These Squirrels Are Crazy! (And so much more!)

Judging by the title I've given this blog, you would expect me to talk about crazy squirrels. And you're right, I will. But there will be more. I don't know yet what the more will be, but I have a short attention span and an active brain so things will come up that I will want to mention before I can even finish with the squirrel talk. (Like now, I want to say stuff about my weird neighbor...) Back to the squirrels. They are pretty much nonstop squeaking and chirping. They keep running all over the place and chasing eachother in an angry way. Although I can't see their actual facial expressions so they could be playing. I really don't know. But I assume anger because that's more interesting. So I was trying to think of what they could be angry about. I would think it has to be food or territory related. They don't have beef with another squirrel for reasons like humans do. One of them didn't spill a drink on the other one at a bar. Or one squirrel didn't comment on another squirrel's facebook picture that she looks like a skank. Just basic animal kingdom problems I'm thinking. But then on top of that, the birds keep getting involved. I think the birds totally have the advantage here. They can FLY away at any time. They can drop gifts from above on unsuspecting squirrels. I miss so much while I'm at work. :( So the weird neighbor I briefly brought up before. I can't necessarily say he's a BAD neighbor, but he's not the best either. We live in an apartment. (I realize this is not my dream home, but when you're divorced and you start over and have to support yourself and a child, you do what you can do.) We live on the second floor and the neighbor, let's call him 'Paul,' lives below us. 'Paul' is probably about 45-50 years old. He lives with his girlfriend of roughly the same age, let's call her 'Deb.' She is pretty much inconsequential. I like her just fine. She's almost never home; she seems to work all day every day. Great neighbor. 'Paul' used to work. When we first moved in he had a car and I would see him coming and going. At some point in the last two years we've lived here, he stopped going to work and no longer has a car. I think of the 168 hours there are in one week, 'Paul' sets foot outside his apartment maybe a total of ten minutes. Give or take ten minutes. He's down there now. I can hear his tv. It's not ridiculous right now, but a lot of the time he has it so loud that his speakers literally vibrate the floor of my living room. My daughter gets mad and wants to confont him and tell him to quiet down. But I don't want to wake up with duct tape over my mouth one day because he's a bit of a creeper. I want to leave well enough alone. He was fairly friendly when we first moved in. Not anymore. He does not seem to like me. Which is fine. I'm not a friendly person. But I don't want to push him and end up a hot topic on Nancy Grace. I'm sad to say that after today there are only two more days of first grade. Second grade means she'll be turning eight years old. And I'll be turning thirty-FIVE. If she's growing up that means I'm getting old. I don't want either thing to happen. I jokingly told her the other day I was going to e-mail the teacher to have her not promote her to second grade, that way she'd have to stay in first grade and stay seven. I was joking only because it won't work. If this was a silly 80's movie with Tom Hanks or John Cusack I would totally do it and it WOULD WORK. But there was no e-mail in the 80's and I don't know where to find a magic wish granting gypsy machine and my drawings won't come to life so I'm out of luck. She WILL go on to second grade whether I like it or not.

Feb. 21st Article

Monroe Evening News, The (MI)

Tea Party message: Get involved now
Michelle Swartz mswartz@monroenews.com
Published: February 21, 2010
• An indoor Tea Party Saturday informed the public about government overspending and urged participants to become precinct delegates. Carol Pinchoff of Monroe only could shake her head after watching a video from a 2005 interview Ben Bernanke.

A TV news reporter asked the future Federal Reserve chairman the worst-case scenario of a housing bubble bursting, causing economic devastation that could lead to a recession.

"It's a pretty unlikely possibility," he responded. "We've never had a decline in house prices on a nationwide basis. ... I don't think it's going to drive the economy too far from its full employment path, though."

Five years later, Mrs. Pinchoff reflects on his comments in hindsight.

"He had it totally wrong," she said. "It's just another example of how we're headed in the wrong direction."

She, along with her husband, Andy, and many other Monroe County residents attended an indoor Tea Party Saturday at Triumph Academy. Hosted by the Conservative Caucus of Monroe County, the event was held to help raise awareness about hyperinflation and provide information about banking basics and how to become a precinct delegate in the party of one's choice.

"Our goal is to get people involved. We want to get conservatives into office and the corruption out of government," said Jeff Andring of Newport, a member of the local caucus. "We're talking to people about becoming candidates for precinct delegates because you can't make changes until you're in office. We're hoping to see more conservatives represented at all levels, from school boards to Congress."

The caucus' affiliate organization, Campaign Committee for Michigan Conservatives, also took part in the event. Both organizations offered information about their goals and upcoming events. Several video clips were shown regarding basic banking and the looming problem of hyperinflation in our country.

The video presentation on hyperinflation featured clips of politicians debating the issue and offering alarming facts. For example, the United States was the world's largest creditor in the 1970s. Today, however, it is the world's largest debtor.

