Debating the Debate

I watched the debate last night, and it changed my vote. I went from "Anyone but Bush" to "John Kerry all the way"

He spoke about what I wanted to hear. He said more than rhetoric. He was clear about his goals. Bush was vague. Bush did not express any plan for anything. When pinned with a tough question, Bush invariably changed the subject. It was interesting to watch.

I finally have a candidate to vote for, rather than someone to vote against.

sincerest apologies
I offer my sincerest apologies to Chasmyn, to whom I always mean to link, but rarely do. She always remembers to link to me, and it never fails to give me a warm glow to see my link on her blog. Thank you, Chasmyn; for loving me, even with my forgetful ways.

I gravel at your feet

MeMeMeMe

Copying Chasmyn's meme, which she got from Pesky Apostrophe, who got it from Swirlspice et al. I have a digital camera, and it looks like fun. So if the world doesn't begin to end today because aliens crashed into an earthquake, I'll be posting pics tomorrow.

Think of 3 pictures you'd like to see. Leave whatever you'd like to see in the comments. Things around my house, or whatever... something I can take a picture of easily. Once I have enough requests, I'll start posting them. If I can't, or won't, take a picture of something you've requested, I'll let you know.
My addition to this meme: Don't bother asking for shots of the messiest room in my house, or of my bedroom, which happens to be the messiest room in my house. :) You don't really need to see my unmade bed.

Linkbacks: Chasmyn got it from Pesky Apostrophe got it from Swirlspice got it from TwoDolla got it from Erika SnazzyKat got it from Every Tommorow got it from Jen, Kristal and Aubrey who got it from everyone under the sun.

Politics, Politics

There's some interesting, but little mentioned, stuff in the news. Like the plan to close a bunch of bases in Europe and Asia, so we can have a "more active military". I hadn't thought about the defensive role America plays in European countries. I just assumed we got to keep bases in those countries because we were on the winning side in WWII.
There are 2 bills proposing an end to the federal income tax. They both propose a national sales tax instead. Sounds good, no? The experts think the tax would need to be at least 23%. Urgh. So a 99 cent bottle of water in Missouri would cost $1.30. Proponents say the bill would save $3 to $5 trillion dollars by removing the IRS, and that it's a fairer system.
Detractors say the bill would harm individual States, and that the poorest of Americans would suffer the most.

One of the bills suggests a "prebate" program, where people below the poverty level get a check every month to help cover their expected taxes for purchases.
Um, yeah.
Since I don't know squat about economics, (as evidenced by my empty bank account)I'm going to suggest this hair-brained scheme:
Dump the IRS, set a national sales tax at a more reasonable rate, (like the 7.8% that minimum wage earners pay)and throw in a luxury tax. Buy a new car, pay X amount. Buy a gently used car, pay a lower amount. Buy a totally frivolus sailboat, pay a higher amount. Oh, wait. I forgot about all the accountants and government employees who would be not just out of a job, but out of a career. I can see the swarms of homeless accountants now. :P

As If We Don't Have Enough Pets Already

The hubby-man was moving some wood in the back yard and found a tiny little snake hiding under a log. Since we're clearing the yard and moving the shed, the wildlife will have nowhere to hibernate this winter. So the hubby-man brought the snake inside and put it in a cage.
He went back to moving logs, and found another snake.
So then we had a pair of garter snakes taking up temporary residence in Sinbad's transportation cage. (I take Sinbad to L's school at least once a year)
The critter collecting didn't stop there, however; I found a nice juicy green caterpillar munching on my comfrey, too. The caterpillar and the nibbled leaf went into the cage with the snakes.
I just checked on the trio of creatures, and apparantly the caterpillar found the whole confinement thing depressing. He drowned himself in the water bowl. I suppose it's better than death by digestion.

The Unbelievable Nastiness of Hunter

I share my home with 3 cats; and I'm allergic to cats. Not severely allergic, mind you. More like sensitive. So we had Friday, the fat black cat; and now we have a pair of kittens too. Both kittens have a bad habit of drooling in their sleep. Does anyone else have cats who drool? If I wanted animal slobber, I would have gotten a dog.
Anyway, Hunter was sleeping (and drooling) on me a few minutes ago. He suddenly sat up and shook his head -spraying drool right into my eye. So now I'm waiting for the hubby man to put some allergy drops into my eye.

The damn cat strolled off without even so much as an apologetic tail flick.

Sale Of the Century
Hey, it's worth a shot, right? How about some nice inexpensive malachite? These cabs measure 8x10 mm and have nice color banding. Make an offer.


I also have 8x10 moonstones and garnets. The garnets are a great red/burgundy, and are eye clean. Again, make an offer.



