All Hallow's Eve approacheth and thus all the scawy movies come out of the dusty closets. Such holidays make every program manager's job easier for a week or so. I skip a lot of it. For me, there's too much unnecessary roughness. I like the psycho-thrillers and mysteries that make me think. They've done well if a shadow or sound makes me flinch, or my eyebrow quirks while I try to decipher what just happened and how. Flying body parts and blood are not intriguing or scary, just gross. A good horror movie will electrify my nerve endings, synaptic or otherwise, not trigger a gag reflex.

I saw a good movie tonight which I didn't expect to be all that much -- Gothika. I figured it was another venue for cashing in on Halle Berry and for Robert Downey Jr to pay off some legal and rehab fees. I was wrong. It was well done, good story, actually had some suspense in it with a reasonable dose of supernatural intrigue. As an observer, I was a step ahead of the plot, but not unduly so. Of course, about halfway through, I was thinking, "Why don't you stop screaming or running and just ask the dead girl's spirit what she wants?" But then, I guess that wouldn't make for good drama.

I believe in ghosts, in spirit communication, in hauntings even. However, I think anything 'bad' that comes from the spirit realm is just a misunderstanding. Frustration occurs on this side of the veil, and that side too. If you are trying to get someone's attention but they aren't listening, what steps do you have to take to be heard? Same thing over there, or more accurately, over here :) for I believe it's all the same place, but the 'living' only focus on a narrow band of the whole range of energy broadcasting at all times.

Think about it. Infinite radio signals are in the air, all the time, but you have to tune into a certain frequency to hear the music on a particular station. Well, we live on one frequency, but that doesn't mean it's the only one. They all run concurrently. It's our focus, our tuning, that makes it seem like this is all there is. It isn't.

One of the best films to demonstrate this, I think, was Sixth Sense. Yeah, for most people it's just fiction, I guess. But for me, it's a really good view of how it seems to work. I won't go into details of the movie in case someone reading this hasn't seen it. But I will say that it was a pleasant surprise for some moviemakers to 'get it', to show they understood about concurrent frequencies and that sometimes they touch, more easily that we tend to think.

Not sure why this time of year is deemed to be the time when the veil is thinnest, when the frequencies are more likely to cross. Maybe there's a moment every year where the whole broadcasting system gets resynchronized, or re-harmonized. I dunno. I do know that because it's become a benchmark, I take extra time to send out my own message across the wires, to thank my ancestors without whom I would not be, to thank all spirits who have been and are still experiencing this realm.

I add that if I can be of service, I am willing. No need to cause a ruckus. Just ask. I'll answer. :) Blessed be.

I'm not big on these quizzicle things, but I -am- a fan of Royo.

Seven
"How can I begin to hope
when I cannot sleep to dream?"

Which Royo Painting Are You?
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And, well, this one looks a little like me (in somebody's dreams phht)


Which Aspect of Joseph Michael Lisner's Dawn are you?
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Earlier this year, spouse went into Best Buy and got one helluva deal on an eMachine . It's a mega machine and a media marvel. He really needed a new computer. He's always had to make do with my hand-me-downs and the last one was about to die. I had patched and replaced, but it was seriously limping. I had long been afraid that the monitor was going to literally crash and burn.

Since then, I've been drooling over his flat panel monitor and 160Gb HD.
But now..... I HAVE ONE TOO.

I didn't get the same deal he did, but near it (with rebates). Plus, my flat panel monitor is 17" instead of 15". Muahahahaha! And my processor is a bit faster.

3200+ AMD Athlon XP Processor 2.2GHz
512MB RAM160Gb HD (7200 rpm)
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX upgraded to 8
Built-in 10/100 Ethernet LAN
DVD±RW
CD-RW
multiple media readers, incl flash
upgraded to incl TV and Radio Tuner
AND 17" flat panel monitor!
plus some other wee incidentals, ala media keyboard, mouse, speakers, yadda yadda

And NOW... I get to move all my crap off my old machine and learn all the changes in applications as well as wading through XP

But dayam, this is a niiiiice moochine. *grin!*

I'm molding, shaping, sculpting my own personal environment. This house is wonderful, great bones, but I'm finally able to start making it our home. I've schemed and dreamed since we moved in, even before that when I'd only seen pictures of the place. Now, I'm bringing these plans into reality. It feels GREAT.

I don't have a fortune to spend. A lot of the proceeds from the sale of the other house are going into prudent (and costly) enhancements to the property, BUT, I have enough to work with to make the living space more the way I'd like it. Spouse isn't into decor, although he can appreciate it when it's done. It's mostly to please me and dayam but it's been a long long time since I got to do such things.

