Tsunami Relief

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What Some Find Humorous

I'm reading through Wired News when I came across this tiny article. The guy, Antonio Casale, deserves to be thrown in jail for thinking that his prank was funny. Please read on:

Bad Call
Practical jokes are often funny only to the prankster, and an Italian tourist's recent idea of a joke is a case in point. Antonio Casale sent a text message to his wife while he was on a flight from Sydney to Vienna, telling her the plane was being hijacked by terrorists. His wife called Italian police. "The Italian police picked up on it, then the Italian embassy, the Australian Federal Police came in on it, and it was quite a big operation," said a spokesman for the Australian Transport Minister. Counterterrorism negotiators contacted the pilot, who was unaware of any hijacking attempt. "Federal police and other authorities over here have got enough on their plate without having to worry about stupidity like this as well," the spokesman said.
-- Debra Jones

Can you imagine how his poor wife felt when she received that text message? What was he thinking? Personally, I would divorce him for being stupid.

WNBA

Check this out ladies, the average WNBA player makes between $46,000 and $60,000 (WNBA). Seems unfair since the average NBA player makes about $4 million. As the article points out, the women players don't get much of an audience, which explains their salaries. Although, they do have a salary cap of $87,000.

I deem this horribly unfair. So, I decided to sign a petition to increase the WNBA's salary. I urge you to do so, also. There are NBA players that suck and are making half a million a year. Our ladies are working out hard, playing around the country making less than some of you do. Please go to WNBA's Petition to show your support.

Holidays

The holidays are always a hectic time of year. You have to buy gifts (if you celebrate Xmas), see relatives you might not normally want to see, and gain a few pounds from all the eating and drinking you'll be doing. The main holidays going on are obviously Christmas and Chanukah. And of course like every year there is an argument over whether we should wish people "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Chanukah". The pc way to go about is to wish people a "Happy Holiday" or "Seasons Greetings."

As I've mentioned before, I'm not really religious. I grew up Catholic and I hold some of those values, but I don't go to church. Obviously, I celebrate Christmas. I don't celebrate the religious aspect of it, but the perfect timing to catch up with old friends and family. I don't really bother with the whole "People might be offended if the Christmas tree is actually called the Christmas tree" crap. Or for that matter if an atheist might get offended if I wish them a Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah.

I use to worry about it a bit when I worked in the restaurant industry. People love letting the server know they are wrong on something. I guess it's the whole servant thing. Nowadays, I think it's rather frivolous. I also don't really get bothered if I see a Nativity scene in the middle of town.

Granted, there are other celebrations going on like Kwanza and the Soltice. But does this mean that Christians and Jewish people can't express what is a religious time for them in the public eye? Do you think I would be insulted if someone wished me a Happy Chanukah or Kwanza? I just feel it is a waste of energy. People get worked up over the weirdest things at times. Get aggravated with the war going on not over a holiday celebration.

Celebrations whether public or private should not be misconstrued as an insult or threat to the separation of church and state. Celebrating the birth of Christ (even if you don't believe it) is not a horrible aspect. Whether you like it or not, Christmas is a federal holiday. Which means that it's an in-your-face type of celebration. Don't be a scrooge. Christmas has become very commercialized, which you could even separate it from the religious aspect of it. I have friends who are just like me that aren't religious and we have the best time during Christmas. This is especially true of the little kids. They are only interested in Santa Claus and what he's leaving under that Christmas tree.

Houdini

Dan and I have nicknamed our dog Louie, Houdini. Our dear little pooch has figured out how to get out of his harness. We leave our dogs leashed at night because they like leaving their mark. Not so much Louie, but Hercules. If he's left alone, he'll walk to every corner of the house, lift his leg, and mark his spot. Very annoying to say the least. Hence they are leashed at night or when we're not home.

Louie I guess feels that he shouldn't be leashed because he backs out of his harness. He really doesn't mark his spot anywhere, but I don't feel comfortable leaving loose all day. If it were my place, then I probably would. Then again Hercules would get jealous. Drama! If Hercules would control himself I would love to leave them loose. They spend their day sleeping when I'm home. Xena is left loose all day, but she's not allowed on the carpet because she thinks it's a giant wee-wee pad. On the tile, she's fine.

So we started to put Louie in a crate, but we feel awful leaving him in there all day. My father-in-law decided to buy a choke chain. I personally don't like it, but we put it on to see if he would stop escaping. He's been wearing it for about three weeks. Everything was fine until yesterday. Somehow, he has figured out how to get out of the choke chain. I have no clue how he managed because choke chains tighten up when you pull. He bypassed pass that obstacle because my father-in-law caught him loose drinking water. So much for the choke chain.

