Request

I hadn't planned on being home tonight, but it's actually kind of nice. I decided to lay low after I had an adverse reaction to giving blood. It was mild on the rating scale, but since it's happened three times in a row either immediately or within 36 hours of giving blood, the nurse suggested that I don't do it again. She also suggested that I get somebody bigger than me to give blood, instead. Any takers?

Friday metablog

Steven Pearlstein takes on the idiotic arguments abounding from the stimulus debate. So does Jon Stewart in an excellent episode. won't even embed the first segment because you should just go to the website and watch at least the first two segments.

Just in time for anti-Valentine's Day, the Times brings us two articles that present, inadvertently, a less than rosy perspective on marriage. The first, nicely summed up as follows,

“Given how stark and concentrated the job losses are among men, and that women represented a high proportion of the labor force in the beginning of this recession, women are now bearing the burden — or the opportunity, one could say — of being breadwinners,” says Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress.

, touches on the imbalance of labor in the home:

Women like Ms. Mohammed find themselves at the head of once-separate spheres: work and household. While women appear to be sole breadwinners in greater numbers, they are likely to remain responsible for most domestic responsibilities at home.

On average, employed women devote much more time to child care and housework than employed men do, according to recent data from the government’s American Time Use Survey analyzed by two economists, Alan B. Krueger and Andreas Mueller.

When women are unemployed and looking for a job, the time they spend daily taking care of children nearly doubles. Unemployed men’s child care duties, by contrast, are virtually identical to those of their working counterparts, and they instead spend more time sleeping, watching TV and looking for a job, along with other domestic activities.

Many of the unemployed men interviewed say they have tried to help out with cooking, veterinarian appointments and other chores, but they have not had time to do more because job-hunting consumes their days.

“The main priority is finding a job and putting in the time to do that,” says John Baruch, in Arlington Heights, Ill., who estimates he spends 35 to 45 hours a week looking for work since being laid off in January 2008.

While he has helped care for his wife’s aging parents, the couple still sometimes butt heads over who does things like walking the dog, now that he is out of work. He puts it this way: “As one of the people who runs one of the career centers I’ve been to told me: ‘You’re out of a job, but it’s not your time to paint the house and fix the car. Your job is about finding the next job.’”

Ahem. Look, asshole: Your wife is busy 35-40 hours a week, too. Get off your ass and share the load. I just find this unbelievable. No, "unbelievable" is the wrong word. I believe it because I hear my friends bitch about it all the time.

Moving on. Let's look at this fascinating piece by Judith Warner. We'll leave aside the more risquee aspects and focus on the matter at hand:

The other day a friend of mine confided that in the weeks leading up to the election, the Obamas’ apparent joy as a couple had made her just miserable. Their marriage looked so much happier than hers... “I was at a place where I was tempted daily to throttle my husband,” she said.

as well as Ms. Warner's observation that, "As we all know, in journalism, two anecdotes are just one short of a national trend."

I'm also not going to dwell on the regret/exclusion stuff:

For some, not knowing the Obamas has almost turned into a feeling of being snubbed or excluded. Like in middle school. It’s funny. Almost.

“Why won’t my kids be sleeping over at the White House? And as my daughter noted, why couldn’t she get to sit front and center and see the Jonas Brothers and Miley perform at the kids’ inaugural concert? If she went to Sidwell, then she might have these chances, she said …” wrote a mother whose kids are not at Sidwell Friends school with Sasha and Malia.

I don't blame people for looking back, but I'd point them to Malcolm Gladwell's book. Also, teachable moment for your kids: you can't always have what you want.

there's motivation

I am more gluttonous than I am vain, for better or for worse, so the prospect of looking horrendous at the beach is not providing the motivation I hoped it would. However, I would sooner subsist on twigs for as long as it takes than see Focus on the Family, for example, get a penny of my money. I read about this over a year ago, and it didn't appeal to me, but now I wonder if it's what I need to get beach-ready.

***
In other news, something is afoot indeed.

Wait, what???

I'm shocked. I'm disappointed:

...in the United States...Jewish groups have helped Turkey block a resolution that condemns the genocide of a more than a million Ottoman Empire Armenians from being discussed in Congress.

It's come to this

Did it have to come to this? Cleanliness is a perk now?

***
I've recently run into a lot of this in the grocery store. I buy a big bunch of kale every week, and my pantry is rarely without quinoa. From time to time, people in the grocery line, or the cashier, ask what it is that I'm buying and what you do with it. When I bought a couple of pounds of red peppers the other day-- a week's worth-- the cashier asked me if I had a restaurant. It generally amuses me, but I guess it is kind of sad/scary.

