School--and thus the "writing season"--does not start until the end of the month, but this next week will be the practice session for schedules and alarms to come.
The girl child has "get ready for middle school" classes Monday through Friday which begin in the early morning hours. Also on Monday, both kids have registration before that class begins, so we will be getting up almost as early as our 7:30 start times require during the school year. And next weekend, I'm volunteering to help with the early morning set up at the upcoming wine and music festival. (Yeah, tough job, but someone has to do it! HA)
We'll see how it goes attempting to send our flabby, lazy summer daily round off to fit and timely boot camp. Ah Fall, thank goodness for college football!
And at the risk of going all Heloise on your arses, I have a handy-dandy easy, cheap, and mostly healthy breakfast food idea that has worked for me twice now. That's a ringer in my test kitchen.
Here goes:
I start with a box of cake mix or brownie mix, any flavor or variety. Get the store brand as they are usually under a buck. But forget about the eggs and oil and butter. Just dump the mix into a big bowl, add whatever dried fruits, nuts, and other healthy goodies of your choosing. I use dried cranberries flavored or plain, whatever nuts I have on hand, chocolate chips, coconut, ground flax seed, and wheat germ. Then throw in a few spices like ginger, cinnamon, or nutmeg. Add uncooked oatmeal--I use the instant with the cream powder in it for flavor--and just a few tablespoons of sugar--I use the Stevia-based product, Truvia. Those are all your dry goods. For moisture, I use a healthy dollop of Greek yougurt, jam or preserves, and milk. Around here we go with either soy, almond, or coconut milk. Add the wet ingredients until you have a very thick batter consistency, spoon into 24 cupcake tins with liners, and bake as usual. (For me that means 350 degrees for 20 minutes, but I'm at an unusually high altitude, so adjust as you see fit.) This is a great way to get a lot of healthy and breakfast-appropriate items into a small serving, and they'll last you for several mornings. So far so good, as I've done this with a chocolate brownie mix and a strawberry cake mix to much success and approval. And since there are no eggs, no more saying "no" when the small people ask to lick the spoon!
As the old song goes: "School days, school days,
Good old Golden Rule days."
Wish me luck and let them eat cake!!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Show Me The Money
If last week was a rollercoaster, you'd come stumbling off of it swearing, swerving, and hurling as you blew past the souvenir photo booth vowing not to pursue legal action yet determined never to get on it again.
It's always the money. Look at failed marriages, business deals gone bad, storefronts shuttered, medical relief delayed--and those stats are likely all on the uptick given our present economic picture. And it's not just us. Poor Greece is gross and looking for a hand-up, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain are in similar straits, and even the booming Chinese infrastructure industry seems to be slowing. The markets were rotten with the Nikkei and the Hang Seng down sharply, and you saw what the Dow did, especially that 500+ point drop on Thursday. But there are some glinting shards in the broken glass of bad news. The Italian banks have attempted to restructure that country's banking system in recent years and saw their stocks go up this week as a result of investor confidence...but their economic growth rate is nearly flat. Our own stock market is on the rise today (though that is a fluid dynamic to be sure) and we had "better than expected" job numbers...but we're probably still on the lousy, pot hole-ridden road to a double-dip recession.
And all that pressure put on the AWOL Congress seems to have worked for the time being, as the furloughed FAA workers and all those thousands of workers contracted to perform infrastructure improvement projects for the agency may all get to return to work on Monday, with two weeks back pay. It is not finalized yet, but should be sometime today as a little "work around" was thrown in to help Sec. LaHood handle the situation at those 13 rural airports. (Just an aside: If you live near and/or use one of those airports, let me know how it is you could vote for a Republican in the next election cycles.) But we'll be engaged in quite the fight around mid-September, and who knows how the agency will fare then.
And there were some really rotten headlines on the crime front, as well. I throw that in with the money issues because I'm one of those "bleeding heart" types who believes that many crimes are committed in an attempt to rectify an economic hardship. Sure, some people are just whacko, like the mass murderer in Norway, and there's little or nothing to be done about them before they act. But tough financial times drive already angered people toward desperation, and already prejudiced people toward hatred and fear.
