Lintefiniel Musing...formerly Jen Speaks!

Thursday, July 03, 2003

TAR4 and India

No spoilers ahead, have no fear if you’re in a timezone that hasn’t seen it yet.

I will say this - when I saw the previews last week that showed India, I immediately thought of the horrors from season 2 and I knew we were in for a treat. And I say treat with a shudder.

This episode does not disappoint and confirms for me what have long known.

I will never go to India.

Posted by at 11:24 PM
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He Is Da Man

Muchas gracias to my Tech Support 2 (also known as Tony).

In 10 minutes he managed to upgrade my blog from pMachine 2.2.1 to 2.3. I know (and he does as well) that it would have taken me at least 10 times that amount of time to do it myself.

I’m very grateful for the techies who have helped me recently. Many thanks!

Posted by at 09:33 PM
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The Holiday Weekend Begins

Number of miles in my commute (one way): 33
Number of miuntes it took to go the first 5 miles tonight: 60
Number of minutes it took to complete the rest of the commute tonight: 30
Rush hour traffic in Washington, DC on July 3rd: priceless

Posted by at 09:09 PM
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Virginians and Texans

I have a lot (an inordinate amount, really) of friends from Texas. For some unknown reason they think that the absolutely best place on planet Earth is Texas. Of course, I happen to think that the absolutely best place on planet Earth is anywhere other than Texas (Ah, you were expecting me to say Virginia, weren’t you? I like to keep people guessing...but I digress...)

Then I saw this, and I thought that it was too perfect.

(2003-07-02)—A federal judge yesterday ruled that citizens of Virginia are “as stupid as Texans” when he blocked enforcement of a law against infanticide which had been passed by the elected representatives of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Judge Richard Williams, a Carter appointee, brushed aside the Commonwealth’s arguments and immediately ordered suspension of the law banning partial-birth abortions, pending a trial in November on whether the law is constitutional.

“I’m using the Supreme Court precedent established in Lawrence v. Texas last week,” said the Judge Williams. “The Court said that the people of Texas are too stupid to rule themselves and, by extension, implied that those in other states also lack the mental ability to make laws through their elected representatives. The people of Virginia are likewise a dull-witted lot. “

The Judge went on to note, “It’s a good thing I caught this law before it went into effect, otherwise countless babies would have been denied the right to an involuntary death at the hands of a competent surgeon.”

There’s nothing like a little satire to mock yourself and your friends all in one fell swoop. Satire provided by Scott Ott of Scrappleface.

Posted by at 06:51 PM
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Freckles or Tanning?

A gal from the Clerk’s office just dropped off some paperwork. I chat with her ocassionally, but it’s been a while since I had last seen her. She’s a platinum blonde (most likely from a bottle, although she looks to have been a real blond when she was younger, like most of us) with fair skin that freckles.

Today, as I approached the non-bulletproof window to talk to her, I thought maybe she had gotten too much sun and she was peeling. But no, she has huge splotchy freckles. And it got me to thinking…

1. Freckles are only cute on anyone under the age of 30.

2. If you freckle, you should limit your time in the sun and use a lot of sunscreen, especially on your face.

3. Don’t try to get the freckles to merge so that it looks like a tan. It’ll never work.

4. If your freckles are of the large variety rather than the dainty ones, wear a hat.

I freckle, and burn, and peel, and blister. I’m a prime candidate for skin cancer. So after a couple of stupid years in my 20s, I stopped attempting to tan because it never happens. So I’m pasty white all year round, but I look younger than I really am (or so I’m told) and when I’m really old, my skin will still be creamy smooth as opposed to the burnt leather you other people will be sporting.

Posted by at 04:49 PM
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BigWig’s File Cabinet, Part B

Yesterday I mentioned that BigWig has some photos and history from WWII.

Here’s Part Two.

[via mtpolitics]

Posted by at 04:04 PM
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America the Beautiful, and Dearly Loved

I don’t read A Small Victory very often, she’s not in my blogroll (although she probably should be. Anyway, I was visiting mtpolitics where he made reference to an old post ASV did on “What’s Not To Like” about America. Solonor moved the project to it’s own blog, where each state is represented with a post and the chance to add a comment of your own.

As Solonor said:

I watched as the comments came rolling in. They weren’t like that at all.

They came with humor.
They came with neat links.
They came with insight.
For those that left home, they came with longing.
They came with pride.

They came with love.

Go take a look.

NOTE: The stuff about my home state of Virginia is right on the money.

Posted by at 03:47 PM
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Communism Today?

Tony has a very interesting post with a list of 45 Communist Goals for America that was concerning enough that it was read into the Congressional Record in 1963. Tony then listed each one to see how far that list has progressed into reality by 2003. It’s more than a little scary. Click on the link to see the whole list, here are a few items to whet your appetite:

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”

Posted by at 12:54 PM
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Alabama, Taxes, The Bible

Apparently, the Governor of Alabama thinks the Bible is instructing him to raise taxes in his state.

