Healthy behaviors

Every morning I get up and decide that I am going to eat well. I know that I will be able to put my health first. And every afternoon I choose to eat cookies, chocolate, all kinds of crap. Today I ate 20 double-stuff Oreos, 2 Oreo cakesters, and some mini chocolate chip cookies. I could eat more even though I don’t feel very good. I’m not hungry, and if anything, I feel a little ill. Yet the chocolate chip cookies are calling. It’s so annoying and frustrating. I know what’s better for me, but I choose unhealthiness. For all I know, the amount of sugar I’ve eaten today could kill me, or push me toward diabetes. But I can nearly guarantee that before I go to bed, I will be eating chocolate chip cookies. Maybe tomorrow will be better?

Rules to drive by

I drive 80 miles roundtrip to work each day, and like most drivers, I think I’m a very good one. But the reason I think so is because I not only follow the rules of the road, but I also follow one rule that makes driving safer for me and everyone around me: consideration of other drivers. If everyone on the road drove with consideration, trying to make driving easier for everyone, we’d all be better off. Let’s look at the rules:

BLINKERS

1. Use ‘em! If we know what you’re planning to do, we won’t have to try to read your mind or react on the fly because you changed lanes or made a turn with no warning. Perhaps you cut me off without letting me know. Had you let me know, it probably wouldn’t have been considered “cutting me off.”

2. When you use your blinker, it’s best to use it BEFORE you are changing lanes or making a turn, not DURING or AFTER the move. Again, by letting us know what you’re planning to, we can be prepared for your next move rather than being surprised. I probably see people turning blinkers on during their move as often if not more often than using it before their move. By the time you turn it on, I’ve already deduced that since you are changing lanes, you’re likely changing lanes. See how stupid that sounds? Not at all helpful.

3. Use the “brake than blinker” rule. That means that if you’re going to change lanes or make a turn, put your blinker on BEFORE you hit the brakes. If you do that, I will EXPECT you to hit the brakes next, and I will be prepared for that. If you hit the brakes first, I will ask myself, “What is this idiot slowing down for? What should I expect next?” It’s all about helping me and others plan ahead. 

MIRRORS

4. Use ‘em. Set your mirrors so they’re actually covering the areas around your car. If you set them correctly, your blind spot will be minimized. And if used correctly, you will be able to keep your eyes more on the road in front of you than turning your entire head around to look behind you. Because I am aware of the cars around me, I rarely have to turn my head at all to see who is next to me. Because I’m using my mirrors and paying attention, I know when the lane next to me is empty.

BRAKES

5. If I have to use my brakes when you’re moving into the lane in front of me, you’re not changing lanes correctly. You should be able to adjust your own speed (simply by letting up on the gas) so that your speed matches mine and so you can ease yourself into my lane without affecting my speed. If I’m coming up faster than you are driving, wait for me to pass. Don’t rush into my lane because there’s room only to make me slam on the brakes. Just wait! Be considerate so that your driving affects MY driving as little as possible. It’s not that hard.

THE PASSING LANE

6. The far left lane on the highway is the passing lane. The whole thing that  makes highways work so well is that the slow traffic stays to the right and the faster traffic can pass on the left. But if you want the left lane to yourself even if you’re only driving 45 mph, it’s being hugely inconsiderate to everyone else who wants to drive faster. I don’t care how fast you drive (as long as you use your blinkers and are being considerate of others). If I’m in the passing lane and you come up behind me, I will get out of your way because you want to go faster. Please do the same for me. If it seems like I’m on your tail in the passing lane,and there’s no one immediately in front of you, GET OUT OF THE LANE! You are not meant to be there. Let others pass and we will do the same for you if you are driving faster. But don’t be rude.

CELL PHONES

7. I am not going to say “don’t use the phone in the car.” But if you are using it, learn your limitations. If you can’t stay in your lane when you’re on the phone, that’s not being considerate to others. If you can’t dial without looking at the keyboard or if you don’t have voice dialing, don’t use the phone. If you have to shift and pay attention in crowded intersections, put the phone down. And don’t use the phone if you’re trying to teach your young teenaged drivers not to use the phone. They look up to you and they learn by what they see. Be a good example to them.

