...there's no place like the Turnpike

A displaced Jersey girl who adjusted to life in Kentucky just in time to head back home.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

And then she got political

This morning I was reminded of why I worry about the power of the religious movement in America today. The following line, from a woman waiting for Singles' Bible Study (um...Singles' Bible Study? Is this to imply we now advertise Bible study as a meat market?) at a Texas Mega Church, was aired in an NPR story on the upcoming Democratic Primary:

"As a woman, of course I admire how far Hillary Clinton has been able to go with this. But I also believe in the submission of women to men. I believe that we need to have a man running this country."

Would someone like to tell all of the female lawyers and executives and professors out there that they (we?) should be submitting to men to restore order in the universe?

Sunday, February 24, 2008

The New National Epidemic

Forget about this year's flu outbreak or tainted beef, the real epidemic is the mini van/SUV craze.

Without fail, five minutes after a coworker or friend announces a coming baby, they are at the Dodge dealer eyeing the new Caravans.

I will admit that with the current car seat guidelines, you really can't have more than two kids in the backseat of an ordinary sedan. But back in the 80s, my parents fit three of us in the backseat of a Honda Civic hatchback. We didn't even have three seatbelts in the backseat, but we all survived to adulthood.

What reason is there for a family with one child to have a seven passenger mini-van. Or, for that matter, when you have two kids who are out of car seats, what need is there for seven seats? I once asked a coworker and mother of two teenagers what need she had for a mini-van. Her argument was that she needed room for friends and things.

Excuse me? You buy a bigger car so your kids don't have to interact with their family members? My parents had three kids of their own to worry about, there were no friends coming along on family outings.

Until you have a need for three car seats, or you have more than three children, no family needs to be in anything the size of a Hummer.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Sometimes, I know too much

I'm one of those people who remembers every stupid little fact they ever hear.

Sometimes, it's a hazard.

I went to Boston on business earlier this week and for the entire week leading up to it, I kept trying to remember this song my dad likes to sing about some guy who gets on the T and doesn't have enough money to get off, so he has to ride the train forever. I knew the song was from the 60s, so I asked every American over the age of 35 I could find, in hopes that someone remembered.

An awful lot of people now think I'm nuts.

But I had some vindication when I got to Back Bay station and saw that Boston calls its MetroCard a "Charlie Card." I knew the guy in the song was named Charlie.

Still, no one knew a thing about the song.

Then, a break through. We got five inches of snow today, so I got a day off of work. I had time to search the internet for this. And immediately send it to the people who currently think I'm crazy.

Now if only I could find proof of that TV show from the early nineties that only lasted four episodes...

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Smoke in the living room?

The husband cooked tonight. He fried things (egg rolls, to be exact). He swears he remembered to turn the fan on over the stove top. Why, then, are my eyes burning like someone just gave me a raw onion facial?

On a wholly unrelated note, go on over to smash and mediate, the Hulk's blog about law school. Very funny stuff. Funnier than me.