08.10.2001
feeling kinda
hey, if you ever need to know anything classified, just watch CNN or your cable channel of choice.
we've just started bombing Afghanistan. there are military actions that should be classified. but it would seem the information is there for the asking. case in point: i was watching the news the other night, and the reporter asked the military person about the top capacities of some bomber. 'oh, we can't tell you that. it's classified.' well, is the top speed this?' 'yes.' *small stars exploding behind my eyelids* um... *** WTF? didn't you just say you couldn't say that?
even if you didn't reveal the true top capacity, you at least confirmed some parameter. and that's just not right. i'm all for freedom of information, don't get me wrong. but i also think that it's reasonable to protect some information in order to protect our troops.
after all, these folks are willing to put their lives - *their lives* - on the line for our country. the least we can do is be a tad less inquisitive about some of the finer details. yes, i want to know where we're taking action, and why. but i don't need to know every freakin' detail. and i think it would be better not to put this information out where our foes (whomever they may be) can also find it. let's not make this easier for them.
gah.
and what is up with this whole 'now, in hour ten of the war' business? um, helllooooo? this will be much more than a matter of hours or days. the scale of reporting just seems all wrong.
it's as if people don't really want to face up to the magnitude of what we've signed up for. okay, what the Shrub has signed up for. but by extension, we're all signed up for this. i fully expect that this action, this war, this struggle, whatever you want to call it, will be with us for many years. i don't want to hear people dissecting the first ten hours, as if it will all be over quickly and neatly, to be summed up on the front page of next week's Time magazine. because that sounds to me as if we're turning this into media fodder. and that's wrong.
feh. on a smaller and less controversial scale, my boss is sick. hah. this is what he gets for not having any sympathy last week. karma comes around to bite you on the ass sometimes, my man. (then again, it could be our HVAC system. but i prefer to think it's karma, baby.)
and despite all my cavilling and moaning, i'm having a good time at work. when the job goes right, i enjoy it. and there's been a lot to enjoy this week. i'm getting data to go thru, finding problems, and making progress!! (in case you didn't know, part of my job is actually being paid to find problems, as a tester - so that part is very good.) we finally have mostly working code. whoo hoo! and i have all the tools i need to get things done. installed an FTP program with a drag and drop interface. it makes me deliriously happy to have this working. it means i can get around a few of the kinks in the software and get my job done. i can make things happen! yay!
of course, the people downstream from me are none too happy about the volume of issues. better we find them than the customer, says i.
so i made it thru a full day at work and felt like i'd accomplished something. and then i got home and did a few more things. it's been so hard to keep up with chores lately, being sick and draggy and all. which is a shame, because when you're sick, you want everything to be neat and comfortable. the downside to living alone is that when you get sick, there's noone to clean up after you and bring you gingerale in bed. :(
but tonight i got a few loads of laundry done. i did the important loads of laundry - socks and underwear. i actually went out at lunch last week and bought more of each of those, just to stave off the chores. it was easier to walk into the Gap and buy a few items than take the time to do laundry. at least it's not as if they're going to go bad. and the cats are happy to have clean laudry to sleep on. :)
i fed my face (can't even remember what i had, but i know i only had to heat it up, because the energy level is still pretty low, and i haven't done dishes in a while). and i chatted with a few friends about The Boy. in case i haven't mentioned it here - i gave him his walking papers because he saw fit to call me and rip me a new asshole. it was something that could have been worked out quite easily in a rational conversation. but nooooo. he called and yelled for half an hour. i'm so conflict avoidant that i kept trying to talk to him and diffuse the situation. what it boiled down to is this: he was a good summer fling, and we didn't have a friendship beyond that. when he chose to yell, he crossed all sorts of boundaries. and i have no patience with that whatsoever.
so i asked him not to call me again. what do you think he did? yup. called again, a few times, to get in the last word. what part, exactly, of 'don't ever call me again' do you think wasn't clear? because if i was imprecise, i can't see it.
the satisfying part of that was that my machine cut him off when he was trying to make the Perfect Exit. thank god for technology, eh?
it's got me really angry, tho, so i chatted with a few people and dumped all my anger there, where he wouldn't get the satisfaction. *deep breath* i am sort of hoping i run into him at some point, tho, just so i can shut him down in person. an evil thought, perhaps, but a satisfying daydream.
and again, i had to battle with DSL. it's the second time in 9 days that my account has been marked inactive by the billing department. the pissy part is that it takes an hour or more to figure out that the inactive flag is the issue. grrr.
thankfully, i have low blood pressure most of the time. otherwise, this all might send me right over the edge.
