Second shift

I just got home from work.

It was relatively early tonight, 11:45PM.

Adjusting to second shift is a bit more difficult than I'd imagined. The first month of my new job (and for the record, I'm thrilled beyond words to even have this job, after being un-or-under-employed for the last 18 months) was surreal.

I was tired all the time that first month, because I was still trying to wake up around my usual time of 6:45-ish, even though I often didn't get home until 1AM or later. And getting in at that hour doesn't automatically mean to you get to sleep at that hour. Usually I have to relax for an hour or more before the caffeine would wear off and I was decompressed to the point I could fall asleep. Usually between 2 and 3AM.

So for a few weeks I felt like an insomniac, sort of like Edward Norton at the beginning of "Fight Club", where he was claimed he was never really awake or never really asleep. It's a weird schedule, which I had to alter using Tylenol PM and cheap scotch so I could sleep well past my wife waking up and going to work.

Which I really miss. We always had coffee in bed before going to work. It was a nice routine and a chance to chat with each other in the morning. Now we only get that maybe twice a week, on her days off. Fortunately, she's very willing to sleep 'til 9:30 or 10AM given the opportunity, so we still get to have our coffee together on those days.

But the reality of working second shift is that your entire life seems to revolve around work. You have your "off-time" during the period between when you wake up and when you go to work. A "normal" schedule would typically give you maybe an hour or two after waking until you get to work, and a nice four or five hour window at night after you get home.

Me, I wake up out of my semi-coma around 9:30-ish, wander downstairs in my robe to pour myself a cup of coffee that my wife made three hours ago, and watch a bit of news and weather. Breakfast is the high point of my morning, occurring around 11AM. Since I'm currently on my annual diet, it includes a healthy meal of oatmeal, fresh fruit, and an egg-white omelet. Then I make my salad for dinner, pack it up with some 100-calorie snacks and a few bottles of water, and go back upstairs and check my email and Twitter. If I have a little time, I make some calls and chat with friends and family.

All too soon it's 1PM, and I have to shower and get ready for work. At 2PM, I'm on the clock and the calls start pouring in. Then I'm on the road for the rest of the day, often (as I said) until midnight or later.

The good thing about this crazy schedule is that I'm not spending a lot of money, although I bought a Dunkin Donuts card, so I can simply go to the drive-thru and get a cup of steaming hot coffee without having to fumble around for money. It's the best thing ever!

Although...I do wish they'd stop serving their coffee in styrofoam cups. If they went to paper, I'd feel a little better about myself. But since their coffee keeps me from veering off the road, I'll live with the guilt for now.

So, here I am, living in a sort of half way "after-hours" world these days. I'm not complaining mind you, but I'm just giving some thoughts about my adjustment to the hours.

Blogging just doesn't feel as important now, because it seems that everything important that goes on in the world already happened well before midnight, and by then everyone has written something about it. I'll just be the guy who gets to the party late and repeats what everyone has already said.

I do have to say that Rick Santorum kicked some serious Deep South butt tonight, and is making a real case for a two-man race from here on in! Romney still has a sizable delegate lead, but with 2/3 of the delegates still to be chosen, it's anyone's race! You know how much I love a good GOP knock-down drag-out fight!

Ah, ya see? I couldn't resist talking politics, even this late at night! Heh heh heh...

It's almost 1AM now. G'night

Superish Tuesday

I call it that because there's nothing really "super" gonna be happening today.

About a third of the 1,144 delegates required to win the Republican nomination are at stake today. Romney currently leads in the race with 180 delegates to Santorum's 90, Gingrich's 29, and Paul's 23.

There are still roughly 1,962 delegates at stake, which means theoretically this is still anyone's race. But the reality is that Romney's main rivals have a very slim chance to win today, due to being left off the ballot in Virginia, and Santorum's failure to qualify in many Ohio Congressional districts.

After today Romney will stretch his lead, and the money will start getting more and more difficult for the other candidates to find.

So, far from being an exciting or even marginally interesting Super Tuesday, today will more likely end up being "Ho-hum Tuesday".

