Mishmash Musings

One of my favorite Coldplay songs, and an incredible live version. Check it out:

I’ve just had my hours at work cut significantly, and now my family is facing the same economic struggles as everyone else. We were doing fine up until this month, which just goes to show how quickly things can change. Anyway, if things don’t pick up again soon, it looks like I’m going to have to put grad school on hold while I try to find a job that can help pay the bills.

One of my friends works as a medical coder and is able to do that from home so she can stay with her kids. That sounds like something I’d be interested in and good at (since I am very detail-oriented). It also sounds like a job that would be pretty much immune to the whims of the national economy since the health care industry just churns on and on no matter what. So I’m currently checking into some medical coding training courses that will help me learn about the field and then get a job when I’m finished with the training.

I don’t know if this is the right move or not, but I feel like I have to do something productive to help my family out. I just wish the economy would turn around and bring everything else back to normal again too!

I never go on winter vacations, but there are plenty of people who do. They generally fall into two classes: those that go someplace warm, and those that go someplace cold. When people vacation in a warm place, they come back and flaunt their perfect tans while everyone else in the office is pale and pasty. Those that go on ski vacations flaunt it by walking around with their lift tickets stuck on their jackets for far longer than they should.

This last part bugs me. How hard is it to rip that stupid lift ticket off? Seinfeld even did an episode about how annoying that is! Come on, people! We can usually tell from your raccoon face (tan lines around your goggles) that you went skiing, so enough with the stupid lift tickets already!!!

My son’s seventh birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. He’s excited about it of course, but I’m a bit worried because we’re strapped for cash these days. My hours at work have been reduced by half, and my husband hasn’t had overtime in more than a year. Yes, we’re grateful to still have jobs at all, but we’re just barely getting by now. That means I might have to scrap plans to buy toys for the birthday and instead go with more useful things like new socks and shoes. Ugh, that is so boring, I know, but we don’t have much choice here. I think my mom should be able to buy at least one fun item, so that should make it a little better. Oh, well, I’ve always said I don’t want to spoil my son. This next birthday will be a good test of that, right?

Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address will be tomorrow, and it’s a big one for him. The Democrats are in real trouble with mid-term elections coming up in the fall, so the prez has to find some way to get back on the people’s good side. Polls indicate that his job approval rating is declining (although it’s still above 50%) and that support for his all-encompassing health care bill — the one he has spent almost his entire first year in office working on — is eroding as well. Earlier this week the White House signaled a shift in focus to the economy, saying that it’s considering budget freezes in a number of areas. That might be too little too late, though.

We’ll see what he comes up with tomorrow!

I know this has been rumored before, but I just read yet again that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are getting ready to split. This report was published in the NY Daily News, and despite a headline that says the rumors are “not true”, the article mostly talks about how the rumors could be true.

Anyway, the couple have been together for 5 years already (wow, that seems like forever in Hollywood relationship time!) and have three biological children together as well as a number of adopted kids. The article, which cited an anonymous source close to Pitt, says the couple have been visiting a California attorney to work out financial and custodial arrangements in order to make any future split as quick, clean, and amicable as possible.

A split wouldn’t surprise me. These two never seemed like a good match to me, and Jolie doesn’t exactly have a history of stable relationships, ya know? Oh, well, it’s not like this story has any kind of impact on my life at all!

Have you seen this dog rescue video footage yet? This happened in L.A., where a dog was spotted trying to get out of a flood control channel (not a river) with very steep walls. There’s no information about how the dog got in there, but a fire crew was on hand for some reason and pulled the animal to safety. It looks a like a German shepherd, and was reportedly taken to a vet to get checked out. Now let’s hope the owner comes forward or someone steps up to adopt the dog so this rescue will not have been in vain.

I know I’m a day late and a dollar short here, but I didn’t have a chance to post yesterday. Let me tell you, I was at the gym last night and just about fell off the nordictrac when I heard that the underdog Brown, a Republican, beat heavily favored Martha Coakley for the seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. Wow!

I had no real rooting interest in that particular election, but Brown’s win does have national ramifications. For instance, Democrats now realize that “every state is in play” in the fall elections. After all, if the usually liberal commonwealth of Massachusetts can elect a Republican then it can happen anywhere.

Also, Brown’s win tells the White House that perhaps health care isn’t the No.1 issue on the people’s minds. Even yesterday, less than 24 hours after the results came in, there were indications that the White House is willing to shift their focus to the economy and jobs. In fact, the only Democrat who seemed really reluctant to push health care to the back burner is Nancy Pelosi. I wonder if she’ll change her tune soon too.

Anyway, regardless of which side of the aisle you’re on, you have to admit that we’re in for some interesting political maneuvering in the near future!

(Photo: Elise Amendola/Associated Press)