29 June 2004, 12:46 peeyem
Today's inbox...
"It's
our allies, the Saudis, that have been providing help and aid to the suicide
bombers in Israel. That's the story you should be covering. Why don't
you cover that story? Why don't you cover it?"
– Michael Moore, to Jake Tapper
and ABC News
"If you are going to call yourself a Christian – and I
don't – then you have to ask yourself a fundamental question, and
that is: Whom would Jesus torture? Whom would Jesus drag around on a dog's
leash? How can Christians tolerate it? It is unconscionable. It has put
our young men and women who are over there, fighting a war that they should
not have been asked to fight – it has put them in greater danger."
– Ron Jr, the good Reagan
Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity
By Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 25, 2004; Page A04
A brief argument between Vice President Cheney and a senior Democratic
senator led Cheney to utter a big-time obscenity on the Senate floor this
week.
On Tuesday, Cheney, serving in his role as president of the Senate, appeared
in the chamber for a photo session. A chance meeting with Sen. Patrick
J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, became
an argument about Cheney's ties to Halliburton Co., an international energy
services corporation, and President Bush's judicial nominees. The exchange
ended when Cheney offered some crass advice. "Fuck yourself,"
said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency.
Leahy's spokesman, David Carle, yesterday confirmed the brief but fierce
exchange. "The vice president seemed to be taking personally the
criticism that Senator Leahy and others have leveled against Halliburton's
sole-source contracts in Iraq," Carle said.
As it happens, the exchange occurred on the same day the Senate passed
legislation described as the "Defense of Decency Act" by 99
to 1.
WASHINGTON, June 25 - Senator Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat who has
often been at odds with his party, plans to speak at the Republican National
Convention this summer, Congressional aides said Friday.
Representative John Lewis, also a Democrat and the dean of the Georgia
Congressional delegation, called Mr. Miller's decision to appear at the
convention on behalf of President Bush "a shame and a disgrace."
28 June 2004, 3:54 peeyem
17 years ago yesterday, I packed up my things and moved to Atlanta with $72 in my pocket, right as rain with the world and certain that it would all work out okay. And so it has.
22 June 2004, 10:03 ayem
Another day, another break in...
I came home from tennis Saturday at around 1:15 to find the kitchen cabinet open. That was my first clue. The second was the contents of my backpack poured on the hall floor. The third was the open armoire in the living room and the missing VCR and DVD player. Though the windows are screwed shut, the bastard managed to work the window loose from the top and open it that way.
I no longer feel violated and vulnerable. Now I'm just pissed off, and I've put the word out on the street that if I'm in that house and someone comes in, I will kill them.
I've put alarms all over the place so I'm sure if something happens, the neighbors will be able to hear it. Whether they will call 911 is anybody's guess.
I also boarded up that window pretty good and put a notice up that there's just nothing left to steal.
God, I hate this, feeling under siege and like I might have to take extraordinary and permanent measures. I just want to be left alone. It's apparently too much to ask.
18 June 2004, 4:06 peeyem
John Williams of the Department of Natural Resources went by my house yesterday to walk out to the end of my property to view the heap o'televisions and monitors. I know he did because he left a card in my back door. I sent him an email and he responded that he is now notifying the owner of the property WHO RESIDES IN CHICAGO of the violation, so it may take a while to get it removed. I am pleased to note, however, that he did say it was exactly as I described it.
In other exciting news, I got an email from my employer this morning with the subject line: for your website. I opened it up and viola!
This is awholenother John. He's my friend and one of my many mixed doubles partners, and he's also a wonderful carpenter. And he photographs well. Everybody loves John. You should love John, too. You know, John needs a website.
10 June 2004, 1:10 peeyem
The EPA is Not Amused
After the burglary a few weeks ago, after the officers left, while it was still light out, I walked, for the first time, to the very end of my property. I was not aware of just how large my property is, but it's a pretty good walk back there. When I finally got to the stake with the ribbon on it and got my feet tangled up in my felled fence, I looked around me for a second. There was a giant pile of televisions and computer monitors and other electronic things.
When I say a giant pile, I mean a pile about six feet tall and twenty feet across.
