Colorado Sport International Air Show

People, this was awesome! Thanks, FFM. You can see some video clips if you click on this link.

http://www.cosportaviation.org/

Also, while I don't fancy myself a myopic jingoistic type patriot, I love this country and am blessed to live here and not somewhere more restrictive (so those of you who fancy yourselves patriots yet would like to make it more restrictive, you're not real patriots and maybe shouldn't even be Americans), I got home and found this from my Dad, via Aunt Jane. One this, I agree:

At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize
for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of our
former patriots handled negative comments about our country.

These
are good.

JFK'S
Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when
De Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted all US
military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded,
"Does that include those who are buried here?"
De Gaulle
did not respond.
You
could have heard a pin drop..
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When in England
at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of
'empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying,
"Over the years, the United States has sent many of
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom
beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for
in return is enough to bury those that did not
return."
You
could have heard a pin drop..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a conference in France
where a number of international engineers
were taking part, including French and American. During a break,
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you
heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft
carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he
intend to do, bomb them?"
A Boeing engineer
stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three
hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are
nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to
shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to
feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand
gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a
dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and
from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships;
how many does France have?"
You
could have heard a pin drop..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral
was attending a naval conference that included
Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French
Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a
large
group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a
French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many
languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that
we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than
speaking French?"
Without hesitating,
the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the
Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't
have to speak German."
You
could have heard a pin drop..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND
THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
Robert Whiting,
an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport
in his carry on.
"You
have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked
sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting
admitted that he had been to France
previously.
"Then
you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said,
"The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."
"Impossible.
Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !"
The American senior
gave the Frenchman a long hard look.. Then he
quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day
in
1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen
to show a passport to."
You
could have heard a pin drop..

Ah, my quaint old New England!

What I Did On Summer Vacation

By James Howard Kunstler
on August 23, 2010 5:32 AM

Oh what a mighty spewage of vinyl weighs heavy on this land!

A dark mood spread through the body politic like a septic infection last week in response to bad numbers in employment, housing, and commerce, not to mention unease about the now complete takeover of the stock market by robot traders. But I left it all behind to trip across New England from the Vermont border to Maine and back, and many a strange thing did I see....

New Hampshire's got their state motto on the license plate wrong: Live Free or Die. It ought to read Live Free and Die. Just north of Concord on I-89 there's a highway rest stop. The primary retail outlet there is... the state liquor store! Yes, for some reason the New Hampshire government controls the sale of liquor. Puritan guilt? Creeping socialism? Who knows. Apparently some brilliant state wonk got the idea that they could maximize revenue by selling liquor to motorists. Now, granted, not everybody motoring up I-89 is an alcoholic, but surely some of them are. Maybe it's a scheme to kill off the Boston Irish -- but at some risk to the citizens of The Granite State. Note: there was no coffee shop on the premises. I kid you not.

http://kunstler.com/blog/2010/08/what-i-did-on-summer-vacation.html#more

Thanks, Shaun, for today's little gem. I'll wander through my work with the images of behemoth sloths plying the surf dancing in my head.

Great Basin

Peeps, am going to Great Basin NP for a few days, leaving mean people politics behind. If you don't know where it is, don't feel alone. In fact, I love that hardly anyone to whom I mention my destination knows; all the more room, and a campsire ensured.

Hiatin'- catch up on return

I know that I haven't written in a while, FFM,

and other peeps, but all the crap I would talk about is mean stuff and I would rather concentrate on being away in a new place (Butte, MT) and learning new stuff (about mining, especially hard rock mining). So, I will get back to this... sometime soon.

Classic Maine

Thanks to Joe Merrill for the pic.

Speaking of such things, I got back from Maine last night. Coolest thing that happened yesterday: I got on the plane in Manchvegas, and there was former housemate Jesse, whom I had not seen in about 7 years. We enjoyed lunch and a beer and catching up on the flight to De Troit. Very nice.

