Not upward mobility

One more way this year sucks. Yesterday I took my car to the garage to get an oil change, find out why the front tires keep deflating, find out why there’s condensate on the interior of the car and get an estimate for replacing the SID panel, which has lost so many pixels I can’t read the error messages.

When I made the appointment last week, I told the Saab manager that I should probably just replace the tires. He replied that the problem could be corrosion on the wheel, so we should check that first. Fine.

But yesterday, after having had the car five hours, I get a call from Lewis, presumably a mechanic, informing me that all four tires were under-inflated, but that’s normal when temperatures drop, so I shouldn’t worry my little-lady head over that. Me telling him that I keep having to fill the front two tires every week because the pressure drops to single digits just didn’t pierce his now-little-lady mentality. He also got wound up on rotating the tires, because the newer two are on the rear, and it’s a front-wheel drive, so why? Dude—your people did that when I had those two tires replaced two years ago; talk to them.

I swear, we talked for fifteen minutes and all he could do was repeat that all the tires were under-inflated and why don’t I have them rotated? Since that doesn’t solve the issue of why the front ones deflate, I didn’t see the point. But he just couldn’t move on from that.

Turns out Glenn the Saab manager is on vacation and hadn’t left any notes for Lewis, who apparently is on a continuous loop of rotating the tires and under-inflation. Also pushing hard to replace the “cabin filter” and wiper blades. I got the distinct whiff of hard upselling, which I don’t generally get from Glenn.

Latest word is there's "dry rot" on the interior of the two tires I told him were continually deflating, and he has to order two replacements that "match" the tires on the rear. Only now they're on the front, because he insisted on rotation. Only he held off calling me about this until the tire distributor was closed, and he can't guarantee that they'll have the new tires mounted by midday when I need the car today. So I may or may not have transportation today. Deep joy.

I’m putting off the condensate issue, which he said involves $650 and a part that Saab discontinued; ditto the SID replacement, which is $450. Putting them off until Glenn is back. Next year.

Gift of the magi

You know what—I have had it with this crappy year.

For someone on my Christmas list, I ordered four bottles of Oregon wines; two white, two red. They were very nice bottles of wine, with high ratings, and not from the bargain rack at the Food Lion.

Apparently I made the mistake of telling the recipient that I’d not tried any of them, so I was looking forward to her opinions.

Because yesterday I received an email announcing that she’s convening a session of Women Who Wine. She and five others will gather with “appropriate cheeses, fruit, crackers and 5x8 cards for notes from each of us about each wine. We will salute you for each bottle!”

Those four wines were for her to enjoy with meals, not swilled down in one sitting by six people chomping crackers whose opinions I could not give a fucking toss about. I read that email and wanted to take back the wine.

Look, I know that once you give a gift, the recipient can do whatever they like with it, even if they like stirring ice and sugar into it. But I just can’t stop crying over this, and I sure as hell am never sending her wine again.

And bring on 2019.

For the tree

I did not mention, when I wrote about Musée de l’Armée, that I made a quick pass through the museum shop. I thought it interesting that you can buy felt Christmas ornaments pertaining to les Invalides (the complex of buildings of which the museum is a part).

The Dôme des Invalides houses the tomb of Napoléon I. In all my visits to the museum I have never bothered with this. Tombs—meh. However, he is rather a big deal, so his tomb is suitably pretentious.

Here are ornaments shaped like Napoléon’s hat and les Invalides:

  

And here’s the building IRL:

Bonaparte shares space with his son, Napoléon François Charles Joseph (by Marie Louise of Austria). Styled the King of Rome, the boy never ruled (except for 15 days in 1815, when he was four years old), and died in Austria, age 21. Known as l’Aiglon (the Eaglet), his remains were returned to France by Hitler in 1940 (except for his heart and intestines, which stayed in Vienna, traditional resting place of Habsburgs). By that time, the French would have preferred the return of coal mines and factories.

