Today's entry about: surgery, french doors, work, and driving in Seattle and in general.
Surgery - On August 11, I'm having a laparoscopy done. I'm really nervous about the procedure, the recovery, and what they find out (I really hope and pray that it's not bad news - I'm not sure how well I'll handle bad news). I have a pre-op appointment on August 9 to discuss what will happen.
:-(
French doors - Tomorrow, we finally get our french doors! Woo Hoo! I'm so excited about having good doors there. Oliver won't have the blinds to play with on that side anymore, and he really likes playing with them.
Work - I can rest a little better now knowing that the one of the licensescame through - just 2 days before the opening of ones of the stores. I really don't like waiting that close to opening for these things. But now, I'm worried about another license and getting the application at a decent time. Luckily, the women at this state agency are very nice to work with so it shouldn't be a problem, but I'm still nervous since I need this license before I can even apply for others.
Driving in Seattle and In General - The other day I drove into work - bad move on my part since there was a Mariners game in town - and I got stuck in traffic on I-90 and then on I-5. When I first started this commute from Issaquah to Seattle/Shoreline and vice versa, I was a little annoyed at the drivers who would wait until the last possible moment to merge over into the 1 lane that actually goes onto I-5, but when traffic is backed up all the way onto the exit from I-90, it would seem better to wait until closer to the end of those two lanes that end to merge into that 1 lane. It just seems to go a little quicker. If there wasn't much traffic, then those people in those other lanes have plenty of opportunity to move over. I usually move over as soon as I can, but in heavy traffic days, sometimes, it's just not possible and it's easier to wait until the end of the lane.
Anyway, the other day I was sitting in traffic and there just was never an opening to move over into the lane that goes onto I-5, so I stayed in the right hand lane almost to the end, but not quite. There was this guy who was in the lane next to mine (the one that goes onto I-5) and he started to move over into my lane to block it so I couldn't get through. This is annoying in and of itself, but when he moved over, I was right there beside him! HELLO! OPEN YOUR EYES! YOU ALMOST HIT ME! I eventually got in front of him, and he continued to try to block people's way so they couldn't get through - so he was half in the left lane and half in the right lane. People were still getting by him though. I don't like being the one that waits until the last minute, but I didn't have a good opportunity to move over until the moment that I did so and I'm sure most of the other people were the same. I don't want to slow to a stop to block the people behind me until it's absolutely necessary that I do so - otherwise, it would seem I'd just be backing up traffic even more.
Another thing - why do people have to talk on their cell phones while driving? Now, I know I've talked on the phone while driving before, but usually when I'm at a dead stop (like I was the other day on I-90). If my phone rings, I usually don't answer it until I'm at a stop - though I did answer it once because I was expecting a phone call and that didn't seem like a good idea as I was just about to go into the turn from I-90 to I-5. I put the phone down when I did get to that turn.
But anyway, a coworker of mine has a cousin whose family was in accident. Her cousin is in a coma, while the rest of the family is doing o.k. The woman that hit him was talking on a cell phone - she was in an accident before when she was talking on the cell phone. This morning, the driver of the vanpool I'm in started to talk on her cell phone just when she had to get over 2 lanes to get onto I-90 from the James St. entrance and it was something that could've waited. I was nervous about getting into an accident this morning because of it.
Well, that's enough for now. :-)
Today I was in downtown Seattle for a CLE (Continuing Legal Education) all about what the geeks have been discussing in e-mail yesterday and today - corporations! Well, that and LLCs, LLPs, etc.
At the CLE, there was discussion on whether a client should form a C Corporation, S Corporation, LLC, LLP, etc. That part was interesting, as was the "piercing the corporate veil" part, even though I knew all this stuff already, but the discussion about valuation of a business might have been interesting had the person not talked like Ben Stein. I just wanted to fall asleep so badly. I was glad that it was finally lunch time. Speaking of celebrities, the main guy of this CLE looked like Tom Cruise from that movie he's in now - with the gray hair.
