Helping Hand

Here's another excuse for do-it-yourself-ers. There are some health benefits.

Spousal rights

First of all, I must make a disclaimer: I am not supporting any presidential candidate. Period.


Areas of the blogosphere and other media are irate over the fact that Cindy McCain's tax returns were not publicly revealed along with her husband's. "John McCain's lack of transparency is troubling and raises questions about what he's hiding," Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said .

Nevermind the fact that the McCain's hold investments each in their own names and even have a pre-nup agreement regarding their finances. Some groups estimate the McCain's "combined" wealth as $28-100 million. It appears to me that there is no "combined" wealth; it is "his" wealth and "her" wealth, separately. They may be married, but their finances are separate.

Cindy and John McCain's filing status is "married filing separately" and therefore, unlike other candidates who file joint tax returns, Mrs. McCain's tax records are not subject to public scrutiny. She is not running for public office and is not obligated to disclose her finances. The simple truth is that it is none of the public's business what the spouse of a candidate earns or owns. A bad example was set by Theresa Heinz Kerry when she released her private tax returns under political pressure.


Other candidates had the option to file their taxes separately, but apparently chose not to. As a result, the spouse's income on a candidate's joint return become public knowledge when the candidate's tax return is exposed. There is no "lack of transparency" on John McCain's part; his tax return was released as required.

It is surprising to me that antiquated ideas like this still abound in modern American society: that spouses can't/don't have their own investments; that, once married, spouses merge all their income; or even that spouses have the same opinions (political or otherwise).

Stop the insanity!

The election campaigns need to end soon. The pollsters are now analyzing voters who bowl (Clinton over Obama) and voters who drink beer (tie). This was featured news on the Today Show this morning.

I am sick and tired of politics and religion in the news. Thank goodness Danica Patrick won the Indy Japan 300 race.

Earthquake Take

Earthquakes are so rare around these parts that everyone is talking about about Friday's event.

At 4:37 am, like most of the area, I was in bed asleep. The loud rumbling woke me and I thought it must be the cats running wildly around the house, but there was no hissing. Then I thought it must be a large truck hauling a trailer over the pot-hole spotted road nearby. When I finally realized what it was, it was over. Thank you, Mother Nature, I was now awake for the rest of the day.

The last large magnitude earthquake I remember was forty years ago when I was a student at the nearby big university. Asleep again, in my dorm room on the 7th floor of Bromley Hall, I awoke to sounds of screaming young women rushing to the stair cases. I could feel the building sway and roll, but again it was all over before I could do anything other than get out of bed.

I enjoy my sleep and don't like being disturbed. I just wish these things would occur at a more convenient time.

I Am Not A Speed Reader

I admire readers like A Mom's Life (27 books read so far this year), Misc. & Co. (90 books read last year) and my 96 year old FIL (reads 1-2 books/week).

I am a slow reader. I read each book as if it were a textbook and I'll be quizzed on it later. When I read novels, I am analyzing sentence structures, punctuation, and descriptive language. I cannot speed read a page just to get the gist of the story. The blame can be put upon my elementary teacher that introduced me to diagramming sentences. Oh, how I loved doing that - taking things apart and seeing how single parts work together to form something entirely different. That's me - always curious as to what makes things work.

Add my busy work schedule in the first quarter of the year to the snail's pace reading speed, and I find I've only read a handful of books so far this year:

Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane
Prayers For Rain - Dennis Lehane
Six Easy Pieces - Walter Mosley
Devil In a Blue Dress - Walter Mosley
Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier
Millionaire Mind - Thomas J Stanley

You probably notice a pattern. For some reason, I don't usually like female authors, although there have been a few exceptions over the years, and I seem to be on a crime novel kick. I have especially been enjoying the Walter Mosley books because of his succinct use of words, yet keeping the reader engaged in the characters and storyline. Next up: Mosley's Cinnamon Kiss.

Book tag

My fellow bloggers must know that I am soooooo busy that they've tagged me for some easy posts. Chambanna Fanna tagged me on this one:

Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
Open the book to page 123.
Find the 5th sentence.
Post the next 3 sentences.

"I opened the gate and descended the concrete stairs. She met me at the door. Sepia-skinned and big-boned, she had always been my standard for beauty."

It's Very Toad in the Freezer

A politician in Australia has proposed a day to hunt and kill cane toads, but only killing them by the humane way of freezing them in citizens' freezers.