I get to create and it feels good! Whether it's assembling ready-made elements, assembling ready-to-assemble furniture, or designing things and making them from scratch... it's all good :)

UPS and FedEx are going to know my address by heart. *grin* I'm awaiting several deliveries while I work on my projects. I've actually enjoyed shopping, even in brick and mortar stores. It's a good time, a fun time, a long overdue time. I am thankful.

.
Rant #143:
Environmental Evangelism

We cannot protect the environment as long as we're in it. We change things just by being here. All of the environmental preservationists and most of the conservationists are deluding themselves. If we wanted to return the Earth to a pristine state, we'd have to leave it. We are not outside the system doing harm to it. We are part of the system. We don't create messes from nothing, we only change what's already here. We can't truly destroy anything. The only conservation that counts is the Conservation of Matter and Energy. Everything we do changes something into something else. That's how the system works. We are agents of transformation, just like every other living thing and non-living thing on this planet.

The crusaders for animal rights and vegetarian diets do not consider all the habitats they may throw out of balance, nor the rights of all the plants killed, by their convictions. Moderate vegans don't consider the rights of aborted chickens when they choose to include eggs in their diet for protein. Animal ethicists don't know whether the spotted owl should thrive, or die off to make room for something else. These people aren't any more considerate, or humane, or conscientious than other people. They've simply chosen the animal kingdom as a focus for their fanaticism.

To live, we must eat. We are omnivores. We've always made use of materials around us, by moving rocks, cutting trees, rerouting water, kindling fires, thereby altering habitats. That's how we managed to survive and evolve as a species. We've relied on adaptation, and developed ingenuity to accomplish it. Plants consume. Animals consume. We consume plants and/or animals. If an individual chooses to restrict their diet or forego wood furniture to reportedly spare an owl, it's simply that, a choice. It behooves us to promote stewardship and practicality, like using the whole animal for food, clothing, even chemicals, instead of wasteful killing just for sport. But making blanket rules for appropriate behavior concerning selected slivers of the natural order, determined by a nanosecond of experience with it, is ludicrous.

We do not impact the air, the water, or the land, any more than uncountable natural processes which have shaped this planet since it formed during the birth of this solar system. In fact, our impact is an infinitesmally small percentage of change by comparison. To suggest that human activity is overriding the natural operation of this globe is phenomenal arrogance and/or naivete. We affect it, yes, but to think we can guide how and what we change with knowledge of ultimate results is even greater arrogance and/or naivete. We are barely beginning to understand how anything works. We haven't a prayer of designing actions to achieve particular outcomes in order to "Save The Earth!"

Why stress over the global effects of bovine flatulence and auto emissions when one good-sized volcanic eruption puts out more gasses than every cow and car in the history of the world? It's ignorant, in the extreme. Even when we play around with nuclear fission and create toxicity we had to invent words to describe, we didn't import the radioactive material from another planet. The only imports presently come from meteorites. We just manipulated some of the building blocks here. If we have a problem with the results, then we need to learn to adjust our methods. We also need to realize that the whole concept of toxicity is relative to our own welfare, not the health of the planet. She's seen a lot worse than we could ever dish out.

One basic fallacy is that all the environmental preaching is about the Earth. It isn't. It's about humanity. The environmentalists can say they're concerned about the Earth all they want, but they're not. They're concerned about humans. They want to fuss over what we do, but the only reason our activities hit their radar is when we're doing something harmful to us. The ozone layer has cycles based on natural cycles here on the planet. We only got concerned about it when it looked like depletion was harming us. And we think we caused it. So we want to fix it. So it won't hurt us.

The real irony is that if the environmental evangelists would get off their high-horses and realize their true motivation, then we might get somewhere with environmental goals. Joe Schmoe may not give a flying rat's ass about how his use of aerosols impacts the Earth. However, he might give a thought to how his spray deodorant is winning friends but influencing his chances of getting skin cancer from ultraviolet rays and radiation slipping through a hole in the ozone layer. Maybe that's a stretch for Joe, but the EE's are going to have to find ways to tie the actions to the harm and make it personal before people will change.

We're only interested in saving the Earth because we want to save Us, so the EE's should market it that way. They also need to pick their fights better and get away from trying to dictate how people -should- live. Offer choices and detail consequences. Forget the moral appeal, it doesn't. Devise alternatives instead of campaigns. Find ways to make ecology economical. Let the masses decide. If it's cheaper, easier, less painful, or just more fun, they'll do it. If they can see a correlation to their own lives, or their immediate environment, they may just take up the banner. But very few are likely to make changes based on long-range guesstimates for an overall change in a planet they take for granted. Besides, we're not mucking up all of that, we're just crapping in our own cages and that's where we need and truly want to make a difference. In truth, it's the only place we really -can- make a difference. We can maybe do something about our little mole hills. The mountains will take care of themselves, as they always have.

