Another Month Has Gone By

Well, another month has gone by and I haven’t written squat on here. I’ve intended to, honestly. It’s been an uneventful month outside of work, a very hectic month inside of work. The last thing I want to do is come home and write about work.

I’ve also been in one of those ruts lately where I just kind of prefer to be alone and keeping to myself. Haven’t been talkative, haven’t been keeping in touch. I don’t know why I get this way, I guess sometimes I just need a little down time to refresh my brain from all the confusing and stressful things that seem to always go on.

Plus, I’ve been spending some time exploring possibilities for a second job and/or contract/freelance gigs. Nothing has come up that will work. But I’ve faced the fact that not only are the holidays coming up, but I also need to start earning a little extra money so I can start making some moves here pretty soon. Lizzie and I would like to get out of this apartment we’ve been in for four years now, and eventually we’d like to get out of Minnesota. Of course there are other moves that need to be made that have been put off far too long.

But like I said, work has been busy. I have some really big projects in progress and on the horizon, I’ll be sticking around there a while longer to take those things on. There’s still some work to be done before I feel like I can move on to the next level and leave Minnesota. We’ll be here to endure at least another winter or two. I really hope it won’t be much more than that.

Speaking of winter, I don’t think it’s too far away. What a cold and miserable week it’s been, and it’s starting to look pretty dark outside when I leave for work in the morning. The cold snap gave me my annual cold. It was pretty bad this year, I felt pretty miserable for a few days there. I had to go to a new cold medicine this year because the usual Tylenol Sinus just wasn’t strong enough. I went to a new kind of Tylenol Cold Day/Night, the nighttime version really knocked me out. But it worked well. Tylenol Sinus has worked for me the past few years, it kind of worries me that it wasn’t quite potent enough this year. Am I getting sicker every year or was it just really bad this year? So I’m just getting over the cold, still not quite 100% better. Well, with my year-long allergies that I deal with, I’m never really 100% better. Not much else to report about me.

A tornado went through the suburb I work in last week, doing quite a bit of damage in some of the residential areas but leaving my workplace untouched. Sadly, a 10 year old girl was killed in the tornado when the home she was in collapsed from the Tornado. Seems like everyone is looking to point the finger and make someone accountable for it. Every day there has been an article in the Star Tribune about the National Weather Service’s reaction time. What is up with people these days? Why does someone always have to answer for it? It’s mother nature, people have been warned about these things their whole lives. Even if the national weather service would have gotten the warnings out a little sooner, what different could it have really made? The little girl was in her basement, doing everything she has been told to do. It’s a tragedy and there’s nothing we can do to change it. Why is everyone looking for someone to blame?

Also in the news, Rodriguez’s death sentence in the Dru Sjodin trial has been a strong subject of debate. Driving home listening to WCCO the other day, a caller raised the point that “People think the death penalty will be a deturrent to crime, if this were true then why is Texas one of the highest-crime states in the nation but also one of the most active at putting ciminals to death?”

I guess I’ve never really thought of capital punishment as a crime deturrent, and I see the caller’s point. I, too, am a little uneasy about the death penalty, because it’s a real tragedy that there will always be people who are put to death that are actually innocent. But with today’s technology, I think that there is such a thing as a slam dunk case. In these extreme cases where a really awful crime has been committed, and all of the evidence against the person makes them so unquestionably guilty, I feel the dealth penalty should be considered. In this case, his guilt is unquestionable due to the evidence. In another case, I may feel a different way. This kind of violence toward women or anyone is just unforgivable in my opinion, and people who commit this are beyond insane, they are beyond human and belong in neither our society nor our prison systems.

The fact he was ever let back into society is a real tragedy in itself. Something really needs to be changed about that.