Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
Header
Monday, Jul. 26, 2004satan is alive and working at Taco Bell
Navigation
the archives
The last few dribbles...
- -
Wednesday, Jul. 06, 2005
good-bye diaryland -
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005
Social Security -
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005
save the arctic refuge -
Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005
it's surreal -
Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005
the latest entry
Contact the ikss
~ the ikss guestbook ~
email the ikss
notes to the ikss
New here? Start here
The Usual Suspects (Cast)
the ikss Mission Statement: Please Read
the ikss bio
the ikss profile, including favorite diaryland links
somebody out there loves me
�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
REGISTER TO VOTE
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice."
--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
~~~
Before we get in to the following email eavesdrop (emails on which I spent so much time this morning that I�d feel guilty using even more work time in order to write a diaryland entry so you, My Public, are doomed to spend today eavesdropping on my silly [and I�m sure meaningless to anyone but us] email exchange between me and my sister), let me explain that Cathy was recently talking about moving back to Colorado (she was born in Colorado Springs and some of her family lives in the state) and all of us (meaning, Barbara, Arnett, Cathy and I) have discussed possibly moving to the Hood River area of Oregon sometime in the future.
Oh also�If I am going to be serious about this whole �No Eating Red Meat� step in the ladder that is to be the Overhaul of My Eating Habits, I am going to have to learn to actually remember that I am no longer eating red meat!
Directly on the heels of last weeks Sausage Calzone fiasco, I had another close-call Friday afternoon.
On Friday, during my lunch hour, I decided to run to the market to pick up a few things that I would need before I got another chance to get to the market. I then ran those few items home (oh how I love living only eight miles from work!) before coming back to work. While at home, I decided I would drive thru Taco Bell on my way back to work � it�s cheap and it�s quick and there is one with a drive thru not too far away from work, if I take surface streets there.
So I made sure to take said surface streets back to work. Sadly, they were doing one heck of a construction job on Willow (the main street I take when using this route) and the whole street was narrowed down to one lane, from four. For miles. It took me forever to get back to work (I was ten minutes late even without driving thru Taco Bell). Needless to say, due to the traffic woes, I decided not to stop for lunch, but just to eat popcorn when I got back to work.
Upon returning to work, I remembered that I gave up red meat anyway! (I only eat meat items at Taco Bell, you see, because I am of the opinion that their chicken doesn't taste so much like chicken as it does dried chicken doodie.)
Sheesh.
But who woulda thought that traffic could be a savior of sorts?
Happy Convention Watching Tonight!
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 8:46 AM
To: Karen
Subject: (no subject)
Hey, did you hear about Shaq's class act? It was on the news last night but i saw it. He had a full page ad in the times yesterday thanking LA for all the support and telling all the fans how much he appreciated their love. It was a cool thing to do. What a guy!
Cathy says she's not moving for now. She's working alot of hours and just now cancelled our lunch for today cuz she's so busy. She said she wants to see Oregon though. She's planning on a road trip. She sounded alot better.
b
-----Original Message-----
From: Karen
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 10:19 AM
To: Barbara
Subject: (no subject)
Hiya!
No, I didn't see the Times ad, or hear about it. But that's very cool.
Glad to hear that Cathy sounded good. I'm also glad she's not moving, so long as that's OK with her. I mean, I hope she doesn't want to move, but can't because of whatever circumstances. I hope this is the choice she's made.
Iliana (newish girl at work who just quit) has a Staff Infection on her legs! She apparently got it from the pool at her apartment building! She's been swimming almost every day for like three months. The pool was recently closed by the health department (apparently, they never put chlorine in the water) and I guess just a couple of days later she developed this infection. She was out three days last week and keeps having to leave early when she is here, to go back to the doctor to see if they can drain her infected areas yet.
Isn't that just the grossest thing ever?
I didn't go on the twelve mile walk on Saturday. Basically, I chickened out. D and I went out walking Friday evening. We only went two miles, but my shins hurt the whole time we were walking - not anywhere near as bad as Thursday and sometimes they hurt more than at other times, but still...they hurt from the moment I started walking until we stopped. Since the pain hadn't really subsided any, I decided I should stop walking and I just decided to take Saturday off, also. D walked and there were three ladies who joined her.
We found a great new route (for Tuesdays), by the way. We got a great workout, which will be very cool. It's a very hilly area. Basically, we'll start out going up hill for a mile, then working our way down hill for a mile. So one loop is two miles. I figure that way we can see how people feel - if they want to stop after two miles, they can, but we can do four miles and then after a few weeks we can do six.
I did fine with the hills, even though the main one is rather steep. I was winded, but I didn't want to stop or anything. D stopped, though, so it's hard to tell if I might have wanted to stop eventually, but I stopped with her before we got to that point.
We were walking slower in general, anyway. At first, we were going kind of slow just because I was afraid about my shins. Once we got to the hills, of course, we just went slower because we were going up hill.
I do think the hills will help as far as my shins go, because I could even tell a difference on Friday. When I was going up hill, my shins actually felt a lot better because I was using my thigh, butt and calf muscles more than when I walk on flat concrete.
