Tired of the News

I'm really getting tired of watching CNN at the fitness center. Why can't they have the TV on the channel that shows Jeopardy! or the Simpsons or something? CNN and all those other news programs and stations (can't just judge CNN) run the "news" into the ground. I am so done listening about what is going on in Iraq or Iran, the Mexican-US border, and where Anna Nicole is going to be buried. Maybe being too knowledgeable about what is going on in the world is not good for me. I start to overanalyze it all and develop strong opinions based on information that has been filtered through the media. Are my developed opinions really worth keeping or do they just cause me unwanted internal and external conflict? See what this does to me? Yuck. Spring weather should get here as soon as possible so I can start running and biking outside again where there is no CNN.

Sick Again!

Exactly one month ago, I was ill for a week. I got over it and I thought I had paid my cold season dues. Jeremy got very sick starting Saturday night. I tried really hard to be healthy by eating well, getting enough sleep and washing my hands, but it didn't work. I woke up feeling quite under the weather this morning. I was going to rush to town to get some Airborne. Then, while watching a segment on the Today show this morning I learned that this one reporter found Airborne has no conclusive studies behind it and it has way too much "harmful" Vitamin A. Ahhhh ... what to do? All these opinions, studies and lack-of-studies out there with such different objectives and sometimes contradictory information! Well, I think I will stay home for now and eat oranges, consume liquids and rest. When I have to go in later today for some school business maybe I will drive by the pharmacy and make my cold remedy decision then.

How do you spell Puxatawny?

Alright, so it's February. It actually feels like winter here in KS this year. There is snow on the ground (snow snow and not ice snow) and it's cold. I find I use my snow boots a lot more here than I ever did in SoDak. Up north, when it snows or the weatherman even hints at snow, every business and the transportation department of every city and county takes precautionary de-icing methods. Then once it snows, the trucks and plows come out - even if it's 3 am - and do their thing. By the time I need to walk outside to do something the roads, sidewalks and parking lots are cleared. That is not the case in Kansas. Eventually it gets cleared away, but the snow can remain in parking lots and on sidewalks for a few days. They probably just don't have the manpower (as a conscientious anthropologist I should say humanpower) or the budget to get it done right away, but in the end I think more accidents are caused by poorly maintained roads and parking lots.

Another thing I noticed about when it snows in Kansas is that people get excited. This is not a bad thing, but it can cause traffic problems. They want to leave their homes and drive around in their usually unnecessary SUVs and trucks or their snow fearing Ford Festivas. I think I see way more traffic on the highway that runs by our house when it snows than any other time I drive it. The Kansans' "snow excitment" rubbed off on us so one of the days it snowed Javers and I put the new flashy red truck into 4 wheel drive and took it into town to run some errands. Jeremy ended up stopping to push/pull two different cars out of the snow.

I like the snow, though. It makes everything brighter. Some psychology organization should do a study on seasonal depression and see if people affected by it get happier when there is snow on the ground.

What else is going on? Not much. Same ol' same ol'. Last year at this time I had just moved to another state AND moved in with Jeremy AND started a graduate program so I was freaking out. This year I am far less exciting. I'm okay with that.