When I went to get the mail yesterday, this funny little fella was on the welcome mat eating bread heals he took from the trash. Weirdest cat I've ever seen. He looked pretty drunk (a sign of dystemper), and he only had fur on half his tail, so I called the humane society. He was gone by the time they arrived, but I'm sure he'll be back. Mowgli's cousin maybe?

As of right now, the "Political" choice in the poll doesn't have any votes. So I just want to emphasize that this post isn't about politics.

Last night, I was listening to President Obama's address and thinking about the state of our nation. It seems that we'd really like someone to blame for our troubles. We're mad at the banks. We don't like CEOs. We find that there are people who 'deserve' foreclosure (speculators and those who 'bought too much house').

Instead of looking for someone to blame, I think it's important to look at the culture at large. Somewhere along the line, cheating became acceptable. It's everywhere, in every social strata and age group. Kids cheat on tests. CEOs cheat with profit margins. Baseball players take steriods. Joe Six Pack uses a credit card to spend money he doesn't have. Don't get me started on illegal music downloads.

If we're going to fix this, we're not just going to need economic reform, we're going to need cultural reform. From top to bottom, honesty and integrity will need to return to our country. The extent of the damage that's been done over the course of recent decades is coming to light, but the economy is going to continue to contract until it gets back to an honest level--where it's been all along, whether we acknowledge it or not. Wall Street isn't a measure of the economy. It's a measure of how well we're cooperating for the benefit of all. We're not backsliding now, we just were never as well off as we thought we were. The facade is crumbling. We've been caught with our pants down and our hand in the cookie jar. So to speak.

(Why was he going to eat cookies with his pants down? That's perverse.)

How many new features can you find?

Vacation has begun. Now all I have to do is finish my two, count-em two, take-home exams that were lovingly assigned by my professors the day before break. Wasn't that nice of them.

I was walking to work the other day and a colleague drove by. She slowed, rolled down her window, and said, "You're the fastest walker I've ever seen." I thought about it for a while, and I came to two conclusions: (a) I am the fastest walker she's ever seen, and (2) it's no wonder I've shaved several minutes off my daily 'commute'--the faster I walk, the less time I have to spend freezing my face off in the frozen tundra.

I demand spring.

Lately I've been feeling that I should be writing more often, but I don't have a lot going on that isn't typical humdrum that I haven't been over several times before. Winter break is coming up next week. I'm definitely looking forward to that. I do have two take-home exams to work on, so I'm not quite as excited about that. Also, I'm pretty sure organic raisin bran from Costco gives me gas. Too much information? I don't really care. I mean, I don't care about the fact that you now know I fart sometimes. I do care about the fact that the bran makes me fart too much. Too much farting isn't good. Unless you're in a farting contest. Which I am. (Sarah is winning). She's not going to like that.

This is what happens when no one says anything stupid in my presence for long periods of time.

I don't have any tirades today, so you're out of luck. At the same time, I feel like I should be writing something. Maybe a tirade about no tirades?

Not everyone should write a blog post today.

Sarah and I were browsing in the Apple store yesterday, and employees kept coming up to us and excitedly saying things like: "Hi! How are you today?!? Do you have any questions?!?!?" Come on guys, I know we're in a recession and you probably really need the commission so you can hire the social skills tutor you obviously need, but I only go into a store for two reasons.

Reason one: to buy something. In this case, I don't need any help. I already know what I want to buy, and I don't need you to try and convince me that I want something more expensive so that you can go next door to Abercrombie and buy those extra tight pants you wanted (don't forget to tuck them into your socks).

Reason two: to see if I want to buy something. In this case, I still don't need any help. I already know what I probably want to buy. If it's a good deal, I will. If it's not a good deal, I'll go home. And I don't need you to try and convince me that I want something just so you can get that acne cream you think will help (it won't).

Anyway, yesterday we were just pricing a $19 chord we thought we might buy (so we could hook our laptop to our TV), and so we definitely didn't need/want a whole lot of attention from the Nerd Herd (I think Apple calls them the 'Geniuses'--yeah, 'ok'). We'd been there less than five minutes when, for the third time, an employee came to see how we were doing. Here's a snippet.

Employee: Hi!!!! How are you today!!!!

Me: (biting off my words) Fine. How are you? (I didn't really want to know)

Employee: (ignoring my question) Do you have any questions?!?!?

Me: (perturbed) Inside voice: I just asked you a question and you didn't answer it. Outside voice: No.

Employee: (looking quizzically at me) Are you sure?

Me: (trying valiantly to stop myself from punching him in groin) Inside Voice: What do you mean 'are you sure?'!!! No, you caught me. I'm so stupid that, not only can I not find the product I'm looking for in a 300 square foot space, but I'm also too stupid to remember that I wanted to ask you a question. What was it again? Oh yeah: if this is the apple store, then where are all the apples? Outside Voice: Yes, I'm quite sure.

Employee: Oh. Well, if you think of any, I'll be over here!!!

Which brings me to my larger point: I can't throw a rock through a store nowadays without hitting someone who's trying to help me buy something because I'm too stupid to (a) find it myself, or (b) know that I needed it in the first place. What happened to the spirit of adventure that made this country what it is? Our ancestors traveled harrowing journeys to a new world in search of a better life. They traveled to the West in wagons, braving harsh conditions in search of new opportunities. They went to the moon. THE MOON!!!

Today, we can't find the AAA batteries at Wal-Mart without a sales associate, and don't get me started on what happens if we try and use the self-checkout machine to buy them. Is this the Twilight Zone? Where am I? What's happening?

Update:

1) Yes, I was wearing a shirt (from Wal-Mart).
2) No, it wasn't a female student.

Yesterday a student was talking to an administrative assistant, and I walked in, got something from a file cabinet, and walked out. The administrative assistant related this dialogue after the student left.

AA: So I'm going to set you up for an appointment with John for tomorrow.

Student: Wait, is he that guy who looks like an Abercrombie model?

AA: Who?

Student: You know, that guy who was just at the file cabinet.

So at least I've got that going for me.

Good news: There was no car-related fireball.
Bad news: The internet has been down at home for almost a week. AT&T is awesome.
Good news: We found a great mechanic and it was cheaper to fix the car than we were first told.
Bad news: It still cost $180.
Good news: We're in Lapeer visiting my parents.
Bad news: I'm sick.