response 133 of 160:

Feb 2 15:05 UTC 2004

Some monday morning thoughts about channel flipping and football...

Aaron came over last night just to hang out. He has a habit of 
switching channels a lot rather than watching just one thing. A lot of 
people seem to do this. I have never really understood it. Whenever I 
am watching something on one channel, unless it is bad, I dont sit 
there wondering if there is something I want to watch more on another 
channel. In fact, since I often check tv programming guides before I 
start watching, I usually already know what is on the other channels. 
So what is the facination with channel hopping?

I will admit, though, that if it werent for Aaron's channel switching, 
I wouldnt have seen any of the Super Bowl and even though I am not the 
world's biggest football fan, it actually was a really good game. It 
was also nice to have Aaron there because he actually knows the 
football rules so I was able to ask him a lot of questions. 

Usually, I dont like pro football because the players are so good, they 
make it look easy. I *know* it isnt easy but that doesnt normally make 
it more exciting to watch. I tend to find college ball much more 
interesting even though the players arent as good. 

But, that game last night was really really interesting. Very exciting 
too! Especially the ending. Holy cow! Talk about racing the clock. I 
was on the edge of my seat. It was fun. I even found it interesting 
even though I was rooting for either team especially. Yup, it was just 
one of those games that was good just because it was a good game.

response 135 of 160:

Feb 3 17:49 UTC 2004

I got a phone call from a former boss last night. Unfortunately, 
because of bad circumstances (the death of a former co-worker's 
father). Still, it was *really* nice to talk to her. We talked for two 
hours catching up. It made me realize that I am not always really good 
about making the effort to keep people in my life. I think I need to do 
more of that. 

response 137 of 160:

Feb 8 15:30 UTC 2004

I spent the better part of yesterday morning passing out leaflets for 
polygon, who is running for county clerk. It was really hard for me to 
be out in public yesterday because of some disturbing news I received 
on friday,  but I am proud of myself that I was able to suck it up and 
keep my commitments. I met some nice folks too. It is really nice 
seeing people vote in a caucus or volunteer to pass out literature. I 
really liked the Dean volunteers. They were really young (one of them 
just 17) and it gave me a lot of hope to see them youngins 
participating in the political process with such energy. 

The weirdest thing was that I ran into my old therapist and got a hug 
from her just when I needed it most. 

response 139 of 160:

Feb 9 23:40 UTC 2004

I don't remember that movie, but my wife thinks it's pretty funny.

response 141 of 160:

Feb 10 17:57 UTC 2004

I have to admit that I have been quite disappointed in Dean s results 
in this race so far. It has been a long time since I have been so 
enthused about a presidential candidate. There is some disappointment. 
But luckily for Kerry if he happens to win the nomination, I like him a 
lot better than I like George Bush. 

I was reading an editorial in the NYT about the labor market. It is 
dismal. People here where I work have been losing their jobs. I could 
lose my job any minute (ok, it is unlikely but it could happen). This 
is an issue where I have an emotional response: fear. I know that a lot 
of people share that fear or, worse, are living through having lost 
their jobs. Just this week, I heard a story about a small town in 
Michigan that is going to lose the factory that employs most folks. So, 
heck yeah, I am afraid of losing my job. An economic recovery without 
jobs doesn t feel like much of a recovery to the average person who is 
living paycheck to paycheck and just getting by. 

response 143 of 160:

Feb 11 14:32 UTC 2004

I know. It is a pretty bad time to be without a job. I worry a lot 
about that. Not just about my job but about the effects of having a lot 
of unemployed people will have on society in general. I mean, it seems 
to me that it means less tax revenue and increased need for state 
funded welfare programs. 

response 145 of 160:

Feb 12 14:08 UTC 2004

Ugh. I feel really sick today. I have a headache and feel really 
lightheaded. I hope I am not coming down with something serious. 

I have to laugh at myself though. Whenever I start to feel sick, all 
kinds of crazy things start rolling through my head. eg What if my 
furnace is broken and my house is filled with carbon monoxide? Oh yeah, 
that would mean the carbon monoxide detector must be broken too. What 
if I have caught that terrible flu that has hit all those students at U 
of M? What if one of those Asian chickens with the bird flu jumped on a 
jet, flew all the way to Michigan and pooped in my tea? (Ok, I am not 
really too worried about that last one) 

Anyhow, I have decided to stay home today. I figure that now, more than 
most times, I deserve to sit back and take care of myself. Besides, I 
have a big weekend planned so it would really suck to be sick. 

I mean, my last living grandmother is having a 90th birthday party on 
Saturday and I would be really bummed if I had to miss it. Nope, better 
to take care of myself now and hope for the best. 

response 147 of 160:

Mar 14 21:23 UTC 2004

Grumble...grumble...

My blog site http://lynne.tblog.com is offline and has been all day. 
So, I guess I'll write here and cut and paste it over there later. See? 
I still find this item useful. Yay grex!

