First off I would like to say I’m sorry for getting solar panels on my house and buying all of those energy saving light bulbs. After three months with virtually no bill I now realize my error of my ways. The hard working people of Pepco no longer need to supply my old energy guzzling house with power. Instead I seem to be feeding them which can only go to reduce their huge quarterly profits. To make up for this I am sure Pepco is now going to charge even higher rates to my friends and neighbors, since they already charge the most for power in the state of Maryland. I now know I am costing Pepco lost revenue and they’ll have more reason to complain about the corporate tax rate which they, like many other companies (GE, BP, Exxon, Verizon, etc), do not actually pay.

Next I would like to send out a special apology to the people of West Virginia. For generations they have ripped up there land destroyed mountain tops and done everything else in the pursuit of coal. For generations they have toiled to provide me with the polluting coal and I so thoughtfully got solar panels not taking into the considerations their feelings or the sacrifices they are willing to make just so I can have unclean power.

Lastly I would like to say sorry to the American people as a whole. After hearing about all the possible clean energy jobs that could be created by going solar I bought into the hype. I now know the truth. Yes I am saving money and yes I did get the government to pay for 60% of my solar panels but at what cost I ask you? At the cost of all those jobs lost in West Virgina ripping up the land to give me unclean coal? At the cost of Pepco’s profits? My solar cost jobs, yes I know it is possible someone will have to come out and service my solar panels at some point but it has a 25 year warranty so you know it is going to last. Yes, I know it took someone to build my panels but think of all the coal I would have used without my solar system! Lastly, as I gazed today at my almost non-existent bill, I realized I am costing the government because I am taxed on my power usage and since I do not use any power, the government does not make any money off of me either. I am not a rich person and I am not exempt from taxes like the rich.

I’m sorry America,
A Maryland Solar Customer

The experience I’ve gained with this company has been profound. I look back and think I knew very little before coming here. My knowledge in CSS has gone up exponentially. I was just a noob but they threw me in the deep water and now I’m an expert. They also taught me 508 compliancy which is huge right now and fits well with my web background. I learned how to remediate PDFs, learned more about SharePoint administration (though I don’t put that on my resume). I’ve also learned Drupal; which is huge for me. They helped me grow my skill set and experience so much.

I’m leaving behind a few people of which I’ve grown quite fond; although I’m in the middle of four people who have left or are leaving our small company. I hate leaving people that I like and who understand me. We work very well together here. It’s hard to leave them.

I’m trading in my Prius for the metro and a much longer commute into the trenches of DC.

So I guess this makes Fourteen years of my life in four places.

I haven’t cried here yet about leaving.

When I first got this job I didn’t like it very much but I did grow to love it. It was a very quiet place but I soon made friends and livened things up. I regret leaving after only a year and 9 months or so. I also hate the fact that I’m leaving two months before a new project is deployed, a project that I’ve worked very hard on and that I loved doing.

I also think I’m happy because I’m leaving my company a better company. I hope they thrive and succeed in what they’re doing and I wish them all the best.

Here’s to a week and a half off before I start my new job! Another new journey awaits.

Let’s start with the “bad things happen in threes” that happened to the Prius:

1. Starting last week (around April 18th, when I gave my two week notice) I noticed that my tire pressure was low since the indicator light was on. No biggie, just put air in the tires. A day later it came on again. Come to find out there’s a hole in the tire. Okay. Luckily we went over Uncle George’s on Sunday where he was able to repair it.
2. Monday morning, on my way to work, I get hit by a rock. I know because I heard it. It sounded like a big rock. Since it was raining I wasn’t able to see any cracks in the windshield. However Tuesday I noticed it. Called Geico Tuesday to fix it. They came yesterday (Wednesday) and repaired it.
3. When I leave work yesterday (Wednesday), my car doesn’t start. WTF? The battery was dead. Called a tow truck since I didn’t think it was the battery. Bri arrived before the tow truck and we were able to jump it. I didn’t make it to yoga last night due to the dead Prius battery.

I forget to mention the fact that my scooter also decided to die. It too needed a new battery as it kept needing to be recharged.

The Camaro needs to be fixed again. Nothing out of the usual there.

Last night I accidentally poured hot wax all over my left hand. Worst pain ever.

My websites got hacked or something. When I go to any of them on any mobile device or in IE, I get redirected to sweepstakesandcontestsdo.com… I emailed Dreamhost but haven’t heard anything… I noticed this issue last night.

Then this morning my hair brush breaks! What are the odds?

Tell me, is this just bad luck?

Here are some of the lessons we learned from Titanic and regulations we put in place:

• Have lifeboat drills
• Ensure that there are enough lifeboats for all aboard
• Always have a wireless operator on duty 24/7
• A special patrol was set up to look out for icebergs and report them
• Other safety regulations managed through SOLAS
• Man is fallible

I also think about the Triangle fire that happened a little over a hundred years ago and the lessons we learned from that.

I have to wonder about other incidents that occurred somewhat recently like Virginia Tech and the 2011 Tuscan shootings. What lessons did we learn from them? I’m sure we learned something but the problem is regulations were not put in place to prevent anything like that happening again.

That’s the great thing about what came from Titanic. All those lives were lost but because of their sacrifice, so many more have been saved.

Why can’t we always learn from our mistakes?

Sometimes it astounds me how much Republicans hate Obama. Have they any clue that the left in this country has actually moved to the right? The right have moved so far to the right that the middle (“common ground”, “bipartisanship”) is no longer the middle anymore.

