Not Funny, Just Dumb

This is one of those posts that isn't really funny (sorry, Noelle's mom). Instead, it's one of those, "how dumb do they think we are?" posts.

In today's paper was a story about how more and more people are living in RVs and cars in California, because "of the foreclosure crisis and shaky economy." This is sad. Not trying to be funny, here, it really is sad. Read it here.

The reporter even interviews one of the people living in her RV--Darlene Knoll. They put her picture in the article, with a nice caption that reads, "Darlene Knoll, 53, lives in a battered 1978 motor home in Los Angeles with five dogs after losing her job and home five years ago..."

In other words, Darlene lost her home back when the economy was humming along, jobs were plentiful, and housing prices and the stock market were going up. She was living in her mobile home three full years before the housing crisis began.

So, if this is such a big crisis, why is Darlene the only person who was interviewed for the article? How exactly is Darlene representative of the trend? Or is this a case of a bad reporter, finding a single tragedy, and trying to shoe-horn it into a macro-narrative that has nothing to do with reality?

The AP doesn't say who the reporter is. But it's pretty obvious what he/she is: dumb, irresponsible, and manipulative. No wonder newspapers are losing subscribers and readers.

Two Anniversaries Worth Noting

Please forgive the PhotoScrooge while I get a little sentimental. I know, you're thinking, sentimentality is obviously one of my strong suits. So true.

There were two important anniversaries this past week. The first was Mom (the Hamster's namesake) and Pop's, yesterday. I think 46? Wish I had one of their natty photos from the New York period to post here--one where they look like extras off the set of a Rat Pack movie. Dean Martin had nothing on Pop. No wonder they have such attractive children (especially the first two born before the gene pool was seriously depleted). If any of their friends happen to be reading this, please plan on attending the 50th anniversary party four years from now (either a big party if Shawn or Matt makes his fortune, or a wienie roast in the park if they don't).

The other anniversary that must be noted was the passing of Karen Ann Quinlan, twenty-three years ago. Which reminded me of the passing of our own appropriately named Karen Ann, the green 1973 Chevy wagon (vinyl seats, AM/FM radio, roof-rack, extra rear-facing seat in back)--which despite at least two crashes (the guy who rammed us at Liberty Park and the teenage girl who sideswiped me on Guardsman), and a frozen engine block (Bear Lake in January), just kept on living. 

Ohh, the memories--riding in the back with the luggage on trips to California, the family reunion at Lake Arrowhead, pop's reluctance to stop for bathroom breaks, eating at Sambo's, getting truckers to honk their horns on I-15 between Las Vegas and San Bernardino--drives to Yellowstone and Bear Lake. Waiting in the car with the windows up ("don't open the doors for anyone!") while mom shopped at K-mart. 

A haiku in her honor.

The hole in our hearts will never be filled.

Not to be Outdone by a Couple of Upstarts...

Matt and Anne had their baby yesterday. A girl. Congratulations.

And of course, they moved right to the front of the suck-up line by naming her after mom. Well-halfway. Middle names don't really count. First names, that's the real honor.

Well, we're not about to be outdone by a bunch of younger siblings...

So we bought a hamster today and it's name is Judy. Not the middle name. The first name. Judy the Hamster. Just to prove that we love mom the most.

Nice try Matt and Anne.

Let's Hope He Doesn't Get into Berkley...

Today, the family prodigy was recognized for testing better than 90% of the other third graders in America, details here. Not bad. 

I'm hoping it doesn't lead to a scholarship at Berkley.

Why? Well if this photo is any indication, it's not exactly a bastion of intelligence. This picture was allegedly taken at a recent rally in Berkley. The sign was carried by a student at Berkley who is unhappy with the Chinese dictatorship's actions in Tibet and the world's willingness to let them host the Olympics any way.

 

Now, I know that what passes for education at most universities today skips a lot of boring stuff (like history) so students can learn about more important stuff like Philosophy and Star Trek, Daytime Serials: Family and Social Roles, or Queer Musicology. But one would like to believe that they still teach something about the Nazis in one or two of those first year classes. Note to the sign holder, check this out.

Yeah, I'm thinking he'd be better off somewhere else.

If I Had a Quarter Every Time This Happened...

Who hasn't been at the car dealer, ready to throw down something like 40 large (or more) on a new Lincoln Continental or a Cadillac Escalade EXT, when you stopped and thought, maybe I should spend my hard-earned cash on a Beretta Tomcat 32 Automatic instead? Serious dilemma, right? I know, happens all the time.

Problem solved.

Image found at Ben McConnel's blog, Church of the Customer, though I don't think Ben truly appreciates the service this great American is doing for all of us. Soooey!

Incidentally, I was reading the Max Motors Guns Fact Sheet which says that 6850 times a day gun owners use their guns to defend themselves. And only 8% of the time does that result in the shooter wounding or killing the attacker. Hmmm. 8% of 6850 is just 548 people killed or wounded in self defense a day. Wonder why we don't hear more about that? Conspiracy!

A Problem With Which I Am Familiar

This guy has a problem.

Unfortunately, I have the same problem. Books seem to multiply in our house. They are stacked two deep on some shelves, hidden in boxes, and completely fill our shelves. We simply don't have room for more, although that will have no impact on our book buying decisions in the future.

However, we did make some progress in reducing our load this week.

Thanks to the undisclosed crack in our foundation, we had to clear out two rooms in the basement. And by clear out, I mean, everything had to go. Good-bye moldy, orange carpet (the scrapbook nazi would say good riddance). Good-bye wood paneling glued, not nailed, to the walls. Good-bye akwardly built storage bench and pull-down movie screen that we never used. Good-bye death couch. Good-bye rickety, rusting storage shelves left behind by the previous homeowner. You were all so good to me.

And good-bye six boxes crammed with books we finally decided we will never read again. Mostly text books, but there were a few others, including the SN's well-loved (two stars) copy of The Bridges of Madison County, quite possibly the worst book ever written.

So we still have something like 50 boxes worth of books crammed on shelves and hidden away in storage, but 2008 is shaping up as the first year in our lives that we got rid of more books than we took in (it may be close).

In some ways that feels like progress, but I will always miss my copy of Living with Nuclear Weapons.