Can someone explain to me the correlation between uterine cramps and my joints that have a teeny bit of arthritis aching?
I thought not.
20070907
20070906
You know, since I'm feeling under the weather today, I thought we would talk a bit about health care.
Ah, screw it. We won't talk about it today - well, we will, just in short form.
You get sick. You have no job. If you have no job because you are disabled, a child, or elderly....that's one thing. If you have no job because you are....well, whatever....then tough shit.
So we have programs to help the disabled, children and the elderly already. They are called social security and medicare and medicaid (and most states have some other form of medical social support programs available, although the paperwork for these programs ala PeachCare seems to be extraordinarily painful).
Is there a reason we need to help people who have two functioning arms, two functioning legs and a brain that works (more or less)?
Ah, you say, but what about educational levels having an impact upon people's ability to earn a living? If you don't have a college degree, you can't get a good job. Bollix, I say! Not everyone is suited for a higher education. Not everyone needs to go and major in English. And it isn't that people who don't have college degrees are, en masse, lazy. I don't have a college degree. I work for a living, and have held professional jobs since eighteen continuously with only a three month break. And I am not lazy, by anyone's definition.
The thing is this: if we decide to require, at a Federal level, all companies with...more than five employees to provide insurance coverage to their employees (meaning that the company has to pay for it if the employee can't themselves)...that means the cost of doing business will increase. In response, there will be some factor of businesses that are driven out of business or who are forced to decrease in size as a result of the additional spend. No one likes that idea.
The second idea - to fund again at a Federal level some kind of magical insurance fund available to anyone that doesn't have insurance - uh, again, I thought that is why we already have the social programs we do? Do you really want to see yet another deduction come from your check to pay for someone else? Really?
It all comes down to one fundamental question: what are we? Are we a capitalist society? Are we a quasi socialist society? Are we some sort of new hybrid? Are we looking for a replacement for the role previously fulfilled by organized religion and community in the law?
Ethically and morally, I'm not comfortable with letting people suffer because they can't afford to purchase insurance and are thus denied anything but basic healthcare, but I don't want to pay for it personally. I'm pretty sure that makes me a typical American, doesn't it?
Ah, screw it. We won't talk about it today - well, we will, just in short form.
You get sick. You have no job. If you have no job because you are disabled, a child, or elderly....that's one thing. If you have no job because you are....well, whatever....then tough shit.
So we have programs to help the disabled, children and the elderly already. They are called social security and medicare and medicaid (and most states have some other form of medical social support programs available, although the paperwork for these programs ala PeachCare seems to be extraordinarily painful).
Is there a reason we need to help people who have two functioning arms, two functioning legs and a brain that works (more or less)?
Ah, you say, but what about educational levels having an impact upon people's ability to earn a living? If you don't have a college degree, you can't get a good job. Bollix, I say! Not everyone is suited for a higher education. Not everyone needs to go and major in English. And it isn't that people who don't have college degrees are, en masse, lazy. I don't have a college degree. I work for a living, and have held professional jobs since eighteen continuously with only a three month break. And I am not lazy, by anyone's definition.
The thing is this: if we decide to require, at a Federal level, all companies with...more than five employees to provide insurance coverage to their employees (meaning that the company has to pay for it if the employee can't themselves)...that means the cost of doing business will increase. In response, there will be some factor of businesses that are driven out of business or who are forced to decrease in size as a result of the additional spend. No one likes that idea.
The second idea - to fund again at a Federal level some kind of magical insurance fund available to anyone that doesn't have insurance - uh, again, I thought that is why we already have the social programs we do? Do you really want to see yet another deduction come from your check to pay for someone else? Really?
It all comes down to one fundamental question: what are we? Are we a capitalist society? Are we a quasi socialist society? Are we some sort of new hybrid? Are we looking for a replacement for the role previously fulfilled by organized religion and community in the law?
Ethically and morally, I'm not comfortable with letting people suffer because they can't afford to purchase insurance and are thus denied anything but basic healthcare, but I don't want to pay for it personally. I'm pretty sure that makes me a typical American, doesn't it?
20070904
Labiaplasty
Toodling through the internet, as one does....when the word LABIAPLASTY leapt out at me and hit me across the nose.
According to this article in Newsweek, women are starting to treat labiaplasty as the new boob job. You know, you don't particularly like yourself "down there" or think that you have too much flesh there or maybe it's the wrong color at the bottom or I don't know what, just something (this is like anorexic people thinking they are fat...wtf?)! So you decide that you want to go and have a part of yourself that represents your femininity cut off? I mean, sure, I wax. The current trend of being completely denuded I find kinda weird...because it makes all women pretty much look like pre pubescent girls, and I think that is rather creepy. I am not, however, about to go under general anesthesia so someone can take a knife and cut off a part of my flesh.
This is my favorite quote:
"In many cases women say that they began to question the look of their vaginal area after a comment from a male partner who had been influenced by images in sexually explicit magazines or movies."
Ladies...if a man is comparing you to Jenna Jameson when the two of you are in bed together, it's time to find a new man!!! Not go under the knife!!!! I mean, people in porn are digitally cleaned up/enhanced! No one is that perfect; why run the risk of desensitizing yourself trying? I mean, seriously, if your partner said to you "I sure wish you could deep throat like she does" I think you'd get pretty pissed off, so why listen to what someone else says about your body? Damn, ladies, don't you know by now to only listen to the good stuff that other people say? We women do enough self body criticism, we certainly don't need to listen to anyone else!
And as the article goes on to mention, it is rather ironic that as Western cultures agitate for the outlawing of female circumcision or other forms of genital mulitation....aren't we doing the same thing ourselves? Isn't slicing off a functional piece of your body (a part that does actually provide lubrication during intercourse) mutilation when all is said and done?
