Fall Cleaning

I think it's time to clean my office. It looks like a Disaster Area. Most people do Spring Cleaning, but as you've probably guessed by now, I'm not like most people.

I'm a bit worried this time around, though. I swear I've seen, out of the corner of my eye, a furtive, goblin-like shape dart underneath that pile of debris (office memos, all unread) on several occasions in the past weeks. Maybe something's evolved from the primal ooze that unused office supplies frequently produce...

Sacrificing small, furry animals

First off, to continue from yesterday's post, although it rained steadily all day long, nothing noteworthy ever happened. That is, no flooding, loss of life or limb, or even an accident. How boring...

Regarding the title of this post, which many will recognize as my set phrase when about to embark on some mystical exercise or other, I am seriously considering going into this as a line of business. Literally. PETA be damned...

Who says you can't mix business with pleasure?

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

Gods, that was a crappy song! Anyone remember it? Back in the late 60s, early 70s, seems like it was on non-stop all the time. Or maybe I only heard it once but the drugs made it seem eternal...? Hmmm...

Anyway, it's raining furiously again at home. My Fire Company's been out already putting up roadblocks on compromised roads and such. I've heard about it, not having actually been with them, cause I'm still in the office. But I'll be leaving soon. It looks like it's shaping up to be another fun night...

Pictures tomorrow, if it comes to that...

Changing Seasons

At last, Summer seems to be fading. This wasn't a typical Summer, thankfully, but there were still a few days with high temperatures, and that muggy feeling in the air was around for a few weeks. I'm not a summery person. I am happiest when it's cold and dreary, and I never tire of hoping that this Winter will be the one. By that I mean the 3 years of solid winter right before the end of the world, or Fimbulvetr as the Norsemen called it. I could use 3 years of uninterrupted winter, and the end of the world promises to be a fascinating time. I've always wanted to be in it, even though I'm still unsure which side I'd fight with. Most of my life, though, I've been learning different combat arts. When the day comes, I'll be somewhat prepared, I hope.

Anyway, the days are growing shorter, and the temperature's dropping steadily. I actually felt slightly cold outside, last night, while I did some barbecuing. And the sound of geese flying overhead, even though I could not see them, was breathtaking. Fall is definitely in the air, and Winter won't be far behind.

The change of seasons will also mean a change in the attire I'll use for training (budo). The hakama will be used again. It will also mean a change in the waza we practice, which is always tied to season.

I have some things to take care of which I've been postponing, too. Fall is always a good season for me, when it comes to getting things done. I have high hopes for this one.

The Lord of the Rings Redux

Okay, I lied yesterday. By omission, at any rate. I hadn't actually seen all of the third movie. I got too pissed off and had to suspend it. Last night I finished it, though.

I have too seriously wonder if anyone involved in the making of that movie actually read the books. Seriously. For Cthulhu's sake! There's a frigging scene during the battle of Minas Tirith where Gandalf is ordering the Gondor forces to shoot the Trolls. In broad daylight. I wonder why Gandalf didn't have them focus their arrows on more important targets, since Trolls turned into stone shouldn't have been too dangerous, unless thrown. Still, it was well that Gandalf did so, seeing as the Trolls had also neglected to read the books, it seems, and weren't in any hurry to die of sunburn.

Many important sidebars failed to happen, although one may hope that they're in the extended version, which I may or may not decide to acquire or even watch. And the frolicking of the Hobbits in the bed when Frodo first awakens is sickening. Thankfully, though Sam still seemed to be besotten with Frodo, he merely watched from the door, albeit with some jealousy, while the remaining 3 hobbits had at it. This enabled him some time later to turn his back (no pun intended) for good on his homosexual practices and settle down with a Hobbit maid. At least, I hope she was a maid.

The sad thing is, the movies could have easily been faithful to the book, and so much better as a result.

The Lord of the Rings

I used to be a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings. To give you an idea, I can understand and speak, passing well, mind you, both High Elven and Sindarin. In a pinch, I can write them, too. The fact that I have an eidetic memory helped, of course, but it was mainly because I really got into it and still consider Tolkien to be the Grandmaster of Fantasy. So when I say I used to be a huge fan, I think I still am a fan, of his original canon.

At first, when only The Hobbit existed, I despaired of Tolkien ever publishing more in that setting. When the Lord of the Rings finally came out, book by book, I was overjoyed since it was even better than The Hobbit, no small undertaking, that. Then the Silmarillion appeared, and that was even better as it gave all the background of the Elven history. The Elven history is what really intrigued me in Tolkien's work, not the hobbits. Reading his first works left you with a tantalizing glimpse of Elven things which the Silmarillion finally quenched.

Anyway, when I heard that a serious movie was being filmed, I was of mixed minds. The Lord of the Rings, I thought, would be difficult enough to film in and of itself, but the bigger problem would be to remain faithful to the book. Still, I watched the first part with some hope. My hope was dashed almost immediately. Giving a leading role to Arwen, who was barely mentioned in the 1st book of the trilogy, and only makes an appearance in the epilogue of the last book seemed way more than what I would have excused as Director's privilege. Still, decided to enjoy the movie and not quibble over Arwen. One can excuse a single incident, even if it's as big as that. Seeing that stupid virus from the Matrix given the role of Elrond was hard to swallow, but then, there are no elves to be cast in the roles, so I figured one idiot's as good as another. But this was the last one I'd see in a theater. For the second one, I waited till the DVD came out.

