They were stupid plastic shoes anyway

Apparently when I picked out my puppy I forgot to uncheck the “destruct-o-matic” feature.

Argh.

There’s a woman walking her pit bull up and down the canal bank behind the house and letting it run through our yard, and a broke-down van out front whose owners are borrowing a hose and some water to refill the radiator. Needless to say I’m not going nowhere til the ruckus dies down, putting to rest any hope of getting to work on time.

Thought for the day

What would a plumbing job be without at least one more trip to the hardware store than you were expecting?

It would be nice to find out some day.

Republicans…

Why do I consider myself an Independent? Because every political party out there wants to be a tin pot dictator, they just want to ignore different parts of the constitution.

GAH!

Apparently today is “Everything is broken, and everyone is crazy” day. I thought that was supposed to happen on Mondays, not Fridays…

Camouflage: Phase One

An eclectic mix, only to get weirder when the next shipment comes in. Oooh, and there’s a whole ‘nother side! What kind of mischief could happen over there?

Crap

Google Reader is going away.

Anyone got any recommendations for another RSS reader? One that can also link to an Android app like Google Reader?

Something bound to make a bad week worse

I caught a skunk this morning.

At least it’s pouring freezing rain… yet.

Oh to be half a foot shorter…

…then I wouldn’t currently have this massive headache and goose egg.

Now that winter is approaching its end…

I bought a new coat.  Kinda funny how that works, but follow the sales, eh?

I wish they would make medium extra tall things, so I could have clothes that actually fit me, though. 

In local news

So I got to pay for Biden’s whole push gun control vacation. Wheee.

This. So much this.

Robb Allen hits the nail on the head. And in the comments, “Because a doped up, unarmed citizenry is easier to control and manipulate.”

Word. Maybe even, word up.

For those of you interested in the status of Colorado

Publicola has the rundown on what’s going on. I, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, live as far away from Denver (geographically and politically) as it is possible to get and not be in Utah. This means that all of my local reps are Repubs, which is nice, but it also means I can’t threaten any democrats with my vote. If I had my way anything west of Vail and east of Canyonlands would be its own state, but as it is I get to be pushed around by a bunch of Californians who moved to the “mountains” and then tried to make it exactly like home.

Reply

I couldn’t help it.  My comments in bold.

Thank you for writing regarding gun control in Colorado. This is an important subject, and we appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts and concerns.

Throughout the past seven months in Colorado and across the nation, we have experienced an unprecedented level of tragedy due to gun violence.  (Unprecedented? Really? Not like, say, any time in WWII?) The shooting that occurred in Aurora on the night of July 20th is an event that will remain in our hearts and minds forever. (Because we all like to dwell on horrible things.) And while our lives will never be the same again, these experiences showed the strength and resilience of individuals to come together as a community. Now, as a community, we must come together to discuss ways we can prevent similar tragedies in the future. (Sure, if by “discuss” you mean “RAM THROUGH WITHOUT THINKING,” I find nothing wrong with that statement.)

Your letter is one of thousands we have received expressing sympathy and sharing your opinions on everything from banning assault weapons, to increasing mental health availability, to the rights of citizens to carry concealed weapons. The diversity of opinions on how best to address this issue is proof positive that we should not shy away from this discussion. (See previous statement about “RAMMING THROUGH WITHOUT THINKING) We are confident that through thoughtful and mindful debate we can find reasonable solutions that respect the rights of law-abiding Coloradans to own firearms while maintaining the health and safety of our communities.  (You know, I don’t remember hearing any discussion of respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. AT ALL.)

This is a multifaceted issue and part of this dialogue should focus on mental health access. So, we have asked the Colorado General Assembly to support a comprehensive overhaul of our state’s mental health system so we can better identify and help people who are a threat to themselves and others. (OOOOOooooOOOO, nice card trick!  You almost got me that time!  Too bad none of 4 big bills being forced down my throat right now have anything to do with mental health, or else you might have made me believe you!)

This is a conversation (you keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means) that will continue throughout the course of this legislative session, so we also encourage you to share your thoughts with your legislators. To contact the House of Representatives, please call 303-866-2904. To contact the Senate, please call 303-866-2316. These contacts will direct your call to the appropriate office. Or, you can find your legislators online at http://www.colorado.gov/esri/webmaps/my-hood.html?webmap-id=a4838d49acca478e82f453d209bc81d9

Once again, thank you for your input, and for taking the time to contact our office. We will keep your thoughts in mind as we move forward. (Yeah, right)

Sincerely,

Office of Governor John W. Hickenlooper

There you have it.  We are having a discussion about mental health that involves demonizing every single law-abiding gun owner, driving out roughly 1000 jobs and a $40 million company, increasing the amount of “instant” background checks done by an agency that’s already about two weeks behind, and in general making everyone’s life harder and more dangerous. Go Democrats!