Mamassage

Whew!

Sorry I’ve been so neglectful of the blog this week. But I’ve been very busy.

Did you know that if your insurance company deems your car totaled they will only cover a rental car for three days after they make you an offer? Not three days after you receive the check. Nope. That would be too easy.

Did you further know that if you receive this check on Saturday afternoon, Sunday still counts as a day? (Somebody hand me a fan, ‘cause it’s enough to make me faint.) So you can see how crazy I’ve been this week. We did manage to procure said vehicle yesterday. This followed days of scrambling to drive to Phoenix, Prescott  and all parts in between. 

So what did we get? Well, considering the lack of “Hey, I just might crash the car" savings in the bank, we were a little desperate. With the budget we had, you’d better believe we looked at some really scary cars – with some really sleazy salesmen. Yippee! I’m telling you, that is some fun. And if you know me at all, which I figure most of you do, you can just imagine how well I respond to high pressure sales. It was somewhat challenging NOT to go back into dolphin mode.

But we eventually found a lot with, well, a lot...of reasonable cars, that is. Of course, it was in Phoenix. They even had three Sportages, which you may remember is what we were considering last weekend. Only one of them fit any of our requirements. So we took it for a test drive, ran out of gas. (Yes that was two separate gas incidents while car shopping. I told you – these were some classy places.)

After our test drive we checked a few other lots and then, finding nothing but overpriced, over rated crap, we returned to New Deal Used Cars. (Genius marketing, eh?) We put down a hold deposit and said we’d be back in a couple of days.

So yesterday we drove down, got the Kia and headed back up to Prescott. Yep, we had to return the rental car to Prescott to avoid a $200.00 fee. I don’t know about you, but I think you might even be able to squeak a Hummer 79 miles without it costing that much. But policies are policies. Plus it gave me a chance to test out the car without Kajsa in the back seat. She rode in the Impala with Chris. Apparently, every time she caught sight of me she belted out, “New car, Mom. Rock on!” Thank you, Chris. I always wanted a hard core almost three year old. 

It drove okay. Great in the lower speeds. 75 began a vibration. 80 made seeing anything through the shaking rear view mirror quite challenging. And 85...well, lets just say I won’t be getting anywhere at light speed these days. The Sportage felt and sounded like a bi-plane when doing anything over 80, and with the semis blowing me around, I wondered briefly if I might indeed be taking flight. This just a week after a major crash, was just a tad disconcerting. So I coasted back down to about 65, which I think made both me and our new car much more comfortable.

Our old van, Fluffy, could get anywhere without any problem. She was big. She was fast. She was loaded with options. And she loved to guzzle the gas. By comparison this automobile really does seem like a barebones, feisty little guy. If Fluffy was a jet; then the Sportage truly is a bi-plane. And so I have dubbed my new little transport, “Barnstormer.” It seemed to fit. And around here, I might spend more time storming barns than hitting the old soccer practice anyway.

update to the accident

• $17,000.00 van at 16% interest – more than I’d like to think about.
• $3.00 a day interest for 3 years – Oh my God’ish amounts to pay.
• $100.00 ticket for FAILURE TO AVOID A COLLISION - frustrating!
• Walking away without a significant scuff to my person– Priceless.

So we met with the claims adjuster today.
Our car which they valued at $10,000.00 had well over $12,000.00 worth of damage, classifying it as a total loss. So now (after B of A takes their cut) we get a piddly amount of money to put towards a new car. But there are two very important facts of which I must continue to remind myself.

1. We  never again have to make a huge payment every month for far more car than we actually need.
2. I am physically  OK. Very sore...but ultimately, OK.

This is, after all, why we bought this over-priced van in the first place. Being a crazily hormone poisoned pregnant woman at the time; I could only see the safety ratings. Price seemed so insignificant by comparison. And you know what? When it came down to it, I’m glad I was so obsessive. It permitted me to sit here, writing to you, when I could very easily have landed in the hospital.

In the ditch

is where I found myself at about 2:30  this afternoon. All that time I hoped for rain, and today I hydroplaned and spun out of control. The tires are popped, the bumpers ripped away, and the undercarriage looks like a Brillo pad. We have a rental car as of tomorrow, and a claims adjuster will be stopping by to assess the damage. 

My head is pounding and my back and neck are sore. But aside from that I'm OK. Thank goodness I didn't have the kids with me.

Chris has been sitting at the side of the highway for hours waiting for AAA. What a great guy. I just sent our friend Shaun out with some Chili and Chai for him.

I know that this is a really scattered post. But I’m still rather shaken up. I’ll post more after I’ve settled down a bit.

Éireann go Brách

St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.   

The fact that he wasn't Irish and wasn't named Patrick didn't seem to thwart this in the slightest... According to the Catholics, Patty's real name was Maewyn Succat. "Patrick" was the Roman Catholic name he adopted later in life. He was born at Kilpatrick, near  Dumbarton, Scotland, in the year 387. The name changed when he was in his twenties. According to church records, Maewyn died in Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, on March 17th, 493.  He would have been 106.

