Power out(r)age!

There I was, typing a new post for this here blog at approximately 1.45 this afternoon, when the power went out. Sigh. The two darling children were very puzzled by the fact that The Emperor's New Groove suddenly disappeared from the television screen, and I wondered if it was just our house or the whole neighborhood. I waited a few minutes to see if it would come back on, then called SRP (Salt River Project), our electricity providers.

The nice lady who answered the phone told me to check my circuit breaker. As I was outside doing so, one of the people who lives across the street (we're still not sure on the living arrangements in that house) told me her power was out too. I relayed this information to the SRP representative, and I also told her flipping the main breaker did nothing to fix my problem. She told me she'd get right on it.

I put Mia in her bed (she doesn't nap anymore, but she also gets bored easily, and with no television, there wasn't much to do, so I figured she could relax a bit) and hung out with Norah for the afternoon. I thought about going in the pool, but decided against it in case Mia had a seizure or otherwise got upset for some reason. The house didn't get too, too hot right away, so it wasn't really that awful. We rarely get power outages in these parts, but when we get them in the summer, it's really, really horrible, as you can imagine.

At 3.15 I called SRP back and asked what was going on. The woman was very vague, as she couldn't really tell me if they had alerted anyone about my problem or if they had alerted someone and those people weren't fixing anything yet. By this time I had found out that the people two doors down had also lost power, another nugget I relayed to the SRP rep. She said they would get right on it.

About 20 minutes later our next-door neighbors knocked on the door and asked if our power was out. I told them yes and that I had called twice to let SRP know what was happening. The woman told me she had just gotten off the phone with "them" (I assume SRP, because they're a bit of a monopoly 'round these parts, but she never expressively said the company's name) and that they told her no one had called in. I said she was lying. Which she was. Or she was just ignorant. I don't know which is worse.

At 4.15 I called back. They had finally dispatched a team to, and I quote, "an underground mine" where the problem was. I really didn't feel like getting the entire story about what the hell she was talking about, so I just asked if they had a ballpark figure for when the power was coming back on. Yes, she said, eight p.m. I almost, but not quite, lost it. "Eight o'clock?" I said, not angrily, but more aghast. "So I'll be without power for six hours?" Yes, she said, but it was only an estimate. I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be reassuring, because in my world, when a company estimates a timeframe, you can usually automatically add at least an hour if not two to it. I told the lady such. I still wasn't angry, just exasperated (it wasn't, after all, her fault). I told her I had called in at 1.45, so I hoped they just weren't figuring this out right now, as that meant they wasted a good two hours in which they could have been working. Oh well - at least now I had an idea of when the power would be back on.

Mia's OT showed up, then Krys came home. We had already decided that we were going out to dinner, so we headed off to the mall and the Cheesecake Factory, where neither Norah nor Mia ate. Good times! We got back around 7.45, and the power still wasn't on. We put Mia to bed in the dark (well, by candlelight, but we don't have many candles). We read to Norah by flashlight (I've just about finished reading Wuthering Heights to her - man, that Heathcliff is a scumbag!). We put Norah to bed and then I called SRP back, as it was about 8.15. The estimated fix time had been amended to 10. I tried not to feel smug.

We jumped in the pool (aaaaaahhhhhhh!) and hung out for a while, and while we were in there, the power came back on. Yay! Surprisingly, our refrigerator and freezer lost very little coldness, so none of our food was ruined from the seven hour-outage. And I could post this. Man, I hate summers in Arizona. But you already knew that.

People are awesome

This photograph was on the front page of the Valley & State section of the 15 July edition of the Arizona Republic. According to the caption, this SUV was stolen by a dude who was drunk. So now they're going to charge him with theft and DUI. That has to suck. I just love this picture. It sucks for the homeowner, but it's freakin' hilarious.

Yes, the sky is really this blue

When I was back in Pennsylvania, the weather was very nice - the two-month rain storm had abated, the temperatures were in the low- to mid-80s, with nice cloud cover (not too much!), not-too-awful humidity (not like July and August!), cool breezes, and nice cool nights. I mentioned to someone at my picnic reunion how ridiculously hot Arizona is, to the point where you really can't understand the heat unless you've experienced it. An old friend who has lived here backed me up on this. I mentioned that there's never any cloud cover, and someone scoffed at that. No, really, I explained to her, there's hardly ever any cloud cover, and this is for probably a good 250-300 days a year (other days, usually in the winter, are sunny, but there's a few clouds). In case anyone doubts me, I took a picture!

