Busy as a bee....that's me. Mostly unpacked and situated. Cats are settling in nicely. And made good progress on the gardening around the place. I'm simply LOVING living by a lake. The water is so soothing to watch as it ripples and flows. All you hear around here is birds chirping and geese honking. Quite peaceful indeed.
We made it to closing. Thank God. I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. Granted we still need to finish packing and move. LOL.
So I may not be posting much the next couple days. But we will be getting a cable modem! Woohoo! Now I just need a new computer. ;) (Just kidding....need to wait a bit longer on that.)
The previous nights winds blew with such force that most of the tree blossoms came whirling off. Instead of being covered in pretty colors, now the trees are stripped and the green leaves are starting to appear. Springtime just never lasts long enough. It had been not even a month since the blossoms began to appear and now their splendor is gone.
I got my estimate for what I need to bring to closing next week. But I still haven't gotten word that my sellers have signed the addendum. And its pissing me off. I don't feel comfortable calling the electric, phone and cable companies until I have word that settlement is going to happen as planned next friday. So instead I wait. *sigh*
Yeah...I know things could be worse. But I know they could be better too, LOL.
Imagine being forced to deal with hot temperatures, while having no AC and no water. Imagine being in Iraq right now. And understand their frustration and anger as no one knows why the electric is still out.
Have I said before that I hate packing? Well, I do. LOL.
A piece of good news: 7 POWs recovered in Iraq.
Looting causes more damage than bombs. What's the point of having precise bombs if we let the chaos destroy what remains? These stories continue to sadden me. And it continues to be clear that Bush & Co. were more worried about making plans for all that oil than the safety of the Iraqi people. Liberation, my ass.
Game Show Network was hosting a WinTuition tournament at Montgomery Mall today. I started to sign up, but then realized that I couldn't play for my nephew or niece without my brother Joe signing the form. (He's in Jersey) Not to mention I would have had to hang out for hours to see if I got chosen. So I just crumpled the form up and continued shopping.
Later my brother Brian and I watched the semi-finals after we had finished our shopping. Turns out the emcee was the dude from Whammy. I couldn't help admiring his nice black leather jacket. LOL. Most of the contestants were guys. And the winner was playing for his son who is starting a U of MD in the fall. He won $10,000 in tuition money.
Chris Van Hollen, the freshmen Democratic Representitive from the 8th district was there for the presentation of the check. Earlier we had seen him near Sears greeting people. I could have stopped and spoken to him, but I couldn't think of anything intelligent that I wanted to say. It's not like he has much control over the actions of Bush and Co. ;)
Definitely added a little excitement to the typical mall experience, LOL.
What happened to the so-called plan for Iraq? If the situation there is not stabilized quickly, the whole region could erupt in civil war. Arabs versus Kurds. Shia versus Sunni. Take your pick.
Unfortunately it would appear that the Bush administration is more interested in alleging that Syria is hiding the Iraqi WMD, then really creating peace and democracy in Iraq. Not surprising to those who were not keen on going to war in the first place. Many of us figured that this was a case of smoke and mirrors and the Bush & Co. never had any intention of stopping at Iraq. They have their sights on bigger things...like taking down their so-called Axis of Evil.
It been further confirmed that SARS is being caused by a new strain of coronavirus. I don't like how some news agencies call it a newly mutated coronavirus. From what I've read, this strain is distantly related to known coronaviruses, so its unlikely it arose from a simple mutation. Instead it may have been hiding in an animal reservoir and now crossed species. In time we may find more answers as to how new this virus really is and how it arose.
What is not being talked about much is that along with this coronavirus scientists have also isolated a metapneumovirus which has in the recent past co-infected people along with other viruses to created exacerbated (worse) disease. (In Science, March 31st issue, I think) It may be that a normally benign coronavirus became lethal when it co-infected people along with this metapneumovirus.
Another interesting aspect that is becoming more clear is that China has been hiding the prevalence and severity of disease within its borders. A Chinese coworker of mine had planned to go to China this summer to visit family but now has been disuaded from going since a family member indicated that things were far worse than the Chinese government was willing to admit.
