Let’s get back to my usual rants and complaints, shall we?
On the media
This morning I heard a perfect example of the right wing bias in the “liberal” media, but it something that probably 90% of the listening audience didn’t twig to. When reporting on the legislation allowing drilling in ANWR, CBS Radio reported that it would generate a million barrels a day, and said that this is half of what we import every day from… Venezuela.
Well. I’m sure that most listeners jumped to the conclusion that drilling in Alaska would suddenly make us 50% less dependent on foreign oil.
But of course, my mind works differently and was suddenly filled with questions. How do they know we could produce a million barrels a day? How much oil do we import from Venezuela? What percentage of Middle Eastern oil would be replaced? Why did the reporter write such a ridiculously biased piece using — as the right wing so enjoys — skewed statistics and examples to make it appear to be a better idea that it is?
Turn your head and cough
I’m not a fan of drugs. I almost never take anything other than aspirin; and feel a harsh annoyance toward the drugs that are continuously advertised — the Soma of our brave new world. Nevertheless, after coughing my brains out for the last couple of weeks and coming to the realization that yes, I am having a reaction to the thick dust of pollen everywhere, I stopped this morning and (heretic) bought a box of Claritin.
And immediately noticed one of those snotty little things that drug companies do to maximize their huge, obscene profits: even though the foil blister pack inside had 6 segments, there were only 5 pills. One segment was left empty. Five pills for $8.50.
I’m still waiting for it to work, by the way.
An apple a day keeps the accountants away
My other purchase this morning was a red delicious apple (89¢). I was meaning to get a greasy, fat-filled McDonald’s breakfast, but when I stepped on the scale this morning I was amazed to find that I had lost 10 pounds over the last couple of weeks — a combination of exercise renovating the house, lots of stress, and little time to eat. I figured I was on a roll, so why jinx it?
Can I just point out that the red delicious apple may be red, but it’s not so delicious. I’ll have to explore my apple selections for the future. Tim points out that with my coming real estate riches, I can start eating those hyper-expensive Japanese apples that come in their very own packing material (and at those prices, probably with their own small one-bedroom condo as well).
Time keeps on ticking
I’ve got basically two weeks left. Things are getting worrisome — the movers and car carrier guys don’t give you a precise time or day, just a window. And during that window I have other things to do — house closing, moving furniture to my aunt’s, etc. — so I’m driving myself nuts trying to figure out how to schedule things around unscheduled things. I might need to just hire more people to help me so that I can be free to deal with the unscheduled…
I too, cut it too close.
I shipped my goods before the closing. And had the car packed and started the drive to Seattle from the closing office.I didn’t even wait for the check I had my agent deposit it in my bank while I was on the road.(My agent was a family friend I had known for years)
After several false starts it WILL happen.
You will sell your house.
You will move to Calif.
The adventure begins!