Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines

In the federal government, the departments and agencies have the responsibility of taking the laws that Congress writes and creating regulations that spell out exactly how the law will be applied. Since regulations are legally binding they usually are written in a difficult to interpret form of "legalese." After the regulations are finalized, guidelines may be written to help the people who have to implement the law know exactly what it is they are required to do. Guidelines can be written in a more understandable, informal style. Guidelines are not the law.

I've been accused of having rules. I don't have rules. Maybe I have regulations. I certainly have guidelines. I can decide to not follow my guidelines and still stay within the law. The law is simple. Do not touch me if I do not want to be touched. Do not threaten me. Do not lie to me. Treat me with respect. That's the law. There are a ton of regulations. But, really, what I'm working with most of the time are guidelines.

Since the dating is at an ebb for now, stay tuned for some lists of my guidelines. I'll also share with you some of my other dating hypotheses. In addition, I have a couple of historical dating stories cued up in case things get really slow. Today, after spending most of the day in a meeting away from the office, I have to stay late to fail my Spanish test. Yes, you heard right. I had this discussion about it with a friend.

Jamy: There is no way I can pass this test. I took the self-test last night and the only part I got more than 50% correct was the thing where you match items from two lists. I mean, if it were a multiple choice test, I might get 70%. Maybe.
SB laughs.
Jamy: It's funny, isn't it?
SB: It's just, it's hard to imagine you failing any test.
Jamy: But I have failed tests before, it just never mattered.
SB: It doesn't matter this time either, does it?
Jamy: I guess not, though I shouldn't have taken the course for a grade. But who cares, right?

Grateful for: not caring if I fail a test.