You Heard it Here FIRST

I've stayed mostly out of political commentary except for a few backslides over the last 6 months, mostly due to my desire to exercise some adrenaline-rush control over my angry emotions regarding a party I used to think was honorable and had some redeeming value.

However, I wish to be the first to put MY sincere support behind what I think is the PERFECT G.O.P. ticket for 2012.

Palin/

Quayle

2012

The Moose Potatoe Ticket!

88 days

I am in the "dog house"

Mindi is rather put out with me.

First off, she does NOT like being on a "diet". Not that I blame her. But I'm inordinately fond of the silly little critter, so I'm trying to keep her healthy as long as I can.

This causes an early-morning PITA, however. Since the cats chew my computer cords, they're no longer allowed into the bedroom under any circumstances. So in the morning, one or both of them begin bodyslamming themselves up against the bedroom door demanding breakfast.

Meh. They get fed right before I leave for work every morning, they KNOW this - or they freaking SHOULD know this, as it's been the case for several years - but the heartrending maowwwwwww-ing of starving cat is my morningsong every day.

This morning I was a bit ahead of schedule (HUH???? THIS NEVER HAPPENS!!) and so I fed the whiney ones and grabbed the bowl for water and dumped out the old and refilled with cold fresh water. Came back to put the water bowl down and Mindi the Fatass has her brisket parked right where the water dish goes.

"MOVE, Mindi"
"Stupid - get out of the way!" *small shove with foot*
*Push with free hand*

Nope. She wasn't going anywhere.

So I watered her.

I stuck my fingers into the water bowl and dribbled water on her back until she moved. Took THREE waterings to get her to move!! Mindi was Not Happy©.

I am, therefore, in the dog house. Oh well. Move over Rover.

90 days

Wealth and Politics

The very rich are not like "us". They don't think like us, they don't act like us, and they don't understand us. They float through life handed things without ever considering the price and don't realize that it is not the "norm". They have no idea how much a gallon of milk, a can of tuna or a dozen eggs cost.

But when it comes to campaign issues, they know how to "spin" things so that their differentness is percieved however they wish.

Senator Obama has one house, one spouse. He's referred to as "eliteist" by the man who has so many houses he can't remember them all (seven?) and is on his 2nd trophy wife. Why? Well, because he has the AUDACITY to be well-spoken, educated, intelligent, calm and apparently interested in actually HELPING his fellow-man, not just mouthing platitudes and then partying with his cronies using money garnered from taxes on those who are too stretched to even eat healthily, much less party like an AIG exec.

So if Senator McCain is NOT an eliteist (despite the 7 houses, 13 cars, wife with an inherited beer-fortune, &etc), then what exactly IS he? Well, he's a self-proclaimed war hero, certainly a decorated veteran. He favors continuing to give tax breaks to the uber-wealthy. He pals around with convicted criminals (G. Gordon Liddy and Charles Keating...). I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with someone like that as President, however.

Caribou Barbie complained that Senator Obama had been "paling around with terrorists" by going over to the Ayers residence for a meal - "You don't just invite strangers into your house to eat" (I paraphrase, I think) - but Winkie Palin is wrong - the very rich DO do that very thing. They invite people into their homes for dinners all the time, for "philanthropic" reasons. I know this! I have first-hand knowledge - I worked for about a year for a not-for-profit "community foundation". The very rich will gladly pay a LOT of money (that they can tax-deduct) to host lavish dinner parties at their country-club of choice as fundraisers for various causes. They will have small, intimate dinners with potential donors - and politicians if they can get them - in their own homes.

Just a bit disingenuous on her part, I believe.

Senator McCain thinks that giving tax breaks to the very rich is a way to help rebuild the economy. He espouses the Reagan "Voodoo Economic" theory of "Trickle Down" - except he doesn't realize that the trickle isn't enough to fund the "American Dream" for even .01% of those who would NOT be affected by his policies. The very next time I see a Republican claiming that they're philanthropic and doing things to help the poor - I shall spit at him/her.

96 days

Double Digits!!!!!!!!

So over this weekend, the amazing happened, in addition to our being finally into double-digits...

Bush finally unsurpassed (<--new word I just invented)Nixon - his approval ratings are lower than Tricky Dicky's!!