I just hope that by taking Saturday off and changing Tuesday's walk route I can walk this coming Saturday. Of course, I still haven't bought new shoes. I get paid on Thursday and will go soon afterward.
John and I are discussing what we want to do for our next weekend trip. We may go away the weekend of Oct. 15-17 - I am supposed to check Cambria, Pismo Beach and Palm Springs prices for that weekend. However, we may wait and go to Santa Fe for a few nights at Christmas time (John has another unpaid week off at Christmas time - he'll be paid for it, next year). We also talked about going to Tahoe or Yosemite sometime in the midst of our conversations (although I got the distinct impression that he thought we'd be far too cold in Yosemite in winter - I don't think he trusts their little space heaters)...so as he's packing up, I ask him which of the things we talked about he most wanted to do. He wisely points out that the first thing we need to do is sit down with a calendar and our budget, but then oh-so-helpfully says he would like to go to any of the places we talked about at any of the times we discussed.
Thanks. That's helpful.
Re Santa Fe - the prices at Christmas time are the highest of any season. So to stay at our favorite place (Las Palomas) it would cost $269/night! Cripes! I mean, we could wait and go two months later and pay only $189/night for the same casita. So during our conversations over the weekend, I relayed this distressful information to John. He asks why we couldn't just stay at a Motel Six.
[Edited to note: I just double-checked the prices and they�re not quite as bad as I thought � only $215/night with my AAA discount]
I guess we could. However, as I said to John, a lot of the reason I like to go to Santa Fe has to do with the great places we always stay. Also, if we're going in December, the chances of our running in to bad weather and having to spend a lot of time in our room are pretty great - do we want to spend all day cooped up in a Motel Six with a rabbit-eared-antennae-television and stains on the sheets or would we rather be eating chocolates from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory while curled up on top of down comforters and fluffy pillows, in front of a pinion-burning fireplace, after having just taken a long hot mineral bath? Also, if we stay at a Motel Six, we'll have to get in our car and drive every time we want to go to the Plaza for anything, then find parking, pay for parking, and have all of that hassle.
Anyway, so I compromised a little and said that I'd at least look for cheaper places close to the Plaza.
Initially, I was trying to find some place to go that is within like six hours driving distance, but of course the minute I mentioned Santa Fe John's eyes lit up.
We went to Bubba Gumps in Long Beach for lunch on Saturday (although we both had dinner-sized meals). It's right next to the Aquarium (I can't decide if that is oddly cruel or just one of life's little ironies). It was good and I think you and Mom should come go with me some time. First of all, they have Lava Flows*! And they sound like the ones they serve in Hawaii. They also have Coconut Shrimp*. There was something else there that made me think of you, but I can't think what it was now.
Anyway, after our lunch we had to go pick up Johnny's laptop so John could fix something on it. We then drove up to Lake Arrowhead. It was a pretty day (although kind of overcast) and not too hot, but it was kind of depressing up there. There is still so much fire damage - entire hillsides, now just covered in black trees. They are still doing a lot of work, cleaning up all of the debris. You can see where things are already starting to grow back, but it was still kind of sad. It's especially sad when you know it wasn't a naturally-caused fire.
OK, I guess this email is long enough now...
Have a great day!
Regards,
Karen
*There are fewer things my mother enjoys more than Coconut Shrimp. Plus, she drank Lava Flows every time she�s gone to Hawaii (basically, a Lava Flow is a Pina Colada with some kind of strawberry stuff added and in Hawaii they make it look like the strawberry stuff is erupting out of the rest of the drink). She loves them and can�t find them here and of course since she doesn�t really drink much (or like at all), she can never explain to any bartender how to make one.
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 10:47 AM
To: Karen
Subject: (no subject)
I'm up for Bubba Gumps sometime.
That is horrible about the girl with the staph infection. It sounds like the dr. is being really careful and that's good. A staph problem can end up causing loss of limb and other really bad things. I hope the apartment complex is going to pay for her problems. That's disgusting that they let the pool get like that!
Gosh, you make me want to go to Santa Fe again. You're very descriptive! You guys really should go somewhere else though. You two must be getting along really well, huh? Planning vacations months in advance. Together. What's up, I thought you guys "weren't a couple"? Yeah, right. A couple of crazies.
Sounds like the hills will help but take it slow. New shoes may help also.
I'm going over to Mom's at lunch to get Theresa (she is stopping by today on her way home to Phoenix) some tomatoes. I'll tell her about the lava flows. However, Sondra will be there, so maybe not.
Yeah, I told Cathy not to spring her moving to Colorado on me at the last minute and she said she didn't think I would be upset by her moving. I said, well of course I would be a little sad. She needs a man sooooooooooooo bad! I think she's just really lonely. Crap.
Have a good one.
b
-----Original Message-----
From: Karen
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 11:05 AM
To: Barbara
Subject: (no subject)
Oh...it's Staph?? Hee. :)
Yeah, she's already talking about suing the company that was supposed to be cleaning the pool all this time, plus she talked about having her apartment complex reimburse her for missed days at work & her doctor co-payments and stuff.
