I think today is going to be...

one of the best days I've had in quite some time.  Yes, I'm going to a film screening but that isn't what will make today awesome.  It's going to be awesome because I get to help a friend with something that can make a difference in their life.  I'm helping this friend with their job search and even though we've done well so far (there is already one job offer which they've tentatively accepted).  That doesn't mean we won't stop trying to find them a better job. 

I like helping people.  It's why administering a financial aid program and making payment plans so parents could get their children a fantastic education was one of the most rewarding jobs I ever had.  And one of the most emotionally draining.

Things I am pondering this morning include:

Why is it that a very rewarding job can also be so utterly draining on an emotional level? 

Why do television shows sometimes milk a plotline way too far?  Watching season five of "Gray's Anatomy" and this thing with the dead fiance is getting really tiresome.  While we're on the subject of TV doctor shows, is there some reason that the Hippocratic Oath's words about "first do no harm" partially or totally ignored?

Is there some reason that I cringe everytime I hear a certain TV commercial that talks about people who were harmed due to "trans-vaginal mesh"?  I don't know what that is and I don't want to know.

Why does it really matter that a good teacher has a past where she performed in "porn films"?  As long as she didn't do it while she was working as a teacher, what's the difference?  Are we forever 'branded' by certain things we do?

Are people really dumb enough to ask things in an interview like "when will I get promoted" or "when will I get a raise"?  Apparently so, after reading an article where HR people told the author what the questions to never ask in an interview are.

Does it make sense to have youth soccer players skip high-fives and the traditional after-game handshake line, because of the risk of the flu?  If the risk is that high, just cancel the darn game.

When a man proposes to a woman (or another man, or when a woman proposes to a man or another woman...there, I think I covered them all) is it supposed to be a grand gesture?  Or just get the job done.

When Julianne Hough goes to a big after-party where there's going to be dancing, why wouldn't she plan her wardrobe better?  Wearing a dress that might tear doesn't seem like a good choice.

This date in history:

On this date in 27BC, the Roman Senate granted the title of Augustus to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
On this date in 1412, the Medici Family is appointed the official banker of the Papacy.
On this date in 1492, Queen Isabella I of Spain is presented the first grammar of the Spanish language.
On this date in 1547, Ivan the Terrible becomes Czar of Russia
On this date in 1556, Philip II becomes King of Spain
On this date in 1581, the English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
On this date in 1847, John C. Fremont becomes governor of California (still a territory then).
On this date in 1883, the U.S. Civil Service is established.
On this date in 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment is ratified, instituting prohibition one year later.
On this date in 1920, the first meeting of the League of Nations is held.
On this date in 1942, TWA Flight 3 crashes, killing everyone aboard including actress Carole Lombard.
On this date in 1964, the musical "Hello Dolly" opens on Broadway for the first of 2,844 performances.
On this date in 1973, the final episode of "Bonanza" airs.
On this date in 1979, the Shah of Iran flees the country.
On this date in 1991, the first Gulf War begins.