuperBowl Sunday.

Hmm...interesting. I've started writing in the "we" instead of the "I" mode. I come home and either make dinner or get served dinner. No more popcorn for dinner. The girls want a real meal. After dinner last night Thing Two picked up the guitar and played me "Blackbird" from the Beatles. Two nights ago she had come into my room with a handwritten piece of paper of bar chords. She wanted me to show her finger placement. We talked about bar chords, finger strength, learning new stuff. Last night she played a tune for me. Several times she played it actually. I so appreciate the guitar the girls presented to me for my birthday last month. It had been three years since a musical instrument had been in the house. I missed it. Last night I was reminded why.

Family is forever. Music is comforting. Love does last.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Define homeless in Bhutan


Yesterday at a social engagement a gentleman got up in front of the group and began speaking of Bhutan. He'd been to Bhutan and he claims they have no homelessness, no hunger, and their governing body directs through a Buddhist philosophy for the good of all the peoples. My interest is piqued.

No hunger? How does one gauge that? I get hungry on the bus home from work each night. I know that doesn't count. But as soon as this gentleman said "They have no hunger." I began to wonder how does a census gauge that? And then the homeless issue. He said, "They have no homelessness." If one wants to sleep under the trees, does that count as homeless? Is homeless as a choice still homeless? Traveling monks are homeless, by choice. It seems the census there must not count that as "homeless". What are their definitions for the things we concern ourselves with over here?

None of this stops me from wanting to go. I'd like to visit Bhutan. And Nepal. I want to go there even more, now that I have heard these incredible claims (yes, as in not credible to my "western" way of thinking). I want to go there for myself and I'd like to see anything else that is on the way there and back. I can appreciate that they do things differently. I can appreciate that their core of beliefs necessarily makes the society look different to me. I want to see what they see. I think I'd like to go to Bhutan.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Isn't this fun?

What a wild ride. I am having fun. The new blog at Wordpress has been a great ride so far. Every post is another great day. I love the "stats" page. It's a red letter day. I was feeling so good at 37 page hits last week. But today was 56 hits. I'm loving this stuff. And I still have all these stories unposted yet. Between the new blog and joining Toastmasters, and the job changes, and my girls, and the study group I was roped into facilitating....it seems ilife can't get any fuller.

But, I know it will. This makes me smile.

The blog is at Worpress - Notes From the Castle. Link is to the left...I hope you enjoy.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The past comes back

Thank you for all your great support. The interview went very well. I'm qualified. Unfortunately, they cannot promise me a full forty hours a week.
Yes, the place I'm currently working did offer me the job, but the official start date keeps getting put off. There's more red tape in hiring than one would ever imagine. If it is all going to unravel at least I will be ready. If it finally all gets knitted together then I have a couple pearls to add to the weave.

Here's the crazy part of the interview. The woman,Carol, and I were comparing places we've lived. Just warm up talk. I was speaking of San Francisco State and for some reason she asked me if I knew anyone from Fremont. Oh yeah, my college roommate Pat H. was from Fremont. Carol says, "Patti?" Who knew...Patti and Carol were great friends in HS and a bit longer. It was Carol that helped Patti play that joke on me through the mail saying Patti had run off to France and gotten married. It was the best interview warm up conversation ever.

Damn, this world just keeps getting smaller.

They'll be doing more interviews this coming week. I expect to hear from them in two weeks or so. I'll wait till then to consider this position further
Have I mentioned lately that I've moved up and down the coast and back and forth across the country, a couple times, since college? This is amazing stuff here. It serves to remind me there are only miracles.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Bifurcation vs. Articulation

We have buses here in Seattle that carry me from one county to another. They are usually wonderful, warm, comfortable places to be in traffic or otherwise. Lately, and after some rather harrowing bus rides, I'm finding the bifurcated buses not as comfortable. It's beginning to flavor my decisions on how I get home. I prefer to wait for a non-bifurcated bus.

The buses are not actually called bifurcated. They are called articulated. I've attached the dictionary definitions to these two words. Essentially, bifurcation means pretty much just one thing - divide or fork into two branches. That's it. That's what these buses are like. They are two part buses - with the back end swinging separately from the front to enable it to negotiate corners more effectively.

Articulated - this throws me for a loop. What does articulation have to do with a two part bus? I mean these buses belch. But, they don't speak. They don't use language at all, never mind articulating clearly. Okay, the belch counts - but is that truly articulate?

So why, for gods sake, are these buses called articulated buses and not bifurcated?

I do understand why, in today's liberalist society, we do not call these buses "jointed". That term may never work (with a straight face).

Have I whined about this already? That's how much this bothers me...

Bifurcation = to divide or fork into two branches.

Articulation = 1.uttered clearly in distinct syllables.
2. capable of speech; not speechless.
3. using language easily and fluently; having facility with words: an articulate speaker.
4. expressed, formulated, or presented with clarity and effectiveness: an articulate thought.
5. made clear, distinct, and precise in relation to other parts: an articulate form; an articulate shape; an articulate area.
6. (of ideas, form, etc.) having a meaningful relation to other parts: an articulate image.
7. having parts or distinct areas organized into a coherent or meaningful whole; unified: an articulate system of philosophy.
8. Zoology . having joints or articulations; composed of segments. (Oh - this one....got it. Hmmm, still don't like it.)

Friday, January 7, 2011

Holidays

The christmas tree came down this evening. The room looks bland. I wonder how many Valentine's decorations I have?

Nothing special

Some mornings I get the whole city to myself. So it seems. Some mornings I get off the bus and I'm the only soul walking the half block over to the transfer stop. There's maybe a person or three milling about waiting for a bus as well. The city streets are misted over in the early morning so the busses hiss as they motor past. Especially the electric busses - they only hiss, no motor noise.

This morning though, (there's always exceptions) the wind was blowing through the streets, the number of cars weaving among the busses was noteworthy, the people I was weaving among to get to my transfer stop, all of it is such a change from my normal observations. Today, it really was a city. It bustled.

Nothing special - except it kinda was. Nothing much else going on.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Rule #78

The year has begun wonderfully. I hope everyone has had as good a first week of the new year.

Rule #78 - Base decisions on what you want, not what you have. Decisions today can only affect the future not the past.

My exercise last week was for one day to base every decision on what I wanted in the future, not how my life was at that moment. I wanted my bus card full so I could go to work - done. I wanted to have fun stuff for Sunday breakfast - done. I wanted to relax each night and not worry about laundry - oh that got done back then too. Today is yesterday's future. Even if for only one day a week I base all my decisions on the future - shoot...this is cool.