How comfortable would you be?

I was watching a quick interview today with one of the upperheads at NASA. He was discussing how even though some foam paneling came off the latest shuttle at lift-off, it doesn't seem to have damaged the vessel any so the landing should (emphasis on the word should) go smoothly.

I'm not sure about anyone else, but if I were in that shuttle, I think I'd be getting really nervous.

Okay what's with this?

My younger brother recently eloped to the Bahamas with his fiancee. The entire trip was planned and executed perfectly by a Sandals resort. However, upon their arrival back home to the states, the town clerk informed them that in Vermont's eyes, a marriage out of the state of Vermont is not legal. Though the federal government does view it as a legal marriage.

I don't understand the legality here... if it is a legal marriage per the federal government, how can Vermont turn around and say "sorry, but you're not married."

Sometimes I have to admit, I see Vermont's new slogan as --- "The land where progress is not allowed!"

TV shows

For some reason, Fox network has this huge issue with coming out with a decent series and then pulling the plug on it.

The first time this happened -- Dark Angel -- my husband and I were totally hooked. The cliffhanger ending had us anxiously awaiting the Fall return for the show, and then come summer they announced they were canceling the show completely and would not finish the cliffhanger they left us with.

Then came another show, John Doe. I was so totally hooked on John Doe. Problem was they had the show on a Friday night. Same issue as with Dark Angel, if I remember correctly. No one is home, usually, on a Friday night. So instead of moving the show to a different time slot and trying its fate in other slots, they cancel it. Will we ever find out who John Doe really was? Why was his supposed "buddy" the man who was trying to kill him? The world will never know and Fox ticked me off once again.

Finally, this season it is a new sleeper called The Inside. Here we spend an hour with an FBI team, but one of them has this special "sense" if you want to call it that. A kidnapping from her own past gives her a special intuition into cases. Again, I'm hooked, so I hear they are canceling that one too.

So I have a suggestion for Fox. You obviously seemed hooked on state Simpsons episodes (sorry but they've been there and done that for so long that the ideas are getting pretty stale to me) and then really stupid reality shows. Do I really care who can dance? No. Do I want to watch some unstable person swap families? Again, no.

Stop with the reality shows and give some of your better shows a fighting chance. So it's not doing great on one night, try another. If your child was doing great at gym and sucking at algebra would you kick him out the house? Of course not, you'd try something different, a more unique approach to help him make a success of himself! The same should go to your shows. Try a couple other time slots, then if it is still a failure remove it.

Pet Peeve

I recently went into our Sears to do the kids' school shopping. I had a great coupon - 25% off the entire purchase. But it was a three day only for card holders, so I went last night to get the best selection.

Along the way, my husband say a miter saw that he's wanted forever. A Delta was on the rack for $70 on sale and I had another coupon for another 15% off. I'd just gotten a paycheck, so I was going to surprise him and spend that money on him and put off getting the kids new sneakers for now - I still have a month for that and last years sneakers still fit them for now.

So the salesclerk came up to me and asked if I needed help. So I told him what I wanted... he actually refused to sell it to me. Said it was horrible quality and he didn't feel right selling anything other than the Craftsman brand which was double the price. As the only clerk in his department, I ended up walking out. I could have taken it up with the manager, but the point is if you SELL that brand, there is no reason to refuse to sell it. I did a little research on the brand he refused to sell me, and it gets good ratings, so it comes down to he wanted the bigger commission.

Summer Reading

Now that it's cooler (though I won't really call 90 instead of 88 and humid much of a difference) I've been back outside reading. At the moment, I'm reading this spoof of The Wizard Of Oz that surprisingly has been amusing me. I'm not sure if it's truly the writing, I think it might be more with the updated characters, but regardless I'm hooked! A review will be forthcoming, so I'll stop there.

What is everyone else reading these days?

