Buy Real Estate First. Then Drop Acid.
Nov. 22nd, 2016 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraSo, my hair is now the color of gourmet raspberry jam. It doesn’t look bad. It just doesn’t look the way I wanted it to look – which is brown under ordinary light conditions and aubergine under high light.
Oh well.
###
Lois Lane had a fight with her supervisor at Dutchess Literacy, the insufferable Magdalena.
Magdalena wants Lois Lane to begin collecting information about the legal status of the non-English speakers who use Dutchess Literacy.
Lois Lane refused. “I mean, it’s none of our fucking business, right?”
I shrugged. “Well. That’s debatable. I mean, certainly I think that information would allow your organization to target some services more efficiently. But no, when Pussy-Grabber and his alt-right minions stalk the earth, you do not want to collect data about documentation.”
“Magdelena got really miffed. But then two days later, we got a letter from New York State – our biggest pool of funding is a block grant from New York State. They said we don’t have to collect data about legal status. At least, not for 2017. They said that might change.”
“I think it’s stupid to give the government any information whatsoever, under any circumstances,” I said. “No matter who’s in office. The government is never your friend. And on a completely unrelated note - how are you doing on buying a car, Lois?”
Lois Lane sighed. “It’s on the agenda. It’s on the agenda. But it’s been a rough week. Billy and I almost broke up. But I think we’re moving –“
“Oh, that’s good!”
“Yeah. My friend Delia – we were in foster care together – she has this great old house with a downstairs apartment. One of those beautiful old Poughkeepsie houses! With wood floors and radiant heat. Walking distance to work.”
“Cheaper than Wappinger’s?” I asked.
“Yes! And Delia really loves me. Delia is on my side. I’m so glad that Delia isn’t a Jehovah’s Witness anymore. That’s what she did to turn herself around. She became a Jehovah’s Witness!” Lois Lane laughed. “I joined the Marines.”
What did I do to turn myself around? I wondered. Nothing, really. Just started taking extensive notes on the process of free fall.
“You do know the only reason I keep ragging on you about the car is because I care about you, right?” I asked Lois.
“I do know that,” said Lois Lane. “Yes.”
Cause you’ve got to get the fuck out of Dutchess Literacy, I thought – but did not say.
###
I’ve been nominated by the DCPAA to attend the upcoming Dutchess County Budget Meeting on December 5. To that end, I’ve been studying past County budgets.
The DCPAA wants to lobby strongly on behalf of funding more nonprofits that serve various marginalized groups within the community. I’m not entirely on board with that. The County subsidizes a lot of services, among them bus service. Right now, there is no bus service on Sundays in all of Dutchess County. If you want to go somewhere on a Sunday, forget about using public transportation.
Seems to me that you’d be doing a lot more for the poor people of Dutchess County by providing them with public transportation on Sundays than by funding the Child Abuse Prevention Center or the Coalition on Elder Abuse.
Which is not to say that the Child Abuse Prevention Center and the Coalition on Elder Abuse are not worthy organizations with admirable missions.
But you know. Limited resources.
The DCPAA is arguing that Dutchess County has a budget surplus right now of $57 million. Which is true. But last year, there was very little snow so the county was able to save the entire amount it had set aside for snow removal. That is not supposed to be the case this year. Dutchess County is responsible for snow removal on all the streets, roads, and thoroughfares outside municipal borders. And Dutchess County is huge.
I’m a fiscal conservative in matters of public policy. I think it’s smart for the County to maintain a fund that would cover one year’s operational expenses should every taxpayer in the county suddenly drop dead.
So I’m not sure that the DCPAA chose wisely when they elected me to go to this meeting: I don’t necessarily support its agenda.
But, of course, I don’t get to vote. Just to speak.
###
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
topum asks the question: If you had 45 seconds with your 18-year-old self, what would you tell yourself?
Buy real estate first, I answered. Then drop acid.
Oh well.
###
Lois Lane had a fight with her supervisor at Dutchess Literacy, the insufferable Magdalena.
Magdalena wants Lois Lane to begin collecting information about the legal status of the non-English speakers who use Dutchess Literacy.
Lois Lane refused. “I mean, it’s none of our fucking business, right?”
I shrugged. “Well. That’s debatable. I mean, certainly I think that information would allow your organization to target some services more efficiently. But no, when Pussy-Grabber and his alt-right minions stalk the earth, you do not want to collect data about documentation.”