Seriously - that's the sky around here for most of the year. In case you think I'm just showing you a Blue Screen of Death and that's not really the sky, here's some context:

Yes, it can be achingly beautiful. But dang, it gets boring after a while. And, you know, really freakin' hot. Give me scudding clouds punctuated by bursts of sun and the occasional horrible downpour any day!

Why I ignore the news

I've been trying to keep my anger about certain things off the blog, because once I've gone over what makes me angry and what makes me happy, it's kind of pointless to keep bringing it up, right? Plus, it's not like I ignore the news, I just wish I could sometime. This week, unfortunately, has been kind of annoying.

1. Why are so many people more bent out of shape by the administration releasing memos acknowledging that we tortured than by the torture itself? I was arguing with Mia's PT this week about this (he's relatively conservative). He made the very good point that if Obama wants to release all the information that says we tortured, then he should be willing to release all the information that indicates what information we actually extracted from those we tortured. It's ironic that Chaney and Rove, the Masters of Misinformation, are calling for exactly that, probably so they can cover their asses by claiming that at least we thwarted some plots. That's perfectly reasonable. It still doesn't explain why conservatives, who claim to be for "freedom" and not necessarily "equality," don't think it's reprehensible that we did this. As I pointed out to Mia's PT, the hard core Al Qaida types have goals that are so beyond the realm of reality (like remaking the entire planet as a backward-looking Caliphate) that they don't really care if they get tortured. All it does, ultimately, is make our so-called ideals look foolish. Mia's PT pointed out that we had Founders who believed in the freedom of individuals, which is a good thing, because most people today would trade freedom for security in a heartbeat. At least we could have the guts to admit it.

2. Why was there such a kerfuffle over Miss California's answer to the question about gay marriage? The last time I checked, we had something in this country called freedom of speech, so why are people jumping all over her for answering something truthfully? From what I've read about it, Ms. Prejean didn't say she wanted to slaughter all homosexuals or that they are an abomination or they should be rounded up and kept in camps, she simply said that she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. The pageant people foolishly let out that it was the reason she didn't win, which is idiotic, as it's a beauty pageant. You can think Ms. Prejean was misguided all you want, but she doesn't make policy, so who cares what she thinks? Why is no one bagging on Perez Hilton, who asked a person who attends San Diego Christian College such a loaded question?

Ms. Prejean, by the way, is a wholesome young lady who happens to like posing in bikinis:













Let's not hold that against her!

3. Recently in Arizona there's been a huge debate over speed cameras, which snap photographs of speeding cars. People have reacted antagonistically, leading to several people (including me) to think, "Maybe you shouldn't speed." Mia's PT, ironically (or perhaps not) enough, believes the speed cameras are a violation of the law because the tickets are not given by a lawfully appointed officer, but that's neither here nor there. Obviously they're in place to collect money for the state, and with the state in the financial difficulties it's in, I don't have a big problem with what is essentially a tax on people who speed. Some people have taken axes to the cameras and placed Post-It notes over the aperture in protest, but earlier this week, some dude pulled up next to an officer who was checking the cameras and shot him three times, killing him. As horrible as that is, people on the Arizona Republic's web site defended the killing, wondering why they should feel bad for some fascist. These are, presumably, the same people who want to round up every swarthy person and ship them to Guatemala when one illegal immigrant kills a cop, but they were defending some guy murdering someone in cold blood just because they might have to pay $200 for going 77 mph in a 65 mph-zone. I know the Internet is all about the freedom of anonymity, but that still disgusts me. It's one of the reasons why I am so open about everything on the Internet. I will never register for a web site under a pseudonym. You know who I am! The murder saddens me, but the reaction of some disgusts me.

4. Not really newsworthy, but we had our first 100-degree (Fahrenheit) day here on Tuesday. GOOD FUCKING TIMES!!!! Of course, the only thing that makes summer bearable, the pool, isn't quite warm enough to swim in. But it's getting there! So for now, I'm trapped in the house until the temperature falls (which it's supposed to do this weekend). 102 degrees in April. People wonder why I hate it here.

The first day of ... spring?

I think we need to rename the seasons in the Basin of Hell here. It's been in the 90s all week, and who knows when (or if) the heat will break. So here's what I propose:

Today (21 March) begins First Summer.
21 June begins Really Super-Hot Oh My God What Kind Of Crap Is This Summer.
21 September begins Second Summer.
21 December begins Fall/Spring. "Falling"? "Sprautumn"?

That works.

You know, I lord it over people during December, January, and February, because the weather here is so darned nice compared to the rest of the country. Well, now the tables are turned! You may tell me about the cooling rain you get where you are, and the chilly sunny days with a hint of storm behind them, or those blustery partly sunny/partly cloudy days where the clouds just pile up and it seems like all the forces of nature are arrayed against the puny humans. God, I love those days.

