Weekend Musings

Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone. I have nothing but fond memories of my service in the Army. My two army buddies, Dan and Roger, are as good as they come.

M mentioned, a couple of days ago, that "we have to go to Mississippi" I don't know if she realized the first time she brought it up, but I am not going to Mississippi ever again. I have wasted too many days on that bullshit. If she wants to go, she can go. I ain't going.

Reason number 233 why I am strange. I liked Armageddon and Independence Day.

LSU baseball is over. The consensus seems to be to give Manieri a couple of years, recruit his own guys, and then see how he does. I just hope they realize that the SEC isn't what it was when Bertman won those five world series trophies. I just hope the draft doesn't hurt us too bad.

People die on me.

I had a hearing last week. The investigator talked to the respondent on Wednesday, the day before the hearing, and he said he would be there. He wasn't. Come to find out, he wasn't there because he died. That makes the fourth person against whom I have had a hearing that has died on me.

SEC baseball tournament started. LSU not in it. There is hope for the future. Already one upset. No. 8 Tennessee beat No. 1 seed Vanderbilt. Goes to show how strong the SEC is top to bottom. Hopefully it will season the teams for the College World Series.

I wasn't able to send mail for the longest time. So, before I called tech support, I checked out the self-help stuff and, lo and behold, it got fixed. Hopefully no more problems.

Since I am not going to be "family planning" on the cell phone with Michell, I got me a new plan. And a new toy. I got a Palm Treo. So far I like it. Now, I'm working my way through the DVD set for Drew Carey Show. I do love the "Five O'Clock World" credit song, more than the others.

What a wonderful week

Monday morning. Bomb threat at work. Some yahoo emailed it in. We stood around for three hours and then they said ok, you need to go home, so the IT folks can check it out. Tuesday morning. Another bomb threat. Again, standing around again. Finally, we are told to go home again. IT is checking it out. Wednesday morning. The third bomb threat. This time, they let us go back to work. Wouldn't you think that anybody who claims to be competent in computers this day would be able to cacth this slime? Then again, we are dealing with STATE workers. Our IT are thorougly incompetent, would be reasonable to hope others, like from the AG, would be any better?

Had a hearing Thursday morning. Appeal of license denial. Upheld.

Friday. Finally watched Bill Maher's show. It's worth paying for HBO to get that.

Star Wars movies

I am a big fan of all of the movies, but I probably like Empire and the original Star Wars better than the rest. It is the little touches that make them great, however. The way the ion cannon kicks some serious Empire ass in ESB. The way that, when a force field separates Darth Maul from Qui-Gon, Qui-Gon quietly meditates while Darth Maul paces like a big cat. My favorite moment, hardly a little one, is at the end of Sith. It is the scene when Kenobi has beaten Vader, and leaves him on the lava. As Kenobi starts to slowly makes his way up the hill, he picks up Vader's light saber. This would be the same light saber shown to us some twenty odd years earlier in the original Star Wars, when Kenobi gives it to Luke and says "this is your father's light saber."

Politics 1

If I were a Republican, the current crop of candidates would be seriously freaking me out. Judging by the debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, hoo boy, what a crew. My favorite was McCain going all nuclear on Bin Laden, saying how he'd follow him to the gates of hell; then he gives a pasted on Westworld smile. Are they all robots?

Air Conditioning

Going to be a long, hot summer here. Fleas are already starting to blossom. Isn't it funny. Here, I have a few fleas, but nothing bad. At M's house, there is a freaking infestation. Seriously, you go in one room and get fifty jumping on your ankle. Lets see, I have dogs, she has dogs. I have cats, she has cats. Why is her house so much worse?

Two words. Air Conditioning. I have it, she doesn't. Wait a minute, you say. She lives in south Louisiana and doesn't have air conditioning? Yep, you are right. That should have been a red flag twelve years ago, but I was stupid and I paid dearly for my sins. There are people who don't have air conditioning, I realize. They, however, are poor, live in a trailer, have no job, etc. M is none of these. She is quite well off, has a nice old house, and could easily afford the small additional expense of air conditioning. Why not, then? I. Don't. Know. As one of my friends told her - He said she is probably the only, and we mean only person of her socioeconomic status (i.e. rich person) in Louisiana that doesn't have air conditioning.

Animal cruelty no more

In a historic move, the Louisiana House Agriculture committee passed a bill to ban cockfighting. Louisiana was the only state where this is legal. Past bills didn't pass out of the committee, but they saw the winds of change. The only thing is it was passed with an effective date in 18 months. Other bills are pending to make it effective immediately. There is the chance that this bill will be amended to make it effective immediately as well. Poor, poor mouthbreathers. Now they'll have to enjoy their animal torture underground.

I knew it was over

After Hurricane Katrina, M's great uncle was going to have to evacuate New Orleans. She says to me, without any inkling of "this is a favor" or "I want to ask you something" but rather she says "Lewis can stay with you." Now I'm sorry, but my home is my castle, and for her to open it to a stranger without asking, well, that is beyond belief. While we were together since 1994, we never lived together. I had my house and she had hers. Never did I bring up the subject of marriage, and never did I want to. If she thought the relationship was to the point that what's mine is hers, then that's when it is ended. Perhaps I am too selfish, perhaps I am one of those persons that can never truly share a life with another, I don't know. I just know that our relationship could never evolve as those that are truly in love evolve. I have many friends, married friends and not, who have just such a relationship. I understand it and am happy for them, but I don't know if I could ever be one of those persons. Certainly not with M. It's over, never to be revisited. I wish her only the best.

Half Life 2

Shameless plug for one heck of a video game. The first Half LIfe was awesome - what a story line and what an execution! Now here comes Half Life 2 with terrific graphics, but also the little things: the way object react according to what their weight would be if it were real; picking up stuff; the views of the city, of the canal, of the ocean, bridges, beaches, and all. I didn't think games would get any more enjoyable than the head shots with the rifle in Gun, but it could. Using the gravity gun, which can pick up and hurl objects, with circular saw blades against zombies takes the cake.

Here is a gallery of my favorite video games (sometimes the old ones are pretty good)

Phantasmagoria 2
Shivers 2 (for the music alone)
Starflight and Starfleet-the war begins (two of the first games I played)
Gabriel Knight - the one with werewolves
Gun