Summer Gone By

Another summer runs by, and me without any backpacking/backwoods time to show for it.

Growing up is annoying. It used to be that Summer was a wondrous time, full of happiness, laughter, and friends, tempered only by the looming presence of Autumn and its FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

Nowadays, my life is work, work, head off newest disaster that's befallen us, check on last great disaster that befell us, and make sure that disaster that befold us ain't coming back to befall us again, and work.

Sure, I get money now, but think on this: What use is money if I can't enjoy it without multiple Dooms of Damocles hanging over it my head?

Where have they gone, the days of carefree wonder?

Election Thoughts

There was a rant here about how tough it is to be a Kalifornian Republican, but when I reviewed it, it sounded silly, especially when I see how far Right the GOP has swung these last few years. So instead, I'm laying out some principles.

Who/what I vote for is decided by who/what most closely adheres to the below statements:

If I leave you alone, you leave me alone.

Abortion? The fetus is a parasite on the mother's body until it pops out and becomes it's own person. The mother can decide what to do with it as she wills. 

I know you need money to do things, but stop wasting it on crap no-one but special interest groups give a crap about. And seriously, for the amount of taxes I pay, you shouldn't need to come "ask" for more.

If you want to be intolerant about this or that, that's your business. It ain't, however, the business of my government to treat anyone different from anyone else, unless they ain't paying into the system; if you ain't paying for it, you don't get to complain about the service.

You get my guns when I run out of bullets.

I don't like drugs, but even I see that the War on Drugs is a losing proposition. Make the most of it and tax the hell out of that shit.

The other War is patriotic and good and all, but do we always have to do it in a way that cost so damn much? For God's(that I don't believe in, keep your wonky religions outta my government) sake, we spend more on defense than the next 26 nations combined, 25 of which are allies(according to The Newsroom(great show)). Why?! Are there actually hostile extraterrestrials out there than the government ain't telling us about?

Regulation has its place. Environmental regulation is rather important, but don't overdo it. When the EPA tells me that hunting with lead shot is dangerous to wildfowl, I will say that it's kind of the point.

Unions make shit more expensive than it ought to be. And service is shittier than I'd expect at the price point.

And seriously, corporations don't give a damn about this country. They care about making money, and don't give a damn about any irreparable harm they may or may not do. Regulate so that entrepreneurship and class-mobility is still reasonably possible.


Basically, to sum it all up:

STOP FORCING YOUR RELIGIOUS VIEW ON ME AND MINE!
STOP FORCING YOUR LIBERAL VALUES AND PROPAGANDA DOWN MY THROAT!
STOP TRYING TO TAKE MY GUNS!
STOP POLLUTING MY WORLD!
STOP  PANDERING TO THE CORPORATIONS AND THE UNIONS!
STOP OTHER PEOPLE FROM FUCKING THINGS UP FOR THE REST OF US!
        
                AND

STOP SPENDING SO MUCH GODDAMN MONEY! PEOPLE WORKED FOR THAT MONEY, YOU KNOW!

SB249

Stoppit SB249.

I don't want you, I didn't vote for you, and I certainly didn't vote for Senator Yee, who wrote you.

Why Super-Anti-Gun San Francisco is trying to push laws that affect my rights some 400 miles to their south is beyond me.

What's the point of making Mag-locked firearms illegal, when, if you are truly so concerned, there are hundreds of other models of firearms that are ballistically  and functionally identical to these mag-locked firearms? Why not ban those first? That is, if you are truly concerned with the "danger" these "Assault Weapons" pose.

I'm going out to get me an AR. Gonna pull money from everywhere and scrape up enough for that Colt AR. And when the time comes and the gun is required to be confiscated(ex-post facto, can you believe it?!), I'll hand it over. And I will know that this country is has truly gone to the pits, that our politicians wrap themselves in the flag, yet burn the Constitution, and that I should start expatriation.

Munchkin Business

Ain't Much Done Doing.

It Is Also Hot.

Munchkin is probably very lucrative for Steve Jackson.
Played lots of it this week. Will be playing more of it for the coming weeks as well.

Thinking about getting Zombie Munchkin.

Also: The Newsroom has my vote for best show of the year.

