Growing up in New England, we really didn't know anything about Cinco de mayo. I'm not sure if it was the minimal Hispanic population, or more the puritan mores that still rule in much of New England, meaning a holiday meant mostly for drinking would be frowned upon.
To our family, the 5th of May was already a special day...it's my Mom's Birthday!
I remember the first time we went out to dinner for my mom's birthday after we moved to Washington. We had NO reason to expect the restaurants to be as crowded as they were when my mom wanted to go to her favorite Mexican place.
Each year Cinco de Mayo seems to be bigger than the year before, but I tend to lump it in with New Years Eve and St. Patricks Day under the file 'Amateurs Night.' Even during my rowdy 'single sailor' days, I avoided these events like the plaque.
Too many cops out looking to bust law-abiding young sailors such as myself.
5.05.2011
Newest Parents of the Year Nominee's
A little less than a month ago, I ranted and wished violence upon the couple in Vancouver, Washington who locked their two autistic boys in a bedroom.
Today, we have a story from Clay County, Missouri, where another couple, thinking the ones in Vancouver to be underachievers, have kept FIVE urine and feces covered children locked up.
There isn't much I can say that I haven't said before.
A quick death is too good.
Today, we have a story from Clay County, Missouri, where another couple, thinking the ones in Vancouver to be underachievers, have kept FIVE urine and feces covered children locked up.
There isn't much I can say that I haven't said before.
A quick death is too good.
5.04.2011
An orgy of cooking.
A couple of days ago, my wife got her hands on a new cookbook, called 'Once a Month Cooking.' In addition to containing recipes, the book puts forward the idea that it is possible to go shopping 1 day, then spend the WHOLE NEXT DAY COOKING, and end up with a freezer full of 28 meals mostly ready to go. To this end, the book has a few different 30-day menu's, and just in case you aren't feeling quite that motivated, there are a few 14-day menu's. Along with the menu's are carefully detailed shopping lists. Everything a woman such as my wife needs to drive herself crazy.
Lacking not in ambition, but freezer space here in the apartment, my wife decided to attack on of the 14-day menu's. Yesterday she did some shopping at Win-Co, and today she did the cooking/assembling.
This is what I came home to:
Also...one very frazzeled wife, who threatened a painful death if pictures of her ended up on the internet machine.
My daughters tell me that they learned some interesting new language from mommy today, mostly tied to the size of our apartment kitchen. Being her first time, she made a few discoveries that might make things easier the next time.
First, she wished she had done some prep work the night before, like browning ground beef and sausage...maybe chopping up the green peppers...that kind of stuff. The other thing she discovered is that they is NO WAY any human being could do twice this many recipes in 1 DAY unless you were talking about a 24 hour work shift type day.
The big question is going to be if it is all worth it. Visually, the freezer evidence is impressive:
Time will only tell if the recipes are any good...but either way, SWMBO earned a foot rub tonight.
Lacking not in ambition, but freezer space here in the apartment, my wife decided to attack on of the 14-day menu's. Yesterday she did some shopping at Win-Co, and today she did the cooking/assembling.
This is what I came home to:
Also...one very frazzeled wife, who threatened a painful death if pictures of her ended up on the internet machine.
My daughters tell me that they learned some interesting new language from mommy today, mostly tied to the size of our apartment kitchen. Being her first time, she made a few discoveries that might make things easier the next time.
First, she wished she had done some prep work the night before, like browning ground beef and sausage...maybe chopping up the green peppers...that kind of stuff. The other thing she discovered is that they is NO WAY any human being could do twice this many recipes in 1 DAY unless you were talking about a 24 hour work shift type day.
The big question is going to be if it is all worth it. Visually, the freezer evidence is impressive:
Time will only tell if the recipes are any good...but either way, SWMBO earned a foot rub tonight.
Sure, I'll pay up.
Washington may impose fee to visit state parks
Visitors to Washington state parks may have to pay a fee, starting in July.
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. —
Visitors to Washington state parks may have to pay a fee, starting in July.
A bill to create the Discover Pass passed the Legislature and is awaiting Gov. Chris Gregoire's signature.
A pass would cost $10 a day or $30 a year per vehicle.
