Lots to do this weekend. For one thing, I’ve been a bit lax in doing my laundry, and have gotten down to some of the oldest underwear I own. The kind where the elastic band sounds like crinkling cellophane. On the bright side, the old stuff actually fits, so that’s cool. Then there’s my hair. It was getting all in my face and unruly and annoying, so I gave it a “bobbit” (that’s where I take everything that’s sicking out, and cut it off), which works out OK in the front and the sides, but not so much in the back, which I left alone, and now I have this Joe Dirt mullet kinda thing going on in back, and a Bettie Page thing going on in the front (which I frankly don’t have the body to pull off), and it looks pretty stupid. So today I’ve gotta deal with that stuff back there. That’s right, I’ve gotta give myself a reach around. There’s also some snow to deal with (a barn just a hop and a skip – not even a jump – from us caved in last night and a guy not too far away went through the roof of his barn, plunging three stories to his death; we have a lot of barns up this-a-way), I still have a dual-flush converter to install, a desk to finish, and, of course, the dogs need to be pleasured. Plus a lot more. And now the weekend’s half over. Damn. I feel defeated already, and it’s not even 5 AM.

On the bright side, I’m really learning to love the smell of Ben Gay (though it seem like they also ought to make a Ben Straight, just to be fair and balanced), and Egypt is “free.” I’m glad they’re free, of course, and I hope the poor folks over there get a break (goodness knows the poor folks over here are screwed, with the Republicans proposing massive cuts to domestic programs with not a penny to be cut from the #1 budget item, “defense”).

I also have a selfish reason for hoping this stuff is all over in Egypt: I’m tired of hearing the “man in the street” interviews with the protesters. No offense, but it would be nice if those people would use their inside voices once in a while (and talk a little slower). I keep waiting for one of them to yell, “NO SOUP FOR YOU!”

Anyhow, Allah bless you all, and good luck. I hope that military guy from the Indiana Jones movies who’s in charge now turns out to be a good dude. Just remember, if it comes down to it, don’t bring a scimitar to a gun fight.

Add Wisconsin to the list of places I’m glad I don’t live. I’m sure you’ve all seen where its new Governor wants to strip its State employees of their rights to collective bargaining and is preemptively threatening to use the National Guard to knock heads in case there’s trouble. I’m sure he’s also the first (OK, second, behind John Boehner) to shed joyous tears for the great Egyptian revolution toward democracy. A shame we can’t count on the US military to back the people over the government. Not saying theywouldn’t – just saying I wouldn’t count on it.

Too bad, too, ‘cuz then we’d have an armada of heavily armed unmanned Reapers at our disposal here in Syracuse. I’d dispatch them to Albany and have them circle Andy Cuomo and the rest of the NYS legislature ominously. Andy’s latest scheme (being touted a “brilliant” by many) is to have the legislature pass a budget with no specifics. Then he’ll decide what to cut. So there will be no actual chance for citizens to lobby their – and I use the term loosely – representatives to preserve funding for, oh, jobs, hospitals, schools, snow plows, prisons, copy, fire fighters…. You know, all that piddly stuff that the rich people on Wall St can’t be bothered to pay for (even though their always first in line for services, and loudest to squawk when they don’t get their way).

Oh well. As soon as it gets warm again, we should so get permits and have an organized Saturday protest, with clever signs and lots of speechifying. I won’t be able to make it, of course, ‘cuz I only get two days off and I can’t leave the dogs. But I’ll watch some of it on CSPAN and totally disagree with the crowd estimates.

Hell, it got us out of Iraq, so it’s just got to work.

Update: Yesterday was supposed to be warm and relatively snow-free. Bullshit.