John and I are getting along rather well, yes. We have been for a long time, really (by and large - it's not like we never get on each others nerves or anything). We even did well spending an entire week together, on vacation. I really have no idea what's going on, as usual. :) We have even discussed eventually buying place together, though - down here or up there, we'd go in on it together so one of us is living in the house we're buying, while the other one is renting. I don't know, though. That's like three years down the line, so who knows what I'll be thinking by then? In all honesty, I think that deal would benefit him more than it would me, but there are still a lot of good things in it for me. We'd probably have to buy something down here, though, unless something drastic happens to the property values up there. . .
I wish I could fix Cathy up with John's friend Brandon. The only thing is, he drinks a lot and he smokes. Plus, I'm sure he smokes pot. Aside from that, he's a good guy. Just a nice, normal, average guy. He's nice-looking, but he's forty-five and looks it. It may be in Riverside, but at least he owns a home. Plus, he owns Jet Skis and other such toys and he goes out to the river and to Lake Mead a lot, to camp and play around. I mean, at least he does stuff and gets away and has some fun, ya know?
I think his family is kind of hard to take, too. Basically, he's a good guy but he comes from a sort of "white trash" life. But if it weren't for his excessive drinking, I would totally want to try & fix them up. I've thought about it several times.
Although right now he's got a girlfriend he's trying to break up with. The problem is, she moved in to his house "temporarily" like two years ago and he's having a hard time getting her out. I guess every time he talks to her about it, she starts crying and he can't get himself to kick her out.
He should just have John do it for him.
Regards,
Karen
~~~
Bush Administration Dismantles Health Protections for Miners
The Bush administration, which has already delayed strong, new health protections for miners, is considering further weakening those standards as it prepares revised rules regulating miners' exposure to underground diesel fumes.
Workers breathe in diesel exhaust from machines used to extract metals and non-metals in the confined spaces of underground mines. Numerous studies show that exposure to such fumes at current levels causes 83 to 800 excess lung cancer deaths per 1,000 workers each year. Other studies show that inhaling diesel particulate matter causes cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary problems. [1]
Under the Clinton administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) developed strict new rules reducing the concentration of diesel particulate matter to which workers could be exposed. When the final rule was issued in 2001, mine operators were given a year and a half to make modest reductions in the amount of diesel exhaust workers were exposed to in their mines. They were given six years to make more substantial reductions.
But the Bush administration extended the deadline for modest reductions by a full year -- an act that was illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act and MSHA's own statute, because the agency failed to hold a public comment period before making the change. [2] Last year, the administration further weakened protections for miners by reopening the rulemaking process and issuing a compliance document that allowed mine operators to all but ignore the tougher diesel standards if they had any difficulty in meeting them. [3]
"It says 'you don't have to ask for an extension, just mention it to the inspector the next time he shows up,'" said Celeste Monforton, senior research associate in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University, in an interview with BushGreenwatch. "What's the point of having a rule if you can just basically make the rule go away?"
MSHA is in the process of preparing a final rule on the issue, but it's unclear when the rule will be issued or what protections it will contain. "If anything, the rule should be even more stringent," said Monforton.
While the Clinton administration sought to steadily increase MSHA's budget and hire more mine inspectors, President Bush has held spending level or cut spending on mine safety enforcement. Congress, however, has regularly appropriated more than President Bush has requested for the agency.
Notwithstanding the increased appropriations, the Bush administration has done little to strengthen health and safety protections for miners. The few regulations proposed by the administration have mostly weakened those protections.
SOURCES:
[1] "Part III: Risk Assessment," Diesel Particulate Matter Exposure of Underground Metal and Nonmetal Miners, Final Rule. Federal Register 66 (13): Jan. 19, 2001.
[2] Federal Mine Safety & Health Act of 1977 (Public Law 91-173), section 101(a)(9).
[3] "Metal and Nonmetal Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) Standard Compliance Guide" (Final Version, August 5, 2003), p. 6.
~~~
Word of the Day for Monday July 26, 2004
incarnadine in-KAR-nuh-dyn, adjective:
1. Having a fleshy pink color.
2. Red; blood-red.
transitive verb: To make red or crimson.
last / next
~~~~~~~~~~~peace, love and smooches~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't know why you'd wanna, but on the off-chance you may feel tempted to steal any of my words and claim them as your own, please be advised:
All material
Copyright 2002-2005, Howl-at-the-Moon Words
***DISCLAIMER: These are my thoughts and my thoughts alone. If you know me in my "real life" off the net and have come across this page purely by accident, please keep in mind that you were not invited here and I would suggest you leave this page now. However, should you choose not to do so, please be warned that reading my thoughts here is not an invitation to discuss them off-line. You may discover things you do not know about me and may not like very much. Such is life. Again, this is MY space and I will use it as I see fit. If you are offended by anything here, well that's pretty much your own fault at this point.
I say all of this with love, of course, but there it is.