Many dynamics are in flux at this moment in history: the economy, demographics, religious fervor (of many types)--all things that could be turned into positives with the right attitude. If we speak out about the economic situation with our fellows, perhaps we could help find local solutions which would find their way to the ears of the powerful higher up. If we embrace multiculturalism and diversity, we stand to learn a hell of a lot more about our world than we would just interacting with people who think like us and look like us. (We would never have had a USA in the first place without multiculturalism and immigration, after all.) And if all that religious fervor could be harnessed into help for the poor, as Mother Teresa espoused, then maybe we could help the kids in Somalia as well as in our own neighborhoods. Times are hard and money is scarce but empathy has no expiration date and is limitless.
One last thing, since we're meeting in this way: Why does it seem that our ever-growing interconnectedness just drives us farther apart? We can sit in our abodes and hammer out our little screeds and reach people we would never have been able to reach prior to our use of communication technology, but do we remember how to talk to the shop-keeper, the traffic cop, or the toll booth operator? It seems that what is dancing on the screen is real and the reality right before our eyes is just another wallpaper or screensaver. All things in moderation, as the Buddha taught. Internet interaction has been a driving force in the "Arab Spring" and that is probably a good thing for the masses. But we should also remember to appreciate the power and beauty of the individual.
I hope you are fortunate enough to have the means to live a comfortable life and that it is a healthy and enjoyable one. Mine is, and I am grateful for it. And as we continue to laugh and scream together virtually, let's not forget those among us who are screaming with need in reality. Let's show them some money, or kindness. And let's hope for the rise of the barter system in those areas where it has gone dormant. For markets can go up and down, but you can never lose a well-honed skill, a talent, or the friend you'll make in sharing them.
It's always the money. Look at failed marriages, business deals gone bad, storefronts shuttered, medical relief delayed--and those stats are likely all on the uptick given our present economic picture. And it's not just us. Poor Greece is gross and looking for a hand-up, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain are in similar straits, and even the booming Chinese infrastructure industry seems to be slowing. The markets were rotten with the Nikkei and the Hang Seng down sharply, and you saw what the Dow did, especially that 500+ point drop on Thursday. But there are some glinting shards in the broken glass of bad news. The Italian banks have attempted to restructure that country's banking system in recent years and saw their stocks go up this week as a result of investor confidence...but their economic growth rate is nearly flat. Our own stock market is on the rise today (though that is a fluid dynamic to be sure) and we had "better than expected" job numbers...but we're probably still on the lousy, pot hole-ridden road to a double-dip recession.
And all that pressure put on the AWOL Congress seems to have worked for the time being, as the furloughed FAA workers and all those thousands of workers contracted to perform infrastructure improvement projects for the agency may all get to return to work on Monday, with two weeks back pay. It is not finalized yet, but should be sometime today as a little "work around" was thrown in to help Sec. LaHood handle the situation at those 13 rural airports. (Just an aside: If you live near and/or use one of those airports, let me know how it is you could vote for a Republican in the next election cycles.) But we'll be engaged in quite the fight around mid-September, and who knows how the agency will fare then.
And there were some really rotten headlines on the crime front, as well. I throw that in with the money issues because I'm one of those "bleeding heart" types who believes that many crimes are committed in an attempt to rectify an economic hardship. Sure, some people are just whacko, like the mass murderer in Norway, and there's little or nothing to be done about them before they act. But tough financial times drive already angered people toward desperation, and already prejudiced people toward hatred and fear.
