( continues...) insurance decisions, probably because I went to the trouble of getting a license to sell life/health insurance some years ago, before the actual career happened. Sold one policy and quit. I couldn't do it; I had to lie to everyone I met.

PEW survey: whoa, I got them all right! I'm so proud. I'd like to thank Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, Rachel Maddow, and Keith Olbermann, who have made me politically not-ignorant-anymore.

I am being SO LAZY. Oh, hey, my Leverage DVDs are here. Well, that solidifies my plans for the next 12 hours.

Oh, insurance. Here's a blow I didn't need. My father realized the other day that he has in fact outlived his term life insurance. Any guesses what it costs to insure a 70 year old man with a history of heart attacks? Yeah. So I have a couple of days to figure out what to do about that. He certainly can't afford what they want - even at the old rate it was a struggle on his combo of Veteran's disability, SS, and seasonal part-time job.

There's no other inheritance. And I wouldn't worry so much for me or my brother, but my sister is a starving musician with a lot of debt. Even before she was laid off she barely made a living wage, working in the arts being what it is. I honestly doubt she would ever even think about it, but I kind of counted on this being there for her one day.

So 2009 gets another blow in. This'll stop soon, right?

I am on the train to Michigan! And I bought renters insurance before I left. Thanks for the recommendations, y'all. I'm also about to finish my first book, so I guess bringing four was a good call.

Once I wrangle my old 401k and visit the dentist, I won't have to be an adult for a while.

I missed the troops number too.

So it looks like there's a good chance I will be celebrating NYE with a) cramps, b) a cold and c) a freaking painful zit that makes my neck hurt. Yay me?

I'm hoping b. doesn't materialize, but I'm wary.

Hec! Your wife is falling down on the job!

Yeah, well, she never schlubs around. It was good for her.

Hec, I remember what Empress Dowager Lu did to Concubine Qi, and I think you were wise not to link to it!

I lost sleep over it! Seriously, humans disappoint me.

On that same point I'm working for my friend who is a defense attorney and I was organizing her media, which is to say: police interrogation recordings, 911 calls, photos of the crime scene etc. Sheesh.

erika, after going through this stuff I can vouch for the veracity of "crime makes you stupid." OMG, they're so stupid!

Officer: I'm going to read you your Miranda rights...
Perp: I know my damn rights! blah blah implicating thing. Blah blah names. Blah blah that doesn't count as criminal. It does? WTF? I just blah blah?! Well, so and so did it too.

Plus! The cops totally exploit the ignorance.

"Well, you know we've got the whole thing on tape."

"I didn't do it! It was blah blah! Okay, I was there, but didn't do the thing. Okay, I did the thing but that doesn't count because I was kind of drunk. Do I need an attorney here?"

Plus, everybody has seen just enough CSI to believe that DNA evidence is magic, so the cops exploit that too.

"You know if you pretty much blinked in the presence of the crime we'll have your eyelash flakes."
"Okay, well I can explain how my DNA might've gotten there. See I picked up the thing and handed it to other guy. But he's the one who did it!"

Patrick Stewart and Peter Jackson are going to be knighted! In fact, Jackson already has been, in New Zealand.

[link]

Seriously, never ever talk to cops without a lawyer, I don't care if it makes them think you're guilty.

For serious. To continue with Frank Pembleton, I always remember his explanation of the detective's job as a salesman, "selling a long prison term to a customer who has no use for the product."

Martha Stewart didn't go to prison for the thing she was charged with, she went to prison for talking to the Feds without a lawyer.

They even did "It'd be a shame for you to take the whole blame for this thing yourself." Names come pouring out.

It's funny watching how they equivocate at first. They don't want to snitch. But the cops just keep circling around on the story until little details start hanging loose, and they pull on the thread and it starts to unravel.

The police also did some good detective work with the CSI unit. Did you know that condoms come in lot numbers? Yep. So an unopened condom can be linked to the box in your bedroom.