Turtle Pond

Great day

2009-06-21T11:47:00.003-10:00

I slept in, and woke up to a hand-made card and a doughnut. Then received some cool gifts. We chilled for a while and spun Beth on an office chair 'till she nearly puked while I jammed some Pandora on the computer (Coldplay, Mazzy Star, Tori Amos, Nada Surf, Snow Patrol...... I love Pandora!), and then packed up the kids and dogs and went for a hike up the hills behind our house. It was the first time either of the kids had been to the peak, and there's a 360-degree view. It was kinda cloudy and windy today, but it's still Hawaii. It's 80 degrees and gorgeous. We radioed down (Yeah, that's right. With walkie-talkies - 'cause I'm nerdy like that) to SuperMom so we could wave at each other, and then came back down to smoothies with Mangos from our mango tree. Oh yeah, we found that Mangos, aren't so bad after all. I love having a fruit tree. I'd love it more if it was self-cleaning, though.

Fathers Day was great. I just wish mine was still around to share it with.

Savings and Loam

2009-05-18T23:49:00.002-10:00

Yeah, it's been slim pickings on my blog for a while. As long as my new computer doesn't randomly reboot (again), I might actually get something published and start using it regularly again.

So the financial debacle has finally caught up with us. I'm in no position to whine, it is merely a statement. SuperMom and I are doing fine and working away, but our tenant that lives in our old house in San Diego just became the unwilling recipient of a gradual withdrawal from the unemployment coffers. L happens to be the coolest tenant ever. As much as we'd like to see her succeed and buy a home of her own, if she has to rent, we really want her to rent from us because she is awesome. No hassles, low maintenance, easy to talk to, and very funny. So anyways, she just had a life-altering surprise and asked us if we can help. Well, we weren't about to risk losing her and having to find a new ~~weirdo~~ tenant from 2600 miles away, so we're, digging deep and helping her out.

In other news, the traditional pre-birth "nesting" stage is upon us. Last time I was remodeling our kitchen right up until munchkin's arrival. This time it's a whole lotta yard work. We finally broke down and had the front yard landscaped, but that really only gave me a breather. This weekend ~~she~~ we decided to complete some unfinished grass and sprinklers in the backyard. After an hour or so with the neighbor's roto-tiller, a few hours of raking, several hours of digging, soldering, cutting, gluing, and reinstalling all the sprinkler valves the hack landscaper installed, we were almost done. And then it got dark. And then it rained. And there we were shoveling Hawaii clay at 10PM on Sunday night. This project is of course going to stick around long enough to ruin more than one weekend. So far we have what earlier in the weekend was about 400 sq feet of freshly tilled and nicely raked dirt. It now is a lumpy, muddy mess (with sprinklers!). Oh and how lovely it is to come home and have to give the dogs a bath before they can come inside the house. Gah.

On the upside, our mango tree is loaded with a couple-hundred mangos that are beginning to get ripe - and none of us like mangos. Why couldn't we get a house with an avocado tree, or bananas, or coconuts, or apples?! There's nothing quite as tortuous as having a ginormous fruit tree that everyone in the neighborhood raves about and it being one of the very few foods that you don't care for.

Poop Bounty

2009-05-02T06:41:00.003-10:00

With a 2 year-old and one more on the way at the end of July, I'm in a perpetual potty-training hell. Taking care of "#1" was easy. Currently there is roughly a 3-chocolate-chip/one-half popsicle bounty on poo that actually makes it into the toilet. This has been an uphill battle between us and the hazmat special ops team at day-care. It's lovely that she knows where to potty, how to potty, is not afraid of the potty, and still is more comfortable squatting in some dark corner or behind a wall of pillows and dropping a log into her panties.

*sigh*

Sometime, perhaps 3 or 4 years from now, We will have the biggest, most awesome, potty-training-is-over-forever party you've ever seen. I can see a bonfire on the beach where we burn old panties and undies, and a bountiful feast of chocolate chips and popsicles for all. Everyone will be invited. Friends, family, and even you - as long as you're not a creepy internet stalker/pedophile (I'll have to ask you to use your best judgment). It will be awesome.