Got it! Well, the bank has it, but it's still ours. *sigh* Even better, we're no longer making mortgage payments on the old place. Whew. That is a load off, as you can imagine. And so, life moves onward and upward. I am a much happier camper, that's for sure. *smirk* I'm even in the mood to do some shopping, which anyone who knows me will tell you is not at all like me. But hey, I'm long overdue for a bit of a spree.

DONE. Closed. Signed. Sealed. Check for the proceeds to be FedEx'd to us overnight, and so we merely await delivery. I am thankful. I expect this to be the last paragraph in the 4 yr chapter on financial juggling. Pardon me while I go collapse with relief.

Today? Huh? Yeah? Maybe today? Third time's a charm didn't do it. Today is the fourth time the closing has been scheduled. New title company, new lender... So.... maybe.... We'll see.

The quakes at Mount St Helens are gradually increasing in strength, now up to 3.5 magnitude. The mountain is now venting steam and some ash. Even scientists are now saying an eruption is imminent. Central California is still rumbling significantly, around 5.0 with scads of lower level rumbles in between. This seismic activity is actually occurring on at least three different fault lines.

Although I seriously expected this sort of thing because of the Toutatis passage, I could never determine where the activity would be in the world. My suspicion was the US, but that was an intuitive and not an educated guess. I knew it depended on the weak surface points and what was on the tangent between the Earth's EMF and the asteroid's EMF, or at the very least, the angles involved.

My point is that a space object does not have to hit another to make an impression. This point seems to have escaped the scientific community, or they're just not talking about it. Then again, they're into precision, so if they can't predict precisely, they don't usually count it. The other problem is specialization. We have quake guys, volcano guys, hurricane guys, and asteroid guys. But they don't talk to each other or look at what the others are doing? Maybe it takes a layman (or woman;) to stand back from the gauges far enough to see the bigger picture.

Imagine two magnets. Imagine one is spherical and rotating regularly (Earth) and one is quite oddly shaped and tumbling erratically (Toutatis). One is greatly larger than the other. Both are in regular orbits. Their orbits nearly intersect and they travel somewhat together for a time because they're on approximately the same orbital plane and share part of their elliptical paths.

Now, just try to guess where the pressure between the two magnetic fields will begin, where it will be strongest, where it will start to fade as the two magnets pull away from each other again.

It certainly appears now that the median of the interactive forces was/is the west coast of the US. Maybe even in a sweep of the northern hemisphere between Japan (record tsunamis) and North America (quakes and volcanic activity). It may even be a matter of disturbing the general and infamous weakness of the Pacific Ring of Fire, but focused along the northern portion because of the Earth's angle of rotation.

And now we'll see what happens when that applied pressure is relieved, ie, as the lid comes off the tapper kettle.

If we really want to understand the Earth, we also need to look at the neighborhood, with the same eyes.

Today, the eTrade loan chick, aka gdmf barbie-headed bitch who is handling our buyers' loan, has once again sauteed the closing by reversing her earlier assessment of a crucial element. And, there's no legal way around it to please eTrade and their mindless twit so they'll make the loan. Please note this is something a real bank making real mortgages allows every day of the week. Also note that the eTrade bimbo had us all change the controversial figure two weeks ago, so it was okay THEN. But now, the day before the closing (which had already been delayed a week because of the feckless wench's little holiday) she has decided it's an unacceptable point at all. Thus, tomorrow's closing was killed.

SO... the buyers went on the hunt for another mortgage source. They have reportedly found a local bank which will take it. The local bank swears they can get the closing done on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Like we're supposed to believe that after all the bullshit thus far? Of course, this guarantees our credit file will get tagged with a 30-day late flag.... the first blemish since the bankruptcy from which we're trying to recover so we can bring -this- house's mortgage rate down from astronomical into a more breathable stratoshpere.

But, such is life, eh? And such is war, and war is hell... much like real estate.

High incidence of hurricanes and typhoons, and now, volcanic rumblings, strings of earthquakes... See my crackpot theory posted on September 14th. I naturally wonder how far this goes. I'm thinking there's more as Toutatis pulls away. It came closest this morning. It's nearly in our orbital plane, so it will continue to travel along with us, slowly creeping away. About mid-October, it will have pulled away to the same distance as mid-September when the run of hurricanes began. Toutatis' own elliptical orbit breaks away from ours in mid-November. As noted, I suspect the pull will manifest a bit differently than the push, and the pull started today. Guess we'll see. Maybe we've seen all the effects, maybe not.

