Today was my day for a second Math 114 test. I don't think I passed, but then again I didn't think I passed the last time and I did by a whisker. I was more relaxed during the test for more of the test, so that's worth a "whoa Ms. Geek" in my not so humble opinion.

I tried to post here yesterday but I really didn't like what I was going to post. Suffice it to say that the College of Cardinals made a supremely bad choice for a Supreme Pontiff. However, since I am not now nor never have been a Catholic, it's really none of my business, is it?

The world has been on an uglifying trend since Ronald Reagan's first election to the White House in 1980. The collapse of the Warsaw Pact, then later the Soviet Union and the Clinton Administration were but respites from the overwhelming ugliness of the past 25 years. Even during the Clinton administration things weren't so fun, with the Disloyal Opposition wreaking havoc on Clinton every chance they got. And of course, it all ended up with the Blue Dress. We screwed up not giving the former Soviet Bloc countries a "Marshall Plan" like we should have, and now we have Vladimir Putin riding roughshod over the Russian people like Stalin Lite.

Getting ready to graduate from Valley, (if I can freakin' pass freakin' Math 114!) which I actually should have done sometime during the '80s, has made me think a lot about what was going on in the '80s and why to understand where we are at now, we have to look back in their direction. However, I cannot say I am nostalgic. They were dangerous times, as dangerous as ours are now. Maybe the only thing I can take comfort from is that we survived them, and maybe if we're lucky we can survive this hideous decade of ours we're currently going through.