What Are We Becoming?

I keep seeing commercials for paper hand towels for the home. Not the paper towels you use in the kitchen, but towels for the bathroom, for drying your hands. Just like in public bathrooms. And I thought the automatic soap dispenser was lazy.

Apparently, our cloth hand towels are too germy for us to dry our hands on. So we're saving ourselves by using disposable paper towels. You could argue that this also saves the environment by using less water and a renewable resource. However, you could also argue that you're killing tons of trees and adding to the landfills.

My argument? How can we become a nation of germaphobes and still eat the way we do? Seriously, we've all heard about the obesity epidemic, haven't we? We eat fast food and gigantic portions and then sit and watch tv, but we're worried that our soap dispensers and hand towels have too many germs?

Besides, look at how many of us grew up without all this anti-bacterial crap. We're still alive, aren't we? Did we die of some weird flu virus?

I'm of the belief that a little bacteria is good for you. Your immune system can't learn to fight things it's never exposed to. So expose it a little. Go ahead and touch that doorknob! Use that cloth towel! I dare you!

In the mean time, I will continue using my manual-dispenser soap pump and my cloth hand towels. I'll even continue to touch the handle on public restroom doors on my way out. Take that, germaphobes!

I think the big macs and cokes will kill you before the germs on your hand towel. (Assuming you do wash the thing periodically, or at least replace it with a clean one.)

The Joys of Being In The Middle

**Not my usual snarky attitude, but actually a somewhat thoughtful post.**


I am a middle-of-the-road type of girl. I love the word compromise. While I admit there is no way to keep everyone happy, I believe there is almost always a way for everyone to not be as unhappy as they would be otherwise.

I am reminded of my middle ways with the signing of Health Care Reform, and my friends’ posts on Facebook. I have friend on the far-right, the far-left, and everywhere in between. I’ve already seen a comments argument over health care. Today, I am thankful that my far-left friends and far-right friends are (usually) not friends with each other. And I am thankful to be friends with them all.

I often describe myself as a fence-sitter when it comes to hot issues. I can see both sides, and that makes it hard for me to choose just one side. Plus, most of the hot issues are ones that I just am not passionate about. (Bring up bras and finding your true size, then you’ll see me get passionate!) I have never been, and will never be, a political person. While I try to follow what is going on around me, I just can’t get worked up over it.

It’s not that I was raised a certain way, since my father is getting more and more conservative as he ages, and yet it is that I was raised a certain way. Let me explain. My parents taught me to survive, no matter what. Whatever life throws at me, I will find my way through to the other side. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (yes, cliché, but I believe it).

So let’s look at Health Care Reform (HCR). In my opinion, I cannot control this. Sure, I can have my say, but I cannot control it myself. I can control my own personal circle, my personal life, so I will focus the majority of my energy there. It has taken me 29 years to understand that. If HCR is here to stay, I will make sure that I know how to get myself and my family through it. If it changes, I will still get through it.

Now, I’m not saying anyone should stop being passionate about politics or HCR. If you are passionate about it, follow your passion. But as long as my passion lays more along the lines of bras, books, and music, I will stay happily in the middle of the road, and keep my friends on either side of me.

They're Playing What on Animal Planet??

Today's rant: TV channels that can't stick to their niche.

It started with MTV. You remember Music Television, don't you? The channel that played music videos? Well, at first. Now I scan right past MTV since it's usually playing a movie or stupid series that really has little to nothing to do with music.

Other channels are doing the same thing. Look at ScyFy (previously SciFi). They had to change the way they spelled their name when fewer and fewer shoes were actually considered science fiction. I will admit that I still watch the new ScyFy.

And now, my beloved Animal Planet is going to have "I Shouldn't Be Alive." Um, wasn't that from Discovery Channel? I know their owned by the same company and closely related, but what does a survival story show have to do with animals? Put it back on Discovery Channel, where it fits in with the programming.

And please, Animal Planet, give me more dog shows. I'm tired of seeing the same one every Saturday morning. They aren't as much fun when you know who's going to win.

You Call That Art?

Look! Two posts in one afternoon!

To all of you out there, Photoshop does NOT make you an artist!

I was looking at a photography website. This girl is trying to be a professional photographer. I say trying because 1.) she needs to remove the stupid music from every page on her site, and 2.) she needs to back off the Photoshop!

