The Baltimore City Fire Department wishes you a safe and joyous holiday season

Today at the butcher, I saw a sign from the fire department with some handy tips on how to avoid menorah fires and latke fires, because the BCFD wants everyone to enjoy a happy, healthy Channukah. And also, you just have to appreciate the notices that get put up in assorted kosher and otherwise Jewish emporia.

Puzzles

I have been on a quest for the past few days to find puzzles (or just one that doesn't suck, really). I've been in the mood for a puzzle, and not having any in the house, I had to go out and get one. The Pikesville Barnes and Noble only had one, of the cover to the White Album, and as much fun as putting together a white square seems.... Anyway, the Pikesville Target - no puzzles at all. The Ellicott City Barnes and Noble, only Christmas puzzles, and I'm just not that into angels or Baby Jesus. The Timonium Borders, also only Christmas themes. The Towson Barnes and Noble, Christmas and the White Album (I'm not sure how that became a thing that people wanted to do). The Towson mall (yes I went to the mall in the days just before Christmas, because this is the level of my desire) no longer has any stores that even sell puzzles - when I was younger, they had several. Finally, I found some at the Towson Target. The selection wasn't that good, so I may have to continue on my quest, but at least I am sated for a while. But in general, I don't understand why puzzles are so hard to find. They're awesome and they make for good gifts (all the places I looked didn't even have empty shelf space like they had recently run out of them because of people buying them up to give as gifts). What is this world coming to when a committed consumer can't even find a limited selection of a long popular item?

It melts!

So let me start off by saying that I don't approve of vegans (vegetarians are fine, but there is no earthly reason to be a vegan). Partly it's that I think being a vegan is completely unhealthy, but mostly it's that part and parcel of being a vegan is that the person must apparently be a pretentious jerkface. Let me also say that I have no problem with soy milk in its liquid form, and I actually find it quite useful, since it is not an actual dairy product, and so can be used in the same meal as meat.

Anyway...I was at Whole Foods today and I noticed some soy cheese with the exciting news emblazoned on the label that "It melts!" Cheese is supposed to melt. If cheese, in it's natural form, did not melt, many dishes, including pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches, would never have been invented. Thus, it says something about a product and the fact that it should never exist that a selling point for this particular brand is that it does something that the real product they are attempting to imitate does already. Just eat cheese, or eat something else. Because soy cheese is disgusting.

I just wanted to put that out there.

The election that just keeps giving

Energy policy - as explained by a 5 year old

John McCain wanted to get energy by breaking apart atoms, so it's a good thing he didn't win because that would be really hard. Barack Obama wants to get energy from power of the sun.

Speed Voting

I voted in 15 minutes this morning. That included getting to and from my polling place. But since I do vote in a ward that is at capacity turn out in most elections anyway, we didn't have to worry about a machine shortage. And I got photographed walking in the door, so I'll have to see if I make it into the Sun. But not exit polled. I think pundits already know how my voting ward is going to go (though we do have a Republican family living across the street, so maybe that one family could sway the whole election), so they don't even bother asking.

I'm conflicted

I passed someone the other day having a phone conversation wherein he said that Sarah Palin was unqualified to be vice president because she's a woman. And while I definitely agree with the first part of that statement (she has no qualifications to be VP and haven't we already had enough experience with a folksy halfwit to know that we don't want any more), I'm troubled by the second part, since her lack of qualifications has nothing to do with her gender. She could be just as stupid and incompetent as a man (again, I point to our current president). So on the one hand, I don't want to defend her and I'm glad the guy was going to vote for Obama (I assume, though in truth I don't know that he wasn't voting libratarian or something), but on the other hand, it is quite upsetting to me that in 2008 "she's a girl" is still a reason people use to vote for or against someone.