24 November 2006

Post Thanksgiving ponderins: the days rant

am feeling like an old party pooper this weekend. Totally non-holiday mode. had the choice to work on turkey day and did, we had nachos for dinner!

am not sure if i can really explain the the problem (if it is even a problem-)it just seems like such a travesty. On the morning news there were shots of the govenor, & movie stars are out feeding the hungry. aren't they nice? yea right, out there in front of the camera on a holiday is good pr but where are they the other 364 days of the year!@???

same thing happens at christmas. all these do gooders & all their hype about 'giving' to the poor and less fortunate. of course they are doing this from their fancy $150 plate fundraising dinners. heaven help them if they actually did anything that made sense the rest of the year. and yes am sounding sour. the same people who are going on ad nauseum about help out the poor and doing their 'christian' duty are driving around in their shiny bmw's amd mercedes and wouldnt know a day without food (unless they're anorexic).let alone how to really make a difference to people who really need help.

i think i will be less pessimistic when i see things like

(1)the pharmacutical companies be less worried about their millions in profits and start making sure that people on fixed incomes can get their life supporting medications

(2)when i see see BIG oil actually encouraging & pushing 'green' fuels because they KNOW the long term petrolium is limited and to continue as we do will ONLY help destroy the planet. (THEY ALREADY DO KNOW they just refuse to acknowledge it)

there is more but most of us already know the problems. i just get so discouraged at the lack of improvement- this time of year just makes it so much more obvious.
sigh...

an example of my 'problem' with things as they are: a lady at work was all excited about what her church group was doing. their 'good deeds'- they were taking garage doors (rejects from the factory) down to a small village in the interior of mexico and building one room houses with them. on the surface this seems nice. people have a roof over their head.... on the surface.....

my problem with the scenario you ask??? first their attititude of "aren't i so generous,so "christian" ?? for Giving you a house?- (doesnt matter to them if the villagers even like the things as they dont seem to have ever Asked. then there is the problem of the materials. how on earth does a garage door strike anyone as a practical medium to build an entire house out of? and what if there is any damage to it? does the villager again do without? they cant repair it (no tools or materials to do so) they cant replace the parts (no money to import more) they cant duplicate the houses (supposing they do like them)because the manufacturing is beyond their villages skills. - at no time did the group appear to have asked some vital questions:such as what did the village REALLY NEED?? i can think of a few things more important - like a clean water source. nor did the group appear to bother to "teach" anything.like how to build a house quickly and effeciantly and cheaply (like strawbale or cob or using tires like the earthship houses.)thereby not only getting new homes and skills to be used over & over. they could have taught how to build effeciant fuel burning stoves for cooking instead of open smoke causing cooking fires.

the thing that strikes me as sad & scary is the group sees nothing wrong with their methodology or attitudes.they are probably decent folk who mean well(in spite of their insistance in preaching their possible unwanted doctrine)there are so many groups like them, but its no wonder so many 3rd worlders resent and hate the gringo yankee. we come off as know-it-alls who really dont take the time to learn or care.

on a more family level i just cant 'get' into spending 2 out of 4 days off traveling to see a huge family group while probably exhausted from said traveling then overeating on one day and turn right around and spend hours traveling back home- somehow i just dont see the fun in it. and why does this "Have" to be on the same weekend as millions of others. there are afterall 11 other months and at least 361 other days. shouldnt we spend more time WITH the family instead? with out the stress?? ok we cant get out of the overeating thing... at least if your family is anything like ours. the first thing the all do is cook a feast :o)

enough ranting for the day - i hope however you all spent your holiday weekend it was fun and safe

found a really interesting and uplifting blog today. apparently she had a stroke in her 2nd trimester of pregnancy & Survived!! wow! she is making remarkable progress as well. a real inspiration. she's at http://bethhanley.blogspot.com/

15 November 2006

WOW - its been ages since i posted and a lots been going on. today tho all i am going to mention is the blog i have just recently found Daycreek.com
i was so fascinated that i went back and read every posting. he has been building a cordwood home. The blog is very well written and the writer goes into amazing detail. the kind of things that a potential self builder wants and needs to know. and on top of all that he is a very good photographer! i do hope you take a minute to check his site out. its a delight.