IN OTHER NEWS, today Gov. Malloy filed a civil protection order against a frequent senate/congressional/gubernatorial candidate who has filed a lawsuit against him for slander. I won't name the candidate in question because I'm told she is somewhat inclined to file lawsuits at the drop of a hat. Currently another popular blog in Connecticut is the target of a suit for alleged slander (which I would never do under any circumstances) and for "refusal to identify her as a candidate" (which I clearly did do near the top of this paragraph).

So I think I'm safe here...

Probably...

(please don't sue me.)

Rush Limbaugh

He's the single biggest reason why people are fleeing the GOP.

I don't really need to say anything else about him.

(Actually, I could have written up a detailed post about his detestable comments, but I don't want to be in a bad mood all day, so I'll just leave it at this.)

Andrew Breitbart

Hmmm...

The guy was 43 and left a family behind. That is a tragedy.

I really don't know the best way to handle this. I can't help but suspect that the guy was consumed by his own visceral hatred for anything that remotely smacked of liberalism. I didn't like most of what he said or did, and often found him to be a cheap, headline-grabbing phony.

On the other hand, he did do a few things that were entirely justified.

Breitbart showing Anthony Weiner's infamous sexting photo was unpleasant, but certainly not above what nearly any left-leaning journalist would show if it was a Republican politician's "junk" on display. Thankfully, we haven't had to see that so far!

And I'll admit that there were a few times I heard him speak on the news shows and I somewhat admired his pugnacious wit, even though I usually disagreed with whatever point he was making.

But his unwarranted and fabricated attack on Shirley Sharrod by editing the video of her remarks to create a partisan fiction nearly ruined the woman's life. And his vile "eulogy" for Ted Kennedy immediately after his passing was unpardonable:

@AndrewBreitbart
AndrewBreitbart
Rest in Chappaquiddick
26 Aug 09 via web

The impulse to dance on Breitbart's grave is equally nasty, and I am doing everything in my power to not succumb to it. So, I'll try to refrain from further comment and let Andrew speak for himself. From several weeks ago:



I guess what I'm saying is that I'm sorry the man is dead, but I don't feel so sorry that he's gone.

UPDATE:

Wow.

Shirley Sherrod has more class in her pinkie finger than most humans have in their entire bodies!

Myself included.

From the HuffPo:

Shirley Sherrod, the USDA employee who was fired from her job after Breitbart released an incomplete video of her appearing to say she intentionally discriminated against white farmers —she was actually describing how she overcame such prejudices — sent her condolences.

"The news of Mr. Breitbart's death came as a surprise to me when I was informed of it this morning," she said. "My prayers go out to Mr. Breitbart's family as they cope through this very difficult time."

Romney and Santorum will go down to the wire

The headline is what I secretly wish, but more than likely that won't happen.

Of the two GOP primaries yesterday, Michigan had the most interesting results. Romney prevailed in both primaries:

Arizona
Romney 47% (29 delegates)
Santorum 27%
Gingrich 16%
Paul 8%

Michigan
Romney 41% (11 delegates)
Santorum 38% (11 delegates)
Paul 12%
Gingrich 7%

Arizona's all-or-nothing rules means Romney won all 29 delegate, while Michigan split their delegates based on percentages. As of this morning, 8 delegates remain unpledged.

Michigan is interesting because it's widely identified as Romney's birthplace and known as his "second home state". Yet he only barely squeaked by Santorum, who's expected to do reasonably well in next week's "Super Tuesday" election. 10 states will hold primaries and caucuses then, including Massachusetts, which of course is Romney's home state.

The current delegate count is:

Romney 168
Santorum 48
Gingrich 38
Paul 27

So with Romney holding a substantial lead over everyone else it looks like Super Tuesday will be a showdown, and anyone who performs poorly will likely see their financing dry up as their contributors rush to the front runners. Should Romney sweep it, more than likely it will end the race right there.

