Anti-Climax

Today was supposed to be the last day I was to take the bus I've been riding for the last year. But, of course, Xcel hasn't taken away the power lines laying on the road. So the last day with my bus was on Wednesday, and the last two days I've had to catch the later bus at another stop.

And, yeah, I'm a loser for caring about these things.

This weekend's going to be hectic. Because of the loss of power Wednesday night I've had a few less nights than I had originally planned to clean. But I've already had two volunteers to help me clean up on Saturday.

As I tap my fingers together, Montgomery Burns style, and snicker evilly.

Tonight I get to deal with two major tasks. First off, cleaning off the couch and the space between the couch and the door. If everything goes according to plan, the couple from Free Market will be coming to get the couch tomorrow, so I want to make sure that things are relatively clear for them to get it out.

Second, clean and pack my bedroom, something that could easily be done tomorrow if not for my mom being one of the two volunteers to help clean. There's some stuff in the bedroom that you just don't want your mom to know you're in possession of, if you know what I mean.

Some random thoughts for ya:

- Joss Whedon is signed on to write and direct another movie after Wonder Woman, Goner. Yippee! But he's being vague about it. Boo. Here's his quote:

"It's the story of a young woman's journey that involves a great deal of horror and some heroics."

Hmmm... isn't that Buffy's story? And River's? And Wonder Woman's? And Ripley's? Here's hoping some specifics get laid out pretty soon. I love the man and everything he does, but it feels like he's just recycling the same old hash.

- I'm eating at Noodle's more often. I've been a fan of the place since it opened, but since there are none near me, I've been SOL for most of the time.

But, since last night was my last night in Maplewood for a while, I took advantage of the frequent buyer card I have been slowly filling up over the last few years.

I'm gonna have to fill that bad boy up more often. Free meal, plus two additions to it. That's like 8 or 9 dollars worth of food for nothing. And when I move home, I'll be a little closer to one. Still a decent distance, but closer than I currently am. Sweeeeet.

- I try to not get political on this blog, as I am often in the minority amongst my friends in a lot of my political views. But I just have to say something when lawmakers are working on a bill requiring FEMA to take household pets into account during disaster relief & recovery.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love animals. But there's more than a things that really bug me about this.

First off, as we saw with Katrina, and we will probably see with Rita, during a disaster, supplies can be scarce. If we pass a bill that force animals to be taken care of by the government, that's fewer supplies for others.

"Sorry, Timmy, I would have had water for you, but Mr. Dingles was thirsty. You understand, don't you?"

"Folks, the bus out of town is full. Janice has three St Bernards, and hot dang if they don't take up a ton of seating space."

Also, passing a bill like this can open up a whole can of worms. Some people love their pets. Some people love their Harley. Some people love their spoon collection. We make an exemption for the animal, someone will ultimately want a trailer on the departing buses for his Ski-Doo.

Some can argue that the main difference is that pets are living creatures. Fair argument. Then why aren't we bagging up the squirrels, the pidgeons, the bears and the cougars to get them away from the storm? Animals flying south for the winter will discover that their usual nesting ground is no longer there. Should we feel obligated to find a new place for them, too?

The people writing the bill argue that some people are refusing to leave because they don't want to leave their animals behind. This frustrates me to no end. One of the reasons why the rescue effort in New Orleans didn't go as well as it should have is because there were more than a few people who chose to stay behind. There are more than enough images of cars sitting in the streets of New Orleans.

These cars aren't there because the people who own them were too poor to leave, or too sick. These cars are there because people ignored multiple evacuation orders, believing that they could make it out of the storm alright.

Rescue operations after the levees broke had to not only save the people who couldn't leave, but also had to save those who wouldn't leave. People lost their lives because others who had the means to get out in time chose not to.

You want to stay behind because your hamster can't swim? Fine. But you shouldn't expect a government handout because your priorities are screwed up.

Okay, wow. See, this is why I tend to not get political here, because I rant a lot and end up somewhere away from my original point.