I Was Freaked Out Today

If you're local, you know about this story. A quick recap for others - last December, a mother was driving down the road that runs along the Iowa River when she lost control of her car and went into the river. Thanks to the bravery of four individuals walking and biking along the river, people who dove in and rescued the woman and her two sons, no one died. The mother later said that she lost control because the boys were acting up in the backseat. 

Jump forward to this past weekend. The woman and the two boys went missing. The vehicle she was driving was found in a wooded area. One boy, the youngest, was dead of multiple knife wounds. The older son and the mother were taken to the hospital, also with multiple knife wounds. This afternoon, to no one's surprise, murder and assault charges were filed against the mother. 

That's sad and sick enough. Here's where it gets weird for me. 

There was a picture of the mother online for the first time today. She looked very familiar to me. I thought I placed her, but wasn't sure. So I found the family address, looked at a picture of the house at the County Assessor's web site, and confirmed what I suspected. I did know her. 

Not by name, no. 

Back when we were a family, we lived for awhile on ValleyView Drive in Coralville, a short walk from where this family lives. This woman would come around, pushing a stroller. (Considering when we were there, it had to be the older son - the younger son would not have been born until after we moved from that spot.) One day she came by while I had the dogs outside. They saw her coming and started to walk toward her and the stroller. She freaked out, started screaming at me to take the dogs inside. 

Now, neither of my dogs would ever harm a kid. Never. They've been around babies and toddlers and kids all their lives, and they are great with them. But I took them in anyway. No big deal. 

A couple of days later, same thing was about to happen. But this time, she started screaming at me to take the dogs inside BEFORE they even saw her. Of course, her screaming got them to turn and see her, and they became interested in this yelling lady. Once again, I got them and took them inside. No big deal. 

A few weeks later, same thing. She starts yelling BEFORE she gets to our place. This time, big deal. I got the dogs and started yelling back. Which caused her to yell more. Which caused the dogs to get excited. Which caused her to yell more. Which caused me to yell more. There may have been - scratch that, there was - profanity, and lots of it. Mostly from me. Lesa, having heard me, finally came and pulled me and the dogs inside. 

She continued to walk by. It was always at the same time, so we got to making sure the dogs weren't outside at that time. I drive by their house a lot - hell, when E's here, I drive by it at least twice a day, because it's on the way to his daycare provider's house - and everytime I would drive by and see her outside, I would always curse her a little under my breath. 

So anyway, that freaked me out today. It didn't necessarily surprise me - she was a fucking crazy lady five years ago, and she's apparently a fucking crazy lady today - but it did freak me out. 

This Election In A Nutshell

"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America, there is just an United States of America." B. Obama

"It's good to be here in the pro-America part of the country." S. Palin

And Now, An Important Word From Ron Howard, Andy Griffith, And Henry Winkler

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

You Tube Fun - Spanish Sub-titled Queen Edition

It's Late

Bohemian Rhapsody

Killer Queen

I Voted Today

You know, civilized states have early voting. It's great to be able to cast a vote more or less at your leisure. I had to renew the registration on my car, so while I was at the courthouse I went ahead and voted. It was only the second time in 30 years of voting that I cast a straight party line ballot. The first time was two years ago. I didn't take the "Vote All Dem" option though. I wanted the pleasure, and the honor, of filling in that little oval for Obama. 

It was, at least momentarily, a huge relief. This campaign has been going on for Iowans since February of 2007. That's when I saw my first presidential ad of this season. But when I got home, I was reminded that the campaign is still going on here. God knows why. There is no way McCain can possibly pick up the state. Sure, it's a relatively cheap ad buy, but it's totally wasted money. Oh well. I'm content to have him waste money here, particularly since it means it's money he can't spend someplace else where it might be effective. 

Happy Birthday E!

Six years. Six. Hard to believe.

I know you won't read this, but Daddy loves you kiddo. I love you so much, and I miss you so much, and I can't wait til I get to see you again. I hope you have a great birthday, hope you like your presents, and I hope Mommy gets you a cool cake.

Love
Daddy

And Now, An Important Word From Hayden Panettiere

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

I'm Sorry

There's something I need to apologize for. I wrote this on January 4th this year:

We are going to have a bloody, vicious fight on our hands, and I don't know that Obama is up for it.

