Thoughts on Stuff

Personal Responsibility
This topic is at the forefront of my mind today for several reasons.

Reason #1:
I am currently dealing with a very irresponsible (and selfish) neighbor. What it boils down to is we share a driveway and usually put our trash together at the end of my yard on trash day so it's easier for the town to pick up. Yesterday, Irritating Neighbor (IN) and her boyfriend got drunk midday and the cleaning bug hit them. So, I came home from work to a pile of junk in my yard. Here's the kicker ... yesterday morning was trash pickup. So, essentially, they dumped all that crap there — leaving me to look like a trashy tacky person – and intended to leave it there until next Monday's pickup because hell, it wasn't making her house look nasty.

I despise it when people are so selfish, like they're the only ones who matter on this earth.

Reason #2:
I was at the grocery store in the parking lot and watched a lady unload the items from her cart and then just push the cart to the side. BAH! I mean, what the hell do people think the cart corrals are for anyway? I've always wanted to be that person who could say "Can I put this away for you m'am?" but never have the guts. I just take the cart and put it away ... usually after the person leaves.

Reason #3:
I am dealing with a co-worker who always makes excuses for why she isn't doing her job effectively and in a timely manner (we work on monthly deadlines). It's always someone else's fault that I don't have what I need from her, even though she's had weeks to get stuff done. I hate to use such a corporate term but she's not a "team player" and when your team is pretty small like ours is, she just becomes an exhausting drain.

Conclusion:
I guess maybe it could be a matter of someone's upbringing (or lack thereof) or just a general self-centered lifestyle, but is it really too much to ask for people to do their part ... carry their load (if they can, of course) ... and respect other people? Geesh.


John Edwards
I don't have much to say on this except that in a solid showing of personal responsibility, John Edwards stepped up, admitted he made a mistake that will forever change the way people (and his family) view him and readied himself for the consequences. Now, whether it was a matter of him being exposed by someone else or him just getting it over with and confessing, it's anybody's guess but still ...

It just freaking kills me that every news outlet has decided that this infidelity, this mis-step on the part of a man who is no longer in the running for president and had no chance at the VP seat, is so much more "top news" than the crap that Big Bully Russia has been pulling across the pond. We all make mistakes ... period. He made one, he admitted it and he's trying to move forward. I wish we as a nation could just quit with the stupid gossip acting like it's actual news and focus on what's really important. I mean, an American tourist visiting China for the freaking Olympics was stabbed people! Seriously.


Wrinkled & Wise
Outside of my grandparents and other familials, I've never really been around older people much. I mean, yeah, I went to church with a bunch and whatnot, but never spent much time with any of our older generation. About 5 months ago, a Mac Fix-It Guy I know introduced me to one of his clients who needed help transitioning from Photoshop 6 to CS3, the newest shiniest version. This new client of mine turned out to be a damn-near-blind 94-year-old (former doctor turned painter) fellow who has, in the past few months, become a friend.



After we straightened out all his "How do you do this?" and "Where did they move this?" questions, we started getting to know each other more and more. It turns out he's lead quite an amazing life and I just love the stories, even if it takes a while for him to tell them. But that's also a good thing because I've never been a tremendously patient person and this is a good way for me to just slow down and listen for a while. He calls a lot with questions and things he's forgotten, and I usually find myself on his doorstep about once a week. But sometimes, he calls just to tell me something he's learned or talk about a project he's finished ... just because he wants me to know. I love that.

Fact of the Day:
The museum that housed the largest collection of original Smokey the Bear memorabilia was burned to the ground by an arsonist.