Shifting games

It's Monday and my week already feels a little unsettled. Not only were there too many meetings today, but my weekly basketball game is moving from Tuesday to Wednesday for the next six months. This shouldn't be a big change, but there are some adjustments. My whole work out schedule needs to shift a day. Can I still manage that with the toddler? (I'm trying to get over "baby") Chores need to be readjusted. A couple hours of sunlight should help though.

Wellness

My place of employment has launched a new service where you can free cellphone reminders to eat, exercise and otherwise stay healthy. I guess it does things like remind you to go the gym or stay healthy. I'm all for staying healthy, but this sounds like being nagged to death. For all the physical health gains I'd make, I'd probably lose my mind in the process. Wow.

5 years, 4000 dead Americans, countless more

I don't know if I have every been as depressed as I was 5 years ago. I stood with 50,000 others in San Francisco, maybe half a million across the country in what was one of the largest anti-war protests of all time and we were thoroughly ignored by Junior. It was a war that we didn't need to fight. It was obvious that WMDs were a republican delusion. All the evidence was there at the time before the war. Anyone who didn't see it was willfully blind. The media was not only complacent, it let itself be used. And 2/3 of Americans trusted this idiot who has made the largest presidential judgement of error in the history of our country. It was straight out of Orwell. I kept hoping that I'd find that I misunderstood. And then we watched the whole "Mission Accomplished" show and it was clear that this man had no business leading our country.

5 years later and there are no good answers. He's left us no good choices and we will continue to suffer the consequences for years, whether we pull out expeditiously or fifteen years from now.

Costs. 5 years. Trillions. (yes it's part of the looming recession) Trememdous loss of goodwill and moral authority. 4000 sons and daughters never coming home. At least 100,000 dead Iraqis. At least 1,000,000 displaced Iraqis. Less safety than before the war. Several personal liberties.

Wins. One dead despot. Oil?

The week

So I had the week off and didn't go anywhere. Sounds like a boring vacation, but it was well worth it. I saw a couple friends, I read and wrote and handled a couple adult type things. Not everything I would have liked to have done, but enough. It's the little things that you never have time for, that suddenly when you have time for, you do. I would have liked to have done something with the yard and the swing set, but that didn't happen. What did happen is finally having wireless internet and commencing the start of the estate plan. Our kid is nearly a year and a half and we're just getting around to it. But better now than never. If anyone has been lazy about getting that done, I'd recommend getting to it. No one wants to deal with it, but it pays off in the end.

P & Q

Wifey and I decided to take some time off even though we're not going anywhere this week. Just some relaxing time and home. I'm into my third hour of peaceful quiet writing time. It's the longest stretch I've had in the last two years.

What I might say to my younger self.

After she gets her diaper changed she stands up on the changing table and glowers. I can't blame her. There's some humiliation in having someone wipe up after you all the time. But even as she stands there at her full height, she's not as tall as mommy or daddy yet. So no matter how it feels, it's now pretty clear, that she's the kid and I'm the adult.

Is being an adult what I imagined? My impression from being about 9 is watching my dad sitting at the dinner table writing checks and paying bills. (I think he still pays bills without a computer) Since my parents never really talked about their work lives, that seemed to be the extent of it.

But now that I'm supposedly an adult, if I could talk to my younger self, be it the 9 year old version or the 13 year old, I'd probably say. I know school is tough at times. And I know eighty percent of what they're trying to jam into your brain will probably have no direct meaning in your adult life, but you need to be responsible and you need to learn to make decisions. Making choices when there are no clear cuts yeses and nos. That's what being an adult is about. Every day at work, I make all kinds of decisions that effect lots of people, many of whom I will never know, but I try to do the best for them and for myself. The world is more complicated than you might imagine. Just choosing your health care coverage or your next car is a choice that could require a high school course. Maybe it shouldn't be this way, but it is. And definitely choose to get married. She'll make you look more responisble and more together than you could ever manage on your own.

To live

I went to a memorial service this weekend for a neighbor. He was someone I didn't know that well, but given the service, I wish I had known him better. People from everywhere in his life spoke about his gentleness and his passion. And it was very genuine. He loved and he was loved. I think there's something to remember in that. We should all try and live that way.

What I'd like to see

Hey Hillary and Barrack,

You guys have been running fantastic campaigns. It's great to see two great people out there who would make good presidents. The nation hungers for a change in direction, a change in policy, a reason to believe in the greatness of our country once again.

You've both done quite well in gathering delegates, and I know each of you harbors ambitions of being president, but now is the time to demonstate that the two of you really can be different kind of leaders. It's time that you demonstrate that you can work by consensus to show you working together.

Instead of dragging this on for a few more weeks, and doing McCain's dirty work for him by taking potshots at each other, come together for the greater good. Join your forces to take on McCain and his irrational party now.

Just the two of you in a room. No one has to know how you reach a decision. Flip a coin. Winner is president. Flipside is veep. Join together on one ticket. Each of you have your weaknesses, but you compliment each other very well.

Do it. Show that you're serious about changing how things work.