This one diverged even more from the book. I decided not to even watch the last installment.

Yesterday got the third part from the library, for free. I'm sorry I did, as they managed to really mess it up. Not content with having given Arwen a leading role when she never had one, it seems that she started to die due to Sauron's evil. She would die for real, if Aragorn didn't defeat Sauron, it seems, according to the stupid virus from the Matrix. Ye Gods.

Would it have been so hard to stick to the real plot??? And if you're going to stray from it, why not go whole hog and show Legolas humping Gimli? You could tell they had the hots for each other. Well, Gimli did. Legolas had the hots for anything male in the movie, it seems. Filthy androgynous freak...

My other problem, as would be expected, was not the movie's fault. I had the same problem with the books. I really would have preferred it if Sauron had won...

Holidays and the U.S.

I've started seeing a lot of Hallowe'en decorations out. In my opinion, it's too early for that. We're not even in the correct month, for Cthulhu's sake. But then again, no one's named me the Guardian of Holidays, so I nod and grin when people I deal with on an ongoing basis show me their houses and ask for my comments. But in my opinion, October 1st is about the earliest for putting up spooky decorations on your house and lawn.

Last year, way before Thanksgiving, to give you another example, people already had Christmas decorations out! I guess they thought Santa brought the Pilgrims, Indians and turkeys in his sleigh. It wouldn't surprise me to see, sooner or later, a tableau somewhere with the Pilgrims and Indians sharing their feast, and Santa, Elves and reindeer gobbling turkey down beside them. Now, if I had my druthers, it'd be reindeer on the menu instead of turkey. Especially after a frigging deer seriously hurt my beloved Necro-car. Next hunting season I will make sure to significantly decrease Pennsylvania's deer population in my just wrath. Not that I'm looking for the one that dented the car, since it died on the spot, but I have yet to wreak vengeance on its whole tribe.

Back to my theme, I realize it's not really the general population that's started expanding the range of the holidays, but rather those who live off commerce. No matter how early someone puts up Hallowe'en stuff on their lawn, it's still a good 3 weeks after Walmart has stocked the aisles with Hallowe'en candy. Why in Hell's name would you want to buy candy for Hallowe'en more than a month before it's needed?

And some stores start bringing out the Santas and Frosties as soon as the Labor Day traffic's over. Some years back I could barely put up with the holiday festivities the week of Christmas, and I shudder to think what it would have been like to have Christmas around for a good 4 months as we do today. Yes, I was deathly allergic to Christmas many years ago. I always thought that it was mankind's faith and goodwill during the holiday season that affected me thus. The fact that I haven't felt even a twinge in years pretty much means that there is no faith or goodwill anymore, and that's fine by me. But can't we also do away with the chubby men dressed in red, who, let's face it, was probably a symbol thought up by some pedophile as a means of enticing little children on to his lap? Doesn't it freak anyone else out that mothers who won't let their children speak to neighbors, much less strangers, will cheerfully stand in line for hours at a time in order to deposit their grubby children in some old man's lap who they've never met before and wouldn't recognize if they ran into him again on the street?^* What if it was Michael Jackson underneath the beard and costume, Mothers of the World? What then?

I am thankful that I don't much pay attention to traditional holidays, anyway. That certainly makes life easier for me. Hallowe'en is one I observe, albeit for reasons unconnected with children or candy, and I resent the way it's been hijacked. Thanksgiving I've been observing for years, too, out of spite, mostly. All my other observed holidays are very arcane and most have probably not heard of them. At least, I have never seen anyone beyond my circle ever celebrate anything on April 30th. If you ever do see anyone reveling on that date, please point them in my direction. I have yet to form a proper group, but I keep hoping.

^*This actually happened to me, as you'll know if you've read my recent Flood posts where I mention the Mayor. LOL

Final Notes on Flood

Last night we had our regular drill, to which I arrived a little late due to some personal stuff I was taking care of out of town. I met up with one of my teammates who'd met the obnoxious woman referenced in the two prior posts. I again inquired after her since my friend had remained all night at the station, whereas I had left for a couple of hours.

He confirmed that the couple had been picked up, but he also added that he had more information on them. It turns out that he'd mentioned the incident to someone in a neighboring town, and that person had proceeded to describe a couple that fit the bill. After a bit of conversation, they confirmed that it was the same people. He added that she was certainly an 'arrogant bitch', and that he wondered why she was so arrogant, since they've been homeless for ages and living at the Salvation Army shelter in that town for a while now.

I laughed my ass off when he told me this. From her arrogance I had assumed she was the Queen of Namibia or something. Just goes to show.

