SIGH....

I hate Sundays. I think it's a carryover from my school days, when Sundays meant I finally had to buckle down and do my homework, the weekend was almost over and school was dead ahead. Now I'm a grownup (allegedly) and it still means homework (not enough time during the week to get all the crap done I need to) and work is now dead ahead.

Whatever happened to the three-day weekend technology was supposed to bring us - promised all those years ago? And where, by the way, is my jet-pack?

Okay, okay - this is the last day of a four-day weekend and I AM grateful for that. Thanksgiving was bright and sunny - we started off with brunch at a good friend's - but it went downhill from there. My addictive nature struck when we returned home and I spent the rest of that day and the two that followed psychologically chained to my computer, going obsessively back and forth between CNN and Twitter, following the minute-by-minute updates from Mumbai (Bombay for those of you who don't know your geography).

I finally 'get' Twitter - thought it was a giant waste of time and certainly didn't want anyone 'following' me - my life isn't that interesting, for one thing. For another, it's nobody's business but my own.

But as the dreadful news from Mumbai continued, Twitter was way ahead of the conventional news media and I got sucked into the running commentary from people at the several scenes of carnage and craziness. My news junkie gene was way too active...got the turkey in late, which meant Mr. D and I ate our Thanksgiving meal at 9:00 PM. (He was a little fussy that I'd disappeared into the computer....)

The effectiveness of social media was a sidebar story to Mumbai. CNN said:

With more than 6 million members worldwide, an estimated 80 messages, or
"tweets," were being sent to Twitter.com via SMS every five seconds, providing
eyewitness accounts and updates.
Many Twitter users also sent pleas for
blood donors to make their way to specific hospitals in Mumbai where doctors
were faced with low stocks and rising casualties.
Others sent information
about helplines and contact numbers for those who had friends and relatives
caught up in the attacks. Tweeters were also mobilized to help with transcribing
a list of the dead and injured from hospitals.

Interesting to watch social media come of age...

Meanwhile, Black Friday was really dark - one poor guy gets trampled to death by a shopping-mad mob at a Wal-Mart on Long Island while two guys in California shoot it out at a Toys-R-Us. WTF is up with that??? (I'll do my Christmas shopping on-line, thank you very much.)

And on the homefront, I've had a low-level war going on between the old cat and the new one. Introduced them on Friday (finally) and the old black cat HATES the little orange one. No catfights, thankfully, but lots of growling and hissing. (Yes, we've decided to keep the little stray...dammit. But he sure is CUTE.)

Add to that the gray skies, cold, and wet - and I think I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow.