Happy Father's Day

It's been over 2 years since I've seen my dad. And that was only during a 4 hour layover in Phoenix. I've not spent Christmas with my parental units since the year 2000, in Yuma. That was fun. That's Yuma in the photo. Me, mom and dad. I'm hoping to get to see Ma & Pa this summer up in Washington.

The older I get the more I realize how lucky I had it in the parental unit department. Most of what is good about my nature I got from my dad. I've never seen my dad get mad or lose his temper. I learned my style of driving from watching my dad. I am unflappable when driving. No matter where I'm driving, even notorious places, like Los Angeles, I'm always totally relaxed.

I never knew, when I was a kid, that not every family got to go on fun vacations. Usually the day school got out we'd take off on vacation. This is where I learned to like a long road trip. Me and my, at the time, 3 siblings, would beg to go to Disneyland, we wanted to see California really bad. When I was a 7th grader we took a week long trip to Oregon and Idaho. We were told if we behaved the next year we'd go to Yellowstone.

We behaved, so the next year we got to go to Yellowstone. We were told if we behaved on the Yellowstone trip the next year we'd go to California and Disneyland. We behaved.

So, when I was 13 we took our first trip to California. This remains the funnest trip I ever remember. Like I said, my dad is unflappable. We were barely 20 miles into our trip to California when something broke on the trailer. It was the trailer hitch. It'd cracked. The safety chain saved the trailer. Dad took apart the hitch. We drove into Everett. Dad found a welder to fix the break. We drove back to the trailer, dad put the hitch back together and we were back on our way. My mom and dad made this type thing totally non-stressful, like it was just part of the adventure.

In the LA zone we stayed at San Clemente State Park. Us kids were so antsy to get to the beach. We all had our little duties to do when we set up camp. We got those done quickly and found our way to the beach. We'd only been in the cold Pacific of the Washington coast. We'd not experienced warm salt water before. Or body surfing.

Disneyland was the best thing I ever remember doing as a kid.

We crammed in so much into our time in the LA zone, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Knotts Berry Farm. My dad only had 9 days off work. When it came time to head back north, mom and dad could tell us kids were sad. We made it as far as Ventura and pulled into a rest area. Mom and dad figured out they had enough money to take us to Universal Studios. And so we stayed in the LA zone one more day.

We had so much fun that we went to CA again the next year. I did not know it at the time, but that was to be my last family vacation. This is getting to me thinking back on this. That year my dad worked an extra job to save up enough so that he could take an extra week off. That year we did Tijuana and San Diego.

On our second trip to LA, our station wagon had a mechanical problem while we were in Hollywood to watch the Lawrence Welk Show get taped. We also watched The Dating Game. We were stuck in Hollywood for about 6 hours getting the car fixed. It was so much fun. My 2 older siblings and me took off exploring.

A mere 8 years later I was once more stuck in Hollywood, in the middle of the night. The clutch had gone out on my 65 Mustang after getting out of Paramount Studios about midnight after watching a taping of LaVerne and Shirley. We pushed the car to a Chevron station. And slept in the car til it opened. They were able to fix it.

My baby sister was born when I was 17, 3 years after my last family vacation. She never got to experience what it was like to be stuck in a car for thousands of miles with 3 siblings. And mom and dad.

The trips to California when I was 13 and 14 so imprinted happy memories on me that starting when I was about 20, for years, I'd go down there every year. The last time was Christmas of 1994. I remember once staying at San Clemente State Park, sometime in the 1980s, sitting on a picnic table, looking out at the Pacific and remembering back to when I was there when I was 13, with mom and dad and my brother and sisters. It made me feel sad. And alone. Sort of how I'm feeling right now.

Obama Sock Monkey

Just a couple days ago the use of the phrase "Obama's baby mama" was causing extreme umbrage and accusations of racism. And now a NAACP rep by the name of Jeanetta Williams is saying a Sock Monkey is "pure racism at its extreme."

The Sock Monkey in question is supposed to look like Barack Obama. It's made by a company in Utah. They have a website, TheSockObama.com. But if you try to go there you likely can't because when I tried I got a bandwidth exceeded message.

