It’s been almost four years since I got new glasses. I’m nearsighted, got my first pair of new specs at The Vision Plaza in Lakeside Shopping Center. Glasses improved my ability to see the blackboard! Da Mall lacked a/c back then, open-air. Each store opened to the outside. So, glasses are important to me.
Contacts and vanity
I begged for contacts in high school, as soon as the doctor declared my eyes hit “adult” level as in not growing anymore. It was wonderful to go around sans frames! Of course, this was 1975ish, so they were the “hard” contacts. Extended wear meant extended misery. Later in life, I got more modern contacts, the thirty-day type. I still defaulted to the glasses for the most part. With all the travel I’ve done, dealing with contacts was just another hassle. I did go back to contacts more during the pandemic, however, because the glasses and a mask created a pain-in-the-ass combination.
Sunglasses
The thing about contacts from the get-go was the freedom to wear sunglasses. I’ve always been a cheap sunglasses person, mainly because I’m absent-minded. Leaving a pair of Ray-Bans in a hotel room or rental car wasn’t healthy from a financial point of view. Gimme those cheap sunglasses from the Iris parade or wherever.
Eyedrops
This glaucoma thing. Contacts are problematic! The doc has me on four different drops, twice a day. Contacts out, drops, contacts back in? Way too much bother. Thing was, the glasses were dated and my eyes needed stronger lenses. I wore the contacts for the tour guide class, with readers, of course. I broke down and bought a pair of readers with decent frames, as opposed to the 3/$20 kind you get at the drugstore.
That’s why I’m glad for updated specs. I went with a two-for-one deal, so I can indulge a bit of personalization and vanity!
We laid my 2011 Toyota RAV4 to rest yesterday. Taking its place is a 2025 Honda CR-V hybrid. It’s a wonderful car, and it’s red! While there was nothing wrong with the RAV4 and RAV4 hybrid, there were a few reasons we opted for the Honda.
First, my CPA kiddo bought a Civic from Royal Honda (on Veterans in #themetrys) a few years back. When it became clear it was time for us to get a new car, I asked him if he was still happy with the car, and the dealer. Yes to both, he replied. That Civic traveled to Palo Alto, CA, and back. Dr. and Mr. Branley spent the last three years out there, as Dr. Branley did her Pediatrics residency at Stanford Children’s. That part of her career now complete, they’ve come back home. So, their Honda survived There and Back Again.
Second, he and my wife were both happy with Royal Honda. I wasn’t involved in that purchase, but the wife went with him. He was driving her old Saturn, so she had to sign the title over to the dealer for the trade-in. Since my wife is also my CPA, it’s important that she’s happy with the people we do business with. Turns out that the salesperson who took care of the Civic is still with the dealership, now a manager.
Third, now that Mr. Ray Brandt passed, “Ray Brandt Toyota” is now “Toyota of Kenner.” Mr. Ray was a great guy. He spoke years ago to the Crimson and Gold Network at Brother Martin High School. His story was fun to hear, and at the end, he gave us all his mobile number. Fast forward a year or so, when we were in the market for the RAV4, I called him. He said, I’ll have a guy call you back in ten minutes. Salesperson did just that. We bought the car. Royal Honda’s been around a long time, and Royal Oldsmobile was around even longer than that. The dealership is the closest one to the house. It all felt like a good fit.
And finally, I like the car! This CR-V is a bit larger than the old RAV4. I’m told Honda and Toyota pretty much match size and features on these models. While the Honda HR-V was a better fit for me, size-wise, I really wanted the hybrid.
TFG really said “they’re eating the dogs” during the debate.
They’re eating the dogs
OK, this isn’t funny. Well, it shouldn’t be funny. It’s a horrible situation in Springfield, OH. Some woman made up shit about the local Haitian community there and how they stole pets to eat them. Haitians get a bum rap from whyte America for a couple of reasons. First, they’re black. Black refugee communities are incredible fodder for racists. Christianists look down on Haitians because they believe everyone from the island practices Voudon and are satanic, demonic, etc. Ask your average whyte person why Haiti is so messed up, they’ll tell you it’s demonic. So, once you’ve established demonic, animal sacrifice isn’t a stretch. Eating the sacrifice, just another step.
Non-whyte people eating animals generally regarded as household pets is a well-established trope in whyte America. When the Carter administration re-settled Vietnamese refugees along the Gulf Coast, the jokes abounded. Why were there no dogs and cats on the streets in New Orleans East? They were in the kitchens.
Weird Al
Then there was “Cat in the Kettle,” by Weird Al. Yankovic parodied Harry Chapin’s lovely father-son song, “Cat’s in the Cradle” by joking how Chinese restaurants served cat. It was kinda gross, but, hey, a lot of people laughed (including me). Folks accepted the song as parody, naturally. Nobody stormed the local Chinese takeaway, demanding they stop turning Mittens into Kung-Pao.
