This and that (including a bus story)

I just cannot seem to come up with a coherent blog post. It is just easier to post pictures, tell a story, or do a bulleted list. Here goes my bulleted list (and why is it that blogger thinks that "bulleted" is not a word?)

Last week when I got on the bus, I sat down next to a guy. Said guy had a can of something between his legs. My first guess was beer, particularly since he reeked of alcohol, but then I decided it could have been one of those canned energy drinks. When he turned towards the window (and away from me) to take a sip, that was a pretty good indication he was drinking a brew. Upon further review, I confirmed it. Miller Ice, I believe. As my bus driver friend said, "As long as the bus driver is not drinking, you are golden."
After my third trip to my mechanic in five months, I told him that, no offense, I hoped that I would not see him until January 2015, when my next inspection is due. I don't even want to add up what I spent on the car in 2013, which also includes my inspection repairs in January 2013. Pretty sure it all adds up to a year's worth of (low) car payments. You read it here first: I will never buy another GM (I have a 2007 Saturn Vue).
I sang in my church choir's cabaret night a week and a half ago. For about a minute, I was back in high school, when all the world was my stage. It felt pretty good, and reminded me of how much I missed it. For most of the song, I really feel as if I knocked it out of the park. I was pitchy in a few places, but I am trying not to let that diminish what I did. Next year I plan to tap dance. I am serious. And, if you stop by again, I am actually going to put the video up.
I found out one of my (young) coworkers has the same birthday as me. I asked her what year she was born. She replied, "1989." Which means when she was born, I was a freshman at college. Sigh.
My kid does not like school. And that is putting it nicely. I have no idea what to do about this; she loved it the first five years (K at a different school and 1-4 in this school). I think a big part of it is homework. Most nights, the kid has 1-1.5 hours of HW. Some nights, it is 2 hours. This past weekend was the first one in over 2.5 months of school that she had no HW. That is right; she gets HW every single weekend. Sigh.
But I went with my kid's class on their field trip to RiverQuest. I had a great time. The kids got to launch things in the water, retrieve them, and then study organisms from the water under microscopes and macroscopes. Well worth the day I took off. And best of all, when one of the educators on the boat asked the students what their teacher's name was (meaning their science teacher), they replied, "Ms. (my last name)." They still think of me as their/a teacher!
Still quite sure the Steelers will not make the playoffs and will probably have a losing season. But maybe, just maybe, they can end up at .500. Stranger things have happened. Just glad I made it to a game this year (and a winning one at that). Unfortunately, I don't think the Pens are Cup bound this year, but I feel just as sure that they will be in the playoffs.

And how are you doing?

What a year 2021 has been (Day 7)

I have almost no words for what happened yesterday at the Capitol. Protesting is one thing (though I truly think it is and has been time to move on). But to storm the Capitol? A friend on Facebook said, quite simply, " Almost 20 years ago a group of people on an airplane sacrificed themselves to protect the Capitol. How far we have fallen!" Indeed. And, yes, it IS storming the Capitol. I have seen numerous videos of people knocking down barricades/fences, pushing police officers, and breaking windows and climbing through them. That is beyond protesting. And even if a protestor did not do those things, if they followed those seditionists past those barricades and into the building, they are just as guilty. I did not support the violent protests this summer that resulted in damages to businesses and public property (I was in full support of the actual protests). But I also acknowledged as a white person, I cannot truly put myself in the position of a black person who is angry a...

Why do they stand up there and say that when they are just lying?

That extra-long title is courtesy of my nine-year-old and was something she uttered during "Say Yes to the Dress" on Friday evening. I watch very little reality TV, but I make an exception for this show because I like to look at the dresses. And sometimes, the stories are heart-warming. Typically at the end of the show, a snippet of a wedding is aired. In this particular show, a woman who was confined to a wheelchair was exchanging vows with her fiance. After the two of them finished, J made her comment. I asked her what she meant as I must have been on the computer while the TV was on, and she explained that because so many people just get divorced, why do they even say "as long as we both shall live"? That is tough one, kid. I tried with what I thought was a sound explanation: Most of the people who get married truly believe they will be together the rest of their lives, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. But if you don't think that you will be ...

Disenfranchised Republican

When I went to vote this a.m., I handed my ID to the guy, since my last name can be tricky. He looked for several minutes in the box with the cards. Then he asked if I was in the right place (there is another area in this room, for people in a different neighborhood, I presume). And I told him that this is where I have always voted. He then reviewed the bound paper list, found my name, but could not figure out why it was there, yet not in the box with the cards. Then he realized what was going on and rather exclaimed, "Oh, you are a Republican!" One of the ladies sitting next to him said, "Oh, one of those." I said I assumed they had not seen too many of "my kind" that morning, and she said I was the third. Then, being the open person I am, I eagerly said I was coming to rock the vote and vote for Ron Paul. One of the women commented that she liked some of the things he had stood for, perhaps to try to make me feel as if I was not voting for a terrible per...

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