| the rest of the story... |
| 07.31.04 (5:31 am) |
I talked to people at the horse show yesterday. It seems like the people from last post never knew there was a problem with their entry. The kid showed last night and took last place. Oh well, hopefully she had fun. She's only 9 and has the cutest pony ever.
I'm off to the library to borrow CDs to load up my iPod. Ain't technology great?
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| psychic? |
| 07.30.04 (1:47 pm) |
I had the weirdest experience today. Background - I was in charge of registering kids for the 4-H state fair horse show. The show started today but I had forgotten that.
I'm at work today and we were really slow. I normally don't even work Fridays. I decided to go on a farm call in the afternoon. I normally don't do farm calls. I had to go down a road I'd never been on before. I recognized the name of the road from registering a kid for the show. I thought to myself just in passing "I wonder what house she lives in?" All of a sudden it was like sirens going off in my head. I got this huge rush of adrenaline that made me start to shake. There was a voice in my head that was yelling, "There's a problem with her entry." I had no idea where that thought came from but I was totally stressing and I wasn't sure why. When I got back to the office I checked the entries online and her name wasn't on the list. So I started trying to make phone calls. I didn't have any of my information at work. I found a number for the fairgrounds but couldn't get to the right people at that number. Then I got another number and finally got through to the entry booth. This was literally after a half hour and after being transfered about 10 times. The guy there said that he didn't know if she had checked in yet. I figured that that was a good sign because if there had been a big fight when she was denied entry they would have remembered. So he added her to the list even though entries closed on Monday. (Thank you entry guy!) Then I had to find her. I was worried that she may have been told that she wasn't entered and so she went home. I mobilized half the county trying to find someone who was at the show who had a cell phone to tell this person not to leave. Finally, people helped me track someone down who found these people. I think everything went ok. I left numbers that they could use to contact me but no one ever called.
So that all leaves me with one question - What told me that there was a problem? After I calmed down it occured to me how incredibly weird it was to just have that thought. Why did I know what road she lived on? I don't know the roads any of the other entries lived on. Very strange.
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| iPod |
| 07.29.04 (2:42 pm) |
I'm the proud owner of a new iPod. The 20 GB model. I've wanted an iPod since they first came out. I'm an Apple geek so I love all their new stuff. But, I couldn't justify the expense. The new models just came out and they are cheaper than ever. Today at work I figured out that the money that I will make tomorrow for working an extra day this week would pay for an iPod. As soon as I realized that I became obsessed. I couldn't wait to get off work and run to the Apple store to get one.
So now its charging. Someone needs to invent a battery that comes fully charged for impatient people like me.
I need to take it to work tomorrow because no one there had ever heard of an iPod. I work with some incredibly technologically naive people. At the other clinic I work at I was in charge of teaching people when they went computerized. For two people there the first lesson was literally "How to Double-Click." They still have problems with that. Today I watched the people at this clinic try to search for a store on the internet. They didn't really understand how to search. They would try to guess what the address might be. If they couldn't guess they would give up or call the store to get the webpage address. I introduced them to the joy of search engines. They were amazed.
I realize that I grew up around technology. I've been an internet user since 1993 so it is all intuitive to me at this point. But for some reason I'm always surprised that there are still people who have no clue how to use the internet or the computer for that matter.
I'm going to go download some music (#$%^ dialup service!) and upload some CDs.
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| my plan for Iraq |
| 07.28.04 (4:06 pm) |
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I figured out Iraq today on the way home from work. I was listening to a radio story about paying Iraqis to do community service instead of blowing up Americans. That sounded like bribery to me expecially since who gets paid is up to individual commanders. So, what about this? Start a program like the WPA or CCC in Iraq. For the history-impared those were programs in the US during the depression that gave people jobs doing work for the government. Building dams, working in parks, etc. Iraq has a lot of infrastructure repair work that needs done. Use the bribe money to pay people to do it. Gets people off the streets and gets the repair work done.
