We Live in a Big Geography Book
It’s incredible to me that I could be a thousand miles from home, and yet the internet is exactly the same as it always is. It’s Sci Fi, is what it is.
What is NOT the same is the geography. I’m in the mountains for a week, and I am completely minimized by the size of them. Minimized, and maximized. Flying here, I watched the topography change, and change, and change again. Not little minor changes, either: HUGE changes. The plane covered five or six chapters in a geography book and it was awesome.
Yesterday we experienced one of the fiercest hailstorms I’d ever seen, but there was no talk of tornadoes and no siren. When the clouds started moving in, low against the mountain, there was no mention of rain; the kids were sent outside to sniff for fire. There are no possums here, either. What equivalent do they have? I don’t know yet. I’m sure they have something, though.
I like it out here. I could live here happily.
My brother and sister-in-law are lovely, friendly, interesting people,and my two nephews are GREAT.
The new haircut and style my Tumorless Sister set me up with is great, too.
The immensity of my frumpiness must have been too much for her to stand. Thank you, T.S. You’re wonderful and I love you.
VERY odd flight, ours. Three segments to get here, and the longest segment flown in a tiny commuter plane! Headwinds, too; fortunately, I am not affected by a bumpy ride but several passengers were.
A childhood full of hanging upside-down and spinning at the 4-H Fair prepared me for just such a flight.
Many more violent flights like that, and I would want to buy stock in whatever company that manufactures those tiny vomit bags.
Speaking of Voting. . . .
It would make me very happy if some of you would go to that “Ed in ’08” icon in the sidebar, click on it, and vote for me.
It would make me even happier if ALL of you would do that.
Please?
If it would help, I can beg.
I can’t go to the conference, because even though it’s an education conference, it’s scheduled for the middle of the week. It looks as though it will be a really good conference, however. I wonder how many teachers will take those days off so near the end of the year? I’d go in a minute if it was later in the summer, or on a weekend.
Meanwhile, please vote for me. I’d really appreciate it. Thank you.
Please observe: I have not intruded into your home, and my grammar ain’t so not badly.
Where Does She GET These People?
Just so you know, the person I believe would be the best president for our country doesn’t have a chance. I’d love to vote for him, but it would only be taking a vote away from the only thing standing between us and a world leader who cackles and has short-term memory loss. (No, it’s not McCain; are you CRAZY?)
For the record, of the two major political candidates running for president, only one of them is harassing me at home. The other candidate has graciously left me alone to make my decision based on his speeches, his opinions about things that are important to me, and his lack of personal involvement in scandals having to do with sex, money, enabling deviant behavior, lies, and bilking the public. He also found the time to come right here to my community, himself, to talk.
I especially appreciate the fact that he has never intruded.
We are being bombarded with phone calls from various Hilary Clinton headquarters, and except for the latest call – less than a minute ago – all of the calls have been either truly dreadful taped tirades against Obama, or dramatic, pleading, undignified requests for my vote that can only be called “begging.”
I would suggest to Hilary that she hire phone soliciters who sound less like, um, other kinds of soliciters. Where did she get some of these people? Minsky’s? A few people who know how to put together a complete sentence would be nice to throw into the mix, as well. Oh, and I do NOT appreciate being called “dear” by a politician’s lap dummy, thankyouverymuch.
As for her lackeys who persisted in arguing with me after I said, “No, thank you,” I can only say. . . well, no, I can’t say it. I go a bit too far sometimes on my blog, but I’ll have to plead the “Auntie Em” for this one. Bonus points if you know what that is.
We are also getting a lot of calls from “Hilary Clinton” that have no message or voices at all; I pick up the receiver and there’s nobody there. I can hear activity in the background, but there’s nobody on the phone. We don’t bother picking up any more for that.
I am not a political blogger, not by anyone’s stretch of the imagination, but I am a fairly intelligent citizen, and I treasure my vote and honestly believe somebody is counting it. I believe that Americans who choose not to vote aren’t pulling their weight, and that non-voters had better not voice their political opinions after the fact; they forfeited that privilege when they decided not to vote.
I believe that if someone is running for office, and wants my vote, then that someone had better not be calling my home and bothering me when I’m busy, or even when I’m not busy. And if a candidate insists on intruding, then that intruder had better be able to spin a witty, grammatical, brief, and convincing gem of a reason she should have my vote, and her reasons had better not include anything about her opponent. That would pretty much rule out all those oversized post cards about gun control she’s been mailing to me, over and over and over, too. Trees? TREES, Hilary! As soon as one candidate starts talking trash about the other candidate, somebody’s cause is already lost, as far as I’m concerned. I consider such methods to be nothing more than diversionary tactics, representative of the vicious, mean-spirited nature of someone who has things she definitely wants covered up about herself. No names mentioned.
You’re running for office? Tell me what YOU plan to do. Let the other guy tell me what HE plans to do. Be nice to each other. This whole country is going down the pop-culture-obsessive, entitlement, look at meeeee, tubes, and I get enough wahhh wahhh, did not, did so, did not, did tooooooo in the national news now, thanks.
Oh, and when that candidate’s people phone me at home, again and again and again, with those dreadful nasal, been-smoking-all-my-life-and-ain’t-nobody-gonna-stop-me-now women’s voices and the bad, bad, bad grammar and the logic that can best be categorized as “nonexistent,” well, “dear,” I’ll have to tell you that you’ll get my vote, sure. When hell freezes over.
Now, will you please tell your minions to leave me alone? I mean JEEPERS!
As for the child who called me just a few minutes ago: I really don’t put much credibility in anybody of any age who has Melanie Griffith’s voice, either. How about you just lay the hell off me? Hmm? Can you do that for me? Every call I get just reminds me of more reasons why I am not voting for you.
Next time, hire better people. Oh, they were volunteers? Heaven help you, then.
I just got another call from the Hilary Connection. On my CELL PHONE. That cost me two units of time, but it cost you much, much more. I never talk politics with my students, even though they’ve been begging me to tell them who I’m voting for.
This is the last week of class. If they ask me again, I’m telling them. And if they ask me why, I’m telling them why.
