EddieChristy.com

It's Saturday!

Not Just Lube

I'm a big fan of WD-40.  Ask anyone.  They know I always have a can or three of WD-40 because you just never know when you're gonna need it.  My great-granny used to rub it on her knees because she said it helped her arthritis, no lie!  The brand boasts that it has more than 2000 uses and I believe them. 

Today for instance...  I found a big wasp nest on my front porch. I hate to buy pesticides because they are expensive and stink.  One blast of WD-40 and the wasps were gone, the nest was covered, and that was it.  The oil coats the wings of the wasp and eventually kills them while the oil on the nest kills wasps-yet-to-be.   You gotta be quick and thorough, though, or you'll just piss them off and they'll fly out fast and come back looking for you.  :)

It lubricates, it cleans, displaces moisture... and kills wasps!  Check out their official list of 2000+ uses HERE.

Top Three, Baby!

According to the CDC, Tennessee rolled in as the third fattest state in America.  Way to represent!  I knew you could do it!

Below is a list of how each state ranks in adult obesity prevalence, along with the percentage of obese adults. The breakdown is based upon a Centers for Disease Control report.

1. Mississippi: 32%
2. Alabama: 30.3%
3. Tennessee: 30.1%
4. Louisiana: 29.8%
5. Arkansas: 28.7%
6. West Virginia: 29.5%
7. South Carolina: 28.4%
8. Georgia: 28.2%
9. Oklahoma and Texas: 28.1%
10. North Carolina: 28%
11. Michigan: 27.7%
12. Alaska, Missouri, and Ohio: 27.5%
13. Delaware and Kentucky: 27.4%
14. Pennsylvania: 27.1%
15. Iowa and Kansas: 26.9%
16. Indiana: 26.8%
17. North Dakota: 26.5%
18. South Dakota: 26.2%
19. Nebraska: 26%
20. Minnesota: 25.6%
21. Oregon: 25.5%
22. Arizona and Maryland: 25.4%
23. Washington: 25.3%
24. New York: 25%
25. Illinois: 24.9%
26. Maine: 24.8%
27. Wisconsin: 24.7%
28. Idaho: 24.5%
29. New Hampshire: 24.4%
30. Virginia: 24.3%
31. Nevada: 24.1%
32. New Mexico: 24%
33. Wyoming: 23.7%
34. New Jersey: 23.5%
35. California: 22.6%
36. Montana, Utah, and Washington, D.C.: 21.8%
37. Hawaii and Rhode Island: 21.4%
38. Massachusetts and Vermont: 21.3%
39. Connecticut: 21.2%
40. Colorado: 18.7%

**On a related note, fellow blogger Drew is coming down from New England to Nashville next week for work, so we're gonna meet up and grub Top Three style.  :)

"N-word" on The View

Whoopi Goldberg, you're right.  We do live in different worlds.  I live in the real world.  You live in a world that consists of the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Organization for Black Law Enforcement, the Organization of Black Designers, Black Entertainment Television, Black Students Organization, Black Career Women, the Organization of Black Struggle, the Organization of Black Screenwriters, Miss Black America, Miss Black USA, the Organization of Black Airline Pilots, National Black Business Trade Association, and countless other organizations that practice segregation against Americans who happen to have white skin.

People like you want equality, but with victim status.  Double standards and hypocrisy are not examples of equality.

Powerline Sunset

It's electric!  Do do do do do do do do do do, do do do do do do do do do.

Dinner in the Sky

People will always find a new way to spend money.  Dinner... in the sky, anyone?

It would be awesome for promotional events!

The Right Thing?

Around 11PM tonight, I stopped to get gas at a station just down the street.  It was my second time at a gas station today because I had to fill up a rental car before I returned it.  It was also the second time I was approached by people seemingly needing help. 

The first time, I was approached by a woman carrying a child who said she was about to run out of gas.  I saw her earlier at another station on my way to this station.  I opted to give her the handful of change I had in my pocket.  I probably could have given her more, but she wreaked of cigarette smoke and I saw her stuff a pack of cigarettes into her purse.  Maybe it's not my place to judge, but it angers me when people don't have enough money to get gas to safely transport their kids, but they have have enough money to buy cigarettes or beer.

Fast-forward to the end of my day.  On my way to the second station, I noticed a van stalled at an intersection and a police car pulling up behind it.  It was an early 80s Ford van, white with rusty dings all over it and balding tires.  You could barely see through the windshield because of all of the stuff that was piled on the dash.  No idea why so much detail stuck in my head, but I didn't think much about it and went on to the station.