Many dynamics are in flux at this moment in history: the economy, demographics, religious fervor (of many types)--all things that could be turned into positives with the right attitude. If we speak out about the economic situation with our fellows, perhaps we could help find local solutions which would find their way to the ears of the powerful higher up. If we embrace multiculturalism and diversity, we stand to learn a hell of a lot more about our world than we would just interacting with people who think like us and look like us. (We would never have had a USA in the first place without multiculturalism and immigration, after all.) And if all that religious fervor could be harnessed into help for the poor, as Mother Teresa espoused, then maybe we could help the kids in Somalia as well as in our own neighborhoods. Times are hard and money is scarce but empathy has no expiration date and is limitless.
One last thing, since we're meeting in this way: Why does it seem that our ever-growing interconnectedness just drives us farther apart? We can sit in our abodes and hammer out our little screeds and reach people we would never have been able to reach prior to our use of communication technology, but do we remember how to talk to the shop-keeper, the traffic cop, or the toll booth operator? It seems that what is dancing on the screen is real and the reality right before our eyes is just another wallpaper or screensaver. All things in moderation, as the Buddha taught. Internet interaction has been a driving force in the "Arab Spring" and that is probably a good thing for the masses. But we should also remember to appreciate the power and beauty of the individual.
I hope you are fortunate enough to have the means to live a comfortable life and that it is a healthy and enjoyable one. Mine is, and I am grateful for it. And as we continue to laugh and scream together virtually, let's not forget those among us who are screaming with need in reality. Let's show them some money, or kindness. And let's hope for the rise of the barter system in those areas where it has gone dormant. For markets can go up and down, but you can never lose a well-honed skill, a talent, or the friend you'll make in sharing them.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Flight Rules
Maybe it's the monsoon, but a weird floating litter of thoughts has descended upon me like tiny ashes from a distant fire or those little paper flowers that issue down from discharged Pop-Pops. This flutter of disparate images has set off a corresponding flurry of smashing and converging realizations, a classic sign of a mental run-off caused by information overload, and has left me wandering in the sproutings of my saturated "mind field".
The writer's number one axiom is "Write what you know", and I believe that to also be the limit to which you should be held responsible. I say that as a caveat for what is to follow, and I hold it as a grace I parse out to others hoping that, when needed, they will afford it equally to me. We know what we know, and we communicate accordingly. If we were all omniscient we would never dare speak nor stroke a keyboard for two reasons: 1) it would be unnecessary, and 2) we would constantly fear causing offense as everything has the possibility to offend someone. On Morning Joe just now, my pal Joe Scarborough (who had the good sense to marry another Susan from S.C.) was reminiscing about today's 30 year anniversary of a particular event during the Reagan presidency. But let's set that aside for a moment. In a later segment, Chuck Todd referred to the matters left on the table by a fleeing Congress, saying there was a lack of "band-width" among the legislators. Simply put, their heads were full and they went home. And as I stated in the first paragraph here, I know how that feels; it happens to us all.
But here's what I know: Currently, 4,000 FAA-employed families have been trying to figure out how to pay their bills as they've been hit with layoffs because the Repubs and Dems cannot agree on whether or not to allow the agency to spend the money that it has sitting in its coffers. Also, 70,000 FAA-employed construction workers are out of work for the same reason. Now, with the law-makers gone on sabbatical, these folks face the rest of the summer without benefit of a single paycheck.
This fight is over 13 airports and, presumably, labor rights. But let's set the ideology to one side and look at the irrefutable facts: the math. Rep. John Mica (R-FL) is upset that subsidies to 13 rural airports is a waste of the government's money. Meanwhile the government is losing $200 million in ticket tax revenue each week that this situation continues, and could be on course to lose $1 billion by the time the problem is rectified. With the FAA in limbo, the airlines cannot collect taxes on the tickets they sell. Of course they raised their prices as soon as the stalemate began in order to recoup those funds. And those subsidies to the 13 airports? They cost the government $200 million a year. Same amount the government is losing every week in those uncollectible taxes. And then there are those 74,000 families and their bills. All over John Mica's 13 rural airports.