Well, he is up for it. He's more than up for it. He's run a genius campaign so far. Absolutely genius. Neither Clinton nor McCain knew what they were up against. McCain still doesn't, but that's another post.

But if I apologize for that, I get to take credit for this, a part of the same post:

This coming election is going to be the ugliest Presidential election in my lifetime. This is the last gasp of the current Republican party, and they are going to do whatever they can, to whomever they have to, to hold onto the Presidency. The Republicans know they can't win on the merits, so they are going to attempt to absolutely destroy as a person whoever the Democratic nominee turns out to be.

I think I nailed that one, don't you? 

Linkage Update

I've added a bunch of other links in addition to the economic ones. There's Pro Football Talk, the source of NFL news and rumors. There's IO9, a relatively new science fiction-oriented (in all it's glories - books, movies, tv, comics) blog from the Gawker group of blogs. 

There's 538, a blog that uses all the polls - seriously, all of them - as the input to a predictive model. It's from the good folks behind Baseball Prospectus, and they bring that level of wonkery and that level of accuracy to the political realm. (Note - they are one of the very few who predicted, before the season began, that Tampa Bay would make the playoffs.) Mudflats, a progressive Alaska blog (wonder why that's there?) has been added. (In all seriousness, I would totally move to Alaska.) Finally, Balloon Juice, the blog of former Republican/still conservative/Obama supporter John Cole is back again. 

Give em all a try!

Money Money Money Money

Here are links to a couple of great NPR pieces on the economic crisis. The first is The Giant Pool Of Money. The second is Another Frightening Show About The Economy. Both are absolutely essential to understanding where we are and how we got there. I've also tossed a group of Economics links out there, including Calculated Risk, Paul Krugman's blog, and Brad DeLong's blog. Calculated Risk has a long, long list of economics related links. 

Great Ad

This is a great ad - the best I've seen all season. The cool thing is, it's privately made by an Obama supporter and not by anyone associated with the campaign. (Hat tip to TPM.)

Air Travel Thoughts

Good Things

Midway is a great airport. I've never been delayed at Midway, and indeed have almost always taken off and arrived early. The boarding pass check and security are set up perfectly to allow everyone to get through the process in a short amount of time. Parking - close parking - is plentiful and remarkably easy to navigate.

Southwest is a great airline. I love, love, love Southwest. I love that every leg is priced separately - I can purchase two one-way tickets and a round-trip ticket on Southwest out of Midway for cheaper than one one-way ticket out of Cedar Rapids. I love that there are no baggage fees unless you are checking more than two bags or bringing something over 75 pounds. I love the new method of boarding that rewards you for checking in early. I love how they stress customer service while allowing their employees to bring their own individuality to their jobs. Case in point: The flight back from Philly had the roughest landing I've ever had. You know how you always bounce slightly when you first touch down? We bounced three times, throwing you out of your seat (thank God for seatbelts) then rushed down the runway far faster than you should. When we finally came to a stop, the attendant came on and went "Wheee! That was fun!" The guy next to me muttered "That wasn't fun", and I agreed, but I liked how the attendant handled it.

Bad Things

That guy next to me? Huge. HUGE. Took up his seat, half of mine, and half of the guy on the other side. Now, I know I'm not a small man. But still. I was pressed against the window for the entire two hours of the flight. Thank God for books.

Carry-on people. You know, folks, if you have to stand there, pounding on your bag, moving it back and forth and to all different angles to try to get it into the overhead compartment, well maybe - maybe - YOU SHOULD JUST CHECK THE DAMN THING!!! As I was boarding for the flight back, there was a woman who had the whole line stopped because she was trying to get a bag that was literally - I'm not exaggerating, because she was right in front of me - six inches wider than overhead compartment. Don't get me wrong - it's not that the bag would normally be six inches wider, it's just that she had it so jammed filled with stuff that it got that way. Eventually she saw the line forming, pulled the bag down and ducked into the row so people could get past. She might have been the worst offender, but she wasn't the only offender.

You Might Want To Avoid This One

It's late - almost 1:30, and I've been up for over 20 hours. I started the day in a hotel a few miles south of Midway airport, went to Philadelphia and back, and then returned to Iowa. My spiritual journey was much harder, much longer. I started the day once again a father with two sons (having picked up Andrew at Midway last night) and end the day as a father with no sons. That's not entirely true I guess; I have sons, they are just 1,000 miles away from me.

