Hamster on a Wheel

I wish I could post more than I do, but it's next to impossible lately. The company that I work for part time has engulfed me and I find that I am often up at sunrise, and working til sunset and beyond.

I was hired as a consultant and general Jack-of-All-Trades for this business, but it may have been too late. The business was already floundering and it may be that nothing can bring it back. I am too busy putting out fires to help push us ahead. I'm exerting energy but getting nowhere.

All this, and that company may still go under. This economy is destroying so many of us, and the businesses we work for and there is no end in sight. Frankly, I think things will get worse and (unlike government predictions) they may never get better. We may be seeing an entire restructuring of the way that we live.

How's that for your Happy Friday post?

Obama Takes Time for a Beer

Barack Obama has decided that he needs to take important time away from the health care debate, the economy, and world events and turmoil. What's so important?

A beer with a disgruntled, racist black Harvard professor and the cop that was forced to arrest him.

Now the press is breathlessly speculating on what beer Obama will choose. ABC News pronounces that Obama's choice of beer could make or break a particular brand.

Puhleeze. Who cares?

One thing's for sure: He won't be choosing Colt 45.

Why is Obama taking such a personal interest in this fracas? Because he foolishly opened his mouth (before he knew all the facts) to chide the police for arresting the idiot. Now he's saving face.

And they say racism isn't dead. I agree: Obama is living proof of that.

If the officer had any guts, he'd turn down the invite... whether Obama's serving Colt 45 or champagne.

The Latest Harry Potter Movie Has No Magic

I am the only one in my family that likes the Harry Potter series.

My son doesn't like the series, which has always puzzled me. I chalk it up to his father, who is a Christian extremist who used to tell him that Harry Potter was "of the Devil" (so to speak) and wouldn't allow him to read the books when he was younger, no matter how much I fought it or tried to explain the concept of "fantasy".

So, when "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" came to the theatre, my best friend Pov was kind enough to text me a reminder and ask if I wanted to go. Sonosaur remained silent on the issue.

Deciding that opening night would be insane, we opted to go the next night, dragging our children with us. Needless to say, Sonosaur was less than thrilled but at least I didn't have to literally drag him through the theatre.

When the exhaustingly long movie ended, I felt forced to apologize to everyone for it. Here I'm the fan, and I was bored silly.

I think the primary problem behind it is that Harry Potter himself has lost his wonder of it all. He is no longer enchanted by what the latest potion can do. He is not amazed any more by the fabulous toys and gadgets. And since we see everything through the eyes of Harry Potter, we find ourselves a little jaded as well.

Additionally, the actor who plays Harry Potter has not turned into a talented actor in his older years. Daniel Radcliffe's acting is wooden, and even his laughter rings false. Perhaps there is no amount of coaching in the world that will solve that, but I would think the studios should be hell-bent to try.

When he was not in the Harry Potter series, Daniel was busy acting the fool by appearing in "Equus", a horrid, esoteric stage play in which he got to prance about naked. Perhaps this hasn't helped his acting ability. It's a great shame, as he's surrounded by talent.

I am sorry to say that this may be the last Harry Potter movie I ever choose to see in the theatres. Like other movies that are suspect, I will wait till the next ones come out on DVD.

Gold Isn't the Answer: Barter Is

It's bad everywhere, I realize that. But it keeps getting worse. Here in Florida, state unemployment is the highest since 1983, and the Unemployment Benefits office is besieged by calls. Their volume is so high, it's making the news.

Everywhere you go, every discussion turns to the economy.

My best friend, Pov, just lost his job.

I still have my two jobs, but the new one may not last long because the owner, Claire, is out of cash and can't even make the current payroll.

The two luxury yacht salesmen I know have lost their jobs. This is truly a bad sign, because (in general) wealthy people keep spending no matter what.

In the thrift stores, signs are posted begging for donations. No one is donating right now because everyone is hanging on to what they've got, putting off replacing whatever it might be.

I recently went to Synovus Bank to cash a check. While I was there, the teller leaned over and confided to me that they had all just had a pay cut but it was better than losing their jobs altogether. I didn't know this woman - she's a total stranger who apparently is on the edge.

I was in the store the other day and a pleasant-looking older woman accosted me, begging me to pass on her personal information if I knew of any jobs out there. "I'll do anything," she emphasized. "Scrub toilets, whatever it takes. I'm desperate." She was a former cosmetics counter manager for a major department store.

