Happenins

Well, hello. Its been a while since we have seen us, yes? Sorry about that. I have no excuse, I just haven't felt like writing. Some things have been a'happenin here.

First of all, if you live on planet Earth, you may be aware of our cold snap, here in Europe. Like, really cold. Did you know that diesel fuel has paraffin in it? Like, wax? And if it gets cold enough, and you let your car get low enough on gas, it freezes? That's what happened to Jessica's car. A combination of low fuel, cold,and parking in the wind. Had to coast it down the hill to the mechanic. Cost a hundred euros. Did you know that the fuel filter for a Renault Clio is behind the front fender? WTF?

Welp, the cold is over, and its vacation time here in France, so we have lotsa tourists here on our mountain. It sucks, they ignore our 'Private Property' sign, and park in the driveway, but that's the price of living in paradise, as Magnum would say.

I have had not one, but two of the people I love the most in the world accuse me of 'America bashing' on this here blog. I just don't know what to make of that. On one hand, I do bitch a lot, and like all people, I bitch about stuff I care about. I am sick of the TSA wiping their asses with American civil liberties in the name of security theater, for example, so I bitch.  I was also told, by someone else, that my opinion of all matters American are meaningless, as I live in France. I, ummm, disagree with that statement, but I can see how one could make that argument.

I guess the bottom line is this. I am gonna do what I am gonna do, and if you don't like it, don't read it. Not bitching is one of the factors in why the government in my home, the good old U. S. of A., is firmly under the control of greedy ass corporations. The blog stays the same. See that little red X in the upper right hand corner of this window?

OK! If anyone is still reading this, awesome.  In the U.K., the government is going to start storing details of every phone call, email, text message, and website visit, under the guise of anti terror plans. That's the U.K. I am sure that it will soon be here in France, and the U.S. government will try that shit too. Speak up, if you value your privacy.


Here is a few pictures from our winter here.

Peace,Y'all.

Sorry, bout the lack of posts

The truth is,I have been a bit busy, I am taking French 4 mornings a week, and the sort of things that I can't get into just yet. Soon. But I wanted to let you all (both) know that I haven't forgotten about you, bless your hearts, and I will be back to a semiregular schedule .

On Friday, the TSA was at it again. Well, they are at it every day, but Friday, they were doing their invasive thing, and they mistook an insulin pump for a weapon.

not a weapon

That looks, to me, more like a pager (remember pagers?), or a phone. I can see it being mistaken for a bomb,I guess, but how many of those things do you think the TSA sees? I would bet a lot. The thing is, they TSA said that the woman went through electronic screening, then left the area before she could be searched. This happened at 730 in the morning, at LAX. Busy time of day, busy airport. A lot of TSA geniuses standing around. Left the screening area? BULLshit. Fucking liars.

Another account of the incident is this. Apparently, if you have one of these things, you don'y want to go through the X ray, or sniffer machines.  You would also have a ' Medical Device card'. Ok? So, it's busy as shit at the airport, being 730 on a Friday morning. TSA hustles this chick through the Xray, she shows the pump and the card to the TSA nitwit, who doesn't do his or job by not swabbing it for bomb residue, and they send her on her way. Sooner or later, they realize their mistake, and call the cops. You can guess the rest of the story. Questioning, searches, blah blah blah. Blame shifting time.

America, this is your tax dollars at work.

Ok. On a positive note, my car is now fixed. Makes me happy. Going to celebrate by snowboarding today, with some of J's family. Gonna be awesome. Peace.

So. Here's some shit from the news today. A British couple, after 5 years, revealed to friends and family the gender of one of their kids. They kept it a seret because they wanted to avoid gender stereotypes, but now that the kid is starting school, they decided to let it be known.

Ummm, question?

Are men and women the same, in every aspect? Or are we different? Do we think differently, act differently, and if so, are those differences a result of our environment, of are they completely fucking natural?

In an interview, mom said, ' Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you slot people into boxes?' To which I would answer, 'I wouldn't. But nature has determined that males and females are different. All over the animal kingdom. Cats and dogs. Wolves, penguins, ducks, and whales. Males and females have their roles. Hunters, raising the kids, whatever. It is not a bad thing that the sexes are different.' Then I would call her a cliche-slinging douchebag. And don't misunderstand. I am not 'better' than women because I am a guy, any more than I am better than a black person because I am white. Not better, just different. And difference is good. If you claim to not see color, or difference in the sexes, then you, my friend, are a liar.

Also in the news, a former police chief of East St Louis, IL, plead guilty to theft of government property, for stealing 4, count em, 4 XBox game systems. The FBI had stuck 5 of them in the trunk of a car, reported the car stolen, then watched as the guy ripped off 4 of them. Just fucking wow. He now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The other day, Thursday, I guess, I went for a long ass hike. I started in Grenoble, hiked up to the Bastille, then further up to a memorial for fallen soldiers above the Bastille, then to St Martin le Vinoux.

It took about 4 hours, and was totally badass, and relaxing. Here is a few more pictures. The only thing that sucked was all the smog. Grenoble is in a bowl, surrounded by mountains. Add in a couple thousand years of pollution (Romans built this city), and a nice still day with no wind, and you get pollution, and lots of it.

And there you go.

Coupla pichers