Seriously. In the 90s. All week.

It begins ...

Krys came home last night and turned on the air conditioning. Sigh. 14 April, and we're turning on the AC. Yes, the long slow journey to horrific temperatures has begun. The mercury hit 90 on Sunday, and there's no turning back!

(Yes, I know I complain about the weather a lot. Sorry. I try to keep the complaints short!)

Spring in the Basin

You know, I whine a lot about life here in Hell. Everyone says the weather is "perfect," but it rarely is. It's either too hot, from about May through early November, or oddly cold. What I mean by that is that in December and January, when the temperature is very nice and I get to wear jeans, the sun is still out and when I drive in my car it beats down on my legs and makes me hot. Yes, I'm being petulant, but it's still weird. However, for about two months, in February and March, it's spring here in the desert, and it's quite nice (although it hit 90 last week a couple of times). In January we get some rain, which the desert soaks up, and the desert blooms! It blooms! There's green on the hills, there are birds everywhere, and all around my neighborhood, flowers show up and relieve me of my depression of living in this pit.

Every day I like to take the kids for a walk around the block. Mia loves strolling around, and it's always good for Norah to get out and about. She loves walking through the yards of our neighbors, jumping off short walls, smelling the flowers, feeling the spongy grass (yes, many people have grass in the neighborhood, despite the fact that we live in a freakin' desert), and having a grand old time. It's also, I suppose, quite healthy for us all! I'm trying very hard to keep Norah active, and this is one way. We rarely go too far from our house, but it's still fun. As we cruise along, Mia checks things out, Norah tells us where the moon is (when we can see it), and for the past two months at least, we've been looking at the flowers. Krys said the nice yellow ones are Mexican poppies, but other than that, I have no idea what these flowers are called. I'm no botanist! I suppose one day I'll have to sit down with Norah and figure out what these are called. Until then, I'll just enjoy looking at them.

Of course, very soon the sun will blast these fragile blossoms into oblivion, and that's too bad. Soon, whatever precipitation we received this winter will have been soaked into the harsh ground or evaporated, the mercury will hit triple digits, and the plants and humans alike will be affected by that wonderful lassitude that makes living in Hell so horrific. But at least we have a few months to enjoy the nice weather while the Northeast digs itself out of the snow that dumps on it quite often. But who doesn't love snow?

Anyway, here are some more pictures of flowers. Don't they just put you in a nice, calm mood?








That last one, of course, is Norah, who likes to get up close and personal with the flowers.

Enjoy the pictures - it's the last time this year the Basin will be attractive!

Yesterday I had to break out the sandals

It was the twenty-seventh day of February, and my feet were too hot for socks. The mercury climbed a bit over eighty degrees, and although it did that on Tuesday, too, yesterday it was a bit higher, and that was enough. I'm a bit hotter than most people around here (not in the looks department, of course, but in the internal temperature department), so most people are still in jeans, but after about ten in the morning, it's shorts weather for me! And now sandals. Sheesh. I just mention this because the brief time it is bearable here in the Basin is drawing to a close, and from now on, it's going to keep getting hotter until it's egg-frying-on-the-sidewalk weather. But the first day I break out the sandals is a bit of a watershed.

So, how's the weather in the Northeastern United States these days?

An example of what happens here when it rains

With the country's sports (and other) media focused on Phoenix last week, you may have heard that it wasn't particularly pleasant around these parts. It does occasionally get cold here (the van's doors were frozen shut this morning when I went out to take Mia to school) and it does rain occasionally, despite the 13-year drought. My parents laugh about our water problems, because back in Pennsylvania, if they go three weeks without rain the governments tell the people to start rationing water, while here we can go months without rain and nobody seems to notice. But it did rain last week, and the high temperatures were often in the low 60s, and the media people complained. Such is, as they say, life.

The Sunday before the Super Bowl (so the 27th of January), we were going to go to the zoo with the kids. However, it rained all day. When I say "all day," I mean that there was very little time when it wasn't raining, which is extremely surprising around these parts. Usually, we get sudden and brief downpours, and twenty minutes later it's sunny again. But that Sunday was pretty miserable.

The next day was chilly buy nice, and I took Mia to school. As I drove home, I had to check out McKellips Road, part of which runs ... across the bottom of a river bed. Yes, the road runs across the Salt River, which, of course, is dry 95% or so of the time. But when it rains, you get this:

It's been closed for over a week, too. We had more rain on Monday, and since it's not very warm, the water isn't evaporating as quickly as it does in the summer (I first noticed this last August or September when I was first taking Mia to that school and we had a big storm, but it cleared up pretty quickly). I just love the fact that it rains so little here that they can build a road across the bottom of a river, confident that it will be open 50 weeks out of the year.

