To all of those who have written in with questions, please don’t take offense at the sequence in which I answer. It isn’t personal, I promise. Jade wants to know my favorite holiday and children’s book and why.

I will have to say that my favorite holiday is a toss between Veterans’ Day and New Year’s Day.

There is a lack of appreciation for vets in this country. Soldiers and sailors risked their lives for our nation. It doesn’t matter if they wanted to or not or if I happen to agree with the politics behind the conflicts they endured. They returned home, many of them damaged, traumatized and often scorned by those they fought to protect. I think because of Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day many people have learned the distinction between those that create wars and those that serve in them.

Even as I write this our brothers and sisters are risking their lives fighting a war with a purpose that is at best ambiguous. It is disgusting. They are sent to fight a war kept alive by an administration that has no interest in humanity or life, but for the black blood that flows from the veins of a land not theirs. Blood we wouldn’t have a need for if it weren’t in the interests of that same administration.

Liberation is a wonderful byproduct of war. Profit is not. Regardless of the reasons, the servants of war deserve our respect.

On a much lighter note, I think New Year’s Day is the one day my slate is wiped clean and whatever happened in the 364 days prior doesn’t matter. We all make mistakes and it is a great comfort to know that on January 1st I get a chance to start over and forget about the mistakes I made and the things I wish I could take back. I find it more than comforting to know that I can take what I have learned not to do in the previous year and apply that to the next year in the hopes that I can be a better person.

My favorite children’s book without a doubt growing up was “The Poky Little Puppy”. I read it over and over again and it still sits on my bookshelf at home. Apparently finding your own path and adventures appealed to me from the very beginning. I have to wonder how that puppy influenced my belief in karma…

Waiting in my Minneapolis hotel room for my ride to the airport I did something I very rarely do: I watched TV. There are reasons television is not a part of my life. In the brief time I had the thing on I saw two things: One made me laugh and one made me angry.

The laugh came from a commercial for Nutrisystem for men. To lose weight you have to get all of your food from their company. In this particular ad the company offered a week of food, 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners for free (with 28 day purchase)! A solidly built man chimed in with an excited, slightly psychotic exclamation of the amazing pizza and chocolate cake that made a stud out of his slob self! The idea that a weight loss company tries to boost business with a ton of free junk food is not only amusing, it blatantly illustrates how our overindulgent culture remains excessive even in the face of dieting.

Next I saw an ad for a new documentary called “Journeys with George” coming soon to MSNBC. Not looking up, I assumed by the upbeat instrumental soundtrack that it was that cute animated monkey that spills spaghetti and runs around causing pandemonium and being generally annoying to anyone in the immediate vicinity. Then I realized it was about our huge horse’s ass of a president so my initial assumption wasn’t far off the mark.

The doco is so obviously a desperate attempt to humanize a man whose face represents the power hungry, trigger happy, dollar obsessed reputation he’s earned for our country. His administration turned their backs and a blind eye to the 100s of thousands of lives that were changed forever in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Our president’s track record in the White House is like a list of atrocities carried out by some hostile regime in a third world country you’ve never heard of and yet he’s the leader of the free world. Revolutions have been ignited over much less. This pathetic documentary aims to give a demon a heart and generate good will of the people through the creative art of good editing and probably a healthy portion of bald faced lies. No matter what they do they can’t erase from the minds of the American people that this guy is a world class moron better suited to selling used cars. He has not only embarrassed us as a people, but has contributed to making us the most despised nation on the planet.

I’m very fond of the saying “No One Died When Clinton Lied” because Clinton’s legacy is a blow job and a dry cleaning bill. Never mind all of the progress he made for minorities or the fact that he genuinely seemed to care about the United States and the people that live here. It makes me wonder what Bush 2 will be remembered for?

The sleepy town I call home during the winter has gone through some changes in the time I’ve been gone. The video store that was run by the Lowells is now vacant with a “For Lease” sign in the front window that reads more like “Closed For Lack Of Interest”.

There used to be a small independent grocer by the name of Diane that dealt with the local farmers in the desert and surrounding areas. Everything was home grown and the only way to get this honest produce was to fill out an order form. She had broccoli, heirloom tomatoes, various kinds of apples and pears, beans and asparagus just to name a few. It felt really good to support local farming and to be part of such a healthy and beneficial interaction that you rarely see anymore.

As I drove into town I thought of how much fun I had preparing my meals around the seasonal produce. The stews I used to make. The elaborate omelets I would whip up so I could use what was left in the fridge to make room for what I would pick up that afternoon with all the other flip-flop wearing desert rats. However, as I drove by I caught glimpse of the store and saw the dreaded sign. This one read “Squeezed Out by Corporate Fucks!”…well not those words exactly, but close enough. Damn it!

Needless to say I was very disappointed by these discoveries. I mean, the list of reasons I like living in Palm Springs isn’t all that long to begin with. It wasn’t a very good time for a really annoying experience with an uncaring corporation. Enter Bank of America.

Whenever I have any interaction at all with Bank of America it usually ends with me fantasizing about removing all of my money from their greedy hands, packing it into Mason jars and burying them under palm trees. Not only do they have control of my money, they took over my credit card companies so it’s like there’s no escape. They have me at their incompetent mercy, but that lack of control I experience is admittedly offset by the extreme convenience of their normal operations. And I don’t really have that many Mason jars.

Last week I lost my ATM card; complete financial paralysis, right? It seemed like a visit to a local branch would be the best way to fix this. At the branch I was instructed to pick up a small white phone and press 1. Why did I bother coming to the branch if no one would help me? After a couple of minutes speaking with someone who sounded like he was all of 15 years old, I allegedly had my ATM card re-issued and left feeling some accomplishment and relief that my account had not been emptied.

This morning I called to check on the status of my card. I have learned from years of experience that thinking everything is taken care of will only lead to disappointment. I called my customer service (don’t even get me started on that phrase) number; the same one I’ve called for all of the nightmare problems I’ve had with them in the past. Sure enough, my ATM card had not been reissued and I had to sit on hold for three minutes grinding my teeth before they could find evidence that I reported it lost a week prior. I was livid and there was nothing they could say to make me feel anything less – especially not another one of their empty “I’m SO sorry!” statements.

It isn’t just the banks or the utility companies. More and more I find that my human interaction is being replaced by something more cost efficient. It isn’t an upgrade in any sense. Our population is booming out of control and yet companies are employing fewer people each year. While the companies protect their profit margins, we get crap service and have to visit megastores to get broccoli that was grown in Nova Scotia and have our movie rentals shipped to us from a distribution center in Kentucky. Personally, I’d rather support my local economy, get superior merchandise and have a nice chat with my favorite video store guy about new releases.