My Dream Job

I love homebaked cookies, but do not have the patience or interest to bake them. I have enough willpower to ONLY eat yummy-looking homebaked cookies or have no dessert at all. So, when the chance to be a cookie contest judge was available, I jumped on it. On Dec. 13, I am a judge for the holiday cookie contest on the food show ("Culinary Confessions") on KXAM 1310 AM and I am looking forward to it. I will exercise extra to prepare for that day.
I am not looking for a job, but had to sign up for some kind of job posting when entering a contest on "Monster Jobs" or whatever it is called. I put in that I was looking for a food testing/tasting job. Periodically I receive an email that there are jobs that match my interests; usually they involve some kinds of meat which I am not interested in.
Crunchy cookies, yes; meats, no!

My New Gas Cap

I was trying to do too much in a short period of time. I spaced out while buying gas, and drove off with the gas door open. I noticed it down the street when a thump attracted my attention and I saw the open gas door -- the thump was obviously the cap falling off the roof.
I retraced my route several times until it got too dark; no one had turned it into the gas station. They told me to go to Checker Auto Parts, something I have never done, until today that is.
I located the nearest one online and headed out. My daughter accompanied me and told me to "stay calm, things happen." She waited in the car as the car repair crowd seemed to put her off.
The guy was nice, helpful and made me feel less dumb by telling me his own tales of lost gas caps. He said that I should be happy I didn't drive off with the hose still attached to the car...
There were so many items I had never seen before in that store, and I am sure there are people that know exactly what to do with each one of them. Who would have thought there were 30 different sizes of gas caps. How is that, when the gas pump nozzle is just one size?

Congressional Newcomers = Change

I am crying with happiness over Congressional newcomers Harry Mitchell, Claire McCaskill and Jon Tester. Real people who have taught, farmed, lived the lives of the people they now represent -- we are so lucky. And, on top of everything else, they all support stem cell research. That alone is reason to celebrate. I volunteered for Harry Mitchell; he is as kind and gentle as he is respectful. Arizona will be sharing a special gem with the rest of the country.

Annoying Campaign Phone Calls

We had so many campaign phone calls at our house that it became annoying. As someone that made calls for some candidates, I know that the motive is good, seeking to get the voter informed and voting. But more than six calls per day is too much. Calls can come from candidates on all levels, parties on all levels and various PACs and interest groups, meaning there is no coordination in who calls when. And it was probably worse because I contributed money to several campaigns.
Well, the election was yesterday and the future will be different thanks to the Democrats elected (good change) and changes in state laws adopted by Arizona voters (some not so good change). English as the official language is mean-spirited, but no smoking in public places is great.
ID at the polls was less confrontational than the last election, lines were long, people came prepared with their list of how they planned to vote, and the day flew by.
By far the most common complaint throughout the day was the annoying campaign phone calls. Some people had 20 daily on their cellphones. One of the pollworkers got calls all day on her cellphone reminding her to vote.
But, did it work? I say yes, it annoyed people enough to get out and express their opinions. People wanted to get their say on who and what, but they really wanted the calls to stop and the negative campaign ads to end.
As they say in "The American President", the president loves democracy (not an exact quote.) I have to say I do too. I love the thrill of campaigning and the stories of the winners and losers. I love putting up signs and being part of the positive energy surrounding campaign volunteers. I already miss it and look forward to the next time around. I think I was one of the people that Alexis deTouqueville discussed in "Democracy In America." No matter what anyone says, Howard Dean's campaign two years ago re-ignitied baby-boomer Democrats to get involved. For that, we owe him a huge thanks. This time around, it was Sen. Barack Obama and President Clinton.
Three lovely women I know ran, and lost, but they tried. Isn't that what it is all about? I admire them.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day

I started today very early by taking two boxes of bad stuff to the quarterly Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day. I had a scary ride there as I had a near-miss with an obviously impaired driver, but the City of Scottsdale deserves tremendous respect for how well the day was handled. The sign as I left the drop-off site said, "We do common things uncommonly well," and they did.
From the police directing traffic (obviously if you come after 7:30 am the lines are long), to the greeter at the gate that gives out a water bottle, to the people looking at and taking out the waste, and even the routing around the collection tents between the trash trucks was perfectly organized. The website said id was required; they said they trusted me. But, reality is, they would rather have someone leave it there than on the side of the road, in their trash or down the sewer.
The bad stuff I took was paint and pesticides left in our home from the previous owner, plus some batteries and pool chemicals. I know that the fumes that came from my stuff was harmful, but it may not be as horrific as the methyl bromide I read was just approved for use in the US, despite its negative impact on the ozone layer.
I buy organic now when I can, and my garden is organic. That new pesticide is enough to make me buy organic exclusively.
I look forward to Electronic Recycling day coming up soon in December. We sure have lots of that stuff in our garage.