Nothing much....

I'm being pretty dull lately. Haven't updated this blog in 10 days or so. Somehow I've always got things to do; funny how that works.

My wife and I decided that it is time to diet and started yesterday. For me, dieting means smaller portions, fewer snacks and a lot less booze. It always leads to a big rant when we diet together because I lose more weight. It isn't a mystery to anyone but her: I exercise and she doesn't. I walk the dog for half an hour then do another half hour on the treadmill. That makes a big difference. But it isn't easy to get started on an exercise routine, I know that. When I was younger I could stop exercising for a month then start right up where I left off. Now, first of all it is much harder to get started again and secondly I have to go back to lighter weights and shorter durations or I'll pull something then HAVE to stop again. Well, at least I CAN exercise. There is so much pain in the world lately, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami - you name it. It makes you want to just be thankful if you still have your family and friends.

The election in California was interesting. Here is a state that is way deep in debt and the people are simply refusing to stop spending. Of course the measures were going to cause pain to most all of the people who work for the state and all those who receive state assistance so I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that they lost. They may well be a majority! One thing I haven't seen so far is anything about the turnout. The number of people who can control an election is surprisingly small if you do the calculations, I hope that isn't what happened in this case. And I'm also hoping that somehow the state can turn itself around and not start defaulting on their loans!

France is also in pain. Night after night of violence caused by the pain and frustration of being second class, unemployed citizens is easy for me to understand. The social safety net of monetary and medical benefits keeps people from starving (in most cases) but you pay for those things with a lost of pride and self-esteem. I've been without a job and I sure didn't like it. Even a crapy job is better than none and in France unemployment is huge, over 10% of the population by US State Dept. estimate. (An aside. In Freakonomics the argument was made that inner city dope dealers don't even make enough money to live on but they want to do it because it is a possible escape from a place where there are no other jobs.) Here is another problem where I certainly don't see any easy fix. The traditional politician would try to turn the peoples attention outward and attack another country. Let's hope that doesn't come to pass here!

Well, hope I made your day cheerier but I bet I didn't. (Sorry about that!)