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First, the birthday. Everyone be sure to wish ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) neutronjockey a happy natal day with what's left of this Thursday. And jaylake has a birthday on Saturday. Okay, so after spending the Memorial Day holiday weekend in Tulsa with my HD, widescreen-owning relatives, I broke down last weekend and acquired a lovely 46" Samsung LCD and a 26" Insignia (Best Buy's house brand, made by LG) LCD. The Samsung dictated a new piece of furniture from IKEA to hold it. Best Buy had a sale on, plus 36-month 0% interest. Apparently, my credit rating is still good, 'cause I was approved in about the amount of time it took the data to go from the store computer to the mothership and return. Hurray for that. And I even had two social functions last weekend. Enjoyed both. So: Friday evening: Social Engagement #1 Saturday, TV purchases, IKEA purchase, set up Insignia. Go to Social Engagement #2. Sunday: assemble IKEA furniture. Monday: big TV is delivered in AM (barely -- 11:55 *is* between 8 and 12). 1992-vintage 26" Sony with jury-rigged inputs is carted away to be recycled (yes, really). Assembled TV and other AV goodies Monday evening. Tuesday & Wednesday: Enjoyed same. Wednesday, called DirecTV to arrange HD equipment/service upgrade from existing standard stuff. Thursday: New stove! Thanks be unto landlord-to-the-stars Gary Swafford for that. Oven achieved temp in mere minutes, instead of an hour, and achieved *set* temp, not a random one, again unlike the old one. Old stove was carted away to be disposed of properly. Dinner served quickly. :) Now watching Game 4 of Stanley Cup finals, wondering if the officials will be allowed to have their Leader Dogs on the ice for the 2nd & 3rd periods, 'cause they clearly need them. Friday: Continued enjoyment planned, because... Saturday: DirecTV HD upgrade happens in the AM. Will be watching Game 5 of Stanley Cup finals in glorious HD that evening. Work continues (a good thing, too, 'cause I have to pay for all this stuff), and is actually going well. I know fuel prices are creeping up again, but offsetting that for me is that if oil hangs out in the mid-60s, we get more business. If natural gas can bump back up to $5/MMBTU, we might see the US rig count go back up a bit, too. Translation: more drilling = more business for us. It also = less imported energy (which is a good thing all the way 'round). Hope all is well in F-list land. :) Tags: new stuff, updates
Current Location: The Jerker
Current Mood:  chipper
Background Noise: Red Wings currently leading 2-1
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Okay, fair warning. This is a rant. It is opinion. It is, as far as I'm concerned, not open to debate. Got an opinion of your own? Excellent! LiveJournal has free signup. Get your own and post your own rant. Today the California Supreme Court did what most expected it to do, and indeed what the law and that body's charter combined to produce as the only real option they had. They, in a 6-1 decision, declared California Proposition 8, which rendered illegal same-sex marriages in California, a valid amendment to the State Constitution. They did, however, permit the same-sex marriages that were performed prior to Prop 8's passage to stand. Meanwhile, Iowa -- yes, conservative, middle-America, white-bread, corn-fed, "flyover" Iowa -- has made same-sex marriages legal in their state. Ponder this for a moment. California, the cradle of modern socially-progressive thinking, retrenched back to this country's paranoid-Puritan roots, while Iowa, a state many Californians couldn't find on a map with the states labeled because it's between New York City and Las Vegas and thus is beneath consideration, the backbone of the country's breadbasket, has marched boldly into the enlightened part of the 21st Century, declaring that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution (that whole "equal protection" bit) applies to *everyone*: To wit: Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
See that? Know what California voters (and voters/legislators in every other state that has enacted similar bans on same-sex marriages) did last November? Yep, they made sure the California State Constitution violates the US Constitution, specifically Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. They have abridged the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, and have denied to certain persons within their jurisdictions the equal protection of the laws.
In simpler terms: government-sanction discrimination.
Now, there are some who will tell me that I should not cast aspersions at California while my own home state (in this case, the "new" home of Texas, and I'll include my old home of Michigan in this 'cause the voters there enacted a same-sex marriage ban this past election season, too) is similarly constrained.
So this is not directed strictly at California, but at Texas, Michigan, my old home of Oklahoma, and every other state that has, either through legislation or voter initiative, prohibited same-sex marriage. California's in the barrel because of today's action by their Supreme Court.
What we're talking about here, as I said, is government-sanctioned discrimination. Let me tell you a little personal anecdote: This past weekend, I had the pleasure of spending a little time with my old friend (from all the way back in elementary school) C, her wife (yes, I said it! And I mean it!) C, and their adopted daughter R. C and C have been together, committed totally to each other, for 15-plus years now. That's longer than my two marriages combined, and there's no sign of them *not* being committed to each other gong forward.
And yet... if something was to happen to one of them, they're going to have to have done a lot of up-front legwork with wills, powers of attorney, custodial agreements, etc. -- all stuff that is pretty much automatic for married couples: the default is the surviving spouse in almost all cases. Even getting family health insurance coverage for the three of them on one policy is difficult in most cases, and with most employers. Again, with married couples, it's a default, automatic thing.
