Fun and Games Dept

So I’ve been listening to Sirius/XM’s POTUS channel quite a bit again. My Twitter stream is populated with lots of folks with a political interest. I like to think that I’m somewhat in tune with what’s happening our country and I like to think that many would be interested in being as informed as I strive to be.

Please note that I haven’t been blogging about politics lately. To write about it endlessly would lead me to some depressed state, so I’ve been concentrating on happier things like travel and flowers and autumn winds.

To put it mildly, I am really disappointed with the current state of the U.S. Government. While I believe that the majority of the mechanics of our government is sound, I think that we’ve populated our ranks with a bunch of idiotic, crazy, stupid people from the top of the mountain right down to the bottom of the river.

I’m probably going to bullet point this because I’m feeling my blood pressure rise as I formulate this blog entry.

* While I think that everyone is entitled to affordable health care and I agree with much of the Affordable Care Act, I am PISSED that the new healthcare.gov site was designed and coded by a Canadian contractor. I am INSULTED by this.

* Per reports that I heard this morning on unconnected media outlets, the United States spends $1.00 for every 70 cents it takes in in taxes. I don’t know how the budget works in your household, but when Earl and I have acted in a similar behavior we have found ourselves in debt and have ended up working really hard to get out of that debt. The country can not go on spending more than it brings in. We could reign in some of these stupid, idiotic congressional squabbles if the freakin’ budget was balanced.

* Through no fault of their own, thousands of government workers have been off-the-job since the beginning of the month. This is how a government shutdown works. It’s horrible that the government was shutdown in the first place, but to add salt to this gaping wound, the workers will be paid for sitting at home during the shutdown and then will be paid again for doing the work they should have been doing in the first place. Again, this is nothing against the workers that were affected by this, but what the bloody hell? The purpose of the shutdown was what again?

* I really wish that a certain group of individuals would just admit the racism card and get it over with.

* I am really starting to become interested in the way other democratic governments work. People keep telling me that if the congressional body of Australia pulled something like our Congress did, the whole group of them would be declared null and void and there would be an election within three weeks to fill all the seats. I really like the idea of a quick election process. A lot. Hearing people talk about Hillary in 2016 is making me want to scream at anyone or anything. It’s 2013. Presidential elections are over three years away. We shouldn’t even be talking about such a thing until August 2016. Simmer down people.

* Congress needs an overhaul. They keep changing the rules so that they can do whatever the heck they want. Congressional districts are being redefined, rules of voting procedures are being made more convenient and they keep paying themselves for doing nothing. If there was any part of our government that needed a complete reboot, it’s those idiots in Congress. To think that there’s 5% of the American population that thinks they’re doing a good job is insulting and sadly indicative of what’s wrong with our country: the celebration of idiocy and mediocrity.

* I like Australia’s law of “If you don’t vote you have to pay a fine.” I really like that. Get the lazy American population off its ass and into the voting booths.

* Any congressional member that is using words like “historic” and the like to describe today’s steps towards diverting the country from a huge fiscal calamity should be smacked right across the face on live television. I don’t care who does the smacking, but the only reason this is historic is because we’ve never been in such a horrid state of affairs before. Just awful. Any sense of pride is insulting to each and every American citizen.

As we approached the interchange, Earl asked me to get out the toll money. He handed me a stack of bills and a slightly crumpled turnpike ticket.

I sighed.

He knew why I was sighing and said, “My money is a mess but I’m not used to carrying cash.”

After giving him the exact change required at the rapidly approaching toll booth, I sorted through the wad of remaining bills and organized the cash in his wallet a bit. I’ll tackle the plastic on another day.

I consider myself fortunate that I grew up in a fairly organized retail environment. Aside from a dog that would occasionally knock prosthetic limbs off a customer or a cat that hissed from atop the cash register, my paternal side of the family ran a pretty tight operation with the family business. One of the hard fast rules was that all bills went into the cash drawer with the heads facing up and to the right. This is something that I expect from anyone at deals with money. At all times.

