Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

Well I finally got my dentist appointment and went and had my top two wisdom teeth pulled out today. I’m officially fresh out of wisdom, as all of my wisdom teeth are now gone.

It wasn’t as nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The shots of novacaine (or reasonable fascimile thereof) were the worst part. When I was in on Monday, the dentist alluded to major oral surgery with curved roots and general mayhem going on in the back of my mouth. But the oral surgeon said that I had a pair of the easiest teeth to pull that he’s seen in quite a while. I think he was just flirting with me. “Hey sexy, easy teeth.”

Apparently, since my bottom wisdom teeth were pulled a decade or two ago, the top teeth had room to move and so they were all there just ready for a pair of pliers. A yank and another yank and a odd feeling in my sinus cavities and whoops, there they go! I was morbidly interested in seeing the teeth but I wasn’t fortunate to experience that. I was curious as to what the outside of my wisdom teeth looked like, because I could never see them when they were in my mouth, being slammed up against the inside of my cheek and all. It’s going to be kind of groovy, because now I won’t be biting my cheek as much.

Ironically, the side of my mouth that wasn’t infected is hurting more than the side that was. I wonder why that is. It’s not a bad pain, just sort of like a bruise or something. And it’s been over four hours and there’s absolutely no sign of swelling. Which is a very good thing, because I was concerned about that, being as vain as I am.

So tomorrow I head back to work to enjoy a Friday with my co-workers, armed with a Thermos of fake-chicken soup. I’m glad to be beyond this milepost.

The more I think about the outcome of yesterday?s election, the more fired up I become about the whole cause. I definitely feel the need to become more involved. I see a curve in my life path. This could be interesting.

The more I think through my anger and disappointment about the outcome of yesterday’s election, the more I get fired up. So I’ve started a political blog called Fired Up! You’ll see a link to it from the main page as well as right from this page.

I’ve decided to keep my political views separate, at least for the most part, from this blog because I try to comment on the lighter side of life here and the fight for the White House in 2008 is definitely not going to fit into the lighter side of things. We have three years and 364 days to get our ducks in a row, so to speak and I’m going to start tonight.

I’ve never imagined myself as a person to be that politically minded. Years ago it was “yeah, yeah, he’s cute, he seems to make sense, I’ll vote for him.” This is the first election that I really paid attention to the issues and made a well educated decision when I entered the voting booth. Apparently, that’s not good enough. I need to make my feelings known, my beliefs heard and I need to influence people around me. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to be a dreadful bore at all the parties I go to or that I’m going to be one of those militant fools that refuses to talk to the cashier because she’s stupid enough to be working at a company as dreadful as Wal*Mart. No, no, that’s petty shit. By the way, it’s unfortunate that the girl behind the register at Wal*Mart (“Always White Trash, Always”) has to work that job at slave wages in addition to busing tables at the local diner just so she can afford formula, food and medicine for her toddler and her newborn.

So I hope you’ll take the time to read Fired Up!, but I’m not going to force you to. And please continue to join me as I observe that Life is such a sweet insanity.

It appears the Baby Bush has squeaked through the election and will continue his reign of terror as president. I am very disappointed, to say the least. But on the bright side, at least we’re now half way through this nightmare. And after all, it’s all downhill from here.

Earl and I continue to watch the CNN coverage of the election. Prior to the top of each hour, they cut to the “Crossfire” crew to amuse us with their babble. It’s mildly amusing and I don’t mind watching it. But what’s driving me crazy are these camera whores standing behind the panelists with Bush-Cheney signs. I would still call them camera whores if they were holding Kerry-Edwards signs. They’re damn annoying and should find something more constructive to do.

I think I’m getting a little cranky.

As Earl and I watch the election results chug along on CNN, I can not help but feel anger towards Florida, just like I did during the 2000 election.

