Strange Week

The past week has been odd, parts of it just a bit off. The visit with my aunt didn't really happen. I mean, I saw her for a few hours the first night she was here, and she came to see me at work before she and my cousin took off on the next leg of their trip, but I didn't get to actually converse or visit with her at all. I was bummed.

The whole weekend was like that. I kept feeling left behind, left out, or forgotten. None of it was intentional, and any incident on its own wouldn't have made me think much, but they just piled up enough to sort of freak me out.

Then there's work. Tomorrow is official promotion day. I think I'm going to dress as if I'm starting a brand new job, even though I'll be doing the same things I was doing today and my new boss is on vacation this week.

My old uber-boss has her final day Friday, but it may be moved to tomorrow. Things are just getting more and more tense, but I don't see them being any less so once she leaves. That just leaves my former departmental cohorts wondering who will end up taking her place.

I should talk about politics here, I suppose, though I guess it doesn't need to be specifically in this post. Oh, why not.

He wrote a letter to the editor that got published last week -- a very intelligent, well-thought-out rant against the current administration and all of the things they've done in the name of corporate greed, and some things people can do about it in terms of consumption and voting.

He got a couple of phone calls a few days afterward from people agreeing (well, I got the phone calls and gave him messages) with what he had to say. Today he got a letter from one of the callers volunteering for any unpaid army he may be thinking of forming!!!

Attention concerned citizens: Militias are not the answer! Exercise your right to vote; refuse to drive gas-guzzling automobiles; refuse to shop at places such as Wal-Mart which drive small businesses out, promote unfair labor practices, and encourage production of cheap goods by exploited peoples in third-world countries; write your representatives at any and all levels of government.

Do the things that can be done at the level of the individual. If enough of us do these things and express our outrage through words and non-violent action, change may begin to happen. Taking up arms to throw them out is not going to do anyone any good!

Okay, political rant nearly over. My other area of concern at the moment is the apparent escalated use of the Individual Ready Reserve. That is, calling up soldiers who have left legally without them having to volunteer. I know a couple of people for whom this could become an issue, and I am concerned. Especially since they could be called to be sent into a war zone that is defiant of international law and decency on many levels.

Hopefully my next post will be more cheerful.