Got a call from our real estate agent today. She calmly said the closing is scheduled for Friday at noon. Friday? What happened to today? Well... Buyers' mortgage agent (eTrade, make a note) has been MIA since Thursday. Finally surfaced today. Wondered why everyone's in a huff. She ignored the fact that the closing deadline was last Friday or that the buyers' rate lock-in expired on Sunday. Anyway, today's out. Who the hell knows why tomorrow isn't possible. Friday is October 1, the point at which our mortgage payment will be 30 days late. We didn't make a September payment because our mortgage company (Chase, make a note) can take weeks to post payments. We were afraid that thousand dollars would get lost when the Title Company called for a payoff.

It will get done. It will. <----- my mantra

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. We got the FedEx today, signed zee paperz, and shipped them back. Should be a closing tomorrow afternoon. Then the check is in the mail to us. I will be ever so glad but I'm saving my enthusiam til after it happens. Can't help it. Experience can be a hard teacher.

Delay of game. Are we surprised? Not really. More paper not getting to the right person at the right time. More games of phone tag. I'm only surprised by Astrocenter's prediction being off by at least a week.

Fortunately we are not directly involved in these paperwork machinations. Unfortunately, our money is. From this end, it's just a phone call saying when and what's gonna happen, followed by another phone call saying it ain't. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

It's going to eventually happen, but at present, no man or woman or real estate agent or title clerk or mortgage officer or buyer or seller... can know the hour or the day.

Earliest possible right now, with the FedEx-ing that must be done even after the papers are collected, is Wednesday. If it doesn't happen then, well, we get to sign another paper extending the deadline.

Thrilling, no?
No.

tick tock tick tock ..... *check clock, check calendar*.... Did I mention that patience is not my long suit?
C'mon closing. I want that mortgage off my back and that check in the mail, yesterday.

Closing week is here. We should be getting a FedEx of paperwork to sign and send back so it will be available Friday. We've done a remote closing before. Worked fine. Let's get this thang done, and let the fat lady sing her arse off.

Gotta love Astrocenter.com's blurb for me for this week. It includes the following statements: This is very positive week for you... This means that your life may begin to flow that much more easily in a number of areas. For a start, the emphasis will be off of your home and family... At the start of the week the Sun conjuncts Jupiter, which may bring a happy conclusion to a saga involving your personal and private life, or perhaps the sale or purchase of a property.

By golly, I'd have to day that's spot on.

I'm irritable, impatient, restless, and frustrated, over nothing and everything. While I'm usually very tolerant of other people and their gripes, I'm not right now. I feel that most of them are whining, narrow-minded, irrational, or just stupid

This grating intolerance is not me. Is it hormonal? Has my shielding finally thinned out to nothing? Am I just too freakin raked over in my own life to have any positive energy left? Or, are people indeed griping more? Is everyone's life feeling like sandpaper right now? It's not just every day life. It's also weather and war and politics and crime... All the BS seems to be escalating.

Here's a crackpot theory for ya... As I've mentioned to some, I believe a nearby asteroid is contributing to the disturbances over the surface of this planet. Yes, I know that military and political conflict, as well as extreme weather and other geological turmoil, are cyclical in nature. But I swear I'm convinced that the asteroid Toutatis is magnifying these disturbances with its approach. The pressure is on and building. An asteroid doesn't pop onto the scene for a day then pop out again. Toutatis has been approaching and will come closest on September 29th/30th, then will pull away. It's one of the largest of the known asteroids which regularly passes close to the Earth, and it's coming as close as it has been since about 1801.

I am not suggesting there will be a comet impact, only that the near passage creates friction between the electromagnetic fields of Toutatis and Earth. It's not a monstrous clash, but enough to put extra pressure on the approach and tug on retreat. It certainly feels like we're under pressure right now.

If my suspicion is correct, then I expect a different sort of disturbance on Toutatis' exit. I would logically expect all the pressure points to go in the other direction, ie, the lid comes off, in some cases. Over the next few months after the closest point (end of Sept), I wouldn't be surprised to find that some conflicts come to a head and then maybe get resolved or just fade out of focus. I also feel there will be an increase in geologic effects. It makes sense to me that if pressure is being applied to already tense spots (ala faults and volcanoes), then the asteroid's tug as it pulls away may bring a lot of that stored energy to the surface, more suddenly and violently than if the pressure had not been applied.

In other words, we may be in a pressure cooker that most of the world isn't aware of, except for the effects, which seem to bear no correlation to each other. I think there IS a correlation and it's a funky shaped rock spinning past this planet.

