On another site I visit a lot, I found a lady who has made it a point to list three good things that happen to her over the last 24 hours. I like this idea. I really do need to take a more positive view of myself and my world - the negativity of the last few years has dragged me down to a point where I've been (at times) either so angry I became "not myself" in terms of treating others - or so depressed I've been almost comotose - or so stressed that I've lashed out almost indiscriminately.
So.
1) Last night I finished the 2nd to the last square of the middle row of the fish quilt and realized that if I can keep up this pace, I'll be rolling the quilt again this weekend!
2) I took out the trash to the curb this morning and actually 1/2 RAN the cans out there, and yet was not breathless when I got done. This is a major improvement. The program is working!
3) The guy who put in my new AC unit is a referral from my boss. I cut the check this morning to the guy - then realized that the company is paying him this week too, and he provided the Co. with a self-addressed-stamped envelope, so I can send both my check and the office check in the same envelope and save 39 cents! (ok, that may sound lame, but it made ME feel good!)
4) I found my digital camera and the photos I'd wanted to send someone were still in it - so I sent them!!
Ok, so it's nothing huge like winning the lotto or getting an inheritance from a never-before-known-of rich uncle or something - but... they were happy things.
633 days
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Can you hear me now?
Verizon Wireless sponsors this "musician" (calls itself "AKON"). The girl in the video is only 14 years old.
The Hole - video powered by Metacafe
Now, first amendment applies, I suppose - it is a form of "free speech". However, I also have freedom of speech, and I am going to use mine to let the sponsors of this misogynist crap know that they won't be getting any of my money if this is the sort of thing their company supports. If you don't like the idea of your money supporting this kind of filth, contacting Verizon is simple.
Verizon CommunicationsCorporate Headquarters
140 West Street
New York, NY 10007
Telephone: 800-621-9900
You can email them : or you can
email Lowell McAdam, the CEO of VERIZON WIRELESS.
That takes care of any possiblity of my switching to their service. Ever. I e-mailed Lowell. Can you hear me now, Verizon? UNACCEPTABLE.
Thanks to Jules for this heads-up.
The Hole - video powered by Metacafe
Now, first amendment applies, I suppose - it is a form of "free speech". However, I also have freedom of speech, and I am going to use mine to let the sponsors of this misogynist crap know that they won't be getting any of my money if this is the sort of thing their company supports. If you don't like the idea of your money supporting this kind of filth, contacting Verizon is simple.
Verizon CommunicationsCorporate Headquarters
140 West Street
New York, NY 10007
Telephone: 800-621-9900
You can email them : or you can
email Lowell McAdam, the CEO of VERIZON WIRELESS.
That takes care of any possiblity of my switching to their service. Ever. I e-mailed Lowell. Can you hear me now, Verizon? UNACCEPTABLE.
Thanks to Jules for this heads-up.
The peace that surpasses
At the end of the communion service used by my childhood's church (LCMS), the minister would give a blessing "Now may the peace that surpasses all understanding fill your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, Amen"
I always figured that this meant that being a Christian was to be someone devoted to Peace - that Christianity was grounded in, was supportive of, was working toward, was a means to Peace. As I grew older, I continued to strive for that "Peace that surpasses all understanding" The first indication that it probably wasn't as easy to achieve as my childish self had imagined (just go up to the altar, kneel down, eat a Necco wafer, sip some smelly juice...) was when I first heard of the Kent State massacre. When I heard my own family saying "Well, that should have been done a long time ago! Serves those commie protestors right!"
Got to get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down. Should have been done long ago. But what if you knew her and saw her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know?
How did CSN know what my family was saying? Was this what all the families were saying? What happened to "The peace that surpasses all understanding?" CSN sang, and I realized that the Christians around me weren't all that hip on Peace. In fact, a great many of them were quite firmly in favor of war.
George Bush is planning to veto a bill that would support our troops. He is planning to veto funding them for supplies and necessary equipment. He is not willing to support our troops. And yet, some poor misguided idiot is being flown to Washington, DC on our tax dollars to give his purple heart medal to a man who deliberately avoided combat in Vietnam - and who has managed to murder going on 4000 of our brave soldiers, marines, sailors and national guard, all without getting his hands dirty in the slightest.
I was going to suggest we send GWB what he REALLY deserves - black construction paper hearts that hold messages telling him that THESE are more fitting for the likes of you - and Cheney and Gates - black hearted bastards that you are. (Oh, and Georgie? I DO mean that as an insult to your momma... just sayin') I was going to... but...
I'm tired. I'm tired of war. I'm tired of this government. I'm tired of hearing the Religious Wrong telling me that George Bush is not a representative of the devil incarnate, and that the war is good. I'm tired of waiting for that peace that surpasses all understanding.