CONCLUSION

If everyone drove while acknowledging that there are other drivers on the road and that how they drive directly affects how others drive and react, it would be a lot safer and friendlier on the roads. The steps above are very easy to follow. You don’t need to learn anything more except for compassion and human kindness. This goes for young drivers who think they own the road, who have no care about anyone else out there. This goes for elderly drivers who are afraid to change lanes so they stay in one lane only, even if that lane is the passing lane. It goes for everyone. Please, just be considerate!

Thanks, and happy driving!

Desperate for email

Here I am, writing on my blog because no one is writing me email and I’m desperate to write something, anything. And I’m multi-tasking by watching a movie online while writing (if you can call it watching, since I’m half listening and barely watching).

I have one last day off before the real world comes crashing back in on me on Monday. And I’m enjoying my time at home alone so much that I don’t even want to leave the house to get groceries. Ya, time to myself…aaaaaah. I can only take a couple of days like this, though, and then I get lonely.

What other boring thing can I type. Let’s see. I’m considering getting a DVR today but am afraid my husband will not be able to figure it out, not that he’s ever been able to figure out the VCR. Maybe I’ll go do that before I go out and get groceries.

Okay, now I’m just boring MYSELF! So with that, I bit adieu.

Still pinching myself!

It’s unbelievable…Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. I cried when I realized it was real. He has brought hope not just to Americans (at least those who voted for him), but also to people all over the world. It did seem that people made a much bigger deal about Obama’s color than was necessary. He was voted in because he was the most qualified of the candidates, not because of his color. Well, at least that’s why I voted for him. It doesn’t matter to me what the candidate looks like, as long as he (or she) is capable of leading this country.

There is one thing that worries me, though. Even though a majority of people in this country voted for Obama, there are still plenty of people in this country who fall under the label “white supremacist” and any more who are racist. I am afraid that one or more of these people will do something irrational and try to hurt or kill Obama. I worry about that. We finally have someone who can bring us some hope, and I’m afraid to lose him. I think it would be as devastating to this country as the death of Kennedy or Martin Luther King, if not MORE devastating.

I have to say, Obama is one of the best speakers I’ve heard in a long time. I could never listen to Bush; he was a horrible orator. But when Obama speaks, I can’t help but listen. His victory speech aftger the election was simply amazing. I could listen to it over and over. I am just so excited for the next four years. While the economy continues to stumble, Obama will continue to give us hope. Hope is a really great feeling!

1 week and 1 day

I just want this election to be over! Partly it’s because I’m so tired of hearing about, but mostly because I just need to know who is going to win. I need to know whether I need to learn how to adapt to another four years under the leadership of someone I believe is uncapable of being a great president. How am I going to get up every day if I learn that more Americans felt that McCain was the right man for the job (not that he couldn’t win with less than half of the American vote). I hear the polls every day and they mostly get my hopes up, so I try NOT to listen or to be too hopeful, because I’ve been there before, and I remember waking up the next day and learning that George W. had been re-elected.

This is the first year in my 20 years of being old enough to vote that I’ve donated money to a presidential candidate’s campaign. I don’t actually know how much I donated. When Obama asked, I answered. And I will hold my breath through next week just find out the results. And I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to watch the election highlights during the day either, while everyone is speculating. It’s going to be horrible.

I’ve considered what other country I could be happy living in if McCain were to win the election. I thought maybe France or England or Australia. Certainly Canada, but Canada is colder than here, and I’d have trouble moving to colder climates.

McCain has said a lot of things during this campaign that have pissed me off. I know I am sensitive to it because I am an Obama supporter, and if I were a McCain supporter, I imagine Obama has said things to annoy them. But when McCain and Palin jumped on Biden’s remarks about foreign powers testing Obama if he is elected, he acted as though (and said as much) that foreign powers would NOT test him. I already believe he is delusional, so it’s not surprising he would say what he said. Foreign powers sure tested George W. soon after HE was in office. Can’t way I’m all that grateful for HIS response to 9-11. Does McCain think I would feel safer with him in office? FAR from it!

