I Don't Do Deadlines

When I was in junior high and high school, I would procrastinate on homework and then have to rush and do a poor job.  When I got into college, at first, I was always struggling with deadlines. It was then I realized that I did not like how it felt to be up against deadlines. But I could never get ahead.  I left college, and when I returned, years later, I had developed a work ethic that helped me to not always be up against deadlines, but to work ahead.  I liked that.

When I worked in the county hospital, they preached that discharge planning began at admission. I liked that plan, and worked it as much as I could. I did not like being on call and having to scramble to do things at a moment's notice. I worked pediatrics, and after several years, received permission to work 10 AM to 7 PM, as many parents did not arrive until after school or after work. This also worked well for the on call system, as most of the calls were for families of children.  So, from 5 PM to 7 PM, I handled the on call referrals.  

One night, right before quitting time, I was walking through PICU to see if there was anything I needed to know. An adminsitrator happened to be there, and told me I was brave to do that. My response was that I would much rather take care of my ward than have someone else have to try to do it, as I knew what needed to be done.

In my later jobs, I have always tried to work ahead. I left the hospital when I realized that I had become an adrenaline junkie, and could not relax or calm down until well into the night. 

Since then, the jobs I have worked have had deadlines, and some emergent situations, but mostly, they are case management type situations that I can plan for and work at methodically and without being pushed up against deadlines. Oh, I have deadlines, but most of the time, I can plan ahead for them, and not let them become critical. And, I do try to be flexible.

Also, I do not work "by the clock."  By that I mean I do not worry about putting in a day's time. I know what my duties are, what my patients need, and what I am expected to do.  My theory is, if I plan my day to tend to my appointed job, by the end of the week, I will have put in my time. Mostly, I put in more than my time. But I feel good about accomplishing my tasks.

More than once at work, a coworker has asked "How late are you staying today?" or some version of that question. My response is usually, "I have a plan for what I want to accomplish, and then I will go home."  There are days my plans get scuttled. And I can be flexible about that. But my mind set is that I have a job to do, and today, my plan is to do this much.  If I can do more, great. If reasonably, I can not complete what I want to, I can adjust. If emergencies occur forcing me to adjust, I will.

I have an ability to guestimate how much time each of my tasks at work will require. This allows me to set my plan for the day. I prioritize by deadlines, importance of task, ease of accomplishments, and then what's left. This works for me. 

I do not try to meet standards. I know what the standards are.  What I try to do, is do the best possible job I can in the situation in which I find myself. This usually means that not only do I meet standards, I exceed them. 

So, I do not like the adrenaline rush of meeting deadlines. I do not like the tired feeling of slogging away at meeting a deadline. I like to do my tasks in a timely way and not feel pressured. 

Life does always allow that. I can adjust.

Why Am I So Inordinately Tired?

I can tell you why I am so very, very tired. It is a combination of factors.

I have been staying up late reading.  Well, I do that frequently. But usually I am reading a well written, mind grabbing book if I stay up late reading. (Otherwise, I go to bed.)  So, even though I miss some sleep, I am relaxed and rested, and it does not drag me down the next day.

Well, not so with the book I am reading: Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin. This is the book that the movie, Invictus http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/ was based on. And, Invictus http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/ is a favored poem of mine, written by William Ernest Henley.

The story is compelling but the author leaves something to be desired in the telling. However, I do want to read this book. It is a story I want to know more about, it is the story of Nelson Mandela, and how he galvanized a nation  divided to be united.

So, staying up late to read is dragging me down.

But, there are other factors. We are going through some changes at work that are very distressing for me. As one of my coworkers said today, she is trying to be positive about the changes whether or not she likes or agrees with them, but it is still very difficult.

And, for me, the worst of the changes is that we are losing three long term leaders. The medical director has already moved on to a new job. The chief administrator will be retiring in December, as will a senior director.

I am very concerned about the future of my job. I am very concerned about the future of our program at work.  I am extremely well paid for someone with my credentials, and will continue to work to the best of my ability to help keep things afloat. But, when do my licensure credentials become jeopardized?  Then I will have to bail. I am really wanting to continue as long as I can, to secure a reasonable retirement. I do not delude myself, my retirement will be tight, and as the cost of living increases, I will be squeezed to be able to tend to myself.