According to this article in Newsweek, women are starting to treat labiaplasty as the new boob job. You know, you don't particularly like yourself "down there" or think that you have too much flesh there or maybe it's the wrong color at the bottom or I don't know what, just something (this is like anorexic people thinking they are fat...wtf?)! So you decide that you want to go and have a part of yourself that represents your femininity cut off? I mean, sure, I wax. The current trend of being completely denuded I find kinda weird...because it makes all women pretty much look like pre pubescent girls, and I think that is rather creepy. I am not, however, about to go under general anesthesia so someone can take a knife and cut off a part of my flesh.
This is my favorite quote:
"In many cases women say that they began to question the look of their vaginal area after a comment from a male partner who had been influenced by images in sexually explicit magazines or movies."
Ladies...if a man is comparing you to Jenna Jameson when the two of you are in bed together, it's time to find a new man!!! Not go under the knife!!!! I mean, people in porn are digitally cleaned up/enhanced! No one is that perfect; why run the risk of desensitizing yourself trying? I mean, seriously, if your partner said to you "I sure wish you could deep throat like she does" I think you'd get pretty pissed off, so why listen to what someone else says about your body? Damn, ladies, don't you know by now to only listen to the good stuff that other people say? We women do enough self body criticism, we certainly don't need to listen to anyone else!
And as the article goes on to mention, it is rather ironic that as Western cultures agitate for the outlawing of female circumcision or other forms of genital mulitation....aren't we doing the same thing ourselves? Isn't slicing off a functional piece of your body (a part that does actually provide lubrication during intercourse) mutilation when all is said and done?
Left Foot, Right Shoe
Spent some time walking down the beach, peering through the new (to my mind) high and wild dunes looking for the old beach house. The old driftwood tree, my childhood landmark, is gone. Found the new old trail, took off my shoes, waded out in the water, and let granddad's ashes fly off into the wind and water as he wished. Said a small prayer. Thought about all the times we walked that beach when I was a child. Walking back, saw a flock of sandpipers, which made me cry.
20070831
Diana
So today is the 10th anniversary of the untimely passing of Diana, Princess of Wales. Say what you will about her life, as indeed most people have done so (and been spectacularly unkind)…and yet I cannot help but feel a little bit sorry for her when all was said and done.
She never had a chance for a normal life. Yes, she had every little girl’s dream of a big wedding, with a white dress, marrying a prince….but how could she know at 19 that her prince was actually a toad (a tampon??). She was raised to be a trophy, with a very incomplete education, and never really encouraged to think for herself. She grew into a lovely, mature and capable woman…but she had to do it all under the intense glare of the spotlight reserved for British royalty. For this she has my utmost sympathy. The media, in caricaturizing her by trumpeting her affairs and her scandals and her bouts with bulimia, certainly sells papers, but (to me) does nothing to diminish her radiant smile, her charitable works, and her ultimate grace. I think both her sons are a testament to her skills as a mother, and a reflection of her love for them.
I have several magazines that covered her death sitting in a box in my garage; I remember exactly where I was…and I can tell you that, ten years ago, in exactly one month, I was going to start down a path that was wrong for me. In death, Diana finally liberated herself from her own wrong path. It’s just a pity that a life with such brilliant potential had to end that way.
She never had a chance for a normal life. Yes, she had every little girl’s dream of a big wedding, with a white dress, marrying a prince….but how could she know at 19 that her prince was actually a toad (a tampon??). She was raised to be a trophy, with a very incomplete education, and never really encouraged to think for herself. She grew into a lovely, mature and capable woman…but she had to do it all under the intense glare of the spotlight reserved for British royalty. For this she has my utmost sympathy. The media, in caricaturizing her by trumpeting her affairs and her scandals and her bouts with bulimia, certainly sells papers, but (to me) does nothing to diminish her radiant smile, her charitable works, and her ultimate grace. I think both her sons are a testament to her skills as a mother, and a reflection of her love for them.
I have several magazines that covered her death sitting in a box in my garage; I remember exactly where I was…and I can tell you that, ten years ago, in exactly one month, I was going to start down a path that was wrong for me. In death, Diana finally liberated herself from her own wrong path. It’s just a pity that a life with such brilliant potential had to end that way.
20070828
Adventure!
That's right, Mr. Manners and I are going on an adventure this weekend, off somewhere in the wilds of the good ole U.S. of A. for the last long weekend prior to Thanksgiving. I am very excited!!!!
And no, you aren't invited, but I promise to tell you all about it when we return.
Well, not all ;-)
And no, you aren't invited, but I promise to tell you all about it when we return.
Well, not all ;-)
You know, it's rather nice to be happy.
The thing about relationships (speaking broadly here and with no immediate context): you can't make someone into something they are not. If you sit around having arguments with someone about whether or not they love you - if they say they do, they do. Just because it doesn't manifest itself in a way you recognize doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or that it isn't real. If you think of yourself as an "empath" (and boy do I use that term loosely) who can pick up on other people's feelings and thoughts like some kind of Emotional Superman....and you can't pick up your partners, it does not mean that they do not love you. It means that they are different. Different is good. People who exactly alike are boring. Celebrate your differences!
You can't make someone into you. You can't make someone into a kind of person you might find more to your taste. You either accept someone for who they are, or you don't. You can ask people to change, certainly, and they either will or they will tell you to go fuck yourself. And very once in a great while, it's worth changing yourself for another person (only once in a great while...like...alternate leap years :-).
Just rambling. Forgot point. Brain is in idle mode this week. Really looking forward to weekend out of town, will be most relaxing and soothing (ah, the savage breast).
