New car smell

New car smell has been found to be the result of the toxic brew of chemicals used to build those cars. No kidding. It has ALWAYS made me sick to my stomach. I remember growing up that I found Toyota and Chrysler vehicles particularly bad - Ford and GM, not so much. I'd be very curious to hear what carmakers are the worst and the best.

I still get sick way sooner in Toyota or Chrysler cars. For instance, in my car pool to work, I ride in a Chevy Cavalier (no sickness) and a Jeep Grand Cherokee (back seat - ooh, beware...)

I even notice it at dealerships and when I rent cars. Ford and GM tend to make me far less sick than others - but Chryslers are particularly bad.

Unfortunately, I think the Mercury Topaz I drove for five years, which was the least "new car smelling" car I ever experienced, needed more industrial strength epoxy, because it was also the most "parts always falling off of it" car I ever experienced as well.

Hrmmm...

New house!!!!

No time to post, but....... I have a key to our new house! - Our sellers were very nice and since they were already out, they let us take early possession.

We can't wait to start moving in!

The Katrina Administration

From an email from johnkerry.com

"Katrina is a symbol of all this administration does and doesn't do. Michael Brown -- or Brownie as the President so famously thanked him for doing a heck of a job -- Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq; what George Tenet is to slam dunk intelligence; what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad; what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy; what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning; what Tom Delay is to ethics; and what George Bush is to "Mission Accomplished" and "Wanted Dead or Alive." The bottom line is simple: the "we'll do whatever it takes" administration doesn't have what it takes to get the job done.

This is the Katrina administration."

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Exhaustion

I am exhausted - and there is so much more to do....

The house stuff seems to be fitting together, although I'll be happier when we sell our current house! Work is a constant load too - I find myself surprised at how much work I used to get done over lunch, now that I have to do house stuff during most lunch breaks!

I find my mind spinning its wheels over and over and over - it takes an extra effort just to act normally around people. Then I want to ask people if they think I'm acting normally, or if I just feel crazy. But, I'm sure I'll look crazy. So I apologize to anyone who is looking at me wondering, "What the heck is he on?" I know I'm not acting normally... Wait, that's crazy... ;)

LIONS WIN!

Lions go undefeated through first game of season! Super Bowl here we come!



No better way to win than to hold Green Bay and giant stupid head Brett Favre to no touchdowns. Oh, yes there is... With the game in hand, sack him twice and intercept him on the last three plays to seal the deal.

And it's funny, when they win, they look good in those new jerseys...

House stuff

We're getting the final inspection on our new house today. Exciting!!! Still a lot more work on the horizon though. If all goes as it is right now, we'll have two houses by mid-October. Why pay just one mortgage when you can pay two?

Now some words...

It has been nearly 4 years since September 11, 2001. I dare say that the response to 9/11 was better than the response to Hurricane Katrina.

What has George Bush been doing to make our country safer in the past four years?



And I say - Thank GOD. To quote a line from Monty Python, if it wasn't for all the time he spent in Crawford, "this country would be in a right bloody mess." Can you imagine if we had a president this incompetent that actually cared about his job?

Words are useless

I've been so busy at work these past few days that my brain is only starting to come to grips with what is happening in New Orleans and the surrounding region as a result of Hurricane Katrina. I can't even imagine what it must be like for these poor people. It serves as a reminder to me how thin the line is for all of us between the comfort and safety we all know and cherish and total chaos.

I wonder if our collectively ignorant country will continue to think it is invincible in the face of global warming, limited fossil fuels, and all of the other forces of nature. Our country needs to take something positive away from this disaster to bring some tiny measure of consolation to this horrible tragedy. But for those directly affected by the loss of life, their loved ones, or their livelihoods, there can be no consolation.