Possible new title

I did a story for the last issue of the Business Journal on the H-1B visa application process. It was basically about how frustrating the process is for people who come here from other countries to go to school and then want to get a job and stay.

Well. That obviously struck a nerve with some people out there who are having a hard time getting a job and who are blaming their plight on the H-1B visa applicants -- the gist of it being that if these people weren't coming to this country to work there would be more jobs for Americans. I don't quite buy that concept (it's not apples to apples), but I'm willing to accept that some people believe it and agree to disagree.

One such person sent an email to me with this note:

Why don't you simply open a newspaper classifieds section and look to see how many technology jobs are advertised. I'll save you the trouble. THERE ARE NONE. There is no shortage of technology workers in the US. Companies just want to pay slave wages and they rely on propagandist lapdogs such as yourself to do their bidding. Why don't you try helping Americans for a change?

This didn't offend me personally. I simply reported on one aspect of the immigration problem, and I was objective in my reporting.

I did, however, consider whether to have business cards printed up with "propagandist lapdog" printed on them. Might be more noteworthy and memorable than "writer/editor."
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Fun fun fun

I keep getting great ideas from Chez Crazy Aunt Purl -- the latest her birthday resolution to spend at least three minutes every day having fun.

I think I can do that, especially given that it's ok to go beyond the three minutes if things are going well and I don't have to be anywhere or call anyone any time soon.

So the question is: what constitutes fun? I'm having a hard time coming up with a decent list. So far I have:

1. Walk around Charles Towne Landing (not only fun but some days it's a spiritual retreat).
2. See a movie (preferably a comedy).
3. Playing games (Apples to Apples, Scategories, etc.) with my family.

See, I'm stuck already. And actually, all of those take way more than three minutes. What are some easy, do-able things that are fun?
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More on less is more

Ok, I think I've narrowed down the definition of essential versus nonessential. At least as it applies to what I plan to do for the rest of the year.

From July through December, I will not purchase anything that can potentially clutter up my home. This excludes food and drink because those will be consumed (some things -- wine cabinet, I'm looking at you -- more quickly than others).

So I'm putting a moratorium on buying books and magazines (exceptions: magazines we're already subscribed to or books I need for work purposes ... no really, I do need some of these ... really), home decor items, DVDs (exception: I had already planned to get the first season of Burn Notice ... and I'm on the lookout for War & Remembrance in DVD -- I have it on VHS but want to pare down -- so if I find it I'm getting it ... but only those two ... no really, I mean it), and other gadgets and what-not for the kitchen. Basically I'm talking about staying out of Wal-Mart and Target for six months.

And office supplies. I'm planning to do this with my office too, so I have to stay away from Staples and Office Depot. This will be the ultimate sacrifice, people. But the truth is I have all I need to run an office (exception: copy paper as I run out and daytimer supplies and calendars near the end of the year, but that's it ... no really, I mean it).

I'm also planning a yard sale soon to further declutter. All of this has a dual benefit: streamlining the place and saving money.

Oh ... and I've been saying "I" and "me" but I really mean "we" ... assuming Tony's on board with all this.
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Less is more, so they say

I think I might be inspired by a recent blog post over at Chez Crazy Aunt Purl to do a mid-year resolution to buy only essentials for the rest of the year.

It's a great plan -- and I applaud her for doing it and for her efforts so far -- but the reason I use so many qualifiers ("I think I might") is because I'm trying to decide what I'd consider essential. Here's a tentative list of what I currently spend money on that I can't possibly live without:

>>> Chocolate (goes without saying)
>>> Food and beverages
>>> Other household staples (cleaning products, toilet paper, etc.)
>>> Personal hygiene stuff (shampoo, deodorant, etc.)
>>> More chocolate

See ... at some point I get stuck because it's not strictly a yes or no but how much of something I actually need. Take the food item, for example: I don't think we spend outrageously, but then again, we could probably cut the food budget down a bit by choosing less expensive meals. Not sure whether the beverages item includes wine, but I don't want to give up wine for the rest of the year. As for things like shampoo -- I'm certainly not giving that up (ick), but at this moment, I do in fact have four different types of shampoos on the side of the tub. Yes, I use them all (not all at the same time but alternating between them) ... don't judge me.

One purpose of the mid-year resolution (hereafter known as MYR) is to quit accumulating stuff, and I'm all over that, if I can just steer clear of Barnes & Noble. I once put a moratorium on book-buying as a discipline during Lent, and let me tell you: It was rough. But I have to be honest -- books clutter my house (and my life) in a serious way. I have dozens -- no, probably hundreds -- that I haven't read yet. Why am I buying more?

Well. I'm still at the pondering stage of this. If I do it, I want to do it right, making a serious commitment. So I'm giving myself until July 1 to decide exactly what is essential in my life and what isn't.
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Aaand ... back again

You know how sometimes you go on vacation and you get back and the last thing you want to do is blog ... and then maybe after that, you're not feeling quite so perfect healthwise and so you spend more time taking naps than doing anything else ... and then when you do start feeling better, you have a lot of work to do that stacked up while you were a) vacationing and then b) getting better?

Yeah, well, I'm there.

Also: I really haven't felt much like expounding on my thoughts here because my thoughts have not been altogether fit for human consumption of late and why burden my reading public with that?

But today I feel a lot better ... better enough to resume blogging, such as it is. So without further ado ...

Take a look at this photo:


All I can say is: "Holy crap!" My experience with Bad Weather Stuff has been pretty much limited to hurricanes and severe thunderstorms (with the rare ice storm/snow that shuts the state down because we have no idea how to drive in it), so looking at this makes me want to run. Not sure in which direction, though.

Here's the story that accompanied the photo. I suddenly feel fortunate to live in an area where instead of tornadoes there are hurricanes, which we have time to pack up our valuables and run from.
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Aaaaaand ... we're back!

We're back from vacation. Well actually, we've been back since Saturday, but I've been ... er ... resting up from the vacation. You know how it is.

I still have a few more photos to post on the vacation blog, as well as a final wrap-up, but I'll have to do that another day.

For now, I want to share this. It's part of James Lilek's Bleat for today. I did high school during the late 70s, and I have to say when I read this, I thought, "yeah, that's EXACTLY what it was like."

Take a look and tell me if this isn't it, spot on (assuming you were there ... but then again, as they say, if you remember the 70s, you probably weren't there). Take a look anyway:

"That (the 70s) means different things to different people, of course; could be tasteful langourous Eagles ballads about fickle suntanned California coke enthusiasts, or Boz-Scaggs albino soul, or Ohio Players funk complete with SAY WHAT shouted at random, or chainsaw punk guitars fed into a wood chipper, or pristine antiseptic ABBA It may have been the most diverse decade in popular music; also one of the worst. Weed and 'ludes and session cats and Rupert Holmes, disco Beethoven. But it ended in the Great Cleansing of Punk and New Wave, and you couldn't have had the stripped-down rave-up bands unless they had something full of frosting and ham to reject." .