I want to adjust to the new scheme of things at work. But I am very concerned about what that will look like.  And, I am concerned that I will be assigned a very undesirable task, just because my supervisor knows I will strive to the utmost to do it, even it is fruitless.  But, I will do as I am asked.

So, the mental stress of all of this is wearing me down, and I am becoming more and more tired and unable to feel like I can rise to the demands of my daily tasks. 

I will, however continue on. And do the best I can.

Restlessness

I was late getting home from work tonight, because I had some late work tasks that needed to be completed, and I decided to run errands on the way home from work, instead of going home to feed the cats and then run errands. 

So, I was about 45 minutes late getting home. But this set the kitties off. Within 30 minutes of my arrival home, everyone was fed and tended to, but also seemed to be out of sorts.  Well, what to do.

Really, nothing. The kitties will reach their own equilibrium at some point.

I really do try to keep the cats on a schedule, but sometimes, things happen.  When things happen, the kitties become restless, sometimes seemingly inconsolable, irritable with each other. Sometimes they become more affectionate with me, sometimes more withdrawn, sometimes more irritable. I just go with the flow.

It is unfortunate that my schedule is not always predictable.  But the variations occur so infrequently, I am sure the kitties survive quite nicely.

Pledging

Years ago, I pledged financial support to the local PBS TV and NPR Radio stations.  But, then I decided I did not need to pledge, because I was going to provide financial support to these stations, whether or not I received a pledge gift.  One year, I even tried to return my pledge gift, and the boxes were returned to me as "undeliverable."

I have resisted the efforts of these channels to succumb to a pledge. I have even received a pledge card in the mail, when I have not made a pledge.  I have sent an ugly letter back to the station that I did not pledge, and if they persisted in sending me pledge cards that I did not sign up for, they would lose my financial support.

Last night, I was listening and watching KTTZ-TV as they presented a retrospective of music from the 50's, 60's and some 70's:  Moments to Remember The pop music of the late 1950s and early '60s is recalled via turns by the DeCastro Sisters, Four Aces, Four Freshman, Four Lads, Frankie Laine, Julius LaRosa, the Platters, Lenny Welch and Roger Williams. Also: archival footage of Rosemary Clooney.

This is the music I like. There was a donor gift available of this music: 7 CDs.  The donations level was $30 above what I normally will donate, but about $20 less than what these CDs might go for retail. So, I pledged. And requested the CD gift. I even authorized the shipping charge so the station would not have to pay for it.  I am a sucker. I know that.  I authorized the entire amount, so now will not send a monthly donation to KTTZ-TV, although I will continue donating regularly to KTTZ-FM. 

Stringing Yarn

I am not sure which kitty it is, but lately, I have had yarn strung throughout the house.  I have piles of yarn that is in bags, but not sealed.  Some kitty has discovered these piles of yarn, and from time to time, will pull out the yarn and string it through the house. Today, there was a string of yarn through a cat play tunnel and around the house into the living room.  I cleaned that up.  I do not have the energy to put those skeins of yarn away right now, but that is a project that is begging to be completed.

Cold Blowing In

I thought I paid attention to the weather this morning.  I thought it was going to warm up some and not be too bitter today.  I left work about 5:45 PM and the wind was blowing in from the north. Well, I had been outside around midday, and the wind was blowing in briskly from the north.  But at 5:45 PM, there was  a real chill in the air.  I do not know what the wind chill factor was, but it felt very cold outside.  The Weather Channel www.weather.com/ says it feels like 33° at 8:50 PM.  I thought it felt like that when I left work at.  It was almost dark when I left work, and maybe things have not cooled off that much more since then.  But, it is definitely cold tonight.

The wind howled when I was in the back yard after work tonight. That howl always makes me think it is a warning regarding how bitter, how dangerous, how menacing, the wind could be. It almost makes the wind feel colder.

My house is comfortable.  It is strange.  When it is really, really hot, the inside of the house is comfortable at 80°.  Bumping the temperature down 2 degrees makes it cool.  When the temperature outside is below 40°, the house is very comfortable at 70°.  But when the ambient temperature is between about 40° and 80°, it seems the house is either not cool enough, or not warm enough. 

