Post #882

Gosh, I have been doing this blogging stuff for a while now, haven't I? I have seen a lot of people come and go in that time. Some bloggers I hope will stick around forever, and some I wait for that day when they are just a little bit too bored to keep on - as most bloggers do.

Yesterday morning I was feeling horrible. Work continues to get a little worse each week. It is extremely difficult. We are in a terrible situation, and unfortunately, that brings out the worst in people. I got a little sign for my door that says "Scatter kindness". I don't know what good that will do, but remind people (or me?) to just be kind. I went and saw a priest at lunch time for something that could be the subject of another whole post - and probably will be in the future - and on the way back, I bought cupcakes (with sprinkles) for my co-workers. I thought maybe a fattening treat would be a nice gesture. Little tiny gestures can sometimes make the difference in a person's day. I will endeavor to make as many kind gestures as I can, because it is damn ugly there right now.

I did run yesterday morning and this morning I did a new abs workout. I don't like it, but it hurts, so it must be good, right?

Gotta get ready for my day. You all have a nice one, OK?

Tuesday Back to Work

I am going to go out and run TODAY. I didn't ever get around to it yesterday. I did, however, go swimming - which was nice. But today, I am going to run. Really.

Yesterday I had several revelations I could have written about here, but can I think of any this morning? no.

My little corner of the world looks pretty good this morning. I wish it was spring. But the sun is shining, the clouds are few and pink. It is over 20 º, which is my cut-off for running. So I will go hit it. Sorry I have nothing to say today. (Thanks to Scott W. for telling me how to make a degree sign!)
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Sorry, I have been forced to use comment moderation again. I refuse to allow my blog to be used as a platform for hateful, insane, hyperreligious hyperbole.

Presidents' Day

I get this Monday holiday off, and I am extremely grateful for that today. I need a day off. I wish I had nothing to do, but alas, that is not my story. But at least I have no where I have to be until 7 o'clock tonight.

Yesterday I got to see one of my nephews. He was in town to visit with his wife's sister. I invited them over for a Sunday dinner. I ended up with nine people here for dinner - with an hour and a half to figure out what to cook and cook it. I managed to get it all done before they walked in the door and we had a fabulous time. It was great to see my little house so full of people.

I just went to my 6:30 a.m. meeting and then met with a sponsee afterward. It was lovely.

Now I need to go out in the cold morning and run. I SO don't want to. I do not know how to get my motivation back - it is simply gone. My back hurts and I want to go back to bed, not go out and run.

Snowing

I was sitting in a 6:30 meeting this morning, and looked out the window and saw (another) freaking blizzard. My plan for today WAS to go to the meeting and then run for the first time since February 6. But it is snowing.

So I went out for a bagel with the girls. We took up the whole back room of a bagel joint. It was so nice. I think there were 12 of us there.

So here is my question du jour. A woman who has been in and out and in and out and in and out over the last three years has been doing very well for about the last month. She looks and sounds different than she did - you know that magic you see in a person... it is wonderful. Another woman recently drank and was talking about her fear about raising her hand and being honest about her relapse. The older "slipper" told her not to worry about what others thought, and said "F*** them if they can't take a joke." Another member, sober now 6 years and the self-appointed expert on any subject, who annoys me a little more each day, got all over her. Told her that Alcoholism isn't a joke and she should stop thinking it is.... on and on... she browbeat this poor woman. Another older woman and I intervened on her behalf -but the other person would NOT drop it.

So on the way out of the restaurant I wanted to talk to Ms. 6 years-expert-of-the-world and tell her to stop browbeating newcomers. My friend encouraged me to do so. But I thought I better sit on it for at least a day. I am tired and not really in the best place, I am not sure I would be able to deliver this message with love. In fact, I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to.

Why can't we just be loving of one another? Why can't we just let newcomers be who they are? Why can't we just be on the same level playing field? No one is the expert in AA... we are all just sober, by the Grace of God, for today. Period. Why do we have to lord it over others?

In the words of one of my favorite philosophers:
"Can we all get along?"
Rodney King - May 1, 1992

Friday Night

I thought I would try something radical and post at night instead of the morning. I have school tomorrow. I am a tad resentful about this. I want a weekend off. I want to go to the meeting tomorrow morning. I am also very conflicted about all of this. I wanted to teach. I was excited about it. I actually like it - when I am there. But I don't like adding another day of work to my week.