The thing about relationships (speaking broadly here and with no immediate context): you can't make someone into something they are not. If you sit around having arguments with someone about whether or not they love you - if they say they do, they do. Just because it doesn't manifest itself in a way you recognize doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or that it isn't real. If you think of yourself as an "empath" (and boy do I use that term loosely) who can pick up on other people's feelings and thoughts like some kind of Emotional Superman....and you can't pick up your partners, it does not mean that they do not love you. It means that they are different. Different is good. People who exactly alike are boring. Celebrate your differences!
You can't make someone into you. You can't make someone into a kind of person you might find more to your taste. You either accept someone for who they are, or you don't. You can ask people to change, certainly, and they either will or they will tell you to go fuck yourself. And very once in a great while, it's worth changing yourself for another person (only once in a great while...like...alternate leap years :-).
Just rambling. Forgot point. Brain is in idle mode this week. Really looking forward to weekend out of town, will be most relaxing and soothing (ah, the savage breast).
20070825
The nicest thing about family gatherings is the moment you look around and realize that these eight people sitting with you all share the same memory you do. Rather a way of etching that memory in stone, if you will. Those people also remember things you don't, and the more you speak of your mutual history the more you remember the things you'd forgotten. It is a state of family communion, I think, and one of the things that makes family special.
I think all our thoughts and wishes go out to the families of those folks in Greece impacted by the forest fires.
This is, I think, the saddest thing I could have read today: "It's a tragedy," an eyewitness told Greek television. "I can see the burnt bodies of a mother holding her child in her arms. Further away there are more bodies. It's terrible." Fire officials confirmed that a mother and her four children had perished, as had three firefighters." Courtesy of BBC News.
The real tragedy here is not that this was a natural phenomenom, no, the real tragedy is that someone actually started these fires deliberately. The investigating authorities strongly suspect arson. Who sets fire to a village? Who sets a fire that threatens a monastary?
Ο Θεός είναι με σας
This is, I think, the saddest thing I could have read today: "It's a tragedy," an eyewitness told Greek television. "I can see the burnt bodies of a mother holding her child in her arms. Further away there are more bodies. It's terrible." Fire officials confirmed that a mother and her four children had perished, as had three firefighters." Courtesy of BBC News.
The real tragedy here is not that this was a natural phenomenom, no, the real tragedy is that someone actually started these fires deliberately. The investigating authorities strongly suspect arson. Who sets fire to a village? Who sets a fire that threatens a monastary?
Ο Θεός είναι με σας
Some things you can't resist
So Michael Vick is going to lose $150mm in endorsements, salary and otherwise....awww...poor baby!
It's just another case of "ruff" justice!
Sorry! :-) I just couldn't resist!
It's just another case of "ruff" justice!
Sorry! :-) I just couldn't resist!
20070824
Work Irritations
Ok, maybe I have too much time on my hands this morning but I am rather annoyed.
I want to know why it is unacceptable for little Miss White Bread Eliza to have a nose ring, and yet I just saw someone who has gold teeth. Gold teeth!!! In my office!!!!
Secondly, you know, the section of the company I work in is the section that pays the bills. So why, oh why, are we the ones who constantly get crapped upon? Example: our site gets Falcons and Braves season tickets, to be divided up amongst the teams at our site. There are plenty of games between the two sports so that each team should get their pick of about four games, according to my math.
Well, we got two. Just now. To Monday night's game. Against the Bengal's. And the other people who belong to our section? They didn't get any tickets either. So the two tickets that were to be offered to the twenty five or so folks in our part of the world now have to be offered to the fifty or so in our part of the world. And the lady that coordinates the program? "you are just XYZ, you don't get anything else".
Lady, we pay your salary.
I want to know why it is unacceptable for little Miss White Bread Eliza to have a nose ring, and yet I just saw someone who has gold teeth. Gold teeth!!! In my office!!!!
Secondly, you know, the section of the company I work in is the section that pays the bills. So why, oh why, are we the ones who constantly get crapped upon? Example: our site gets Falcons and Braves season tickets, to be divided up amongst the teams at our site. There are plenty of games between the two sports so that each team should get their pick of about four games, according to my math.
Well, we got two. Just now. To Monday night's game. Against the Bengal's. And the other people who belong to our section? They didn't get any tickets either. So the two tickets that were to be offered to the twenty five or so folks in our part of the world now have to be offered to the fifty or so in our part of the world. And the lady that coordinates the program? "you are just XYZ, you don't get anything else".
Lady, we pay your salary.
Fall Fashion Season 2007
Dear Mr. or Ms Retail Buyer:
While returning some articles of apparel to your fine and partially remodeled shopping “experience” yesterday, I took advantage of the occasion to casually browse through the incoming fall merchandise. As your friendly end customer, you know, a consumer who actually has some discretionary income, I have a few suggestions:
1. Glitter does not belong on clothing.
2. Sequins do not belong on work blouses, and definitely no where near anything approaching a nipple.
3. Tailored dress shirts seem to be quite the rage for fall, which is a lovely thing. Why must they be ruined by running metallic threads of various colors through the weave or worse yet edged around the collar?
4. The trend of placing faux pockets on breastage on polo shirts is again not appropriate. I do not want anyone staring at my breasts, thank you.
5. Lettering on one’s derriere, even on casual pants or pajama bottoms, is a definite “don’t”.
6. Animal prints are fine in moderation. Leopard and zebra prints are quite lovely; but not in fluorescent green and hot pink. Color combinations that do not naturally occur in nature should not naturally occur in fashion.