Why is it that their relationship is not afforded the same legal rights and protections other relationships are?
In a word, fear.
Fear, pure and simple. You hear a lot of arguments from self-identified Christians, particularly certain rather conservative denominations (in the California Prop 8 matter, the two biggies were the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as Mormons), that legalizing same-sex marriages somehow "cheapens" the "sanctity" of marriage, jeopardizing their existing relationships.
To which I respond, "Huh?" I do not understand the logic of this. How is permitting couples, committed to each other and wanting to codify their relationship, to do so lessen, cheapen, or threaten other couples committed to each other?
Seriously, folks: if letting my friends C and C -- and the many thousands of other same-sex couples wanting the opportunity to do the same -- legally codify their relationship makes you fear for your marriage, do not look to *them* as the source of your fear. Look in the mirror. The only threat to *your* marriage is *your belief* that same-sex marriage threatens you. It's not an external threat; it comes from within you. Look at the states where same-sex marriage is legal: there has not been a spike in divorces and annulments of different-sex couples. For that matter, ponder this strawman: if your job transferred you to Iowa, or Maine, or one of the other states that's legalized same-sex marriage, would you refuse the transfer strictly on the grounds that your (presumably sound) marriage would suddenly become *unsound* because you moved to such a state?
Oh, come on, do you really believe that would happen? Really? May I suggest you spend some time examining the actual soundness of your marriage *right now*, 'cause if you believe it's so fragile that moving into the house next door to Roger and Raymond MarriedGays will lead inexorably to divorce court for your and your spouse, well, odds are pretty good you're headed to divorce court anyway. Just sayin'.
If you are following a religious dogma that says it's okay to discriminate against other people as long as they don't share your beliefs and march in lock-step with your religious leaders, do us all a favor and quit calling yourself a Christian. Jesus was all about inclusiveness -- recall the story of the tax collector and, for that matter, the story of Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, both of whom were welcomed by Jesus to his fold. So many self-proclaimed "Christian" leaders are all about intolerance and outright hatred of anyone different: race, religion, sexual preference, and yes, even political stripe.
Think about this for a moment: all those studies the religious conservatives love to cite about how kids benefit from having two parents in the household? Yep, they apply to same-sex couples, too. Want to increase your property values? Have a bunch of same-sex couples living in the neighborhood. How about the business of marriage: formal wear shops, floral shops, churches/chapels, limo services, reception halls, caterers, etc.? All stand to gain from more people being able to get married. It's good for the economy. It's even good for the tax rolls if both are employed: You know that "marriage penalty" double-income households without large numbers of dependents have? Yep, it'll apply to same-sex married couples, too!
And even more important: it is *morally* correct to afford equal rights and equal protections under the law to *all* citizens and other legal residents of this fine land.
Ponder this: Substitute the word "blacks" for "same-sex couples" in this sentence: "Allowing same-sex couples to marry threatens my marriage". Or "Jews". Or "Muslims". Or "Christians". Or "Asians". Does it roll off the tongue quite so easily? Do you think you might have trouble uttering it aloud at, say, your office, without fearing (there's that emotion again) that someone might overhear and think you're a bigot? Guess what: saying that sentence with "same-sex couples" in it? Yep, you sound like a bigot.
We have come so far out of the dark ages of prejudice and discrimination, but there are some who insist upon staying in the shadows, muttering about "them", the folks who are different from "us". Tragically, many of these people who stay in the dark and mutter are in positions of political, legal, and/or religious authority, or at least quasi-authority with access to the airwaves and interwebs, with many followers who have chosen to let these "leaders" do the bulk of their thinking for them.
And that's where I make a request: THINK. Think for yourself. Look at the facts. Look at the opinions and know them as such (yep, this missive here is an opinion). Disagree with me? Great! As long as it's because you *THOUGHT* about it yourself, and aren't parroting the opinion of some erstwhile "leader".
And if you happen to agree with me, and you live in a state that has banned, or, given the tone in this country, not explicitly allowed, same-sex marriage the same protections that opposite-sex marriage enjoys, please make your voice heard. If enough of us regular folks speak up, loudly, longly, and persistently, actual change (as opposed to Political Campaign Buzzword Change) will happen.
That's what I'll be doing. Tags: courts, marriage, rant, same-sex
Current Location: The Jerker
Current Mood:  angry, yet hopeful
Background Noise: Things on TV
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I said "try", FF. Not "succeed", but "try". There is a difference. Been pulling longish days at work partly because I get going on something and don't like to stop, and partly because there's not exactly a huge inducement to rush home. Well, the next two weeks are going to be a bit different as I have a lot of house prep to do on the off chance that my friends M and J come from Michigan for the upcoming Houston date on the SCCA Solo National Tour calendar. They were, then they weren't, now they might. So I have to finish the living room, the 2nd bathroom, and the front bedroom. I am very good at not doing anything for hours on end, so it's going to require some motivation on my part, but that's as may be. Yesterday I got out on the bicycle for a bit. I did about 5 miles, but it was the 1/2 mile of grass that killed me -- the extra drag from the St. Augustine grass common here was Just Enough to bring the pain. I'm out of shape, I'll admit it, and have quite a bit of training to do before tackling one of the group rides the local bike shop hosts. The '65 is safely in my garage. The '99 is currently in the trailer on race tires. Scooter is a good bird. My oven still sucks. And the house will be fit for company in a couple weeks. Tags: busy, new home, update
Current Location: The Jerker
Current Mood:  frentic
Background Noise: Washer, Dryer, bird noises, keyboard clicks
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It's the day after Monday.