I never considered Obama a progressive. He was always just a liberal to me. I even got into a debate one time about how “liberal” Obama really is. He’s not really, when you look at it. He’s more moderate. In fact, one could even argue that he’s what used to be called a moderate Republican.

Obama and Reagan actually share a lot of the same things. Reflecting on a few we can see:

• Both wanted to disarm nuclear weapons
• Both lowered taxes
• Both increased military spending
• Both increased the national debt (by a lot)
• Both wanted a raise in capital gains tax
• Reagan appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court; Obama appointed two women
• Both tried to find a bipartisan consensus with Congress on simplifying the tax code
• Both ran on hope and optimism
• Both faced economic turmoil and high unemployment
• Both had midterm setbacks

I’ve blogged before on my Politics Notes how Reagan should be considered liberal by today’s standards. In fact, Reagan is further to the left than Obama on a few issues:

• Reagan raised taxes
• Reagan increased the size of government while Obama has decreased it
• Obama has been harder on immigration where as Reagan gave amnesty to millions of undocumented workers
• Reagan helped create Osama bin Laden where as under Obama he was destroyed

Contrary to republican belief, Obama has NOT raised taxes, expanded illegal immigration, nor has he increased the size of government. Their idol, Reagan, did all of these.

It’s just kind of shocking how much Obama is hated by the right, yet their hero and him shared a lot of the same ideology and we could argue, Reagan was to the left of Obama.

You know what it is? I hear this from people all the time. They say have you ever flown over the country and when you look down, there’s a lot of nothing? That’s true but that’s not the issue. It’s about resources. It’s true we could actually fit on the planet a lot more people but there’s not enough food and water for them. Especially now that China and India are eating meat and getting cars. We just can’t do it. We would need to like triple the population, we’d need like five more earths. Again this comes from scientists, it’s not in the Bible, it’s probably bull s**t.

Is it so bad that I think that the Duggars are sick and selfish? When people have so many kids, it makes me not want to have kids even more to try to decrease the population and make up for them being so selfish and procreating in such abundance. The earth can only handle so much.

As I explained, I had spoke to Verizon yesterday and blocked a few of these numbers. I got this app on my phone, Call Control, which lets you block three numbers for free (then you have to pay for the pro). I also blocked another number with Verizon.

All those numbers again, plus a new one:

• 561-463-5521
• 443-419-2016
• 443-816-1645
• 216-282-5522
• 877-874-5811
• Restricted

Bri was actually able to call them yesterday. They are some education service that finds a school for you (for a fee)… much like Education Connection. Bri was able to get their location and a persons name (just in case we need to file a restraining order). Their PO box (if you’d like to spam them, please), is the following:

PO Box 515381-67004
Los Angeles, CA 90051-6681

We’re compiling all the information (when they call, what numbers, what’s said, etc) and will be filing a law suit if this does not stop.

Then starting at 8:03 this morning, I get a call asking for a “Vanessa”. I said they have the wrong number and hung up. It wouldn’t stop after that. They called again at 10:17, 10:23, 10:31, 10:42, 11:24, 11:31, 11:35, 11:58, 12:06, and 1:50.

They call from various numbers and sometimes their number is blocked. Two of the numbers I looked up. It seems they’re some company asking if people want to go back to school or something. It’s a total scam and complete bull shit.

Around 11:30 I texted Bri about it. He said that I should call the police. He did for me and they said to call Verizon, my carrier. They weren’t really helpful as they suggesting downloading an app that blocks numbers and blocking them with Verizon. I did both and haven’t gotten a call yet.

Here are the numbers that they call from (besides unavailable):

• 561-463-5521
• 443-419-2016
• 443-816-1645
• 216-282-5522

I’ve tried several times to speak to these people. I asked them to please stop calling and remove me from their list… the other times, they just hang up on me.

I think that Rush should NOT be booted off the air. It’s free speech even though what he said was slander. He could and should be sued for it.

In order for justice to be served in this, his advertisers should pull out and so should his listeners. Giving Rush any more attention from this indecent will only straighten him.

People love to hate and they’ll start listening to Rush and start following Rush on Twitter because they hate him. That only gives him strength.

Americans should stop listening to Rush. The media should stop covering Rush. Sooner or later he will fade away.

That’s the problem with the media. They pay so much attention to these “Sarah Palin’s”, “Rush Limbaugh’s”, “Lindsay Loehan’s”, they get away from the real topics and issues and only give these fake phonies more popularity and power. If they were to stop covering Rush and Sarah, their popularity would plummet and they would go away.

On another note: Sad, sad news that Dennis Kucinich lost his primary. America has lost one of its true progressives and representatives of the poor. Dennis Kucinich is a man of integrity and, I believe, one of the few members of Congress that people could actually trust. I hope he considers running for senator or something else later. We need people like Kucinich who can walk the walk, stand up for his beliefs and do what is right for this country.

I really hope this year is not another 2010.

That health care law requiring insurance companies to pay for contraception would do a lot of good. I am one of the women who would benefit from it. I want to live in THAT country where the government does good things for people.

Slavery for example (and there are many more examples) is condoned and practiced in the Bible yet it’s illegal in America; how come no one’s complaining about that?

Let’s just leave it at the fact that it’s entire bull shit that religion gets in the way of state and federal regulations that can do good things for people.