Flood '04 Part II

(cont'd from yesterday)

Sunday, 6:30am - Back at the station, the Red Cross had some Mickey D's stuff laid out in lieu of breakfast, and after I saw that there was enough for all the folks sleeping at the shelter, I grabbed some for myself, along with a coffee. I looked over the faces, and saw that it was all the people from the night before, minus a few faces. A notable absence was the couple where the woman had been arguing and had had to be removed from the hotel under duress. I asked about her, since last time I'd seen her she'd been sitting with the poor S.O.B. who had the misfortune of being her partner next to her, all the while bitching up a storm. She had still been upset that no one had notified her ahead of time that her car would be covered by the rising waters, and whining about how she was anemic (didn't look it, while not fat, she certainly wasn't scrawny), and getting really cold. I'd asked her why she didn't go to the back room where we had the heater turned on, beds inflated, blankets distributed and food/drinks available. She eagerly explained that the accommodations weren't to her liking, she wouldn't stand for them, and that this was all a joke. She demanded to be taken elsewhere. I guess she thought there was a 5-star shelter somewhere near, with room service available, which we were hiding from her. I had laughed in her face, told her she was insane, and wished her luck. That had been at 3am when I'd left for home. Now, she was nowhere to be seen, nor was her partner. I was going to start looking in the nooks and crannies where you could easily hide a body or two for later disposal, since I know some of my teammates can be as ornery as I am, but right then I ran into one of the probies (new members on their probation period) and asked him. He said they'd been picked up by someone shortly after I left, and that everyone was happy to be rid of them.

I went for a refill on the coffee and sat down for a bit. Let me take this opportunity to add that it would have been a very miserable time for everyone involved, myself included, had not the Red Cross gotten there so quickly and made food and bedding available. Great job those guys do here, although I still have some issues with the way they handle their activities in some 3rd World countries, as well as their meddling in the local politics in those same places. Having been there on the ground, I can understand why the natives of those countries sometimes deeply resent NGOs. Still, thanks to this past weekend, my opinion of them has certainly swung back into the positive side and I'm more willing to dismiss the stuff I saw elsewhere as flukes, or examples of local mismanagement.

I spoke for a while with the couple we'd just rescued, and it was here that I got their story on how they'd come in to do hiking and all that. They asked how they could get their pickup truck towed, and I had to explain that a) it wasn't going to happen today and b) their truck was going to be undrivable for days, anyway, until it had a chance to dry out, and even then might require professional servicing. They seemed like good kids, even if a bit on the wacky side, so I did try to help them. They finally called a friend over a borrowed cell, and asked if I could give this friend clear directions so he'd come and pick them up. I did this, hobnobbed a bit with them, and finally went home, at around 7:30am.

I received a phonecall around 8am, and stayed on the phone for a while, until...

Sunday, 8:45am through 3:30pm - The pager went off again, requesting we all report to the station once more. I dropped the phone and headed out. Water was still rising and we needed to evacuate the whole downtown area, control access to it, and shut off things like power and gas, house by house. When we got there, we put tape across the road on the two access points^*, and I got stationed at one end to keep people out. I took advantage of daylight to snap a couple of pics of what the hotel looked like by then. As luck would have it, as I snapped the first one, I saw the two dykes wading out from the hotel. So I took a shot of them, which you can see in the second picture. The shorter one, with the white sweater and black shorts, was the really scary one. And, yes, she was a woman. Up close you could tell. Despite the hint of a moustache and the manly attitude. Her voice was shrill, too. Trust me, female. The other one didn't talk at all.



After a bit of guard duty, which mainly involved telling idiots with cameras that the town was not an amusement park and that no, we wouldn't be allowing them in past our roadblock unless they needed to be there, and that I was the sole person who would be making that call, on the spot. Then there was also a ton of people showing up asking how they'd get to Church for service that morning. I smiled and explained, while I asked them to look around them, that this was a flood, and hence a certifiable Act of God (at least for insurance purposes). Once they agreed with me on this, I went on to point out that God must surely be very tired from all His Acting last night, and that he'd taken the day off. No service, at least, not in our town. Yes, I did take much amusement from this. Thanks for asking. LOL

There was one gentleman standing close by, throughout this, and I knew who he was. It was the Director of the county's Emergency Services. He'd given us a seminar during some training I took when I first joined the Fire Co. The fact that he was there with us made it clear that we were probably the hardest hit in the county, as he would normally not be caught dead in a small town like ours. Now, as an aside to make the following understandable, I work almost 60 miles away from town, so I'm rarely in it during business hours. That also means that I don't know all the personages, despite it being a very small town. Chances are that if you don't own one of the few business I frequent, aren't in the Fire Co. and don't live next door to me, I haven't a clue as to who you are.

That having been said, at this point another gentleman approached me and asked to go in. I said, for the nth time, that no one was getting past unless authorized by my Chief. The gentleman walked away. One of my teammates stepped over to me and explained, in a hushed whisper, that I'd just denied access to the Mayor. Well, in my defense, I'd never seen the guy in my life, I started to say... My buddy interrupted to say that I had, during the Christmas Parade, adding that he'd been the guy in the Santa outfit that we'd carried around on top of our engine. I said I didn't recognize him without the long, white beard. My buddy grinned and walked away.

