tractors, palin, being robbed

Interesting few days, no?

First things first: I got to Cory's yesterday, finally had the chance to use internet that worked, and promptly discovered that someone has been charging my debit card with ridiculous amounts of money from gas stations in Texas.

Awesome.

Apparently, some evil people have figured out how to recreate debit cards, because whoever has used mine actually scanned a physical card... meaning mine got swiped into some sort of counterfeit card mechanism. After a virus destroyed my hard drive and someone counterfeited my debit card within a week, I'm struggling to find goodness in humanity.

The good news is the rest of the weekend was wonderful. Lots of time with different groups of friends, lots of late nights filled with fun and adventure, and my first ever Dacusville Farm Days.

The tractor show was fantastic; Cory and I chugged around on his grandfather's beautiful JD1010... Cory drove, while I stood on the trailer hitch. We walked around and looked at the different displays, did some quality people watching, and devoured some homemade peach ice cream with his grandfather. Lots of jorts, lots of tractors, lots of antiquey-collections of stuff... even a pink tractor! My favorite part were the countless tractors with furniture strapped to the back so the owners could tote around their wives and families... quite entertaining.

Speaking of wives and families... Palin. Whoa, nelly.

I usually don't talk politics, so excuse me while I delve into a few opinions. Nothing heavy, just a few casual observations.

First of all, I have to talk myself out of loving her just for having a baby with Downes... so adorable. If she and McCain win, the White House will have an adorable toddler with DS waddling around the grounds.

Second, I like that her daughter is having this baby. Yes, it's controversial. Yes, she's way too young. But we so rarely have a chance to actually test politicians on what they profess. Palin is pro-life. Her family is pro-life. They will be criticized for it, and that's what makes it beautiful.

I like her as a person. I just don't know how to feel about her as a politician. She and McCain don't agree on some policies, and she doesn't have a voting record on many others. She doesn't think we are causing global warming, which I worry about.. namely because we need strong environmentally-friendly policy makers. She is also very busy; I mean, five kids (including a baby with a developmental disability) is a lot to handle... let alone balancing the weight of the world (literally). And she most certainly does not have the experience to be Commander in Chief if McCain keels.

Then again, neither does Obama.

I don't know.. I feel like the policies of this election are getting trampled by the personal lives of the politicians. Maybe that's normal, but I'm a bit discouraged. Lots of personality appeal, very little appeal to logic.

::sigh::

So now I'm off to work on grad school and homework. I'm excited -- a few of the schools I'm looking into have hired new faculty, which is helping open a few new doors. The process is still very overwhelming. And I'm working through my senior thesis right now, too... daunting.

So happy Labor Day, everyone! And watch out for those debit cards...