In my own little corner...

Traveling during the DNC

Note: This was actually written last Thursday, 7/22/04. I've not been online since the 21st, and thus am just posting it now.
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Safely arrived in Boston, one day before the 2004 DNC. As I was walking from the T station to Fleet Center for my train to Lowell, I saw a banner hanging from a local pizza tavern: “Hey DNC - Thanks for Nothing! BUSH IN 2004!”

I smiled, not so much at the sentiment as at the in-your-face attitude it trumpeted.

My smile lasted until I looked at the MBTA map the T-lady had given me. It seems that due to the DNC being in town, and the increased security that accompanies it, the commuter station I planned to use on Saturday won’t be open.

My original game plan had been very simple. Come to Boston a day or 2 early, visit my friends, enjoy some of the Lowell Folk Festival, and then on Saturday take the train from Lowell to North station, changing there to the train for Salem. But thanks to the DNC, North station is closed. I’ll have to leave the train at Anderson and take the shuttle bus to South Station. From there, I have 2 choices – take the red line to the orange line to the blue line, which I’ll ride to its end and then take another shuttle bus to another commuter rail station, or take the airport express bus from South Station, which will bypass all the color changes. I’ll still have to ride to the end of the blue line, and from there take a shuttle bus to the commuter station, and from there to Salem.

I might ask my friend if she can take me to a different train station on Saturday. They’re expecting me to arrive at salem station around 1pm. This might prove challenging.

But then, challenges are par for the course when I travel. I attract them, it seems, and they simply become part of the larger grand adventure that I call “a trip.”

Maybe for others, trips are not grand adventures, fraught with enough difficulties and challenges to try the patience of a saint.

Come to think of it, none of my friends would have hopped a train from Oxford to Bath on the spur of the moment, without lodging reservations, confidently expecting no problem with finding a room on a Friday night, in one of the most popular towns in the UK (I think I got the last affordable room in town, that night).

Hmmm…. Could this be why my friends consider me daring and intrepid, two adjectives I would never use to describe myself? I do enjoy spontaneity, though. But this time, unlike my UK trip, I had made my plans well in advance, knowing that I had to be in Salem by a certain date and time, only to be done in by a political convention.

The shifting schedule wouldn’t bother me so much if I were the only one affected, but this will affect my friend who is taking me to the station, and it could also affect the stranger who’s picking me up in Salem. Even worse, I’m afraid that I left the stranger’s cell phone number back on my desk at home, which will make it very difficult to notify her of any changes.

(update- Saturday morning alternated between drizzle and downpour, so my friend drove me to the College in Salem, where I hooked up with my group for the class. Infinitely easier than taking the commuter rail and the T. Stay tuned for more thoughts on this class, especially since we're supposed to go out on the whale watching boat today, if the weather cooperates.)

Step by Step

"You don't just luck into things . . . You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities."

*Barbara Bush {Former US First Lady}

I've been saying that for years, just not quite the same way that she did.

I wish I'd written this

But since I didn't, I'll content myself with linking to it.

Part 2 is here.

Capt Patti Returns

Captain Patti is HOME AGAIN!!!! After 427 days of deployment.

Thank you, Capt Patti and family, for your sacrifices on our behalf.

Stars and Bars

I was in someone's house yesterday, and from where I was sitting, I could see the bedroom door belonging to one of their sons. There was a sticker on the door, showing the Confederate Battle Flag. Underneath it were the words "It's a White Thang"

Since this was the first time I'd met these people, and the bedroom door was not in the public area, I chose not to say anything or ask any questions about it, but it's been bothering me ever since I saw it.

How is a sticker like that any different from a white-hooded robe?

And doesn't a sticker like that fly in the face of all those who would have us believe that the kerfluffle regarding the Confederate Battle Flag is about history and/or states' rights, not about racism?

It struck me as a very racist sticker.

Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I don't think so.

Spring Cleaning

OK, so it's no longer spring. So sue me.

I'm generally pretty laissez-faire as far as housework is concerned... clutter is acceptable, outright filth is not. But there are times when the clutter begins to overwhelm me, and then my domestic goddess alter-ego comes out of the closet and takes charge.

This seems to be one of those times. Accordingly, I've spent several hours of the last few days rearranging my townhome and working on better organizing it. I'm a firm believer that if I want to be organized *outside* my house, I need to be organized *inside* my house.

But my actions often belie my beliefs, as is true in so many other areas of my life, as well.

So this is spring-cleaning week, in the middle of summer. The TV is turned off for the duration, and I'm trying to minimize my online time, as well. The primary goal is to reach a point where I'm not ashamed to have people come over, *before* my friend arrives next weekend to help me with the finer details of the organizing.

I'd probably be a good candidate for the Clean Sweep team, honestly. Thing is, I've *read* the books on de-cluttering, etc. And I'm a regular visitor to flylady. But have you ever noticed that there's a huge difference between *reading* and *doing,* at least for some people? I'm one of those.

When I visit Flylady, I get sidetracked reading about all the interesting things people threw out during their cleaning, and the next thing I know, 2 hours have gone by without my moving from the computer. Oops.