You can't argue with geometry

2009-04-23T23:30:00.002-10:00

Just last weekend my wife was trying to ~~coerce~~ talk me into some chores.

SuperMom: "Now would be a good time to mow the lawn."

Turtle: "Actually, it's 11:30 and about 10,000 degrees outside with 90% humidity. It's not the first thing on my to-do list."

SuperMom: "Really? What else is on your list?"

Turtle: "Let's see. I have to do some plumbing outside - too hot. I need to do some wiring in the attic - too hot. I need to sand, primer, and paint the bedroom ceiling - too hot and dusty, and you and Munchkin are here. I need to clean the gutters, dig up the old fence posts, bury pavers under the new fence to keep the dogs from digging out, add the expansion tank to the solar water heater...."

SuperMom: "So which is at the top of your list?"

Turtle: "Well, none, really."

SuperMom: "What kind of list has no beginning?!"

Turtle: "It's a.......a circle!"

Party animals

2009-04-11T21:50:00.004-10:00

Computer, you're on notice!

2009-03-31T20:01:00.002-10:00

After all the hard work to assemble the proper parts for my new computer, and hours of bench-testing the new setup, I finally assembled everything into my case and began the final assembly. This includes 4-6 hours just for filling, priming, and leak-testing the new watercooling setup. Finally, the moment of truth. I press the power button.
.
.
.
.
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Nothing

(-->Insert exhaustive and comprehensive list of expletives here<--)

Initially, I submitted an RMA to NewEgg for the motherboard, then I punished it by giving it a time-out and ignoring it for a week and a half. Yesterday I decided to finally prep it for shipping, but I'd better test it one last time before I pay another $15 to ship it back to the mainland - again.

Success, kind of.

Horray in that it is fully-functional. Holy crap in that I have absolutely no idea where to begin in the troubleshooting.

So now it sits for a little longer until I can summon the patience to toy with it again. I'm still limping along on my wife's computer, and praying daily to the great pasta god that this system doesn't go belly-up on me while I'm using it.

I lose. I win! I lose. I win!!

2009-03-23T21:49:00.006-10:00

I lose.
You may have noticed that immediately following my proclamation that I would pick up on the blogging again, that I dropped off the face of the earth. Asus, Gigabyte, and Microsoft can collectively kiss my ass. First, my motherboard died - suddenly. Attempts to rebuild have been hampered by hardware failures, RMA wait times, and Microsoft's inability to allow you to load RAID drivers from anything but a floppy disk (unless you slipstream, which so far has only been mildly successful). Between all of this fun, housework, and life in general, I'm going on 4 weeks without my own computer up & running, which must be some kind of record.

I win!
The latest super-dooper 3-d sonogram told us quite clearly that we are having a boy in late July! I know I should be indifferent, and no doubt I still would love the baby if it were a girl, but I'm truly esctatic that I will have a boy to continue the family name, eat dirt with, and enjoy watching movies involving gratuitous violence with when we're older.

I lose.
As part of the new, baby 2.5 edition (oldest sister is a half-sibling) soon to be released, I have been both highly anticipating and dreading the replacement of Danger Ranger III. Alas, DR3 cannot fit 2 car seats and had thus had an expiration date equal to that of the arrival of baby 2.5. DR3, my 1999 Ford Ranger had been my nicest truck thus far, and I had heavily customized it to compliment it's street-only life. Fat tires, rear anti-roll bar, KYB shocks, Flowmaster, upgraded intake, as well as a host of other customizations. It was downright fun to drive, and will be the last stick-shift that I will have had the pleasure to own for quite some time. I will miss that truck dearly.

I win!!

My new truck, that needs a name. 2007 Honda Ridgeline RTS 4WD. Okay, Honda has the audacity to call it a 4WD. It's really front-wheel drive with automatic variable torque output (up to 50%) to the rear wheels. The short version: No 4WD low, so it's only "All-wheel-drive," and I can live with that. If it handles trails as gracefully as my wife's Pilot, I'm stoked. You know what else I'm stoked about? A 25% smaller engine (3.5L) that puts out 36% (87!) more HP. There are more cubby-holes and storage places on this thing than I've ever seen. You could probably smuggle 10 people across the border just in the trunk alone!

