steam

back on home soil, thanks to God and lots of airport screening. we were sent through agriculture screening upon arrival, presumably because of sam and the baby food, and the invisible sign above my forehead that says "harass me. harass me now." lots of loading and unloading of suitcases multiple times through multiple checkpoints, then carry on screening in which i was allowed to take milk through but not water. go figure that one out. it was a very long day and i am very pleased it is finished. hopefully i will not have to repeat the rigamarole for two years.

my beef this early morning (thanks to jet lag) is not with airlines but with the post office. short version: we requested our post office to resume delivery on our mail yesterday. they didn't. longer version: after receiving five pieces of mail along with a cryptic note that said "RAIN. Mail tomorrow." from the carrier (and to my knowledge, there was no rain in the sky yesterday afternoon), i called the national p.o. (hmmm initials are the same as pissed off. interesting that!) and got the number of our local branch and spoke to a woman there. i explained the note and asked if i could come up to pick up the mail. she said of course. loaded snorty sam in the car and drove to post office, only to be told that the mail was still with the carrier on the truck, and that the young woman with whom i spoke on the phone didn't understand the carrier's note to me. well there's a surprise. the employees all shrugged and half-laughed and said "yes, that's jan." i guess so, if she can see rain that's not there and deem it okay for me to wait another day for my mail.

i sound crotchety, i know. jet lag. sorry. and it's not like there's loads of exciting prospects in the post, except for some work docs i'm waiting for. but i had to release the steam.

sam and i have to leave for the hospital in 45 min so he can get his tubes. wish us loads of luck and lots of prayers. everyone keeps telling me it will be fine. i hope so.

i've been following the rosie/barbara/the view/blog conversation that's been bandied about by people online and other sources. it's interesting to me that barbara has the power to tell rosie not to blog, and not to blog about the show. in some way, i can understand not blogging about the show (that can be put in a contract of sorts, i guess), but not blogging? that seems a little of an infringement on 1st amendment and a little too big brother. thoughts?

i also read dude, where's my country by Michael Moore on the plane. very interesting, except when he advocates Oprah for President. i particularly like chapter 10.