I am living in 1920 except for my cell phone

Last week Tuesday i was going to work, and there were signs that a road crew was coming through. Oh good, the road needs to be paved. It's very bumpy. Later that day, Tony tells me there is no internet or TV. Hm. So when I got home, I called Comcast. They send signals, they transferred me, they disconnected me, and finally they said they were going to send a technician out on Thursday. Kids not happy, but what can you do? Thursday the technician calls me and tells me that the road crew cut the cable. They are supposed to notifiy the utilities when they are out paving, so that the utility companys can come and make sure that the cables are taken care of. He will escalate it since we don't have phone, but he estimates that it will take one to two weeks for the county to come back out and fix it. Dearra had homework, so I had to take her to my sister's so that she could download a file. Tuesday I am home for lunch. I'm doing this every day, because I have a bottle baby (kitten) to feed. And there is the road crew digging a trench and laying a cable. Hooray! So when I get home that evening, I am expecting there to be TV, internet and phone. Nope, no dice. So after the twins' open house and concert, and after I eat, I am back on the phone with Comcast. After an hour and a half, they tell me their activation department will call me in the morning. Wednesday morning, no phone call. Wednesday evening before karate I call them, not expecting to get anything accomplished in a short half hour. After a few minutes, they tell me a technician will call me on Thursday, and that they will be out on the weekend. Thursday morning I get a call from Comcast. There is some sort of problem with permits, and that is what is causing the delay. Huh. Permits to fix a line that was already up and running? I don't understand. Maybe I should go back to DirecTv and AT&T. Sigh.

It Finally Caught Up To Me

The crappy economy, that is. Last week Thursday I was given my 60 day notice. Reason given, the company hasn't made enough money this year. They probably only made 9 million instead of 10 million. lol I knew what was happening before I walked into that conference room. There had been several other people scheduled before me, and people talk. But you can prepare yourself for something, and when it happens, it is still a shock. At least it wasn't "goodbye, there's the door". I'm not supposed to disclose details, but I did have the good fortune to work for a company that has a good severance package and support system. I also found out that I have a bit of a cheering section inside the company, and there are people who are willing to help me out with finding something. So, even though this is a hell of a scary time, divorced, 3 school aged kids, moving out on my own in the next couple of weeks, and now potentially unemployed, it could be worse. Hopefully it won't be worse.

Margaret and Helen

A friend brought this blog to my attention.


Margaret and Helen

If you are at least a little left of center where American politics are concerned, you will love this blog. These ladies don't pull any punches. They are hilariously funny, but too the point.

Enjoy!

Test Your Brain

Something fun that I found the other day:


Test My Brain

There are three tests:

1. Judging words and faces
2. How good is your number gut?
3. Can you name that face?

The first one has a number of parts. You are shown several words and asked your opinion about them. Then you are shown faces, and have to judge which one doesn't fit. Then you have to try and remember which words you saw previously and which ones you didn't.

The second one shows you colored dots, blue and yellow, really quickly, and you need to figure out whether there are more blue or more yellow. The second half shows you dots, but one of them changes color and you have to find it.

The third one shows you celebrity faces, and you have to try and identify them.

Each test scores you based on how well you did compared to the other people who took the test.

Very interesting!

Dawn and Asperger's

I recently reviewed a book by a person with Asperger's Syndrome, and came to the conclusion that I had some of the characteristics of Asperger's myself. I did some research on it and also took this test:

http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

The results were that I had a lot of Asperger's characteristics when it came to social traits but very normal or neurotypical when it came to language and some other things. It concluded that I most likely had Asperger's.

In counseling the other day, the counselor gave me another quiz. It wasn't a full out diagnostic test but it was one that would give a strong indication one way or the other. It came out pretty heavily towards the Asperger's side.

So what is Aspergers? Well, think of it as something that is related to Autism but with much fewer of the cognitive and language problems that many autistic individuals have. Here are a couple of links with information on Asperger's in adults (you will need to sign up for a free Medscape account to read the second one):

http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/asperger039s-diary/200809/asperger-emotions-and-adult-relationships

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/531750

So what does this mean for me? Well mostly it's a big, fat relief because it explains a lot of things that I didn't understand about myself, how I think, how I react, why my brain freezes up in social situations, etc. It probably also means that I will never be "normal". But what is normal anyway, if there even is such a thing? At least I know more or less why my brain is how it is and I can start learning some coping mechanisms in a more logical manner instead of sort of hit and miss.

Please keep in mind that if I ever leave a clueless sort of comment that appears to lack empathy, that's probably just the way my brain is wired. People with Asperger's have emotions, they're just not real good at expressing them. On the other hand, if I ever say anything really insensitive or idiotic, feel free to point it out to me (politely, please). Asperger's isn't an excuse for being a jerk.

Cats About Town Society - Sacramento, CA

If you live in the Sacramento, California area, check out this wonderful organization:


Cats About Town Society Home Page


It is a no kill, all volunteer, not for profit cat rescue organization. If you are in the area and can help this group by adopting or fostering cats, volunteering or donating, please visit the website link above to find out how!

Mom is Turning Over in Her Grave

Well this is probably guaranteed to get some folks hot and bothered, but I don't care. I'm feeling ashamed and embarrassed to be a Californian right now.

California Proposition 8 appears to have passed. Prop 8 essentially prohibits same sex marriages in California. The proposition was actually losing until a few weeks ago when the "Yes on 8" campaign took a new direction. They turned it into a parental rights issue.

Seems that same sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts and there are cases being cited of same sex marriage being in the curriculum in the schools there. Parents are not allowed to opt out of the curriculum there.

The "Yes on 8" campaign insists that it must therefore follow that this would also happen in California if 8 does not pass. Scare tactics. Even if this were to be taught in California schools, not a foregone conclusion, California has a parental "opt out" clause.

Unfortunately the scare tactics seem to have worked and now it is legal to discriminate against people who are born gay. In my mind, that is the same as discriminating against somebody for the color of their skin.

If your church has a problem with gay marriage, don't marry gays in your church. Simple as that. But keep that sort of thing out of our civil law.

There is always the California Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court and I hope that this proposition is overturned quickly.