Not just a blogname I envy: Tequila Mockingbird.

Boy, did I identify with the musings about the change in the Republican party. I just can't figure out this Nouveau Republican Thing. From the many sightings of Bush-Cheney bumperstickers affixed to rusted out shitbox cars running on a wing and a prayer, a lot of these folks don't have the proverbial pot to pee in or the window to throw it out. They are poor, hardworking, and I'm sure very earnest. Yet they vote to benefit billionaires and mortgage their own kids' futures. The Democrats need to get these people back, for their own sake, not the party's.

My health insurance rates jumped up a ton this year. I'm going to have to pay it and cut something somewhere else, (I don't know what yet, it's not like I live in luxury) because I've seen how devastating a catastrophic illness is. I suspect - no, actually, I know, because I know them - that a lot of these earnest Bush voters are skating on even thinner ice than I am. They have young kids. They have jobs that are totally at the mercy of the economy. I have a job in a big corporation where they like me so much, if I threaten to quit, shockwaves reverberate up to the Mid-Atlantic. I'm damn lucky in that respect, many people work in "You can be replaced" mode, and aren't free to be as outspoken as I am. Of course, being me, I wouldn't survive long in an environment where I can't be myself. I am not a different person at work - what you see on the blog is pretty much my fulltime self. I do choose my audiences - I do NOT discuss politics at work. I think it's inappropriate. I do say Fuck at work - when it's appropriate. We work in construction so it's liberally used as a seasoning. Think of it as the Tabasco sauce on the scrambled eggs of business conversation - it lends emphasis to the bland observation. I used the adjective form at least three times in one sentence on Friday, which actually might be a new personal best, but I was really pissed. "That person is not as responsive as he should be for what we're paying him," doesn't quite convey the same sentiment as "What the fuck is wrong with the fucking [class of outside consultant] in South Florida, they're all a bunch of fucking flakes!" But I digress...

So, they Really Like Me and the Boss. It's nice, but you know, that's today. We don't expect much from it, other than that as long as Boss and I are delivering the goods we will draw paychecks. That's as good as it gets. That's why I'll spend at least 12 hours on a road trip tomorrow, though I am still sick and croaking like a frog, because I have to deliver the goods. I'm not whining about that, it's just how it is - I don't feel like some special privileged thing because they Like me, they really Like me! Hell, that can change tomorrow, and just might.

Abrupt change of topic - I went to Target yesterday, for exciting things like toilet paper and cat litter, and the Christmas stuff is out. I want to have a special Christmas this year. Last year was too soon. Christmas was okay, quiet and a bit odd, the first one without my husband. It wasn't depressing and weepy, but there was a sense of "Okay, Christmas, gotta do it...." This year I hope it is more of a celebration. I intend to get the tree earlier, and not get stuck in the "take what you can get" leftovers. If the weather turns unseasonably warm and dry, as it can, and the fresh trees are baking and drying out on the high school lot, I'll get an artificial tree - I'm thinking of a tall skinny one. The high school trees are luxurious but the size of Clydesdales. Good thing my friend L has a new F-150 crew cab, that baby will be put into service. We'll have to pick a Tree Day and go get both our trees, and bring her daughter to pick them out. My mom gave me boxes of old ornaments from when I was a child, and this year I will actually unpack them and use them, along with the best of our own.

I was called by one of the organizers of Christ Renews, I'm signing on for the February retreat. The Bushies didn't get a mandate, and they don't own Christ.