Anyhow, here’s a felt Aiglon:

And finally, I thought a Mme Bonaparte (Joséphine, not Marie Louise, but those empresses were fairly interchangeable) was a nice touch:

The ornaments were 19 € 95, so I didn’t buy any.

A Christmas thought

I wasn’t going to post anything for today, because I’ve just run out of…everything. But I saw this thread from one of the best people on Twitter, so have this instead.

@JohnFugelsang

a day ago, 23 tweets, 6 min read Read on Twitter

In honor of baby Jesus & his family of refugees/immigrants, here are a 20 quick points to remember the next time a loved one at the holiday party tries to make you fear the "illegals."

(Thread)
#ChristmasEve2018
Xmas Eve

1. If US politiicians really wanted undocumented immigration to end, they'd start locking up the Americans who hire them. The demand for undocumented labor would swiftly end. They never talk about that. There's a giant "Help Wanted" sign at our border and it's not coming down.

2. The majority of undocumented immigrants are people who overstay their visas, not illegal border crossings. Politicians don't talk about this.

3. Undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than US-born citizens. Legal immigrants also commit crimes at lower rates than US-born citizens.

4. Undocumented immigrants pay state, local & sales taxes. Over 11 billion in 2016,

How undocumented immigrants pay taxes, explained They also pay billions into Social Security and Medicare. https://www.vox.com/2018/4/13/17229018/undocumented-immigrants-pay-taxes

(And when legal immigrants arrive here as adults, we don't have to pay for their education & they can start paying into our Social Security system.)

5. President Ronald Reagan supported Amnesty (his word) and argued that open borders allow them return home when they're done working here.

A Reagan Legacy: Amnesty For Illegal Immigrants As the nation's attention turns back to the fractured debate over immigration, it might be helpful to remember that in 1986, Ronald Reagan signed a sweeping immigration reform bill into law. The bil… https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128303672

6. "Illegals" is a racist, dehumanizing, other-izing term. It's un-Christian and hypocritical - if you drive 56 in a 55 zone, aren't you an 'illegal' too?

If you disagree, count how many other types of lawbreakers FOX News calls "illegals."

7. Trump is an illegal. $25 million for education fraud alone. And I don't really need to say this, but more to come.

8. Politicians don't try to punish people who give jobs to undocumented workers (driving down supply of jobs) bc fear of Central American & Mexican immigrants & asylum seekers gets massive votes & campaign donations. It's a racket.

9. From slavery to Chinese railroad workers to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to today's overseas sweatshops, exploited labor by marginalized peoples has always propped up the US economy.

Without 'illegals' you'd pay $40 for a salad.

And I know, salads don't apply to Trump.

10. Trump hires undocumented workers. Going back to the 80s w/undocumented polish construction workers.

The same people who exploit undocumented labor also exploit fear of the undocumented. You're being suckered by very rich hypocrites.

11. No national Democratic politicians have called for any legislation or policies that could ever lead to "Open Borders."

This is important. Any politician or media figure who uses the term "open borders" is lying.

The Bible calls that "bearing false witness."

12. They are never going to build a wall across thousands of miles of desert, rivers and forests, private and commercial property - while forcing Americans to give up their land under eminent domain law.

Wall fans are arguing for big govt to seize private American property.

13. The wall will not stop undocumented immigration. Ladders and shovels are things that will still exist.

As will America's giant "Help Wanted" sign.

14. People who support stealing migrant children are legally still allowed to call themselves Christian. They are not.

15. America has crumbling roads, bridges, a deliberately underfunded public school system, neglected infrastructure and an underfunded VA.

A guy who's hired undocumented workers wants $5billion to keep undocumented workers from coming here for work. It's all a scam.

16. Trump promised his supporters that Mexico would pay for the wall.

He promised you, #MAGA. Many times. Now he literally wants you to pay for his own broken promise.

(And the majority of 2016 voters rejected it, 74 million total (HR & 3rd parties) vs. DT's 62 million)

17. The majority of Americans still oppose the wall. They know it's expensive, bigoted, stupid and won't work. The majority of Americans don't hate America.

