With the dawn of the debit/Visa card, I have become one of those people who never carry cash unless I know I am going to need it. I actually developed the habit in college when it was easier to pass by the homeless on the Drag when I could honestly say I had no money on me. The result was I rarely had money when I needed it and visited the ATM all the time. Sometimes fees yes, sometimes no, sometimes extra because it wasn't your bank, ah the headache!
But with the new age, you don't need it. Target takes Visa/debit. Korger takes it. Taco Bell takes it. Starbuck's takes it. What more does one need in life?
Well, this weekend in the hamlet (where I work), the phone lines are mysteriously down. No phones means no credit card machines. So, when I went to my favorite deli to get lunch, which was this day's first meal, no cash, no deal! AH!
Fortunately I had a check handy, and I was saved from a fate of starvation and dehydration or worse.
I suppose, since terrorists can't apply for Mastercard or Visa (surely their credit scores are too low) they don't know how we have come to rely on it. Don't bomb our centers of business, or symbols of freedom or capatilism. Just cut our stupid phones lines. America would probably just shut down.
Throw in the cables lines and most of us would probably wish for a good bomb attack!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Runway at its best!
I am not ashamed to admit it. I am totally addicted to Project Runway. The fashion, the challenges, the personalities! I love it all.
I watch it every week, and then if it is on again during a channel surf, I will watch it again. I can't help it.
Last night was a particularly good one. I can't believe Bradley actually survived it all. I am glad he did, but what a dodge. He was hopelessly lost up until the last second, threw something on the model in an act of desperation and ended up in the top three.
And it was his birthday. Happy Birthday to Bradley!
I watch it every week, and then if it is on again during a channel surf, I will watch it again. I can't help it.
Last night was a particularly good one. I can't believe Bradley actually survived it all. I am glad he did, but what a dodge. He was hopelessly lost up until the last second, threw something on the model in an act of desperation and ended up in the top three.
And it was his birthday. Happy Birthday to Bradley!
Friday, July 21, 2006
Take a Pill!
So, the biggest news item of the week? Pres. Bush said the S word and embarrassed the country.
Are you kidding me? He says sh*t in a private moment and it's embarrassing? It's news?
Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan, but so what? He is a person, and though he was miked, he thought he was not miked. And that aside, he wasn't being broadcast at the time, just recorded.
I kind of agree with whatever late night pundit pointed it out. How he was chomping on that roll was more embarrassing than what he said.
Geesh!
Are you kidding me? He says sh*t in a private moment and it's embarrassing? It's news?
Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan, but so what? He is a person, and though he was miked, he thought he was not miked. And that aside, he wasn't being broadcast at the time, just recorded.
I kind of agree with whatever late night pundit pointed it out. How he was chomping on that roll was more embarrassing than what he said.
Geesh!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Yes, because in America, we're perfect!
So I am listening to my regular morning show, the Today show, and Matt Lauer is in St. Petersburg, Russia. In a piece on the city, he asked two separate men (neither actually Russian!) what the Russian people thought about their country becoming "less" democratic. Did they have a problem with it? The answers where pretty much the same. As long as civil and personal liberties were not affected, they didn't have a problem with it.
Why? Why!? Why does everyone have to follow our model exactly? The narrow views of Americans can just get to me. It may surprise some of you that we do not have a perfect government! Why would anyone else model theirs after ours exactly? I wouldn't.
A similar thing happened on my favorite reality program, The Amazing Race. The teams were traveling through a very lush and beautiful part of Ethiopia that also didn't have many modern luxuries. A very naive model wondered how the people could live like that! Um ... flushing toilets and running hot and cold are not givens world wide just because you can't live with out it. As a matter of fact, most of the world lived with out those very things quite nicely. Yes, these people lived in huts with dirt floors, but is how they live! Just because you find it too rustic, doesn't mean they are in misery.
Not that I would want to give up hot and cold running water, but it isn't exactly the gold standard.
God bless Russia! May its government find a better way then ours!
