I haven't changed the oil in my car in more than two years. Of course, it's a 1992 Civic and more often than not I use my wife's 2002 Sentra to get around (she rides the bus and Metro to get to work). Still, I figure I've driven the Civic some 15,000 miles without an oil change. Still runs smoother than Ex-Lax, as long as my stick work is up to par.

On my way to pick up my parents at the bus station (they're stopping by for a couple days after finishing up a Caribbean cruise), my son Max and I saw a panhandler at the intersection of North Capitol and Florida. He held a sign that read "Just hungry/God bless." Max wanted to know why the man was standing in the street. "He wants some money," I said. "Change?" Max asked? "I guess," I said. "He'll probably take whatever people give him." Max thought about this. "Do we have any change to give him?" he asked me. "I didn't even bring my wallet," I told him. This led to a lecture from Max on how it was irresponsible to drive without your driver's license in your pocket. Yes, Max. You're right. But still, I had no change.

Joe Montana is sporting a close-cropped haircut in his NFL playoff commercials. He really looks like the owner of a dive bar that can only afford one small 17" television. He doesn't appear to be balding that much, so why the crew cut? Maybe it's just makeup, a fake do. I hope so. That particular change is definitely not for the best.

My son Sam is now three. He's going through one of the big life changes--potty training. He's got the peeing bit down, but in the last week he has been resisting the pooping. This has led to massive stomach pain and some really nasty poops (ones that literally force their own way out). He's not enjoying this rite of passage, but since it's a necessary one, enjoyment is optional.

I've always been a big proponent of trying new things. I've brewed more than sixty batches of beer, and none of them are identical. This means, of course, that my technique is kinda sketchy and my results are uneven. They are interesting, though. And interesting goes a long way with me.

In the early 6th Century BCE (dates given range from 597 to 586), the Chaldeans conquered Jerusalem. Jews did not regain full control of the land now known as Israel until 1948 CE. That's more than 2,500 years. Despite this rather long intermission, there were some Jews who remained on the land during all that time. The Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and others kept swapping the deed to the property, but there were always those who kept the faith. They always believed there would be a change in their favor.

Most folks on this planet are poor and uneducated--by any objective standard, not simply the bourgeois five-TVs-per-house viewpoint we have here in the U.S. These folks would welcome a change, as long as that change made things better for them. And there's the rub.

The Republicans running for president are promising change. Maybe it's Huckabee's "Fair Tax" (which is something like a VAT) or Giuliani's "Machine gun 'em down at the border" approach to immigration (a striking change to his previous views on the subject), but those changes are bound to make life worse for folks who already have it bad. Might as well run on a "Cadillac in the driveway of everyone in the top tax bracket" pledge. At least then the rhetoric would be somewhat honest.

The Democrats running for president are also promising change. Most have half-assed health care reforms (though they are getting closer to a single-payer system) and mealy-mouthed promises to get out of Iraq "when it makes sense." They don't say boo about immigration and they don't seem to give a rat's ass about the economic disparities between the rural and urban parts of our nation. I know, John Edwards yells about this all the time, but he doesn't talk much about solutions. Maybe he's just being honest, though. We've already got open class warfare, and one thing we should have learned anything about Iraq is that it can be really hard to get out of a war once you're mired in it.

I'm all for change. And we need it. Badly. I just hope the changes we get are the changes we need and not just the same old same old.

Jon Worley changed out the CD player in his car to include a heavy dose of Gerald Collier.