I met Adam for lunch at the BOA tower - it was a good lunch and I really didn't want to go back.
After Adam went back to his work, I still had 1/2 hour before I had to be back so I wandered around downtown for a bit. I went by this building that I had seen on my way to the hotel this morning and I didn't know what this building was as it wasn't there when I worked downtown.
I later rememebered people in my van talking about this building and that it was going to be the new library! I went inside and walked around. It seems like a very cool building from the inside and very big. The only part I didn't like about it was there was this ugly neon yellow on all the escalators - just not right.
There was one part though that just seemed like an accident waiting to happen. In this part of the building, there is a railing in front of where the building has little diamond shaped windows going right over the ground below (the whole building seems to be made of diamond shaped windows). Anyway, a little kid could easily get away from his or her parents and walk on these windows. I would assume the windows are strong enough, but you never know. It just didn't look safe and that one bar isn't going to keep anyone from walking on the windows.
I also walked by the building that Brad was talking about the other night - the one where the buildng is curved at the bottom apparently, it's called the Rainier Tower. Anyway, the hotel I think he was talking about being across from it is the Fairmont Olympic Hotel (or something like that).
Anyway, back at the CLE. The speaker of the first session has a stutter and has trouble getting out words - I notice him saying words that start with the letter P one right after the other. That was a little distracting, but not compared to the floor shaking. It started out light like someone was shaking their leg, but then it got really heavy as if we were all sitting on a wild washing machine. It was getting really annoying. Finally, after 15 minutes, it stopped.
The rest of the afternoon just went so slowly, but finally they let us go at 4:45. The bus ride home sucked b/c it was SO HOT on that bus - I really don't miss riding the bus all the time though I still miss working downtown. Maybe someday, I'll be back there.
Well, time for dinner, so I'll end this now. Plus, it's getting a bit long. :-)
So this morning started out good - I saw a deer with two fawns. So cute! They were just across the street from the Issaquah Costco - over by Office Depot or whatever office store is there.
Then work started - UGH!!! The other day I was talking to the state of VA regarding some bonds - their cig. tax stamp is increasing from 2.5 cents to 20 cents - HUGE jump. I need to get the bonds increased, but I couldn't find bonds for 3 of the VA locations. The first guy I talked to said that we have bonds for 2 of the locations. The second guy said that none of those 3 have bonds. The third guy said what the first guy said. UGH!!! What is it? Supposedly, the third guy is faxing me copies of the bonds and a blank one for the 3rd store. Frustrating!
Then my doctor's office just called. They want to schedule the laparascopy, but my doctor is booked on the days that I would need to have done - which would be next week. The assistant is trying to find out what can be done. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until next cycle to have this done. I don't want to have this laparascopy done, but I also don't want to wait any longer than I have to. I've waited too long to get pregnant, and it doesn't seem to be happening on its own. Of course, one of the days that may be an option (Thursday), I can do it that day b/c I have a CLE to go to.
It really needs to be time go home. I am just getting very annoyed and frustrated at everything. It has been one long week - I really need a break.
I had all these ideas of what I could talk about in my blog, but I'm having trouble remembering what they all are. I know I was going to discuss Fahrenheit 9/11 some more, but I haven't really researched any of it lately.
One thing that I do remember is that I was going to write about movies I've seen recently. I also decided to write about the gay marriage issue.
Movies: The other day Jon and I watched 28 Days Later - strange movies about a disease turning the people into zombies who kill people and the people trying not to become zombies. Strange movie. Kinda slow too. I also watched Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle - stupid, stupid movie. The story doesn't make any sense - it almost seemed like they said, "hey, I'd like to see the Angels riding motorcycles on bike dunes" and "hey, I'd like to see them dance around in some kind of club" and "hey, I'd like to see them go over a bridge and somehow land on the helicopter flying down with them and have everyone be o.k." and then they put all that stuff together without much of a connection. Just bad. And I also watched The Weight of Water - a movie based on a book by Anita Shreve. I've never read the book, but I have it waiting for me to read. I decided to watch the movie anyway - it was different from what I was expecting and I may have to read the book to get more of the story. It was an o.k. movie, but it wasn't that great. Sean Penn and Elizabeth Hurley were in it.
