Yes, it’s that time again.  It’s time for the United States of America to vote.  It’s time for us to forget about how bad our democracy really is.  How we’re locked into a two-party system that prevents any third parties from ever having a real chance.  How we have an electoral college there to protect the masses from themselves, and to keep a popular vote from being a real one.  How we’re using more and more electronic voting machines that still have not been proven without a doubt safe from tampering, and in fact in many cases have been proven to be very easy to tamper with.  How our presidents don’t run with a vice president that is equally good for our country, but with a vice president that hopefully will help sway the uncertain by giving the impression of being what the presidential candidate is not.  How our candidates spend so much time digging up campaign funds instead of actually doing their jobs.  While we continue to slave away at our jobs, just struggling to make ends meet.

Yes, it’s time to continue the sham of democracy in America, instead of fixing it.

We spend so much time worrying about what the media tells us we’re supposed to worry about, that we forget that we, the people, are the United States of America.  That we, the people, are the ones whom hold power over those in charge, and not the other way around.  And that if we, the people, actually wanted change, we could make it happen.

But we don’t want change.  We like our nice safe world with the devils we know.

And so, like sheep, we put ourselves out to be counted.  We form lines into tiny corrals, and bleet ourselves silly.

How many of you who voted even chose individuals?  And how many of you just voted Republican or Democrat?  How many of you actualy know who you’re voting for?  Not just for president, but all the way down to state and even city elections?  Do you know?  Do you care?  Do you honestly think that R or D is enough to judge a person by?

Of course you do.  Because you still happily use flawed electronic machines to vote, not even bothering to look at the data of how many times they’ve been hacked.

Of course you do.  Because you still think that two parties are enough.

I love my country.  But sometimes I’m also ashamed of it.  Like a mother who drinks, or a father who gambles too much.  You can love someone, something, and still know that it’s not perfect, and still wish that things could be better.

Maybe you just think I’m a loon.  Maybe you don’t even care.

But if I can make you think, just one person, you, even once, before you cast your vote today, then I’ll have done my part.  What you do is your choice.  Remember that.  And truly make it your choice.  Let your voice be heard.

Thank you.

Okay, so I’m sick of this.  GM is notoriously bad.  But now even the high-end auto manufacturers are getting in on the stupidity.  I’ve just got to rant.  So let me make this one thing clear:

MAKING A CAR A HYBRID DOES NOT MAKE IT GREEN!!!!!

Say what?

Yes, you read that right.  Just because it has a hybrid logo on it, just because it has part electric power, does NOT make it green.  It does not by default make it fuel efficient.  It does not by default mean it has low emissions.

For example, here are some average gas mileage ratings of cars that actually get a high enough efficiency rating to be considered green:

Now, these cars all get above 30MPG in real-world driving, according to hybridCARS.  It is by no means an extensive list.  There are many others as well.  (And then there are the super-green cars like plug-in hybrids and electrics.)  And you’ll note that there are even diesel and normal everyday fuel cars in that list.  They don’t have to be hybrid to have a good fuel efficiency.

Now, here are some hybrids which are not green:

So I say again, just because it has a hybrid logo on it, does not make it green.

What makes a car green is that it does something for the environment.  It uses less gas.  It puts out less emissions.  There is no “in its class” beating around the bush.  Either it is green, or it isn’t.  The term “hybrid” is not some carte blanche to feel good about yourself by pretending that you care about the environment.  Slapping a “hybrid” logo onto a car does not suddenly make everything okay.

Sadly, the title of this blog isn’t even something I made up.  It’s a direct quote from President Bush in his address to America on Wednesday evening.

And he’s right.

Hell, even a blind man could read that freaking message on the wall.  Banks are failing.  BANKS! And the government is having to step in to keep them open!

But we’re not in a recession.  Oh no.  Not at all.

Even our illustrious President clearly stated in his address, “Ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession.”

Could experience?  Could?!  What, pray tell, do you call what we’re in right now?  Happy Fun Time Land?

