Hurlshort

We can always expect a solid sandbox game from Bethesda, so I never consider it a waste of my money. That being said, Fallout was a step in the right direction, so I hope Skyrim continues that way.

Well, I have a good chunk of my salary (10%) withheld for retirement, so I'm not sure what the break down in Florida is. But one of the few benefits to teaching is the decent retirement package. Teaching is a career with with high education requirements and a high burnout rate. The salary is usually extremely low compared to similar degree-required jobs. So when you start slashing their benefits, you are really crippling the future of education in Florida. Teachers will likely leave the state in droves for better packages, and you will see a drop in University credentialing programs. There is already a shortage of teachers in the country, it's just been less noticeable because the budget cuts are forcing most schools to raise class sizes and cut programs rather than higher new teachers. For example of how the salary issue works, my wife makes a few hundred dollars a month less than me, but she also gets free health care. It isn't really free, she just makes less than I do. So a teacher in Florida makes less than I do, but they don't put 10% of their salary into retirement. The money is being withheld off the top. I doubt the teacher would be complaining if promises were made to increase their salaries.

Don't let these negative nellies spoil your fun Krezack. I'm madly in love with my wife and it gets better with each passing year. Enjoy every moment! Driving from Oregon to California was king of eye opening. I'm a big fan of California, I've lived there my whole life. It's a great state. But Oregon was extremely nice. The roads alone were incredibly different. Oregon had these great highways, clearly maintained regularly. We encountered road crews a few times and they were busy. We even had a conversation with a stop sign lady and she was having a blast. Once I hit California it was like I entered a different country. Roads were worn out, the ones being worked on were a mess and spread our for miles. Nobody seemed to be working and the crews were smaller. I'm not planning on moving, I've got job security and family, but I can see the appeal.

My booze haul from Bend Oregon was pretty modest, I picked up a couple big bottles of something called Conflux #2 that Deschutes makes seasonally, and a big jug of something from a small brewery called the Boneyard. Both are twists on Belgian Whites. We are in Redding for the night and will head home tomorrow morning.

Picked up a game of Eschelon Book 1 that I hadn't played in two years. It's on my laptop, which I really only game with on trips. Pretty fun, actually, I'm up to level 7 and finally able to get a few quests done without running like a girl from everything.

I actually agree with you here. It would be foolish in the extreme not to make some preperations to that end. I've cleared parts of my property to get two vegtable gardens going (even if the world does not collapse I still am trying to grow the perfect tomato) and I do have a pretty big store of canned and dry goods. Plus I have around 5000 rounds of ammo for my firearms. I live literally right next to a small river and less than a mile from a big one. An the Hatchee wildlife management area is just a few hundred yards from my back door. If I could just learn how to make moonshine I'd be totally self sufficient. WOOHOO! I have your location plotted into my gps's. That's why he has the ammo

So what exactly are the tax rates right now? Last year someone told me they were lower than they have been in about 35 years. Is that true?

Oh excellent! Its nice out there ain't it. Yes, Bend is really one of the more beautiful places I have ever been. They've done a great job building this town. Today I took the kids through a mile long lava cave. My wife didn't make it, she is still recovering from the knee surgery. My daughter did great getting down abut 3500 feet, but getting back up was a bit rougher. For a good stretch I had my son in the carrier on my chest and my daughter on my shoulders, plus a backpack with our lunches. It was hard work, but it was an amazing cave. It's amazing how big it was. Then we took a tour of a chocolate and ice cream factory called Goody's. It was a nice change of pace from the cave. I also found Tillamook Ice cream in the grocery story, I had no idea they made anything but cheese.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/10/obsidian...y-launch-worki/ even fergie admitted that fo:nv were glitchy... hurlshot's personal experience aside. HA! Good Fun! The character that you are roleplaying clearly has trouble picking up on mirthful sarcasm.

Huh, it ran great for me. Maybe you should use a more stable platform, like a PC.

Nosy people indeed Malcador. I didn't see the slap, so it is hard to judge, but I had a friend who is an extremely good parent get reported to CPS for swatting their child in public. I do my best not to spank my daughter, but there are times where I feel I have little choice in order to show her I mean business.

We took a tour of Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. I really enjoyed one of their seasonal beers, Conflux #2. Now the kids are resting and then we are heading out to a different brewery for dinner.

I own it, a 26 foot class C (the ones with the cab over the top.) We've had it for 3 years and it is simply the coolest thing we own. It makes life so much easier on trips, and it lets us go on great adventures for an inexpensive rate. We arrived in Bend, Oregon today. We ended up at a place called McMenamin's School for dinner, and I tried 6 different beers with their sampler platter. It was great. We are hanging out here for the week, so we rented a car to get around easier.

Our first day of our summer RV trip went pretty well. We took about 7 hours to get to Yreka, CA. That is right next to the Oregon border, and we will head out early tomorrow to reach Bend. The park is nice, it is out in a great forested hillside. We've had thunderstorms rolling through for the last couple hours.

That sounds about right. They should break down how much it costs to get it out the door though.

Today I'm going to be packing up the RV for our trip to Bend, Oregon. We are going to be gone a week. I haven't decided if I will blog about it, that's a pretty short trip.

I'm uncomfortable with the unhealthy lifestyle choices he is making.

How on earth is that relevant ? Did you read what Calax wrote?

I don't think I've ever met a second generation Mexican-American that doesn't speak English, either. I said this earlier, multicultural societies take time to develop. Gromnir, I have no doubt you are correct. My point is more that Mexican culture is a huge part of Californian history. I don't think it needs to play second fiddle to American history. For example, Spanish and English are intertwined here, and trying to force one official language on everyone would be a step backwards if anything.

Except in California you have a history of Mexican families that goes back much further than most white families. It's not like when California was taken from Mexico, all the Spanish speaking folks just up and left. Those neighborhoods have been there for generations.

As if there weren't awesome driving games. Have you tried Carmageddon, Flatout, NFS: Most Wanted, Burnout: Paradise? Interstate 76. Seriously. Nothing that awesome has been released in the last 10 years. We are back in sync my friend. That game had more style than anything released this day and age.

The trouble is multiculturalism DOES work. It is difficult, and it can take generations to develop, and it requires tolerance and compromise from all sides. But very simply it is the right thing to do, and is really the only way forward in the evolution of human societies. The idea of building huge walls between nations is archaic.

If you want to ignore the DAILY news about recent killings, beheadings, suicide attacks etc. in the name of Islam go ahead. I also don't recall saying every Muslim was a terrorist so thats a cool story about your coworkers bro. This is why extremism can't be discussed. It automatically turns into ALL Muslims etc. If I had said that Catholic priests have a bad track record with pedophilia nobody probably would have batted an eye. Even if I had said that, I would have not been implying that ALL Catholic priests have this problem or that the religion as a whole should cease to exist. I wasn't even talking to you, I was addressing Boo and commenting on the fact that Rosbjerg gave a great response. You see, I have kids, and so I often start responding to a thread, and then get interrupted, and then I come back and finish it without refreshing to see if anyone else responded. So I guess that is another cool story, bro.

Rosbjerg said it better than I can. I have a bunch of Muslim co-workers and they haven't tried to destroy my culture or put me to the sword yet.

Well, I finally set up an Origin account and found that someone else had stolen my nick! Either that or I have an old account floating around. Ah well, I set it up to give the Battlefield 3 Alpha test a try.