And just what was that 30 years ago today anniversary I mentioned? Ironically it's the speech President Reagan gave, warning the air traffic controllers that if they did not report to work within 48 hours that they would be terminated, which they were. Sure, many will tell you that the ATC's old union, PATCO, reached too far and expected too much and therefore needed to shoulder some of the blame. But what I know is that thousands of highly-trained workers with jobs critical to the mobility and security of the nation were thrown out of work, work that you cannot hire just anyone off the street to do. And their very specific skill set--vital to their work--doesn't exactly translate "word-for-word" to many other jobs. And aren't we all glad that the generation of controllers who came after them were there on that awful morning nearly 10 years ago to do what had never been tried before and a task for which there was no playbook: a total, immediate shutdown of our entire airspace.
I don't agree on a lot with Joe, but I do appreciate his ability to view most sides of the issues. And as I stated above, I do not hold against a person that which they do not know. But I know that some of those PATCO workers were ruined, and sadly some gave up forever. It pains me with guilt to think of them, of their families, as I realize that I personally benefitted (many years later) from their sacrifice. Nature, and government work, abhors a vacuum and that vast vacancy demanded to be filled.
But let's get back to that playbook. Joe and I are both HUGE college football fans and I once heard an NCAA head coach (and I'm sorry I do not remember who he was) reply to a reporter that his job was nothing compared to that of his son-in-law. It went something like this: "Sure, if I'm over .500 I may well get to go to a bowl game and keep my job. If my air traffic controller son-in-law goes .500, people die and it makes the news." They have to be perfect: every minute, every flight, every day, every time.
It's a solemn anniversary to be sure, and again, my heart goes out to the PATCO families that are no doubt wrestling with more emotions today than I can ever know. But what I do know is that those 74,000 families today are struggling, and their work--though not as well-known as that of the air traffic controllers--is vital still, and the bills will keep coming, and their kids need their school supplies. I wish the "band-width" was just a little bit wider in Washington for those folks' sake. And there are so many other worried and desperate people I'll never even know about and I feel for them too.
That's what I know. That's the view from my side of the street. That's the information I have available to me now. Meanwhile engineers stand idle and potholes bloom on runways; safety inspectors have been asked to stay on the job, without pay, and charge their government travel on their personal credit cards. As a writer, I must live by the axiom to write only what I know. As a fallible human being, I must afford my fellow travelers pardon and "forgive them what they do not know", and I hope they will reciprocate when I venture into the ill-fated journey of rhetorical flourish. It's never as simple as one side sees it; there are always complications.
The flight danger here is that in their flight--Sen. Reid to see the blooming branches of his pomegranate trees in Nevada--our government's legislative "branch" leaves a lot of baggage grounded. There are trade agreements to be signed on which no one seems to have much disagreement. There's the FAA stalemate.
I wish we could do something about that "band-width" problem in Washington--an illustrative example by way of symbolism for sure--but unfortunately it seems we've lost some of our ability to appreciate the investment in infrastructure. We should build more and "tear down" less, for all our sakes.
The writer's number one axiom is "Write what you know", and I believe that to also be the limit to which you should be held responsible. I say that as a caveat for what is to follow, and I hold it as a grace I parse out to others hoping that, when needed, they will afford it equally to me. We know what we know, and we communicate accordingly. If we were all omniscient we would never dare speak nor stroke a keyboard for two reasons: 1) it would be unnecessary, and 2) we would constantly fear causing offense as everything has the possibility to offend someone. On Morning Joe just now, my pal Joe Scarborough (who had the good sense to marry another Susan from S.C.) was reminiscing about today's 30 year anniversary of a particular event during the Reagan presidency. But let's set that aside for a moment. In a later segment, Chuck Todd referred to the matters left on the table by a fleeing Congress, saying there was a lack of "band-width" among the legislators. Simply put, their heads were full and they went home. And as I stated in the first paragraph here, I know how that feels; it happens to us all.