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| no one dies |
| 07.28.04 (4:01 pm) |
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Why don't people just die anymore? Whenever I hear people talk about death they always refer to it as "passing away" or "not with us anymore" or if it is TV "paying the ultimate sacrifice." It all starts to sound like Monty Python's Dead Parrot skit. Dead people have died. It's a simple as that. Why don't people just say it?
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| Good Omens |
| 07.26.04 (1:49 pm) |
GOOD OMENS
by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
The authors are what attracted me to this book. I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld books and AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman. I figured that the combination was going to be great.
Here's the summary from the back of the book. "We hear the world wll end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. Unfortunately, sister Mary Loquacious of the Chattering Order has misplaced the Antichrist. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles. And the representatives from Heaven and Hell have decided they actually like the human race..."
I actually found this book in a bookstore and bought it. I never buy books. I'm a library sort of girl. But, I'm glad I bought this one because I see myself reading it whenever I need a good laugh.
Rating (out of 5 smileys) :D :D :D :D
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| conundrum |
| 07.26.04 (8:11 am) |
In April I picked up a showbill for the Morab Nationals in KY in October. The show is open to Morabs, Arabs, and Morgans. I've wanted to show there ever since I went to watch one year and realized that in spite of the impressive title most classes were very small. This year's show is the weekend of Oct. 23-24. My mother was with me and informed me that my cousin was getting married that weekend. Her tone of voice said "end of discussion - put down the show bill." I kept the paper and every once in while look at it and think about how much I'd like to go.
This weekend she mentioned that my brother isn't going to the wedding. I asked why. He could get out of what he is doing if he was the least bit motivated to go to this wedding. It didn't sound like he was being disowned. So, I mentioned that I thought that Morab Nationals was a much better excuse than his. She said something like, "You decide what you'll do." She's passive-aggressive at times. But it sounds like I may be in trouble but won't be killed on sight. So now what do I do?
Pros:
1. Its a show at KY Horse Park. Great facility.
2. Its Morab Nationals. Sounds impressive and may be easy to place at.
3. Gets me out a wedding that will probably be very boring.
4. I'm thinking of breeding her next year. If I do she'll be very pregnant next October so I'd lose another year.
Cons:
1. I haven't shown all year because of her training. I don't know that she'll even be ready to go.
2. I wanted to wait to travel that far until I have a nicer trailer that I feel more comfortable taking long distance.
The plan:
Wait and see. (Great plan, I know.) If she is ready to go I'm going to take her this year. The trailer should be ok. I'll have to get a hotel room instead of having a trailer with living quarters but that's ok. I'll take my chances with my mom's family. I hardly ever see them anyway. I'll make sure to send a decent sized check to the bride and groom as penance.
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| catching up |
| 07.26.04 (7:33 am) |
I've been slacking recently so I decided to catch up with my life in one post.
1. Ed's doing better. He's stable at least.
2. My parents came down for the weekend. My dad went exploring and found out all kinds of stuff about this town that I didn't know. He found back ways from one end of town to the other so you can avoid traffic. We even found a bowling alley. It wasn't hard to find. You just turn down a main street that I had never had any reason to go down. I also found a tourist magazine that talks a lot about local history. I learned a lot there too. I've lived here for two years and never knew all this stuff. My mom brought down a bunch of hostas so we cleaned out a neglected flower bed and planted those.
3. Prize learned how to canter. It was terribly anticlimatic. I've been afraid to canter her because I thought she'd be out of control. I think the trainer was hesitant too. But she did it like she's been doing it every day of her life. Of course she has been cantering every day in the pasture. I guess it isn't a huge difference to do it with someone on your back.
4. The husband came back from a trade show all excited. There was much celebrating going on there. I know this because they kept calling me in the middle of the night and passing the phone around to everyone who was celebrating so they could all talk to me. Just what I wanted after midnight. There's been a huge amount of time and effort put in so getting good feedback was very exciting to them. If they ever actually get around to a product launch they will be impossible to live with.
