endless? frustration

Since coming back to work last week from being on vacation for a week, there hasn't been a day that I didn't wish I wasn't working (was that clear?). It's partly because I just would really like to stay home and take care of the house and the kids we don't have yet, and partly because it's becoming glaringly obvious that no matter how things change at my job, they tend to stay the same. I can't really go into detail about it because it's long and drawn out and probably boring to most everyone, but no matter the re-organizations, the new hires, the promises to look into something, being sold to a new company (that actually happened while I was in Florida), things in the day-to-day operations of the office never seem to really change.

Some people may find that comforting, and in some situations, I could agree. But I'm currently seeing all the things I would like to change in order to make things more efficient and allow me to actually grow and feel more productive at my job, and that's what's not changing, which is the part that I don't like so much.

I always figured I could stick it out until we had kids and I can just go home. As of last week, that's not necessarily my stongest impulse anymore. So my attitude? It sucks. And what do I do? I dunno. Is there another job that I can find to pay me this much money? I'll probably have to start back where I did when I started here almost 7 years ago, which is significantly less than I make now. I've contemplated just finding a job at the local Caribou coffee, probably making even less money. But where does God want me? Good question. I have a feeling this is one of those darn character building opportunities, and to date, I'm probably failing miserably.

the hpv vaccine

Ever since I started seeing commercials for this, I've been sick of it. All these women who are amazed and slightly outraged that no one told them that cervical cancer is caused primarily by exposure to a simple virus? But that's ok, you can get a shot and never have to worry about it. Now it's all about being One Less to suffer or to worry because if you don't get the shot, apparently you're just about guaranteed to get cervical cancer.

I heard on MPR yesterday (here's the article) that Minnesota is considering legislature to possibly mandate that all 12 year old girls will get the vaccine with their normal regimen of shots at that same age. I know it got approved by the FDA last year, but no one knows any of the long term side effects or other risks that could be associate with it, and I'm not really sure we should be enlisting every young girl in the state to find out for us. It also would create HUGE profits for the drug's manufacturer, but that's ok, I bet they could really use it. My main concern is that all these women and girls are only getting partially educated about something that doesn't necessarily require a vaccine to prevent.

Granted, I learned about cervical cancer in a very specialized way. On a medical mission trip with school we were working with several doctors, one of whom was a gynecologist. He explained that cervical cancer is one of the top killers in Peru for women, partly because of the lack of information that is provided. Just by becoming sexually active before the age of 18 immediately doubles your risk. As does having multiple partners (or partners who have had multiple partners), frequent sexual encounters, and multiple pregnancies. Now, I wonder why there are people out there thinking that mandating the vaccine send a mixed message about sexuality?

Cervical cancer is awful and has a high mortality rate, by all means we should prevent it. But why not do so with actual, complete information? Smoking increases your risk as well, you could add that into the current campaign against cigarettes. Long term oral contraceptive use also increases risk, but there's a good chance that you'll see a commercial for the new prescription birth control pill that will shorten your period in the same programming time as you'll see a "one less" ad.

All this information could be given in a 12 year old's Sex Ed class - it doesn't even have to lead to a "this is why abstinence is a good idea" message. And it's not like it's new news either. That trip that I took was almost 10 years ago. It doesn't make sense that they wouldn't have told me this when I had Sex Ed (granted that was more than 10 years ago), or why they wouldn't share it now. I'm not typically a conspiracy theorist, but this one kinda reeks of people witholding useful information for their own insidious purposes or profit.