It's like some people think that with Photoshop, they can take crappy pictures and still make money. Now, this girl actually had some good pictures, but the majority of them had at least 1 Photoshop filter applied to them, and half of them made absolutely no sense! Using PS (Photoshop is too much to type each time) filters is a cheat, not a fix. Sure, you can fix some red eye or focus in PS, but it should not be relied on to make a good photo. And knowing how to apply a filter to a photo does not make it art or you an artist.

Look, photography takes skill and talent. I am quite lacking in those skills and talents, but at least I don't try to PS my pics into something "artsy." I believe that if your photos can't stand on their own, without being "touched up," then maybe you shouldn't be taking so many pictures.

When your POA is a POS...

Slightly more personal rant today.

I mentioned that I'm an Army wife. We are trying to get a house on the Fort. The housing office, however, seems to not care.

See, they have this list. When you fill out an application for housing, they put you on the list, because there isn't enough housing for everyone (and they say there's not enough demand to build more?!?). Well, I have not met a single person that made it past number 30 on that list. Not a one.

It seems that, no matter what that biatch in the housing office says, they do not follow the list. Instead, when you call or stop by, if they have a house available, they offer it to you.

Now, what is the point of having a system, and a list, and a whole Plan of Action laid out, when you do not then follow that plan?

For now I am following the same course of action as everyone else and we are going to call or stop by every day until they have a house for us. But I seriously want to see them properly use the system they have in place. grrr!

Good For Your Heart?

I kept seeing this cute commercial, animated, where the stick-figure-guy does some sit-ups and push-ups to inflate his big red heart. Then I stopped paying attention.

My husband pointed out the rest of the commercial today. It's for Diet Coke, support that whole red dress heart health movement. Now I have NOTHING against the red dress heart health thingy. Nothing whatsoever. I support them. Let's get rid of heart disease, yay!

But Coke? Having a drink that is nothing but sugar and bubbles support heart health?

You may say, "But it's Diet Coke! No Calories!" Well it's still nothing but a little water and carbonation with chemicals. Coke is bad, so drink diet, but if you really want to be healthy, drink water. Seriously, people, soda is bad for you, even the diet shight. (see me trying to not swear?) (well, kinda?)

Of course, shortly after that commercial, they aired another version, where the guy climbs a ladder to the top of his heart. Not as cute. But it's still Diet Coke trying to be healthy, which it's not, so it drives me crazy and I had to write a blog about it. *sigh* I am feeling a little better now.

I have a feeling many of these blogs will be about commercials. It's not my fault so many commercials are stupid.

A Nation of Germaphobes

I keep seeing this commercial for a little gadget that pumps your soap for you. The commercial goes on and on about how germs will collect on pump for your hand soap. Now, I don't know about you, but you know what I do immediately after touching the pump on my hand soap? I wash my hands! Well how about that.

Seriously, I've gotten used to everything being automatic in public bathrooms, but now we're doing that in our own homes? What is the point of automatic soap dispensers when we're just washing our hands after touching them? Sure, keep your auto-flushing toilets, auto-sinks, and auto-dispensing towels. But soap? Soap? Next you'll see auto-towel dispensers for the bathroom. I mean really, you keep drying your hands on the same towel for days on end? You know how many germs are in that towel?

My best friend is quite a germaphobe. She's one of those that uses her foot to flush and won't touch the door after washing her hands. But even she isn't like that in her own home. She knows that she keeps her house clean, so she doesn't have to be afraid of touching everything.

I think the true reason for all this auto stuff in our bathrooms isn't cleanliness, but laziness. We're too lazy to flush the toilet, too lazy to pump out our own paper towels, or just pull the stupid things out. What's next, a toilet that wipes for you?

If you can't tell, I didn't catch on to the anti-bacterial gel thing, either. I figured I grew up just fine without it, I can keep going without it. I do use the stuff. It is handy when camping with boy scouts to clean hands before cooking the dinner everyone will eat. The animal shelter I volunteer at uses it to avoid spreading any illness between animals. But you don't need to use it in place of soap. Even my sister (who obsessed with anti-bac gel after the birth of her first child) has admitted they don't really use it anymore. It's hand for those times when you can't use soap and water, but otherwise, soap works just as good if not better.

*sigh*

I think this blog was a good idea. I feel better having gotten that out. It's been bugging me for days.