Guard Dog

Outside the US I'd have to say Taegu is the RoK is my favorite. In the US you can't beat Honolulu, actually all of Oahu is great. San Diego, and Bozeman Montana, and the Tampa Bay area (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Bradenton, Clearwater) are all tied for second in my book. The only European city I've ever been to is Frankfurt and I was only there overnight so I really could not say how I like it. It looked nice from the air. I'd love to see London, Rome, and Ireland (all of it) someday. I've been to many cities in Asia, Japan and the Philippenes but I can't honestly say I loved any of them except Hiji in Okinawa but it is not really a city. Tokyo is a sight to see for sure but it was WAY too big and hectic for me. And expensive in the extreme. Of course the exchange rate was lousy then and I was in the military so I did not have a lot of money. I've been to two small cities in Saudi Arabia and a few in Kuwait including Kuwait City bit it was not a good time for them if you know what I mean.

I read all four of GRRMs ASoIaF books back to back to refresh for Dance of Dragons. Ugh... no more. It's like eating too much macaroni & cheese. Instead of Dance I started reading Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller.

Are you missing Game Stop yet? The pay was probably the same but I'm sure the clientele was better.

Speaking only for myself I would not buy US Bonds right now if they took dried coyote poop as payment. But it is not because of the current "crisis" which as Enoch correctly points out is a made-up political theatre event. No I am convinced the US will without question spend itself into insolvency at some point in the not too distant future but it will not be next week. Right now the only investments I think are safe is real estate (which is never the wrong way to go) and commodities. But real commodities are over priced right now so be ready to sell before everyone realizes the world is not ending.

The sum of which will likely be a fair bit less than you were paying in NZ. Unless you end up in California or New York. In which case just drop your shorts, bend over and grab your ankles.

Ah Canadians are all right. I feel sorry for them actually. When sliding rocks on ice into red circles become a sport you know they are bored out of their minds. Besides without Canada where would we get Molson Canadian?

I don't think your wife would go for Alberta after living in CA. Not that the bay area is the warmest part of the state. It was not an actual job offer with salary and stuff spelled out. It was just a conversation to gage my interest. Which, nothing against Canada, is zero. The only move I would consider now is to Colorado, Wyoming or Montana. Somewhere where real estate is cheap. Oh an you were right they do have baseball. Indy league : http://www.capsbaseball.ca/

Good News: I was offered a job for more money today. Bad News: It's in Edmonton. I did not want to move to Virginia for more money because is was such a hassle. Edmonton is 5X the hassle. Reasons why I don't want to move to Edmonton: 1) It gets really, really cold there. 2) I understand it's pretty expensive. 3) No baseball? Something wrong with that. 4) Why the hell do Canadians have a 55 yard line on their football fields? WTF! 5) Dosen't Volo live somewhere around there? 6) Taxes 7) I don't think I've ever met a Canadian woman. Are there women in Canada? 8 ) Bears 9) I heard it gets pretty cold there. 10) Oh yeah, the cold weather. On the upside at least I would not have to learn a new language. Not like moving to Alabama. Anyway I told them thanks but no thanks. I like it here in Memphis. Except for the crime, flooding, plummeting property values, bugs, traffic. But hey at least there are no bears.

On a whim I logged on to I-tunes & E-Music and bought a bunch of 80's music tonight. I must have spent fifty bucks all told. I guess I'm feeling nostalgic or something. I've got the Fixx, Red Skies playing now.

@Hurlshot your kids are beautiful. You are a lucky dude.

That's pretty much correct. But in the case of an industry like aviation, it makes perfect sense to use it because energy storage is an issue. Until fuel cell or battery technology improves in a decade or two (and it will), ethanol is what we should be aiming for in planes. But extending ethanol use to all industries is a bad idea because, unless it is produced from organic waste fermentation, then when production gets large enough it starts to significantly compete with food crops. That's the worst bloody idea imaginable in an age when there are already severe poverty problems around the globe, with predictions of worse to come. You are right on this one. Ethanol production and demand in the US has already led to increases in food prices. Couple that with increase in gas prices driving up tranport costs and it is making a dent in the avearge folks budgets.

So letssee, out of sixteen short praragraphs, two of them mention religion, one of those make the assertion that is was essential in the minds of the founders when actually creating the Constitution so you reject the entire thing as religious huh? Without getting into the debate about the efforts to exterminate all religious expression in the public eye that is going on in this country these days, these are the passages I thought were dead on: Before we get specific, we must confess that we are annoyed by your habit of misinterpreting our words. Take the First Amendment, where we said Congress shall make no law "respecting an establishment of religion." You usually neglect the other half of the injunction, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In the Second Amendment, we said the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. In our day, if private citizens hadn't owned guns there would have been no Lexington and Concord. Why would we bother guaranteeing a collective right to arm state militias? The rights enumerated in the first 10 amendments are restraints on government, not grants of power to it. If you ever wake up to what's going on, your leaders will have cause to fear an armed citizenry. We viewed elective office as a sacrifice. For your politicians, it's an opportunity. We rid America of a monarchy. You've established an elected aristocracy. We were farmers, merchants and professionals who resumed our careers after a brief term of service and never lost touch with our constituents. You are governed by an elite so different from you as to almost constitute a separate species. Your elected rulers hold office for 20 or 30 years, becoming increasingly detached from their roots, while rewarding themselves lavish emoluments and pensions. We revolted over a modest tax on tea. Your tax burden is staggering. Despite the enormous expenditures of your prodigal politicians, even they can't spend it all. And still, many resist returning the federal surplus to its rightful owners. We rejected taxation without representation. You condone your own serfdom. In the Declaration, we complained that King George III had "sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." You complacently tolerate a bureaucracy that resembles all Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Eat out their substance? Today, almost one in eight Americans works for a branch of government. Harass our people? There are bureaucrats to tell you how to run your business, build on your property and raise your children. Government makes decisions for you regarding your health, safety and welfare. We envisioned the judiciary as a coequal branch of government that interprets laws based on the clear meaning of language. Your courts have become a law unto themselves -- raising taxes, deciding elections, ordering private relationships and substituting their will for that of legislators. You know Calax, we have been trading posts for a few years now. I've got a pretty good idea where you stand on most issues and I would not take something you posted and construe it into something I know you would not say yourself. Perhaps it would be fair to return that courtesy? Wals, do you get what I'm saying here? Or do I need to call you out too? I'm just posting an email thats been floating around for a few years now. I did not write it myself, I do not stand by it's contents 100% but I do think it is a pretty good read. You have all read enough f my writing to know what I think and vice versa.

Shogun was one of my all time favorites. I never really like any of his other novels except King Rat.

Well, the booze on the other end of the drive will be free. More like "be absolutely freakin' sure that you want to go to law school." From a financial and quality-of-life point of view, it can be a truly terrible decision for a lot of people. Scads of folks are ending up either with loans they can't pay off, or stuck in jobs that they hate but can't leave because it's the only way they can pay off their loans. I'm mentally flashing Al Pacinos monologue at the end of The Devils Advocate right now: Reeves: Why the law? Pachino: Because the law, my boy, puts us into everything. It's the untimate back stage pass. It's the new priesthood baby! Did you know there are more students in law school than there are lawyers walking the earth right now? We're coming out! Guns Blazing!"

I and definitely not a fan of the fantasy genre in any particular way. I find 99% cliched and repetitive, I means seriously, has Goodkind, Feist, Sanderson, et al ever had an original thought? But I have really enjoyed Martins ASoIaF series. It is not deep or serious work by any means, but I've always found it entertaining. It's the literary equivalent of eating a candy bar. Sometimes you just want a candy bar.

I know the horse has left the barn as far as independence day goes but I wanted to post this before this thread become too irrelevant. I do not know who wrote this or when but it makes the email rounds every year or two and is so dead on it bears repeating and posting here.

Looks like 180 copies of Dance With Dragons got shipped early in Europe and the internet is flooded with spoilers. Read below. worth a chuckle. http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/07/04/thro...html?hpt=hp_bn5 One part struck me though: It's Krezack isn't it! I know it's him. It MUST be him. Some guy in Australia causing trouble? I know it's him!

I sat on the porch, threw frisbees to the dogs and listened to baseball on the radio all day today. It was a good day.

Um, are you sure about that? Lets see we have Kennedys, Roosevelts, Dalys, Vanderbilts, Bushes, Mulenbergs, Bayards, Claytons, Tafts, Samuel & John Adams were cousins and the had a slew of progeny who have held office over the last 200 years. I could go on. We didn't abandon the herditary madness we just changed it a little and slapped a "Made in the USA" sticker on it. You know like we did with hockey and the Canadians, we sure took that one away from them! The only good thing abourt our system is than when one of these fools get into office we only ourselves to blame. And if any Canadians complain we'll take another of your teams! Say hello to the Houston Maple Leafs!

I thought for sure it would be some Scandinavian country for no other reason than the sheer quantity of blonde haired, blue eyed, large breasted women.

Now reading A Dog's Purpose by Bruce Cameron, excellent book, I highly, highly reccomend. Also reading 2 Years to a Million in Real Estate by Matthew Martinez. I'll tell you in two years how it is.

I enjoyed Last Wish. Not enough to keep going I guess but I did like it for itself.

Google it.

I quit drinking. Well, not totally but I am laying off for a while. At least six months or more. Even beer. It was really starting to get out of hand and causing problems in my sober time. I don't think it was anywhere near 12 step bad but it was at least as bad as it was during the divorce. Only then I had an excuse, I was using alchohol to mask pain and dpression. Lately I've just been bored and that is no excuse. Soooooo I'm trying to figure out what to do with all the money I'll be saving! Maybe I'll buy a new computer game. I haven't played a single minuite since I finished the Witcher back in January. Was Dragon Age any good?

Well, should fit in well with the Obsidian forums