sarahiki

After a hellishly hot night Saturday night, we fled the Third Ward/Museum District neighborhood midday and are now chillin' in a hotel in Corpus Christi. My neighbors are supposed to text when the power is back and still no word.

On a different beverage note, addicts like me should remember to brew some coffee now and put it on ice for the morning, in case there's no power then. Personally, I don't want to face tomorrow without a nice hit of coffee.

I just heard that too. That's incredible... so many people are going to die. It's so sad. But they're so stupid. I feel so badly for the children, who depend on someone to take care of them, and those people failed them.

My drink of choice is a nice boxed chardonnay from Target. That's how I roll. I'm thinking if I stick a couple of icees in the box it'll stay chilly for a while.

I meant in terms of attaching plywood--the window frame is metal, and the exterior of the house is metal. I didn't mean the whole house was metal. by the way, did you find any braces up there? I've never noticed any. I think that's the best idea. I'm not going to do it this time, but if we're still here next hurricane season I'll prepare better.

thanks guys.

This is totally nice and helpful of you, but it just raised my blood pressure palpably. Panicky feeling getting worse. I better sign off the HAIF for the night. But seriously, thanks for posting all this.

Okay, I'm getting that panicky-Rita feeling. I hate that feeling. Spouse is off getting gas and peanut butter and oreos; we have plenty of beer and wine. So I'm sure we'll be fine. But I have two questions: 1. What time is this supposed to make landfall? That seems like crucial info to me, and I can't tell from the tracking maps. 2. For future reference, since it's clearly too late now, does anyone have any idea how I would go about boarding up an Urban Loft? 8-foot window. Metal frame. Metal house. I have puzzled over this since Rita and never come up with a solution, besides window film. Maybe I should have gotten window film. (edited for spelling)

Belief in a candidate doesn't make someone a lemming. I believe in Obama, I agree wholeheartedly with his platform. I did like some of the things McCain had to say the other night, and I think he's a good man. However, I don't trust him to surround himself with good, capable people. His choices so far support my concern. I also think his own values and plans will lose out to other elements of the Republican agenda, and I don't agree with most of that agenda. All that to say, I'm not a lemming. And I bet most of the other Obama supporters are not lemmings, either.

You gotta love that after all the mocking of Obama's stage set, McCain accidently gave his speech in front of an image of Walter Reid Middle School, instead of Walter Reid Medical Center. Almost makes those styrofoam Greek columns look good, doesn't it, SP? I don't care who ya' are. That's funny.

Do your private parties get broadcast across every media outlet in the country?

And another thing... if this is all about weight and fuel costs, how about putting passengers on the scale? Because when I travel with my two sons, who weight 20 pounds and 40 pounds, I think I should be allowed to carry around 250 pounds worth of free luggage. I'm paying full price for the smallies to fly, and they weigh practically nothing. But they do require stuff.

that is so aggravating. I was always happy that Continental hadn't succumbed to these ridiculous measures. So much for that.

I stayed awake too, and I'm feeling pretty proud of that. Of course, I have worn out the "previous" button on my t.v. remote this week switching between convention coverage and Comedy Central. Thank God for Comedy Central. I am so grateful that when He's not busy providing Sarah Palin with the pipeline she prayed for, He created the Daily Show.

Yeah, protest is really immature. </sarcasm> Dissent is democratic.

Lockmat, I don't agree with you on too many things, but I really respect that you think things over and don't have a knee-jerk response to (most!) issues.

If she wanted her family out of the public eye, especially given that she has an underage pregnant daughter, she shouldn't have gotten into this.

I agree. She did really well. She's a little scary to me; she looks all cute and appealing, and appears to be talking about nice things like small towns and families. But her comments were mocking and snide. She actually made a mocking joke out of Habeas corpus... as though principles like a right to a fair trial are a joke, instead of something Americans should be proud of. She also mocked Obama's interest in diplomacy, which makes me think she's as ready to go to war as GWB. She even criticized Obama for not using the word "victory" in reference to our current wars. Could that be because we haven't won? I feel like she's trying to stir-up the "nuke all those towel-heads" kind of sentiment. In those kinds of remarks, she is appealing to people's basest impulses with cheap humor. To me, that kind of tawdry patriotism is a strong contrast to the Dem message that Americans are more than that, and are a great people with a capacity for doing good in our country and in the world. She actually made me feel a little sick to my stomach. I know plenty of you will chew me up for that kind of idealism, but that's my response. I'm not trying to convince you.

Funny, my husband told me there was a black guy in the audience. I looked, but I couldn't find him.

I don't think anyone was easy on Obama when the Rev. Wright story broke. Was that a conservative media bias? Or does it only apply when the "bias" goes in one direction?

I don't really believe that that adage holds true these days. I think a genuinely fair price still doesn't necessarily sell a house. I would invest $500 to $1000 in landscaping while your house is "resting" off the market. Bad landscaping says "fixer-upper" before people even walk in the door. Why drop your price 5K or more, when investing less than 1K in an improvement like that might make the difference.

Mark, (drumroll), I agree with you... I am sick of the pregnant daughter headlines. I don't give a rat's hiney if she's pregnant or not. It's none of my business. I do hope that the next time a Republican tries to legislate something regarding my own body, such as access to birth control or abortions, they will also recognize how inappropriate it is to get involved with my personal life, and back off. I would much rather see CNN and the other media outlets focus on the real issues. Like her stances on creationism, abortion, access to birth control, and God's involvement in US foreign policy. These are issues that will affect people in this country if she is elected and if she should become President through an unexpected tragedy. Focusing on the daughter is just muck-raking.

All she's doing is turning around his own questions and comments about Obama, back on him, regarding Palin. These are points he raised about Obama; it's fair to make him answer them about Palin. I would like to see more of this questioning from the media on both sides. Too often reporters ask a question, are given a canned response that doesn't answer it, then they move on. I'd really like to see the press push a little harder. Honestly, if you're looking for bias in that clip, it can only be that she is asking questions about Palin. Who happens to be in the current newscycle. Who is going to speak tonight. Who is therefore a sensible topic.

Well, according to the information posted in the link, an average family could save $2500/year because of reduced costs. I guess you can give it a read and see if you find that figure credible.

To get back to the topic of Obama v. McCain, it's worth noting that Obama isn't proposing socialized medicine, like they have in Canada or the UK. It's a system like we have now, but with the gaps in coverage filled in. Theoretically, everyone saves money because the guv'ment will get involved (gasp!) and cut costs. Examples of how costs would be cut, and answers to questions such as "how will this be paid for?" and "how will small businesses cover their employees?" can be found here: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/Obama08_HealthcareFAQ.pdf