Seriously, people

Maureen Dowd sums up the week in corporate egregiousness, and it's starting to make the $1,500 rubbish bin look like a smart buy:

Until it came to light Tuesday, Wells Fargo, which received $25 billion in federal funds, was blithely planning a series of “employee recognition outings” to Las Vegas luxury hotels this month.

As ABC reported, Bank of America took its $45 billion in bailout funds and sponsored a five-day carnival outside the Super Bowl stadium, and Morgan Stanley took its $10 billion in bailout money and held a three-day conference at the Breakers in Palm Beach. (Morgan Stanley had also still planned to send top employees to Monte Carlo and the Bahamas, events just canceled.)

The New York Post revealed that Sandy Weill, former chief executive of Citigroup, took a company jet to fly his family for a Christmas holiday to a $12,000-a-night luxury resort in San José del Cabo, Mexico. No matter that the company just got a $50 billion federal bailout and laid off 53,000 worldwide.

The interior of the 18-seat jet, as described by The Post, is posh, with a full bar, fine-wine selection, $13,000 carpets, Baccarat crystal glasses, Cristofle sterling silver flatware and — my personal favorite — pillows made from Hermès scarves.

By the way, if you haven't already, rent Lewis Black's Black on Broadway (or is it Red, White and Screwed?), in which he discusses what he would buy if he were a CEO seeking to project status.

Don't believe everything you read

I love this stuff.

***
When I catch myself wondering whether I should have bought in the 'burbs, where the same amount of money could have bought more/nicer house (neither of which I actually need), I consider this.

Punctuation

A friend sent me this article on the decline of punctuation in British place names just after it took me at least five attempts to send an e-check to the Smith Club of Washington for some pecans. ING apparently only lets one use periods and hyphens in the memo to the recipient... which is really, really hard to do. I kept on taking out all the other punctuation that I thought I'd used... only to keep getting the error message and having to go back and find more. I had to replace commas with em dashes and sometimes ellipses, and wrote out contractions because I couldn't use apostrophes. I felt like I was writing with my hands tied behind my back.

Then again, if your country is full of place names like Butt's hole (see post from about a week ago), I can see how Butts hole would be an improvement.

Sunday morning roundup

There's a lot to say about the content of this and I don't have time to say it. I do need to say that it scares me that newspapers are shutting down bureaus and trimming their on-site staffs. And I'm guilty-- I read the paper online without paying a cent. But we need good investigative journalism.

A Times editorial excerpts from a scary website:

“Diversity can be good in moderation — if what is being brought in is desirable. Most Americans don’t mind a little ethnic food, some Asian math whizzes, or a few Mariachi dancers — as long as these trends do not overwhelm the dominant culture.”

Eduardo Porter is brilliant.

Frank Rich on present-day idiocracy (aka Limbaughcracy).

More customer service tales

While my mother would argue that I always have to be right, I actually don't think anyone is always right. And I've certainly never bought into or expected 'the customer is always right' treatment. But there is, obviously, a certain amount of courtesy due a customer, and there is also a certain minimum below which the customer is not worth annoying.

Last Saturday morning, like the one before it, I started my weekend at the hardware store. I bought approximately $70 worth of stuff-- not the most I've spent at that place, but also not bad for one receipt. My purchase included two packages of fiberglass insulation at about $6 each. Since the plumber was coming around on Tuesday, I thought I would ask him whether it was worth wrapping around my water heater like they say... and he said that it wasn't, that water heaters-- even older ones-- have plenty of built-in insulation. So this morning, when I was back at Home Depot for more stuff, I returned the insulation. I encountered more scrutiny from the saleswoman at the counter than a cabinet nominee would in the course of a hearing.

Saleswoman: Is there something wrong with it?
A.: It turns out that I don't need it.
Saleswoman, looking at me skeptically: It is opened?

It is obviously not opened. The plastic around both packages is perfectly intact, apart from a tiny hole that she manages to find on one, that was most likely there when I bought it. She takes almost a minute to look over the packages. Finally she processes the return. Upon tossing the insulation into the right bins, she looks them over again, very carefully.

What is she going to do? Not process the return? Accuse me of using the insulation and then wrapping it back up?

It reminds me of the time, a few years ago, that I pointed out to a waitress that there was meat in my 'vegetarian' fried rice. Rather than apologizing and bringing me a new plate, she took on a skeptical look and proceeded to poke at the dish with my fork. What is WRONG with these people?

Ch-ch-ch-wtf?

People keep sending me links that make me fear for the future of humanity.

The balance of things intact

When things break, they often break all at once. In a way, that's a good thing, because you're not constantly fixing and replacing things; you can concentrate the frustration into discrete blocks of time.

Over the summer, in the course of a week of two-- just when I was getting my root canal-- I had two flat bike tires and the power valve thing on my laptop broke.

