I am not a big follower of the news, but I wanted to talk about some things in the news this morning. The news about the budget crisis is so scary I can't even bear to listen to the stories.
A lot of the news everywhere in the world this morning is scary. I have a friend who lives in Japan, where they had yet another big earthquake today. The shooting in Norway is utterly horrific. I think it's the first time I've ever heard of that sort of violence in a Scandinavian country.
Strangest of all, today it will be hotter in New York than it is here in Atlanta, because of a bizarre heat wave here in the US.I have friends visiting New York City who will be glad to get home tomorrow, here in Atlanta where it's cooler! Feels weird to even type that.
I read an article about the heat deaths and that's scary. It seems to me the issue might be that people are not changing their habits as they should. When it's over 90 degrees, you only get outside and work early in the morning when it's cool. You don't work outside in the middle of the day unless you want a heat stroke. I think people up north probably don't run the air conditioner as much, if they even have air conditioning.
Here in the south we're used to extreme heat, and we know how to dress and act.
My dad used to get out and mow the lawn when it was very hot, and I well remember a couple of times wondering if we should call an ambulance because he was white and shaky and lying on the couch. Mother and I would wipe him off with wet washcloths and make him drink Gatorade until his color got better. He used to say "I never let the weather make my decisions for me" - but sometimes he should have.
I let weather dictate all sorts of decisions for me...
I hate the fact that the news people on TV talk about the "heat index" all the dadgum time. On Good Morning America they showed a national weather map and it said Atlanta was going to be 109 today! Then they went to the local forecast and the guy said it will be 93 and humid. Just a typical July day here! The heat index scares people. It's ridiculous.
Parenthood is always a source of fascination for me. Stories like this one about a woman having her first baby at 43 puzzle me. Why would you not just adopt a baby if you want to wait until later? It's so much safer for you, health-wise, and you're often able to choose the gender of your child. I know, if you're not an adoptive parent you're saying "Dee, she wanted a baby of her own." I hate that phrase. HATE IT. Adopted children are also "your own." I have had a couple of women over the years tell me they wouldn't adopt because they insisted upon children "of my own" and frankly I cannot stand to be around those women, I find that idea so ridiculous.
I see in other news that the guy who invented the Barbie doll died. I loved my Barbie dolls when I was a kid, and I had a huge collection of dolls, clothes, houses, etc. No real little girl should ever aspire to look like Barbie, however. As this college student demonstrated, Barbie is a dangerous role model. I let Alesia play with Barbie dolls after I adopted her because even though she was 13, she was about 9 emotionally. She continued to play with Barbies, secretly, until she was almost 16.
I talked to Alesia last night. She is moving to a new apartment with her boyfriend next week. She let him choose the apartment. It sounds like she is letting him make all the decisions for her, which is scary. I hope she realizes one day the value of supporting herself and being independent. I never could get through to her about that. In Russia, the orphanage girls are told to just latch onto a man and let him run the show.
In other news of our world, Mike's scuba camp got canceled because the main scuba instructor had a medical emergency. He is disappointed, but I am heartsick. I felt like it would be such a great experience for him. There's no time to get another camp together before school starts on August 8th.
Coco needs to get her hurt place checked today, and possibly her bandage will come off, but we will have to leave the cone on another few days. She is bad to bite hurt places. We let her have some time without the cone last night and she tried to bit off the bandages.
That's all the news that I can think of to ran about...
