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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Tuesday, May 25, 2004 News from the trenches-- Back home after a long two days on the road. Now, I wouldn't ordinarily refer to two days as "long," particularly not when they were spent in a rental car with air conditioning, a quiet smooth ride, and a working radio. But I worked fifteen stores in that two days, and it felt like a week behind the wheel.Why a rental car? Again? Because last week, working in Lee County, Virginia, driving through a 17-mile-long construction zone between Pennington Gap and Jonesville, I ran across a trench that had been cut across both lanes of the road and not properly filled in afterward. I wasn't going fast, not more than 30 mph. But there was an 18-wheeler in front of me that blocked my view of the road, and I had no warning that I was about to hit anything. The impact was so violent that Nick came upright from a sound sleep in the passenger seat, crying out to know whether we had crashed. No, all we did was break the ball joint on the right side and a bushing on the left side. The damage wasn't immediately noticeable, but by Saturday, the car was making an ominous clunking sound every time I turned the steering wheel. By Monday the noise was so bad that I was afraid to continue driving the car. So it's in the shop again. Dennis got the parts for it today and said he hoped to have it back together by tomorrow, but I have to be in Richmond tomorrow and Thursday, so I'll still be driving the rental car until Friday. The only bright spot in all this expense is that I drove for two days on one tank of gas—unleaded gas at that, about $24 total. The Jeep would have cost me $60 to $75 for gas in those two days.Speaking of gas prices . . . in one of the stores I inspected last week, the clerk was bemoaning the increase in prices. "I called before I came in this morning to find out what our price was," she said to a customer, "because I wanted to fill up here if it was lower than out where I live. The girl on the morning shift said it was $1.93 a gallon, but by the time I got here, they had already put the price up to $1.98." She thumped down the folder she was holding. "It's greed, that's what! Those corporations, they're all so greedy!"The customer said sourly, "No, it's the president.""Well, he's greedy then," snapped the clerk.I kept my head down and my mouth shut, but I couldn't help thinking that this was the heart of conservative rural America, the Bible Belt, that section of the country where they vote Democrat in local elections but haven't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in decades. If people here are speaking that openly of their disaffection, then Bush has a lot of fence-mending to do, and not much time to do it in. posted by Liz @ 7:37 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Back home after a long two days on the road. Now, I wouldn't ordinarily refer to two days as "long," particularly not when they were spent in a rental car with air conditioning, a quiet smooth ride, and a working radio. But I worked fifteen stores in that two days, and it felt like a week behind the wheel.Why a rental car? Again? Because last week, working in Lee County, Virginia, driving through a 17-mile-long construction zone between Pennington Gap and Jonesville, I ran across a trench that had been cut across both lanes of the road and not properly filled in afterward. I wasn't going fast, not more than 30 mph. But there was an 18-wheeler in front of me that blocked my view of the road, and I had no warning that I was about to hit anything. The impact was so violent that Nick came upright from a sound sleep in the passenger seat, crying out to know whether we had crashed. No, all we did was break the ball joint on the right side and a bushing on the left side. The damage wasn't immediately noticeable, but by Saturday, the car was making an ominous clunking sound every time I turned the steering wheel. By Monday the noise was so bad that I was afraid to continue driving the car. So it's in the shop again. Dennis got the parts for it today and said he hoped to have it back together by tomorrow, but I have to be in Richmond tomorrow and Thursday, so I'll still be driving the rental car until Friday. The only bright spot in all this expense is that I drove for two days on one tank of gas—unleaded gas at that, about $24 total. The Jeep would have cost me $60 to $75 for gas in those two days.Speaking of gas prices . . . in one of the stores I inspected last week, the clerk was bemoaning the increase in prices. "I called before I came in this morning to find out what our price was," she said to a customer, "because I wanted to fill up here if it was lower than out where I live. The girl on the morning shift said it was $1.93 a gallon, but by the time I got here, they had already put the price up to $1.98." She thumped down the folder she was holding. "It's greed, that's what! Those corporations, they're all so greedy!"The customer said sourly, "No, it's the president.""Well, he's greedy then," snapped the clerk.I kept my head down and my mouth shut, but I couldn't help thinking that this was the heart of conservative rural America, the Bible Belt, that section of the country where they vote Democrat in local elections but haven't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in decades. If people here are speaking that openly of their disaffection, then Bush has a lot of fence-mending to do, and not much time to do it in.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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