Friends

• 20:34 The Flying Without Fear app for iPhone is pretty nifty, though the voice of the dude doing the guided relaxation is HILARIOUS. #

Если кто-то не видел, то в этом году ко дню города Москвы был опубликован интересный мэшап на googlemaps -- карта Москвы 1912 года, с регулируемой полупрозрачностью наложеная на современную карту города. Плюс фотки того времени.

• 23:32 Just watched Twilight for the first time. The teenage girl in me fell in LOVE with it. Heard lots about Edward but Jacob is where it's at! #
• 08:05 I am going to have a REALLY good week this week. #

When someone claims that the penalties for not having insurance under the bill just passed by the House are governed by:

Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.”

http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583

***There is no section 7203 or 7201 in H.R. 3962. It ends at 3205.***

Those are laws in the IRS tax code for failure to pay TAXES.

Do a word search and you'll find "felony" only once in the bill, and you won't find "evasion" anywhere. The only reference to "prison" is that prisoners are not eligible under the bill, and government officials who release confidential information can be imprisoned.

( Visual aid! )

Notice the ~$200 price difference when I return the 6th instead of the 5th? What the heck. Sooo I'll be leaving after work on the 23rd and arrive around 7am GMT on the 24th. Because of the price difference between the 5th and 6th, I'm going to leave London early in the morning on the 6th, and will be home a little before 2pm EST. That'll give me time to sleep and be up for work the next day. The 6th was originally a day to recuperate, but last time wasn't bad at all so I don't think I'll need it. I got home around 8pm last time, had dinner and went to bed, then felt pretty refreshed and on the right clock quite early in the morning, so I think it'll be ok.

I'M SO EXCITED!! I can't stop thinking about when I arrived last time. It was probably the most surreal night of my life - sitting in the back of Jules' car late at night (after 11pm GMT), the window rolled down, the warm wind whipping my hair around, Steve next to me holding my hand, zipping through a city I've only ever dreamed about. Seeing sites I've seen millions of times in photographs. A few times I had to just close my eyes, my face lifted toward the window, and let the little tears dry up on my cheeks. I can't believe I'm here, I'd think. I can't believe this is finally happening. From the second I saw Steve, Jules, and Colin standing in the arrivals area to several hours later when we finally crept up to bed around 3am, it was like being in a movie. One day I was living a normal life. Going to work, coming home, keeping to myself and staying in one place. Then literally just one day later I had seen Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Big Ben and Parliament, the London Eye, Millennium Bridge, 10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, and the West End... in just a matter of a couple hours. I had flown in my first plane, crossed the ocean for the first time, made it through Customs and a connecting flight all on my own, driven (as a passenger) on the wrong left side of the road, met a friendly police officer during a "routine traffic stop," and ended the night snuggled up in Steve's arms.

It was amazing and surreal and just the best night of my life. I cannot wait to be there and with him again.

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.

I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning.

He said no, he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I inquired as to her health.

He told me she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late.

He replied she no longer knew who he was, she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?'

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.'

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, 'That is the kind of love I want in my life.' True love is neither physical, nor romantic.

True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

With all the jokes and fun that are in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message. This one I thought I could share with you.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make
the best of everything they have.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.

( Read more... )

Current Mood:

bouncy

• 11:03 RT @arowarth Felicity: "I wish we could buy an octopus that had 13 legs. We can find it in a shop. A far away shop!" #
• 11:04 @allygator82 I heard that it was him from a pretty reliable source... #
• 11:04 @rot_vargas P-Money apparently! #
• 11:05 I have a day off AND the house to myself today! I'm already drinking beer and lazing but have plans for music and cleaning too... BLISS #

• German Goggles
  
  
  
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Why is it that the conservative people I meet want to tell me about their immigrant heritage right off the bat? The russian great grandparents, the irish ancestors and the toil. I can respect the apparent pride they have for their family members, and heritage. However, there is something else going on there- like catching the scent of incense when you stand close to someone, it is wafting out of their pores.

I think we're all searching for meaning, for connection, for a home and identity of sorts. I wonder if the milky white bread dominant culture has reached the point of saturation. Perhaps it no longer feels, "special." I wonder if those folks I met this weekend are really, at heart, lonely and feel isolated. Maybe these gatherings make them feel less alone. It certainly seemed to be a theme, here. Maybe we, as social creatures, ultimately need to feel connected, special. Maybe there is a wistfulness deep in their hearts that longs for the kind of community that can exist in minority groups, or at least that which has been advertised in mainstream media. Maybe it's akin to how suddenly being an, "outsider" an, "art geek" a "dork" is cool. Aloof, artsy, geeky individuality is the new black...except that identity must exist within the narrow confines of acceptable culture. Ripped chucks are ok, staying up late writing poetry- ok. Being fat, being shy, socially awkward, having a fucked up family- not ok.

I just have to wonder what the driving factor is to all of this rhetoric. We are a sum of the stories that we tell ourselves, and we tell them because we need to keep our fragile little egos from falling apart. I was furious when this obnoxious young student cavalierly talked about changing his race and gender, "because they are social constructs." It was clear from the hubris of his manner that he had no idea what it is to walk in another person's shoes, to exist out of his comfort zone, to feel unsafe or judged because of who he is. But I digress- in another breath this same person talked about being put down by the establishment, about not having the resources, about struggling against a tyrannical enemy (the liberal media). Let's put aside the fact that all of these people are being funded by a conservative organization (who PAID for them to fly here and stay in a hotel etc.)- why did he and everyone else need to take up the cape of the underdog? It speaks to something else that is going on.

I feel like the conservatives are somewhat the center of the center in this country- isn't that who has all the money? Doesn't white upper middle class culture decide school holidays, social ostracism for teenagers, who gets the better jobs and raises and opportunity? I've SEEN it. These kids are talking about how they get paid journalism internships BECAUSE of their conservative values. Does that happen in the liberal media? I had an unpaid PBS interview when I was 19, and I didn't get it because of my political beliefs.

It felt like there was a complete disavowal of the money, the sponsorship.

I want my writing to be better than this.