This is what networking has come to. We no longer want to find a better job: Any job will do.

You hear shills on the radio encouraging you to invest in gold. Sure! I'll just take that extra several thousand dollars I've got stuffed in my mattress and I'll buy a couple of coins.

Obviously buying gold isn't the answer, but it's unaffordability is only one reason. Here's another:

Gold is not a common currency, so you'll have to eventually convert it into cash anyway. And if cash is worthless at that point, you can't even do that. All you will be able to do is trade it.

At that point, good luck finding someone who is willing to trade for a solid gold coin. You might find the occasional person who will, but they will be very subjective in evaluating what that gold coin is worth to them personally. They will know that it's not an easily tradeable commodity and that will actually devalue your "investment".

If we're returning to the economy of the early 80s, we need to look to the solutions they had in the early 80s. Barter became the solution to many problems, and it probably will again.

What was bartered? Services and items. Couches that at one time would have ended up in thrift stores were bartered for computer services. Haircuts were bartered for home-cooked meals or babysitting services.

There were two types of bartering groups:

1. The kind that directly exchanged services and goods.
2. The kind that converted all services and goods into "Barter Bucks" that could be spent at will among other members of the group.

My ex-husband and I belonged to both types of groups. The second was a much superior idea, but it only works when a large number of people have banded together. This would work, for instance, with Craig's List participants, but Craig's List would have to see a need for this and create it.

It's time to get out some of the old ideas and dust them off once more. It's time to get creative.

The Inhumanity: Corporate "Homemade" Food

I am so very sick of hearing people say "Oh the humanity!" whenever there is something horrible that has occurred. I hear it echoed on the radio, in ads, and on television. It makes my skin crawl because, of course, the true phrase is "Oh the inhumanity!"

Of course it could be argued that the human race is intrinsically evil and it's much more accurate to bemoan it by saying "Oh the humanity". More accurate, perhaps, but it's certainly not what the original phrase intended. It was predicated on the mistaken belief that people are inhumane when they do something evil.

Which leads me to another grammatical pet peeve of mine:

How is it that corporations and restaurants can boast "homemade" anything? Do they farm it out like a cottage industry to little old ladies on social security? Is each batch specially whipped up in a warm, clean kitchen in someone's home? I picture little old ladies everywhere, bringing vats of soup to the backdoors of restaurants throughout the nation.

In my kitchen, as I write, there is a large box of "homemade" pecan brittle by Russell Stover. My, but those little old ladies are busy. You'd think a corporation as big as Russell Stover could find a more efficient and cost-effective way to produce the stuff.

Oh the inhumanity!

A Successful Blackberry Transfer from Sprint to Metro PCS

I finally got my Crackberry back. I am relatively happy now, though there are minor glitches which are probably due to my converting it from a Sprint Blackberry Curve to a Metro PCS one. The biggest problem I have is that I can't seem to download the applications needed connect it to my Gmail account and I have to access the web to get to my email.

By my calculations, it has to hold up for 9 months for me to break even. I'm not worried about that: This thing seems to be highly durable. I already dropped it from shoulder height to a tiled floor and it didn't even get a nick. Of course I am a notorious klutz...

The shady operation that performed the transfer tried to ding me for another $25 on top of their original $75 charge because it was somehow more difficult to do than they originally anticipated. After I threw a total fit in their lobby in front of three other potential customers, they let it go for $75.

Overall, I spent $275 in lieu of the $400 that Metro PCS would have charged. Some might sneer at a savings of $125, but it's still a savings and I'm happy.

Michael Jackson: Dead Freak

I wasn't going to talk about Michael Jackson any more. Really. But some idiot keeps attempting to post something that goes like this:

"Leave Michael ALONE! He is DEAD! Let that man rest in PEACE!"

It reminds me of the "Leave Britney Spears ALONE" whiner on YouTube.

Since when are we supposed to rewrite history? If we are banned from telling the truth about people after they're dead, let's throw out the history textbooks. If we're going to apply that rule to everyone, then:

1. Hitler was a talented architectural artist, with a great taste in classical art, and was a military genius.

2. Marilyn Monroe was a virginal, innocent beauty.

3. American slavery never existed. After all, all those slavers are dead now. In fact, should we call them slavers? Perhaps "People Merchants" is a more politically correct term.

Spare me from fools.

