Ever get the feeling that we're treading water as a nation? Burdened by that uneasy sense that there's a drunk at the wheel?

Get used to it. The next three years will be the test.

Is America smart enough to realize that certain groups are more inclined toward commercial rule - at the expense of the future and the public interest?

If they can unplug for ten seconds - and seek to better understand their neighbors.

If they seek to question the popular concept of authority - and demand answers.

If they can stop relying on spoon-fed, commercial media poisoning - and create their own media.

If they have the courage to seek the truth.

In other words.....maybe.

Another week without a blog. Not that there haven't been things happening.

Rapidly preparing for the adaptation to a new schedule of sorts - while preparing for the demise of the old. I sense a change in the weather, so to speak.

I do have a current grump to voice.....

Feeling pretty grumpy about Jiffy Lube these days. Not for the quality of service, but because of their tireless need to upsell service through mechanic-speak and half-truths.

Ever been in this situation? You've driven your car past the persribed 3000 miles-per-oil change. Every once in a while, your engine light goes on. Not the oil light.....the ENGINE light. If you're me, and you've got a newer car that is outside of the warrantee, the tendancy might be to ignore and pray that it's a faulty light - rather than get the shaft from a dealer mechanic. Hey, the car runs fine, why bother.....at least until you can afford it.

So....while you're having your fluids swapped at the oil shop, the technician comes in from the garage with a grim face and some oily gunk on his finger.

"Your engine is plugged up with engine gunk. I've never seen it THIS bad. See this crap? This is the result of water in your engine....blahblahblah.....new engines are having this problem....blahblahblah......you probably have a cracked head or something horrible......blahblahblah......you really need to have us flush your engine.

That'll be $39.99 extra please."

Suddenly that odd flashing engine light pops into view.....your terror mechanism is ready to be sprung. You bite. You have officially been drawn into a service you probably didn't need. A victim of the slippery upsell.

Ugh.

Postscript: Ended up taking the car to the dealership anyway - due to a manufacturer recall campaign for some obscure sensor near the engine. The VERY SAME sensor that was causing my engine light to flash with false urgency. When I mentioned my Jiffy Lube experience and their analysis of the situation, the dealer mechanic said they had been getting a few panicked phone calls from folks with similar Jiffy Lube stories.

Turns out that some of the engine gunk is related to the climate in the Northwest....and is a common element that is not a reflection of anything insidious.

Grrrr.....Jiffy Lube. Grrrr......

Soooo....for those of you who were curious about my secret......

I'VE GOT A NEW GIG - and will be leaving my part-time efforts at teaching night-school behind me.

Not that I didn't like the task of enlightening the masses to the finer points of Microsoft Office and on-the-job skill growth. I will always have fond memories of the students and their many excuses for being late.

And the bribes. Oh.....those bribes were sweet.

In truth, I did enjoy seeing people learn and advance. Even in the short three months that I stood in the academic gap, I witnessed many a computer neophyte make strides toward their respective goals.

*sniff* I wish them all well.....

As for my new work, I've signed on as an all-purpose tech for a major hospital in Portland. The people are great and it's stable, which is more than I can say for the past couple of work outings.

Walking around with a secret is akin to carrying a stick of TNT. You know what will happen when you light the fuse and you pray that no one will freak out when it all goes down.

I have a secret.....it's a good thing, but it will change some lives. Much like my engagement though, I feel the weight of knowing without telling -- and look forward to getting it off my chest.

Alexis and I bought our first peice of art last Sunday at a gallery opening.
Yeah.....that Thomas Kinkade and me.....we tight!

Ready for the weekend in a huge way. I miss sleeping in and wrestling with my wife and two cats. She says we have tickets to the opera this Saturday.

I love her.

Weather was great this afternoon. Everything was wet from morning rain - so when the sun burned through, everything glowed. Visited with good friends and family all day.....and for a moment, I thought I saw my quiet life realized.

Wishful thinking.

So, now that we're a nation with an anti-terrorism kick - we should extend those incarceration benefits to those terrorizing the economic realities of Americans.

Think of it.....in one room we have members of Al-Queda receiving the silent and dark treatment....with an adjacent "Geneva-Free" house of pain for the dodgers at Enron.

Won't talk to Congress? Pleading the Fifth?
You lose your sleeping privilages until you talk!

Feeling giddy about your post-mortem prospects ripening in off-shore accounts?
Guess what? All of your holdings have been "frozen and appropriated" by the government - on behalf of the shareholders. And you get cold showers with your clothes on!

Playing dumb in high places?
I have a leather restraint with your name on it!

Somehow, I think the real terrorists are still at large.

Not enough hours. Been buried the past couple of days. All work and little play.

Been getting some additional freelance offers on top of the 50 hours I currently plunk down for the man. Where was this guy five months ago? Nothing is for certain though - and the spectre of yesterday looms always. Still.....there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In other news...

In April, I will be 31. Officially untrustable.

So....a little extended hiatus. What's a week without a blog. Feh.

Saw the Super Bowl for lack of better things...pleasently surprised. After years of being football's whipping boy, the New England Patriots have risen from the ashes to dance with Vince Lombardi. Ahh.....who am I kidding, I don't give a rat's ass about the NFL. As far as I'm concerned, the football season ended at the Fiesta Bowl. Rah Ducks!