I sucked on the eyeballing it thing. Which is why I should measure before I hang tings up but I never do. Which explains why everything that is on the walls in our house looks the way it does.

Anyone else freaked out over the "having a baby for german engineering" VW commercials? Makes me blink like This American Life blinked over the "better mousetrap" that was a gas chamber...and was marketed in Germany.

Bugs me that a generation of marketers would be so blind to the implications. I mean, freaks me out that kids don't really remember the cold war anymore, but jesus, the Holocaust? We're fucked.

An excellent article in the Times Online UK on why Obama is such a brilliant campaigner: Beep, beep: Road Runner lets McCain blow up - Barack Obama’s strategy of calm is provoking his rival into fatal errors

Some of the comments are interesting - An American had this to say:

I won't be voting for Obama. I have no desire to live in a socialistic nation.

Which resulted in these comments:

More American brainwashing on display. The word "socialistic" is meaningless in America. It's the latest code word for biggubment now that communism is dead. Well, guess what, you've already got the most socialistic gubment you've ever had. Why not grow up?

and

"I have no desire to live in a socialistic nation."
I am sick and tired of hearing Americans talking like this. Do any of them know what "socialistic" is?
It seems to me that many Americans would rather have Jesus and a rifle than a job, a sound ecomony and healthcare.

and

I simply do not understand why America does not have a National Health Service like every other civilised country in the world. maybe the word "civilised" contains the answer Lord knows they provide one and free food and clothes and a whole lot else for their soldiers.

I'm glad that American got made fun of....

He's on a lung-bypass machine. I didn't even know such a thing existed. (We're not sure if that is what its called, btw, but there is a machine oxygenating his blood.) They have him in an induced coma. I'm not sure how they clear sand from lungs.

I was told today that he was briefly conscious when they put him in the ambulance. That is somehow encouraging. They thought he was dead when she first pulled him out.

The whole thing is horrifying. My Sister and I have decided that word is tossd around too much -- this is quite literally horrifying.

Trudy, my heart goes out to your friend and her son. Lungs are pretty incredible (and have self-cleaning mechanisms). I hope he recovers quickly.

I am in awe of his Mom (I've always been a little in awe of her). He looked dead when she pulled him out and she yelled, "A____, come back here!" and shook him and then he looked at her.

I'm not sure if that's how it works of course, that we're getting all out-of-body and ordered back in by our Mom here... but I sort of love the thought that it could be.

I really love that they can oxygenate his blood and give his lungs time to clean/be cleaned.

Anyone else freaked out over the "having a baby for german engineering" VW commercials?

::raises hand::

They just bother me on so many levels, I can't even begin to articulate.

Anyone else freaked out over the "having a baby for german engineering" VW commercials?

I thought they were funny.

::both hands up::

I was totally flabbergasted by the first one I saw. At first, I thought I'd accidentally tuned in to some comedy show with a dark twist. When I realized it was a real ad, I got totally squicked.

Trudy, my hope for the best for your friend's son.