As I wrote before, it is not possible to exploit Michael Jackson. The man begged for publicity. He even demanded that MTV begin calling him The King of Pop. What, you thought that title came from nowhere? I want to be called The Grand Poobah, but MTV isn't returning my calls right now.

Yes, Jackson's daughter proclaimed him to be the best father in the world. But what could she compare him to? It's not as if she had a normal childhood, and kids are notoriously gullible. For all she knows, it's normal to live in seclusion, wear mardi gras masks in public, and have a black father who pretends he's a white woman. And perhaps Jackson didn't molest her: He was notoriously fond of boys.

Interestingly, McCauley Culkin didn't attend the memorial service and has issued no statements about Jackson's death, despite his former public (and probably paid-for) statements denying that Jackson had ever molested him. And people who were molested as children often have very conflicting emotions about the molestors, for varying reasons. If he was molested by Jackson, I'm sure that Culkin wants to put this behind him.

So what if Jackson was beaten by his father? Many people were abused as children but made the choice to live wholesome lives as adults. A sordid past is a reason, but it is never an excuse for future behavior.

If Michael Jackson were still alive, he'd be enjoying this publicity. Perhaps somewhere, somehow, he is tearfully whispering into a microphone in his faux falsetto that he is ever so grateful for his fans, but why can't everyone just leave him alone? It's not like he's ever done anything to deserve all this! Oh, and by the way, that's "King of Pop". Yes, Pop. Capital P.

My Crackberry

Want to hear something really smart that I just did?

Yeah, me too. Too bad I can't come up with anything.

I am a Metro PCS customer. Overall, it's a great, cheap service and I enjoy using it. They don't drop calls nearly as much as they used to, and if you call customer service and pretend that you want to buy something, you can actually speak to a live person and not an overly cheerful pre-recorded message which answers precisely none of your questions.

So, Metro PCS is about as helpful as your average cellphone provider.

However, they recently added Blackberrys to their line of phones. The way Metro PCS works, you have to buy the phone outright because their service is so cheap, this is the only way they make significant profit. And the new Metro PCS Blackberrys were exhorbitantly expensive about a month ago: $550. I see the price has now dropped to $400.

So, I figured I'd beat the system. I'd go on Craig's List, find one of these that is being sold cheaply, and have it "flashed" to Metro PCS. So, I bought a Blackberry Curve from a local college student for $200, and took it to the nearest Metro PCS store.

But Metro PCS was already ahead of me, here. They had figured that their customers might pull something like this, and it would greatly ding their profit margin. So, they outright refuse to "flash" such a phone over to their service.

Well, they don't exactly outright refuse. Instead, they tell you that they can do it, but you won't have any of the original features from the Blackberry and they can't provide them. In other words, your Blackberry suddenly becomes a generation zero cell phone and you might as well be walking around with a phone that looks like this:

So since the official Metro PCS store won't do it properly, one of the clerks slipped me a card for a guy who will do it. Apparently this is a very shady transaction, as they can lose their license to do business with Metro PCS if they go ahead and do it the right way, instead of the wrong way that Metro PCS wants.

Since then, I've been to a couple of these shady cell phone operators. The first two shook their heads after a while and pronounced it next-to-impossible to do. Each successive company looks a little shadier.

The most recent one had a group of gang members sitting around in the lobby, joking about Michael Jackson.

"Fudge packer," one pronounced, which brought a fit of giggles out in each of them.

"Fudge packer," another one agreed, shaking his head. More giggles ensued.

By the end of it, I'd head the word "Fudge packer" at least 20 times, and these simple souls were nearly on the floor due to the hilarity of it all.

I said nothing, as I had no idea if any of them was "packing" a weapon.

So, this particular shady operation has had my crackberry for three days now. I am still waiting to see if they're able to get it switched over to Metro PCS. If that doesn't work, I'm quite terrified as to where I'll be referred to next.

Of course this could all have been averted if Metro PCS was willing to make the whole transition a little easier. So, if I'm killed by the Fudge Packer Gang, I blame Metro PCS.

I'll try to text out my last words.

Police Sketches

The Gaffney SC serial killer was just shot and killed, supposedly putting an end to a killing spree that has been going on in a small town of only 13,000. The man identified as the serial killer is Patrick Burris.

However, the police sketch which had been released the day before looks absolutely nothing like Burris. Burris has a piggy nose, a round, flabby, oval face, and deep-set eyes. The sketch shows a man that looks more like Billy Bob Thornton (the actor).

