Some days start better than others...

This hasn't been a stellar one so far.

The busses last night were running late, and crowded due to the holiday weekend. Nonetheless, I did manage to get some sleep on the ride home. And woke up in Cleveland from a horrendous nightmare about hundreds of cars piling up, my family being in various vehicles somewhere within the mess, and me driving a car that was continuing to accelerate, and I couldn't slow down (I've had that happen before in real life, and I woke up wondering why I hadn't put the car in neutral). The guy who woke me up commented "I almost hated to wake you up; you looked so peaceful". Um, yeah.

Becca picked me up and dropped me at the house before running back to work (she almost had to leave without me; I was late, and she was only semi-officially away from her post). I got home around 4am, walked in, and discovered that she'd forgotten to clean the catbox while I was gone (in her defense, she's been working 14-hour days the entire time). And the cats had taken vengeance. On my bed. So, I napped on the couch for an hour before getting up to catch RTA to work (I had to be in early this morning, in exchange for having Friday off). I'm teaching tonight, with an extra student, too. I'll probably get home around 9:30, if I'm stuck with RTA to get home. And I have piles of laundry I'm going to have to do if I want to actually sleep in my bed, and not on the couch. The house in general needs massive amounts of cleaning. Odds of it happening tonight are slim, but it looks like tomorrow evening is going to be all about the chores.

And we're getting slammed on the phones. Badly. "Day after vacation" volume, and system problems to boot. I'm not really at my most chipper right now; sleep-deprived, headachy, and generally feeling pretty bitchy about the world. Being nice to the users is feeling like something of a chore at the moment.

On the positive side, I got a chance to read the first eight issues of The Authority on the train in this morning, and I finished up the Barry Ween comics last night on the bus. Enjoyed both greatly -- thanks, Jeremy!

I am a grumpy, grumpy Sarah this morning, and I need a nap. Frankly, a blankie, some cookies, milk and a few cartoons wouldn't go amiss, either.

On the weekend...

( all back here )

Some of you who knew me then...

Might recall when Waagner was loose a few years ago, and security at the abortion clinics got really tight. It was a pretty stressful time for all the clinic escorts, since we're the ones outside, and Waagner was making explicit threats to take out escorts. This time round, it's that the execution of a man who killed a doctor and an escort, and seriously wounded another escort. The execution is scheduled for tomorrow. We're expecting an upsurge in clinic violence around the country as a probable result, and are planning accordingly. Death threats have already been received by people directly associating with the execution. I just got the clinic schedules. Since I've got experience with how we handled things then, it looks like I'm going to be scheduled every weekend this month.

It's incredibly unlikely that anything'll happen to any of us here. But it's possible, and more probable than usual. Especially because Preterm is one of the best and most well-known clinics in Ohio. And it's a reminder that it's a little freaky to do work that some people consider a death-worthy offense against god. Normally I don't think much about the risks of doing this work (any more than I do about the risk of dying in a car accident when I get in the car), but right now it's a little more on my mind than usual. If it's within your belief system, some good thoughts in the general direction of clinic staff and volunteers everywhere would be appreciated.

If anyone would like more info or articles on what exactly is going on, let me know, and I'll be happy to find and post them for you.

Per request: Info about Paul Hill and Clayton Waagner

( Florida Supreme Court Rejects Attorneys' Request To Halt Execution of Man Convicted of Killing Abortion Provider )

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/nation/6640259.htm
http://www.prolifeinfo.com/nat83.html (an article from a pro-life site that repudiates Hill, and talks about the concern of additional violence)


Some links about Clayton Lee Waagner (now imprisoned):
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/waagner.htm
http://www.choice.org/waagner.html
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=8411
http://www.armyofgod.com/Claytonsmessage.html (Clayton's actual threat message)

This worries me: FACE is one of our biggest protections...

FACE -- Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act -- is something that makes clinic escorting (and clinic access for patients) substantially safer and less threatening. I really, really don't want to see this go down.

I'm hoping the DOJ will be aggressive in defending it, but I'm sure not counting on it.

( FACE declared partially unconstitutional by Texas court )

Article on Nonoxynol-9

Aside from being an allergen for a huge number of people, N-9 has some other serious problems. All the public health organizations I know in the area are phasing it out of their stock, or have already. I think the following is pretty essential info for folks who do still use condoms with N-9, or spermicidal gels/foams with it.

> CONTRACEPTION & FAMILY PLANNING
>
> 4. Calif. Lawmakers, Women's Advocates Send Letter
> to FDA Asking Condom
> Makers To Stop Using Nonoxynol-9
( Read more... )