While I was there, Mom went into the "Everything is bad here; the economy sucks," mode, and I was like, "Yeah, just like everywhere." Seriously, the small towns there look to be in no worse shape, as far as "closed" and "for rent or lease" signs in empty store fronts, than here in Wyoming. Peeps, this country is a mess. We are slaves to the dollar bill, y'all. We all know that, right?

I mean, I had to have Dad ship me a box of stuff UPS because it would have cost me 20 bucks to check a bag on the plane. Jesse and I were talking about how cool it would be to fly Southwest because they have free flight for your bags, except that the fact that free bag check is an anomaly in this country now is sick. That an airlines advertises that as a bonus is a gross misrepresentation of reality.

The FFM says why don't I give up like he did? Beats the hell out of me.

For Which I am Thankful

Last night while unpacking more stuff in the basement, I ran across some writing I had done about... 3 years ago? It was good. Really. But I wouldn't ever take it anywhere. Story of my life.

How easy it is to complain. A couple weeks ago, or last weekend...? we went to Nu2U and I bought a bunch of clothes, including a brand new pair of Gramicci pants, tags still attached. And I yiped because I thought the cashier overcharged me on some item, when I saw the total. The FFM chastised me for not being thankful for the fact I had just paid about a quarter of what I would have paid for those pants retail (or what someone would have paid) and got more than just the pants. He was right, of course.

Depression is weird. Complacency is weird. They creep up, really, when a person isn't aware, and then suddenly- bang! There you are, depressed and complacent. The two go hand-in-hand for me. Stagnant life. Meds just kill the ability to feel it as quickly or acutely as one might otherwise. To some of us, that's the danger. Is this really me? Or some automaton, a walking zombie under
the spell of lifelessness?

So, I have been keenly aware of opportunities to be grateful very recently. For example, every morning when I wake up and can play fishing with the cat without worrying that our footsteps will bother someone downstairs.

And today I decided rather than bitch about Bill Gates and Microsoft (because already I have harped multiple times about how he uses his philanthropic gestures as a smokescreen for the ultimate power and control he exerts over those of us who are tied to computers), to put the word out abouta company that I haven't felt have screwed with me lately.

PRICELINE.com. I have used Priceline for travel arrangements for several years, and though I have tried other companies, I still like Priceline best. You can name your own price if you have the leisure to do so, and come up with some pretty sweet deals. I have secured rooms in 4-star hotels in downtown Denver for 60 bucks a night, for instance. And for the first time, this weekend I placed an order and got the wrong itinerary. Anticipating a row, because that's what one expects from company representatives anymore, since no one seems to really want to accommodate the price-paying customer these days, and because depression will creep in and make one pessimistic and bitter, I called Priceline. And I had a pleasant conversation with the man on the other end of the line, in which he immediately cancelled the wrong plans and refunded my money. I did have to go online to rebook, but that took all of 10 minutes. And I saved a little bit of cash the second time around.

I like PRICELINE.COM. Hells, just opening up and looking at the pic of a puffy William Shatner pointing out the way to the best deal? That alone makes it worth the trip.

So, there it is, a gratis ad for a company I appreciate. I'm easy like Sunday morning.

A Little Travelrama

OK, peeps, I am now somewhat ensconced (with the door open because the windows won't) in my uber modern Motel 6 room in Jackson, the town that has already proved to me to be the pretentious mountain town I had always envisioned. Really, who goes to the mountains to visit a goddam bistro? You go to the mountains to drink strong coffee and smell the flowers, not the prosciutto- don't you? Not if you are chichioua enough to vacation in places like this. Or, rather, have second or third homes here. I've run into Asian and German tourists already who are cheaping it and probably don't give two craps about a bistro because they have to eat little wedgie sandwiches and drink 6 dollar coffees at home.

