eric135

Hoarders, getting rid of junk, and clearing a clogged drain...

We've been watching Hoarders on TV. The show is about folks that are not able to get rid of their belongings. It reminds me a lot of the BBC show, How Clean Is Your House, but the folks on Hoarders are really quite ill. All of the folks on How Clean Is Your House really want to get rid of their stuff and just don't know how to do it. The folks on Hoarders literally can't stand to throw anything out.

It's gotten me started on some serious decluttering in our apartment. My office was filled with old books and junk, and I've been taking all of that out to the dumpster. I still have an old TV set and some large speakers that I guess I'm going to have to drive down to the dump, but I've pitched most of that stuff.

One tool that has helped a lot is one of these luggage carts. I've been keeping a good-size box on it, which I fill with miscellaneous junk, and I can easily roll it out to the dumpster. In the past, it's been sturdy enough to roll heavy TV sets and furniture.

I also did some major shredding today. I had let it pile up for the past six months so it took a couple of hours to put it all through our heavy duty shredder.

I also had the unpleasant task of clearing up a clogged kitchen sink. I had decided to send a lot of leftovers down the disposal, and I guess the big wad of spaghetti noodles was just too much for it. I usually use one of those harsh chemical drain cleaners, but I did some research online and decided to use the plunger. Folks online were suggesting, instead of trying to push the clog down, to create great suction up. After doing it the wrong way for an hour, three really hard pulls cleared the drain pretty easily. Amazing, what you can find on the internets.

The Godfather I, II and III; The Stimulus Package

General bits:

• I've been watching the Godfather movies over the past couple of days (Godfather I was on AMC, now I'm working on II and III on Blu-Ray). Never realized before, not many strong female roles or role models in that movie. Women were basically furniture and/or window dressing. I'm about an hour into Part II, maybe they'll fix that... [Update: 6 hours later, and into the 3rd movie, Kay and Connie have emerged as pretty strong female roles].
• I'm thinking about the stimulus package... I think they should just directly put the money into folks that have lower credit scores -- say <600. I mean, folks with better scores will save/hoard the money for a rainey day. Lower credit score folks have already established a record for doing what is needed most -- spending money in an economic environment that is telling consumers to constrict spending. Even if they spend the stimulus money on paying off old debt, generally, they will take those zero balances and buy, well, shoes. Or Blu-rays. Or cars. Or big screen TVs. I don't think stimulus money will be very effective going for tax credits for buying new houses. Should the housing market continue to shrink, that will just put more folks behind the 8-ball. We need folks that will cash the check and immediately start spending, not try to get a loan. Just my opinion.
• It has been raining all day.

The Last One...

The Last One...

Sarah Palin supports aerial shooting of wolves and bears

This is really disgusting.

Sarah Palin is really disgusting.

God Damn Sarah Palin to Hell.

EyeOnPalin.org

Jury Duty, George Takei, Twitter and a watercolor Rooster...

• I hadn't painted anything in a few days (that didn't look like something only my mother would hang on her refrigerator at home). But I was listening to CNBC, a Senate hearing on the need for Senate oversight on corporate spending of TARP money. This image of a rooster came to mind. Yeah I know. Big one, eh? Yeah I thought so too. I've got a serious problem with scale, if those trees are, say, oaks. Puts that cock at about 100 feet (sorry I could not resist).
• I gotta go to Jury Duty. Again. I barely make it past my 18-month hiatus and then another letter comes in the mail. I have been to jury duty at least 4-5 times since we moved here. It's ridiculous considering how many folks I know just never ever get summoned. So over the next few weeks, I'll try to think of some really offensive statements to make in front of the judge so I won't have to go for a trial.
• I've been Twittering more lately (follow me @Eric135). It is fun, now that I'm following folks, and some folks are following me. I'm not sure, but one of the Twits (don't scoff, that's what we're called) is apparently none other than Mr. Sulu himself, @GeorgeTakei!! I got the link to the latest Star Trek Movie trailer. God bless the internets.
• Back to work for 2 nights...

Only in America

 

There has been a lot of discussion about the history we have made with the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. I sensed the history being made as I watched the announcement. It's the sort of stuff that simply had to happen in America, to Americans.

Change really can happen. I remembered when I first heard about Barack Obama. I remember as I clicked my tongue at the ridiculous prospect of a black guy named Barack Hussein Obama running for president. I snickered and sneered when a CNN- Headline News anchor accidentally called him Obama Bin Laden.

I've come a long way. I'm convinced we've chosen the best candidate, but after the last 60 days, I'm convinced he's the best candidate who happens to be black, not because he is black. An old gray-haired lady reminded me that the opposite of "Arab" is not "decent family man." A Governor from Alaska proved that it can't just be any woman, it has to be the right person.