The Sock Monkey company has issued a sort of apology saying they "are saddened that some individuals have chosen to misinterpret our plush toy." They claim total innocence regarding any racist element being behind their motive for making the Obama Sock Monkey. They simply were sitting around and made the "affectionate observation of a charming association between a candidate and a toy we had when we were little."

The Sock Monkey people go on to say, "This is only our introductory plush toy. If we choose to move forward with a Republican candidate, we’ll begin with an elongated and slightly lumpy, fuzzy Idaho potato. Had a different Democratic candidate won the nomination, we were prepared to move forward with the cutest, fluffiest 12″ chestnut and golden-haired squirrel, with a short Farrah-like do in a brown pantsuit and call her Squirellary."

I'm thinking King George would be a good candidate for being a Sock Monkey. He certainly looks more like a monkey than Barack Obama does.

Below is a video about the Obama Sock Monkey from a Utah TV News Show.

Washington Casinos

Earlier today I blogged about the absurdity of the sanctimonious attitude, of some, towards the concept of allowing casinos to operate in Texas, a prohibition which sends untold millions of Texans across the borders of neighboring states in order to get their gambling fix.

Well, after I blogged about that I remembered I'd taken photos of the new, then, Tulalip Casino in Washington, when I was up there in, I think, 2004.

That is the Tulalip Casino in the photo. That is an Orca (Killer Whale) jumping out of the water in front of the casino. Seen anything like that in Texas?

When I remembered those photos, I thought, hmmm, I should make a Washington Casino webpage and add it to my Washington webpages. And so I did.

So, now you can go here and see some photos of the Tulalip Casino in Marysville, Washington. Now, I ask you, would this type thing be such a horrible thing to add to the Texas landscape??

Wal-Mart Not Doing Well

Several months ago I recollect blogging about Wal-Mart, with the title being "Wal-Mart Sucks." I don't remember what it was at the time that had me thinking that.

But I do remember what it is that has me thinking that lately.

A couple years ago I read Thomas Friedman's The Earth is Flat. The book is pretty much all about globalization and the new world economy. Friedman uses what he portrays as the wonder that is Wal-Mart as being a good example.

Friedman basically said something like when a bag of popcorn gets sold at any random Wal-Mart that information is sent along the supply line instantly, so that Wal-Mart can closely control its inventory.

Well. Yesterday I visited one of my nearby Wal-Marts because I wanted popcorn, among a few other things. Wal-Mart was out of the popcorn I wanted. This is not the first time. Lately I've noticed many shelves in Wal-Mart having missing items. A few weeks ago there were no large cans of tomato sauce. That was at the Dallas Cowboy Super Wal-Mart. That Wal-Mart was also out of the popcorn I wanted that day.

My closest Wal-Mart is a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. They are small grocery store type Wal-Marts. The self checkouts are often not working. Lately the store has been a mess with shelves missing a lot of items. A few days ago I was in there and the canned vegetable area looked like half the cans were missing. Most of the grocery carts have wobbly wheel issues.

And then today, the Wal-Mart visit that prompted this particularly blogging incident. I'd been hiking at Tandy Hills Park. That is close to what is known as the Beach Street Super Wal-Mart. It's a nice looking one. I was only getting a few things. I wanted a Texas Sweet Onion. The Super Wal-Mart had none. So I got a White Onion instead. I wanted to get 93/7 turkey burger to make spaghetti sauce tomorrow. They were out of it and only had 2 packages of the breakfast sausage version and 4 of the higher fat 85/15 version. So, 2 of the 5 items that I wanted, Wal-Mart did not have in stock. But I was able to get the popcorn that I wanted yesterday.

I know what you're thinking. As in quit going to Wal-Mart.

Well, it ain't like I've got a lot of good choices here. The grocery store situation here in North Texas is not what you people in other parts of the country, particularly the west coast, are used to.

I like Sprouts, but the closest one is 20 miles away. Central Market and Whole Foods are good, but also too far from here.

I've got an Albertsons across the street. In Washington Albertsons was at the bottom rung of the grocery store ladder. Here it's seen as a good grocery store. Also within walking distance is a Krogers. I've had more price errors, always in Kroger's favor, than any store I've ever been in. I've had incidents where I'm only getting 5 items and 2 of them will scan with an incorrect price.

