Just Sayin' ...

That was a great Super Bowl: it showed that teams win games, even in the last 5 seconds. No kudos to Santonio, though, for making it all about himself and bragging that he told the QB to give him the ball and he'd win the game. Get over yourself.

Don't understand why The Boss is being dissed: his show was just right for a half-time and raised the bar after some much weaker, less entertaining performances in the past. I liked his sliding on his bent legs to the end of the stage! I liked his constant smile and total energy. I couldn't hear the sound very well, but that may be my TV, which seems to be having some sound fading issues these days. Okay, I will admit that I didn't understand the gospel choir being on stage for 2 minutes: bring 'em on and leave 'em on -- or leave 'em off.

And why doesn't P'burg have cheerleaders? They could have a guy squad in tool belts and hard hats, if they're worried about being too girly.

I'm glad to see that change is headed our way, especially a change in the intense personal scrutiny applied to our elected/appointed officials, who used to be held to a much higher standard than the Average Joe. Geithner and now Daschle have committed what used to be criminal offenses, but the accountability bar has been lowered to "sorry" as being enough said. Wow. Bet Martha Stewart wishes Obama was the President when she had to go to jail: she could have been appointed to head the stock exchange, instead of serving time. Bet the stock exchange would be a lot better off than it is, too, with Martha at the helm.

The temps are fluctuating about 40 degrees a day, with the 80s during the day and the 40s during the night. For me, layering means adding a sweat shirt over my t-shirt and wearing shoes with socks, rather than my Birks barefoot. My yards are both growing like weeds, as well as adding weeds, so I've been outside during the day pulling out what doesn't belong and trimming back what does. I turned the watering system back on, but need to have my plumber come by and make sure everything is copecetic. After learning that my water bill is set to increase by 42%, the next area I cut back is use of the bathroom toilet, sink, and shower. I already do dishes once a day out of a dishpan and throw the water into the yard, but it seems that isn't going to be adequate for me to personally fund all the upgrades to service that the water district has planned ... for the other side of town.

I'd like to feel sorry for the postal service and its lack of revenue, but until they dismantle the little gift shops and open more windows to handle the people who want postal services, they are SOL. I also get 3 copies of the throw-away mailers each week, for reasons unknown to me at this time. I used to carry them home and then toss them away; however, I now add them to the huge trash barrels full of flyers in the post office lobby. Within 5 miles of my home is a tiny post office, with an older woman the sole employee. She handles things just fine without the gift shop to distract her and gets customers through the line efficiently. If she can do it, so can the bigger postal outlets. There are ways to cut costs without cutting service, but government entities are more concerned with job security than they are with service.

Grady's here to spend the day with Mia and me (he seems to like to follow me around and sleep with his head on my foot). Grady also finds all the little pieces of kibble that Mia strews around the house when she's pawing her dish and looking for something special at the bottom of it. I also am forced to empty all the trash containers when G is here as he's scavenges like no dog I've ever seen. And, after having 2 dogs for a week, there's that much more poop for me to scoop, an added exercise benefit I could do without.

Today is office hours, as well as night class, so I have to prepare my materials, pack up the truck, and get into my "professor" role. In spite of how many times I've directed the students to simply call me Ms., they find comfort in addressing their college teachers as "professor," so I've given up. It does make me turn around, however, to see who has come through the door when they only use the "professor" and don't add a name to it.

Finally, I did talk to my investment guy, who assures me that I am far better off than most people he knows because I quit while I was ahead. What this means is that while my account has lost 1/3 of its cash value, I had frozen it at its highest point. Beginning when I turn 65, I can withdraw a set amount for 20 years guaranteed. Of course I asked him how that will happen if the bottom drops out of the world economy, but you know how investment people are: that will never happen. If the State of Cally-phone-ya is issuing IOUs to its employees and tax-payers, what makes him think it won't happen?

The bad news? If I withdraw all the money, I only get what's actually there (I asked). If I die before I withdraw all the money, my children only inherit what's actually left in the account (I asked). Guess I'd better hope that either I live a long life so I can spend the money or die soon so my kids get something.