Wow...

I've got to admit, Barack Obama may be the best public speaker I've ever seen before in my entire life. I watched his acceptance speech on CNN, and every element of it was remarkable. The attendees were utterly enthralled. The journalists covering it were giddy. The speech was flawless.

It scares me to death.

I swear, it conjures up images of the Nazi rallies at Nuremburg. I don't say that to equate Obama to Hitler, but the unbridled, unrestrained, utter adoration of the man and the fervor and the dripping desire to hear what he had to say was the same. God how they love him.

It's like the country wants so much to believe what he says that they don't care to look beneath the surface.

We're going to end up like the Soviets ... we'll all be able to afford bread, but there will be no bread to be had.

He's selling "change," and by God America's buying.

Enough people have bought into his message that he will be utterly unstoppable in November.

I don't really know what else to say. I can't help but be impressed, but kind of in the same way that I couldn't help but be impressed that people living in caves in Afghanistan could pull off 9/11.

I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I swear I think my America died with that speech.

Welcome to Europe.

More convinced

I've watched most of the DNC speeches so far ... I don't believe in turning a blind eye to the opposition.


Interestingly, I've been watching the majority of it on a channel which my satellite TV service has provided dedicated to the 2 major parties' conventions. No commercials, no talking heads, just gavel-to-gavel cameras trained on the podium. You get to see it all, and provide your own analysis (or ranting, in my case...) It's interesting to see how much the MSM leaves out in their coverage. Then again, considering the degree to which the speakers have already beaten the themes-of-the-convention to death ad nauseum, I can partially see why the networks cut some speakers out in favor of so-called "analysis."

That being said, I'm more convinced than ever that I'm not voting Democratic this year (again.) I say that knowing that Obama will beat McCain like a rented mule in November. I say that not yet having heard Biden or Obama speak (I'm calling them Obama bin Biden now.)

I'm a nurse. I see the disregard with which people treat their own health, and I see what the majority of them do with the health care benefits they have (private insurance or otherwise.) I've never before been more opposed to the idea of universal heath insurance/socialized medicine/coverage-for-all or whatever euphamistic terms the Democrats want to use.

Mark my words: if universal health care becomes a reality, you may have coverage, but you won't get the care. At least you won't get the kind of care you're expecting, and you sure as hell won't get it in a timely fashion. You'll wait in line behind the drug abusers, the narcotic-seekers, the non-compliant diabetics. The healthcare professionals tasked with caring for you will burn out in a hurry. The benefits will be squandered. Fraud will be rampant. It. Will. Be. A. Disaster. You heard me.


I am not in favor of leaving Iraq. Sure, I don't want to see any more of our servicemen and servicewomen have to go overseas for yet another tour while the vast majority of America whines from the sidelines. I'm against abandoning the country we invaded, and that's exactly what Obama is advocating. I'm sick of McCain's position on Iraq being painted as supporting a century of unending warfare. Here's the thing, folks -- whether you like it or not, Iraq is our baby now. We broke it ... we bought it. To leave it in the shape it's in now is nothing short of unethical and immoral. We must not leave until we have the country back on its feet. We invaded their country. We have a responsibility to fix it.


Hillary's speech tonight was so incredibly soaked with outright, unapolagetic feminism that I felt somewhat vindicated in despising her so much. She's a bitter feminist. That's all she has ever been, it's all she is, and it's all she'll ever be. I don't want a feminist leading my country. I want a President. Go away, Hills. The feminist movement is over. It's 2008. Get with the program. "Move on," as it were.

Generally speaking, that's the one thing that's stood out thus far about the DNC. They all seem obsessed with the idea that it's still 1968.


For God's sake, it's 2008. Jim Crow is over. Seneca Falls is over. We have bigger problems now. Until the Democrats figure that out, they'll never get my vote.

So, what'd you do tonight?

10pm 'till midnight - I washed & waxed my vehicle.