5. My boss had a cookout for me and the other vet. It was fun.
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| sad news |
| 07.21.04 (4:17 pm) |
I just found out that a friend of mine has had a massive heart attack and is not doing well. I spent the weekend at the horse show with him joking around like always. He was my sanity break whenever other people were getting too nasty. So send your thoughts and prayers to Ed.
It is always a shock when something sudden like this happens. A few years ago we had a reunion party at a former classmate's house. I hadn't seen her since graduation. The next week she was killed in an accident. What kept replaying in my head was the memory of her husband saying at the party how wonderful his life was and how there was nothing he'd change about it at all. I'd never seen him so happy. Makes you remember to appreciate every moment.
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| FoxNews search |
| 07.19.04 (4:26 pm) |
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I was just looking at my stats and noticed that I had a person come in from FoxNews.com. That seemed weird so followed the path back. Seems that if you put "Boycott France bumpersticker" into FoxNews search engine my country quiz post comes up as #8. That is really strange. It's actually sort of freaking me out. I'm not sure why. I guess I always thought of this as an insulated and isolated little spot not really connected to the rest of the web. I'm not sure I want to show up on the FoxNews search engine. Of course now that I've typed FoxNews and Boycott France bumpersticker several times in this post again I'm probably just upping my rating on their search engine.
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| personal responsibility |
| 07.19.04 (7:58 am) |
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Whatever happened to personal responsibility? I'm working at the horse show on Saturday and it is pouring down rain. The day starts with the speed events. This guys barges into the entry booth and very nastily announces that "If my kid falls out there you guys are going to get sued so you better cancel this show." Wait a minute. If you think a situation is too dangerous for your kid then don't put your kid in it. Don't rely on other people to make that decision for you. That seems pretty self-evident to me. But I'm a terribly logical person at times so I don't always understand the masses.
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| finishing school this week |
| 07.16.04 (1:21 pm) |
I just got back from visiting Prize at school. I am happy to report that she is doing much better than last week even though the trainer's first words to me were, "She knows how to buck, doesn't she?"
She is being ridden now. Still just walk-trot stuff but she is relaxed. At the other trainer's she was incredibly angry the whole time she was being ridden. Here even if she gets upset about something her body language stays relaxed.
He's riding her western but she looks like a english horse playing dress-up. There's no way that horse is going to be anything but a hunt seat horse.
They bought a new yearling longhorn bull last night. He was laying by the fence with the older longhorn cow. Prize was keeping a respectful distance. She wasn't spooking but she didn't want to get too close. Of course Terry worked her until she was so comfortable with them that she was sticking her head through the fence to nuzzle the bull. Personally, I think that having a healthy respect for large animals with big horns shows good sense. I don't know that I want her spotting one on a trail ride and deciding to go up to it for a cuddle.
I'm really encouraged by her progress though. He seems to have figured her out. He knows that you have to make everything her idea or she will fight. He's not trying to bully her. As a result she's working well for him. I didn't know what I was going to do if I went there today and saw the same behavior as I did with the othe trainer. I was pretty much out of options so this is very happy news.
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| sapphires! |
| 07.16.04 (6:29 am) |
I absolutely love Bidz.com. I have to limit my time spent there because I get addicted. I don't usually buy stuff because I'm really cheap but I like watching people pay huge prices for really ugly jewelry.
But, I've been looking for sapphire earrings. I decided that was going to be my reward for hitting my short term weight goal. Finally today I found a simple pair of sapphire studs that I wanted. There are no reserves on this site so sometimes you can get jewelry cheap. At least that's my goal. (I once got a great heart shaped ruby ring for $16.)
The auctions here end when no one bids against you for 30 seconds. The person I was bidding against kept waiting until there were only 3 seconds left and then he'd bid again. But I got my earrings! I paid more than I usually would but these were my reward and I wanted them. Sometimes you just need to spoil yourself.