7. The sixties are over. Really, really over. Please put the mini dresses with the big block prints back in the Smithsonian where they belong. No one cares that now they are silk instead of polyester.
8. I notice that the section reserved for women’s formal wear seems to be slowly increasing. Do other women have some fascinating social life comprised of balls, nights at the opera and other such formal events that I know nothing of? Oh, and yes, those dresses are quite hideous.
Lastly, please, Mr. and Ms. Retail Buyer….
NOT EVERYONE IS FAT! STOCK SOME SMALLER SIZES!
Yours,
Eliza
While returning some articles of apparel to your fine and partially remodeled shopping “experience” yesterday, I took advantage of the occasion to casually browse through the incoming fall merchandise. As your friendly end customer, you know, a consumer who actually has some discretionary income, I have a few suggestions:
1. Glitter does not belong on clothing.
2. Sequins do not belong on work blouses, and definitely no where near anything approaching a nipple.
3. Tailored dress shirts seem to be quite the rage for fall, which is a lovely thing. Why must they be ruined by running metallic threads of various colors through the weave or worse yet edged around the collar?
4. The trend of placing faux pockets on breastage on polo shirts is again not appropriate. I do not want anyone staring at my breasts, thank you.
5. Lettering on one’s derriere, even on casual pants or pajama bottoms, is a definite “don’t”.
6. Animal prints are fine in moderation. Leopard and zebra prints are quite lovely; but not in fluorescent green and hot pink. Color combinations that do not naturally occur in nature should not naturally occur in fashion.
7. The sixties are over. Really, really over. Please put the mini dresses with the big block prints back in the Smithsonian where they belong. No one cares that now they are silk instead of polyester.
8. I notice that the section reserved for women’s formal wear seems to be slowly increasing. Do other women have some fascinating social life comprised of balls, nights at the opera and other such formal events that I know nothing of? Oh, and yes, those dresses are quite hideous.
Lastly, please, Mr. and Ms. Retail Buyer….
NOT EVERYONE IS FAT! STOCK SOME SMALLER SIZES!
Yours,
Eliza
20070823
20070820
Things 2
Ok, I'll play.
Things I could get used to:
1. Continually being asked for ID whenever I purchase alcohol or lottery tickets.
2. Having family members that love to swap furniture (really, it's like buying new things only free!)
3. Clean sheets and a nice fluffy comforter on my bed (nothing beats the first time you snooze on freshly laundered sheets).
4. Not really having any grass to mow!
5. Relatives with beach property!
6. Sunday snuggles with my girls
Things I don't want to get used to either:
1. The silver hair around my temples. At what point does that stop being shocking?
2. Finding Maddy hair in odd places...like...my sock drawer???
3. Men in my office wearing shorts. With socks. With sandals.
4. The ants that are invading my house in search of water!!
Pandora? You're up!
Things I could get used to:
1. Continually being asked for ID whenever I purchase alcohol or lottery tickets.
2. Having family members that love to swap furniture (really, it's like buying new things only free!)
3. Clean sheets and a nice fluffy comforter on my bed (nothing beats the first time you snooze on freshly laundered sheets).
4. Not really having any grass to mow!
5. Relatives with beach property!
6. Sunday snuggles with my girls
Things I don't want to get used to either:
1. The silver hair around my temples. At what point does that stop being shocking?
2. Finding Maddy hair in odd places...like...my sock drawer???
3. Men in my office wearing shorts. With socks. With sandals.
4. The ants that are invading my house in search of water!!
Pandora? You're up!
20070819
Not to steal a march on Pandora, but she got me thinking.
We seem to enjoy a culture of victimhood. How many times have you turned on the news or opened the paper to hear someone complaining about their circumstance, some tragic life event, etc. and going on to say how it has ruined their lives? How many episodes of Dateline follow up with the people they have exposed (like that man who they profiled on the web predator sting who later killed himself rather than face the censure of his community) or profiled on their stories?
Pandora was speaking specifically of rape. Remove the emotion from the argument. We can all agree that rape is a bad thing. If we speak in psychological modern “vernacular”, rape is nothing other than a crime of aggression and violence, and not a crime of a passion and sexuality.
I do humbly beg to differ that last point. Rape is the ultimate expression of disdain – a man’s way of saying “I am and always will be more powerful than you in this particular capacity. I can do something to you that you cannot do to me. We will never be equal in this regard, and because I can do it I will.” I firmly believe that by committing this act, man demonstrates that at his basest level he has nothing but disdain for women, and sees women as nothing but a receptacle for his desires and his sperm.
My my.
Women do not need to embrace victimhood. If you let your rape or your molestation twist who you are, or become a pivotal moment in your life, you give your rapist/molester all the power in the world. You’ve given him more power than he deserves. Why should you let that person selfishness and arrogance and sociopathic desires change or influence who you are in the slightest? Ladies, don’t do it. You are not a victim. Your biology does not make you one. You can’t change what happened, or take it back, but you and only you have the ability to let it not change you.
We seem to enjoy a culture of victimhood. How many times have you turned on the news or opened the paper to hear someone complaining about their circumstance, some tragic life event, etc. and going on to say how it has ruined their lives? How many episodes of Dateline follow up with the people they have exposed (like that man who they profiled on the web predator sting who later killed himself rather than face the censure of his community) or profiled on their stories?
Pandora was speaking specifically of rape. Remove the emotion from the argument. We can all agree that rape is a bad thing. If we speak in psychological modern “vernacular”, rape is nothing other than a crime of aggression and violence, and not a crime of a passion and sexuality.
