Sun, Oct 12 2008 by Vanessa.

A while back I received quite an interesting piece of mail.  A clear plastic bag sat nestled in a pile of bills and junk mail.  Of course, the plastic bag caught my attention so I pulled it out of the pile to find a completely charred insurance bill inside.  The poor envelope’s edges were black as could be, small pieces of completely burned paper floated around the package and a message from USPS sat inside.

“March 2008

Dear Postal Customer

On March 24, 2008 a postal contract vehicle carrying mail to the San Antonio Processing & Distribution Center was involved in an accident which resulted in the vehicle catching fire and destroying some mail.

Any mail that was not completely destroyed has been recovered and transported to the San Antonio P&DC to be re-processed.  Mail containing a legible address or return address will be re-processed and delivered as soon as possible.

The enclosed mail piece was addressed to you or is being returned to you because we cannot determine who the mail piece should be delivered to due to a missing or incomplete address.

The loss or delay of any piece of mail is frustrating to both the Postal Service and our customers, and we agree that incidents such a this should not occur.   We realize your mail is important to you and that you have every right to expect it to be delivered on time and in good condition.

Please be assured that we are constantly working to better meet your expectations and our service standards.  You are a valued customer and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Sincerely,

BT”

You never really stop to think about the dangers related to delivery of mail.  In fact, I imagine the most commonly proposed threat to Postal Workers is dog attacks.  In San Antonio multi-family mailboxes sit throughout our neighborhoods though, so the number of dog attacks should diminish compared to other towns.   After all, dogs tend to guard their own dens, not multi-family mailboxes.

Most of the time, I see postal workers walking nonchalantly from their vehicle to the mailboxes positioned strategically throughout our neighborhood.  Our mailman always smiles, says hello and genuinely appears happy and carefree.  What cares could you possibly deal with while delivering mail?  You don’t show up to work each day just to sit in a cubicle next to Mr. Hum-All-Day-Long, or go to meetings designed to prepare for the preparation meeting needed in order to get everything together for the meeting you’ll have in 1 month to create a plan of action for the final meeting scheduled 2 months from now, nor are you faced each day with the delimma of “How am I going to avoid so-and-so today because I swear … if s/he opens her/his mouth one more time I’m going to have to knock them out”.  I guess you might feel lonely during the day as a postal worker.  Introverts might not mind this type of solitary work.  However, with the arrival of my charred letter, I now recognize that your vehicle going up in flames could be a concern for every postal worker.

I wonder if the postal worker responsible for transporting my letter survived the wreck.  Drivers in this geographic region appear to be a bit more reckless, in my opinion, than drivers in other geographic areas.  For many years, John rode his bicycle to work and it drove me nuts.  I knew he would ride his bike with caution but after being nearly rundown on my own bicycle several times while riding down neighborhood roads, I lost all confidence that the majority of San Antonians understand that a bicyclist can die when you hit them.  Driving comes with the job when you deliver mail so I guess automobile accidents rate as a high danger for USPS.  Funny how you really don’t stop to think about all aspects of something you don’t completely understand.  I guess that makes sense but that thought is depressing.  The more knowledge I obtain the dumber I feel.  As you learn more and more you begin to recognize how much you don’t know and will never know.

Anyhow, thank you Mr. Postman for batting the streets of San Antonio each day to bring me my mail!  Be safe!

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Wed, Oct 08 2008 by Vanessa.

I don’t know why I love Mexican vanilla so much.  I can’t even remember the last time I purchased plain old American, probably McCormick, vanilla.  Was it 4 years ago?  Maybe 5?  Really, my recollection of regular American vanilla is probably so skewed right now because I haven’t had it in so long that my love for Mexican vanilla is unfounded.  Still I remember the first time my mom bought a bottle of Mexican vanilla.  I might have been 10 or so years old at the time.  That bottle lasted well into my college years, I’m sure.  So, when I took a trip across the border 4 or 5 years ago I just had to get a bottle of Mexican vanilla.

