Got Hate?

OK, I'm sure everyone is well aware of the nasty back and forth in the House, brick throwing & bullets through windows, Hitler picture modifications, threats, prejudicial slurs and name calling and the general lack of decorum taking place across the country and in the Capitol right now.  We have apparently devolved as a nation, into the worst possible 'Jersey Shore' episode.  Frankly, C-Span and MTV could save a lot on production costs if they just share their content.

I don't know about you, but I find it a bit scary when drunken, half-naked Spring breakers have better behavior and general decency than a middle aged parent of two. Does anyone feel like they've woken up in Bizarro world?

It's a tragedy that most of the "Greatest Generation" is dead. I imagine many of them could tell us a thing or two about conducting ourselves like rational adults, persevering through major economic downturns, sharing responsibility as citizens, and facing down true fascism that killed millions.

Frankly, they would have every right to be shocked and dismayed at how dramatically we rant about stuff that would have been a blip on their radar back in the day.  I am starting to believe that they may have been the last group in our country, that actually made it to adulthood.

I'm considering re-reading, "Lord of the Flies" for cultural survival tips.

Our current generation, Baby Boomers & Busters included, has been coddled, protected and infused with the idea that everything should be done our way, all the time.  Over the past decade or so, it seems that if  we don't win or someone disagrees with us, we get angry, indignant, rude and whine.  We don't just disagree, we HATE and RAGE.

What a wonderful legacy we are leaving to our kids.  I imagine great books, mini-series and sonnets will be written about this period of time, honoring "The Pissed-off, Whiny Generation."

Can you feel the pride?

This goes way beyond politics, so don't think for a second that this is about one political group or another, I'm condemning the ENTIRE, ill-behaved population.  So let's get that straight.

I imagine that as I write this, Canada is considering legislation to put a huge fence up on their southern border.  And frankly,  if they aren't, they should be - if only to protect the niceness of their population.  I doubt they want Americans busting in and wrecking the place...

Are you offended yet?  I bloody well hope so.

I hope you are so offended that you go out of your way to prove me wrong.

I hope you defiantly have rational, fact-based debates and are respectful of others, even if they are acting like jack asses.  I hope you funnel your anger into something positive and take to behaving as though the person you respect most in life was watching you on a 24 hour web cam.  I hope you are so willing to prove me wrong, that you share your intent to be respectful and decent with other people too, so they start thinking about it.

That'll show me!!!

I dare you to not pick a fight,  to be respectful of opposing views, avoid accusatory statements, including anything that remotely sounds like taunting and oh yea...no shitty comments said quietly under your breath. 

I DARE YOU!

You can be miffed, you can be angry, you can be outraged, you can be up in arms, you can even feel like you want to kill someone, but just ACT and BEHAVE like a rational human being on the outside. That's all.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, because most of you are conscientious people, but I urge you to start going out of your way to change this culture of hate and nastiness.  If you see a friend or relative behaving badly, help them out by telling them how they are being perceived.  Write your government officials telling them what kind of behavior you expect of them as well.  If you have kids, raise them to have and show respect and to be humane and polite, by setting a good example and apologizing to them if you screw up.

If we are to change our legacy and our reputation as a country and as a generation, we need to start right now.

Unfortunately, The Crown Jewel Club doesn't exist for adults, so were going to have to take a good hard look at ourselves and snap out of this terrible national attitude of hate and pettiness.  It would be great if we could all make the effort to grow up into a generation that we can be proud of and that future generations can respect.

End of lecture.
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I don't like to move it, move it !!!

Moving day has come and gone and we are now in our beautiful, circa 1922 duplex rental, a block from the beach.  It has all the 1920's charm that you would expect; sunny rooms, crown molding, hardwood floors and lovely Mexican tiles in the kitchen & bathrooms.

That said, 8 (scratch that )10 days later, I am still surrounded by towers of boxes, piles of cords, stacks of electronic equipment, books, vases, bags of stuff and a potpourri of various & sundry items, housed in plastic containers.  Most of these things are wedged into "free" spaces in any available room or hallway.  My dining room set, wine bar, buffet and over-sized chest of drawers now reside in our single car garage.  The car resides on the street.

You may be thinking, "Kris, why the hell don't you just unpack your crap and stop your stupid whining?!"  But before you start to speculate on my inability to put things away,  it is not because of pure laziness that I find myself navigating a maze of banker boxes on the way to the bathroom every morning...

As it turns out, our "new" place has major rain damage, characterized by water filling up the lighting fixture on the dining room ceiling and gray, fuzzy mold sprouting, unimpeded from various layers of drywall & plaster.  Consequently, our dining room has been rendered useless - mainly due to lack of a ceiling, but let's face it, who wants to pick out pieces of moldy drywall from their food?

I am assured by very capable people that things will be back to "normal" by Monday (scratch that) Tuesday.  Which should be just in time to start digging up and replacing the mainline pipe on the side of the house.

If you've never had the pleasure of doing a mainline pipe replacement, you are missing out!. We did one on our last rental house (circa 1950) during the first week of move-in and were able to skip a couple days of pesky showers while the water was shut off.  BTW,  Trader Joe's has wonderful bathroom facilities if you have to "go" between 8am to 9pm - anytime after that - it's a 24 hour grocery store.

Good times.


The upside is: we like our place a lot, we're saving several hundred dollars a month and we will probably only be living like this for a few more days.  The cherry on top is that we don't OWN this place, so repair bills for the roof, the ceiling and the mainline are not coming out of our pocket - so we get all the benefits of living in a charming older home and someone else gets the bills.  Yes, we are inconvenienced for a couple of weeks, but since we plan on staying here a long time, we're willing to deal with it.

I have a friend that is purchasing a CHARMING house built in 1928.  You know that Chinese curse?      'May you live in interesting times' - I think the same curse is implied for 'May you live in a charming house.'

They have chosen not to do a camera inspection of their 1928 mainline pipe or a further roof inspection, even though the inspector suggested it might need to be replaced soon.  They are also flying solo - without a real estate agent.  I'm guessing they will be in our situation about 6 months from now, but with a huge difference - THEY will be paying the bills.

Yes, I've warned them.

Frankly,  I love places with character and I'm always drawn to homes or apartments that are unique and not just a cookie cutter, clone of every place on the block.  I'm a sucker for built-in shelves and coves, glass door knobs, original tile and wood work, etc.  I know why my friend fell in love with the house they are buying -  but you have to understand what you are getting yourself into.

A "slush fund" of about $20k is mandatory if you are buying any older property and that will probably only cover the first incident or two.  But hey, that's the price of falling in love.

That said, when I start buying property, I have a list of must haves: Must be built after 1990, Must have a new mainline pipe, Must have copper plumbing, Must have insulated windows and Must have a leak-proof ceiling over the dining room.

Screw charm.
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