zodomatica

Nickel and Dimed

Just finished "Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America". What a powerful book. Barbara Ehrenreich, in the face of US welfare reforms, decided to investigate the lives behind the rhetoric. She went "undercover" working minimum wage jobs in three states. Being a white, educated person with a car, she had a lot of advantages compared to many of the working poor. Still, she found it next to impossible to survive with a safe roof over her head.

It's also chock full of stats. I wish there were a Canadian study guide to go with it. I was left wondering, how do we calculate things like "poverty level" vs. the US. Nonetheless, that book should be required reading in all high school social studies classes.

Note to Self

Star Fishes should be cut up into dainty, bite-sized pieces before swallowing.

We saw this gull on the dock at Horseshoe Bay, while we were having lunch. Some thought he was looking at us as if to say "Hey, a little help over here?!" But I figured if he was in trouble, it was Darwinian...

One Eyed Seven Legged...

I am the proud recipient of a One Eyed Seven Legged Jingle Spider. Aren't kids grand!

Rants and Raves

First, the raves:

• I got my Lucky Crow gift bags today. Suhweet sock monkeys and retro rockets!!


• Yay Dreamhost for the "one-click install" of WordPress. Far easier than mucking with servers and databases yourself :-)

Rants, or Things That Suck Today (you can *pretend* you're listening now)...

• Paying PST, GST, and a Canada Post handling fee on a HAND MADE PRODUCT I CAN'T GET IN CANADA!
• Having to go downtown to work. There are too many stupid, rude, smelly, ignorant people on the planet for my liking.
• Taking transit to work sucked because of...
  1. Hoards of teenagers on the bus with annoying, leaky headphones and too much perfume
  2. People: TAKE YOUR BACKPACKS OFF ALREADY
  3. Guys who think their, um, packages are so big they take up the whole seat by spreading their legs
  4. Faint, am-I-smelling-that? odors of urine on the train
• Comment spammers. Evil bastards.

Can you tell I was in an "I hate people" mood today?