Our bus trip to Mexico was so much fun.   It only took a couple hours to get there from San Antonio and once we arrived we found out that it was an election week.  Little did we, the unknowing Americans, know that the Mexican government prohibits the sale of alcohol during election periods.  Words could never describe the outburst in the Mexican market when everyone found out that their trip for cheap alcohol stopped before it started!  Seriously, I think a small piece of the sky could have fallen to the ground beside us and no one would have looked twice.  Why bother when you can’t get cheap alcohol anyway and it already felt like the world was coming to an end!   Thankfully, my quest did not involve alcohol but Christmas presents instead.

During our excursion we came across Mexican vanilla and as mentioned earlier, my love for the stuff encouraged a purchase.  I bought a big old bottle for something like $2.00.  Tonight, while making Tapioca pudding I grabbed for my bottle of Mexican vanilla, removed the blue cap and took a sniff.  Mexican vanilla smells soooooo good!   The bad news … I only have about 1/6 of the bottle left.  I better start making plans to run down to Mexico in the next year or so to fill up again! 

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Sun, Oct 05 2008 by Vanessa.

Well, I noticed that lately my rambles have turned away from the progress of our RV escapade so I thought a review of my event line appropriate.  Here is the event line as originally proposed….

1. Finish wrapping up loose Abacus ends. (Oh the jokes that could be placed here!!!!)

2. Sell off all our stuff.

3. Remodel house - some destruction is already in progress. Actually we’ve only taken up the carpet in our master bathroom (yes, there was carpet in the master bathroom!!! GROSS!!!!) and created very basic remodeling plans for the kitchen and master bath but we’re moving along.

4. Find and develop our first muse. John has found half a muse so that’s a fabulous start. I’m also working on a muse so we’ll check this one off the list in no time.

5. Rent an RV and give it a trial run. I think this would be best when we put the house up for sale. It’s SO much easier to show a house when you don’t have 20 dog feet running around.

After reading over the list, I feel like we actually are making progress!  It’s hard to tell, at any given moment, the progress made by our daily actions. However, looking at the newly revised event line below, RV here we come!

1.  Abacus - Unfortunately, this issue still remains but the good news, the silver lining, the cup-half-full view allows us to pull out of town even if Abacus remains a part of our life.  So really, I can cross this off the list because a resolution can occur no matter where we happen to be and staying in San Antonio will not help nor hinder our progress with this one.  It’s kinda silly that I put it on the list at all.  I wonder why I thought it a part of the list?  Yippeeee!  The new list is down to only 4 items!

2.  Selling off your entire life is an art, let me tell you!  Simply packing up the Pilot and driving down to the Medina Children’s home with load after load of our crap seems easiest.  However, since we do not feel rushed we might as well try to make a few bucks.  Ebay might be okay for smaller items but large or heavy items requiring shipping become overwhelming when I think of Ebay, so I avoid this route.  Craigslist managed to find homes for many items so I’ll stick with that route for now.  A community garage sale might work wonders too!  Gotta find out when the next one is!

