Fun and Games Dept

This post is going to be a little random sounding because it’s my mood today.

I went on a little road trip over the weekend and made a discovery. I am technically inadmissible to Canada. This is due to a check that bounced in 1991. The check was for $16.42. Since it went to a court, I am a criminal and therefore inadmissible to Canada, so says the customs folks at the Ogdensburg-Prescott crossing. Since they’re there, it’s obvious that they have nothing better to do. However, since it has been over 10 years since I committed this horrible crime, I am considered rehabilitated and therefore allowed to enter. If I do it again, I shall never be allowed to eat anything maple, eat poutine or say ‘eh’ for the rest of my visit on this planet.

God bless America!

Whilst on said road trip, the likes of which I may write about someday, Mother Nature flung a rock at me. Actually, she had one of her minions do it and I now have a nice southwest to northeast crack across the bottom of the windshield! Yay full glass coverage!

You’re in good hands with Allstate.

In the past five days I have been challenged regarding my affiliation with my lifetime partner: the bored people at Ogdensburg-Prescott wanted to know why his name is on the Jeep (DMV only allows one) and Allstate wanted to know why two names were on the policy. In both instances I was tempted to tell them that we like to get it on, but that would cheapen both the experiences of that sort and the life we have together so I simply replied with the standard “we’re partners”.

Yay for being a second class citizen!

I somehow think my being pulled into immigration had to do with the fact that my name isn’t on the car registration (though it is on the insurance policy) and for that I’d like to thank all the folks who vote down marriage equality. Because after all, marriage should be reserved for only those that are able to reproduce.

It’s a shame that no one told my 75+ year old grandfather that when he remarried. I know he was happy, shame the marriage purists technically didn’t want him to be.

Jimbo (he’s on the blog roll to your left) mentioned that a Golden Globes commentator didn’t like the guy from Dexter’s big red beard. For that I shall grow mine even larger.

Yay for being the only ginger of this generation in my family!

Mr. Snowman., originally uploaded by iMachias.

We purchased Mr. Snowman in 2003 shortly after we moved into this house. He has seen some pretty tough winters over the years, having spent one entire winter up to his nose in a snowbank. Earl and I did some reassembly last year, hooking all his important parts back together with wire-ties. Towards the end of last season his middle section went dark; perhaps he drank too much Slim-Fast or something. I did some rewiring today and got him all lit up again, and now he is shining brightly in the front lawn, surrounded by the dancing candy canes and the waving snow flakes on a stick. He welcomes all to the holiday season at The Manor.

Great Sacandaga River., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Earl and I enjoyed the day in the north country on Friday. Now many folks think of New York as the Big Apple and many in the Big Apple think of the North Country as Yonkers, but when I’m referring to the North Country I’m referring to the part of New York State between the Adirondacks and the Canadian border.

It is my absolutely favorite part of the state.

We hadn’t been on a drive of this nature in a long while so it was good to sit in the Jeep and exploring the little towns that dot US Route 9 and US Route 11. We ate at locally owned establishments, picked up a cell phone charger at a _thriving_ K-mart that even still had it’s Little Caesars Pizza Station AND a K-mart cafeteria and we drove along a road where the ditch was Canadian but the blacktop was American. The cows mooed and munched in French.

All in all it was a very relaxing day.

To get where we wanted to go we drove through the Adirondacks. We stopped along Route 8 in the Town of Wells for a few moments in the woods; I snapped a few photos of the Great Sacandaga River. That’s the photo at the top of this entry.

The folks in the North Country seem to be nicer and more relaxed than further downstate. People refer to it as a “snowy Alabama”. I’d like to refer to it as home someday.

I am witting in my usual parking space for my lunch hour. The difference today is that in the next spot over is a horse and buggy. The folks that drove it in went to McDonalds. I would share a photo of this horse and buggy but the camera app on my Droid has crashed twice and refuses to speak to Twitter today. I’ll post it once I get home and I can hack into the phone.

I find it ironic that I am complaining about technology whilst parked next to a horse and buggy driven by an Amish couple.

The horse just dumped. So did the Droid. Otherwise he is well behaved and just standing there, pooping occasionally.

The buggy has a sturdy build and has a couple of blankets in the passenger area. I like that, blankets in the car. I do the same thing. If my name was Linus I might have a safety blanket in my stash, but alas, I do not.