I believe when banks collapse, people can’t afford to even live in their homes, and the entire economy fails, it’s called a depression.  I mean here we are, quite literally sitting on the very thin line of a modern day “Black Tuesday”.  But no, we’re not even in a repression according to the people in charge.

How much longer are we going to take this bulls__t?!

If President Bush wants to throw $700 billion at solving the problem, hell, he should have done it months ago.  I’m all for it!

Where are we going to get that kind of money?  Well, gee, there’s this war over in Iraq that has cost us at least that much already.  Bring the troops home and tell the world sorry, we ran out of money.  Because, well, we did!  How do you think we got into this position in the first place?

Oh, right, what the President said.  It was all just those mean nasty banks giving people loans for houses they couldn’t afford.  Yeah.  That was it.  Riiiiiiiiiight.  Nothing at all to do with insane spending on a questionable war that was supposed to be over in no time and only cost $60 billion.  No.  The economy is failing because banks gave people loans.  Yeah.  And President Bush’s proposed solution then?  Have the government buy the mortgage-backed securities so that banks can … give out more loans.  Hmmm.

I have one question, President Bush.  So if mortgages were really how we got into trouble in the first place, then how is freeing banks to give out more of them a solution to this problem?

Methinks I smell a huge heaping pile of horse hockey.

But at least I do have to agree with the President on one thing.  The government really needs to step in now and do something.  I even agree with their solution, more or less.  Though I think it’d be even better to pull the troops back home and declare peace.  Then create some serious government-funded work programs to restore the nation’s decaying infastructure (like our roads) so that people have jobs.  And then put in some pork-tying regulations in place and bail people’s butts out.  Or do it all at once.  Just so that they target the real cause as well as treat one of the symptoms.

What has any of this got to do with technology?  Not much.  But it’s now and it’s important.  Though, if anything, I could complain how greatly unusual it is that I have to go to an Australian website to find breaking news on this.  It’s midnight, on the day of.  What?  No major US news source thought it’d be a good idea to listen to the address and write something quickly?  They’ll just hand in their piece on Thursday, the day after? Has news in America really gotten that lazy?  Google sure seems to think so.  How odd.

Luckily I’m at least smart enough to go to places on my own.  I don’t need news feeds to trickle through.  For example, another victory for technology, over at the New York Times is a video of the President’s address as well as a transcript.  How nice!  Isn’t technology grand?

So I’m recovering from my wisdom teeth getting pulled.  For some reason I feel guilty, sitting around, basically just watching TV.  I know.  I’m recovering.  I’m healing.  I shouldn’t be pushing myself.  And so far at least I have done the dishes this morning.  And cut up some onion to make some onion and garlic soup.  (I figure the healing properties of the garlic should help me recover anyway, and mushy onion in broth is soft enough for me to eat.)  It’s my usual blend of beef broth, beef bullion cubes, organic vegetable broth, and onions.  Just also with garlic this time.  I wish I’d bought more french onion soup broth from the store.  That’d have been nice.  But beef is almost as good.

It’s funny.  I’m not even really eating solid foods yet and I’m still feeling guilty.  Well, okay, so my hun made some mac ‘n cheese last night, and that mostly went down well.  The noodles were soft enough and slippery enough to get past my wounded gums okay.  Though by the end it was perhaps pushing it a bit.  And I had some hawiian bread with strawberry cream cheese too.  That definitely was pushing it.  But my stomach needed something solid.  I have a weird stomach.  It gets angry if I don’t take care of it.

Anywho, so I’m still pretty much on the only-barely-solids diet.  Good goddess I want some pizza.  And a burger.  But I’m being good.  And I’m rinsing my mouth with salt water after meals to hopefully keep any food particles from settling in to my wounded gums.

But ye gods I’m bored.  I’m just sitting around, enjoying the highs and lows of my Vicodin and watching crappy TV.  And being hot and cold and hot and cold.  And then putting ice packs on my face and getting really darn cold.  Though today I’m supposed to start putting on hot packs instead of cold.  Except I’m sweating like a pig.  I’m freaking hot.  I am not putting on a heat pack until I feel cooler or else I’m going to melt.