INXS

Okay, I grew up in the 70's and 80's and INXS were one of my favorite bands. I still remember going in to buy one of their records and having the store clerk ask what songs this band "Inks" had out. I laughed at that comment. (For those who might not know it is pronounced In Excess)

Anyway, after Michael Hutchins died, I assumed that was the end. You just cannot replace Michael Hutchins. So what's this new show? And more importantly, why on earth does the band think holding a reality show to find a new lead singer is a good idea? Form a new band with a new name, yes, but too many bands have tried to make comebacks and failed. Van Halen without David Lee Roth--Sammy Hagar did okay, but when the guy from Extreme took over, what a HUGE flop that was.

Can you imagine the Rolling Stones with someone else fronting the band? I don't get what INXS is doing, but I can't see it becoming a success with original fans. I have a feeling that the American Idol feel the band will have will ruin it for those that grew up with the band.

Publisher Websites

When you are looking at publisher sites, what do you want to see? I know one of my favorite sites is www.twbookmark.com They have a thorough site, easy to get around, but it is the page for discussion questions/reader guides for their releases that I love. I hated the questions teachers asked in high school (especially when it was Shakespeare and sorry but I was one of those that read the Cliff Notes instead of reading the actual play). Now I find I love delving deeper into my interpretation of the book.

What I really like is that the reader guides are not reserved for literary topics. You'll find them for James Patterson's books, Jane Porter's recent romance, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Non-Fiction, Kids, etc. This is a huge plus in my eyes.

Harry Potter

Okay, my son finished this latest book in a day. I admit, I peeked ahead at the ending to find out who the Dark Prince is... I'm not surprised, but I'm also not telling.

I am curious though - if you've finished the book - my son is convinced there cannot be a 7th book now. What do you think? If you do give spoilers - make sure you state so for others!

Recycling - What Happened To???

We recently switched our waste company/recycling company due to a rather drastic price increase - almost $10 - that our current-at-the-time garbage hauler was demanding. However, it is the list of things that we can recycle that bothers me.

Nothing has changed since our switch, but there are so many things that are not recyclable around here. It makes me wonder what happened to the whole "Recycle for a cleaner America" that we grew up with.

In this area of Vermont, we can recycle #1 plastics, #2 plastics only if they are not "wide-mouthed" which means no yogurt, cottage cheese, margarine/butter containers and similar. Some cardboard is okay, but not pizza boxes, even if they are clean and grease free. Newspaper is fine, as are magazines and white paper. Cans are okay only if they've been washed thoroughly first. Glass is okay, though our old provider did send out a notice saying clear glass only - no colored. Absolutely no styrofoam, #3 plastic, #6 plastic or #7 plastic. Wood scraps must be placed in with your garbage.

So in the long run, I get more and more frustrated with the entire deal. After receiving a letter a year ago stating that they were not making money off #6 plastic anymore so they would no longer accept it, I became outraged. When did recycling become for profit over saving the environment?

I'm curious - what do other communities accept for recyclables? Is Vermont, who battle for 30 years to build a small-scale highway because it will create more pollution, just out of whack? We can have garbage dumps filled with things that can't biodegrade, but we can't finish the Circ highway that began 30 years ago? It seems insane to me!

Fair's fair?

I stayed up later (late for me anyway) last night to watch this news show about Shasta & Dylan Groene and their kidnapping and murder of their family and possibly Dylan. The kidnapper, Duncan, may have been responsible for another disappearance a couple of years ago -- but that's up in the air right now -- until police can find more evidence than just comments made on his weblog.

The entire situation still bothers me. Duncan had been arrested for molesting a six year old and then jumped bail. Why wasn't he jailed the entire time? I do understand they were actively searching for him, but that's not good enough. IMO, a sex offender shouldn't be given a second chance. Very rarely have I ever heard of counseling actually curing them.

In Vermont, and I'm assuming other states are the same. If someone comes to my house and then gets behind the wheel intoxicated...I, as the homeowner, can then be held responsible for any crashes that person may have.