Grilled Meat Week

Water pipe burst in the basement last night. Had it fixed this morning, but still went without shower after a night of Korean BBQ with my girlfriend's father. His birthday and all that.

Had grilled meats in various forms three times this last week, got the runs after two of them. Also had several days in which I only had one meal/day. Probably related.

Saw the most beautiful supermarket at Palos Verdes yesterday. Played more Munchkin today.

Olympics: Missed the opening ceremony. Saw the US men's swim relay team lose to the French, of all people. Soccer between the Japanese and the Moroccans got exciting during the last five minutes. Soccer between the S. Koreans and the Swiss were more violent than expected. Also, if Japan is called "Nippon," why is it called Japan? And why is the abbreviation for Morocco "MAR"?

Gone awry

My cousin has returned home, so vacation is over.

Didn't do much but work this last week. Though I did eat my DineLA at Haven gastropub in Pasedena.

Did you know that duck fries are actually testicles and that said testicles taste like Lima beans?

Working to cover several holes in company hierarchy now that my father is distracted with other matters.

Spent significant amounts of money these last few weeks, and will spend an equally large amount soon.

My quote for new tires on my IS comes out to over a grand. And my truck will need major maintenance soon.

Wallet is feeling much pain.

Catalina, and Troubles

Built me that Minecraft Lego set. Funsies. Even came with a little creeper.

Went to Catalina for the weekend. Kayaked and got a Certificate of Accomplishment for my troubles.

Mostly hung about the island, played Munchkins and drank Ketel. Need to get Munchkins expansion packs.

Came back home to find the shit is hitting the fan. Will be working more. More need to be done. More needs to be learned. Such is life.

Also need to replace my AV receiver. The thing is chirping and blowing out on me.

San Fran and Back

Cousin arrived, took him to San Fran for the weekend. We took HWY1 up again, following the same path as my last vacation with my Girlfriend.

We ate a lot.

Hotel in Monterrey the first night was ridiculous. $200 for a double queen. A condo at Catalina in the high season goes for $200 a night.

New: Went to 17-mile Drive. Foggy as hell. So meh.

San Fran weather was as interesting as expected. Fog some places, sunny as SoCal in others. Microclimates galore.

Had several friends move up to the Bay recently, visited. They seem well, though one seems lost. Stayed at SuburbanDweller's. Still had a key on my keyring, actually.

New: Visited Exploratorium. Next to visit: Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

Note: The Bison in the Paddock were fruitful this past year.

Front Left wheel well panel fell off. Oddly enough, same thing happened to the last car, last time I went to San Fran. Go figure.

Out of Work

Ain't done much this week. Finished my last project at work and discovered that there ain't a new one waiting for me. So....

Got back into Minecraft, playing the Tekkit mod. Awesome.

Otherwise, the last week has been pretty boring.

Cousin is going to stay over for a week or two. He ain't been to the USA in many years, and likely won't be coming back for many more. Planning on taking him to SF this weekend, and Catalina the next. Interspersed with some gunplay and some food, and maybe some hiking if I can fit it in.

Fare thee well, Foie/ Les Miz/ Brave

Had that Farewell to Foie dinner.

Kinda overpriced, kinda over-salted, kinda over-foie'd.
Meh. Ain't gonna be eating it again. Not in the People's Replubik of Kalifornia anyway.

Got the stitches out of my finger. Hurt more coming out than it did going in. Typing still a pain in the finger.

Saw Les Miserables at the Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. Incredible. Will see again sometime. More excited about the upcoming movie now.

Broke into the burnt down house I bought a few weeks ago. Aggressive as hell beehive in the back. Got stung. Looted shit, and by shit, I mean "nothing." Not worth it.
Father picked up weird alien toy thing. He seems very pleased with it. For a man worth many millions, he likes the cheapest things. Mom brought home a 4-cd collection of 80's rock music. Has promptly decided she doesn't like rock music.

Saw Brave last night, and liked it. Will be getting the soundtrack. Not too excited about any other movies coming out this summer.

Mom's youngest brother is staying over for the next week to take care of business in the States. Means the GF can't stay over. Again. I are amused at how much more annoyed she is at this than I am.