Then again, I could be wrong.

House closing scheduled for Sept 24th. I'd really like that. We've worked the deal to death with the buyers, including adjustments for appraisal. I think all the hoops we had to jump have been cleared. The real estate agents on both sides are confident in the buyers' ability to jump their own mortgage hoops. Yeah, it's hard to type with my fingers crossed but I'm not really trusting anything until the closing is done and the proceeds are on their way to us. It would be really nice to have made the last mortgage payment on that house, so we can get on with our lives in this one.... which I still love.

Good to go Home and good to be back. Although I dreaded the long drive, I really enjoyed the journey as well as the destinations. Mom & Dad's house is home base, always, and for these trips as well. Wherever I visit in the area, I do it from there. We had a mini-reunion Thursday night at Mom & Dad's house. We'd thought about gathering at a restaurant but it was much better to have sandwiches and leisurely company on the back porch. The weather throughout the extended weekend was gorgeous. I feel for everyone further east who was under the bucket of Hurricane Frances, but still appreciate the sunshine and mild temperatures in the Ohio River Valley.

The first few days of my visit were chillin' and refillin' with lots of family. Nothing better. Then on Sunday morning I collected up three of my nieces so we girls could have a road trip to Grandma's reunion. Carmen, Samantha and Dana B are all hovering 15 yrs of age. Since I'm their cool aunt, instead of mom or whatever, they seemed to feel free to say what's on their mind (ie, they could gripe openly about what Mom and/or Dad and/or other adults say :) I totally understand some of the aggravation of being a teenager, especially a teenage girl. I remember all too well and told them some of my gripes from then. It was great to relate with them. I promised that it does get better. The best thing is just to really get into the stuff you enjoy and do the rest as required. It can be balanced out. Use the good stuff to endure the crap, basically.

The reunion was good. It's a pot luck with lots of conversation in between samplings. I know it's hard for a lot of families to imagine 30 or 40 family members mixing together well. It sounds so boring to say that the whole day and all contacts were pleasant, enjoyable, a real treat, but I swear it's true. Even some personalities that might be on the fringe of harmonious are still pleasant. All of us are really good at making nice with each other and meaning it. Good food, good conversation, lots of laughter, playful teasing, hugs and kisses... I want to joke and say it's almost sickening, but honestly, it's wonderful.

I stayed overnight with Grandma afterwards. I like that because I get her all to myself for a while. We don't do anything earth-shattering. We watch a little TV, have a late night snack, talk about whatever topic comes up. We can do that so easily, even though there's 50 yrs between us. On Monday we took a drive to run a couple of errands for her, but we'd forgotten about the Labor Day holiday making them undoable. So, we just enjoyed the ride together. I say again, my Grandma is terrific, not only for a woman her age, but just for being all that she is.

I also enjoyed the ride back here. I took my time, stopped overnight halfway, did a little sight seeing. I think I'd like more of these sorts of trips, not just by car or between here and Home. I've been thinking of lots of places I'd like to see, exotic places, ancient places. I'm hoping I'll soon have an opportunity to go on these treks. We'll see.

In the meantime, I have GOT to get Home more often. It just isn't good for me to go so long without being really in touch with my family, more than phone calls and email. I just gotta be with them now and then, because I love them so and feel so loved when I'm with them. Yeah, I know it's there all the time, but it's good to have it wrapped all around me.

So... This week I go Home, at last. I'm going home to see my folks. I haven't been since Easter. I haven't been since before my Dad had his surgery. I'm long, long, long overdue for a trip home, to hug my Mom and Dad, siblings, in-laws and outlaws, nieces and nephews. My 93 yr old Grandma will have her annual family reunion as scheduled, on the Sunday before Labor Day. I'm going there too, and get a big hug or several with her as well.

I talked to Grandma on the phone last weekend. She's an amazing woman. She's got her act together, still. It's been a long-running wonderful show. She's humble and generous and full of common sense as well as outright intelligence. I hope I'm growing up to be like her. My mother's like her, so there's hope it's being passed down. I've gotten a lot from my Dad and his family too. In fact, I've inherited quite a phenomenal legacy from both sides, as far back as I have traced them so far. I'm proud to carry all my ancestors along with me, and they're not a bit heavy. They give me a considerable lightness of being. They've known how to make the best of tough situations, and how to be grateful when the going is easier. Excellent skills.

Anyway, I'm going Home... to get me some more o' that.

And, I'm bringing it back with me. Dad's doing great, so he and Mom are going to come here and see the new place. I'll be glad to have the extra time with them.