And in Toronto, there have been enough SARS cases to warrant cancelling AACR, a huge annual cancer research meeting, for fear of spreading the virus amongst the worldwide cancer research community.
The I Told You So Olympics II from Max. No point in rehashing what has already been stated ever so eloquently. The Bush administration lied yet again. My favorite quote: "The Bushies lied like thieves. And who should expect otherwise? They lie about everything else. They make an honest man of Al Gore." LOL.
And Tom cracks me up. "In the meantime, congratulations. You've just adopted approximately 23 million Iraqis."
I thought that everything was a go with the house, but it seems the sellers are still being ridiculous about the heat pump. They are still trying to get out of giving us a credit for the thing. It's a 16 year old system that they never had serviced. It has a leak in the coil and and the system needs to be replaced since the coil can not be repaired or replaced. What pisses me off is these folks stand to make nearly $100,000 on the house and they want to dick me over for $2500. Gimme a break! *sigh*
Now I have to wait and see what they do next. They are trying to get a warranty company that will cover the thing if it breaks--pretty amusing since it is basically broke already.
Spammers turn to patriotism to scam America. I had noticed that recently when looking at my email. And those emails that ask if you support the troops, "let us know" are in fact harvesting email addresses. Duh, LOL. ;)
Sick, but funny. I am LOLing at this. On the serious side, hopefully no one was in the vehicle when it blew.
Decided to look through the English version of Al Jazeera's webpage. Of course it gives a different POV than US news agencies, much more critical of US policies. But I didn't find it to be tabloid news or shock news. And at least one of the stories was written by an American professor. I think I'll be looking there more often for an alternative view of world events. Interestingly I read elsewhere that the US administration praised Al Jazeera's creation but then became more critical as things in the Middle East heated up. I think that also coincided with the Bush administration taking office, LOL.
"It offends decency that the Republicans, who were only too happy to spend upward of $30 million investigating Whitewater, suddenly pull the purse strings tight for a probe into the deaths of 3,000 Americans in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the planes hijacked by Al Qaeda. (These are the same Republicans telling us not to worry too much about the yawning federal deficit.)" Read the rest here.
3 weeks until my brother and I settle on the townhouse...woohoo...
I'm both nervous and excited. Now I just gotta reserve the truck, lol. :)
The Panda watch is on....Will they or Won't they? That is will Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, the Pandas at the National Zoo mate this year? We'll soon see.
The fact that RIAA can sue for $150,000 per 'pirated' song file shared is just outrageous. And if they think that by doing this they are going to promote CD sales, they are out of their minds. When you charge people close to $20 per CD, people are not going to be able to afford to buy many CDs. That would in fact lower the number of sales, duh! So folks turned to a method of getting music they could afford....not very different than the old fashioned way of recording songs off the radio onto cassette. (Remember those days?) Maybe if the record industry stopped robbing the general public by charging such exorbinant (sp?) amounts of money for something that cost them only a few dollars to make, maybe then people would be able to buy more CDs. And I don't want to hear that its the artists who are being robbed. They only see a small portion of the money made on CDs. It's the record companies that are losing out...but not really aren't since they are making so much off of each CD. If the music industry truly wanted to see a rise in sales they should cut the cost of each CD by $2-5 at least. Instead they rather sue the pants off of college students who have no money. Great....gotta love the American way.
This is how I really feel about the media coverage of the war but didn't have the energy to type, LOL.
This morning when I kept hearing the story of the POW rescued in Iraq, how she supposedly kept shooting until she ran out of ammo, fought bravely up until she was captured, I realized the tale kept sounding taller each time it was broadcast by each news agency. It reminded me of a M*A*S*H episode or two where the media creates a hero story where there wasn't one. I mentioned my thoughts at work early in the day. Turns out by later in the day, the girl's father announced she had no gunshot wounds or stab wounds. The Pentagon was giving no comment. And I felt more justified in thinking that the real story was nothing like the story the media created that was spinning out of control.
Now obviously I feel relieved that they rescued this girl. But remember that she was a supply clerk. Not Rambo as the media was portraying her as. I suspect she fought her captors as best she could, but I don't think she was taking them out in a blaze of glory. I think this poor girl (of 19) was captured, beaten, tortured, resulting in two badly broken legs and a broken arm. Being a blond American girl, she was being kept as a trophy and likely the reason she was still alive unlike her comrades.