When he was sixteen, Maewyn was captured by pirates and then sold as a slave to a chieftain named Milchu in  Dalriada, Ireland. For the next six years, he tended sheep in the valley of the Braid where Maewyn began hearing voices.

Understandably, these voices told him that this whole slavery gig wasn't really all that great, and that he should escape back to England. For some reason, Patrick interpreted these voices as "angels" instead of "common sense." Either way, he ran away from his master, persuaded the captain of a boat into permitting him passage back to England, and finally returned home at the age of twenty-two. Since he credited God and angels for his release, he became focused upon being holy and pure in order to thank the powers that be for his freedom.

As Patty had such a predilection toward the idea of conquering, ahem, saving the souls of Ireland, Pope St. Celestine I gave Patrick a mission to "gather the Irish race into the one fold of Christ." (i.e., convert who you can and kill the rest). In 433 Patrick landed at Wicklow Head in Ireland to begin his conquest of the evil, loathsome, heathenous Druids that were living blissful, jovial lives unaware that they were, in fact, wretched and miserable without Christ.

Over the years, Patrick went about raising the dead, healing the sick, and doing all your run of the mill "saint" stuff. In return for all this astounding work, God promised Patrick that he could be judge of all of Ireland--instead of Christ--when the Apocalypse came. As a special favor to Patrick, God also agreed to send a massive tidal wave to demolish all of Ireland and kill every Irishman so they wouldn't be tempted to join the Antichrist in the End Times. Now isn’t that sweet?  I guess we should all drink up while we still can.

Evidently, Patrick went up on a mountain and prayed for forty days. (Why is it always forty days?) It is said that his prayers were so powerful that they drove all the snakes out of Ireland. The difficult part of this tale is not in ascertaining whether or not it is true, but in figuring out who in their right minds would believe it.

Ireland is an island.

Like all islands its biosphere is unique.  Australia (another island) is famous for its peculiar and inimitable flora and fauna. The same is true of Ireland.  A reptile expert will tell you that snakes and other reptiles would not flourish in the cold, damp weather of Ireland even if they did make it there from the mainland. Furthermore, ecologists state that Ireland has frozen-over many times since the big Ice Age.  This would kill off any residual snakes that may have been lurking there.

In all likelihood the whole tale is some sort of allegory for "cleansing" Ireland of Druid worship. (Druid priests were known for tattooing snakes upon their forearms, dontcha know?)  And although there is now a huge population of Catholics in Ireland, he was never successful at eliminating all of the pagans. The annual Druidic Wickerman festival in Ireland which pre-dates Patrick, attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year.

So, I guess not all the snakes are gone.

AS IF SOUTH DAKOTA DIDN’T SUCK ENOUGH

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

PIERRE, S.D.-- Gov. Mike Rounds on Monday signed legislation banning almost all abortions in South Dakota.

The Legislature passed the ban late last month, focusing nationwide interest on the state as the governor decided what to do about the measure.

The law, designed to raise a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, is scheduled to take effect July 1.

Under the law, doctors in South   Dakota  will face up to five years in prison for performing an abortion except when the procedure is necessary to save the mother's life.

Rounds issued a technical veto of a similar measure two years ago because it would have wiped out all existing restrictions on abortion while the bill was tied up for years in a court challenge.

South Dakota Planned Parenthood said it planned a quick court challenge.

Well, I won’t be moving to South Dakota anytime soon. 
I refuse to allow my tax dollars to support forced childbirth.  

MY $0.02

Some of my first memories as a child involve being “dragged” off to various rallies. I was raised to believe that certain rights are ours naturally. Period. And in the late 70s and early 80s there were plenty of these rights still available. So, most of the rallies were about equal pay, abolishing nuclear armamentation, and yes, peace. As the 90s approached, I as a young adult, picked up the signs and marched, danced and cried out for the environment.

Now here we are in the year 2006 and while those issues still exist, the one that seems to be a persistent thorn beneath everyone’s thumb is that of choice. Rarely will we see people so polarized as we do with the abortion issue. Everyone feels that they are so right...or should I say correct?

I am amazed that there are folks out there who will blow up clinics in the name of life. I am amazed that people will spend their weekends murdering deer, while feeling the need to save a cluster of cells. I am amazed that a bunch of old men have the legal ability to control not only the bodies, but the rest of a woman’s life with the stroke of a pen. I am amazed that education about birth control is being squelched at the same time that a woman’s right to choose is at such great risk.

The fact is that there is nothing I can say here that hasn’t already been said. I’m not likely to change anyone’s mind. I know damn well that no one is going to change mine. But in this political climate, I think it is important to write how I feel, think & believe. Because if I don’t I am one of the culpable.

