Furlough Madness

As the end of the furlough approaches and the debt ceiling raised to only postpone the inevitable collapse of the united states dollar, people are breathing a sigh of relief as they welcome going back to work.  But the silent minority that has been working in government, keeping us safe from foreign and domestic threats, preparing us for natural disasters, and ensuring the lights stay on.  Us few have been labeled as the 'essential' employees, who were deemed necessary to be on staff during these dire situations.  Normally I would see this as an honor, but I am rapidly loosing faith in this role.

Our government has made a debacle out of the system, with Zero achievement.  The House and Senate both are to blame for their lack of negotiation and representation of the great people of this country.  At no point did they really care for the 800,000 furloughed workers or the countless cascading effects this 'shutdown' incurred.  From the silliness of National Park rangers closing parks while working to keep out the very people who pay their salaries to the loss of massive amounts of livestock lost to the storms in North Dakota that will likely never receive any farm aid support and never recover as a business.

But us silent few that worked the ghostly halls of the federal government in good faith, covering the work that needed to be done, were not getting paid.  Work with No pay.  My heart goes out to all those that were not working and not getting paid as well, but something just doesn't sit right with me about the end of the furlough.

The Federal workers furloughed will receive back pay for their time out of the office.  This can be misconstrued as a reward, a paid vacation, or just coverage for the federal government should have been covering all along.  But what about those who worked and didn't get paid?  Sure eventually we will receive our pay and everything will slowly return to its chaotic state, but shouldn't those who worked be compensated in some manner?  Why didn't we get the time off, the paid vacation?  I am not trying to pit those who worked against those who didn't, because they can't be blamed.  But Congress and the rest of government needs to show praise and reward, to those who continued to serve our country, with the same stress of an empty pay check as those who were furloughed.  Life is not fair, but lets not rub it in the faces of those who care.

Ear Pulling Episode

I recently had a very interesting experience that left me a little confused and humiliated.

I have been dating a mother of 4. things are complicated and new, but there are some interesting and entertaining behaviors i am learning about. I sometimes recognize that she speaks to me as if she has to employe a lesson on 5 year old in order to get a point across.  In my opinion she does it in a very juvenile style, but I do have to understand the social order and why she does it.  Every time I identify this tactic, I try to stop it, but I sense she knows no different, so I smirk inside and learn to deal with it.

But this was a slightly different scenario  this go around. We decided to drive into work due to a scheduled meeting, which she was late too. We parked and walked to the entrance of the Federal building. I was going to enter, but due to badging requirements to enter, she couldn't wait for me and had to rush to her meeting.  I am not a big PDA person especially in the entrance of a professional work environment with Security and and other ViPs entering, but she goes for the full French goodbye kiss that I indulge with a shallow approach, but as she goes for it, i sort of end up pulling away from!  She finds this annoying, which I can understand, because being rejected on any level is not something a lover wants especially in public in front others.  

Her retaliation which was the point of this story and the icing on the cake, was Interesting, funny, and humiliating.  In public, in a professional environment, she reaches out, like a mother, and pinches my ear, twists it as if I need to bow to my 3rd grade knees, and announces a verbal frustration grunting noise for everyone to hear.  All I could do like a child, was to quickly survey the scene and determine who had witnessed this act.  My initial assessment determined no obvious witnesses, so I finished her off with a goodbye hug and sent her on her way.  As I made my way through the strict security process, there was one female security guard that was from Russia that had do extra security on me due to my watch setting off the metal detector asked me to spread my legs and arms with intention of wanding me down, asked and in front of her male counterparts, "How's your ear young man?"

At that point I knew female empowerment and male emasculation had crossed paths and my ego had been humiliated.  I bounced back quickly and I did let her know, but for the rest of the day my inner punished child lingered on, a very reminiscent feeling of my youth had returned.

