This has bothered me since before I woke up this morning. (Yes, I think politics in my sleep. Only when I'm not having nightmares about a system wide server failure.)

Every freaking republican I have talked to in the past few weeks thinks they NEED to justify G.W. You like him, fine. I get it. But I do NOT see how anyone can believe that the federal government is A Okay with this Katrina thing. Yes, I will admit that state and local governments had a responsibility. BUT what the fuck do you do when your police and fire bases are all but wiped out, you have no means of communications and you are staring in the face of the WORST natural disaster to hit the US in god knows how long??? How do you carry on with a plan??? Isn't that what the federal government is there for? Oh...wait....this was all about appearances you say? Bush didn't want to look like the woman hating racist he is? Right. The fucker thought NOW was the time to look in the mirror??? WTF?!!! I just want to scream. And is that really all this boils down to? A fear that exists between the parties? A fear that paralyzed an entire government to the point of jepordizing lives? Scary thought.

I know that was rambling, and I really need to stop listening to NPR. It gets me way to fired up. When I get angry I need to babble for a moment just to get that out. I apologize if it makes no sense whatsoever. Over and out.

FEMA Chief to Be Relieved of Storm Duties, Reports Say


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 9, 2005

Filed at 1:22 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being removed from his role managing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, The Associated Press has learned.
Brown is being sent back to Washington from Baton Rouge, where he was the primary official overseeing the federal government's response to the disaster, according to two federal officials who declined to be identified before the announcement.

Brown will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad w. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts.

Brown has been under fire because of the administration's slow response to the magnitude of the hurricane. On Thursday, questions were raised about whether he padded his resume to highlight his previous emergency management background.

Less than an hour before Brown's removal came to light, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Brown had not resigned and the president had not asked for his resignation.

McClellan did not directly answer a question about whether the president had full confidence in Brown.

''We appreciate all those who are working round the clock, and that's the way I would answer it,'' he said.

***Soo typical of this administration. Avoid all confrontation and hide those who make you look bad.****

Work was more than amusing today. I did so much graphic design and IT work my head was spinning until I went for a run 2 hours ago. Unbelievable. One thing I realized halfway through the day is that I am starting to embrace my inner geek. I mean, she was always there, but I've been trying to cover her up with fashion and partying. She wants out. I seriously will hunt down people to talk about computers/gadgets with. If someone even mentions anything that sounds remotely like an inteligent discussion about computers, software etc. I die. They can't shut me up. Unfortunately I work with people who have never had their hands on a Linux system let alone are able to discuss why Bill Gates is Satan (or was that George Bush?). The conversation ends up with me babbling and their eyes glazing over. So sad.

Anyway, I have a hard on for this as well as this. That is the sort of jewelry that would win my heart. Why can't I be a normal girl?

On a related note, I am really getting used to this whole apple thing. Except for the copy and paste. I need to get a mouse. I'm not a touchpad person.

So Jere is finally home! YAY! Today was obligatory family/friends day. Well, not so much friends as people I work with. I had my 9 mile run in the morning (with an all sport picnic) then I headed off to the work picnic. Then it was fun at Gram's house and a visit with PopPop.

Not to harp on the Nana dying thing but, tonight my Popop was in rare form. His emotions were all over the radar. First we just talked about baseball and the weather, which quickly morphed into a discussion about my Nana and him recounting when she died. They were the epitomy of love and eternal happiness. He simply cannot function without her alive. It broke my heart to hear him talk about her and how much he loved her. I never heard him validate that with words. I think I am the only one he has ever talked to about this. He literally knew the moment she died, even though he was home in bed and she was in the hospital.

It made me realize how important human connection is. That is truly the only thing that is worth a damn in this life (or the next). As we were sitting there listening to his stories about WWII (which he can remember in great detail, mind you) I realized that there are soooo many people (mostly co-workers, but some friends) who believe they know me so well. These people think they have me pegged, but they don't. (which is probably why I don't keep too many people super close to begin with) I bet they don't know that I actually enjoy spending saturday night with my lonely Popop hearing stories about first loves and daisy cutters. Bet YOU didn't know that. Did you?

Such a looong week already. And it's only tuesday.

Kathy decided to print the programs in house. Yeah. I'm so worked up that they will be screwed up when I get in there tomorrow. BLAH. Such craziness. But they are going to be spiral bound and cute so whatever. You are all going to be so sick of me bitching about work by the end of the week so I will just stop right there with all of that.