I am fascinated by the fact that I am parked next to this horse and buggy. I’m not surprised, after all the town I grew up in has hitching posts at all the major fast food establishments. But it is fascinating.

I apologise that the previous blog entry was posted in triplicate and that I was completely unaware of it. One of the new features of the latest version of the WordPress app on the iPad is that it automatically posts things, deletes things, calls you names and then posts some more before it spitefully crashes into oblivion in a last effort of frivolity.

I once loved the app. I now hate it.

I was just standing in line at The World’s Greatest Subway(tm) where I heard a woman remark to her friend that it was very dark out this morning when her alarm went off. I refrained from making a comment and a spectacle, however, had I decided to verbalize the thoughts that starting circling in my head, I would have said this:

“It’s because we screw with the clocks and our heads, you idiot.”

You see, we are still in Daylight Saving Time here in the United States and will continue to be for the next three weeks or so. Isn’t that comforting? For the next three weeks we won’t see daylight on the east coast until after 0700. So while you’re trying to get your act together for the day, you get to stumble around in the dark and fumble for your keys and go out into a dark morning for your daily commute. You see, even though you’re turning on the lights and all that for a longer amount of time, the U.S. Government says that burning our lights longer is saving energy. That’s right, we are saving energy by illuminating darkness every morning. But don’t worry, at least everyone gets to still enjoy their outdoor activities after work. You know, before it gets dark at 1830 (6:30 p.m.). Enjoy your swim in Lake Ontario as you watch the beautiful sunset.

To say that I hate Daylight Saving Time gives it too much credit, because it would imply that I once loved it. I despise Daylight Saving Time with every fiber of my jet-lagged, lethargic being. Earl and I have been tossing around the idea of relocating a few miles to the west and I’m joyful because the clock will be .02 seconds closer to true time during DST.

Most humans are designed to awake with the dawn’s early light, not an hour before sunrise. So in the name of Old Glory, please stop trying to compete with nature and stop messing with the clocks.

I shall spend the next three weeks or so making like a zombie that has flown from Shanghai to Bangor with a 10 hour layover in Peoria. Twice. Please be kind.

I was just standing in line at The World’s Greatest Subway(tm) where I heard a woman remark to her friend that it was very dark out this morning when her alarm went off. I refrained from making a comment and a spectacle, however, had I decided to verbalize the thoughts that starting circling in my head, I would have said this:

“It’s because we screw with the clocks and our heads, you idiot.”

You see, we are still in Daylight Saving Time here in the United States and will continue to be for the next three weeks or so. Isn’t that comforting? For the next three weeks we won’t see daylight on the east coast until after 0700. So while you’re trying to get your act together for the day, you get to stumble around in the dark and fumble for your keys and go out into a dark morning for your daily commute. You see, even though you’re turning on the lights and all that for a longer amount of time, the U.S. Government says that burning our lights longer is saving energy. That’s right, we are saving energy by illuminating darkness every morning. But don’t worry, at least everyone gets to still enjoy their outdoor activities after work. You know, before it gets dark at 1830 (6:30 p.m.). Enjoy your swim in Lake Ontario as you watch the beautiful sunset. 

To say that I hate Daylight Saving Time gives it too much credit, because it would imply that I once loved it. I despise Daylight Saving Time with every fiber of my jet-lagged, lethargic being. Earl and I have been tossing around the idea of relocating a few miles to the west and I’m joyful because the clock will be .02 seconds closer to true time during DST. 

Most humans are designed to awake with the dawn’s early light, not an hour before sunrise. So in the name of Old Glory, please stop trying to compete with nature and stop messing with the clocks. 

I shall spend the next three weeks or so as a zombie who just flew from Shanghai to Bangor via a 10 hour layover in Peoria. Twice.  

Show your support of LGBT teens that are struggling by wearing purple today, if you’re not already. Too many teens are committing suicide because of being bullied simply for being different. Suicide is not the answer.

Remember, it gets better. I promise.

I have written this blog entry three times since the update to the WordPress app for the iPad/iPhone came out a little while ago and hopefully this version will make it to the site.

So far it’s crashed twice, my listing of posts have disappeared and other mayhem has ensued. Not quite there yet, Automattic.