The guilt of the working mom

I’m sitting in the hospital waiting room and The Today Show is playing on one of the TVs. The ladies are discussing the “guilt of the working mom,” whatever the hell that means. Maybe it’s because I’m a guy, but I don’t understand why women would feel guilty about working and not staying home with their children. I don’t mind dropping the boys off and heading to work. In fact I could drop them off permanently and come back when they are fully-developed adults. Okay so that’s a bit extreme even for me.

Still, I don’t think anybody should feel guilty about providing for their children’s future. But perhaps it’s different for some people, they feel like they will miss some major milestone in their child’s development or something: their baby’s first step, spoken word, ad nauseum; if they are not in their child’s life every nanosecond. I did get to experience both those things and I can honestly say they are overrated. Now that I think about it, I don’t even remember what my firstborn said. Luckily moms remember those kinds of things.

I don’t really have anything against these people, I just feel like women in general need to give themselves a break and know that they are good mothers and that leaving their children for a few hours is okay. These ladies talking about guilt are not doing anybody any favors and might even make women feel worse about themselves. Just my 2 cents…

Waiting

They say patience is a virtue. Bullshit! I am not patient and I hate waiting. When has waiting for anything ever been a good thing? Do you enjoy waiting for your pizza? Do you enjoy waiting for FedEx to deliver your package? No, and hell no! I will give waiting the benefit of the doubt, but it’s not looking good. I might need your help. Can you folks think of an occasion when waiting is a good thing?

At the hospital

Being at the hospital is like being at an airport. You are basically trapped in an artificial world. There’s nothing natural about either place, and nobody wants to be there to begin with. The food is terrible, the prices inflated, and there’s the dreadful possibility that some tragedy can befall you at any time.

That being said, both hospitals and airports are wonderful places to people watch. As any good writer knows, people watching is a skill you must possess. People watching, and listening to their conversations can give you endless subject matter for your writing. I don’t know how many times I’ve overheard a fascinating conversation that I simply had to run home and write about.

Anyhow, Sharkette and I are at the hospital now waiting for her to go into surgery. She is having her thyroid removed, a one day procedure, and I took PTO to be by her side. Luckily the hospital has free WiFi and with WordPress and my Android phone, I’m hoping the day passes quickly and safely.

McJobs, the road to recovery

I admit I enjoy waking up in the morning and checking the Drudge Report. It’s kind of like watching a fuel-oil fire: very fascinating and it fills you with dread to think what it’s doing to the environment. The big headline link on Drudge was about the massive hiring event that McDonald’s is having. Apparently they are aiming to hire 50,000 new employees this month. They are also engaged in some serious PR, trying to persuade people that a job at McDonald’s is not a McJob, but can lead to a fruitful career. I read that a McDonald’s manager can make up to $50,000 dollars a year. For real? Shit, that’s more than I make now! Still, I don’t think my parents would be too proud of me unless I was actually in McDonald’s Corporate, and I’m not about to quit my day job.

I’ve got nothing against McDonald’s, in fact I eat there at least once a week. Those stupid fries are addictive, and hopefully if I die, they will preserve my body without the need of formaldehyde hahahaha, I kid, I kid. No, McDonald’s is doing great, they are a profitable company that employs thousands of people, and they are also one of the largest real estate owners in the country. One could say that McDonald’s is too big to fail. I applaud McDonald’s for trying to get this economy back on track by offering jobs to people, and for not requiring a government bail-out. In fact, McDonald’s is helping us all out with their deliciously cheap Dollar Value Menu.

My only concern is if this is the future of job creation in America?

The Judge Killed the Bibliophile Dream

I had a dream, and so did Google. The dream was that all the libraries in the world, their archives, their shelves would be scanned by Google and uploaded to a digital world collection, available to everybody ─ for a cost of course. I’m fine with paying for such a service if it would mean access to rare collections and to books that would be hard to find and get to physically. But sadly a judge put an end to that dream. I suppose he had some good reasons for his ruling: copyright infringement, privacy concerns, etc. Still, for just a few moments I thought I could just pull up a book that I wanted online, and send it to an on-demand Espresso Book Machine and have a copy of it! Sadly that is not the case now. RIP Google book project.

