...otherwise I would not have noticed that razor scraper blade lying at the side of the road, right where some child's bare foot probably would have trod.
It is now safely ensconced in the dumpster at the other end of the parking lot, and I managed to get it there without slicing myself open with it, so apparently no one will need a tetanus booster series today.
I would ask what would possess anyone to leave such a thing lying around, but, you know, someone might tell me, and then I'd probably be morally compelled to go on a twenty to thirty state rampage, slapping the ever-loving shit out of assholes everywhere, and that would just depress the hell out of me after experiencing the absolute futility of it.
To the ignorant PoS that left that blade on the road: take note. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and not nearly soon enough for me. There's far too many of you for me to even make a dent in, but God is keeping track of each and every one of you stains, and He has just the right stuff to scrub you out with.
But for now, take solace in knowing that my rage-o-meter is pegged past redline yet again.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Hay youse guys, I'se is litrit two...
So, Highlander's been flexing his lit-peen on his blog lately, and I realised that I can do that too.
I'm pretty sure I haven't mentioned them on my blog before, but there is a series of alternative history novels written (mostly) by Eric Flint. The first is titled 1632, and, oddly enough, that number corresponds to the year the book is set in, 1632 AD. The premise is that, through some at-the-time undetermined cosmic mishap, a small modern-day West Virginia mining town is transposed with a section of light woods from the Thuringia region of Renaissance Germany, smack in the middle of the Reformation, at the height of the Thirty Years War.
With whacky results.
The odd thing is, I was in a Waldenbooks, looking for some older S.M. Stirling titles (Draka series), and one of the salespersons suggested 1632 to me as a possible alternative that I might enjoy. After devouring it, I returned to the store a few days later to snap up all remaining titles they had. And yes, I mentioned to the lady on duty on that visit that the sale was due to a referral by one of her people, so hopefully they got an attaboy.
One of the coolest things about this series is that fan input has led to further developments in the 'main storyline'. Eric invited people to contribute short stories set in his new timeline, published the best of those in a couple anthologies, and then adopted several of the characters as lead players in future works in the series. I'm not sure if Mr. Flint realised it when he made the invitation, but incorporation of these disparate viewpoints has actually made the source work stronger by allowing it to better reflect the theme I believe he's been pushing (Melting Pot Democracy = Good, Totalitarianism = Bad).
Anyway, I highly reccommend the series.
I'm pretty sure I haven't mentioned them on my blog before, but there is a series of alternative history novels written (mostly) by Eric Flint. The first is titled 1632, and, oddly enough, that number corresponds to the year the book is set in, 1632 AD. The premise is that, through some at-the-time undetermined cosmic mishap, a small modern-day West Virginia mining town is transposed with a section of light woods from the Thuringia region of Renaissance Germany, smack in the middle of the Reformation, at the height of the Thirty Years War.
With whacky results.
The odd thing is, I was in a Waldenbooks, looking for some older S.M. Stirling titles (Draka series), and one of the salespersons suggested 1632 to me as a possible alternative that I might enjoy. After devouring it, I returned to the store a few days later to snap up all remaining titles they had. And yes, I mentioned to the lady on duty on that visit that the sale was due to a referral by one of her people, so hopefully they got an attaboy.
One of the coolest things about this series is that fan input has led to further developments in the 'main storyline'. Eric invited people to contribute short stories set in his new timeline, published the best of those in a couple anthologies, and then adopted several of the characters as lead players in future works in the series. I'm not sure if Mr. Flint realised it when he made the invitation, but incorporation of these disparate viewpoints has actually made the source work stronger by allowing it to better reflect the theme I believe he's been pushing (Melting Pot Democracy = Good, Totalitarianism = Bad).
Anyway, I highly reccommend the series.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
This one calls for the old Billy Berule
So. I'm on the cusp of a truly life-altering event. And my feet are freezing. Tomorrow, a man will be calling about a fantastic job opportunity, and if the phone interview goes well, well, my life could see some dramatic changes. Scary, the safety net has never been so small, nor the paramedics so far away, changes.
And, you know, I'm frankly terrified.
I'm like, 51% sure I'm doing the right thing, so as CEO, I'm gonna do it, but the stockholders are NOT happy. Some of them are sure to sell, others will probably hold onto theirs, hoping to 'ride out the storm'.
I'm being a little too dramatical for just changing careers though, aren't I? Well, truth be told, I've been playing my cards very close to my vest. But we're down to the last raise, and it looks like the guy across from me is gonna call. Time to lay 'em on the table.
The job is in Kentucky. And whether this 'golden opportunity' pans out or not, I am moving down there, to 'hit that reset button'.
Life has just gotten too... different, for me here in NY. I've... burned some bridges, watched others rot away, there's one or two I definitely recall calling in air missions to service. Too many places that those bridges used to go to that I can't go to anymore around here, and the few places I can go are starting to feel like a prison. I need to find some new crossings. I need to find some strangers on the other side to make friends out of.
(See, I told you my super power was nailing my descriptive analogies.)
The friends I have here are important to me, but while I've been trapped in a prison of my own making, they've moved on, and intentionally or not, most of them have left me behind. To a large extent, even my family has moved on without me. And that is what I have to do. I have to get my life moving again. It stopped all those years ago, and when the starting gun fired, I just flinched a little and ignored it.
