Brainspill

At approximately 28mpg, that’s 6,821 gallons of gas in the last 5 1/2 years.

At approx 1.70 per gallon (my guess-timated average of gas prices I’ve paid over that time), that’s $11,596.43

Now let’s pretend. Pretending is fun.

If it had been available in 1998 when I bought my beloved Honda CR-V, and I opted for the Civic hybrid instead, which is rated 51mpg, but probably gets more like 44, the above numbers would be…

4,341 gallons of gas. $7,379.55 in gas costs.
$4,216.88 in my pocket.

Ain’t advancements in technology grand? FOUR grand, in fact.

Let’s compare a bit more. I paid (over 5 years of financing for my CR-V, $26,061.00. It’s fully loaded, but not the limited edition.

The Honda Civic, fully loaded (as best as I can determine): approximately $24,989.00 – financed for 5 years, like the CR-V was.

26061 – 24989 = 1072. So Technology ain’t 4 grand, it’s FIVE.

Of course, now that it’s paid for, I intend to baby my car as much as possible while driving it deep into the ground. Hoping we’ll see over 300,000 miles on it eventually. By then the difference (neverminding higher gas prices, and assuming both cars survive 300k miles) would be over $7,000 in favor of the Civic.

In fact, if while driving the CR-V to 6 feet under, I manage to save the same car payment amounts and pay up front for the Civic, Not only do I have it paid for in 3.8 years (instead of 5), but now the cost difference is over $11,000 in favor of the Civic.

John Kerry asked today (paraphrased) “How high up the chain of command should blame for mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners go? Harry Truman didn’t say ‘The buck stops at the Pentagon’.”

What a self-righteous, arrogant thing to say. This from a man who admitted to committing “war atrocities” including burning villages, participating in free-fire zones, etc. in Viet Nam.

So if he can be self-righteous and arrogant, I’ll take a little of that license myself. Submitted for your viewing pleasure, why “I’ll look the other way, a little”:

Pictures have been published of American soldiers humiliating and degrading Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison. A female American soldier with a cigarette in her mouth, smiling and pointing at a naked Iraqi is crass, and frankly, unnecessary.

But I’ll look the other way in this case, and here’s why:

That Iraqi man’s family might see him on TV or in the local paper, and feel shame and anger that he was treated that way. So what? Why’s he in prison, anyway? Was it because he was attacking US troops, maybe? Hmmm? Those outraged seem to be experiencing A.D.D. Or maybe they’ve just misplaced their righteous anger at the fact that just a few weeks ago, we saw American contractors torn limb from limb, dragged naked through the streets, and eventually strung up from bridges. For what? For being American, despite the fact that they were there to help the Iraqi’s (sure, at great personal profit, but also at known risk).

I’ll look the other way, when an Iraqi man appears naked, cowering on the floor, with a dog leash around his neck. Why? I haven’t forgotten what US & British pilots looked like when they were shown on Iraqi TV during the Gulf War. Those people were beaten.

Rumsfeld has announced there are more pictures, and videotape of greater atrocities than simple humiliation, yet to be seen by the public. Torture, beatings, etc. From those things, I will not look away. Those things are beyond what I can accept, and I demand justice in those cases, as an American – as a citizen whose national identity is tarnished by the misdeeds of others.

But for a little humiliation of people who tried to kill US soldiers and citizens? I can sleep at night just fine, knowing about that.

My daughter’s first word, that isn’t “Mama” or “Dada” (and who doesn’t take a little liberty with those, anyway?) is “dog”.

We have 2 dogs that were our test-run at raising a person. We were actually looking into getting a Great Dane. That fell through, and as if God were saying “Try something a little smaller”, we passed something small, black and fluffy bouncing around on the snow-covered side of the road one morning. We turned around out of curiosity and found 2 dogs. No collars, a little afraid, but friendly. No houses around. Apparantly someone just dumped them there.

We took them home, got them food and water, locked them in the laundry room and went to work. When we came home at the end of the day, there were no puddles, no piles, and nothing chewed. That sure sounds like “Keep Me!” to me.

Flash forward a few years and we have two very well behaved, obedient dogs, and one very well behaved, bright, active little girl. She loves to chase the dogs, loves to see if she can eat their dog food without getting caught, and loves to say “dog” whenever she sees them.

And now, everything is a dog.
The kids she sees on tv? Dogs.
Birds singing? Dogs.
Daddy? Dog.

Oh, and did I mention she’s walking now? Across the living room, across the slippery kitchen floor, across my face when I’m laying in bed. She’s no respector of surface. Anything can be walked on. Except, apparantly, dogs.