Since this truck is mechanically near-identical to my wife's '04 Pilot, I only have to buy 1 set of fluids, filters, wiper blades, light-bulbs, etc!

And the mother of all wins, I got an awesome trade-in on my Ranger. Awesome as-in they didn't drive it and find out that it has major engine computer issues (idle hangs at 2000RPM at stoplights) and the tranmission shifts so hard (bad syncros) it's like driving a dump-truck sometimes. I would have lovingly fixed it all if I knew I was keeping it (eventually), but it was kind of cool to get high private-party blue-book for it ($5300) as a trade in. Kinda like sticking it to the man for a change. Of course we basically paid sticker price for the Ridgeline (just below retail value), so its all a matter of semantics. We stuck it to each other.

It's a little depressing, in that this will be the frist time that I was Ford-less in about 15 years. I do love Fords, and even considered the F150 Super Crew (sorry Explorer Sport-Trac, you're ugly), but it came down to what was the smallest, and best truck that I could find that I liked, and Honda won hands-down. Counting motorcycles, this is my 5th Honda, and I don't regret "switching teams."

Redneck pride

2009-02-25T19:53:00.003-10:00

Did you think I'd let Tanis over at Attack of the Redneck Mommy get all the glory? Well, maybe. She does have me outnumbered at the moment (congratulations!). But we still have duct tape and we're not afraid to use it.

And just for good measure, it takes a redneck to take a truck like this;

turn it into a truck like this;

and then sink it in a river like this:

Touché!

Thank you Grandpa

2009-02-22T22:40:00.003-10:00

The last few months have been busy. Since buying this place, it's been a never-ending collage of home improvement projects minor and major. Lately though we started to give ourselves a little time off so our heads wouldn't explode.

It's been a while since I did a project just for the heck of it. Okay, I guess the last one was the hoist for the kayak, but that was a response to the challenge, "Where do we store the new boat?" I get to be crafty and ingenious at work while solving unique problems, but that too, is problem-solving with flair. In a small way, so was this one. "What do I get SuperMom for Valentine's Day?"

Neither of us are big into the commercialization of that day, but I know she still appreciates the sentiment. Flowers are, oversold. I try to remember to give her those on completely random days of the year with a special process involving a Chinese lunar calendar, a hampster, pecans, and a bicycle chain. What could I put together on short notice (Yeah, procrastination is a specialty. It's like a gift-with-purchase for being male)? Better yet, what could I build?

My brain started to flash back to my youth. My grandpa was great with these kinds of things. Small projects. Tinkering projects. When you grow up during the Great Depression, you get great at building your own solutions rather than buying them. Grandpa used to build most of his own Christmas decorations. He'd build airplanes out of beer cans. He helped me carve out custom propellers for my 7th grade science fair project on propeller-pitch-efficiency. Lots of things I know were cool but just can't remember, but most of all they were simple. That's when it hit me. A bird house.

Yeah, I know all you women are thinking about how much you'd just loooooooove to get a frickin' bird house for Valentines Day, but there's a perfectly good story that goes with that decision. And no, I'm not going to tell you :p

So I grabbed the munchkin and made a quick trip to the hardware store, then to the shop for some of my tools (because even though I have practically everything, most of it stays on the utility truck @ work), and finally it was off to the internet to figure out the best way to build a bird house. Yeah, it seems simple enough, but I did actually learn some stuff. Like those little dowels everyone puts in front for the bird to perch on? -Apparently the birds don't like them so much. Friggin' finnickey birds already made me waste $2 on a piece of dowel and I haven't even started building yet! And the hole in front, yeah, they don't care for that either. Aww come the frick on! What happened to the old-fashioned birds that were happy to get free housing whatever way we decided to build it for them? Damned yuppie birds.

So for the most part, it was simple. Measure twice, cut, um, 3 times or so. Wood glue, brad nails, and lots of painter's caulk. The best part though was having Twerp help paint it. It took me about three times longer to accomplish, but she helped, "build the birdhouse for mommy and the birds," and loved it.

And so did SuperMom.

Where, oh where has my sister gone?