That's really all I have to say. It looks cooler when you're driving on the freeway slightly above it, but I can't get a good picture from there. Well, maybe I could, but I'd have to stop in the middle of the freeway, and that might get a bit messy.

Some final thoughts on the Super Bowl

Justin Tuck should have been the MVP. I assume they let the fans vote, which is stupid. Why don't they let people who actually watch the game vote, instead of letting people who are sitting around eating nachos and drinking beer vote for the glamor position. Justin Tuck: two sacks, one forced fumble, part of the Giants' four-man defensive line that put a ton of pressure on Tom Brady. Eli Manning? Please. One great play, and one excellent read of the defense on the game-winning touchdown. That's not an MVP.

Bill Belichick is kind of a tool, isn't he? The refs tried to tell him that they needed to run one more play, but he pushed them out of the way and ran off the field, leaving his team behind. I always knew he was kind of a sore loser, but he really proved it yesterday. Jerk.

Steve Spagnuolo, the Giants' defensive coordinator, learned how to coach defense from Jim Johnson, the Eagles' defensive coordinator. I just needed to point that out, to take some solace from Philadelphia's sorrows.

On that early long pass to Amani Toomer, why wasn't offensive pass interference called? Toomer clearly shoved the defender in the face mask to get separation, and two officials were watching the play. What the crap? Usually the Cheaters get all the calls, but that one went totally the Giants' way.

Why was Belichick allowed to challenge the fact that the refs didn't call the penalty when the Giants had 12 men on the field on that punt? No call was made, so you're allowed to challenge that? Does that mean if you believe a penalty has been committed, you can throw the challenge flag and they can call one? Earlier in the playoffs, David Garrard picked up a fourth-and-one against the Steelers when an offensive lineman clearly held. Could Mike Tomlin have thrown a flag on that, and the refs could have retroactively called a penalty? How is Belichick's challenge flag allowed?

David Tyree's catch has to be one of the top three or four in Super Bowl history. Lynn Swann's catch is probably still #1, but this was a great one.

I mentioned this in the comments to the previous post, but I have no idea why the roof was closed. It was a decent day here on Sunday, and I don't think rain was in the forecast. It's been chilly here all week, but it's still not that cold, and apparently, the humidity that wore the Giants out toward the end is a common problem at the UPS. The field completely rolls out of the stadium (it's pretty cool, actually), and water does get in there and stay there, causing the humidity when the temperature goes up. It's dumb to close the roof, because what's the point of having an outdoor Super Bowl anymore? The teams should play in some elements, after all, even it's just a bit of chill.

When does the regular season start?

Pictures of the parts of Arizona that aren't in Hell!

This past Saturday Krys and I went north for a bit to get away from the children and to celebrate our anniversary. My parents were nice enough to babysit. We didn't stay away too long - we left about 10 in the morning on Saturday and got back about 5 on Sunday - but it was still good to be without little ones for a time. We drove north on I-17 to Camp Verde, where we checked into our bed & breakfast, the Hacienda de la Mariposa. Then we drove to Sedona and hung out there for a while. We have been to Sedona more than once, so we didn't stay too long. Plus the weather was threatening rain all weekend, so we didn't want to wander around and get caught in a downpour. That night we ate at the Indian casino in Camp Verde, and on Sunday we drove up through Jerome, into Prescott, and home. The only place that was disappointing was Prescott, where it rained very hard the entire time we were there. Prescott is a neat town, but we didn't get to walk around at all. Oh well - it's not that far away. We'll go back.

Here are some pictures of our journey.

These are all pictures of the bed & breakfast. It was a nice, quiet place.






















Here are some pictures of Sedona:








Here's my lovely wife looking for stones. She takes stones from every place we visit. Just before we left she found the stones she took from Karnak, which she thought she lost. So she was happy. What does she do with the stones? Only she knows for sure ...


This is, according to something I heard years ago, the only McDonald's in the world without yellow arches. It's in a shopping plaza in Sedona whose primary colors are turquoise and that deserty color, so that's why they're this color, but if that's true, I wonder why they were allowed to keep it?


This is Jerome, which is an old mining town that reinvented itself as an artists' colony in the 1960s. It's a very cool town. I'd love to live there, but I think it's probably expensive, and besides, what would we do professionally?








Finally, dramatic weather shots. Oh, the drama!




