LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

Jobs to nowhere

-Bumper sticker of the week: I support the separation of church and hate.

-Quotes of the week: “This problem with illegal immigration is nothing new. In fact, the Indians had a special name for it. They called it “white people.” Jay Leno

-Knox County Board drops GREDA funding: In a pre-Halloween move, the board hands GREDA a trick rather than a treat. The Galesburg city council fancies themselves the leaders in these parts, but they been out-lead. We’ll see if they follow along wagging their tails behind them. And it will be interesting to see which body comes up with a new economic plan first. Actually, it will be interesting to see if the county board sticks to their guns, or folds, which would be a common ending to their leadership capabilities.

-Ode to Budweiser: Is there a ghost in your house? We got a ghost in our house we nicknamed Budweiser. I got to thinking about ghosts the other day. I’m not so sure that we all don’t have a ghost or two hanging around. They like to hang around, prodding and poking us along the way. Maybe something we did that we shouldn’t have, or something that we didn’t do that we should have. A lot of times that ghost could be mistaken for a regret that keeps gnawing at you, haunting you, begging you to pay attention. It would be nice if you could call Ghost Busters, but that ain’t how it works. That ghost just keeps after you for however many years, scaring you into complacency and apathy. It wants to trivialize you, make you feel insignificant, reduce you to a pile of indecisive bones. That ghost is anyone who ever said you can’t, that you’re not capable, that you’ll never amount to anything. That damn ghost haunts all of us, doling out its fears, anxieties, and making us second guess ourselves. Send that ghost packing by following your heart, and daring to dream the dream, by taking the challenge, following your bliss. Not even a ghost can withstand that kind of drive and determination to rid ourselves of no, or don’t, or you can’t.

-Hey there, all you sinners: I had some Baptists stop by the other night trying to get me to attend their church and be saved. I’m not much into church, or, for that matter, being saved. I guess I don’t quite see the point of either. I for sure don’t like churches that emphasis sinning and sinners. Hell, I don’t need to put $20 in the offering every Sunday to hear somebody tell me I goofed up. I already know that. The question is, if I screwed up, what am I going to do about it? If I drink too much, am I going to quit? If I’m screwing the neighbors wife, when am I going to zip it up? If I cuss and carry on in front of the kids, when am I going to stop? I told them a born again experience is worthless without ongoing lifestyle changes and pledging to live your life with Christ as the model, not the preacher or the deacons, or some yahoo television evangelist. I told them I don’t see many born again’s doing that. They all want me to be impressed with their newfound way, but don’t seem to be working at it. When they left they seemed a bit dejected. I hope I didn’t ruin their delusion.

-Jobs to nowhere: A lot of jobs today seem soulless and irrelevant. People are not doing what they like, or even what they are capable of. People are filling slots, not even making an adequate amount of money in doing so. Most get no health insurance and no benefits. These jobs are not really jobs where one gets a chance to use their head, and actually has the possibility of getting ahead. They are simply slots, cogs in the wheel that keep businesses going, making the owners money. Sometimes obscene amounts of money. Management is next to useless, not knowing how to make people feel significant and good about what they are doing, in fact, often tending to make employees feel insignificant and worthless, primarily out of their own inadequacies. Many people are suffering from the soulless and empty nature of their work. Emergency rooms and doctors offices are filled with people who will get the wrong diagnosis. They need meaningful and worthwhile work, not pills.