Missing change

October 10, 2008


Missing.

One Obama sign.

Lost since between 2-5pm, October 10th, 2008.

If found, please return.

Seriously. This afternoon, after a nice family trip to the Apple Orchard, we returned home to find our Obama sign missing. The space between the Bill Thompson sign and the Susy Blake sign, where our Obama sign once stood, is now empty.

At first I was upset. This was the second time an Obama sign had been taken (the first time we brushed off since, after all, we had two of them in our yard). I was ready to yell at them kids to get off’n our yard!

Then I looked down the block. I turned and looked down another. Kerrie hopped on her bike and took a swing around the neighborhood.

They are all gone.

All of the Obama signs in our little area west of McKennan park. Gone.

All (two) of the McCain stands still remain, as do all of the state house and senate candidates. But the Obama signs, of which there were several, are all gone.

Is this just a bunch of kids walking home from school at Patrick Henry Middle School thinking they’re putting us on?

Or is this a really desperate move by some McCain backer?

Who knows. All I know is that my Obama sign is gone.

And surprisingly, I don’t think it’s going to change much.

Tags: Annoyances, Politics, Sioux Falls |

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We’ll all survive

October 6, 2008


Every hour, we’re reminded of instability.

We’re reminded of how life isn’t predictable. How every moment could change everything. How one breath could wreak havoc on the world, how under every step lies the chance of failure. Predictability is only reserved for math and computers. And even then, it’s not necessarily given.

Every day, we’re reminded of our own mortality. We know how short our time is, relatively. We worry endlessly about the trivial, and fret aimlessly about larger concepts we barely understand. We worry when it’s worthwhile, and we worry when it’s painless and simple. Yet, we never really latch on to the fact that the worry will never solve anything.

That, in most cases, there is someone out there who is already working on the problem, and that the result is out of our hands.

If you are within earshot of a television, or if you simply breeze over the front page of MSN on your way to Hotmail, you’ve no doubt caught wind of our nation’s – and the world’s – financial troubles. Markets sinking. Consumers refraining. The entire fabric of our economic system, threadbare and worn like the elbow of an old sweater, threatening to tear apart.

But maybe it’s not that big. Maybe you’re worried about an upcoming test. A project at work. Your overall standing in the grand scheme of things. The meaning of life.

It’s worry. It’s a crutch I fall upon. It’s the reason many of us stay awake at night, develop ulcers and drink coffee 23 hours a day.

One of my goals over the past several years is to worry less. Which means worrying less about Sierra’s ability to comprehend things above her age level. Worrying less about how successful I can become in my career. Worrying less about my image, about my favorite sports teams, about politics, about things I can barely control and ultimately change little in my life.

And so her I am, not worrying about this financial crisis. In fact, justifying it.

I hate the way I think, sometimes. I tell myself that this financial situation is self-correcting. That this is what we get for living a reckless life, for spending what we don’t have, for trusting the un-trustable. Yet, that’s exactly what I think. I see this as an opportunity to live more simply. To prepare for the worst. To save, damn it. To start saving again, like every one taught me in high school.

I’m fighting my own worry by being optimistic. At risk of sounding a little too “half-full” about the whole ordeal, it seems like we just need a dose of optimism. Even if it’s practical, life affirming optimism.

Listen - when it comes down to it, we’ll all survive. We may need to scale back a little. We may need to live within our means. Things might change. Or things might correct themselves.

But we’ll all survive this. Things won’t be exactly as they have been. But we’ll all survive.

We’ll all survive.

Tags: On..., Politics |

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The search for four

July 16, 2008


What’s the number one number these days?

That’s easy. Four.

As in, Four Dollar Gas. As in, gas stations are scrambling to locate their fours, digging through closets and ransacking their number bins.

Because think of it this way – most gas station number kits probably come with a standard number of fours. Maybe three, or four, or six at the most.

But what happens with gas reaches $4.40, as it has in New York? Well, according to the New York Times, you make do with a little creativity. You make more fours yourself.

With regular gas in New York City at a near-record $4.40 a gallon, station managers are rummaging through their storage closets in search of extra 4s to display on their pumps. Many are coming up short.

That’s why Vishal Nair, who runs the Lukoil station at Eighth Avenue and 13th Street in Greenwich Village, took another plastic number last week, turned it over and scribbled “4” on it with a black magic marker. The result was an obviously homemade “$4.47,” but it would have to do until he received the extra 4s he ordered months ago.

And here’s something you might not know – in New York, there are regulations regarding the size, font and clarity of gas station sign numbers, created by the Department of Agriculture and Markets. Handwritten numbers aren’t necessarily allowed, though the Department seems to have backed off a little.

“People are running out of 4s and 5s, so we’re allowing them to post makeshift numbers as long as they are the right size,” [Jessica Chittenden, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Agriculture and Markets] said.

Which means there are positive effects to this sudden gas hike. The companies that produce the plastic numbers for gas stations? They’re frantically producing fours, sending them out as orders and stocking up for the long run. Just like they did with the threes a year ago. And twos a couple of years before that. They’re experiencing a boom, and while others grumble about the rising gas prices, they are benefiting from the entire ordeal.

And this isn’t even taking into account older gas pumps - those with dials instead of digital readings - that were never created to even reach two or three dollars per gallon.

Has there ever been a seismic shift in need for one digit before? In any single letter, symbol or number, for that matter. Aside from creation of a new symbol, like the euro, I can’t think of a single time when something like this happened so quickly.

