Rant #321

July 13, 2004

I awoke this morning from a very confusing set of dreams that made no linear sense. That’s how most dreams are, I find, but this set was especially confusing to me, and I awoke once in the middle of the night to find my vision swirling when I immediately opened my eyes after waking from the dream, and then this morning before my alarm rang to that morning insomina that we all hate. You know, where you wonder who you are, what you’re doing, where you are, and what’s real for a few seconds. Or as Dilbert put it in a comic: “Morning insomnia: Nature’s way of preventing us from waking up screaming.” I’m not even going to bother analyzing my dreams, because I have a feeling I know what a lot of them mean already, and since there’s not a whole lot I can do about what I dream, I’ll pass on the Freudian stuff for now.

I had a nice lovely trip to the grocery store yesterday. I swam after work and debated about what to do for dinner, and despite how simple a question it is I always manage to turn it into some huge decision. My choices were virtually unlimited, but I whittled it down to either going to a more expensive grocery store where I could get a deli-made sandwich and good Kettle chips for dinner, but where I’d be paying more for groceries, or to a lower-priced grocery store where I didn’t have that option and would have to either make dinner or pick it up somewhere (and then it becomes what? and where?). I ended up choosing the lower-priced store, and as it turned out, Heather and I were there at the same time, though we didn’t run into each other. I spent a bit more than I normally do on groceries, but I’ve found that $100/month budgeted as my grocery bill is a bit more than I normally spend. I’m typically going to the store about every two and a half to three weeks and spending somewhere between $50-$60, so no matter how you look at it I’m coming out ahead. I spent $75 this time around, but a bought a lot of fresh fruit (apples, nectarines, and grapes), a hell of a lot of cereal as I normally do, and some more Coke. The $4 box of Gardenburgers didn’t help much since I normally try and buy cheap stuff, but I’d been using up my sister’s stock now and then, and I wasn’t sure how many we had left for dinner.

I really haven’t been tracking my budget on paper, but I think that it’s working out all right so far. I’m not short of cash, and I’m refraining from making lots of purchases I don’t need to. I’m still eating cereal for lunch for the most part, though I’ve found I can’t do it five days a week and I have to get out to get a sandwich or something at least once a week. My main concern is making sure I go through the half-gallons of milk I bring to work so that they don’t go bad before I can finish them. But I seem to be doing well financially from the basic standpoint. I doubt I’m making enough that I could move out on my own somewhere–at least someplace fairly nice–though that’s not really a concern of mine at the moment. I’m able to pay my share of the rent, make car payments, buy food, pay my Mom, and still have enough for other things. It’s nice being self-sufficient again. For the most part.

Probably won’t get a chance to go swimming today. I’m taking my car back to the dealership after work to have them look at my alarm system, and I just read that what I have may be a Ford alarm, but dealer-installed and not factory-installed. I was sort of counting on it being aftermarket so that I could wave it in front of their faces and say “Look what you stuck me with!” I guess if it’s dealership-installer, that’s just as bad. That means they still stuck me with an alarm that behaves oddly, didn’t warn me about it, and didn’t provide me with any instructions on how to adjust or disable it.

And if nothing else, then I’ll get to pay $60 or so to have the pleasure of them telling me there’s nothing they can do. Whee.

I saw an article today on Fark.com about how ClearChannel Communications is refusing to put up an anti-war billboard because it’s “too political” and they don’t want to get invovled with political causes. This coming from a company that not only sponsored pro-war rallies prior to the invasion of Iraq but also puts up pro-life billboards. Wow, non-political all right. Doesn’t matter how you feel about the issues involved, that’s a pretty crappy thing to do. Remember kids, when a company controls 80% of the billboards in the country and a huge percentage of the radio stations as well, what that company wants you to see is what you see, whether they’re promoting things you believe in or not. I can’t stand that company. Not because of their political views, but because they control information and choose what to display and what not to display for their own benefit and goals. A media company should be both non-partisan and RESTRICTED. Media consolidation is bad, bad, bad stuff. And ClearChannel is the worst of the lot.

I put them right up there with DeBeers. And my family knows how I feel about DeBeers. No fiancee of mine will ever get a diamond ring from me, no matter how much their childhood fantasy dictates they should get one. Any woman who will even get to the point where I’ll give them a ring of some kind would already understand that I wouldn’t ever give them a diamond, anyhow, so it’s probably moot.

Companies that controlling…BAD.

So yeah, that’s my rant for the day. I should also add that my swimming is giving me a bit of a tan, and I’ve noticed that I’m darkening up a bit. I don’t lie out in the sun, but I do put sunscreen on when I go out. The pool sure makes for a good way to focus the sun’s light, though. In another month, I’m sure I’ll be even darker. Imagine that…a natural Oregon tan! The normally Oregon color is Fishbelly White, though I’ve never cared for that shade too much. I’ve never seen the point in deliberately baking your own skin to darken it, but heck, if I do it while doing something else, more power to me. I guess it’s a fine line.

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