Temporary Venting Thread

[trolls' bane]

Good point.

[The last sane person]

lol, this has turned into the gas and car venting thread. I am happy on all counts. My already gas efficient motorcycle is a honda. I get something like 100 miles to a gallon. Granted that I am on an island, that will take me from one end to another a couple times.

Vent: God Dammit! Where the heck did I put my newly bought text books!? Now, one thing that I am more worried about than cost of gas is the cost of text books and college! Goodness, fortunately I won a great scholar ship that pays for most of it, so I have less room to complain than some. SHEESH! How can people like me afford to think about school if they didnt have somesort of financial aid?

[Lotesse]

You better find those books. Textbook costs are no joke. They can cost more than the actual tuition for the semester.

[The last sane person]

You ain't kidding. I've torn my room to bits looking for it, cause I know that I brought it home at least....aaaaaarrrrrgh! Perhaps I ought to go look in my saddle bags.....only place I haven't looked. Maybe I forgot to unload em...? I hope so...

[trolls' bane]

Well, I've got 4 years til I have to worry about that.
I hope you find them. I know how that can be.

[Bombadillo]

Vent: My back hurts a lot. For some reason, I can only fall asleep in one position, and that's on my stomach with my legs crossed and hands clasped beneath my chest with my head facing left. It's the only way I've been able to sleep for months; I dunno why. But it's putting my lumbar spine in an odd position for eight hours at a time, and there's nothing I can do about it. I hate that.

But good news: I work at a bike shop. Coincidentally, every single customer I helped today complained about gas prices and were looking into bikes as a less expensive means of transportation. Apparently the gas station next store to the shop went from $2.69 to $3.50 per gallon in one day! That's bloody incredible! And to me, it seems like every day, some brand new factor is discovered to have an affect on gas prices. I'll never understand it, but as long as I drive as little as I do now, I can't complain.

Hmm... I just reminded myself of an old Took Talk thread called "optimist/pessimist" or something like that. The idea was that you'd vent your rage about some event in your life, much like we do in this thead all the time, and then immediately afterward, in the same post, point out some remote good in that crappy situation. If those rules were followed here we'd have a happier place.

[littleadanel]

Vent: darn server of the university, I can't get to the course list of ANY department And with next Tuesday starts the signing up for courses - I hope at least by Monday I can set up a timetable-plan, 2-3 options for each time (just in case I can't get in to a certain class... there are sooo many of us ) But to do that, I'd need the course list!!
Oh my, such a crowd there will be, queueing (sp?) for the teachers, trying to sign up... Last year there were some broken arms as a result See the advertisement of one of the English departments?

"Sign up week - no harm expected
This semester will hopefully be remembered by all survivors as the last one when students needed to take high risks to sign up for courses. The exact time and place with course codes will become available on our site on 1st September." etc. but STILL not available!

I seriously hope that by next semester we will be able to sign up online. Then I'll only have to survive the next week

[Mercutio]

Originally Posted by Bombadillo

Vent: My back hurts a lot. For some reason, I can only fall asleep in one position, and that's on my stomach with my legs crossed and hands clasped beneath my chest with my head facing left. It's the only way I've been able to sleep for months; I dunno why. But it's putting my lumbar spine in an odd position for eight hours at a time, and there's nothing I can do about it. I hate that.

But good news: I work at a bike shop. Coincidentally, every single customer I helped today complained about gas prices and were looking into bikes as a less expensive means of transportation. Apparently the gas station next store to the shop went from $2.69 to $3.50 per gallon in one day! That's bloody incredible! And to me, it seems like every day, some brand new factor is discovered to have an affect on gas prices. I'll never understand it, but as long as I drive as little as I do now, I can't complain.

Hmm... I just reminded myself of an old Took Talk thread called "optimist/pessimist" or something like that. The idea was that you'd vent your rage about some event in your life, much like we do in this thead all the time, and then immediately afterward, in the same post, point out some remote good in that crappy situation. If those rules were followed here we'd have a happier place.

Regular gas around us has jumped to $3.39/gallon. It was more like $2.70 a day or so ago. Some of the stations have even run out of the lower grades of gas.

[Spock]

Middle priced gas is $3.19 and high test #3.39 as of today. We had great prices for a long time but I guess it's over for us all now.

[Bombadillo]

You think the US actually has oil reserves or that's just a governmental myth?

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Bombadillo

You think the US actually has oil reserves or that's just a governmental myth?

Yep we do. It is usually reserved for military uses in case of a war but has been used in the past to help out the general population.

HERE'S SOME GOOD NEWS

IEA nations agree to release 2 million barrels a day in emergency oil stocks
September 02, 2005 1:07 PM EDT
PARIS - The governments of 26 countries agreed Friday to release the equivalent of 2 million barrels of oil per day from strategic reserves to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the International Energy Agency said.

The Paris-based IEA said its member countries "unanimously support" the measures, which will take effect for an initial period of 30 days. The IEA board will meet in two weeks to review the situation, it said.

"The loss of production in the Gulf of Mexico and considerable damage to oil refining and transportation infrastructure constitute a serious disruption of supplies," the group said.

France said it had agreed to contribute the equivalent of 92,000 barrels of oil per day in refined products - mainly gasoline - and Spain said it will release 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Germany and Portugal also said they would support the IEA plan.

"This request is part of the solidarity effort toward the American people, severely affected by this meteorological cataclysm," the French Industry Ministry said.

