April 2008

Glennz Tees has some new stuff!

Love this one:

(no afilliation with Glennz, just think they are cool)

Oh, man, let me tell you about my morning.

(This will be much more exciting if you imagine a rocking soundtrack, a couple of high-speed car chases, and perhaps Jessica Alba in a bikini tossed in. Or McDreamy, if you haven’t seen enough of Enchanted already, and you go that way.)

Anyway.

This morning, I opted to sleep instead of run, as I’m still a bit nervous pushing my legs / feet any more than I need to. That turned out to be a mistake, but whatever. Didn’t run.

Kids up and breakfasted and dressed about as well as can be expected, and off to school.

Check my work email from home because I’m going to the — (drum roll, car crash) — dentist! Don’t you wish you were me?

Off to the dentist, who says things are ok, but “we really ought to put a crown on that one. We’ll print you an estimate.” Oh, yay! Last crown was $700 or so (their estimates can’t be trusted). Um, no, I won’t make an appointment for that yet, I need to go sell a kidney or something first.

Then, home with the car. The car? She’s not running on all cylinders. Seriously, not. So I left it at home and walked… to the bus stop.

(cue gratuitous sex scene between McDreamy and Alba to keep the audience from running out for popcorn and forgetting to come back to this thriller)

I walked to the bus stop, and it’s nice out, and not even a mile away. I stood around for ten minutes or so, having apparently just missed the bus. Then, we’re on! An exciting ride (turns on two wheels, all that) and suddenly we’re at the drop-off. Where I walk a ways and catch — another bus!

About ten minutes later we’re off again, and actually caught some air over the railroad tracks (Steve McQueen’s ghost must have been driving) and ten minutes later I make it to work.

Total travel time, door to door - 1 hour. But I saved some gas, and my car may not have done so well anyway, what with the cylinder thing.

(cue rock music for closing credits)

If you’ve been reading me, you’ve seen me acting pretty down low lately.

I just wanted to pop in here and say that today, so far (needs a disclaimer), is pretty darn good.

I ran this morning, three miles - didn’t break any speed records, but didn’t feel hurt. I have a new pair of shoes, again, and they seem to be working OK. It was cool, freaky cool for almost May here, and only one car tried to run me off the road. Mental jukebox: CCRWRSWAM.*

I seem to have a spring in my step, I’ve managed to semi-placate thirty people this morning, so I’ll be allowed to stick around another day or two.

Maybe it’s the free donuts somebody brought to work. Maybe it’s because I got lucky last night. I’m banking on the lucky.

*CCRWRSWAM is catchy:

Just a little something to think about this election season.

It’s always there, but I think the time has come for decisions to be made and action to be taken, instead of just wishing it will all go away.

I’m talking about energy, I’m talking about what the hell America plans to do about it.

Consider this for a moment: when George Bush the Second (aka “Shrub”) took office, do you know how much a barrel of oil cost? In January, 2001, a barrel of West Texas Crude was $29.58. By the next year, yes after 9/11, it had dropped to $19.67. Which is about the price it was when Clinton the First took office.

It closed on Friday just shy of $120.

If we want to assume that the price will drop back to $25 a barrel? We’d be fucking nuts. No such thing will happen.

No, instead, demand worldwide will continue to increase, and this will pressure the price of oil. This is supply and demand. This is not Exxon making a profit, because Exxon - as big as they are - is just one company, and there are many, many others out there. Since oil is oil, we could buy it from Chevron instead. “Oh, but they’re in on it, too!” says the conspiracy. I don’t think so, Tim.

No, this is not a parlor trick on behalf of the oil industry. It is not because of 9/11. It is not because terrorists are keeping us from opening the vast Iraqi oil fields, nor is it because of a hurricane. This is simply demand - worldwide - outgrowing supply.

Consider this: the world’s population is expected to increase by another 50% by mid century. The number of cars and trucks on the road, driven (ha) by developing nations, will double in about thirty years. If there is enough demand already, today, to drive oil to over $100 a barrel for months, imagine when there are twice as many people in line at the gas station.

Turning corn into ethanol, to supplement our gasoline, has turned into a fiasco as half the world faces food shortages. Suspending state taxes on gasoline sales, which fund little things like the highways we like to drive, won’t help provide more oil to turn into precious gasoline, instead it will increase demand when there is already a lack of supply, while simultaneously forcing states to tax other things to keep the highways maintained (there won’t be enough money to build new ones, just try and keep the existing roads from falling apart).

So think about this, as you watch the pundits and stump speeches: who is going to help us navigate this mess?

Mrs. Flinger has another Flashback Friday theme up, today it’s movies.

Now, of course, I’m not going to answer the question directly, cuz I’m old and don’t remember.

I do remember what a Big Deal it was when Wizard of Oz was going to come on. It only happened like once a year, and we kids would talk about it for days ahead of time. “Is Oz on tonite?” “Yeah.” “I can’t wait to see it!” Then of course, we’d spend half the movie hiding behind a chair because of that scary witch and her freaky flying monkeys. (My kids watched this and thought the “effects were lacking.” Whatever)

I don’t think this was the first movie, but I remember seeing Digby on the big screen, and forever have ingrained in my mind the famous line: “Digby! Don’t swallow!” Yes, It has warped me ever since.

My parents took me and my friends to see Escape to Witch Mountain at the theater on my birthday (Canyon Creek Twin, long gone now). I fell in love with Kim, as little boys do. At the drive in I remember seeing M*A*S*H and Bullitt and some other early seventies movies.

One of the most memorable movie experiences: Jaws. Scared the living fuck out of me, in a way that kids who have been immersed in CNN 24 hour Shark Attack Coverage can’t really appreciate. I bought the album because it had a nekkid girl on the cover. About to get devoured, yes, so?

So, what was your first movie experience?

(btw, I’ve deliberately kept this to the ten-and-under movies, there were many many more memorable ones later on)