Madame Speaker

As the Washington Press Corps and the various pundits trot out the same old same old about fractured Democrats and the non-reality-based perceptions of Nancy Pelosi's weaknesses (laced with some sexism just to add flavor), pardon me while I pick myself off the floor and ponder the name of the man who allowed her some credit for what she's accomplished, Tom freakin' Delay:

On a panel discussing the possibilities for Time's Person of the Year award, Delay said:

"I'm going to shock you," said he. "I think the real Person of the Year ought to be Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker of the House. She worked for years putting a strategy together, building a huge coalition. She held the Democrats together in the House like I have never seen before. She is going to change America!"

Hey, journalists? When Tom freakin' Delay gives a better sense of Nancy Pelosi's accomplishments than you do, I think you should rethink what you're doing.

Me again, admitting that I am not looking forward to all the subtle and not-so-subtle misrepresentations of Pelosi that I'll be hearing from Dana Milbank (sp?) and his ilk over the next few years.

Madame Speaker

As the Washington Press Corps and the various pundits trot out the same old same old about fractured Democrats and the non-reality-based perceptions of Nancy Pelosi's weaknesses (laced with some sexism just to add flavor), pardon me while I pick myself off the floor and ponder the name of the man who allowed her some credit for what she's accomplished, Tom freakin' Delay:

On a panel discussing the possibilities for Time's Person of the Year award, Delay said:

"I'm going to shock you," said he. "I think the real Person of the Year ought to be Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker of the House. She worked for years putting a strategy together, building a huge coalition. She held the Democrats together in the House like I have never seen before. She is going to change America!"

Hey, journalists? When Tom freakin' Delay gives a better sense of Nancy Pelosi's accomplishments than you do, I think you should rethink what you're doing.

Me again, admitting that I am not looking forward to all the subtle and not-so-subtle misrepresentations of Pelosi that I'll be hearing from Dana Milbank (sp?) and his ilk over the next few years.

New phone

I am now the bemused owner of a black Razr, complete with camera and video and likely more things than I'll ever use. But I got a nice rebate and a Bluetooth headset, and was able to stick with a pay-as-i-go plan and keep my old number.

There was one PITA moment. I found the price break/rebate on the phone during an online search of the Cingular site. When I got to the store, I asked if they would give me that price. Not, they told me, unless I brought in the printout of the deal THAT WAS BEING OFFERED BY THEIR VERY OWN COMPANY ON THEIR VERY OWN WEBPAGE. Even the clerks admitted that it was a pain, but there you go. Luckily, I live only a few minutes from the store, so I went home, printed out the deal pages for BOTH COLORS I LIKED, then went back to the store. The clerk then phoned her manager for permission to give me the lower price. The upshot was that I didn't get the exact price break, but a lower price combined with a rebate that equals the lower online price. The clerk told me that I was right to bring in the price pages for both of the colors I was interested in, because sometimes management did get that picky. She smoothed things over a bit by giving me price breaks on the accessories. She also filled out all the rebate forms for me and will mail them from the store, which is another service they provide and, I think, pretty nice.

Came home with new phone. Ate lunch, then let loose the hounds and worked outside for a few hours. I hadn't intended to mow the lawn one last time, but I wanted to see if Ferdie (the Toro mower) would pick up the pine needles that littered the front yard. Well, he only picked up about half the needles, so I raked the rest. I was going to jog tonight, but my back, legs, butt, and shoulders are telling me that I really don't have to.

New phone

I am now the bemused owner of a black Razr, complete with camera and video and likely more things than I'll ever use. But I got a nice rebate and a Bluetooth headset, and was able to stick with a pay-as-i-go plan and keep my old number.

There was one PITA moment. I found the price break/rebate on the phone during an online search of the Cingular site. When I got to the store, I asked if they would give me that price. Not, they told me, unless I brought in the printout of the deal THAT WAS BEING OFFERED BY THEIR VERY OWN COMPANY ON THEIR VERY OWN WEBPAGE. Even the clerks admitted that it was a pain, but there you go. Luckily, I live only a few minutes from the store, so I went home, printed out the deal pages for BOTH COLORS I LIKED, then went back to the store. The clerk then phoned her manager for permission to give me the lower price. The upshot was that I didn't get the exact price break, but a lower price combined with a rebate that equals the lower online price. The clerk told me that I was right to bring in the price pages for both of the colors I was interested in, because sometimes management did get that picky. She smoothed things over a bit by giving me price breaks on the accessories. She also filled out all the rebate forms for me and will mail them from the store, which is another service they provide and, I think, pretty nice.

Came home with new phone. Ate lunch, then let loose the hounds and worked outside for a few hours. I hadn't intended to mow the lawn one last time, but I wanted to see if Ferdie (the Toro mower) would pick up the pine needles that littered the front yard. Well, he only picked up about half the needles, so I raked the rest. I was going to jog tonight, but my back, legs, butt, and shoulders are telling me that I really don't have to.