It was a long drive today; after 7 hours doing inspections, another 4 from Powell to Jackson, via Yellowstone and Teton National Parks- toooooo bad, right? Perfect time and weather for driving, and it's so much easier to deal with construction when sitting in the middle of a national park with a view. (That construction is your recovery dollars at work, btw.)

So, the Domino's lady just dropped off my latest meal: chicken carbonara pasta bread bowl, ordered without the bread, but arriving with it anyway, and a garden salad. On this trip I have had little time to eat real food. Actually, the closest I've got is a can of pork and beans I picked up at a Maverik Sunday night. But let me tell you, there are some places and foods I can tell you to avoid, and some I can assure you are worth a try, in the convenience- fast food realm.

First, this carbonara (despite the bread bowl) easily rivals a carbonara offered at any regular Italian restaurant I've ever visited. And the garden salad is, amazingly, fresh. And no, I am not one of those mommy bloggers I heard about on NPR a couple days ago. I am working; I get reimbursed for a certain dollar amount of food; I am working the kind of job that doesn't allow sitting down for a homecooked meal for a few days, and I am going to rave about how great Domino's is, without the company having offered me anything free! Yay, Domino's!

(By the way, that whole "workers tamper with the chow" thing on YouTube... Do you think Domino's is the only place that's ever happened? Crap, I know a guy who worked at Wendy's, where all the kids would just pick up food when it dropped on the floor and toss it back in the container for which it was meant. And the Plymouth crew will readily recall the cigarette butt Lis found in her - fresh- fried rice years ago.)

On the other hand, Pizza Hut for sure is on the way out. I mean, it has to be. I can regale you later with the details, but I want to keep this a Positive Post. So, before I retire to my e-mail, where apparently there is some cryptic message from mi cunada awaiting, and then move to Lexulous before I sleep- woe unto you, competitors, when the semester begins and concentrating on a Lexulous game becomes a part of my repertoire again. Enjoy your victories now, for they will soon fade away!-...

The new Angus Burger at McD's, the Totally Complete Angus Burger Specialty, or whatever they call it: way worth the money. Oh yow!

That is all for now- except to say: Rold Gold Pretzels are the perfect road snack. Always have been, always will be. Mmm, Mmm, like crunchy butter.

G'night, all, and thanks for stopping by every however often you do.

Economic Rebellion: New Orleans Speaks

From Brian,The New Orleans Dixieland Trumpet Player

I have done the Adv. Method #1 but it just adds to the agony of shopping and waiting so I suffer as much as the suckers behind me. Nothing will improve the shopping nightmare in the big box places because it is all self-service but you are right about not being able to find any help at peak hours. 100 years ago, more or less, Henry Ford offered his employees $5 per day which would be over $100/day now. With this, he got employee stability and kept the smartest workers, one of more of whom came up with the ideas leading to his assembly line. Ford considered his employees an investment, even though he resisted the UAW until 1940? In our newly built big box, Wallyworld, I would venture to say that at least! half the employees are retirement age or above. Some of these oldtimers can barely walk but they are schlepping the carts back to the store in the desert heat and doing other chores that should be done by a career-minded 20 year old, if there is such a thing. No matter what generation you're from, life is a big waste of time with no creativity, no chance for success, no profit-sharing, no emotional support, no medical care. Everything is built on Wally's model. Maybe Ford made some mistakes and maybe Hitler liked him a little too much but his ideas made his company successful along with his employees on 5-6 continents. How can you compare Wallyworld to that?. We are regressing, de-volving. We are in the big box and can't get out! And if we do get out we'll fall off the edge of the Earth, because it's flat, y'know?

K, everyone, Edison Rathbane is chomping at the bit to get his next installment out here, and I am deep in the throes of building up a website so we can keep the dinos in Laramie, and a report on philanthropy in natural resources (you all know that as individuals in this country, we contribute more to causes annually than corporations and foundations combined, right?) So, anyway, I will get a couple guesties in for a few days- and the FFM and I are going on hiatus this weekend- then I'll be back sometime next week with Service American Style Pt. III: How to Get Stellar Service at a Restaurant: Always Bring Some Reading Material in Case the Waitstaff Are too Busy Flirting and Making Party Plans to Do The Job for Which They Are Paid.

