Pawprints From Space

Just can't take it any more. Have to say something. A very simple something in regards to the Rev. Wright and all the attention and speculation thereunto: Enough Already! Clearly the man is really "out there". I mean come on, the US government developed AIDS (or at least has used it) as some sort of weapon against the black community? That negative remarks about the things he's had to say are not attacks on him personally but on the black church? He does realize that there is more than one denomination that makes up the so-called black church and it isn't all the sort of preaching he subscribes to... oh wait, maybe not. Anyone with half a brain is going to see the man is those Monty Python boys would say "a loony". Given that, and the denouncement from Obama over these shenanigans of late it is well passed time to stop giving this man the attention he apparently craves. To whit: stop talking about him. Stop making him and his comments an issue in the Pre...

I have been reading Benazir Bhutto's last book: Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West It is a thought provoking text made all the more poignant by her assassination. I do think however that her experiences are a bit off the normal track considering who her father was but... it is interesting to gain perspective on Islam from a person of that faith and a woman at that. Anyone who adores history as I do and particularly ancient history knows what a great civilization flurished in the Islamic world at one time. How it continued to flurish when Europe was lost in its Dark Ages. So it is a real tragedy that we now look on an Islamic world caught up in so much internal fighting (think Sunni v. Shia), tangled up in extremist rhetoric and so on. What was once great has been destroyed and the destruction began long ago. The book points to Western colonialism as the cause of the troubles of today's Islamic world. And while there is a lot of merit to that (I could go on forever ab...

So, where does time go? Is it a commodity? We can spend it and waste it as if it were currency. We can put it into something, we can take it to do something. We can watch it or ignore it. On its own it can fly or crawl. Does that mean it is a living thing? Time is an interesting concept. Man made so they tell us and yet we are slaves to our creation. How many clocks are in your home? Your office? How many watches do you own? How many electronic devices also include timekeeping of some sort? And that's another thing "time keeping" we've created devices that "keep" time. Some do it well and down to the last nanosecond, some not so well (sundials for example aren't too precise). Why do we pay so much attention to time? Why is is so important? Why are we so worried about running out of it? i know I am feeling a bit of pressure at this point in my life. Not because I am afraid to die eventually but that I have SO much I want to be able to do first, so much to...

So today I was supposed to drive an hour-ish to go to the Relay For Life Winter Training. This is usually a fun event where volunteers from all over this part of the state get together and share ideas, attend meetings etc. It is kind of like a convention. Not going. Apparently there was an ice storm in the city where they are having this thing last night and since I no longer have a 4-wheel drive vehicle I am not risking it. Now I know what you're thinking, and you're right. 4-wheel drive is not helpful on ice. But it is helpful when you slide off into the ditch in getting you back out of said ditch. My little bitty Honda can not do that. Plus is it white so if there is a snow storm in the midst of all this no one would even be able to see me in the ditch until spring! But seriously, the American Cancer Society is not going to cancel this thing. The people putting it on went down there yesterday and stayed overnight. They don't have to travel. And who the heck cares about t...

Well I suppose I should tear myself away from that exciting new reality show currently airing on several networks at once: the 2008 Presidential Race. I admit it, I'm addicted. Not that I have been voting in Presidential elections for eons but seriously when is the last time it was this much - dare I say it? - fun? Here we are with Super Tuesday behind us and we still have a race, nay a dogfight, ahead on the Democratic side and the Huckster isn't bowing out yet on the Republican side. Heck, we could go all the way to the convention for a change and actually have it be a convention and not (sorry to borrow your phrase Huck but it is appropo) a corronation. Not that I want decisions to be made in the back room by the so-called super delegates and the party officials but wouldn't it be cool to be a delegate and actually have passionate discussions with other delegates? Damn! I wanna be a delegate!! This would be fun!!! Okay I work for people who are so Republican they ooze re...

Okay. I watched the debate wherein "the boys" presumably "ganged up on" poor little Hillary. Not the way I saw it go down at all. Ms. Clinton and her hubby had been bashing Mr. Obama for some time prior to and to a lessor degree during the debate. Mr. Edwards simply came to Mr. Obama's defense. How is defending someone suddenly "ganging up on" the original offender? Once again, thanks to the media spin (and I'm not anti-media I used to work in the media) has made this exchange all about something it wasn't. The "boys" weren't ganging up on the "girl" to "pick on her" or some other lame schoolyard comparison. Ms. Clinton's camp had been out of line and she got called on it. End of story. But now the media is telling anyone who will listen (i.e. women voters) that the "boys" don't want a "girl" in their clubhouse so they are "picking on her". The reasoning being that if women...

