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So Quality Doesn’t Matter, eh?

There was an interesting conversation that we had over the weekend that had an angle that just may explain much of America’s woes – it explains the auto industry’s at least.

We were at a friend’s house for an impromptu cookout and met a couple that are friends of theirs. The chick was from Detroit, so naturally she and Nick got to talking about the car industry, etc. Naturally this led to discussions about gas prices and gas mileage for American cars vs foreign cars. I know for a fact that Heather’s little 4 cylinder Cavalier (4-5 yrs old, maybe) got 18 MPG. Eight-mothafuckin’-TEEN!! It was retarded. So, I ask: do the American car manufacturers TRY to make their cars suck or does it just happen by itself?

Well, of course, them’s fightin’ words to a dyed in the wool Rust Belt dweller, so she was sputtering about how great the gas mileage is for her Monte Carlo (the 08 model claims 21 city, 31 hwy – I doubt sincerely it’s 10mpg higher on the hwy). It was cute that she used how far she could go on a tank as her measure of good gas mileage. It was cuter that she didn’t know the size of her tank (17 gal). Then she proudly stated that her friend’s Cavalier got 22MPG! Wow! 22!

My 1994 Honda gets 26-28 city and about 32-35 hwy, BITCHES. And it’s 14 years old!! Continue reading “So Quality Doesn’t Matter, eh?”

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Bailout 08: $700+ Billion

I’m cranky. Very, very cranky. I knew that the stupid Bailout would happen but not only did it happen, but they pork barreled it up to $850 Billion rather than the original $700 Bil. FUCKERS. We all know why it passed: can you say lobbyists?

Our Rep Hank Johnson voted NAY. Bless his heart. His vote didn’t mean shit anyway, but bless him for heeding the pleas of his constituents. Too bad he seems to think that the Orphan Works bill is a good idea… I’ll have to harass him some more for that one, I think.

This is a fucking travesty. Fucking politicians couldn’t have possibly read and analysed this huge document in one day.

Well, I hope the future generations who are getting stuck with the bill for all this bullshit won’t mind. It’s just another few hundred billion on the ole USA Credit Card™, no one will notice, right? RIGHT?

Clearly no one who is running this country has a clue what the word deficit means and why it’s bad, mmmkay? DAMMIT.

GAH! I’m so irritated. This is a very clear example of government gone wrong. Why should WE bail out Wall Street, hmm? They got themselves in this mess let them figure it out. Other methods have been put forth, such as fees for trades like the UK has. But why do that when they can get literally BAZILLIONS of dollars from the good ole USA Credit Cardâ„¢?

OMG. This has gone way, WAY too far. It’s time to clean out the politicians who voted AYE. This is a clusterfuck of mammoth proportions.

Bush gets his way AGAIN and screws us one more time before he leaves; a nice parting gift, if you will.  Good luck, Obama. You’ll need it.

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Goddam Hippies!

Did the Russ/Janel babies shower yesterday. Turned out very well. Met some great folks with the exception of one rather unstable chick who I’ll refer to as The Martyr. The Martyr appears to be a broke ass  hippy who volunteers all over the place but apparently doesn’t have the time to earn money. You know you’re in trouble when they start off  “I do lots of service volunteering like NPR, DragonCon and…”  DragonCon? DragonCon is NOT a service!! It’s a stupid convention!! And it just gets worse from there.

I, of course, can’t resist harassing a hippy, so I point out that DragonCon is NOT a service and furthermore the volunteers are rude and ineffectual. I thought she was gonna throw a temper tantrum! She hops up and says “Well, those are my friends you are talking about!!” and stomps into the house. I look over to Caroline and we both mouth “martyr” to each other.  She came back out with Janel and tried to sound logical but she had already shown her hand (and ass, I might add) so I didn’t listen to anything else she said.

Here’s the ranty part:
Gods, I hate hippies who feel so self righteous about the fact that they spend all their time volunteering for us unenlightened employed folk. Who do they think supports NPR, anyway? Broke ass hippies? I think not. Try white collar folks with jobs and discretionary income who DONATE MONEY to keep NPR running so the hippies can have a volunteer position to make themselves feel important. I think it’s a psychological problem when people need so much to feel important that they’ll do volunteer work as a full time job just to feel gratified and or validated. This psychological need to feel important is illustrated perfectly by the legion of Con Slaves who work 20+ hours for a $80 badge just to get to carry a Con radio and shout at attendees. Ooo, the power!! These people need to find their own passion, get a job and find satisfaction in themselves and their little corner of the universe. No amount of outside validation will ever ever feel as good as knowing you are doing what you should be doing, paying your bills and are contributing to society. Couch surfing and being un/underemployed is not really contributing, it’s depending on the success of others to pay your way. Paying your own way is extremely rewarding aside from just money in your pocket. It’s also rewarding  that you can support the arts, your favourite charities, etc. and make a discernible difference.  I know because that’s precisely what I do.  END RANT

Yes, volunteer, but more importantly donate $$ to your favourite causes. That is what will help the most. Ask anyone at NPR. As for DragonCon, your badge payment is a donation – but only to their bank account. DragonCon is a FOR profit event, not NON profit. Apparently some people don’t understand the difference.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked everyone at the party other than The Martyr. Janel is surrounded by hippies fer sure, but they are mostly the funny laid back hippies not the I’m gonna beat you with my holier than thou hippiedom hippies.  I know I’ll never fit in with the hippy set completely and that’s fine with me. I think the hippy to non-hippy ratio is about equal and I’m certain we can take them in a fair fight. Heh! :-D

