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ellyssianIt was confirmed: three coyotes were spotted at the Lehigh Gap Refuge, which means that when Justin and I were there hiking with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kk1raven and lj-less Chris last fall and we spent some time speculating on exactly what kind of creature made those coyote, wolf, or family-dog type tracks. Naturally, we did not have the same difficulty identifying the tracks left by the hordes of penguins that had marched through the area on their way to world domination (they had made a wrong turn at Albequerque and thus wound up in NEPA.)
Just moments ago, I had the distinct pleasure of tasting Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel, and, having done so once, need not do so again. The caramel did nothing for (or, to be fair, against) the peanut butter cup. Out of all the variations, I must say the original is still the best. As a matter of some related news, the price of the common candy bar has now gone up to 65 cents. I half-imagined that somewhere the price increase was being blamed on the increase in gasoline prices.
Progress is such a great thing - as prices go up, wages don't have to, because they're really not connected. True, the price of gas - adjusted for inflation - was more expensive than in, say 1980, but the really good news is that salaries did not make that same jump, so that it actually takes a larger portion of your paycheck to fill the car. All in all, a good reason not to teach economics, because if people don't know how the system works, they won't know what the system is doing to them.
They will, however, talk loudly on a cell phone about their pet's toiletry skills (or lack thereof) while the waitress is attempting to take drink orders for their table. I suspect they won't tip overly heavy, but I didn't stick around to find out. I used to consider it the epitome of rudeness to be seated at a table at restaurant A and discussing loudly restaurants B through Z and all the glorious meals and how much you loved them, and those were just the cutest little mini-hamburgers, and I *always* get that milkshake, and so forth. However, I think the cell phone offence might be slightly, well, more offensive. Of course, doing both is right out, and, unfortunately, that's what I had for entertainment at lunch today.
It would be nice to see signs that proclaim: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who talks on a cell phone while our staff is attempting to communicate with them." Cell phones are communications devices, however they have seemingly wormed a way into common usage as a rudeness amplifier, whether in the hands of those who talk loudly in public places of private subjects, those who should be present with a companion but are engaged deeply with someone removed from the scene, or those who think they are capable of multi-processing (which in this case means "both running a red light and running over a pedestrian, all while running a meeting in the conference room at work while simultaneously commuting to said meeting after having been out late the night before drinking and sleeping in with a hangover.")
So during the whopping full day I was away from home (given that I left Friday afternoon and arrived back Sunday,) almost all the trees and shrubberies and other potentially green things went from not green, somewhat green, or very nearly green, to green. The coverage seems to be thickening every minute I look at it - which, sadly, I can't do from here.
Amidst all that greenery, ticks are popping up all over the place - record numbers of them all along the East coast. One even nabbedd2leddy. Coincidentally, there are also record number of tics developing, mostly situated in the blue states, but the red states also seem to show a growing trend.
Speaking of trends, watching the trend with gas prices, I have determined some definite patterns. First, gas rockets up until folks notice and complain. Second, gas drops rapidly. That's it. The cycle repeats. The only thing is, it never drops as much as it goes up. Somebody somewhere complains the future looks dim, and everyone setting prices gets alarmed their profits will go down, and so they hike it up. Each hike dulls the public, kind of like all the catastrophes instigated by the Shrub regime, or like all the murders seen on television. One becomes desensitized. Oh, look, prices dropped, now it's not so bad! Not to mention that it was half that a year ago, and the oil companies are turning in record profits. Don't be suspicious of the man (or shrub) behind the curtain, though, just follow the bouncing ball, complain loudly about the high prices, and watch them drop. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Hangovers, ticks... hmmm, makes me think of Coyote. I'm thinking he'd have choice things to say about cell phones and oil company executives, too. And, I'm willing to bet, he has a tendency to lift his leg on certain forms of shrubbery. I'll have to ask him next time he runs through the yard.
kk1raven and lj-less Chris last fall and we spent some time speculating on exactly what kind of creature made those coyote, wolf, or family-dog type tracks. Naturally, we did not have the same difficulty identifying the tracks left by the hordes of penguins that had marched through the area on their way to world domination (they had made a wrong turn at Albequerque and thus wound up in NEPA.)Just moments ago, I had the distinct pleasure of tasting Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel, and, having done so once, need not do so again. The caramel did nothing for (or, to be fair, against) the peanut butter cup. Out of all the variations, I must say the original is still the best. As a matter of some related news, the price of the common candy bar has now gone up to 65 cents. I half-imagined that somewhere the price increase was being blamed on the increase in gasoline prices.
Progress is such a great thing - as prices go up, wages don't have to, because they're really not connected. True, the price of gas - adjusted for inflation - was more expensive than in, say 1980, but the really good news is that salaries did not make that same jump, so that it actually takes a larger portion of your paycheck to fill the car. All in all, a good reason not to teach economics, because if people don't know how the system works, they won't know what the system is doing to them.
They will, however, talk loudly on a cell phone about their pet's toiletry skills (or lack thereof) while the waitress is attempting to take drink orders for their table. I suspect they won't tip overly heavy, but I didn't stick around to find out. I used to consider it the epitome of rudeness to be seated at a table at restaurant A and discussing loudly restaurants B through Z and all the glorious meals and how much you loved them, and those were just the cutest little mini-hamburgers, and I *always* get that milkshake, and so forth. However, I think the cell phone offence might be slightly, well, more offensive. Of course, doing both is right out, and, unfortunately, that's what I had for entertainment at lunch today.
It would be nice to see signs that proclaim: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who talks on a cell phone while our staff is attempting to communicate with them." Cell phones are communications devices, however they have seemingly wormed a way into common usage as a rudeness amplifier, whether in the hands of those who talk loudly in public places of private subjects, those who should be present with a companion but are engaged deeply with someone removed from the scene, or those who think they are capable of multi-processing (which in this case means "both running a red light and running over a pedestrian, all while running a meeting in the conference room at work while simultaneously commuting to said meeting after having been out late the night before drinking and sleeping in with a hangover.")
So during the whopping full day I was away from home (given that I left Friday afternoon and arrived back Sunday,) almost all the trees and shrubberies and other potentially green things went from not green, somewhat green, or very nearly green, to green. The coverage seems to be thickening every minute I look at it - which, sadly, I can't do from here.
Amidst all that greenery, ticks are popping up all over the place - record numbers of them all along the East coast. One even nabbed
d2leddy. Coincidentally, there are also record number of tics developing, mostly situated in the blue states, but the red states also seem to show a growing trend. Speaking of trends, watching the trend with gas prices, I have determined some definite patterns. First, gas rockets up until folks notice and complain. Second, gas drops rapidly. That's it. The cycle repeats. The only thing is, it never drops as much as it goes up. Somebody somewhere complains the future looks dim, and everyone setting prices gets alarmed their profits will go down, and so they hike it up. Each hike dulls the public, kind of like all the catastrophes instigated by the Shrub regime, or like all the murders seen on television. One becomes desensitized. Oh, look, prices dropped, now it's not so bad! Not to mention that it was half that a year ago, and the oil companies are turning in record profits. Don't be suspicious of the man (or shrub) behind the curtain, though, just follow the bouncing ball, complain loudly about the high prices, and watch them drop. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Hangovers, ticks... hmmm, makes me think of Coyote. I'm thinking he'd have choice things to say about cell phones and oil company executives, too. And, I'm willing to bet, he has a tendency to lift his leg on certain forms of shrubbery. I'll have to ask him next time he runs through the yard.
