Thankfulness

I don't know what it is about this time of year but it feels like there's always some drama brewing, some people dying, something bad happening that makes one either thankful for what they do have or regretful for what they once had.
What I am thankful for this wet November morning?

Health - I am healthy, my wife is healthy, my kids are healthy, my dog is healthy and my cat is healthy. This is good stuff.

The Giants - 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants really just have a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Plus there is news this morning that Aubrey Huff "Daddy", oh yes, he of Rally Thong fame, has re-signed with the Giants for 2 years with an option for the third. We are thankful!

Work - I have a job. I have a decent job that pays reasonably well and doesn't require filling out TPS reports but it does, on occasion, require me to utterly smash tech that won't cooperate.

Tea - we stopped drinking coffee a couple of months ago now and have switched to tea. Partly a health
thing and partly an experiment to see what life is like without the bitter brew.

Netflix - seriously, Netflix straight into our tv made it easy to cut the cable cord. And my boys and I have thoroughly enjoyed many of the shows and movies we've found. Most notably the Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series has been superb!

I'm not John McCain - I like to think of John McCain as the agitator in the washing machine, he throws himself in one direction with all his might and then switches direction and throws himself in the other direction and pretends like he's never gone in any other direction, until he switches and throws himself back in the other direction. He's a pathetic, flip-flopping old fool who's sold every last bit of respect and dignity he had to special interests, even his Stepford wife, Cindy, has come out and said he's wrong about Don't Ask, Don't Tell (I wonder if he smacked the sense back into her with the back of his hand or the front?).

We're Not Flying Anywhere - Who in their right mind thought Americans would just submit to having their genitals groped by minimum wage TSA stooges in the name of Security Theater? I hear the TSA is getting lots of applications from molesters and gropers, they've got practice and skills in copping a feel (all in the service of making sure that hot lady with the big rack isn't really a terrorist with a snuke or coochie bomb, of course).

Turkey, Pies and Football - I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving. There is turkey, there is football and there are pies. And tryptophan induced comas, gotta love those too!

Warm Blankets - Its cold outside and late, late. I'm going to call it a day. I've got a delicious gluten free apple pie cooling off for tomorrow. All is pretty darned good.

Noticeably Absent

As usually happens when I have some time off from my regular schedule of work, I slack on blogging because my somewhat regular routine is thrown off. It is 20 minutes to 9 on Thursday, I'm supposed to be in the computer lab with one of the 6th grade classes working on one of their projects. I almost said a noisy and boisterous lab but the first class of the day is generally very well behaved. It is the last class of the day that usually forces me to go seek quieter refuge elsewhere.

A result of this change is that I don't tend to take the time to blog even though I theoretically have more time to blog since I'm not meant to be working. At least not for the man. This week I've been working for the woman, my wife, so that she can push forward on several projects that we need to push forward on.

And today has been lots and lots of cooking to end up in a pretty good sized feast for us. This has been the first year we did everything on our own for our own. And we made plenty, plenty of mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy along with a great cranberry sauce. I'm drifting along on my post eat until I was super over full and looking to find the end of the football game and a beer and a place to prop up my feet for a little while.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a sweet Tryptophan coma.

Giving Thanks

It is easy to get stuck on kvetch and complain all the time about what is wrong in the world, in your (or my) life and just how generally sucky existence can be.

But the reality of our world is that we are very lucky to be where we are.

These are some of the things that I am thankful for today.
The first is that my brother and his family weren't in Mumbai yesterday when the gunmen stormed the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Oberoi and are still causing trouble today. There were some very tense hours and I found out how amazingly powerful Twitter can be in times of need to know. The #mumbai tag was a lifeline to better, faster and live information, truly amazing.

I am also thankful for the health and well being of my family. My boys are healthy, inquisitive and curious children. My wife is healthy, getting healthier in treating a low thyroid issue. I am well but in more regular need of some pedaling therapy for both physical and mental health. Our animals are also good, for now. The cat has had an expensive and painful year with an infected sixth toe on one of her paws but Nande has been a rock, healthy as a horse and nearly as large.

I'm thankful for my job and its perks, relative stability and flexibility. Some of those perks are from helping people who need help, supporting the educational system and having access to some pretty good health coverage. Its relatively stable because of the union aspect but we're facing another round of budget cuts and who knows what will happen. I am no longer the bottom rung on the totem pole though so that's slightly reassuring. And the flexibility means I don't have a manager breathing down my neck all the time, I'm at multiple sites every week, outside a good portion of the time and can even have my son with me for a little bit if necessary (as it was earlier this week). Jobs are hard to come by these days and most involve toiling for jerks. I count myself lucky that I have my job and that I, generally, work with really good people.

I am also thankful for my extended family. Without their aid, we would be far behind on our mortgage payments, even deeper in the hole and without any chance of rescue. They have thrown us a lifeline and we are working hard to make the most of the opportunity.

I am thankful for this blog and my others, they are a form of therapy, they provide an outlet to share outrage, humor and whatever else drifts through my consciousness. I am thankful for the friends I've made online both through this blog and through the other activities I engage in online. It is no surprise that I'm a very wired person, I try to stay on top of numerous sites and communities while keeping all the other balls in my life in the air.

And, lastly, I am thankful for the sea change in America with the election of Barack Obama as our next president. He impressed me from the get go and continues to impress me each and every day. His words fill me with hope and a desire to help bring about the change we so desperately need.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. May your day be full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and pie, oh yeah, lots of delicious pie.