Tuesday, April 29, 2008

"Here, take mine, take mine".....


Would you ask your child to give his/her life for you?! Take a bullet for you? How do you sell something like this to your child? "Honey, I was thinking, you know your dad and I didn't give much thought to your college education while we were getting high so we were thinking maybe you could sign up for the military". "You know see the world and as a bonus get an education". "Free". That is providing he/she doesn't come home in a body bag. Who in their right mind would encourage their child to sign up for a death wish?! Who I ask? Would he?! Of course not. He's planning a wedding. But he wants the young to believe they are fighting for the cause. Do they even know what they're signing up for? Or what they're fighting for? I'm sure they glam it up, but no, it's his personal cause. After all he was an oil man way before he was (sic) our Commander in Chief. I use that term loosely. Of course it's in his best interest to protect his stake. Don't get me wrong. I believe we need a military, just not for this war. I'm sick and tired of his bull shit. I am sick of this fucking stupid war and frankly I am pissed about the ever increasing gas prices. This is not just about the truck drivers. This effects all of us. When will it stop? Sixty dollars to fill my gas tank this evening and it's a sedan not some gas guzzling SUV or mini van. We are looking at trading my big black sedan for a Hybrid. What are you doing? How much money do the oil company's need to make to be profitable? Nine. Billion. Dollars?! Do their CEO's need to earn one million dollar salaries plus stock options with golden parachute clauses when we have people living far below the poverty line or wondering how their going to pay their rent. I know for some of you none of this matters. But it does matter. What will it take? I know from experience we can expect to see air fare increasing and only affordable to the super mega rich. Not the upper middle class. I'm talking the super uber duber rich. Food prices sky rocketing to the point where families are forced to scale back to the bare bones. The elderly who are living on a fixed incomes being forced to decide whether to purchase food or medication. Asking themselves "do I starve to death or run the risk of having a heart attack"? What about the young and those who aren't earning a six figure income? Huh? This is a situation that has gone terribly wrong. And the stimulus relief? What a laugh. People will not be putting that money back in to the economy. Hell no. As the news reporters are reporting nightly they're using that money to pay their bills! Congress needs to take action. What are they waiting for? A paralyzed nation?! I'm fed up. Are you?

Flash: Just so as I don't come off as a total hypocrite, yes we do drive an SUV. We bought it before we brought the girls home. it was for the girls. Had to be something this mommy would be seen in. You all know how I hate (really hate) mini vans of any kind. I don't get them at all. But we bought the SUV (we've always had an SUV) to haul the chicks in. Although I love it and it's is not one of those mother jumpers that you can't see around on the highway, I think her time with us is short lived too. We will probably be trading her in for something more "green" friendly and "gas" friendly. AND, no, I will not be buying a mini van! EV-AH.

17 comments:

E. said...

You can put my vote in the column of FED THE HELL UP! That "stimulus" check will, in fact, go to bills, just as you called it. To quote the movie Dave, "If I ran my business this way, I'd be out of business."

Anonymous said...

God, I agree with everything you just said. Who says fifteen-year-olds can't have an opinion? I personally think global warming and peak oil is to blame for rising gas prices. I say go with the hybrid car. Ummm, this is sorta a wierd time to point this out, but, I was that girl who always signed with a smiley on Lily's blog. Remember? Well, I'm back in the blog world with my own blog. And I still love reading yours, btw, even though most people would argue that a fifteen-year-old shouldn't be reading it, but I say "who cares! it rocks!" So don't stop writing what you write on accont of me, please.

park it said...

I could not have said it better myself!!!

One thing to point out - (I heard this somewhere)that it takes like 12 years to offset the price of the new car - vs - just filling up the gas car) Now mind you I drive a - yes - here it is - SUV!!! But I have to carry things with my job - so ...tiny car is not an option! Keep up the great posts - LOVE EM!!
carol in FL

Kim said...

