Road Trip

I-70/76 the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Not a funny business.. It's like the taconic parkway (Rt 9 between Albany and NYC - autos only, no trucks) WITH trucks allowed. Apparently the intersection is popular for truckers as a route linking the Midwest to the Northeast. A large number of 18 wheeler trucks careening through narrow highways. A white knuckle driving for me, driving this small U-Haul truck. So many tunnels through mountains. My driving skills and wits were sharpened so I had no problems navigating NYC, being brash with NYC drivers. I had an opportunity or two to yell "Fucking Idiots!!".. I feel complete as a NYCer now. Driving in New Jersey is a real bitch when you're trying to access the city.. A friend told me once that a typical New York driver would yell and howl in frustration, banging a fist on the steering wheel - across the damn river from the city and the labyrinth like routes and confusing exits. So I'm officially a New Yorker. Wahoo!

Thanks to Beth for being the perfect map reader and Navigator. It's our second collaboration so I highly recommend Beth as the second man in road planning. Fees negotiable.


In 2003, the alert thingy set up by Homeland Security affected one of my UHaul experiences... An electronic billboard informed that the level was red so trucks and vans had no tunnel access and very limited bridge choices. So keeping that in mind over the weekend, I was wary of using the Holland Tunnel.. I saw no notices and since the tunnel was closer to our destination than Lincoln, I opted for Holland. After quite some time waiting in traffic, we were denied entry and was instructed to take the 1&9 to Lincoln. So we turned around and went through the underbelly of NJ... Crappy highways and buildings set close to the streets. After a nearly couple misses, we found the exits to Lincoln and granted access.. Then fought through the traffic getting through the Lincoln OUT of NYC..Fortunately, the traffic was only 4 blocks long and I knew the area, I knew what to do and got out of traffic in a short time. *Superman theme* dah, dah, dah!


I'm up for another Road Trip. Anybody?

Rita and JetBlue

Media hangover. At work, we'd check CNN.com and gesticulate: "Rita's come to category 2!" .. Later in the day.. "Category 4!" "No, serious, finish!".. Before sign out at 5pm... "Category FIVE" * a hand with all fingers and the thumb splayed out*. "WOW! Hope Hurricane pick up Crawford Ranch, drop and smash!"

From what I've been able to garner from the exhausting array of media coverage - seems the evacuation plans are in place and yellow buses in poor neighborhood. Least the government has some ability to learn from mistakes. It always happens when you're sitting on your ass and you get a nasty bump on your head when some high winds and flooding flips you over head and ass. I love how Doonesbury portray Bush II with his Roman Comb (that thing red fan whatisit) in tatters..

Watching "Lost" and during commercial, the local ABC affiliate cuts in and say 'special report' (no captioning, naturally).. a clip of a plane banking (or flying in a big circle) making for an emergency landing. Oy vey. It's irritating.. I half expected to see it crash and go up in a big ball of flame.. Ah here it is.. Another special report just ran with a footage: the Jetblue plane cruising along on the runaway.. Whew..

*tosses salt across my left shoulder*

Battlestar

OMG.. the reporter (Lucy Lawless) is in cahoots with the Cylons! Or is she a Cylon? ooooo can't wait til next Friday...

Mayoral Races..

The elections are coming... September 12 then winnowing the votes the following week. And comes the dreaded November 8th with telecasters announcing winners and losers.

A couple of classic scene comes to mind.. The leading team at some reception area with phones ringing and aides shouting out current numbers. NBC running clips about the softer side of the candidate's personae (Think Bill Clinton's gamble in 1992 as Boy from Hope, Arkansas) with snippets of interviews by persons affected by change. Cut to the loser - standing alone, hopes dashed, in a deserted reception area with signs and banners littering the floor. LOSER is usually a popular word stamped across his or her forehead.

Much as I rail against apathy.. I fear I usually walk the talk.. Presidential elections are easy cos you have one or two people against the incumbent or heir apparent. State Assembly and Congressional elections are a pain in the ass. Too many people..Local are the best thing cos it really affects you more than 2,000 miles away.. Is it easier to ignore our problems and focus on others?

