A Road Diverged

By now you have probably heard that Chavez (the president of Venezuela) called President Bush the devil yesterday at a UN meeting.  He also made several other disparaging remarks about the President and about the US.  How did the audience respond?  With laughter and applause.  Now, I don’t know which countries actually applauded and laughed - perhaps all, perhaps not, but I think the US should respond to this insult.

My belief is that the US should withdraw the funds that it sends to the UN (the highest of any country) for various efforts until an apology is made.  Since the organization disrespects and dislikes the US and our President so much why should we help fund it?  Granted, that route causes a lot harm to innocent people which is unfortunate and even tragic, but it is time for something to be done.  The world (in general) hates the US, but it gladly accepts our money and our help.  It’s time to stop.  Pull our funding and demand an apology, it is time the US stops taking such abuse and the world realize that the US does a lot good as well.

Today as I drove to work I was thinking about the movie, “The Patriot”, with Mel Gibson.  In particular I was thinking of the scene where he goes to free his men who have been captured.  He rides into Cornwallis’ camp under a white flag to offer a trade - his men, for the British men he has captured.  While the negotiating is occurring, the man who killed Mel’s son walks in and almost kills Mel himself.  He is stopped by Cornwallis because Mel rode in under a white flag to trade.  The rules of war dictate that he is protected.  The trade is made, and it is quickly discovered that the captured Bristish soldiers were really just scarecrows.  Outraged, Cornwallis orders Mel to be killed or captured.  Mel, of course, escapes.  So why am I sharing this?  It’s because I couldn’t help but think about the war in Iraq.  Except this time we are the Brits.  Here’s what I mean:  We are so tied to the rules of war, proper conduct and the Geneva Convention that we can no longer fight on the level of the terrorists.  The American Revolution began to change the rules of warfare - no longer were officers protected, no longer were they assured that they wouldn’t be ambushed or tricked.  In order to win aganist a larger army the colonists had to fight smarter.  The Viet Cong learned this in the Vietnam War - they participated in guerrilla warfare, we tried (and failed) to fight back within the normal rules of war.  The same thing is happening today.  We must fight smarter.

Now, I am in no way advocating that we start using suicide bombers or placing weaponry in the middle of civilian areas.  While there is some intelligence to those methods, there are certain things that are inhumane and just plain wrong.  I am saying, however, that we need to come up with a strategy where we level the playing field.  Deciding not to fire on a group of Taliban because they’re meeting in a cemetary (which is not against any rules of war) is ridiculous.  It’s not like there’s going to be any collateral damage to worry about, everyone else who is there is already dead.  Unfortunately, I am not a war strategist and do not have any great answers to this problem, but I believe that it is something that needs to be addressed and it doesn’t seem to be.

Oh, and about the whole torture thing, let’s not forget which side is cutting off people’s heads and willing and wanting to kill millions of innocent people (mainly Americans).  Oh, and they don’t care if you’re against the war - they want you dead too.  It’s worth a little a discomfort to protect our country.  And let’s not forget that the terrorist who gave up the information about the London plane bombings was not interrogated by the US (thank goodness or who knows what would have happened) and I can guarantee that they did a little more than putting them in a cold room with loud rock music playing).  Was it worth all of those lives?  You make the call.

I’m not quite too sure what I should think.  I was in the restroom when a lady walked in and washed her hands.  Okay, nothing weird about that - it is, afterall, one of the reasons why we have bathrooms.  She then uses the toilet.  Okay, a bit odd but if she had something sticky on her hands of course she washed them first.  And then she came out and left the bathroom without washing her hands.  I didn’t know what I should think about that.  It is a tad backwards.  Bathrooms are usually rather boring places where you’d rather not think about how many people have sat on the toilet before you.  But today, I have to confess, it was rather amusing.

Apparently the US plans to take over the world. Did you know this? I didn’t, although I am sure it is discussed in some conspiracy theory groups. I was reading a blurb on Foxnews today that tells how Hugo Chavez (President of Venezuela) said that the US is a monster who would never give up overthrowing him. I had no idea the US wanted to overthrow Chavez (although I know we’re probably not thrilled with him as a leader). Chavez then goes on to talk about the US invading Venezuela. Um, yeah…just like we’re going to invade North Korea. Of course, Venezuela makes more sense than North Korea seeing how they have oil, but seriously, invade them? Excuse me while I clean up the mess I just made by snorting Dr. Pepper out of my nose.

I suppose it’s the popular cry these days. The US invaded Iraq and now they’re going to invade us! I suppose the French will decide that we are actually going to invade them next. Or the countires can all draw straws and whoever gets the longest straw is who we will invade first. It amazes me what people actually think about the US. Do we care that Chavez is a dictator and no friend to us? Yes. Do we want to invade his country? No. But, I suppose a country that no one really cares about (except for the fact that the people are starving) can only look important if the US is about to invade them. Makes for good media.