The police claim that the gun recovered from Patrick Burris is the same gun which killed all of the victims. I am now old enough to know that police aren't always right, or honest, and I question the great discrepancy between the photo and the sketch of the killer.

Of course that isn't to say that Patrick Burris isn't the serial killer: He very well may be. But if he is, what does this say about the police sketch artist?

Why do we even bother with sketch artists? As Fox News reported, "Several studies have shown sketches are unreliable when it comes to identifying suspects, but many departments nationwide still use them." And we know that a sketch is only as good as the witness(es) who contributed to it.

Perhaps it's time for the South Carolina police to rethink their sketch artist. Maybe his or her salary would be better used toward something that will actually make a difference.

My Neurotic Dog

I've written about my neurotic dog, BoBo, before. He's really the Dustin Hoffman of the dog world.

Like most purebred poodles, he's exceedingly smart. Here is a classic pose for him. You can see that he's sure that with a little work he can crack the code to human speech and revolutionize the dog world forever.

Lately he's been out of control. In the last couple of weeks, he's peed on my gorgeous sofa, my bed (I had to throw out my mattress topper and buy a new one), and last night he peed on Sonosaur's bed pillow.

The moment I saw the latest pee attack (or should I say smelled?), I flipped out. "That's IT," I screeched. "I am taking his balls off tomorrow!"

I immediately researched different neutering clinics in the area, determined to be at their door first thing in the morning. However, my dad talked me out of it. "He might have a urinary tract infection, or diabetes," my dad suggested. "Take him to your vet's first."

So I did.

And BoBo's just fine. Well, physically he's fine. But the vet thinks he's experiencing separation anxiety since I'm gone more during the day than I used to be. So, the vet's put him on an anti-anxiety medication which may help in two weeks or more.

In the meantime, I'm going to be doing a lot of steam cleaning.

Thoughts for the Week

1. I am still getting amazing response to my articles on employment scammers. The one that really gets a rise out of people is the one about the Vanara Scam, which is apparently still going strong.

2. There is great surprise among some people that Michael Jackson isn't the biological father of his children. You're kidding, right? You actually think that MJ would have produced glowingly white kids? These people need to go back to remedial high school biology.

3. Mark Sanford is a goober. He got a free pass from his wife and most of the press the first time around, but now he calls another press conference to natter on about how he's slogging along trying to rebuild his marriage with his wife (good ol' whatsername) but his mistress is his true soulmate.

Barf.

How high school is this? Obviously the man is a few fruit loops short of a bowl and needs to step down from his post. Yesterday.

4. Cap and Trade. here is a great site with some wonderful links to cap and trade arguments.

What am I missing? Why are ultra right wingers frothing at the mouth over this?

Is it Possible to Exploit Michael Jackson's Death?

A recent headline in the Daily News self-righteously trumpets "Bloodsuckers positioning themselves to exploit Michael Jackson's tragic death".

And... what, exactly, is the Daily News doing?

I think it's truly silly to complain now about all the publicity surrounding this freak. After all, Jackson thrived on it for all of his life. Oh it's true that he, like many celebrities, dramatically complained about the adulation that he received. But with that adulation came money.

If, as the Bible says, the love of money is the root of all evil, it's pretty apparent that Jackson was willing to put up with some evil for the money that he adored. Jackson slung around money like a flower girl slings rose petals at a wedding.

If Jackson was truly a shy, retiring flower, he never would have dangled his youngest child out of the hotel window to show him off the the adoring crowds below. In the ultimate act of egotistical arrogance, he named his sons Prince Michael I and II. And as everyone knows, wearing masks in public will never draw attention. No, never.

Jackson was a male version of Madonna. Until his molestation trial, he had truly never met a piece of publicity he didn't like, despite what he claimed. If he had wanted to live a quiet life, he certainly could have. Excesses such as Neverland and his ongoing plastic surgeries and skin bleaching were bound to create talk, and he knew it. The trumpeted musical genius was hardly stupid.

Jackson became the Elephant Man he adulated. And just as we continue to refer to the Elephant Man today, we will also continue to refer to Michael Jackson as a symbol of an unpleasant yet talented freak. He will continue to be the three ring circus he was in life. Death will not stop the process, nor would he want it to.

Mark Sanford Gets Lucky

After reading the title of this post, you could arguably say that Sanford already "got lucky", which is why he's in such a pail of hot water.

But Sanford got even luckier: Both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died yesterday. Talk about a twofer! The news was about nothing but celeb deaths, and Sanford's little pecadillo was swept under the rug.

