Karma
Once in awhile Ali and I catch an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Last night we were watching another one. I made a comment questioning the choice of families to receive the latest brand new mega-home for free. The father developed liver cancer and died. As a result of his death the family is undergoing various hardships. My comment to Ali was basically that, yea, it’s a horrible thing to have your father/husband die. It’s a gut wrenching experience. My point was it is something that tons of people have to endure. Well these people also happened to run a horse ranch that offers horse riding to disabled people. I guess that was the feel good hook that landed them the golden ticket.
Ali pointed out how it seems like every time we watch the show I am somehow critical of the family. I don’t think I have been critical of EVERY family. I don’t remember saying anything about the family with the disabled, blind kid that could play the piano and sing. But yea for the most part I do have something negative to say about most of the families and it usually ties into my thoughts that most of these families appear to be looking for a huge handout as opposed to working their way out of their situation. I’m not one to ask for help, perhaps I project that onto others.
Maybe it is just the ridiculous, over the top way they do the show. Between Ty Pennington screaming the entire show to the crazy themed bedrooms where they stick parts of cars into a room or turn another room into a jungle. Or maybe, I’m just jealous.
After work I am going to stop and pick up composite lumber to build the new expanded garden area. The composite (plastic) lumber is way more expensive than pressure treated lumber, however unlike regular wood, it
won’t turn into a rotted mess in 4 or 5 years. My thought process is it is worth the extra money up front to build a border that could last 20 years or more. We also bought aluminum corners to tie it all together in a secure manner.
Our existing garden design is a bit of a pain in the ass. I have it bordered with landscape timbers and then have the timbers enclosed with fencing to keep rabbits out of the garden. The problem is grass and weeds wedge themselves between the landscape timbers and the fencing creating a mess. You can’t stop the junk from growing in between and you can’t effectively weed it either. With the redesigned garden we are going to be expanding it’s size from 8′ x 16′ to 12′ x 24′. Instead of having the fencing right against the composite lumber border I am going to have the fencing about a foot off the perimeter so I will be able to get in there with the weed whacker and knock any vegetation down cleanly. I think it will work out well when we are done. We also will have to buy a ton of dirt to fill the new expanded area. The end result hopefully will be an expanded, easier to maintain, and more bountiful garden. I still have several other borders to replace. I’d like to get them all done this summer so I can finally cross this line item off my long term project list.
I am disgusted about the republicans dusting off their tactic from 2004 and labeling Obama a “flip flopper”. It sickens me to think that they believe Americans are stupid enough to fall for that line of bullshit again. The scary thing is they just might be. The republican party has a pretty dismal track record of running the country since Reagan left office but one thing they seem to be masters at is public relation manipulation. They love to try to divert attention from issues and instead focus on catchy labels they can affix to their opposition. They have come to realize that many people are too dumb or just don’t care enough about learning the issues. It’s far easier for the masses to base a candidate on one sound bite or single adjective. Of course the democrats are not immune to trying similar tactics. Obama routinely refers to a McCain/Bush policy in an attempt to join these two into one mutated person. It’s all so disappointing to witness. It’s so much more about psychological manipulation than making an educated decision.
How about Jesse Jackson muttering something about wanting to cut Obama’s nuts out? How in the world is this guy still a public figure? Over the years he has inserted his foot into his mouth time and again as well as leading the charge for what equates to racial blackmail, using his propped up status as prominent black leader to serve his own personal agenda and gain. He’s a dirt bag. He needs to go away. Having him as a visible supporter of the Obama campaign is not a positive thing.