Infomercials may be hazardous to your wealth....

It's 6:30am, and I should be sleeping. But no. My body woke up at around 5:45. So, what to do besides read email and LJ? Watch TV. Flip through the channels until I find something interesting.

Sometimes I see informercials for products that look intriguing. But I can't afford the products they're hawking. I also question if I truly need the product, or if I just want it. The people who write the scripts for infomercials are skilled at inventing a need for their products.

My current objects of fiscal lust: Steam mops. The H₂O Mop sells for just under $200. The Shark steam mop sells for half of that.

I like steam cleaners. So much so that I have two of them -- a big steam cleaner with a nozzle (called "Mr. Steam") for big jobs, and a small steam bottle for the kitchen. They get the job done without the use of chemicals. I'm not completely convinced that steam cleaning kills all the germs, though. But they're certainly effective, almost as effective as using boiling water or hot coffee on my countertops or floors.

So, should I buy one when I can afford to do so? Or just see if I could rent one, like I would a Rug Doctor?

Shout-outs: Happy birthday jhayman!

Pagan Pride Day.....

This morning and afternoon, I manned a table for the Dayton Pagan Alliance at the local Pagan Pride Day event, which was held at the Founders' Quadrangle of Wright State University.

Attendance was decent; I'd say about half were WSU students. I estimate we had somewhere between 75 and 100 people.

The highlight of the day: At noon, we had about a dozen protestors assemble at one end of the quad exercising their First Amendment rights and preaching their message of intolerance and hatred in the name of Jesus. We ignored them while Campus Police kept watch over them in case anyone stepped over the line. The protestors left around 1:00, which was when our open ritual was scheduled to begin.

"If they will not listen, shake the dust from your shoes and move on." Matthew 10:10, I believe.

One of the local TV news stations was there covering the protests. As of now, their version of the events has not been posted to their website.

When I got to my car at the end of the event, I noticed that someone left a Chick tract on my windshield. How special.