Four Years And Eleven Days Ago

I wrote my first post and here it is.

My first blog. Prior to this moment I have ventured into the online literary world twice. These were very brief posts on Dkos after the recent "National" election.

My interests are varied, but I have a few favorites that occupy a good percentage of my thinking time. Depending on my mood I can focus on politics (the stuff that gets glossed over on the national infotainment that describes itself as news), things that fall into the geek category (science, electronics, etc.), cooking/nutrition (from recipes to the latest health news) and anything else that strikes my fancy.

I am an Acupuncturist by trade, a borderline geek by nature and a home cook by intention. Almost any problem can be solved or defused by food. Whether you are hunting/gathering (shopping), prepping, cooking , presenting, eating or digesting, your mind should be focused on what you are doing. The above activities can be creative and relaxing with the reward being you get to eat the results. Digesting usually makes most people calm and sleepy. Thanksgiving springs to mind. National eating holiday.

People usually know how to drink water, come in out of the rain, find sexual companionship, but cooking intimidates the most adventurous person. As Lao Tzu is reported to have said, "The journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step". So I just might write about the wonders of the dark leafy greens that Americans avoid with such creativity while embracing the statins and colonoscopy in their stead.

I had hoped there would be more Wil Wheaton on CSI last night. Oh well, there are two other CSI's. The way they have been recycling plot twists, he could easily get a better gig. Maybe one where we can see his face. They used a fingernail clipping as the key piece of evidence on LV and NY in the same week! He's better than a clipping. Maybe he could have a recurring role?

A few days later I wrote this one.

People are looking outside California for places to live. Number one reason is a better quality of life. Not for their kids, but for themselves. They want houses they can place a king size bed and furniture in the same bedroom. They don't want to look into their neighbors kitchen, living room or backyard. They really don't want their neighbors to have the ability to do it either. They want to be able to afford something else besides their house. Traffic, taxes, politics, watching what they work for count for nothing.

In the last week two different households decided to check out our neighbor to the immediate north. For right now that means Oregon, but both of them are capable of relocating outside the US. A woman who shares my birthday is moving to Arizona, she bought over the w/e and is now checking into her pension plan, plans to be gone in a year. As soon as her new house is completed. Arizona? I would rather go somewhere a little more green.

My only hope to get out of this state is to accidentally get roped into marriage or have there be national recognition of the CA Acupuncture license and I can move to another state. Zip, zilch, nada, a snowball's chance in the nether regions springs to mind for both those options. Since I no longer take insurance, staying here isn't required. Just a compatible scope of practice.

Someplace green with old trees and very little traffic would be great. A really good grocery store would rock. Of course, it is a little difficult to make money when you are isolated. Hmmm, will have to think on that.

Well, I didn't get roped and there isn't national recognition of the CA Acupuncture license but I'm finally moving.  And with the most exquisite timing in the world, a reader named G. who reads me via the Feedburner Flare (thank you!) sent me this encouraging message.

Regarding your acupuncture license being good only in California - Reno is right on the border of California and Nevada, so you should be able to work in California while living in Nevada.  You should be able to find people interested in your services around Lake Tahoe.  I think you should give it a try!  I wish you all the luck in your journey.

Thank you so much for your wishes and for your fresh idea.  I like it except for a couple of things.  One, I would probably still have to pay CA taxes while receiving only the benefit of not having wasted the last fourteen years, which now that I've written it sounds pretty stupid and two, I would need special dispensation from the Board while I try and get all the CEU's I'm behind on and aren't in the budget.  I will check on that tomorrow.  I haven't been able to leave mom alone but the complex we are supposedly moving to has quite a few senior citizens and maybe I'll be able to find someone to watch her while I'm gone all day.  However you look at it, it's an idea worth trying.  Once again, thank you.

It wasn't until August that the blogging fire really took hold.  I was picking up speed, having finally recovered from the previous election disappointments and then there was Katrina.  From before the storm hit to the inhumane treatment during and after, I went on a tear.  I ranted and railed about how it wasn't all incompetence, that it was deliberate and time marched on while the victims were forgotten.

The rest of the year was occupied by Harriet Miers, various blog redesigns, plenty of jokes, posts about the troops getting screwed, the most popular post I ever wrote, how the Democrats couldn't roll over and play dead any more than they already were, and ended the year with the attempted bullying of John Ashcroft by Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales.

It's sad seeing how much I've changed and the world hasn't.  I don't do as many jokes or find as many feel good stories and while evil still rules it no longer looks like a certain ex VP (I love how they use his trademark snarl to show contempt and arrogance on Lie To Me). The little people still pay the price and get blamed for it not only being so high but that without any outside positive changes in their lives they still haven't achieved the American Dream that is shown nonstop on television so it's really their fault and they aren't worthy of any help. Government is still clueless as to what the taxpayers really need and some Republicans are willing to punish their constituents for a future principle (running for national office) while those same constituents and their children are suffering right this moment.

For the last six months my personal drama has ruled my life and my posting, hopefully I'm making a change for the better.  Like a good Netflix queue, I hope that the drama becomes an adventure comedy and I can return to my original goals.  A mixture of politics, humor, cooking, science, space, and whatever else tickles my fancy at the moment.

BBB