Return of THE Michael

I'm sort of in a funk, post wise. It's not that nothing at all is happening or that I don't have an opinion concerning things that invoke opinions, none of which ever seem to solve something or settle an argument once and for all (like global warming, which,incredibly, is still being considered an "argument" in some people's minds, or should I say, chunks of grey matter that seem to have no apparent function). So, bear with me here while I attempt to leave you with something to contemplate, rather than supply you with a resolve to never, ever visit this blog again and be subjected to a chain of words that never seem to lead anywhere (but, I assure you, they do. They lead, eventually, to the end of this post.).

There's not a hell of alot of advantage to being almost poor, except that this year, I was able to file my taxes online for free. I didn't have to buy a tax program, hire someone to read complicated tax codes and translate them into something usable, nor did I have to go to the post office and bring home more paper to burn once I was through with about 10% of it. If you scroll through the list of approved online tax preparers on the IRS site, you eventually come across one who will let you, provided of course, that you live in the right state, aren't to young or too old, make too much money, or are an avowed communist, to file your taxes right there on the screen and then have it deposited right into your checking account. They promise you that you should get your money within no more than two weeks, but I got mine within the week. Cool! Then I watched all that beautiful stuff disappear as I paid my property taxes and trash pickup fee with it. I DID have a little left over, which I hope to get some landscape timbers to finally finish off our terraced herb garden, which has been under construction for something like four years. It's not enough to deal with my poor defunct septic system, but that's OK, because I am firmly convinced that somewhere below the ground there, a strange confluence of events have occurred that somehow initiated the world's first cold fusion reaction. What else could explain where all this shit is going? hehe Now all that remains is to figure out how to harness the enormous energy this impromptu fusion reactor must be putting out..........

If you own a computer (well, of course you do, you're reading this blog!) and a printer, you know well how expensive these damn ink cartridges are. Get yourself one of those refill kits and refill those cartridges yourself. It's not rocket science and you'll save a ton of money. Unless you own an Epson printer, of course, in which case you're screwed. You CAN refill em if you pay extra for a "chip resetter", but that can be dicey, so since I wanted a scanner/printer/copier combo machine anyway, I found a not-so-expensive one from HP and it works great, refilled cartridges and all. I just can't seem to get those $20 bills to come out right........

Meanwhile, over at Freedom's Place, it's been a roaring free-for-all, having survived it's first civil war with minimal casualties. I'm rather proud of this thing I have created, as well as those hardy souls who have dove head first into it and made it a lively example of creativity and free expression. Thank you all so much for your support and participation. Does anyone know of any Rastafarians, Japanese Buddhists, air traffic controllers, or Muslims on Prozac that might care to join us? Just let me know.........

Anna Nicole.........nevermind.......already over that..........


NASA has proven once again that their people are indeed made of the right stuff. Using mission planning techniques that rival those that put Man on the Moon, an astronaut of the female persuasion has demonstrated that hormones are an untapped resource that could very well get us to Mars, provided of course we have an adequate supply of pampers.




We bought ourselves a couple of cool bumper stickers for the car, one that says "BLESSED BE", the other, "WHERE THERE'S A WITCH, THERE'S A WAY". A car with Virginia license plates honked at me on the road today, and at the stop light, the lady driver rolled down her window and yelled at me, no, not "Burn in Hell!", but rather, "Thank You!". I smiled and yelled back, "You're welcome!" That's certainly a refreshing alternative to road rage, doncha think?

We have two people at work that I am really worried about. One is a nurse whom I have worked with for quite a number of years now, and the other a young man, a fellow PCT, who is funny as hell and full of life. They are both Army Reservists, and they are slated to be mobilized to Iraq come 2008. I love and care about both of them. Please, Congress, put a brake on this juggernaut once and for all and don't take these two fine individuals from us.

Speaking of nurses and PCT's, we have had a shortage of both in the CCU where I work, since the company the owns us went "private" and started penny pinching, putting a hiring freeze on in the middle of a growing census that we are having a hard time keeping up with. The ER has been filled to overflowing almost every other day, there are only 16 beds in my unit and they are always full, and the hospital is already in desperate need or more beds to handle the influx of sick and old people. More and more often I am having to work the unit alone without any help and it can get wearing, especially since I have been trying to schedule extra shifts to help out. The money is sure nice, but it sure seems expensive when I come home exhausted.

Next Morning......

Sorry, I didn't get this out last night; it didn't seem finished. Which leads me to upcoming Valentine's day.....what do you get a witch for Valentines? Hmmmm.......a chocolate voodoo doll? A pair of fuzzy dice for her broom? How about a nice little nothing I'd like for her to almost wear? (wait, that's for ME.......grin) Maybe some chocolate covered strawberries and some bubbly stuff........and a nice, husband cooked dinner, candles and all. Yea, THAT's the ticket.

OK, let me wrap this up and post it. Sorry if it seems I'm slacking lately, I'll try to be brilliantly creative and post amazing things more often for your reading pleasure. It's the least I can do for my adoring fans. Yes, I actually said that. Me bad.