Baby It's Cold Outside

I was up at 5:15am feeling completely rested and ready to get after my day. I was so ahead of the game it wasn’t funny. I exercised and walked Ykraps all before 5:35am. That afforded me oodles of free time to relax in front of the PC. The stock market took a beating yesterday and figured to do the same today according to the headlines. I’m so frustrated with it. And then there’s the whole idea of an Auto industry bail out. Why? Why would we bailout a failing business model? This makes about as much sense as spending $20K to fix a $1K problem. It’s like propping up the dead? Granted, I’m no auto industry expert, but aside from their non-competitive products & inefficient plants (GM, Ford, Chrysler), it sounds like their inescapable financial troubles can be traced back to pricey pensions and medical coverage obligations. They’ve known this for years. I’m not saying that standing up to these obligations isn’t the right thing to do, because it is. They should. It’s what they negotiated in good faith no matter how foolish. My proposal would be for the Government to assist with the pension/medical burden piece only leaving the ongoing business model in their own hands. But no money for retooling old plants, no money for new designs. Let the market take care of that. If they fail then they fail. As a condition of the assistance, require both the company & the union to sit down and readjust. Let’s be creative. Hey, maybe it’s time to say goodbye to the concept of unions all together. They’ve had their time and served their purpose. But let’s be honest, they provide no real product. They’re nothing but a sucking sound in a capitalistic economy. If the company and union want to survive then they’ll have to sit down at the table and talk turkey – both sides. As I understand it, neither Toyota or Honda has such issues. And their employees are productive and equally well compensated. More within my span of control… I spent a relatively lengthy period in mediation. Felt terrific. I dressed and left for a run just before 6:30am. Once again, it was really cold. It was only 16 degrees – the coldest day of the season. The ground was covered in fresh overnight snow. It had the look and feel of mid-January. Despite the bone chilling cold, my run went well. I had trouble opening the front door as I reentered the house after my run. Having experienced this before, I pushed the door hard thinking I was moving Jacob’s book bag out of the way, just as I have many times past. This time it wasn’t his book bag. Instead, it was Jacob lying in front of the door. And now he was whining that I hurt him. Geesh! Are you kidding me. Who lies in front of the door, especially on such a cold morning? He refused to move choosing to simply lie there in the way. Alrighty! I went on about my business. Mindy thought I could’ve demonstrated more compassion and ask if he was OK and possibly even apologize. But I would have no part of that. I was more troubled with his thinking and then his grumbly disposition. In hindsight it might’ve been the right thing to do in that instant – demonstrate compassion - but I couldn’t muster it. Eventually, I asked him what he was thinking. He had no reply. Mindy & Bella soon headed out for school, this being the week that Bella has class on Wednesday. Like usual, Jacob and I met up downstairs at 7:56am and eventually made our way out to the bus stop. Even though it was cold, we tossed the football. Jacob had shaken off his disdain for me opening the front door into him earlier. He even joked with Kenny about it. Jake was back in the game today after being out sick on Tuesday. He looked much better. I left for work at 8:10am after sending off a quick email to Steve Sines, the former Muff Brothers front man, encouraging him to come participate in their reunion show next week. Gas was down again today – only $1.67. I’m getting low, too, but kept going thinking perhaps tomorrow or Friday. This was staff meeting day at work. Thankfully, I only had that one meeting on my plate. Our meeting started at 11am and went until 1pm. We covered quite a bit. Like most Wednesdays, I didn’t take a lunch break. I did, however, eat at my desk I ate my vegetable medley as well as a can of Mega Chicken Noodle soup. I also ate my fruit. The afternoon moved swiftly. I was knee deep in alligators the entire time. Mindy wanted to do a Wednesday date since Jimaken would have the kids. Once again, we agreed on Barley’s. I know it sounds excessive but generally speaking, you can’t go wrong with their food. And furthermore, given that they have authentic Centennial IPA on the tower, that sealed the deal for me. Sadly, I got hooked up at work until after 6pm. Tough break! I called Mindy at 6pm and discussed whether or not to skip the date. As a compromise, we agreed to simply meet there. That would save lots of time. Besides, she had already walked Ykraps. I could be there in about the same amount of time it would normally take to get home. It was a go! She arrived ahead of me. But I still made good time. Mindy was already there sitting at the bar having a beer when I walked in. I had to squeeze in between her and guy named Bill, who we later learned had just lost his job at a local bicycle shop for playing a foolish prank on a co-worker. As I understood it, he and several others conspired to place a tampon in a male workers tool box. He got fired since he was the manager. He said they considered it a form of sexual harassment. He seemed smart and spoke of having two degrees. Too bad. Without question, this isn’t a good time to lose a job. I ordered an IPA, of course. And because our time was limited, we quickly placed our food order. We both had wings – me Gates of Hell, Mindy Texas. I had a second IPA while eating my wings. It was so good. BTW, Lenny, the owner, was sitting next to Mindy. We left Barley’s at 7:30pm. Jimaken was bringing the kids home at 7:45pm. He was right on schedule. Jacob seemed tired and lethargic coming in the house. Turned out, he was feeling ill. Uh-oh. Perhaps he had what Jake had. Mindy sought the rectal thermometer soon after Jimaken left. Placing it under Jacob’s tongue yielded a 101 degree fever. And that was after an earlier dose of children’s Tylenol. Mindy promptly called Dr Craig seeking his advice. Jacob also complained of a soar throat. Minutes later Mindy was calling around for a sub after Craig suggested a Thursday AM doctors appointment. While Mindy addressed all of that, I helped Bella finish her bath. She’s almost self-sufficient these days. We simply need to make sure she’s rinsed her hair thoroughly. Both kids were in bed easily, especially Jacob. Mindy & I hung for a short while on the sofa, but I fell asleep. We upped for bed around 10pm.