The public also heard, via video, another disturbing trend in government. Since President Obama has been elected, the Federal Reserve's bailout commitments has risen from $7.4 trillion to $14.2 trillion, a figure that nears the nation's gross domestic product. Some are worried that such spending could create a debacle much like that experienced in Zimbabwe, where hyperinflation devastated the country's currency.

"It's just scary to hear these things," said Jessica Marlow of Ida. "You try not to panic, but you can't help but be concerned."

As a conservative, she attended the Tea Party to learn more about government issues. She was pleased to see people taking time to attend Saturday's three-hour program.

"For some reason, Tea Parties are portrayed negatively in the media," she said. "They're not about angry people shouting. These are people who have come here to listen to informative presentations."

Mr. and Mrs. Pinchoff attended two other local Tea Parties held this past year.

"I understand where they are coming from," Mrs. Pinchoff said of the local conservative caucus. "I agree we need to stand up and do something quickly. One way we can make a difference is in the ballot box."

The Conservative Caucus of Monroe County, which began nearly two years ago, is a nonpartisan organization.

"It was started by concerned citizens whose conservative beliefs and voices are not being heard," Mr. Andring explained. "Events like this give us a chance to educate people so we can begin to take our country back."

OMG

I don't have a title for this specific blog so I'm just leaving it OMG because I am so highly annoyed right now I don't care. I was going to blog about an hour ago but for fear of saying regrettable things in he heat of the moment I decided to wait a little while until I simmered down a bit. So now I am breathing normally and I am no longer seething.

Why is it not just one ittitating thing at a time can happen? Why do there have to be two or three or several? Maybe I'm asking for too much in life. I mean I have respect for other people's feelings, I think. I try to anyway. But some people clearly don't consider how their actions make others feel, or they don't care, whichever is true leads to the same outcome: frustration. I am frustrated.

Then there's the matter of being 32 years old and treated like I'm a teenager or something. I may not be the smartest person, well clearly I'm not based on many, MANY of the choices I've made in life. BUT, I AM an adult and I can make responsible decisions and judgement calls without the help of certain other adults. I really REALLY dislike being told what to do, especially when it's not something hard to figure out, so I would really appreciate being left alone and not nagged about nonsense.

I guess now that I got that off my chest I can relax a little more and try not to go off on anyone. I really just need to focus on the right things and leave alone the wrong things and I think it's pretty clear to me where my priorities should be.

This is old, kind of funny

This is a little blog I posted elsewhere back in May 2009. I thought it was kind of funny. Some things have changed since then, but some things have not...

"Angst: an acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety; usually reserved for philosophical anxiety about the world or about personal freedom." OMG yes! This word perfectly describes me in my current state. Add crabby, bitchy, and impatient and you would find my picture next to that definition in the dictionary.

I have personal goals. I really do, no matter how silly I may seem at any given time. I mean look at my life, I'm over 30, going through a SECOND divorce, and I had to come stay with my parents. What kind of life is this? I have my kid to think of though, so here I'll stay until I have a stable place to live on my own with her. But at the moment the big issues combined with some of the other smaller ones are DRIVING ME NUTS and making me feel ANGST. Angst angst angst...maybe if I repeat it enough it will not seem so bad anymore. Or, maybe if I say it too many times some little troll will appear and poke me with a sharp stick.

Maybe I've hit a wall

Something has to change. Something has to happen. The last couple of weeks I have felt increasingly restless with things in general. The top thing on the list is my home life. I am very very unhappy with this situation and it has nothing to do with my parents specifically, who are nice people by the way, but I am a grown up and as I believe I have mentioned before, I do no feel like one when I'm here. And since I live here that's a huge problem.

The second thing on my list of major life issues is my job. I am at the point where I'm seriously considering looking for a different job. I know that may sound silly in these economic times, but I am very tired of the BS that goes on there. I don't mean the BS with other employees, and the drama that goes on at the workplace, that is to be expected anywhere as far as I'm concerned and I can deal with that. I mean they can't decide what to do with me. My hours seem to vary almost weekly. They want me to have responsibilities, but they don't give me any benefits that go along with that. I could put up with most of the crap anyway if I was working consistant full time hours so I would be sure I could afford to move out and not struggle. I mean, if I move out and then I suddenly drop down to 25 hours a week or something I will not be in a good position. I just feel stuck. I feel like I've hit a wall. Nothing seems to be moving forward and it's driving me nuts. So I have to make some things happen for myself, I guess, and quit complaining about it.

There are many other smaller issues I have after the first and second ones I just described. Probably the largest of these is my personal life. I very nearly don't have one and I have decided I need to find ways of getting out and meeting more people. But not just any people, I really want to meet people I have things in common with. I like very few people that I meet, so maybe if I meet people that I know ahead of time share some of my interests, we'll hit it off. Who knows, right? I can't keep sitting around lonely and bored waiting for things to happen.