That's why I'm not in bed yet, tired as I am. I know as soon as I shut the last lights off and lie down, it's all going to come crashing in on me. There were moments of tears throughout the afternoon after I left E, but I was able to fight them off. I know I won't now. I'll just have to accept them, accept that my life is no longer as bright as it was and won't be again for sometime, but I'm not ready for that yet.

There is an unfairness about it to me. It's unfair that there are parents who don't love their children, who don't want their children, who would be happy to be in my position. It's unfair that, at least to me, the bulk of the responsibility for our family, my family, being in this position lies elsewhere, but the bulk of the pain lies with me.

But the dogs are here, and though they sense my sadness, and though they know that E is not here, they will do what they can to keep me happy. I can devote my spare time more to myself, if not all to myself, and my expenses are cut drastically. These things don't add up to what I lost, but they will have to do.

Why Yes

I'm ec-fucking-static that the candidate I supported in the caucuses was carrying on an extra-marital affair (are there really any other kinds of affairs?) while campaigning for the Presidency.

Idiot.

So

I wonder how many Obama supporters who thought McCain would be a viable option if Hilary won the nomination still feel that way? I also wonder if McCain will ever put forward a reason for voting for him that isn't, for all intents and purposes, "I'm not Obama"?

It's Sad

That my first reaction to the headline "Hawkeye Recruit Arrested" was "Whew - least it wasn't another football player.

Professor Offers A's for T's

Film at eleven, story at the Iowa City Press Citizen.

According to complaints from the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety, there were four incidents. On May 8, a female student said she and Miller met. The student said Miller told her she wasn’t doing well in regards to her overall grade. The student said Miller said she “would have to do something for him” and Miller grabbed and sucked on her breast.

Miller later sent the student an e-mail congratulating her on getting an “A+” and offering to meet next week to discuss assistance for getting into law school.

There were two complaints from May 12. One complaint by a female student said she and Miller met to address her grade, with the student asking Miller if her grade would be fine pending taking the final. The student said Miller told her that wouldn’t be good enough and asked her to take off her top. The student did not do so and left his office.

The second complaint by a female student said she met with Miller to discuss grades. The student said Miller told her he would give her an “A” if she let him fondle her breasts. Miller did so and asked to lick them. Miller later sent the student an e-mail asking to meet with her again and that “A lasting memory of a lovely Monet cannot be formed in 20 seconds.”

The final complaint from May 13 was from a female student who met with Miller in his office. The student said Miller repeatedly asked her to take off her shirt and tried to negotiate by giving her an “A” in the class. The student said Miller told her that “girls in New Orleans do it all the time just for beads and that her grade was on the line.”

I don't want to downplay the severity of this story - it's a complete violation of the professor-student relationship, and, if true, should result in nothing less than a dismissal from the University. Further, I find it hard to believe that there have only been four incidents over time - I wonder if the investigation is getting in contact with all the females on his class lists for the past few years. They certainly should be, if they aren't. But the line "A lasting memory of a lovely Monet cannot be formed in 20 seconds" strides so wonderfully above the nexus of sleaze and cheese that I will not soon forget it.

My Friend Flickr

Added a virtual ton of photos to the Flickr account, most taken at our visit to the Iowa Children's Museum yesterday afternoon. E had a blast, though it was somewhat bittersweet for me; it's the last time I'll take him for awhile. We'll miss the Halloween party, which he has been to every year but one since he was born. My world changes on Wednesday, and not for the better. Oh well. You do what you do.

Anyway, here is a taste of the photos. It took a lot of attempts to get a photo with the balls just leaving the track, and by the time I finally got the shot, E was a little miffed that I wouldn't let him go play on other exhibits. But it worked, and I think it looks cool.

You Tube Fun - 80s Female Edition

Go-Gos



Bangles



Katrina and the Waves



Toni Basil

Paul Simon Was Wrong

Not everything looks worse in black and white.



(For those who don't get the reference, watch the video, listen to the video, and look at the new blog template.)

So of course they switch up the song lyrics in that one. Here's the original song put to a bunch of images.



And just because