This bunch of bumbling, inept and idiotic fools in charge of voting in Florida should be ashamed of themselves. They knew the spotlight would be on them again. They knew that they would have a large number of absentee ballots. And once again, they’re running around with absolutely no clue as to how to accomplish anything. CNN just showed a shot of the absentee voting center in Miami-Dade County and everyone was sitting around with their thumbs up their butt. They’ve given themselves until 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. Well bravo for you, you bunch of hicks.

Florida is screwing up the election once again. Sadly, with governor Jeb Bush and his harem of ugly women, I’m not surprised.

After all the discussion and debate, Earl and I naturally exercised our right to vote this evening. It was a heartwarming experience on many counts.

First of all, it is refreshing to use the tried and true mechanical voting machines that are so common here in New York State. You simply flip the lever over the candidates name and then you move the handle to let yourself out of the booth. No hanging chads. No computers with questionable and secret programming. No rebooting. It’s refreshingly simple and accurate. Other states should follow suit and dump these ridiculous touchscreen voting machines and go for the mechanical systems. In this case, screw technology.

Secondly, Earl’s change of address was not registered properly (apparently anyone that sent their change of address to Albany didn’t get registered properly, at least in this area), and the election officials in the Town of Marcy went out of their way to make sure that he was able to vote. They followed the rules to the letter, without question and without complaint.

And lastly, I was astounded at the number of new voters, young and old, that I observed in the fifteen minutes we were at the polling place. It was nice to see so many citizens caring about government for a change.

While Earl and I are really hoping for a Kerry win, we’re proud that we had the right to vote, regardless of the outcome.

Today I found out that I have to have my two top wisdom teeth out. They’ve been bothering me for the past two months or so, but I didn’t have dental insurance until today. I haven’t had dental insurance since 1992. And I’ll admit it, I haven’t been to the dentist since then.

I know, I know, eeeewwwwwww.

Fortunately, my teeth have held up pretty good over the years and things aren’t nearly as bad as I thought they would be. I don’t know if I’m going to have to be knocked out to have them taken out or what, but while it sounds painful, I find it morbidly exciting.

So I’ll be losing a little bit of wisdom as I lose the remaining wisdom teeth. Oh well. My mouth was looking too fat anyway.

Of course, everyone should be using as much wisdom as possible when they go to the polls tomorrow. Please remember to vote tomorrow. Make your vote count. And please think long and hard before you vote. Don’t just put your finger on the party line of your choice and zip across. Know your candidates. Know the issues. Study up tonight!!! I just ask that you consider a couple of things:

• The current administration has introduced the first constitutional amendment that takes away citizen’s rights rather than guaranteeing them. If they can take away the right of gay marriage with a constitutional amendment, what is to prevent the government for taking away other rights using the same methods?
• We have the largest national debt in history. Four years ago, the budget was balanced.
• We essentially lost millions of tons of one of the most dangerous explosives known to man to the enemy.
• Gas prices have gone from $1.39/gallon to $2.09/gallon in four years.
• The cost of health care is out of control. There are many, many American without health coverage at all. Just today, I paid $136 for a five day supply of pain killers for an infected wisdom tooth. Luckily, I could afford the prescription. How many people are sitting at home tonight with an outrageous toothache and no means to pay for the medicine to cure it?
• Oneida County, N.Y., where we currently live, is about to enact the largest sales and use tax in the history of the United States. That’s right folks, we’re going to be paying a 9.75% sales tax on everything aside from milk, bread and other food essentials. Yes, our Charmin is going to cost nearly 10% more than the rest of the country. Our clothing and shoes will have a nearly 10% tax tacked on. This is to cover Medicaid and Medicare.
• The current administration is cutting funding for the “No Child Left Behind” program. Are our schools doing so spectacularly well that we can afford to cut funding to them?
• The United States has lost credibility and respect throughout the world with our “go it alone” policy when it comes to foreign affairs.
• And finally, are we really any safer than we were before September 11, 2001? Do you feel that the airlines really need to know your credit history just so you can ride in an airplane? Are you comfortable with being tracked via electronic means as you conduct your business and maintain your personal life? Do you value your privacy?

While I sincerely hope that you vote for a change in administration, please think long and hard before you push the lever, touch the screen or tick a box. And please, by all means, make your voice heard and exercise your right to vote. Your country depends on it.

Halloween Weekend. Earl and I have been all jazzed up about this weekend, primarily because we live in a semi-suburban area now and we would actually get cute little trick or treaters begging for candy.

We were wrong.

We purchased 15 bags of candy at Wal*Mart (“Always White Trash, Always”) during a wine induced shopping spree a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of all the kids coming to the door. Helicopters were going to transport kids to the area from the surrounding housing developments. Candy deposit stations would be set up so that kids could empty their overstuffed bags of sweets and hit the road again for another load of diabetic goodness.

We were wrong.

Niagara Mohawk (power company) would be proud as we lit up the porch, the driveway, the garage, the local stadium and a string of illuminated pumpkins across the landscaping so that little masks would light up in glee over the festivity of it all.

We were wrong.

Not one flippin’ kid came to the door. Not one. Nada. Zilch. Zero. And now I have one disappointed ‘kid’ (read ‘Earl’) on my hands.

Guess what’s for supper tomorrow night! Anyone in the mood for a little Almond Joy?

Well it’s official. My 15-inch PowerBook G4 arrived first thing this morning. I didn’t even know that FedEx delivered to residential addresses on Saturday. Earl was up before I was this morning and loudly announced… someone has a package from Apple on the front porch!

Oh my GOD!

I’ve been using my PowerBook for about an hour. It is officially the best computing purchase I’ve made in the history of my computing life, which has been over 20 years.

I’m going to write more tonight. I just had to share that I am in Mac Nirvana!!!

It’s a beautiful day in Upstate N.Y. today. The sun is shining brightly. The temperature is in the mid 50s. There are few clouds in the sky. I have brought along my lunch today, and I’m parked at the ball park that Earl and I frequently haunt during lunch. I was hoping to jump on someone’s wireless network with my notebook, but no such luck. I’m relegated to using WordPad and transferring the file over to my Mac tonight.

I’m really anxious about the arrival of my PowerBook. According to FedEx, it should arrive on Saturday, which I find somewhat odd, as I didn’t know that FedEx delivered on Saturday. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Earl’s iBook is on tap for Monday. His notebook was custom built, whereas I bought a ‘stock’ Powerbook. His is being delivered from Taiwan, mine is coming from California. I find that somewhat interesting.

Last night’s full moon with an eclipse display was breathtakingly beautiful. I took the opportunity to meditate a little longer than usual which cleared a lot of gunk out of my mind. I feel very alert and aware today, and I attribute it to my meditation last night. I also used the opportunity to affirm the spiritual path that I have chosen. I have this sort of ‘home-brewed’ spiritual path, taking different elements of Paganism, Wicca and Gnostic Christianity and building it all into my path, I suppose. I like to think that I speak directly to our Creator, whether God is a He, a She or a blending of the two. I respect all elements of nature, whether plant, animal or mineral. I’m finding myself eating a vegetarian diet again, but I’m not calling myself a vegetarian as I’m trying to shun the label associated with it. I guess I just don’t eat meat. I don’t need the pressure of living up to being called a vegetarian.

I am half-listening to the John McMullen show on Sirius Out Q 149 as I type this entry. I honestly can not wait until this election is over and the outcome is decided. However, I sincerely hope that George Bush is given his walking papers. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. A vote for George Bush is an affirmation that hate is o.k., that war is o.k., that high gas prices are o.k., and that big, individuality-crushing corporations are o.k. The man is evil. He does not deserve to be called Mr. President. He is not my President. I don’t know that I can be friends with anyone that is a staunch Republican because we honestly wouldn’t have that much in common.

I’m looking forward to Earl coming home from Ohio tonight. We’ll catch up on our few television shows (Judging Amy, Absolutely Fabulous, Charmed) and have a healthy supper. I’ll work out, as I’m committed to working towards that hard body I’ve always dreamed about.

Life is good. It’s nice to be free from complaints for a change.