2009-02-16T21:03:00.006-10:00

This song, from my youth, makes me think of her every time. I was 12 when my parents divorced. It was odd. I had a strange relationship with my father, and since I was an only child, had always been more of an introvert anyhow. The break-up didn't hit me too hard. At least not tragically like in some families. If anything I got a lot more attention from dad than before. It was awkward, but we coped well.

I'm not sure how long afterward it was before he began dating again. It wasn't too long. By the time I was 13 he was dating a great woman named Roberta, who had 2 kids of her own. Robin was 16, and Steve was 19 and had already moved away. The very first time I spent the weekend at their house, I remember Robin coming to give me a hug before we left. Not a mandatory hug out of courtesy - a real hug. When you're 13 and a hot 16 year-old gives you a real hug, it makes an impression. Most girls her age wouldn't be caught dead around a geeky guy like me, but her acceptance was both immediate and unbounded. Even in public and around her friends. All that and she was cool, too. Crafty, smart, and artistic.

When I was 14 I had my first official "girlfriend," which consisted of a whole lot of telephone talking gibberish and some hand-holding. Unfortunately, she lived about 15 miles away. On one of dad's weekends, Robin spent her Saturday night driving me to Donna's house (yes, I still remember her full name and her former address), bringing us both back to Santee for a movie, drove us back to Clairemont to drop her off, and then back home again. At that point in time, she was cemented in my mind as the coolest sister I never had.

The three of them accepted me without reservation or hesitation. I never refer to them as my "step" siblings. It's simply my brother and my sister. Even years after the death of both of our parents to cancer within 2 months of each other, we have remained very close. They both came to my wedding in Hawaii, and we've seen each other through quite a bit. It's because of her that my wife and I have a mild addiction to "Scrubs."

This summer my sister went off the map though. All I got was a cryptic email about needing time to herself and then.............nothing. I have enough vague communication channels to know that she's alive and not on her death bed or anything, but aside from that I'm in the dark, and I don't like it. We all have our ups and downs, and it seems that Robin has gotten a disproportional amount of downs over the years. Every time we talk I have something cool to tell her like getting married, a promotion in a job I love, a new kid, moving to Hawaii, another great job, travel with my older daughter, etc. I have had an exceptionally fortunate life (not counting some "turbulence" from 1997-2000) and can't help but think that it might be depressing for her to talk to me.

Robin, please call, or write, or email, or send a message in a bottle or something. I don't care if you're depressed, in a heavy metal band, joined the CIA, in a cult, have differing political or religions views from me, questioning your sexuality, or just frustrated with the world. I. Don't . Care. I love you and I miss my sister. Do you want me to fly out for a weekend with the kids? Done. I just want to know you're okay. We're all worried about you.

Ummmm, you were suppsed to leave the nasty weather at home

2009-02-11T23:29:00.003-10:00

Tourists will pack the damnedest things when they come to Hawaii. Very unsightly swimsuits, expensive cameras they've never used before, tornadoes, etc.

Twister Wreaks Havoc, Raises Eyebrows

Come on guys. We get hurricanes, volcanoes, flooding, brush fires, earthquakes, and the occasional tsunami. Please leave your tornadoes in Kansas. This is your last warning. Next time I'm telling Pele.

What do craisins, whales, and sunburn have in common?

2009-02-08T20:34:00.002-10:00

Step 1. Eat a light breakfast of Cheerios with Craisins.

Step 2. Join a group of kayakers for a Sunday morning whale watching excursion off of the southern tip of Oahu.

Step 3. Paddle out about 2 miles into the ocean with your wife, against the swells and current.

Step 4. Realize that you're never going to be comfortable in 5-6 foot swells trying to spot whales.

Step 5. Try to tell your wife that you are really not digging this and want to go back. She replies that she really wants to see a whale.

Step 6. Present the elusive whales with a gift in the form of Cheerios with Craisins. Heaving is met with endless nervous giggling from the front of the boat. Briefly consider slapping her upside her head with your paddle, but interrupted by more heaving.

Step 7. Return to shore.

Step 8. The whales have gifted you back with a minor sunburn for your efforts.