So that was our weekend. Not the most exciting time, but certainly relaxing. And no kids means Mommy and Daddy have less stress. Of course, we missed them the whole time we were gone, but that doesn't mean we didn't enjoy ourselves!

It's true, though - there are many parts of Arizona that don't look like shit. It's a Festivus miracle!

Stupid Arizona weather

It's not enough that we've had a couple of weeks of consistent 115-degree weather. Oh no, as charming as that sounds, it's not enough. Even though it has made the only bearable thing about Arizona in the summer, the pool, too hot to swim in a month earlier than usual, there's still more! On Thursday night the monsoon, which began about a week ago (and usually means very little in the grand scheme of things), kicked up with some fury. We got hit with lots of rain, thunder, and lightning, some right by the house. It was kind of cool standing on the porch looking out at the back yard (it was still somewhat hot out, but at least the temperature went down a bit) as the trees whipped in the wind and the rain poured down. I was surprised the kids didn't wake up, because some of the thunder was very loud. Norah did whine at 11.30 or so, but when I went into her room, she was still asleep. Of course, in the morning the pool was green and the floor was covered with mud. How nice. I had to shock it because it was lacking chlorine and brush the floor before I turned the vacuum on, and only a few minutes into the chore, I slipped. And fell in the pool. With my bathrobe on. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

Stupid Arizona. Even when we get some much-needed rain, the weather still sucks. Of course, by morning the temperature was back up, plus there was a lot of humidity in the air. That's good stuff.

Sorry. You know I have to rant about the weather here every once in a while. I'll try not to do it again. But, you know, falling in the pool with your bath robe on makes you want to vent.

"Arizona ranked dumbest in U.S."

That's the headline at the top of today's Arizona Republic. Nice thing to see first thing in the morning.

Of course, it's just a flashy headline, and the actual story is about a survey that compares the way states educate their children. So it's not that we're dumb, it's that we don't care.

And of course, the state's superintendent of public instruction, is grumpy about the survey.

I'd rant more about this, but I've done it before. The article is interesting, so you can read all about it. The "smartest" states, incidentally, are those Commie places like Vermont and Massachusetts. Stupid Commie states, taking all their citizens' money and spending it on education! That's because they don't appreciate good, wholesome values like "truthiness."

Unphukkinbelievable

Long-time readers may remember last Christmas, when some motherfucker stole the wreath off of our garage door. Well, it happened again.

Krys loves Halloween. More than is probably healthy, actually. Ever since we moved into this house she has wanted to decorate, and this year she finally did. She put up fake spider-webs and spiders and a creepy windchime of skulls and a ghoul with a black cape and white hands with a mask like the killers in Scream wore. This ghoul, which she hung right by our front door, made ghoulish noises when anyone walked by. She put it up on Sunday. Last night someone stole it.

Let's consider this. Someone came right up to our front door, through the gate that separates the entrance area from the driveway (which has no lock on it), and took it. I have to imagine it was punk high school kids, because this thing had no value whatsoever. I would just like to know what these assholes plan to do with it. What's the fucking point?

You can say that this kind of thing happens all over the country. But it's only happened to us in this shitty state. Reason Number 5,989,184 to get the hell out of here. No wonder people around here don't decorate for anything other than Christmas. People suck.

Fighting the wrong war

As many of you know, I try to avoid reading the newspaper, because it gets me way too mad. Yes, I know I'm missing out on being informed (which is why Krys reads the paper at night instead of going to bed when she's damned tired!), but that's why I watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart!

This morning, however, Krys directed my attention to this story, in which Republican Len Munsil said he would tear down the 11 September memorial in the State Capitol Mall if elected governor this fall. Why would he do such a thing? Is he anti-American?

Well, if you read the story, you'll find out that he's so not anti-American, he's willing to tear down a memorial to the victims of terrorist attacks just to show how pro-American he really is! If you didn't read the story (how lazy are you?), he's peeved because some of the messages on the memorial are objectionable and can't be trusted.

Yes, Munsil is grumpy because the messages indict the U.S. government and mock the Bush administration. Like we need a memorial to do that. The most egregious one, apparently, is ... wait for it ... brace yourself for the mocking! ... "You don't win battles of terrorism with more battles."

HOLY SHIT!!!! Oh, the savage mockery! Oh, the piercing wit! Oh, the horrible indictment of the U.S. government! Jesus. I may have to drive down to the Capitol to see if this is the worst slogan on there. If it is, I think Len Munsil needs to shut up. Even if it isn't, who the fuck is Len Munsil to claim it's mocking the Bush administration?