It would be easy for me to sit back and quietly play it safe. To know that just because abortion is not – at this time – a personal issue for me, I have nothing to fear. But it isn’t just about me. It is about the (any) woman who knows, for whatever reason, that bearing a child is the wrong decision. This is such a difficult decision for a person to make & I don’t think that one woman’s reason is any better or worse than another’s. I don’t have that right...to judge, that is. The right that I do have is the ability to make decisions regarding my own body. And I am here to say that I for one do not support any legislation to remove that right.

First they came for the Communists,

and I didn’t speak up,

because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn’t speak up,

because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,

and I didn’t speak up,

because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,

and by that time there was no one

left to speak up for me.

by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

To see the writings of others “blogging for choice” please click here.

Special thanks go to ccw, who alerted me to this opportunity. I hope that some of you will join in.

Some who have:

• Alas, A Blog
• Desert Rat Democrat
• Sapho's Breathing
• Redneck Mother 
• Power Liberal
• Mid-Life Ramblings
• Where the revolution's gonna begin
• Akimbo
• AlterNet
• feminizzle
• Put on your big girl panties and deal with it
• I need to speak 
• Liberal - Feminist Bias
• Reclusive Leftist
• Soul Gardening
• And Others

A WISE MAN ONCE SAID

• Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve.  You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

• Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.

• Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

• It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.

• Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

• Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.

• Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

• Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.

• Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

• Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

• Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

•  Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

•  Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

•  Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

• We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.

Martin Luther King Jr.
(1929 - 1968)

OPEN YOUR EYES

NGO to Open South Korea’s First Eye Bank
The Korea  Times
A South Korean nonprofit plans to open the country’s first eye donor bank. With some 3,600 patients awaiting corneal transplants, organizers hope the eye bank will lead to an increase in donations (which occur after a donor dies).

South Korea has lacked a well coordinated system of organ donors, owing in part to Confucian influence, but several nonprofit and state agencies are working to build up the country’s organ donation network. 
more...

I am a student!

Now before you get too excited and shout “Brava...How erudite of you.”... Let me explain. I am, for my mental and physical health, taking four days of PE classes at the community college next spring. Chris offered to give this to me for my Chris-must present. And I, in the spirit of physical activity, jumped on it. I am actually enrolled, have a lovely student ID card, and am earning a whopping two credits. The classes I’m taking are Aerobic Kickboxing and Pilates/Mat Flex and Ball. I hear these are quite difficult, but know that I can rise to the challenge. Or at least I hope so.

And frankly, it was about time that I pursued something along these lines. You see, the summer that I met Chris, I had been attending a Cardio Kickboxing class 3-4 days a week and loved it. (That’s my previous instructor, Cliff Lee, in the picture.) Not only was it was empowering, but I was hot! Heck, I even had defined deltoids. For that matter, Chris was working at a fitness club, so he was in pretty darn good shape himself. Then, like a couple of freight trains, we met.

I started ditching class to hang out at home watching movies and eating popcorn - or to go out for dinner and a beer. It was fun. It was romantic. And it was uber-fattening. Before I knew it, I was wearing only my dresses because my pants had all mysteriously shrunk in the wash. Then I was buying larger pants...and larger. Fast forward through five years and a kid who requires much ass-sitting, and voila, you have a short fat house frou who worries about things like diabetes and heart disease. It was definitely time for a change.

Chris gets off of work most days around  3:30 or 4:00, and then has school at 6’ish. My class runs from  5:15 to 6:10.  Perfect! He’ll take Kajsa on the days I have class, and then return her to me one hour later. A whole hour away form my beloved angel...I’m in heaven. She is great and all, but SHE’S TWO. We have had an exhausting number of conversations about our various body parts, and the colors of all items found within our home. For excitement, I teach them to her in Spanish. Frankly, I think she will enjoy the time away from me.

So while I am very nervous about the thought of showing up to class in my sweats with all the parts of my body I usually reserve for conversations with Kajsa, bulging out of every seam, only to be surrounded by eighteen year old cuties with perfect hair; I am also very excited.

Grand Canyon to get Glass Bridge

Taken from the National Geographic website:

August 26, 2005

Fear of heights?

This is definitely no place for you.

The all-glass, balcony-like "Skywalk"--shown in an illustration released this week--will extend over the edge of the Grand Canyon, 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above the Colorado River.

"The Skywalk will be an attraction unlike any other in the world," said Sheri Yellowhawk, CEO of the Grand Canyon Resort Corporation. The company is building the bridge in the Hualapai Indian Reservation on the south rim of the canyon.

The Skywalk is scheduled to open to the public in January 2006 as part of a new resort on the reservation. The resort, known as Grand Canyon West, is to include a re-created Indian village and a restaurant perched on the edge of the canyon. Tourism is the reservation's biggest source of income.

Grand Canyon West will be on the western edge of Grand Canyon National Park, about 120 miles (about 200 kilometers) from Las Vegas. But perhaps not even the Las Vegas Strip's over-the-top attractions will be a match for this glass-bottom walkway over the world's biggest gorge.

—David Braun