Not What I'm Supposed to Be Doing

I should be tracking down people through fantastic web-stalking techniques (www.whitepages.com/) for a petition that was sent in about mining. I am from West Virginia. If you don't know anything about WV, then I shall enlighten you.

1. We do lots of coal mining. It is one of our main sources of income. Mountain top removal is one of the techniques.
2. We are called the Mountain State. (Irony, maybe?)
3. We are completely walled in on all sides by the Appalachian Mts. I tell you, nothing comes in and hardly anything leaves. (Except me.)
4. We don't worry about anything. (Except the end of mining, which for many, means Armageddon.)
5. Damn, we like Mountaineer Football.
6. The population is largely older people who don't like change.
7. BRAIN DRAIN.
8. We are one of the poorest states in the nation.

For the record, I would like to state that I love WV. It is a good place full of friendly people who, for the most part, work hard to make ends meet. Citizens of WV sorta fill a stereotype of un-informed people with lots of opinions. Mostly, the opinion that things should not change. Somewhere, I know there is another generation screaming to be heard, but they are being drowned out by the rest of WV, that is, the older generation.

I know I sound unfair, but I'm one of the younger generation that wants that change. Heck, I voted for Obama. Working in the Congressman's office, I deal with a lot of constituent letters. Right now, we have two main issues. Health care and coal.

Health care: I get a lot of letters that mostly say no to healthcare. I understand this, I wonder myself if it will help or if it will hinder. I'm willing to try it, I think, but I'm also not using my health care at the moment. (Thank the Lord I'm healthy at this point in my life.) But lots of people have just heard rumors and are going off those as if they are truth. Such as: Death panels for the elderly, everyone will HAVE to have the gov.'s plan and Obama is the devil. Cool, neh?
These letters also complain a lot about all the illegal aliens that we have in the country and how the new health care plan will provide health care for them at the cost of legal tax-payers. (It does not, I've looked at it.)
I will post more on the health care plan as I research it. Which I am going to, as I have now blogged about it.

COAL: It's hard to be from WV and not know someone who is/was a miner. My best friend's dad, who is like a father to me, is a coal miner. I don't want anyone to loose their jobs. I would, however, like to find an alternate energy source and shift coal miners into those positions. Perhaps they feel that they are not able to learn new things and that causes people to freak out.
So, here is the current situation in the WV: The Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing several permits for mines across the state. I don't know if this is true or if this is a fabrication by newspapers, but it appears that the EPA is taking their good sweet time reviewing these permits. Miners, understandably, are upset about this. They are protesting. They are calling for the resignation of Congressman Rahall because he says the EPA is just doing it's job. They are crying out in anger that coal is what keeps WV afloat. Coal will always be a part of WV! etc., etc.
Yanno, until we run out.
Therefore, I have had many many many letters/newspaper articles about coal. I hate it when some journalists write things like "...the EPA claims that it has no covert plans to destroy coal mining." Well, the populace most assuredly thinks so now! Do you get what I mean? It's just stirring up trouble!

This is not to say that I believe that people shouldn't pay attention and question everything and express their concerns. This is our freedom, this is our right.

However, some people don't seem to have checked into anything and are just screaming. It's rather annoying. Perhaps I'm just tired of reading about it. You must be too.

Some other sites with info/views to Coal Issues:
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo - Coal Tattoo Blog
http://www.register-herald.com/archivesearch/local_story_297194021.html
http://www.register-herald.com/archivesearch/local_story_288225509.html
http://www.register-herald.com/archivesearch/local_story_286220456.html

Fascinating. Thoughts?

Fruit Flies!

I have about a billion fruit flies in my home and I have no idea where they are coming from. Little buggers are always trying for the eyes! Blast it!

In other news, I have received no word back from any of the places I have applied too, but I'm not ready to give up yet! Alright, I'm a little ready to give up, but I won't! Surely something will come around soon. Once I get a job, I'm going to get a puppy and join a gym. Matt will not be able to stop the puppy thing. I'm going to the pound and I'm going to bring it home and go, "Oh, look what I found!"
I should not blog of these things, he will know my evil plans. But I want a puppy.