So in a case like this - can't the judge and/or defense attorney be held responsible for allowing a monster to walk the streets knowing that he or she has commited a sexual crime against a child?

Is it fair?

I was reading the latest book by Linda Howard. I adore her books and always have for the most part. After reading the front flap, I was expecting another romantic suspense with a touch of paranormal. Something I looked forward to reading!

Then I started and the book grabbed me instantly in the prologue. When you meet the heroine, you learn that she is actually from centuries ahead and has jettisoned back in time to find a killer. I'm not a big sci-fi fan, but then so far the book seemed to be focusing more on the time travel aspect, so I was still okay. And then all of the technical details came into play. Her "weaponry" and gadgets, the time travel details, differences between her current world and our current world. That's when I started to lose interest, though because it was a review, I did read it to the end.

But after all that, it makes me wonder just how fair we are to authors--expecting the same genre time and time again? It has to get tedious sticking to the same genre time and time again. So I can't blame Linda Howard for trying something different, I do wish the front flap had said a time travel/sci-fi romance over saying it was a paranormal, but Ms. Howard doesn't write the flap description. Had it been marketed more accurately, I could have handed it off to a reviewer who enjoys sci-fi and I have a feeling the review would have been different.

London

My thoughts and prayers go out to those in London today.

And... Viv, if you happen to read this, please let us know you're okay!

Please explain...

I'm finding myself baffled over the missing kids in Idaho. First, my thoughts and prayers are with the family. I hope that you have your answers over the remains and the little boy's whereabouts very soon.

But I need to know - WHY on earth was this guy released? Whether he did it or not (I'll keep my opinion to myself though we all know what my opinion is) he NEVER should have been released after molesting the six-year-0ld. The fact that he was out walking the streets and potentially able to grab more children is disturbing.

We have people sitting in jail for possession of marijuana. Free them - stick the real sickos in the prisons where they belong. I'm also not afraid to say that I think a molester/rapist's crime should be tattooed to a visible part of their body. Forget all this "they have rights" stuff. They forfeit their rights the second they commit a crime against another person.

I remember a number of years ago. The school sent home a note to all parents warning us that a sex offender had been placed up the road from us. He was about 1/2 mile from my house. Of course, it was too late. He'd already gotten wind and grabbed and molested a girl. He's back in jail now - THANKFULLY. But that little girl's life will never be the same. He never should have been placed in a family neighborhood, so why he was allowed to do so has always baffled me.

4th Of July

Happy Fourth of July. Our local paper ran a survey recently to see how many people actually celebrate the fourth as compared to those who just enjoy it as a day off from work. Not surprisingly, 78% see it as a day off from work and nothing more.

I have to admit, we'll have a barbecue, but it gives us a day off to get caught up. How about everyone else?

Tonight's Live 8

I didn't even realize that Live 8 was on tonight. I am a big fan of many of the stars (teen in the late 80's so what more can I say...) So I'd expected it to be on pay per view to raise money for the cause. Silly me.

Apparently, only ABC will be airing the concert - and then it will only be highlights I'm assuming. No grand PPV and get the whole thing from start to finish. So I'm baffled by that. It almost seems to me that plans were rushed from beginning to end and no real planning effort was made. They could have made a killing for the charity had it been available as a PPV even in all areas.

I was also reading earlier that the event was pretty much a flop in Japan where the first concerts started yesterday by my time zone. So it leaves me baffled - why hold a repeat Live Aid if you don't plan on marketing it effectively?

It's always something...

I was sitting down and updating the website this morning while my husband was mowing the lawn. Unfortunately the rider just died (we have over an acre of land -- rider is a necessity) and now the lawn must be push mowed in this awful, awful humidity and heat. So while he works on the mower, I guess I'm going outside to start mowing.

So the rest of the update will have to wait until the lawn's done. :-( I'm kind of hoping the neighbor will take pity on me and come to my rescue like a knight on a riding mower!

Tracy