The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
Talking Politics is a Bad Idea
(deep breath)
I’m undecided, ok?
I will delete and ignore any comments that trash me for it. I am outing myself as undecided because I have a point to make.
I like both candidates. I voted for John McCain in the primary in 2000. I was convinced that he was the guy to save the soul of the Republican Party. I’m still hoping. And while I missed Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, I read it online and it made me all teary and proud of Chicago for finding him. Just reading it! I like their wives, even. I don’t believe that McCain would be Bush III and I don’t believe that Obama is all rhetoric.
I am a moderate. If I were to label myself, I would say “Cook County Republican” – which anyone from Illinois could tell you is an oxymoron. I like my Executives conservative, my Justices liberal and my Legislature to be a mixed bag. So I have my issues with the politics of both parties.
I said it in January and I will say it again: All other things being equal (meaning no one really makes me mad between now and then), I will be perfectly happy with either candidate as President. Here is my point:
I can’t stand the way these two sides talk to each other. And by “sides” I do not mean the candidates or even their entourages. I mean their supporters. It seems we all think that anyone not voting the way we are voting is just an idiot. Not just an idiot, but a xlkjsd% MORON!
My mother hates the Cleveland Browns because their fans are so obnoxious. I always thought that was terribly unfair of her. But I am starting to see it.
NFL Week 1 – 2008
Do you know what this is?
The answer is The Great Peyton Manning Surrounded by the Chicago Bears Doing the Safety Dance.
For those of you that aren’t into football: a Safety is when your guy is tackled in your own end zone. Only 2 points, but extremely embarrassing. And it doesn’t happen very often. The Bears sacked Manning deep in his own territory and then got to the running back in the end zone on the next play. It. Was. Beautiful.
Not many people expected the Bears to win this game, and this was the play that made everyone sit up and pay attention. And it was on Prime Time.
I could talk all night about this game, but the Pack is taking on those damn Vikings.
I love football season.
Publicity for the Refuge
ABC’s Harry Porterfield visited the Refuge on Labor Day. Here is the report he did:
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
Public Service Announcement – Hotel Etiquette
My camera batteries died in Texas, so you will all have to wait until January for pictures of the Alamo. I am sure you are terribly disappointed. And now I must pontificate on a subject that my real life and LJ friends have heard a couple of times before:
When I returned to my hotel room Thursday night, there was a note on my desk. It was from the housekeeper, thanking me for leaving her a tip that morning. It ended with “God Bless You!” This makes me worry that many people are not tipping housekeeping, which is terrible. These people work very hard for very little and if you think they don’t deserve something extra for cleaning up after you, then you must be a much neater person than I. That never requires fresh towels.
So in the interest of serving the industry, here is how I tip housekeeping:
- Housekeeping cannot take your money unless it is very clear that it was meant for them. So scribble some kind of “thank you” on some kind of paper and leave the money on it. There is usually a memo pad by the phone.
- Tip each day. Leaving a cumulative tip at the end might reward a person that never set foot in your room before and miss the person that cleaned your bathroom four days in a row.
- Rule #2 requires that you remember to carry small bills. I left two singles and a dollar in change this morning and felt badly about it. Just seems lame to leave coins.
- My formula is $2 per day, with an extra dollar on Sundays, check out days and any day I am particularly messy. This is when I travel alone – I do more when there are more people. My mother thinks I am cheap, but this was deemed acceptable by my Accounting Director, who travels more than I.
- If a hotel says that “housekeeping gratuity” is built into your “resort fee” (the extra $10 a night some places charge for the use of the fitness and spa facilities), please ask for details. When I asked, for a meeting I planned at work, I found that the “gratuity” was 75 cents per room per day. Very weak.
Now. A couple of weeks ago, I left $2 each day, with a note that said “Thank you” by the phone. For three days, it was not picked up. So I ended up leaving a cumulative tip at the end. That made me think about my colleague Gale, who always left her housekeeping tips with a note on the bed. I don’t do that because I leave a tip out the night before so that I don’t forget. But that made me wonder. What if the housekeeper couldn’t read English, and thus couldn’t confirm that the money on the desk was meant for her/him? And now I am really thinking too much about this.
If you were taught something different, or have other ideas about tipping hotel housekeeping, I’d like to hear about it. Now that my mother thinks I am cheap, I feel all insecure again.
Tricia’s Update
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Michael Gargiulo, the guy arrested in California that was linked to Tricia Pacaccio’s murder, has now been charged for two murders in California. The Trib has a quote from Tricia’s mother:
“All I want is to make sure he never gets out of jail. My main hope is that Cook County will get on this now, because they’ve been ignoring it,” said Pacaccio, who said she was waiting to talk with a detective regarding her daughter’s case.
So it seems she, at least, is convinced.