I just went to a potluck dinner with the women of my AA group. It was fun. It was nice to sit around on a Friday night with so many people I love. Don't get the wrong idea - some of them I am not really that fond of, but I really really love them.

One of them told me tonight that a new guy said today that he really wishes I was at the meeting more often (that makes at least 2 of us!) because he always gets so much out of what I say in the meeting. My friend offered that I am hysterically funny about 80% of the time, and the other 20% of the time things suck. She said that is how she can tell that the 80% is the real truth. That was high praise.

I don't think my funnyness comes through in this blog. That is always the first thing that people notice about me - my sense of humor. So I have found through this blog that I am OK without much humor. That is good news.

I am a tired, worn out sober alcoholic woman. I am a runner who hasn't run in 10 days. I have not been to a meeting since Monday. I have a long distance relationship I don't talk about - but due to weather I haven't seen him since Christmas Day.

But as I said this morning, This Too Shall Pass.

Time Problems

I have been late for work every day this week. I am entirely sure I will be very late again today. I didn't wake up until 6:30. I am sitting here, thinking - gee I really need to get a move on... but here I sit. I did this yesterday. I am a salaried employee and it really does not matter that I am not there at the crack of 8:00 a.m., but still, it bothers me. And let me hasten to assure you that I put in more than 40 hours each week. But still, I COULD get there on time - if I really wanted to, and apparently I don't.

I am feeling really tired and I don't want to go to work today. I especially don't want to spend all day tomorrow in a classroom. I just want to sit and do nothing. Maybe take a run in the cold morning sun, but there is not time. This too shall pass...

Key Lime Pie

Last night as I was preparing to make several key lime pies, I thought it looked so pretty, I took a picture. I really miss HNT. I realize there is no naked body part, so it isn't HNT, and that is why I stopped participating in HNT. It turned into photos of dogs, no human body parts, no interesting, creative posing, just dogs.
UPDATE: I posted a photo on the OLD HNT site. http://half-naaked.blogspot.com/

Anyway, as I was baking these pies (for a Valentine's Day potluck at work today), I remembered my very first day of sobriety. I was waiting to go to my first meeting. I was quite sick. I was worried that my husband would be mad at me, so I decided to make a key lime pie. I must have thrown away a dozen eggs. On that day, I just could not get the concept of egg whites in one bowl and yolks in the other, so I kept mixing them up. Then I would throw them away, and start over.... again and again.

I am grateful that today I can coordinate a complex procedure such as separating egg whites from egg yolks. Life is so much easier without being drunk or hungover. It is amazing to me that I managed to drink like a fish for 18 years. What a nightmare.

I am now off to church in a blizzard. It is scary out there.

Happy Valentine's Day to all my sweetest blogging friends.

Rigorous Honesty

What does Rigorous Honesty mean to you?

Yesterday a sponsee called with a problem. She did something she wasn't supposed to do. She asked me if she had to tell her boss. I urged her to pray for God's guidance and the strength to carry it out. I did tell her that I thought she probably needed to come clean with her boss, even though she may lose her job, because the path to dishonesty is one of small incremental dishonesty. Lies of omission. Just tweaking the truth. Telling a "white" lie. Just telling a little lie. Then telling a bigger lie. Then because you got away with the lie, telling more lies. And then needing a little drink because you feel so bad about yourself.

I remember when I was in my first year of sobriety, I worked at a large insurance brokerage firm. I worked in "small accounts." They were mostly lawyers. I had to call a lawyer one Friday afternoon and tell him that I had made a huge mistake on his policy, and it had pretty serious consequences for him. He told me that he appreciated my honesty, but what the hell was I going to do about it? He was not nice. I went to a meeting that night and told my group that this 'rigorous honesty' crap was a bunch of nonsense. It didn't work in the real world. You couldn't go around admitting you were wrong in business - especially with lawyers!

I got the problem with his account worked out in the next week. And about a week later, the CEO of the company brought me a copy of a letter the lawyer had written to him. He wrote a letter to the CEO about how wonderful I was! He appreciated my honesty and my work to get my error straightened out! I took the letter and made a reduced size copy, until it was about the size of a business card, I laminated it, and put it in my wallet. I carried that thing around with me for years as a reminder that rigorous honesty does work in the real world!