95% of the time I am disappointed.

My money clip is organized. All bills a facing in the same direction and stacked neatly in denominational order. I will not leave a sales counter until I have adjusted my change to meet my order guidelines. I don’t consider this a symptom of being anal retentive but rather I just consider it a symptom of being organized: I always know how much cash I have in my money clip and I always know where the big and small bills are.

I am now pleasantly surprised when my change in counted back to me after a retail transaction. Forget counting up to the amount tendered, nobody does that anymore, but anything is better than being handed a wad of cash with an accompanying glare. However, when I get money from an ATM or from a bank teller, I have the expectation that the money will be given to me in an orderly fashion. If a bank teller or the person responsible for loading an ATM with bills doesn’t have the time to handle my money in an orderly fashion, why would is make any sort of assumption that they’re know what they’re doing with my money behind the scenes? A symptom of sloppiness could be indicative of greater problem.

And I don’t want a bank that apparently has a problem to deal with our fortunes.

I have written many emails and even a couple of old fashioned letters to banks to express my displeasure with the way they handle cash. Most probably find this absurd.

It’s probably been crumpled up and tossed aside anyway.

Tomorrow Earl and I will be celebrating one of our anniversaries. I can’t believe the time has gone by so fast, but it was two years ago tomorrow that we were legally married in New York State.

Life is nifty when you marry your best friend.

As part of our celebration, while in Chicago, the two of us went to Navy Pier for the evening. Earl quickly remembered that it was around 10 years ago when we were last at Navy Pier. Actually, it was 10 years, 1 month and 9 days ago, as confirmed by this blog entry. To celebrate, we rode the Ferris Wheel again and reenacted a photo from our first visit.

2003

2013.

We were in a different gondola this time around, but Earl accurately remembered that we were in gondola 13 the first time.

We went to Harry Carey’s twice during the evening; the first time was for a beer and appetizer, the second time was for a beer and supper. In between our visits to Harry Carey’s we decided to go for a speedboat ride on Lake Michigan. There were actually two rides we could choose from: a 60 minute slow-moving haunted ride that was sold out (we would have been the last two on the boat) or a 30 minute speed high-speed boat ride making waves, jumping waves and making crazy turns in a speedboat.

We felt the need for speed.

The boat ride stopped twice to show off the skyline of Chicago, where the Sears Tower is still called the Sears Tower and Macy’s is still called Marshall Fields.

After the speedboat ride we went back to Harry Carey’s for the second half of our meal, where we posed with a potted plant. We figured it was a good way to start a new tradition on Navy Pier.

At the very least we plan on coming back in 2023 to sneak another kiss on the Ferris Wheel.

I stopped at Starbucks today that was celebrating its Grand Opening. This drive-thru/walk-up only location is made of recycled shipping containers.

There more information here in the Chicago Tribune.

I woke up feeling very inspired this morning. I think this is partially the result of having a good night’s sleep last night but I think that there was something in the my dreams during the night that contributed to this mood as well. Whatever the reason, I’m not going to complain.

We are in Chicago this weekend and as per the routine I established during our last visit, upon getting up, I readied myself for the day and decided to go out for a walk. Since we are traveling I am in explorer mood. My plan was to first head to the nearest Starbucks and grab myself a small bite to eat and an unsweetened green tea. Not surprisingly, I changed my mind at the last moment and stopped at 7-Eleven, picking up a healthier food choice (I’m impressed with this 7-Eleven’s healthy food choices) and an unsweetened iced tea in a bottle. Yesterday I would have picked up a Coke Zero. I’m not in the mood for chemicals today. I probably should have picked up a bottle of water, but the iced tea is generally in the same health range as the water, though I could probably do without the caffeine.

I am now sitting on the beach near Jamie’s apartment enjoying the sounds of the waves, the surprisingly warm breeze and the abundant sunshine.

