Half hour in and neither of them have said or answered anything directly.

It's like watching sound bites from stump speeches from both of them.

I'd love to have those people asking questions just stand up, interrupt them, and tell them to just answer directly.

However, doing that sort of thing isn't what politicians do.

WTB [Dictatorship]. My mats, will tip. PST.

On a different note, I'm starting to wish Ash (our oldest cat; she'll be 22 this Feb.) would just die already.

She leaks when she sleeps.
Yes, I mean leaks like that.
She likes to sleep on the couch.
Cat piss stinks.

We either need to put a diaper on her when she's sleeping, or she needs to die.

When she's awake, she does use the box.

There's not much a vet can do for her, she's leaked on and off for years due to her spay not being done quite right (it screwed with her muscle tone and control in that area), but as she's gotten older the leaking has gotten more frequent.
Not only that, but she can't reach to groom some of her bodily areas anymore as she just doesn't have the balance, so we have to break out the waterless shampoo to keep her smelling decent, and groom her back for her to avoid her getting matted fur as she can't bend like that anymore to reach it.
That all aside, she's in good health.
No kidney problems, no dental problems, no heart problems, her appetite is good, she can still see, her hearing is good, and she's able to move around and get up onto couches and cat trees no problem.
We figure that we'll just find her having passed in her sleep at some point.

We can't get a new couch until she dies.
Ditto on the carpet.

So, for now, we just clean up after her and bathe everything in Nature's Miracle.

Why rant about it? Because she sleeps behind me, so my spot on the couch stinks of cat piss at any given time and we're currently out of Nature's Miracle. This means that I can't fix the cat piss smell tonight.
So.
Right.
I'm listening to two politicians talk about fuck all nothing with the vague smell of cat piss wafting in from behind me.

But, that aside, know what keeps me from being the type to end up on stupidpetowners?
Never once have we considered having her put down or dumping her at a shelter because she's "inconvenient" to us.
She's been "inconvenient" to us for almost 9 years now, considering that she has such severe food allergies that we have to be extra super mega careful to be sure that even the animals she eats meat and organs from weren't fed grain (including corn, soy, wheat, oats, rice, flax, potato, and anything along those lines) at any time in their life.

We just swear about it, clean up after her, and feed her separately.
She's our cat, Tim has had her since she was a kitten, and there's no possible way we'd ever consider giving her up until death takes her.


...after that, she goes to a taxidermist, as I want her skull.

Better option than what's currently on the block.

Dear WoLK Warlock Demonology Talent Metamorphasis,

ROFLCOPTER.

I had to spec it just to see it.

It...yeah...just...silly.

I'll stick with Affliction, I think.

This, more or less, sums up my general feelings on the United States federal government as of late.



It's applicable to both sides.

Feel free to stop watching after the little song, but, really, if you haven't seen the entire movie, go and get it.

State of Mind: cynical

It isn't because I worry about what all of his vast, all encompassing programs will cost.
It isn't that I have the impression that he couldn't defend himself from a wet paper sack.
It isn't that I disagree with his economic policies.
It isn't that I worry how far in the upward direction his policies would take our taxes.
It isn't that I don't like the massive amount of governmental expansion that his policies would bring.
It isn't that I really do wonder about his choices in friends, foundations, and advisers.
It isn't because I fundamentally disagree with his viewpoints.

According to the general media, I won't be voting for Obama because I'm just a nasty, racist little waspy white bitch.

It couldn't possibly be any of the above.

Nope.

Not at all.

State of Mind: cheerful
Noise: Depeche Mode - Blasphemous

Sometimes, I wonder how the news media in general can get away with going along with the notion that "the Republicans" are at the root cause of this mess when the root cause of this mess started almost back with Carter and talk (and legislation) to more or less force banks to make home loans to people who weren't credit-worthy (translation: The poor, those with lousy job histories, those with lousy credit, and those who couldn't afford a down payment) under threat of not being able to expand or merge, or under threats of being labeled "racist".

I wonder why they're not reporting loudly that some of the biggest receivers of donations and overly good deals from good ol' Fannie Mae were ranking Democrats, including Sen. Obama, and I wonder why it's so rarely pointed out that nearly all attempts for more oversight on the company were defeated along party lines with the Democrats voting no.

