1, 2, 3...

1. Got a call back about the diamond job Friday morning; I'm their top candidate and they want to do a second interview. When I mentioned that I'd been to two interviews Thursday and the other one offered more hours, she said they could work me into full time sooner but that the training period is generally part time. Since she's going on maternity leave mid/late summer, I'd be full time by then.
   
   So that's very cool...
   
   
2. The apartment manager called me this evening to find out if there's any way they could convince me to stay. Either I'm a great tenant, or vacancy rates are so high around here they don't want to lose anyone! Probably a combination of the two...
   
   
3. Despite a major fucking sinus headache, I got the living room rearranged tonight. Still need to move a few things to their "final" spots, but otherwise it's pretty cool. Just realized it had been the same for two years- maybe this will get the chi moving again. Or something!
   
   Set up the folding office table that used to be my desk in a corner, so I can stack boxes underneath and use the top for sorting and packing things over the next several weeks. Finally, a use for that corner of the room- it always ends up empty or a heap; now it's a heap on MY terms!
   
   Kind of think I should rearrange things in the bedroom, too- that's been mostly the same since I moved in.
   
   
4. A. Next week is the last Farscape, which sucks... bad, BAD SciFi channel! Don't kill the good shows!
   
   B. On the other hand, Stargate:SG1 is bringing back Dr. Daniel Jackson in next week's season finale, and he'll be back full time for Season 7. (They sort of killed him off; he "ascended", and has showed up in two other episodes this season.) Viewer protests CAN make a difference!
   
   
5. Going up Saturday evening to see The Guy for the first time in four weeks, which has been FAR too long. I've missed him more than words can express.
   
   
6. I'd better get to bed, because I wanted to be up and over at MicroCenter by the time they open at 9 am, so I can hopefully get the vouchers for the super-sale items I need to get this computer upgraded. Hopefully, things that will stop the frequent crashing, or at least reduce the frequency of said crashes!
   

From the mouths of babes...

Published on Wednesday, April 3, 2002 by Common Dreams

What the American Flag Stands For
by Charlotte Aldebron

The American flag stands for the fact that cloth can be very important. It is against the law to let the flag touch the ground or to leave the flag flying when the weather is bad. The flag has to be treated with respect. You can tell just how important this cloth is because when you compare it to people, it gets much better treatment. Nobody cares if a homeless person touches the ground. A homeless person can lie all over the ground all night long without anyone picking him up, folding him neatly and sheltering him from the rain.

School children have to pledge loyalty to this piece of cloth every morning. No one has to pledge loyalty to justice and equality and human decency. No one has to promise that people will get a fair wage, or enough food to eat, or affordable medicine, or clean water, or air free of harmful chemicals. But we all have to promise to love a rectangle of red, white, and blue cloth.

Betsy Ross would be quite surprised to see how successful her creation has become. But Thomas Jefferson would be disappointed to see how little of the flag's real meaning remains.


Charlotte Aldebron, 12, wrote this essay for a competition in her 6th grade English class. She attends Cunningham Middle School in Presque Isle, Maine. Comments may be sent to her mom, Jillian Aldebron: aldebron@ainop.com