Well, crap, I guess I just covered that one, right?

Canisters are for blowing up.

Zowie zapping crappo, there are e-mails just a'piling up in my box for posting, so I had better get on my own stick with the next installment of Service American Style, so I will have space and time for the Economic Rebellion.

Where are we now? Torrey, UT, a small town near Capitol Reef National Park. I realize we may be running out of fuel for my camp stove, so late one morning we head on into the local gear shop. At least, it purports to be a gear shop from outside, and sho'nuf, inside there is gear, with price tags attached. The girl behind the counter asks if she can help us. (Let me stop here for a moment to assuage the ire of those of you who are saying, "girl? girl? why 'girl?'" why not WOMAN?" Look, I like to be called a "girl" way more than "ma'am." So, it's not a slight. Don't get me going on misplaced feminist righteous anger.)

I spy the fuel canisters immediately so say, "No thanks, got what I need." I bring a can to the counter, where I place it for scanning and payment. The girl remains seated behind the counter, extends the scanner in her hand, and guess what? It barely reaches the canister of fuel, so she is having one hell of a time scanning. Well, peeps, what is the answer to this dilemma? She could stand up, right? And look like a store clerk who gives at least one crap about her customers and her job. Nope. She stretches, in a slow, put-out way, across the counter until her pudgy hand can touch the can enough to pull it lamely toward where the scanner can do its job, scans the item, and then proceeds to howl about how Gentle Tommy isn't likely to find the memory stick he seeks for his camera at the store next-door where he plans to look, and that the only place that might possibly carry one is...

Well, he's gone by now, so I listen enough to gather the information I need to make myself even more annoyed with this employee than I was at her lazy attention to my attempt to purchase a can of stove fuel.

Two years previous, Mark and Mark and I spent a night in a motel in Torrey. There were bedbugs.

p.s. I swear I found this pic on the web, and I swear it is the tree my brother and I sat next to in the car in a downpour for lunch, eating olive loaf boloney sandwiches and drinking the PBR. I swear.

Service American Style- take one

I've told some people about my experience at Jax trying to exchange a jacknife the other day, and the whole episode reminds me I told you all ages ago- or at least a couple weeks- that I'd be raving in the near future about the service I have received at various retail and food service establishments in the past month or so.

Let's start with Grand Junction, CO. My brother, Gentle Tommy as RobRohrTM called him not long ago right here on this blog, and I were on our road trip, that rainy one. to southern Utah. We stopped at a motel for the night and went next door to the gas station to pick up beer and snacks. I approached the counter with the beer, a bag of chips, and a small container of dip, which sits now, still unopened, in the fridge. I set the small number of items on the counter, and the young female clerk proceeded to show me the ultimate in multi-tasking. Thank gawd for America and our tightly woven relationship with technology! She was texting and ringing me up at the same time, and she got the amount correct!

"Do you want a sack?" she asked as her fingers deftly navigated the tiny keyboard of her mobile phone.

"No thanks," I replied, handing her my credit card, which she ran without dropping the phone. Nice! Then, she handed me the receipt and asked, without even looking at me, "Do you want a sack?" again.

"No." I took the goods and left the store. Wow. It hardly took any time at all, and I never had to deal, really, directly, with the person behind the counter because she was only half there! That experience was worth a patriotic bust into the giant bag of Lay's I'd purchased because, as the ads will tell you, you can't eat just one. So don't. Because the ads say so. Feeling a little hypnotized now, like you want to run out and buy a bag of your own?