I understand this phenomenon.  Because the outside temperature is middling, the heating and cooling elements are not stressed or forced to provide enough moderating influence. 

So, tonight, I will be warm.  I will be grateful, as there are people in our country, due to homelessness, poverty or disaster, who will not be warm tonight.  God bless them.

PBS and NPR

I am and have been a supporter or PBS http://www.pbs.org/ and NPR http://www.npr.org/ for years. I used to pledge, but at some point in time, I decided I did not care about the gifts I received from pledging.  One year, I even tried to return the pledge gifts that I did not particularly care about, but they were returned to me by the post office as "return to sender."

For many, many years, I have sent in a donation for both the PBS and NPR stations in Lubbock regularly.  I have even told them, when they sent pledge cards to me, that if they did that again, I would stop donating.

But tonight, I listened to a wonderful music program on PBS.  For just $30 more than I would normally donate, I would be eligible for some wonderful CDs of old time music that I really enjoy.  For just $30 more than I would normally donate, I would receive 7 CDs of some wonderful 40s, 50s, and 60s music.  So, I donated.

I believe in support of PBS and NPR. 

Ping Pong Balls

Some time ago, at the dollar store, I saw a package of 8 ping pong balls for $1.  I bought them, and brought them home to the cats. Sake and Haiku could not be bothered, but Taki became enarmored of them.  She played and played with them.  Some, unfortunately, ended up scrunched by me or her. They also disappeared under furniture.  I hunted them out when she sat and stared under furniture to let me know where they were, but I did not always rescue all of the ping pong balls.

Since then, I have purchased more ping pong balls. Their fate is similar to that described above.  I try to regularly check under the furniture where they might get stuck: the sofa, the refrigerator, the washing machine, behind the kitchen cabinet, under the dresser in my bedroom.  I really want Taki to have these ping pong balls to play with, if at all possible.

Last night, I rescued two ping pong balls from under the sofa.  Taki was enamored with them. She batted them round and round. Sometimes, she would crouch and watch the ball, until she leaped and caught her prey.  She sometimes would drop a ping pong ball into a bowl shaped basket and swish it around in the basket until it left the basket and rolled around the floor. This was wonderful entertainment for me.  

Spoiled!

It is a not surprise to the regular reader (all one of you) to know that my cats are spoiled. Today's behaviors are some examples of how spoiled they are:

Taki loves playing with the ping pong balls I have obtained.  Today, she was sitting, staring under the reclining sofa.  She has spent several nights captured under the sofa, not intentionally, because she gets under there to retrieve something, and has not gotten out before I lowered the leg support.

Well, I checked under the sofa. There were two ping pong balls stuck under the sofa, and I rescued them.  A couple of times later in the morning, I had to rescue ping pong balls under the sofa. Taki is very good at staring under furniture to let me know that she thinks there is a ping pong ball underneath. More often than not, she is correct.  So, I check when she gives me the signal.

Mid-morning, I turned the heater on to warm the bathroom before I took a shower.  Haiku went immediately to sit in the bathroom in front of the heater.  Haiku likes it warmer than cooler.  One unfortunate consequence of changing from a water bed to a conventional mattress is that Haiku cannot get on the heated mattress and warm up.  There are plenty of places for her to get warm, and she does get under the comforter on the bed to warm up.  Haiku is like me, and likes it warmer rather than cooler. So, she likes to sit in the bathroom when the heater is on.  I took my shower, and shut off the heater.  Haiku sat in front of the heater, looking at it, for a long time. It was cool in the house, and I think she wanted the heater on.  I did not turn the heater on. She has lots of other options. 

Mid-morning, Sake became inconsolable. She kept picking at me and picking at me.  I finally went into the kitchen and gave her some Cornish game hen.  That was what she wanted.  She had not eaten any of the liver I had put out earlier.  Tonight when I fed, she started doing the same thing.  I put out liver, and rewarmed the game hen, and she settled down.

