I have a Maltese dog named Duchess. She is the the smartest, sweetest pet I've ever had. However, right now she is in heat. This has prompted all the neighborhood dogs to come sniffing around our house. Not only that, but these males howl and bark and whine for Duchess. It is extremely annoying.
One of these suitors is especially vigilant. His name is Winston, and he's a gray poodle. Winston does not live in our apartment complex. He lives at another complex near ours, but he does not seem to mind the commute. Winston has a jingly collar with tags that have his name and owner's phone number etched onto them. Earlier this week I was letting Duchess outside when out of nowhere came Winston. He darted over and immediately started sniffing my dog. I quickly figured out that he was a male and had to take Duchess back inside. But this did not stop Winston. He stayed outside our front door and hollered for over an hour. He scratched at the door and howled like a mad man. Not even my husband could intimidate him enough to make him go home. Finally we cornered him so that we could read his owner's information off the collar. We called them, hoping that they would come and fetch their dog, but these people were completely unconcerned that he had escaped. They said Winston escapes a lot and that he'd go home eventually. I could not believe that these dog-owners were so unconcerned. Winston is a very cute and friendly dog, and he could easily be picked up by strangers and taken away. Not only that, but our neighborhood is full of traffic, and Winston could get run-over.
Every day since then Winston has come a-calling at least once a day. And just to make matters worse, he typically escapes after 10 p.m. This means that instead of having a normal, quite night, we have to listen to two dogs carry one like crazed beasts. So not only do we have to contend with Winston's behavior, but his presence outside makes Duchess go nuts! She barks and jumps around and acts a complete fool. I cannot wait for her to return to normal. I miss my sweet, calm dog. Thank goodness that she only comes in heat once every six months!
Thanks for reading,
The Cajun Haole.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Woe the Red
Slate article: http://www.slate.com/id/2203982/
I am infuriated with the latest financial data for our nation's economy. The widespread fiscal irresponsibility of our legislature and private industry is truly reprehensible. The publication of the latest national economic data has been like the great disappointment of Dorothy when she pulled back the curtain to reveal the Wizard of Oz was just a sad, little man. Except that no matter how much we'll try, we won't be able to get our economy back to Kansas with simple heel-clicking and hopeful wishing.
What would really make me pleased would be seeing those who ran our nation into such deep red to be strung up by their pocketbooks and dangled as bait in front of those who now suffer as a consequence. The election brought ideas of socialism into the forefront of conflict available for political fodder. It made me question the essential American attitude that capitalism should reign as king of the economy. For the last eight years, at least, the government seems to have sanctioned spending in the red as a valid budgetary practice. And as a result, private industry followed suit.
I want to know the names of the accounting agencies who failed to publish, accurately, the impending melt down of so many main-stay American businesses. Why were these companies allowed to behave so badly to the point of needing a bailout? Shouldn't previous quarterly financial statements have given ample warning to executives in time for them to make some effort at damage control? Since they chose not to do anything, the burden fell to taxpayers.
Which brings me back to those concerns over socialism. It would seem that when every citizen's contributed tax dollars are used for purposes of buying up foreclosures and taking bad debt ownership from banking institutions, that this, indeed, would be akin to every tax payer now owning a share of whatever corporation got bailed out. So if we all own a bit of this bank and that lending institution, then, assuming the bailout efforts help, once these corporations recover and regain their profitability, will every tax payer receive a dividend check? I highly doubt it.
Whoever decided that it would be alright if our national deficit exceeded a comprehensible number? I can't even imagine how much ten trillion dollars would look like, much less conceive of a way to pay it back. Didn't anyone in our elected legislature take an accounting class? Why weren't they subject to the same common sense as any commoner would be? If you do not have money to buy/fund/invest, then don't spend. Additionally I find it galling that the red, Republicans, who are supposed to be advocates of conservative fiscal spending, were the ones spending us right into the ground.
I resent that my tax dollars will be buying up bad mortgages everywhere when I do not even own a home myself. In fact, thanks to people who got mortgages and defaulted, it's unlikely that me and my husband are going to be able to consider buying a home anytime soon thanks to the credit freeze. Not that we can really try to save for one either since inflation is sky-rocketing the prices of even the basics like water and bread, and better paying jobs are like four-leaf clovers.
When I read Ray Fisman's article from slate.com about the ways political partisanship played a part in the bailout bill, I found my anger at the legislature intensify. Green should be the only color our country is concerned with instead of red verses blue. And I cannot fathom why lobbist groups are even allowed in Washington at this point. Where was the lobbyist group to protect the U.S. Treasury or the dollar's earning power? The FED should have the authority to restrict reckless legislative spending. The FED should have authority to do more than manipulate the interest rate. It is the only governmental body that has any concrete commonsense knowledge on how an economy should function. Why doesn't the government authorize the FED to act as it probably wishes it could? Because the power of the purse is the main purpose of Congress, and heaven forbid the House of Representatives take away its own ability to manipulate the market for more money.