Signs

I have to say that Miami is not doing me any good. I'm broke, my house is still in cinderblocks, I'm sick, and Dan and I are making crappy money. Wow, if these aren't signs than I don't know what are. I'm definitely going for my master's down here. It would only cost me $7,000 as to compared to $30,000 in NYU. I'm going to bang it out and depending on how things are going I might do my PhD down here. If things aren't letting up, I think I'll bite the bullet and pay more for it up north.

Since my PhD will take a few years (60 credits), I have to really think hard about this. PhD is not something you just bang out. I've actually seen some job postings for history professors at the local colleges. At least that's somewhat promising. If I were to find a position like that, than I would work towards my PhD down here.

I think what's most frustrating about living here is that I feel as if I don't have a degree. All the jobs require at least five years of experience, a master's, and bla-bla-bla for 25,000 a year. Can you imagine?

Me and my great ideas. It was my idea to move down here in the first place. I thought it would be great to buy a house and try a new place. At this point we're still living with my in-laws (and they've been great to us) and stuck in limbo. Like Cubans say, nesecito un despojo because man am I having bad luck.

Going on three weeks

By tomorrow I will officially be sick three weeks. I'm back home again because I had an adverse reaction to the antibiotics that I was taking. I'm not going to get into the details (frankly, it's gross), but needless to say I had to leave work after only being there two hours. I called my doctor and told him what happened. He told me to discontinue the medicine and get a different antibiotic. I spent about three and half hours yesterday with an awful migraine that I couldn't even put on my glasses because it hurt. I also had to make Dan pull over because I thought I was going to puke my brains out.

Anyway, I've missed so much work that I'm surprised that I'm not fired. At this point, I could care less. I feel bad for the kids because we have a system going on in class and basically not of that is being followed. They do have work left for them so I'm sure it will be given to them. I feel bad that the first graders are now learning long a vowel words and I'm not there to teach them the sound. Most of the first graders have learning disabilities and it's hard for them to grasp a new concept.

While I was on the phone with the doctor, I told him that I'm not getting any better. I still sound like a frog and I feel horrible. I've lost the sense of taste and I barely have the sense of smell. Unless it has a powerful smell, I can't smell it. Most of the phlegm is out of my system, which is a good sign that my bronchitis is letting up. The doctor is utterly surprised that I'm still sick.

This school is going to kill me. Those of you that know me know that I rarely get sick. What usually makes me feel crappy is allergies (post-nasal drip--gross). I've been teaching for three months and I've been sick twice and out of work a total of nine days. I can't even begin to comprehend this. For God's sake I was in school until last year, and I never suffered any of these ailments. This blows my mind.

I'm still sick

My flu has turned into pharyngitis and bronchitis. I've never coughed up so much junk in my life. I've never had bronchitis, either. I attribute my illness to the lack of ventilation in the school I work in. I can't also forget the fact that the children are constantly hugging me and the majority of the teachers are sick. I've been sick now for about two weeks and I'm not having any fun. My doctor prescribed antibiotics and I'll be taking them until I die. I just want to get better so that when my winter vacation comes up in two weeks I'll be able to enjoy it.

Not to mention that I haven't exercised. I attempted to rollerblade a few days ago. The thought of putting on my rollerblades exhausted me into bed. I haven't even been watching the news. Although, I have been hooked on this yahoo game called bookworm, but even that makes me very sleepy.

I have now thoroughly exhausted myself and I'm going back to bed. See ya!

Hectic in a Weird Way

Thanksgiving was nice and the Turducken was delicious. I recommend you try it next year. I'm still fighting the flu. I have a slight headache and my patience level today was not great. Little kids have a funny way of pushing you. I must admit that I've learned a lot about myself with these kids. I'm not proud on how I sometimes loose my cool. But when you have 13 out 15 students who take medication in order not to be hyper, it's hard not to. They don't mean to be hyper and I always remind myself of this.

On another note, Dan bought me a pair of really nice rollerblades on Friday. Between a bike, jogging, rollerblades, and the gym I have no excuse to workout (although I'm still under the weather so I'm taking it light). So this is the reason I've been off the net for the last few days (in other words--I haven't blogged). My major goal is to be able to wear a bikini this summer and not look like I'm busting out of everywhere.

By the way, I saw pictures of myself from about a year to two years ago and I can't believe no one ever told me how horrible I looked. I still have a ways to go, but I don't look swollen. The great thing is that I'm able to see the difference. Anyway, got to go I must go rollerblade.