This time, it started with a flat tire, which turned out to be not a big deal, just needed a patch. Then the light went out in one of my headlights; also easily fixed. And just yesterday, I noticed a crack in my windshield. I know when it happened, too-- it was debris from those trucks that spew it behind them. I always try to stay far away for that reason, but sometimes you can't. So, anyway, it's one thing after another with the car (dare I hope that the windshield is it?).

Now for the laptop: left mouse button doesn't respond. Thankfully, this is manageable (good thing I know my keystrokes, although one of the "shift" keys is sticking, too). I can't wait for my external mouse to arrive, though. WTF, fedex?

And of course, the house. My (new) toaster oven died, and I've misplaced the receipt. And the laundry situation continues to be a nightmare, but I almost prefer having machines that don't work at all to a machine that leaks. But with the house I'm actually maintaining the balance of keeping things intact, even staying ahead. I do have a brand-new over the range microwave, installed as of last night, and most of my outlets now work. I may just have this place ready for prime time by anti-Valentine's Day.

Intervention, now!

Okay, forget the folks at Davos; I have apparently lost my mind. I just caught myself tearing up while looking at pictures that my friend just sent of her newborn baby. I should have known something was up when I found myself tearing up at (some) weddings, and now this. What is happening to me?

***
Let me tell you what does not fill me with warm fuzzies: my cat. I mean, good thing she's cute, because that thing is such a little rat. Here is my open letter to Gracie:

Okay, look, you little bi^&h: I am not kitty mommy in chief; I have a day job, and I can't pay attention to you every second of the day, so STOP WHINING. It's getting you nowhere. And just when I think you've redeemed yourself, you go and annoy me. Take yesterday: since you graciously allowed me to sleep in until 7am, I fed you first thing in the morning. Now, was it not the least you could do, then, to let me enjoy my breakfast without having to listen to your incessant, annoying whining? Besides-- what the f* do you have to whine about?? You sleep all f*ing day. Mommy, on the other hand, works. A lot. And then she has to come home and keep covered her nice, matching papasan cushion with an old, ugly one, so that the nice one doesn't come to resemble you in color and texture; she keeps her nice table runner packed away, because she can't trust you to stay off the table; and she lives with the fact that much of her furniture is going to get covered irreparably with cat hair no matter what. She also feeds you, scoops your poop (and occasionally cleans it off the carpets, when you feel you do not get enough attention) and takes you to the vet, but she signed on to all that. She did NOT sign on to hearing you bitch all day long, so shut the f* up!

WTF x2

Is AQ Khan for real? And have the clueless folks at Davos entirely lost their minds?

Snowdaygate, continued

Details from the USA Today and
local reactions from the Post, including some good points:
bknivens:

"The Chicagoland area dedicates massive resources to snow removal, road clearing and salting, on a scale that DC -- with its often more temperate winters -- cannot afford to duplicate..."

tands23:

"I come from the West and I am surprised how easily things shut down in this city due to snow! Part of the reason are the horrendous drivers of this region who know nothing about snow or ice on roads," a point with which many other out-of-towners agreed.

fmjk:

"We know how to pull over when the President's motorcade goes by. We endure the comings and goings of every Congress, without getting a vote in any of them. Perhaps Obama would like to help us with that..."

I agree: it was VERY icy yesterday and I walked very slowly to and from the metro. But why can't they salt the streets? That's all I'm saying.

Truth and reconciliation, the fight for progress, and aliens among us

Kristof's brilliant suggestion.

Collins on where we started and who fought to get us where we are.

Also, the Times offers a window on an alien planet, complete with obliviousness and crazy pills. Position yourself on that planet where four-figure rubbish bins make sense, and read about dating on that planet.

Newsflash: DC doesn't handle snow well

I've been saying this for years.

Complaints and Causes

The Telegraph anoints the world's best complaint letter (and the Economist agrees).

A friend suggested that I acquaint my readers with an opportunity for political activism they would certainly want to get involved in. If they're insane.

Sunday morning roundup

Frank Rich is as insightful as ever, and Maureen Dowd compares New York's and Illinois' governors. Also, a psychologist and anthropologist argue that people won't sell their values.

I can't decide whether or not I care for the Post's naval-gazing. I live here, too, but enough is enough. I'm not posting the "Is DC cool?" article because it's just dumb.

This, however, is fascinating, though not surprising:

The torrent of hateful words is part of what terrorism experts now believe is a deliberate, even desperate, propaganda campaign against a president who appears to have gotten under al-Qaeda's skin. The departure of George W. Bush deprived al-Qaeda of a polarizing American leader who reliably drove recruits and donations to the terrorist group.

Oh, and Dick Cavett's blog.

I'd be rendered practically mute, too