Katrina ravaged the Gulf of Mexico coast and shut down around 90 percent of crude production capacity. The region is responsible for around 30 percent of U.S. crude production and quarter of its gas.

IEA members are bound to release strategic stocks in emergencies, under the terms of the international agreements underpinning the organization.

The United States has already begun lending crude from its strategic reserves to refineries, but needed an IEA agreement to approve a general release of emergency stocks. As part of the agreement the Bush administration will release 30 million barrels of crude oil from U.S. reserves.

[Insidious Rex]

Ha ha! Where are the French bashers now?

Oh and for the Islam bashers? www.irw.org/katrina

[The last sane person]

Yep, they help in their own quiet way. Hurrah for the French, German, Spanish and Portugese!

Vent: Room mate borrowed my motorcycle and brought it home with a friggin huge dent on the gas tank. WTF did he do?!

[trolls' bane]

Where's Alden when I can say "I told you so"? All this time he's been saying that we should kill the french because they never help us. They are useless, etc. (He says the same thing about what he calls the evil liberals)-kinda violent political beleifs, espescially a 14 year old. HE thought we should make the middle east into a mega Wal-Mart and parking lot.

[Tessar]

I am one sick puppy today.

Yesterday my throat was killing me because all night long I'd had 'stuff' draining down it, and today my throat is still sore but it's all going to my nose. I couldn't take a decongestant yesterday either because I had to sing in the two church choirs that I'm in, and decongestants mess with your vocal cords.

My brain is all fuzzy, too, and I have to do homework... I'm gonna put it off a bit though in the hopes that it'll be a little easier to focus later.

Thank God it's labor day, or I would be having to drag myself off to college in a bit and do my class.

[Spock]

...take two aspirins and call me in the morning. , no really, take care of yourself T. we need you but first take care of yourself.

[Lief Erikson]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

Ha ha! Where are the French bashers now?

Oh and for the Islam bashers? www.irw.org/katrina

And for the Pat Robertson bashers!

On Monday of last week, truckloads of food and kitchen utensiles were delivered in Operation Blessing to Salvation Army in Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana. The following day, truckloads of food, water and emergency supplies were delivered to Salvation Army staging areas in Baton Rouge, Hattiesburg, Jackson and Pensacola. As National Guard had sealed off the hardest hit areas, trucks from Pat Robertson's organization were still waiting in line, unable to get into many of these places. They have continued to conduct meetings with FEMA and other relief groups. I can continue with updates on how their organization continued to press relief efforts forward each of the following days, but I don't think that will be necessary.

Pat Robertson's relief groups poured into disaster areas hit by the December tsunami on the first day.

I sincerely hope that these actions, along with the other numerous good-will activities engaged in by his organization (there is a huge history of their acting in these ways; it's not something new), will end up meaning something to those who have sought only to tear him down.

[Lotesse]

That was nice of him. Pat Robertson is a friend of my stepfather's; not a great claim to fame in MY book anyway, but at least he's trying to help people right now, and that's more than I can say for my evil stepfather.

[Lief Erikson]

Originally Posted by Lotesse

That was nice of him. Pat Robertson is a friend of my stepfather's; not a great claim to fame in MY book anyway, but at least he's trying to help people right now, and that's more than I can say for my evil stepfather.

Pat Robertson's organization has always been focused this way. Where there isn't a major catastrophe, it focuses upon poverty relief and I think education.

Here's a quote from his website that seems to cover the credentials and focuses of his organization pretty well.

M. G. "Pat" Robertson has achieved national and international recognition as a philanthropist and humanitarian. Much of his public humanitarian works have been carried out through Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, which he founded in 1978. Operation Blessing International is a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid in the form of food, clothing, medicine, and financial assistance to help disadvantaged people and disaster victims throughout the world.

Operation Blessing has provided nearly $500 million -- which includes Operation Blessing donations and matching funds from other organizations -- to assist nearly 130 million people in 50 states and 71 foreign countries.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Its purpose is to help people who cannot help themselves. One of the cornerstones of our Christian faith is to serve others. That's what Operation Blessing International is all about.'

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1996, Operation Blessing completed the conversion of a Lockheed L1011 airliner into a flying hospital which brings state-of-the-art medical assistance to remote areas of the world.

Numerous presidents, governors, state legislators and mayors have recognized Robertson's humanitarian efforts with citations.

Founded on November 14, 1978 Robertson set up Operation Blessing to help struggling individuals and families by matching their needs for items such as clothing, appliances, vehicles with donated items from viewers of The 700 Club, Robertson's daily television program. However, as requests for assistance poured in, he and the board of the Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. (CBN) decided to make a financial commitment to assist Operation Blessing out of CBN's general fund.

Pat Robertson is an outspoken man, and he isn't PC. However, he has been highly educated and says things as he sees them. He doesn't mince words, and this earns him opponents as well as friends. His son is a good deal more gentle. Many people solely focus upon the problems they have with Pat Robertson's theology and Republican beliefs however, and completely ignore all of the good things he has done for millions. I think that that's often because they don't know about those good things, and we all have a tendency toward bias. My bias is in favor of Republican Conservatives a lot of the time. Democrats and liberals have a bias against them that I have repeatedly observed. As my father says, "someone who has no bias at all has no beliefs."

[Lotesse]

Thanx 4 the bio, Lief; I really didn't know much at all about ol' Pat Robertson. I like what your Dad says, though, it feels true - that bit about no bias/no belief.

Well, you guys, I need to get out of this thread, I've got no complaints today!