The Olympian reports the passes are expected to generate more than $64 million every two years. Most of the money would go to the state Parks and Recreation Commission. Smaller amounts would go to the Fish and Wildlife Department and the Department of Natural Resources.
Washington has 119 state parks and millions of acres of publicly owned land.
As much as I protest that the 'Government is already taking too gosh darn much of our money!', I am okay with this. The Libertarian side of me is A-OKAY with a pay for use fee like this. In fact, it's how I think most Government run things should be funded.
30 dollars per year seems very reasonable to me, and something that even families on a budget SHOULD be able to work with. That's a family of 4 making one trip to the movies, or 1.5 trips to McDonalds. If I needed too, I would sacrifice either one of these to ensure that the states parks stay open.
Of course, some people do feel that this is wrong, and mean, and discriminates against the poor and elderly.
As I said above, I don't feel this is so. Prior to this bill being passed, the state parks were funded in part by a $5 'Opt-Out' fee attached to car registration fees. If you were the type of low class person who wanted to look lame(and you were smart enough to know it was happening, because it wasn't well advertized) you could 'opt-out' and save 5 dollars each year when you registered your car. Unfortuntely, I can't find a stat for how many people 'opted' out.
I know I never did. Mostly because I didn't want to look lame. Oh....and I was one of the folks that didn't know any better.
A bill to create the Discover Pass passed the Legislature and is awaiting Gov. Chris Gregoire's signature.
A pass would cost $10 a day or $30 a year per vehicle.
The Olympian reports the passes are expected to generate more than $64 million every two years. Most of the money would go to the state Parks and Recreation Commission. Smaller amounts would go to the Fish and Wildlife Department and the Department of Natural Resources.
Washington has 119 state parks and millions of acres of publicly owned land.
As much as I protest that the 'Government is already taking too gosh darn much of our money!', I am okay with this. The Libertarian side of me is A-OKAY with a pay for use fee like this. In fact, it's how I think most Government run things should be funded.
30 dollars per year seems very reasonable to me, and something that even families on a budget SHOULD be able to work with. That's a family of 4 making one trip to the movies, or 1.5 trips to McDonalds. If I needed too, I would sacrifice either one of these to ensure that the states parks stay open.
Of course, some people do feel that this is wrong, and mean, and discriminates against the poor and elderly.
As I said above, I don't feel this is so. Prior to this bill being passed, the state parks were funded in part by a $5 'Opt-Out' fee attached to car registration fees. If you were the type of low class person who wanted to look lame(and you were smart enough to know it was happening, because it wasn't well advertized) you could 'opt-out' and save 5 dollars each year when you registered your car. Unfortuntely, I can't find a stat for how many people 'opted' out.
I know I never did. Mostly because I didn't want to look lame. Oh....and I was one of the folks that didn't know any better.
5.03.2011
Guess I'm not a very observant gun owner.
Life as a gun owner isn’t half-bad in Washington. Getting a concealed carry permit is very simple…pay finger the finger prints, drop off your application, and I am not sure that my wife or I ever had to wait more than 3 business days for the actual permit to show up in the mail, which is nice. On the other hand, compared to our neighbors in Oregon and Idaho, we are down-trodden…no Class 3, no Short-barreled rifles or shotguns.
The Washington laws on suppressors is a good example of Northwest Wishy-Washyness…silencer’s were legal to own in Washington State, but it was a gross misdemeanor to actually USE one. I had a few friends in the shipyard who would get around this by making sure they brought police officer buddies with them whenever they went shooting, so they could enjoy the use of their suppressers.
Well, thanks to the Washington State Legislature(and…gulp…Governor Gregoire) on April 11th a bill was passed which did away with this Gross Misdemeanor, making it legal to both own AND use your suppressors. There is a 90 day period after the Legislature is out of session before the bill will become law, but that’s fine, because it will take at least that long for people like me to figure out the application process works to get my tax stamp(as well as a few months to convince my wife it will be worth it…and I have no doubt it will be).
