Graphic courtesy Steve Bogart of NowThis.com.

I don’t much care for uncertainty. I like consistency. I like the determined, the knowable, the provable, the demonstrable. I like stable. Maybe that’s why I like being a manager (project or otherwise): because the discipline is all about making things as certain as possible. It’s taking the uncertainty out of processes which, otherwise, are uncertain by their very nature. 

(OK, maybe I’m overstating this just a little, allow me a little literary license, OK?)

Things are uncertain in virtually every aspect of my life right now. My current job contract is ending and everyone around me is uncertain and stressed. I have a possible new job provided the right papers are signed by the right people (likely to happen but still uncertain and the timing is also uncertain which adds to the fun). Our cub scout pack is in a state of flux after much needed changes in the leadership of the pack were made and we recover from the political fallout from those changes. Our own finances are uncertain given the state of the economy and the rising cost of virtually everything. The election is uncertain and, I believe, hugely important. I could go on, but you get the point. 

I’m keeping my head up through all of this. I said I don’t like uncertainty, but I’m certainly capable of dealing with it. I do what I can to keep things sane and we’re committed to keeping all that stresses us from impacting how we treat Kiddo or each other. I do feel that I am on the cusp of changes though. I am hoping that between the election next week and the job stuff that within days a lot of variables will become defined and I can relax a bit more.

But I’m not sure… [laugh track].

What does any of this have to do with anything? Well, growing up I had this wonderful poster on my wall. It showed all of the Danish kings. Denmark is the only western nation (as far as I know) that has had a single royal family since before 1000 A.D. and I loved that I was a part of it, in my own small way. The poster is long gone and I bought a postcard version from a Danish museum on a trip there in 1984 but otherwise have not seen the poster in decades.

My mother sent me a print she had (a copy) of the poster (an old copy, it doesn’t have the current Queen on it and she began her reign in 1972) and I got all nostalgic and wanted to get the poster for Jack. Maybe he’ll love it as I once did? So, I went a-googling and found it! It’ll cost me over $50 to buy and ship it, but I think I just found one of those off-beat, interesting Christmas presents that he will love. At least, I hope he will. If not, there’s a spot next to my desk where it would look fantastic…

Excuses out of the way, I am not going to say all that much in large part because plenty of others are saying quite enough and my main interest this fall is action at a more local level. I want to focus my writing on other subjects and not turn this into another political blog.

And so, I am only going to throw out a few links I’ve read today which really resonated with me and I think are important reads. I do not like at all what I am seeing. The McCain campaign is essentially lying and plenty of people are falling for it. It amazes me that they do given how blatant some of these lies are, but they are. These articles I read today do an excellent job of summarizing some of the key points. Do with them what you will, but I think they all deserve some consideration. I know that many Republicans stand behind McCain because of who he once was (and I think a lot of people don’t realize just how much he has changed from that man over the last four or so years) and I understand that. The man he was (prior to his sudden turn-around endorsement of Bush in 2004) was someone I could grudgingly get behind. I felt he was a Republican I could respect. But that changed and his latest actions over the last ten or so days have left me feeling a lot of trepidation. So, here are the articles:

• Conservative Blogger Andrew Sullivan sums it up best in “McCain’s Integrity“
• Author Christopher Moore blogs on “Experience and Imagination“

It is easy to get swept up in poltical rhetoric at this time of year and it is also easy to get personal and mean with people who don’t agree with us. If you look at this election purely on the issues, there is a simple dividing line and I would never judge someone who is voting based on what they believe is the right way to run this country, even if I don’t agree with it. There are basic differences of opinion and part of being in a Democracy is accepting that. We can argue about it, but at the end of the day, we all believe what we believe for good or ill. What I do not like is the fact that McCain’s campaign is trying to distract us from the issues and make this about personal attacks, pointless (and intentional) misunderstandings (”lipstick on a pig” was about the McCain economic plan, not his running mate), and outright lies (the sex education commercial). I believe both candidates should say what they believe and what they will do and let the voters decide which person has the better plan. What McCain is doing is dishonest and dishonorable.

Some closing links of articles I read earlier in the week and liked:

• John Scalzi reprimands Democrats for being so defeatist in “A Previous Message Repeated, Slightly More Forcefully“
• DailyKos diarist, Plutonium Page, writes about his experience at the DNC in “‘This is a Fight for the Future’“

It is an expensive tool but for the people who need it, an excellent one.

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One of these days I’ll import all of the pre-2002 entries.

I’m using a WordPress theme for now. One day soon I will do my own design. Or at least swap out the image above with my own pictures.