I do humbly beg to differ that last point. Rape is the ultimate expression of disdain – a man’s way of saying “I am and always will be more powerful than you in this particular capacity. I can do something to you that you cannot do to me. We will never be equal in this regard, and because I can do it I will.” I firmly believe that by committing this act, man demonstrates that at his basest level he has nothing but disdain for women, and sees women as nothing but a receptacle for his desires and his sperm.
My my.
Women do not need to embrace victimhood. If you let your rape or your molestation twist who you are, or become a pivotal moment in your life, you give your rapist/molester all the power in the world. You’ve given him more power than he deserves. Why should you let that person selfishness and arrogance and sociopathic desires change or influence who you are in the slightest? Ladies, don’t do it. You are not a victim. Your biology does not make you one. You can’t change what happened, or take it back, but you and only you have the ability to let it not change you.
Dear Fellow Drivers
An open letter to all my dear fellow highway drivers;
If, perchance, you are driving in the fast lane on the highway, any fast lane, on any highway, be it four lanes or six or eight, and you happen to glance in your rear view mirror (assuming, of course, you are a cognizant enough driver to do so periodically) and you just happen to notice a long line of cars behind you, all essentially tailgating one another (or worse yet, practicing dangerous traffic stunts to pass on the right), that is a gigantic clue to you, the lead driver.
No, it's this doesn't mean that everyone else is just a bad driver and follows too closely.
No, it doesn't mean that you get to be the self appointed speed controller of America's freeways.
No, it doesn't mean that there is some new game people play on the highway where they all like to drive really fast and only allow fifteen feet of space between themselves and the next car.
No, my dear fellow driver, this means that you should get your slow moving ass out of the fucking way. As in, put on your turn signal and get in the right hand lane, where your slow moving, two mile over the speed limit doing ass belongs.
See, the left hand lane is for people like me - people who know what the speed limit is, and who make a deliberate decision to both break the law and risk their (my) own safety by speeding. I get really pissed off at some middle aged balding man in his Volvo, all by his lonesome, idling along in the fast lane doing approximately 71, setting pace with the car to his right, and NEVER looking in his rear view mirror, except maybe to check the state of his thinning hair or crazy eyebrows. What gives, man?
Your idiocy forces me into something stupid, illegal and dangerous....to take the first available gap, to stomp on the gas, and to pass your dawdling ass on the right. So to all you mini van owners, you Volvo station wagon owners, and the one Merc I passed who was actually doing 69 (dude, you own a Merc!!! what is your problem????), why don't you stay in the slow lane where you belong? If tractor trailers are blowing past you in the right hand lane, you might want to consider the use of the accelerator. Just a suggestion.
Part Two of my driving/trip blog.
On the way up, I stopped in Gaffney in the
middle of the night for gas, and to pee. I hate stopping on trips...because I hate being in the car, and any stop just prolongs my car sitting agony. Anyway, I regard Gaffney as the armpit of South Carolina. Any city whose claim to fame is a gigantic water tower painted to resemble a peach (which, in truth, resembles a gigantic plumber's ass, albeit a fuzzy one) deserves nothing but a severe 'net mocking. And it does actually have a trailer park next to the highway - so I guess I have to take back that earlier post! Back to the peeing thing...my choices for gas and urination are: Citgo (no way), Exxon (double no way) or BP (ok, cool with that). So I pull into the BP, start fueling, lock the dogs into the car, and head inside. I notice as I'm walking back towards the loo that there is this really drop dead gorgeous little girl in the candy girl. Little girl to me means about sixteen. Drop dead gorgeous....in that blond, blue eyed, unspoiled, pristine kind of way. Then I took a second look, and I realize this all American sweetheart is not only dolled up like Paris Hilton, but she also has a knockoff Prada back replete with the little froofroo hairy dog tucked up asleep inside.
First: when did the local Hambrick's start carrying knockoff Prada bags? Second: what is a girl who might have been all of fifteen doing wearing a skirt so short that even I could tell she was wearing pink boy shorts underneath? Third: what the freaking fuck are her parents thinking? Fourth: what the freaking fuck is she thinking? This is GAFFNEY SOUTH CAROLINA and here is a little Paris Hilton Wannabe in the British Petroleum at 11 pm on a Wednesday night. Isn't this a school night? Where are your parents? Please don't tell me that you are out dressed like that (jailbait) on a school night?
I have two things to say: I wish people would learn to exercise some control and periodically turn off the television, and I wish we would all teach little girls that their worth as people wasn't dependent upon how much skin they display, or how pretty they are, or how much they put out.
If, perchance, you are driving in the fast lane on the highway, any fast lane, on any highway, be it four lanes or six or eight, and you happen to glance in your rear view mirror (assuming, of course, you are a cognizant enough driver to do so periodically) and you just happen to notice a long line of cars behind you, all essentially tailgating one another (or worse yet, practicing dangerous traffic stunts to pass on the right), that is a gigantic clue to you, the lead driver.
No, it's this doesn't mean that everyone else is just a bad driver and follows too closely.
No, it doesn't mean that you get to be the self appointed speed controller of America's freeways.
No, it doesn't mean that there is some new game people play on the highway where they all like to drive really fast and only allow fifteen feet of space between themselves and the next car.
No, my dear fellow driver, this means that you should get your slow moving ass out of the fucking way. As in, put on your turn signal and get in the right hand lane, where your slow moving, two mile over the speed limit doing ass belongs.
See, the left hand lane is for people like me - people who know what the speed limit is, and who make a deliberate decision to both break the law and risk their (my) own safety by speeding. I get really pissed off at some middle aged balding man in his Volvo, all by his lonesome, idling along in the fast lane doing approximately 71, setting pace with the car to his right, and NEVER looking in his rear view mirror, except maybe to check the state of his thinning hair or crazy eyebrows. What gives, man?