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| whining parents |
| 07.15.04 (3:09 pm) |
I'm going to have to spend a weekend with a bunch of whining parents. My bad attitude is already starting.
Here's a list of things I will like about this weekend:
1. Horses
2. Most kids
Things that will make me insane
1. Parents
If we could just have a horse show and outlaw parents the world would be a better place. I just do not understand their attitudes. When I was in 4-H shows if I didn't do well my mother never threatened to sue show management. She never tried to physically assault the judge. This happens fairly routinely now.
I want to make a banner that says "This is not the World Championship Show, people! Get a grip!" Instead of teaching their kids how to deal with disappointment and show good sportsmanship, they are teaching kids that if you lose it must be because someone else cheated. Or possibly the entire show was rigged so their child didn't place.
I see parents pushing kids who are obviously not interested in showing horses. The parents are trying to live out their desires through the kids. These are kids who are going to get out of horses as soon as they are allowed. Its a shame because some of them may have had a true interest once before their parents took the fun out of it for them.
I've been working with 4-H shows for 19 years first as a competitor and then as a volunteer. The parents get worse every year. I just don't get it.
I never had a great show career as a kid. You know what? It did not scar me for life. I'm still into horses. I still love the horse I was showing at the time.
I'm sure that part of my bafflement is because I'm childfree. Maybe if I had kids with a hobby that I'd spent a lot of money on I'd be crazy too. But I would hope that I could retain a bit of objectivity and judgement. I would not expect my kid to be the absolute best at everything she ever tried. I would not think that everyone was out to get my kid. What kind of example is that to set?
Pretty soon their will be no volunteers for this type of event. I'm about the most diehard 4-H volunteer you'll ever meet but after this weekend I'm done for the rest of the year at least. (If I could find a sucker to take over my job for this weekend I would.)
Life's too short to be screamed at by delusional parents.
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| tiny shorts |
| 07.13.04 (3:23 pm) |
Guess what I'm wearing! I'm wearing a pair of shorts that I bought today. They are two sizes smaller than what I was wearing in April.
This is the picture that inspired me to lose weight. A friend needed a picture of my horse wearing a saddle that I bought from her. This is the only picture I had of Prize under saddle. You can hardly see the saddle because of my fat butt covering it up.
[image]spirit97_249819115 .jpg[/image]
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| Satirical Political Beliefs Test |
| 07.12.04 (8:08 am) |
A Humorous Political Party Quiz to Test
If You're an Archconservative, Leftwing Wacko,
Antigovernment Libertine or a Commie Sympathizer
http://www.geocities.com/donaldjhagen/humorous test.html" title="http://www.geocities.com/donaldjhagen/humorous test.html" target="_blank"http://www.geocities.com/dona...
I'm a combination of archconservative and antigovernment libertine.
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| Spirit |
| 07.12.04 (6:46 am) |
I went out to the barn last night and Spirit (namesake of this blog) was standing in a pool of blood. He didn't have any injuries and I figured out that he's urinating blood. He's not acting sick. In fact he's his normal obnoxious self. This could have even been going on for a while because he's been outside most of the time lately. Yesterday I stripped all the bedding out of the stall to let the mats dry. He was standing on the bare mats which is why I noticed the pools of urine.
I rushed to the clinic convinced I was going to find tumor cells in his urine. He's 29 years old which is fairly ancient for a horse. I didn't find much of anything out. I guess I'm reassured about that but now I have no idea what's going on. I started him on antibiotics which he gobbled up because he gets them mixed with applesauce and grain. I'm going to have to get some help to do a full exam on him. He's feeling too good to let me examine him alone. He's always been my worst patient.
I hate having animals getting old. In November I'll have had Spirit for 20 years. I'm neurotic about his health. The rest of the animals could lose a limb and eventually I'd notice but if he sneezes I'm convinced he's going to die. I know that he's past the average life expectancy of a horse and he's not going to be around forever but that doesn't make it any easier.
