Umm.

What the hell is wrong with the people who created this commercial?

We WILL NOT stand for this...

forget unions and paycuts, I've found the real problem

Intolerable. Who will stand with me? #solidarity

Have You Heard about This?

The Protests in Wisconsin

I'm curious as to what the rest of the country has heard.

I know we finally broke CNN, and was on the cover of the New York Times; but have you guys really heard anything about this?

I work exactly 20 ft from the protests, so I am fully immersed in it.

the protesters are riding the bus with me to work.

I am hearing the marches from my office window.

It's allover the news.

and, like cairo, twitter's spurring most of the movement.

And it's quite exhilarating.

Here's my very (ill)informed breakdown:

1) walker gets elected gov on a ballot of getting out of debt, starts position last month
2) last week, walker announcing sweeping legislation for this year's budget:

• state employees would have to start paying into their benefits, essentially a 6% paycut per person.
• the main reason people are upset, is it completely negates any unions bargaining rights

3)this week has seen over 30,000 protesters visit the capital.

• a large number of those being teachers
• schools have been closed for the past 3 days

4)The vote was supposed to take place yesterday

• it passed the joint finance committee and was sent to the senate floor
  
• the democrat senators knew they didn't have enough "no" votes, so instead, they refused to attend. the vote couldn't be held because the there weren't enough senators to hold a vote.
• the madison capital police went to round up the dem. senators and require them to vote, but they had fled the state and were hiding in an undisclosed location in Illinois.
• It's basically a way to buy time, the vote will still be held.

exciting stuff, no? it's playing out like a movie.

I'm not going to get into any of my opinions here.
But as someone who adored poli sci in college, it's been very exciting for me to bear witness to the events unfolding.

and the signs have been pretty entertaining too

my personal favorite was, "100% of teachers protesting here have a higher education than governor walker"

So tell me, what have you guys heard?

Snail's Speed

So my car got hit on Monday. My parked car. Apparently a semi was making a left, and the back corner of his trailer wanted to stab a huge gash from tip to tip of my car. awesome.

But that's not what this post is about.

No, that post will come later, because I'm currently in limbo with the driver's insurance co. My poor baby is parked on the side of the street, freezing, shivering, scared and alone with a giant hole in her paneling. Poor Girl.

This post is about something else. This post is about what my life has succumb to because my car is currently dormant.

I don't live far from downtown. A mere 3.5 miles from the capital. But in the winter time, it may as well be 2 states away, because there's no way in hell that I'm walking or biking in zero degree weather.

When the temperature drops below 20, and the snow accumulation rises about 6", my car becomes my lifeline.

Sure, i still ride the bus to work --i mean, i work downtown after all....and am wickedly poor-- but beyond that, my world gets big. Everything becomes a car ride away.

Gone are the days where i walk 11 miles in a day, pick restaurants for their proximity to my apartment (i.e. intoxicated walks home), or bike the the grocery store.

So when my car became unavailable, my world suddenly came to a hault.

All week long, i've come home and been at the mercy of people giving me rides.

They'd invite me places, and i'd respond "i'd love to go...if you don't mind picking me up"

God bless them, they have been picking me up. they've been beyond wonderful, but the thing is we've always been heading in the same direction.

Now, i need to run my errands, and I'm not the kind of person to ever ask someone to cart me around.

So today was a new experience for me. I knew all the things i needed to get, and i knew all the places i wanted to get them....all on the westside, a 15+ minute drive away.

Clearly, me walking down the beltline is not an option, so it was time for me to get creative.

I'm lucky to live near monroe street, and I'm no stranger to trader joes.
I'm also no stranger to the many amazing restaurants by me.

What i am a stranger to, embarrassingly, are all the little local shops in my section of town.

I'd always strolled past them, thinking they were cute, but never bothered to stop in.

Today, all that changed.

I was able to check off everything on my shopping list, as well as find cute new things i didn't even know i needed, and all with the peace of mind of supporting local business.

The stores were adorable. The employees were far more friendly, caring, and attentive than their big chain competitors.

I found myself stopping in almost every store i walked by, just for the fun of experiencing them.

It took me 90 minutes to walk 11 blocks. And it was utterly enjoyable.

And I could kick myself for not having done this sooner.

As someone who always spews the phrase "support your local restaurants. i guarantee you, any chain you like, i can find you a better, local alternative"; it's about time i focused on the importance of supporting my local stores too.

My world has finally gotten smaller again.

....and i can't wait for warmer weather (sorry, just needed to get that off my chest too)