Munsil, who is genuinely concerned about this and not looking for a cheap campaign ploy or photo-op, made his statements while surrounded by family members of soldiers killed in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. The article finishes with a quote from a man whose son was killed in Iraq. "It's a disgrace. It's a slap in the face to every one of our sons who have sacrificed and to every one of the victims of 9/11." What this guy and Munsil are missing is that three Arizona families who lost members in the attacks decided what should go on the memorial. But who the fuck cares what they want, right? U! S! A!

Munsil says he's concerned that some of the statements are "inaccurate." Again, I ask for examples. The one I cited above is an opinion, not a fact, so it can't be inaccurate. You may disagree with it, but I'm getting more and more concerned about a country in which opinions that a) disagree with the president; and b) suggest that maybe peace is a nice thing are being silenced. Munsil needs to fuck right off.

The memorial cost $500,000 and was paid for with private funds. Munsil doesn't like that it's one state property, but I bet he would have no problem with using taxpayer money to erect a monument of the Ten Commandments. Why doesn't Munsil tell the voters how he will help Arizona instead of trying to divide us, like every other Bush lapdog is doing? Fuck him.

The comments in the article are fun, too. The chairman of the Arizona 9/11 Memorial Commission comes on board and points out that one of the quotes on the memorial is "Must bomb back." I'M OFFENDED BY THAT! HOW DARE THEY POLITICIZE THE MEMORIAL AND TURN IT INTO A PRO-BUSH STATEMENT!

In other marginally war-related news, the Arizona Cardinals sold the naming rights of their new stadium to the University of Phoenix. For 18 years the Cardinals bitched about playing in Sun Devil Stadium, which is a college football field, and now they're going to play in University of Phoenix Stadium. That's just another reason why the Cardinals don't win. Trust me, it makes sense. Anyway, this is marginally war-related because many people, apparently independently of each other (I was one of them, so I guess it was independent) said the Cardinals should name the stadium after Pat Tillman and not sell the rights. Talk about a public relations coup! The Cardinals would be all over the news and people would talk about how great the Bidwills are and what an honorable thing they did. But, as usual, the $500 billion dollars they have wasn't enough, and they sold the rights. The stadium was financed by taxpayer money - shouldn't they get a vote in what to call it? The Bidwills have owned the franchise since the 1930s, when it was in Chicago. It's no wonder they've won 1 playoff game in almost 60 years.

There was a lot of other news that made me angry today, but I'll stop. We have to realize that the more this war at home continues, the more the terrorists will have won. It's mind-boggling that more people can't understand that.

It was very hot in Phoenix today ...

See, your response is, "How hot was it????" Well, I'll tell you.

It was so hot I didn't enjoy swimming in the pool. Yes, even the water was uncomfortable! I have been trying to swim laps every day for exercise, and I have gotten up to 21 lengths of the pool (it's not really a lap, because the pool isn't that long). Today I did 12 before I decided that it just wasn't worth it. I was actually feeling the heat while I was in the water, and I felt very drained. Weird.

It was also so hot in Phoenix today that my poor kitty had to abandon his usual spot in the greenhouse window (where he and Zoe, our other cat, often nap in the summertime) and sleep instead, well, in the sink:

Now that's when you know it's hot!

I haven't checked the high temperature today, but it was supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far. I'm thinking 113 or so. Good times in the Valley of the Sun!

Doom! Doom, I say!

Remember how the world was supposed to end on Tuesday? Yeah, that was funny. Anyway, we had a big storm here, and at times it felt like the world was going to end, let me tell you! One very small good thing about living in Hell is occasionally the weather acts really freaky, and quick-witted photographers get pictures like this:

I bet those people in that church in the foreground wished they had prayed a little harder! Because it looks like Armageddon to me!

Luckily, it wasn't. Or was it ...

(Insert your own dramatic music here.)

Something strange is going on in Mesa ...

Some days when I drove Mia to school, I would turn on a certain street, on the corner of which is a strip mall. I know, a strip mall in Arizona - shocking! Anyway, one day I happened to look over at the strip mall and saw some of the businesses there. One made me do a double take. A very weird business is operating in Mesa, and it seems much more appropriate for the seedier section of, say, Amsterdam or Bangkok:

What the crap is up with that?!?!?!? Right out in the open! Just another example of the sexification of our society. I'm shocked, SHOCKED!

Random thoughts on the greatest day in the history of mankind

This afternoon I skimmed the pool. Then I brushed the pool. It needed to be done - we have recently gotten our pool fence changed so that it runs across the entire back yard instead of stopping and turning into the house, so that made a bit of a mess. Then we had the deck painted and the calcium deposits removed from the tile lining the pool, so that made an even bigger mess. So I skimmed the pool, then I brushed the pool.

