Random Thoughts

And then we’d be sunk…

I am married to a pessimist. Ordinarily, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because I tend to be an optimist, and we sort of balance each other out.

Right now though, it’s not a good thing. I’ve been watching my investments evaporate, over $30,000 gone in the past three weeks. It is depressing, and I have no idea how long (if ever) it will take to recoup what is lost. I try not to spend too much time thinking about it, but as we watch the economy sink, my pessimist husband is plumbing new depths to gloom.

Tonight as we talked about the House’s rejection of the bailout proposal, my husband offered the comment, “Make no mistake, things are very bad. If I should lose my job, we’re sunk.”

Now, he’s in no danger whatsoever of losing his job. Nevertheless, it could happen. The president of the family owned-company which employs my husband could suddenly die, and the remaining execs and heirs could decide to close up shop, and my husband could lose his job.

“If I lost my job, we’d have to sell the house, and in this market it probably wouldn’t sell, and we’d really be sunk,” he added.

We’ve lived in this house for nearly 19 years. It’s currently worth twice the mortgage we have on it (a 30 year fixed one at 5%). It’s in excellent condition, significantly remodeled in the past two years, and located in a desirable middle class neighborhood of a very desirable Southern California city. Yes, the SoCal housing market is not doing well, the median price of homes in our area has dropped over 30% from last year at this time, and now would not be an ideal time to sell. Still, it’s a viable asset; we could price it low and sell it if we absolutely had to do so.

Trying to stem the tide of doom issuing from my husband, I said, “So you lose your job, and we have to sell the house. What’s the worst that could happen?” I’m thinking it’s a big country, we’re both well educated and skilled, we could sell the house, move to a different area–one where the dollar goes much further than it does in over-priced SoCal–and start over. We’re only in our mid-forties after all.

My husband was obviously not thinking along the same lines. A look somewhat akin to abject fear crossed his face. “I don’t want to think about it,” he said, shouldering his gym bag. “I’m going to go work out.”

I think I should get points for not asking as he left, “How bad can things be if you can still afford a monthly gym fee?”

Honestly, I hope things stabilize before they get any worse. Given the power struggle underway in Washington, and the fact that this downturn and the chaos around it serves the interests of those in power, I have little hope things will get better any time soon. But even if they don’t, it doesn’t mean we’re sunk. We’re in an economic cycle, not the Titanic.

It was only a college prank…

It just gets better and better. Apparently “rubico10″ who takes credit for the Sarah Palin email hacking is a 20 year old college boy, who also happens to be the son of a Tennessee Democratic State Representative. H/T to rightvoices.com for the link.

What do you want to bet that daddy does whatever it takes to keep junior from paying for his “fun?”

The Other McCain has ongoing details of this story, with the pithy observation

…maybe “rubico10″ was just bragging about a hack he didn’t actually do. And maybe “rubico10″ is a common Web nickname, like “bi19cheerldr.” And maybe a Democrat’s chess-nerd son with emotional issues isn’t the only one who “really wanted to get something incriminating” about the GOP vice-presidential candidate. It’s all just a coincidence, no conclusions can be drawn from these random facts, and not even Andrew Sullivan would bother to do a “just asking questions” post about it.

The AP refused to cooperate with the Secret Service when the search for the hacker began, and continues to insist that Sarah Palin uses private email for state business (regardless of any factual evidence), thereby insinuating that hacking her email was justified. How utterly predictable of them. The ends justify the means.

Something wicked this way comes…

My first reaction to the news that someone had hacked Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account was “Of course.” Honestly, at this point I would not be surprised at anything, no matter how illegal, immoral or cruel, the haters might do to this woman and her family.

That gawker.com would post the hacking results made perfect sense. They’re hand in glove with amoral folks like “perez hilton” and the like, pathetic souls whose daily lives are focused upon slander, gossip and depraved innuendo. Hurting other people brings them joy; disgust and pity are all I can muster for such individuals. I am not going to link to them here. It bothers me to give them any traffic, and I really do not want pingbacks from their ilk.

