Occasionally, there's an e-mail/bulletin/whatever that makes the rounds. It talks about winter in Ohio, and at what temperature we do certain things (like *finally* finding our coats, or turning on the heat *just* so our pipes don't burst).

Don't believe it. 99% of Ohioans were apparently born and raised in Florida.

One thing I'm sure doesn't help is their wardrobe strategy. Depending on who you ask, some 30-50% of your body heat is lost through your head. So, what do you see all winter? Yup, people in big bulky coats and no hats complaining about how cold they are. And they bundle up way too early. If you don't let yourself get used to 40°, what are you going to do when it's 14°?

Another is activity level. For whatever reason, people have this tendency to slow down when they're colder. Which lowers their metabolism and circulation. Which makes them colder. Seriously, do some jumping jacks or shovel faster or something.

But the worst thing people do to themselves is thermostat abuse. Going from 85° to 15° is much harder than going from 55° to 15°. Harder on your energy bill too, but that's beside the point. Florida inside, Ohio outside = bad.

In conclusion: Wear a hat, move around, and don't roast yourself. Thank you.

I am thoroughly convinced that the writers for MSN have no idea what they're talking about.

"By now you'd think scientists could close the book on caffeine and move on to other mysteries, like why anyone would ever order a chai latte." From their article on the benefits of caffeine, this makes me wonder if the author has ever tasted a good chai latte. Or if s/he burned off too many taste buds testing these caffeinated hypotheses.

"RICKROLLING (2008) — an online prank in which users are unexpectedly linked to the ghastly Rick Astley music video “Never Gonna Give You Up.”" This from page 3 of their explanation of memes. Now granted, it's not Meat Loaf or Devo, but I've seen a lot worse -- and I haven't seen that many. Unless they were rhyming with Astley -- to which I say, even Dubya knows that words mean things.

And these were articles I clicked on with genuine interest. Does it get worse?

Tot Tidbits: Leary's Autism Rant, Xtina's Procreation Plans. Abbreviating "Christ" as X comes from the Greek Χριστος -- so unless the author is writing in Greek, the letter of abbreviation should be C, not X. (Those who refuse to write out Christmas should take notes.) Also, since it's an abbreviation for "Christ", this would make her name Christtina. May we be blessed by the magic of her music. Or not. More from the article:
- "Denis Leary had better keep an ear out for the angry clacking of Jenny McCarthy's high heels." She's a woman, therefore she must wear high heels. And the Autism Society of America says Leary is stuck in the 1950s.
- (Yeah, it's awful on a variety of levels, but keep in mind he does mockingly list himself as Dr. Denis Leary on the book's cover and is the same guy who penned a song titled "I'm an A--h---.") Grow some balls. If it's "awful on a variety of levels," then you turn around and justify it, what does that say about you?

So, Jessica Biel is JT's "box". Well not really. Still, someone somewhere along the line should have seen this and sent up a red flag.

I just closed the tab when I saw an article titled "The failure of the American consumer". Message to MSN from planet Earth: Please bring your collective head back from Uranus.

So yeah. Remember back in, what, March? when I was waiting on a furnace? Well, they called yesterday and said they were finally gonna install it today.

If you're wonering what my mom was wondering, yes, it's far too warm out to run the furnace. Our air conditioner is tied in, so one no worky, both no worky.

Anywho.

So they call today and say they'll install it tomorrow instead. Color me periwinkle. Now mind you, there's a gottverdammt furnace sitting on our back porch, in cardboard, and it really looks like it could rain any time. And they're waiting until tomorrow.

Landlord? More like scumlord.

EDIT: They did come today, but at 2pm instead of 10am like they were supposed to. I'm a bit surprised they showed up at all...

I don't get heartburn. I don't get acid reflux. I don't get sour stomach. I can eat or drink anything I want, whenever I want, and it doesn't bother me.

And about once or twice a year, regardless of what I've eaten or drank -- last food was Arby's roast beef 5ish, drank my last pop 7ish -- I channel Hendrix and wake myself up choking on stomach acid. If there's a merciful God in heaven, he let Jimi stay asleep for his fatal aspiration. I'd almost consider taking something for it, but it's so infrequent.

And now that I've coughed it all up and eaten a few Tums -- IN THAT ORDER -- I'm fine. Pissed off at the world, but fine. See you in six months to a year.

Poll Finds Dimmer View of Iraq War
52% Say U.S. Has Not Become Safer

And that's just the tagline. The article goes on to enumerate just how displeased America is with Bush in general. (Of course, they're also dissatisfied with Democrat performance, but that's to be expected when the Dems largely act like Republican-Lite. Probably not enough to see large third-party support, though.) 2006 and 2008 could be some very interesting elections, hopefully the Dems see the writing on the wall and start acting like their own party before then.