The way I feel…

The Ballad of Lucy Jordan
Marianne Faithful

The morning sun touched lightly on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
In a white suburban bedroom in a white suburban town
As she lay there ‘neath the covers dreaming of a thousand lovers
Till the world turned to orange and the room went spinning round.

At the age of thirty-seven she realised she’d never
Ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair.
So she let the phone keep ringing and she sat there softly singing
Little nursery rhymes she’d memorised in her daddy’s easy chair.

Her husband, he’s off to work and the kids are off to school,
And there are, oh, so many ways for her to spend the day.
She could clean the house for hours or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked through the shady street screaming all the way.

At the age of thirty-seven she realised she’d never
Ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair
So she let the phone keep ringing as she sat there softly singing
Pretty nursery rhymes she’d memorised in her daddy’s easy chair.

The evening sun touched gently on the eyes of Lucy Jordan
On the roof top where she climbed when all the laughter grew too loud
And she bowed and curtsied to the man who reached and offered her his hand,
And he led her down to the long white car that waited past the crowd…

More Evil: eBay and PayPal

and I haven’t even started with the evil that is Santa Rosa, California

PayPal an deBay both are scams

Both eBay and PayPal are owned by the same company but they act like they are separate. Both claim to have buyer/seller protection but in reality, neither does. I made a software purchase (online and not from eBay) and it didn’t do anything the author said it would. In fact, I spent a day trying to get it to work. My server met all the requirements the author required it to work. After wasting a day, I removed the software and contacted the author for a refund. Keep in mind that I spent a day going back and forth with their support to get it to work. Anyhow, they did not want to refund my money so I filed a complaint with PayPal and their automated system rejected it right away because the item wasn’t physically shipped, it was downloaded. So I ended up having to do a chargeback. Got an email from PayPal about doing this.

Now that’s just one of my stories. Let’s look at their policy. 1st you have to make sure you ship to the address the buyer is registered with on PayPal, then you have to ship it by a means that trackable then believe it or not, you also have to insure it even though this isn’t stated clearly. Now let’s say the buyer claims he never received it and contacts PayPal. PayPal wants the shipper and tracking info. If you have that information, then they make you call the shipper and file a claim with them. According to eBay, sellers state the terms in the auction e.g. Shipping Insurance. If the buyer doesn’t want to pay for insurance and then claims they reveived the item damaged, PayPal will tell you that you are to blame for not purchasing insurance regardless of eBay Policy. So what exactly is it that they do for protection? When anybody finds the answer to this, can you let me know please. eBay on the otherhand is no better. They pass the buck to PayPal who then makes you go through the same silly circle.

Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison getting makeover

Bushra Juhi, Associated Press
Friday, September 5, 2008
(09-05) 04:00 PDT Baghdad —

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Hosted by Tyra Banks

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The notorious Abu Ghraib prison is getting a face-lift: work to reopen the facility and construct a museum documenting Saddam Hussein’s crimes – but not the abuses committed there by U.S. guards.

The sprawling complex, which has not held prisoners since 2006, will be refurbished with the goal of taking new inmates in about a year, the government said Thursday.

Also, a section of the 280-acre site just west of Baghdad will be converted into the museum featuring execution chamber exhibits and other displays of torture tools used by Hussein’s regime – including an iron chain used to tie prisoners together.

But Iraq’s predominantly Shiite government has no plans to document the U.S. military abuse scandal that erupted in 2004 with the publication of photographs that shocked the world: grinning U.S. soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners, some naked, being held on leashes or in painful and sexually humiliating positions.

Iraq’s deputy justice minister [and Bush Administration lackey], Busho Ibrahim, said American brutality was “nothing” compared to the violence and atrocities of Hussein and his Sunni-dominated Baath Party.

Message from Deep Purgatory

Although my life is currently in an excruciating place in Limbo, the surroundings are scenic (I believe this premise has been used in comedy sketches in the past).

I am currently staying in the Inner Sunset District of San Francisco, two blocks & around the corner from the offices of Craigslist

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People in San Francisco are very environmentally-conscious, and insist upon placing their garbage somewhere in the vicinity of designated trash receptacles.

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Today was the first Tuesday of the month, which meant it was free day at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Free, that is, except for the featured exhibit, in this case glasswork by some artist named Chihuly (who I’ve never heard of. so I’m a Philistine…). In this case, I was on the viewing platform on the top of the tower, when a woman realized she had an urgent appointment and was unable to use her ticket to the featured exhibit, so she gave it to me (pictures are on the way).

Here is a picture of the new De Young Museum:

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Apparently the tower was designed to suggest a Mayan pyramid. Careful what time you head up to the tower: I understand they arbitrarily select a visiter from the crowd for Human Sacrifice. Probably just people without tickets– I was probably safe after I got the ticket.

I also have other albums that I’m working on, comprised of photos from various places around San Francisco. Keep tuning in– I’ll be adding more as I go.

You are Innocent When You Dream

Tom Waits
Album: Frank’s Wild Years
Year: 1987

The bats are in the belfry
the dew is on the moor
where are the arms that held me
and pledged her love before
and pledged her love before

CHORUS

It’s such a sad old feeling
the fields are soft and green
it’s memories that I’m stealing
but you’re innocent when you dream
when you dream
you’re innocent when you dream

Running through the graveyard
we laughed my friends and I
we swore we’d be together
until the day we died
until the day we died

CHORUS

It’s such a sad old feeling
the fields are soft and green
it’s memories that I’m stealing
but you’re innocent when you dream
when you dream
you’re innocent when you dream

I made a golden promise
that we would never part
I gave my love a locket
and then I broke her heart
and then I broke her heart

CHORUS

It’s such a sad old feeling
the fields are soft and green
it’s memories that I’m stealing
but you’re innocent when you dream
when you dream
you’re innocent when you dream