The McCain said that Obama is saying anything to get elected. That made me laugh out loud, because McCain was totally describing HIMSELF!

Anyway, I cannot wait for this election to be OVER. Go Obama! Make me proud to be an American again!!

Why I am voting for Obama

I have always considered myself an Independent. I don’t want to label myself as any particular party, because, well, I don’t like to be labeled at all. But I like to think that I would always vote for the most qualified candidate, or if it’s one of those “vote for the better of two evils” year, that I’ll do just that. When I was a new voter, I found myself voting mostly Republican, likely because I hadn’t found my footing and was still following in my parents’ footsteps. Then I found myself slowly becoming more liberal. 

One thing I have always found interesting is when Republicans say that they want less government control. But to me, I feel like that is ALL Republicans want. When Republicans are in office, I constantly feel under the eye of Big Brother. When Democrats are in office, I feel far less that way, and I think that’s party why I now lean that way. Republicans seem to hold on to the past. They don’t grow with society and the times. They want to keep life the way it was 100 years ago. I, on the other hand, want to move forward and accept more things as they are now. Democrats seem to look to the future while Republicans refuse to see what’s coming.

That said, I still haven’t really mentioned why I’m voting for Obama. In the past couple of weeks, I wrote how McCain scares me. The biggest reason is that a vote for McCain is basically a vote for war. He sees the world as a conqueror would…he wants to control everything and everyone. He puts fear in the minds of the people so they, too, want to conquer foreign lands, whether it be Iraq, Iran, or N. Korea. I am confident that McCain will start a war with Iran; he will find a reason even if they’re not really a threat. He will make them sound like a threat.

He will probably use Israel as a reason. I know Israel is an emotion issue for many. I grew up knowing little about the history of Israel, but it seems that at this point, the folks over there, both Israeli and Palestinian, just need to get over it already! There is no “right” answer. But take down your walls and just learn to see past the labels. You’re all people who just want to make it through to see tomorrow. Or maybe you’ve been brainwashed to believe that being a martyr will somehow make a better place for you in the afterlife. It is likely my lack of belief in an afterlife that makes me think how ridiculous you all look blowing yourselves up to make a point. Shake hands and learn to live together. Why waste your entire lives being angry.

Regardless, if not Israel, it’ll be nuclear weapons. Here’s another thing I don’t get. Why is the U.S. allowed nuclear weapons but other countries are not (except for those we choose)? That certainly doesn’t seem fair. If we can have them, then other countries should be allowed to have them. Do I want them to shoot them over here? Well, no. But do they want us to shoot them over there? Of course not. Either we should all be allowed to have them or we should all be made to destroy them . (I vote for the latter.) But for us to say that other countries absolutely cannot have them makes us a bully. You may say, “But those guys are CRAZY and they’ll send them off for no reason!” I’ve certainly had my days when I’ve been pretty sure that Bush isn’t “all there” either, and McCain…he is FAR less stable than even Bush. He wants to win a war no matter what, and if I were any other country, I would fear him. And my fear in him would make me want to make nuclear weapons to protect myself. If I were N. Korea, I’d be VERY afraid of Bush and McCain. It’s like the bully holding the bat and not letting me, the bullied, have any weapons to defend myself. When we see that in schools, we try to teach kids NOT to be bullies. So how can we be surprised when there are school shootings, etc.? These are kids who are told not to bully or not to put up with bullying, but they’re taught from day 1 that it’s okay for their country to treat other countries that way. “Do as I say, not as I do” does not work!!

And THAT is why I am voting for Obama. Although I agree that Obama has far less experienced as a politician than McCain, he doesn’t make me think about  only doom for this country. I think he can see things from both sides. I think we need a big change in government and we need to show other countries around the world that we KNOW that Bush has been useless to us and we want to make our relationships with other countries better, not worse. We need to listen to all sides and not just assume we are right. I am still horrified that Bush went into Iraq after made-up WMDs. The other countries said not to go in, but Bully Bush wasn’t going to listen. That’s crap. Let’s get someone in office who will work with the other countries of the world and not act like a know-it-all. No one likes a know-it-all, a bully, or a conqueror.