Hrm, or why McCain was asked to come to D.C., not by Bush, but by Democrats asking a Repbulican rep. to get McCain there because they needed (or wanted, so they wouldn't have to take 100% of the blame when the plan caused massive voter anger and economic damage) Republican votes to get the bill through, then turned around and started snarking that McCain needed to "get out of town" because he ruined a deal that had never actually existed.
Or why the ranking House Democrats decided not to tell House Republicans about the times or locations of meetings (i.e. they weren't invited to the party), then turn around and snidely call the "un-patriotic" for not showing up.
Or why, by all other accounts, it was Obama's "blame game" playing when asked by Bush for his ideas that caused that meeting to melt down; never minding that McCain stayed mostly quiet and let the little children squabble. Yeah. Great leader ship there.

I wonder why there isn't more coverage of the fact that, during 2004 and 2005, when reform was on the table, it was ranking Democrats that were blasting the head of the department that was overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after he found serious problems.
Instead, they defended the companies, and defended vehemently the people (one of whom is an economic advisor to Obama) who were at the helm of all of the accounting fraud.

And, lastly, I wonder what fundamental part of the brain is missing from those who still snarl, "It's the Republicans' fault!" that aren't members of the media.
They certainly aren't entirely blameless in all of this, but the lion's share of the fault and blame is scratching at the Democrats' door.
We're supposed to trust the ones who caused the problem to clean it up and fix it?
It's a bit like I tend to view Iraq: We went in, we trashed the place, said, "Oops, yeah, that reason we actually came here and did this? Yeah, turns out we were wr-wr-wr-wr--slightly, possibly, maybe a little bit sort of mistaken in ways that weren't our fault" and then acted surprised when they didn't seem to want US to be the ones to clean it up again.

Really though, I don't wonder.
People are easily led, and it's the Democrats who are screaming and frothing at the mouth while the Republicans seem to be sitting around and acting like stunned deer.
The same thing applies to things that make it onto Fandom Wank: You don't have to be right, you just have to be loud and the dense will follow the bandwagon.

As for Bush? He shouldn't dare be calling himself a Republican or a fiscal conservative after the 8 year spending orgy he took us on.

Ah well, at least that nasty "Here, you pay for the 4-5% of distressed mortgages that were taken out by people who were too stupid to be alarmed by the words 'adjustable rate' or who were too stupid to wonder how they could possibly afford a $150,000 house on $30,000/year or less. Okay, thanks! We can has vacation tiem nao? It's HARD working all weekend!" bill was shot down.
I hope they keep shooting it down.
Responsible people have NO obligation to pay for those who weren't; they deserve eviction and they ought to have never been homeowners.
Go the hell back to renting, you slacking, lazy, irresponsible idiots.

None of this begins to talk about what Obama's health plan would cost, what all of his other social programs would cost, the fact that he's still allied with groups that were fundamental in pushing for legislation that is one of the root causes of the mortgage "crisis", or any of that fun.

I'm sure the actual truth is somewhere in the middle, as it usually is, but you'll not see it reported really anywhere. The media in general, and that includes CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and FOX (HI THERE, Oxford comma!), are acting toward Obama like fangirls would if Rowling came out and said Snarry really WAS canon.

I'd talk about the debates, but it was like watching two smirking lumps of bread dough play back tape recorded campaign speeches.
I was rather hoping for an actual debate.
They were both disappointing.
I hope to see Palin and Biden go for each others' throats later this week.

Great.
I've gone and got myself all agitated before work.

As a side note, every four years, I take up smoking for about two weeks, starting just before Halloween and ending about a week after the election, or whenever the pack o' cloves runs dry.

Edit: Rep. Ron Kind, my lovely little Congressman, voted aye.
I never will again, not for him.
How did your overpaid idiot swing?

State of Mind: frustrated

We were out picking up water gel for the roaches so as to minimize chances of the little ones drowning in water and avoiding the bacterial plague that sponges become.

We came home with the water.

...and another scorpion.

It's been awhile since we've had one of those, we saw the big, fat, nasty tempered Emperors, and couldn't quite resist.