The price of dishonesty is too high for alcoholics. People at work are sometimes dismayed at the fact that I will admit when I am wrong. I will even take my share of responsibility when others are wrong. It has lately not served me well. I don't care. The price of doing otherwise is my life.

What does rigorous honestly mean to you?

Tuesday Morning

The photo is only to remind me that things WILL unfreeze, trees will bloom again, and I will again be able to take a bike ride at Waterton Canyon. I will, I tell you, I will! It also serves as a reminder to be grateful that my new cell phone has a 2 megapixel camera, so now when I take photos from my runs and bike rides, they will be of a higher quality than the one above.

I also just have to say that it appears that I am being scapegoated at work. I hate to utter those words because I have been working at the same place for 13 and a half years, and for most of that time I have loved it. Right now I am not loving it. Every day I have to remind myself that if I get my ego out of the way, I will be just fine. I know what the truth is and that is all that matters. I know that I am competent and hard-working. If I am a convenient target, I can just tell the truth in the least defensive way possible. And know in my heart, deeply in my soul, that God has me firmly in his hand.

It is very tiring though.

"We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us." -- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 55

Feelin' Fine

I am so glad I took Friday off because I feel fine today. It took me three days of doing virtually nothing to get to feeling fine. This week, I have Biblical School tonight, and the remaining nights, I have not one thing planned. I am meeting with a sponsee who just started a new job and can no longer come over in the evening... so we are meeting at the 6:30 meeting this morning.

I am so excited about having "nothing" to do this week! Yippeeee!

I can see that I seriously need a vacation, when even three days off gives me a new perspective. Work has been incredibly difficult. I have had too many women to sponsor. I find teaching satisfying, but extremely exhausting - I am not sure I think it is worth it. Training for a marathon is pretty tiring for a 56 year old woman. In other words, I am really, really tired.

So today I will go meet my sponsee. We will read Chapter 3, More About Alcoholism, and discuss as we go. I will go to work and try to give it 100% of my attention, my skills, and my abilities. I will go to Biblical School tonight and get filled back up. It is wonderful to sit there and see this mysterious book come to life for me. It is truly life altering and very very nurturing.

"The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power." -- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 43

What hope looks like to me:

Do you see the tiny little tulip bud just below the snow? That thing is springing out of the ground in the faith, against all evidence, that it will be spring again, and it will have sunshine and all that it needs to survive.
A hummingbird nest in the tree in front of my house... it hopefully awaits the return of those beautiful little birds in the spring.

Winter is a hard time in Colorado. The beginning of it is always joyful for me. But around this time of the year, it is just dark, depressing, and difficult. It is difficult to run. It is impossible to ride a bike. It is too much trouble to go swimming (even indoors.)

I know that the day will again come when this dreary feeling will be gone. My neighbor and I just stood outside and made our plans for our annual trip to the greenhouse - to purchase our flowers, plants, maybe even a tree! The trip isn't until the first weekend in May, but we both look forward to it - even though it is nearly 3 months away.

I slept until 7:30 this morning. I never sleep this late. The phone rang and I spent over an hour talking with a good friend who is going through a difficult time. God Bless Him.

I am feeling much better, and it is sunshiney and in the 50s outside, so I am fighting the urge to go outside and run. But I am going to force myself to wait until Tuesday. I will be more careful in my running now. I do not want to have this kind of pain again, it was unpleasant!

And I want to thank the few bloggers who continue to comment on my blog. I do appreciate you.

Saturday go to meetin'

I am looking forward to my Saturday morning meeting this morning. I went to a disturbing meeting last night. It is held at my church, so I frequently have the temptation to go there. But every time I do, I think I won't again. There was a drunk woman there last night, she was very disruptive and wouldn't shut up. They, being a nice clean group who sits around talking about their "high bottoms", didn't have a clue how to handle the situation. And when my friend did handle it, she got lambasted in the meeting by the "nice" people who don't like "cross-talk." Excuse me? When a drunk person will not shut up, someone needs to tell them to be quiet. And if, while sharing in a meeting, you are telling someone else that what they did was "cross-talk," isn't THAT "cross-talk?"

