Merry Christmas!

May you all have a wonderful holiday...

So it's not just an urban legend...

There are people out there who actually DO have the words "Hot Rod" tattooed on their tallywhacker. Interesting...

Oh, HELL yes!

Sci-Fi conference with Ray Bradbury, Frederick Pohl and Arthur C Clarke at my Alma Mater 10 miles down the road? Count me in! $55/day is pretty steep, but I reckon it'll be worth it...

Skankiness...

Runs in the family, or so it seems...
Britney's little (and by little, I mean SIXTEEN year old) sister has found herself in a family way. Apparently she was absolutely shocked when she found out. I guess she learned the hard way how babies are made. To top it all, her mother is currently writing a book on parenting. Hmm... I'll be sure to pick that one up; after all, with such stellar examples, I'm sure there's plenty to learn from this family about child rearing.
I've come to expect poor choices and disastrous examples from celebrities, but seeing this from a star of a CHILDREN'S network (Nickelodeon for those who don't know) is a new low.

Let him rot

So John Walker Lindh wants out, eh? Twenty years too long for treason? Well, I have to agree with that. He should have been executed years ago.
Since we didn't go that route, however, Whiny Boy needs to suck it up and sit out his sentence.
I especially like the lawyer's take... now that we're not as "fearful" as we were after 9-11, he thinks Johnny has a better shot at getting out without serving his time. Fearful? It wasn't our fear that got this dude twenty years.
It was our RAGE.
RAGE against a clear act of treason.
RAGE against someone who grew up in a privileged home, denounced it all and rejected every American value to WAGE WAR AGAINST HIS COUNTRY OF BIRTH.
Let the weasel rot.

Ain't it cute?

The wee Carbon Offset that I planted earlier this year has given forth fruit! Of the three that I planted, this one didn't really get any bigger in size, but it sprouted a bunch of tasty tangerines. The other two are doing fine, but haven't produced near as much fruit. To give y'all an idea of how small this tree is, here's a picture of My Little Princess for scale...

It is a most tiny tree...

Sorry about the picture quality, but my camera is crap. Hopefully that will be rectified this December 25th...

Dang!

Been a while since my last post...


Well, in the run up to the holidays, there's always so much to do; add in buying and selling a house and its frikken INSANE.


Looks like we're getting the house... probably moving in around the first of Feb. Still hasn't really sunk in yet, although I drive by it fairly often. One time the owner was out in the front yard and saw us - I felt a little weird about it, and my wife gave him an embarrassed wave...


Picked up my new Beretta on Wednesday... wanna see a picture?





Oh, OK...

Pretty, ain't it? Kinda looks like some pistol out of a sci-fi movie... I'm not much of a handgunner, and I'm hoping practice with this will help me improve without bankrupting me... I will probably not have enough time to get out to the range before the end of the year, but we'll see. Can't wait to try it out...

Whew!

That has to be the best Monday Night Football game I've seen in a LONG time! A nailbiter right up until the end! Both teams played real hard, but the Ravens really played with a lot of heart. Penalties killed it for them. They can hold their heads high, though; I'll bet there was a lot of puckered asses on the Patriots' side of the field.
Excellent game.

Another year...

Well, I turned 36 yesterday, although my birthday was kinda overshadowed by the car drama. Had a pretty quiet day, with some good food to round it out...
Oh, and I scored a Beretta NEOS... or will in 10 days, thanks to CA's gun laws...

Found the dude...

He lives up the street from me. Saw a truck that looked a lot like the paint chips scattered around my car on my way to do some errands. After I was done, I went home, grabbed a paint chip and walked down to the truck. Saw some front end damage and some glass by the front, and the paint matched perfectly.
Rather than confront the guy, I called the cops, who took their sweet time getting there - about an hour. By the time they showed up, the truck was gone. I checked throughout the evening, but still no sign. I'll check today on my way out.
I did get the plate number, which I handed off to the cops, but I'm not sure where this is going to go. I have a sinking feeling that I'll be eating this repair.

Speaking of pandemonium...

Some JACKASS flew around the corner and drove into the back of my wife's car in front of our house last night, while everyone was asleep. Our bedroom is in the back of the house, so we didn't hear a damn thing, and of course the bastard took off without leaving any info, because he was probably frigging drunk. Our car (a Kia Sportage) was hit so hard it was pushed 7 or 8 feet into the back of my pickup, so both front and back bumpers are jacked, as well as the rear hatch and the tire carrier. Glass everywhere. Bronze paint chips, too, so I cruised the neighborhood looking for a truck of that color with front-end damage (the point of impact on our Kia was pretty high, suggesting a truck).
We called the cops who came out and pretty much said "Gee, that sucks", and split. Not that I have any expectations, but at least the wreck is on record.
Called around and found another rear hatch plus tire carrier for $275, so I'll pick it up Monday and put it in myself. It's green, and our Sportage is black, so it's going to look like shit but oh well. Better than plastic sheeting in the back.
The Kia is insured, but only with liability, because it's not worth all that much now - it's a 2001 with a pile of miles - and anyway, the damage is extensive enough that an insurer would total the car, which is just silly, since it drives just fine... just needs a new back door. I can live with jacked-up bumpers for a while.
As you may surmise, I am rather pissed off about this, but there's nothing more I can do about it other than clean up the mess and fix what I can. Just glad no-one was in the car when that prick tried to go through it.