Grinding

I grind my teeth and this results in TMJ-related problems that flare up every now and then, like having my jaw click painfully if I open my mouth too wide. I suffered through this jaw pain over the last few weeks. I could barely put a fork in my mouth (but maybe that was a good thing). And eating huge sandwiches like hamburgers was just out of the question. I had to either tear off tiny pieces to stuff in my mouth like a bird or just avoid these kinds of foods entirely. Just when I was starting to consider going with a largely liquid diet, the jaw problems subsided. Because of this, I was forced to dig out my old night guard, a bulky piece of plastic to put in my mouth at night to stop me from grinding my teeth. Bruxism is no joke. Every time mine flares up, I worry that one day it'll do me in for good and I won't be able to open my big mouth at all.

Ridiculous!

In today's moments of ridiculousness, why in the world would Ted Cruz think picking a vice presidential running mate would help his ailing campaign? And to pick another failed candidate, Carly Fiorina, someone who barely registered in the polls when she was running for office, is just ridiculous. What's the logic behind that? That this pick will help him with women? That this pick will get him some much needed media coverage after his losses to Trump in yesterday's primaries? Yeah. Okay. Dream on dreamer!

And, while I'm blogging about ridiculousness, how about pervert Dennis Hastert? What's ridiculous is the many people (Tom DeLay and others) who wrote letters of support for this guy. Ugh. Hastert is yet another hypocritical politician who tried to lecture others about how to live while he broke the law himself. Do as I say and not as I do.

DMV Drama

Because I recently moved, I had the pleasure of going to the DMV (twice!) yesterday. Oy! Dealing with most government organizations, federal, state, and/or local, can often be frustrating and my experiences yesterday weren't exactly cakewalks. The office opened at 7:30 am (or so I thought), so I was there at 7:30. The office must have opened earlier because there was already a line inside at 7:30. Okay. Fine. I brought the requested documents to change my address, but I hadn't brought my car registration to get my address changed for that (because my sister drove and my registration was in my own car). Whatever. I figured I'd do my car registration address change online later. So after being bumped from one desk to another, I finally got to the desk where my new address was noted for my driver's license. Everything was fine, the clerk was friendly, no problem. Then the clerk made a mistake in the name of my new street address, so she had to to everything over. This is when her previously friendly demeanor turned ugly. She snapped at me and I fought the urge to tell her, "Don't take your mistake out on me, lady!" I understand working with the public is a hard and often thankless job, but it's the job these people chose. If they don't like it, they can try to find employment elsewhere. Anyway, after that drama, I went to yet another counter to get my new license. (They used the same picture from my previous license, so no photo-taking was necessary.) On the way home, I realized a flaw in my picture. There was a white spot on my forehead, like a photo flash. I didn't notice this at the office because I was too busy checking to make sure my address, birth date, etc. were correct. Since the picture hadn't changed, I really didn't pay much attention to it. The spot on my photo bothered me, so I went back to the DMV (this time with my car registration to get that changed). Thankfully, during my second visit, I didn't have to take a number. I just went to one line to get my registration updated and then I spoke with a supervisor who quickly got my photo corrected and my new flash-free driver's license was issued. All in all, I spent about three hours between my two trips to the DMV.

If the DMV offices around here had more locations with Saturday hours, maybe they wouldn't be so bombarded with people. A lot of people (myself included) can't get to the DMV during the work week, so Saturday is really the only day we can go and take care of business without having to take a day or half day off from work. But does the State of Illinois care about that? Apparently not. Hell, they can't even pass a budget here!

RIP Prince

I was surprised to hear that Prince died. Twenty sixteen is certainly turning out to be the year of the Grim Reaper. Every week it seems like some celebrity has died, particularly ones in the music industry. David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Vanity, Gato Barbieri.

As for Prince, I had read he'd been ill recently but I'd also read he was doing shows about a week ago. It's a shame that he's gone. I'm glad I had an opportunity to see him in concert some years ago. RIP Prince.

Beauty School Dropout

I'm sure I've mentioned before how I love the Grease soundtrack. For the past few weeks, I've had the song "Beauty School Dropout" in my head. "Beauty school dropout, go back to high school..." I finally itched that scratch and put the Grease CD in my car. (I moved over the weekend so my stuff has been in disarray.) But back to Grease. Beauty School Dropout is such a great song. I thought it was recorded by Frankie Valli, but Frankie Avalon sang it. (Too many Frankies!)  I also love the stuff by Sha Na Na on the soundtrack. When I was a child, my father used to force me and my sister to watch Hee Haw and Sha Na Na when these shows came on Saturday nights. (Yes, I'm showing my age.) The Hee Haw stuff didn't take, but I did enjoy the Sha Na Na music and their songs on the Grease soundtrack are excellent. "Hound Dog"? "Hand Jive"? "Those Magic Changes"? Great, greater, greatest!

Not Voting?

I read on the interwebs today that Anderson Cooper said during an interview on Howard Stern's show that he doesn't vote because he feels, as a reporter, that he shouldn't vote because, I guess, that would show bias towards one candidate over another. Say what? Dude, citizens of all professions vote and, if you're a good journalist, your voting record shouldn't impact your ability to interview and/or discuss candidates fairly. Sure, it's his choice not to vote, but his reason for not doing so seems ridiculous to me. I, for one, will be glad when these primaries are over and the conventions are done and we know who our presidential candidates will be. Of course then the political ads will be running 24/7. Oy! At least I've got a temporary break from them now since my state primary happened last month. I'd like to see all US states hold primaries on the same day so we could all get them over and done with in one fail swoop. Enough of this dragging out the delegate process for months and months. Just vote and/or caucus on one day, a candidate is selected from each party, and we can all move on to election day. Of course, that would mean we'd never really get a break from the political ads because once the candidates for each party were selected, the ads would start up all over again.

The Face of the Company

I read an article in the Chicago Tribune today about black business owners who chose not to put pictures of themselves on their company websites because they didn't want their businesses to be labeled as "black" businesses. About a week ago, I read a similar story about Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel advising female business owners (minority women, in particular) to have a white man as the face of their company. (She has since denied saying this, but let's assume she did.) Was she wrong to give such advice? Were the black business owners featured in the Chicago Tribune wrong also to hide their race in order to get more business? The world is a tough place and if you're a minority who's trying to run or start a business that relies on customers from all walks of life, then maybe taking yourself physically out of the equation is the right thing to do. I remember overhearing a woman at my hair salon talking about trying to get a liquor license in Chicago for a restaurant she and her husband were running and she enlisted the help of someone white to help her jump through hoops she and her husband knew they'd have a hard time navigating because they're black. Is this sad? Sure. Is it the way the world works sometimes? Absolutely.