“Magdelena got really miffed. But then two days later, we got a letter from New York State – our biggest pool of funding is a block grant from New York State. They said we don’t have to collect data about legal status. At least, not for 2017. They said that might change.”
“I think it’s stupid to give the government any information whatsoever, under any circumstances,” I said. “No matter who’s in office. The government is never your friend. And on a completely unrelated note - how are you doing on buying a car, Lois?”
Lois Lane sighed. “It’s on the agenda. It’s on the agenda. But it’s been a rough week. Billy and I almost broke up. But I think we’re moving –“
“Oh, that’s good!”
“Yeah. My friend Delia – we were in foster care together – she has this great old house with a downstairs apartment. One of those beautiful old Poughkeepsie houses! With wood floors and radiant heat. Walking distance to work.”
“Cheaper than Wappinger’s?” I asked.
“Yes! And Delia really loves me. Delia is on my side. I’m so glad that Delia isn’t a Jehovah’s Witness anymore. That’s what she did to turn herself around. She became a Jehovah’s Witness!” Lois Lane laughed. “I joined the Marines.”
What did I do to turn myself around? I wondered. Nothing, really. Just started taking extensive notes on the process of free fall.
“You do know the only reason I keep ragging on you about the car is because I care about you, right?” I asked Lois.
“I do know that,” said Lois Lane. “Yes.”
Cause you’ve got to get the fuck out of Dutchess Literacy, I thought – but did not say.
###
I’ve been nominated by the DCPAA to attend the upcoming Dutchess County Budget Meeting on December 5. To that end, I’ve been studying past County budgets.
The DCPAA wants to lobby strongly on behalf of funding more nonprofits that serve various marginalized groups within the community. I’m not entirely on board with that. The County subsidizes a lot of services, among them bus service. Right now, there is no bus service on Sundays in all of Dutchess County. If you want to go somewhere on a Sunday, forget about using public transportation.
Seems to me that you’d be doing a lot more for the poor people of Dutchess County by providing them with public transportation on Sundays than by funding the Child Abuse Prevention Center or the Coalition on Elder Abuse.
Which is not to say that the Child Abuse Prevention Center and the Coalition on Elder Abuse are not worthy organizations with admirable missions.
But you know. Limited resources.
The DCPAA is arguing that Dutchess County has a budget surplus right now of $57 million. Which is true. But last year, there was very little snow so the county was able to save the entire amount it had set aside for snow removal. That is not supposed to be the case this year. Dutchess County is responsible for snow removal on all the streets, roads, and thoroughfares outside municipal borders. And Dutchess County is huge.
I’m a fiscal conservative in matters of public policy. I think it’s smart for the County to maintain a fund that would cover one year’s operational expenses should every taxpayer in the county suddenly drop dead.
So I’m not sure that the DCPAA chose wisely when they elected me to go to this meeting: I don’t necessarily support its agenda.
But, of course, I don’t get to vote. Just to speak.
###
topum asks the question: If you had 45 seconds with your 18-year-old self, what would you tell yourself?Buy real estate first, I answered. Then drop acid.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-11-22 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-22 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-22 04:48 pm (UTC)Have you seen SNL's Black Jeopardy skit with Tom Hanks? It might give you a chuckle. Or offend you. Maybe both. https://youtu.be/O7VaXlMvAvk
no subject
Date: 2016-11-22 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-22 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-23 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-22 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-23 01:42 am (UTC)But then I had a really horrifying childhood.
Acid gave me a way to strip my mind back down to the bare architecture and then rebuild it. :-)
no subject
Date: 2016-11-22 11:47 pm (UTC)Buy real estate first, I answered. Then drop acid.
This is solid advice. I'd have to take a pass on the acid, however. My assumption is my mind and acid would be a horrible combination.
no subject
Date: 2016-11-23 01:36 am (UTC)But back in the day, I dropped lots and lots and lots of acid.
And it was wonderful.
no subject
Date: 2016-11-23 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-23 04:16 am (UTC)>If you had 45 seconds with your 18-year-old self, what would you tell yourself?<
I would tell my 18 year old self that the messages forwarded to both of us by my 8 year old self are still very much being honored and respected. And not to be so keen on disavowing who I was at 13.
no subject
Date: 2016-11-23 09:30 am (UTC)Beautifully put!
no subject
Date: 2016-11-23 03:10 pm (UTC)