I have been neglecting this podcast, and haven’t even been writing in this blog for a while. Certain events in my real life which I really do not want to go into have caused me to want to pull into myself and hide my personal self from the internet. I have been doing some posting of interesting links on my Facebook account (go ahead and friend me if you like–it’s rare that I refuse a friends request unless it’s from an obvious spammer) and have been in some rewarding arguments. I’ve also posted a few links in my LiveJournal, but nothing really personal. You are welcome to read that, for what it’s worth (my LiveJournal has devolved mostly into a link repository as well).

I’ve been very upset by the economy and how long it is taking to fix it. I am very angry that as usual there are certain charletons who are using the system to enrich themselves on the backs of the taxpayers. I am upset about the situation in Afghanistan, Darfur and Myanmar. I have been called anti-semitic and akin to a Nazi because of my linking to articles about atrocities committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip (Apparently Jews get a free pass on human rights because of their experiences in World War II.). I’ve been told off by a relative because of my activist atheism. I’ve been slammed by a vegetarian family member because of my activist veganism. And it gets more personal than that–I’m just doing everything wrong, apparently.

But the cool thing is that my oldest daughter Halley is living at home while she studies for her GRE and hopefully finds a job soon, and Dwight, Halley, and I have been putting in some raised bed gardens in our front yard (which is a pain because we live on a hill and the only part of our yard that gets any sun whatsoever is very steep). We’ve planted some cool-weather vegetables and they are growing!

Dwight and I also broke down and bought a Vita-Mix after I burned out the motor on our old blender and we’re drinking green smoothies every day. It is the most expensive kitchen appliance we have ever bought, next to the refrigerator and the dishwasher, but it is so useful! When the kale and collards come in, we’ll be blending them into delicious frosty beverages.

Vino Wong/vwong@ajc.com

Well, I’m back from Traffic Court.

Back in early December, I got ticketed for running a red light that turned red as I passed through it. Dumb me–but I’ve been hit from behind on several occasions when I stopped on a yellow light so I tend to speed up and scoot on through.

Anyway, I was instructed to wait at least a week and then call the number on the ticket to pay by phone unless I wanted to go to court and plead not guilty. I waited a month and then did as instructed and was informed that my ticket was for $0.00 + $5.95 handling fee. That freaked me out, so I spent the next few days trying to get a live operator to pick up the phone with busy signals at all times. Finally, I made it through and then waited on hold for 45 minutes, only to be informed by the clerk when she finally picked up the phone that I needed to wait another week. I waited until it was getting close to my court date and called again. The amount due was still $0.00. So I paid that and the handling fee. And I called back the next day to hear that my ticket was paid and my account was now closed.

But still I worried. So I went to traffic court today. It had warmed up to 40°F and was a nice sunny day, so it wasn’t too bad waiting outside DeKalb Recorders Court with the crowd of other unfortunates. Then a police officer told us all that we had to turn off our cellphones, take off our belts and watches, take our cameras and recording devices back to our cars, remove any metal, etc. and then put our stuff through an x-ray machine.

We were herded into courtrooms depending on our last name. A clerk came in and told about the benefits of going to driving classes at $90, which would take off the points from our driving record. Then we were to line up to pay in one line and plea in another. I got in line to pay, fortunately toward the front.

I got up to the clerk at her desk and told her about the problem I had with the system. She looked me up and said I have already paid. I said I really didn’t pay anything and I was willing to take care of my fine but she said to get out of there, I had already paid. So I left. Sweet.

You better believe I obeyed every traffic law on the way home.

Dwight thinks somehow I managed to somehow work the system to my advantage, given that there has been an ongoing scandal with DeKalb Recorders Court as cited here and here. It’s probably a problem with their system’s database, where once an account has been closed, it cannot be reopened. As someone who has worked for companies that have discovered some time after the fact that they invested in really poor software, I agree with this assessment.