Whichever you believe, it all adds up to a proposed $1.2 billion tax increase for the wealthiest taxpayers in Alabama, if Gov. Bob Riley gets his way.

He says his Christian faith makes him sure this is the right thing to do.

Now I’m not disputing that Jesus said that we should help others. He did, several times, in fact. But did he mean that the government should do it or that we as individuals should do it.

I don’t know that the Governor needs to use Scripture to back up his point.

And so, Gov. Riley is out to rectify the situation with his proposed tax increase.

It does sound to me like rectifying the situation is exactly what he’s trying to do. Just call a spade a spade - past administrations screwed up by passing flawed state tax laws. So he’s encouraging the voters and legistators to correct that mistake. Because in this case, it doesn’t seem right that people who are making that little money should be paying a higher percentage in taxes than those who are making more.

Posted by at 12:13 PM
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The Funniest Radio Ad Ever

I was listening to Andy and Grandy on the radio while driving in and heard what I think is the funniest ad in history. I am not exaggerating.

It’s from consumerfreedom.com and it’s the one called “Lawsuits.” Please RUN over to listen. And listen to them all, the others are equally hilarious.

Brilliant!

Posted by at 12:02 PM
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Another Good Movie Viewed

I rented a couple movies the other day (I had a coupon and a gift card). Last night I watched The Recruit.

That is a great, fun movie. I loved just about every bit of it. It was tamer than I expected as far as language. I assumed it was rated R, but when I looked at the cover after viewing it I discovered it’s actually PG-13. (Which means that Mom and Dad, you will really love this movie too. No cringing! Well, there’s cringing, but not for profanity or nudity.)

That one gets high marks from me. It’s on my list of “I Want to Own the DVD” movies.

Posted by at 11:46 AM
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Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Vancouver

When the announcement came that the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be in Vancouver, BC, Canada, I was thrilled. Why, you ask?

I lived in the Pacific Northwest (Oak Harbor, WA, to be exact) for a number of years, twice. I hope you’ll click on the link, it’s to a map of the region.

I have many fond memories from my early, early childhood: my sister was born there, I watched the men land on the moon on TV there, I remember my first July 4th fireworks from there, I remember riding the bus to kindergarten, I remember our dachshund puppy (Pretzel). We moved away, but returned a few years later where I spent 6th-9th grade. Let me say, that while most kids hate junior high school - I loved junior high school. The move away in the middle of 9th grade was the most traumatic of them all for me.

But I digress…

I have visited Vancouver a few times in my life and I think it’s a lovely city. And a great choice for the Olympic games. Much like Calgary back in 1988, the world will be charmed by the beauty of the city and the surrounding towns where events will be held. For all of the mocking we do about our neighbors to the north, I’ve found my visits to Canada to be among my favorites. (Of course, I haven’t been to French-Canada. )

Now, if you’re interested in a little trivia about Jen’s adventures in the Pacific NW…

Still Speaking...

I’ve kidded that my dating life peaked in junior high. And I’m going to leave it at that because my parents read this blog and there’s stuff (oh so innocent - come on, I was 12-13) that they need not know about, even now.

If you look at the map, in the top-left corner, you’ll see Victoria, Canada. This is one of the prettiest towns in North America, imho.

Moving to the right, you’ll see an island called Orcas - in the 6th grade our school sent the four 6th grade classes to Orcas Island for an extended field trip. I want to say it was at least a weekend. We took a ferry over, toured the town (which boasts an historic pip organ in some building), then headed to this camp where we lived in dorms, woke up to revelie and flag raising, spent our days studying how to get unlost in the woods with nothing but a weird map and compass, identifying trees and flowers, and I can’t remember what else. I remember that it was a good time and before or since I had never heard of a school doing such a thing.

Moving to the right again, you’ll see Anacortes. You’ll see that from the northern tip of Whidbey Island looks to be a road. There was a huge, amazing bridge at Deception Pass that was ethereal in the fog and really long and really high. I took swimming lessons in Anacortes.

Looking a little up, you’ll see Bellingham. We would ocassionally shop there. Moving down from there you’ll see Everett, we would shop there as well. Still further down and right - off the map - is Seattle. We would go to Seattle a lot - I saw Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back in Seattle, I think.

Moving back to the lower left, you’ll see Port Townsend. This town is on the Olympic Peninsula. I lived in the area when An Officer and a Gentlemen was filmed there. Because we were a huge Navy community, it was exciting to have a movie about the Navy filmed so close by.

Now moving up a little, to Whidbey Island, you’ll see Coupeville. I know we would go there, but I can’t remember why. It was a tiny little town.

Oak Harbor was settled by the Dutch, so you see a lot of their influence in the town. In April of every year they have a festival called “Holland Happening.” And they always have a huge July 4th thing.