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| more fake food |
| 07.11.04 (5:56 pm) |
This is absolutely amazing! I tried a recipe for Zucchini Cobbler today. Sounds gross right? No. It tastes like apple cobbler. Here's the link to the recipe. http://www.recipezaar.com/rec...
I also made the baked spinach with three cheeses. I'm not a big spinach fan but this reminds me of spinach-artichoke dip.
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=82034" title="http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=82034" target="_blank"http://www.recipezaar.com/rec...
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| The Country Quiz |
| 07.10.04 (2:50 pm) |
Right before I decided that I was done listening to my husband today he was telling me about a "Boycott France" bumpersticker he's expecting in the mail. I love this result! EVIL LAUGHTER FOLLOWS....
You're France!
Most people think you're snobby, but it's really just that you're better than everyone else. At least you're more loyal to the real language, the fine arts, and the fine wines than anyone else. You aren't worth beans in a fight, unless you're really short, but you're so good at other things that it usually doesn't matter. Some of your finest works were intended to be short-term projects.
Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid
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| an explanation |
| 07.10.04 (1:05 pm) |
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I figured it out! After I wrote the previous entry I realized what his problem was today. No nicotine in his system. He is totally unable to deal with life without the drug coursing through him. How do people let themselves get like that?
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| strange male behavior |
| 07.10.04 (11:56 am) |
I truly do not understand men sometimes. My husband drives like a complete and total moron. He speeds, tailgates, and swerves lane to lane for no apparent reason. He doesn't even seem to look at the road very often. Its very stressful for me to get in the car with him.
Today we're driving back from a movie and he was saying stupid things on top of the reckless driving. I hate stupidity. He makes statements like "Anyone who would vote for John Kerry hates the United States and has been brainwashed by the media's propaganda." Now, I'm not a Kerry fan but that's just stupid.
So I finally just put my head down and covered my face with my hands. That way I couldn't see the road. I immediately relaxed. Became serene and peaceful even. Thing is, it set my husband off.
I'm not sure why. I wasn't even bitching about his driving any more. But he started driving even more recklessly so I was getting thrown around in my seat. Then he starts making weird threats. Nothing scary like he's going to hurt me but stupid stuff like he isn't going to drive home. I didn't care because I was in my happy place. He also said that my foolish behavior is forcing him to drive more dangerously. We've had this conversation before. I usually tell him to take responsibility for his own actions. Today I just stay quiet. So he heads down our driveway at high speed. This is especially dumb because our drive is long and very rutted. It is beating the crap out of HIS vehicle. How is that supposed to upset me, again? Then when I get out of the car he storms off. Yep, fast down the driveway again, damaging his own car.
So tell me, where is the logic in that? Apparently I'm supposed to be devasted by this behavior but I'm just happy to be back on my own two feet.
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| horse playing games |
| 07.09.04 (2:45 pm) |
I went to visit Prize today to see how she is doing in school. When I walked in the barn the trainer looked at me sheepishly and said, "I haven't ridden her yet. She seems to get scared really easily and doesn't know much about ground work so we've been working on that." I started to laugh. It was either that or cry. That horse has been doing groundwork with me for 3.5 years. During that time I can count the things she's been afraid of on one hand. She's playing games with the new trainer.
He takes her out to show me what he's doing with her. Horse acts like she's never even walked on the end of a leadrope before. I just shake my head. He puts her through some drills that she can do in her sleep. She acts like she has no idea what he's talking about. He's trying to gently break it to me that she's just not ready for full training yet. I'm insisting that she knows all this stuff. I know he's thinking that I'm a delusional owner that just can't face the fact that my horse isn't as great as I think she is.
