Birfdays

The weekends keep flying by. So much so that I will start a post and then inevitably have to discontinue said post and when I pick back up where I left off I notice that everything needs to be changed because "later this week" or "this past Sunday" no longer applies so I'll keep this short and sweet.

We celebrated my niece's third birthday on the 18th. It was a casual affair but we had a good time despite the weather. Her and I are forever doomed to lousy weather around our birthdays. Her mom went to the trouble of making that Barbie cake as well. We didn't have nearly as hard a time eating it.

And that's the short of it. Erica and I were both sick at various points last week making sleep tough to come by. I did get a lot done with the house as far as organization goes. I finally got the closet system installed to a stopping point upstairs. I got the second crib set up and the babies' room organized. It's basically one big crib. Insane. There is no such thing as a modest crib anymore... just cheaper materials in the same gargantuan cribs. I wish I would've done a little more research on that end. Now they'll each have full beds when they get older but where in the hell do you stick two full beds!?! That's right, two separate rooms. It's a shame what McMansions have done to standard home furnishings.

We attended a birthing class all day Saturday. Enlightening to say the least. Very good information but all I could think about during the video segment was how awful a hospital environment must be when you're in hours and hours of labor. It's cold and drab. Why can't we make this better. Look at the Dutch... they're look is sterile yet inviting. Nothing we can do about it now. So are we ready? Who knows. I'm getting pretty anxious, watching Erica's every move, every grimace, every labored movement. Today marks the 29th week and those little guys are about three pounds apiece. Three pounds! That's six pounds of baby! I have sanctioned her to the couch at this point. She listens sometimes and she moves things around behind my back some other times.

The butterflies are aflutter more and more. Time is growing short.

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

In an attempt to curb my complaining, I've tried to attach this stipulation to my criticisms...

For every complaint, there must be a solution.

So this solution doesn't necessarily stem from a complaint. It's more like an idea. They happen from time to time... once a year, maybe twice. Never more than twice. This particular idea has been a long time brewing. Now, it could mean that's it's a nasty porridge by now or a well-rounded chili that's ready to be eaten.

Let me just preface this by saying that I didn't fail high school and high school didn't fail me, but I wasn't ready for college upon completion of my senior year at Sidney Lehman Catholic. It's not that I wasn't prepared to take the classes college offered... I just didn't know what the hell I wanted to do.

And I'm not saying what I have to offer is any kind of solution but I know something like it would've been a win-win situation for me and Toby Keith's favorite country, the good ole U-S-of-A.

What it involves is a year of service upon graduation from high school in one of two areas... the job corps or the military corps. Your choice. If the choice is the former, you're placed in a public works program outside of your region allowing you to experience other ways of life in your country. The better your grades, the closer you are to your choice city. Jobs are based on four years of information collected from your high school guidance counselors. You'll work on road projects, provide assistance to the elderly or any other number of jobs that 18-year-old men and women could fill. The military already wants you to make your choice the latter. They spend quite a bit on advertising and recruitment. They could save that cash, at least the majority of it, with a program like this.

Yeah, I know it's got all kinds of holes in it but the bottom line is that it's a mandatory public works program that would employ hundreds of millions for room, boarding and a small stipend. They would get to travel and experience idependence. And I hear everyone saying, "Well, that sounds like college," and you're right but college anymore is about getting out of the house and partying. Maybe that was just me but I feel it's lost it's focus recently. Going to college doesn't hold water like it did 40 years ago. And there's nothing like having to wake up for a 7am start time with a raging hangover. Gets old quick. And if you can't cut it in the job corps, say hello to boot camp.

After their year of service, individuals can use credits earned towards furthering their education so they're not burdened with a mountain of debt after college, cashing them in immediately for a down payment on a home or dolling it out in the form of tax breaks for the next ten years.

Truth be told, this stems from a small inkling of guilt... the guilt I feel for never having served this country. I'm not saying I should've skipped school to go into the military but that was the only option – as far as I was aware – available (our guidance counselor sucked). I didn't learn about Job Corps until I was 27 or 28. No joke.

With all the talk about changing this country's momentum and future, I think it's high time we stop sending stuck up shits to business school (much like myself even though I went to design school) so they can learn to cheat the system. Let's show them what an honest day's work looks like.