Coming into work today I was carrying my work shoes in one hand (my rebellious streak insists that I wear the forbidden flip flops until I get to my desk - or longer if I can get away with it) and a cup of milk in another. As I went through the door it started to close and hit me on the arm causing me to spill my milk all over the carpet, my hand and my shoes. I was immediately frustrated. Not only had I been looking forward to drinking my milk with my breakfast (which was safely tucked away in my purse) I had also gotten milk all over myself. I sighed, irritated, and made my way to the restroom mumbling to myself the whole way. “Why does the day have to start out like this?” “Why does this happen when I’m already running late?” “Why am I having such a bad day?” (nevermind the fact that I’d been up for less than an hour) and other such thoughts ran through my head as I cleaned my shoes, my hand and arm, and my work badge - which had also gotten soaked. After a few minutes I had pretty much cleaned everything up and made it to my desk, still a bit flustered. I then waited for the rest of my day to go bad (by the way, I woke up thirty minutes late this morning as well). But, today’s been a good day which has left me to wonder why I allowed a little spilt milk to get to me (a little bit of irony there).

Why do we allow things to affect us so much? What makes us decide that our day is bad? Is it because I ruined a shirt or forgot to do an important report the boss asked me to do? Truly - there are only a few things that should affect us so much as to make it a truly bad day (a death in the family, losing your job, a bad car accident…) - but even these can fade with time. So I’ve decided to try to laugh at these things when I want to be irritated - to see the humor in it. To laugh at the fact that the door didn’t register me being there and deciding to close on me - which I thought only happened at the front lobby (in fact, I am becoming convinced that our automatic doors only sense aliens and not humans - it’s a good way to weed out who really belongs here). So that’s my goal - to laugh instead of groan - unless it really, really hurts.

Today I was perusing website so I could price the cost of a new O2 sensor for our Jetta. We’re not 100% sure that’s the problem, but I wanted to be prepared for the cost in case that is the problem. Over the five years we’ve (my husband and I) owned the Jetta (a 2001 Jetta GLS) the problems we have encountered have been numerous, and VW has been less than helpful. My friends can attest to the number of times I have complained about the car, warned them never to buy a VW and wondered how my 95 Geo Metro has had less problems than our nice, fancy VW. Anyway - as I am perusing I stumble onto consumeraffairs.com. Intrigued, I go to the site to find a list of complaints about Jettas. To give an indication of just how long this list is, look at the bar that allows a person navigate up and down on a site. Mine’s not too small since I have not posted too much. The bar on the consumer affairs site was very small. I spent close to 30 minutes to an hour reading through everything (and I’m pretty fast reader). I was astonished at just how bad a car Volkswagen makes. I had thought, for the past five years, that we just got a bad car, or a lemon (although it didn’t qualify as such under state laws). But apparently VWs=lemons. I was quite surprised. It’s supposed to be such a nice, classy car - but it’s just junk dressed up nicely.

For the past hour I’ve been dreaming of class action suits and buying a billboard in various states with warnings to never buy a VW. I’ve thought of email campaigns to warn people not to buy a VW. And then it occurred to me - VW doesn’t care about their customers. Various times on the C.A. site it was mentioned that the VW company did nothing (neither did the dealerships). I even sent a letter to their headquarters expressing my displeasure with my car - they never responded. Of course, if I made such shoddy cars, I wouldn’t want to own up to it either. In the end though, it all boils down to the almighty dollar. How does the consumer make VW suffer for their bad cars? Obviously by never buying another one. It’s a matter of getting the word out. Perhaps I should buy a billboard or start a mass email campaign. But I fear that too many people have been sold by the classy look and only realize too late the feces that lie beneath.

For those of you who don’t know, today is the National Day of Prayer.  We gathered at work today to pray for our country and they also showed played a song with a video (I believe the name of the song is, “Let Freedom Ring”).  The video showed various national monuments, our soldiers, Arlington Cemetery, children, corfields, everything American in my mind.  And it often cut to shots of our flag.  As I was watching it with the familiar feeling of pride in my country welling up inside of me, I couldn’t help but wonder when our flag became so hated.  And I’m not� talking about other countries, although that is relevant, but by our own people.  My generation and the generation following don’t seem to have pride in being an American.  There is no pride in what our flag represents - opportunity, liberty, freedom.  Instead there’s a general disgust.  We are now the oppressors, we hold people down, everyone is entitled to things instead of working hard and coming up with great ideas that become reality.  It seems that since people are not happy with our government they hate our country.  Someone the other day said to me that they would rather abort a child than have them born in this country under this administration.  I found it terribly sad and disturbing.  Our country is so wonderful because we are able to change our leaders, we are able to decide who goes into office.  � No, my guy doesn’t always win, but that doesn’t mean that things are hopeless.