Once the party cleared out and it was just the core group we had a ton of fun and conversation about real stuff.  It was awesome to have Caroline out with the adults. Welcome back! :-)

Today is about cleaning up around here and getting some of the clutter organised. This place gets cluttery faster than a speeding bullet. ::sigh::

On another note, we have decided to build a studio. My brother is actually stepping up and helping with this project, too. Miracle! The current plan is a 12×14 studio with attic storage. It will have climate control, phone, ethernet for internet access and many outlets. We’re so excited – we just can’t hide it. We’re about to lose control and we think we like it… 

Uh. Well, on that tangent, I’ll sign off before another bad 80s song pops into this post!

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Freecycle can suck it

I’ve had my fill of the stupid hippies on Freecycle. The mods beat me down every time I forget to dot an i, yet 90% of the stupid assholes who use the list don’t show up, complain and act like the person making the offer should bring it to their doors and thank them for taking it, too. For all the godsdamned rules they have, there sure is a lot of bullshit going on. “You must GIVE before you take! Don’t TAKE too much or we’ll ban you!” etc etc. ::Cartman voice:: Goddam hippies!!

I listed a stupid old ice cream maker and got, like, 40 emails about it. SEVEN respondents later, someone finally picked the fucking thing up. You have to deal with these assholes one at a time to be fair and it’s a total pain in the ass. One bitch had the gall to lecture ME about putting my location in the listing (which is NOT allowed you dumb whore) because I’m “so far from Decatur Square” – AFTER she did not show to pick up. Uh, well, I never said I live on the fucking Square in Decatur you stupid bitch – last time I checked I was not homeless. Had the dumbass bothered to look at the follow up email, she’d have seen the fucking map. Yah, I live a whopping 4.5 miles away. Practically ACROSS town!!

So, that bitch was the last straw. Freecycle can kiss my ass. I’ll take my shit to Salvation Army.  I hate fucking self righteous hippies. I’ve got better things to do than coddle middle class pseudo-hippies who drive their brand new monster SUVs to pick up their free shit. (really happened) Gods!

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Friday Rant-o-Matic

Here’s a list of random crap that I’ve read or thought about lately, but not had time to post about. No particular order:

  • Obama is a lying little shit. He is a racist (like most black people are, I’ve come to realise after years of living in a mostly black area) and the only reason he’s “denouncing” his pastor now is because he (Obama) has been outed for the lying asshole politician that he is. Anyone who thinks that Obama is pure of heart is a dumbass. He’s just another politician. He’ll have no power to do anything (um, last time I checked the Dems were taking it in the ass from the Reps) and he’ll be just as lame as any other prez is. But, hey, at least he’s not a Nazi like Clinton, right? Mandated health insurance? KISS MY ASS. There is no way to win with the choices we’ve got for prez this year. No way. It’s a shit sandwich any way you slice it, so vote Libertarian and at least show the ruling parties that there ARE plenty of us out here and we plan to take over. Fair Tax anyone?
  • Speaking of politics, if you don’t watch Boston Legal, you should. Not only is the writing and acting superb, but the issues they address are impressive: assisted suicide, euthanasia, alzheimers, sexism, racism, politics, cloned cows for food, the environment and many more. They are fearless. And the main core of the show (to me, anyway) is the exploration of deep friendship. Alan Shore and Denny Crane, played brilliantly by James Spader and Bill Shatner respectively, are two of the most engaging characters I’ve seen on network TV in ages. Watch the show. You’ll learn something every week, I promise.
  • I’m overbooked. I plan to trim our social calendar back, so don’t take it personally if we pass on events. I’m feeling very stressed by having every frelling weekend crammed with stuff to do for others when we’ve got a houseful of projects to do around here.
  • On a similar note, I’m not feeling all that great lately, either. My hormones have gone wacky again and it’s making me a bit, uh, snippy. I apologize for past and future snippage as I deal with this shit.
  • Can’t wait to see Iron Man!
  • Jewelry. Everything that is currently finished plus 3 pieces I’ve promised are class projects and will be gifted. Anything that you guys would like made will cost you – but I’m discounting for friends/family. I would like to have true retail sales up and running by the end of the year. I am helping my teacher fabricate for DragonCon and I hope to have a few things to sell there as well. So, bottom line: if you want a ring or whatever, I’ll happily take your orders and make you a one of a kind handmade piece. Friends/family get about 50% F/F discount. Otherwise, you’ll pay about 75% of retail. I won’t sell my ‘learning curve’ pieces at full retail. When I decide that I’m ready for retail, then it’s straight up retail. Got it?
  • It’s Friday and I couldn’t care less. Bleh. I awoke with back pain and overall malaise. I think I’ll take a disco nap this afternoon and hope to the gods that I can be halfway social for Heather’s party tonite. Gods help me. /end whining/
  • Everyone have a wonderful weekend. Please come out to Free Comic Book day at Criminal Records and pick up your FREE Think Weasel sampler!! Yes, Nick has his second edition of the Free sampler ready to be distributed with the other comix handed out at Criminal tomorrow. If you can’t get to Criminal, please email me and we’ll mail you one! :-) Go to thinkweasel.com for more info!