Oil and those who can afford it

Gas prices in late February, 2012.


We were driving back from my daughter’s soccer game in Wake Forest and I remarked to Kelly how I just don’t like to drive anymore.

“You know those kids who are avoiding buying cars? “I said. “I know how they feel.”

Kelly apparently doesn’t read my blog (see how influential I am?) so I had to bring her up to speed about the Millennials’ trend of waiting a few years or more to get their first drivers licenses (and I’m not talking about DMV being that slow).

I don’t know how anyone working at minimum wage can afford to buy a tank of gas. I really don’t. I’ve also read some opinion pieces that say that gas is bound to get sharply more expensive in the not-so-distant future.
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Daily Kos: Romney Facebook Fraud-Is this legal?


I’ve been searching the web on a regular basis for mentions of Mitt Romney and Facebook. For some reason I just found this mention of Romney Facebook hacking that was posted on Daily Kos by user MilleNeon back on August 18th – long before I got hacked by Romney myself. As far as I know it’s the earliest mention of this phenomenon on the Internet.

This is a short diary, because I just want someone to tell me how to get this to someplace where it can be reported, like Huff Post.

Looked on my FB page, and in the ad column I saw an ad that said three of my FB friends had “liked” Romney. One is a close friend, and she was appalled that her name was in the ad.

Someone told me companies are bundling FB “friends” and selling them. Is this legal?

I grabbed a screenshot of the ad. Does anyone know who I can send this to so this fraud can be publicized?

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Romney cheats at presidential debate?

Here’s a video showing Mitt Romney apparently pulling something out of his pocket that looks for all the world like pre-written notes. Pre-written notes are not allowed by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which means that if this is what it appears Mitt Romney has been caught cheating.

Some have said that what he is pulling out is a handkerchief but if so it’s such a well-starched handkerchief that it bounces when it hits the podium.
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A-Caroling we won’t go

The cast list of the 2012 production of A Christmas Carol was posted today and alas there’s nary a Turner on it. I’m told the theatre had a tough time deciding because of all the talented people who auditioned this year. Oh, well. We all gave it our best shots and that’s all you can do, right?

I still hope to do a play someday. Perhaps something a bit less grandiose for starters. A Christmas Carol has been run like a well-oiled machine for 38 years now. It’s probably not the best choice of starting out.

The Turners are still all in for being zombies for this month’s Haunted Mordecai trolley rides (same as last year but with Kelly and Hallie, too). Look for us there!

The full cast list is below the fold.
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ABB lights up Marbles with $1 million donation

I meant to say something about this yesterday because it’s so chock full of awesomeness. Power grid giant ABB is donating $1 million to Marbles Kids Museum to build an interactive power grid play area for kids. When I told my kids about these plans this morning, their eyes lit up like a solar farm at full sun.

Bravo, ABB, and congratulations Marbles! (Oh, and hey ABB: we’d love to have you in downtown Raleigh, too!)

Global engineering firm ABB, which builds electricity grids and designs utility equipment, is donating $1 million to Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh to develop an interactive play area that will let tykes pretend they are operating wind farms and power plants and lighting up neighborhoods.

ABB officials said the donation symbolizes the Triangle’s emerging reputation as a national smart-grid hub known for attracting research, startups and federal grants. ABB, which employs 2,000 people in North Carolina, made the initial payment of $100,000 Wednesday. ABB will also contribute equipment, including motors, towers, cables, transformers and control systems.

The exhibit is scheduled to open to the public in 2014 and shows interest in downtown investment by a global conglomerate that does not have a downtown presence.

via ABB lights up Marbles with $1 million donation – Local/State – NewsObserver.com.

AWOL on last night’s debate

I’ve been flying solo with the kids for most of this week as my lovely and talented wife was away for business. She’s back now but while she was gone I had my hands full with kid duties. As such didn’t feel compelled to turn on the TV during last night’s debates. Yeah, as much as I like politics I didn’t even watch. I didn’t think I’d learn anything about the candidates that I didn’t already know.

I suppose this is how the majority of voters probably feel. With as much as people hate all the negative advertising being pushed by political consultants, it takes a special kind of person to willingly tune into watch more blood-boiling political scrapping.

From the reviews I’ve read, though, I wasn’t the only one AWOL from last night’s debate. In addition to the truth and the moderator, our president apparently didn’t feel the need to show up. Obama must not have read my critique of his speaking skills because it seems Professor Obama showed up in President Obama’s place. It takes a royal screw-up on Obama’s part to make Mitt Romney look like the human one.

I agree with some pundits’ opinion that most folks have made up their mind by now. Some say that debates mean little in the long run. Still, Obama wants to hang on to his job he’d better show more fire from here on out.

SiriusXM’s awesome customer support


I have been enjoying a 6-month deal from Sirius XM to keep my satellite radio running but that deal runs out tomorrow. I called SirusXM to find out what the cost was to renew it or if I should cancel. It turns out the same 6 months for $25 is still in effect, so I was easily able to renew. What’s even better is that it was almost free for me as I had a $21 balance on my account.

To get my radio renewed I had to wade briefly through a voice-response system, which I detest. As soon as I’d selected the “cancel” option, though, I was connected with Sally, a woman with a Midwestern accent in SirusXM’s Listener Care department. Sally had just the right amount of small talk and business, chatting about her dirty glasses before finding my information. Her folksiness conveyed readily over the phone and I never heard any apologies for “slow computers” or other excuses. In short, I can tell Sally loves her job and I have no qualms spending more money with SiriusXM. Heck, she almost had me ready to buy the company’s higher-priced service.

In an age when many companies outsource their call center operations and treat customer care as an afterthought, I was delighted to discover SiriusXM treats its customers right. Outstanding job, SiriusXM!