Now for the good stuff:

It's not a good picture, but it's a fabulous gemstone. It's a 7x7 mm rose tourmaline from Brazil. I bought it from the mine owner a few years ago, and it is a true gem quality stone. I'd like to get the $100/ct that I paid for it, but I'll settle for (wince) $45.


5.42 cts of unbelievable blue fluorite. Everyone who sees it thinks it's a sapphire. I paid $25/ct, and bought it from the same Brazillian miner that I mentioned above. Although my direct from the mine price was $135.50, I'll part with it for $80 if you promise you'll set it in something worthy of it's grandeur. It measures slightly over 8x13 mm, and needs a custom setting. Fluorite is not hard enough to stand up to a ring setting. Like tanzanite, it will scratch or chip with daily wear in a ring.

I have other stones, like 3 color andalusite, sapphires (including 2 small padparaschas), amethysts and rutilated quartz. Somewhere in my jewelry lab is a huge aquamarine, and I have a bunch of Lightning Ridge opal rough in a jar in the kitchen. I've been letting it sit dry so that I won't have any surprise cracking when I cut it.
If any of this interests you, feel free to e-mail me at sharon(at)bitparts(dot)org

It was fun while it lasted

(sniff) I had a good run as a stay-home mom. I loved every minute of it. And there's no way to avoid working for a living now. We have $4 in our bank account, so tomorrow I begin my job search. I'll borrow some professional clothes from mom and have Buck trim my hair tonight. Lord it's been a long time since I've done interviews. (sigh)

On the flip side, an extra paycheck will cover the back bills, pay down the credit cards, and give us extra cash for Christmas and such.

Also, once I get the batteries charged for the digital camera, I'll be posting photos of some truly gorgeous gemstones that can be had for a song. I'll probably also be selling my 14k casting grain, ring and sheet stock, settings, and a boatload of sterling silver.

A Short Trip In The WayBack Machine

I've been reading a lot of political blogs today; meaning I've been reading a lot of opinions about speeches and war. Kerry is saying that Bush lives in a fantasy world, and that he would have conducted The War On Terror differently.

So let's take a trip in the WayBack Machine, shall we?
November-December 2000: Bush gets elected, or doesn't -depending on who you read. People gripe, and life moves on.
Late 2001-Early 2002: Congress, intelligence agencies, and the Bush administration figure out whodunnit and create a plan to end a threat. Much discussion ensues, troops are moved, promises are made (We will leave the government of Afghanistan in place, et al.) and America bombs Afghanistan "back to the stone ages".
Most of the people accept this as reasonable. The U.S. supports the Philipinnes, and helps them wipe out a terrorist organization. With Afghanistan's support gone, and the rest of the world horrified over September 11th; Al-Quaida has nowhere left to run. Americans had hope again.
Late 2002-Early 2003: The Bush administration pushes for war with Iraq, insisting Saddam Hussein is a threat to the United States. Troops are moved from Afghanistan and Kosovo, among other places; and prepare to strike Iraq.
April 2003: The "Shock and Awe" campaign begins. Bush flies a fighter jet to an aircraft carrier. Victory is declared.
Summer 2003: Americans are alerted to the news that we are going to be in Iraq for a very long time. The death toll mounts as terrorists cross the borders into Iraq.
Summer 2004: Americans are told that Al-Queida might be operating out of Iraq.

There was a time in the not so distant past when the world was turned against terrorism and military forces from a huge variety of nations had the biggest threats on the run.
Mr. pResident, I too, would have done things differently. Your timing was bad. Your tactics were worse. Your god will not be descending from heaven to take you away. You are not the Messiah; nor are you his messenger. You are a liar and a thief, and I hate you for what you have done to my country.

Do you think of the maimed American soldiers who will take their shattered bodies to the polls and vote your ass out of office? Do you think of the dead, who can't vote at all? Do you think of the families -jobless, homeless, hopeless- who suffer for your pride?
Do you sleep well, Mr. pResident? You certainly looked well rested when you addressed the U.N. yesterday. Perhaps their stony silence kept you awake last night.

Shameless Fundraising Attempt

Remember when you were a child, and you could sell crap door-to-door? Well, nowadays the schools discourage that kind of fund raising. Unfortunately, they still need the money that fund raising brings. L's school sponsors several fund raisers a year; none of them are mandatory. Right now they're selling over priced junk from Mr. Z's. I am not asking you to feel obligated to buy any of this stuff. However; if you'd like some fancy wrapping paper or some neat coffee cup coasters, please let me know. You can see what L is selling at Mr. Z's website, too.

I'm buying the coffee magnets, the adorable snowmen with presents ornaments, and (like I do every year) the milk chocolate menorahs for my nieces.

On a slightly different note; I'm learning how to knit, and I found a pattern for a knitted dreidel. It's cute and useless. One of these days I'm going to get out my wood carving tools and make a pair of dreidels for my nieces.