Let's focus on the real outrages, OK?

Amid all the finger-pointing and blame assessing surrounding the pathetic response by the Federal government to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, some people have decided to be just outraged by the actions of one administration official.

No, not FEMA chief Michael "It's the victim's fault" Brown, not Dick "Me, I'm in an undisclosed location" Cheney, not even George "Who needs levee upgrades and flood control? I got me a war!" Bush.

No, the transgressor was Condi Rice, and she bought some nice shoes. For this, she is being pilloried by some of the more out-there members of my side of the aisle.

What the fuck, people? The woman is Secretary of State. In case y'all have forgotten, the State Department is in charge of foreign relations. The Gulf Coast states are not, last time I checked, foreign nations. So what role Condi was supposed to take in this disaster is beyond me. Embassies could contact their respective "desks" or the Department of Homeland Security directly with offers of aid, and many have.

Then there's the silly idea that during a time of crisis we all need to wear hair shirts and suffer along with the people in New Orleans. That somehow we all need to reduce ourselves to their level. Bollocks. I'm having a great fucking week, thank you very much. If the Big One hits in the next ten minutes and I find myself eating cold soup and sleeping in my car for the next week, I won't expect anyone to stop their lives just because I'm having a hard time. So the Secretary of State bought some shoes.

Who the fuck cares?

Another week in the bag, and I'm half in the bag already..

My frickking uniforms didn't show up. We're considering forming a mob (complete with torches, pitchforks, and a Podzilla modified to hold a battering ram) and storming the Aramark office. This is ridiculous! I've been there six weeks, and no uniform!

My company phone showed up.. and it was the wrong one. Set for the area code of our home office. Meaning any calls I made would be very long distance, and any customers who tried to reach me would get a shock. *sigh* Sometimes I wonder about corporate.. then I don't have to wonder any more.

Yesterday was a bit hellish, since I spent all day running back to the warehouse to pick up another container from storage and deliver it. The one that blew my mind was coming from Fremont to the ass-end of Almaden Expressway (about 25 miles) to deliver a container, driving back to the warehouse, and then grabbing another pod that I delivered to a house three blocks from the one I had done previously. There's an interesting paradigm shift working this job. Most people loath Mondays and greet Friday with glee. With us, it's reversed. Mondays tend to be fairly easy (a lot of final pick ups and returns) whereas Fridays tend to suck (lots of people wanting their pods for the weekend, meaning lots of trips back to Fremont.)

Today was nice. Very little traffic, and my jobs flowed nicely. In order, I did

1. An initial drop in Cupertino. Then I rolled empty to
2. A final pick-up in Morgan Hill. I took that Pod to
3. An initial drop in the Santa Teresa are of San Jose. Empty again, it was up to
4. A move in Palo Alto. Both the origin and new place were in PA. Podless once more, it was off to
5. A return to warehouse in east San Jose.

I rocked. First one back to the warehouse. I managed to have an eight hour day! Shock! Most of the jobs were simple enough, except for the pick up on the move, which required some tricky driving and getting clever with the lift. The customers tipped me $25. I can deal with that.

I did run into traffic on the way home, but not much, and wandered around B&N for a bit looked for Anvil of Stars. No luck. I might wander over to The Other Bookstore tomorrow and see if they have it. No luck in finding a new FLGS. Nearest place that looks promising is in Santa Clara. (Damnit, collie13, make Bob reopen Planet 10!)

I've been good, and haven't spent much money. I did subscribe to the newspaper (but may go to Sundays-only, since they don't seem to be able to deliver before I leave for work.) Put some much-needed time on my phone, and did a little food shopping. Keeping the car in gas has meant I haven't been able to shake loose the money for Kiri's bus pass. I'm really glad I filled up this morning; by noon prices had jumped 15 cents at most stations. Speaking of gas, I treated myself to chili last night. Yum!

Other than work and netting, I've not done much. Playing a lot of SimCity (mostly 2000 until I can get the 3000 manual printed) and I've run into a frustrating problem. I start out strong, but sooner or later I over grow my city, run low on funds, and find myself facing ever-escalating costs mixed with the fact that I have to replace my power plant. Next game, I keep growth slow, in 3x3 sections.

I have Monday off, but have to get to work early Tuesday, and really early Wednesday. Like, "leaving the house by 0430" early. Major ick.

Looking at our situation, I think Kiri and I could afford to rent a house. That would be nice.

She comes home in a few days. I can't wait!

My heart!

While cruising rental ads, I found a link to NYC apartments.

O_o

OK, nobody really lives in Manhattan, right? Who in their right mind would pay 2 grand a month for a studio!?