A Little Perspective

One of those days, really.  We've had these weird hindrances pop in left and right and they can be so left field - today there was this big accident on McEver and on top of that a troubled woman needing help and a place to stay - but not any of the ones we were offering her resources for.  All this added up to delays and time spent spinning wheels - we were late for taekwondo tonight, but we did eventually make it.  It's been a hectic sort of day.  

Maddie did well on her history test, getting a solid 94 and wrapping up the roaring 20's with a score that wouldn't cause a Great Depression.  She's doing okay elsewhere, but doesn't talk much about too much of it, outside of the great time she's having at Chestatee, where she met Mrs. Mullinax today, one of her earlier teachers who recognized her.  That was exciting.  

Also, Maddie's ceramics work is coming along.  It's a relief, and she's going to share a picture of that soon, one where we all look at it and go, "Well, that's a relief!"  It's a bit of perspective, and it's a work in progress, but her teacher said she's doing well on it.  Anton Ego would be proud of her little perspective!

One major thing today was our first-hand experience with the Department of Inefficiency.  For those of you unfamiliar with this division of our government, it's the bureau responsible for meaningless delays, mounting frustration, and blatant testing of patiences.  It's actually a very effective group of people run by a department head who has expanded his reach to many other various governmental systems.  Obviously, their humble beginnings with the Department of Transportation are well-documented, given the excessive delays and amazing achievements in inefficiency.  Today, the Department of Inefficiency shines bright across the spectrum of government, from the halls of Congress on a federal level to their efforts within local governmental agencies, with countless stories of spectacular inefficiency with crime, stagnating local economies and yes, of course healthcare.  

Indeed, of all our government agencies, the Department of Inefficiency is head and shoulders above others, ironically a well-oiled machine responsible for immensely ineffective policies resulting in a generally demoralizing and perhaps even painful experience when the common citizen attempts to deal with anything related to our government.  Why, even today we saw the remarkable work within the Department of Inefficiency, famous for their continued and award-winning work within the Internal Revenue Service.  Attempting to fill out a EIN request form online goes from an advertised fifteen minute experience to a fruitless and repetitious waste of valuable time, producing those perfect moments of aggravation and redundancy, particularly when calling the suggested number for what is deemed as "help."  So trained are we by the Department of Inefficiency that we rightly scoff at the idea that this "help" will actually be somewhat "useful."  And yes, after one phone call where the friendly voice online actually hangs up on you, the caller is then guided after a second call through to another resoundingly inefficient page to visit online, which of course cycles citizens from one place to another through a maze of complicated jargon creating a masterful Möbius strip of Inefficiency, inviting common citizens to get lost for a few hours accomplishing nothing whatsoever until their eyes and/or brains begin to completely fail.  

One may ask what purpose the Department of Inefficiency has, and the answer of course is to temper our citizen's expectations and hopes to such a point that our government can, from time to time, actually exceed such expectations.  Given that it's extremely difficult to meet or exceed the low expectations we have of our government, there has arisen a need to lower further those expectations by a great deal.  That being said, the Department of Inefficiency is doing a stellar job!

Moving on.  It's February.  Maddie had a little taekwondo tonight, and she attempted to do a V-kick, but did an aerial instead.  It is at that stage of the game where suddenly a more complicated kick is easier to do than the one you're trying to recall from earlier.  But we did make it to a little taekwondo, although certainly later.  Afterwards, we attempted to turn the tide on this day by watching another episode of "The Chosen."  This turned out to be a great idea, as we just love this show.  It's such a joyful journey, and it's one we all love watching so much.  Season Four is this weekend, and we're still in the midst of reviewing season three, but we'll catch up soon enough.

Afterwards, we read from our book of course.  We're in Ankh-Morpork for one of the last times in this Discworld series, with Tiffany and Geoffrey visiting a famous Boffo shop.  We'll see if we run into other famous people from that city.  Given that this is a sort of "last tour," I almost expect it.  We'll see!

Tonight we said our prayers, and after that we were off to bed.  I'm still recovering, but getting better each night.  It's February, and we're getting up early tomorrow morning.  It's one of the greatest holidays of the year!