You know, I try not to resort to mindless fluff all the time. (Pictures of the best kittens on the planet is NOT fluff, thank you very much!)

And I try not to be a person too caught up in my own personal stuff to care about the wider world.

But there is a limit.

Today I had to meet my mom at the auto repair shop and drive her to work without having had a shower. We have a house guest who likes 45 minute showers. Jason apparantly can take a three minute lukewarm to cold shower. I cannot.

Then I had to try to figure out what the hell my mom should do about this so-called prescription program that I truly believe was designed to so bewilder and annoy the elderly (and the daughters who have to slog through it) that the entire program fails. I really can't see any improvement for poor and working poor seniors (why do you think my mom is approaching 71 and still working full time? For her health/prescription plan) The cheapest Medicare option (and there are dozens and dozens of options) is still way more expensive than the one she has now. So she doesn't want to sign up, because it will be more expensive. But then, how expensive is it going to be if she has to sign up later? And gets "penalized" for not signing up now?

This drives me insane. The plan should be: if you are retired, here are your drugs. Even just have a co-pay on a sliding scale depending on your income. For Pete's sake.

Then I just spend $600 on new glasses. My insurance covers an eye exam, but not glasses. They want you to know you are blind, but not do anything about it. See, I have to get bifocals and I am (really) just about legally blind. So my only options for bifocals that my lenses will fit were these big ole giant Sally Jesse Rapheal glasses. So I bought two pair. One for distance. One for mid-distance so I can see the computer screen both here at home and at work without hunching forward.

Then I found a really cool shirt that I really like.

Then I came home to a message from my mom asking if I'd cured all her Medicare blues yet. (NO)

Then I made the giant mistake of turning on the news while I ate lunch.

I can't deal with it today. It makes me just want to scream until something ruptures. Someone please explain: 1. Why was the NSA allowed to deny investigators access to the information it needed? When did the investigated get to start running the show? 2. Just what exactly does the government plan to do with all those millions of phone call records (thanks BellSouth, first you call my freaking house six times a day, now you give my records away?) And, how much freaking money was spent on gathering, sorting, and maintaining these records? Enough to pay for my mom's blood pressure medication? Enough to send a home health nurse to visit an at risk infant so it doesn't die in its first month of life?

Okay. That's it. I'm done. Cute kitten pictures at eleven.