I got polled last nite. I sure hope my voter registration doesn't get purged because of it.

So - Weekend Wonderfulness Quotient = Not So Much. I need to get myself to finish up all the laundry so I can get myself to turn off the farking fan in the bedroom early enough so I don't keep falling back asleep. I got SOME stuff done - but NOWHERE near enough. *bleh*

Tonite I go get drugs and pay the ASSociation and maybe look at some books (like I need more...)I may also stop off at the fabric store just to oogle.


98 days

On Being a Cubs Fan - and Spies at the *$

Now that for many the pain is over, I reflect on their agony and share the one thing that being a Cubs fan has taught me over the many years.

NEVER celebrate before you win. NEVER anticipate you will be the victor. Strive for victory, fight to the end of your endurance - but NEVER assume you will land in the winner's circle covered in roses and acanthus leaves. Prepare for the worst - then EXULT if the best happens.

Wait until next year.

Ernie Banks (pbuh) - MR CUB, and Ron Santo - a man who should know better, stood in Daley Center Plaza and proclaimed "THIS is the year". Ernie, Ron - NO! Do not celebrate the victory before the battle. Go grim to the fight, prepared for the worst in war - do not savor the sweetness of success, lest you blow your playoff chances in THREE STRAIGHT LOSSES.

The hubris of man allows the gods to mock. Fuck the billygoat.

Wait until next year.

1969
1984
1994
2008

Wait until next year.

*sigh* Sometimes being right isn't all it's cracked up to be. Won't get fooled again.

So. I stopped at Starbucks (*$ - get it?) and there was a spy in the parkinglot. HONEST! Sitting in a plain, unexceptional unmarked black sedan with tinted spy windows, checking out all the cars driving through the *$ driveup.

Why would someone spy on the Starbucks??? Maybe it's those damn Neocons checking out the "Eliteist Lib'ruls"? *snort*

105 days

Howdy There, Dontcha Know - you betcha!

Sarah Palin.

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah...

*much headshaking and closed-eye deep breathing*

Yeah. Ahem.

When my daughter was very small, I made her a bunch of crocheted play-pillows for her bedroom. A big yellow sun with a happy face, a pink and grey ruffly one with pink ribbons, A white lacy one with multi-colored shapes on it, a big orange VW-car one, and two that looked like clowns.

Now, when I grew up, clowns were funny and happy and positive and able to fit 20 or 30 of themselves into a small sedan. I thought clowns were terrific.

Little did I know as a young mother, that (probably thanks to John Gacy) clowns would become horror movie fodder - and that ICP would eventually replace Bozo and Cookie as the stereotype of clowns. Clowns are scary now.

(I'll never forget the day I pissed off 2 yr. old Amanda and she ran into her bedroom and grabbed the clown pillow and came out with it over her face, declaring angrily: "I WILL BE A CLOWN AT YOU" - even then she was way ahead of me and I was clueless.)

I also when young had to deal with the hubris and taunting of the "Cheerleader" crowd. Those "popular" kids who made a point of making everyone else feel dumb or outside. Never mind that I had more brains in my pinky toenail than any of them had in their entire extended families - they had CONFIDENCE!! They had PERKINESS!! They were CHEERLEADERS!!!

Cheerleaders are scarier than clowns.

So what could possibly be scarier than a clown cheerleader running for the 2nd highest office in the land? A perky, twinkly, winking, posturing airhead who has 1/2 dozen little catchphrases in her head and plays tiddlywinks with them instead of actually answering the questions posed to her? Winking at the men through the camera and betting that they'll vote with their "little head"? Someone who doesn't even know the meaning of the phrase "Achilles heel" - but cha know, darn it, that was a trick question, you betcha!

So what could possibly be scarier than a clown cheerleader running for the 2nd highest office in the land? Having her win.

108 days

12-Grain Bread. And Sox.

In my continuing battle to do something POSITIVE with my eating habits, I've gone looking for high-fiber, low-fat, low cholesterol, low sodium and did I mention high fiber - foods.

I read the label on this "12-grain bread" and it looked like it was something that might be both tasty and healthier than Wonder© Bread, so I bought it.