Traffic

The Christmas shopping season started last night.  I did not participate.  In fact, I tried really hard not to participate today.  I had a couple of errands to run:  pick up a piece I was having engraved, and return some DVDs to the library.  The shop doing the engraving was not in the mall, and even the shopping center where it is located is not very busy.  So, I was able to drive out there, conduct my business and avoid the traffic and crowds.

The library is at the other end of town off the same major thoroughfare.  It is a straight shot from A to B, but it requires going by the mall.  I could have taken the loop, which was a little out of my way, but exiting the loop to get to the library means using the mall exit.  So, I was going to be in mall traffic anyway.  I took the straight shot, and stayed in the left most lane, so did not have to deal much with people turning into a shopping center or mall, or turning onto the street. 

The mall parking lot was full, as I would have expected.  And, there were lines of cars waiting to turn into the mall. 

The shopping center where the library is located was also very busy. But, the library was closed, and it was amazing to me, but the section of the parking lot directly in front of the library was pretty much empty.  Which tells me people are reluctant to walk even a short distance, if they do not have to do so. Except if you are parking at the mall.

I am so grateful I did not have to negotiate the mall traffic today. 

Disrupted and Concerned

The cats did not seem too distress by the change in schedule yesterday:  they let me sleep in and did not seem disturbed at all by my watching TV and cooking.  They checked the kitchen out a couple of times, but mostly, seemed satisfied that nothing too unusual was going on.

This morning started off the same.  But then, I decided to clean house, which is usually a Saturday morning chore.  When I put things apart and move things to clean, it generally gets the cats' attention.  But, doing that today, when it is not yet Saturday, roused them seriously. They paid very close attention to the fact that I was moving things and cleaning, and watched closely until I put things back. They hovered near me until I was done. 

When I have travelled, in the past, I usually clean the areas the day before I leave, even if it is not the regular day to do so.  I wonder if they are concerned about that? 

Now that I am done cleaning, they have settled down.  Hopefully, they will be satisfied that I am not going too far. However, I do have some plans for the weekend, and I will be out and about.

Sneezing

This time of year, my sinuses become congested, mostly because of the cotton ginning that occurs in this part of the country. But, that is not the only thing going on.  I am sensitive to other things, especially mold, and some dusts.

I can stir something up that makes me sneeze all of a sudden, and just as quickly, the sneezing stops.  It is very interesting to me.  Taki does not like sneezes.  And, if I am in the kitchen sneezing she does not just start, she runs and hides.  I wonder if because of a sneeze I dropped something that accidentally hit her or made a loud noise, so she worries about me sneezing in the kitchen. 

Taki frequently mews when I sneeze, otherwise. I am not sure what the mew means. She sounds a little distressed, but does not run away.  So, I am at a loss regarding her reaction.

Holidays

I live alone.  A have a few close friends. My family is in other parts of the world.  I was in a relationship for several years that resulted in my spending my holidays either entertaining many people, or being a guest somewhere. That got really old.

I like being able to have a quiet holiday without much hoopla, no guests, and just being.  I was talking to a coworker this week about the holidays.  She said they had occasion to spend a holiday with friends, but the friends said they did not want to get out of their pajamas, so if they had company, the company should also just wear pajamas.  This coworker said it was really nice and comfortable.

Why do we stress ourselves out over the holidays with so many preparations, so much work, so much hassle. 

Another coworker said she envied my low stress holiday plans.  She will be having guests this year, but is grateful they are "low maintenance " guests.

I understand this.  I had thought to invite some friends for the holiday, but I decided that was not a good idea.  The thought of cooking a holiday meal was okay, but the thought of people lingering after I was ready for them to leave was not good. 

I sometimes think I am an old Scrooge. But that is okay.

Sleeping In

I have an alarm clock, and I rarely sleep through the alarm, which is set for 5:30 AM.  There are many mornings when I wake up before the alarm sounds.  Additionally, my cats wake me up, usually before the alarm sounds, and intermittently after the alarm sounds. Sake used to wake me up regularly about 5 minutes before the alarm sounded for the first time.  I am not sure why, I just suspected that she did not like the noise, and I am convinced she can tell "digital time" so she knows when the alarm will sound.

