Tuesday, May 15, 2007

your bases are belong to us

After browsing through a great little blog entry from across the hemisphere, I got down to reflection. It's now one year since we purchased our current home. We totally love it, really dig the neighbors, and appreciate the safe, well-maintained environ. But it does have a price.

I calculated that the first 21 days of every month goes to service our mortgage. The next 6 days are spent on things like electricity bills, water, and the like. Months with 31 days are bonus, because that means there are extra days to be spent on frivolous items like food.

And the banks totally know it. The initial we-want-your-business-yo phase was characterized by friendly, fawning emails/letters/phone calls. Dear Sir and Madam, the letters would say; Sincerely yours, the letter would implore. But not now. They know that they own us. Dear Peasant, the monthly bills now say. No more Best Regards. Not even a From. Now it's Remember Who Yo' Daddy is, Punk. Sigh. I shouldn't complain. May does, after all, have 31 days...

Da Future

I dunno where in 1st grade they teach this stuff, but apparently, using Google is part of every child's education. Last night, I found my 7 year old looking for pictures of Lambourghinis and finding the orange one he saw in a magazine ad. How the heck did you spell Lambourghini, I asked? Apparently, if you're close enuf, search engines these days recognize it and make appropriate suggestions. Granted, when he spelled it, it was "lamborgeeni" so it produced close-but-no-cigar images of pasta as well. Pretty amazing stuff, taking 'connected' for granted, considering that he'll never understand the concept of spending hours upon hours in a physical library to look for a particular research tome that may contain a snippet one needs.

Hmph. Back when I was your age, our IM was a fax machine! We'd write a witty comment on a piece of paper, send it in the fax, and voila' an equally pithy zinger would be faxed back in about a day.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Exam questions

Ya know, as I think back on that citizenship exam, I realize how lucky I was to pass. Man, those were TOUGH questions. Even with my extensive education in the US, I found the government and history questions difficult.

Example:

It is 1979. If Bill is heading southbound on George Washington bridge at 75 mph while making a legal lane change during rainy weather, what brand milk should he pick up on the way home?
 

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