Politics and a Reformed Democrat

It's night number 1 of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO, and for the first time in years, I could care less. I know that I'm likely to get a ration from some of you, but when Hillary Clinton dropped out, so did I. I thought (and still do) that this Obama joker was too freshman, too inexperienced, too much of a "yes-man" to do the job. And yet something about him has transfixed an entire nation, an entire world, into thinking he is the better man for this job. I'm still not convinced. Not that I think McCain is so much better, but every day I feel more and more that a vote for either won't be a vote for the best candidate. A vote for either will likely be a vote for the lesser of two evils.

Now, to be fair, I don't know an awful lot about politics, other than the opinions I develop based on what I read in the Post and hear from friends. I don't have a degree in political science, and I certainly don't work in a largely-political environment (though in DC, McDonalds can be political). What I do know is this: I have spent a good portion of my professional life in the non-profit sector, listening to various directors drone on and on about how it is the government's job to save them from their plight. I have heard people who lost their job for differing reasons expecting the feds to take care of them. I read in the paper that people who ride the subway don't want to be able to hear music from other people's Ipods, for heaven sake. The conclusion I've come to is this: stop your bitching, worry about yourself, and move on!

I know this all comes off as rather harsh and politically incorrect, especially knowing how liberal i've always been. But I think in this time of war (which I do not support, nor did I ever), in this time of financial downfall (I do not support the foreclosure bailouts - you signed the paperwork, you fix it yourself or pay the piper), and in this time of energy dependence (feelin' a little stupid now buying that Escalade, aren't you?), we all need to start taking a little more responsibility for our own actions. Allow me to elaborate on one of these points specifically: the housing crisis.

I don't believe in my heart of hearts that the government should bear any responsibility in saving those homes at risk for foreclosure. I think the fault lies within the mortgage industry trying to give people more than they can afford and not explaining to them what a 3/1 or 5/1 ARM is, or what APR means, or not showing an amoritized list of all payments. But more importantly, I think the fault is with the buyer. I've owned 2 homes in my life, and both times I asked the questions that needed to be asked (i.e. "Is the 360th payment going to be the same as the first?"). It's not rocket science, yet everyone seems to use ignorance as an excuse. "I didn't know because I didn't ask and no one told me, so the responsibility lies with someone else, and I am fault-free." In case you weren't picking up on my oh-so subtle subtext, I think this is complete crap.

That's not to say that we don't all make mistakes. We're human, and that's the way it goes. But when millions and millions of people are doing the same thing, it's not a mistake. It's an epidemic. And I do not support in any way the idea of the federal government using my tax dollars to bail Billy Bob and his 14 kids out because he didn't read the fine print. Am I bitter? You bet I am. And mark my words, kids: things are only going to get worse. Our economy is in the toilet, we have zero diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, and whoever wins this election is going to spend their entire term trying to clean up messes such as these. The only upside to this story is that I, an average, middle-class citizen, will have the opportunity to buy a much nicer home at a drastically reduced price. So I guess cultural stupidity does have its benefits.

But on to more important things. Cané, my wanna be drug-sniffing dog, decided to bolt the other day while on leash and gave herself a slight tracheatic boo boo. She's been hacking like a 3-pack a day smoker, and while this isn't funny, I do find it amusing that she learned nothing from that experience. She's still pulling on her leash, trying to get wherever it is we are going at warp speed. I have to laugh at all of this, for as silly as she can be, she still makes me laugh every day. See, i'm not a complete hard-ass.

Until next time.

Baseballs and Technodogs

Sometimes, it seems, life throws you a series of curveballs when you're not looking, and all of a sudden you are forced to become adept at hitting them, lest you be hit. For me, "strike out" has been the mantra by which I have lived much of my life. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but you get used to something and when it changes, it feels odd. I've had issues with jobs, the dating scene, and sometimes my family (who hasn't?), but recently things seem to be falling into place, albeit a strange one.

I was recently promoted at work: Proposal Writer. For those of you who don't know, I started my true career in 2001 in fundraising and grantwriting. It was in this that I discovered a passion long buried, one that called for creativity and outside-of-the-box thinking (never my strong suit, but free-association really helps). Over the last 7 years i've held positions that have been development related, often coupled with the dreaded "I've written this proposal and now I want to ask you for money" bit. This most frequently happens with a large company or foundation. That was never my strong suit, nor will it ever be.

As I was saying, I get promoted at work to proposal writer, and find myself in a sea of the unknown. I work for a contractor that deals with some very high-tech information - engineering mostly - and have since been getting a crash course in technological information. Ask me what a distributed sensor is today, and I can probably tell you (Ok, the answer I give may not be right, but I can make something up with the best of them). I feel as though i've been given this incredible opportunity, and I feel very lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.

This is just a little update from me to you. No funny quotes, no amusing anecdotes, and yes, Cané is doing extraordinarily well. She just 'woofed' down a chew bone and is, as I write this, lying on the bed, paws twitching, likely dreaming about chasing squirrels through open fields. Or perhaps she too is thinking about distributed sensors and their wide application in military as well as civilian operations. My money is on the latter - she's very smart. Of course, based on this photograph, you certainly couldn't call her very chaste.