It’s a fascinating look at frequency, really. Unlike a word falling out of general usage, this is firsthand experience with a change in the culture of communication. Like when words are added to the dictionary. Or when an entire country adopts a new catchphrase. Language trends take decades to make themselves known – this is happening in a matter of months.

With talk about the tipping point on gas consumption and the need for fuel-efficiency and the drive for energy independence rushing at us in the wake of looming economic disaster, it’s refreshing to see some of the little things. The quirky things that lie below the surface of this gas mess.

Like the fact that, love it or hate it, we all need more fours in our lives these days. I think this might be the most interesting thing I’ve learned about today.

It’s a good time to be the number four.

Tags: On..., Politics |

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Send Barack your baby

June 11, 2008


When Obama rolled into Sioux Falls a few weeks ago, one of Kerrie’s goals was to get a picture of Barack kissing Sierra. Young dynamic politicians need to be seen kissing cute babies, and Sierra fits the mold. We would be doing him a favor.

We never really got the chance at the time.

Now, we have no excuse.

Send Barack Your Baby. Complete with mailing label.

Send Barack Your Baby

We’re marking the box that says “Give Sierra hope.”

Tags: Politics, Sierra |

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On principles

May 26, 2008


I haven’t shopped at Wal-Mart for over three years. It could be more – it’s been so long, I’ve lost count.

Because of a minor feud with Radio Shack, I shunned their doors for over a year.

Until Saturday, it had been 12 years since I had last eaten meat.

All of these things have one thing in common: I boycotted them. And over time, my feelings on the boycott waned. Eventually, the original meaning of the boycott or shunning is forgotten, and the only thing that remains is the principle of having boycotted it in the first place.

I didn’t eat meat because of the principles of it all – I no longer felt the same way I once did, but a kind of principle fueled by momentum kept me vegetarian. I stopped shopping at Radio Shack because they screwed up, and I wouldn’t shop at other Radio Shack stores on principle alone. Wal-Mart? They’re a corporate giant that ultimately does more harm than good to small communities (depending on who you follow, that is). I won’t shop at Wal-Mart in Sioux Falls for this reason.

Most of those original reasons have faded as I’ve grown older. My activism has slackened a bit. I don’t like Wal-Mart, or Radio Shack, but they offer some things that I can’t get elsewhere. So as long as I’m not running to Wal-Mart simply to save a few pennies, what is the point of boycotting the place?

We all have certain things we won’t do on principle. Some of them are good, others extremely petty.

For example I won’t hit a child, kick a dog or cause irreparable emotional damage to someone – not because it’s wrong, but because there are personal principles in place that make those things horribly inappropriate. If kicking dogs was suddenly a legal and acceptable form of discipline, I still wouldn’t do it.

It’s the principle of the thing.

On the other hand, I haven’t shopped at Wal-Mart in a long time. And I poo-poo others when they do. That’s not being helpful or playing from a position of strength – that’s just feeling superior for something that’s as petty as giving someone the silent treatment.

The question is, am I being any more open minded by completely closing off certain sectors of life, whether it be a store or a lifestyle someone else’s personal choice?

Am I really helping anything at all aside from creating a feeling of personal pride – a false image of superiority?

When does a boycott based on principle end up being more petty than its worth?

Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go to Wal-Mart to buy Sierra a pink Twins hat.

Tags: On..., Politics |

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Just 37 days…

April 27, 2008


Obama!I’ve officially changed my designation from Independent to Democrat.

I’ve signed up for the newsletters and scoped out the headquarters.

I’ve started reaching out to non-converts.

I’ve wondered aloud many times why someone would vote for anyone else. Why someone would choose the politics as usual approach of those other two viable candidates. How someone could listen to his speeches, dissect his stands and compare them with their own values and not be swayed.

We’re not looking at another puppet. This, my friends, is the closest to hope - and the closest to a real voice - that politics has seen since Paul Wellstone.

The signs are up. We’re ready to roll.

Just 37 days until the South Dakota primary.

—–

Update: Apparently, this post included disparaging comments about Hillary and her supporters. Or something like that.

I guess this means I’m being read!

Tags: Politics |

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If you smell….

April 21, 2008


Tonight. A three-way ladder match for the WWE Presidential Nomination!

In this corner, hailing from Arizona, weighing in at a sprightly and fit 180 pounds and sporting a POW/MIA flag draped over his shoulders like James Brown, Lieutenant John “Cactus Flats” McCain!

And in this corner, weighing in with a message of hope, understanding and amazing oratory skills, in his first three-way ladder match, “The Phenom” Barack Hussein Obama. “IF YOU SMELLLLLL WHAT BARACK IS COOKIN!”

Finally, entering the ring at a weight of Mind Your Own Business, the former valet of World Presidential Champion Slick Willy, from New York or Arkansas or wherever suits her best, The Pantsuit®* Hillary Rodham Clinton!

Let’s get it on!

* bell rings *

Ahem…

I’m sorry if I’m having trouble understanding this, but, well, I just don’t understand this.

The night before one of the most important primaries in my lifetime, and both candidates are squaring off in the square circle? On a WWE program?

It’s not that I don’t commend them for reaching out to the non-CNN crowd, and it’s not that I don’t understand how crucial it is to grab votes from a traditionally Republican crowd (at least for Hillary and Barack - McCain seems to be thrown in for equal time). It’s just that I find it hard to take this seriously.

2:1 odds that McMahon does a run-in, locks Hillary into a Stone Cold Stunner and helps McCain out of the ring.

This can’t end well.

(Yes, I know they won’t be there in person. Let me dream, please.)

*Registered trademark of Todd Epp.

Tags: Politics, Wrestling |

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