It was fantastic rain/mist today and I worked outside the ENTIRE time. Except for the 20 minutes where I strayed inside to see if I could help with the decorating that is happening in there. Yes, the Garden Center I work for is already getting their stuff out for Christmas. Holy crap, I don't even know what I'm going to be for Halloween.

I don't think I'm going to dress up, actually. Matt's dad is coming down for the weekend and I thought it would be fun to pass out candy. Maybe we can watch a scary movie and I can then cry myself to sleep every night. (I can't do horror movies. I wind up waking up in the middle of the night in some sort of cardiac clench.) Ha, like the movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose". Oh, I was messed up after that. Overactive imagination.

I made cake yesterday. It was awesome.

I'm trying to convince myself that running is a fun activity again and get back into moving faster than I usually do. I hate running outside though. Luckily, my good friend Liz, who I just realized lives in the same area I do, HAHA, lives in a place that has a treadmill. We are going to run. Be all athletic and such. Right.

Other than that, I just need to get my stuff together for grad school. Hopefully, I'll be closer to my goals after that, whatever they happen to be. :) Fingers crossed for a job to pop up! I shall continue the hunt!

Tea Update

I am currently sipping on the Green Jasmine Tea.

Diagnosis: Alright. Definitely better with honey, as all things are, but good, overall.

I think we could mark this tea as a success. I will drink it. I still like my orange one a bit better though...

Stuff I Like

Another fun list of things I like:

1. Japanese pop. It's particularly fun. I do not know what they are saying, but I like it. Especially Arashi, Kanjani8, NEWS, Kattun.
2. Sugar. I'm addicted to sweet things. Mostly Ice Cream. YUM.
3. Plants. I have quite a few in my house (I'll post some pictures later) although I forget to water them a lot.
4. Video games. Mostly I'm into RPG's, I don't like shooters.
5. Baking. Leads back to my sugar addiction.
6. TV shows on DVD. Law & Order: SVU, House, Scrubs, Heroes, Battle Star Galatica
7. Hoodies.
8. Surfing the web.
9. Cartoons. Teen Titans rock.
10. Disney Movies.
11. Musicals.
12. Sushi. I can't do a whole bunch of raw fish meat, but I like a little and lots of rice and veggies rolled in DELICIOUS seaweed.
13. Candles. Why are they so expensive?
14. Getting emails.
15. Working out, but not running. Also, I happen to prefer going to the gym. This means I actually don't work out a whole lot. :)
16. Blankets.
17. Lip stuff. Examples: chapstick, lip gloss, lipstick.
18. Hanging out with my husband. (That's really number one, but I like to make him sweat.)


I don't really like coffee. I do like some of the more sugared stuff, like mochas, and I love the smell of coffee brewing, but I don't like to drink it. I figure everyone should have some sort of morning drink, so I'm thinking about trying to get addicted to tea. I like one tea, however. I bought some more tea that I'm going to try out. The one tea I like is called "Constant Comment". It's flavored with "rind of oranges and sweet spice". Hah.
I bought two other teas from the brand Twinings. One is a green tea, Jasmine Green Tea. The other one is called China Oolong Tea. I'll let you know how it goes, once I make some.

True story #2:
My husband comes to bed the other night after he went to the bathroom downstairs. He says to me, as he gets under the covers, "I broke the toilet."
Me: "How did you break the toilet?"
Husband: "I don't want to tell you."
I take a moment to sort of stare at him, as well as make a few connections about the length of his stay in the bathroom.
Me: "Did you poop?"
Husband: "Yes. I broke the toilet with my poop."

I love him. He's so funny. Life lesson for here: Poop more often. Makes it smaller and less likely to break the toilet.

True Story

Seriously, I've been wearing glasses since the second grade. Around the time I got to high school, I started wearing contacts. (And none of that colored shit, they're clear.) So, here I am, 25 years of age, and as one would expect, my eyesight has not improved. It has worsened.

However.

I sat up in bed the other night, for some reason or another, who knows, and I could read the clock across the room. For one brief moment, I experienced great joy. I could see! My eyesight had miraculously been cured from it's horrible foggy-ness to great clarity!