I have stuff to do before heading out to my five little jobs today. (Remember, these are hard economic times, and only apparently the most skilled of us can get "real jobs," like Convenience Store Clerk.) So, I will wait on the other stories, but just to whet your appetite, there is more, from Torrey, UT to Billings, MT, and then, the Jax episode will conclude my foray into the world of the skilled retail employee. Thank gawd there are still jobs out there for these people, and they aren't withering their intellect- and supreme people skills- away!

What is ordinary?

Back from Utah for a couple days. It rained every day, to some degree, but the trip was good nonetheless. I wonder how many people go to the canyons for a vacation and get a chance to see the blue sheen of the water running off the colored rock and reflecting the sky? It makes the whole scene quite different from the pictures we're shown.

Counting the Mad

by Donald Justice

This one was put in a jacket,
This one was sent home,

This one was given bread and meat

But would eat none,

And this one cried No No No No

All day long.

This one looked at the window

As though it were a wall,

This one saw things that were not there,

This one things that were,

And this one cried No No No No

All day long.

This one thought himself a bird,

This one a dog,

And this one thought himself a man,

An ordinary man,

And cried and cried No No No No

All day long.

from New and Selected Poems. © Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.

That's one of the Poems of the Day that the FFM sent while I was gone. He sends them to people sometimes, and some of them strike me more than others.

I did a lot of complaining on the trip about other people's unobservant actions, just being completely oblivious, or not giving a crap, to others around them. We are an ordinarily self-centered bunch anymore. And I couldn't help but feel bad for the people who sat in their RVs to eat breakfast, when it was perfectly gorgeous (the rain of course did not usually happen in the morning, and sometime after midnight a person could crawl out of a tent to see an amazing star show, and then rise to sunshine later on) outside, with a functional picnic table sitting empty just a few feet from the trailer. One couple from Texas parked their RV at least the night before we arrived at Petrified Forest State Park in Escalante, and until they left the morning after the afternoon we got there, we never saw them exit the vehicle. I'm not sure why people spend all that money on gas to go to a place like that and then not see it.

Anyway, I'm just another ordinary person; who am I to judge? I just think I have it better than people like I bitched about all weekend. But I don't know for sure.

Hiatus Number..?

K, I have a lot to do this morning before leaving at noon to pick up my bro at DIA for a trip into canyon country- another brief hiatus. So, here is something crazy that Fahad posted on his wall on Facebook. Yow.

http://au.messages.yahoo.com/news/top-stories/1432149/

Saturday Morning TV News

People, we OWN AIG. And as of this morning, we OWN three more financial institutions- unfortunately, also two credit unions, but that doesn't matter right this second. We can tax the guys (notice how they are all guys, but this country is all about equality and we don't really have any schism between the opportunities and earnings of women vs. men?) who got giant bonuses as much as we want. We can fire the bastards if we want to do that. And what is this crap about some guy in Denver tries to give his bonus up and isn't allowed to do so? We can take it away for him. WE OWN THESE PEOPLE'S JOBS.

Also, Bernie Madoff's victims are not vicitms; they are idots.

Finally, how sad is it that there are people out there forking over cash to get their faces cut up and redone so they will have a better chance at getting a job? Crap; if I lost my job, which I will soon, I would not spend what money I had left to get plastic surgery, even if I were 60 years old. I'd go back to the desert while I had a little spare time. How hard is that to figure out?

Why Am I Here?

We are in Yuma. I just read my weekly MegaVote report. Cynthia Lummis, our Wyoming US House Representative, voted NO on the Water Quality Investment Act of 2009, designed to authorize funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which helps states build water treatment facilities. That's right; she said NO. I asked her why, in an e-mail, but also let her know that I didn't expect an answer, since this concerned constituent has never yet received one from her. And I have written several times since she took office. Several.

