She told him to pack away all his valuables into his cabinet, as though a cheap particalboard door that didn't even lock could stop someone from going through his posessions and taking whatever they pleased. He supposed that wasn't so much the point as to just get it out of plain sight, not that it mattered either way; he didn't keep valuables in his room. Ultimately, his parents were just being paranoid, a characteristic of them which he had grown accustomed go over the past 23 years of his life. He didn't see any need to worry even if he did have anything worth taking in his posession as the reason for this particular bought of parental paranoia (though these episodes were rarely ever really justified) was that a contractor was coming tomorrow to replace the old heating system.

He was more concerned for the heating system than anything else, to be honest. It was quite funny, actually. His parents worried about his valuables dissappearing and the only thing he really was concerned about at the moment was what they were paying thean to take away: the radiator.

The radiator was an old cast iron steam-heat radiator that hissed, clanked and transmitted sound solidly through it's hollow pipes around the house to any of the other 5 heaters connected to it throughout the house. They were heavy and combersome things and to him they were objects of beauty as they appeared to be a part of a dissappearing world. The old and outdated was to be replaced with new baseboards; a heating system that lacked the character and history of the soon to be realics of the past. He wished he could keep one of the radiators, but he already knew what his mom's response would be; "Don't be stupid, what are you going to do with it?"

Indeed, she was right, there was NO use he would ever have for it N it would just take up much needed space and create an inane amount of clutter. He was already enough of a pack-rat without trying to keep a giant piece of scrap metal. Ultimately the message was clear; Accept the impending change or be burried in a large mound of junk as you futilely attempt to recreate what has already passed.

People, Politics and Obama

Today I saw Air Force One.

My parents, grandma and myself got on the bus to Terminal 2 after returning our sedan to the Hertz rental company. The bus driver informed us that we were being delayed because the president was coming back from the Grand Canyon so the airport was locked up for security reasons.

The first think I heard from my mom was "what a jerk, what's he doing here?" Now, you have to know my mom to understand this statement. This statement is nothing close to political, in fact, it is a lot more selfish than that. This statement actually translates into, "dammit, I don't wanna have to wait here," of which, I call her out on and say "the only reason you're saying that is because it's inconveniencing you ," all of which, I might add, for an additional 10 minutes. Really, we don't need to be anywhere 10 minutes faster than we are currently already traveling.

Aside from her I hear another few grumbles about the delay and figure it's the same thing as my mom. However, there is one woman that takes it further and questions how he's reforming health care by going to the Grand Canyon and brings up some point that we're paying for his little vacation and "what's he doing?"

I'm not a political person. I, actually, am the least politically versed member of all my friends; but for one thing, this was why our president was in the area and while he was here he took a trip to the Grand Canyon with his family. I just wonder why, though, we spend so much time carefully scrutinizing every move President Obama makes in his personal life. It's not even as if he's doing anything scandalous like former president Clinton. Have we been a nation so engrossed by gossip that it has moved beyond our Hollywood stars and begun intermingling with our politics?

I digress. What really annoys me, more than this woman ignorantly yelling her political views on health reform or the continual decline of our nations' news venues to the point where they've all become mere gossip rags, is the general attitude.

I feel old or ignorant in saying this; but I seem to remember a time when people were excited when their president was within a 5 mile radius of them. I feel as though our nation has been engulfed by some sort of cynicism and I'm bothered by it. I'd like to think that even when George W. Bush was president, if he was in the area, I would have been at least remotely excited by the fact that the president of my country was around.

Part of this also brings me back to graduation when I heard that a college had President Obama as a speaker for their commencement ceremony but a lot of people protested because he was pro choice. (My response to which was "well shit, fuck you guys then, we'll take him,".)

Honestly, he's the president, can't we just have a little respect?

As we pass Air Force One the bus driver points it out and everyone, especially the ones grumbling before whip out their cameras and start clicking away (with the exception of my mother, she actually doesn't care about anything.)

I speak to my brother about it upon my arrival back home and he reminds me of something I should have known already; "people just like to complain,".

Anyway, here's a picture that my dad took. It's not great but you can see the plane in the back.