Category: Crankypantsing

Crankypantsing, News & Politics

Choice, the Environment, and Irony

Shelly

There is a story floating around certain parts of the blogosphere about a Hummer that implodiated in a fast food parking lot, felled by a wee bump against a stanchion. It is amusing and ironic and, dare I say, schadenfreude-inducing? I think everyone with a functioning brain stem can agree that Hummers are ridiculous. They serve no purpose I can ascertain, other than as a conspicuous symbol of consumerism. They get terrible mileage, they are too overgrown for their frames, and they hog too much road and parking lot real estate. Worst, they are not actually built for the one thing that they appear to have been designed for: off-roading.

So go ahead, hate on Hummers and their owners. If nothing else, it gives me one more reason to dislike Teh Ahr-nahld.

However, it seems a little short-sighted to me to hate on all SUV owners, as they–and their SUVs–are not all created equal. It is probably not surprising that it makes the Baby Shelly cranky when folks lump all SUVs together as gas-guzzling earth-destroyers driven by over-protective mommies. Not only is it untrue, but it is spectacularly ignorant to cast asparagus upon a lowly tool instead of addressing the underlying issue: crass consumerism. SUVs of the urban assault variety are merely a symptom, not the disease itself. If it wasn’t SUVs, it would be Cadillacs or some other flashy, eco-unfriendly ride.

Look, we all make choices. Some of those choices have a larger environmental impact than others. Some of those choices are sacrosanct and above reproach, while others are fair game for criticism. So when I hear a woman rationalizing her decision to cart her three kids around in a car that gets worse gas mileage than my SUV, while criticizing those who drive SUVs, I have to think, “WTF?” While I don’t normally feel any need to second guess anyone’s decision to have as many kids as she wants, or to drive whatever she wants, when my choices are questioned, I have to put it into perspective. My little SUV and I could not possibly have the sort of environmental impact that three children and a Beemer will have. So, when you start waving around the “SUVs are bad for the environment flag,” you might want to take a good look at your own choices and how they affect the environment.

Crankypantsing, Pets, Photography

Smacking

Shelly

There are certain human behaviors that drive me batshit crazy. One of them is smacking and generally making excessive noise while eating. It’s nauseating. This is why I find the new KFC commercial to be both perplexing and offensive. Why would anyone in their right mind prefer the sound of chomping and smacking to that of polite dinner conversation? I mean, the whole point of sitting down to eat with others is that it’s a social experience, right?

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This revulsion of mine is not consistent across species, however. What is sickifying in humans is thoroughly charming in, say, canines. Miss Brown gets her evening meal split into two portions: an after school snack and a bedtime snack. When I get home from work, I let her outside to potty while I put kibble in her bowl. When she comes back inside, she goes immediately to her bowl, grabs a mouthful of food, shoves her nose in my face, and proceeds to rub her kibble-crumb-encrusted lips all over me. While wriggling euphorically and chomping and making all manner of otherwise smicky-smacky lip noises. Ah, Teh Cute! It is to die for! Truly, it is about the most adorable thing in the whole wide world, as far as I’m concerned. But, if a human did that to me, I’d have to kill them.

Crankypantsing, Meta, Photography

We Have Normality

Shelly

The migration is finished and I think most everything is working. I had a weird problem uploading photos this morning, but I’m hoping it was just a fluke. I was able to upload a bunch of files with no problem, but the second batch had to be uploaded one at a time. Hrmf. The email kinks seem to have finally been sorted out, as well, but I’ve lost a bunch of messages somewhere, and I fear they’re permanently AWOL.

On top of all that, my hard drive decided to crash and die last weekend. I’ve been pretty good about backing up files, so it wasn’t as tragic as it could have been. It was still a headache I didn’t need, though, considering that I’ve misplaced some of the programs I use all the time. Re-downloading them on my crappy connection was not fun. The good news is that I remembered to set the new hard drive’s jumpers before installing it, installation went smoothly, and everything is working perfectly. I even seem to have magically fixed a weird, non-critical error I was getting from Photoshop.

And then, as if life weren’t exciting enough, one of my air conditioners decided to die last night. Luckily, it happened while I was home and not during the day. Otherwise, it would have gotten dangerously hot in here for an elderly cat and a brachycephalic dog. It was too late to go buy a replacement last night, so I ended up going in to work early, then leaving when the stores opened. I picked up a new AC on the way home. It was a pain in the arse to install, though, because it’s so shallow that it’s not properly weighted for drainage. All the weight is on the interior half of the unit. Hrmf.

So, while I was experiencing my imposed computer and blogging hiatus, I was busy taking lots and lots of pitchurs. These are the highlights.

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Crepuscular Rays

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Echinacea

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Zinnia

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Dew on Leaf

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Daylily

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Cobweb Weaver

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Storm Clouds at Sunset

And, it may storm tonight. Can a plague of locusts or a scourge of boils be far behind?

Note: The egg sac in the spider photo is about the size of a pea. Just to give you an idea of how ridiculously tiny those little hatchlings are.