Why? Why!? Why does everyone have to follow our model exactly? The narrow views of Americans can just get to me. It may surprise some of you that we do not have a perfect government! Why would anyone else model theirs after ours exactly? I wouldn't.
A similar thing happened on my favorite reality program, The Amazing Race. The teams were traveling through a very lush and beautiful part of Ethiopia that also didn't have many modern luxuries. A very naive model wondered how the people could live like that! Um ... flushing toilets and running hot and cold are not givens world wide just because you can't live with out it. As a matter of fact, most of the world lived with out those very things quite nicely. Yes, these people lived in huts with dirt floors, but is how they live! Just because you find it too rustic, doesn't mean they are in misery.
Not that I would want to give up hot and cold running water, but it isn't exactly the gold standard.
God bless Russia! May its government find a better way then ours!
Friday, July 07, 2006
Say it ain't so Jo!
I just got off of a much needed long conversation with the Queen Mother, may God keep her safe, and she suggested that a good blogger blog at least once a week. And since it has been two week's since my last confession, I thought maybe I should say something.
So, I have a busted washer. It has been weeks and weeks. Because of my show schedule, it has been tough getting Sears in to look at it, but earlier last week, I got the man in.
He listened to it and said that to start it was $475, and it could be more once he got in there and worked on it, being that it was a very cheap appliance with about a life of 5 years, and low and behold, it was 5 years old.
To complete the estimate, he needed wireless access, which he wasn't picking up in the apartment. While he was waiting for me to get some shoes on to go out and find a signal, he looked at my bookcase and said, "So, did you hear that she might actually kill Harry Potter in the last book?"
beat ... beat ...
"Um, yeah. I saw that interview this morning. She actually made no allusions as to who it might be, only that two major characters would die."
"I don't really think she would kill Harry Potter off, you think?"
beat .. beat ...
"Um, I would hope not, but you never know."
"Yeah, she said she wrote the last chapter first. Very interesting."
Inside Voice: "Am I really having this conversation with the repair man?"
"Me too. Can't wait for that last book."
And out we went. See? How can anyone say Harry Potter is a bad thing. Even grown men who, through stereotype, probably haven't read a book since their last day in school are captivated by this wizard and the world Jo Rowling has created. Maybe this guy is an anomaly of his class and is a prolific reader, but it still is pretty amazing that a bohemian like me and a maintenance repair man like him can talk about something like Harry Potter.
In the mean time, the new washer came, I am doing laundry at home (and not work) and the buzzer on the dryer almost made me wet myself. I forgot it could make that kind of noise!
So, I have a busted washer. It has been weeks and weeks. Because of my show schedule, it has been tough getting Sears in to look at it, but earlier last week, I got the man in.
He listened to it and said that to start it was $475, and it could be more once he got in there and worked on it, being that it was a very cheap appliance with about a life of 5 years, and low and behold, it was 5 years old.
To complete the estimate, he needed wireless access, which he wasn't picking up in the apartment. While he was waiting for me to get some shoes on to go out and find a signal, he looked at my bookcase and said, "So, did you hear that she might actually kill Harry Potter in the last book?"
beat ... beat ...
"Um, yeah. I saw that interview this morning. She actually made no allusions as to who it might be, only that two major characters would die."
"I don't really think she would kill Harry Potter off, you think?"
beat .. beat ...
"Um, I would hope not, but you never know."
"Yeah, she said she wrote the last chapter first. Very interesting."
Inside Voice: "Am I really having this conversation with the repair man?"
"Me too. Can't wait for that last book."
And out we went. See? How can anyone say Harry Potter is a bad thing. Even grown men who, through stereotype, probably haven't read a book since their last day in school are captivated by this wizard and the world Jo Rowling has created. Maybe this guy is an anomaly of his class and is a prolific reader, but it still is pretty amazing that a bohemian like me and a maintenance repair man like him can talk about something like Harry Potter.
In the mean time, the new washer came, I am doing laundry at home (and not work) and the buzzer on the dryer almost made me wet myself. I forgot it could make that kind of noise!
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