When I encounter such hatred (and unfortunately I have more than once on the Internet) I wonder what led to it in the first place. It might be simplistic of me, but I wonder what kind of childhood these people had. I have children of my own and I’d feel like ten kinds of a failure if one of them grew up to spend his or her life trying to cause discomfort, emotional pain, or outright ruin to other people’s reputations. I suppose there’s a story behind the ugliness that spawns such behavior. Charles Manson was a terribly neglected and abused baby, and look how he turned out.

Sometimes it helps to understand where human monsters come from, but it does not ever excuse their actions.

Michelle Malkin has a possible explanation for the Palin hacking. I find it believable. There are quite a few people out there with no moral boundaries to speak of, far too much time on their hands, and access to the Internet. I’ve seen the result from time to time, and it looks a lot like what “rubico” claims to have done.

Then again, maybe “rubico” is just blowing smoke.

Sometimes it’s very hard to know where reality begins and ends on the Internet. People post things all the time that they would never dare say in person to anyone. At least, I hope they wouldn’t say them in person. In the case of the Gawker, perhaps they would. Come to think of it, recently we’ve seen people say things about Mrs. Palin and her family which indicate they have no fear of repercussions and little or no conscience.

They apparently don’t care how their venomous behavior might reflect on Obama’s campaign either, that it might drive potential voters away from their candidate. Perhaps that’s because they really are not interested in helping Obama score a win, or caring much about the election at all, really. They’re all about hatred, and only about hatred.

Evil doesn’t have much to do with logic. It simply wants to destroy.

There’s a fight going on here beyond the political, and the closer we get to the election, the more I think all involved (including both parties’ candidates) are in some ways pawns in a much bigger battle.

When we lose sight of the humanity of others around us, when hurting others becomes “fun,” we’ve chosen a side in the battle. And it’s not the side I ever want to be on.

Something to meditate upon in these hate-filled times: Psalm 55.

You’re too stupid for Barack

Here’s the problem with all of us who aren’t solidly behind Barack the Messiah: We’e just too stupid for Obama.

Say what we might about Hillary, she would never point a verbal gun at her own foot and pull the trigger like Joe Biden just did.

And yet again, another haggish old broad takes a pathetic swipe at Sarah Palin.

*yawn*

It would be entertaining in a can’t-look-away-from-the-train-wreck sort of way, if it weren’t so predictable.

Rachel Lucas has posted a deliciously sarcastic response.

In other news, we’re too stupid to realize that Obama is black, and once we do, we won’t vote for him, because we’re all racists. Or something. The Anchoress explains it for all of us KMart shoppers.

It would well behoove all of us, regardless of party, to pay attention to what these people are saying. Their concept of America, and of Americans in general, is so negative, so belittling, that it’s downright frightening. I credit small children with more intelligence than these people assign to the average US citizen. When someone decides you are incompetant, ignorant, and incapable of appreciating their leadership, it serves to justify any decision they make regardless of how it affects the American public. After all, we’re too stupid to know what’s good for us. Let them be the judge of that.

Scary.

When life gives you limes…

From the imminent US presidential election, Wall Street’s woes, and tragedies both local and distant, I need a breather.

In my backyard I have a dwarf lime tree. At various times I tried growing a lemon tree and an orange tree (both far more useful I thought) but only the lime survived. By rights it ought not to be here, 18 years after I put it in the ground in the worst possible location. Citrus trees require light and good drainage. This poor thing is sandwiched between a jacuzzi and a wooden fence, overshadowed by a massive pine tree, and vying the neighbors row of overgrown pepper trees for what little nutrients the poor soil offers.

Despite this, it continues to bear fruit every year. Last week I picked over a hundred ripe limes from it’s branches. Its tenacity and productivity in the face of odds that should stunt it if not kill it outright, is a lesson to me.

And that lime juice will make some awesome Margaritas.

My personal favorite:

Cadillac Margarita

2 oz. Cuervo 1800 tequila (and yes, it does matter what brand)
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
2 oz. lime juice

Shake ingredients together and serve over ice with or without salt rimming the margarita glass.