Step 9. Consider impeding the efforts of Greenpeace and funding Japanese "research scientists."

Who's on first?

2009-01-27T09:00:00.000-10:00

Here's a video from a few months ago. Ever try to get someone to understand, "Not you, me?" Try it on a 22 month old....

Inappropriate, but still funny

2009-01-25T09:00:00.000-10:00

That's how I tend to do things though. Just when you think it's safe to hang out with me, I drop a bombshell. Like a joke that's completely inappropriate, and leaves me the only one laughing. Personally, I don't know how nobody else picked up on this on Tuesday the 20th....

Surely there were people in the South that were thinking it.

Damn you, Google Reader!

2009-01-24T12:56:00.003-10:00

About 11 months ago, I took the big step from reading other people's blogs, to boring wayward internet surfers with my own tales. Things were good. I liked typing to myself and leaving somewhat of an abridged online diary. The problem I've been having is that there are a lot of other interesting diaries out there, and technology has made it easier than ever to unleash your inner voyeur.

If you haven't checked out Google Reader yet, you may want to - or you may not. You can plug in the address of any blog you wish to follow, and it will keep track of new posts and organize everything into one easy to read page. I went from clicking through about 6 blogs a day to tracking 28! Now that it's so easy to do and I don't have to visit each blog every day to see if anything is new, I can keep tabs on more blogs. This means there is practically always something to read. If I'm reading, I'm not writing. Seriously folks, if you want to hear from me more, you're gonna have to stop posting so much interesting (or not) crap. Yes, it's on you. My self-control (like my 401-K) is at historically low levels.

In all fairness (because I love playing the Devil's Advocate), it isn't just Google. They are undoubtedly making money off of me somehow, so I feel the spite is justified even if I haven't seen a web based ad in years (Thank you Firefox and AdBlock Plus!). Part of the problem is the open nature of my blog. I make very few efforts to privatize anything. This is for family and friends as well as the internet in general, so I don't go out of my way to hide names, places, etc. This, unfortunately, severely limits the amount of work-related topics I can discuss. Not only do I know that my boss and coworkers may read this blog, but I have a moral obligation to respect the anonimity of our clients. This can put a damper on things, since we do quite a bit of high-end and custom work. I'd love to post all kids of pictures of the 3 story houses joined by an outdoor elevator and waterfall, among other things, but the client may not appreciate the breach in privacy.

Then there's the waxing and waning addictions to online gaming. I've been in a gaming clan (club) (Renegade Heroes - You Know It!) for about 4 years or so, and another clan for a year or two before that. It started with Counter Strike, then went to DoD, DoD-Source, World in Conflict, Team Fortress 2, and most recently Call of Duty 4. Gaming in itself is okay, but gaming with your friends as a team is great. It's also time consuming. Time I should be spending cleaning the yard, doing dishes, exersising the dogs, helping with the laundry, blogging, etc, etc. SuperMom hates my computer with a fervent passion.

So that, coupled with the holidays and Windows taking a dump on me 2 weeks ago (a bi-anual reinstallation of Windows XP is nearly standard for me. That's how I know it's time to make my dentist appointments!) is why you haven't heard from me much lately.

I'm back. You can stop sulking now. ;)

Worth the wait....

2009-01-14T19:51:00.002-10:00

I know I haven't posed in quite a while. Between the holidays, holiday travel, a honeydo project list a mile long, lethargy, and my newest addiction to Call of Duty 4 , I haven't been very good at posting, calling, or writing anyone. I've been in what you could call a "slump" with contact with anyone and everyone outside of, well, my house. But, I promise it was all worth it. What better way to start the year off than with the promise of a new Turtle!

Yayyy me us! We have about 7 months to cram in as much sleep as we can, because I don't think we'll ever get any after July 31.....

It's frickin' freezing in here....

2008-12-24T14:49:00.005-10:00

Mr. Bigglesworth!

We're in Montana for the holidays, and the temperature is slowly creeping up to the 20 degree range.... Last I checked, Barack Obama was enjoying mid 70's weather down the road from our house in Kailua - again.

I've gotten some great pics and a couple videos. I'll try to post them in the next couple days if this anemic DSL can handle it. We're warm and snuggly, and having a great time. Happy Holidays!!