Blogging vs. Vlogging

I wish I had more interesting things to rant on and on about because with the reintroduction of my webcam into my internet life, I would love to vlog. But, sadly, very few people read my blog, so the need for a vlog would be pretty much for my own sake. And that leads me to the conclusion that I must be ridiculously vain to want to make vlogs just to watch them myself.

Three In One Day

Today I took my daughter shopping. We went to have some lunch first, and as we left the resteraunt in Dundee, we drove past the 23 on and off ramps. There was a man at the end of the off ramp holding a sign, which I assume said something about needing money for food, or his desire to work for food. I have seen someone standing there before in the last few months. I have also seen a girl on the other side of town in front of the grocery store with a sign saying she's pregnant and needs money for food and rent. I didn't pay much attention to the man at the off ramp and headed toward Monroe to do the shopping.

A few minutes later we were in Monroe at a stop light and there was the girl with the pregnant sign that I saw a few weeks ago in Dundee. I have seen a man before standing in front of the resteraunt she was at today. My daughter saw her and asked what the sign said. I took a deep breath and told her it says she's pregnant, then clarified that she was familiar with what that meant. She told me that meant the girl is going to have a baby. I said yes. Then I read the rest of the sign about needing money for food and rent. I asked her if she thought it was a good idea to get pregnant if you don't have enough money for food and other things the baby will need. She said no. Okay, my five year old is already smarter than the girl with the sign. Then I asked her if she thought it was a good idea to give the girl money. She wasn't sure how to answer. I said what if we did give her money and she didn't really spend it on food, what if she wasted it? How would we know? My daughter agreed. We then spent a few minutes discussing the importance of working for what you have and being responsible enough to know when to have a baby and when not to.

When we were done shopping and driving out of the parking lot, there was yet a third sign holder, this one was a man with a "will work 4 food" sign. As we waited at the light near the man I told her what the sign said. I asked if she thought it would be a good idea to give him money. She said no, we don't know what he would do with it, he might waste it. This may seem like a bad thing to teach a kid, it may seem like I'm teaching her not to be charitable. But on the contrary, I want to teach her not to be gullible. And I can't help but have the sneaking suspicion that the three sign holders might just be working together. Maybe if I watched one of them long enough I would see them walk to the nearest parking lot and get into a vehicle nicer than mine and drive off and pick up the other two.

Friends: Part II

I took the meds so lets see how well this comes out of my mind and onto the screen. I want to talk a little about why I don't have more friends. I talked to my really, really good friend earlier today on the phone for an extended length of time and though we had never really talked about it before as far as I know, we both said we really don't like people. I'm not shy or scared to be around people, in groups or individually, and I'm not worried what they will think of me, and I don't think my friend is either, but I just don't care much for people. But at times when I don't have anything going on, having a spare casual friend or two wouldn't hurt. There is someone I know, I will not say how I know her in case she ever finds out I have a blog and wants to read it, but I've known her for going on a year and talk to her frequently. We have hung out a couple times. But I feel very fake when "being her friend" because I don't mean it. We have so very little in common. I have so very little in common with most people I meet. That doesn't make me better than them, it just makes me sort of a weird loner I guess. But this potential friend is pretty nice and often says she is bored on weekends. So I have to make a decision whether or not I want to move forward with a traditional friendship, which makes me feel like I'd be just using her, or not and be bored and lonely some weekends.

Friends: Part I

This is part one of a planned two-part rant. I say "planned" because chances are quite good that I will lose momentum and never get to part two. I'm beginning to feel a little under the weather and as I sit here typing this I am looking at a pair of Nyquil gelcaps out of the corner of my eye that keep calling my name. Anyway, back to the topic of friends. Last night I was talking to my friend Theresa, or maybe her name's Trisha, it might even be Tanya. I definately imagine it starting with a T. I don't actually know her name, but I call her "friend" because I see her for 10-15 approximately every other Saturday evening when I enter the video store where she works to rent a movie or two to get me through Saturday night without me having to constantly remember what a loser I must surely be. I have one really, really good friend. She lives over an hour away and I can't cut in on her family time too often or I feel bad, even though she doesn't make me feel that way. I used to have my own little family so I know when you have a child it's nice to do family time. I am dating someone, which is super awesome, but due to scheduling conflicts on the part of both of us, we only get to hang out once or twice a week. And even if there was a great deal more availability, you can't spend all your time together so soon or you might feel a little suffocated. So when I am not seeing either of those people, and my daughter is visiting the other grandparents (which lately has been every other weekend) I am forced to occupy myself. So Theresa/Trisha/Tanya is super cool to me and remembers my name and where I live and that I'm divorced and I have a 5 year old that is away some weekends. She looks at me not with the look of pity and judgement some people her age might give me (she appears to be in her 40's), but with kindness and joy. I really wish I liked people because I would totally like her. Maybe enough to even find out her real name.