Clifford told me today that he wanted to go for a walk, so I said I’d walk with him so he wouldn’t get lost. As an 87-year-old man with dementia who has lived with us since April, he has never once found his way home on his own power. I told him I had to change clothes and do a few things first, and in the meantime he escaped out the door without me and I couldn’t figure out where he was. Naturally it was 18° F. Naturally he was only wearing a light flannel shirt. Naturally it took me a long time to find him, and his skin was all red.

Today I have to go to traffic court–I’m making Halley watch Clifford. Boring, but I’ll report back on how it is.

Tomorrow and Saturday I am going to SkepticCamp Atlanta. I’ll try to blog about that as well.

I have been extremely stressed lately. Clifford, the 87-year-old uncle of my husband whom I’ve been staying home watching since last April, has gotten worse. He’s much more confused, weaker, and sleeps much more than he was. When he’s awake he asks the same questions over-and-over and tells me the most random anecdotes. I worry that he is turning a corner in his dementia and while I used to think he had maybe 10 more years, I’d now be surprised if he lives another 3-4.

My oldest daughter moved home before Christmas and hasn’t yet found a job (though she had an interview at a veterinarian’s), nor is she yet studying for grad school which she’ll need money to pay for. She’s got a B.S. in Ecology and would be a good lab tech, but there aren’t a lot of positions out there right now. She’s mostly playing video games.

Her ex-boyfriend/best friend (our honorary son) has lost his job and therefore his apartment and tried to join the Navy and they won’t take him until January of next year, so he is moving home to Detroit where he has family, but in the meantime until he can get the funds to move up there he is staying here as well, also playing video games. He’s moved all his worldly possessions here for us to store for him.

My husband is the executor for his mother’s estates, which entails going to Augusta fairly regularly to take care of things. What could not be sold or distributed amongst other family members is now in our house.

Our house is very small. It’s a tiny 1950s ranch house with 1.5 baths and a basement. With the six people and four cats, we’re all on top of each other.

Every day I am making my bed, because it is the only place in the house that is tidy and ordered. I am extremely stressed and feel angry almost all the time. I’ve gained ten pounds and am yelling at my poor husband a lot. I’m trying very hard to eat healthy lowfat vegan foods and exercise whenever I can get a break from Clifford, but it isn’t always working out.

And now I find that my podcast feed isn’t working on iTunes, and I can’t figure out why. Not that I’ve been podcasting lately. It’s so hard when I can’t get time to compose my thoughts and record.

Here’s the ad from American Humanist. I don’t know. While I like the sentiment that Barack Obama’s mother raised him to be a decent human being in a secular household, Obama himself is a Christian, whether that is for political expediency or for a true religious inclination. It seems like crass opportunism on American Humanist’s part and indeed, even a tenuous relationship with an atheist organization may come back to bite Obama in his re-election campaign.

Model builder Gary McIntire puts the finishing touches on a Lego presidential inauguration scene on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 at Legoland California in Carlsbad, Calif. The scene was built to celebrate President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sandy Huffaker)

Historic scene depicting President-elect Barack Obama taking the presidential oath of office on the steps of the Capitol in Miniland Washington DC, in Legoland park in Carlsbad, California, January 16, 2009. (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)
These two images came from www.boston.com.

I’m very excited about the new administration coming in tomorrow. I’m hoping they are able to fix the mess in which the last administration buried us.

I’m supposed to help out at my youngest daughter’s school tomorrow as they are having a celebration and are taking a field trip to a daycare center to teach the little kids about American government. She’s supposed to bring food from Maine and Vermont. I better go to the grocery store. She also wants to dye her hair red and blue and paint her face white, but she’s playing Bully on the Wii.

James Bamford talks about foreign companies spying on Americans for NSA. This is very frightening.

A friend on LiveJournal said that Israel is practicing aparthaid whereas Hamas is practicing insurgency.

But I do know that Israel’s attack on the people of Gaza is like shooting fish in a barrel. The people have nowhere to go, no way to protect themselves, and the innocent are dying. And Arabs see images like these and hatred for Israel grows. Will this ever end?