Your idiocy forces me into something stupid, illegal and dangerous....to take the first available gap, to stomp on the gas, and to pass your dawdling ass on the right. So to all you mini van owners, you Volvo station wagon owners, and the one Merc I passed who was actually doing 69 (dude, you own a Merc!!! what is your problem????), why don't you stay in the slow lane where you belong? If tractor trailers are blowing past you in the right hand lane, you might want to consider the use of the accelerator. Just a suggestion.
Part Two of my driving/trip blog.
On the way up, I stopped in Gaffney in the
middle of the night for gas, and to pee. I hate stopping on trips...because I hate being in the car, and any stop just prolongs my car sitting agony. Anyway, I regard Gaffney as the armpit of South Carolina. Any city whose claim to fame is a gigantic water tower painted to resemble a peach (which, in truth, resembles a gigantic plumber's ass, albeit a fuzzy one) deserves nothing but a severe 'net mocking. And it does actually have a trailer park next to the highway - so I guess I have to take back that earlier post! Back to the peeing thing...my choices for gas and urination are: Citgo (no way), Exxon (double no way) or BP (ok, cool with that). So I pull into the BP, start fueling, lock the dogs into the car, and head inside. I notice as I'm walking back towards the loo that there is this really drop dead gorgeous little girl in the candy girl. Little girl to me means about sixteen. Drop dead gorgeous....in that blond, blue eyed, unspoiled, pristine kind of way. Then I took a second look, and I realize this all American sweetheart is not only dolled up like Paris Hilton, but she also has a knockoff Prada back replete with the little froofroo hairy dog tucked up asleep inside.
First: when did the local Hambrick's start carrying knockoff Prada bags? Second: what is a girl who might have been all of fifteen doing wearing a skirt so short that even I could tell she was wearing pink boy shorts underneath? Third: what the freaking fuck are her parents thinking? Fourth: what the freaking fuck is she thinking? This is GAFFNEY SOUTH CAROLINA and here is a little Paris Hilton Wannabe in the British Petroleum at 11 pm on a Wednesday night. Isn't this a school night? Where are your parents? Please don't tell me that you are out dressed like that (jailbait) on a school night?
I have two things to say: I wish people would learn to exercise some control and periodically turn off the television, and I wish we would all teach little girls that their worth as people wasn't dependent upon how much skin they display, or how pretty they are, or how much they put out.
20070816
Ties
That's an interesting discussion.
Why do we hold onto things or relationships or friendships that we know are bad for us, or that we know have outlived their usefulness or their purpose in our lives? Do we do so out of sentimentality? Do we do so out of fear? Are we just plain lazy?
There comes a point, I think, where you have to let go of so much of your own backstory and baggage. It takes some people longer than others - it takes women forever! We tend to let people or circumstance walk all over us before we finally say enough!
I mean, how long do you tolerate someone who is ostensibly a friend being rude or negative to you everytime you see this person? Why do you still speak to them?
How long do you associate with someone who reminds you of the bad times in your life? Folks handle this differently: some people have that link as a reminder of their past life, and other folks sever all ties and walk off to recreate their story somewhere else. Is one braver than the other? Is one approach better than the other? Or is there a blend somehow that works best?
Or say you have a friend that is an out an out alcoholic (we all know someone that meets this criteria). You've seen them fall into the gutter, perhaps literally, and been around to lend a hand repeatedly, from simply driving them home to paying their tab to taking care of them when they've given themselves alcohol poisoning. Why do we do it? Do we have an inherent desire for martyrdom? Does it make us feel better about ourselves?
Maybe you have an abusive relative or spouse. Why do you hang out? Do you tell yourself that there are different rules for family? Like...would you ever slap your mother? Would you? I bet the answer is almost a universal no. Do you continue to stay in that negative relationship because it IS your family, and you feel beholden to them even though it's at the risk of your own health and sanity?
I am simply saying: do what is right for you. If a plant has a dead branch, you cut if off for the general health of the plant. Do the same with the relationships in your life. You'll feel much better!
Why do we hold onto things or relationships or friendships that we know are bad for us, or that we know have outlived their usefulness or their purpose in our lives? Do we do so out of sentimentality? Do we do so out of fear? Are we just plain lazy?
There comes a point, I think, where you have to let go of so much of your own backstory and baggage. It takes some people longer than others - it takes women forever! We tend to let people or circumstance walk all over us before we finally say enough!
I mean, how long do you tolerate someone who is ostensibly a friend being rude or negative to you everytime you see this person? Why do you still speak to them?
How long do you associate with someone who reminds you of the bad times in your life? Folks handle this differently: some people have that link as a reminder of their past life, and other folks sever all ties and walk off to recreate their story somewhere else. Is one braver than the other? Is one approach better than the other? Or is there a blend somehow that works best?
Or say you have a friend that is an out an out alcoholic (we all know someone that meets this criteria). You've seen them fall into the gutter, perhaps literally, and been around to lend a hand repeatedly, from simply driving them home to paying their tab to taking care of them when they've given themselves alcohol poisoning. Why do we do it? Do we have an inherent desire for martyrdom? Does it make us feel better about ourselves?
Maybe you have an abusive relative or spouse. Why do you hang out? Do you tell yourself that there are different rules for family? Like...would you ever slap your mother? Would you? I bet the answer is almost a universal no. Do you continue to stay in that negative relationship because it IS your family, and you feel beholden to them even though it's at the risk of your own health and sanity?
I am simply saying: do what is right for you. If a plant has a dead branch, you cut if off for the general health of the plant. Do the same with the relationships in your life. You'll feel much better!
Little Pink Houses
In making my little road trip to the Queen's City for work yesterday evening...and stuck in traffic...
