The Wall Street "rescue" and our economy of credit

So, by now I feel obliged to spew a little venom on this financial crisis. First of all, I'm reminded of an old adage from my "working" days: lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. Tragically, and as nice as it sounds, it never played for me at work either. So, it is my emergency, whether I like it or not. Someone higher up screwed up, and I can't just say "No, I won't help," and make it go away.

C'mon! No one wants to "rescue" Wall Street. Those idiots trashed our economy, took the money, and ran. There's a hot, sticky place in Hell for people who do that sort of thing, whether it's illegal or not. (Maybe something with vinyl car seats?) But like it or not, we have to clean up after them.

So, give the government control of the firm, and when the market (eventually) rebounds, let We the People get some of the profit from it. Or something like that. Don't just give the idiots more money. And don't give it without some oversight. 'Cause let's admit it -- we're not out of the economic woods yet, and there's going to be a steady stream of companies tanking. We need a vehicle in place to handle these events in the future, but we need some congressional control. That's what this is all about.

See, I thought that the congress had ironed out these details and were going to vote on it today. But no, it seems that our illustrious representatives are split pretty much on political lines: those in a close race for re-election voted "no", and those secure in their jobs voted "yes". So, the economy is going deeper in to the dumper because representatives are pandering to their electorate and refusing to be grownups and approve this repugnant but necessary plan.

What the average American doesn't realize just yet is that this economy doesn't run on Dunkin', it runs on credit. And apparently, it's not just the big guys. Turns out that there's a small-business equivalent of "Can I borrow a $20 until payday?" It's, "Can I borrow a little to cover payroll until I can cash the check my client just sent me?" And it also turns out, it's pretty common practice. Unfortunately, until these bozos in congress can agree on terms, some people are simply not being paid. I'm betting those people could help congress figure something out...

So get off your butts you idiots! Take the Yom Kippur break to reflect on your sins. Return renewed, emboldened, and ready to do your jobs.

The Plague and its aftermath

Well, it's been a few weeks, hasn't it? We've taken a serious hit in the last three weeks, as the plague has passed through the family. The Husband started three weeks ago with a cold that just kept getting worse. For two straight weeks. The Boy fell next, puking at 12:30 am with a fever of 102. Then I came down with a mider version of it. The Girl has just been lurking around the house for a week, sniffling and complaining that her nose is "leaking".

Now, for most families, this wouldn't be so bad, but our family operates as The Team. I'm in charge of bringing food home, packing it away, and cooking it. The Husband is in charge of cleaning up afterward. I can clean and put clutter away, but it doesn't really look good until he tidies it. And he does all the laundry. (Apparently, there's a system, so I only screw it up when I try to help.) When a child pukes in the middle of the night, I'm in charge of cleaning the child, and he's in charge of cleaning the bed. In under 4 minutes, the kid is clean and back in a clean bed. We're a machine. It's a product of having twins. Pure self-defense.

The Team is golden until someone gets sick, and then we each get a refresher course on what the other one does. I always lock up the house at bed time. He always throws out yesterday's paper. I always make more granola. He always makes the coffee in the morning. Ahhh. Life is good. My man makes the coffee...

Homeschool support group (or something like it)

Oye. Went to the homeschool "support" group. Yeah. Now I have curriculum insecurity again.

And don't tell me that homeschooled kids aren't weird, because they are. (Sorry, folks!) All of the seriously homeschooled kids that I have met so far seem to have the same quirky, intelligent, semi-sedated look on their faces. They expect to be treated like adults. Heck, they even seem to think like adults. Even when they're goofing around, they just aren't petty or immature enough in their behavior to pass for public school kids. The real question is, "Which version of 'child' is the correct one?"

And my poor brain keeps asking me, "How do I get one of those?!"

Fall, wherever it may find itself...

Well, it's mid-September, and I'm guessing that somewhere Up North, it's getting on toward fall. I've seen (and discarded) the L.L. Bean catalogues -- I know it's out there somewhere. Unfortunately for us, Down South, it's going to be hellishly hot for another month. Then it'll only be hot until Thanksgiving. Fortunately for us, my sister just moved to the mountains, and we have reservations at Chez Soeur for a week in mid-October. I figured it was about time for the kids' tree-and-leaf unit. Plus, she really needs the incentive to unpack. She's my sister. I would know.

The homeschool schedule is starting to even out a little. We do a little handwriting, spelling, and writing first, then we get something to nibble on. Then we do either science ("Living Things") or history (ancient cultures). After a serious snack, we go on to arithmetic (clocks, place value, and a lot of A Beka). A little TV and lunch follow, with time off for good behavior. Then we're back to reading and writing by mid-afternoon.

It was starting to feel like it's taking twice as long as it should -- until I remembered the credo of the twin mom: Everything takes twice as long. Duh. I'm teaching two completely different homeschool classes. The only thing we share (sometimes) is science and maybe history. We overlap a little on spelling, handwriting, and journal writing, but the rest is at totally different levels. Which would be okay if one of them would work independently, but (as you'll recall) I have ADD boy and autistic girl. *sigh* It's almost time to get them up and moving again...

Tonight is the meeting at the Baptist church for the local F.A.I.T.H. homeschool group. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm keeping my mouth shut this time. Oh, okay. I'm going to try to keep my mouth shut. Experience has shown that when I'm nervous, I talk too much. (No. Really?) I may drop by after I pick up the Food Coop order. Not sure. Not sure I want to go...

On a lighter note, sort of...

I'm starting to suspect that there are rifts in the homeschool community, and that they're not pretty. I may be paranoid, but I'm already getting "don't contaminate our quality learning environment with your weirdos" vibes already. Is it me, or are there several distinct classes of homeschoolers? I can count only four:

1. those who are trying to produce the next Secretary of State
2. those who are trying to keep their children free from the taint of society's intellectual tyrrany
3. those who are trying to cloister their children from the influence of The Sinful World
4. those whom whom the public schools have failed and have chosen homeschooling as their salvation and refuge

Is it me, or does the first group tend to hold the rest of us in suspicion and mild distain?

9-11

We lived within a two-hour drive of NYC on 9-11. It was a gorgeous day for mid-September -- a bit too cool for a fleece jacket, bright blue sky, brisk wind. I was dressing the kids, almost two years old by then, for walk in the stroller when I got the phone call from my husband. He had been watching the smoking wreck of the first tower on TV, and while he had me on the phone, the second tower was hit. The kids and I went walking anyway, praying mightily for a people who hated us enough to kill us all.

The Thursday after, I went to a service at the Episcopal church and sang with strangers:

"God bless our native land,
firm may she ever stand,
through storm and might.
When the wild tempest raves,
ruler of wind and wave,
do thou our country save
by thy great might."

I'll never sing that song again without crying.

Homeschool PE and other stuff

Well, I met my first group of local homeschool moms today. No one prepared me for how reserved they are. It was like a convention of librarians at the YMCA Homeschool PE class today. Tragically, that sort of environment always makes me more frenetic, and so now they all think I'm a wack-ster. They still invited me to the Official Group at the local Baptist church. Oh well.

The Boy participated in Homeschool PE and didn't hurt anyone. The Girl didn't participate, but the staff understood. The silver lining? I only have to pay for one kid. Yay, I guess.

In other "good" news, the pediatrician agrees with me -- she wants a psychiatrist to evaluate The Boy before he gets any anti-anxiety meds. That's, umm, good, right? *sigh*