Thursday, September 18, 2003
Perspective Factoid
What was to be Richard Grasso's deferred pay and retirement benefits before the shit hit the fan: $200 million.
What government revenues for Liberia over the last four years would have been had not Ex-Pres Charles Taylor stolen more than half: $200 million.
It ain't always easy being super woman. No car keys to be found in the house this morning. Where... could ... they ...be? OK not in the trash. Daughter must have them. Drive to the high school. Rush into the office and have Not-the-Sharpest-Knives-in-the-Drawer call daughter from her study period. I am very late. Daughter sees no hurry in getting to the main office with my keys. Flash of perfect white teeth with not one cavity, thanks to good health care. "Oh sorry Mom. I borrowed your key and had it in my backpack."
I have no idea why but there were free NY Times newspapers to be had on the school office counter and so I take one as a little make-me-feel-better token for my inconvenienced morning. Reading it on the train reminds me that I miss this newspaper I am boycotting due to its homogenized content of late.
At work I am not there for more than three minutes come to find out that we can't have our big meeting with the hospital administrator big-wigs in the Senate reading room because the Senate reading room doesn't allow food or drink already ordered for the occasion. My colleague from the Senate side informs me that she has been to plenty of meetings where food and drink have been served but the bureaucrats to be seem to be playing the classic power play of who gets to have perks and who doesn't... OK, I wing-ding an improvisation no problemo. Boss walks in one minute before the meeting is to begin and asks me what is on the agenda and what he should say... "Well you should have all the administrators introduce themselves, thank them for coming, and stress that this is a great opportunity for health care administrators and the Legislature to exhange information and ideas on important issues that pertain to the regions of this particular caucus, blah, blah, blah." Do I have to breathe for you to?
My handyman didn't show up today. But I can't be mad at him. He knew my husband hadn't been home for ten days and thought we needed time to ourselves undisturbed. Gee gosh. My contractor the romantic. Unless he is two-timing me for another client... In which case it's back to breaking said client's knee caps if I find out who it is.
My poor handyman lost his glasses in front of my house the other day. Outside throwing the ball for my dog before work, he pulls up and comments that I am not throwing the ball very far. Before I can explain that I do this on purpose due to the danger of an occassional oncoming car, and the fact that if you throw the ball too far, my dog won't retrieve it because she rightly suspects you'll become distracted by something else to do while you wait for her to bring the ball back, he hurls the ball down to the end of the block. She looks up at us as if to say, "You must be kidding...."
We gather up on the sidewalk to discuss the day's itinerary. A car rolls by. We hear a crunch. We walk over to the middle of the street where lie an un-fixably bent and broken pair of eyeglasses. "Please tell me those were the cheap $10 drugstore kind of glasses." "Nope. Those were the $300 pair kind." He picks them up and puts what is left of them up over his nose and ears. "How do they look?"
What was to be Richard Grasso's deferred pay and retirement benefits before the shit hit the fan: $200 million.
What government revenues for Liberia over the last four years would have been had not Ex-Pres Charles Taylor stolen more than half: $200 million.
It ain't always easy being super woman. No car keys to be found in the house this morning. Where... could ... they ...be? OK not in the trash. Daughter must have them. Drive to the high school. Rush into the office and have Not-the-Sharpest-Knives-in-the-Drawer call daughter from her study period. I am very late. Daughter sees no hurry in getting to the main office with my keys. Flash of perfect white teeth with not one cavity, thanks to good health care. "Oh sorry Mom. I borrowed your key and had it in my backpack."
I have no idea why but there were free NY Times newspapers to be had on the school office counter and so I take one as a little make-me-feel-better token for my inconvenienced morning. Reading it on the train reminds me that I miss this newspaper I am boycotting due to its homogenized content of late.
At work I am not there for more than three minutes come to find out that we can't have our big meeting with the hospital administrator big-wigs in the Senate reading room because the Senate reading room doesn't allow food or drink already ordered for the occasion. My colleague from the Senate side informs me that she has been to plenty of meetings where food and drink have been served but the bureaucrats to be seem to be playing the classic power play of who gets to have perks and who doesn't... OK, I wing-ding an improvisation no problemo. Boss walks in one minute before the meeting is to begin and asks me what is on the agenda and what he should say... "Well you should have all the administrators introduce themselves, thank them for coming, and stress that this is a great opportunity for health care administrators and the Legislature to exhange information and ideas on important issues that pertain to the regions of this particular caucus, blah, blah, blah." Do I have to breathe for you to?
My handyman didn't show up today. But I can't be mad at him. He knew my husband hadn't been home for ten days and thought we needed time to ourselves undisturbed. Gee gosh. My contractor the romantic. Unless he is two-timing me for another client... In which case it's back to breaking said client's knee caps if I find out who it is.
My poor handyman lost his glasses in front of my house the other day. Outside throwing the ball for my dog before work, he pulls up and comments that I am not throwing the ball very far. Before I can explain that I do this on purpose due to the danger of an occassional oncoming car, and the fact that if you throw the ball too far, my dog won't retrieve it because she rightly suspects you'll become distracted by something else to do while you wait for her to bring the ball back, he hurls the ball down to the end of the block. She looks up at us as if to say, "You must be kidding...."
We gather up on the sidewalk to discuss the day's itinerary. A car rolls by. We hear a crunch. We walk over to the middle of the street where lie an un-fixably bent and broken pair of eyeglasses. "Please tell me those were the cheap $10 drugstore kind of glasses." "Nope. Those were the $300 pair kind." He picks them up and puts what is left of them up over his nose and ears. "How do they look?"
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