The Aerie
Wow, so much has changed, and yet so much is the same.
Last week the I35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed, killing a dozen people and injuring scores. I didn't blog about it. That's how sad my blogging has become while I've been unemployed. I was at the time meeting with my friend Todd, visiting from New York. Didn't blog about that. We went to our last Harry Potter book party, my kids made me very proud by taking a sailing class, and I've raised a generation of milkweed bugs. No blogging.
Today as we drove home from a visit to a friend, I saw a car. It was a Lexus GS 350. How did I know it was a Lexus GS? Well, it could have been the word "Lexus" under the left tail light, or the "GS 350" under the right tail light.
Or maybe it was the customized license plate, "LEXUS GS."
So finally I blog.
If I needed proof that Wealth and Brains do not necessarily share company, I didn't need to look any farther than this car. I mean, look, it's a Lexus, so it costs a fortune to start with. It's a car you buy when you want to show off your money, when you have more money than you apparently know what to do with. And of course, when you have that kind of money, a personalized license place is not a surprising addition, not when the plate is only an extra $100, and the South American Teak radio knobs are an extra $650.
So here you are, with too much money, and you think to yourself, "What should I put on my personalized license plate?" Something cool? "Z00M" Something clever? "2COOL4U"
And this guy, with too much money and not enough imagination, puts "LEXUS GS" on his Lexus GS.
Criminy.
How many of Sally Struthers' doe-eyed children could you feed with the money wasted on that license plate? How many heifers could you buy through the Heifer Project?
I mean, why bother with "LEXUS GS"? Why not get a license plate that said "CAR" or "RICH" or "MY WEINER IS TINY"? Why not wear an Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirt labeled "Abercrombie and Fitch"?
Oh, wait, people do that.
And I was going to say that they don't spend $100 to do it, but actually it wouldn't surprise me in the least that the damned things cost $100, too.
Okay, fine, so people are stupid and some stupid people have too much money. I guess that's no big surprise!
Sigh.
So today was otherwise interesting. We went to visit our friend L and her sister's family. L is just the sweetest person, and her daughter and her sister's family were very nice. I was supposed to be helping fix L's internet connection, but unfortunately I couldn't. By the time it was clear that the connection wasn't going to work, it was time for me to teach my online class. I would have had to take everyone home in order to teach it, but by that time I had managed to establish a connection with a neighbor's wireless. So I took the chance and taught the class over the open connection. It was a risk - the power was low, but the connection was steady - and fortunately it worked out. Ninety minutes later we hit the freeway home, where we saw the Lexus.
So that's not as interesting as the story of the bridge collapse, nor as humorous as the Harry Potter party, nor as edifying as a treatise on the raising of milkweed bugs for biology class.
But it will have to do. It's better than nothing!
Posted by Albatross at August 8, 2007 11:54 PM | TrackBackI'm glad to see you're still taking classes. Despite your work setback (which is starting to sound remarkably like a certain diva's), it's important that you're making forward progress in whatever you can. Things will turn around soon, you'll see!
Posted by: Ben at August 9, 2007 5:12 AMThere was a time, not long ago, when I thought that Tommy Bahama was an clothing brand. I recall seeing the brand for sale in Maui. A typical shirt ran $50, which was still double the price of a more traditional - and stylish - Hawaiian shirt. This past May I was looking to spend a gift card at Nordstrom's and I came across a nice shirt. It was Tommy Bahama brand and it's price was $80 (and it was one of the cheaper shirts from that brand). The world was mad, I thought.
And I was right. Further proof came in early June when in the store a new premium rum came in for sale. It was Tommy Bahama rum. People were buying it just for the name. I wondered, "What does Tommy Bahama have to do with rum? Isn't it a clothing line?" Of course, I forgot that we have Cabo Wabo (Sammy Hagar) and Margaritaville tequilas. I still haven't tried the rum, though since it is made by Hennesy-Moet, it probably is pretty good. I just cannot get past the crass cross branding and coordinated pricing. At $30+ bottle, I've had better at half price - guaranteed.
Then, 2 weeks later, came a new premium vodka: Trump. I about hung myself from the shower rod after seeing that one. And, no, it didn't come with a comb-over.
Posted by: B.D. at August 9, 2007 8:51 AMI still DO think "Tommy Bahama" is a clothing line. What the heck IS it?
As for my job hunt, no I'm not being a diva. I've applied for everything including contract and perm positions, from IS engineer for the IRS to Security Manager for Northwest Airlines.
Unfortunately, it's summer. Nobody makes decisions in the summer. Now with September approaching some people may sluggishly begin to move some processess forward in anticipation of actually getting work done following Labor Day. Most however will wait till the day after Labor Day to pick up the stack of resumes and start riffling through them for candidates who they will want to begin work the following Monday. It's just how things work...
Posted by: Albatross at August 9, 2007 9:04 AM