7.10.06

Things went better today at Mid-Ohio workers association than expected. I did get one of my questions answered (sort of). I wanted to know why they spend so much time and energy duplicating the efforts that other organizations (like food banks) already do. The answer apparently is that they are not registered as a 501C3 organization and those groups only do business with 501C3s. Apparently they prefer to be listed as a membership organization even though the money that they take in as membership dues makes up some single-digit portion of their income. It just seems like poor stewardship of resources to me.

We spent our time at MWA cleaning and organizing the clothing which has been donated to them which they turn around and sell (for 10 cents a garment) to their members. Some of the stuff was nice, but once again, it seems like a misplaced effort. I have to give them some credit though. The people that run this program do it completely as volunteers. They draw no salary and they count on the kindness of others in order to survive. That means that they are placing themselves in the same boat as those whom they are trying to serve. I think that might be the most meaningful thing that I took away from there, just how closely the leadership stands in solidarity with the membership.

In class today Dr Hughes showed us "Pay it Forward." This was a good movie, but I'm not sure where exactly she was going with some of the comments that she made afterward. I hope that she will do some explaining in the next class because I took a straw poll and I wasn't the only one lost.

**Random aside: I have been drinking a TON of fluids lately. I don't really know what is going on with that, it just seems like I am ALWAYS thirsty.**

All of this has been well and good, but I have been spending a lot of time thinking about Robyn. It is our 1 year anniversary tomorrow. This is officially the longest relationship that I have ever been in. In some ways it is hard to believe that a whole year has come and gone already. In other ways it seems like we have been through so much together that we couldn't have fit it all into a single year. Anyway, I know that I am so much happier and my life is more complete because Robyn is a part of it. It sounds cheesy, but it really is true. 364 down and a lifetime to go!