What ?? ... I work nights. This is afternoon for me.

Temptation

I've been bitten by the motorcycle bug for some time now. I've pretty much convinced myself that it's not financially feasible to buy one right now - at least not while I'm still in school.

Yeah, like that does anything to abate the urge...

I've thought mostly about a "dual-sport" bike. Essentially, it would give me the ability to take the bike off pavement.

Being nerdy like I am, of course I'm stuck on BMW's R1200 GS - much like the R1150 GS Adventure that Ewan "Obi-Wan" McGregor and Charley Boorman rode around the world in "Long Way Round."



What? It retails for just under $15,000? Well, that takes care of that urge...

Then there's Kawasaki's KLR 650. Retailing under $6000, it's a little more realistic for me...


Then I did some fuzzy math: Once I finance the bike, I'm going to pay more than $6000. It'll be closer to $10,000 by the time principal and interest are paid off. (No, I didn't go through the payment schedule at a certain percent interest for so-many months. That's a big-pallpark figure. Sue me.) I'd easily spend a grand on accessories, helmet, jacket, gloves, etc. etc. etc. We'll stick with $10,000 for the whole kit just for argument's sake.

Let's say it costs $75 to fill the tank in the unarmored personnel carrier I currently drive. By the time I would pay off the Kawasaki, I could fill my tank 133 times.

Since I carpool to school and therefore only drive once out of every four trips to campus, and I live 5 minutes from work, that just doesn't add up. Even with my current vehicle's breathtakingly bad gas mileage, I don't fill up enough to warrant a new vehicle of any kind, much less one with the dubious practicality of a motorcycle.

Now, will that rationale hold up once I'm working full-time as an RN? Time will tell. The daydreams I've been having about kicking up dust on twisty gravel mountain roads or hitting the curves on the Tail of the Dragon with HODAR may get the best of me yet.

Historically, a full-time salary has had a decidedly detrimental effect on my ability to be frugal...

Here we go again...

Fall semester class starts tomorrow. I've had 2 weeks off. It doesn't feel like it was enough.

This semester will be much tougher, with clinicals every other weekend. Class days will be 2 hours or so longer. That's way too much Power Point all at one time.

I'm really tired. I worked 15 hours Saturday night and 12 last night. I've been eating too much, and I need to get out and run.

Tonight's music selection: "Into the Flood" by Deepfield.

Dryin' it up...

I bought a food dehydrator, mostly because I don't know what else to do with all our zucchini.

This is the second batch. The first batch consisted of something like 3 medium/large zucchini, which - after drying - fit in a quart Ziploc bag.


We'll probably reconstitute it later in soups or something. They could probably be eaten like chips with veggie dip or something (but I haven't tried that yet...) At any rate, they're not going bad and they sure take up less room this way!

Today's project

Re-painting the top surface of our stove insert. During the winter, the stove is going 24/7. We keep a steamer on the stove to keep the air in the house from being so dry. For those of you without a wood-burning stove, you'd be surprised at how much the stove dries out the air. Anyway, when refilling the steamer there's invariably some splashage, so it needed some paint.

Canned quotes

I had CNN on the other day while I was making the bed, and the spray-tanned talking head was interviewing a "law enforcement expert" who threw out 3 canned comments that I've come to hate. The statements are paraphrased:

"Nothing good goes on after 11pm. Nobody needs to be on the streets at that hour." He was commenting on some Arkansas town which now has a curfew because of increasing violent crime. Screw you, pal -- I work nights. 11pm is early afternoon for me. Wal Mart and other businesses are open 24 hours for people like me. Hell, I hung laundry on the clothesline at 4am today. My schedule isn't the same as yours, and that doesn't make me a criminal and it doesn't make me sorry. Curfews are a pathetic response to other failures of law enforcement and the justice system. Children are told when to go to bed. Adults aren't.

