Microblog Mondays Car Talk

My car is not starting.

Like once a week.

Like the guy on the phone at AAA says "Oh wait, I think I remember you... Again?"

So we will likely be looking for another car.

We have never bought a car.

My father in law treats a car as if it is a child. He drives them for a bit and then gives them to us. Right now, he can't as he likes his car and isn't ready to get rid of it.

So we're looking at what kind of cars would be good. Used cars.

Anyone have "We love our Make/Model stories?" Or, even better "We would never buy this Make/Model!"

Thanks

The hairs of my chinny chin chin

Growing older  is not fun.

Parenting a small child while in your early forties is an adventure.

Lotus has entered the "but why" phase of toddlerhood. Everything is met with the phrase "but why?"

She has also decided that my chin has endless fascination for her.

This isn't new. From when we met her, when I would rock her or hold her on my lap I would notice a little hand groping my chin and holding on.
I thought "Awwwww, how cute." Then I really didn't think of it.

Lately, however, Lotus has been saying "I want to touch your chin." whenever she is upset, or feeling insecure. She just started preschool and is 90% through with potty training (WHY can't she poop on the potty?? WHY???) So she's feeling insecure...enough.

I should note here, that as I am in my early forties, my body is moving quickly towards menopause. That includes, hmmm how to put this, more hair on my chin.

I have the "little mustache" that my grandmother had. I have hairs coming through on my chin. I pluck and they return. I wax sometimes, and I ignore it other times.

One day though I was plucking hairs on my chin and Lotus saw me and was horrified. WHY was I doing that.

"Mommy has hairs on her chin and she doesn't like them."

"I like them." was her response. I shrugged and continued to pluck. She started to cry.

She grabbed my chin and started to rub. "It's so pretty. Don't"

I stopped.

Whatever my chin hairs mean to me, to her they mean comfort. So for right now, I'm keeping most of the hairs on my chinny chin chin.

Gun violence in America--our own Hunger Games

I'm listening to The Hunger Games on audiobook.

If you've never read them, the action takes place in a futuristic America, called Panem. There had been a major war and the country had set up as a capital and twelve districts. To punish the districts, every child from age 12 through age 18 had to put their name in a lottery. If they were chosen they were sent to an arena where they had to fight to the death for the amusement of the Capital. This book set off the dystopian wave of YA books and it is extremely good.

I'm always struck at the passivity of the parents in the books. I know the rules of the genre preclude  too much in the way of adult involvement. These are YA books and therefore the majority of the action surrounds people under the age of 18. I also know that if I was supposed to participate in a lottery where my kid might have to kill other kids or be killed herself, I would find a way to get away or die trying. This has been going on for 74 years and people are just now rebelling?

Then I see the news.

Another school shooting.

Since the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school there has been 142 school shootings.  That's one per week.

And we are doing nothing.

I am realizing that we are beginning to consider other people's children, spouses, loved ones as tributes to a different kind of Hunger Games. This one isn't controlled by an evil government, it is controlled by a lobby who controls congressmen and women.
Every day we wring our hands and say "our thoughts and prayers are with the victims", is a day that we are sending our loved ones out to be tributes. Somebody can get their hands on a gun and turn their school, their college, their place of business, the movie they are going to into a massacre. Then the news will appear on social media and we will wring our hands. Loved ones will cry.

Can someone explain to me why "the right to bear arms" seems to have no responsibility attached to it? A toddler can't drive an automobile, but a toddler got a hold of a gun and shot his mother dead. When you learn how to drive, the teacher has a break that he/she can employ if you are driving poorly, and there is an age limit of how old you must be before you learn to drive. With guns a student can shoot her gun instructor at the age of nine.

I am done.
I will not volunteer to be your tribute. Nor do I want your children to volunteer to be mine.
In order to purchase a vehicle in all fifty states you need to have a license. If you want to own a gun, fine, but you should take gun safety classes and no one should be given a gun without them. People with certain disabilities cannot get a license. It is time to regulate these guns as much as we regulate driving.

It is time to have sensible gun laws in this country. I have called my congressmen. Hell, even People Magazine has said that we must call our representatives and do something.

I add my voice.
Do something.
Now.

Microblog Mondays - Fictitious Heroes (TV)

I saw M*A*S*H last night.

I really think that this show was one of the best TV shows ever to air. Amazing characters. A message. Somehow it never got old.  Even though it's been over 30 years since it was on the air, it never feels old.

A lot of that is Hawkeye.

Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce. A doctor to his bones. A good man. A kind man. Who drank too much, womanized too much, and was not perfect. He was a hero though. Through and through.

I think he might be my favorite TV hero.

What is yours?