So I will happily go to my home group where they know what to do with a newcomer. Where there are strong "pillars" of the group. Where you don't get the feeling that the whole thing is about to conflagrate.

My ex-husband who had spent years in alanon (prior to marrying me), used to call it "removing myself from the situation." It would be silly (and dangerous) for me to continue to attend the group where I feel so uncomfortable. I can easily just not go there. I live in a major metropolitan area. There are over 1,000 meetings a week in this metro area. I don't need to go to one I don't like.

Update on my hip/leg/knee/tibialis/ankle pain. It still hurts like hell. But I think I know now that the pain is actually coming from my left acetabulum. I will likely go to my doctor on Monday, unless I get some miraculous relief from the pain this weekend. But it hasn't happened yet. When you are a runner, it doesn't make sense to run to the doc with every pain, because you get lots of them, and most of them resolve themselves. But when rest doesn't get rid of the pain, there is something going on. That is why I wanted to take three days of rest to see what happens. 1 down, 2 to go. We shall see.... Thanks for your prayers. I do appreciate them.

"When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would." -- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 116

A Friday Off

After I got my big deal done yesterday and all approved and put to bed, so to speak, I talked to my boss about taking today off. He was fine with that, as I knew he would be.

I am in so much pain, I am not really clear on what is going on. I think it might be that I am so tired that my body just can't take it any more. So, this weekend I have three days off. I don't have anything on a schedule or calendar, or even in my mind, to do. I may get to the pool at the club, and I might hit the hot tub. Maybe.

I had hoped to get to a meeting this morning, but the pain woke me up at 2:30 and I have been awake since. I just ate a bowl of cereal and took a motrin and hope to get back to bed and sleep for a few hours. I will go to a meeting tonight, which is held at my church, and coincides with a fish dinner and some other church function.... if I feel better I will go to all of that.

Yesterday my trouble daughter called me at work (which always frightens me), and asked if she and my beautiful granddaughter could come over to my house after work. After I said yes, she called her brother and he came over too! I felt so crappy I didn't cook, so we ordered pizza and sat around and talked and got Olivia's homework done. It was a wonderful evening.

A couple of people have asked me questions this week - I will answer them now:
How do you fire a sponsor? You tell that person, in the nicest way possible, that this is not working out, that you have found someone else you think would work out better, or whatever your reason is for not wanting that sponsor anymore. My sponsee on Tuesday said that she felt that I was too busy, she didn't want to meet on Tuesdays because she has a meeting she wants to attend on Tuesday and I didn't have any other time for her. So she will ask someone else to be her sponsor.

What is a caucus? It is sort of a public meeting - where you raise your hand to be counted for the presidential candidate you want to be the nominee from your party. Very over simplistic, but in a nut shell, that is what it is. I was in a classroom in an elementary school with 46 other people of my party from my precinct. It was kind of crazy. But very cool to be part of the process.

If you're the praying type, please say a prayer for me, OK. This pain is really coloring my world an ominous shade of gray.

Thursday Morning

It is very early. Again, I have four minutes to write.

The picture is from my run yesterday morning. I went out just as day was breaking. It was 15 degrees and a beautiful morning in a special Colorado kind of way. The air is very special when it's a mile high and crisp and dry. I spent the rest of the day in pain. I don't know why I felt great after a 7 mile run on Sunday, but was dying after a 2 mile run on Wednesday.

So, I am off to church. Then I have another very full day ahead. If things go well, a lot of pressure should be off of me after today. I have a huge presentation to make, and believe me, I have gotten all "prayed up" on this one!

Have a great sober day everyone.

6 Minutes

Let's see how much I can write in 6 minutes.... I have to get out of here for a run... then I need to go to church because it is Ash Wednesday... then I need to work all day... then I have NOTHING to do tonight after work! Nada! Zip!

Last night a sponsee I have written about here came over. I have been praying every day that I given insight into what to do with her. Last night she fired me!! Woo Hoo!!! YAY!!! And then there were 2. And I am not going to call the women I have told "no" and say "Hey! I have one hour of my life free - let's fill it up!"