After a few minutes, I saw some of the guys walk by with coffees and I muttered, 'Damn, I could sure use a coffee'. The Director guy I mentioned above said he'd get one for me and walked off. My Chief walked by just as the Director walked back and handed me the coffee he'd bought for me, out of his own pocket. After letting the Mayor by (LOL), my Chief raised an eyebrow at the Director, who explained that we'd bonded, and that I was a standup guy. That earned me points with my Chief. I'm sure the Director was impressed at how I'd handled the gawkers, and, of course, our esteemed Mayor.

I made friends with the Mayor afterwards, and started taking orders from him, too. At one point I delegated crowd control to one of my buddies and went off with the Mayor to check some houses and businesses to make sure the gas had been shut off. It hadn't been. So just when my boots were drying I had to wade in again and shut the valves. Ah, well. Dry feet are overrated, anyway.

We had a couple of scares where reports of massive propane leaks came in, and people started thinking the whole town would go up with a bang, but they were either put under control or were false alarms to begin with.

A van from the Salvation Army showed up around noonish, and promptly started handing out warm stew, sandwiches, hot dogs, coffee, gatorade and other assorted goodies. Those people are as good as the Red Cross and both are the real heroes in this type of event. Many, many thanks to them.

The rest of the day was more of the same. I mainly controlled access, letting in only official folks until quite late into the afternoon when we started admitting residents. I made occasional forays to do this and that, such as the gas valve shutdown, or to help people in and out of restricted areas.

At around 3:30pm, we packed up and opened the town for all and sundry. By 4pm I was back home and basically crashed in the living room until further notice. Around midnight I made my way up to bed and slept like the dead until the next morning.

^*This is a small town, built around a T where two roads encounter each other, and 1 entry point on the T had already been closed as a result of that first call where the waterfall invaded the road (see prior post).

Flood '04 Part I

Where to start? Well, let's begin with the short version. The Delaware River flooded this weekend and covered up a good part of the town I live in. Lots of people needed rescuing before it was over (I'm a volunteer fireman there), some few unnecessarily just because they were stupid. A lot of people behaved admirably, and a lot of people lived up to my expectations of them (that is, they behaved like idiots).

Here's my take on the events, as I remember them, with approximate times and some pics included. Click on any pic to expand it.

Saturday, 6:00am - After a good night's sleep, helped greatly by the constant sound of rain hitting the roof, I received the first page. The damned thing started beeping like mad, and a voice interrupted my slumber saying, "Firestation XX to respond. People trapped in vehicle at XXXXXX". I jumped up, put on a pair of pants and a t-shirt, remembered sneakers as I hit the front door, and went to the station. I hopped into my uniform and got on the engine. A few minutes later we got off the engine after receiving instructions by radio, and got on to an old truck that carries a 750 gallon capacity tank on its bed. It was half full and we'd be happy of the ballast before too long, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The vehicle in distress, it turned out, was in an area of the road that had flooded, and was under 4 feet or so of water. We would be needing the truck's greater stability and pulling power, so the new, shiny engine wasn't going to do the trick. We got to the point in the road where there's always a trickle of water coming down from the mountains. It's a beautiful 'waterfall', but easy to miss when you're driving as it's so small. During the winter it's a hazard because the water freezes over the road. We usually get a couple of calls a week for accidents there when the temperature's below freezing. Well, the tiny waterfall looked like a river crashing down the mountain, and it was starting to take the road down with it. Man, I wished I'd brought the camera. This fool of a woman had decided that she could make it through the torrent and, of course, her car had stalled immediately. We made our way to her, the truck actually being pushed sideways by the water as we got to the trickiest part! She climbed out a window and we pulled her into the bed of the truck. A tow truck made it to her car some time later and pulled it clear. Now, during this rescue, we had to wade for a bit, the water reaching our waist at times. Of course, water poured into my boots and soaked them. They would not be dry again for the duration. In fact, they're still wet at home, but hopefully will be dry by the time I get back for tonight's drill. We returned to the station, and after a while, I went home. It was around 8am by that time.

Saturday, 9:00am - Pager goes off again, this time just cryptically requesting all available manpower to report to the station. I remembered to pick up the camera and stuff it in my pocket. Once at the station, we were told a flood warning had been issued and that FEMA said it would be as bad as '55. In 1955, the flood took all the bridges crossing the Delaware River between NJ and PA. Of course, construction wasn't as disaster proof back then as it is now, but still. What we ended up doing was securing a lot of riverfront infrastructure in our area, as well as helping people prepare for the flood. That took us until around 3pm, I guess. All that time we were in very wet boots and uniforms from the earlier rescue. After getting back to the station, and being dismissed, I headed into town to have lunch and buy some supplies. I stopped at the library, and picked up some books and movies. I then spent the afternoon and evening reading and/or watching movies. I'm not an early sleeper, so it was past midnight by the time I finally headed to bed. I had not gotten to sleep yet when...