Gay Marriage - why exactly do people have such a problem with this? I've heard people say that it will cause straight people to not want to have kids anymore. HUH? Yeah, I've decided that since MA is allowing gay people to get married, that I don't want to have kids anymore. That's why I'm still going through all this testing and taking these pills so I can get pregnant. This reason just doesn't make any sense.
Then they say they have to protect the sanctity of marriage. Oh, because straight people treat marriage so wonderfully. How high is the divorce rate? What about people like Britney Spears that get married for "fun", then quickly gets the marriage annulled? Or how about all those straight men and women who cheat on their spouse (Kobe Bryant, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, for example. I'm sure there are some female examples, but I can't think of any). Don't these things hurt the sanctity of marriage? Are these things going to be against the law too? I know adultery used to be against the law - it probably isn't on many states books any more - and if it is, the states don't really enforce it.
The notion that we have to define marriage in a traditional way also bothers me - just because something has happened in a certain way for many years doesn't mean it needs to or should continue to be that way. After all, we don't separate black and white people. We don't allow just white men with property to vote. We allow interracial marriages now.
Then they say gay marriage is wrong because a man and woman should be together to procreate - see above link. So does that mean that all straight couples need to procreate? They aren't a good couple in their eyes unless the couple has kids? Does a marriage have to be all about having children?
From this article , Andrew Sullivan says "the argument that marriage has anything to do with children, he says, 'fails socially and culturally because in our culture at this time, procreation is not understood to be an essential part of what it is to be married.'" The article linked above seems like a really good article (I've only skimmed it) and it brings up a lot of the issues I brought up above and more. It discusses the history of marriage in this country...
And why exactly are they more concerned with gay marriage than other issues - economy, health care, etc. Oh, that's right, because it is an issue of homeland security. I had no idea that if gay people got married, the terrorists would win, or be better able to attack us. Perhaps if we put too much time into this issue and not issues that really affect homeland security, then it will be an issue of homeland security.
I like Jon Stewart's comment about this - he made this comment on The Daily Show and when he was on the Larry King Live show...
KING: Will same-sex marriage be an issue in the campaign?
STEWART: Same-sex marriage is a very difficult situation and I was freaked out by it too. You know that.
KING: Why?
STEWART: Well, until I found out that it wasn't mandatory, because I love my wife and I'd hate to have to leave her for a dude. So I didn't want that.
KING: You thought it was mandatory.
STEWART: You never know. I don't know what -- they said the gay marriage and people got upset, so I figured, well clearly this means that there's a law being passed that we all now have to be gay.
KING: Oh, I see.
STEWART: Once it was explained to me that only gay people, I seem much more comfortable with it. It doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore.
I'm sure there are many other reasons that the anti-gay marriage people can think of - like it will lead to people wanting to marry their dogs (yeah, I really see that happening) - but I don't have any more time to write about them or the reasons like the one I just mentioned are just ridiculous.
So I've decided to do some research to try to find out what things in Fahrenheit 9/11 are true, partially true, or not true at all - a lie. I'm not sure how much I can trust Michael Moore, but I'm not so sure I can trust anyone from the right either.
Part of the transcript to the movie can be found here. Hopefully, soon the whole transcript will be out there.
Today I start with the Florida election since that is where the movie starts out. There have been many who have said that what Tobin said below is a lie...
JEFFREY TOBIN: If there was a statewide recount, under every scenario,
Gore won the election.
Hmm, it would seem from my research so far that this statement is partially true - the only part I could find that was not true was the "every scenario" part of it.