Belize Day 1 - I miss warm consistent water flow

Belize City, the former capital of Belize, is the economic and social hub of the country. The city provides insights everywhere into the economic depravity this country is facing. Belize prides themselves in their tourism especially in the Eco realm. I was impressed with the ability of the country to prevent the the intrusion of most of the American food corporations, I saw evidence of Coca Cola and Shell Oil, but no major food chains. Belize City is about 85,000 people, but it is rampant with poverty and crime.

Today we visited Xuna Tunich, which is just east of the Guatemalan border, not as impressive as the Tikal in Guatemala, but still amazing non the less. I took a number of HDR shots, which have yet to be developed, but should be fun to process!

One thing I have learned today, is that family is fun and entertaining, but the dynamics that need to be relearned can be very taxing. Where would Belize be without our family? Perhaps in a state of everlasting peace? All kidding aside, it is nice to see everyone and I look forward to the next 8 days!

Btw, San Ignacio Resort Hotel is a must stay!!!

Southwest Airlines launches "new" Rapid Rewards Program

After hearing rumors on a recent Southwest flight home about a 'new' Rapid Rewards Program, I finally just received my email confirmation.

...It's 'new' all right, but CERTAINLY not simpler or which makes me believe it is not better.

The original was 1 Credit per trip, 16 Credits (trips; 1 way = trip) = Free Flight (round trip)

They have seemed to randomly chosen Values for their credit system and converted them to Points.

1 Credit = 1600 Points ???

There Site has a tutorial with conversion charts, 9 different "Earning Schemes" with Business Select, Anytime, and Wanna Get Away fairs. They also have Different point schemes for Credit Card usage, Hotel Stays, Rental Cars, Dining and Retail.

http://www.southwest.com/newRR/homeFlash.do

There is no possible to clearly understand this with out a iPad App Calculator or constantly referencing there Tutorials on their website!

Just another thing I DON'T want to track in my Life. Thanks Southwest! You were one of the few corporations I had trust faith and reliance on! Now I must question you too!~

Thruth of Islam

Tread lightly in your footsteps, Caution in your path, and have guidance in your faith.

Then when the Sacred Months have passed then kill the Muushriun wherever you find them and capture them and besige them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. But if they repent and reform As-Salat and give Zakat, the leave their way free. The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that shall be killed or crucified, or their hands and feet be cut off on the opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace In this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter...

Translation...Muslims are instructed to kill all non Muslims no mater the circumstances unless those have converted before those who have convicted them...all non believers must die.

Wonderful Life

All moments are not wonderful, but there are intersects in life that just seem right, that give us hope for the future, a new direction, a new light on life. Those that we pass up are failures on our part. We all need to trust the gut instinct and occasionally gamble in life, we need to go for it. These are the moments we are lifted into the freedom of the unknown with a very uneasy feeling of direction, but deep rooted was the purpose that directed us to the gamble in the first place. We all need to take the risk, know it might be a short term success or possibly a longterm retirement. Life is wonderful if we know what we are up against and gambling, but we all know it can be miserable and not worth living if we turned too many wrongs. But again is that our gut? Trust in thyself, thy gut, thy religion, thy mother and father to know that we all deserve second second chances. Yes there was a duplication in the previous sentence... why? Because, sometimes our circumstances, no matter how educated, or self controlled we maybe, we all have a moment where we are not proud of ourselves. We are our worst critic, our worst forgiving, and our worst friend. But sometimes there is beauty in our weakest moment if we are open to the realization that, Einstein was right...all is relative...nothing ever matters in the BIG picture, it only matters in our little picture. So what is relative, each and everyone of us have our own BIG problems that deeply affect our lives, but on the grand scheme of things, who really cares but you? No one... That alone is disheartening, but guess what, you really don't care about theirs either. What makes us human is that we can realize our issues and problems and relate them to others. This is what brings us closer to the fact of realizing that life is tolerable and others are going through similar issues. Once one can recognize this fact, you may find a silly smile on your face realizing that life is simple and stupid at the same time, and for ourselves to be most critical, we are most detrimental to our own success.

We won't see it every moment or every day, but life is wonderul... Love it, Learn it, Live it!

Not my words...But words we should all consider!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Peace!!!