Sunday, 1:00am - The pager went off requesting we all report to the station. It turns out that the river had flooded part of the town and we were needed to rescue/evacuate people from a hotel. When we got there, we could see the roofs of some cars in the parking lot, which was under 4 to 5 feet of water. A Search & Rescue Team (S&RT from now on) was already on site, and they ferried us across in a rowboat. We then split up and did a door to door of the place, knocking, shouting who we were, and gaining entry either because doors opened or because we used a passkey.



When we found people, we took them to the exit and ferried them across. One room to which we did not get an answer turned out, upon opening it, to contain 2 cats and a tarantula. When the kid from the S&RT asked me what to do, I said that I'd have been happy to let a dog drown, and maybe even a kid if it was obnoxious, but that cats are people, and spiders are pretty close on the list, too. We would take them. Easier said than done. One cat came when I called to it, and let itself be picked up. The other cat hid under the bed. After a good 5 minutes, plus us tossing the bed into a corner, and trashing half the room, the other kitty was finally captured, hissing and spitting magnificently. That's when the really scary animals appeared. I swear, if I hadn't had all that firefighter training, and emergency response certifications, I'd have turned and bolted out the door, leaving my S&RT buddy as a sacrifice to guarantee my escape...

Two butt ugly and really scary dykes made an entrance. The smaller one screaming fit to wake the dead. "What the fuck are you doing to my cats??? Let my cats fucking go, you assholes!!! I'm an employee!!! We're not leaving!!! What the fuck are you doing?!?!?!?!"

I've never faced an angrier critter in my life. I stepped between my S&RT buddy and the small dyke, as she looked to be about to bitchslap him, as I figured I looked far more daunting in my turn out gear than he did in his scuba gear. I looked like some alien slumming, while he looked like a ballerina on steroids. She backed down and shut up. I delivered her cats to her, noted room number and population, and hastily beat a retreat with my buddy. While still well within earshot of the dyke, I noted to my buddy that the tarantula was surely her hubby, and that she'd eat him after sex. The door would have slammed way harder had there not been a good 5 inches of water impeding it.

We caught up with the other team and traded stories. We told them of the dykes, cats and spider, they told us of the couple walking out, way in front of us, who had not responded to the knocks, and when the door had been opened were caught "in the act". One of my firefighter buddies on that team was underage, so he was overjoyed to have caught an eyeful. I looked at the girl and while she wasn't ugly, she wasn't out of this world, either. I much preferred my dyke adventure.

We then caught up to another couple. The guy was silently taking a tonguelashing from his girlfriend, who was bitching something awful. She was complaining about absolutely everything from Original sin onwards, and I had to wonder why this guy put up with it. I've dumped women I've loved and/or been sexually besotted with for much less. Her main complaint seemed to center around the fact that their car was underwater. She seemed to think the Hotel Administration had flooded the parking lot on purpose to get back at her. I've no doubt they would have, too, had they been able to. I'm sure she'd been as rude during check-in as she was now. After a bit more of her antics, we finally got approval over radio to forcibly remove her. She was dumped unceremoniously in the water near the front door, then helped on to the boat.

More of the same for an hour or two, but nothing else memorable, all ending with everyone, including the evacuees, heading back to the firestation, where the Red Cross had arrived with bedding, food and hot coffee. Some of my firefighter teammates helped out inflating beds with our spare air tanks.



After a while of this, plus a few coffees and snacks, I made it home at 3am Sunday morning.

Sunday, 5:30am - Well, 2 hours of sleep isn't bad. Pager goes off again, requesting all available manpower. When we reported in, it turned out that the waters were still rising and had taken over a good chunk of the town. But the page wasn't because of this, it was for an idiot who'd gone driving in that mess and was trapped in a stalled vehicle. Turned out to be a guy and his girlfriend, in from NJ to do some hiking. I guess they don't believe in listening to the radio or watching the news in Jersey, but then, little surprises me about New Jersey anymore. We rescued them and took them back to the station.



And that will have to do for today, as I must leave now. So the conclusion of this wonderful tale will be tomorrow...

Niece

As of yesterday morning, I can add 'uncle' to my various titles.

We all move on

Time does funny things to most people. We all change, even someone like me, on a regular basis. That's why I've never understood the sort of folks who frequent High School Reunions. Why, for Cthulhu's sake, would anyone want to spend time with folks that when last you saw them were pimply, disproportionate, prone to scatological humor and unbearably full of themselves? Especially when on top of all that you add the embarrassing fact that despite their pimples you actually made a point of boinking as many of the snotty little girls as you could.

Seriously. Over the years, I've run into some of the girls I used to make out with in the most improbable places, such as school bathrooms, gym lofts, cafeteria kitchens and, in one particularly memorable instance, the principal's office. Some of them were stunningly gorgeous when I next met them, some were butt ugly, but that's irrelevant. I still recall how they were back in high school and not one of them was something I'd be proud of rolling in the hay with. It was just raging hormones that urged me to put as much mileage on my pecker as humanly possible.