Wal-Mart rarely has price mistakes and its usually cheaper than I expected. Maybe that's why I go to Wal-Mart. Just last week I bought apricot jam thinking it was $1.68 and it rung up at $1.18.

Gambling With Texas

There are some things that Texans accept as making sense that seem really goofy to a non-Texan. Like the Texas liquor laws. They are very convoluted. I live in a wet zone, next to a dry zone. Right on the border. So, I am surrounded by liquor stores.

That sort of relates to my change of subject. That being gambling in Texas. For most types of gambling Texas is a dry zone. The bordering states are wet zones.

Texas allows gambling on horses. There is a state run lottery in Texas.

In state after state the Indian Nations have won court battles giving them the right to open casinos. But in Texas, the few Indians who were not run out of the state opened a couple casinos, but Texas successfully shut them down.

A few years back a Wal-Mart in Denton, Texas was doing a fun thing for seniors. As in they ran a freebie bingo game with prizes, like bananas and boxes of Depends. The state shut down the bingo game for violating the gambling laws. I don't remember if any of the elderly were arrested.

Ever so often a Texas politician will try to get casino gambling legalized in Texas, to no avail. I don't quite understand what the aversion to casinos is. Maybe Texas is being kind to Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico, knowing if casinos were legalized in Texas it would devastate the economies of those states.

A lot of money flows from Texas to the riverboat casinos across the border in Shreveport and Bossier City. Riverboat casinos? Well, it isn't just Texas that is convoluted about how they go about things. In Louisiana it was decided that somehow gambling was less sinful if it took place on a boat that could float away if need be.

Oklahoma allowed casinos a few years back. They are sort of pseudo casinos with make believe slot machines that I don't quite understand. New Mexico has real casinos that don't have to float.

When I was younger and living in Washington it was a fun thing to go to Reno, Nevada. Back then Nevada seemed so different from the rest of America. And then the Indian Tribes won the right to open casinos in all the states, except Utah, that surround Nevada. Now, when I'm in Tacoma, there are 2 Nevada quality casinos to play in. With real slot machines. That are actually entertaining. Like this giant Monopoly game one that plays like the real Monopoly game with giant dice spinning over head. Lulu and I somehow figured out how to regularly come out ahead on the Monopoly game. Lulu told me a new casino is under construction in Tacoma that will replace the Muckleshoot Casino as the state's biggest. Their seafood buffet is a good thing. The current big one in Tacoma, where I've played with Lulu, is called the Emerald Queen Casino.

Where I lived in Washington, the Skagit Valley, there are two Indian casinos, both prosperous. One run by the Swinomish Tribe with a marina and RV Park part of the casino complex, the other run by the Upper Skagit Tribe, with a large hotel. (built without government subsidy unlike what had to be done to get Fort Worth's seldom used Convention Center a hotel) A few miles south of where I lived the Tulalip Indians have built a Vegas quality casino that is quite cool. Prior to deciding the Golden Corral was the world's best buffet, Lulu thought that of the Tulalip Casino's buffet. That's the front of the Tulalip Casino with a pod of Orca Killer Whales and a giant Indian spearing a giant salmon.

Reno is on hard times due to all the west coast casinos. I think the same thing would happen to the casinos on the Texas border, if Texas were to allow casinos in Texas. All that money would stay in Texas. I think Texas is quite kind to help its neighbors like this.

Tim Russert Sudden Death

A bit over an hour ago I was in the midst of making lunch when I was informed that Tim Russert had collapsed and died at work. He was only 58. The person telling me this was quite shocked. I liked Tim Russert. He always seemed so enthusiastic and engaged. But my reaction to hearing he had died was pretty much, well, that's sad. I wasn't shocked. But I wondered what the cause of death was. He seemed like a rather robust healthy guy.

This got me thinking I've gotten pretty jaded. Since I've been in Texas I've gotten a few calls telling me a family friend or relative had died. I just sort of hear the news and don't get all mournful. Even when I got the call telling me that my grandma had died. Grandma was 94. She'd lived a good, long life.

