Grand Canyon just a few thousand years old
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Archive for December, 2006
Banana cookies
Herman smells like banana cookies. That is all.
Note to DISH TV
I am extremely disappointed by the poor quality of your response to my billing problem, which I emailed you about last night and called you twice about today. In the end, I think I am getting a refund for the $49.99 you mistakenly billed me, but I am not sure, because the connection to India was so terrible. Getting the extra charge taken off is hardly enough to satisfy me after you wasted a good hour of my day by blaming my bank and insisting to me that DISH TV has not made any error. Is this the type of service I have to look forward to?
(I was pleased with the service by the guy who did my installation).
I keep waking up at this time, day after day. I think it’s anxiety about the move that’s causing this.
Ford / Edwards
I absorb an event such as a president’s passing very deeply. We only have so many presidents in a lifetime. Ford is only the third president to pass away in my lifetime. America went about 20 years without any president dying. Nixon’s death in 1994 was the first in my lifetime. And then it was another 11 years until Reagan died in 2005. And now Ford. I wouldn’t be surprised if people are thinking, “Enough about Ford already!” But the fanfare is deserved. The passing of any president deserves great retrospection.
There is near universal agreement that Ford was a solidly decent man, and by all accounts, he lost the 1976 election to Carter because of his pardon of Nixon. I knew that election had been close, but I didn’t realize how angry people were about the pardon. (It’s perfectly understandable, though). It does seem, in hindsight, to most that Ford made the right decision, as the country would’ve been consumed by the Nixon affair for years.
Speaking of solidly decent men, I think John Edwards is one, and I’m glad he’ll be running for president. I remember thinking of him as a moderate who didn’t believe in a lot of the liberal positions I held back when I was supporting Howard Dean a few years back. But I do realize that someone matching my views isn’t going to be the nominee. And of the choice is between Edwards, Obama, and Clinton, I think I’ll go towards Edwards for now. He does seem genuine every time I have seen him interviewed and the one time I saw him in person. I also like Elizabeth a lot. I haven’t been motivated to continue listening to Obama’s book. He’s bright, articulate, and principled, like Edwards, but I find him to be too wooden and detached. Much is made of Obama’s race, but I think Edwards actually will appeal more to black voters. But I know it’s very early. I’m not thinking about this much. I just mention Edwards tonight because he’s going to be announcing tomorrow, and I think he’s a good guy.
Plagiarized
I’m flattered that a woman in Texas is plagiarizing me.
Half-life
The half-life is about three hours. The euphoria is just about 100% used up after 24 hours. Oh, well.
Got to work at 9:30 this morning. I was awake between around 3 and 6, and then slept until around 8.
Lots of work to do for work. Lots of work to do regarding moving. And the last component of my new year’s mailing has arrived, so I can finally start assembling those mailings (that include the cards I mentioned awhile back).
Also, new icon. Got tired of the black-and-white and seeing my face on all my default icon posts.
My presidential zodiac symbol has passed
Gerald Ford has passed away. It is unfortunate that my immediate thought upon seeing the “breaking news” online at 4:43AM is that of the Saturday Night Live skit of the early nineties, in which Tom Brokaw, as portrayed by Dana Carvey, pre-tapes news accouncements before going on vacation. The big laugh of the skit is Brokaw going through many variations of how Gerald Ford has died.
Perhaps because I have only seen him as an elder former president, I think of Ford as honorable and decent. I have the television on now, and I suspect I will learn much more about Ford in the coming hours and days.
The economy
So why is it a good thing if consumers spend a lot during the holiday season? Why does that correlate to a “strong economy”? Doesn’t that mean that Americans are just going deeper and deeper into debt?
It’s assumed that the mainstream media has a liberal bias. Yet, story upon story speaks about the excitement over a record Dow index or how well retailers will do this holiday season. This viewpoint seems to imply that strong earnings for corporate America translate into something wonderful for Americans, as a whole, to celebrate. The truth is, an econony that may be statistically strong does not mean most Americans are benefiting. It’s as if rooting for the economy is like rooting for a sports team. We’re supposed to feel good when it’s doing well, even though there is almost no tangible benefit for us.
I suppose that if the economy is going badly, then that’s bad news for everyone. It’s just that when the economy is doing well, it still probably means bad news for almost everyone.
