Two days off work...

We had a rather impressive snowstorm here yesterday (about 18 inches at my house), and because the traffic is known to get gnarly going to Denver, Rex and I decided not to go to work. Good call, because we heard it took some people 4 hours to make the commute, instead of 30 minutes. We got today off, too, because the House was in adjournment (I can only guess it's due to the snow).

Here's what I did instead of work:

• Work. At least it felt like it. I've been applying to any job I might actually want. Several a day, which doesn't sound like much until you've done a USAJobs.gov application. They take FOREVER. (NB: I did not use the KSA service I told you about). Cross your fingers for me, and do let me know if you hear of any good enviro jobs in the Denver/Boulder area.
• Walk to the grocery store. Our little cars would have none of the snowy, slushy, icy roads. So we walked, trudging through 18 inches of fluff. We got home soaking wet, feeling like kids. And it was good exercise!
• Shovel snow. Lots of snow. With a garden shovel, since we only have one snow shovel.
• Clean my kitchen. I am a winner. (Ok, it was filthy and long overdue).
• Cook dinner. Again, I am a winner. This was the second night in a row!
• Nap for three hours. I love napping, and this was most excellent.
• Sulk about the job market.
• Enter the Denver Post Sweepstakes. Five times. If the economy is going to suck, I have to be creative. I intend to make a living with pennies-at-a-time services that pay me to look at ads, entering sweepstakes, and the lotto. Again, you should probably wish me luck.

I would love to be qualify for a job. Then they'll hire me!

This sentence was on a website promoting their service of helping job seekers draft KSAs, these nasty things required for federal government jobs.

"They will make sure that your KSA's comply with all the Government standards and showcase how qualify for the position you are."

There are TWO typos in just one sentence. I'm sure they will help me get the job of my dreams. As a janitor cleaning toilet's, if I'm lucky.

Becoming Mrs. Rex (part 1?)

I've known for a while that I'm going to take Rex's surname when we get married, but lately it's started to become apparent that I might want to go ahead and become Mrs. Rex now, rather than later (I don't want my full name on here, so we'll pretend he's Rex Rex). After all, I will become a bona fide attorney, with a license and registration number, in May. Wouldn't it be simpler to start out as Mrs. Rex, rather than having to change the damned information with the Board of Attorney Regulation after three months of practice? On a more practical note, wouldn't it be nice to actually be Mrs. Rex the day of our wedding, rather than having to just start the switch after we've said "I do"? I certainly think so. Which is why I took a trip to the Social Security Administration this afternoon.

The SSA is probably one of the saddest places there is. It's like a cross between a homeless shelter, a halfway house, and a home for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. You take a number, and wait your turn while these poor (quite literally) people are cycled through. Rex and I were by far the best dressed, wealthiest people there. And we make about $15,000 a year.

On a brighter note, I got that first piece of paperwork handled, and it only took about an hour. So, I'm on my way to becoming Mrs. Rex. Wish me luck, this might be a long, tedious journey.

Redistribution of wealth...

Republicans have long been carrying on about the redistribution of wealth that will occur at the hands of President Obama and all the other liberals who are now in charge. It's obvious that socialism is nigh... Right.

I saw this comment to an op-ed piece about the similarities between Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and the new administration. While the article was written by a conservative, claiming that our county will come to ruin shortly, I really liked this response (grammar notwithstanding):

It is said that the money doesn’t go away it just gets redistributed. Under the Bush administration billions of dollars were reallocated to the wealthiest of the population. Mr. Andrews the “Economic makeover” the redistribution process has already taken place. As a result the middle class is slipping into poverty. I say Atlas has already shrugged and we are currently dealing with the consequences.

It's all a matter of perspective, and I agree with the commenter, who is named as "snowbow."

St. Patrick's Day

In addition to stuff, I also like St. Patrick's Day. I'm a big fan of wearing green and drinking Guinness. I did both, plus I had a Smithick's and some extra special fun. But that part's a secret, and there were only two witnesses. Officially, anyway. *wink, wink*

Going on a little rant...about those damned republicans

As I've mentioned before, I read a lot of [Colorado] news every day at work to stay informed about what's happening here at the state house. I read a lot of conservative opinion pieces, so that I know what those crazy Republicans are up to. It's good for me. But much of the time, it's also really, really irritating.