I hope our new president-elect made all A's in his economic courses and that his favorite color is green.
I am infuriated with the latest financial data for our nation's economy. The widespread fiscal irresponsibility of our legislature and private industry is truly reprehensible. The publication of the latest national economic data has been like the great disappointment of Dorothy when she pulled back the curtain to reveal the Wizard of Oz was just a sad, little man. Except that no matter how much we'll try, we won't be able to get our economy back to Kansas with simple heel-clicking and hopeful wishing.
What would really make me pleased would be seeing those who ran our nation into such deep red to be strung up by their pocketbooks and dangled as bait in front of those who now suffer as a consequence. The election brought ideas of socialism into the forefront of conflict available for political fodder. It made me question the essential American attitude that capitalism should reign as king of the economy. For the last eight years, at least, the government seems to have sanctioned spending in the red as a valid budgetary practice. And as a result, private industry followed suit.
I want to know the names of the accounting agencies who failed to publish, accurately, the impending melt down of so many main-stay American businesses. Why were these companies allowed to behave so badly to the point of needing a bailout? Shouldn't previous quarterly financial statements have given ample warning to executives in time for them to make some effort at damage control? Since they chose not to do anything, the burden fell to taxpayers.
Which brings me back to those concerns over socialism. It would seem that when every citizen's contributed tax dollars are used for purposes of buying up foreclosures and taking bad debt ownership from banking institutions, that this, indeed, would be akin to every tax payer now owning a share of whatever corporation got bailed out. So if we all own a bit of this bank and that lending institution, then, assuming the bailout efforts help, once these corporations recover and regain their profitability, will every tax payer receive a dividend check? I highly doubt it.
Whoever decided that it would be alright if our national deficit exceeded a comprehensible number? I can't even imagine how much ten trillion dollars would look like, much less conceive of a way to pay it back. Didn't anyone in our elected legislature take an accounting class? Why weren't they subject to the same common sense as any commoner would be? If you do not have money to buy/fund/invest, then don't spend. Additionally I find it galling that the red, Republicans, who are supposed to be advocates of conservative fiscal spending, were the ones spending us right into the ground.
I resent that my tax dollars will be buying up bad mortgages everywhere when I do not even own a home myself. In fact, thanks to people who got mortgages and defaulted, it's unlikely that me and my husband are going to be able to consider buying a home anytime soon thanks to the credit freeze. Not that we can really try to save for one either since inflation is sky-rocketing the prices of even the basics like water and bread, and better paying jobs are like four-leaf clovers.
When I read Ray Fisman's article from slate.com about the ways political partisanship played a part in the bailout bill, I found my anger at the legislature intensify. Green should be the only color our country is concerned with instead of red verses blue. And I cannot fathom why lobbist groups are even allowed in Washington at this point. Where was the lobbyist group to protect the U.S. Treasury or the dollar's earning power? The FED should have the authority to restrict reckless legislative spending. The FED should have authority to do more than manipulate the interest rate. It is the only governmental body that has any concrete commonsense knowledge on how an economy should function. Why doesn't the government authorize the FED to act as it probably wishes it could? Because the power of the purse is the main purpose of Congress, and heaven forbid the House of Representatives take away its own ability to manipulate the market for more money.
I hope our new president-elect made all A's in his economic courses and that his favorite color is green.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Welcome Home
As you all may know, last week I left for a private island in Tortola, BVI. I wish I could say that we had a wonderful time and that the island was everything we'd hoped it would be. But in keeping with the theme of my life lately, all was not as it was promised. Our "private paradise" was a mosquito infested, "Louisiana in late summer", with the rudest staff imaginable. Additionally, we found out that being there "not in the season", that being when the cruise ships were expected, meant that virtually everything was closed. Some of the low points included being stranded while the shuttle ferries were broken only to finally be taken back in pitch blackness on the open rough sea in a rubber dingy and having the beautiful arch, underneath which we were envisioned to be wed, was destroyed, not repaired by the carpenter, and left in pieces by the recent hurricane. So just like the wedding shower and reception, the wedding/honeymoon was a far cry from the imagination's creation. In fact, there wasn't a single thing about Marina Cay that was as advertised. We were told, after arriving, that all of the activities which were supposed to be complimentary, were in fact non-existant because the dive shop had moved off the island. So there went our fun times scuba'ing, open ocean fishing, kayaking and snorkeling. There was no wi-fi, t.v. or phone signal. Pretty much the only things we could do there was eat at a very expensive beach front restraunt, or else sit in our mosquito buffet room, or sit on a three foot stretch of rocky, coral filled "beach", or swim in the ocean. Oh and get sun-burned too all crispiness (despite ridiculous amounts of sun-screen)
And so the day after we exchanged vows, we checked out and left the island.