I've not blogged about political issues for a while here now, and I'm thinking that I may just stop that all entire for a bit. I'm burned out, folks. I'm tired of investigations that lead to nothing being done (Gonzales....Lynch....Tillman) I'm tired of the Civil War of Words that the Religious Wrong, the Conservative Wingnuts and the Lefty Moonbats are fighting for control of this country. I'm tired of the news, I'm tired of the views, I'm tired of the opinions, I'm tired of environmentalists trying to make me feel guilty for existing and "using resources".
I'm tired. I need some Peace. I'll just settle for the peace that I can understand. The peace of a good night's sleep. The peace of my garden in the sunshine. The peace of the cool night breeze gently swaying the flames on the candles on my end tables. A peace that dwells within my understanding, and fills my heart and my mind.
There will be no more political statements here for a while.
OTOH - I have a new, high efficiency AC unit as of 3:00 pm yesterday. Cost an arm and a leg and several major internal organs. I'll only use it maybe 10 days a year. But the house is un-sellable without it, so it's a good and needed expense. And I'm not going to feel guilty about that either.
635 days
I always figured that this meant that being a Christian was to be someone devoted to Peace - that Christianity was grounded in, was supportive of, was working toward, was a means to Peace. As I grew older, I continued to strive for that "Peace that surpasses all understanding" The first indication that it probably wasn't as easy to achieve as my childish self had imagined (just go up to the altar, kneel down, eat a Necco wafer, sip some smelly juice...) was when I first heard of the Kent State massacre. When I heard my own family saying "Well, that should have been done a long time ago! Serves those commie protestors right!"
Got to get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down. Should have been done long ago. But what if you knew her and saw her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know?
How did CSN know what my family was saying? Was this what all the families were saying? What happened to "The peace that surpasses all understanding?" CSN sang, and I realized that the Christians around me weren't all that hip on Peace. In fact, a great many of them were quite firmly in favor of war.
George Bush is planning to veto a bill that would support our troops. He is planning to veto funding them for supplies and necessary equipment. He is not willing to support our troops. And yet, some poor misguided idiot is being flown to Washington, DC on our tax dollars to give his purple heart medal to a man who deliberately avoided combat in Vietnam - and who has managed to murder going on 4000 of our brave soldiers, marines, sailors and national guard, all without getting his hands dirty in the slightest.
I was going to suggest we send GWB what he REALLY deserves - black construction paper hearts that hold messages telling him that THESE are more fitting for the likes of you - and Cheney and Gates - black hearted bastards that you are. (Oh, and Georgie? I DO mean that as an insult to your momma... just sayin') I was going to... but...
I'm tired. I'm tired of war. I'm tired of this government. I'm tired of hearing the Religious Wrong telling me that George Bush is not a representative of the devil incarnate, and that the war is good. I'm tired of waiting for that peace that surpasses all understanding.
I've not blogged about political issues for a while here now, and I'm thinking that I may just stop that all entire for a bit. I'm burned out, folks. I'm tired of investigations that lead to nothing being done (Gonzales....Lynch....Tillman) I'm tired of the Civil War of Words that the Religious Wrong, the Conservative Wingnuts and the Lefty Moonbats are fighting for control of this country. I'm tired of the news, I'm tired of the views, I'm tired of the opinions, I'm tired of environmentalists trying to make me feel guilty for existing and "using resources".
I'm tired. I need some Peace. I'll just settle for the peace that I can understand. The peace of a good night's sleep. The peace of my garden in the sunshine. The peace of the cool night breeze gently swaying the flames on the candles on my end tables. A peace that dwells within my understanding, and fills my heart and my mind.
There will be no more political statements here for a while.
OTOH - I have a new, high efficiency AC unit as of 3:00 pm yesterday. Cost an arm and a leg and several major internal organs. I'll only use it maybe 10 days a year. But the house is un-sellable without it, so it's a good and needed expense. And I'm not going to feel guilty about that either.
635 days
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Coat Factory?
I hate malls. I really, really hate malls, so I very rarely go into one.
Yesterday I was out doing errands and I happened to drive past this store that I'd never noticed before "Casual Male XL". Now, my Dad is an XL kinda guy. He's not fat, but he's TALL, and clothes in the regular men's stores just don't fit him well.
Dad had a jacket stolen (or he lost it) a few months ago, and he's been kvetching about it ever since. It was a nice heavy cotton jacket - just a nice lightweight spring jacket. A fishing jacket, sort of.
