Friday the 4th

Hurray for me, not too many specifics but there is one less bad guy. This one was innocently hidden, I just happened to ask if he was known to another one. Yup. His life changed today.

I like working a four day week, Friday comes a hell of a lot faster when you take Monday off. I used to have a schedule that gave me every Friday off; the weeks felt long. I work shorter days now, never seem to have enough time to get everything done, I leave late sometimes, but I can run out. If I work longer days....well - my job becomes like a JOB.

Writing this at a coffee shop, the other way out of the house.

The Komen fiasco is calming down, so many jokes. But at least poor women still have a place to go for breast exams. I think there is still a tempest in the teapot. But it looks like social media did its job, yet again.

A story today about a region of Minnesota (Anoka - Hennepin) this is a school district which forbids the schools from teaching that there are such a thing as gay people. They secretly adopted this awhile ago. The schools knew about it, the parents didn't. So because of this policy. Seven teens have committed suicide. OK the policy didn't cause this, but in a way it did. These troubled teens had nowhere to go. They felt that they weren't normal, as was taught in the schools. They couldn't talk to teachers as the teachers were required to deny.

It reminds me of a Harry Chapin song Flowers are Red. Basically a little boy liked to paint flowers and leaves all different colours in his art class. A really strict teacher trained him that:
'Flowers are Red young man and Green leaves are Green, there is no reason to see flowers any other way than the way they have always have been seen.'

People don't know the power that teachers wield. Parents these days are too busy to know what is being taught. That is a cop-out, I know. Sometimes I let my son slide on the questions. Try interrogating a 7-9-11-13-16 year old on what they learned. It feels like interrogation, let me tell you!

The world problems are solved, except for the retired Marine homophobe who happened to find a place to air his 'essay'. The issues are resolved, DADT is dead and You Sir are Retired.

I have a date again tonight. No a girl :( she wants to buy me beer. I am going to restrain myself, don't want another day like last Saturday. Besides I have to be in the city tomorrow.

I also have to stop fucking around and start on the book again. The media stuff, especially the stuff on bullying is helping me with a plan for the book.

The gym and I have really started going steady. Running 5 miles one day and then 2 the next day. Weights on the days I do two miles. This guy is not getting younger, but I don't feel like I am getting older.

The Fire Department has been really quiet. The weather hasn't been that bad. Well basically the weather has been in the -10 to +5 range with no precipitation. It is just there. The Farmer's Almanac is officially wrong, Environment Canada says we are having a soft Winter. A friend of mine was driving her Mini with the top open. I wish I could be riding motorbike. Soon though.

Later - I have to eat, one thing I didn't do last Friday. I really am drawing the line at two beers......really.