Happy New Year (for those who don't speak Japanese and I only barely do)! My resolution? To blog more often. Today's rant: Home Depot and the Ceiling Fan Two years ago I bought a ceiling fan with light kit for the kitchen. It was a Hampton Bay which I have since learned is a company that Home Depot owns. Well just after Christmas the glass shade fell to the floor and shattered. So we'll just get a new one right? Wrong! The store doesn't carry them, the Hampton Bay AND Home Depot web sites do not have them. No lighting store in town has them. Lowe's and Menard's do not have shades that size (of course it is an odd size). Customer service at Home Depot took weeks to reply, asked for the UPC etc. which I gave them and then referred me to someone else. Found a shade online from another company but it has been two weeks now and nothing. Called. It is on backorder with no expected date of delivery posted. I am not buying a new fan - it as too much trouble to get this ...

Here we go again. A brave woman, who knew the kind of daily danger she was in and yet placed her life in God's hands, has been assassinated. I don't profess to know everything about her or her politics but Benazir Bhutto seemed (on the surface at least) to be committed to democracy in Pakistan. And so she was killed. They had tried before and failed, this time they were successful. What is odd is how convenient it is for the establishment. Gosh! Now Musharraf doesn't have to loosen his grip on the country. He can claim an emergency, tighten his hold, retain his position as military leader and so on. Hmmm .... sounds like a win-win for him. Reports are saying that the additional security Bhutto had been asking for from Musharraf was never supplied. That the investigation into the earlier suicide bomber attack was not what it should have been and that she couldn't get body armor because she'd have to get written permission from the Musharraf government in order to pu...

That's "Happy New Year" for the non-Japanese speaking among you. Okay a few days early but who knows when I'll have a chance to get back online. The computer needs to hit the shop (keyboard troubles) and goodness only knows how long that will take. Christmas may have been merry but it wasn't white. It was actually something like 40 degrees which for Ohio in late December is odd. I'm told it was 50 in St Louis so I suppose it could always be... more odd. Speaking of "odd", if you have not checked out Jeff Dunham and his crazy act on Comedy Central you owe it to yourself to go to JeffDunham .com and see the insanity for yourself, or at least rent "Arguing With Myself" or "Spark of Insanity" his two Comedy Central specials. The guy is funny. He also has a MySpace page with the hysterical "Dead Terrorist" rendition of Jingle Bombs on it. Start the new year with a giggle and check it out. If you are looking for new year re...

Okay, who stole November? When did it get to be December and why is that month now half over? Christmas?!!? I'm still mentally dealing with Thanksgiving!! Nevertheless, it 'tis the holiday season and people are being even more stupid than usual. Parking lots have turned into "bumper car" rides at the county fair only more expensive since you don't need insurance on the bumper cars and you are supposed to crash into each other on that ride. Stores are filled with screaming over-tired children, rude adults, snappy salesclerks (thanks to the aforementioned screaming children and rude adults), prices that were marked up before being marked down, teenagers who need to be slapped just on principle in most cases and for some strange reason now that there are more people in the stores the managers have decided it is a GOOD idea to cram extra racks and displays into the middle of the aisles. While I am in awe of the religious significance of the season the commercial that ...

Okay so I started Weight Watchers on November 1st. Doing the online points tracking because the meetings here do not fit with my schedule . Have a friend in Chicago who is doing it too so we're "diet buddies" long distance. The funny thing is I put in how much I wanted to lose and the site told me how many points per day to have (based on height and weight and being in an office job). So far the number of points have not changed what I eat. Seems I've been eating just about that all along. Only have to cut out the snacks. Doesn't seem right somehow. The thing that really irks me though is the cost. For only three months online it is $65 and you don't get thing like the eating out guide or the slide rule thingy to calculate points by hand. If people need help (and most Americans do) why do they have to charge so much? A full blown membership is over $400 a year. About the same as belonging to the YMCA so if you add the two together (which you should) you're...

I've been wondering. It is just me or are other people out there feeling that it is way too early to be dealing with the 2008 Presidential hoo-ha? You can not pick up a paper or turn on the TV without being beaten over the head with "news" about the candidates. How much money they've raised (who cares!), whose spouse said what (slow news day boys?) and so on. And for Pete's sake all these states trying to get their primary dates changed so they can be "first". Keep this up and we won't need the November elections. It is out of control. There are too many candidates for any pollster to get a handle on what the voters really think. I truly doubt that anyone really cares at this point unless they are personally acquainted with the candidates. Wake me when we get to November.