So … yeah.  Such is my life.  At least so far the swelling isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be.  And my hun has done her best to stay home with me and take care of me and help me feel better.  And I got a nice call from my Mom.  So in good energies and prayer alone I should be right as rain any day now.  Meanwhile, I’ll keep doing my own meditation energy work, taking care of myself, and weening myself off of the Vicodin as early as possible.

If I could just get one good night’s sleep without constant pain-induced nightmares and frequently waking up, I’d probably be better in no time.

Wisdom teeth suck.

I’m just glad that I’m an independent software/hardware contractor that works from home.  Otherwise I’d be chewing through sick days or worse, be tempted to push myself back to work before I’m well again.

My hun and I just spent an absolutely loverly experience in our bathroom.  And in spite of what you think, no, that didn’t happen.  The bathroom just isn’t big enough.

What did happen is that the old bathtub/shower “sealant” (if you can even call it that) failed.  Miserably.  Only we couldn’t really tell until it was well too late in the failure.  Why?  Because it still looked in tact.  What was this horrid product that failed and let water through like a sieve but looked fine?

Why, it was some evil kind of bathroom sealer trim tape.

This stuff was awful.  Once we pealed it away, there was just sooooo much groty mildew growing behind it.  It was nasty!  And it couldn’t have lasted all that long.  We weren’t the dipsh__ts that put it down in the first place.  We only just bought the house a year ago.  This was one of those things I had to mock when I saw it.  And now that I’ve had to clean up after it?

Tape!

You don’t freaking caulk a bathtub / shower with TAPE!

Maybe a product like that might serve a purpose.  Somewhere.  But most certainly not in a bathtub.  I’d say leave it out of the bathroom entirely.

So, the bathtub needed recaulking.  Obviously.  Which required a nasty, messy, gross, allergenic clean up.  With plenty of bleach to kill all of the living organisms.  That sounds bad.

But not nearly as bad as putting down the damn caulk!

Here’s a tip.  Unless you have a shower that you desperately need to use just hours after caulking, do not, I repeat: do not use Polyseamseal Speed Seal Silicone Sealant.  Yes, it’s claim to fame is that it can fast-dry in 2 hours.  And at ten bucks a tube you figure it has to be quality.

Well maybe so, but I’ve never had a caulk that tried to kill me like this stuff did.  You don’t just want to open a window.  You want SCUBA gear!  Seriously.  This stuff will rip your throat raw in no time, the fumes are that nasty.  A day later and I still have a sore throat.

But wait!  That’s not all!

It also applies like glue!  You know how silicone caulk just glides right on.  It’s so smooth and creamy.  You could practically just shape it with your finger.  You almost don’t even need a tool to make it look professional.  Well with this stuff, forget all that!  It’s like a cross between glue and silly putty.  It sticks to everything except the tub.  It pulls its own bead out at the drop of a hat.  It gunks up.  Don’t even bother trying your finger.  No, with this stuff you need a tool, and you need a ton of paper towels to tear into bits to keep wiping that tool with.  It is by far the hardest caulk I’ve ever had to work with.

And that two hours that you can shower in?  Well don’t think of laying that bead of caulk too far ahead of yourself, because that stuff hardens in like five minutes.  So you’ve got to just go tiny inch by freaking inch with a fine-toothed-comb with that stuff or it’ll harden on you before you’ve shaped it into a professional looking line, and then you’ll just have to rip it out and do it again.

Seriously.  If you have the time for caulk to dry, get the normal stuff.  This speed seal is a nightmare to work with!

But in the end, yes, my hun and I managed to successfully recaulk our bathtub.  It took a lot of cleaning.  It took a lot of patience.  It took a lot of time.  And it nearly put us both into the hospital.  But we got it done!  And I can practically guarantee that if you avoid these two “time saving” conveneince products when you (re)caulk your bathtub or shower, you will get it done in a lot less time and have much less reason to complain afterward.

Sometimes technology brings us many great things.

And sometimes technology claims to bring us something great and then kicks us in the family jewels when we’re not looking.