But Wyoming was not the only state to vote NO. Also voting NO were: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

Utah... I would like to wax rude on Utah for a while because I have been itching to do so since we entered that state sometime like early evening on Saturday and those brahims in their giant 4WD pickup trucks started acting all rude at us. I would like to begin by acknowleding that I know I am generalizing, though it was the predominance of our experience in Utah, and that there likely are some nice people in Utah, just like there are some nice folks who are locked up in prison for absolutely no reason except for human error or manipulation.

Utah is home to the Wise Use Movement. You know, wise use, meaning the use of your dirt bike and old Jeep with the big tires, and your ATV (ATV meaning "All Terrain Vehicle," which you should drive on ALL TERRAIN, especially delicate arid desert soil because that is everywhere in Utah and it's your public lands all over the place, so use them, dammit, because you do pay your taxes)... Well, that's that.

These people won't actually be able to pay their taxes pretty soon because they have all, every single one of them, lost their jobs, thanks to Ken Salazar. I know this because I saw one of those signs people set up outside restaurants and change the big black letters on to tell you what is the special of the day and how much percentage you receive off your bill if you are over 55. And the one I saw, and the FFM also saw this so you know it's true, said, "Thanks, Salazar, for taking away our jobs." Or something that means exactly the same thing. That could just be a paraphrase.

I am done busting on Utah. I am in Yuma and would like to take a shower and go outside and enjoy the sun and the warmth.

Another Hiatus

Yay! I am going to see this and this. I'll be back after next week.

Libya, here I come

Global hotspots join the race for tourists:

MADRID (AFP) — Rogue states better known for their repressive regimes, political unrest and weapons programmes are increasingly competing for visitors with well established tourist destinations, travel experts say.
The trend is underscored at the Fitur travel fair which got underway Wednesday in Madrid as Myanmar -- which has been ruled with an iron fist by a military government since 1962 -- is taking part for the first time.
Among the other global hotspots represented at the event, one of Europe's largest and most important travel fairs, is the Palestinian territories, Libya, Zimbabwe and Iran, whose nuclear ambitions are the subject of deep suspicion in Washington and many other world capitals.
Tony Wheeler, the co-founder of the popular Lonely Planet travel guides who recently published a book on his travels to nine rogue nations he labelled "bad lands", told AFP the trend reflects travelers' growing desire to visit places few others have been to before.

More at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5g40Kd2cYyy-RgE06r6TYOm5VDQ

Back and Featuring...

I just got back from the annual pilgrimage to Bozeman, MT, for Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law. It was relaxed, as always, and I will miss the tradition, which has endured for the 6 years we all have lived in the Rocky Mountain west, when they move back east. I realized on the long drive home today, too, that this is the solo first road trip I've taken in a long time in which I was able to sit in the car and let my mind drift in a reflective way, rather than in the angst-ridden sense it has for a long time, dreading what would await me when I returned, or what had happened in my absence. I'm not going to go into the "why" of that here, but it was a pleasing feeling to suddenly realize that not only have the tears been sewn up, pretty much, but most of the stuffing has been reinserted.

Wednesday I found myself reminiscing about my best friend in elementary school, Andree, who has a new business website. I asked her before I left if she'd mind if I feature the site on my blog, as I like to do when friends are doing cool things that deserve notice. We met in second grade, I want to say, and were best friends up through sixth. Her family introduced me to Acadia National Park and to Chinese food. Andree lived downstreet, and I lived in the country on the bus route, and when junior high came along, our relationship gradually changed, but some of my fondest memories are of us two child philosophers hanging from the monkey bars during recess, talking about... well, kind of grown-up things, questions like who we are and why we are here, in an individual sense, but with an eye on a broader picture, too. And one of my favorite kid stories to tell is when one Sunday we were alone at her house, and we called people randomly from the phone book. We'd take turns ringing a little hand bell and asking whoever picked up the phone on the other end, "Why aren't you in church today?" Well, why the hell weren't we, I'm sure more than one irate grown-up wondered, and where were our parents?- as they hung up on us.

Anyway, here is Andree's new website, for her wedding photography enterprise. Check it out: http://www.andreekehn.com/.

