Circling the bowl

While reading Kim Du Toit's site this morning, I came across this story. Sadly, I'm seeing more and more such tragedies in my old home. The newer "chav" culture is a symptom of Britain's decline, and I honestly have no desire to return - not even to present my wife and children to my wider family there whom they've never met. Murders in the UK were a rarity in my youth, and every one made national news. Now death by beat-down seems so commonplace as to scarcely warrant attention. This man was beaten to death in front of his family, and I can't imagine a more traumatic event for a young child. The barbarians aren't at the gates; they're already inside, and an indifferent, incompetent government/law system means there will only be more such victims.
When your government will not only not protect its citizens, but actively forbids them from protecting themselves, this is what happens.
I count myself lucky to have left when I did.

Citizenship....

This past Saturday, I received a letter from the INS (or its current incarnation, ICE) informing me that I have an interview scheduled on March 25th. I applied for citizenship back here... it's been almost a year, but I heard that there was a big increase in applications at the time because of the looming fee increase...
This is literally the most important interview of my life thus far. I can't think of anything I want more than to be counted as an American citizen, and if I blow it - I can't even contemplate that...
My parents told me that they were sworn in within 2 hours of their interview - would that it goes as smoothly for me! So, hopefully, all goes well on the big day and I don't blow it.
I'm pretty nervous about this. Wish me luck...

Moving

Well, its been a LONG time since last I posted.. many apologies. We've sold our house, and we closed on the new one last week. We've given the owner until the 31st to pack up and start his retirement in Havasu, and this coming up weekend we'll be tearing out the old tile and carpet, and painting the walls. Hopefully I'll be able to find time to watch the Superbowl. Next week we'll be having new tile installed, and sometime after that new carpet...
Things are going to be hectic for quite a while, as we pack our stuff/renovate/move etc...

Tennessee...

..Is where my kids and I find ourselves this week, staying with my sister and her family, and we'll be visiting with my parents in Georgia today. Unfortunately circumstances did not permit my wife to be here too.
I hadn't flown in a few years, and this was also my first time with Southwest Airlines too... since it's first come, first serve with the seating and I'm a chronically late individual, that meant I wasn't able to sit next to my kids on the first flight.
TSA was as pleasant, courteous and professional as I had heard about, which was not very...
Glad to be here though - it's good to see my family after so long (gotta be at least a couple of years).
This is their house in Harrison, TN, about 15 minutes outside of Chattanooga. A beautiful place, with about an acre of woodland for a backyard, way cheaper than it's equivalent in CA, and located in a Free State to boot.
More to come as time permits...

Happy New Year

Little bit late, but I've been fairly busy of late. This is sunset from the balcony of my wife's family's condo on Oceanside, taken New Year's Day... with our sweet new 8 megapixel Canon Powershot. Way better picture quality.
We had a nice relaxing New Years, although we didn't see the ball drop because we were playing the "Let's Make a Deal DVD game and got so wrapped up in it we lost track of time...

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.

First one

Well, the first "storm" rolled into the Southland here today, accompanied by the resultant pandemonium on the freeways, as the last 8-9 months worth of oil, grease and other sundry automotive fluids got lifted out of all the cracks and pores in the asphalt, creating the equivalent of a valley-wide skating rink - not to mention landslides/mudslides in the areas recently devastated by the wildfires...
I love the rain, myself; I know how desperately this part of the world needs it, and I'm always hoping for more... besides which, it never rains hard enough here to make me miserable - coming from the northern UK, I have a distinct idea of what hard, driving rain feels like, and it's nothing like the warm gentle showers that make everyone here wet themselves...

I must applaud...

I'm finally in agreement with the loons of the left. I cannot agree more heartily that they should not reproduce. Hey, if that reduces their carbon footprint, great. I'm more concerned with another generation receiving their BS dogma/brainwashing, or heaven help us, if left-wing moonbattiness is genetic.
So I must stand, and applaud you selfless ladies of the left. Bring on the steriliaztion! We may yet be able to save the planet after all. Keep up the good work!

H/T Drudge

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope y'all will enjoy the day as much as I plan to!

DC Gun Ban case will get heard...

Via Instapundit, we learn that the SCOTUS will cowboy up and hear the DC gun ban case. This one's huge, and can set the stage for some serious changes in 2nd Amendment law throughout the country, whichever way the court rules. I have to admit, I'm very apprehensive about this one - this is the same court that gave us the Kelo decision, after all. Yes, there have been some conservatives added to the court in the last few years, but is it conservative enough? Guess we'll find out.