3.  Remodeling.  My favorite item on the event line and an appropriate place to begin documenting the main point of this post, my painting experience.  Our entire downstairs lacks proper flooring.  All the tile and carpet left a while back leaving behind nothing but cement.  This fact makes painting so much easier.  I’m pretty neat when I paint but knowing that I can splatter paint all over the floor if I want makes painting even more fun.  I always find amazement in how effective a gallon of paint can be in completely transforming a room.  So far I’ve used less than 2 gallons of Camel (yes, I decided to not go with Puppy Paws downstairs) and less than 1 gallon tinted to be one shade lighter than Camel.  I coated all of our main walls with Camel and did the angled portion of our ceilings in the living room and informal dining room in the lighter color.  The contrast really makes the crown molding “pop” which makes me happy because the stark whiteness of our walls prior to my painting camouflaged the molding.  Such beautiful molding, tucked away in the whiteness of our house, finally revealed for the world to enjoy.  Anyway, less than 3 gallons of paint and a FANTASTIC paint roller made by Wagner later, and our living room, the informal dining room and our hallway invite you to sit, relax and enjoy yourself.  So many people comment on what great “bones” the house has and now its skin looks pretty darn good too.  I love painting.  I’m tired as all get out but the sense of accomplishment that comes with making such a simple and cheap change makes me happy.  Plus, I understand the full ramifications of splurging for a $99 paint roller.  OMG!!!!  Never again shall I transform the walls of my abode without a powered paint roller.  The roller makes everything less messy, much faster and really, there is no other way to go.  I love powered paint rollers!  I love ‘em, I love ‘em, I love ‘em!!!!!  A great little attachment that came with the roller allows you to trim so fast and so easy, another attachment lets you even coat corners with easy (although I just use the trimming attachment) and then the main roller just works and works without pause to cover every last inch of wall.  And now, instead of white everywhere we enjoy our light-mocha covered walls.  What a fantastic difference!  I can’t wait to see the house with wood floors.  It’s really too bad I can’t put wheels on the house.  By the time we finish remodeling I’m going to want to stay and enjoy it.

4.  John’s muse, to this point, fits fantastically into our new, soon-to-be mobile, simplified lifestyle.  I get so excited to think about our simplified life.  I just can’t wait.  The transition from childhood to adulthood evolved so subtly I never really saw it coming.  I have to say, I’m tired of being an “adult” and I’m ready and excited to go back to living life in terms of “What do I WANT to do now.”  So excited, so excited, so excited!!!  My muse evolves with each passing day but since it requires the acquisition of specific knowledge, my progress is slower than John’s.  I make progress each day though and that’s what counts right now.

5.  Renting an RV for a trial run this Holiday Season might prove insightful and just plain fun.  If work allows, I’d love to rent an RV for a month and get a taste of the new life.  I wonder how much it costs to rent an RV?

So that’s it!  That’s the update!  We ARE making progress.  We ARE getting closer to our new life.   When I re-read this post years from now I’m sure I’ll look back and laugh at myself.  I’m just so excited to look at my Camel coated walls because they represent progress towards a goal.  Camel is a great color!

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Thu, Oct 02 2008 by Vanessa.

It makes sense.  Finally, the 2008 election makes sense to me.  At first it sounds ludicrous but if you think about it ….

1.  McCain’s reputation as a liberal Republican is as old as he is.  Republicans have long accused McCain of acting too much like a Liberal.  God forbid.  At one point, many many years ago, I even thought “You know, I _might_ be able to support parts of what this guy says.”  McCain may claim membership in the Republican party but the nation has questioned this designation for years.

2.  The election in 2000, I believe, belonged to Gore and somehow the Democrats let the most powerful seat in the nation slip away from them.  I still fail to understand what the Democrats must have been guilty of to allow Bush and his cronies to swoop in and falsely claim the Presidency without a real fight.  Surely blackmail came into play somewhere because why, oh why, would you give up the Presidency if you didn’t have to?  But that’s a discussion for another post.

3.  I may not agree with Republicans on most issues but I do believe that somewhere out there, possibly even on McCain’s team of strategists, exists a Republican leader with the know-how to win an election.  Leading off that thought, I’d have to assume (yes I know what they say about assuming) that selection of a running mate ranks high on the to do list for a Presidential candidate.  So, any competent member of the Republican Party would not take the selection of McCain’s running mate lightly.