I wondered...
Am I the only one who thinks that living next to a highway or major road or a main road at all is a horrible thing? Is it just me or are the properties that exist next to the highway only for poor people? What's it like to come home and relax to the sounds of thousands of cars honking and whizzing by outside your bedroom window? To have everything perpetually reek of exhaust? To actually PAY someone to have all your stuff smell forever of carbon monoxide?
I mean, when you look for a place to live...what are your criteria? Mine are pretty simple: no road frontage, no homeowner's association, trees, and a street that isn't a "drive through".
You don't see poor people living in rural areas tacked onto the side of the highway. Why is that? Have you ever seen a trailer park that wasn't for recreational vehicles on the side of the highway?
I wondered...
Am I the only one who thinks that living next to a highway or major road or a main road at all is a horrible thing? Is it just me or are the properties that exist next to the highway only for poor people? What's it like to come home and relax to the sounds of thousands of cars honking and whizzing by outside your bedroom window? To have everything perpetually reek of exhaust? To actually PAY someone to have all your stuff smell forever of carbon monoxide?
I mean, when you look for a place to live...what are your criteria? Mine are pretty simple: no road frontage, no homeowner's association, trees, and a street that isn't a "drive through".
You don't see poor people living in rural areas tacked onto the side of the highway. Why is that? Have you ever seen a trailer park that wasn't for recreational vehicles on the side of the highway?
20070815
Money
Here is where we are:
The Fed was trying to encourage business growth in previous years, in order to stimulate the economy, and thus kept adjusting interest rates. Normal Americans took advantage of the low interest rates that were so abundant, and used them to borrow against the equity in their houses for a variety of things (remodels, vacations, bills, college, etc.). Companies got used to us spending that level of income. We got used to spending it, and having those flashy toys. Things were good. Everyone was cool. Consumers were happy – we thought we had an investment that could do nothing but mature and continue to make us money, so we were all happy with the “minimal” risk involved in taking out all our cash on hand. We didn’t even mind paying almost double or more than double for our vacations abroad – because we were flush with our borrowed cash.
But haven’t you ever wondered, as you were driving around, where folks were getting the money from to afford those $800,000 homes? Or why your neighbor suddenly had two BMW’s? Did mankind suddenly evolve the ability to shit gold (and, by the way, I certainly wish this were the case although I believe it would be rather painful)?
Fast forward.
The market has an enormous contraction. Those folk in the sub prime market that were at risk in the first place, that locked into variable rate loans? They were the first ones to feel the pain when the Fed started raising rates. Half a point doesn’t sound like a lot, but could be an extra $200 a month (depending on the size of your loan, your terms, etc.). If you are already marginal, and overextended, where is that bump going to come from? Sure, a number of them gambled on being able to turn their house and sell it prior to the rates rising, or to have enough market equity to be able to refinance at a lower rate (this assumes that the market growth was 20% or more). Most of them lost that gamble.
That’s the first problem.
Here’s the second.
Our domestic spending (and by this I mean you and I, and not the gub’ment). All that money we borrowed against our houses last year or the year prior is long gone. It might be sitting in your driveway or in your new kitchen or stuck in a photo album somewhere, but it’s long gone. Now you still owe that money, and your house is still stuck at about the same value. You can’t continue to live the lifestyle you were living based on earned income alone, so what do most Americans do? Turn to plastic. And then what happens? The more you spend on a card, on all cards, the tighter the card companies are going to become in their treatment of you. Sure, they want to encourage you to open new lines of credit…they want you to spend, and spend lots – it’s how they make money. Better yet, they want you to carry a balance, a big one, so that they can zonk you with all sorts of fees and charges. Goodness forbid you ever miss a payment on any other card, because now any card company can adjust your account based off your behavior with another service provider. Doesn’t that suck?
Back to the point. Credit card companies want to make money, but they want to protect their unsecured little bottom lines. So what do they do – they quietly start tacking on more fees, they change their rates but send out mailers in unmarked envelopes with opt outs in unmarked envelopes (I even got one that was mailed separately, and I think this was from my BANK!).
Where we will end up is this: soon, consumers will have nothing left to spend (credit maxed, cash on hand tied up in immediate bills, no savings). How will retailers continue to move product? How will services firms continue to sell services? How will financial firms make money?
You’ve seen a lot of news in the past few weeks about other countries dumping their reserves into our economy, or snapping up some of our companies through mergers and acquisitions. That’s not really good news. The fact that other governments feel the need to pump money into our economy (thanks, China) means that they recognize the fact that our economies are co dependent upon each other, and that a failure in our economy would have a substantial ripple effect on theirs. I mean, where would China export all their product to if not the U.S.? It really is a global economy these days.
It’s all a vicious cycle. The more you spend, the less you have. The more you spend, the more companies make, the more they are inclined to spend on growth, and the more people are likely to have access to new jobs. New jobs mean more growth in other industries (housing, services, etc). The less you spend, the less everyone has. You spend less, companies have less, do not grow (hoard), begin to cost cut (forcing folks out of jobs), and everything suddenly goes to pot.
The armchair, dilettante economist here (spits out wad o’tobaccy) thinks that we are in for a bit of a hard fall here. Normal people had too much invested in their homes, and not enough in cash reserve (myself included in this lunacy). The gubment loves the weak dollar – it means that all goods manufactured here (the precious few that still are) are cheap cheap cheap and that’s usually an incentive for folks abroad to buy. If people are coming down from Canada to buy luxury cars in the U.S. because they can save $30K…that’s the sign of a REALLY weak dollar. While the weak dollar is great for businesses, and great for the government, is it really that great for the consumer? And once we stop selling the interest on our deficit to other countries, or our currency becomes so devalued that no one wants to buy it, what then? It’s like I’ve always said…how can you owe yourself money?