Anyway, getting back to the point of my story, the friend visiting me is my oldest buddy. He and I have been best buddies for decades. Back then, when we first met, we lived within a few miles of each other, shared several major interests and spent godawful amounts of time together. Over the years, we've both lived all over the world and rarely shared a country. Throughout my traveling, and his, we have managed to be within the same general area sometimes and we never fail to take advantage of that to meet and catch up. And if significant events happen in our lives, we contrive to travel to share that. Thus, he has been in one of my weddings, and I've been at his only wedding. I was also there when he proposed to his wife, and was the first one to be notified (besides her, of course).

Now, I have other friends from back then, and some I still keep in contact with. But we are more acquaintances than friends. We are people who once shared something but have since become completely different. We have nothing in common anymore. We still talk because there is respect, and nostalgia, perhaps, but little else. They'd probably consider my current interests to be as boring as watching bread rise, and I'd consider theirs pathetic.

With this friend, on the other hand, we've more or less changed at the same pace, and while our interests, activities and stages of life are different each time we meet, they're always in tune. I am able to understand his, and he is able to understand mine. We don't always agree with each other, far from it, but we can understand where the other one is coming from.

There've been times when we haven't seen each other, or spoken, for years at a time. Yet when we meet the next time, we are always able to pick up immediately as if no time had passed. There isn't that uncomfortable moment when you first meet someone you haven't seen in years and you have to make that effort to get back to whatever it is you once had in common.

It's been a good week. I'm already looking forward to the next time we meet. Tonight's our last chance to get stinking drunk this time around, then he'll be off to the airport first thing in the morning with his wife and darling daughter. But as my buddy said yesterday, while we were guzzling down draughts of Guinness and chucking down appetizers like there was no tomorrow at an Irish Pub, we've made some more memories. Good ones, too.

Of Zoos and Budokas

Had some very good friends over who had never, in their whole life, been to NYC. I took them yesterday. They had about as much fun as I've ever seen anybody have outside a 5 star bordello. I was very pleased with their reaction as for various reasons I have been unable to be as good a host as I might have wished.

I let them go off into the city again on their lonesome today, but I'll be joining them in the city tomorrow, for a relaxing walk through the Met. They're staying at the Manor, so I'll see them again tonight. I finally met their young daughter, who had been slumbering in her mother's womb unbeknownst to all of us the last time we'd seen each other. Cute little kid, I'm quite taken with her.

Anyway, yesterday was the Bronx Zoo. Walking through a zoo is something I always find relaxing, mainly because all the animals' thoughts are either hugely entertaining or shockingly profound. I love experiencing them, even though they start to affect me after a while. My favorite display is the Congo Gorilla Rainforest. The tribe of gorillas they house there are amazing, and so playful. They'll come to the glass and converse with you if they like you, and they always like me.

I left them in the city after that, and came back home. I had my budo training and I do not miss a session unless it's absolutely unavoidable. I think I've missed just one session in all the past year. When my friend finally made it back home, around midnightish, he asked me how it had gone and I tried to explain what it was we did. At one point I confessed I was just relaxing because I was slightly the worse for wear, having taken a few hard knocks and several falls during our training. The disbelief and horror in his face as he asked, "you mean you actually get hit in training?", was matched only by the even greater disbelief as I answered his subsequent question on whether we used padded gear in the negative.

He got me thinking, though. I'd always known that modern martial arts have been wussified beyond recovery by our litigious zeitgeist, but I'd assumed some disciplines still hit for real and/or taught people how to fall. Or has it all turned into Karate by now? Must check. That's the main reason why I'd avoided that sort of training in the past. I've beaten the crap out of more than one black belt and have no respect for their credentials. When I found my current sensei, my desire to train with him was fueled mainly because he was teaching a real and practical fighting technique vs the fossilized 'kata' all the rest of the martial arts have regressed into. It is the very fact that I am hit for real and that I get to hit others for real that has kept me there, too.

I'm convinced that this civilization has its days counted, and when that moment comes, I prefer to have had all my knocks applied to me by friendly fists in ways that I could learn to defend against, rather than have my knocks presented to me first by someone intent on killing me.

But all this just goes to show that even smart people can have wildly differing opinions on how things should be done. I changed the subject quickly, especially since my friend has settled into a family-oriented role, and I didn't want to show him a window to a world he cannot step into right now. Maybe in the future, if his situation changes, I can invite him to join us. Wouldn't be fair to him right now.

Windfall

I just found US$5,000. Good thing, too, cause I seriously needed them. And less than 24 hours after wishing for that amount. Eerie, no?

More visitors

My best friend's arriving tomorrow. Haven't seen him in a couple of years, maybe a bit more. Shit, I've got a lot of stuff to do...

Status Update

Not dead. Just busy. Also, had a run-in with the local wildlife. I won. But the car'll need cosmetic fixes. Pictures later.

I really have been busy. And I'll remain busy for days to come, too. But I'll post soon anyhow.

Busy weekend

There's a lot of stuff I need to do or survive this weekend, and as it's growing late I'm not going to have a whole lot of time to post about it.