I am right there with you girly...
I just filled up the other day and it was $60.00 also..It is crazy..
Hope all is well with you and the family..
Thinking of ya..
HUGS

kerri said...

It's a sad state of affairs here, gas prices are $1.24 a litre, factories are closing(2 in our area) and food prices are soaring.
My weekly food bill has risen by about 25 dollars.
Pe*tro Can*ada's profits were ! billion???
We are considering downsizing our van, to get to our cottage this summer in Quebec, with gas prices, it will $400.00, too crazy.

Sophie's Mom said...

We used to have a Ford Excursion (biggest suv on the planet, or so they said...) LOVED it. That 44 gallon tank would cost me $150+ to fill up now, and got about 8-10 mpg. Maybe someone's got one for sale cheap now? I'd take it. Big, safe tank. I'll even trade you my minivan for it...

;)

polkadot said...

All I know is my minivan takes $50 or more in gas whenever I go. And I only drive around town, never more than a few miles per day.

Let's all send GW Bush to the front line.

Anonymous said...

Ummm, clearing something up. Lily's blog. She wrote about adopting Charlotte from China, and domesticly adopting Caroline, but something went reallllly wrong. I beleive you wrote about her in a post labled "heartbroken" or something like that....

Julie said...

I just spent $71 on gas to fill up my "cross-over" that still gets called a van by my mother! I remember when it only took $12 to fill up my little red camry. Geesh!

And, YES, it makes me very angry when my car is called a van because I am just not a van kind of girl!

Julie

Sam said...

We can't afford for me to go back to work due to needing to fix our mini-van (say what you will, I LOVED it), putting both kids in care for the summer (and beyond for Kieren), and then the price of fueling 2 cars. It sucks. We aren't rich. Never have been. We can't afford for me to go back on my meds (5 different kinds for PCOS). We don't even know if my husband will have a job next month. Where will our check from the government go? Bills. I just want to know why no one will do anything for those of us going under!

Sam said...

Sorry to be a "poor pity me"! I'm just not a happy camper. How can I be when the gas companies are taking such glee in sinking the economy?!

Yoli said...

He has our troops over there now for a couple of years. Time to get what we actually went there for: OIL. Now where the hell is it? Why are we suffering here? I am tired of him, of the war of the propaganda. Call it what it is and maybe you might get some respect.

There are so many Hummers were we live that I have to wonder how rich these people are. I drive a Nissan Element and it gets me decent gas milage but those Hummers are gas guzzlers.

insanemommy said...

The president noted that the rise in food prices has also affected consumers in the United States, where demand for food stamps has reached record levels. Since 2001, he said, his administration has increased food stamp benefits by 76 percent.

Thank g-d we don't have 4 more years of his bull shit!

Christy said...

