the Black and White cookie

My DH drove back to Michigan from Georgia .Friday.  Somehow we got talking about recycling/returning pop cans  and he said he just throws them away down there, but right now he has a big bag of cans.  He actually rented a huge rental to drive back, a Grand Marquee (sp?), but didn't think to try this scam…….it is honestly such an embarassment that he 'forgot' about this.  I imagine as time goes by and we get further and further from the original air dates, with Friday mornings spent disectiong the lessons of Seinfeld, these things are going to happen, *sigh.*

Seinfeld, The Bottle Deposit:

"NEWMAN: (peering at bottle label) What is this 'MI, ten cents'?

KRAMER: That's Michigan. In Michigan you get ten cents.

NEWMAN: Ten cents!?

KRAMER: Yeah.

NEWMAN: Wait a minute. You mean you get five cents here, and ten cents

there. You could round up bottles here and run 'em out to Michigan for the

difference.

KRAMER: No, it doesn't work.

NEWMAN: What d'you mean it doesn't work? You get enough bottles

together…

KRAMER: Yeah, you overload your inventory and you blow your margins on

gasoline. Trust me, it doesn't work.

JERRY: (re-entering) Hey, you're not talking that Michigan deposit

bottle scam again, are you?"

I must confess I am recently in a vicious McFlurry cycle.  I have a host of theories why am involved with the ice cream & bits rut, but that doesn't bother me as much as the local McDonald's misuse of the term 'Medium."

The menu at the drive-thru offers only a Medium or Large McFlurry.  This bothers me because it should be avertised as a  Small or Large.  What irks me further?  When I ask for a medium and the minimum wage worker has to correct me that they "only offer a small or large."  Dooooh! 

The misuse of the term medium is planty, but when I have the drive thru operator correcting me - must have been a sugar low.

Remember who was left behind when New Orleans evacuated?  The poorest of the poor.  Now, with NO asking for those that did flee to return the crime rate is rising quicker than citizens are returning.  The evening news wonders why….

When people are not particpating in society they probably do not feel the need to operate within the laws that society creates.  The chocolate city isn't so sweet for all its inhabitants.

4 Days until my hubby drives up to Michigan from Georgia…. 16 Days until we move down there…. 36 Days until I start School. I still need to paint the ceiling and walls (only primed so far) and get a carpet guy in here to ‘officially’ measure to rooms.  Hopefully this gets installed this week. I have no idea if that is feasible or not, just hoping.  Once DH gets here I will move to the upstairs and prime away……and then whatever we can get done before we move the heck outta here. Once I get down there I will unpack the house, unpack my classroom and hopefully shop for living room furniture and a kitchen table before starting school in 36 Days.

Thirteen Things in my Yard Sale:

I watched the President in the press conference today and noted the bizarre, forced laughs exchanged between President Bush and the reporter Peter wearing the "shades."  And now I find out, via The Daily Show, that Peter Wallsten is legally blind. Of course he apologized as soon as he found out, see Yahoo, but OMG!

My Bro-in-law is blind and he is complimented when people do not realize he is blind.  I am sure this is not too crazy, but allow me the internal giggle of proposing a deaf press agent?

Fun For All - Enjoy this Seinfeld excerpt from The Wink episode:

ELAINE: What? You're going to go out with my cousin Holly. You've never met her.

JERRY: Yeah, but I've seen pictures of her.

ELAINE: At least I've spoken to my guy. You're going out on a deaf date.

JERRY: I think I'd rather go out on a deaf date than a blind date. The question is whether you'd rather date the blind or the deaf.

ELAINE: Ah, . . .

GEORGE: Now you're off on a topic.

JERRY: You know, I think, I would rather date the deaf.

ELAINE: Uh hu.

JERRY: Because I think the blind would probably be a little messier around the house. And lets face it they're not going to get all the crumbs. I'd possibly be walking around with a sponge.

GEORGE: You see I disagree. I'd rather be dating the blind. You know you could let the house go. You could let yourself go. A good looking blind woman doesn't even know you're not good enough for her.

ELAINE: I think she'd figure it out.

PBS scared the Hell out of me again tonight…. I watched the Nova program "Dimming the Sun" and now am conflicted about what Al's movie may or may not tell me…..before even watching it!

The most counter-intuative message was that: (paraphrasing) particulate matter decreases the sun's energy by up to ten percent, global warming is actually tempered by this phenomenon and if we were to actually take/stop making particulate in the atmosphere global warming would take off….The Greenhouse Effect has been more than half masked by the dimming effect….

The particals reflect sunlight because they are so many more particals in the clouds, the water vapors do not just accumulate and fall as percipitation, but linger as the more particals wait for more water to accumulate.  Clouds = mirrors, resulting in less sun to the surface.

Living in Michigan, for a few more weeks, and having a brother heading to Iraq I have some opinions of Governor Granholm ordering the flying the US flags in the state at half-mast when a Michigan soldier dies:

"The flag of the United States of America shall be flown at half-staff throughout the State of Michigan and at half-mast on Michigan waters if any of the following apply:

1. A member of the Michigan National Guard is killed in the line of duty.
2. A member of the Michigan Air National Guard is killed in the line of duty.
3. A Michigan resident serving as a member of the United States Armed Forces is killed in the line of duty. "

While I think this started out as a good way to allow citizens (of Michigan at least) to acknowledge the respect they have for servicepeople's sacrifice, I think it has become a morale buster.  Had the governor known this war would cover years, not months I wonder if she would have still instituted this policy?

You can look at the list of the soldiers killed in Iraq and also Afganistan HERE.

This has become a depressing, almost daily??, reminder of the price that our state is paying for this war.  I would imagine that some states have more casualties than others.  Poorer people have to be easier to retain in the armed forces.  They may be enticed by the higher-than-their-standard of living while those better off may just be insulted that their life is worth so little. If this was a city by city policy you could see those cities that are really paying the highest price.  I think this disturbs me because it is a visual representation of the price we are paying for this war….

Other states particiapting in this half-mast program: "Alaska, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin."

One reason I am very saddened to leave Michigan is the upcoming election.  I think Jennifer needs my vote & I won't be here for her.  Currently the polls report: Dick Devos 48% - to Jennifer Granholm 40% - 12% undecided; Dick has spent $6 milliom on advertising.  I'd rather have a woman than a dick anyday ofcourse, but especially resent the fact that the Amway heir may buy his way into Lansing.  Even though I am from the West Michigan land that DeVos hails from I find his Christian Reformed views oppressive and archaic.  Granholm has done her best, but was fighting an uphill battle from King John's old policies.  Good Luck Jenny!

FYI: Red Herring

With our troops in Iraq, Afganistan and now on a border with our third world neighbors, with the deficit and spending at all time highs under the Republicans still in charge, with immigration stirred up to a boiling point, the President would like to introduce a an issue that is neither important nor timely ((unless you're trying to make Reps like good for mid-term elcetions)), but will divide our country into "us" and "them."

It will not get 2/3 votes in both House & Senate - - - this IS ONLY a distraction folks.  The President is looking to bring the fundamentalists back into the government, just for the elections.