I rarely write on this blog. So I figured I had better breathe a little life into it before it dies completely. But really the reason I decided to say some stuff here and now is that I wanted to vent, just slightly though, because my new motto for the last couple weeks is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY, no matter what. So unless I hear some crazy sad news that directly effects me in a very negative way, I'm happy. :)

Now on to the venting (not bitching) part....okay I was interrupted just as I was about to say what I intended to share. The funny thing is I was going to say how when my daughter's with the other grandparents for the weekend like she is right now and I have nowhere to go and no plans so I'm just hanging out at home, I really just want to be left alone. And as I sat here about to say that, I was not left alone. My mom came to ask if I was depressed. She said I looked depressed earlier when I came home. No, I'm not depressed. I'm just wishing I lived elsewhere so when I was alone, I could really be alone. I love my daughter and other people close to me, but if they aren't around I don't mind sitting at home alone reading, doing housework, listening to the radio, watching a movie, whatever. But I really don't want to be forced into conversations I have no interest in being involved in in the first place. I know I sound way harsh right now but it's just because I lack personal space here. I need some space. BADLY. I never needed this much space when I lived with either of my ex's or my roommate. But with parents it's somehow different. I don't mind when my daughter comes in with me and we just hang out, that seems right. But this situation is choking the life out of me.

Okay, I vented and I feel better. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

So today is Labor Day. I try to be a good American, but honestly I couldn't tell you the actual difference between this day and Memorial Day. I'm sorry! I know I should be patriotic and supportive on both days, and I try to be, so I hope that redeems my lack of attention to the specific meaning of each of those two holidays. That being said, I had two pieces of apple pie today! Holidays seem to give us (me for sure) a license to eat however much of whatever we want. I had a hot dog, some potato chips, some Pepsi, and the pie! That is out of control, so luckily I have until at least my daughter's birthday in about 5 weeks before I may be eating so badly again.

Now that I have set up the day, I will add that I spent a few hours at a cook out at my aunt's house. And here is where the day took a turn that required me to blog. There was a relative there, a cousin of mine, who was out of control. He is roughly 26 or 27 years old. He has no job, no social skills, lives at home with his parents, and knows EVERYTHING in the world. No seriously, just ask him. And you know where he learned most of EVERYTHING? The internet, of course. So you know EVERYTHING is very reliable information.

For instance, he told of 9/11 being an inside job and that it was missiles, not planes that hit the towers. I was trying to be quiet during all his rantings, but at that missile comment I had to speak up, and I said, "I don't buy that conspiracy, I was a grown up at the time it happened and I saw the second plane hit the second tower on t.v." I realize there are things manufactured for t.v. but I don't believe the planes hitting the World Trade Centers were anything other than what they seemed. He also mentioned how titanium won't melt at a certain temperature, blah blah blah. I nearly laughed out loud. I said, "I'm not a rocket scientist." And he sort of chuckled and said, "Well, I...." And I finished the sentance he left hanging with, "...am?" And everyone sort of laughed because he learned everything he thinks he knows from other internet cooks. He said he researches these things. Yeah, on the internet! From other wackos that write whatever they feel like writing. One of my aunts leaned over and commented at one point that he needs a volume button. He was so loud and nutty sounding. He is the kind of person that makes those of us who LEGITIMATELY question the government look and seem crazy. Not cool, not cool at all.

I am sitting in my bedroom at 6:11pm on a Sunday evening in August. I am 31 years old, and in a couple of weeks I will have a birthday I am not really looking forward to celebrating. I spend very little time pondering how I got where I am because if I think on it too deeply it can get really depressing. I wonder about my future and if it will resemble in any way a life I ever envisioned for myself when I was young.

I should be putting away some laundry right now. But obviously I'm not. I'm procrastinating. I had a good day today. I went to a park near the lake and walked a long trail with someone I can appreciate spending time with. Life has been pretty sucky for the last few months. Actually, it was sucky for a while before that too, but I just figured that's life, and you deal with it. I'm kind of in that frame of mind now too, about just dealing with my mess of a life. But since I have a decent job that I like, and I've been feeling a bit happier lately, I'm thinking maybe things will go in a positive direction. Maybe? Please?

I guess a blog is like a publicly viewable diary? Makes sense. Of course I will be much more guarded than I would be in a private diary. And I will try harder to be funny because that's my thing. Some people rely on their beauty or brains to measure their self worth, not me. I am short on both those things, so I look to humor. I probably fall flat in the funny department most of the time, but I guess it's not how successful I am at being funny that counts, it's how successful I think I am that matters most.