After filling up, my receipt didn't print, so I headed toward the building so I could get a one.  This time, I was stopped by an elderly lady carrying a gas can and accompanied by a girl, about 12 years old, with Down Syndrome.  She told me that she had stalled at an intersection and the policeman who pulled up behind her allowed her to go to a station to get some gas.  She had not told him she had no money.  She pointed in the direction of the van I saw earlier.  Her clothes were tattered, the heels of her shoes worn thin, and her appearance was deeply weathered.  The little girl with her was equally as haggard.

I don't normally give money to people who approach me, especially when I've had the financial hits I've had this month, but I could tell this was genuine need and agreed to fill up the can she was carrying.  The little girl was tired from her long day and the walk from the intersection to the filling station, so I offered to drive them back to their van.  The woman eagerly accepted.

After arriving back at her van, I told the officer in the lane behind her I would help get their van started so they could be on their way.  When I got up to the van, I poured all of the gas into the van and asked her to start it.  When she turned the key there was no spark at all.  I looked in her van and saw clothes, canned goods, blankets, and tons of other things packed so tightly there was barely enough room for the two of them to be seated.  It was obvious they were living in the van.

At that moment, I knew if the van didn't start there would be trouble.  The officer would have to have the van towed, then, because the lady and girl were living in the van, would have to find a women's shelter to take a girl with special needs at 11:30 at night.  Not an easy task.  The little girl whimpered that she "didn't want to be taken away."  I had a huge lump in my throat and knew I had to get their van started.

I asked the officer if it was okay for me to try to get their van started with a jump.  He agreed, so I pulled the car around and grabbed the jumper cables from the trunk.  After connecting the cables and allowing the current to circulate, I asked her to turn the key again.  No spark at all.

We waited several moments and kept trying, but there was nothing happening.  Frustrated.  The officer walked up and asked for an update.  After hearing that there was nothing happening, he said he was going to have to have the car towed... at which point, the woman's eyes welled up with tears and she turned her face away so he couldn't see her cry. 

I don't know why, but I asked the officer to step back toward his car with me and he agreed.  I explained the scenario I mentioned before about them living in the van, how towing it would leave them with nowhere to sleep, and how he would then be responsible for finding a shelter to take in the little girl at that hour, now midnight.  He gave me a little half smile and then asked what I had in mind.  I noticed the empty parking lot of a restaurant that had been vacant for 4 months about 100 yards back from the intersection.  I asked if he would back his car up to that point, block traffic, and allow me to push the van into that parking lot.  To which he replied, "You're gonna push that big-ass van 120 yards by yourself?"  I gave him a big grin and he said "Okay, do it muscles!"

A few minutes later, the lady's van was in the parking lot, out of traffic, and to the satisfaction of the officer.  I asked if the lady if she was okay and she gave me a huge tearful smile.  She was happy to be out of danger of having everything they owned be in an impound lot.  The officer quickly said to me, "Come on."  He wanted to get me back to my car at the intersection.  His front seat was full so he put me in the back.  Woo!  Afterward, he thanked me greatly for helping him see that he didn't want to spend all night hunting for a shelter.  I thanked him for not splitting up the little girl and her grandmother.  We parted ways and I headed for home.

If I could have afforded it, I would have towed the van to a mechanic near my house.  I would have allowed the woman and girl to stay in my home while their van was fixed.  I would pay for the van to be fixed.  I would fill up the van with gas so they could be on their way to where the lady said they were headed.  I'd probably do a lot of things.  Get them an apartment or a house, maybe?  So the little girl could be given proper care and medical attention.  But, I couldn't afford it.

Maybe I did the wrong thing by interfering and not allowing the girl to get taken away and eventually put into the custody of the state, where, even though she'd be away from anyone familiar, would at least have some security or stability... to a degree.  Things are different than they once were.  Maybe I'm antediluvian, but as poor as I was growing up, I never wanted to be away from my mama.  I heard the desperation in the little girl's voice when she said she didn't want to be taken away.  She and her grandmother were all each other had.

I drove home, discontent, but knowing I was powerless to do anything else.

Turn Out the Lights on your Way Out

I know you can't really tell because it's so blurry(I took it out of the sunroof at 60 MPH), but this is a photo of the new Nissan headquarters down in Cool Springs.

It's kinda strange that this place is lit up like that 24/7, especially since they made such a big deal about showing their "green commitment."  EVERY light is on in that building and, other than security, there isn't a soul there at 3AM.  I'm not one of those folks who jumps all over corporations for any random reason... but is it really that difficult to flip the switch?

Double Cheeseburger

It's so bad for you... but I love it.

310 GLQ

That's your Tennessee license plate number, 310 GLQ.  Dude in the Volvo who drives unnecessarily close behind drivers in front of him.  Yeah...   If I can't see your hood in my rear-view mirror, you are too close.  Stop riding people's asses and get over in one of the other 4 lanes.

Moron.