Events in the world used to shock me. When I was younger the China earthquake would have seemed like a bigger deal. Or the current floods up north, evacuating Des Moines, Iowa is pretty major, but I've seen a lot of floods, filled a lot of sandbags.

Now it takes something catastrophic. The last time I remember being super shocked was the morning of 9/11. I got a call telling me that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. I assumed this meant the World Trade Center in Dallas, because the party calling me was in Dallas near the Trade Center. I was shocked to turn on the TV to see, within seconds, the second plane crash into the World Trade Center in NYC. I then began calling friends and relatives on the west coast to tell them to turn on their TVs, that our country was under attack.

I was a bit shocked when the Space Shuttle blew up over head and our freeway warning signs here said, "Watch for Space Shuttle Debris." I saw none. I didn't hear the explosion or see anything. Others here did.

I was shocked when Ronald Reagan was shot. I was shocked when the Challenger blew up. I had almost 2 decades of no major shock, til 9/11.

Maybe it's just getting older. People die, bad things happen, you get sort of used to it. It is sad though.

Obama's Baby Mama

Starting yesterday a brouhaha erupted over FOX News and Michelle Malkin's use of the phrase "Obama's Baby Mama." The Obama's took extreme umbrage to this.

Apparently it is current slang amongst youngsters to use the phrase "My Baby Daddy" to refer to the father of your baby, to whom you are not married.

I like the Obama's. But it seems a tad disingenuous to get all upset over someone using this phrase, because, well, Michelle Obama has used it herself.

Michelle introduced Barack to the crowd at his Senate victory celebration in November of 2004, saying something like, "I am proud to introduce the new Senator from the state of Illinois, my husband, my honey, my baby's daddy, Barack Obama!"

I guess it's offensive if you say "Baby Mama," but it's okay if you say "Baby Daddy?"

I've always had difficulty with proper etiquette.

The Real Housewives of New York City

Awhile ago Lulu asked me if I'd seen a new Bravo reality show about New York housewives. Lulu had previously liked a west coast version of this show, that being one about the Real Housewives of Orange County. Lulu was perplexed by the New York City housewives. She said they seemed like women from an alien planet, while the OC housewives seemed like people she'd met before. I guess that may be because Lulu is a west coast girl.

So, I happened upon the Real Housewives of NYC one day. I quickly got what Lulu meant.

Here's a blurb from the Bravo website about this show:

"The new series features an elite and powerful set of New York socialites as they juggle their careers and home lives with busy calendars packed with charity fund-raising galas, the social whirl of the Hamptons, and interviews for elite private schools. These driven and ambitious women show everyone what it takes to make it in the upper echelon of society, where money and status are an essential way of life."

Every time these women meet each other they do this weird kissing on both cheeks thing. Then they comment on how the other is looking real good. Over and over again. I've never seen women so obsessed over how they look. They're always saying what beautiful, strong women they are.

One is named Jill. She drags along a guy she calls her gay husband. Jill reminds me of Barbra Streisand. She is one of the two housewives who are somewhat likable. The other likable one is named Bethenny. Bethenny has daddy and men issues. But she is not married, which is confusing, since she is not a housewife. On a show about housewives.

Then there is this one named LuAnn. She's a former model married to a French Count. Which makes LuAnn a Countess. Something she never lets your forget. LuAnn and family live in NYC. But had never been to the Statue of Liberty. Which isn't all that odd. I never visited some of the tourist attractions in Washington. But what makes it odd, in this case, is a big deal was made of the Countess's family visit to the Statue of Liberty. Why? To show the kids. Why? Because the Countess said the Count's family gave the United States the Statue. No, the Count corrected the Countess, "We presented the Statue to the United States." I don't think the Countess understood the difference. France gave us the statue, the Count's family delivered it.

And then there is Ramona. She is either on medication or needs to be. Ramona makes for good TV because she seems to be a nutcase. At one point Ramona wanted to go dancing. She talked Bethenny into dancing with her. Ramona danced like a spastic stripper doing a bad imitation of Elaine on Seinfeld. Ramona goes on and on about the need to put an effort into looking beautiful. While she dresses like a slutty teenager. Which is embarrassing to her daughter.