Crankypantsing, Photography

Sunday Photoblogging

Shelly

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I woke up early again this morning, while it was still cool outside. The sun was shining through the trees, creating little fingerling rays of light as well as a long patch of sunshine on my otherwise shady yard. Within that patch, the dew glittered on the grass, so I got my camera and took some macro shots of it. There were also zillions of those little spider webs littering the yard. I don’t know what sort of spiders inhabit them. They look sort of like winged, eight-legged ants to me, not spiders.

After yesterday’s sweltering heat, this morning’s dew was wonderfully refreshing. It’s likely to be just as hot again today, so it’ll be nice to think of the coolness of the dew on my feet.

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Crepuscular Rays

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Evening Belt of Venus

Last night’s Belt of Venus occurred at about 9:30. Daylight saving time has wreaked havoc on my sky watching, among other things. I just haven’t been able to adjust to the new rhythm, so things have been hit-and-miss. I can’t get used to the fact that it doesn’t get dark until 10pm. I’m normally in bed long before then, and the light makes it difficult to sleep. I’m starting to wonder if my internal clock will ever adjust.

Crankypantsing

Is It Plugged In?

Shelly

Remember when I said that installing hardware or software is either a cake walk or a nightmare? And that installing my new DVD burner had, surprisingly, gone very smoothly? Yeah. Well. I thought I’d burn some new music for the car, and found that I had no sound. Now, this was not surprising, as Windows jettisons my sound card drivers at the smallest provocation. So, I reinstalled the drivers, but still no sound. I uninstalled the sound card, then reinstalled it, and still no sound. I physically pulled the card, restarted the computer, uninstalled the drivers and all related software, shut down, replaced the sound card, restarted, reinstalled the drivers and software, shut down, restarted, and still no sound. Gah! I got on-line and downloaded new drivers from the manufacturer, went through the whole song and dance again, and was rewarded with a whole lotta silence. At this point, two hours had passed and I was ready to start throwing things. It suddenly occurred to me, though, that I had neglected the cardinal rule of b0rkened computers. I checked and, somehow, my speakers had come unplugged from my computer.

Kill me now.

Crankypantsing

Pet Care for Assholes

Shelly

I mentioned previously the moderator of an art group I used to belong to, and all sorts of weirdness surrounded her management of the group–and not just from my POV, either. I’ve since heard some ridiculous stories about her from other folks.

So, anyway, someone in another group posted a link to her LJ, so I thought I’d go see if she was as assy as I remembered.

Aaaand… I walked in on a discussion of her dog’s anal glands, how they were requiring increasingly frequent expressing, and how she was unsatisfied with the way the vet’s staff was handling the problem. M’kaythen! There were several replies, with most of the advice being of the “put a diaper on him” variety. Poor dog. So I left a neutral comment asking whether or not the vet had discussed the issue with her, in terms of possible causes and treatment plans. I said that the dog could have an infection, or worse, and that he may need meds or even the removal of the glands. I was completely ignored. Again, poor dog! You can’t just leave something like that. The dog is in fucking *pain*, asshole. Not only that, but I cannot imagine what it must smell like in her house. But anyway…

So, I checked back, and she did finally take the dog to a new vet. He had an infection (duh!), and is now on meds. On the one hand, I’m glad she got help for her dog, but on the other, I just want to smack her. I just don’t get how people who profess to care about their pets can be so uncaring about them. I could understand it if she was poor, and couldn’t afford vet care, but she’s not. She’s just clueless and lacking in basic empathy.

Actually, it’s the last part that gets me. From the tone of her posts, it’s clear that her major concern is the smell and the inconvenience of her dog EAGing all over her furniture. She never once indicates that she’s even considered that her dog might be experiencing any discomfort. The thing is, there are brazillions of folks like her, and I bet all of them think they’re good, conscientious pet owners. And not a one of them has an empathetic bone in their bodies.

She also mentions switching vets, because she’s unhappy with their service and bookkeeping. She doesn’t know if the shots she paid for were administered. I know there are vets out there who prefer to do shots in a back room, without the owner present, but I sure as fucking hell would not patronize one. No way is a vet, or a tech, taking my dog out of my sight for an vaccinations.

On the bright side, this time she mentioned her “laundry lady” without inserting “Korean” at the beginning.

Crankypantsing

Edited for Content

Shelly

A federal judge has ruled that it is illegal for 3rd parties to edit films for content. Companies like CleanFlix are now prohibited from selling or renting films from which they have removed sex, violence, profanity, or any other potentially offensive material. Existing sanitized discs and video tapes must be turned over to the studios for destruction.

Sayeth the judge: “What is protected are the creator’s rights to protect its creation in the form in which it was created.”

Amen.

What to do if you are offended by cursing, sex, etc.? Do a little research before buying or renting movies. You wouldn’t go to a theater and expect a film to be edited to your liking. Why should DVDs be any different? If you don’t want to see sex and violence, don’t watch movies containing sex and violence. Easy peasy.

Ironically, I came across a blog post by someone who had just watched The Libertine. They were disturbed by the story, which surprised me. What, exactly, did they expect from a movie about John Wilmot? The mind wobbles.