I was raised to have great pride in our country.  I was taught that people can come from nothing and become someone great.  I was taught that our country is the land of the free and the home of the brave.  I was taught that I can speak my mind, even if my opinion is unpopular, because our government recognizes the importance of free speech and a free press.  I was taught that freedom and democracy were two of the greatest things on earth.  I was taught that as a great nation we have a responisbility in this world, to protect those who are weaker and who are oppressed.  To stand for righteousness and for the freedom of all people.  Goodness knows this country has not always suceeded in that, but it doesn’t make it any less great.  It devestates me to think that people within this country despise our flag and what it stands for.  I challenge those people to go live in the Middle East, or Azerbeijan or China or any other of the many countries that deny freedom and tell me that it’s better.  And don’t go as an American, be one of the them.  Don’t go as a celebrity, be a common person.  Tell me how you feel when you get arrested for practicing your faith (whatever it might be), when you are beaten for something you said, when you are put in jail and the key is thrown away and you never received a trial.  These people talk big about what an awful country the US is.  They should be on their knees thanking God that they have the right to do that.

No matter what you think about this administration or any to follow, be proud to be an American.  Don’t apologize for our country.  Teach people what freedom and liberty really are.  Help the oppressed, speak out for what you believe in, take the opportunities given and run with them.  Work hard.  Honor our flag.  Remember that many people gave their lives so you could be free.  Remember that the people that make up our government are not America.  We the people are and for that we should be proud.

I have to confess that I don’t normally think of people, at least the majority of people, as idiotic imbeciles - but that is starting to change.  Perhaps idiotic imbeciles is a bit harsh, maybe they’re just plain rude and inconsiderate (which was an offensive punishable by death growing up� in my house).  So who am I referring to?� Those people who cannot park between the lines in a parking lot (I know - I spend way too much time in the parking lot).  This morning I noticed two cars that missed the lines when I arrived, and a different car had the same problem when I was leaving.  Is it really that difficult to pull between two lines?� Are you really in such a hurry that you can’t take the extra thirty seconds it takes to straighten your car out when you park?� Are you the type that curses others when they do the same, but believe it’s okay when you do it because you’ll “only be five minutes”?�

What irks me even more is when someone parks over the line on one side and a different person, one spot away, parks over the line as well - leaving a space of about a foot left in the spot between them.  And I have to confess that one of my guilty pleasures in life is to park in the little space that has been left.  Usually it makes it� so that I can barely get out of my own car, but no matter - it makes it next to impossible for the offender to leave with any sense of ease.  And, if I’m lucky,� they can’t get into their car.  I’ve even left a note on their windshield apologizing for the huge dent I left in their car door (which I haven’t) due to the fact that they parked too close to me.  I have to confess that I recognize the wrong in my actions - I’m returning rudeness with rudeness and acting in a way I don’t completely approve of.  But it really can’t be that difficult to park between the lines.

As someone was so kind to point out (check the comments section) gas is NOT $1.79/gallon. Probably wishful thinking on my side. $2.79/gallon is, however, the cost of gas currently in my city. Sad, I never thought I’d think back to the days when gas being $1.79 was pleasant and cheap. When I first bought my car I could fill it up for $8.00. I spent less than $20.00/month on gas and now I’m over $40.00/month. For most, that’s really cheap and I agree, I’m lucky in that respect. But, when just comparing to my own costs over the years, it is rather sad. I find it interesting that no one is addressing this in the political world. After Katrina all we heard about was price gouging. But now…nothing…silence. Maybe they’re all getting paid off in Washington. Perhaps they don’t have to pay for their gas - perhaps it’s charged to us taxpayers. That wouldn’t surprise me in the least. I need to go fill up today, I’m not looking forward to it.

As many of you are surely aware of, prices of oil have once again gone up - $75.00/barrel.   I haven’t seen the effect at the pumps yet (this morning it was $1.79/gallon).   While I was reading an article about the price of oil� two things stood out to me.   First, was that there was no problem in supply.   Second, someone mentioned that “they” were waiting to see how high the prices could go before there was a decline in demand - which is rather dispicable.   My husband commutes to work, and at this rate we’ll be paying $300-$400/month on gas alone.   And we own a fuel efficient car.   I cannot even imagine what people who own SUVs are paying.   The real question though, is when will demand decline?�  Or will it?�  Are we all so dependent on gas that we’ll tighten our belts, eat out a bit less and save the money to put towards gas?�  Are we willing to make sure that demand goes down?�  Is there anything, that we as a consumer do?�  It’s probably not reasonable for most of us to go out and buy a new car that is more fuel efficient.   For many people, riding a bike to work is also not an option (much less walking).   There is always the bus - but depending on where you live that may not be a very desireable choice either.   And if your job is erratic on when you’ll be there - well, that goes out the window as well.   Perhaps we should just spend more time at home.   That could save us some money.   But, one must remember that prices at the grocery store will be going up as well to cover their fuel costs, so that probably covers the savings made from staying at home.   What’s really sad is that the people this hurts most are the average American who makes a decent income, but not enough to adjust for this change in gas price.   I also have a feeling that a lot of people will start charging their gas to their credit cars and go into more debt.   What a horrible feeling, to go in debt because of gas!�  I don’t know the right solution to this - but there has to be one.   Government interference has crossed my mind (the oil companies are not 100% private), but I don’t know whether I’m comfortable with that idea.   I suppose that I shall wait for a mass email to hit my inbox telling me what I can do to help make gas prices go down.   Someone must have an idea…one that doesn’t include blowing up Iran…