18. Undocumented immigration has dropped to a 12-year low. There is no 'crisis' and you have been lied to:

Undocumented immigrants in the U.S. drop to lowest level in 12 years The number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico continued to decline, while more came from Central America, according to the Pew Research Center https://www.cbsnews.com/news/undocumented-immigrants-in-united-states-drop-lowest-in-12-years-2018-11-28/

19. Trump did not pay federal taxes for years and committed tax fraud to avoid paying the taxes that you paid, which he now seeks to misuse.

Donald Trump Acknowledges Not Paying Federal Income Taxes for Years The admission of using a loss to avoid future taxes came in response to a question at Sunday’s debate with Hillary Clinton. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html

Seriously, we need to see Donald Trump’s tax returns Congress could produce them with a simple committee vote, but Republicans are covering for Trump. https://www.vox.com/2018/10/3/17932216/donald-trumps-tax-returns

20. Fear of "illegals" is a scam designed to get alarmed FOX news viewers to vote for an agenda centered on more tax cuts for very rich people, who don't need more tax cuts.

#maga #christmaseve2018 #christmas

Bonus #21. If you don't like our drug war refugees from Central American drug war violence seeking asylum in America then stop supporting the drug war.

Bonus #22. It's Jesus' birthday so here's his take. From Matthew 25, which modern RW evangelicals seriously need to read:

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,"

#maga

Gratitude Monday: a day off, a day to myself

Today I am grateful that it’s Christmas Eve and I’m not at work. Our CEO magnanimously gave us both today and next Monday off; I imagine the executive crowd wanted the day, so we all got it. Yay.

So I’m here with Bach blasting on the stereo, clearing away the detritus of Christmas prep, scrubbing down the kitchen (powdered sugar from cookies this time, not the encrustation of granulated from making candy). The bird feeders are filled, the larder is likewise full; I don’t have to go out anywhere. Yipee.

I can spend this day entirely as I choose, for which I give thanks.

The weary world rejoices

Man, this year has been a son of a bitch, hasn’t it? And we still have another week to go before we can slam the door on it. But it’s Christmas Eve, the end of Advent, also known as la Noche Buena and Holy Night. Which is a lead in to today’s offering.

The poem “Minuit, Crétiens” was written (by a wine merchant, if you’re asking) to commemorate the renovation of the local Avignon-area church organ in 1843. It was set to music and the resulting anthem premiered in 1847. It’s quite the show piece, and there are plenty of diva-esque performances.

However, I feel that it’s only appropriate that I should close out the season with the Queen of Soul singing “O Holy Night”.

I miss her so much.

Cast down the mighty and lift up the lowly

Fourth Sunday in Advent for many Christians is devoted to the Annunciation, which was what got the whole thing rolling, as it were. The Annunciation was when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she’d been chosen to bring the Son of God into the world via virgin birth.

We only have the (male) Gospel accounts of that event and they pretty much gloss over what must have been quite the awkward conversation. What we’re told is that, upon receiving the announcement (no discussion allowed), Mary replies, basically, “Well, okay. I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let’s do it.”

A prayer for today is the Magnificat, a canticle sung by Mary. Technically, this takes us to the Visitation (which took place shortly after the Annunciation, thus long before Advent, but is referenced in seasonal readings), but I am not responsible for how this shakes out. “Magnificat” is the opening of how Mary describes her condition to her cousin Elisabeth. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

We had a discussion on this canticle at Wednesday’s eucharist about the “magnifying” thing. People kept talking about magnifying glasses, which I think misses the point. Magnifying glasses make things look bigger; they stay the same size, we’re just experiencing an optical illusion. Mary tells us that she (through her soul) will add to the Lord; amplify him, if you will. Or perhaps she’s saying that she’ll make God manifest, and thus larger in our lives; she’ll actually add to the Lord.

So I think we should have a Magnificat today, and what better than J.S. Bach’s?

If you’d like the full version, here’s a performance held at the church for which Bach composed it:

You should crank up the volume to the max.