Then I got in the pool. Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! The only saving grace of living in Hell is that the pool is ready in the middle of May. It's not bath water warm yet, but it's very nice. It felt very good, especially as the temperature hit 100 last week and has remained high since then. When I take Mia to school at 9 o'clock in the morning, it's already 90. That shit ain't right. But the pool makes it all better.

Going briefly in the pool was my birthday present to myself. Yes, today is my birthday, which is why it's the greatest day in the history of mankind - or it will be, once I am dictator of the world. Right now it's just a day. I'm 35 today, which means I'm about middle-aged, if you believe my life expectancy is in the low 70s. Give it a year or two and I'll be ready for my full-fledged mid-life crisis. Krys will just have to deal with the nubile girls I'll be bringing home. Isn't that what all men do?

I like to reflect a bit every year on my birthday about what I've been doing, since it's much more appropriate than, say, an arbitrary date like 1 January. This day is my New Year's Day, after all. This past year has been pretty good. Norah was born, Mia started school, and both made progress. Every year I promise I'm going to write more, and this past year I managed to get all my old short stories typed up anew and ready for publication. I have a bunch of literary magazines bookmarked and this summer I'm going to sift through them and send out my stories. Someone has to like one of them, right? Now that that's done, I have slowly begun researching my novel again, which is tough. I'm writing a historical novel that is set in the Balkans and Asia Minor, so I have to study up on the region because I'm largely unfamiliar with it. I have taken a lot of notes but I have a long way to go. I've been setting aside time every day to do it, and we all know that slow and steady wins the race. I may get the book done by the time I'm 40.

It's been about a year since I lasted had a job, and that was only as a substitute teacher. It kills Krys that she is working and not spending more time with the kids, and I would like to work so that she can stay home, but right now it's just not feasible. I'm hoping that in the fall when Mia goes back to school and Norah spends some time in day care that I can go back to working on my teaching certificate, but Arizona's credentials don't transfer easily to other states, so it might be a waste of time. Because we're still looking for a different place to live. Every year about this time I'm reminded again why I hate this place so much.

So I'm a year older. I still feel pretty good, despite gaining about 12 pounds since this time last year. Yes, I suck. Now that Norah is sleeping a little better, I'll have time to swim, which is fun and good exercise. And, of course, as she gets bigger and able to walk, I hope we can play together, which wouldn't hurt me.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to me. I'm still the luckiest guy in the world, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Thanks for reading. I'll try to be more entertaining next time.

The Injustice League

There's a kind of sad acceptance I feel with regard to the direction in which the country is moving. It has little to do with my anger at Bush and his cronies - they're just buboes on the body politic masking the real disease. We have reaches a point in this country where Money is God. We worship it, revere it, assign ridiculous value to those who have it, ignore those who don't. It's frustrating, because I have no time for utopian socialist visions in which we all give our money to the Central Committee and they redistribute it equally. As conservative commentators are so fond of pointing out, there's a difference between equality and liberty, and they'll take liberty, and in certain areas I'm inclined to agree with them. But as a society, we are becoming sicker and sicker with this strange lust for an ultimately ephemeral thing, and it does not look like it will ever change. We can blame Bush and Big Oil all we want, but the Democrats in Washington are the same way. Very rarely does a person not born of privilege make any kind of difference. Clinton, ironically, was not necessarily a privileged individual, and although he had plenty of failings, his refusal to join the Wealthy Club and Play By The Rules was not one of them - and he was excoriated for it. Say what you want about Clinton - and it will probably be true - but he did work for all Americans more often than he worked for the Rich. That would probably not be true of Al Gore (even though Gore would have been a better president than Bush) and certainly not of John Kerry (and between Bush and Kerry, it's probably a toss-up).

This divide between rich and poor is probably more pervasive in society today than racism, but it gets less attention (except from crazy left-wingers, who are promptly dismissed as socialist), mainly because it's easier to "spot" racism. If a white person treats a black person poorly, it's racist. Easy. Wealth cuts across racial lines, however. We hear about poor blacks attacking middle class blacks for "going white" because they have made money and adopted a "white" lifestyle. It's silly and uses the language of racism (by assigning a racial change to those blacks who have accomplished it) but it still speaks to a gap between the rich and poor in this country. There are not as many barriers as there once were to blacks or Hispanics becoming rich, but there are many barriers keeping poor people - black, brown, or white - from becoming rich. More importantly, the rich, who don't care who joins them as long as they get to keep their money, are much better protected in our society, and that's where the worship of money and the failure of the government becomes pronounced. This is apparent in many ways, but the incident that, for me, set me off, is a local one.