Anyway, now I’m rambling and have rather lost the plot.
What I’m saying is this: I think we’re headed for a recession. The long predicted housing bust has hurt more people and businesses than predicted. Tighten your belts, folks, and hang onto those wallets. It’s gonna be a long ride.
The Fed was trying to encourage business growth in previous years, in order to stimulate the economy, and thus kept adjusting interest rates. Normal Americans took advantage of the low interest rates that were so abundant, and used them to borrow against the equity in their houses for a variety of things (remodels, vacations, bills, college, etc.). Companies got used to us spending that level of income. We got used to spending it, and having those flashy toys. Things were good. Everyone was cool. Consumers were happy – we thought we had an investment that could do nothing but mature and continue to make us money, so we were all happy with the “minimal” risk involved in taking out all our cash on hand. We didn’t even mind paying almost double or more than double for our vacations abroad – because we were flush with our borrowed cash.
But haven’t you ever wondered, as you were driving around, where folks were getting the money from to afford those $800,000 homes? Or why your neighbor suddenly had two BMW’s? Did mankind suddenly evolve the ability to shit gold (and, by the way, I certainly wish this were the case although I believe it would be rather painful)?
Fast forward.
The market has an enormous contraction. Those folk in the sub prime market that were at risk in the first place, that locked into variable rate loans? They were the first ones to feel the pain when the Fed started raising rates. Half a point doesn’t sound like a lot, but could be an extra $200 a month (depending on the size of your loan, your terms, etc.). If you are already marginal, and overextended, where is that bump going to come from? Sure, a number of them gambled on being able to turn their house and sell it prior to the rates rising, or to have enough market equity to be able to refinance at a lower rate (this assumes that the market growth was 20% or more). Most of them lost that gamble.
That’s the first problem.
Here’s the second.
Our domestic spending (and by this I mean you and I, and not the gub’ment). All that money we borrowed against our houses last year or the year prior is long gone. It might be sitting in your driveway or in your new kitchen or stuck in a photo album somewhere, but it’s long gone. Now you still owe that money, and your house is still stuck at about the same value. You can’t continue to live the lifestyle you were living based on earned income alone, so what do most Americans do? Turn to plastic. And then what happens? The more you spend on a card, on all cards, the tighter the card companies are going to become in their treatment of you. Sure, they want to encourage you to open new lines of credit…they want you to spend, and spend lots – it’s how they make money. Better yet, they want you to carry a balance, a big one, so that they can zonk you with all sorts of fees and charges. Goodness forbid you ever miss a payment on any other card, because now any card company can adjust your account based off your behavior with another service provider. Doesn’t that suck?
Back to the point. Credit card companies want to make money, but they want to protect their unsecured little bottom lines. So what do they do – they quietly start tacking on more fees, they change their rates but send out mailers in unmarked envelopes with opt outs in unmarked envelopes (I even got one that was mailed separately, and I think this was from my BANK!).
Where we will end up is this: soon, consumers will have nothing left to spend (credit maxed, cash on hand tied up in immediate bills, no savings). How will retailers continue to move product? How will services firms continue to sell services? How will financial firms make money?
You’ve seen a lot of news in the past few weeks about other countries dumping their reserves into our economy, or snapping up some of our companies through mergers and acquisitions. That’s not really good news. The fact that other governments feel the need to pump money into our economy (thanks, China) means that they recognize the fact that our economies are co dependent upon each other, and that a failure in our economy would have a substantial ripple effect on theirs. I mean, where would China export all their product to if not the U.S.? It really is a global economy these days.
It’s all a vicious cycle. The more you spend, the less you have. The more you spend, the more companies make, the more they are inclined to spend on growth, and the more people are likely to have access to new jobs. New jobs mean more growth in other industries (housing, services, etc). The less you spend, the less everyone has. You spend less, companies have less, do not grow (hoard), begin to cost cut (forcing folks out of jobs), and everything suddenly goes to pot.
The armchair, dilettante economist here (spits out wad o’tobaccy) thinks that we are in for a bit of a hard fall here. Normal people had too much invested in their homes, and not enough in cash reserve (myself included in this lunacy). The gubment loves the weak dollar – it means that all goods manufactured here (the precious few that still are) are cheap cheap cheap and that’s usually an incentive for folks abroad to buy. If people are coming down from Canada to buy luxury cars in the U.S. because they can save $30K…that’s the sign of a REALLY weak dollar. While the weak dollar is great for businesses, and great for the government, is it really that great for the consumer? And once we stop selling the interest on our deficit to other countries, or our currency becomes so devalued that no one wants to buy it, what then? It’s like I’ve always said…how can you owe yourself money?
Anyway, now I’m rambling and have rather lost the plot.
What I’m saying is this: I think we’re headed for a recession. The long predicted housing bust has hurt more people and businesses than predicted. Tighten your belts, folks, and hang onto those wallets. It’s gonna be a long ride.
20070814
Ya know, I owe some apologies, I think. I made a few blog posts about things that were none of my business, really, and I shouldn't have done it. Quite nasty of me, really. Please accept most humble apologies (bowing and scraping as we speak).
Today: totally and completely empty. Wondering why beating self up over events that happened eight years ago, when such things have been mutually forgiven and largely forgotten. Wondering why I spent my night's sleep grinding my teeth.
Bah.
Today: totally and completely empty. Wondering why beating self up over events that happened eight years ago, when such things have been mutually forgiven and largely forgotten. Wondering why I spent my night's sleep grinding my teeth.
Bah.
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