Wolves on the Wing

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I'm chilling out with the parents enjoying "New Coke" aka Budweiser*, wearing the magical sarcasm t-shirt my sister got me** and I have just been informed by my mother that I both get to continue living and be fed because I managed to fix her computer.***

Throw in the lint roller and computer screen wipes my nephews got me and its been a good Christmas. Hey, those are great gifts. A lint roller is exactly the type of thing you want to have at the exact time you need one.  As for the cleanliness of my screens, well, lets not go there.

Happy Holidays all!

*The cans are rather similar if you're not paying close attention. On Christmas Day I consider getting either to be a win/win situation.
** My sister saw the shirt and the work desk punching bag and decided I needed both for work. What can I say she knows me well.
*** I didn't actually mess it up but she has always believed in setting high bars for her children to strive for.  :-)

Tis sadly too true, although when I say it that way it makes me sound even more sarcastic than I actually am. It was a nice relaxing weekend with an awesome home cooked meal, decent weather, a good old dog to give rump rubs to, and both curling and hockey to watch with my stepdad, so no complaints here. Also while it would be more pleasant than a chest cold its not like I need chocolate, especially given that I'd like to drop twenty pounds. So with that introspective navel gazing aside let me just say to all who celebrate that I hope you all had a Happy Easter! :-)

So, no, nothing more I want to say right now, mainly because I'm a strange combination of mellow and hacking up lung crud, so I'm just going to end it here.

Stay classy world.

I was going to give my sister a call around 8 pm tonight to help her out with her computer but ended up grabbing a few extra hours at work. Oh well, it's probably for the best since that's my nephews bath time. I can't claim to be the most responsible uncle ever but even I know if you drop a computer into a bathtub full of toddlers it will wreck the harddrive. :-p

Speaking of children who live in Florida I've been following the Trayvon Martin case, and considering just how confused, racially explosive, and legally convoluted it is I'm not going to make any statements about it. I figure with Spike Lee tweeting the wrong house address for Zimmerman, the New Black Panther Party putting a bounty on his head, and Geraldo Rivera revealing the true killer to be a sweater, there really isn't anything I can do to make this even more horrifyingly insane than it already is. However, there is one thing I will say and it is this:

Please, please, PLEASE, repeal these stupid, ridiculous, reckless and dangerous "Stand Your Ground" laws and do it now. I accept that it is unlikely that the shooter will ever be charged, since even after confronting the victim he could still claim "I felt threatened by this person I confronted" but do we need to repeat this? Both people had a right to go for a walk in that area, so this is definitely the type of scenario that reasonably can be expected to occur again. Restore the duty to retreat, and help force angry, armed people to back down first, and shoot second, instead of flipping a coin. Doing that will NOT remove people's right to defend themselves in their own homes, or to use lethal force as a last resort in an incredibly dire situation. It will however make people  less likely to shoot first, and even maybe to think before playing cop.

I realize I am going to get some flak for saying that, especially since I am a Canadian, and a liberal, but frankly, I don't care. I have two young nephews who right now live in a state where it's possibly legally acceptable to confront unarmed people who are not committing crimes, and then shoot them if they react poorly to this while wearing athletic gear. Right now my eldest nephew is three, and not threatening to anyone, but in ten years, when he's close to six feet and 150+ pounds, full of testosterone and youthful invincibility, someone could very well decide he is, and under the current law, kill him.

That is NOT acceptable to me, and it is NOT a point for debate. It's just not.

You want even one tear stained silver lining from this mess? Change the law, now.