I really should be in bed at this point (it's just about 11pm), particularly since I'm working on maybe 3-1/2 hours of sleep last night.
Full moon. I don't sleep well on full moon nights. Been that way for a while now.
Work is. It's going pretty well.
Discovered today that I have to get an annual inspection sticker for the trailer, before I can transfer title & tag it. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. One more bloody complication.
The wind has been blowing 20+ mph most of the last couple days, and it's really gusty right now. Severe thunderstorm watch for here, tornado watch north & west of here. Line of storms coming through in a bit. This is related to the storms that dropped a tornado or two up around Oklahoma City and made a mess, unfortunately killing a few folks.
I'm heading off to bed now. Just as I sat down to dinner earlier we had a power flicker, and while the 'puter is on a UPS, I'm looking to get other stuff shut down and hit the sack myself. This house survived Allison, assorted and sundry other severe weather (12+ inches of rain in a couple hours), and Ike, so I'm not horribly concerned, but, well, I'm tired. :)
Tags: life, weather
Current Location: The Jerker
Current Mood:  exanimate
Background Noise: USAir 1549 Crew on Letterman
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Saturday -- I got up sorta early, pulled the driver's seat out of the Cobra, reinstalled the OEM seat belt buckle, and reinstalled the seat. Maybe 15 minutes start-to-finish. Then went to get it inspected -- only to discover that my friendly neighborhood place's inspection machine wasn't working because C (the shop owner) moved it to a different phone line (so it shared his fax line instead of having its own dedicated line) to save a few $ and the computer in Austin doesn't recognize the number it's calling from... even though he'd called Austin on Friday and made sure that wasn't a problem. He suggested I run down the street to the Goodyear/Gemini store.
Which I did. The dolt there drove the car to do the brake check, etc. and was put off by the rattles from the solid rear upper shock mounts, and said he couldn't pass it if it has rattles, which is total bull feces, but there you go. Absolutely refused to consider that it's perfectly normal when you use Heim joints for rear shock mounts instead of rubber bushings that it will make a little bit of noise even though nothing is in danger of falling off the car.
So I took the keys back, drove back to talk to C, and he's going to make himself available for me tomorrow after work providing he gets his machine communicating with Austin again.
After this, I took the Cobra back to the house, got the truck, and took it for a LONG overdue tire rotation at Discount Tire, where, lo and behold, they've now got their computers networked and were able to find me in the database as a customer even though my last purchase from them was in Michigan (before, not even different stores in MI could tell I was a customer from a different store). Free rotation, and I had them balance the Hoosier Wets on '95 Cobra R wheels that I acquired from M just before I moved. Reason? The BFGs I'm using for street tires are old, hard, and worn almost to the wear bars, and it's remarkably easy to break them loose on dry pavement. Tomorrow's forecast is for rain. So I got the Wets balanced so I could put them on the car today.
Then a trip to Lowes (have a gift card from Christmas) to get various household stuff, a stop at the local bike shop to get a new floor pump (K kept the one in MI), and a quick dinner at Willie's Grill & Icehouse, followed by a stop at the bank, and home.
This morning, sirens about 7:45 or so. I dozed back off, and awoke some time later to the sound of gas-powered saws. Turns out a house on the next street over (to the east -- the previously-mentioned Shatnerwood is north of me) burned -- a lot -- and with the winds we were having, thankfully not so bad that early in the day, it caught the next house to the north as well. The good news: nobody hurt. Everyone got out okay. Prelim cause is apparently a transformer on a treadmill, of all things. It's bad. The neighbor to the north now gets to file another insurance claim (they still have temporary roof patches from Ike), adding fire, smoke, and water damage to the tally.
The word from the neighbors is that the local fire department (which is technically a volunteer department) had a lengthy and un-coordinated response, taking about 20 minutes to get there. I didn't see the response, so I don't know, but I do know the Cy-Fair VFD seems to be well-equipped, well-funded, and numerous, so I'm hoping this is just an anomaly.
Today, I got a few things put into the attic -- I'm going to need help, I think, as getting me and stuff up the folding ladder is, well, hazardous. I also changed the Cobra over to the Wets, and did my weekly grocery run. I've been doing laundry this evening.
Terribly exciting, I realize. :) Tags: eep!, life, new home
Current Location: The Jerker
Current Mood:  tired
Background Noise: News
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