I got my new glasses yesterday. I picked up my new sunglasses yesterday. The sunglasses are... well they're kind of meh. They look better than my old ones, but aren't as dark. It's nice to have the ability to wear them on cloudy days as they are often too bright for my regular specs, but not bright enough for my old sunglasses. And we've had quite a few cloudy days lately. But I still find myself squinting on really bright sunny days and I fear how they'll work on bright sunny days with a few inches of snow on the ground.
My everyday glasses aren't all that different from my old ones. They're the 'thick black plastic frames' style that I've been wearing for near three years now, but this time they have a brand name. Oakley. Technically they are "Oakley Currency" frames. An appropriate name as this pair of specs cost me just under $500 WITH insurance. For comparison's sake I paid less than that for both of my old pair (regular and sunglasses) withOUT insurance. It's going to take some time to get used to how the Oakley's hold on to my head. Instead of curling behind the ear, these ones continue on straight and have a vice like grip on my head. The fit is correct as before they were adjusted they'd fall off, and I don't have any complaint with the tightness on my head. Unfortunately I DO have a complaint with how they actually cut into my ears. I'll get used to it, but for now it's not comfortable at all.
On the plus side, my prescription has changed VERY little according to the optometrist. This is good news as my prescription has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. The only real change was that my bifocal magnification was upped. And that is going to prove incredibly useful.
On the work front, They've hired some new RNs. Once again I enter the hopeful stage that we can be fully staffed for more than a day or two. One of the new RNs will be in 5 Block and is actually excited about it. That's good news to me as the supervisor made it clear that she'd like to see me there. Not as a punishment, but because I've done good work out there.
It's vacation time at work. The way they handle the excessive requests for time off during the holidays is to pass around a book where we all write in our requested leave through January. I don't have any particular need to ask for days off this year. My normal day off already falls on Thanksgiving, and I'll get either Christmas Day or New Years Day off. The one thing I wanted to do was to ensure that I'd get the opportunity to watch Michigan and Ohio state play as well as the chance to watch the Big Ten Championship game the next week. Obviously I'd naturally get one of those days off as I get every other weekend away from work. But I had to request the other one off. I turns out I would be working while Michigan gets crushed by the Buckeyes, so I asked for that Saturday off. I know that the State and the Union have crazy restrictions on asking for weekends off, so I went ahead and asked for the Sunday off as well.
Under the old system you could only ask for one weekend off every six months. That system is now gone, but they now require you to ask for a full "five day vacation" when requesting any weekend off. Bah... all I really want is about 4 hours on that Saturday to watch the game. I could work before and after it, so long as I got to watch every agonizing play. But because of this rule, watching the game will cost me 32 hours of leave.
Yeah... I took it.
My brother R took the opportunity to decry his hatred of unions over this stupid rule. I sate mutely as really I can't fault him for his feelings. But at the same time I'm grateful for the Union in this circumstance. I CAN get the day off. If the union didn't work the requirements into the contract the State could easily say that I couldn't take my scheduled Weekend off. My younger brother for example works at an Indian casino. Obviously he doesn't have a union (as an Indian Nation they don't even have to follow federal worker law!). As a result he can't even ask for the day off. Well... he can, but they don't have to grant it. Even if they DO grant him the time off, he won't know until just a few days before. So it's not like he can actually plan on it. If he wants to take a day off he has to call in, and that costs him points. I'm not sure what the point system is, but obviously if you accrue enough points, you get fired.
I got a visit recently from a couple Mormons. No, this isn't the beginnings of a joke. They were going door to door to 'spread the word' and drop off literature. Instead of telling them I wasn't interested and closing the door politely in their faces, I let them have some of their say. I could see the chest well up on one of these guys even as I admitted that I was agnostic.
We bantered around a bit, but eventually he went for his 'big gun' and asked me if I ever felt shame or guilt. I answered honestly that I did feel shame and guilt... really, who doesn't? He then asked me if I'd like to learn how to have a higher power remove those feelings from me.
Without hesitation I went into what turned out to be a long soliloquy. I won't even try to quote my entire speech, but I basically said:
"No, I don't want anybody to remove my feelings of shame or guilt. I feel shame for acts that I've committed that I consider after the fact to be shameful. I've done a shameful thing and the correct response is to feel shame. I feel guilt for acts that I've committed that I consider to be wrong. I've done wrong things and the correct response is to feel guilt. I take these feeling and learn from them. They remind me to be a better person and not commit acts that are shameful or wrong. If anything can take these feelings away, then I won't learn from my mistakes and I'll eventually just commit the same or similar acts again. I love my shame as it teaches me to be a better man. I adore my guilt as it teaches me to be a better person. To take these feeling away would make me worse and less, and I want to always strive to be better and more."
The guy that was talking to me seemed to shrug what I said off and started building up another reason for me to join their church. He's a lifer. But the other guy... I swear I saw him silently mouth 'Wow' and look down at his shoes. Maybe they chose the wrong house for conversion... but then again maybe they chose the right one. Maybe I started converting one of them to the ways of reason and sound thought.
I started re-watching The Newsroom in preparation of the new season. I've watched the first season about three times now and I've watched the second season twice. But even after that many viewigns I still find myself loving this series. The writing is sharp and quick, the dialog is meaningful and funny and sad and heart warming, the technicalities of the show (lighting, music, sound, direction...) is top notch.
In short, if you've never watched The Newsroom, then do yourself a favor and catch it. The first few minutes of the first episode will catch you and amaze you. And the show never lets up. It's ALL that good.
That's all for now. I'll write more later this week.
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