Putting these three points together I believe that the Democrats decided they absolutely would not lose the 2008 Presidential election.   They resent point #2 because they should have run the country from 2000 - 2004 at a minimum.  So, how do you ensure a win?  How do you guarantee with 100% certainty that you will not lose?  You run against yourself.  If the Democrats found a way to nominate 2 Democrats to run against each other they can’t lose.  What better way to accomplish this than nominate a “Republican” candidate that true Republicans fail to support (see point #1) and who is actually a Democrat in disguise?  As for point #3 … well, this is the point that finally opened my eyes.  If McCain’s advisers truly possessed a desire to win the 2008 election, their strategy for nominating a running mate would have been taken seriously.  You can’t tell me that in the 50 states we lovingly refer to as the United States of America, there fails to exist a truly competent Republican politician to complement McCain.  Let’s even assume that the Republicans truly believed that a female running mate would buy them a few female votes in the wake of Hillary not being selected as Obama’s running mate.  I know there exists a female, republican politician or former-politician capable of serving as Vice President of the United States.  Most likely, there even exists a female Republican well-educated in economic matters, an area McCain professes to be lacking in and also an area of great concern to most Americans right now.  So why Palin?  Why oh why would McCain and his team throw caution to the wind and nominate Palin?  What better way to throw the election?

Many months ago, the Republican Party’s main argument against Obama was lack of experience.  Palin’s experience pales in comparison to Obama’s.  At least Obama knows how to get to Capitol Hill.  At least Obama scribbled his name on Legislation he helped write.  At least Obama sits on Federal Committees.  Palin makes Obama look more experienced than George Washington.  Republicans focused our attention on how important it is to elect “experienced” individuals and then threw one of the least experienced US politicians on their ticket.  How does that make sense?  It doesn’t … unless you’re throwing the election.

The only questions remaining in my head are how did the Democrats convince McCain to throw an election and how long have they been plotting to win in 2008?  If McCain knew their plan many moons ago he could steer his votes in a direction that matched Bush in order to further discourage people from voting Republican in this election.  Why would we vote for another 4 years of Bush-like policy from a man with 1.5 feet in his own grave backed only by a tongue-tied, overly inexperienced running mate?  We wouldn’t, of course!

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Wed, Oct 01 2008 by Vanessa.

Some people do their jobs.  Some people do their jobs well.  Some people wouldn’t know how to do their job if it slapped them upside the head.  Oprah knows how to do her job and I think she does it well.  People open up and tell Oprah anything.  People read any book Oprah deems worthy of her book club.  Today, Oprah’s show featured overworked moms.  To highlight the point that women, especially mothers, stumble through their days in a fog, going from one activity to another, multi-tasking non-stop for 20 hours a day, Oprah interviewed a lady who forgot her 2 year old child in the car.  Tragically, the child died and of course, her mother still lives in devastation.  Over and over, story after story on today’s show revealed how many mothers in America find themselves endangering their children’s lives each day because they aren’t present.  So many mothers admitted, openly and honestly, that they fail to pay attention to their actions, the tasks they attempt to complete each day and in effect their children.  One mother admitted to killing her child’s kitten in the dryer.  She found herself so busy and in so much of a hurry that she didn’t even realize she had loaded the kitten in the dryer with their newly cleaned linens.

And ironically channel 12 is broadcasting, at this very moment, how a young girl named Cameron, here in San Antonio, died today in an overheated car.  What morbid irony!

I certainly refrain from judging these poor mothers.  I often find myself overwhelmed, trying to do too many things each day, and in the same situation as each of the women featured on Oprah except I care for dogs instead of small humans.  I fail to understand how all the mothers in America do it.  My dogs demand enough attention from me.  Children certainly require even more work.

Americans must slow down.  Our health declines each year.  Our level of satisfaction with life decreases each month.  Our blood pressure increases daily.   Does it really take a Cancerous diagnosis or killing a child to make people wake up?  Changing our ways proves difficult and uncomfortable, I know.  Learning to deal with my own guilt when I find myself tossing a football in the backyard at night with John instead of working in my office upstairs proves challenging but I’m doing it.  Everywhere I look, the world shouts out slow down.  But everyone I talk to says “I know, I know, but …” when I point out they should slow down themselves.  How did we create a society that knows better and yet still engages in dangerous behavior.  I wonder, what would happen if we all went back to working only 40 hours a week?  Truly, what societal ramifications could we expect to deal with?  I wonder if someone has written a book on this?

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