Facie’s Ramblings

In all my years of presidential voting, I have never really felt strongly about anyone I voted for. In most cases, I was simply choosing the lesser of two evils. In the '92 election, I voted for Perot. Why? Honestly, the only thing I remember about him was that he was not going to take a salary. I hope I had other reasons at that the time, but I am not sure. Similarly, I voted for Tom Ridge for governor the first time because he said he would not give himself (or maybe he said he would not vote for) a pay raise. I seem to recall he did, though. So when Ed Spendell ran for governor five years ago and said he was going to lower property taxes, I did not believe him. And rightly so. Now a year into his second term, I am still waiting for lower property taxes. Probably the only way I, not a senior citizen, will see them is if Spendell raises our income taxes, which he has already done once. A few weeks ago, I was complaining about taxes going up, when one of the bosses happened to be a...

I have to say that the writer's strike has hardly affected me, and I am actually a little disappointed that some of the shows that I watched pre-strike will be back. It has been kind of nice focusing (obsessing might be more accurate) on Lost; that is one of only two prime time shows I make it a point to watch. I thought Lost had a great season last year. This year might not be as good as last year (I kind of miss the surviving on the island aspect and the flashbacks), but there seem to be a lot more surprises and possible answers to seemingly 100s of questions. Did only six people get off the island? Why are the Oceanic Six saying that only six survived the plane crash when we have watched dozens of survivors for four seasons now? What happened to all the other survivors? Why do some of them want to get back to the island? Who is in the coffin? Why is Sayid working for Ben post-rescue? Who are these "freight people" and why do they want Ben? How/why does Ben have so much...

When I was a kid, and we played the Farmer in the Dell, the last person picked to join the inside of the circle was the cheese. Once that person was picked, every except the cheese left the inside of the circle and sang, "The cheese stands alone. The cheese stands alone. Hi-ho, the derry-o. The cheese stands alone" At Jordan's preschool, once the cheese is picked to join the circle, "We all hug the cheese." The cheese apparently no longer stands alone. I was taken aback by this when she told me, but yet not really surprised. God forbid we hurt anyone's feelings, but I guess I am a little guilty of trying to spare kids, especially mine, pain. Because Jordan has a rather strong personality, and she has, at times, left other kids out, I usually don't mind when other kids ignore her. I can turn that into a life's lesson and say something like, "Now you know how it feels for C when you don't play with her at school." But I am not sure she ...

It is nearly 7 p.m., and I am getting ready to leave the office; Tuesdays and Thursdays are my late days. Unfortunately I won't be going home to see any of my valentines; instead, I will be going to choir practice, which I have skipped for the last two weeks (due mostly to my not wanting to miss watching Lost live, I admit). I have never been a fan of Valentine's Day, but I no longer despise it, and actually I don't even mind it anymore. In fact, I have a red sweater on today, so I am downright festive. Fortunately for Brian, I don't believe in exchanging cards or gifts for this Hallmark holiday, so I guess we both have it pretty good! I hope that all of you reading this were able to spend some time with someone you love. Or something you love (nothing wrong with loving a dog, a tub of ice cream, TV, or something like that on this day). I will head to choir thinking of my Brian and Jordan and even Sadie, as well as family and friends, and being grateful I have them in m...

My memory is not what it used to be. I am not sure if this is because of the insomnia I began been fighting with off and on after Jordan was born, or if it is a result of age, although 36 seems awfully young to be so forgetful. I just wish I could figure it out and do something. I went to my PCP about 1.5 years ago for my every-few-years-checkup but also to discuss my sleeping problem. Dr. C did blood work, and everything turned out fine, but I never followed up with her. The truth is I did not want her to prescribe drugs for this (although the other reason I never made another appointment was it took her something like six weeks to get my results to me, and that was only after I left several messages at her office). My parents are pharmacists, and I get that people need drugs for a number of diseases, conditions, etc. But I am just not a fan of medication. Last week, after I had gotten no more than six hours of sleep for three out of four nights and started to get sick, I finally rele...

As much as I hate computerized "customer" service, based on my recent experiences, I am starting to think maybe humans are over-rated in that area. I recently signed up for Verizon's triple package, with FiOS phone, cable, and Internet. Before the installation, I called Comast to see how far in advance I would need to cancel my cable. The rep said you can cancel anytime you want, even the same day, but if you don't specifically request that the day you call be your last billing day, Comcast will try to charge you for two more weeks. Fast-forward more than two weeks, our FiOS was installed, and I called to cancel our cable. This rep said there was a two-week disconnect period. I told her that was fine, but after today I was not going to pay anymore, referencing what "Mark" had told me a few weeks before. When she said she would cancel it in two days as a courtesy, I asked to speak to a manager. The manager said two weeks is standard, but as a courtesy, she wo...

I missed over three quarters of the Big Game, but I watched the 10 minutes that counted. And what mattered the most was when the clock was 0:00, the Giants were victorious. Looks as if Plex was right after all, just not about the final score. During the last five minutes, I felt as if I was watching a Steelers playoff game. And in the final two minutes, it almost felt as if the Steelers were in the Super Bowl. Once Tyree caught that amazing pass with about two minutes to go (or something like that), I ran upstairs to get my cell phone, confident my coworker Robta would be calling me if the game turned out as we had hoped. The woman in me feels a little bit bad that the Pats had to see their perfect season end with a 1 on the end. And it is kind of sad that part of me (and many, many others) wanted them to lose out of jealousy towards such an amazing team, especially the über-talented Tom Brady. But the principled person/Steelers fan in me is glad that Belicheat and his bunch lost to t...

I suffer from working mother's guilt. People who know me well (and probably even some who don't, because I am just that open about things) understand that I do not see myself as stay-at-home mom material. For years I was not sure I wanted a child. But when I found out I was pregnant (well, five minutes after anyway), I knew there was nothing I wanted more than to have this baby. But stay at home? Even if I thought I fit that mold, with Brian's new restaurant (and no paycheck) at that time, I had to work. But even though I did not think I could be with my child 24/7, which I know sounds kind of sad for a parent, I also knew I did not want to work five days a week either. Luckily I was able to work out a four-day a week deal, though not without a struggle (you would swear I was the most valued employee with the grief I got). Having done this routine for four and a half years, I can tell you I wish I would have asked to work three days, although I probably would not have been ...