Thursday 13 Randomness

I have a lot of little things buzzing around in my head, nothing really worth a post on its own, probably, so let’s see if there are enough of them for a Thursday 13, shall we? (It’s not a book TT, but I just took the graphic from the official TT site.)

1. Wow, not only did one partner from Nibblers come by and comment, now the chef did as well!  I’m impressed by their dedication, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be going back for a second try.

2. I had a job interview for a job that I wanted yesterday, and the recruiter told me right then and there that I wasn’t a good match.  Ouch.

3. That’s only the 3rd interview I’ve had now, and I’ve been out of work for 4 months.

4. My old company called me on Monday and asked me if I want my old job back.  Looks like they cut too deeply, and are having trouble providing good service to their clients.  In this job market, it looks like I should take it, huh?  Anyway, if I don’t, it can mess up my unemployment benefits.  Sigh.

5. We went to see a pretty good movie on Saturday, Easy Virtue.  I was going to write a review of it, but I haven’t gotten around to it.  Instead, I’ll say that both Ted and I really liked it, and that I had no idea that Jessica Biel could act, but she was impressive.  It wasn’t the best movie of the year, but it was very good.  It’s a film version of a play by Noel Coward, but as I’ve never read or seen any of his plays, that meant pretty much nothing to me.  I do hope that this film helps Ms. Biel’s career, and she gets more roles like this one in the future.

6.  I’ve started delivering meals for Meals On Wheels, as a way to contribute to my community, especially since I’m out of work right now.  My intention was to quit when I found work, but I’m really liking it a lot, so I think I’m going to try to fit it into my work schedule.  It means taking one really long lunch a week.  I think that should be OK.

7.  The weather is weird here.  Cold and almost like it’s going to rain.  That’s strange for June.  I was telling Maya  how unpredictable June can be.  I remember one year she had swim lessons, and the fog came in every day and she was too cold, and didn’t end up going for 3 of the 5 days.  Another year, she had girl scout camp, and it was 110 degrees every day, and I thought those poor girls were going to die.

8.  I wish  more people were talking about a single payer health care system.  I know that Obama never promised it.  I remember being disappointed that both his and Clinton’s plans sucked so badly.  I wish that when it came to fixing things in this country, we could sometimes actually FIX them, without it all being tied in so directly to someone else’s pocket book.  In this case, it’s the insurance companies.  We in the U.S. pay so much more for our health care than in countries with single payer health care.  How broken does it have to get before people are angry enough to override the interests of the insurance companies?  At my old/new job, you pay about $500 a month for health insurance, and then you still have a $1,500 deductable.  That’s a per person deductable, btw.  And the company kicks in plenty as well.  It’s just a small company without much clout in negotiating with insurance companies.  Thankfully the benefits through Ted’s work are a little better.  Not great, but better.

9.  My stupid Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is cutting cutting cutting programs, cutting care for the poor and elderly, closing 80% of our state parks, cutting funding to school and fire departments and so on.  He says this is because the voters were unwilling to raise taxes in the recent special election.  Dumb ass.  I voted against those measures, not because they raised taxes, but because they didn’t FIX things.  They took a bad political system and made it worse, in the guise of keeping funding.  So, I would argue, if you need to do some combination of cuts and raised taxes, do it, but don’t give us CRAP options as our only choice, and then decide it means what you think it means.  I felt like I had the choices between big bowl of steaming shit soup, and a pile of mashed shit, and what I wanted was a decent choice that might be painful, but didn’t stink so badly, you know?  I want them to do their jobs and FIX THIS.

10.  One more week of school, then Maya’s out for summer.  In that way, it’s good that I’ll be working at my old job, because it means working from home.  She’s never been a latch key kid, which is what was going to happen.  I mean, she’s 13.  She’s responsible enough. But she wouldn’t like it, I’m sure.  Or maybe I’m kidding myself, and she’d love it.

11.  I’m currently reading “Out Stealing Horses“.  I’m loving it.  Has anyone else read this book?  Watch this space for a review soonish. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by a Scandinavian author before.  The language is lovely, the story sparse, but still compelling.

12. June 15th is one year since my mom died.  Sigh.

13.  Went to Stockton on Tuesday to see Grandma, and she’s doing great. 🙂  She fell and broke her leg awhile ago, and with her brittle bones, that put her in an assisted living facility until it’s strong enough to put her weight on.  Having her there scared me, and brought back memories of last year with my mom, and I feared she’d catch swine flu and die or something.  But here she is, and she was walking on Tuesday (with a walker), and might be going home as soon as next Tuesday.  Go, Grandma, Go!