Why?

Ok, so being the mother of a 4 year old DD who is quite an independant spirit, I never know what to expect. So this is just another paragraph in the life of mom living.

Yesterday morning, I was in the bathroom getting ready at the sink, DH was in the shower when DD walks in. She has both hands over her mouth and mumbles something. I ask her to repeat what she stated because i could not hear her. She states it louder, still behind two hands. At this point I lean down and give her my ear. She then mumbles "you are not going to be mad are you?" To which I replied, well, it depends, what did you do?

She removes her hands to show quite an interesting bit of artwork done with a black ball point pen. I ask "what did you do?" She replies " I wanted a moustache."

I calmly tell her, "Why? little girls do not have moustaches, mommies do not have moustaches, but some daddies do". Then she clarifies "Our daddy does not have a moustache!" No, he does not.

I never could get a reason why she wanted a moustache. Took out the baby oil and a cotton ball and removed as much of her 4 year old moustache as I could before bringing her to preschool.

Sigh...

I woke up to what?

Alright, so I am "on call" 24/7 now till the end of September, and had to field a couple of calls overnight, so sleep was at a minimum.

This AM I am awoken by my 4 yo DD asking me "Mommy, can I play with Cheesus?" My response was "mwhaaa?" So she clarified, "you know Cheesus, the little people who you have locked in the basement? Can I play with him today?"

Slowly the synapsis started to fire and a bit of things fell into place.

"Do you mean Jesus and the christmas nativity set from Fisher Price's little people collection?"

"YES! Cheesus and the dog!"

"Ok, you can play with Jesus after school. Please repeat after me JESUS." :)

Sigh. What a way to wake up, Cheesus locked in the basement...

Thanks again Big O!

So not only does the visit by the Pres mean I will not be able to leave work at lunch today due to massive traffic restrictions as he flies is air force one into the airport I look at everyday out my work window, but I get a notice from American Express.

Yes, the Big O man passed that great credit card reform law, remember? You know where credit cards cant pitch their crap to college kids, and all that nice protection for the masses that was promised?

Well, now on top of B of A increasing all their frivolous fees on my other card, good old American Express Blue just gave us notice that starting October 1st, our interest rate will go from a lucrative 7-9% to 11.99% plus prime, not to be less than 15.99% anual APR!!!!! And we are a member in good standing!!!!! (No late fees, no delinquent payments, etc.) They actually had the audacity to state it was due to changing economic times! (Yeah, that is what my work stated when they gave out NO raises, and my DH job when they terminated his contract, leading to 8+ months of unemployment!)

And what do I find when I search the internet, but this news article from July...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/credit/2009-06-29-banks-fees-credit_N.htm?obref=obinsite

Just freaking wonderful! Now for me, all it means is I will take a bit of cash from savings and tell good ol AM to go pack it sideways and they will never get a bit of intrest out of me again! HA HA!

But what about all those people the big O promised to protect? All those people that do not have a bit in their savings to pay off their credit? They get HOSED!!!!!!!!

So how does this govornment regulation help me? I can't see it.

And now the pitch on health care reform. Where I loose my right to choose my health coverage, where I have to pay for others who choose to not pay for insurance! Again, I do not see me or my family coming out of this on the winning side!

Grumble over...

You said WHAT?

DD was on her way to school, safely belted into the back of my truck when she spies my duty belt and starts to pull it apart. First the stethoscope is hung on the coat hook by the ear peaces, then the gloves don both hands.

She then asks me "Mommy you drive a fire truck right?" To which I reply "no, I drive an ambulance. Mommy needs to go to more training to drive the fire truck, but with new baby on the way, I have not been able to go to all the training"

Which she then replies "I have your scissors! Can we CUT the baby out now?" (Thank god I was driving, or else I probably would have had a small fit, however since this is not the first time my sweet innocent 4yo has pulled out the tazer on me, I was prepared).

I replied "No, we cannot get the baby out now, it is not done growing, and will only come out when it is ready"

So she sat there a minute and then logically stated "Ok, so when the baby pops out, Daddy and I will stay home and take care of the baby and you can go get your training. That's a plan ok?"

"Ok, but I drive the ambulance already, is that not good enough?"

She replies "NOPE! You have to drive the Fire Truck! I like the fire truck better, because my Playmobile ambulance drivers are scary looking, and I like the fire truck men better"

Sigh. EMS, seems like it is never good enough... From the mouths of babes..

(Note to self, keep the sharps locked up for a while...)

Science Lagging in the US

There has been a couple good articles on the sorry state of US science advancement today. One was here. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10283801-76.html

My comment on this. HELL YEAH! The US view of science is pathetic at best. Let's face it, science is not looked well upon in the public education system, and for students to show any desire to continue their education in science, the public view is "NERD".

Science recruiters do not come to schools, no one tells young children that being a scientist is a well worth it, well recompensed profession! No, we push sports heros, stock traders, lawyers, and even now being a doctor is not as glorious as it once was. The reasons? MONEY.

There is no money to be made in science. You hardly find anyone with a pHD or undergrad degree making $200 -$300 that you see in some mediocre financial fields or law. And you sure don't make the milions atheletes make. pH D. programs can cost just about as much as a medical degreee, but guess where it gets you? If you are lucky a job in academia, where every penny is scrutinized and must be begged for in grants.

And if you take this a step further, past the fact that the general public looks at scientists as some sort of oddity, start looking at our scientific corporations left here in the US. My basis is biotechnology so this is heavily slanted to pharmaceuticals, etc. But if you ask my husband who is a Mechanical Engineer, US engineering might has seen it's hayday too.

So what big pharma do we have left in the US? Not a whole lot. Start looking at the mergers, the name changes, and you will see that most companies are now owned by forign entities. (Even the one I work at is not US based). Where has our proud pharma history gone? Fractured into peices. We used to be a powerhouse, pumping out the newest ideas, the most radical cures, the place to be for medicine. But what has come out of those doors? What diseases have we cured?

Erectile disfunction? Attention deficit disorders?

We are living in a sorry state. Where the population is looking for government controlled healthcare, so that everyone can get as many happy pills as they deem necessary and not pay a penny more thank you.

But what does that DO to the structure of american health research? Does anyone see the fact that if there is less money coming in, there will be less research done, less new cures for disease. And if we take a lesson from what has been introduced lately, the only medicine coming out will be lifestyle pills. Lets face it, no one dies from erectile disfunction, yet you will be abe to prevent it by paying $ for your fair share of pills.

Sorry, sorry state...