Let's start with the last point.
I missed mass on Sunday. Actually, I missed the last half of mass on Sunday, due to indigestion. My breakfast, consumed as I dashed out the door 1 hour and 10 minutes before mass, just did not sit well, and I had to leave. I absolutely hated it, especially given the fact that I had no problems for the rest of the day. However at the time, while I suspected that was the problem, I wasn't sure, and felt it best I go home.
I hate that I missed mass. The entire thing irritates me just a tad, because I genuinely look forward to mass every week. I plan my Wednesday around being able to attend the morning mass, and my Sunday around the 10am mass. RCIA classes are starting soon, and my Tuesdays will be planned around RCIA. So missing, even if it's necessary, is not something I like doing.
Now, of course, on a weekday morning, I don't have to leave quite so early, only 40 minutes. I also don't have to drive around for 10 minutes to find a parking spot on weekday mornings, and traffic (though having slower speeds in some areas due to school zones) is better. Truthfully, if I just wanted to drive past the Cathedral it would only take 30 minutes. The extra time is to park, get inside, and have a few minutes to pray, meditate....and locate today's entry in the missal.
In other news, I'm still working on the baby blanket. I've made some slight adjustments to my mental plan for the next square, and hopefully it'll knit up faster, allowing me to move on to the next squares. I think I only need four more squares. I might do six more squares, plus the edging, but it depends on how it looks and how long it takes.
I also got my music box movements in the mail today. I ordered two music box movements in white cases the other day, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" and "Puff the Magic Dragon". I'm going to get two of those boxes that look like books, and cut a slit in the "binding" for the windup knob to stick out. Then I'll build a little cover so that the movement doesn't rattle around, and it's hidden. Finish it with a little decorating and voila! a lovely little music box. Puff the Magic Dragon is for Little Bird...or maybe I should say it's for Mom? either way, it's for them. I'm shamelessly admitting that "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" is for me. I love that song, and I think it'd be lots of fun.
Aunt D is back in town. I'll see her Wednesday at mass, which will be nice. I also have to stop by the college afterwards to see about registering for classes in the coming mini-mester. I don't know what all I'll need, and I hate calling them because I can never get through! And I'm not the only one! Sometimes they take weeks to get back to you....sometimes they never get back to you! Absolutely infuriating!
I'm hoping to stick to online classes, since I can work on them at work. They also tend to be a little easier in regards to quizzes and essays. I'll be honest though, I don't like school. I hate how people build college up, I hate how political it can be, I hate how many terrible professors have tenur (WHY?!) and how many of them can make your life miserable, and I hate how many people don't listen before they shoot off their mouth! I'm not speaking Greek, for crying out loud! We're in college! I shouldn't have to hold your hand and lead you through what I just said!
It's a pet peeve that was born in college-level English, when one of my class-mates would literally try to argue with me while saying the exact same thing that I was saying! I mean, okay, so sometimes I sound like I swallowed a thesaurus, but I do try to keep the more advanced words back because there's only so many times you can say "elucidate" before you realize that, apparently, this word was removed from the common lexicon. ("Lexicon" has probably been removed as well, come to think of it.)
It also doesn't help that the teacher had terrible tastes in short stories. The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. Ugh! And we had to write an essay about an underlying theme! There is no underlying theme in that story! There's not enough in it for there to be an underlying message or theme. I apologize if any of you like it, but it's really not a good choice for that. Especially since she said she didn't want "thirty papers about the same thing"! Pick something else for the love of all that is good! Edgar Allen Poe would have been brilliant. Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, for crying out loud Aesop's fables have more meat to their stories! At least with those you can go with the main plot, or with the symbolism (the fox being chosen because it is commonly believed to be a "sly" animal, ect.)
The other problem is simply that people with degrees get better jobs, and get paid better, but I've met people with Doctorates and masters degrees and they're dumber than a brick! They have no common sense or practical knowledge. They test well, and maybe can bullshit a good paper (be honest! If you have ever written a 6 page+ paper, it's about two paragraphs of real information and six or more pages of utter tripe!) but they are completely unable to operate beyond that. But these people manage to get, and keep, good jobs with good pay!
Meanwhile, my dad knows a guy who's taught people to do a job for 10 years, and worked in that job in the military for 20+ years, who's being let go because he "does not met the required qualifications" because now, after 10 years, they require a college degree! I just don't understand. I really don't. He knows what he's doing, he knows better than any one, and he's good at what he does. He's not that old, and he's in great health!
I don't understand a lot about our world. I don't understand why people can't pay their employees what they need to live, and not just survive. I don't understand why people make a big deal out of small things, and treat big things like they're trivial matters. I don't understand our world.
Anyway, I'm signing off for now. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Yours always,
Tara Hills
