Archive for February 2008
Yesterday, during Bush’s press conference, a reporter asked Bush what advice he would give to the average American who faces the prospect of gas being $4 a gallon. He replied saying, “That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that.” Add this to another one of Bush’s great presidential moments!
Was he joking or serious? If he was being serious, I feel sorry for him. This is a president that travels all the time. Has he seen the prices in San Francisco? It’s one of the most expensive cities for gasoline. In fact, gas has hit $4.23 a gallon at Shell on South El Camino. Does Bush even pay for his own gas?
I don’t want to get all political here, as I may not know all my facts. So I’m going to just speculate what it would be like if gas was always at $4 a gallon. Would it help force people to use public transportation more to “save” the environment? Would it help force all those people with gas-guzzling SUV’s trade in for a more economical car? Or are we so stubborn about driving that we would just constantly complain that gas is expensive at $4 a gallon?
What do you think?
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Lately, I’ve been addicted to the Travel Channel (TC) due to my major itch to go on vacation outside of America. Imagine my pride when I flipped on the TC tonight and saw the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge in beautiful high definition right before my eyes. According to Amy Marathe on the show, the Golden Gate Bridge is the world’s #1 bridge. This caused the buttons on my shirt to pop with pride, make my eyes bigger than my brain, and produce this weird nostalgic grin on my face.
Pictures or movies don’t do justice. There is NOTHING better than seeing the bridge with your own eyes. AND, there is nothing better than saying, “I lived there.”
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Last night, magic happened in the sky.
Composite of February 20, 2008 Lunar Eclipse - by Jeff Fredrickson
There have been lunar eclipses in the past, but I never got to actually see them with my own eyes. So, the experience was amazing, even though my bottom was freezing and my hands were frozen.
Alli paged me and said the moon was red. I was all, WTF? The moon did not look red to me at all. Everyone with me at the moment could see the red, too. Uhh!? I looked through Jeff’s camera, and the moon did not look red. I was thinking y’alls are trippin’! Jeff rolled his eyes at me and changed the F-stop or whatever and took another picture. Wow, the moon was red! So, I started experimenting with my eyes. I closed my right eye, but all I saw were three fuzzy moons. Then, I closed my left eye and I saw the red! Talk about having weird eyes, huh?
The camera might have been trippin’ though, because there are two moons in this picture.
February 20, 2008 Lunar Eclipse Reflection - By Jeff Fredrickson
In all seriousness, seeing the lunar eclipse really reminded me of what a big universe we live in. We see Earth outside everyday. We see our own shadows. But, to see the earth’s shadow is just….wow.
I now present you with the first “Wine of the Month” feature.
Chard-on-yeah wine by Trinchero Family Estates…an expression of joy upon discovering the pleasures of unoaked Chardonnay!
The first thing I noticed about this wine bottle at Cost Plus World Market was the name. Take out the C, and what do you get? Yep, rather amusing! The name was a great marketing idea, which sucked me in. However, the taste just didn’t blow me away. Instead, the taste was actually neutral. The fruitiness wasn’t as strong, but what I really liked best was that the taste was not too buttery. I’d recommend this wine for simple, cheap meals that don’t call for anything fancy. Heck, it was only $10 bucks.
Look what I found on the door in Safeway’s restroom.
Wow! Shoplifting is stealing? I had no idea! Thanks, Safeway, for making my world a lot clearer. I feel so much smarter now.
This shirt was purchased from one of my favorite places in San Francisco to chill outside and people-watch. Anyone want to make a wild guess what the shirt’s note is referring to?
I came to work this morning to find that the suite next to mine had a problem with their alarm. Their alarm wouldn’t shut off, so all it did was produce this ungodly noise of a loud siren. Everyone at my work could barely hear anyone talking or even the phones, because all they could hear was the freaking loud alarm.
Guess what I did while walking to my office? Of course, I turned off my hearing aids. The world became silent. No sirens, no nothing. I ate my breakfast in peace.
