I want to write a post, but I can’t think of any one topic to stick with, so this is just kind of a buffet of half-baked thoughts.


Stefan is still out of work and we are still waiting to hear anything from my workplace about the job posting he applied to back before November. This is week three since the holidays and mum’s the word. I’ve gone back and forth as to whether or not I should ask anyone about what’s going on with the position and the main reason I don’t ask is because I am afraid of the answer. I am afraid I am going to hear an answer that will crush the last shred of hope I have left. Now, that may not be a bad thing, because I know I’ll move on. I’m just not ready to get to the moving on part yet; therefore I dare not ask.


Meanwhile, we’ve been playing lots of WoW. It’s cheap, we can play all we want, and it keeps our mind off the heavy stuff that’s going on in our lives. I would classify it as an addiction of convenience. It definitely serves a purpose right now, so I’m not sweating it.


I am convinced beyond belief that there is something strange going on with our house. We are investigating the possibility of Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) exposure from the utility lines that sandwich the house. We have them running behind and in front of the house. Studies run the gamut of the spectrum, from people saying there is no harm at all, to others saying it’s the underlying cause for a prolific host of health problems we see today. The only thing I am sure of is that something is wrong, it is not made up in my head, and we may never have the concrete proof that’s needed for any study. Either way, there is an energy leak in the house, much like the always fabled but never proven memory leaks that some software applications have.


I was so excited to get Stefan out of the house this weekend. I’d found an IMAX theater that was playing Avatar in 3D. My hope was crushed on Friday due to the discovery that the IMAX theater is actually one of those LIEMAX theaters. When you think of IMAX, you think of a dome-shaped whole-body sensory immersive movie experience, yes? Well, IMAX these days just means taking out the first couple of rows of seats and expanding the screen a little bit and charging people a butt-ton to get in. I was actually willing to splurge on this little luxury. We have to make every experience worth the money these days. $9.50 per ticket for a regular movie is just a tad too rich for my blood, but apparently not for everyone who’s in the theater texting their friends during the movie. Seriously, for $9.50, I’m going to have an experience I can’t get at home! Who are these people and how do they have so much disposable money?


I suppose it worked out anyway, because I got a live paycheck on Friday, which due to today being a holiday, won’t be available in the new checking account until Wednesday, so we wouldn’t have been able to afford the excursion as planned. I got a live paycheck because we’re switching banks and they did a dry run before the direct deposit becomes effective next pay period. Did you know you can get kicked out of a credit union? Neither did I, until a month ago! Apparently if you have a credit card with them and you stop making payments because you have to choose between making credit card payments and buying groceries, they can restrict your DEBIT card from use. Then, when they force you to visit a credit union bank to withdraw money from your own checking account (because your DEBIT card is restricted), the teller corners you and calls Collections and you have to speak to a nasty Collections representative before you’re allowed to withdraw money. You have to have this uncomfortable conversation in front of all the other customers waiting in line behind you. Let’s just say that the customer/credit union relationship goes downhill from there.


I think I’m being forced into becoming a laid-back person. A don’t-take-life-so-seriously kind of person. An “it’s-okay-to-break-some-of-these-rules” person. Because if I were to stay tightly wound due to the financial crisis, the energy-sucking home in which we live, the ridiculous fight just to gain access to my own hard-earned money, I think I’d blow a gasket. But now I know a few things. This too shall pass. If we get out of the house, the energy-suckiness diminishes, and if we can’t get out, WoW makes a great substitute for escaping our lives, and not paying bills does not equal the Spanish Inquisition barreling in and lopping off your head. It just means you have to show them who really has the power. They can yell and scream and bully you all they want, but ultimately, they can’t touch your money and they can’t keep you from your own money. Collections folk are just pitbulls with no teeth.


Please note: there are some caveats to the above paragraph. If you find yourself in big trouble, I suggest you contact an attorney versed in the laws of bankruptcy and get the facts before acting hastily, because there are some instances in which they can take things from you. Educate yourself. It’s really your only defense.


Speaking of which, the law is a funny thing, as are lawyers. I learned a lot. I think the thing that stuck out most is that lawyers view the law as a challenge, while regular Joes view the law as the backhand of God.


I also wonder what is going to happen with all this digital communication. IM’s, emails, texting, tweeting, facebooking. Nobody calls each other anymore. Yet, we are more disconnected than before. When you can’t go to a single meeting without somebody whipping out their phone and tapping buttons on it, there is something wrong. The person texting is not connecting with those in the room, nor are they connecting with the person on the other end of their text. I am one of the very few people who does not bring my phone to meetings. I’ll have to pay more attention, but I might be the only one. I don’t even bring my laptop. In some ways, I am so old-fashioned!


At the same time, we get disproportionately bent out of shape over snide comments people leave on articles and blogs. People say the most horrible, disgusting, vile things when they think they’re being anonymous. They would never say those things to your face, largely because they don’t really mean them but they think it’s somehow okay to say them on the Internet.


Digital technology is definitely bringing out the worst in us, yet it’s one of the biggest, if not the biggest, inventions ever. It is so powerful. I do wish we come to our senses soon, though, and start respecting it. Right now we’re struggling to assign its place in our life.