I've got Firemen activity going on today and Monday (holiday here in the U.S.), including but not limited to fundraising and a parade in full dress uniform.

There's a kickass Garlic Festival in a nearby town which I have attended without fail since I've been living here, so this one will be no exception.

There's a close relative flying in whom I must pick up at the airport and take home. On Monday I'll transfer ownership of the relative to yet another relative who lives in NY, so I'll be driving in to the city then.

I have to stop procrastinating and get some work done on a project I should be close to finishing and it's not even halfway yet.

I have to finish writing some stuff related to yet another project, and a piece of it is due to be published soon, so a deadline is looming.

Last but not least, I have to practice some moves with my trusty nihonto so I don't look incompetent in class on Sunday. I've been too busy to practice these days and it's sure to show.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and I should be posting again on Tuesday, at the latest. Don't hurt each other...too much.

Happy Labor Day for those of you here in the US where we still celebrate it on a date completely different than the rest of the planet.

Democracy in Iraq and in the U.S.

Last night I caught a piece of the smear campaign against Bush being carried out by the media. It's a shame that the American people have relinquished their ability to think and arrive at a conclusion, ceding this to the people controlling the media. And I say this regardless of whether the media in question leans to the right or to the left. Even though I consider Mark Levin (very obnoxious and outspoken, ultra conservative WABC talk radio personality) to be much closer to being correct in what he talks about than an Al Franken (bleeding heart liberal author and radio personality), the fact that both of them spoonfeed their audience the stances they are supposed to adopt is as scary to me as it would be if they gave Osama Bin Laden a radio show.

This country was founded on the principle that the people were smart enough to understand a situation, arrive at a position through intelligent discourse, and then vote, letting a majority carry the day. At some point in the intervening centuries, it was decided by the people that they couldn't be bothered to take the time to understand the issues, they'd rather wallow in their tedious little pastimes, which currently seem to be Reality Shows and getting Gay Marriage approved. Never mind that the world is going to hell in a handbasket! Yet despite not making any effort to educate themselves on the issues, they will pontificate and cast their vote on the flimsiest of reasons, or just because their favorite 'personality' said they should do so. That's how you can get a political party's policy being dictated by a moron like Michael Moore whose main claim to glory is that he is an expert at twisting a story until it proves his point, whatever that might be. I'm sure he could convince his own mother that she's a virgin without too much trouble. Heck, even though I know how stupid and clueless his positions are, while watching one of his movies one can't help but smile and nod. Probably pretty similar to the way all of Germany smiled and nodded as Hitler explained why the Jews had to die.

In today's world we have access to information of high quality and with a timeliness unseen ever before in the history of our race. What do most Americans do with this hitherto unheard of power? Mostly watch who Paris Hilton is giving a blowjob to today. Sad.

So, CBS's premise last night while bashing Bush in honor of the Republican Convention, was around how we'd engaged in nation building at a cost of a thousand of our soldiers' lives and counting. They showed scenes of Iraqi dissidents blowing shit up, attacking our forces and in general, being typically Arabic-extremisty. They stated that Bush had moved from war against Al-Qaeda to war against the Taliban to seeking WMD's in Iraq to toppling Saddam to planting democracy in Iraq. Here they panned to an old speech Bush had made while still governor of Texas in which he said that the USA should not engage in nation building. They neglect to point out that this statement was made prior to 9/11 whereas all the actions they were underhandedly bitching about were planned and executed after that attack and were mainly a reaction to it. In the post-911 world, the philosophies and opinions held before all had to be reevaluated, and some of them changed. That doesn't mean they're wrong, nor does it mean they're right, but it's rather sneaky to try to contrast Bush '99 with Bush '04 and make it look as if there were some conspiracy or gross stupidity in play. Plus CBS wasn't even amusing. Jon Stewart in the Daily Show built a hilarious debate between Gov. Bush and Pres. Bush precisely around this issue. Go watch it if you haven't.

Now, let's ask ourselves the really important question. We, the USA, are busy rebuilding Iraq. What that means is that we are spending resources, time, money, lives, etc on rebuilding the infrastructure of a country on the other side of the world that we really shouldn't be giving a damn about except for its rank in the oil producing business. The important question is, if we are stupidly investing our resources in rebuilding some hellhole we don't give a flying fuck about, why are the Iraqis, who are putting precious little on the line in the effort, so hellbent on not letting us do it?

The answer's surprisingly simple. The Islamic extremists cannot afford to let the regular people of Iraq know what democracy and freedom are really like. You see, once someone samples freedom, he's no longer willing to let it be taken from him in one fell swoop without a fight. And that's a fight the extremists cannot afford to get into. Once a people gain freedom, the only way you can take it away from them is slowly, very slowly, over many, many years. And it's not so much that someone takes people's freedom away, but rather that the people get bored with the responsibilities that come with freedom and slowly give it up, piece by infinitesimal piece. Much the way Americans' freedom has been disappearing over the past 50 years.

