Tug of war

Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 1:57 pm (Hack for Hire)
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You know the saying: The left brain doesn’t know what the right brain is doing. (yeah, yeah, hands, brains, same thing) I have a lot of that going on.

My left brain is busy focusing on a boatload of work that, of course, magically happened at the same time. There is no planning in the hack-for-hire world. There is only “We need six case studies right away and we need you to bill us for them in advance, charging us for less time than you know they will take, and we won’t pay you for 70 days. Go.”

So I’m going. Two are drafted. The third is in the works. Interview #4 happens in 30 minutes. (Interviews 5 and 6 on tap for tomorrow and Monday.)

Left brain is also all, “Hey, you need to finish that mission statement rewrite and look at that Annual Report section you’re supposed to be editing. And don’t forget you need to visit your 90-year-old mother since you haven’t been there in almost 2 weeks and yesterday she got in the car and drove herself to the store for groceries, you loser you. And you need to finish her taxes and start doing your own taxes. And when were you planning to go to the bank to deposit that check?”

Left brain is such a nag. I’d love to turn it off, but it pays the bills.

Right brain, though, is another story. That poor, hopeful, underused lobe is focused on completely unproductive drivel. And it almost never stops.

“Ooooh lookie, eBay is full of cute handmade Easter schlock. Oooooh, you NEED an immersion blender because using the other blender to make soup is too hard. Oooooh, your favorite gardening blog is recommending a cool shade plant that you can only get mail order. Oooooh, you should really practice your sun salutations before class tonight. Ooooooh, did you enter the HGTV Dream Home giveaway today? Ooooooh, how about blogging?”

It’s not that I have ADD. I have no problem focusing my A on topics that are frivolous and easy and involve spending money. The DD only comes in when it’s time to concentrate on hard, boring, stressful topics. Like now. It’s time. T-14 minutes and counting till the next interview. (Left brain is watching the clock like a hawk.)

Both of these masses of gray goo need to just. shut. up. and play nice together. If that’s not possible, is it nap time yet?

No matter where you go or what you do,
you live your entire life within the confines of your head. 
                                                          ~ Terry Josephson

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The canned response

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 1:15 pm (Writing by Ear)
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Just as I predicted, this was the silly, rather insulting response my husband, my friend, and I each received after doing the responsible thing and “writing our congressman” to express our views on the spendulous package. In this case, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter:

Dear Ms. xxxxxxx:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The concerns of my constituents are of great importance to me, and I rely on you and other Pennsylvanians to inform me of your views. I will keep your thoughts on this matter in mind.  Thank you again for writing.  Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office or visit my website at http://specter.senate.gov.

 Sincerely,
Arlen Specter  

Yes, I know, his office was no doubt flooded with mail. But do I have any hopes that my views will matter a whit when that bill comes up for a vote? Do you think your views matter either?

Plus, I contrast this response to a response I received several months ago when I e-mailed my U.S. Representative, Tim Murphy, when the last bailout vote came up last year. His response was just as timely, but actually said something, explaining his views on the issue and generally making me feel as if my voice was heard, whether or not he actually agreed with it. (I believe he did, but that is beside the point in this case.)  

Personally, I think elected officials should have to keep a log of constituent communications and vote accordingly when they get a large outcry to an issue. I bet that would encourage a lot more people to express their views when they feel strongly.

In the meantime, no lectures about “getting involved.” In the end, it’s 100 senators and 435 representatives casting whatever vote they feel like. The best we can do is watch how they voted and remember it come the next election. I will do just that.

When government accepts responsibility for people,
then people no longer take responsibility for themselves. 
                                                       ~ George Pataki

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The spendulous bill

Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:02 am (Writing by Ear)
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That’s how a friend described the current doings in D.C. It’s hard to even fathom what these elected officials are proposing to do with our hard-earned, promptly and honestly paid (ahem) tax dollars. And we’re supposed to feel good that the Senate “only” wants to spend $827 billion instead of over $900 billion — so much for Obama’s campaign promises to trim wasteful government spending. And so much for my own state’s Arlen Specter — Mike and I both e-mailed him our disgust last night. Not that he’ll ever see it — we’ll get a canned e-mail back from some staffer full of reasons why the bill is the best thing since sliced bread for our “troubled economy.”

Oh, but then again, why worry? Won’t there be plenty of government handouts available? That’ll surely stimulate something, right?

Giving money and power to government is like
giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. 
                                                     ~ P. J. O’Rourke

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