Before getting up this morning I read an article by Mark Manson that had popped up in my Facebook feed.  I had never heard of Mark Manson before this morning, but a quick perusal of his website revealed that he is an author and blogger, a life coach of sorts and, this really caught my eye, a digital nomad. For the last year or so I have been really intrigued with the concept of being a digital nomad. With my keen interest in travel, you can probably guess that I have an interest in the digital nomad lifestyle. Convincing my husband of the same is a different matter.

The Mark Manson article that was shared is entitled “10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America”. Judging by the comments that follow the article, it appears to have struck a chord with some with a more Yankee-Doodle-Dandy inclination. I found the article fascinating and Mr. Manson’s viewpoints confirmed some what I already suspected.

In my life experience I have met many people that wouldn’t dare venture outside the “safety” of the American borders. I know some that won’t travel to even Mexico (not Mexico, N.Y.) because they just know that they’re going to be kidnapped, raped and held for ransom. I’ve met others that have traveled all over the world and while doing so, have tried to Americanize the experience as much as possible. 

I can’t wrap my head around this.

As I experience this mid-life celebration, I can’t help but realize that I still want to expand my mind, broaden my horizons and build my experience database. This is where the digital nomad lifestyle comes into play.  I find myself most inspired about life, work and play when my view is changed. This is most likely the case with many, but I think this is fuel that I definitely need to feel “fresh”. Sitting here on the beach in Chicago, writing this blog entry, my head is going at 100 MPH with ideas about future blog entries, solutions for problems that have been bothering me at work and destinations of where I would like to take Earl with our frequent flyer miles. Maybe I just needed a little sun and the sound of the waves. Maybe life in the center of Upstate New York, surrounded by woods and hills, is a little too stagnant. Maybe I need the sound of waves. Maybe I should drive the hour from home to Lake Ontario once in a while.

If we were to travel more and leave the borders of the U.S. in doing so, I certainly wouldn’t want to seek out American experiences. This is the one thing that makes me nervous about going on any sort of structured tour. The late author and humorist Erma Bombeck mentioned this in one of her books years ago, with tour groups you’re with other Americans, “experiencing” the local flavor of country X but from a purely American point of view. There’s no language struggle. Cuisine is arranged. You’re with other Americans.

I’m not sure I want that type of experience. Well, right now I’m not sure I want that. I’ve never experienced the alternative but I want to, at least once.

Flipping around the television the other day I noticed a commercial for another reality show about the Amish. I believe it might have been called “Amish Mafia”, but I was so bewildered about the prospect of a reality show about the Amish being on American television I might have missed the title.

I’m trying to figure out why the sudden interest in the Amish as a source of entertainment. I’ve heard of other shows in the past: “Amish In The City”, “Breaking Amish” and my thoughts were along the same lines then, but I believe those shows were shown a few years ago. What have the Amish possibly done to warrant this sort of attention?

I have mentioned on several occasions that we have a good sized Amish population in our general area. When I go to the office I will always pass at least three buggies on the roads along my commute; they’re usually loaded with a milk pail or two and headed to a farm. Several times I have seen barefooted Amish children walking to one of the several one-room school houses in the area. I have noticed that they put their chairs upside down on their desks at the end of the workday. 

On a few occasions I have stopped at an Amish stand and picked up a pie or canned pickles or something homemade like. I have always found the folks working these stands as pleasant, not overly demonstrative and seemingly content. I get the impression that they find enjoyment in their work, their chosen path and their life.

Why would the general American populace want to see the Amish in some sort of detrimental reality series? Is there some sort of sexiness in the thought of “corrupting” the Amish to live a more “normal” lifestyle? Does the American viewing public just enjoy seeing bad examples of any given society bring rebellious against their ways? Do we feel “less than” so therefore we must highlight others that are “less than”?

A few years ago a local woman was concerned about the quality of education that the Amish children were receiving in their one-room schoolhouses and was prompting the local school district to forcibly remove the children from their schoolhouse and integrate the children into “normal” society. “What kind of life is that?”, she asked.

