The Quest for Soda

In the library building where I worked yesterday, one of the soda machines was totally sold out of everything, and the other was out of anything I might want. I tried the next building over, and they had another sold-out soda machine, plus another one that wasn't even turned on. Finally, in the third building, the porridge was just ri--I mean, I was actually able to get something to drink. Seriously, who's heard of not filling the vending machines until they're totally empty? Shouldn't the vendors do that more often, if they sell out quickly?

A few weeks ago, bethje and I were listening to one of those religious stations from the really high numbers on the FM band. I believe the group that was singing was seriously called "The Praise and Worship Choir." Beth brought up the question as to whether people think that they can't dislike that kind of stuff, or they'd be disliking Jesus. It's sort of cheating, like writing songs about national tragedies or dying children. Of course, just because you like or sympathize with the subject doesn't mean the song itself is any good, but I think there's a certain group of people who don't realize that. There's good religious music out there, certainly, but that Praise and Worship Choir kind of stuff is awfully trite, with mediocre singing.

Turning Left

I start out this entry with a recent quote from our beloved Vice President:

"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States."

What a jerk. So terrorists are more likely to attack during a Democratic presidency than a Republican one? I somehow doubt that terrorists care that much about American party politics. John Edwards rightly pointed out that defense against terrorism "is not a Democratic or Republican issue and Dick Cheney and George Bush should know that." The Bush administration has taken an overly partisan approach to homeland security, and used the fear of terrorism to further their own agenda. Of course, I don't know how well John Kerry or any other potential future President would do at fighting terrorism, but I think Bush has made such a mess of things that he's definitely the "wrong choice."

On a lighter note, but still in the vein of annoying things, why do so many traffic lights at intersections where a lot of people turn left not have left-turn signals? I mean, how much extra money does it cost to put one of those on a light? It's annoying to have a wait for a whole bunch of people who are going straight.

I sometimes wish I could hibernate through the winter.