10 Feb 2008 1712H

Sunday notes

I’m not sure why — maybe the two pieces of leftover naan I had this morning had something to do with it — but, Sunday morning turned into a catchup period for all the sleep I lost this week. I suspect my body is reacting to stress in my life, which is made manifest in waking up at odd hours of the night, sitting bolt upright, going to the bathroom before going back to bed, and repeating some other time. In any case it’s why I’m blogging today at 4 in the afternoon.

It’s probably the coldest day of the year, but it also happens to be the day that the annual Chinatown New Year’s Parade happens. Because it is frighteningly cold I skipped out on it again this year and told all my friends to stay indoors. It’s 1ºF outside right now, which is, well, ridiculous cold. But fortunately this also has kept the amount of firecracker noise in the Square down since the snow and ice and cold have put a damper on furtive nocturnal displays of youthful pyrotechnic exuberance. It hasn’t, however, stopped the tourists or the Chinese Americans who live in the area or the folks who run the shops and restaurants who would otherwise have to be here. Was rather pleased to see quite a few folks — mostly Chinese but not all — descend on Chinatown on Thursday evening, actually. But to return to the weather, I don’t know why it gives me pause. I wasn’t stopped from going to work this week during what could otherwise have been called the worst weather to date this year, but that was inspired more from duty than anything else. Even yesterday when I was up north with Dad, hacking away at frozen blocks of snow & sleet to clear the driveway, I think it was the forcing function of the weather to basically think about how much work is expended in winter just to ensure getting out the door. If my commute was upwards of an hour then I might have to reconsider. Even so, I rather miss the days of working from home, except, work sometimes never really ended while I was at home. If I were to seek another job, I would want to negotiate for working remotely if it would permit. But perhaps what I’m really looking for is to just get away from here for a while, someplace warmer or just even a change of scenery.

This afternoon, I woke up and staggered to the TV to watch Obama had swept more states this weekend through the Plains and on the East Coast in the Democratic primaries, and then saw that Time, and McCain, had reinforced the notion that Hillary is much more the person that the Pubs would want to beat. She, more than any other person, would unite and rally the conservative vote, so much so that Rush Limbaugh has even proposed holding a fundraiser for her. Yes, she is even more of a rallier and uniter of the Republicans than McCain is, ironically, which almost begs the question, well, why not swap candidates? I think with a few adjustments to her policy planks, which in her zeal to be elected, I’m sure she would have no problem undertaking, Hillary would make a fine Republican for whom I would have no compunction not voting for, and McCain, well, except for a nasty tendency to freely use the gook epithet, might be a candidate I would consider voting for.

I’m also feeling pretty positive about the end of the Writers’ Strike, which has struck a tentative deal for getting their fair share of the pay owed them for having their work shown on the Internet, which of course, continues to generate more value for those who paid for it long after the show has gone into syndication, and why shouldn’t DVDs or Internet broadcasts be any different from that? I feel good about this, being that service sector labor is becoming the state of the economy. It’s a huge victory for labor, not just for the writers themselves, but I’m sure also for labor historians who will be discussing this in published papers and doctoral dissertations for years. But who are we kidding? We’re really looking forward to seeing a quality end to Galactica and maybe a resuscitation of what was a largely panned and abruptly ended second season of Heroes.

Looking forward to some time off. At some point.

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Filed under Asian & Asian American Stuff, Chicago Stuff, Politics, Seasonal Notes, Social Observations, Work

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