MARCH MADNESS

Well its happened. We're all mad, and with good reason. Do I need to explain? Of course not. March Madness happens with regularity. There are these opposing teams - each sure of their supremacy, their total commitment to having the power, of being the winner. Households across the nation can be bitterly divided rooting for "their team". There's big money involved. Some bad language and name calling invarabliy occur. My blood pressure has been known to get elevated. But who am I to say who's the best team. What do I know about anything? I'm just some woman out here in the vast wastelands of America wondering about who's calling the shots, the time-outs, what's fair and what's illegal or out-of-bounds. My children all have opinions about the teams also. We can't discuss March madness together. It might get too heated. I mean, we're talking emotions here!! When a person is sure their team is the best, don't try and debate that one, even if you have statistics, scores, and history to backup your opinion. Remember, we're talking MADNESS here. MARCH MADNESS.

December Bliss

This morning as I drove to work, the car themometer said, "10 degrees f."

As I entered Salt Lake valley the trees were covered with fresh, white snow and it was a beautiful sight from within my cozy warm car (which I have set to maintain an internal temperature of 82 degrees f.).

The quality of my life is highly influenced by the temperature. I wear two pairs of socks, sweat shirt and pants, and often a blanket in my house. Yes, the house is heated. In my office, I have taped half of the air duct in the ceiling. Cool air comes whishing in, year round. I don't get the mechanics of that. I have a portable heater which was manufactured sometime in the 70's that was donated to my heating cause my a kind co-worker. It is turned on daily. Men come up to my doorway and bellow as they react to the heat!! No women complain.

Now there is a serious problem about shopping. There has been a decision in the state of Utah to design and build outdoor malls. This is a crazy idea - if you ask me. I was riding in a van pool the other day and another woman brought it up to me. This was gratifying as I realized I wasn't alone in my notions about the connection between "enjoyment, shopping, and physical comfort". She said that since Cottonwood Mall was now going to be like the Gateway Mall she didn't know what she was going to do about her shopping pleasure. I agreed with her - we're losing pleasure fast around here!! Who can stand to loiter around, have fun, spend money, and freeze?

I know plenty of people complain constantly about the heat. You have no idea how many people complain. I make no snide comments back. I try to understand their discomfort, their pain, their feelings of persecution due to the heat - and I say nothing.

November

Ideally November is a great month.

There are still some beautiful colored leaves hanging on to trees. I haven't had to shovel any snow so to speak. My boots are still in the back of my closet and my heaviest long coat remains on the hanger so far. This all means that November is going along pretty good.

I have only a few misgivings.

One thing that has caused shivers to run down my spine has been the gale force winds that push my hair and face backward everytime I step outside to buy gas or run anywhere between my car and a building. I have tried running backward, but then my face crumples forward - along with my hair.

Another thing is that every November, reporters go out to the malls and ask people if they are going to buy more or less this year than last on Christmas presents. Sure enough they've started asking people once again! And once again, people are giving the same answers, "same", or "less". What is that supposed to do for us? What kind of a news story is that year after year? I'm protesting. I say that's LAZY JOURNALISM, and a conspiracy against Christmas shopping, so there is JOURNALISM BIAS after all! Watch out for it!!!

Finally, I have had a rough time getting my car washed. I bought a car wash with a code number ten days ago. It will expire within 30 days. It's been wet on the streets since November started. I hope there is a remedy to this little issue. I certainly don't want to pay for a car wash and not be able to use it during these stressful economic times. I'm hyper-alerted to any specks of blue in the sky.

I know you want to see me at work. Well, here I am. Ha Ha

Mike G. and I were presenting on "Peer Consultation". We did great.