I went to a garage sale (although it was in an apartment and not a 
garage) today at Gary's house. He is moving in June and is getting rid 
of most of his things. I wanted the hand chair (plastic chair, shaped 
like a hand) for my yard. I love that chair and it would be perfect for 
outdoor seating. It is mine now. Boo Yah!

It was really nice talking to Gary (and Kate) about things. I have been 
feeling very angry at someone lately and wondering if I was justified 
in feeling that way. Not that I ever need to justify it when I am 
feeling angry, it is just nice *this* time. Anyhow, Gary and Kate both 
assured me that if any friend of theirs did to them what my friend (or 
ex-friend or whatever, I dont even know) did to me, they would be angry 
too. I dont know why but that made me feel better about things. Well, 
it made me feel a little bit less crazy and *that* is always nice. 

I am really going to miss Gary when he moves. But at least he is moving 
to San Francisco which is an area of the world I tend to visit a lot. 
Actually, I am going there just a few weeks before he does which is 
kind of funny but anyways...

response 149 of 160:

Mar 15 14:02 UTC 2004

I have some serious issues with Kerry, to be honest. And I think Nader 
is the better candidate which is saying a lot because I have a lot of 
reservations about him too. However, I *really* dont like Bush and thus 
will vote for the lesser of two evils when election time rolls around. 
Let's face it, Nader doesnt have a chance so I am not willing to risk 
voting for him. 

I am familiar with San Jose. I have spent some time there since I have 
a friend who used to live there. I think it is my least favorite city 
in the bay area. ;) I always liked to joke that it was the armpit of 
the bay. If I never find my way to San Jose, I will be more than 
happy ;) Still, if you have the opportunity, go visit your sister. It 
isnt a long drive to all the fun touristy things. I mean, it is pretty 
easy to go to GARLIC WORLD in Gilroy, Berkeley, San Francisco, 
Monterray, Santa Cruz, etc. 

I have seen those fish aquariums made from old TV's. They are cool. If 
I wasnt terrible with fish, I would consider doing something similar. 
Unfortunately, even after working in a pet store for several years, I 
have never been able to manage to keep fish alive. heh. 

response 151 of 160:

Mar 15 15:03 UTC 2004

Beware the Ides of March!

I have a friend who has a dog named 'Brutus' and I was just thinking 
that if I had a dog named 'Brutus', I would probably spend the whole 
day looking over at him and saying 'Et Tu, Brutus?" and then laughing a 
lot. So...I guess it is a good thing my dogs are named Brooke and 
Crissy ;) 

response 153 of 160:

May 1 13:18 UTC 2004

Grumble. My blog site is down. Blah, how annoying. Oh well. At least I 
have grex as a back up ;) 

I am sitting here awake hours before the rest of the household. Not 
surprising considering that I went to bed at 9:30p. I am sitting here 
looking out of the window at the dawn. It is just getting light and it 
is foggy. Shannon's guinea hens are making those cute noises that they 
make. It is oddly comforting. It is peaceful here at dawn. Sonoma 
county is probably my favorite part of California. 

It isnt very peaceful at dawn at my house. On the rare occasion when I 
wake up before 6a at home, the dogs get all excited because they see 
that as a sign of an early breakfast and then I have to go through the 
whole morning routine with them with is nice but isnt exactly 
peaceful. 

response 155 of 160:

May 25 15:53 UTC 2004

Well, my blog site is down again http:\\lynne.tblog.com

It is very frustrating but I am not quite ready to jump ship yet. 
Others are though. It sucks because every time they have downtime it 
takes a long time for my readers to come back. And I am an attention 
slut so having a lot of readers is important to me. 

But the writing is good for me too which is why I am happy to have grex 
as my back up even though not too many people stumble through this 
particular conference. :) There are some things I want to talk about 
not on my regular blog anyways. Not that they are private or 
anything...it is more that they are less public than other things. The 
private things go into my hand written offline journal. :) 

So, I met a guy when I was in California which was both really 
wonderful and something that is currently driving me crazy. I want to 
spend time hanging out with him but I cant because he is there and I am 
here. Oh well. I have to wonder if I even would have allowed myself to 
like him if he didnt live so far away. I have a real pattern of only 
liking unavailable guys. And being 2000+ miles away is pretty 
unavailable. I guess I will try not to worry about it too much. 
Whatever will be will be, right? 

All I know is that he took me sailing on a boat called  "Sugar 
Magnolia" which is a boat name I used to fantasize about years ago. Now 
I have that song stuck in my head and I find myself humming it all the 
time. At least it is a good song. 

response 157 of 160:

Jun 29 02:57 UTC 2004

And a special haiku not appearing on my blog (at least not yet)

An Audi Haiku by Lynne:

That Lynne would hate me
except volkswagen makes me
lets drive by the sea