I have no problem with her being applauded for bravery and her story being told as one of a few happy endings. But I do feel annoyed as hell at the the thought that the media has been giving us a BS story making her out to be a female Rambo. It's not fair to her, her family or the American Public.
I hope the story of a Iraqi couple being instrumental in her rescue is true. But I'll give it the same skepticism I gave the original story until more details come to light.
Why the hell does anyone believe the administration was being sincere in its reasons for attacking Iraq? With so many holes in their case, I just don't get it. And from reading many other blogs, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who feels that way.
And in terms of all those pro-war, anti-Arab, anti-protester jokes, I agree completely with this guy's response.
In case you haven't heard, Gary Hart is considering running for president in 2004 and he has an online weblog.
Is anyone else getting tired of the scrolling headlines running underneath every freaking network's news. This practice started on 9/11 on the cable networks and now has spread to the regular networks. I find it distracting to what's being shown on the screen and I find it gives me a headache if I read the headlines for any prolonged period of time.
I accepted these on the cable news outlets since they are 24 hour a day news channels. But I'm really cringing at the thought that these will become permanent fixtures on the major networks. Just say 'no' to scrolling news blurbs! LOL.
Warm weather returns here as spring makes another visit to the DC area. Sounds like a headline, LOL.
It's hump day...woohoo...halfway through another week. And another week closer to the move date. We're still negotiating the credit we'll receive for the heat pump which is not fully functional. I think the sellers are not pleased, but hey, we're not stupid. Getting a receipt that claims that the thick ice around the unit was due to water dripping on it did not fly with me. I found it especially humorous that the ice remained on the unit even after several days of 70+ degree weather. Nah...that couldn't possibly be a clue that it is broken. *rolls eyes*
So hopefully we'll get it settled by the end of the week. I'm sorry that they now feel as if they are not getting the price they should be getting due to them needing to give a credit for the heat pump, but no one forced them to accept our bid. And no matter who bought the house, the heat pump would have to have been replaced. So unless they could have found some morons to buy it without having the 16-year-old heat pump inspected, they would have run into the same problem.
I'm getting tired of all the pro-war, ultranationalist email jokes/jpegs that have been flying around. Today, I was so thrilled to receive a joke that had nothing to do with current events but instead was about a Texas Chili cookoff. LOL. I like my humor minus the propoganda, LOL.
Does anyone ever buy those Craftmatic adjustable beds seen on TV? Those things have been sold as long as I can remember, yet I've never known anyone to own one. This question popped into my head as I was watching Game Show Network last night. Maybe I'll have to do some research on that, LOL! ;)
A conversation about the war with my boss yielded the idea of what's really going on with our administration. It seems reasonable to think that Colin Powell and Don Rumsfeld are playing Good Cop, Bad Cop. Where it seems they are split, they really are not. Why would Powell who led Gulf War I really be so reluctant for a Gulf War II? In order to act as a diplomat he would in fact have to appear to be reluctant to go to war and willing to negotiate a peaceful resolution. Appearances are everything. However nothing with the Bush administration should be taken at face value, even Bush's lack of apparent saaviness. These guys clearly have bigger plans with the world that we are not privy to. They wish to weild their power to shape a New World Order. I'm not sure that the American public are onboard for such lofty ambitions.
As my boss expressed, the American public was included in the debate as to whether Saddam Hussein is a dangerous man. But we were not permitted to debate the administration's real goal of changing the face of the Middle East from dictatorship to a potentially spreading democracy. And he's not so happy about that. He's (and I'm) not convinced this plan of action will work or is even advisable. We'll only know the real outcome 10-20 years from now, when further events stemming from Gulf War II have occurred. He feels this major change in policy should have been debated by the American public before military action was initiated. However, the Bush Administration knew the common man would not go for such a lofty and potentially dangerous change in foreign policy, so they kept their real agenda under the radar of the consciousness of the American Public.
The question remains, how will the American Public react to Bush et al's tactics and the results they reap?