In the summer, I usually arise when the alarm sounds, but in the cooler months, sometimes I like to snuggle in, and not get up at the first alarm sound.

And, if I stay up late, I like to sleep in. 

I have been wondering why recently, sometimes the girls have been letting me sleep in late.  I realized that lately I have been feeding the girls their supper later at night, due to having errands to run after work, right before their feeding time. As a result, I have been feeding the girls late.  I think if I feed the girls late, they let me sleep later in the morning, as they are not as eager for their breakfast.

What Have We Learned?

PBS is airing a series called The Dust Bowl http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/.  It makes the point that part of the reason for the problem were farming practices which largely contributed to the dust bowl, as well as the drought.  It was a confluence of factors that lead to The Dust Bowl.

This is not the only time that man has influenced the world to change the environment.   For example, smog is a contribution from humans that has caused health problems and a loss of quality of life in cities around the world.

Global warming, controversial as it may be, seems to be irrefutable, given the decrease in the glaciers of the world, and the amount of carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere.

One of the predictions by those who promote the idea that global warming is occurring is that weather extremes will occur. Very cold in the winter, very hot in the summer. Superstorms might occur.  The question after "Superstorm Sandy" http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/article/2012/superstorm-sandy-and-sea-level-rise is how frequently will a 100 years storm http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/100yearflood.html occur.

What have we learned from the Dust Bowl Days?  What have we learned about conservation? What have we learned about pollution? 

A coworker today said she wanted to be gone before the South Plains runs out of water.   We are depleting the Ogallala Aquifer http://www.hpwd.com/aquifers/ogallala-aquifer at an alarming rate.  In this respect, I am grateful that I have no children who will have to struggle with the problem of water in the future.  I may still be alive when the water situation becomes more critical than it already is. 

We were in a water conservation mode this past summer: specific days for watering, no home car washing, to name a few restrictions.  Will it get worse with time?  I can only think it will.

What have we learned? What will we do with what we have learned?  Do we want to do the work and make the sacrifices based on what we have learned? 

Hmmmmm.

This Is The Time of Year

This is the time of year that I wish I lived in the country, and had an indoor woodburning fireplace.

As the atmospheric temperature turns cooler, I wish for a the fireplace.  And, this is the time of year when on a very sunny day, it is possible to sit outside, enjoy the sunshine, not be too cold, and not have to deal with mosquitoes or dust.

Oh, well, I can take the risk to buy such a place, not knowing what my financial future might be, but I am not that kind of a risk taker.

I like my neighborhood.  If I could still walk long distances (a mile), I could walk to Kmart, Home Depot, Office Depot, the Dollar Tree, the post office, the grocery store, a couple of automotive repair places, a park, and several restaurants. 

I like the idea of living in a multi-racial neighborhood, in some respects.  In other respects, I am not as comfortable to sit outside in the dark. But, I do enjoy sitting outside during the day.

I am blessed.  I hope others realize their blessings.  November is a month when we reflect on blessings:  We honor veterans on Veteran's Day. We celebrate Thanksgiving.

We are moving into the Christmas season.  This is a time when people do develop an attitude of good will, and share their good will.

I like this time of year.

This is Saturday?

I do not run a lot of errands during the week.  Most of the time the ones I run include the grocery store or the library. 

So, I tend to leave a lot of tasks for the weekend. But, I try to plan my day with blocks of time to relax. The girls let me sleep late this morning, but once I got started, I kept going. The only time I sat was for lunch.  I finally finished up with chores and tasks about 3:30 PM.

I do not mind. Nothing was difficult. It was just all time consuming.  I am just grateful I have the time to tend to everything.

Winding Down

It's Friday night.  I left work shortly after I finished what I had planned to do today, without putting in too much overtime.  That was good.  Right before I left, I received some bad news, but not unexpected as it was confirmation of a rumor.

I ran errands, and bought Chinese take out, then went home and did every day chores: cleaning cat pans, feeding cats, checking the mail. Since then, I have had dinner, did newspaper puzzles, read email, paid bills, and did computer puzzles.  I have watched a little bit of TV.

I am tired. But I have some projects that I seriously want to work on and will do this weekend.  It will be a busy weekend because of these projects.  But it will make me feel good.

But tonight, my projects are projects that will help me to wind down.

Kneading

For those of you with cats, you will no doubt be aware of, understand, and maybe even identify with the behavior I am about to describe:

Sake, the "bitch kitty" likes to "knead" soft places. Generally, it is a rumpled up throw or afghan, but it might be a pillow or cushion.  Interestingly, since the weather has turned cooler, she is doing more "kneading" as a prelude to curling up on a soft place.

I watch her as she kneads.  She seems to be in some sort of kitty ecstasy.  It may almost be orgasmic, but who am I to know?

Hmmm.

One Step at A Time

I am in a situation at work.  The administration is scrambling to make some things happen, and are pulling people left and right trying to get these things done.  They are asking us to do things in a disorderly sort of way, in a rush to clear out beds in the hospital.  The more they push and push and push, the more overwhelmed we become, and become unable to function.

This is counterproductive. We need to do our jobs one step at a time. We need to be methodical, concientious, and provide good patient care.   It will all come together, but first, we must do no harm.  This frenzied feeding turmoil is just causing the potential for great harm, including harm to staff.

We have to take care of ourselves first.

Knitting

I should probably be kicking myself.  I have several very important knitting projects that I really want to finish, but I find it hard to knit these days.  Part of it has to do with my arthritis, part of it has to do with a cat who wants to chew on the yarn, part of it has to do with other projects, and part of it has to do with I ususally watch TV: sports, a movie, a pre-recorded movie, whatever, when I knit. And, I have not had much interest in TV lately.  Mostly, I have had interest in reading. I guess I could look for books on tape or CDs to listen to while I knit. Hmmm. That is a good idea.  I will have to check that out at the library.

When Is it Appropriate?

When is it appropriate to publicly berate an underling on your staff?  I think never.  I know it happens frequently and regularly in the world of sports, professional, amateur and collegiate. 

An incident happened on November 10, 2012 during the Kansas vs. Texas Tech game in Lubbock, Texas.  Coach Tommy Tuberville did something that could be perceived as slapping a coaching assistant
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/10/tuberville-takes-a-slap-at-one-of-his-assistants/. 

Coach Tuberville initially said he was trying to get the assistant off the field, but later apologized

http://redraiders.com/filed-online/2012-11-12/tuberville-apologizes-sideline-incident-staff-member#.UKFRGuT7L0c.
It really does not matter. No one should be treated that way in public, unless they are so out of control they are putting theirself at physical risk of harm, and the slap is an attempt to bring them into reality.  But when does that ever happen?

What is the role of the coach?  You might have your own opinion. I have mine. A coach has many roles:  educator, motivator, role model, and lastly, disciplinarian. I think the emphasis on the role of the coach varies, but in academic sports, including collegiate athletics, role model is the most important function of a coach.  The young people in the charge of these coaches are so susceptible to the influences of their coaches, that an ethical, reverent, compassionate role model is a must.

I know that in my employment position, if my supervisor slapped me, harassed me physically or verbally, I could file a complaint. I also know that in private business corporations, there are less protections for people,although those same protections are supposed to be present. 

It will be interesting to see how the authorities of Texas Tech react to this inexcusable display of disrespect.

A Disorganized Day

It was just a disorganized day.  I did not wake up early, but got up, got ready for work, and arrived early.  We are doing a silent auction at work, and I set out pens before going on to my other work.

We had "tier review" or what other folks might recognize as "treatment team."  You can imagine: this is a gathering of treatment staff who meet to discuss certain patients and what the  needs, deficits, future plans, and current status, etc.  are.

I like a tier review in which we discuss the listed patients, stay on topic, and then, discuss other patients any individual on the panel wants to bring up.  Today, mostly because this was our new provider's first meeting, we had a lot of back and forth, interjection, tangentiality and talking about two or more patients at once. We kept trying to get back on track. It was okay, but I felt overwhelmed by "information overload" and I know these patients.  I can imagine the new provider, who is learning the patients, was really overwhelmed.