For now.

Rabbit Trail Alert: You know what's odd? I googled Sanford's wife and she was not pretty. She's gaunt, and looks older than her years. Her complexion is pasty, her coloring poor. Then I googled Sandford's mistress, and I have to say the man didn't stray far - his mistress looks like a younger version of his wife.

OK, back to my original post. The rabbit has been coralled.*

In my opinion, Sanford's SNAFU needs to be covered more, while the celeb deaths need to be covered less. Sanford has or could potentially affect all of us through his politics, but what does it matter if Fawcett or Jackson are dead?

Fawcett is known for her red-hot swimsuit poster that lived in the rooms of young boys everywhere throughout the 70s. She was also known for her poor acting ability and her breathless role as Jill in Charlie's Angels.

Jackson was known for his singing talent and molestation of children.

Neither is a great loss as a human being, although there is no doubt that both contributed to American pop culture.

But I am concerned that we are getting so used to politicians being slimy that we may collectively sigh "Ah, well... What's next?"

If a man can cheat on his wife, it tells you what kind of man he is. I said it about Bill Clinton, and I'm saying it about Mark Sanford. When a man is willing to lie to and cheat on his wife, we can be sure that we'll fare no better if it's in his interest to do so.

Additionally, it appears that Sanford may have used taxpayer's funds to carry on his dalliances. If so, he needs to be brought up on criminal charges. Certainly he has a history of lying to everyone, so I wouldn't be surprised to discover this.

Sanford is stepping down from his role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, but that's small potatoes. He needs to step down from his post as Governor of South Carolina, as well.

*This is actually not a hoax: Large rabbits like this are bred in Germany by Karl Szmolinsky. There have been email hoaxes about them, but they do indeed exist and are a specially developed breed that cannot live in the wild.

The Confrontation

Since I am now working part-time on my business and part-time for someone else, I am lucky enough to have the best of both worlds and for that I'm truly grateful. I'm exposed to two very different companies with situations that don't even come close to overlapping, and it's exciting.

When I'm not working for myself, I'm working for "Claire", who fired one of her two top people and hired me to replace them. It's not hard to compete with the former talent, as she literally did nothing for 5 months and got a salary of $8,000 a month to do it. The fact that I can work part time for Claire and do more should tell you something.

Claire had been considering firing the other top person who was equally useless, but she hadn't made up her mind quite yet.

Yesterday I was in the office, reviewing a proposal, when the other "talent" came storming in. "Doris" was furious, because Claire was no longer taking her calls as regularly as she'd like. Doris was way too important to be ignored (she told us) and she demanded to speak with Claire. Claire was out of the office, so I took Doris outside to discuss the issues with her.

Doris proceeded to unload on me, accusing Claire of being highly unprofessional. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black: Doris used language that would make a sailor blush.

"And you tell Claire," Doris screeched, "That while she's busy f-ing around with her new boy toy in that adulterous relationship, she is wasting time. Don't think I don't know! She is avoiding me and it's a load of sh-t!" As she said this, she turned and graphically hit her butt to demonstrate what sh-t meant. As if I couldn't figure that one out.

"I'll be sure to pass it on," I said cheerily, waving goodbye to her.

I happen to know that Claire's going through a divorce, and she doesn't have time for an adulterous relationship, but it's not Doris' business (obviously).

I passed the conversation on to Claire, who was understandably furious.

Doris got the confrontation she wanted, through email. And Doris scrambled backwards so fast you'd think the roof was caving in. Her denials were loud, and she protested that she couldn't understand what game *I* was playing.

Yeah, Claire bought it. Not.

So Doris finally pushed her luck too far and she was fired yesterday. As for me, I get to take up her workload also. Since she was doing nothing, it's not a heavy load.

I think I can handle it.

Lasik Eye Surgery AGAIN

Today I had another attempt at a correction of my botched Lasik surgery. I'm resting, and won't be posting until Monday.

Swine-Avian Flu

A recent title in the BBC News assures us that "Flu risk 'still low' after death."

At least the dead get some peace. *

But for the rest of us, Swine Flu remains a true threat. It was just officially declared a "pandemic" by the World Health Organization and there's no end in sight.

The CDC declares "WHO’s decision to raise the pandemic alert level to Phase 6 is a reflection of the spread of the virus, not the severity of illness caused by the virus." However, little is known about this flu, and no one has immunity to it since it's never cropped up before.

