Moving boxes

Advice for moving, having helped someone else last 2 weekends: Go to Uhaul (or the used box place) and buy some boxes. Same-sized boxes (or at least, only 2 or 3 sizes) – not Heinz 57 variety of old boxes that don’t match and smell like cat pee. Fill the boxes (preferably with similar contents that can be labelled, for your own sanity). Get some standard labels and put them in the same place on each box (top left corner, whatever). Be sure every box is closed and taped and labelled BEFORE you ask a dear friend to pick it up and move it. I can move 5 of these boxes on a hand truck. with the same effort as a single, beaten and torn up old hand-me-down-box with the lid open overflowing with crap. And I don’t have to look at your mess as I move it. A small investment in boxes + closed, taped and labelled == happy friends that might be willing to help you move next time.

Shut up

Browsers should treat sound on websites like they do popups, and assume they’re only slightly less offensive than viruses. For websites that play sound, display a warning, “This website wants to play a sound.” followed by my favorite set of options, yes/no/always/never. There would then be an option setting to ask or never ask, and a list of sites for which sounds are allowed (Pandora can go ahead and play).

McCain – time to lay off the mud slinging

John,

You’ve lost the presidential race. Not you alone, so much as George Bush and the exploding economy. The astonishingly horrible woman you chose as a running mate did not change anything for the better, nor did your insistence on tax cuts for the rich and shameless.

Barack Obama is going to be our next president. It’s all over but the hanging-chad-counting. (That is, assuming your friends at Diebold haven’t set up yet another November Surprise – that would be even less believable than last time.) Come January we’ll be swearing in “that one”. It’s time for you to take the high road and stop smearing our next president.

The skeletons in your closet are a lot bigger than Barack’s, John. Ayers? How about the Keating 5 and G. Gordon Liddy? Why do you think haven’t the Democrats brought these up more often? Maybe it’s because they’re trying to lead a civil, positive campaign, while constantly defending themselves from your incessant, petty negative attacks.

The best thing you could do right now is frame your campaign as positive goals for the country. Remind Barak of the other 40-some percent of the people he’ll be presiding over. Remind the country that even though you’re not going to make it, the rest of your supporters: the gun-nuts; the anti-abortion nuts; the anti-gay-marriage nuts; the oil barons and the trust-funders who think taxes are for the plebeians; the self-righteous, hate-filled, intolerant jesus freaks; and everyone else who has a PAC supporting your campaign, will need some lovin’ after the election. Just because they’re wrong, doesn’t mean we should ship them all off to Alaska or something – though if they want to go on their own, it appears they’d be welcome, at least in the big cities. But contrary to W’s example, the people whose party did not win the election deserve representation as well.

Come November 5, your political career will be over. Why not end it on a positive note? Reach across the aisle one last time and give Barack a hand up, instead of taking a vindictive last swing at him. If you can do this, I promise – we’ll all vote for you for “Miss Congeniality”.

Sincerely,

A Patriotic American.