I remember walking to school. We lived at the top of this hill and the whole walk to school was down hill. I would cut through the woods and when I came out of them I could see over the town to the east. On a clear day I could see Mt Baker, venting steam in the distance. On a really, really clear day, from our street you could see Mt. Rainier as well.

One last thing and then I’ll stop rambling.

We lived in Oak Harbor from 1978 - 1981. I remember May 18, 1980, like it was yesterday. It was a Sunday. I was sitting in our kitchen, eating cereal before I hopped in the shower to get ready for church when I heard and felt these two huge BOOMs. The windows rattled and the house shook.

My thoughts went like this:

1. How odd, we don’t have artillary at the Navy base.

2. I wonder if a plane crashed (it is a Naval Air Station).

3. I wonder if Mt. St. Helens finally erupted.

I even posed the thought about Mt. St. Helens in the car on the way to church. When we arrived everyone was buzzing with the news that the volcano had finally erupted and that it was devastating.

Here’s the weird thing. Go to the map and zoom out so you can see Seattle.

Mt. St. Helens is almost directly south of Seattle. We were about 200 miles northwest of the mountain. The ash cloud moved east-northeast with a smaller band that went northwest. There was a V over the Puget Sound that got no ash at all, we were in that band of clear air. I didn’t see any ash until we took a trip to Seattle months later and we could see it piled up and lining the street gutters.

We moved away in January 1981.

Done Speaking...

Posted by at 10:15 PM
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Mort’s Wrong On This One

The panel on Brit Hume’s show is discussing the lawsuits against fast food. Mort Kondracke is suggesting that the government tax fatty foods and use the revenue for medical research.

What?!

That is a terrible idea for a number of reasons:

1. Who determines what is fatty food? FDA? The food industry?

2. Obviously the main target is fast food, but will that include all restaurants?

3. What about groceries items like cheese, milk, yogurt - things that are healthy and recommended, especially for kids?

4. What about the healthy forms of fat? Olive oil?

5. Who regulates the policy?

I could go on. The main reason why it’s a bad idea? I don’t need the government stealing any more of my money or telling me what I can and cannot eat.

If I choose to eat fast food, then I run the risk of gaining weight. As a matter of fact, I’m a little overweight. Why? Because I love food - all kinds of food - especially junk food. The government taxing me more for my chips and dip is not going to stop me from eating those chips and dip any more than my lack of willpower will stop me from eating chips and dip. Or Freedom Fries. Or Chick-Fil-A. Or McDonald’s. Or whatever else may be taxed.

Posted by at 08:51 PM
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I Am Not Directory Assistance!

Our headquarters is located on the south side of the Potomac River. That means it’s in Virginia, with a Virginia street address. Apparently, what’s so confusing for people is that HQ has a 202 area code. 202 is the area code for Washington, DC.

I don’t know how much research people have to do to get our number, but I cannot even begin to tell you how many phone calls I get from people who are actually trying to reach HQ. Because we have the 703 area code, they assume that we must be the main USMS office. After all, we are in Virginia too, although not at the address that’s listed for HQ. We’re actually in a different town.

I can understand the confusion. Really.

But let me tell you something (a few things):

1. I usually know what I’m talking about with regard to people and phone numbers. I’m the receptionist - it’s what I do. I have a rather large list of phone numbers posted right next to my phone. They include other court offices, personnel in the office, jails, etc. I even have a handy USMS directory for all USMS office and personnel.

2. When I tell you that the person you’re looking for is not in this office and that he’s probably at HQ, I’m not just trying to get rid of you. I’m actually trying to help.

3. When I give you the phone number, with that 202 area code, don’t ask me if I’m sure if that’s the right number. Who is the USMS employee here?

4. Please do not argue with me when I explain to you that yes, our HQ is in Virginia, but we’re not it, and yes, they have a 202 number.

This rant is the result of the 7th person today that has questioned my information. And it’s only 1:40pm - there are just about four more hours in my day to deal with these idiots.

And I won’t even mention the multitudes of people who’ve invaded our office today that I have to buzz into the door because they don’t have building passes - guards from the jails, USMS deputies from other offices, technicians, etc. Not an hour has passed that I haven’t been interrupted at least 8 or 9 times in 30 minutes by people at the door.

Have I mentioned that I’m PMSing? TMI?

Posted by at 03:26 PM
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New Venue

Breaking News:

Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush said she feared Malvo wouldn’t be able to get a fair trial in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, where the sniper attacks terrorized residents over a three-week period last fall.

Methinks this judge is a smart cookie for a coupla reasons: 1) she doesn’t have to deal with it anymore and 2) I’m told that Chesapeake is a pretty pro-death penalty area.

And just because that area is outside of the Washington DC region, doesn’t mean that folks down there weren’t affected by the shootings to the north. Sure it takes him out of the immediate area of the shootings, but he’s still going to be tried in the Commonwealth. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens.

Posted by at 01:51 PM
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