"Swine Flu" is really a misnomer and should be called Swine-Avian Flu, due to the fact that it shouldn't be confused with former swine flus. This one is a true mix, which makes it particularly nasty, apparently.

As a chronic asthmatic, I am very concerned. Right now, those of us with lung disease are cautioned to avoid large crowds and take the necessary precautions. But when you're in business, this is almost impossible. What am I supposed to do: Walk around with a face mask all day?

And what's a large crowd? A football game? A cocktail party?

I know that I'm one of the ones that could truly die due to this, but I feel hamstrung. Until it is recognized by everyone as a true threat, I am going to look like a paranoid freak if I respond in the way that they're recommending.

*Yes, yes, I know: The title does not accurately reflect the article's contents. Please don't pester me about that.

A Tax on Health Benefits?

I just heard a news interview with Sen. John McCain. Everyone was talking in shocked tones about how people may get taxed on their health benefits in order to bring in enough funds to start a national healthcare program.

At first, I was shocked: How could they do such a thing? But this was a knee-jerk reaction. Then I started thinking about it.

Say your income is $30,000 on the books, but your benefits add another $5,000. You're really making $35,000, right? So why should you get $5,000 tax-free when your neighbor might be paying taxes on his $35,000 income and having to get his own healthcare, which adds to the expenses he's incurring?

A tax on health benefits seems fair.

The Domain Game

I am now working two jobs: Running what's left of my own (very small) empire and working for a minority-owned business. "Claire", the woman who owns it, is just amazingly cool and doesn't like to micromanage anyone. That's great for me, as I thrive when I'm let loose.

Being a former website designer, I immediately asked why her main site is still parked with a GoDaddy sign on it. She told me that her website designer was still working on it. After several months.

Uh huh. This is what you get for a mere $4000 - $5000.

I called him for a status update and found out that he hadn't even started it yet. At that point, the owner agreed to letting me put up a site so that we can get this party started. So, I logged onto GoDaddy and asked Claire for the password.

She looked blankly at me.

The woman she had just fired that morning was the only one who had the passwords to all of Claire's domains.

So Claire called Miss Thang and asked for all her passwords. Miss Thang informed her that she felt that she was entitled to a big settlement check and once it cleared, she would let Claire have her information.

Oh no. I wasn't going to let it go down that way. So, I called GoDaddy.

One complication is that Miss Thang had originally signed up for the domains under her own name and paid for them with her own credit card. Even though Claire had reimbursed her (and had the documentation to show it), GoDaddy was now in an awkward position.

We ended up compromising.

I sent in reams and reams of documentation proving domain ownership, and even then it will take a couple of business days to reassign the domains to Claire's corporation. And Claire had reimbursed Miss Thang an additional $500 for some additional GoDaddy services that couldn't transfer, so Claire will have to pay for them again.

But, we know that we will soon be in posession of those domains, and it allows us to tell Miss Thang to kiss off.

I also told Claire to put together a bill to Miss Thang for reimbursement of this loss. When Miss Thang pays Claire, Claire can in turn pay Miss Thang for any services that remain unpaid.

Claire=1
Miss Thang=0

For now.

And the moral of the story?

Don't reimburse anyone for something you may have to prove ownership of later. It's OK to allow employees to be reimbursed for meals or mileage, but all major purchases need to be paid directly by the corporation itself.

Cell Phones & Blogger

I know that Blogger has a feature that allows you to blog via your cellphone. How practical is this? Has anyone used it? I'm wondering if my posts would start looking like my texts:

Obamas l8est push 4ward in health insurnce seems 2 b a mistake. Altho i would like 2 c universal health care, i dont think it should be mandatory.

Ewww.

Anyway, I'm considering buying a BlackBerry Curve 8330. I've grown tired of the difficulty I have texting from my regular phone, and now that I have two jobs I'm responsible for, I need to have instant internet/email access anywhere at anytime.

Who has a BlackBerry out there? Has it been a rewarding experience? And furthermore, how durable are they? This is an investment that I don't lightly make. And I know that if I have a BlackBerry, I will actually be able to advance in my texting abilities. That is a huge plus for me, as it will save me from sounding like an idiot.

Wedding Pottery

Here's the pottery I made for my brother and his wife. They were just married a couple of weeks ago. They're actually handpainted with their names, but I am eliminating their names to protect the innocent. The pictures really don't do them justice - they are much nicer looking in person: