What did it take?

I had an epiphany while having dinner with the college friend and classmate I hadn’t seen in over five years:

It took seven months in a bad relationship, and seven months of weekly therapy, concurrent with the bad relationship, for me to gain true insight into who I am and what I want from life. I also learned that I really do like myself.

It occurred to me one morning…

as I was getting out of the shower: I’ve been fired from three of the four teaching jobs I’ve held. Well, actually two; my position was reduced to part-time during a downturn at my previous place of employ. But, given the tenor there, I may as well have been fired.

For Better or for Worse?

I’m dating online. Not sure if it’s for better or for worse. It’s actually my second tour of duty. It’s an interracial dating site. My goal is to be off the site in six months, which by my math is March 2010.

Anyway, here are some recent highlights:

1. One man asked if I wanted a face pic, or a pic of his manhood.
2. Another man told me that he wasn’t ready/good for me. Usually when a man extolls such pearls, he’s right. BELIEVE HIM.
3. Still another, after two weeks of hot and heavy emailing and phoning, all initiated by him, has vanished into a dark hole. He got sick, then tried to apologize for not being in contact by leaving a rap apology on my voicemail, and then…nothing…for almost two weeks. Perhaps he died of pneumonia. More likely, reality set in, things had gotten too intense, and he backed off. He’s 54, divorced, with four kids. Do I really need that?
4. Last, and my favorite one of all: The man from London who wants to call me for phone sex. ::Sigh::

Despite the aforementioned, I have communicated with some potential keepers. We’ll see.

An Exercise in Futility…

end-of-trimester grades and comments, that is.

Sometimes, I wonder what it’s all for…

Re-connected

Had a very nice dinner today with a friend and college classmate who I haven’t seen in over five years. Lots of deep, introspective convo, as well as lots of laughter.

The 150-Minute Clinic

My Dear Mother insisted on yesterday afternoon that I head to the neighborhood CVS/Pharmacy for a regular flu shot. I had just returned from church with my Dear Dad when she and my Dear Brother informed me that flu shots were available. It was the longest wait for a flu shot that I had experienced: 150 minutes, to be exact.

Minute Clinic is something of a misnomer. Not only does it treat individuals who are genuinely sick, but, it also offers flu and pneumonia shots, depending on availability. There were 11 patrons waiting to be serviced when I arrived. About half of us were there for flu shots; the other half, flu-like symptoms. I was Number 12. I arrived at 3pm. I didn’t leave until 5:30. Needless to say, the flu shot took all of 30 seconds.

CVS/Pharmacy needs a better way to manage its Minute Clinic. A woman, vocalizing her dismay at the entire process, snorted, “I hope this isn’t an indication of Obama-Care.” Well, actually, the situation had little to do with the feds, and a lot to do with the greedy HMOs and insurance companies, and the the inability of the corporate offices of CVS/Pharmacy and Minute Clinic to plan effectively.

Happy Veterans’ Day!!!

In tribute to my Dear Dad, a Korean War vet, and all others who have served and who continue to serve: A great, big THANK YOU for your service.

I located this nice Veterans’ Day montage. It is by Norah Jones, in tribute to her late father, a Vietnam War vet.

Hmmm…

I’ve been off the grid for a bit. Life has intervened, and in good ways.

My place of employ has been caught in the H1N1 net, with several confirmed cases of the virus amongst the student body. Additionally, there have been many more cases of the regular flu as well. Nevertheless, the students have recovered, but, what I fear is that it’s not even yet winter. Thus, I believe we’ve only fought Round One. We may be in for a heavy-weight bout in as far as illness is concerned.

I’ve entitled this post, “Hmmm…” because I received what I believe to be a rather peculiar voicemail message from a former acquaintance. She calls, telling me that she’s glad that the telephone number she’s reached is in fact mine, that she had kept my number in a safe place, and that she hopes I return her call.

The reason I call the voicemail peculiar is that I’ve not heard in as much as boo from said acquaintance in over four years. Furthermore, if my number was in a “safe place” as she claims, why was she blowing the dust off of it in order to phone me?

