Moronic Musings From Massachusetts

I Need A New Career, Any Ideas?

20+ years as an accountant is too much.  I’m beginning to dread getting out of bed in the morning.  Every day is the same thing, process this, balance that, investigate that other thing.  The tedium of it is mind-numbing. 

 

Even if the tasks held some interest there’s still that other factor, my co-workers. Now I don’t want to reinforce an old stereotype and say that accountants are boring that would be wrong.  Boring actually conjures up an image of people with a personality just a dull one.  That’s not my co-workers, if these people purchased a personality on ebay, they’d copy it in triplicate and file it under E for ebay, N for Non-taxable and U for Unnecessary.  And I’m being kind.  They’re anal retentive nut balls. 

 

I have one co-worker, Eva, that has stacks of daily reports going back to 2006 (these reports can be run at any time with the same criteria and the same results).  Not only does she keep them she tabs them with a color coded system and indexes them on a spreadsheet.  In the 2 years I’ve worked with her she’s never needed one of these reports, ever. 

 

The other co-worker is just as weird but in a totally different creepy way.  She types up all business conversations and then sorts and highlights them by topic and participants.  She’s been there for a year and these conversations just made it to two binders.  Times used, zero.

 

And neither one of them ever talks.

 

I’d like to say I’ve scraped the bottom of the barrel with these two but that would be a big fat lie.  In their own way every accountant I’ve worked with, or for, has been annoying in their own obsessive-compulsive way.  Not to mention (ok I will mention) that all accountants look like the kids in school that always got packed last in basketball and are auditioning for “40 year old Virgin”.  It is long past time to move on.

 

So, what the hell do I do with the rest of my life?  Going back to college is an option.  Any ideas?

Obama and Pelosi, Are you kidding me?

Nearly 50 million Americans don't have health insurance, roughly 13% of this country.  That is a disgusting statistic and an affront to what this nation should stand for.  There is no question that we, like most other civilized countries in the First World, need National Health care and need it now.

We need a government plan that is direct competition to the Health Insurance companies.  One that will drive prices down.  One that will give the uninsured a chance for coverage and give everyone a viable option other than the over-priced, heartless, fat-cat programs we get to pick from now.  Wouldn't that be great?!  Isn't that what we expected when we elected the Big "O"?!

But look at what we're getting.  The final plan hasn't been inked yet but in all the preliminary versions a few things are apparent:  They are all poorly thought out, will further crush our economy, will hurt 10's of millions more than they help.  In a nutshell, they suck.

The new plans will force all companies with payroll over $500,000 a year to offer their employees health insurance and pay at least 60%.  This is going to drive many small and medium size businesses - out of business.  Those of us that have health insurance will probably have to start paying taxes on the "benefit".  This will cost most people hundreds of dollars a MONTH.  And the best part of this, conceived while in a drunken stupor, plan is the "but I can't afford insurance and still eat" penalty.  If for some reason, like being poor, a person can't afford health insurance, the government will steal 2.5% of their salary as a penalty.  They are out of their fucking minds.  This isn't a beneficial public plan, it's legalized government robbery.  As bad as all that is, perhaps, the worst part of all this is the fact that it will not be competition for the insurance companies.  In fact it will just give them 50,000,000 more victims.

Obama, stop now or lose my financial support today and my vote in 2012.  I have a motto, it's a simple one.  Don't re-elect anyone that wants to bankrupt you and hurt your country.  Smarten up or starting in Jan. 2013 you can go back to community organizing.

L'il Farmy

 

Isabelle Marie

NOW THAT IS A FACE TO DIE FOR!   I am so in love.

Blogging, The Ultimate Act of Masturbation

Out of boredom I've read through many of the "recently updated" blogs that typepad highlights.  I've read a few exceptional ones but the majority are "my dog peed on the carpet" sites.  The one thing that all sites seem to have in common - loneliness.  None of them get any responses and I wonder if they, ever, even get any views.

Yet! Everyone (seemingly) has one.  The internet should be about the sharing of information but it appears that none of us are really all that interested in the other persons perspective, we've all become utterly self-absorbed and I suspect it will get much worse.  When all we do is listen to our own voice we're just committing verbal masturbation.

This is the point where I should announce that I'm closing this blog forever!  And I would if my opinion wasn't so damned fascinating.

American Adults, Why Are We So Fat?

Beyond a doubt Americans are tubbos and they keep adding to the poundage every year.  I'm on of those chubbsters, so I'm not admonishing, just stating an obvious observation.  I, unlike the majority, have always been overweight, in fact I'm probably thinner now than I was a child.  I eat better (but still feel that exercise is meant for people without enough imagination to get a hobby) but I'm still and probably always will be "a healthy girl".  That's my story but why are "they" fat?