Drying out

2008-12-12T18:11:00.002-10:00

Yesterday we had a pretty good winter storm pass through that brought us moderately high winds and about 10 inches of rain in 24 hours. Quite a departure from SoCal, which is lucky to get a couple inches in the entire year. Other than being a wet day with slow traffic and some scattered road closures from flooding, trees, accidents, etc it was overall a non issue (at least for most of us).

I'll try to get caught up on other things this weekend. I've had a lot of work stuff I wanted to talk about, but due to the public nature of this site/blog, is better left unprinted.

Child labor

2008-12-03T22:22:00.004-10:00

My secretary has been complaining about her working conditions, mostly the lack of crayons. I think she wants a new monitor.

When I wasn't looking, she changed my chair. Really funny, monkey....

She has some really aggressive union reps, too....

Gobble Gobble

2008-11-28T13:10:00.006-10:00

I know, I haven't posted in a while, and I know everybody and their pet hampster is posting about Turkey day. I'm sharing pictures, so quit whining. ;)

Thanksgiving checklist:

x Go kayaking
x Return wet, cold, unhappy child to grandma on the beach
x Paddle back out in rough seas
x Drink several quarts of seawater while in the front seat of boat (see above)
x Contemplate not paddling in the front seat again
x Catch air paddling over swells
x Surf large (6' face?) waves on the return trip
x Capsize Kayak while surfing over reef
x ~~Practice~~ Perform hasty reentry
x Attempt not to freak out as Kayak grounds on reef (in rough seas)
x Paddle back to shore
x Capsize boat 6' from shore to repay SuperMom for her phenomenal skills in "Known underwater hazards avoidance." >:-)
xx Eat massive turkey
x Watch "Finding Nemo" (Goldfish daddy!!!!!!)
xxx Eat pumpkin cheesecake
x Turkey Coma

Party like a Rock Star

2008-11-22T01:00:00.002-10:00

Enjoy your weekend!

Oregon Donor

2008-11-16T08:32:00.003-10:00

I've been meaning to post this one for a while. I came across this while walking down the street in Kailua-Kona this summer on vacation. I ride occasionally, although I haven't in quite a while. It sums it up for a lot of people though, especially since Hawaii has no helmet law...

I had several things to say...

2008-11-11T20:37:00.000-10:00

But forgot them all by the time I got home. D'oh!!

What are you people looking for here?

2008-11-06T20:22:00.005-10:00

Here's a rundown on my October stats. They're fun to look at sometimes.

The most popular search strings for my website(s):


Top 20 of 39 Total Search Strings

#	Hits		Search String

1	3	6.67%	turtle mail
2	2	4.44%	build turtle pond
3	2	4.44%	rebturtle.com
4	2	4.44%	so-
5	2	4.44%	vizsla breeder in alpine CA
6	1	2.22%	My Computer Turtle buy
7	1	2.22%	Turtle torture device
8	1	2.22%	above ground pond turtles
9	1	2.22%	above ground turtle pond
10	1	2.22%	above ground turtle ponds
11	1	2.22%	baby vizsla
12	1	2.22%	computer detox
13	1	2.22%	device backs of turtle
14	1	2.22%	how to set up a turtle pond
15	1	2.22%	http://rebturtle.com/
16	1	2.22%	hungarian pointer puppies san diego
17	1	2.22%	loghead turtles
18	1	2.22%	mid evil partisan
19	1	2.22%	midevil torture devices
20	1	2.22%	midevil toture

And my international following:


Top 30 of 36 Total Countries

#	Hits		Files		KBytes		Country

1	9623	61.29%	3740	48.67%	104221	47.87%	US Commercial
2	2837	18.07%	1645	21.41%	41859	19.23%	Unresolved/Unknown
3	2638	16.80%	1932	25.14%	56981	26.17%	Network
4	78	0.50%	42	0.55%	754	0.35%	Canada
5	69	0.44%	38	0.49%	2721	1.25%	US Military
6	63	0.40%	45	0.59%	1797	0.83%	Non-Profit Organization
7	42	0.27%	42	0.55%	1991	0.91%	Indonesia
8	35	0.22%	35	0.46%	1276	0.59%	Belgium
9	34	0.22%	22	0.29%	671	0.31%	Netherlands
10	33	0.21%	21	0.27%	685	0.31%	Italy
11	25	0.16%	10	0.13%	70	0.03%	Ukraine
12	23	0.15%	22	0.29%	966	0.44%	US Educational
13	23	0.15%	23	0.30%	494	0.23%	Brazil
14	22	0.14%	18	0.23%	1027	0.47%	Germany
15	18	0.11%	5	0.07%	119	0.05%	Czech Republic
16	16	0.10%	8	0.10%	73	0.03%	Seychelles
17	15	0.10%	15	0.20%	358	0.16%	Portugal
18	14	0.09%	14	0.18%	278	0.13%	Malaysia
19	14	0.09%	10	0.13%	224	0.10%	United Kingdom
20	10	0.06%	3	0.04%	37	0.02%	China
21	10	0.06%	6	0.08%	52	0.02%	Russian Federation
22	9	0.06%	9	0.12%	93	0.04%	New Zealand (Aotearoa)
23	8	0.05%	8	0.10%	89	0.04%	Australia
24	8	0.05%	8	0.10%	179	0.08%	United States
25	7	0.04%	6	0.08%	133	0.06%	Denmark
26	6	0.04%	6	0.08%	371	0.17%	Japan
27	4	0.03%	4	0.05%	65	0.03%	Estonia
28	4	0.03%	3	0.04%	26	0.01%	India
29	3	0.02%	0	0.00%	1	0.00%	Hungary
30	2	0.01%	1	0.01%	37	0.02%	Moldova

I bet I can make Hungary jump 20 places this month by typing this:

Magyar Vizsla

Four Score and biometric monitoring

2008-11-05T23:30:00.003-10:00

My daughter was born and lives only 30 miles or so from where Abraham Lincoln was born almost 200 years ago. It seems every state that the man stepped foot in attempts to take some credit for his greatness, but the fact is that he was born in a small cabin in rural central Kentucky to two uneducated farmers.
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Today was an interesting day. Due to our location here in the Pacific Ocean, I was able to watch the complete election and still get to bed by 10:00, so this morning was the same for me as most. I tried not to talk politics at work too much, since others had voted differently on several things and it was not worth interjecting into our day that I "won" on practically every thing/person I voted for.

I was surprised at how some McCain supporters took the news though. Today I saw an American flag flying upside down. It made me almost physically ill. Had I not been at work, I think I might have knocked on their door and told them how incredibly disrespectful and unpatriotic they actually were, after asking what the emergency was.

In other parts of the country, it was certainly much worse. Today I called my daughter (10) in Kentucky to see how she was doing after bruising her wrist yesterday. She grumbled a little, but was otherwise OK. Suddenly I get;

"So you got what you wanted, didn't you?"

"You mean Obama? Yeah, I guess so."

She then asked If I had seen Obama's speech, stating that she liked it -especially that Sasha and Malia would be, "getting that puppy."

Then came the concerns again. Actually it was less concerns than anger. My 10 year-old daughter indignant that kids had been bringing their parents' hate and idiocy to school.

"Like now that Obama's president all the white people are going to have tracking devices implanted in them."

It's considered impolite to scream, "WTF?!!!" into your daughter's ear over the phone, so I refrained. That's certainly is what was resonating in my head though. How do people get duped into such ridiculous obvious steaming piles of bulls**t?

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

145 years after those words, and 232 years after Thomas Jefferson first penned, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness," rural Kentuckians are still prone to ignorance, racism, bigotry, and stupidity. But there is evidence that from the depths of dumbness greatness can emerge. It will be a long, uphill fight, but there is still hope for my daughter.

*As an aside, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln, all well respected American icons. All Atheists, or at the very least, admittedly not Christian.

"My earlier views at the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them."

[Abraham Lincoln, letter to Judge J.S. Wakefield, after the death of Willie Lincoln]

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."

[Benjamin Franklin, in _Toward The Mystery_]

"I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature."

[Thomas Jefferson]