I don't carry both my work laptop and my writing Eee PC to and from work. That's just too much. I only carry the former. So with the exception of a half hour this past weekend, I haven't been doing any writing. Work has just been too busy. I've been able to focus on work without the distraction of writing, so I've gotten a lot done (a lot being two words, Ken), but no writing.

Work gave my laptop to someone else who has a "family emergency" (and those quote marks are well earned) which means I get to bring my Eee PC along again. So this morning I scrapped a planned chapter and replaced it with something infinitely better. I'm glad to see that reading Charles Stross hasn't negatively impacted my writing.

I've been cranky for a couple of weeks now and I figured it was stress from work, which it absolutely is. The longer my work hours, the shorter my fuse. But I didn't realize how much an impact not writing was having on me, and I should have given that I've experienced this in the past. I wrote a chapter (a short one) and revised the succeeding one to account for these revisions and I feel GREAT!

I need to finish a flashback chapter (chapter 51, but I need to research when Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London were built. It was originally set in these locations but I think I've now moved it early enough that neither existed yet) but all other chapters 55 and earlier are finished and I've got the first paragraph of 56. I think I might have mentioned this before, but for as much crap as I give Luke about making French jokes, I make a LOT of French jokes. It's okay to make fun of the French. They've earned it. Just do it for the right reasons. Freedom Fries was embarrassing and stupid.

Anyway, yay for today! I had delicious coffee. I'm about to have delicious oatmeal. I'll have delicious Digorno pizza for lunch (spicy chicken and I added chipotle peppers and garlic) and hopefully will kick ass at work today. I hope I can be as productive on the trip home as I was on the way into work. Should wrap things up around chapter 70 I think I estimated in an earlier post? Didn't I? Or was it 80. Either way, I'm on 56. That should tell you how close I am to the end!

1. Ethical Governance: We are the people’s servants and act in the best interests of our constituents, our states, the nation, and our neighbors around the world. Our participation in government is one of duty and not personal opportunity.

2. Equality of Citizenship: All citizens are afforded the rights and dignities of the law regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, language, religion, sexual preference, or economic class. Those that are not citizens are still afforded the basic rights of human beings.

3. Stewardship: It is in the nation’s best interests socially, economically, and environmentally to promote sustainable living. Healthy soil, water, and air are necessary to continue America’s prosperity.

4. National Sovereignty: Self-determination is the right of every nation. We shall take no aggressive steps to interfere in the self-determination of others unless such determination should threaten the freedom and liberties of our own nation.

5. Local Identity: We recognize the value of a union of states and believe federal laws should be enacted to address interstate issues or when uniform legislation brings efficiency or necessary consistency, benefiting the individuals and the whole. We accept that the needs of the individual state do not supersede the needs of the union, but vow to respect the boundaries of both whenever possible.

6. Ethical Economics: Economic prosperity does not justify the oppression, exploitation, or poisoning of our citizens or our neighbors around the world to maintain that prosperity. Cost is not measured only be the immediate expense necessary to maintain business but the residual expense of pollution, ecological deterioration, social instability, poverty, and a declination in health and its burden on the state. When measured against total cost, ethical economics is both financially and socially the appropriate choice.

7. Conscientious Governance: Frivolous legislation is a burden on the nation’s financial wellbeing, its government efficacy, and its citizenry. We will not enact legislation with the intent of manipulating the judicial process to promote our agendas or with the intent of acting outside the powers of our office as determined by the constitution, thereby reducing judicial obligation and allowing for a greater focus on more pressing issues.

8. Responsible Progressivity: The necessary evolution of American technology and industry should not come at the expense of our stewardship, but work in unison with it. Advancement should take into account this imperative and those responsible for previous pollution are tasked with restoring equilibrium.

9. Honest Interpretation of the Law: We will not bend the law to conform to our agenda or intentionally craft legislation in such vague terms as to mercurially suit our needs. We accept the dictums of the constitution and its amendment s as well as the laws and treaties of the nation. If these laws do not meet the needs of our constituents, states, or nation, we will enact new laws to address those needs rather than falsely interpreting existing laws for our benefit.

10. Social Obligation: We as citizens, as states, as a nation share a moral obligation to support one another through, charity, public service, and volunteerism. The well-being of our neighbors reflect the well-being of our nation.