We went to the West End of Tortola, and we stayed at a little place called Sebastians on the Beach in Little Apple Bay. At least there were no mosquitos attacking us at all hours there. We rented a car and spent most of our remaining time exploring. What we discovered was a third world country, seriously. The roads are mostly gravel, or else if they were paved, huge pot holes and washed out areas of asphalt plagued our path; the terrain is nothing but insanely steep and twisting mountain passes which weave up and down along the coast, like the ultimate roller coaster for a car. Secondly, the electricity was unreliable, at best, meaning that if the wind blew too hard, the lights would go out. There was indoor plumbing, but no centralized sewage system. Instead each little area would have its own septic tank, and when it rained, like it did on three of the days we were there, the lovely smell of you-know-what would welcome us into each neighborhood. So while the scenery was stunning, the island's interior left so much to be desired.
Needless to say that while I may never be a true fan of Shreveport, I have never in my life been so excited about coming back to it. Nick and I promised in our vows to be there for each other in good times and bad and for better or for worse, and, just to make sure we meant it, we got a honeymoon from hell. If I had been there with anyone else, I would have just cried, whined and waited at the airport until my return flight came. I do not know how many times I said out loud that I wanted my money back and to just leave straight away. Without Nick by my side I could not have found any moments of happiness there. In a bizarre twist, having such a wretched time on the island only made me realize how incredibly happy my husband makes me. He was the only reason I smiled, laughed, or relaxed. He brings out the best in me with such ease, and I know that I will have a happier life with him as my husband than I possibly could have had on my own.
This afternoon we became lawfully wedded at a Justice of the Peace's house. Since the Louisiana law requires a "ceremony" which must, at least consist of an exchange of "I do"'s, the idea of not hearing our vows, for the first time, from each other atop a sunset panorama was just unacceptable. So we had our island ceremony first, then our honeymoon, and finally came back home to make it official by law. Regardless, I did have such a nice second ceremony with my mom and nana as witnesses. We got to have the idillic romance of a destination wedding, plus an intimate family ceremony too. And I got to feel supremely beautiful in my wedding dress, twice!
Cheers!
Mrs. Courtney Nelson.
And so the day after we exchanged vows, we checked out and left the island.
We went to the West End of Tortola, and we stayed at a little place called Sebastians on the Beach in Little Apple Bay. At least there were no mosquitos attacking us at all hours there. We rented a car and spent most of our remaining time exploring. What we discovered was a third world country, seriously. The roads are mostly gravel, or else if they were paved, huge pot holes and washed out areas of asphalt plagued our path; the terrain is nothing but insanely steep and twisting mountain passes which weave up and down along the coast, like the ultimate roller coaster for a car. Secondly, the electricity was unreliable, at best, meaning that if the wind blew too hard, the lights would go out. There was indoor plumbing, but no centralized sewage system. Instead each little area would have its own septic tank, and when it rained, like it did on three of the days we were there, the lovely smell of you-know-what would welcome us into each neighborhood. So while the scenery was stunning, the island's interior left so much to be desired.
Needless to say that while I may never be a true fan of Shreveport, I have never in my life been so excited about coming back to it. Nick and I promised in our vows to be there for each other in good times and bad and for better or for worse, and, just to make sure we meant it, we got a honeymoon from hell. If I had been there with anyone else, I would have just cried, whined and waited at the airport until my return flight came. I do not know how many times I said out loud that I wanted my money back and to just leave straight away. Without Nick by my side I could not have found any moments of happiness there. In a bizarre twist, having such a wretched time on the island only made me realize how incredibly happy my husband makes me. He was the only reason I smiled, laughed, or relaxed. He brings out the best in me with such ease, and I know that I will have a happier life with him as my husband than I possibly could have had on my own.
This afternoon we became lawfully wedded at a Justice of the Peace's house. Since the Louisiana law requires a "ceremony" which must, at least consist of an exchange of "I do"'s, the idea of not hearing our vows, for the first time, from each other atop a sunset panorama was just unacceptable. So we had our island ceremony first, then our honeymoon, and finally came back home to make it official by law. Regardless, I did have such a nice second ceremony with my mom and nana as witnesses. We got to have the idillic romance of a destination wedding, plus an intimate family ceremony too. And I got to feel supremely beautiful in my wedding dress, twice!
Cheers!
Mrs. Courtney Nelson.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)