Everything here is legislated to death and anything deemed more dangerous than playing tiddlywinks is either forbidden or on its way to being so. The extremists know full well, based on America's experience, that if Iraq tastes freedom it'll be 150 years or so before they'll grow bored of it and give it up. And even worse! A free Iraq might just infect the rest of the region, including the Saudis, who as a royal house are a French Revolution waiting to happen.

Now, I'm not particularly smart (I'm being modest, I actually am) but the above conclusions are logical and based on the information readily available to anyone willing to invest time looking it up, provided he also has a dash of experience on human nature, and that I've gleaned over the years.

Go do your homework, people. And turn off the TV if all you get are reality shows. I have news for you. There's a reality show going on right now, wherever you are, and it's better than the ones on TV.

Mental Comfort

There's a very dangerous condition I've always strived to avoid, with some success, too. I call this the 'mental comfort' condition. This happens when you are in a place where even though you might not be overwhelmed with joy, you are nonetheless cognizant that while things aren't perfect, they could be worse. This makes you hesitant to disturb the status quo, regardless of there being potentially huge benefits in disturbing it. I'll give you an example from my own experience:

Some years ago I was freelancing, which is to say, I did not have a steady job, although I was getting a moderately successful income. The main problem with freelancing is that you rarely know when the next paycheck is coming in. That meant that I sometimes had huge, even vulgar amounts of money and other times I would be flat broke. What I did when broke was live off future earnings. There were many folks who knew I did get income, every now and then, and that I could be trusted to make god on my debts. And this, of course, I did. First thing when cashed a check would be to go and pay off all my creditors. Next thing would be to drink some really good booze. Then I'd live well until the money ran out, at which time I'd go back to living frugally and using my credit and goodwill.

Now, at this very same time, I was living with a girl, and we had a kid or 2 to take care of. She was very happy when there was money to throw around, but absolutely miserable when there wasn't. To make matters worse, in that country they gauged status by a person's monthly salary, instead of yearly as we do here in the U.S. It seems like a meaningless thing, but you'd be surprised at how those meaningless customs can color everyone's perception and sense of value.

Now, me being me, I couldn't care less what she thought. I just carried on being myself. At one point the SO's sister got a mid-level position at a multinational and I guess my SO cajoled her into getting me a job offer. The job offer, while reasonably good was less than I made on a yearly basis, although it would have given me a guaranteed monthly income in about the range required to live frugally all the time, instead of what I was used to, which was frugally only for, say, 3 months out of every 12. To top it off, the company was not one I had heard anything good about from an employee perspective. I didn't even give it thought, I simply said, immediately, that I wasn't interested. As fate would have it, the offer came at a time when I was broke, too.

My SO almost died of apoplexy right then and there. A shame that she didn't, by the way, but that's another story. You'd think I'd shat on her cornflakes. She carried on and on and on in that endearing way women have of not letting go of something. Much in the same way a rabid bulldog behaves. I tried to explain that I wasn't interested in a moderately well-paid but mediocre job simply for the sake of regular payments, especially when in that particular company I'd have a snowball's chance in hell of climbing the corporate ladder. She was way too dense to wrap her 3 neurons around the concept, though, and she returned to the topic again and again in the months to come. I simply tuned her out, or more commonly, up and left for a few days, there being no shortage of willing femmes in that part of the world.

You see, one thing I recognized is that if I did take a mediocre but steadily paying job, it would be very difficult to let go of it later if a better opportunity presented itself. Most opportunities aren't 100% certain, and most people let a lot of them pass them by simply because they do not want to let go of what they have. That's what I mean by Mental Comfort.

Almost a year later, I got a very low paying job offer to work as a contractor in another multinational. The job paid less than what had been offered by my SO's sister. It didn't require my full time presence, though, and I was sure I'd still be able to freelance some. What I also saw was that this company was more in tune with what I was looking for in terms of opportunities for advancement, and that the corporate style matched mine. I took it.

I was sure my SO was going to drop dead this time. It was the original argument with the added insult that I had now gone and taken a worse job than what I had been so kindly offered before and had rudely turned down. As before, I ignored and took solace in the growing number of willing femmes. Timing is everything.

Three months after taking the crappy job, I'd been offered a permanent position with a yearly salary very close to what I was making yearly as a freelancer. And a lot of perks, on top of that. Recognizing the right time, I moved out a short time after that, and left the SO to poison herself alone in her own juices. Timing, as I said, is everything. That, and I hate clueless. I mean, if you're clueless, that's okay, but don't get in the way of those of us that can think and are willing to exercise our brains.

Less than a year later, I was again promoted, and making about 5 times as much as I would have expected from freelancing, even in a perfect year. I now work for a different company, one not so good as the one I've been talking about, but that was unavoidable. My erstwhile employer outsourced the whole department over to my present employer. And then almost went bankrupt. They laid off about 60% of their workforce. Luck is also important, along with timing, I guess.

-------------------

The motivation for writing this down is that I may have inadvertently entered that Mental Comfort condition. I hate my employer, and I hate my job, but the pay is awesome. I think I am going to have to do something to break free. I'll have to give it thought. Writing this has helped me analyze the situation. That will have to do for now.