11:08 a.m. | 2004-02-20 So, They Did A TV Show About Me. Kinda. It was about women and their cars and car maintenance. And, mechanics and whatnot, scamming this particular demographic. Yeah, I�m defensive about it because, well, I�m within that demographic. Blah, blah, blah, car stuff. Yes, I do give them too much money. Unwarranted money. Because, I�m really not interested in all that bullcrap. Hence, you might find it surprising that I have two sisters who are fully educated about all that car crap and actually hover over their mechanics. And, you might also find it interesting that I lived with a mechanic for four years. (As far as cars go, those were the BEST four years of my LIFE.) Yet, I care not. I know that I can do all this and get all informed and stuff, but, honestly? I DON�T CARE. The show was a great journalist endeavor and I was following along quite well until the final moment. Then, I called a foul. A foul in the �prevention� area. Suddenly, Peter Jennings � or whomever � was telling me that I could prevent such abuse by reading that �little paper book that comes with my car and is often stored in my glove box�. Oh, and that I should asked that my replaced parts be returned. Somehow, now I�m offended. I�m quite aware that my car�s manual is located (appropriately) in my glove box and that I would benefit from actually reading it. However, I don�t WANT to read it. Yet, I always asked for the return of my replaced car parts. Honestly? I really can�t tell you how much I hate car-related crap. And, the condescending nature of people who believe that I should/could/would want to be informed about all that. I�m not stupid, just completely and totally disinterested in all car related things. Outside of it working well, of course. In other news, OMC inquired about the analysis I�ve been working on for the last few weeks. Here�s some of that. (OMC:) Have you finished your analysis about THIS? (CI:) Uh, no. I�m still researching it and I�m not sure where to stop with the research and all. The more I delve into this particular topic, the bigger it gets. I mean, it�s international, so where do I stop? I�m now reading treaties� it shouldn�t be that big. But, it is. It only goes on FOREVER at that point. (OMC:) Yeah, that seems to be a really huge subject. (CI:) It is. And I think, what about this over here? Hmmm. (I continued with the research and whatnot and printed out some things.) Interesting. Really? (Talking to myself and eventually laughing quite a bit.) Hey, OMC? Can you do me a favor? (OMC:) Sure. What? (CI:) Can you read this sentence and tell me if it seems �odd� to you? (OMC:) Sure. (Reading it and laughing.) Surely, they could have phrased that differently. (CI:) I can think of ten different ways off the top of my head, but maybe it�s standard or something. Internationally, I mean. See, I�ll have to do more research. The giggling line? It follows. The stuff in quotes are the words used, the other stuff, I paraphrased. Here it is. �Requisitions� must be made via �diplomatic intercourse.� I did some further research, further not exhaustive, and I�ve not seen that phrase again. See what happens when you have to overanalyze stuff for a living? Just for the record, the picture in my head is what prompted me to laugh. I mean, just imagine that. And, what, exactly, would be diplomatic? your thoughts? seed flower