Today I went to the gas station to fill up my tank before this week’s rapid rise in gas prices. The station has two islands, with three filling areas on each side. I drove through the center, between the two islands, which has room to pass even if cars are at both sides. However, I was forced to stop before getting to the pump because an elderly man was using the window squeegee thing to clean the inside of his windows and had his door wide open so I couldn’t pass.
I stopped, thinking that he would see I was trying to get past and close his door, but he just continued his painfully slow process of trying to use the squeegee thingie to clean his inside windows.
I was already cranky entering the station, and snarled at him to please close his door, as I was trying to get past— startling him a little, which left me feeling like a jerk because my parents did not raise me to be rude to somebody in their 80s. I had let my cranky feelings overcome both my manners, and my sense of perspective, because I was in no hurry and could have waited a couple of minutes for him to finish.
I’m cranky from the news, not only of the election but the abysmal bail out, which, no, I don’t approve of in any shape or form. However, the stress of both is actually adding to a sense of physical degradation, as well as impacting on both my humor and my interactions with those around me. I snarled at an elderly man, and I’ve never snarled at an elderly person before. I wasn’t raised this way. Snarl at webloggers, yes; but never the elderly, the very young, or critters. That’s just plain mean.
You’ll be glad to know that this is my last post on the election, because I am going to be restricting my intake of news and politics, and especially economics. I can’t do a thing to make a difference, and keeping up with the stories is, frankly, ruining what is potentially going to be a beautiful fall.
I had planned on writing a long, seemingly learned paper on the election, listing out various topics and how Obama and McCain differ, but there’s a lot of people who do a much better job at this than me. I’m voting for Obama/Biden, plain and simple. To do otherwise will turn the White House over to two people who are incompetent to lead, at a time when this country is in a world of hurt, and needs the best, not the worst.
There. I did my thing, and I’m sure have convinced hundreds, thousands of you to vote for Obama.
Now, writing about the internet, browsers, standards—including and RDF and SVG, and the like—is useful because I may actually make a difference talking about these topics. Same with my tales of Missouri at MissouriGreen, video at Secret of Signals, and whatever at Just Shelley. Even if all I do is post pictures of our zoo’s new Amur leopard cub, Sophie, who stole my heart this weekend, forever, when she “stalked” my roommate as he walked around her habitat trying to see her.
Yes, I have given my heart to a leopard cub. Sorry to my male readers who might be disappointed. Come to that, sorry to my female readers who might be disappointed.
Hopefully pictures of this sweet thing will make up for the fact that I’ve been a dead bore, lately.
update: Decided against trying to run a computer fund.