THE MINI VAN THING IS SO FUNNY. WHEN THE BOYS WERE YOUNG I GOT A MINIVAN AND GOT MYSELF INTO A HORRIBLE LEASE AND HAD IT FOR LIKE 4 YEARS-- UGG!! I SWORE OFF MINIVANS AND WHEN WE DECIDED TO ADOPT I WENT OUT AND GOT MYSELF A NICE ACURA MDX WITH THE 3RD ROW SEAT-- EVERYTHING I WANTED IN A CAR EXCEPT THAT THE GAS MILAGE SUCKS BIG TIME. SO, OUR GOOD FRIENDS (WHO HAVE WAY TOO MUCH MONEY) BOUGHT A LOADED HONDA ODYSSEY WITH DVD, GPS AND ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO. I ALWAYS ADMIRED THAT CAR ESPECIALLY SINCE IT HAS THAT ENGINE THAT SHUTS ITSELF DOWN TO 3 CYLINDARS WHEN YOU ARE CRUISING OR DECELERATING-- BASICALLY GETS ABOUT 23 CITY AND 28 TO 30 HIGHWAY. SO, NEEDLESS TO SAY I LOVED THAT CAR BUT IT WAS A MINIVAN. ANYWAY, THE NEW LEXUS SUV CAME OUT AND MY FRIENDS DECIDED TO GET ONE. THEY ARE IN HIGH DEMAND AND THEIRS FINALLY CAME IN THE OTHER DAY AND I JUST HAPPENED TO ASK HOW MUCH THEY WERE SELLING THEIR 2006 LOADED ODYSSEY WITH 20K MILES FOR. THEY SAID THEY ARE TRADING IT IN AND THE DEALER ONLY WILL GIVE THEM 18,500K FOR IT!!! LESS THAN 2 YEARS AGO THEY SPENT 35 THOUSAND ON IT AND LESS THAN 2 YEARS LATER THEY ONLY WILL GIVE 18K-- NO WAY!!! SO I KELLY BLUE BOOKED IT AND IT SHOULD SELL FOR 26 TO 28K. SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK I DID? YES, I DID IT. I BOUGHT THEIR MINIVAN-- JUST ON TUESDAY-- FOR 18,500K. IT WAS JUST WAY TOO NICE A CAR AND WAY TOO CHEAP A PRICE TO PASS IT UP. OUR PAYMENTS ARE LIKE $320 A MONTH AND I WILL TELL YOU THE ACURA WAS A LOT MORE THAN THAT!!! SO, AFTER I WARDED OFF THE THOUGHTS OF EVER HAVING A MINIVAN AGAIN, I AM NOW THE DRIVER OF A MINIWAN-- BUT A REALLY NICE ONE!! STRANGLY, I REALLY LOVE IT. I FEEL LIKE IT WAS A STEP DOWN BUT FOR THE MONEY I WILL SAVE IN PAYMENTS AS WELL AS IN GAS MONEY, IT IS WAY WORTH THE STEP DOWN-- YOU KNOW I DID IT FOR THE KIDS-- IM A GIVER YOU KNOW--HAHA!!

ANYWAY, THE ACURA IS GONE AND HERE I SIT A MINIVAN DRIVER :)

CHRISTY :)

redmaryjanes said...

I will tell you that our neighbor boy is signing up for the army after he graduates this Spring, he may have already. My son thinks it's all glam and said he'd be going with him if he was old enough. I told him he wouldn't be going anywhere because I'd mame him so he couldn't go. He was shocked, I was serious. Our young men don't get it at all. They have been raised on breast milk and Peter Pan. They don't understand what war is, and the commercials make it look like a ticket to being a real man, the recruiters office has 5 crotch rockets lines up in front...macho for sure. I asked Zach what he would do after he watched his friend shot to death next to him. He looked at me all confused. I said that's what war is. There are 5,000 young men who thought they were getting money for college and a cool job and they are gone forever.

Heza Hekele said...

I could not have said all of that better myself.

I find myself being a really bad American, once again, and happy that I have the choice to also be Canadian...on this side of the border. Not that it's terribly better on this side...it used to take $40 to fill my tank and it now takes nearly $60...but I don't have to deal with the war, but from afar, and the government is not controled by a dictator under the guise of "president". Yes, I am a very bad American...

Amyesq said...

Ha ha Christy bought a minivan!

Particularly apropos today because we are in the process of deciding our next vehicle. I have never been into big SUVs but when the girls came I had to trade Tim. He is now driving my tidy sedan while I have his giant humongoid truck. Thank God the lease is up on that behemoth in two months so I figured I could get something smaller.

Yeah, pretty much it turns out there is not a heck of a lot out there that will fit the damn double stroller. And, like you, I am totally mini-van averse. I think I would rather ride a bike and balance the girls in front and back baskets. There are a few wagons I really like but after debating for six trillion years I am rather dismayed to announce that the car we are getting a)has exactly the same gas mileage as the behemoth monster truck I am driving now and b)is not, but looks arguably similar to, a minivan. Some days I hate me.