Things that matter

Yesterday I was driving to Denver- the traffic was remarkably light and trouble-free, although I heard on the radio on the way home that I had just missed a rollover on Rte. 6- and I listened to AM 760 talk radio most of the way there and back. (KUNC was playing music- sweet sweet classical interspersed wi th annoying breathy ladies singing about inane subjects. Sorry, RobRohrTM, but you know it's a pet peeve of mine that will last and last. Congratulations, by the way, to you, on your graduation this coming weekend, from UVM. Hooray!)

Anyway, AM 760 is usually pretty interesting, especially when Mario Solis-Marich comes on at 4. And yesterday I got fired up by the Republicans- to be clear, the 16 Republicans who apparently still exist- who are planning to get together to rebrand the Democratic party with the name "Socialist Democrat." As the FFM so astutely observed, it's unlikely that in these times the American People will give two craps about that, since they are mostly feeling like they need a little help after being raped hard by the richy-rich banker guys who are "too big to fail." No, dudes, you failed.

Furthermore, what really got me was the gall these punk old fat men with their bulging wallets and big mouths (OK, so some of them are young, and even women- scary!) have to get together to rebrand the Democratic party, when it is the Republican party that needs some serious help here. But you know what? They don't know what they are any more, so they have to project elsewhere to deflect the fact that they are too lost to rebrand, even to define themselves. It's like saying, "Hey, lady that I don't know, you can't have an abortion because I say it's wrong to kill, but hey man over there, we are going to KILL YOU because I say it's wrong to make mistakes. Oh, and while I'm at it, you, guys over there, you cannot have the legal benefits that a man and a woman can have in marrying because you love each other and that's gross. Oh, excuse me; I'll be right back after I go call my same-sex lover and schedule a date. I don't want the wife to know."

Crap, I am all fired up about it again. And I haven't even got to gas mileage yet, another little aspect of our American life that makes me want to puke. I saw a billboard that advertised a BMW that has more power AND uses less gas: you get 28mpg! Wow! That is so comparable to the 40mpg I still get on the highway from my 1999 Saturn SL1. Think I'll run out and buy a BMW today. Or since I am currently scantily employed again, perhaps a new Chevrolet Aveo would be more in my price range. (It would, but the mileage numbers aren't much higher than the BMW's.) This is good? The flailing auto industry is still blowing smoke up our butts, helping us believe that 28mpg is supah sweet savings in the pocket at the pump, and to old Mother Earth. Let them burn. Ed Schultz on AM 760- gawd, it's a good thing I don't live in Denver; I'd be an addict- mentioned all the other people hurt by an auto manufacturer going bankrupt: window makers, steel workers, and so on. Look, Ed, that may be true, but what has been going on has not been working. We need a big fat reform here, and maybe it's time for people to take care of each other while things are hard, and we'll move on from there. A crapload of us are unemployed anyway, in case you haven't been reading, so we may as well all sink on the same ship and fire the goddam captain when we get back to shore.

But really, this is not at all my intention in writing this morning! Those are two subjects I intended to cover, and I have done so, despite my change of heart. What I really would like to say is, I got word this morning from my good girl friend Katie back in Massachusetts that her mom had gone missing and was found just down the drive from the retirement home where she had recently moved. Apparently she was not wearing a coat because Monday was balmy, but the nights Monday and Tuesday were very cold. These things make you remember what's really important. Katie and her mom were enjoying a nicely blossoming mother-daughter relationship over the past few months since her mother had moved from the family house in which she had lived with Katie's dad, who died a couple years ago. She liked where she was now living and socializing. I hope she went quickly and didn't suffer, although I know that Katie and her siblings are suffering now from the loss. There's nothing can be said, really, in a time like this, but just being there with someone. I wish I could be back east with Katie to hold her tight.

When these things happen, I know it's cliche to say we should be sure we are doing what we love, loving those around us and all that, and taking care, but it's true.