Category Archives: Mundania

Florida = Prejudice

I have a number of politics/freedom related posts to upload, but here’s a quickie.

The ACLU reported today that the Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in an ACLU lawsuit challenging Florida’s law banning lesbians and gay men from adopting. This was a response to Florida’s challenge to the 11/25/08 ruling by the Juvenile Court that a gay couple could adopt. (The full post is here.)

I want to draw your attention to something in particular:

Despite these admissions by DCF, the agency responsible for child welfare in Florida, the State’s lawyers put on expert witnesses who offered an outlandish menu of justifications for the exclusion. They argued primarily that the exclusion is warranted because gay people are prone to problems like psychiatric disorders, drug abuse, and unstable relationships. They also asserted that gay parents cause their children to be gay and that gay people should be excluded from adopting because society is prejudiced against them and their children might be exposed to that prejudice.

What if the word ‘gay’ was changed to ‘black’ or ‘asian’? Or ‘elderly.’ You would hear the howls of outrage from coast to coast. (Never mind the incredible circular logic of that last sentence.)

I’m beginning to think that an ongoing test of discrimination is to replace descriptor nouns with similar ones for a diferent population.

Snarking on Spam

This was caught by my (absolutely rocking) Akismet spam filter:

Gday.

Did you ever think about creating your own blog? There are many great platforms, but by far the best is WordPress. It is fast to set up, however the themes just never fit my specifications. I searched for a simple solution to this problem and realized that there wasn’t one. I then had a template custom made for my needs and was so happy with the outcome. I then decided to build a website that would show the world how to easily hire an expert in wordpress design.

(link to ‘wordpress design experts”)

Because, you see . . . spam is still sent by idiots, to trap idiots.

Memo from HR

To: All Employees
From: HR

Re: New Management Style

The owner of this company has told HR to increase productivity by eliminating unproductive behaviors among employees. We have therefore developed a new mandated management style which is spelled out in the Micro Management Policy, effective immediately.

Continue reading

Inaugural Grill Party

(Note, this post should have gone up back in the 1st week of June. Oops.)

A few weeks ago, while J was in Ashland, the power went out. It was only for an hour, and I happened to have rented a car for the weekend, so I wasn’t stranded. But it got me thinking: I have plenty of candles, and only in the bitterest ice storm would I have trouble keeping warm (good insulation, lots of blankets, and a DOG = plenty of warm). But without power NOTHING in this house works. I suppose the pilot light on the water heater stays on — but it’s connected to the household heating system so I can’t get hot water, or heat when there is no power. My stove won’t work . . . nothing works. I’d have to leave if it lasted longer than a day because I wouldn’t be able to eat much beyond cereal and sandwiches.

So I decided that we need a propane grill (other things too, but that’s a different post) so that even if we have no power, we can eat a hot meal and boil water.

We bought it on our Lowe’s card — 12 mos no interest, thereby costing me an additional $50/mo. Natch.

This weekend, we invited a few friends over for a grillout. The menu:

grilled chicken breast w/ one of three sauces: lemon/garlic, BBQ, honey teriyaki

potato salad

green salad

coleslaw

corn muffins

chocolate brownies

The traditional chips, celery, and carrots were served up as well, and we asked people to bring a drink or dessert (S. brought guacamole, which is just fine by me) so there was a nice selection.

Miss Cella

Nothing particular on my mind today, but a couple of things have come to me to post here.

The Fabulous Anne Johnson, whose “The Gods Are Bored” blog puts me in a good mood nearly every day, is looking for a set of Encyclopedias for her classroom. Yes, she’s bucking the all-online trend. So if you have a set in moderately good condition and less than 25 years old, would you consider giving it to her? (She’ll pay for media rate shipping.)

Chas Clifton directed readers to an article over at LiveScience about how humans emit light in a way that varies through the day and seems to be linked with metabolism. Who was it who said magic is just science we haven’t figured out yet?

A friend asked me to find recipes for pawpaws. I’ve got a bunch *somewhere* around here . . . .

*pant*

If you read the news, you know that it has been intensely hot here in the PNW. Yesterday it was 105* in Kent (a new record high) and its now been long enough to break the record for number of hot days in a row. One of the most noticeable reasons has been the lack of an overnight drop in temp — it doesn’t dip below 65. This means that the houses don’t have a chance to cool down, and we start the day ‘warm’ and get warmer from there.

In our house yesterday morning, it was 76* — and this was with every window open and the door to the garage open to encourage cool air to rise up the center hallways (yes, I know hot air rises, not cool air; but warm air leaving the top of the house will pull cool air from down below). When we opened the windows again in the evening (after 9pm) it was 84* — in a perfectly sealed house with no electrical appliances running (except the fridge), no human activity, and nothing to warm it except the sun on the outside walls. (Yikes.) This morning it was 74* and apparently its supposed to get cooler from here on out (and the forecast is for 101* today).

We are basically living on take out in our basement guest room. Sasha spends a lot of time lying on the (cement) floor of the garage. We leave the car parked outside to keep as much of the coolth inside. We eat take out because I can’t stand the idea of turning on the stove. We keep two pitchers of water in the fridge at all times. (Although tonight it’ll be sliced fruit, veggies, and a nice salad.)

Bottom line: it’s very uncomfortable. But we are fortunate in being able to maintain a relatively comfortable temp and lifestyle (albeit limited) at so little cost. A coworker had central air installed a few years ago, and while she’s cooler than I at the moment, the ongoing cost of that system is far, far, higher than I’d be willing to waste, year after year. A few days of discomfort won’t kill me, or even harm me.

Legal Fail

Relatively recently, FAIL Blog ™ posted a screenshot from the Guinness World Records website: “Most Individuals Killed in a Terrorist Act.” Which is a pretty inappropriate record to keep track of. What lifted it to the level of obscenely hilarious (and why FAILBlog shared it with the world) was the button one could click to indicate “Break this record.”

Continue reading

Independence Day

The word patriotic has taken on uncomfortable  connotations for those of us on the fringe, partly because of the Bush Administration’s deliberate creation of polarity instead of continuum. Patriotism is the love of or devotion to one’s country, but when you have poor laws like the Patriot Act (HR 3162) that do nothing but violate the fundamental law of the country (i.e., the Consitution) the meaning gets twisted.

Continue reading