Naturally with disasters like the *record scratching* 9/11 and Katrina.. One cannot help but really listen what the contenders have to say about their ideas on' evacuation plans and structural improvement/communications'. And again, be more proactive in local politics. I went for Nationwide to vote for Kerry, and Bush, the greater of two evils won. Start small. LBJ (though he was arm wrestled into it but I'm happy he did it) authorized the Great Society and presided over the civil rights era.. And the Warren Court gave Americans more choices (roe v wade) before it was shoved right by the Rehnquist Court stripping away choices or plans to viscerate laws (ADA). The highest court in the land now has two empty seats.. all the justices are old and some, frail. It's convenient that a conservative president will preside over whom to appoint (the last was Nixon)...


Back to the point.. Local politics. I caught most of the televised debate tonight at 7pm on local NBC channel. Approximately 7 minutes into the debate the captions went off as if the steno had a sudden CT attack. No reinforcements? I sent an email to NBC4 grousing about the lack of captioning.. and after 15, 20 minutes of channel surfing periodically checking the debate.. The captions have finally returned..

I still do not know much about the 4 democratic contenders against the mighty Bloomy:

C. Virginia Fields - formerly borough president of Manhattan.. Along with Fernando Ferrer, she is a seasoned debater keeping her comments tight and not wandering so much, the no nonsense kind. One of the panel posed a really shitty question asking her if race relations (with New Orleans in mind, naturally) in New York City is better, the same or worse? The round of questioning warranted a "yes" or "no" response. Fields argued against that saying there are many factors to it.. Once she was coerced to answer, she plainly said "No".

Miller - at age 35 the youngest contender.. He's a city council speaker or something. Though he may have perfectly democratic and idealistic answers they're long winded saying "I did this" "I am the only person here" and I could see the other 3 and older contenders trying to refrain from rolling their eyes and thinking "youth!". Come back in 10 years. Re: race relations - he says they are better.

Anthony wiener.. Currently a Congressman from Brooklyn.. He had the 'right' answers and kept them mainly short. I'm not sure about him.. But it's obvious he's terribly aware of relationship between New York and the nation's captial, D.C.. Like Miller, he affirmed that the race relations were better. Re: education - he wants rewards for good teacher and oust bad teachers. Available resources is a nasty element to grade the teacher..

Fernando Ferrer.. Borough president of the Bronx. Like Fields, not only he is a minority, he is very aware of problems in the poorer and working class neighborhoods.. He said "no" to race relations questions. My opinions of him are basically the same I have of Fields.

I would go for either Fields and Ferrer.. They were borough presidents and oversaw some positive changes for the poor and marginal.. I will need to read more into their background and work. They support bilingual education..

I can't imagine the minorities telling a white candidate of their woes. Being Deaf I'd be skeptical when a Hearing leader promises me better things. But the hearing person would have larger agenda to worry about.. I'd rather have a Deaf person with our agenda pushing and fighting for us to fit us into theirs. Over the years I've worked with people who mainly are people of color and I've learned that being white and WASPy I cannot possibly empathize with them no matter how much we touch on similar frustrations (ie being deaf, making ends meet). The race barrier and class are here to stay... when does it expire?

Disability Stats in Cities affected by Katrina

The following link:

http://www.tnet.com/katrina.php

The ironic thing is: CEPIN (Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network) sponsored by TDI (yes the blue TTY phone book) through regional deaf agencies (DCARA, DEAF Inc, CSD, NVRCC) recently launched National Emergency Preparedness Month activities on August 30, 2005.

for more information on TDI's CEPIN project, go to:

http://www.tdi-online.org/tdi/emergencypreparedness/cepin.htm

Functionable Mouthwash

Yes a mouthwash does a mouth good.. Kills bad breath, gingivitis, and reduces plaque..

Listerine's latest: Whitening Pre Brush Listerine.

Been using it for nearly 2 months now. None of that teeth strip or gelly whitening junk. Mouthwash. IT WORKS.

(As Rimbauld) I believe this is the beginning of our new friendship...