Hello, my name is Sean, and I am a
Lime addict.
Monthly Archives: March 2004
Comcastration. Comcast decided to do some
maintenance on the cable lines today. So, I've lost broadband again
for the day, so some wire monkey can come out and grease the junctions
on all the poles, or whatever it is that they do up in the
cherry-picker with the fiber/coax junctions.
“Oh, some customers
might have gotten a notification in their bills,” the support line
peon said when asked why we hadn't heard anything about this.
After a full day down hard on Monday, this is not making me feel that
warm and fuzzy about Comcast.
Jerry Jeff Walker's advice on surviving the new economy
Sing it, Jerry:
Just gettin' by on gettin' by's my stock in trade
livin' it, day to day
picking up the pieces wherever they fall
Just lettin' it roll
lettin' the high times carry the load
Just living my life easy come, easy go.
Coup Coup Ca Choo. So, a few years back, after an oppressive military coup, the US
re-installed Aristide (when almost no time was left in his
“constitutionally defined” term). Aristide, naturally, disbanded
the army that had kicked him out.
Aristide was a hero of the downtrodden. He turned the military into
the downtrodden in the process of trying to turn Haiti into a civil
society. He sat out one term as president, and was re-elected to
another 5-year term. But he was never the darling of American
interests–just a symbol of how America would do “the right thing.”
Now, Aristide is out again — and the “rebels” who created this
uprising in Haiti are, surprise, the same people who overthrew him as
soldiers. And, another surprise, they want to reinstate the
army–most likely to prevent Aristide supporters from doing the same
thing to them in a few months when things don't get any better. Their
leader, the news media reports almost paranthetically, has been tied
to past human rights abuses.
Aristide is no saint. He used many of the tools his predecessors
used, wittingly or not, to maintain his authority. He was another
case of “meet the new boss, (substantially the) same as the old
boss.” But he sure didn't get any help from the Bush administration
in his attempts to create a rule of law. Those “national police”
that rolled over in front of the coup–they were trained by the US
military in policing, and included (surprise!) members of the former
military.
How are we supposed to foster democracy in Iraq when we can't even do
it in our own literal backyard? Bush said he's going to prevent the
flight of refugees from Haiti to the US (ignoring the UN convention on
refugees). And then there's this wrinkle:
“
former president says the US forced him into exile – but the UN
appears to back Washington's strong denials.”[
News]
What are we supposed to think? Did George Bush steal another
presidency?
Maybe when we're done with him, he can go run things in Haiti, Baby
Doc style.
Coming up lame. On Saturday morning, as my wife was preparing to leave the house for a
class, I came down to send her off. Stepping from our carpeted living
room to our pargo'd dining room with my right foot, I started to slip
and stutter-stepped with my left to catch myself.
Well, I dragged my left foot across the metal strip that covers the
edge of the carpet, and caught a nail with the ball of it, ripping an
inch-long hole in my calloused sole. I said some unpleasant words,
and lifted up my foot to see where the crimson was starting to drip
from.
Paula bandaged my foot, half-sympathetic, half-cursing that I had
disturbed her morning quiet time with this annoyance. I hobbled
through the rest of the day. “I hope this doesn't interfere with
our plans for tomorrow,” she worried/threatened.
Our plans for Sunday–the National Zoo. Walking. Lots.
Well, Sunday comes, and with a fresh bandage I'm off with the family
to DC for a day on foot. Zo‘ announces she has a bathroom emergency,
so as we pull into the Zoo, I drop Paula and Zoe and Jonah off at a
restroom. Kevin stays with me as we drive down to park in one of the
lower lots.
Well, unfortunately, there won't be any of that. As it turns out, on
this first day of springlike weather (67 degrees F on Leap Day is a
glorious thing), every freaking person in the Washington DC Metro area
has had the same freaking idea as us, and there are cars backed up to
kingdom come waiting for early birds to leave so they can park. We
end up driving out the bottom of the zoo and up the Quarry Road hill
to 18th Street, about a good mile and a click from the bathrooms we
dropped everyone else off at.
By the end of the day, I can't feel the hole in the bottom of my foot
any more. In fact, I can't feel my feet.
This morning, I peel off the bandage and find that what was once a
bloody mess now looks like the ruptured center of a giant blister.
Mmmm. Hope you all ate already. Anyway, that sucker is sure letting
me know it's there now. It's a good thing I'm shackled to my
desk.
Okay, back to the salt mines.