I even learned a lot from John McCain. As I listened to one of his last speeches in Colorado, I had to wonder, "Where the hell has this guy -- this John McCain -- been for the past 60 days?" It just seemed that his best speeches were given on the last day of the campaign. That's the McCain that should have run for president. He's a good man, a patriotic American. We should have seen more of that.

Well, I'm back to work tonight. I've watched 12 hours of political television. Now, it's back to wiping butts.

But I feel exhilarated.

I feel like I've just watched the Eagle land in the lunar Sea of Tranquility;

I've just listened to John F. Kennedy's Inaugural address in 1961;

I've watched the first lauch of Columbia in 1981; and

I've watched as Rosa Parks decided enough was enough, and took a seat at the front of the bus.

Truly, only in America...

Yes, we can...

I've been living up to the old Chinese proverb, "May you live in interesting times."

Three big things going on: the election, the stock market, and werk. I've been letting the last of the three take up most my time and energy.

I just realized I never made a post about the final presidential debate, but now that we are hardly three weeks away from the big day, and since I've already mailed my early ballot, maybe I'm just coasting on my beliefs.

It's sad how negative McCain's campaign has been. I think most political pundits say it's his only move left, but still, it's sad. I had a day off yesterday, and I watched clips from both candidates' rallies, and the difference is staggering. I was tapping away on the computer while McCain's rally played in the background (not very inspiring, same rhetoric, same language, nothing new). Then Obama came on, and I had to watch as he spoke these words:

We can do this. Americans have done this before. Some of us had grandparents or parents who said maybe I can't go to college but my child can; maybe I can't have my own business but my child can. I may have to rent, but maybe my children will have a home they can call their own. I may not have a lot of money but maybe my child will run for Senate. I might live in a small village but maybe someday my son can be president of the United States of America.

I mean, wow. It gave me goosepimples all over.

The rest of the speech is here.

There's still a lot of He Said She Said, about the specifics of the economic plan. It can be summarized by the following:

You lie.
No, YOU lie.
No, YOU lie.
No no, YOU lie.
(repeat)

I guess it comes down to who I believe. And I've decided I believe in the guy who, I think, is destined to make history.

The Vice Presidential Debate ... A lot can change in four years ...

I thought it was a clear win for Biden, and so far the polls would agree.

I must admit, we watched the debate (24 hours later on Tivo) with the same anticipation some folks watch those "When Animals Attack" video's, wondering if I'd have to turn my head when the bloody part came. But Palin pretty much held her own. But I thought the raw construction of her answers was the same  evasiveness she showed in those tragic Couric interviews. I thought if either Biden or the moderator had the opportunity to really keep her on topic, and drill down for the gritty details, it would have become as incoherent and fragmented as her answers on the Couric interview.

She did get a good shot at Biden, when she said something like, "Oh Joe, I gotta wonder how much you guys are really thinking about the future when all you seem to do is point to the past." This after Biden continued to connect McCain to Bush. But it was a good jab that came off well on the TV.

On a side note, we got our early ballots today. My room mate took off with them, threatening to fill mine in with the Obama vote. I guess he never forgave my Bush vote 4 years ago, against his Gore vote.

Well really, I didn't know how it would turn out.

Those were such different days. My top concern four years ago was 9/11. All I could think of was that I didn't want another 9/11, and I didn't care if we had to hang the American flag -- from every capital building in the world. I joked about renaming Middle East countries as "New Texas" or "The Republic of Exxon." I really meant that back then.

Not so much now.

I still dread another 9/11, but don't automatically take the Hawkish view.

I worry more about the cost of my health care than the cost of a gallon of gas.

I have more to say about the definition of marriage and adoption rights, even though I plan neither.

I don't think it takes a Republican in office to keep my 401k afloat.

I worry about what I'll do when/if my doctor retires, moves or decides on a less demanding life.

I think about work from the perspective of 80 employees, not so much as one nurse and five patients.

I make cynical sneers at those "Be a Nurse" commercials on TV, even though I can't think of anything else I would rather be.

I fear more of us will die in horrible needless pain.

When I face angry patients, I first look at their hands (looking for weapons).

I used to look at their eyes.

So... a lot can change in four years.

First Presidential Debate

We sat down and watched the First Presidential Debate. It was on TiVo because of my work schedule.

