OMG, They Killed Kenny

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 - 10:13 a.m.

My movie date with Jamie was lovely. As always, "Hairspray" was fun. :-)

---

I had to reinstall AOL from scratch yesterday. That means I had to throw away every piece of correspondence I've received in the last three years.

Sacre merde.

But I did harvest the texts of my favorites before I began the reinstall, so the most significant things have not been lost.

---

Yesterday morning, I was visiting with Old Buddy Dave and he asked me a question that had a complex answer.

He said "How come there is federal aid being offered to the hurricane victims, but not to the people in Laguna whose houses fell down the hill?"

There is a difference, and it's a compelling one.

The people who were in the path of hurricane Katrina are being offered federal aid because a hurricane is something that they cannot control their exposure to. In other words, there is no way they can make a hurricane skip their house, and nothing they can do to prevent one from happening.

However, the people in the houses in Laguna knew the houses were built on poor soil. If they DIDN'T know, they had the USGS information available to them in the assessor's office, and should have done their homework. The Federal government already assessed that ground and declared that the dirt was not stable enough to hold the buildings, and that if anybody built there anyway and something bad happened to those buildings for any unstable-dirt-related reason -- including rain -- they were shit outta luck.

Dave: But why do people choose to live where there will be a hurricane?

Brin: Because it's warm and cheap. Arizona is too hot and dry and expensive for great grandma; her old bones need moist heat and places like Florida and Louisiana fit the bill.

I think you'll find that any time there's a severe weather-related disaster that cannot be avoided -- such as a hurricane -- Federal aid will be available. However, if there's a severe weather-related disaster that COULD be avoided -- such as what happened with a month of rain on a hill that was a known risk with houses on it that shouldn't have been constructed there to begin with -- the chances for Federal relief are much slimmer.

There's no way for every citizen of the country to completely avoid every rotten thing that could happen weatherwise.

But that's why insurance exists. People pay companies to assume the risk of living in tornado alley or near a river or below sea level or in hurricane country.

Bumper sticker?... "Insurance. Because Shit Happens."

Anyway, that's what I told Dave.

And the thing is -- I checked with John, and he says I got it exactly right. Just from a combination of the phenomenon I refer to as 'spousal osmosis' and my own independent study of liability issues out on the world wide web. I *knew* this stuff.

I actually think it's interesting.

---

Last night was the episode of Two Thousand Acres of Sky that I had read ahead about. Kenny Marsh died.

I had been braced for this particular blow for about a month prior to this episode of the series airing here, but it still was profoundly moving. The actor, Paul Kaye, had come as far as he could with the character and wanted to be free to do other things.

---

Have you been touched by His Noodly Appendage?

Check out the website devoted to the worship of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

---

The duckfucker next door is a harbinger of mosquitoes.

There's a koi pond there with no occupants.

Every damn year I get eaten alive, and THIS year I'd really like to AVOID getting West Nile Virus, thank you very much.

I already have a bite on my leg, though.

---

Good heavens, this is enough. See you tomorrow.

---

what you missed - what's next - leave a note
first post - cast page - diaryrings - top ten

THE LEGAL STUFF: All content on this site that was created by me is copyright 2003-infinity by Brin Marie McLaughlin. Steal my stuff and I'll squash you like a bug. All incoming email or any other form of communication with me is subject to publication or other distribution by me in whole or in part at my sole discretion. This diary features the sole opinions and experiences of one person, namely me, the person who is paying for this space. In the interest of safety and accountability, no anonymous input will ever be allowed here, ever, for any reason in the entire history of ever. Whenever there is a comments section appearing in this diary, it's to be considered part of my paid presence on the web, and shall be used by my readership to supplement the things I have written here with relevant information in a polite manner. Comments that do not fall in that category are subject to deletion at my whim. Your visit to my diary along with your use of my comments section constitutes the understanding of this statement. Anything else on these pages including any comments belongs to whoever created it. All external links are current as of the date of the entry in which they are first featured, but at no other time. News excerpts used here are for educational purposes and are permitted under the Fair Use Doctrine. Hold hands when you cross the street, and play nice.