It is time once again to rave about my favorite editorial page guru: Leonard Pitts Jr of the Miami Herald. In case you haven't heard there are schools out there banning hugs. Yup, students can not give each other a hug. It blocks hallway traffic or offends people or might just be GASP! a PDA (public display of affection, not the keeper of your schedule) and God knows we can't have that. Well Mr Pitts wrote about that today. Check out what he had to say about hugs (and a bunch of other things we've turned our backs on that we shouldn't have) at the Miami Herald Web site. I don't know about you but a hug can make me feel better on a bad day, make me feel comforted, understood, appreciated, loved - all good things. A hug is human contact. Those of us lucky enough to have human contact will live longer than the sad souls who don't have it. Laughter and hugs have positive effects on your health (physical, emotional and mental). So the hell with the "system"...

I have been trying to get a font issue resolved with the Blogger"mother ship" for over a week. Still no answers on the discussion boards but somehow, something I did in resetting an enormous amount of stuff has worked because I am back in business (clearly). Whew! We'll see how long this lasts.

Been trying to paint the garage door. Not going well. Tiny little gnats with speckled wings apparently are attracted to the paint. They swarm. Bite me. Get into the paint. And are not bothered by bug spray. At all. It has already taken 3 weekends to do a job that should have only taken one afternoon. I hate bugs.

I discovered a blog the other day about Lima, posted by someone who doesn't live in Lima but lives close to Lima. Mostly it is a crime blog. I can see where folks might find that interesting but I can also see where it might be inflammatory and counterproductive. I do live in Lima. I wasn't born here or raised here. I have lived in much larger cities, I have lived in cities the same size and I have lived in smaller towns. I can honestly say that Lima is one of the better places I have ever lived. Yes it has its problems but every city and town does. Yes there is crime, hello! crime is everywhere in one form or another. That is a sad fact of life and the human condition. Desperate people are going to do desperate things. Stupid people are going to do stupid things. People who are ill are going to do things in an effort to get that next fix or whatever. People often do not appreciate what is in their own backyard. They just don't see it. They don't participate in or atten...

I am going to start screaming. I have worked hard for the opportunity, I've earned it and I deserve it. Why? Well I had a scheduled week of vacation. It was all planned. It got cut short because someone did not listen to me. Her cat is very ill. Her cat should not have been left at the vet for the week. I knew something was going to happen. After all, just look at the poor kitty she looks like the Velvetine Rabbit - well loved but pretty scraggly - and she's 15 years old. I said "no, you shouldn't go" told her that the cat needed her at home. But oh no! Despite already having had her vacation of two weeks in a previous month, she was determined to be part of this one week. Keep in mind I just started a new job in May it is a miracle I got this week at all. Most places would not have given it to me. Keep in mind too that I had spent the last year in a job-from-hell and was REALLY looking forward to this trip. I had things planned for Pete's sake! Suffice it to ...

Well I did it. Or at least I did as much as can be done before the bank finalizes everything. This morning I "bought" a new car. After the aforemention months of research and so forth I decided on the Honda Fit (which in Europe is the Jazz - better name). Had everything I wanted. Now it is up to the bank to finalize things on Monday and I will pick the car up ASAP. Downside? The Tracker after 11 years is my baby. I have very attached to it. It is so "me" - practical yet funky, screams environmentalist (it's even green!) and outdoorsy, has bumper stickers that are kinda hip hippie. All that character traded away for a white Honda. I do not like the color but it is the only one they had. And I liked the way it drove. So I guess for me the Fit.... fits.

Well after 11 years I am contemplating trading in the old beastie for some new wheels. Have done the research (took months actually) and picked out the "chosen" make and model. Great safety features and decent mileage (the true hybrids are too damned expensive for me) with a reasonable price. Now comes the fun part... financing. Well of course the folks at the non-American car dealership are all snotty because of my credit tragedy three years ago. So they tell me to talk to my bank first and see what they can do and of course this is not a bank that they work with. I guess the smaller banks (the ones with good customer service) don't count with Japanese car dealerships. So I have spent all day today running back and forth on the phone and off and we're are poised to strike with a used car loan at a scary 10.9% the thing is the bank is a little concerned because the car according to their Internet search is a $13,000 vehicle and this puppy is listed at $16,500 so witho...

I have found a new adhesive... lurking in my kitchen cabinets this "new" goo will stick like cement to any surface with more determination than any other substance known to man. This stuff will not let go of whatever it sticks to. I recommend a chisel or even a jack-hammer 'cuz it ain't moving. No amount of soaking will loosen this goo. I can see it now... patch the foundation, waterproof the basement, repair the ceiling ... who needs dry wall? Hell no! You've got Bisquick! It will hold better than Gorilla Glue, seal stuff better than Duct Tape... It's the next great thing... make breakfast and then patch the porch without missing a beat. Now if you'll excuse me I have to chisel the pancake remains off of the mixing bowl.