The people that have said that this is a lie say this because of a Miami Herald/USA Today study that said Bush would have won. While true Bush would have won under certain scenarios, there are also scenarios in which Gore would have won.
The links that were sent out to me to prove Bush would have won and that Tobin was lying, were to a pbs article and to a cnn article.
The pbs article stated that Bush would have won had the vote count used "standards that would have allowed even faintly dimpled "undervotes" -- ballots the voter has noticeably indented but had not punched all the way through -- to be counted." Bush would have won under most of the scenarios, the article states. However, there was one scenario the Miami Herald pointed out in which Gore would have won - "a fresh recount in all counties using the most generous standards."
"In their reports, the newspapers assumed counts already completed when the court-ordered recount was stopped would have been included in any official count. Thus, they allowed numbers from seven counties -- Palm Beach, Volusia, Broward, Hamilton, Manatee, Escambia and Madison -- to stand, but applied the most inclusive standards to votes in the rest of the state. If those numbers did not stand, the Herald reported, a more generous hypothetical revisited recount would have scored the White House for Gore -- but with only a 393-vote margin."
In the CNN article, it mentions that if the Palm Beach County standard was used in counting the votes statewide, Gore could have won the state barely. The article also mentions that if certain votes were included (overvotes, problem votes on the butterfly/caterpillar ballots), Gore could have won. However, the articles also mentions that Bush won the state under other scenarios (all undervotes counted or Gore's 4 county vote recount). Please see the article for more information on all of the above.
Further, I found some articles from The Miami Herald which also partially supports Tobin in his statement... The first one said "recounts could have given Gore the edge" if other counties were counted again using the loosest standard. The writer states, "The results of those counties were not included when The Herald computed that the Florida court's order probably would have resulted in Bush still being declared the winner." Had those counties been included, Gore could have won.
The second one mentions a headline that appeared in The Miami Herald saying Bush won (I couldn't find the article, but I'll keep searching), while inside the article it says Gore would have won under a different scenario.
"And the headline was absolutely accurate, sort of. If the review simply picked up where the recount had left off in December, George W. Bush actually added votes to his official victory under the most commonly used standards for counting damaged ballots (ironically, standards that his campaign opposed).PANDORA'S BOX
Review showed George W. Bush won the Florida election, sort of.
But -- and here's where Pandora's Box opened -- if the recount had been started from scratch in each of Florida's 67 counties, The Herald concluded ``Gore would be in the White House today.''
A third one looked into seeing what the result would have been by looking into voting patterns of those in Florida. It stated that "a Herald-commissioned analysis of voting patterns in each of the state's 5,885 precincts suggests that Florida likely would have gone to Al Gore -- by a slim 23,000 votes -- rather than George W. Bush, the officially certified victor by the wispy margin of 537." This study, though, I wouldn't lean too much on because just because a county voted one way several times doesn't necessarily mean they would vote this way this time or that they would vote at all in the Presidential election (which is mentioned in the article).
So while Tobin's statement in Fahrenheit 9/11 is not entirely true - it seems to be partially true based on the articles above.
Next time , I hope to research:
1) Whether the bin Ladens or other Saudi citizens could fly out when no one else could (Moore does not say this directly in this movie which I thought he did - though I can see how one could infer that from what is said from this quote and quote surrounding it). See below:
Narrator: It turns out that the White House approved planes to pick up the bin Ladens and numerous other Saudis. At least six private jets and nearly two dozen commercial plans carried the Saudis and the bin Ladens out of the U.S. after September 13th. In all, 142 Saudis, including 24 members of the bin Laden family, were allowed to leave the country.
2) If the White House gave the o.k. (which it appears from my research so far that Richard Clarke and the FBI were involved in giving the o.k.).
3) And whether the bin Ladens were interviewed by the FBI before they left -
Moore, in Fahrenheit 9/11, does not say that they were never interviewed, but rather implies that they weren't interviewed in depth.
NARRATOR: So a little interview, check the passport, what else?