I didn't bother to think at the time "WTF is this 12-grain bit?" But today while eating my 12-grain bread and sliced turkey sandwich for lunch, I decided to count the number of grains that I could see/identify/remember from biology class.

I could remember very few. Barley, wheat, rice, corn, oats (all the chex cereals, with the addition of barley), rye, .... and then I petered out. That's only 6. So I looked at the bread.

I shouldn't have.

Apparently SEEDS count now. There were little brown seeds that looked something like small bugs on it. I think they MIGHT have been Flax seeds. There were other seeds too - in fact, I'm fair certain I recognized some of those other seeds from bags of birdseed and hamster food I've bought over the years.

Great.

I'm eating gerbil-food sandwiches.

Meh.

Congratulations to the White Sox. Great game last nite.

110 days

Security

Yesterday the "financial bailout" bill failed. While I'm not unhappy about this, it has gotten me to thinking about financial/economic security - mine, and that of others. Not to even MENTION how much I'm glad that Social Security did NOT get privatized like Shrub Boy wanted.

On my lunchtime drive, I heard someone on CBS radio making a very astute comment. I paraphrase:

GWB is telling the country that this is serious - deadly serious. However, this comes from an administration that has had us at Terror Threat: Orange for over two years! No wonder people aren't taking it so seriously.

The fear tactics of the Bush Junta have finally come to bite them in the ass. WOLF... AL QUEDA!!!... WOLF!!! AL QUEDA!!!!... WOLF!!!!... and now when there really appears to be a (self-inflicted due to deregulation) crisis, nobody is listening to the Frat boy who cried Al Queda.

I am, naturally, concerned about my IRA - although it is with one of the banks that so far has weathered the storm. My savings is at my local credit union, and they're doing fine. My mortgage company is hanging on, although they're rocky - but that should be OK too. As long as my job stays safe, I should be OK through this.

I'm pulling back on spending starting immediately, however. My "consumer confidence" is tanking. My $600 "economic stimulus" is in savings, and will REMAIN there. I remember my mother washing and reusing plastic bags and aluminum foil. My sister-in-law used to laugh at my mom about her recycling wrapping paper. I grew up with Depression-era parents. I know how to economise, although doubtless not as well as they did.

Hang on, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride - but we WILL get through it.

111 days.

OMG - WaMu???

I was 1/2 asleep still when I read the Yahoo News.

WaMu may not have been my most favorite of my former mortgage-holder banks (they bought mine, then sold it a while back) - but DAMN. Wow. WaMu... I'm kinda stunned.

115 days

ZERO Tolerance

One of those quirky things about being me is the fact that I have zero tolerance for blatant stupidity, especially when it comes from someone in the Accounting profession.

Even more-so when it comes from someone in the accounting profession whose stupidity is affecting me in a personal way.

An example of this would be the statement of account that I received from my dipshit halfassed criminally stupid condo "management" association. I paid my assessment for this month on the 20th of LAST month - having gotten a tiddle bit ahead and able to make the payment early.

Statement shows the credit amount as the opening balance. This is correct.
Statement shows the amount of the assessment. This is correct.
Statement shows a $25 LATE PAYMENT FEE. Excuse me? WHAT THE FUCK???

Now, anyone can make a mistake. Perhaps the accounting clerk ran a report to show everyone with a Not-Zero balance, and applied the charge to all of them. It is a mistake, it's stupid, but it's just a mistake and can be corrected.

However.

I called up to set this straight - and the FUCKING MORON who took my call tried to ARGUE with me. She tried to say that since there was no payment that month, OF COURSE there was a late fee. WHY THE BLOODY HELL WOULD I PAY MORE WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO COVER THIS MONTH? Oh, well... um... have I ever gotten a statement before?

EXCUSE ME TO FUCK AND BEYOND???????????????????????????????????????????????????

What the bloody hell does that have to do with the price of rice in China on Tuesdays in Leap Years? YOU OWE ME, BITCH, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

Well, she's going to have to take it to accounting and see if an error was made...

IF??????

IF?????????????????????????????????????????

THERE IS NO "IF" ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, someone will call you back.

Today?

Umm....

It had better be today. I'm NOT happy about this.

Ummm... she'll try.

Blatant stupidity.

Yes, they fixed it. No, I'm still not happy.

117 days still.