Anyhow - I figured this would be something nice I could get for him - so I swung into the parking lot and looked around the store. Well, I tried to look around the store. Unfortunately, just like at Radio Shack, apparently the Casual Male XL store has a "chick alert alarm" that lets them know there is a FEMALE IN THE STORE!!! and all hands came running on deck to get me helped and out of there so they could do their "guy things" in the store again. *snicker*
Well, Casual Male XL did not have the jacket I wanted. They had a nice jacket that would have been fine had it not been made out of some slippery-slick material that even I wouldn't wear, and I know my 83 yr old Dad wouldn't even touch. The other jackets weren't anywhere near what I wanted. But the nice guy with 2 earrings suggested I go across the street to the mall to the "Burlington Coat Factory", so after I got done with the rest of my errands, I went back and stopped in at the mall where the Burlington Coat Factory store is.
I walked in, all set to see racks and racks of clothes. I knew from their commercials that they didn't just sell coats, so I figured this would look like a warehouse full of all kinds of clothing.
Imagine my surprise when I walked in - to a department full of glass chochkes and housewares!
I almost walked back out to check and see if the name over the door was "Sears" or something. Maybe I'd become "Gonzales'ed" and "did not recall" where I had been going and walked in the wrong door?
There wasn't a single coat in sight. There wasn't anything that even resembled a coat. Nothing you could USE as a coat. Hell, there wasn't even anything you could take apart and reassemble as a coat! NOBODY uses glass ashtrays as coats!
I finally found the menswear department, and while I still haven't seen anything in that store that qualifies as a "coat", I did find a couple of lightweight jackets that I didn't think my Dad would turn up his nose at too badly, and the prices were outrageously inexpensive, so I got them both. I figure if he doesn't like them, he can take them back to the Burlington Not-Exacty-a-Coat Factory down by him.
This weird inappropriate naming seems to be becoming more prevalent. We had a small chain of stores around here at one point called "Waccamau Pottery". You'd think you could buy a lot of nice dishes and planting pots, huh? Well, for a while they did have the dishes, but I still don't get how soap, candles, dishcloths, furniture, backpacks and yes, occasionally COATS could be called "pottery".
Ya gotta wonder...
638 days
Yesterday I was out doing errands and I happened to drive past this store that I'd never noticed before "Casual Male XL". Now, my Dad is an XL kinda guy. He's not fat, but he's TALL, and clothes in the regular men's stores just don't fit him well.
Dad had a jacket stolen (or he lost it) a few months ago, and he's been kvetching about it ever since. It was a nice heavy cotton jacket - just a nice lightweight spring jacket. A fishing jacket, sort of.
Anyhow - I figured this would be something nice I could get for him - so I swung into the parking lot and looked around the store. Well, I tried to look around the store. Unfortunately, just like at Radio Shack, apparently the Casual Male XL store has a "chick alert alarm" that lets them know there is a FEMALE IN THE STORE!!! and all hands came running on deck to get me helped and out of there so they could do their "guy things" in the store again. *snicker*
Well, Casual Male XL did not have the jacket I wanted. They had a nice jacket that would have been fine had it not been made out of some slippery-slick material that even I wouldn't wear, and I know my 83 yr old Dad wouldn't even touch. The other jackets weren't anywhere near what I wanted. But the nice guy with 2 earrings suggested I go across the street to the mall to the "Burlington Coat Factory", so after I got done with the rest of my errands, I went back and stopped in at the mall where the Burlington Coat Factory store is.
I walked in, all set to see racks and racks of clothes. I knew from their commercials that they didn't just sell coats, so I figured this would look like a warehouse full of all kinds of clothing.
Imagine my surprise when I walked in - to a department full of glass chochkes and housewares!
I almost walked back out to check and see if the name over the door was "Sears" or something. Maybe I'd become "Gonzales'ed" and "did not recall" where I had been going and walked in the wrong door?
There wasn't a single coat in sight. There wasn't anything that even resembled a coat. Nothing you could USE as a coat. Hell, there wasn't even anything you could take apart and reassemble as a coat! NOBODY uses glass ashtrays as coats!
I finally found the menswear department, and while I still haven't seen anything in that store that qualifies as a "coat", I did find a couple of lightweight jackets that I didn't think my Dad would turn up his nose at too badly, and the prices were outrageously inexpensive, so I got them both. I figure if he doesn't like them, he can take them back to the Burlington Not-Exacty-a-Coat Factory down by him.
This weird inappropriate naming seems to be becoming more prevalent. We had a small chain of stores around here at one point called "Waccamau Pottery". You'd think you could buy a lot of nice dishes and planting pots, huh? Well, for a while they did have the dishes, but I still don't get how soap, candles, dishcloths, furniture, backpacks and yes, occasionally COATS could be called "pottery".
Ya gotta wonder...
638 days
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