One of the most annoying topics is TABOR, the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (I've also ranted about this specific issue many a time). This horrid piece of legislation was enacted in Colorado in 1992, when the state was very red. Well, the state isn't so red now (actually, it's rather blue). The legislation basically made the state go broke, and it's all-around just a crappy concept. Our state revenue is seriously limited by TABOR (mainly by what is known as the "ratchet down" effect), and funding for education and transportation are particularly impacted. Democrats keep trying to amend it, or make other legislative changes that would untie the hands of the state, but it's very difficult since all changes to tax policy must be put to the voters (that's a huge part of what TABOR does). Colorado is something like 47th in education funding nationwide, and if you've ever driven here, you know how bad the roads are. We need to change the way we handle our money, and increase our taxes (or at least let the state keep the money it collects to spend it how we need/want, rather than refunding it when we collect more than TABOR allows). It's hard to argue that we don't need more money for these things. Still, the conservatives hammer on and on about how we have TABOR and how great it is. Usually, the rants I read are so full of typos I think they're written by illiterates. That's part of the irony--people love TABOR despite the fact that they never learned to write under our poorly funded public school system--because of TABOR.

There's a point here (I think). I was reading an opinion piece in the Colorado Springs Gazette that criticizes the recent CO Supreme Court decision upholding a legislative mill levy increase from 2007. I'll be the first to admit that the democrats keep trying to make end-runs around TABOR, but they're not breaking the law. If the Supreme Court upholds the mill levy change using sound reasoning, then it's probably legal. So stop whining about it. Just because TABOR is law, that doesn't make it good. Lots of law is, in fact, bad. And lots more is simply badly drafted. The system IS broken, and we're just trying to fix it. And just because legislation was once enacted by the voters does not mean that we can't later amend or overturn it. In fact, that's why our legislators meet every year and why we vote--we are changing and adding laws all the time. I'm listening to laws being passed in the Colorado state house right now.

The biggest problem I have with the TABOR supporters who keep lambasting attempts to fix the budget problems we have, is the fact that they generally don't understand what a "fee" is. TABOR specifically prohibits changes to tax policy without a consent vote of the citizens of the state. However, it expressly allows fees to be imposed without a vote of the people. There is a distinction, and it's allowed under the law. Still, republicans keep complaining that we're "disguising" taxes as fees to pull the wool over. That's just not the case. THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS, and are defined by TABOR (I could go into the difference, but I don't feel like re-living law school just now). Yes, it seems like an end-run by democrats to enact fees rather than trying to get taxes approved, so that revenue can be generated. But your beloved TABOR allows this, so stop crying foul when democrats are just using the legislative process, and doing so legally, to raise money so that our bridges are safe and our kids learn how to read.

I think I'm done ranting for now. In case you want to see an example of a couple of republicans' grammatical challenges and difficulty with spelling, check out this blog posting, and look too at the comment by calGone.

A moment of optimism

I went to a legislative reception yesterday for all manner of environmental groups, which was a good way to spend time since, well, I want to work for one (really, any one) of them in the future. I got to tag along with my boss, The Representative, who thought she could introduce me around a bit. It's too bad that I'm so terrible at the small talk and all, and had to cling to The Representative like a barnacle...but still, it was a good event. After the embarassing gaffe of ordering a beer and then realizing that, oops, my wallet was totally empty (and having to borrow money from my boss), I met this person and that person, whilst the boss mentioned all around that I was a freshly minted attorney looking for work. A few people seemed at least somewhat receptive, and the real score came as I left and got an offer from an old professor to send along my resume. She offered to do whatever she could to help--that's the sort of thing I'm desperate for. It was also nice that she didn't seem daunted by the fact that I got a C+ in her class, or maybe she just didn't remember. Mostly I'm just mumbling on here, but I felt optimistic at the end of yesterday, a feeling that is somewhat hard to come by these days. I'm going to try to hold onto it, a feat I think I can imagine until the rejection letters (or worse, total silence) start rolling in. And I'm sure they will--by the truckload.

Demons and crap

Reading some pretty ultra-conservative news today (I do it for my job, so I know what people on both sides of the aisle are thinking and doing), I came across two great nicknames for democrats. First, democraps. The other, demoncrats. How clever, eh? Both used in the comments to an article about Colorado's SB 09-170, which would give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. I support the legislation, by the way. If I have the time, I'll share my reasons. In the meantime, here's a great article about the bill and immigration more generally.