I went to Dee's house tonight to hang out. FUN times! Haha! I miss summer nights just hanging out and letting go of all time and space constraints. Damn. I wish I was in school still! I hope to have a lot of those nights when Jere is home in July. Wooohooo! I can not even tell you how nice that will be. To have time off and actually get to see my husband! Of course there is that whole pesky moving thing. I'm sure it will be fine.

I have been so physically and emotionally drained the past few days. I think that there are some people in this world that were put here just to suck the life out of others. Seriously. I have so many people in my life like that right now that I just need to get back to the basics. (Thus, hanging out with Dee for a bit) I'm starting to replace the negative people in my life with positive ones. I think I'm doing a good job so far. The "M-Dub" girls are always a welcome relief and such a breath of fresh air :) But then, they already knew that.

Anyway, I had all the deep and meaningful thoughts on my drive home tonight so I'm spent. Sorry if this was shallow. Night!

What. A. God. Awful. Day.

Chaos. All hell broke lose today on the Summer Solstice Celebration. We are getting the programs spiral bound and so the printer has to have them done by TUESDAY. We had made no corrections to them and I still didn't print all 500 covers for them. So Kathy made the corrections (at least it lit a fire under her ass) and I started printing.

Then, the computer guy came in. Yeah. If one more fucking person buzzes me or e-mails me as says "my computer is slow" or "how do I download..." OR in the case of some "I need Adobe Acrobat" I'm going to flip out. Seriously. Unless it is a life and death situation, do not bother the IT person ESPECIALLY when you know she's going crazy! But on the plus side, I'm getting a brand new 17" flat panel moitor. Wooohooooo! I love Kathy! She rocks!

The running is going VERY well. I've lost about 10lbs so far (weight wise) and 2 sizes. I went from a 12 to an 8. I never realized how much I missed running. Quitting smoking is also going quite well. The cravings are almost completely gone.

In completely unrelated news, I GOT ROSES YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!! "just because" I'm just going to reiterate what you all know, I love my husband. NOT because he gets me roses unexpectadly (he's never done this before) but because he is just...I don't know...I'm at a loss. There aren't words for it. I think this deployment is actually going much better than the last one (and it's longer...hmmm). Mainly because I know what to expect and I fully understand what HIS perspective on life is. I think I've finally grasped the "he cannot read my mind" thing. Haha! A tough thing to admit to, but it's true.

So, now that you are all up to speed...I'm going to go make more cards and feed the cat.

Sometimes I just hate the world!!! It's a personality flaw, I know. PA drivers SUCK!!!!

I got stuck in the bosses office for the last half hour of the day, which is of course, when Jere was online and e-mailing me. Yeah. So I got back to my desk and he e-mailed saying he'd still be on when I got home. So I race out and drive really fast only to be stuck in traffic for and hour!!! And why? Was there an accident you ask?! NO. PA drivers do NOT get the concept of MERGE. Or, RIGHT lane go slow, LEFT lane go fast. OR turn signals! I hate commuting. But I hate living in harrisburg more.

I'm so unmotivated. I need to clean but I just don't care. Seriously. I could be living in filth and have bugs crawling all over the place and I just wouldn't care. I just want Jeremy home. I'm sick of this already. I hate the Army. But I hate republicans more.

YAY! Jere was at the computer when I came home! What a great end to a horrible week! He totally made my day. I can't even explain how much I love and need him. It's so far beyond love at this point.
Ok, I think I need to lie down before I pass out. EXHAUSTED isn't even the right word.
Now I'm just tired and hungry. I want a pizza and soup! Yeah, I have weird eating habits.

I swear. I'm never going to get any sleep. The ONE night that I don't have to do anything (except run) and of course CSI is on. I never watch the show, but knowing that the season finale is directed by QT gets me all hot. I don't know why, but I love this man.

I finally got to talk to Jere today. I was actually at my desk today. I was not out roaming/fixing computers. And seriously, for those of you who are not good at technology, take a class. Or ask your friends to teach you. Don't buzz the IT person for things like "my .pdf document won't open, I've reinstalled Acrobat 5 times and it won't work" only for your IT person to find that you are trying to open the file in WORD. Yeah. No shit it won't open.

If the IT person is ON THE PHONE, and has been for some time, standing at their door tapping your fingers and sighing loudly will NOT inspire me to help you. I am quite happy to watch your computer burn, thank you.

Please triage your computer issues. Do not buzz the IT person to ask how to change your wallpaper when the entire office is experiencing a systems failure. Please keep this in mind ESPECIALLY when the systems failure is due to someone TURNING off the power to the server.

Have a nice day, and leave me alone.

So tired. I think I'm going to go open the bottle of wine finally. MMMMMM