The oddest of these women, the oddest by far, is named Alex. Alex is married to Simon. Simon is an alcoholic with the droopiest bags under his eyes I've ever seen. Simon is French, I think. He speaks with a very odd, affected accent. Alex and Simon have bred, producing this horrible little brat named Franciose. I've no idea if that is how you spell that name. It's pronounced France-wa. The other housewives advised Simon and Alex that they needed to give the kid a nickname because he's gonna get beat up a lot if he goes around calling himself Franciose. Franciose has big bags under his eyes just like his dad. I've never seen that on a kid before. Alex and Simon have a French maid who only speaks French to their kids so that they will grow up bi-lingual.

Alex and Simon live in a run down house that needs a lot of fixing up. They think they are part of New York society. On and on they go about their society connections. Simon at one point was thrilled to see his wife's back in a photo on the society page of the NY Times. Simon and Alex paid $10,000 for tickets to some season opening thing. And another 10 grand for Alex's dress. They took a limo to the show, but got stuck in traffic. They decided to hoof it. It was very amusing watching Alex in her 10K dress running to hobnob. Sadly, the hobnobbing turned out to be making eye contact with famous people, as in they later bragged about all the eye contact they made with famous people, like Jane Fonda. I'm pretty certain any eye contact was caused by this pair being such a weird looking couple.

Which leads to the most disturbing thing. During the course of the show nude photos of Alex appeared on the Internet. At the NYC Housewive's reunion show Alex was asked about the nude photos. This caused Ramona to run off the stage in horror and Bethenny to ask if the photos just showed New York or did they go all the way to Florida. Alex said they only went to New York, as in they were totally tasteful topless photos that her husband took.

Well. I have seen the photos. Not only do they go all the way to Florida, they go to South Florida, they go deep into the Everglades and all the way to Key West. The photos are gynecologically graphic. This was not a stimulating thing to see, more the opposite. I had a bad case of ED that lasted at least a week and couldn't have been helped by intravenous Viagra til the images finally faded from my memory.

There is going to be a second season of The Real Housewives of New York City. That's disturbing.

Gas Price

I very willingly admit I don't know much about a lot of things. And a lot of things confuse me. Lately I am perplexed by the constantly rising gas prices.

Sometimes I listen to Rush Limbaugh on WBAP-AM, out of Dallas, because that is the only station my cheapo headphone radio will pick up. Rush Limbaugh gets quite riled when people blame the oil companies for the rising prices. Yesterday he went on and on and on along the line of what would we do if the nice oil companies didn't supply us with gas.

I took an economics class, maybe two, in college. I did not get good grades in those classes. I did learn, though, that the price of a commodity is determined by supply and demand. If you have a high supply and low demand, the price is low. Low supply and high demand, the price is high.

I get it that China and India, with their supposedly booming economies, are sucking up a lot more of the world's oil than they did a few years ago. I believe the supply of oil being pumped has increased. Has the demand jumped by an amount that explains the price increase? How would I know? But it seems unlikely.

Rush Limbaugh thinks the oil companies deserve every penny of their multi-billion dollar profits, as do their CEO's deserve their huge salaries and bonuses. This from a man who makes over $30 million a year yapping on the radio for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, with a lot of time off. Among the many things I don't get, is if demand is outstripping supply and forcing the price to rise, how is it that the oil companies, like EXXON, report quarterly profits in record breaking amounts? Isn't that sort of capitalism run amok?

The airlines are struggling to make a profit. For some reason they can't increase their fares hugely and suddenly have quarterly multi-billion dollar profits. But, for some reason the oil companies can increase the price of their product and get away with having huge profits. The airlines need money to invest in new planes and keep their existing stock in good shape. But they struggle along, while the oil companies make record breaking profits.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the oil companies generating enough money to cover their operations, and it is the excess cash flow that is being accounted for as a profit? So, EXXON is charging Joe Driver 4 bucks for a gallon of gas. Of that, part goes to pay EXXON's cost of operation, including acquiring the oil, part goes to taxes. The rest is profit.

Doesn't that sort of indicate they've been charging a tad too much for gas and the over charging is showing up as record breaking profits?