"If you don't have anything to hide, you don't have anything to worry about." I'm not sure of the context in which he said that. Yeah, never mind that pesky 'ol privacy thing, because you carry a badge and I can trust you, right? Screw you, pal. Your police cruiser should be tracked at all times by GPS and you need surveillance cameras in the car that watch you at all times. Because you don't have anything to hide, right?

And my favorite: "People don't use guns like that to protect themselves." He had gone off on a tangent about a suspect being found with several AK clones in his house. I keep an AK clone around to protect myself. I keep it around because that commie 7.62 will trump pretty much anything that is unfortunate enough to make it past my locked door. I keep it around because it will help me to protect myself effectively, while the cops will show up after the fact. It's the best tool in the toolbox for home defense. I'm a nurse. I do things to serve my community. Having an AK clone in my home says very little about my character. If anything, it says I'm quite capable of taking care of myself ... because the cops may very well not be around when things go rodeo. Oh, and he made some reference to the idea that AKs "on the street" mean the cops are outgunned. That's the idea. That badge doesn't make you more of a citizen than I am, pal, and crime statistics don't change the Bill of Rights. As an LEO, you're a public servant. Check your attitude.

Drool

I had staff meetings at work this morning at 8am - which is usually bed time - so now I'm kind of in a daze. Like all meetings, it was a boring waste of time. We had a short presentation from one of the local air ambulance services, though, which caused me to fantasize about wearing a helmet and flight suit and to drool all down the front of my shirt. How embarrassing.

Preparation

I'm not quite sure how to put this without being too specific ... Some of my loved ones live in a situation in which they've been told to have a "shelter-in-place" kit. They seem to be surprised by this, or at least are acting like it's absurd that they should have to do such a thing.

**Ring Ring ** Pick up the clue phone! Which part of Hurricane Katrina did you miss? The Fed Gov is not going to come rolling in with comfort items and free hugs 10 minutes after a disaster. I don't think it's realistic to believe they can.

Stop sniveling. Start preparing. For cryin' out loud, the Fed Gov has been telling us for years that we need to be prepared to fend for ourselves - at least in the short term - in the event of a disaster. Stop acting like New Orleans and pretending you didn't get the memo:

http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/index.html

For God's sake, I'm sick unto death of this persistent idea that preparation of any kind = paranoia. Stop expecting FEMA to wipe your butt for you. Do something for yourself.

Garden stuff

I don't think I've said anything about our garden.

The tomatoes are still green:


Pumpkins are nearly ready:


Zucchini of size:


We've also got corn (sweet and popcorn,) cucumbers, a single strawberry plant and beans. The zucchini and cucumbers have nearly blown us out. I'm thinking about buying a food dehydrator so maybe so much of it won't go to waste.

Time off...

Class doesn't resume until August 19, so I'm enjoying my time off. Well, I'm off in terms of school ... I'm still working part time. It still feels like a vacation, though ... I don't feel the need to open a text book every time I have a minute to spare!

I put up a clothesline a few weeks ago, and it's working out pretty well. I still end up using the dryer some, since my day typically starts around noon, and I run out of daylight before everything gets dry. I've probably cut out the use of the dryer by more than 75%, though, so I'll take that.

0.8

I managed to get a 95 on my nursing final this semester, but it wasn't enough to pull off an A. I missed it by 0.8 points. Damn.

Not that I'm all that disappointed -- RN coursework - especially in the compressed LPN-to-RN bridge program - makes LPN coursework look like kindergarten. The other students who work at my hospital barely passed.

The instructors have stressed that next semester will by much harder.

Enough of that for now. The semester is over, and Fall classes begin Aug. 18. Between now and then, I want to think of anything except school.

My desk thermometer currently says 97 degrees. That thermometer is usually a tad high, but no doubt it's hot. You know what that means ... yep - time to mow the yard.

I'm not sure what I'll do with my time off. I'm still working, but not very much (this'll still feel like a vacation, anyway.) I may actually pull out the kayak and head to the lake...