You can read the full text of the article here. And this article has his mug shot, which is pretty scary, if you ask me.
San Antonio
I’m leaving tomorrow for San Antonio. After this, I am hoping to minimize the travel schedule for the duration of my Project Management class. The course opened online this afternoon and it is a good thing I started my reading already. The good news is that I think I can used the library Used Book Store as my final project. Again!
In other news, our steering committee at the bookstore met today. We are still struggling with how to grow our sales inside of the old library space..until the new library is built. Groundbreaking is scheduled for November.
I will see if I can’t remember to take my camera with me. I remember a sign at the Alamo that explains to people about “being respectful”. I loved it.
Too Much TV Again
There are some movies that we shouldn’t bother to pick up on DVD because they are always on cable. Some of these are movies that we simply cannot turn off, regardless of how many, many times we have seen them before. Tonight’s example is Last of the Mohicans.
My mother’s is Independence Day. I have literally caught her watching it during the Super Bowl. Twice since I’ve had cable in my bedroom, I stayed up too late watching Speed, which is much more charming than its trailer. There were about two years when one or the other of The Addams Family films was on some channel, somewhere. And let’s not mention Harry Potter.
Lesser “must watch it to the end” films in my house are Twister, and The Replacements, which was a Keanu Reeves football comedy. Be quiet, Gene Hackman was in it. These are not the films we love the most. Not even really good shows in many cases. Just the stuff we can’t turn off.
On this Labor Day weekend, there was always something on. Makes the Staycation much more bearable, I think. And now Beetlejuice is on Chiller. I love that channel!
Manu’s Potential New Family
After dropping the nephew off at home (more on the first sleep over later), I went to the Refuge to help out the short-staffed crew and pick up Manu from meeting his potential adopters. He was out on the kitchen perch and I walked over to him. He stepped up without much drama at all. Then Rich, our director, came in and Manu got all fluffed up and angry with me for being alive.
Manu’s potential Dad was still there and witnessed the scene. Which I think might have made him like Manu more. I was introduced and spent some time talking with them. Nice people and more experienced with Amazons than I am. They asked about his routine and his diet. They told me he would be the only pet in the home, which I think he will like. They asked if I was going to have a hard time letting him go. I told them the truth:
I will miss Manu, but I am not the best home for him. It is also good for me see the “foster” experience all the way through. So we know that I won’t get all attached to every animal and become Crazy Cat Lady.
I realize I am repeating myself, but I need the mantra.
As I cleaned and fed the birds in the front room, Manu sat in the kitchen getting progressively more impatient. By the time I went to get him, he stepped right up and went right into the carrier. If you can believe that.
The potential adopters are going to sleep on it, but Manu was the clear favorite of the bunch they met. If they decide to adopt, they will still have to order a cage and it probably be a couple of weeks before they can take him home.
I feel pretty good about it today. Check in again if he goes home with these people.
Shoe Shopping with Alex
Alex had been complaining that his church shoes hurt. So I was told to get something brown around a size 8. Alex was wearing his crocs. Don’t get me started on that. So I had to introduce him to the concept of the ped. We called them the Silly Socks and he was totally fascinated. The shoes he liked best, a fancy looking brown laceless high top, were a half size too big. I got them for him, anyway.
Then I told him that I wanted to go look at shoes, too. Thought I was going to lose him. But he was all into it. I put three pairs in front of him:
Option #1: The More Professional Shoe (this double-banded Mary Jane seems to be the thing this year)
Option #2: The Suede, more interesting to look at shoe
Option #3: The Most Comfortable Shoe
He picked #2. Said he liked the “stripes”. Pretty sure they were the most expensive of the three, but I bought them, anyway. I’m glad he talked me out of that last pair, because they were totally off mission. But the soles were like Keds! And I’m too old to pick “professional” over “interesting”, anyway.
Adventures and Introductions
This afternoon I am taking Manu, the Amazon I am fostering, back to the Refuge for a night. First thing tomorrow morning, some potential adopters are coming to meet him. I have said many times before that I love Manu, but he prefers the company of men. So while I can give him a good home, I can’t give him the best home.
Fostering is great because we get to know the birds outside of the “shelter” environment. So we have more information to give adopters. Of course there is always the risk that you will want to keep the bird. My mother actually said that she wants to keep Manu. But we know that is at least half because she is afraid of what I might bring to the house next.
So if this works out, I will have done my duty by an awesome bird.
After I drop off Manu, I am going to pick up my nephew, Alex. His parents are going to a party that is certain to run late, so we are going to try a sleep over. Everyone is skeptical about it, but I figure that if he gets all upset at bedtime, I’ll just take him home. Kid should still try stuff, I think.
I’d better get moving, though.
The Next Dark Age 