On the Economy:

• McCain opened the night with the old soundbyte about the study of the DNA of bears. It's an easy target since the subject really was about averting economic disaster. But it no longer surprises me that the United States continues to lose its place as the world leader in pure scientific research. One of the primary laws of scientific research is that you just never know what you will find, and how freakishly often we find what we need while studying weird tree bark, dog semen, pond scum or ball lightning.
• In general, I believed Obama more than I believed McCain. A lot of the fight was over specific numbers that could be fudged either way. As I've said before, I support more government oversight when the retirement income of millions of Americans is at risk.
• I didn't get the feeling McCain has any understanding of the middle class, or middle class challenges.

On what either candidate would have to give up should an economic rescue plan be put in effect:

• McCain was much more decisive that he would consider spending freezes.
• McCain went into a weird sideline of how liberal Obama was. Obama had a nice moment telling McCain it wasn't that he was trying to be liberal, but that he was anti-Bush.
• I believed Obama when he said the best thing to give up would be the $10 billion/month cost of the war in Iraq.
• McCain uses the term "Maverick" too much, and kept saying he never ran for Miss Congeniality in the senate. Who cares.

About the war in Iraq:

• I agreed with Obama that the cost of the war ($10B/mo) is too high, that the surge is old news, that we should concentrate on getting Bin Laden, and that we should have a timetable to exit Iraq.
• McCain did a good job showing his many years of experience, and the number of times he has visited a lot of places and met a lot of people with strange names.
• The whole thing about the bracelets ended up a win for Obama.

About Iran:

• I agreed with Obama that the war in Iraq has essentially strengthened Iran.
• I agreed with Obama that America has to have discussions with nations we don't get along with. I don't think this would necessarily legitimize these leaders/nations.
• I agreed with Obama that labelling nations "Evil" will make things worse, and will egg them on to develop nuclear weapons.

About Russia:

• I didn't see much difference between the two candidates.

About post 9/11 America:

• Surprisingly, this section of the debate was not a clear win for McCain.
• There wasn't much substantive difference bewteen the two candidates.
• I agreed with Obama that there is too much being spent in Iraq that could be better spent in Afghanistan hunting for Bin Laden.

Overall, I'd say the first debate was a draw, but polls are showing that the public views it as an Obama win. I might agree with this because, given the fact that the topic was mostly about foreign policy, it could have been a clear McCain win. I thought Obama did a good job maintaining a believable image of a leader that can take on international challenges.

I like the fact that the crowd was instructed not to applaud or cheer for their candidate. I think this kept the candidates on topic, and probably spared us a lot of the usual soundbytes.

I thought McCain was unduely aggressive toward Obama, and I didn't like it whenever he said "Obama just doesn't understand." It seemed very old and stodgy.

I wish Obama would have called McCain "Senator McCain" rather than "John." It made him sound patronizing and not as respectful as McCain seemed. Although the fact that Obama said "John is right" as often as McCain said "Obama just doesn't understand" made me doubt how great McCain is at crossing the aisle.

So overall I liked Obama more than I liked McCain.

"This is not a ship of war... this is a ship of Peace..."

I watched the last night of the Republican National Convention. I've basically spent the past several hours looking at my computer screen, staring at the first sentence of this blog entry. I just didn't find that much to write about, and that in itself is very telling.

• Generally, that speech just wasn't well written or well delivered. I know McCain doesn't have great public speaking skills, and has always been defined by his personal beliefs, rather than his oratory skills. But the acceptance speech of the presidential nominee was really weak.
• The crowd at the convention center didn't find much to go with either.
• The best part of the speech was more emotive than oratory -- his description of how his POW experience changed his life, and sparked his great love for his country. As I've written before, this is very compelling.
• His speech contained the word "fight" way too much. I'm stealing someone's words here (and can't find them for a link) but McCain's Stand and Fight, in my mind, pales in comparison to Obama's Hope and Change.
• McCain can't get around the fact that he is Republican, and the Republicans have run the show for the past 8 years, and they did a horrible job of finding anything positive to say about that time period. I mean, surely, there has to be SOMETHING they can stand on other then the Surge.

Which brings me to the title of my post.

It's from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The one where the predecessor of the Enterprise comes through a "hole in time" and totally screws up history, and changes the Enterprise into a warship carrying troops to war against the Klingons. Whoopie Goldberg's character, Guinan (who has the ability to detect the changes in time) goes to Captain Picard and tells him that things are all wrong, and that the war shouldn't be happening, and in fact, the Enterprise should be carrying families instead of troops.

Picard increduously replies, "Families?!?  Guinan, we're at WAR!!"

To which Guinan says, "This war shouldn't be happening... this isn't a ship of war... this is a ship of Peace!!"

I know, too much Star Trek.

But I do feel that much of the Republican "sense of identity" is based on War, and the only selling point I have heard for the party is war, war and more war. There has to be something else.