The other interesting part of this is that it explains another mystery that I was waiting for a free minute or two to get to the bottom of. When I was at ACE hardware this weekend drooling over LR-308’s, they had two Ruger 22/45’s with threaded barrels in the display case. At the time I had thought that maybe they were being a bit aggressive targeting the crowd that occasionally runs to Oregon (45 minutes)and Idaho(2 hours) to use their toys…but now that I know the whole truth, I’m kicking myself for not being observant.
I don’t entirely blame myself for not being observant…this wasn’t given huge headlines in the state media. Even the story I linked to today was talking about 3 bills that passed: one changing the end of High School math testing requirements, one that changed how counties are able to dispose of dead bodies(open for bid now vs. forced rotation through different funeral homes) and finally, the bill for suppressors, which got the least amount of print of any of the new bills.
5.02.2011
Water, Water everywhere...
In my opinion, one of the most likely 'Worst Case Scenarios' for our future involves the fight for water. I don't necessarily tie this to global warming, but more to the fact that people are currently living where we have no right to be living. In our thirst for cheap real estate and enough land to grow crops, we have been diverting rivers and streams for the last 100 years out here in The West. And there isn't enough water for everyone, but , at least the fight is still just in the courts for now.
Living in an area that doesn't get a large amount of rainfall, water access in the future is at least a minor concern to me, and something I did some basic research on before accepting this job. Expected annual rainfall in Belfair, where we used to live was in the 52 inches a year range. Richland get closer to 8-inches of rain a year. Luckily, the Tri-cities sits at the confluence of the Yakima, the Snake, and the Columbia Rivers, which are three pretty major sources of water. Very few of the places we have looked at for permanent residence are more than a mile or so from either the Yakima or the Columbia. While not a perfect solution to the water problems, it is at least a workable solution.
Getting rain barrels and other collection devices are high on my list for 'sustainability' purchases when we do get our own property. One of the advantages of living in an agricultural region is that there are many sources of 500-2000 gallon FDA approved poly water storage tanks...and they don't draw much comment when seen on the side of someones house.
Living in an area that doesn't get a large amount of rainfall, water access in the future is at least a minor concern to me, and something I did some basic research on before accepting this job. Expected annual rainfall in Belfair, where we used to live was in the 52 inches a year range. Richland get closer to 8-inches of rain a year. Luckily, the Tri-cities sits at the confluence of the Yakima, the Snake, and the Columbia Rivers, which are three pretty major sources of water. Very few of the places we have looked at for permanent residence are more than a mile or so from either the Yakima or the Columbia. While not a perfect solution to the water problems, it is at least a workable solution.
Getting rain barrels and other collection devices are high on my list for 'sustainability' purchases when we do get our own property. One of the advantages of living in an agricultural region is that there are many sources of 500-2000 gallon FDA approved poly water storage tanks...and they don't draw much comment when seen on the side of someones house.
My madness has passed...
After sitting around doing some talking with my wife last night, and doing some research on the internet machine, we have decided that the urge to buy the double wide and an acre we looked at yesterday is a controllable urge...if barely.
There are comparable properties out there, maybe not as cheap, but in our price range. While these exact properties might not be available in another year, there will be similar properties, and with the economy being what it is, it is unlikely that these similar properties will cost any more than they are selling for now.
Sigh...it would have been nice, but realistically, I think even Mr. Heinlein would have counseled me to wait until my other house sold prior to doing anything drastic. It's been 5 months now, and has every sign that we could be in for a long wait.
One final decision that my wife made for me helped me make is that I need to stop looking at houses for sale...period. No cruising the internet, no driving through neighborhoods in a dreamy manner...just stop for at least 6 months, or when our house sells, which ever takes longer.
I am too weak to resist, which is the same reason I will walk out the wrong door at grocery stores to avoid girl scout cookies.
There are comparable properties out there, maybe not as cheap, but in our price range. While these exact properties might not be available in another year, there will be similar properties, and with the economy being what it is, it is unlikely that these similar properties will cost any more than they are selling for now.
Sigh...it would have been nice, but realistically, I think even Mr. Heinlein would have counseled me to wait until my other house sold prior to doing anything drastic. It's been 5 months now, and has every sign that we could be in for a long wait.
One final decision that my wife
I am too weak to resist, which is the same reason I will walk out the wrong door at grocery stores to avoid girl scout cookies.
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