Then, today on the way home I was thinking again of the past, but more recently, about my time at The Pharmhouse. More specifically, I had pushed in a cassette (that's right, Verdi doesn't play CDs, or tell the temperature, or have cruise control) that I had made sometime in 1999, the year after I left Dave. In fact, I left at this time of year, in 1998, though I didn't physically leave, but slept on the couch and was glad he was on the road most of the time, until January, when Gabe and I got The Pharmhouse.

So, the music on this tape: Everclear, Stabbing Westward, Catherine Wheel, Eve 6, Ben Folds Five, The Foo Fighters, The Flys... contained a large proportion of bitterness, and I realized as I was driving and singing, after not having listened to this particular cassette in a long time, that I was listening from a different angle, maybe more removed than before. While at the time I made that tape, I was gliding on giddy wings of freedom to be myself, safe with my family of friends at The Pharmhouse, there was the same bitterness and anger puffing out around the edges, even if it was sometimes morose, as was the social mood of the day among others listening. When people associate the apathy and loss of direction apparent in the clothes, music, and actions, or inactions, to those of us who slacked off to that stuff, did they miss the latent bitterness and disappointment and anger that there didn't seem to be anything worth an aspiration at the time, unless one wanted to don a suit and play for The Man?

I was secure in my job at the time, actually, the best I've ever held in terms of challenge and satisfaction, and I was safe in my new home, one week watching foreign films on DVD with Gabe, the next eating steakbombs and partaking of grade B horror flicks with Michael. I'd pull on my boots and down coat and stand at the bonfire while groups of friends in the Valley picked and sang, or would crawl into shorts and out of my tent at outdoor festivals to sit on the grass and listen to the best live: Bela Fleck, Medeski Martin and Wood, Dr. Didj, Ozo Matli, Sound Tribe. Then alone in my palatial red-walled room, I'd listen to That Other Stuff, the stuff I put on the tape I listened to today.

One of my roommates during that time, and someone I haven't seen in years but whose friendship I still treasure, along with the purple Patagucci shirt she gave me that's raggedy at the sleeves now, is Nickie Sekera, previously mentioned as my Vice Presidential running mate, and also in conjunction with her hard work and commitment to US Campaign for Burma. Nickie sent me a coffee mug recently, that showed up by UPS on Election Day, no less. It's the one pictured here, and it came with a letter on aubergine paper. The story is, "I spotted this mug on my second visit to Japan. I liked the kitsch factor of a mug with our nation's capitol that was manufactured in an Asian country. The colors were 'off,' so to speak, and the White House- Aubergine. Tacky is cool. Do I have foresight? Did you unknowingly choose me for VP on inuition, that is based on me possessing this mug?" No; I chose you actually because I thought it a good idea for two smart, good looking blonde women who can get things done to be on a ticket together.

Of course, the problem currently is that only one of us is getting anything done these days, it seems, and that's not me. But I had plenty of time to think about that while driving, too.

I don't know why

I feel like taking a break. Maybe it's because I am still coming down from the elections. Maybe it's because I am still recuperating from the time change. I really am not sure where the week went. Last night I fell asleep on the living room floor about 5:30 and woke up when the FFM got here, and we ate dinner and then went right back to sleep.

I will come back after the weekend. I am very excited to be going to Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time ever!

This One's for the Queen.

There will be no politics in this post, unless you craftily impose them somehow.

Scutabaga is back! (Hermano, I placed Jaeger on the list for Yellowstone.) I am sitting at my own kitchen table writing this post with my own laptop computer! There is something very comforting about this fact; however, I admit that although a lot of e-mail piled up during the spaces between days that I went to the library on campus in the morning before work over the past couple weeks, I didn't miss having Scutabaga around as much as I felt some degree of angst over whether and when I would get the thing back, and in what condition. And I didn't feel terribly disconnected from the world out there.

