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I was cleaning out some old papers and stuff today and came across an old magazine article pulled from an early ’90s issue of Seventeen Magazine. The article had to do with taking care of your car. (Surprised I kept it? LOL).

Anyway, on the backside of the article is part of an ad for General Motors. It’s only half the ad and I can’t tell what the photo is supposed to be (it’s a faded black and white photo of either a truck or maybe even an older car. But there’s not enough for me to tell which is which. LOL). Anyway, in light of the current situation with General Motors, it was the words that I found interesting.

“I want a car that helps me exercise my right to pursue happiness.”

Our engineers are concerned with safety, reliability, fuel economy, corrosion protection, ease of maintenance and hundreds of other important things you definitely need. But they’re not the only things you want. That’s why our designers are on hand to make sure GM cars and trucks are also a pleasure. A freedom. An independence. A reason why the driving age comes before the voting age. It’s an attitude expressed throughout our new engines, road-handling features, audio systems, interiors and designs.

All of which means that buying a new General Motors car or truck will never be a compromise between driving bliss and driving boredom.

General Motors.

I’ve always been partial to GM cars (with Chrysler/Mopar having a spot in my heart too…dang them Duke boys) and the words of that ad really struck me. Especially now, with the fact that the Pontiac brand is no more. I really believe that GM did build cars that were a pleasure, both to own and to drive. My hope, as GM works it way through this bankruptcy, that it will emerge a smarter business and realize that their history of building quality, fun cars, is their greatest asset.

It’s been awhile since I’ve lambasted my hometown newspaper, known by this blog as the Capital City Gazette (to protect the not so innocent). It’s not for lack of things that have annoyed me with this newspaper. There’s not a week that goes by where I’m not irritated by something, usually in the OpEd page and often in the Letters to the Editor.

I missed my opportunity awhile back to craft some scathing commentary about a letter to the editor where someone was complaining because of the frequency the National Guard helicopters were flying at night. The helicopters in question are part of a medical unit which has since been shipped to Afganistan. Again.  However, nothing I could craft for a response could’ve beaten the response from the National Guard unit itself, an open letter in the paper inviting the letter writer to the sending off ceremony that took place about a week ago. It’s unknown if the person infact went.

But this morning, I found this piece which really took the cake. I’m talking USDA choice stuff here.

And for DA I don’t mean Department of Agriculture. Instead I mean, Dumb Ass.

Here is the letter, as it appeared, with only the names changed to protect the idiots.

As a Hazzard High School student and on behalf of teenagers: Please, let us get some rest.
Adults don’t rise at 6 to start work before 8; they know that sleep is helpful. In the winter months, we wake before the light, all in the name of something that will improve if we get to sleep. Sports can go later (we have lights), homework will get done (if not more efficiently), and everybody will actually be ready for class. If we really are the hope for the future, then let us rest for the occasion.

Sleepy Dozeopedic
Hazzard

First of all, this letter reads slightly incoherent and perhaps the writer really does need some sleep. But the line that just sent me into the stratosphere was, “Adults don’t rise at 6 to start work before 8.”

What? They don’t? Holy crap, what the hell have I been doing wrong all this time?? I’m up at 5:30 to get ready for my job and be there by 8, and I don’t have a long commute. Boy does this kid not have a clue or what? Let’s have a show of hands of all y’all out there who get up early in the morning, say 5:30 or 6am to be to work by 8am because you have, perhaps, an hour commute? Yup…wow, lookit at all the hands…

I’ve heard often over the years about how teenagers need more sleep. This was true when I was a teen. But I went to bed early because, unfortunately, I had to haul my ass out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to get in line for the bathroom which three other people had to use as well and be out of the house by 7 to catch the bus (school started at 7:45am). I guess this kid either lives right next door to his school or he just rolls out of bed and jumps on the bus or he doesn’t have to worry about catching a bus. Perhaps his house has more than one bathroom as well. Maybe his parents don’t work at all.

If the young people are really the hope for the future, this kid should just go back to bed and stay there because he certainly doesn’t make me hopeful.

Alas, it’s been awhile since my last blog post. I’ve been busy working on a story, which I’m currently suffering writer’s block on, and haven’t paid much attention to the news or the world. Which is just as well. Since I’ve taken a brief respite from my latest fic, I’ve discovered 1) I haven’t missed much and 2) most of what’s going on out there still pisses me off.

Which makes for great blog fodder but there just isn’t enough hours in the day to write up scathing commentary about All That Annoys Me.

So I present a condensed version for y’all.

Top Ten News, Sports and Culture Items That Currently Annoy Me.

1. Michael Jackson. His doctors. The pills. The family. The kids. For crying out loud! The man is dead (but not buried yet?!?!?). Will y’all please just leave him the hell alone?!

2. Brett Farve. Please, Brett, just shut the hell up.

3. Jon and Kate. Who the *#$*%! are these people?! And should I care?

4. The Health Care Debate. Guns at town hall meetings? Shouting and disruptions? Nazi-inspired comments? And this is all over health care?!

5. Ben Bernanke Speaks, Stocks Jump 100 Points. Please, Ben, DON’T shut the hell up. Just do us all a favor and be right about what you’re saying…

6. MySpace. Facebook. Twitter. Social Networks. The Internet as a Whole. I dunno about you, but I’m overwhelmed by the internet nowadays. Facebook scared the hell out of me when I discovered all my friends from high school are on it but all they do is play games and apps. MySpace has become the same way. Twitter I can’t decipher some folks’ posts. Doesn’t anybody speak to anyone anymore? And in English?

7. H1N1 Virus. Triple E. West Nile. Bubonic Plague. Well, that’s it, we’re all gonna DIE!!

8. Global Warming. Changes in Weather. See #7

9. Cash For Clunkers. Some people are buying Hummers with this program?!?!

10. Making Home Affordable. New Truth-in-Lending Regs. New RESPA and HUD requirements. Translation: How to Make Your Banking Career A Living Hell!!

Well, folks, there you have it. Man, I’ve gotta git back to working on that story so I can shut the world out again…