I hate being sick.
I haven't been sick for some time, but I have something now. After my software upgrades Saturday morning, I started feeling achy and feverish. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in bed or in the chair, sleeping or trying to sleep. I had a meeting this morning that I bowed out of. The last thing I need is to infect our entire sales force. I am thinking about doing some work this afternoon, as I'm totally dosed up on day-quill and some allergy medicine. I'm still a bit achy and congested, but I'm thinking I can function as long as I don't sneeze, breath-on or otherwise touch anyone.
We haven't heard from my oldest son, who's in the Marines, since he left a 10 second voice mail around Christmas. From what I can tell, he's at Sri Lanka now providing support for the relief efforts. The news is saying that the Sri Lankan government is wary of allowing Marines to come ashore, so it sounds like nothing more than cargo movement will be happenning for now. It's probably better this way. Some other parents on marinemoms.com have said that their kids have reported seeing bodies floating near the ships and that the smells are overwhelming.
I'm glad he gets to help, but it bothers me that the efforts are politicized on both sides, mostly the Asian side. Here we are wanting to provide monitary, food and other relief as well as "hands-on" help, and they are concerned that we'll be viewed as an invading force. Good God. I also heard that part of the reason for not wanting western adoptions of Indonesian children is that they don't want them growing up as infidels. There is just something troubling that our money is good, but we are not? I find it hard to believe that the average Indonesian or Sri Lankan feels this way about us.
The videos of the Tsunami are amazing. Especially the latest one from Indonesia. I haven't been able find it online, otherwise I'd post the link. It's amazing that anyone survived.
I'm convinced that cable TV and the Internet are evil. Well, they make a nice scapegoat anyway. I thought I was being a nice guy by putting tv's and computers in the kids rooms, but they just are able to handle them responsibly. I have a residential gateway with access controls and access schedules, but they seem to find ways around them. I've also configured the "V-chips" on the TVs, and that works, but the TVs are always on. The kids will stay on the computers as long as you let them, and that's all they will do. Plus, they'll get up in the middle of the night to play, which makes it extremely difficult to get them up and ready for school. SO, I've put ROM passwords on them. It was a total mistake to put the tv's and computers in their rooms.
My car went over 100,000 miles Friday, which means it's not under warranty anymore. So now, it's just a matter of time before the transmission falls out the bottom I suppose. I need new tires too.
It's snowing like a sonofabitch in California. It reminds me of the stories of snow which stranded the Donner party near Truckee, CA. Hopefully nobody will resort to eating eachother in this storm.
It's flooding like crazy in LA, and in Ohio. The meteorologists said that due to the convergance of three major storm systems over the US, we'd see some crazy weather. So far, they've been right.
Well, time for some soup, and then off to work.
2 comments:
I don't think the average Indonesian feels that ALL Americans are evil, while their economic fruitility is self-servingly beneficial. In fact,Indonesians are not basically anti-American, simply the Islamic extremists, who tend to be loud and violent, though they account for only a tiny minority. The "silent majority" are learning to accept American aid as just that, aid, and not a politically or militarilly motivated invasion. However, it's much harder to convince the opinionated few who continue to view the United States based upon foreign policies incongruous to their own religious beliefs, to overcome years of neglect, resentment, discrimination and generalizations, on the part of both countries.
That's my two yen, take it for what it's worth.
Hope you start feeling better pronto. Ciao.
Since I've never met an average, or otherwise non-average Indonesian I defer reporting of their opinions of Americans to those that have. I guess as long as the "silent majority" of Islamics tolerate the continued development of terrorism against citizens of the world, I will continue to look upon them with some amount of doubt and resentment. And just like here and elsewhere, there will never be unanimity on any view, politcal, religious or otherwise, even when unanimity should be had for basic human rights.
Isn't interesting, too, that the majority is almost always "silent"?
Post a Comment