What really makes me happy, and UberModern and like a Real Person, is having a brand new refrigerator-freezer in my kitchen as well, here at my right hand, sort of like Jesus at the right hand of God, waiting to do the next Important Trick- in this case, produce a crisp green pepper for lunch or a cold carton of milk for my morning cereal, or house constantly incoming bags of frozen meatballs and chicken alfredo the Judge picks up at Wally World. I had not realized, until I had this appliance at my disposal, how much I had suffered with an icebox that steadily filled with frost crystals so that there was no room for anything but, as my landlord so aptly noted, "a pack of cigarettes" -odd, from one nonsmoker to another, but accurate to a degree- and a crisper that didn't crisp, but blackened instead, the various vegetables I attempted to keep in it.

So, there you have it; I have truly entered the modern world. Here I am; vote for me!

No more politics, I promise.

Just one more thing: I thought I would pee my pants at Tropic Thunder last night. The FFM and I returned from Roberto's y Nanners's wedding at Columbine Cabins in northern Colorado (highly recommended by myself, for a long weekend away, at http://www.cabinsincolumbine.com/), in time to attend this film which I had been awaiting for weeks. And it performed to expectation. I will not spoil the movie for anyone who has not yet gone to see it, but I will warn you that if you are one of those people who adheres to Political Correctness and of your own discomfort and guilt cannot acknowledge the value of playing up stereotypes for society to see en masse, then you just won't get it. Unfortunately.

I am off to prep for a job interview. That's right; soon I may be changing my profile to another degree of employment. Wish me luck...

Mmm... Road Food

Last night the Future First Man told me he is going through hotdog and donut withdrawal. While on the road, we enjoyed hotdogs and donuts for breakfast with our coffee many days. I marvel at the availability of many things that even eight years ago, at the turn of the century, were not available at gas station convenience stores, and place a free ad for Maverik here on my post.

Maverik: The best condiment bar in the country. I say so. You can put an assortment of relishes and mustards, including horseradish, on your dog; tomato salsa, sauerkraut, the usual ketchup, even hot nacho squeeze cheese from the chili cheese machine. You can choose from an assortment of dogs, from the well-known regular old hotdog, also known as a deli dog, to varieties of Polish dog, including those with cheese or jalapenos (go figure- jalapenos in Poland? Ah, globalism!), to the huge Bahama Mama that inspires thoughts of more than a food feast.

And donuts. I relented and became an eater of the Krispy Kremes. I would not want to eat them every day, but I do like the donuts with the custard inside and a little bit of chocolate frosting on top, as well as the old standby raised glazed and the chocolate cake, which apparently in most places only comes glazed, but that's OK. I will not ever deviate to the evil little things (sometimes called Gems, for some bizarre reason) that come in a cellophane pack of 500- or 6 or so, that the FFM became addicted to, no matter how little they cost and how hungry I am.

And coffee. No longer does a person have only two options: bad caffeinated and bad decaf, at a gas station convenience store. Now you can get (bad) light roast, (bad) medium roast, with tricky names like "mountain blend" to fool you into thinking it's got flavor, or (thanks to the Big Guy Upstairs, or at least someone in a Convenience Store Position of Power who appreciates coffee you can taste) delicious dark roast. And if you want to all-fancify, you can choose from plain creamer, hazelnunt, vanilla, Irish Cream... In some places, you can even rip the paper lid off a little plastic cup and pour some sweet espresso shot into your travel mug. Whoa.

Take a road trip soon. Spend a lot of money on gas to go somewhere far away. Come on, peoples it's time to quit complaining about gas prices and suck it up; lose the SUVs and other Giant Vehicles, switch to a little car that gets decent mileage, ride your bike or walk while around home base, and strike out once in a while for a junk food laced good time on the road. You can find a Maverik location here: http://www.maverik.com/. You could do a whole trip revolving around Maverik locations. Maybe I will.