Thanks to my small bladder, I had to go to the bathroom for the second time during my four hour drive to Pittsburgh on Friday. After many miles, I reached a service plaza 40 miles from my destination and did my business.
I got back in my cool vehicle, turned over the ignition, and was about to drive off to continue my journey, but I felt funny. Something told me to get out of my car and check my tires. Listening to that something, I put my car in park and got out to do a 360 degree inspection. Look what I found:
Yep, that’s a big bubble on my tire along with a slight tear on the side. My eyes popped open and I debated what to do. I emailed Jeff a picture of the tire. He replied saying that it was a sign of a tear in the inner tube and that it was very possible that the tire would blow soon.
I was in the middle of nowhere! I decided to keep driving the rest of the 40 miles, but I put my sidekick down and held the wheel really tightly. Whew, my hands hurt from holding the wheel tightly, but I made it to my destination! The first thing I did was stop at Goodyear tires and told them I was “stranded” with a tire that was about to blow, so they made my car priority and changed my tire in less than 30 minutes! Yes it emptied my wallet a bit, but at least I didn’t have to risk a big blow driving back home.
The question is: what was that “something” that told me to check my tires? I don’t know, and it’s open to many interpretations, but I’m glad there was a “something.” Life works in funny ways.
Dear Mom,
Today is your birthday. You’d kill me if I announced to the Internet how old you really are, but I don’t understand, because you don’t look a day older than 35. Because you flew out to the East this week, I had the honor of seeing you on your special day.
Last night, your cell phone, sitting next to Nana’s land line phone, made a weird noise before it rang. You didn’t answer it. Instead, you told me and Nana that Kenny asked you what that noise was whenever your phone was about to ring. It was really the frequencies between your computer and cell phone that made the weird noise, but you told my eight year old brother that it was aliens. He freaked out and didn’t want nothing to do with aliens. The poor boy is never gonna look at a picture of an alien again.
So, you proceeded to check your voice mail since you didn’t answer the phone. I asked you who it was and you said it was the aliens letting you know that you have to go back to California because they’re having a birthday party for you. Nana started cracking up so hard, that it made you crack up hard. Eventually I started laughing. You were so proud of yourself because you “finally said something funny.”
I’m proud of you, too. Aliens or not, I’m proud that you’re my mother who stuck by me and my siblings through and through. I’d give you a granddaughter now, but Nana said to go buy your own for now!
Thanks for all you do! You rock.
Love,
Sarah
Below is a list of top ten reasons why Valentine’s Day sucks. The list was compiled by my awesome friends who are single and a person who is taken (me, yours truly *bows*). Can you guess which ones are from a TAKEN chick and SINGLE dudes?
- Valentine’s is a cruel reminder that you have nobody. (Duh, this is easy, huh?!)
- Valentine’s Day is overrated – many gifts are given from the store shelves rather than straight from the free heart.
- All those Valentine Day candies are tempting!
- Valentine ’s Day is a day of expectations, I prefer surprises on spontaneous moments.
- The history on this ever so wonderful day is hazy. Just WHAT are we celebrating besides our loved ones? Celebrating about something confusing is silly.
- The market is still shitty. I want my money back. Where is the love on the New York Stock Exchange?
- We have to work today.
- Single people are often ignored, unless you’re in elementary school passing around v-day cards.
- There are 365 days in a year, why is the concept of Valentine’s Day on only one day? Come on!
- Billions of paper is wasted!
Here’s an 11th one, just for kickers:
How did you do?
Tonight I’m going to Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse on a date. Bet you’re thinking, WTF? Hey, who says I have to stay at home boycotting the day? Who knows, maybe our purchase will be prepared, cooked, by a hot chef in the kitchen with *gasp* love. But here’s the real secret, I’m going because I, myself, love steak the person I’m going with, who likes (cough) Valentine’s Day.
So, without further ado, Happy Thursday, like my friend Allison says.
(photos are NOT mine. Pulled from http://vd.meish.org/)
