That'll show them.

My city council raised electric rates by 11%. In response, I've resolved to try to reduce my usage 22%.

Part of that is addressing my 9/11 Cable News Syndrome, which manifests itself in a need to know EVERYthing that's happening THE MOMENT it happens. I've resolved to refrain from turning on the TV (and the VCR, with which I change the channel) until at least 2 PM every day.

Fight The Power With Pruning Shears and a Handsaw.

Yesterday I'm watching TV in the living room. I look out the window and see a police car backing down the alley that's at the left edge of my yard if you're standing on the porch facing outward.

At the front corner of the yard is a fairly large, pyramidal evergreen bush of unknown species (boxwood, maybe?).

The car is the dark grey 409-3. He backs down the alley a ways and sits there awhile.

I neither know nor particularly care what he is doing there, but it occurs to me that such a place would be a good place to hide in wait for speeders.

He sits there awhile longer, then takes off again.

My bedroom is at that corner of the house. This morning, I realized there was much too little light coming into my bedroom windows, so I took the pruning shears and hacksaw to the bush and didn't stop until there was nothing left of it but six or seven spindly little sapling-sized upshoots, stripped of all branches and leaves up to about seven feet.

Good luck hiding behind THAT.

More Double Coupon Shopping.

Today I got two $1.28 cans of Wolf Chili for $1.76, a $1.32 French's yellow mustard squeeze bottle for $.72, a $.92 can of mild Rotel for negative $.08, and a $1.12 bottle of Joy Ultra dish detergent for $.52.

So in total, I got $5.92 worth of stuff for $2.92.

I'm thinking of keeping a record of every time I wind up paying negative money for a product and sending at least half of that money to the National Libertarian Party.

That would be killing two birds with one stone by sapping money from Borg Queen Obama's economy AND helping fund the Libertarians, who will lose their ballot access in 2012 in a lot of states if enough of us don't vote for them.

Flea Market Finds.

Today I finished making my major video purchases for the next four years. That's not to say I won't buy a good movie if I run across one at a yard sale, but I'm not buying any on the white market until at least 2012.

I picked up a PUMP UP THE VOLUME DVD and a weird little VHS called "The Anarchist Cookbook," which is not a video adaptation of the cookbook but rather the story of how people who read the cookbook ruin the lives of innocent, happy-go-lucky anarchist bums.

I also picked up Toffler's The Third Wave for a buck.

I got all this at the little flea market south of Mammoth Spring that has the army surplus/war souvenir booth in the back; the one that makes you think the nutcase army store owner from FALLING DOWN is going to poke his little head up over the counter.

Hey, it's either him or Zed and Maynard from PULP FICTION; take your pick.

A free box of Afrin and an eight-cent box of cake mix.

I had to go out this morning for a 12-pk of Diet Dew, some bread, and a little bunch of miniature bananas. While I was at the store that doubles coupons up to $.50, I decided to do a little coupon shopping, too.

I got the $4.69 Afrin for free, some $.88 reduced-sugar yellow cake mix for $.08, a $1.25 box of Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes for $.75, a $1.50 can of Campbell's Clam Chowder for $.90, a $1.98 roll of Viva paper towels for $.98, a $.88 package of steam corn for $.28, and a $1.25 pump bottle of Softsoap for $.55.

Double coupons SO rock when you're Fighting The Power.

Looks like I bought it too early.

The movie 300 will be on sale for six bucks at Walmart the morning after the Festival of Gluttony.

I paid $13 for it a couple weeks ago.

Still, I may venture out on Capitalism Day morning and check what other movies are selling for six bucks.

Or two.

Maybe I can get enough that I won't have to buy any more for the next four or (shudder) eight years.

We shall overcome.

Fight The Power By Burning Newspapers.

I noticed that about half of the bulk of my trash is paper or cardboard.

So I've started burning the paper and cardboard in the backyard where I burn leaves.

As expected, it cut the amount of trash I have in half.

How does this fight the power, you ask?

Using one trash bag every two weeks instead of every week cuts the amount I spend on trash bags, and the taxes I pay on said trash bags, in half.

We shall overcome.