Back from the vacation from hell

Worst week ever. Vacation from hell.

Trouble started the minute we left. We no sooner got in the car but family problems were communicated to us conveniently and quickly via cellphone. There is no escape today.

Second day, Mark was damn near electrocuted when he grabbed an electrified farm fence. We were on a mission to find the gravestones of some ancestors for my genealogy project.

Third day, our business melted down. We tried everything by phone to fix it but I ended up buying a laptop on the fourth hellish day so I could stop the bleeding. A laptop was cheap compared to what the problems ended up costing us. Luckily (ha) I'll always be able to work on my vacation now. Yippee.

Meanwhile, we suffered bad motel beds, rain in our tourist destination, and on top of that, on the way home my brand new credit card was declined for fraud! (Capital One thinks people in Indiana should not travel out of state. We straightened it out. But, you know, it was just one more crappy thing.)

So, yes, my vacation SUCKED. Almost every minute of it! Most stressful week in two years.

We finally just cut it short and drove home. Of course we hit a 3-hour traffic jam but we got home. Just in time to find out... my housekeeper quit while I was gone.

Just shoot me and get it over with.

What does the left think of the upcoming elections?

.... Well here is what The Nation says in its daily email:

Dear EmailNation Subscriber,

From Vermont to Illinois to California, as John Nichols reports in The Online Beat, more than 1 million voters this fall will have an opportunity to cast ballots on the question of whether Congress should begin impeachment proceedings against the president and vice president.

Just in case anyone doubts that this is an election about whether the left can impeach Bush.

Let's hope the sleepwalker is right

From the Financial Times of London on the recent spate of books predicting the coming of the new continent of Eurasia from the influx of radicalized muslims:

Until a few years ago, mainstream European opinion would have shrugged off rising Muslim populations as unworthy of debate. But that is no longer the case. Just this week in Britain, there has been heated argument over the wearing of the veil by school teachers and the radicalisation of Muslim students. One recent poll found that nearly one-third of young British Muslims agreed that the July 2005 bombings in London were "justified because of British support for the war on terror".

That is a truly alarming picture. But it is also a snapshot. There is no doubt that tensions between Muslims and other Europeans are unprecedentedly high after September 11 2001, the Iraq war, riots in Paris and terrorism in London, Madrid and Amsterdam. It is certainly possible that things will just get worse. But it is not inevitable. Zachary Shore, author of Breeding Bin Ladens (Johns Hopkins) and the only one of the American authors to have taken the trouble to talk to a lot of European Muslims, sees Europe’s Muslim population as poised "at a critical fork in the road: one trail leads them to western integration, the other sets a course for alienation and possible extremism".

European governments are acutely aware of this and are changing policies in response. The British are rethinking their "multicultural" approach to immigration; the French are considering positive discrimination; the Danes have cracked down on arranged marriages. Who knows -- some of these policies may even work. If they do not, politics and policies will change again. Of all the many scenarios for the future of Europe, perhaps the least likely is that Europeans simply sleep-walk off a cliff.

Oh Lord!

I thought the bird house on the fence post looked as if it needed to be cleaned out for the year. So I picked it up, opened it up and -- OH LORD HAVE MERCY -- mice jumped out of it.

Mark laughed heartily as I ripped off my jacket. I like mice but I don't like them walking on my arms sudden like.

I felt kind of bad when I saw the mother mouse hanging by her front feet on the farm fence, three little baby mice dangling off her tits, like pelts on a hunter's belt.

Weird.

I'm sure we can rustle up a free trailer for you, though

This is an email I got from someone who wants my business services free-ish. The parts in parentheses are redacted to preserve my privacy and hers.


I am a 62 year old lady that is attempting to supplement my income by (doing something I need your services for.) I do not have (the money to pay you). I sell Avon. Unfortunately, since I relocated to Raleigh from New Orleans because of the storm, I am not doing too well in acquiring new customers. (Can you give me your services at a lower price or on time?)

Pearl

After writing several pissy email drafts to Pearl, I decided to answer thusly:

Dear Pearl, No.
------
Sheesh. If you want a loan, see a freaking bank. People just think they are entitled to other people's work for free.

Now normally when I get such a request I usually write something like: We are a small business and the people who work here (read: ME) depend on the business to support their families. yadda yadda.

But the point is: Why do people think that because they are broke, they should get something for free. Being broke is the state that occurs when you aren't working. It is not the state that occurs when you aren't getting someone else's money or time. Or at least it shouldn't be.

Foolish diversity

Hineh mah tov, Behold how good,
Umah nayim, And how pleasant it is,
Shevet ahim For brethren to dwell
Gam yahad. Together in unity.

It's worth saying

This is from the American Family Association. Display it with pride on your blogs!! Or send for one of their badges.

What are you?

Merry Christmas: It's okay to say it!

You can use this on your blogs, if you want!

Liberals prepare to join them

From the Paris fashion show

You can just hear the liberals saying to each other: See? These Muslim clothes wouldn't be too bad if we just added a little color and skin.

Saddleback caterpillar

Parasitic wasp cocoons all over our Saddleback caterpillar like Democrats who suddenly discovered family values on Mark Foley. Ewww! To the right you see him in his former glory. The caterpillar, I mean. Nature (and politics) can be unforgiving. And, when it comes to Mark Foley, may he go to jail for a long time, although he will probably enjoy himself.

Is he talking about Democrats?

From John Ashcroft's book "Never Again"

" We are now at war with a diffuse, loosely organized network, united and motivated by a hatred for our nation and our core values. They are fed spiritually by bin Laden, and thrive in our society on the basic liberties they loath."

October colors

Chipping away

I noticed some bird seed had fallen in a crack of this oak burl. And so did this chipmunk! He made short work of digging the seed out of the crack and he left quite a large excavation.

Shed lessons

I went cheap on this shed kit because, hell, I just didn't think a freaking shed should cost $1,000. Well you get what you pay for. The shed kit didn't have a floor, or a door frame, and it came with no shingles. Sheesh. After a month, with the huge help of friend Pat, Mark has the thing mostly finished. Just needs an outside lock on the door but, guess what, still cost us $1,000. Note to self: Next time get a better shed.

Socialism's slow progress

Warning: This info comes from an article in Reuters. Generally all of Reuters' articles reflect its leftist political bent and virtually nothing the service moves on politics can be considered accurate. It is simply a leftist wire service.

This makes this Reuters story all the more interesting, since it describes the leftist Mecca of Russia in terms that can't be described as glowing. Women are just learning to drive there. The socialist revolution.... Yippee. The streets are smoky and congested. Traffic cops extract bribes. Hell! It could be Mexico.

This is what you get with socialism.