Yes it is time for my first random rant. I had a really wierd one a couple weeks ago all thought out but this morning something so vile…so so…dastardly!…caught my attention that I cannot help but vent here to you, my unfortunate rant victim of the day.

So here I am watching the news just minding my own business getting ready for work and all that, when all of a sudden a news story comes on. APPARENTLY, the post office has decided to raise the price of stamps from 37 cents to 39 cents. Now I have had to become used to price increases over the past few years. Rent going up 10 bucks, Price of food going up 30 cents or more, and those who drive have to deal with gasoline that just goes crazy every once in a while. Well I’ve had it. You know why? Because I have 11 perfectly good stamps left at home that normally would have taken care of all my forthcoming bills. 11 of them! Or 9 bills and 2 personal letters. Or 5 bills, 3 personal letters, 2 ‘yes i’ll order your magazine’ notifications, and 1 order for a partridge in a pear tree! Who knows!? Not me!! I’ll never know what those 37 cents could have done for me as I now have to fork over two whole freakin cents per letter! This is ludicrous!

You know what else bugs me? I have a credit card bill arriving any day now, perhaps sitting in my mail box as I type here today. I’ve been planning on taking care of half that stupid bill and that means knocking me down a few hundred dollars. I personally do not wish to pay one more cent. Guess WHAT??!! The post office goes, ‘Hey let’s screw the guy and make him pay TWO more cents’. So yeah, now I have to go down to my post office and purchase 11 two cent stamps just to be able to use the rest of my little packet of outdated stamps. This is outrageous on an emotional level, an ethical level, a moral level, and because my stamps depict the Virgin Mary and Jesus – on a spiritual level! GRRR!!

So to those who made the decision: SCREW YOU! You should not have increased the price of stamps by two cents!

And to those who read this entire tirade: Thank You, and have a pleasent day.

-Shadowrunner81

I heard a story about those 12 miners who died in the Sago mind blast in West Virginia this morning that has had me thinking non-stop all day long.

I heard that the 26 year old long surviver had been given some oxygen tanks by the rest of them, which is probobly why he was the sole survivor. I cannot tell you how much that impressed me not just about those who sacrificed themselves to save that father of two, but also about the state of the human race as a whole.

If you’ve seen War of the Worlds, you can recall the scene where the family is being attacked by the mob as they try to drive through to safety. You can understand why they all want the car because their lives are pretty much forfeit unless they can get away and get away fast from the tripods. Anyways, they get held up by a man with a gun and he, as he drives away through the rest of the mob, gets shot and killed. This scene basically depicted humanity, when faced with death, reacting with violence and insanity.

Contrast that to what you hear from those miners faced with their impending deaths and you can’t help but be overwhelmed. If Steven Spielberg had his way it would be survival of the fittest and ‘Let’s kill the little guy so we can surivive longest!’. Instead they sized up their situation and chances for survival and at least a few of them decided that the 26 year old father of two little kids had the most to live for. The rest of them wrote notes to their family(very tackily posted on the front page of my columbus dispatch) and met death with dignity.

The only thing left to say is that were I given a choice between voting for George Bush, John Kerry, John McCain, and Hilary Clinton into positions of supreme authority or for those handful of coal miners, I would choose those coal miners in a heartbeat. What I want in a leader is what those men showed in the face of the worst form of adversity. Compassion, Understanding to the point of being called empathy, and the ability to choose sacrifice for the sake of two little kids.

Rest In Peace

We have a new subscriber! Time to divulge her random secret!

My Random Revelation about LiquidyFire7:

During her free time she sits by the window waiting for innocent passersby who she can pelt with old crusty pepperoni!

Welcome to the site Liqui….::whap::…ouch. Yeah welcome to the site….mmm still the pepperoni still tastes alright!

Way to go Buckeyes!! 34-20 over the Irish in the Fiesta Bowl! Nice way to start the New Year. Ohio State just made me poor a little while ago when I paid my tuition, but hey, I suppose it’s worth it.

Well I was wondering what everyone’s New Year’s resolutions were. I suppose if yours were personal it’s perfectly cool if you don’t want to put them up here.

Here are mine:

1. Accept both my strengths(easy) and weaknesses(not so easy).

2. Trust

3. Whether through the writing course or just in general, begin to maximize my own        potential.

4. Once the above three are underway(since there really isn’t a point after which I could go “Ok number 2 – check!”, use them to make those around me happier.

There you go – your turn.