There is a glorious view of the mountains from my living room.  From my desk I can see a small piece of sky, a few pines, that’s it.   So I’m moving the laptop to the living room today.  The light’s great too.   I might work outside for a while.

I love the mountains.  First, because it’s cool up here.  I’m pretty far up, sixty-five, seventy degrees is usually it.  Seventy-five is nice and hot and eighty is a sweltering heat wave.  No AC, we wouldn’t ever need it.  I don’t miss the midwestern or southern heat and humidity.  It’s cold in the winter and snowy, but it’s dry cold and beautiful powdery snow, not ice.  We have lots of wood, two wood burning stoves and are now laying up extra cords for winter to keep the fires burning continuously.  If heaven forbid, the power happens to go out, we won’t freeze and we’ll be able to cook. 

It’s a bit of a drive to get anywhere, but I’m blessed not to have to go anywhere that often.  With gas easing over $4 a gallon that’s not a bad thing.  I know in Europe it’s a lot higher, but they don’t drive the distances we do.  Folks who have to drive to the city everyday are up and moving back there.  I don’t blame them, their gas bill is getting way bigger than their mortgage.  I usually go to the store and do my shopping once a week, all my errands combined into that one day.  I’m going to cut down to every other week with the goal of going only once a month.  The pantry is packed but I need a chest freezer. 

As far as entertainment, there’s a nice library within walking distance and so is the post office.  I’m a homebody, so I don’t need much more.  The scenery is great we can take walks, go on picnics.  I got bear spray.  We got DVDs and satellite TV.  We’re not much for camping out, but my daughter is going to help get one of the new horses from pasture to assist training it.  What else do you need? 

Are you stocking up?  The food prices aren’t going down, neither is gas and with the floods and all, things are just going to get worse.  Folks should buy their food staples now and store them (flour, corn meal, sugar, shortening, beans, rice, canned goods) before they double, triple in price or worse–become more scarce.  People are investing in sky high and rising gold, but the price of food is also rising out of sight and you can’t eat gold. 

From the beginning of the year:  Famines may occur without record crops this year

Flooding to inflate grocery bill across the board

Floods cause economic catastrophe in the midwest

Put not your faith in banking, stocks, or credit

Royal Scottish Bank issues global stock and credit crash alert

Fallout from bad loans rock regional banks

Asia is being rocked with natural disasters. 

Marjorie Liu felt the recent earthquake in China.  Read her account here.

Here are some images of the devastation. I had to cry at the suffering, but I was impressed that the Chinese military and medical personnel are there and helping.  If America ever suffers a disaster of that magnitude, methinks we’d be on our own, particularly if the Republicans are still in power.  It’s far different than what the Bush adminstration mustered up after Katrina.  Also, for the most part, the bodies are covered respectfully.  I read a good point about how images of white Europeans and American bodies are treated differently after disasters (black bodies after Katrina were treated disrespecfully also). 

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has authorized the Red Cross Society of China and China Charity Federation to receive donations for quake-hit areas.

Red Cross Society of China

Account number for renminbi donation: 0200001009014413252, at Beijing branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

Account number for foreign currency donation: 7112111482600000209 at Jiuxianqiao branch of CITIC Bank.

Donation through post office should be sent to:

Red Cross Society of China

No 8, Beixinqiaosantiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100007

Its website: www.redcross.org.cn

Red Cross Society of China donation hotline: (8610) 65139999, 64027620

Chinese Red Cross Foundation also receives donations, which can be sent to:

No 53, Ganmian Hutong, Dongdanbeidajie Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010

Account number of Beijing branch, Bank of China: 800100921908091001

Account number of Dongsinan branch, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China: 0200001019014483874

Account number of Beijing Chaoneidajie branch, China Construction Bank: 11001070300059000427

Account number for foreign currency at Bank of China: 800100086608091014

China Charity Federation hotline: (8610) 66083260, 66083264, 66083194

For those who are looking to contribute to current aid efforts underway, you can now donate money to the Red Cross Society of China which has formed a disaster relief working group to be dispatched to the earthquake-stricken Wenchuan County in Sichuan.

They have also published an emergency relief hotline, along with bank account information to receive donations to assist their cause:

Account name: Red Cross Society of China
开户单位：中国红十字会总会

For those who want to donate in RMB: you can send money to the RMB account at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China branch below:
人民币开户行: 中国工商银行 北京分行东四南支行
人民币账号: 0200001009014413252

For those who want to donate in foreign currency, you can send money to the foreign currency account at the CITIC Bank branch below:
外币开户行：中信银行酒仙桥支行
外币账号: 7112111482600000209

Hotline: (8610) 65139999
Online donations: Red Cross Society of China website: http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/Intl_profile_ChinaEarthquake.html  ( I had to rush and find links that work!)
Click the tab for online donations

DirecTV, a satellite television company has the worst service I’ve ever encountered.  They hold you hostage for years in a contract (necessary, because their services are so poor and I see why people would bail if they could).  They continue to charge while their (lousy) service is out.    

Stick with cable!  Seriously. 

It’s okay if you didn’t notice.  Really it is.  Heh.

I will be back, eventually.  Promise. 

I’m tired of being known for controversy. I understand an image revamp will take time and effort, but since I’m charming as hell, it’s doable, especially if I ever actually emerge from my house. [chortle!]

Also time is money and this blog is simply eating up too much time that I could be writing fiction.

I’d like to take this blog offline, but won’t because of outside links.

But I’m not updating anymore. Look for appropriately authorly and noncontroversial posts (can’t resist links tho’) at my main web page along with news and announcements.