Of course, Romney is heavily favored to win the nomination, but I'm half-hoping for a spirited challenge from Santorum or Gingrich just so I can see the fireworks continue.

But I doubt it will go on much longer.

Sen. Lieberman caws again

(from BombIran.org - an antiwar site)

The last dying gasp of the aging warhawk was uttered yesterday, when Sen. Joe Lieberman spoke about possibly using military force to stop the shadowy nuclear weapons program in Iran.

Lieberman's stance is predicated on the supposed "capability" of Iran to develop nuclear weapons, not the actual deployment or use of them. Lieberman is a sponsor of a Senate resolution that urges President Obama to...:

...take action to "prevent the Iranian government from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability."

This is sounding very familiar to President George W. Bush's justification for launching the disastrous 2003 Iraq War, which President Obama has finally gotten us out of as of December. Disappointingly, it appears that Sen. Richard Blumenthal has signed onto the resolution.

It's been nearly two months without a new war to take its place, so Lieberman apparently wants to help the military-industrial complex one more time before he retires. A not-too-tidy (or inexpensive) war against Iran would fit the bill perfectly. And the oil companies would use the event to skyrocket the price of fuel. Everyone wins!

Except us.

The deliberate fuzziness of the word "capability" gives the Senate enough wiggle room to, depending on their political slant at the time, start a war based upon next to no evidence. Just like the "weapons of mass destruction" argument Bush used to launch the war nearly a decade ago.

We must pressure our leaders to keep cooler heads. There will always be perceived threats against our nation, but to act on them unilaterally with no conclusive evidence would be a crime against the principles that our country is based upon.

Deep down, I have to believe as a nation that we're better than that.

Sunday Night Music Club XXII

This is a simple fact: Chris Cornell is one of my favorite musicians of all time.

Well, here's another reason to like him. His soulful tribute to the late Whitney Houston, recorded live a few nights ago in San Francisco. I'm not a big Whitney fan, but it literally gave me chills.

How can you not love this guy?

Gary Carter

Sad news today. Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter passed away at the age of 57.

During the magical 1986 season, CT Joyce and I attended eleven games at Shea Stadium, and the NY Mets won ten of them (it was that kind of year), including NLCS Game 5 when Carter hit a dramatic 12th inning single to score Wally Backman from second base and win the game. The Mets went on to win a memorable World Series against the Red Sox.

There wasn't another player in MLB who matched his exuberance, enthusiasm and hustle. He was a class act all the way. I'm sad that he's gone, but feel privileged to have watched him play the game the way a true champ plays it.

Here's to the "Kid"!

Woman of the (New) Year!

Washington state governor Christine Gregoire has promised to sign the landmark legislation passed by the state senate which will legalize same-sex marriage. 2012 is just over a month old, and here is a person who is making a definite difference already!

Many states have passed laws defining what constitutes marriage, with too many red states making it absolutely verboten between anyone but a man and a woman. The old "defense of marriage" arguments simply doesn't hold water unless those same states really wanted to protect the sanctity of marriage, and that would only be possible if they passed a law that banned divorce!

But the defense of marriage argument is simply something bigoted people use to discriminate against gay people. They don't want gay people to have the same rights as themselves, but rather than embrace their bigotry and openly admit it, they hide behind a veil of religion and self-righteousness.

Meanwhile, pro-Christian conservatives like Newt Gingrich are usually on their second, or third, or even fourth wives. That's not being "pro-marriage" at all...unless you're measuring marriage on a yardstick of how many of them a guy can afford!

Read more in this NY Times article.

Giants 21 - Patriots 17

Sorry to all my friends (and CT Joyce) who are New England Patriots fans. I know this won't make you feel much better, but I was saying that if the Giants had to lose to anyone, I was hoping it would be the Patriots.

But the boys in blue (actually, since they were wearing their away uniforms it was red letters on white, which I still despise as a transparent attempt to sell more merchandise) did win it. As I mentioned in Twitter, in this year's postseason the Giants have continued to find ways to win. That's the sign of a real championship team! Congrats to the Giants for their second Super Bowl win in four years.