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Day 70 - Catholic Guilt

If you grew up like I did, you knew that bad news was always right around the corner.

An unlucky streak for your family that seemed to follow us around for most of my school years. Bad news, deaths specifically, come in threes. And if things are going well, the universe will even things out soon.

I've talked about how, despite that, I remained relatively optimistic as a kid and teen, but that's not what today is about.

Today, I'm talking about how it feels like the whole country feels like this. It feels like we're all collectively waiting for the next shoe to drop. We know things aren't going well, but like... how bad are things really? We are all holding our breath, and we know it isn't quite time to let it out yet.

We are lucky that Hurricane Melissa is going to miss the US, but I don't think Jamaica is ever going to look the same again. Climate change keeps me up at night, and that's not a joke. Melissa has mostly stalled, and we saw that with Hurricane Harvey in 2017 in Texas. When storms stall, they dump more rain in a single area. Hurricanes can hold more moisture because the air is warmer. They can become stronger because the ocean is warmer. This article by the BBC lays it out pretty clearly. And, as always, some of my favorite reminders:

  • A warning means the thing is happening right now, and you need to take action. A watch means the thing could happen and you should pay attention in case it does happen.
    Image stolen from WROC in Rochester

  • A tropical storm, hurricane, cyclone, and typhoon all indicate the same thing - a tropical weather system that started over the ocean. In America, we use tropical storm and hurricane. Cyclone and Typhoon are used in other parts of the world.
  • The Saffir-Simpson wind/pressure scale for hurricanes only indicates how fast the wind speeds are. It will not tell you how much rain you will get, or how high the storm surge will be along the coast. Even "light" winds in a Tropical Storm or Category 1 storm can be problematic if the ground is saturated enough.

Ok, enough about hurricanes. But if you want to taco 'bout them, I'm obviously ready.

The other thing people are talking about and sort of holding their breath for is the government shutdown. Now, you can guess where I stand about the whole situation, but beyond that, I think we all know it doesn't feel normal to see people sharing "tips to provide shelf stable meals for food banks" and "shopping lists for when your benefits run out" on social media. Again, maybe I'm naive, but I'd like to think that we all think that everyone deserves to be fed. You can disagree with me on how we get there, but if you don't even think all people deserve food, then I don't know how you found my blog.

I just... think it sucks that people who work full-time even need benefits. I think it sucks that a number of our military members or veterans need these benefits. I think it sucks our Federal workers are expected to drive to work right now, but aren't getting paid to put gas in their car. I'm glad these people have the benefits, because they deserve food, I just think it's shitty our country isn't even paying them enough to get it on their own. I hope that makes sense.

And maybe, you're also unemployed. Maybe you don't feel like the job market is rocking out there, and that you hear about inflation (and feel it) and unemployment rates and tariffs and it just seems uncertain. Maybe you realize you've only put in 47 applications across 70 days, and it's clearly not enough.

Girl, same.

I don't have good news today. I wish I did. I wish I had a lesson to pull all this together, or reassure us, but I don't. Good thing I'm not a motivational speaker because I wouldn't be very good at! I will not be submitting any applications for jobs like that, so don't send me those.

In the meantime, while I wait for the shutdown to end and a job to call me back, I'm going to grab a snack and my crochet hook and see what I can get done. Oh! I have cookie dough in the fridge!

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