I was going to give my sister a call around 8 pm tonight to help her out with her computer but ended up grabbing a few extra hours at work. Oh well, it's probably for the best since that's my nephews bath time. I can't claim to be the most responsible uncle ever but even I know if you drop a computer into a bathtub full of toddlers it will wreck the harddrive. :-p

Speaking of children who live in Florida I've been following the Trayvon Martin case, and considering just how confused, racially explosive, and legally convoluted it is I'm not going to make any statements about it. I figure with Spike Lee tweeting the wrong house address for Zimmerman, the New Black Panther Party putting a bounty on his head, and Geraldo Rivera revealing the true killer to be a sweater, there really isn't anything I can do to make this even more horrifyingly insane than it already is. However, there is one thing I will say and it is this:

Please, please, PLEASE, repeal these stupid, ridiculous, reckless and dangerous "Stand Your Ground" laws and do it now. I accept that it is unlikely that the shooter will ever be charged, since even after confronting the victim he could still claim "I felt threatened by this person I confronted" but do we need to repeat this? Both people had a right to go for a walk in that area, so this is definitely the type of scenario that reasonably can be expected to occur again. Restore the duty to retreat, and help force angry, armed people to back down first, and shoot second, instead of flipping a coin. Doing that will NOT remove people's right to defend themselves in their own homes, or to use lethal force as a last resort in an incredibly dire situation. It will however make people  less likely to shoot first, and even maybe to think before playing cop.

I realize I am going to get some flak for saying that, especially since I am a Canadian, and a liberal, but frankly, I don't care. I have two young nephews who right now live in a state where it's possibly legally acceptable to confront unarmed people who are not committing crimes, and then shoot them if they react poorly to this while wearing athletic gear. Right now my eldest nephew is three, and not threatening to anyone, but in ten years, when he's close to six feet and 150+ pounds, full of testosterone and youthful invincibility, someone could very well decide he is, and under the current law, kill him.

That is NOT acceptable to me, and it is NOT a point for debate. It's just not.

You want even one tear stained silver lining from this mess? Change the law, now.

Now that my parents are back I got to enjoy some Christmas turkey and open my presents, and I must say I got a nice little haul. In no particular order I got:

Candy!
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
A screwdriver set and a flashlight (courtesy of my eldest nephew)
Nice flannel pj's
A really nice framed picture of the nephews

A pretty good haul, don't you agree?

I then got to have some turkey yesterday, and got to set up the laptop my sister and I got my parents. Since they weren't expecting it it was a very well received gift. :-)

It can't be my best Christmas ever because of the leg issues, but if your loved ones were happy, it can't be all bad, right?

I haven't been feeling too hot lately so that, and a lack of stuff that I can feel comfortable about posting*, has conspired to keep me from saying much lately. Not much really to report. My nephews are looking good, the family is thrilled, and school preparations proceed accordingly.


Take care all.







*The most interesting thing that I've seen recently falls under Mel Brooks definition of "tragedy being what happens when I cut my finger, and comedy being what happens when you fall into a manhole and die". It just strikes me as being nothing but triggery to probably 90% of my friends list on a good day so lets just say I gave my statement to the police over what I witnessed and just walked away shaking my head in disbelief. 

I haven't been feeling too hot lately so that, and a lack of stuff that I can feel comfortable about posting*, has conspired to keep me from saying much lately. Not much really to report. My nephews are looking good, the family is thrilled, and school preparations proceed accordingly.


Take care all.







*The most interesting thing that I've seen recently falls under Mel Brooks definition of "tragedy being what happens when I cut my finger, and comedy being what happens when you fall into a manhole and die". It just strikes me as being nothing but triggery to probably 90% of my friends list on a good day so lets just say I gave my statement to the police over what I witnessed and just walked away shaking my head in disbelief. 

Day 5 - a song that reminds you of someone 

Yeah, this one is a personal trip down memory lane. Its been a few years but I still miss you two!

I'm back from my Mom's place and am currently enjoying near sweater weather here. It's so nice in fact I've got all the windows open to air out the place. Bring the Spring, I say!

In other news I've got nothing April Fools wise. Sorry to disappoint, everyone.

Have a good day!

I'm back from my Mom's place and am currently enjoying near sweater weather here. It's so nice in fact I've got all the windows open to air out the place. Bring the Spring, I say!

In other news I've got nothing April Fools wise. Sorry to disappoint, everyone.

Have a good day!