Info Ovo

Back story, crack story,
Hooked on facts,
Give me info, give me stats,
Need to be in the know,
Let me see, let me show,
Who did what and where and how,
Need to know and know it now,
What’s that in the middle east?
How’s the planet, and the trees?
What’s with “B list” celebrities?
What’s new in science? Politics?
Who had flings? The latest tricks?
What’s hot on Youtube, and TV?
What does this quiz say about me?
What’s new in fashion? Latest looks?
Google all the latest books,
Take it all in, every drop,
Don’t know how to make it stop,
Soon I’m sure I will explode,
From information overload,
Need to learn to turn and shrug,
To reach down here and pull the pl…….

Swedish Police priorities

It seems that hardly a day goes by in Sweden that I don’t read about some woman being sexually assaulted, masked men with axes rob a bank, or there is a gang shooting. Growing up in Sweden I’m sure that we had crimes, but it seems to me that there are more crimes now than there used to be. Maybe that’s just me idealizing my carefree childhood, but still, times are changing. Common sense would dictate that a Rudolph Giuliani-style crime crackdown would be in order: prioritize catching the bad guys and getting them off the streets. But no, it seems Swedish cops are way too busy trying to catch speeders, do DUI enforcement, or even dancing!

Granted, all those things are important, but enforcing a winter tire law!!! WTF?

What the hell is a Winter Tire Law, you ask? Well, in Sweden between 16 April och 30 September, you are mandated to drive with summer tires, and the rest of the time, during the winter, you are supposed to drive with winter tires. Apparently this is a big thing in Sweden and the police are out in force making sure that Swedish drivers are in compliance or they will face a 500 SEK fine (approximately $80 USD dollars, 2011). When I moved to Sweden for grad school, I didn’t even know that there were separate tires for winter driving and summer driving. I had never heard of anybody in the United States changing their tires with the seasons. Well, except my old college roommate who lives in Ohio, but he’s German, so does that count? Anyhow, I’m glad that Swedish Police have their priorities, just give them some savory tarts and they will get right on it… solving trombone capers.

The morning routine for the lulz

Hahahah, don’t worry, I won’t post every morning 🙂 BTW, it’s Friday!

Newspaper, Hot Pocket, Sunny D

Staedtler Integrity 9505 Mechanical Pencil 0.5mm Lead

I’m a pretty easy-going fellow, I don’t obsess about things and I’m quite modest… Just ask my wife. All things considered, I do have some standards when it comes to writing instruments however. For example, if you are looking for a cheap, unpretentious pen, you can do no wrong with a ubiquitous Mont Blanc Meisterstück.

Whenever I look for fine writing instruments, I prefer to buy pens and pencils made in either Germany or Japan. The attention to detail and excellent manufacturing mechanisms in place in those two countries mean that you get a superior product every time. When you buy a pencil from a German company, manufactured in Japan, it’s pretty much guaranteed that writing bliss is only moments away: the Staedtler Integrity 9505 mechanical pencil is a case in point.

Now Dave on his blog, Dave’s Mechanical Pencils, did not give the Staedtler high marks, much in part because he had a breakage factor. He did however write up a very thorough review, so I’m not going to elaborate on this pencil by doing my own. But, I will mention that during my own testing I had very few breakage issues, less so than with other pencils, so I guess it all depends upon how you prefer to write. My touch is light as a feather. Until next time my friends…

The morning routine

Apart from the usual waking up, shit, shower and shave routine, I do love a cup of Sunny D, a Hot Pocket, and a morning paper. Yeah, Sunny D isn’t really orange juice, but you get your 100% daily dose of Vitamin C, along with your high fructose corn syrup. What’s not to like? The Hot Pocket is a wonderful, portable meal that ties you over nicely till lunch time. As for the morning paper, I get the local rag at work and since my favorite newspapers: The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, etc., don’t home deliver to Central Illinois, I’m stuck with going to the local newspaper stand for my fix. I wish I could do a subscription, not only would it save money, but it would be nice to wake up to a paper every morning. I suppose I could do mail order, but that would mean I would get the paper one or two days behind all the time. What’s the fun in that? Anyhow, what is your morning routine?