Ireceived a piece of welcome news this week. The Powers That Be in the human rrspurces department have determined that six years of service at Pretrial is equivalent to 4.8 years as a probation agent. What that means for me is that in 1.2 years my pay will increase from Grade 12 ($31.5k) to Grade 16 ($41.2k). I find it downright ironic that a job in which I could get shot on duty currently pays (at Grade 12) about $3/hour more than Target and $1/hoir more than being the night manager of a Taco Bell. Grade 16 is still below the median income mark by several hundred dollars but it's a big step in the right direction.
:: Sigh :: I really miss those terrible ol' Clinton days. You know... when unemploymemt was 4%, the debt was under control, inflation was under control, and everyone got raises each year. The religious right decided to throw away our good economy, our freedom, our solvency, and world peace because they are afraid of gays and thus voted for a brain-dead fake cowboy who also hates gays. So now the American Dream is to somehow get paid only slightly less than the median income amount. Even that is a joke. $41k in the Bush Great Depression spends like $25k did under Clinton, thanks to five years of hyperinflation.
Apparently, however, Christians aren't the least bit concerned about the economy. They are only concerned with banning contraception, gay marriage, Social Security, pulic schools, science, other religions, and abortion. Go figure.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Groovy
This past weekend was pretty good. I led my ecology rite at Turning Circle on Friday. This is a ritual I originally wrote in response to the BP oil disaster. Of course, the ritual is still relavent because there have been other disasters since then. One of my friends had a candle magic service on Saturday. So it was a very Wiccan weekend :)
I managed to reduce my obligation to AT&T by one line. I moved an expired line to T-Mobile as a tablet device. Unlike the dreaded iPad, my little Springboard is 7", less than a pound, and under $200. It's also flash capable. It's pretty neat.
I wrote three warrant petitions today. The funny thing about probation is that you can get locked up for getting locked up. So there were three desperadoes that I hope I can get no-bail warrants served on before they can make bail on their brand new dope dealing charges. In my six year career in criminal justice I have only encountered one drug dealer who actually made a successful living at it. All the rest were low-skill, low-IQ lazy idiots.
The only down side to writing warrants is that I will eventually have to testify in court against these numbskulls. It's not the testifying that bugs me, but rather the really short sentences most judges give out. what can ya do?
I managed to reduce my obligation to AT&T by one line. I moved an expired line to T-Mobile as a tablet device. Unlike the dreaded iPad, my little Springboard is 7", less than a pound, and under $200. It's also flash capable. It's pretty neat.
I wrote three warrant petitions today. The funny thing about probation is that you can get locked up for getting locked up. So there were three desperadoes that I hope I can get no-bail warrants served on before they can make bail on their brand new dope dealing charges. In my six year career in criminal justice I have only encountered one drug dealer who actually made a successful living at it. All the rest were low-skill, low-IQ lazy idiots.
The only down side to writing warrants is that I will eventually have to testify in court against these numbskulls. It's not the testifying that bugs me, but rather the really short sentences most judges give out. what can ya do?
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Receding Darkness
It's usually around Imbolc that my seasonal depression starts to subside. This year was complicated a bit by the fact that I went through an incredibly stressful job transition. I actually applied for the job last spring but I didn't get hired until the winter. I would never willingly change jobs during the time of year when my energy levels are the lowest. But hey, plans don't always unfold the way we think they will.
I think my energy started coming back about a week ago. I was able to start writing chapter 68 in "I, Construct". It's now got 850 pages exactly. I was able to exercise three days in a row. I do want to get back into shape again. My elliptical machine is no longer gathering dust.
One of the other reasons why I want to get into shape is that my spiritual potency also decreases quite a bit in the winter. It's VERY hard to do any kind of magical workings when one's body is depleted and exhausted. Part of my magical practice involves sunlight and it's hard to come by in the dead of winter. But now the daylight is returning. It's still light for about 20 minutes when I get off work now. I will be glad when it is no longer pitch black when I get up in the morning.
I haven't had too many nightmares since developing a warding ritual a year ago. I used to be haunted by the vengeful imagery of my rather evil father. I seem to be able to block him out pretty well these days. I think I've had nightmares about him maybe twice in the past year. I used to be tormented by him in my dreams nearly every week.
I am glad to have found the Wiccan path. The understanding of the seasonal cycles and the appreciation of the role of life, death, decay, and regrowth in the ecology has helped blunt the worst of my seasonal depression. I know that deity does not hate me (like I used to think every winter when I was a Christian). I used to think God was punishing me each year. Now I know that it is just a yearly cycle in my own energy and that I am loved all year long by the God and Goddess. I am also glad that magic does actually work. It's not the same Hollywood "magic" of course. But in the Wiccan sense of the word, it does work. Blessed be.
I think my energy started coming back about a week ago. I was able to start writing chapter 68 in "I, Construct". It's now got 850 pages exactly. I was able to exercise three days in a row. I do want to get back into shape again. My elliptical machine is no longer gathering dust.
One of the other reasons why I want to get into shape is that my spiritual potency also decreases quite a bit in the winter. It's VERY hard to do any kind of magical workings when one's body is depleted and exhausted. Part of my magical practice involves sunlight and it's hard to come by in the dead of winter. But now the daylight is returning. It's still light for about 20 minutes when I get off work now. I will be glad when it is no longer pitch black when I get up in the morning.
I haven't had too many nightmares since developing a warding ritual a year ago. I used to be haunted by the vengeful imagery of my rather evil father. I seem to be able to block him out pretty well these days. I think I've had nightmares about him maybe twice in the past year. I used to be tormented by him in my dreams nearly every week.
I am glad to have found the Wiccan path. The understanding of the seasonal cycles and the appreciation of the role of life, death, decay, and regrowth in the ecology has helped blunt the worst of my seasonal depression. I know that deity does not hate me (like I used to think every winter when I was a Christian). I used to think God was punishing me each year. Now I know that it is just a yearly cycle in my own energy and that I am loved all year long by the God and Goddess. I am also glad that magic does actually work. It's not the same Hollywood "magic" of course. But in the Wiccan sense of the word, it does work. Blessed be.
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