He gets called into the barn. This gives me a few minutes with the little brat. I look at her. She looks back. I ask her to do one of the drills. She hesitates. I shake her lead rope so the noseband of her halter slaps her nose and say, "Listen up. He won't thump you but I will." I ask her again. She does it. I put her through the whole routine he was trying. She does it all. We're just standing there when he comes back. I hand her to him. He asks her gently again. She does everything. He's amazed. I can tell he's wondering what happened while he was gone. A few times he asks her for a move and she looks over her shoulder at me before responding. I just look at her. She does what she was told.
Then it comes. The statement that I've heard from everyone who has ever tried to work with her. "You know what her problem is? She's just too smart." Yep. I've never seen a horse play dumb before let alone play it as convincingly as this one does. I told him some stories to illustrate her ability to fool people. I think he understands now. He's going to start riding her now. I'm paying for training by the day so I don't need her wasting time pretending that she's stupid.
I can't get back there for a week. I hope she starts to work now. I don't want to have to glare at her in order to get her to behave during her lessons. I swear that when I breed this horse my first question to stallion owners is going to be "Is your horse stupid? 'Cause I need to counteract the mare's intelligence a little."
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| runaway |
| 07.08.04 (1:41 pm) |
Last night my husband told me that his 14 year old nephew ran away from home. He was found about 8 miles away from his house. Guess where he said he was headed? That's right - here! We already have one of my husband's deadbeat relatives living with us. We do not need another.
It's not that I'm totally unsympathetic. The kid has had a rough life. His mom had him when she was 16. She's since had two other kids each with different fathers. I met my husband in 1997. They have lived in a different state every year since then. I don't know how much they moved before that. I don't even know for sure what state they live in right now. Last year they lived near here. He got expelled from school. His mother laughed about it when she told me. Since then he's started to become violent towards his mother. There is a very strong family history of schizophrenia that develops at about this age. So he may have that going on or he's just messed up or both.
He would not want to live here. I come from a very strict family, especially about school. I'd make him go to school and do his homework. If he got in trouble at school or skipped a day he'd be immediately shipped back to his mother. I haven't even started to think about the farm chores that need done around here. He better rethink his running away destination.
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| jitters |
| 07.05.04 (11:17 am) |
Today's the day my horse finally goes to school. I'm a nervous wreck. The trailer is hooked up. I just need to shave her face to make her look presentable and then she's ready to go. I hope this goes well. If she works with him she'll learn a lot. But, this horse can be a total bitch if she wants to (the main reason she's off to another trainer) and this trainer is a last resort to try to get her focused.
It's like having someone evaluate you to see if you've been a good parent. I know she's behind where she should be at this point. Will he think I'm a bad horse mom?
Please, please, please Prize use your manners for the first day or two at least. Just prove that you do have them.
I can't imagine how nervous I'll be when its time for me to start riding in lessons with him. I haven't ridden truly competitively in about 10 years. He uses a style different than I'm used to. Its going to be like starting from scratch. That's going to be humbling.
But if she focuses and then I learn how to harness the skills she learns we'll be a highly competitive team. She's got all the talent in the world if she decides to use it.
Ok, I've stalled enough now. Time to go.
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| Democracy in Action? |
| 07.05.04 (6:11 am) |
I just read this quote from an Anna Quindlen article in Newsweek.
"the new interim Constitution for Iraq mandates 25 percent female representation in Parliament, which thoroughly trumps the United States on the democracy scale."
Excuse me? How is mandating who may be in Parliament democratic? Shouldn't the people be able to decide who their representatives are? How does that work anyway? Are there certain areas that are required to have female candidates or are the female MPs chosen separately?
It seems that this is a case of the ends justifying the means for the author.
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| am I an addict? |
| 07.04.04 (2:25 pm) |
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While all this discussion was going on (see the post below) inside I was alternating between anger, disbelief, and "I've got to Blog this!" Does that make me an addict?