Or, if you’re sharing/it’s a really hot afternoon:

Classic Frozen Margaritas

3 shots of tequila
2 shots of triple sec
1 shot of fresh lime juice
Ice cubes

Puree the above in a blender until it’s the consistency of sorbet. I prefer to serve them without the traditional salt rimming the glass.

Of course, fresh lime juice makes wonderful limeade too. Ten parts water to one part lime juice, sugar to taste, shake it all up and pour it over ice cubes.

The thing is, I don’t want to waste those limes. The tree keeps producing them, the least I can do is put them to good use.

Sarah Palin and the media machine

The more I watch the media attempt to eradicate Sarah Palin from what has suddenly become a very interesting presidential campaign, the more I am glad it is 2008 and not 1989. In 1989, we did not have the array of information at our fingertips that we have today, thanks to the Internet with its YouTube and numerous blogs.

In 1989, it was easy for the media to paint Dan Quayle as an illiterate fool, ignorantly straightlaced. Never mind that the man was both brilliant and articulate. He was a threat, his core values an anathema to all that the far left media held dear, and they were determined to undermine any chance he’d have of being a potential future presidential candidate. The watching public was limited to what the mainstream media fed them, and we really had no way of knowing just how slanted, tweaked and manipulated was the image we were being fed.

Fast forward nearly twenty years. Enter Sarah Palin. Not so easy to wipe her off the political scene, despite all that networks like ABC, and ranting feminazis like Cintra Wilson and Heather Mallick try to do to make us think Ms. Palin will Ruin Your Life and Destroy America. Fortunately for us, we have a vast array of media alternatives at our fingertips. We can see how edited interviews have been, and how an intelligent (and snarky) response to someone like Mallick renders her venom ineffective.

It’s beyond the scope of this blog to go into detail of just how widespread and how manic the media’s reaction to Palin has been ever since she accepted the Republican VP candidacy; the Anchoress has a much more comprehensive rundown.

I guess their rage is understandable. Barack Obama had center stage ever since he announced his candidacy…until Palin. Now, Palin has the stage, and Obama’s got no way to pull the public’s attention back to focus solely on him. Must be insanely frustrating for his media acolytes. Religious zealots do not typically cope well when their god is being ignored by the masses.

Summer’s over…

My eldest son leaves for college in the morning. He’s about to begin his third year at Seattle Pacific University, and it should be a good one indeed. He’ll be working as a Peer Advisor, which is SPU’s version of a university “RA.” As a Peer Advisor, my son will be responsible for the students on one floor of one of SPU’s dorms. From planning dorm social events to providing moral support to students coping with stress, the job carries a lot of responsibility. It also means he gets his own room, paid for by the university.

That, combined with his USAF ROTC scholarship, will really help cover the cost of his final two years at SPU.

I could not be prouder of him. The child whom I used to call my Renaissance Boy (he was both athletic and intellectual, with an amazingly varied range of interests) has grown up to be a fine young man indeed.

In two weeks, his younger sister will join him at SPU. She plans to become an elementary school teacher, and her desire to live in the Pacific Northwest led her to apply only to schools in Washington and Oregon. Her close bond with her brother gave extra weight to SPU when it came time to choose the school she’d attend.

Not coincidentally (I do not believe in coincidence when it comes to such things) their older sister lives ten minutes from SPU.

So, by the end of September, three of my four children will all be living within minutes of each other, 1151 miles from the home where they grew up.

I am so happy that they will be near each other, though unhappy that they are so far from me. But in the three years since my firstborn left home, I’ve learned that raising them to be responsible independent adults means that they’re going to grow up to be responsible, independent adults. And that means they will leave home, darn it.

So, tomorrow, I will hug my son, and wave as he drives away. And in two weeks I will take a plane flight with my daughter, and help her move into her new dorm room. And then I will return home, to a home with only one child left in it.

As odd and as sad as that seems (it has been over 20 years since I’ve had only one child at home), it’s the result of a lifetime–three lifetimes–of prayers and planning and hands-on parenting. It will be interesting to see what life is like with just myself, my husband, and our youngest boy. Somehow, I have a feeling that it won’t be dull.