Now, Rush Limbaugh will say that these profits are what the oil companies use to hunt for new oil, drill it, refine it and bring it to market. Well, if they are spending money on doing so, how are they reaping such huge profits? Like, in the last quarter if EXXON was plowing $8 billion into some new refineries, where are the new refineries? Isn't a profit, just that? A profit. It's not investement capital, is it? Or are they using these huge profits for something good other than plumping up stockholder's pockets? If so, why don't they let us know? Because these record breaking profits combined with record breaking prices are making people cranky.

Another thing I really don't get is how do the gas stations decide when to raise the price? In my zone there is a QT, a Chevron, a Shell, a Conoco and several other gas stations. Two days ago the QT was $3.85 a gallon, yesterday, when I bought a gallon, it was $3.89. Today I drove by QT and it is $3.95. Now, I know they did not get fresh gas trucked in 3 days in a row. Usually the Chevron is the most expensive in my zone. Today it was $3.92, making it cheaper than QT. By tomorrow I'm guessing Chevron will be back being the most expensive.

How does this work? This constant changing of the price at all the random gas stations. Do they get a call from someone telling them to up it a nickel? QT sells a lot of gas. There is a small independent station across from them. When QT goes up, the other station goes up. Why? Did the supply change? Did the demand change?

I just as well try and understand nuclear fission, or is it fusion, than try and understand how the gas pricing system works.

ABC's The Bachelorette 4 Again

Go here for this morning's blogging about last night's Bachelorette final episode.

Monday night I popped a bowl of popcorn and needed something to watch on TV. I channel chased and landed on ABC and The Bachelorette. I've mentioned previously how appallingly absurd I find these Meet a Mate Reality Shows.

My longtime reader may remember me saying I'd made it through the first 15 minutes or so of this show's premiere before my gag reflex kicked in.

So, on Monday the extremely desperate to marry, long-suffering girl named Deanna was down to 6 or 7 or was it 8 guys. During my popcorn time she was out on a double date with 2 sort of pudgy guys. They all seemed very very boring.

At the end of the double date Deanna said to one guy she can't give him a rose because she finds him unattractive. He was then banished. She may have worded it differently. Apparently one must be given a rose on this show or one is banished. Then she did the same thing to the other guy, because she also found him unattractive.

Meanwhile, back at the place where the guys are living, they all seem to be having a good time. They refer to their domicile as "The Outhouse." Later I was to learn that some guys get to live in Deanna's house while others are exiled to "The Outhouse." Now, if I were on some stupid TV show, competing for a wife and she put me in "The Outhouse," I don't think I'd wait around for the moment she decides not to give me a rose. I think I'd just go home. But not before letting her know I found her unattractive. I don't believe one needs to be a gentleman to someone who put you in an outhouse.

When I'm confused by a TV show, like the plot of LOST, I often go to this website called Survivor Sucks where erudite discussions take place on the important subject of TV shows. It is very educational.

Here are some snippets from the Survivor Sucks Bachelorette thread:

"Okay, I sort of watched and came to the conclusion that the men are more into bonding with each other than with her. Then again she has the personality of a small gnat."

"As for the guys in The Outhouse, they blab more then the girls ever do. They share every single detail of their dates. Who comforts who & when she changed to get comfy. I thought girls were supposed to be the catty ones but WOW, these guys take the cake. They even analyze personalities & possible connections."

"Ok, ladies of the D/FW area, Brian is free!!! I've never been happier for my fav not to get a rose since DeAnna just bugs the crap out of me!"

(Durango Texas talking: Oh my, apparently she booted a D/FW boy. The Star-Telegram must be crushed.)

"I think she realized that the reason Brian was closer to the guys is because he's gay. He seemed to protest too much about being 31 and unmarried."

(Durango Texas talking again: Now we learn the booted D/FW boy apparently isn't free for the ladies of the D/FW area.)

Wow! I just watched some of this crapfest online.. she is a total bore! I think in 10 years she'll be a Big Fat Greek Hausfrau. I think she wants everyone to be open because, well, there is nothing she has to offer... she is a desperate woman, wanting to get married. No interests, hobbies, career or even friends. Just family, who will clearly treat her like the Greek Goddess she is under the mistaken impression she is.

(Durango Texas talking yet again: Enough of this. I need to find something other than TV to do when I have a bowl of popcorn.)