It's big.
It's horrible.
It's mean.
It's chilling out in the 'cool' side of the cage.


It also did not want to come out of the box.
At.
All.

Just as I thought I'd need to get forceps, snag it by the tail, and make it get out, it decided to plop on out and take a look around while giving me a cursory rear-view "FUCK YOU, PINKY!" claw wave.

Edit: Right, "It" is now "He", thanks to glass tank walls and some lovely online pictures that showed how to sex emperor scorps.

State of Mind: calm

My roaches arrived!

I decided, rather than wasting crickets and trying to guess when the tarantula needs/wants a feeding, that I'd raise and keep feeder roaches.
Aside from that, crickets are smelly, fast, can climb glass, can get away from me, bite, and are noisy as hell.

After doing a bit of research, I settled on Discoid roaches (False Death's Head) as they can't climb glass or plastic, can't fly, can't bite, readily breed in captivity, and are hard to kill.
Right, that last bit is pretty much true of all roaches.

Mine are all juveniles at the moment, so they look a bit like oversized pill bugs right now.
They're adorable, and they'll be even prettier once they get their adult coloring and wings.

For not being able to climb glass, they sure can climb on 'rough' surfaces, including my hands, very well and keep a pretty good grip.
They feel odd when on one's hands, and they're not very skittish at all.

These little monsters were intensely curious about everything in the tank, including me. They seem to have settled down a bit now though.

( What? You thought I wouldn't post pictures? )

State of Mind: cheerful

Dear Blizzard,

Please ban my account and consider legal proceedings against me.

kthx!

- Stephenlord of Ravencrest


I think the Blizzard employee's reply was just made of pure, unadulterated WIN.

Looks like someone is going through a nasty divorce.

Just because I know it will get flagged and removed, here's what the ad says:

For Sale—One (1) Wife, slightly used, 1967 Model (Menomonie, WI)

Reply to: sale-842061116@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-09-15, 4:51PM CDT


Needs muffler, as it is currently VERY LOUD. Intake valve is stuck in the open position, never closes.

Rear end needs major overhaul. A crack there has grown monstrously large. I was stopped and was told I need to post a "Wide Load" sign on the back for safety.

Needs re-wiring—Many wires are currently crossed.

Lots of little dings in the body, which have been covered up with too much paint in a failed effort at camouflaging them.

Needs re-upholstering—Carpet has turned a dingy gray. Also large hole that needs sewing up so you don't fall in.

Needs front-end work--Headlights are too close to the ground, and fenders are too far apart.

May not pass emissions test, as it currently produces foul clouds of malodorous gases on a regular basis.

Heater works great. Hot air is never in short supply.

Asking $500 or trade for late 80s or 90s model.




* Location: Menomonie, WI

EDIT: What the HELL?!

Again, since it'll likely be flagged for removal: "I am willing to sell my breast milk. I am a drug free and alchohol free woman. I have a very healthy diet. I live in Eau Claire. Please contact me, via email, for more details."

I guess wet nurses weren't always so uncommon but, yeah, I'm pretty sure selling that violates some health code somewhere.

x-posted to wow_ladies

Got a shocker when logging on to the WoLK beta today.

My Gnome's transfer finally happened, so I happily clicked on her name, expecting to see the cheery, button faced little Gnome that I know and love.

See?
Isn't she cute?
( Here she is! )

Adorable, right?
Right.

So, imagine my horror when I saw THIS: ( WTFNO! )

She looks like a cross between a horror movie clown and one of the bar dancers in SMC.

WoLK beta key plonked itself down in my inbox this afternoon.

*explodes with joy*

State of Mind: chipper

Kyle, our nice little black cat, has recently taken up his habit of sneaking out the front door when we're going in and out.

This normally would not be a problem, except for two things:

1) He does it at night. See the bit about "black cat".
2) Once he gets outside, and it either off leash OR outside of the fenced area of the yard, he goes into full on panic mode and won't let anyone get near him.

That little fucker is wearing a new collar with two bells on it.

We can hear him move ANYWHERE now.

There will be no more sneaking out.

Kyle is pissed off about it. Every time he walks he gives the stink eye to the floor and to us if we're near.

Sidenote: Kyle is in this post's user icon.