News
Everything in the international news is all about people blowing each other up. It seems people all over the world want to kill one another. I wonder if people are killing each other more these days, or if it is getting better coverage. There are atrocities left and right. Chechnya vs Russia. Israel vs Palestine. Thailand vs a bunch of monks. I feel like I'm the only American who is reading the news. I remember reading somewhere that if you read the newspaper from front to back you would have had a good idea what was going on in Nazi Germany before and during WW II. Its all quite depressing.

Stick
I have some friends who refuse to learn to drive a stick shift. I don't get it. I can drive a stick for goodness sake. The truck I learned on was a '73 Chivy with a straight six (a tractor motor) and a granny gear. When you dumped the clutch, the front end just jumped even if you didn't give it any gas. Well, I did ride motorcycles before that. Oh, and I drove a Fiat in a parking lot once. That's not the point. It freaks me out that people refuse to learn something that is not difficult. If they are afraid of driving, they shouldn't drive in the first place. There aren't even many hills in Houston. All it takes is a couple of ride-em-cowboy stalls and you are a pro.