CRAIG UNGER: Nothing.
So another terror warning was issued today that al Qaida may attack and disrupt the elections.
They don't know when, where, or how. I have no doubt that they do get some kind of "chatter" that something is going on and that they could attack again, but at the same time, like Ken Schram, I'm just feeling a bit cynical about this - it's not often I agree with Ken Schram.
It seems like they (the Bush Admin.) like to generate panic, and they made this announcement after positive poll numbers for Kerry came out yesterday. That just sounds like Michael Mooreism and I really don't want to sound like him, but when it comes to this, it's easy to think like that. I hope that al Qaida isn't planning more attacks, and if they are, the U.S. is able to stop it.
Maybe I'm just feeling cynical because they've said this before and didn't know a when, how or why or they give warnings as to "poison pens" or bombs at the mall, or whatever and nothing has ever happened. Of course, maybe those things were legitimate, and the U.S. was able to stop it and the government didn't let us know for some reason. If they had stopped something (other than the guy coming across the border around the Milennium), I would like to know. It would help me be less cynical each time a new warning comes out. Or am I forgetting a time that they did stop something and let us know? Which is possible with my memory these days.
We took Oliver to his first vet visit last night. For the most part, he was a good kitty and sat on the table or at least walked around the table he was put on. There were a few times where he was wanting to get around and explore though. He purred when the assistant was holding him at one time. The doctor said that he is a healthy kitty. I was concerned about him wheezing a few times, but the doctor said he didn't find anything wrong with him. He's too young for hairballs. They weighed him and he's 3.8 pounds. And they told us that he's probably going to be a big kitty since his back paws are big.
When we first showed up at the vet clinic, there were two huge dogs there that came up to my waist. HUGE. I can't remember what type of dogs they are. So while the dogs were still there, Oliver stayed in his carrier so he'd be less aware that there are dogs nearby. Oliver does not like dogs. These dogs, though, live with cats and get along with them. When the dogs left, we let him out of his carrier and held him so he could see stuff though he really wanted to explore on his own.
There was also another little kitten - it was orange and white and so cute!
They gave us a free bag of the Science Diet kitten food, along with some other information for caring for a kitten. They all seemed like nice people.
Today I'm writing about: my weekend, movies I saw this last weekend, french doors, know-it-alls, work people, and spreading rumours (I felt the need to spell this last word with a "u".)
My weekend: The weekend started off kinda boring, but kinda relaxing. I went home Friday night and watched Down with Love on HBO. That was actually a good movie. I really enjoyed it. Saturday - I went to go see Spiderman 2 - that was a very good movie. So much better than the first one! Afterwards, a few of our friends joined us at our place for a bbq. Sunday - Jon and I went to Kendra and Adam's for the 4th of July bbq. They set off some fireworks - some very cool, some were not so cool, and one looked like it was going to catch two different houses on fire. There were several people with fireworks that were obviously illegal. Monday - Michelle and I went to go see Fahrenheit 9/11 - a good movie, though over the top in places, and possibly untruthful in places, but I enjoyed the movie and the way he put things together - though the end dragged a bit. I really liked the way he portrayed 9/11 - it was definitely a moving scene (one critic I read a review of said it was the most moving depiction of 9/11 that he's seen on film - I tried finding it, but no luck). I also started watching (finally!) the first season of The Sopranos - I've watched the first four episodes and they've been good so far, so I'll continue to watch them. :-D
French doors - July 27, we get our french doors - Yay! I'm so excited! It will look so nice! Oliver will have to start playing with the other blinds by the front door then because the french doors will have the blinds built into them. 20 more days!
Know-it-alls: As someone once said about Hermione, no one likes an insufferable know-it-all, and it's very true. There are people that work here and other people I talk to who act like they know-it-all, and it just drives me nuts. I don't know it all - hopefully, I don't ever come across that way - though I wish I knew more than I do - to effectively argue with people about things and to show these know-it-alls that they can be wrong.