Why the heck is it any of her business, anyways?

I know a lot of people don’t understand why the Amish are on the path they’re on and therefore go into a mindset of distrust since the live so differently than the “normal” American, but I have to admit that I have nothing but respect for them. There’s something to be said for being true to yourself and if necessary, going against the grain. I don’t know why they need to be sensationalized or turned into a zoo-like attraction.

I guess we just can’t do the whole “live and let live” thing.

Now, I know that the Amish participants of these ridiculous television shows are being paid and aren’t being forced to be a part of these shows against their will. Maybe they’ve left the Amish lifestyle and are just hamming it up to make money for themselves. That could very well be, but I really can’t figure out what perpetuates these television shows and movies. What is the attraction that builds ratings? We all know that a television studio isn’t going to do something unless they’re bathed in money.

Like most television today, I’m going to just ignore the existence of these idiotic shows and find something better to do with my time¹. But I can’t help but wonder what is fueling these things.

¹ I must admit that I watched “The X-Factor” last night and was tweeting quite a bit about the experience. I am thoroughly ashamed of the time wasted with this exercise last night.

So last weekend was my first of four weekends of travel and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We did a lot of circling of the Atlanta airport before finally landing, and while people around me were getting a little worked up about the delay, I found myself enjoying the ride and the experience. I’m odd like that. A passenger in the row behind me was particularly chatty and we discussed the best ways to maximize accumulated miles. It was convenient that I was in an exit row and he was able to talk around the seat without having to shout. Shouting on an airplane is so rude.

Earl came home last night and was posed with a question, “Would you mind if I went to Dublin for the weekend?”. Now, I wasn’t talking about this weekend, because that would just be silly, after all, we’re headed to Chicago to visit Jamie and celebrate our wedding anniversary and why would I want to go to Dublin when we already have plans in place?

Before me sat my MacBook Pro and a pile of airline loyalty cards. I had spent some time checking and cross-checking accumulated miles. I was surprised to learn that Earl and I have a whole slew of available miles on United. This is awesome, hence the question about Dublin. Naturally I would want to take Earl along as well, unless it was one of those weekends when he was already out of town for work or whatever. But I don’t know that I could go to Dublin without him. I wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much, what with him being the love of my life and all.

So the question about Dublin and the realization that we have United miles and then the further realization that I am really close to my first medallion level opportunity on Delta made me realize that I must fly. More. Must fly more. While we enjoyed our Jeep tour back in August, we are starting to get to the point where we want to fly somewhere, rent a nifty vehicle and then explore from that point, rather than driving all the way across the Empire State, through a bit of Pennsylvania and then across Ohio before we can start exploring.

Oh my god we have such first world problems.

I told Earl that I am unconventional. He wasn’t surprised by this at all. The fact of the matter is, at age 45 some men have some sort of midlife crisis and start doing whacky things: they dye their hair or beard an uncomfortable color, they buy a convertible and whiz around trying to be young or they have an affair and then things get really messy. Well, I have nothing to dye, a convertible in Upstate New York isn’t worth the car payment, I’m not really young and honestly I am quite comfortable with my age and quite frankly, I am well beyond the contentment threshold (I am blissfully happy!) to be considering an affair. In lieu of some midlife crisis I am actively enjoying a midlife experience: loving my age, coming out of my shell and not being too shy to go out and experience life. And I want to travel. A lot.

Like fellow blogger Dave at Blogography, my focus is now to get airline miles in any way possible. Buying an iced tea at Dunkin’ Donuts? Use the card that gets points. Buying groceries? Use the card that gets points. Flying for work? Make sure they know your number. Don’t know what to buy me for a holiday or birthday gift? Buy me airline miles.

Life is too short to sit home and watch television shows about what’s going on in the world. I need to get out and experience it.

Chicago and Tampa (for family) and San Diego (for work) are currently on the agenda. Who knows where to next!