Then I went to the caucus. It was nice to be a part of the process, but I thought the company I was keeping was kind of scary. Maybe I am not aligned with the right party? I like to actually think things through and not talk in slogans and one line zingers. I guess I will pray about this too!

God sure does a splendid job of running my life - if I will calm down and let Him!

Snowy Super Tuesday

I took this photo while driving home from Biblical School last night. It was and is scary out there. Now I just looked out the window and imagine my surprise to see my neighbor shoveling my sidewalk!

Did you ever not notice how corrosive something was until it was gone? I had a neighbor who was a friend of mine. She met "Mr. Right" (number 4) and then I was no longer on her radar as a friend or even acquaintance. She moved away a few months ago, and suddenly the whole neighborhood has changed. She had created such ill will that the ill will extended to me because I was her friend. Suddenly, now that she is gone, people I just thought were kind of jerky are nice to me! It is a much more pleasant place now that she is gone. People can park where they want without being yelled at, notes left on their cars, or other ridiculous behavior. She had such a thing about cars not parking in front of her house that once she actually got into car parked in front of her house and let off the parking brake and let it roll until it was in front of someone else's house.

Anyway, what a nice thing it is to see that someone shoveled my sidewalk. Not just because now I don't have to do it. It is such an act of kindness. I feel all warm inside knowing that the neighbor who didn't talk to me for 5 or 6 years just shoveled my sidewalk!

Tonight I have a sponsee coming over at 5, then I am heading out of here at 6:30 for my first caucus. Right now the idea of being active all day until 9 o'clock p.m. just does not appeal. I wish I could work until, say, noon, come home and take a nap and THEN maybe get ready for my evening activities.

I am a tired girl. This teaching is kicking my butt. Working 6 days a week and then having homework is hard. Add to that, I am TAKING a class every week, and that I am training to run a marathon... and my job is in high gear... I am tired and feel quite old. The class I am teaching will be over in a month and I am happy about that.

"Here we learned that trouble was really a fact of life for everybody -- a fact that had to be understood and dealt with. Surprisingly, we found that our troubles could, under God's grace, be converted into unimagined blessings." -- As Bill Sees It, p. 110

Hope

My pals Pammie and Scott both wrote about hope this morning. I thought I would too.

Pam wrote about her daughter wanting to hear something in a meeting that gives her hope. Not a bunch of people sitting around talking about the good old days. Projecting my own experience on this, and not really knowing what she was talking about, I will go with the concept of people talking about the good old days in AA, and not sharing about what the hell is going on in their lives.

It is the strangest thing to sit in a meeting and realize that the "old-timers" in the meeting are sober not as long as I am. They sit and puff up their chests and talk about " the old club," and "the old people" and the old events of 20 years ago. They talk about remembering other people's kids when they were little, and other people when they "came in." When this happens, I just try to keep my mouth shut. I am limited to sharing my OWN experience, strength, and hope. That's it.

I love to hear the drunkalogues. Unlike a lot of people, I love the drinking stories. It reminds us of why we bother to go to all these meetings!

But then I think we should move into - what happened, and what we are like now. We don't stop with what we were like in our first 90 days or year - and talk about that for the rest of our lives. My ex-husband used to have a little saying about people like that - he would say "He has a good year of sobriety - he has just repeated it for the last X number of years."

Sometimes I feel like a moron for sharing from my heart about what it is REALLY like for me today. I did not graduate from AA. Unlike many others with over 20 years of sobriety, I did not elevate to some higher form of recovery where I come to tell you all what to do. I am part of the fellowship of AA. Part of. Not above, not below. Just right in there with all of us.

There are those who love to hear from the old-timers who talk about the old days and never tell you that their marriage is falling apart, they are about to go bankrupt, and their kids hate them. I guess as long as they are helping someone, they playing an important role in our fellowship. But I would rather share my own true story. Some don't think that is hopeful - they fully expect to elevate to a higher life form after a number of years of sobriety.

I think the most hopeful thing I can say is: For over 23 years, no matter what has happened, good or bad, I have not found it necessary to take a drink of alcohol. Is there more than that? Yes. My life is very good today, many dreams have been realized in my life, and my life is very full. But am I just as sober if my life is falling apart and I am still not taking a drink? Yes. I had many years where my life was basically a nightmare, and I still did not take a drink - and that to me speaks volumes about the true hope of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Super Bowl Sunday

I went for a seven mile run after the meeting and coffee this morning. I went to a park with extensive trails on which to run. It was really fun. I am only hurting a little bit (so far).

