It's been a while since my last post. Much had happened but been a little on the lazy side to write anything. With the added stress of work and deadlines, it's kind of hard to come home and do more writing. Well, the newest thing at work is that the possibility of a lay-off is becoming more and more of a reality. This has been hanging over our heads for a couple of years now but always the last minute we'll get $. The state budget cut is nuts. I can't believe they can send the governor over to Iraq but they can't give the education system some money. So, to give myself a bit of an edge on their decision making, I may just have to bite the bullet and take a few more certification tests. I hate that. What if I do all this work and still be laid off. I guess if I did pass all the test and have the extra certification I'd more marketable. However, that would be all well and fine if there are jobs out there. I don't know many districts would have money NOT to lay off their employees. I hope the union has some plans to help save some jobs.

Well, enough sad stuff. We went to see Lewis Black the other day. It was very good. This was our first big comedy show. We've always gone to the smaller venues. This was at a theater. We really enjoyed it.

OK, I'm having a brain fart right now - nothing intellectual to say. Hopefully once the craziness dies down at work, I'll be more active in my blogging. Til then...

Pedestrian Death

Just watched the news reporting that there's an increase in the number of pedestrian death in the city. The city is looking into what is causing the increase - physical structure, traffic lights, etc. From what I've observed about the traffic in the city, I can tell you that it's none of what they mentioned. It is the "ATTITUDE" of both the pedestrian and the drivers that is causing it. Since I've moved here, one thing has been glaringly obvious - people in the city has a sense of entitlement that is more extreme than anywhere else I've seen.

Both the pedestrian and the driver feel that they are in the right and are entitled to the road. Therefore, the pedestrian is more likely to jump in front of the moving vehicle and "EXPECT" it to stop than to just step back and wait a few seconds. The driver is more likely to just continue to move and "EXPECT" the pedestrian to wait because after all, the car is more dangerous than the pedestrian and can cause more damage.

Therefore, since both feel they have the "RIGHT OF WAY" and aren't willing to give up that "RIGHT", they both suffer the consequences.

Why people don't think their SAFETY outweighs their RIGHTS is beyond my comprehension.

Halloween 2009

Halloween came and went. A bit of disappointment on part of the Trick-o-treaters. Thought that since we moved into a family dominant neighborhood that we'll get a good number of ghouls and goblins amongst the princesses and Jedi nights knocking on our door.

We carved the pumpkins last minute

and changed our front porch lights to red light bulbs to make the house look spooky. Well, it looked a bit spooky but it also looked like one of the houses in the "red light district". As we changed into our costumes and transform the adorable Phoebe into PhoeBEE,

we waited and waited.

Finally around 7 or so we got our first group of trick-o-treaters. 20 minutes later we got the second group. After that, it was a couple of knocks here and there and that was it! We are now stuck with bags and bags of Halloween candy.

Although disappointed, we didn't dwell on the issue and got ready for the partying. I had just finished putting together both his and mine costume. Can't believe I actually pull it all together in the short amount of time I had.

We went as characters from his video game "The World Ends with You". I wanted to be Ciao Ciao from the Tokidoki line but when he suggested to me a Japanese Anime version of the reaper, I was thrill to put the costume together. It wasn't the "sexy" costume that I would normally wear for Halloween but with the change in my body weight in the last year or so, I could do without the flesh exposure for one year, until I get rid of all these excess fat (well, at least a few pound). I can wait.

We put on our costumes and I was surprising please with the outcome. I think I did good, considering the amount of time I spent on it. Of course, we took some pictures and was on our way out to the club. Didn't know what to expect since the club isn't exactly in the "happening" part of this region but it was close and the drive wouldn't be bad. Got there, met up with friends and began a night of boozing and dancing (well, dancing for me and boozing for him).

Surprising, there was already a good crowd there and everyone seemed to be having fun. The decor of the club was nice - good ambiance. I think they had a costume contest but didn't hear the winner. The most amazing thing I saw that night was a

LINE by the MEN'S RESTROOM!!!! Now that was a sight to see.

All in all, it was a good night. It would have been better if there were more trick-o-treaters. We'd love to continue the tradition we had in the previous residence. Maybe we'll start something... Maybe if we started to go all out on the decor, more people would come and trick-o-treat in the neighborhood... Maybe...