Then I remembered that I had forgotten to remove my contacts before I went to bed. Dejection.

True story. I blame it on the sugar.
That is a super short story with a super short lesson: Take your contacts out, moron.

Rainy day hates and driving

I've decided to list a few things I don't like. Tomorrow I'll probably do some things I like a lot.

1. Mushrooms. It's a texture thing.
2. Dirty dishes. I never want to do them.
3. Fighting with anyone. It makes me feel horrible for days.
4. The hours at my Garden Center job.
5. Lack of interest people have in hiring me to a real job.
6. Taking tests. They are lame.
7. Spiders. Ick.
8. When my hands get all dry and papery.
9. When I accidentally waste all my time doing stupid stuff when I should be doing...something.
10. Reality TV
11. MATHS.
12. Repeatedly missing someone on the phone.
13. Forgetting my umbrella on a rainy day.
14. The song: "UMBRELLA".
15. Hair in the bathtub.

I think that's enough things for now. I'm sure there will be more.

Today, while driving to target, I took time to marvel at what a diverse place I live in. It's cool, because there are languages to hear, cultures in action to witness, and waaaaay better selection on foods. It's awesome.

The only thing that is not awesome are the drivers. I don't want to sound like a racist or like I drive perfectly every day (usually only on days that end in 'y')... It seems to me, many Americans that were not born in the states do not have the greatest of driving skills. I've seen these Americans pull out into heavy traffic without blinkers and/or looking, I've seen them change lanes on top of someone else. The lack of concern these Americans show for their person and cars is somewhat alarming. Also frustrating when I want to get somewhere and I have to keep a finger on the horn, just in case.

The Asians are the worst. (Yes, I know, going to hell.)

Argh Template!

I had a bit of a brain fart as I was messing around with the blogger format thingy here, trying to spruce up the old page, make it nice, whatever. I went to Pyzam. I apologize in advance, I forgot they were totally lame and subject to making you loose your mind when you looked at them.

Briefly, I had something on here that looked sorta cool, however, it had that ad at the top that makes you want to shoot yourself. THIS IS NOT MYSPACE. NOT. So I removed it. Anyone have any good ideas for blog stuff? How to make it nice and things of that nature? Comments and suggestions appreciated.

How Things Change

I find it strange how quickly things will change. Wednesday, I was happy as the proverbial clam. I received a pair of rain boots from my Grandparents, a late birthday present. I called my Grandmother to thank her. She acted strange on the phone and I asked her what was wrong. She told me that she would have my father call me later. I knew then that something was wrong with my Grandfather, who hadn't been truly well in some time.

As it turns out, I called my Grandmother minutes after my Grandpa passed away. To thank her for boots. He went very quickly. He'd briefly been at the hospital in the morning, with my Grandma and Dad. Grandma said that they hadn't been home for very long when he passed. I am grateful that it was short. It would have been harder on my Grandma if he had been stuck, waiting for something to happen.

I went home on Friday (thus my absence from the blogging world) and the funeral was on Saturday, along with the visitation beforehand. I spoke a few words about my Grandpa at the funeral and managed to get through it fairly well. I was really glad to be there for my Grandma. It is going to be most rough on her. They were married for 58 years. I hope I can pull that off one day.

My dad is part of the volunteer fire department in the town where they all live. The other firemen, in support for my dad and grandmother, decided that Grandpa needed two fire engines to escort us to the cemetery, and two more engines to have traffic stopped on Main Street.

Two engines held the flag aloft while another two engines provided us with an escort to the cemetery.

Overall, I rate it as an 8 out of 10 on the bizarre scale. I have not had to deal with someone dying (that I have been rather close to) in my entire 24 years. It's been strange.

So, the life lesson for this post goes as such (and is a little more serious): Try not to take things for granted. Sometimes things change faster than you thought they could. Also, when you call someone, you should start a conversation out with "How are things?" or "How are you?" instead of, "Thanks for the boots!" in case someone has just passed away.

I suspect my next post will be more cheerful. Fingers crossed for that, cheers.