So to Obama I say this. I am putting my trust in you. I know you are a bit green, but I am hoping that you will surround yourself with others who are open minded and willing to listen to all sides, others with experience they can share with you as you grow in the presidential position. I hope that you will understand how other countries currently see us and that some of us aren’t always “proud” to be American. Republicans can say that’s unpatriotic. But honestly, I’m not going to wave a flag and be proud of a country whose government has royally screwed things up lately! We really DO need a change, and I am trusting you to bring the U.S. back into good standing. I don’t need to be the most powerful country in the world. I just need for us to be able to live with the respect of other countries. I really WANT to be proud to live here, and I hope it will start again when you are in office.

So if anyone else out there is listening, vote for McCain if you enjoy pillaging other countries, if you need to be #1, if you have little care of what other countries believe and think, if you simply cannot see things from any other point of view but your own. Vote for Obama for real change, inside and out!

Civilian flaggers vs. police details

In Massachusetts, for years and years, there have been police details at road construction sites. I personally didn’t care (at the time, I hadn’t realized the exorbitant cost to taxpayers to use police officers instead of civilian flaggers), except for one thing that really stood out to me: when there are cops on duty, I can never clearly tell whether I should go or stop because there’s just a hand waving. With civilians, they carry those nice big signs that say STOP or GO, and that seems a lot safer than not quite being able to see the sign that the cop is giving.

And the fact that civilians cost a lot less, with the economy the way it is and the lack of jobs, makes so much sense. I know the cops are going to miss their overtime, but it’s wasteful, and it would be nice if they would look at the big picture rather than just thinking of themselves. Civilian flaggers are the right choice. Most other states use them, and they’re smart to do so.

Plus, half the time that I pass a cop at a traffic detail, he/she is on the phone or talking to the construction guys instead of actually working. Taxpayers don’t want to pay for this. Others can do it just as well or better. And I’m thrilled that the governor of Massachusetts saw this and did something about it.

Do I offend you?

I do not understand why people take offense at things. It seems that no matter what I hear or see or read, someone complains that they have been offended, and the next thing I know, a TV program is discontinued, a statue is covered up, a performance is changed so as not to offend.

I’m female and blonde; I’m Irish, French, German, and Polish; I’m 5′5″ and 165 pounds. You can make jokes about dumb blondes, about drunk Irish, about fat people, and I will probably laugh. Or I won’t. I might not find something funny, but I will doubtfully be personally offended. I know who I am and I know if what someone is saying is true about me or not. If it’s true, it certainly can’t offend me. The truth might hurt, and someone might have been nicer to me, but I’m not going to deny what’s true. It’s in accepting the truth that gives me the power to be above taking offense.

I don’t understand how one person’s being offended can actually cause consequences for others. If there is an art display of, for instance, a man standing behind a woman, nude, having sex with her, it’s not necessarily something I want to look at for hours on end, but if one person complains, I don’t think it should change the outcome. Why would that offend someone? If they don’t like it, they shouldn’t look at it. 

I’m just so tired of people using “I’m offended” as a way of controlling the world around them. Get over yourselves. If you’re offended by something someone says, it’s because you believe what they’re saying is true about you, and if you believe that, either accept it and move on, or do something to change your experience. And if you don’t believe it, then don’t waste your energy being offended. If you tell me I’m ugly, I might feel a little sad because I worry that I AM ugly. If you tell me I’m a dumb blonde, I know I’m not dumb, so that will bounce off of me. Plus, I choose to be blonde. I certainly feel different emotions based on what people say to me and what I hear and see, but I’m never offended.

When I watch TV, I can recognize those things that others would likely find offensive. Hell, I watch Family Guy. That is one of the most “offensive” and the FUNNIEST programs on television. The Simpsons often zings Unitarians, something else that I consider myself at times. And I laugh and laugh, because what they say is true, and it’s not bad (although some Christians might think it’s bad). If I thought it was bad, I woudn’t embrace it.