In most cases I think the whys are very obvious.  Most American jobs are now sedentary.  We sit at desks for 8+ hours every day and type, write, talk on the phone and drink lattes.  Just a few decades ago, most of us earned our keep from the sweat off our backs.  There were few "desk" jobs and those that had them earned the nickname "fat cats".  People didn't exercise back then either, they were too damned tired.  Even in the house we barely move.  Chemicals have reduced cleaning to spray and wipe and cooking to mix and bake.  Home chores used to involve lugging and chopping and lifting and scrubbing just to prepare and clean up after the daily meals.

Much of society believes another one of the "whys" is what we eat, I don't.  Back "then" you had meat with every meal, butter was its own food group and few would have eaten a vegetable without it.  All milk was whole milk and you had to shake it because the cream would rise to the top.  Yes, I realize that now we have fast food, additives and corn syrup... but then mom's used to save bacon grease (and we at a lot of bacon) to fry up all the other "healthy" foods and few houses were complete without the tub of Crisco.  No I truly don't believe what foods we're eating is a big part of the problem. 

I do think how much we eat is.  When I was a kid it would take me two meals to eat a small pizza and I was considered a big eater.  These days most people would polish off those individual pizzas, with a salad drowned in ranch dressing, a few bread sticks and a couple of cokes (diet of course).  As a kid we had some snack food in my house but a lot of my friends didn't, not because they were health cautious but because the parents couldn't afford it.  Now, how many times a day do you eat?  And I mean anything, a yogurt, a cookie, just a "little something to tide me over". 

So for me it all boils down to this, we eat too much and do our jobs sitting on our fat cushions.  That's it, that's the whole dang problem in a nutshell.  What are we going to do about it?  That's the next question.  American's have never been a group that exercised and I don't see it happening soon.  I also don't see us returning to an agrarian society any time soon, hey, do you like the smell of manure?  No, I think there are only two things we can do 1).  Eat smaller portions  2).  Just freakin' get over it, we're fat and we're going to stay that way. 

Have a nice day.

What really scares me

There was a time when I was afraid of anything "different".  People from different places, a new party in office, even a new idea but now I'm old and with old age I've learned that it's rarely the unknown that hurts you, it's the evil you know.  These days the only thing that really makes my blood run cold are fundamentalists.

There is something disturbing about people that obsess over a book, they may or may not have read, to the point where it consumes and poisons every aspect of their life.  It creates such a tenuous grasp on reality.  People let a centuries old book tell them how to dress, whom they can befriend, how they shall raise their children and what they should eat.  They do it all based on one of "the" books, written by men hundreds or occasionally thousands of years ago. 

Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe this applies to all believers, most people I know that are Christian, Jewish or Muslim pick and choose from their book.  They may hold it dear but accept that it has flaws.  They look at it as more of a handbook or guidelines.  It's those "others" that keep me up at night. 

Stop and take a look at the world and its history.  How many wars and cleansings have been "holy" wars?  How much individual persecution and subjugation of one's fellow man has been done in the name of (insert name of handiest deity).  Half of the human race, females, have been treated as second class citizens because of the ancient words of misogynist men for millennia and it's still occurring in many countries to this day. Anytime we obsess on anything it's unhealthy but when we obsess on the ancient words of power hungry megalomaniacs, the results can be deadly. 

What is the solution?  Well I certainly don't have one.  While I'm not a true believer, I'm a huge advocate of personal freedom, even the freedom to live your life and raise your children drowning in paranoid delusions. 

There is, however, one thing I've always wondered.  Does religion make an obvious few weak-minded, paranoid, intolerant and violent or do the weak-minded, paranoid, intolerant and violent just gravitate towards it?

Food for thought.

Gay Marriage

I might as well be honest, many gay people make me uncomfortable.  I don't like their gender bending clothes, hairstyles or mannerisms.  I don't have any gay friends, although there are many that I'm friendly with.  I like people that are - well - like me.  Having said that I would like to state emphatically that I am pro gay marriage.

See there are many people and types of people that make me uncomfortable.  People with face piercings, excessive tattoos, neighbors that don't speak English, the devoutly religious... These people are not like me, that takes me out of my comfort zone and I don't like it but I'm an American and not a complete dumbass.  I know that it's our differences that made us strong and it's our tolerance for those differences that have kept us that way.