But here's what I know: Currently, 4,000 FAA-employed families have been trying to figure out how to pay their bills as they've been hit with layoffs because the Repubs and Dems cannot agree on whether or not to allow the agency to spend the money that it has sitting in its coffers. Also, 70,000 FAA-employed construction workers are out of work for the same reason. Now, with the law-makers gone on sabbatical, these folks face the rest of the summer without benefit of a single paycheck.
This fight is over 13 airports and, presumably, labor rights. But let's set the ideology to one side and look at the irrefutable facts: the math. Rep. John Mica (R-FL) is upset that subsidies to 13 rural airports is a waste of the government's money. Meanwhile the government is losing $200 million in ticket tax revenue each week that this situation continues, and could be on course to lose $1 billion by the time the problem is rectified. With the FAA in limbo, the airlines cannot collect taxes on the tickets they sell. Of course they raised their prices as soon as the stalemate began in order to recoup those funds. And those subsidies to the 13 airports? They cost the government $200 million a year. Same amount the government is losing every week in those uncollectible taxes. And then there are those 74,000 families and their bills. All over John Mica's 13 rural airports.
And just what was that 30 years ago today anniversary I mentioned? Ironically it's the speech President Reagan gave, warning the air traffic controllers that if they did not report to work within 48 hours that they would be terminated, which they were. Sure, many will tell you that the ATC's old union, PATCO, reached too far and expected too much and therefore needed to shoulder some of the blame. But what I know is that thousands of highly-trained workers with jobs critical to the mobility and security of the nation were thrown out of work, work that you cannot hire just anyone off the street to do. And their very specific skill set--vital to their work--doesn't exactly translate "word-for-word" to many other jobs. And aren't we all glad that the generation of controllers who came after them were there on that awful morning nearly 10 years ago to do what had never been tried before and a task for which there was no playbook: a total, immediate shutdown of our entire airspace.
I don't agree on a lot with Joe, but I do appreciate his ability to view most sides of the issues. And as I stated above, I do not hold against a person that which they do not know. But I know that some of those PATCO workers were ruined, and sadly some gave up forever. It pains me with guilt to think of them, of their families, as I realize that I personally benefitted (many years later) from their sacrifice. Nature, and government work, abhors a vacuum and that vast vacancy demanded to be filled.
But let's get back to that playbook. Joe and I are both HUGE college football fans and I once heard an NCAA head coach (and I'm sorry I do not remember who he was) reply to a reporter that his job was nothing compared to that of his son-in-law. It went something like this: "Sure, if I'm over .500 I may well get to go to a bowl game and keep my job. If my air traffic controller son-in-law goes .500, people die and it makes the news." They have to be perfect: every minute, every flight, every day, every time.
It's a solemn anniversary to be sure, and again, my heart goes out to the PATCO families that are no doubt wrestling with more emotions today than I can ever know. But what I do know is that those 74,000 families today are struggling, and their work--though not as well-known as that of the air traffic controllers--is vital still, and the bills will keep coming, and their kids need their school supplies. I wish the "band-width" was just a little bit wider in Washington for those folks' sake. And there are so many other worried and desperate people I'll never even know about and I feel for them too.
That's what I know. That's the view from my side of the street. That's the information I have available to me now. Meanwhile engineers stand idle and potholes bloom on runways; safety inspectors have been asked to stay on the job, without pay, and charge their government travel on their personal credit cards. As a writer, I must live by the axiom to write only what I know. As a fallible human being, I must afford my fellow travelers pardon and "forgive them what they do not know", and I hope they will reciprocate when I venture into the ill-fated journey of rhetorical flourish. It's never as simple as one side sees it; there are always complications.
The flight danger here is that in their flight--Sen. Reid to see the blooming branches of his pomegranate trees in Nevada--our government's legislative "branch" leaves a lot of baggage grounded. There are trade agreements to be signed on which no one seems to have much disagreement. There's the FAA stalemate.
I wish we could do something about that "band-width" problem in Washington--an illustrative example by way of symbolism for sure--but unfortunately it seems we've lost some of our ability to appreciate the investment in infrastructure. We should build more and "tear down" less, for all our sakes.
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