I have no expectations (or desires) of ever being another Martha Stewart, but I would like to train myself to the point where:
-- mail is dealt with instead of being dumped in a pile to get lost,
-- bills get paid as soon as they arrive, instead of when the disconnect notice is received,
-- dishes are never left overnight in the kitchen sink,
-- clean laundry lives in the closet, instead of the dryer or the clothes basket.

These are achievable goals, I'm sure.

And I'll pursue them diligently, as soon as I finish reading my daily assortment of email, blogs, and message boards.

You GO, Girls!

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/7/274F6C55-276C-475C-BDD9-3A5BBC644EE8.html

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excerpt:

Iraq: Female Police Officers Challenge Themselves And Society
By Valentinas Mite

Baghdad, 8 July 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Twenty-four-year-old Hajear and her sister Sarah, 26, are police officers in Iraq. They say they want to serve as role models for other Iraqi women who are used to working modestly in the home.

Hajear and Sarah arrived at the Al-Khadra police station in northern Baghdad just five days ago, after finishing a two-month training course. They wear blue Iraqi police uniforms and carry guns. Their faces are not covered, but they do wear Muslim head scarves. The sisters constantly smile and laugh. They are two of some 300 women serving on the Baghdad police force.

Hajear says her family was always liberal, opposed Saddam Hussein's regime, and encouraged her and Sarah to pursue their dreams of becoming police officers. Now, however, when danger seems to lurk around every corner, the family is afraid for the sisters' lives.

"My family encouraged me to be a police officer and to be an example of an Iraqi woman as a policewoman,” Hajear says. “They are afraid when I leave home and come back, but I was trained how to protect myself. I am not afraid."

Sarah also says she is not afraid of being killed in the line of duty. She says everyone has his or her own destiny and should meet it without fear. She says she does not plan to die but is ready to fight and continue with her career. One day, she says, she hopes to become a police chief."With God's help, we are police officers. Maybe in the future, I will be president." -- Sarah, 26 years old

"I would like to be a director of a police station or something higher in the police force,” Sarah says. “I love this field of activity. I like this kind of danger. I love to be a responsible person and fight crime."

Sarah says she is ready to challenge a society run by men, to prove that women are equals.

"Women had pressure on them, and [men] would never let [a woman] serve in the police. Now, we have [female government] ministers. With God's help, we are police officers. Maybe in the future, I will be president," Sarah says.
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Hat tip to Cpt Patti

Decisions = Destiny

"We create our own destiny with our choices and decisions. We can base these decisions upon the awareness of our inner truth or we can base them on reactions to outer circumstances. This power always belongs to us. No one can take it from us."

*Gail Pursell Elliott {The Dignity and Respect Lady}

God Bless America

Ben Shapiro's latest column brought tears to my eyes.

Want my vote? Answer this question

Here's a question that every presidential/gubernatorial/congressional candidate should be forced to answer, frequently.

Why do you want this job? What do you expect to do, if you win this office, that your opponent cannot/will not do?

Don't tell me what you hate about your opponent, tell me what YOU plan to do, and how you plan to do it. Not in paragraphs of bureaucrat-speak, but in short, simple, easy to understand sentences.

Mr Kerry - why do you want to be president?

Mr Bush - why do you want to be re-elected?

Ah-nold -- why do you want to be gov?

Mr Davis - why do you want to keep this job, when your clients apparently hate you?

Don't waste my time telling me why the other person needs to go. Tell me why you should be allowed in, or allowed to stay.

And if you don't have a plan, or a goal, for your time in office... if you're just running for office because you like the thought of being "somebody," then get the hell out of the way and let someone else have it. Someone who might make a difference. Someone who isn't just out for "fame and fortune," but who truly cares about the country or the state or the school district that they're campaigning for.

Let me give you a nice, easily-understandable example of what I mean.

Back in 1987, I was in the market for a new vehicle. I was highly enamored of Hondas, because a good friend of mine swore by them, but I liked Mazda's too. I had narrowed my choices down to a Honda Civic hatchback or a Mazda 323 hatchback. The Civic was a couple thousand dollars more.

So I went to the Honda dealer, and I asked the salesman why his car was more expensive than the Mazda. Instead of telling me what was right with his car, he tried to tell me what was wrong with the Mazda, but everything he said was a feature that I liked about that car. The Mazda dealer didn't run down the Honda.

I went home and thought some more about it... this was a big decision, after all. I examined the specs some more, thought about what I wanted, and one weekend I drove back up to Boise to talk to the Mazda dealership, and they were closed (not for good).

So I bopped over to the Honda dealership to talk to them some more, and mentioned to the guy (same guy) that I had thought about talking to Mazda that day, but they were closed. Did he have any idea where they might be?

He said (and I can almost quote this verbatim, even though it happened 18 years ago) that "they spent all the money creating that big new dealership/lot, and they can't sell any cars there, so they're over at the Fairgrounds having a sale." or words to that effect.

I wound up buying a Mazda (but a B2000, not a 323).

If you can't tell me what's *right* about your product, but only disparage your competition, regardless of what that product may be, why should I spend my money on it? That holds true for me regardless of what your product might be ... merchandise, school, candidate, whatever. And whether I'm spending my money or my vote, I'm planning to spend it where it and I will be respected, not talked down to, not manipulated, not sneered at.