Midday, I went to the NASW CEU lunch meeting.  The helpers I usually have to coordinate the meeting were unable to attend today.  However, I was set up to sign people in.  We had a small RSVP number, and I was not concerned.  We started the meeting, and after it was started, I was overwhelmed with late attendees. I had to ask for more food, and was unable to get everyone to sign in.  At the start and end of the meeting, I asked people to be sure to RSVP, but it seems to fall on deaf ears, but for few.  Of the 42 social workers and social work students in the room, only our intern got up and asked to help.  Part of that was my fault, because when my coworkers and the members who I might have called upon to help showed up, all was calm and orderly.

Tonight was the Barnes and Noble Mystery Book Club night.  We often meet at a restaurant for dinner, prior to the meeting.  We did not tonight.  A former Lubbock resident and his co-author (one of two others) was at B&N for a book signing for their mystery, A Thin Slice of Life by Miles Arceneaux (their pen name), which we are going to read for our January meeting. Because of the book signing, we did not go to dinner.   So, I went home from work, ate, and felt at loose ends before I went to the book club. 

I was not really at loose ends. Sake helped me to eat the chicken part of my dinner. I read the newspaper, did the various games in the newspaper that I usually do, and looked some stuff up on the computer. 

But, for Mystery Book Club night, the schedule was changed. I am such a creature of habit, that the changed schedule made me uncomfortable. 

It turned out that I know the mother of one of the authors from one of my other book clubs. So, she gave me some background about her son and the book.  Two of three authors joined our book club (the third author was at another book signing elsewhere) and talked about the book, the creation of the book, the publication process, and lots of other stuff.  

Afterwards, we talked about the book we read for November, The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson, and discussed our plans for our Christmas meeting.  

It happens.  Nothing was quite routine, quite in step today.  Nothing was bad.  But, I am such a creature of routine, I feel it when the routine changes.

Working Together

The presidential election has occurred and we will have Barak Obama as our president for four more years. It is my hope that the Senate and House of Representatives will work to legislate and govern for the greater good of the United States.  I understand that each representative and each senator has an obligation to represent the constituents of that district/state as best they can. But I also understand that the greater good of the country has to be considered. These are fine lines and must be considered carefully.  We ask ordinary human beings to do extraordinary tasks in terms of the governance of our country.

But what a wonderful country we have.  There have been many struggles to create this country: Independence from England.  The War between the North and the South that "freed" the slaves. The suffragette movement to allow women to vote, to name a few.  The Civil Rights Movement.

We are, I believe, in an era that recognizes differences and still allows some people's rights: gender identity rights, disability rights, immigration rights (to a lesser degree), women's rights (hmm, there are still some restrictions). 

There are segments of our society in which affirmative action is still prevalent.  I think many of us hope that affirmative action is not necessary, and that merit on personal achievement is accepted, not withstanding qualifying characteristics that require affirmative action.

But the most important message is that we all work together as a team.  Thank you.

The Presidential Election

I do not understand how all of this works regarding the presidential election, but I am watching the television election coverage.  The coverage indicates that President Obama has won, but there is the election in 1948, when Dewey was predicted as the winner, but Truman won the election http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1948. 

Then there was the election of George W Bush. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000 which was so contested because of the voting questions in Florida (where his brother was governor) that called to question who was elected.

Well, it appears that President Obama has been re-elected.  We shall see the final outcome.

The next questions will be regarding what is the configuration of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Let us hope that all will work together for the good of the country.

Disaster

Hurricane Sandy blew through the northeast last weekend and Monday. The aftermath is horrific.  The disaster is wide spread, the recovery slow and frustrating.  There is a lot of criticism at the delays in the recovery  effort.  But the reality is, no matter how much pre-positioned help there is, no matter how much help is imported after the storm, no matter how much money is pumped into the rescue effort, a disaster this wide spread, with this magnitude of destruction, is going to require a long time for recovery.

We are a society of quick fixes. We expect that. And, when it is possible, that is good. But it is not always possible.

If I were a survivor of Hurricane Sandy, I would want my life normalized as soon as it could be. I would have little patience for delays in help, insurance assessment and payment, government and public services being restored. 

But only so much can be done safely in a short period of time.  It just takes time.