I am looking forward to doing not much else today. Yesterday I had school all day, then I went to church, then I went to a social event for my AA group. It was all good stuff, but I am simply tired. I really need a day or two off.

So, who's going to win the Super Bowl? Wouldn't it be something if the Giants won? If I were a betting woman, I would put a few bucks on that. But I am not a betting woman, and those of you who are betting people probably realize why - after reading that last sentence.

Have a great sober Sunday everyone. Lots of people will get DUIs today and end up in jail. Chances are, if you don't have a drink, you won't get drunk. And usually if you don't get drunk, you don't end up in jail. Usually.

Still thinking about Alaska...

Thinking about running 26.2 miles. Thinking about the training. Thinking about my nephew.

I thought long and hard about writing this here, and have decided after a couple of days of thinking about it, to share it with y'all.

The nephew who lives in Alaska is one of my favorites. I have four nephews, and I love each of them in their own way, but I am closer to a couple of them. This nephew is one I am closer to. We lived in the same small town in New Mexico when he was little - and I was younger. He got to witness a lot of my drinking.

When he called on Wednesday night - he sounded very serious. He said he wanted to talk with me about a "couple of things." The first was that he and his wife were very excited about me coming to visit. The second was: He kind of cleared his throat, his voice got kind of funny, and he told me he got a book... a "big" book. It took me a beat to realize what he was saying to me. I had no idea. I do have one or two nephews I think have drinking problems, he is not one of them. He said he hid it well... which I understand, that was the kind of drinker I was.

He is on a business trip and had a black out on Sunday night and has no idea what happened. (Oh, dear Lord, that is the worst feeling in the world, I can remember it so well!) He said his drinking has been getting worse and worse, and he had recently quit for 6 months. I told him no one other than alcoholics quit drinking - they don't need to! Anyway, he is going to be back at home this weekend and will go to his first face to face meeting. He has already picked it out of the directory.

In 2008, it is different. He has already read the big book, and doesn't even own one! He has attended a bunch of online meetings, and has a feel for the lingo and what we are about. I do believe he will attend a meeting this weekend and get serious about staying sober. You know how you can just tell when someone is done drinking? That is what he sounded like. I might just be indulging in wishful thinking for my beloved nephew, but I don't think so.

I think it is funny that I wrote on Monday morning that it was just an ordinary day, some people would be born, some would die, etc., and finally, some would come to AA and get sober. Apparently on that day, it was my sweet little (38 year old) nephew who got sober.

When these things happen to my loved ones, I think about that first meeting he will attend. And realize that every day, we see the precious loved ones of others. I always try to see that the new lady with the dirty hair is someone's daughter, someone's niece. That cute new guy with the tattoos and piercings is someone's brother. It is important. We obscure our lovableness in our years of our disease, but we need to be able to dig down and see it in others.

Such an exciting day

Yesterday I registered for the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska on June 21, 2008 - the longest day of the year. I am so excited about this.

After a long and grueling day at work, where I nearly burst into tears of frustration at a meeting, I went to a faculty function. It was such fun to socialize with peers and people I am still coming to terms with the fact that they are my peers... former teachers, former bosses, etc. It is great fun. I spoke with the director of the program I am teaching in, and we discussed me going to Ethiopia to teach! That is about the most exciting thing ever - I am certainly not counting on this happening, but is sure is fun to think about. They need people who have the expertise to teach and the ability to take 2 or 3 weeks off to go to Ethiopia. Wow. I could do that! We'll see if it comes to pass.

I am extremely tired this morning, but I shall go out and run anyway. I am training for a Marathon!

I will get to an AA meeting tonight.

OK. I avoid politics like the plague on this blog, but I have CNN playing in the living room, while I am in my office. I can't help but notice that they cannot resist defining human beings as "A Woman and an African American!" Imagine! A WOMAN and an AFRICAN AMERICAN! Have we made NO PROGRESS AT ALL?!?!?! How about 2 candidates? 2 human beings? 2 senators? - sorry for my little outburst.