It's Been One of Those Weeks

On the eve of turning 59 years of age, I am in the process of concluding a week that fortunately, is not one of those types of weeks that you get every week.  A few days ago I learned of the passing of Smithereens frontman and lead singer Pat DiNizio.  I knew that he had been in ill health these past few months, but he was posting just three days before passing that he was on the mend and was expected to start touring next month.

I had the pleasure of meeting him while I was exiled in Las Vegas, and was impressed by just how a nice guy he was.  I had never met him before and yet I got to meet him backstage not once during the soundcheck, but again before they were to take the stage.  I chatted with him for several minutes afterwards.  If I had signed up for Facebook I could have interacted with him some more since he was a social media hound, but I don't do Facebook and do not plan to in the near future if at all.

I should create a separate post highlighting some Smithereens songs.  He was a gifted songwriter, touching upon a wide range of thoughts that can reside within a human soul.  I had wondered if some of them were as a result of a personal tragedy that he had experienced, but in an interview I learned that the song I had in mind (Blood and Roses) was inspired by a short story that he had read.

Needless to say, I was in something of a funk this week.  But there was more.

Yesterday I learned that my current employment is coming to an end early next month.  To be honest, I had seen the writing on the wall, and have been in discussion with recruiters these past few weeks.  We've been beset by retirements, resignations and layoffs since our firm lost the contract to another company.  The contract transition is being held up by protests from another losing firm, and the government cannot fund the task orders until this is resolved, and that won't be until mid-February.

Even then, the infrastructure we were using for testing is not properly working, and the government can't replace it until Congress passes a budget, which is something they haven't done for several years.  I made the decision some six weeks ago that I needed to start looking.  There was one possibility with a local firm that produces medical equipment but they cancelled the requisition.  A return to a former employer in Oro Valley is a possibility but there won't be a decision on that one until the holidays are over.

I have had some people I know suggest a return to the firm where I was laid off from in 2014 as that they are now hiring like crazy.  I was hesitant to pursue that option, but I have now, through my own sources and methods, started the process of taking a pulse there. 

There's also another former employer that's been after me for the past six weeks.  That would involve a relocation to Texas, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and a good friend of mine who is going over told me of the offer package that he got, and that is now under consideration. 

I am not feeling the attachment to Tucson that I used to feel five years ago.  The city council is running The Old Pueblo into the ground.  Our roads are the worst of any major city, the police department response time is such that you get put on hold if you have to call 911, and in spite of sales tax increases that have passed it isn't getting any better.  Sheila and I do not feel like we are going to retire here and although we don't want to leave Arizona, what if the pastures in Texas are better?

A recruiter from that firm contacted me again this week, and yesterday I submitted a resume.  Housing prices are slightly higher than they are here, but if I score the same percentage of salary increase that Mike K did, then I can get that, plus enough land to erect an antenna farm.  That would allow me better access to the lower frequency bands for my ham radio activities. 

So the question that will have to answered is, will the quality of life there be substantially easier?  Will the job be something that I can't wait to tear into to?  I would get such a job if I were to go back to that medical device firm.....I really enjoyed working there, and gave me even more satisfaction than satellite engineering did.  I'll have to see what kind of opportunities are over there in the Metroplex.  Sheila and I will have to consider if Texas is where we will be when we retire.  Arizona, in some places, offers great locations, but Flagstaff and Prescott have gotten expensive, and Kingman won't work and neither will Sorry Vista.  Silver City in New Mexico is a place we would like, if we got far enough out into the country but not too far away from supermarkets and medical care.

Another question is, do I do a contract job for six months out of state, and then come home?  Things in the industry are picking up (they started really picking up the day after Hillary lost). 

I am not worried about a long period of inactivity, but I am also aware that I may have to make some tough choices.  It won't be the first time; I had them to make in early 1999, and that's how I got here.

We are not in a society where most of us end up growing up in the town we were born in. 

You follow the money.

Judge Roy Moore

A few weeks ago the national news was overrun with the allegations that Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore had some 40 years ago engaged in improprieties with those females who shall we say, were under the age of consent.  Immediately he was guilty in the court of Organized Media.  Establishment Republican Mitch McConnell emphatically stated that Moore would not be admitted to the Senate if he won.  Jeff Snake said he would vote for a Democrat, and there was this cacophony of outrage over the whole thing.....some of it of which I'm not convinced is sincere.  One of the accusers produced a yearbook alleged to have been signed by Moore, but curiously is refusing to allow forensic testing on it to see if the signing was "recent".

Then a few days later, we had photographic evidence of Senator Al Franken of Minnesota groping a sleeping journalist and smililing like the Cheshire Cat about it.  I don't know why or how that one broke, but more accusations against more people have followed, and Organized Media is trying to convince the masses that maybe they should have believed Bill Clinton's accusers.

Meanwhile, it appears that Judge Moore is going to win the election, and Mitch McConnell now seems to be walking back his earlier statement that he would see to it that Judge Moore is not seated.  Oh, there was also speculation that the Alabama Republican Party would through some obscure rule nullify the outcome and have the election done over again.

I could point out that Roy Moore's accusers waited a long time before coming forward.  Now I can understand a victim remaining silent about something like that (I once dated such a victim), but hasn't the atmosphere gotten more comfortable about coming forward?  I'm not talking about the attacks on Bill Clinton's accusers, which certainly would have stymied victims from speaking out, but that was over 20 years ago, and things have changed.  A victim can now come forward and her accusation will be treated under Napoleonic rules.......the accused is guilty until proven innocent, though I'm going to add that some people would never accept proof of innocence.

Now this isn't to say that all of Judge Moore's accusers are lying.  I don't personally think the lady with the signed yearbook is telling the truth, else we would have had the forensics done by now, and if true then Moore would have been forced out of the race by now.  The others I can't speak for.  In the case of Al Franken, well he's apologized (he had to because of that photo).

But let's get back to the Judge.

The voters of Alabama will decide whether or not he is going to the Senate.  It isn't for me to tell them which way to go on this.  I am not a citizen of Alabama.  I do have a desired outcome for this, and I'll get to that.

My desired outcome is this:  Judge Moore wins, and Mitch McConnell denies him a Senate seat.  It isn't that I want guys like Moore away from the Senate.....very much to the contrary.  We need 65 of him in the Senate.

It's that I want the Republican Establishment to be exposed as for who they really are:  a bunch of elitists who are not going to keep the promises they made to their voters; promises that they never had any intention of keeping in the first place.  They don't want to repeal Obamacare.  They don't want to build the Wall.  They don't tax cuts for the middle class.  What they want is power.

Another reason is that if Mitch McConnell really does keep Roy Moore out of the Senate, then his next primary challenger just might win.

Yes, that will kick that can over to another Establishment Republican.  And when that happens, we take that guy out too.  And the one after him.  And the next one.  We keep doing this until we get statesmen, and not a bunch of useless fatass politicians.