I do not know how long this pile has been there, nor do I know who put it there.
I was thinking, though, that I should probably call the county or something and they'd come haul it away.
I was wrong.
I made several phone calls, eventually speaking with a man at the hazardous waste department of the EPA, who assures me that they take these things Very Seriously, Ma'am.
He asked me the location of the property and if I know whose property backs up to mine, and of course I don't have any idea.
I could hear him typing as we were talking, and then he said that there would be an investigation into the matter, and that he would go down to the courthouse and figure out who lives on the other end and then notify them that they have thirty days to clear it out back there. Then they will test the soil.
I am under the impression that as long as the glass remains intact, the lead therein remains inert, and thus harmless.
I told you that so I can tell you this: there's apparently a regular running of the beagles that takes place back there on Sunday mornings. My brother noticed that there was a path beat down back there, but my neighbors told me about the beagles. I don't know whose beagles they are, but there a WHOLE HERD of them and they all run through our backyards on Sunday mornings, way at the back. Naturally, I want to see this, but nobody seems to know what time it happens.
I do not know if the beagles and the pile are related one to the other, but watch this end up on the news or something.
7 June 2004, 12:47 peeyem
It's not as easy being the victim of a burglary as you might think it would be. Even if, or maybe especially if, you weren't even there for it.
Mind you, I'm glad I wasn't home, I'm glad that my person is okay. I'm glad that I'm not the worst sort of statistic. I'm glad that I'm here writing this.
It has been a hard, hard few weeks. I have cycled back and forth between funk and gloom, I have cried uncontrollably, I have slept for hours on the sofa, I have kept myself busy so as to not have time to think about it.
I have been angry, furious, really, because of the violation. Because someone had the temerity to come into my home and take my things and walk out with them.
I have been angry with the process of putting things back like they were, because it has not been a simple process. I read emails before the computer was taken that I need to respond to, but I can't, simply because I can't remember everyone's email address. I'd like to be in touch with the Richardsons. Saturday I wanted to drop off something for Samantha and Janea at their new house, but I didn't have the address, only the street name, so I spent half an hour driving up and down the street, looking for one of their cars.
The insurance adjuster has been, more or less, an asshole. Do I have photos of my missing jewelry? Uh, no, I don't. It's not like I was keeping the Hope Diamond in my top dresser drawer. Twice I have had to go for police reports, and I'm here to tell you, it's scary back there behind the jail. I will have to go a third time because what the insurance adjuster doesn't tell you upfront is that your police report list has to match EXACTLY the list you submit to the police officer. He berated me for a bit about that, and I pointed out that the officer was there for all of five minutes and I was in no condition to come up with a cogent list.
I think they should have a dollar amount below which they just send you your check and leave you alone. I'm not going to be retiring on the amount I'm claiming.
My friend John has taken over the window hooha, and the new ones will be here in three weeks. Then it will take him a week to install them. At least now I have a timeframe of sorts.
Now, of course, the idea of a gun in the house has to be entertained. I have considered it before, but suddenly it has become very real to me. Because had I been home when someone came in, I would have become a windmill. It is not in my nature to be violent. It is not also in my nature to be a victim. If only one person in that situation can be left standing, I fully intend that it will be me. I am going to the indoor firing range in a day or so, and will go several more times and wait some time before deciding anything, because this is not a decision to be made in a heated moment.
On a more amusing note, a day or so after it happened, I decided I would feel better if I felt like I was accomplishing things, so I took myself to a gun shop in Buckhead. The store is little and has been there, apparently, for aeons. The man who owns the store was there, and his assistant, and two somewhat elderly gentlemen who were reminiscent of Statler & Waldorf. I don't think a lot of women go in there. I had taken about two steps in when Chuck asked if he could help me with something (Little Lady implied). I stopped right in the middle of the store and said, "I b'lieve I need a gun."
Everyone swiveled to face me and you could have heard a pin drop. They all looked faintly alarmed until I said, "I don't have anybody in p'ticlar in mind, I just need it for the random stranger coming in through the window."
Anyway. I'm feeling better now, mostly.
Living
in the
Past?
2004
2003
2002
