Sirius vs T-Rex

Yesterday, Ron brought Sirius over.

Here's my beautiful boy

And here he is again

And he forgot to bring Sirius a toy to entertain him. So I dug around in my bag of tricks, and came across the dinosaurs I used when I was an elementary counselor.

Let's just say, Sirius won.

Please Don't Let the Funeral Interrupt Your Call

Seriously.

I went to a funeral today. (Not someone I knew, but a good friend from work's sister.) And I had to hear at least 3 different cell phones go off. One did it twice.

Are people really that rude? Is nothing sacred anymore? People can't even be bothered to turn off their cell phones to honor the dead?!

Once again, I find myself disgusted with the human race.

I Fell Off the Wagon

Before you jump all over my case, I'd like to point out that this happened at a workshop where the only person from my district was someone I introduced myself to just this evening. So this essentially means I was in a room full of strangers, so technically I could have just kept this all to myself.

Thank you very much.

The workshop was at CSU, Stanislaus and the draw was that it was free and dinner and dessert were provided. The drawback was all they served to drink was soda.

And, god help me, I gave in.

In my defense, it was only half of one of those small plastic bar cups. Like the kind you get at weddings. And they served fajitas, rice and beans, which were not only salty but a little spicy.

But still.

And I have to say...I was completely disappointed. First of all, it was way, way, way too sweet. Ew. Second, it left me thirstier than when I started. Probably all that sodium.

Now don't get me wrong. I genuinely believe that when I first gave up soda, I had a serious problem. (If you don't believe me, ask Ron, since he got the brunt of my frustrations. And all the smelling-his-soda doing on my part.) But after this evening, I really gotta wonder--This is what I've been obsessing over for the last 3 years? Has denying myself this turned it into the larger than life thing, that in reality is really no big deal?

Nonetheless, I'm not going back to the (soda) bottle. But I've gotta say that I'm kinda glad that I did this, if for no other reason than to serve as a reminder that it's not something I want. I wouldn't recommend this approach to those of you with harder addictions, but hey, it's good to know.

Ohmagod, Ohmagod, Ohmagod

My heart is beating out of my chest, ya'll.

After an early morning of productivity, I went to the grocery store for a few things. While congratulating myself on not giving in to the urge to stay in my jammies and watch BH 90210 reruns, I put my groceries in the car and took off, intent on making a Starbucks run. I reached into the backseat, where I usually stash my purse, and it wasn't fucking there.

Ohmagod, ohmagod, ohmagod.

A quick turnaround later, I'm back in the parking lot by my abandoned cart (which, BTW, I do put in the cart corral thingy), having a near heart attack as I see that my purse is not fucking there either.

Ohmagod, ohmagod, ohmagod.

I rush into the store and find the service counter, where one of the workers sees me and asks, "Are you Kristen?" Then goes in the back and returns with my purse.

Ohthankgod, ohthankgod, ohthankgod.

Deep breath.

Now the purse itself isn't anything special, it's a vinyl clutch I got at Target on clearance and I really like it and have gotten compliments on it. But inside, I had my I.D., my check card, about $120 cash, my camera, a Starbucks gift card and a M.A.C. Plushglass.

And everything was still there!

All I have to say, is that karma is the real deal.

Back before Christmas, I went to the same store with a companion who shall remain nameless (since they come out bad in this story), and as we were walking up to the doors, I saw that someone had left her purse in her abandoned cart. And my companion encouraged me to "Put it in the car!"

And I said absolutely not, and turned it in to the service counter. I hope she was able to reclaim her purse, like I was.

I told this story to the above mentioned companion, who told me that they were glad I got my purse back, and that they had learned a good lesson.

Okay, I feel better now.

California Can Suck It

Ladies and Gentlemen, the California Legislators suck ass.

(Like you didn't already know that)

Yesterday everyone in the district had a meeting at their respective school sites where the principals got to add "bearer of bad news" to their official job description.

In case you've been living under a rock, the State of California does not have a budget for this fiscal year. Said budget was due in July.

Fucking July!!!

And shortly before Christmas, it was announced that without a budget, in roughly 70 days, the State of California would run out of money. Which for those of you who are math-challenged means about the end of February. Which is pretty goddamned soon.

So, though my employer is LUSD, my check comes from the County Office of Education, which is funded by...(wait for it)...The State of California.

So guess what?

Essentially without a budget, LUSD will run out of money. Soon. So that means that I could feasibly not get a paycheck, but rather an IOU. Soon.

WTF?!

Now keep in mind, the State of California has been issuing IOU's to its employees for sometime. Basically since they haven't had a budget. These IOU's are in the same amount as the regular paychecks, and when a budget is put forth, the banks/credit unions/other money places that honored the IOU's will receive their money, essentially having little impact on the income of these people receiving IOU's. However, word has it that many of the banks/credit unions/other money places that had been honoring IOU's will stop. Because between IOU's as tax refunds and IOU's as payment to state workers, and now IOU's for school employees throughout the state, that's a helluva lot of money that may or may not be coming in soon.

So I may be stuck with an IOU that is worth dick.

And as previously foreshadowed, my financial situation wavers between just eeking by and bleak. I am definitely not set up to live off IOU's, no matter how short a time.

Now let's stop and think about this. These California Legistlators and the Govenor have been working on this budget for a long time, with no results. If anyone else, or any other place of business worked as long as they have with nothing to show for it, what do you think would happen?

This is like if I showed up to work everyday, met with students and parents, returned emails and phone messages, attended a variety of meetings, chatted with co-workers, ate my lunch, etc. but not a single one of my seniors walked across that field to the graduation stage.

That would be completely unacceptable.

And don't even get me started on the fact that even with a budget, the money that LUSD will get from the State will not be enough. Between now and the start of the '09-'10 school year (which commences July 27, 2009), LUSD alone is looking at cutting roughly $20 million.

Double WTF?!

Not to mention that without enough money, we are looking at possible staffing cuts. Which essentially is a domino effect. And while I'm coming up on 3 years with LUSD in March, I've gotta wonder where exactly the domino will run out. And if I do withstand the domino, that doesn't mean that I'll necessarily get to stay at Tokay. Which would absolutely kill me. I so totally ♥ my school site.

Triple WTF?!

Now we've been encouraged to contact our legislators and explain to them the direness of the situation, blah, blah, blah. I'd really like to think that these kinds of things would make a difference. And maybe I'm just too bitter at this point to think positively right now. But the bottom line is that the State of California needs to get their shit together quick, fast and in a hurry, and get a freaking budget in place.