Between you, me and a goal post, I think it’s related to this post.To put an even finer point on the matter, check out the back-and-forth between battue and yours truly.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but, I believe that the voicemail message from said acquaintance is a ploy to pump me for information. Said acquaintance was good for carrying the JL’s water for the particular chapter of which I was a member. Yes; battue is a former ghost from my Junior League days. I don’t know her personally, but, I’d rather leave her rattling in the closet.

Health Care Reform

Please read, and consider signing the petition. I did.

Dear ___________________.

The Senate is closing in on a health care bill with a public health insurance option, a key ingredient of meaningful health care reform. It’s great news.

But conservatives and insurance companies are fighting hard against the public option, so Senate leadership has compromised by including an “opt-out” clause, which would allow individual states to choose not to participate in the program.1

There’s a real danger here. In the stimulus fight, we saw Republican governors and legislators refuse federal dollars for political gain. The same thing could happen with health care reform, with everday people in states like Lousiana, Alabama, and South Carolina — states with large Black, poor, and working-class populations — left out.2,3

You can help. Join us in calling on the White House and Congress to make sure that, in the end, we have a true public option that serves all of us, regardless of where we live:

http://www.colorofchange.org/healthcare/?id=1604-649824

We understand the need for compromise and negotiation, but we also want to make sure that there is no community that gets negotiated away in the process.

Another compromise that was floated, a so-called “trigger,” would be far worse than “opt-out”–it would basically kill the public option through indefinite delay. Right now a “trigger” looks less likely than the “opt-out,” which is good.4

But the “opt-out” has problems too. The public option will keep insurance companies honest and make health care more affordable. That’s critical because in many states, one or two insurance companies dominate the whole market.5 These are the states that need the public option the most, and allowing local Republicans to opt them out–just to score political points–makes no sense.

Including “opt-out” may be the best way to get a bill through the Senate with a public option–but that won’t be the end of the process, and it doesn’t mean “opt-out” will be in the final bill. The House still needs to decide what exactly will be in its health care bill. And once both the House and the Senate have passed legislation, they’ll have to negotiate with each other, and the White House, to reconcile the differences between the two bills.

That’s why we need to make it clear that we’re watching and that we will demand a public option that’s available in every state. Please join us in sending this message to Congress and the White House, then ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/healthcare/?id=1604-649824

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
October 27th, 2009

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU — your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/?id=1604-649824

References:

1. “So what is the ‘opt-out’ compromise?” Talking Points Memo, 10-26-2009
http://tinyurl.com/yjffquq

2. “Demand Republican governors allow unemployment aid to flow,” ColorOfChange.org, 3-5-2009
http://colorofchange.org/govs/message.html

3. “Public option opt out denies help to those who need it most,” Fire Dog Lake, 10-8-2009
http://tinyurl.com/yks5sxz

4. “A trigger for the public option — a plan to kill the public option,” Health Care for America Now blog, 9-4-2009
http://tinyurl.com/n69mbk

5. “Health care competition: Insurance market domination leads to fewer choices,” Center for American Progress, 6-2009
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/health_competition_map.html

What are YOU Doing Here?!

My Dear Dad stopped by my apartment on last Saturday. He needed for me to type up something for church; he is the Chair of the Trustee Board.

Anyway, I discovered that I needed a new printer cartridge. So, Dear Dad and I took a short drive to Staples, which is just up the road in the neighboring community, but, it is a predominately White middle/upper-middle class community.

On the way back from Staples, driving through the aforementioned community, Dear Dad commented that Back In The Day, a Black man would be tailed by The Police, pulled over, and told that he had a burnt-out tail light. In other words, “What are YOU doing here?! According to Dear Dad, unless said Black man (or Black woman, for that matter) could justify his/her presence in said community, i.e. house cleaning/maintenance work for a White family, he/she could be harassed.

This is not to say that the aforementioned doesn’t continue to happen in said community, but, apparently it was worse Back In The Day.