9:48 a.m. - 2003-02-05
The Even Brushes Its Own Teeth Model
It seems like all of Diaryland is abuzz with people debating about the space program. Some people love it, and, surprisingly to me, some people really hate it. I say surprisingly because I always had the feeling that I was the only person in these United States who had very mixed feelings about it. Everyone else I ever talked to about space exploration seemed to be giddy with happiness at the thought of human beings flying around in space.
It is a pretty awesome thought, isn't it?
I don't love the space program, but I can't say I hate it either. It's the story of my life - I'm wishy washy. But since living in Huntspatch and seeing all the NASA dirt up close, and especially since the accident this weekend, I seem to be leaning a little bit more toward...a serious and more confused dislike.
Many of you know that Huntspatch is home to a major NASA base, as well as the Space and Rocket Museum and the infamously mismanaged Space Camp. Why, we even have a Saturn 5 Rocket on Highway 565 to greet people coming into Huntspatch. Standing proudly straight up in the air, it is affectionately known as "The Penis of Huntsville". People give their locations in reference to it as though Huntspatch were a giant man. For example, if you are looking at the penis from above, I believe that our little house would be at about the left thigh.
Anyway, I'm not going to rave on an on about all this. I think enough raving has been going on, and Bruce and I have been going back and forth as well trying to figure out how we feel. I just keep thinking about all the homeless people I saw in Boston over Christmas, and thinking how strange it is that we can fly around in space, but we can't keep everyone warm....
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Now that I've put in my two cents (which, with inflation is worth about .000003 of a cent) I can go on to happier things. Like that I'm listening to a fabulous CD: "Dr. John plays Mac Rebennack". Man, this is so beautiful - I feel like I'm sitting out on the gallery of the room we always get at Hotel Villa Convento in New Orleans, watching the gaslights flicker along the street. It's just beautiful, simple New Orleans style piano.
I love Dr. John. From his really old, creepy, growling hoodoo stuff to his stomping blues, to this very sentimental piano. He never fails to affect me.
I must have lived in New Orleans in a previous life. Of that I'm very sure.
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I'm also happy because we got our new hot water heater yesterday!!!! YEAH!!!
It was the one thing that was really in need of repair, and we knew when we bought the house it would have to be replaced. Taking a shower was a race against time. There was enough hot water to get the shampoo into my hair and rinsed out, but right after I put the conditioner in the water would start to go lukewarm. By the time I rinsed it out my teeth would be chattering. Forget about taking a bath, which is the way I control my arthritis when it flares up in the spring and fall.
Bruce and I finally felt settled enough to deal with the situation, not to mention I was getting dang tired of creaking and aching. We mutually felt that we never wanted to deal with this ever again and so we got the super-duper-58-gallon-life-time-warrantee-four-control-settings-energy-efficient-even-brushes-its-own-teeth model.
A plumber named Rick came over yesterday to install it. He reminded me of a young Mark Twain with out the literary flair. He had the most amazing curly hair. Looking at it I had the covetous thought that I wished DNA research had progressed enough so that his hair genes could be implanted on my head.
Forget ending disease and growing better crops. I just want a groovy head of hair!
He also installed a new undersink filter to replace the one which came with the house. It was impossible to replace the filter on the old one and it seemed full of crud to the point where I never turned the cold water on in the kitchen any more. El Disgusto! A filter is sort of necessary in Huntspatch because we have limestone soil which gives the water a very odd taste. So now we have a lovely new Omnifilter, and when our friends come over and snottily ask why we don't have a Brita filter in our fridge I can whip open the sink cabinet and proudly point to the Omni!
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