Still, Yankovic capitalized on whyte prejudice, just like all the Vietnamese jokes. It took decades for Vietnamese cuisine to go mainstream. So many jokes about dog and cat, those folks opened “Chinese” restaurants. Their wonderful food stayed in the closet until food critics sang its praises. Now, in New Orleans, there are more pho places than Chinese. That should have happened a decade earlier.
Weaponization
Republicans weaponized prejudice against Haitians. Vance parlayed a small-town lie into a national talking point. What his handlers forgot is that the guy at the top of the ticket is Ron Burgundy. Drumpf will read anything on the teleprompter. He delivered during the debate. The terrible right are beside themselves as they work to clean up the mess on Aisle Drumpf.
While most folks that laughs/laughed at ethnic jokes weaponize them, we all contributed to the culture that enables the evil.
A. Baldwin Wood (left), inventor of the wood-screw pump (photo 1)
Drainage and Racism
As we travel once again into the realm of drainage solutions butthurtia, let’s discuss why whyte people get so indignant and angry whenever it rains.
Meet A. Baldwin Wood, inventor of the wood-screw pump. His invention facilitated the drainage of the city for decades. Those pumps were built in the 1910s and 1920s. They were expected to last for fifty-ish years. So, what happened fifty years later?
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 happened. Whyte people ran from Orleans Parish to the suburbs. The remaining ones pulled their kids out of public schools in the city, enrolling them in Catholic schools. Those schools were able to continue de jure segregation, protected by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Since they were paying tuition, they didn’t want to pay property tax. That shifted the burden of paying for city services to businesses. Those folks had the money to donate to political campaigns, making sure their property taxes didn’t go up.
“I’m not paying more taxes to give to a black mayor who will misspend it and steal it.”
They said that when Dutch took office in 1978.
They said that when Sidney took office in 1986.
They said that when Marc took office in 1994.
They said that when Ray took office in 2002.
When Mitch took office in 2010, whyte people blamed his daddy for encouraging black people to vote in his first mayoral election in 1971.
All the while, businesses did what they always do, shift the burdens to the residents. Whyte people in the suburbs sat, waiting for the city to tank. Their dream was to have the city fall apart under majority black governance, then step in with regional control. David Vitter led this movement in 2004 with the Recovery School District. By then, Orleans Parish Public Schools were in such a state that the Legislature mustered the votes to take over. The plan was to transition the black-managed schools to charters. (Hurricane Katrina accelerated this like nobody expected.)
The pumps today
Melpomene Pumping Station, named for Baldwin Wood (photo 2)
Back to drainage. Those pumps from the 1920s were in need of replacement by the 1970s. Suburban whyte people missed the boat on where the city anchors the suburbs, not the other way around. As the revenue base in Orleans Parish eroded, the suburban parishes refused to help. They wanted black folks to give control back to them. Regional solutions weren’t going to happen–shit, Jefferson Parish wouldn’t even join the Regional Transit Authority, lest a robust bus system bring more black people near their homes. Republicans in the suburbs wouldn’t pony up to fix the city’s drainage. Federal solutions under Republican presidents weren’t likely, either.
Now, it’s 2023. Louis Armstrong was a twelve-year-old boy selling newspapers on Canal Street when Baldwin Wood’s pumps were installed. They’re still in operation (sort of). Saying you won’t give money to Cantrell because she’s corrupt (translation: she’s Black) is silly. She didn’t create the problem, and wouldn’t have the funds to fix it even if she didn’t travel to Europe and the Emirates.
Reddit downvotes won’t drain the water. Working in the suburbs to affect change in the attitudes of elected officials will.
(h/t to James Karst for the factoid about Pops)
I found this meme on Da Twittah. So, I shared it on Zuckerbook. I figured it would give folks a chuckle. That plan sort of backfired. Many people who follow me saw a gun here.
It’s not a gun. It’s a camera, on a tripod. A lot of photographers take a rig like this and throw it over their shoulder to move from, say, one room or building to another. Moving the camera while assembled speeds up their work day. You don’t have to break down the equipment, pack it, move, then re-assemble.
We see what we want to see
If it looks like a gun, it must be one, right? Think again. How many times have we read about someone getting shot for holding a toy, or even a mobile device. The cop explains, they thought they saw a gun. They reacted as if their lives were in danger.
Guess what liberals? You just did the same thing here. Your brain processed this image as a weapon. You might even have the same reaction as the cop.
Words are important
Some folks stopped looking at this image when they read the caption. It says, “Give me ONE reason why any civilian needs access to something like this.”
How about because they’re taking pictures of their kid’s soccer game? They’re a bird- or (like me) a train-watcher. It’s a feckin camera.
But you didn’t pause to consider that. Your mind said “gun.” The caption implies “gun.” You don’t like guns. You think people should have guns.
When it comes to guns, you’re not wrong. Thing is, this isn’t a gun. You need to work on your critical thinking.
But…but…but
Then there are the double-downers. One person on Instagram commented on this. I suggested they look again. Their reply was that people shouldn’t set up a camera so it looks like a gun. Doubling down on an error is rarely a good idea. When your double-down is particularly stupid, well, that’s when I mute/delete/block.
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