So, my message is to just get over it and laugh!

I’m afraid

This presidential race is scaring me. I’m not really sure that either candidate is going to be able to lead this country. I can only hope that they choose good people to surround themselves with because if we don’t start thinking carefully, this country is screwed.

I’m afraid about a world with John McCain as president (and Sarah Palin standing behind him). McCain seems determined not to lose another war. I worry that he’s going to keep us in Iraq, get us into Iran, and basically make any country who doesn’t already hate us hate us.

I’m voting for Obama. Yes, he’s inexperienced as far as global politics, but he’s worldly in the way he grew up. He has connections far and wide. He will bring a new perspective to the White House. McCain will just continue the Bush legacy.

I used to be a fan of Hilary Clinton. If Obama hadn’t run at all, I probably would have supported her. But Obama has already meant “hope” to me. At the same time, Clinton says “experience,” and I hope that if Obama is elected to office (please please please please), that he brings Clinton on, perhaps as secretary of state or some office where she can have a big role in helping to lead. I’m not sure if she would have been a better choice for VP or not. I liked the Biden choice unti I learned that he’s been saying things that are complete falsities as though they were true. What IS that? Does me just make it up or does someone actually write that crap for him? But Clinton could bring a lot to the table, so I hope Obama and Clinton can be partners.

I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when McCain’s grup was trying to decide who their VP should be. Why on EARTH would they choose Sarah Palin except to “grab the women’s vote”? (I can only hope that most women are intelligent enough not to choose their candidates by gender alone!). He might has well have chosen me! I think I may know more about foreign policy than she does, and I learn most of that from the Daily Show! She’s certainly a looker, but she’s no world leader.

Obama, keep it clean and truthful and classy. Stay above all of the crap being thrown by McCain and Palin. You ARE the better candidate, and you deserve to win. Good luck. You are the only one who gives me hope.

Solidarity or exclusivity?

I attend a Unitarian church. I do so because it’s the closest thing to a non-religious church. I am not a religious person (I do not usually believe in God, but I keep an open mind that maybe one..or more..exist). I belong to this church because of the great sense of community it gives me, but I remain an arm’s length away from being too committed, because I do not want to be be labeled or “known” by my religion. I don’t want people to think they know who I am by the religious label I wear, so I wear none.

I’ve never been part of a group of people who are shunned by others. Although I wasn’t the most popular when I was in school, for the most part, I was not ostracized. Catholicism was a very acceptable religion growing up, so I never felt out of place there either. I’m a white woman with western European ancestry…again, I fall into a group that is well accepted. Even as a female, I never felt that I couldn’t do any man could do. So growing up was pretty easy for me.

Then last week, a man went into a Unitarian church in Tennessee and shot people because they were too liberal. That could have been MY church. I could have been one of the ones being shot. It was a weird feeling to think that a group I am involved with could be so hated to someone else. And in fact, the UU church was so hated to the shooter BECAUSE it is actually so accepting of others (I love that about the church!).

Then after the shooting, and email was sent out from the church saying that there would be a special service so that we could “stand in solidarity” with the victim church. I think it’s wonderful to come together to fight the evils in this world, but the minute you gather in the name of “solidarity,” you are somehow saying that one particular group is better than another, or that one person is more valuable than another. People are killed every day, but we, of course, are not having memorial services every day for those people. Why are the UUs who were killed any more special than any of the others? I don’t think there should have been a special service for the victims in that church. I feel that it was a tragedy, absolutely. But I think that every unnatural death is a sad death (I even feel bad for the worst of people sometime when they die or are killed early).

Today, over 100 people were trampled to death at a Hindu temple. Over 100!! But will my church have a memorial service for those people? No. And what about all of the Iraqis who have been killed thus far in the Iraq War? Far more people have died there than died in that UU church, but the UU church shooting somehow shows that more worth is put on the lives of Unitarians than on the lives of folks living outside of our borders. Something is just wrong with that!