Today we got back from a few days at the Marriott Residence Inn. It was hardly a vacation as we were there because our house was being tented for termites. Yes, the little critters had found us and were attempting to run the entire house through their digestive system. We worked with Lloyd Pest Control who tented the house on Thursday the 29th and removed the tenting today. They use a lethal gas called Sulfuryl Fluoride (it goes by the brand name Vikane) and it’s serious stuff. Not only did we need to vacate the house but we had to remove all the plants and double bag all the food. It’s nice to know that the house is no longer infested but I’m glad it’s over. It was a major pain having to go to work while living in a hotel; it was also strange knowing that I couldn’t get back into my house. In any case I highly recommend both the Residence Inn and Lloyd Pest Control but I hope you don’t need to use them.

For most of us book lovers there comes a point where we begin to worry that the art of reading a book will die in the next few generations. Yesterday Nancy and I were at one of our bookstores Mysterious Galaxy and the manager told us about a You Tube clip that was really funny. I’ve included it here:

On August 7th Matt Murphy caught Barry Bond’s 756th home run and has become an instant celebrity. The obvious question here is what the 22 year old will do with the ball. It seems obvious that the ball (tainted though it may be) belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. So what do you do if you have something that belongs in the Hall but could fetch $500,000 if sold? Matt’s answer is this: “Ideally, what I would love to happen would be for someone [ie, not me] to buy the ball and donate it to the Hall of Fame. It’s a piece of history and belongs in the Hall.” I guess the idea of donating it himself isn’t an option.

I try in this blog to give information that goes beyond the headlines, and as best I can I list people who are running for President in 2008. If you get most of your information from the mainstream media you might think there are only 3 Democrats (Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama) and 4 Republicans (Rudy Guliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson) running but there are actually more. A few months ago I spent the afternoon with Google looking for other candidates and came up with several, none of whom I’d heard of. A few days ago I got an email from Jason Bootie, son of John Bootie, one of the independent candidates. I’m not sure how he found this blog but he wrote to thank me for including his father in my list. Now who says people aren’t grateful anymore.

Of course, the only problem is that I looked closer at Mr. Bootie’s web page and found that he and I disagree on nearly every issue. I’m a little surprised that Jason didn’t read my page and ask me to remove the link to his father. I’m hoping after the election I can publish how many votes each candidate received.

By the way, if there is someone running for President that I’ve missed, please let me know.

Tonight I went with my father-in-law Al to a Padres game. When Nancy and I became season ticket holders we signed up for a promotion the Padres call their “Frequent Friars.” We swipe a card at each game and earn points that can be redeemed for stuff. Most of it is junk but the card is free and we go to the games anyway. Tonight I swiped my card and got a free baseball cap (to add to my extensive collection). I also got a coupon for a “Free Classic Ghirardelli Chocolate Bar” at the Ice Cream Shop on 5th Ave, with a purchase of $10 or more. The best part? It’s 7/18/2007 and the coupon expires on 7/15/2007. So if anyone has a time machine I could borrow…

This is a little macabre, but maybe I’ve become a little hardened after working with hospice. The Associated Press this morning is reporting on a story from Verviers, Belgium. It seems that Didier Charron was hosting a dinner party. He is known for his temper and a few weeks earlier his wife had asked for a divorce. After dinner was over one of the guests went downstairs to put the leftovers in the freezer and found the body of his wife and stepson there. For me this raises a few questions:

What exactly did he serve for dinner? I hope it wasn’t meatloaf.
Why did he let someone else help with the cleanup?
Didn’t anyone notice that the rest of his family wasn’t there?
And finally, what exactly is the proper thing to do when you find two bodies in somoene else’s freezer?

At this point I think Mr. Charron needs to plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the court. The next owner of the house should also get a new freezer.

I’m a big fan of the comic strip Dilbert and I read it as a part of my morning newspaper routine. Today’s strip was priceless and just slightly off color:

Tell the truth, haven’t we all felt like this from time to time?

In July 2005 I wrote about the Christian Exodus Movement. They are people who believe the United States has turned away from God and are planning an enclave for themselves. Almost three years ago they chose South Carolina as the place to go; the founder (Cory Burnell) was still living in California but planned to move to South Carolina in 2006 or 2007. He is now announcing that he has found a job and will move his family there next month. There are already about a dozen families who have moved and he expects another two dozen by 2008. As the Burnells plan to move out of California, I have only one question: Can I help you pack?

I put this under the “chuckling” category but I have to admit I’m roaring with laughter. There was a story in the May 18th edition of our local newspaper the San Diego Union Tribune. It seems that if you have your male dog neutered, his testicles are removed. Until now your dog would spend the rest of his life living with the recognition that the whole world could tell. Now we hear from Robert Dominguez of MCT News Service that your dog can have “testicular implants” (called “neuticles”) and nobody will be the wiser. The manufacturer claims this is will help your dog’s self esteem. They can be made from several materials and come is sizes from petite to XXL.

You know, I try to stay cynical enough to keep up but stories like this remind me that I’ve got work to do.