Speaking of work people: I know I shouldn't be annoyed, but I'm having an annoying day. So one of my coworkers shows up to work an hour late. Apparently, she thinks she can do so since our boss is on vacation this week. Then she takes more than her 1/2 hour of lunch, takes longer 15 minute breaks during the day, then leaves right on time. It just bugs me b/c I'm here at 7:15 pretty much every day (she's supposed to be here at 7), I rarely take my full lunch, and I don't really take much breaks during the day except maybe to go get a refill on my water or to make my lunch or occassionally look at websites. I thought since she can take all this time off - and right before her own vacation - (though she's late all the time and takes long lunches all the time) that I could write on my blog for 20 minutes. :-D
Spreading rumours: Another coworker and I were discussing Britney Spears - I'm not sure why, but it came up. Oh, I know why, because a song of hers came on the radio, then I told her about this firework that was called something like "Britney Spears Magic Whip" - I can't remember exactly. A pretty lame firework. Anyway, we got to discussing her engagement to that dancer and the rumours surrounding why she called off her tour - low ticket sales or she's pregnant. The reason I think they gave was that she was having problems with her knee. So why not add another rumour out there - she was pregnant, but had a miscarriage or worse, an abortion. We thought it would be funny for a moment, but not so much anymore. I'm sure Star or National Enquirer has already started these rumours anyway.
So our ex-President Bill Clinton came to the Issaquah Costco on June 30.
He was supposed to be here at 1, so a coworker and I walked over there a little before to see if we can see him in person as he got of his car. The last time I saw him in person was the Summer of 1992 when he was running for President. He came to Spokane and spoke at Riverfront Park. After his speech, I went to go meet him and almost did until my dad yelled at me to tell me they were leaving. Sucks - I almost met the man that would become President. Someday I'll meet a President.
The next time I "saw" him was when he was doing a fundraiser at some private club in downtown Seattle a few years ago. I was coming back from dropping off a final exam when the law school was in Tacoma, and his motorcade drove by. I happened to be right across the street from the club when he drove by (they had the actual street right in front of the club blocked off). I never actually saw him get out of the car. It was interesting to hear what people were talking about - there were people arguing back and forth about whether he was a good man and a good President. I just remember one guy getting incredibly frustrated and yelling that Clinton was a huge liar, had ruined the country, and was an embarrasment to the country.
Anyway, since it had been a few years, I wanted to see him again in person. But we heard he was going to be an hour late, so we decided we needed to get back to work. He showed up 1/2 hour after we went back to work.
I wandered back over to the warehouse about 2:15 to see if I could see him. They had the area around where he was signing books all blocked off by a big wall of Coke products, but they did have tv screens in which people in the other parts of the warehouse could see him sign books. He was always smiling and I could tell he was saying "thank you" to people after it looked like they had said something to him.
There were a couple people from my work who got to see him (which I thought we weren't allowed to go over being Costco employees, but I guess we could if we took vacation time to actually go stand in line - which I wasn't about to do with the very small amount of vacation I have). One woman said he was very pale, but very attractive. Another woman I saw come out of the area where he was signing books came out like she was about to faint. One of the Costco employees asked if she was o.k., and she said yes, she just needed to catch her breath. It was interesting seeing the type of people who were willing to wait that long to get a few seconds to meet him and get his signature.
So after a few minutes, I went back to work. The next day, I found out that Clinton had come out from the part of the warehouse where he was signing books and wandered around the rest of the warehouse. One of my coworkers saw him when she was looking in the book area. She saw him again when he was outside signing even more of his books - probably against the Secret Service's wishes.
It was certainly an interesting day with having Clinton here and all of those Secret Service agents. A lot of people from my work went over to the warehouse to see him.
I don't remember seeing this much excitement when Gore came here - and I actually got to see him in person because he wasn't blocked off by a wall of Coke. I wonder who the next person will be.