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| cognitive dissonance on the 4th of July |
| 07.04.04 (2:13 pm) |
I went to the husband's father and stepmother's house for the weekend. They live on a series of small connected lakes so we went out on the boat for a while. That was fun. We went out again at night when people were setting off fireworks and watched. They had some serious fireworks being set off privately. I'm not sure if it isn't illegal there or if no one cares.
The problem came during conversations. They made frequent disparaging comments about minorities and homosexuals. I don't remember this from previous visits. It made me really uncomfortable. They are highly educated professional people. My father in law is a pastor. He was no business saying the things that he was saying. They not only didn't see anything wrong with it they acted like they expected us to agree. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be rude since we were guests but I didn't want to let them get away with it. They finally pushed my husband too far when they said something about people from the south being stupider than northerners. After his parent's divorce my husband moved with his mother to Atlanta and considers himself a southerner. He told them that he thought that he's met many more stupid people where he lives now than in GA. They seemed surprised that he objected to their "facts."
They asked if there were minorities in our county. Our county is 97.9% white. I stated that fact and they took that as proof that we also choose to live away from minorities. I said no that I knew the fact because I researched it when we looked at adoption. (I wanted to know what kind of racism the child could expect.)
The sad thing is that they have a Hispanic son in law and grandchildren that they adore. But they talked about "the Mexicans" that live in Arizona as the reason they wouldn't move there.
They also spoke about "queers." I know my husband and a business associate stayed there a month ago on a business trip. The associate's son recently came out. He was having a hard time accepting his son's homosexuality until my husband informed him that one of his employees was gay. The associate was very glad that this was not an issue in his employment and started to realize that other people had no problem accepting his son. I wonder now if my father in law was referring to "queers" when they were staying there.
What do you do? Is there any point getting into a fight when people's minds are made up?
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| raccoons on parade |
| 07.02.04 (11:49 am) |
Last night I let the dog outside about 10 pm. When I opened the door to the garage and turned on the light I saw a large raccoon strolling out of the garage. I decided to get tough and yelled at it to go away. It was already going away but sometimes it helps to get bossy. Besides I didn't want it beating up on the dog since it was bigger than her. Then one by one its friends came out from under my car. It was like watching one of those clown cars in the circus. A total of 6 raccoons were in my garage. I knew we had a raccoon around. I didn't know we had six. I didn't know that these six think that the garage is a cool place to hang out. The last few were alot smaller than the first one so they must be somebody's babies. An important point is that these coons didn't run away. They strolled. They never even looked at me or the dog. I think they went out because I turned on the light. Apparantly I'm too insignificant to even notice.
On a nicer wildlife note I saw a whole pheasant family yesterday. We've had pheasants living here since before we built. I see the male several times a day. But yesterday was the first time I've ever seen the female and a bunch of chicks. Very cute!
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| quilt shopping adventure |
| 07.01.04 (2:01 pm) |
Today was the day we went to the Amish quilt stores. There were some truly amazing quilts hanging in some of those stores. The prices on some of them were amazing too. There was one little square quilt that I could probably make in a few hours that was $60. I had to stop myself from blurting out "$60 for that???" I'm looking at my dog laying on a quilt on the floor here. I wonder if she appreciates the fact that that quilt could be worth hundreds of dollars but I let her sleep on it. Probably not.
We did find a discount fabric store. Then we found out that the discount fabric store had an outlet farther down the road. I got several yards of fabric for 99 cents a yard.
My favorite store was just a little dry goods store in a small town. They had the most amazing fabric but it was at full quilt store prices so we didn't buy anything there. At one store C. actually hugged a bolt of fabric repeating "I love it. I love it." She didn't love the price though.
We had some side trips too. We went to a cheese store. We also stopped at a uniform store and found the only two pairs of khaki uniforms pants in size medium in all of Ohio. They had to pull a pair out of the back room. I never realized that these were such a hot item until I started trying to buy some a few weeks ago. I thought ordering them online would take too long. If I'd have ordered them I'd have had them long ago.
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