That brings me back to the beginning - gay people and their right to marry.  Many states and even at the Federal level the nation is struggling with this issue.  The usual reason most citizens claim they are against it is because God has declared it a sin.  Oh Hogwash!  While there may be a reference in the Bible that man should not lay with man as he does with woman, I don't see it being described as a crime right up there with murder.  Hell, if you read Leviticus you know it's a greater crime to plow your field on Sabbath than it is to partake of the love that shall not be mentioned.  No, the biggest reason, if people were honest which they rarely are, people are against gay marriage is that it makes them uncomfortable.  They don't like the way it looks or how gay people act.  They just use religion as a bigot crutch. 

There is absolutely no good reason to not give gay people equal rights but when dealing with humanity, reason isn't always a factor.

"Labyrinth" by Kate Mosse

This novel was better than average but still there were problems.  The author has a penchant for overly detailed descriptions and there were several gratuitous sex scenes that compel you to say both huh? and why?  Other than the minor crime of occasionally trying too hard, I do like her writing style.

It's a DaVinci Code type of novel with its murder/mystery, religious artifacts storyline and anti organized religion theme.  The story takes place in France both in the present and past weaving the stories together brilliantly.  I found the novel difficult to get into at first, partly due to Mosse's need to detail ever bit of flora and fauna but once the characters became established, I was hooked.  I do feel this novel was better than any of Dan Brown's work because of the improved character development.  I love historical novels without being much of a history buff so I can't vouch for the historical accuracy. 

I'm a consummate believer in literary license.

The book is occasionally difficult to follow, because of the numerous characters and quick switches back and forth between centuries.  I wouldn't call it a difficult read but definitely not a ball of fluff.  I liked this book enough to buy her next one "The Sepulcher", although with the stack of unreads sitting on my shelf it will be some time before I get a chance to crack that one.

Enjoy.

"The Last Secret of the Temple" by Paul Sussman

This is a well evolved compelling murder mystery that hooked me from the prologue.  The main setting is modern day Egypt, Jerusalem and Palestine with three main characters and dozens of valuable extras.  The Egyptian Khalifa is a chain-smoking, Indian Jones wanna be, police detective, with a huge heart and troubled conscience.  Layla is an angry Palestinian journalist trying to avenge the death of her beloved father with pen and paper and finally Ben Roi the bitter, alcoholic, self destructive, Israeli police detective with a broken heart.  All of the characters are fatally and fabulously flawed with personal stories that force you to become involved. 

The main event that brings all of the characters together involves a 15 year old murder that has already been solved.  The story is fascinating, from the mysterious ancient Jewish "treasure" to the tale of the hateful Nazi's.  It spans a millennium in its telling and occasionally is hard to follow because of its lengthy time-span, multitude of characters and rapid switches back and forth between all of the interlocking stories.  While the murder mystery and interesting characters were enough to hook me, I found one of the most intriguing parts of this novel to be its frank assessment of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict seen sympathetically and critically from both sides. 

If you like grown-up murder/mysteries I strongly recommend this one.

Republicans! Heavily Armed and Completely Uninformed.

There was a time in my life when I was a registered Republican, now I'm afraid of them.

Once upon a time the Republican party stood for small government, personal responsibility, lower taxes and a strong military.  I never voted straight Republican but more often than not they received my vote.  I was considered a moderate in those days - socially progressive but fiscally conservative.  Today the world and Republican party have changed to such a degree - I'm considered a liberal.  It ain't me, babe, it ain't me.

Everyday I grow more and more certain that the Republican party is becoming a bizarre cult. You watch the crazed rants of an entertainer like Glenn Beck and you laugh, believing that it has to be a satiric spoof of the stereotypical neo-conservative.  An exaggeration of the far right that couldn't possibly exist.  However, the joke is on you.  While Glenn Beck is almost certainly playing a part, a man making a career out of post 9-11 paranoia, his followers believe every word he says.  They have no understanding of how they're being played, even as they dole out their love and devotion for this caricature of the uber conservative.  And there are so many more just like him, although their performances aren't nearly so over-the-top, their objective remains the same - milk the extreme right wing for all it's worth.

Now while the extreme right coughs up their nachos and beer money to buy Ann Coulter's latest bound hate fest or fore goes that extra box of rifle shells to see Rush Limbaugh spew toxic vitriol in person, it's the rest of us that truly pays. 

America was once the most progressive nation in the world. We had the culture other nations clamored to keep pace with. Our scientists were world revered and foreign citizens from nations across the globe came to the U.S. to acquire a superior education. Today, we're teetering on the edge of becoming a non-secular, third world nation, with religion outweighing science in relevance and influence.

We are the only civilized nation on the planet without a national health care system. We are the only civilized nation on the planet still disputing the mountains of evidence that global climate changes exist. And with the exception of Italy, we are the only non-Muslim country where the religious right has so much influence in politics.

In retrospect, Glenn Beck isn't really that funny after all.