Postal Peeve

Since prices for postage stamps change so often, it’s really annoying to find an old book of stamps that have no price on them.  How am I supposed to remember how much they were, and thus, how many of those little one cent stamps to put on the envelope with them?

This Election is Bringing out the Worst in Everyone

Honestly, I can’t wait for it to be over.  I’m not talking about what the candidates say about each other.  That’s old news.  Right or wrong, people do what they have to do to win.  I’m talking about jokes going around in the media and in the public sphere.  Not about the intelligence of the candidates, or their experiences, abilities or inabilities, or other things that would actually come into play if they were elected to office, but about things that wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, matter.

Unfortunately, it seems that all the “Black” jokes that went somewhat underground thirty or so years ago have resurfaced, in a country that has always prided itself on diversity and equality.  This is disappointing, to say the least, and makes me wonder how far we’ve really come, when people use race, ethnic origins, and religion (actual or alleged) to make fun of each other and make people fear each other.

I’m not a fan of Sarah Palin, but if I hear her referred to as “the hot one” one more time, I am going to be sick.  Worse than that, some prominent comedians and others make disgusting sexual jokes and remarks about her.  And then there’s what Creepy Zardari said about her (gag), but I’ll just talk about our own media right now.  Seriously, haven’t we gotten past this too?  Women have been elected as President and Prime Minister in other countries; has this sort of thing happened?  (I really don’t know, tell me if you do)  If this were a workplace, people would be getting sued for sexual harassment left and right by now.  So even the woman running for the second-highest office in the country is still not immune to this treatment?  True, she hasn’t really said anything against all this or done anything to counter the “hot” image.  Would it help things if she did?  Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know.  I guess there’s nothing in the candidates’ rulebook that says what to do when news anchors’ and comedians’ pink snouts begin to show.

Hopefully, whatever the outcome of the elections, afterwards people can go back to pretending that color doesn’t matter to them and that it’s a woman’s brain, not body, that counts in the workplace.  At least until things do change and people actually start feeling that way.  But really, if you don’t feel that way, do the rest of us a favor and pretend you do.

Shhh…

Does anyone find it annoying when you are trying to read or study in the computer lab/reading area of Barnes & Noble/library, and there is this nutso talking to himself (yes, usually a guy in my experience), breathing loudly, reading to himself in a whisper, snorting a lot, or otherwise making annoying noises?  And then there is the person talking extensively on the cell phone about personal problems, again in the READING AREA, not the cafe.  Especially when there is a limited number of comfortable seats so you can’t just move and sit away from the noisy offender!

Love Them or Hate Them?

DVD’s.  What do you think?

Sure, they’re more compact than VHS, and you can view special features, or get to a certain part quickly.  But they scratch easily.  When I rent them or get them from the library, at least 50% of the time they either don’t work, or I have to skip a whole scene to get past a scratchy patch, or it freezes up the DVD player and I can’t do anything except eject it.

I think it’s time for another video-related invention.  Maybe it’s YouTube!