It's just too comfortable in this little prison I've called my life the last 16 years. Too safe to bother starting anything, too easy to give up on anything I do start, too easy to go back to the way it was. The way it is. My life has been far too simple for far too long, and I am atrophying from inaction, body and soul. It's time to kick it up a notch.
UPDATE-
Heh, that was a damned good interview, I thought. Then again, any interview you do in your bedroom, wearing underpants and a t-shirt, is bound to go well. A lot harder to relax in a strange place, face to face with strangers who have something you want, it is.
And, you know, I'm frankly terrified.
I'm like, 51% sure I'm doing the right thing, so as CEO, I'm gonna do it, but the stockholders are NOT happy. Some of them are sure to sell, others will probably hold onto theirs, hoping to 'ride out the storm'.
I'm being a little too dramatical for just changing careers though, aren't I? Well, truth be told, I've been playing my cards very close to my vest. But we're down to the last raise, and it looks like the guy across from me is gonna call. Time to lay 'em on the table.
The job is in Kentucky. And whether this 'golden opportunity' pans out or not, I am moving down there, to 'hit that reset button'.
Life has just gotten too... different, for me here in NY. I've... burned some bridges, watched others rot away, there's one or two I definitely recall calling in air missions to service. Too many places that those bridges used to go to that I can't go to anymore around here, and the few places I can go are starting to feel like a prison. I need to find some new crossings. I need to find some strangers on the other side to make friends out of.
(See, I told you my super power was nailing my descriptive analogies.)
The friends I have here are important to me, but while I've been trapped in a prison of my own making, they've moved on, and intentionally or not, most of them have left me behind. To a large extent, even my family has moved on without me. And that is what I have to do. I have to get my life moving again. It stopped all those years ago, and when the starting gun fired, I just flinched a little and ignored it.
It's just too comfortable in this little prison I've called my life the last 16 years. Too safe to bother starting anything, too easy to give up on anything I do start, too easy to go back to the way it was. The way it is. My life has been far too simple for far too long, and I am atrophying from inaction, body and soul. It's time to kick it up a notch.
UPDATE-
Heh, that was a damned good interview, I thought. Then again, any interview you do in your bedroom, wearing underpants and a t-shirt, is bound to go well. A lot harder to relax in a strange place, face to face with strangers who have something you want, it is.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
...for good men to do nothing.
Clicking on the title of this post will take you to the website of the Falun Gong movement. I'm sure some of you are at least dimly aware of what FG is, and that the Chinese governement is 'being mean to them'.
I warn you, what you will see on this website is not for the faint of heart. When China (the Chinese government, not the people as a whole) thinks no one is looking, China is a pitiless and merciless bully and tormentor.
I have no money, and little if any charisma, so I cannot help them with funding or fundraising. But I can point them out to you, and you can point them out to others, and since we're all six degrees from Kevin Bacon anyway, he should get the message soon, and he can help them out. (You know what I mean. I realize I'm being somewhat flippant, but believe me I am serious.)
Now, I know you're thinking to yourselves: "But, Tinfoil Hatter, you're, you're a vociferous and dogged Christian, aren't you worried about setting other gods before Jehovah?" Well, frankly, no. If you can tell me what 'god' practitioners of FG are worshipping, I'll consider worrying about that question, until then, people that are involved in mild exercise and a focussing meditation (that would serve admirably for prayer time if one was so inclined) aren't doing anything wrong in my or any other sane persons' books.
China is violating so many basic human rights it exhausts me to think about them, let alone attempt to enumerate them. So, in addition to merely spreading the word in this feeble way, I urge everyone worldwide to refuse to buy anything China exports until they address their human rights violations in a real way. Not just form a panel and yap about it, either; I'm talking various criminal thugs tried and arrested in accessible courtrooms, and sentenced and imprisoned, starting with that rotten bastard in charge, Jiang Zemin. Until he is deposed, buy nothing from China. And even afterward, wait to make sure they're not just pretending.
I warn you, what you will see on this website is not for the faint of heart. When China (the Chinese government, not the people as a whole) thinks no one is looking, China is a pitiless and merciless bully and tormentor.
I have no money, and little if any charisma, so I cannot help them with funding or fundraising. But I can point them out to you, and you can point them out to others, and since we're all six degrees from Kevin Bacon anyway, he should get the message soon, and he can help them out. (You know what I mean. I realize I'm being somewhat flippant, but believe me I am serious.)
Now, I know you're thinking to yourselves: "But, Tinfoil Hatter, you're, you're a vociferous and dogged Christian, aren't you worried about setting other gods before Jehovah?" Well, frankly, no. If you can tell me what 'god' practitioners of FG are worshipping, I'll consider worrying about that question, until then, people that are involved in mild exercise and a focussing meditation (that would serve admirably for prayer time if one was so inclined) aren't doing anything wrong in my or any other sane persons' books.
China is violating so many basic human rights it exhausts me to think about them, let alone attempt to enumerate them. So, in addition to merely spreading the word in this feeble way, I urge everyone worldwide to refuse to buy anything China exports until they address their human rights violations in a real way. Not just form a panel and yap about it, either; I'm talking various criminal thugs tried and arrested in accessible courtrooms, and sentenced and imprisoned, starting with that rotten bastard in charge, Jiang Zemin. Until he is deposed, buy nothing from China. And even afterward, wait to make sure they're not just pretending.
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