I doubt if it's been getting national attention, but this story has been big in Arizona for a while. The link is just the latest (and possibly last) in a series of articles about the story. It's a sad and disgusting little bit of Americana. Two camp counselors in Prescott pleaded guilty to assaulting 18 kids under their care. How did they do this? In a "hazing" ritual in which they shoved broomsticks into the buttocks of the kids, who were wearing underwear or other clothing. The two counselors, Clifton Bennett, 18, and Kyle Wheeler, 20, told the kids, aged 11 to 14, on the first day of camp that they would be punished for breaking the rules. "Punished" meant, apparently, being sodomized with broomsticks and, in the case of three boys, being choked by Wheeler until they passed out.

The case has gotten a lot of attention here not only for the horrible nature of the crime but because of who Clifton Bennett is. His father is the President of the Arizona Senate, Ken Bennett. So politics, and more importantly money, enters the picture.

Clifton Bennett will get about a month in jail, 200 hours of community service, and three years probation. Think about that for a minute. We have people languishing in maximum security prisons for smoking marijuana. Not selling marijuana, smoking marijuana. This kid admitted to assaulting 18 children, and he's getting a month in jail. The Yavapai County District Attorney, Sheila Polk, has been ripped for not prosecuting the case more aggressively, but she says there isn't enough evidence to charge them with a sexual assault. So ramming broomsticks up some kid's butt isn't sexual assault, it's just regular assault, and therefore the perpetrator gets a month in jail.

The statements by the judge and the defendants are pretty astonishing, too. Judge Thomas O'Toole said, "The evidence clearly shows that both defendants engaged in conduct that was callous and reckless," and then added, "It's fair to say that the conduct was out of character for these young men." But he did not classify the convictions as felonies. So, if you're in the mood to choke kids until they pass out or drive sticks into any orifice they have, feel free - it's a misdemeanor. The judge also said that the actions were "not intended to be criminal in nature." Well, shit, that makes it all right, then. When I blow up my neighbor's house because he won't stop driving his motorcycle up and down my street late at night, I can just say that my actions weren't intended to be criminal in nature. Can I help it if there are laws against it? That's not my problem, after all. These defendants seem reasonably smart. Did they not think, as they were choking kids, that maybe these actions could be seen as criminal? That's such a dumb statement by the judge I almost have to bang my head against the wall. Meanwhile, the defendants were contrite. How nice of them. Bennett said he didn't think him going to jail would satisfy the victims as much as his heartfelt remorse. Yeah, okay. I'm shocked that he would think that.

The victims and their families were less than pleased. Their parents say many have trouble sleeping and going to the bathroom since the assaults, and their grades have slipped. 13-year-old Zachary Motcheck, one of the victims, said, "It's unfair, and it's just because Bennett's dad is a senator." Ah, yes, the political connection. Sheila Polk said that at no time did the office of Senator Bennett call her to influence her one way or another. Well, of course she would say that. At the Yavapai County Government page, there's a link to a press release by Sheila Polk (it's a pdf file and for some reason I can't link to it) in which she responds to some of the criticism leveled against her. It's all well and good, but the point is not that she failed and the judge failed (she, of course, blames the judge for the sentencing). It's that both she and the judge are caught up in a criminal justice system that favors the rich and powerful. Clifton Bennett is a fine, upstanding son of a Senator who is planning to go on a Mormon mission soon. Polk says that the fact that he is planning this also had no influence, but who can really tell. The fact is, district attorney is an elective office. Judge is an elective office. It certainly can't hurt to allow the son of the Senate President off with a slap on the wrist, and Sheila Polk and Thomas O'Toole can blather on all they want about proper procedure, but the fact remains that this is a slap on the wrist. Yes, it's up to judge's discretion to set the punishment. Are you telling me that the judge put aside any thoughts of political advancement, his own prejudices toward "fine, upstanding, religious citizens" who had never done anything wrong before (that we know of) and wept like babies in the courtroom, and the power of the father of one of the defendants when he sentenced these kids? He's human, after all. I'm not necessarily blaming him for it, because everyone is influenced in this way, but it's sad that we have come to this, when who the person is or is related to is more important than the crime they committed. If Clifton Bennett was a nobody, I would almost bet he would be in jail for longer than a month.

Senator Bennett was at the courthouse last Friday. He "hustled his son through the rear door of the courthouse" and said Clifton had "made a heartfelt apology in court."

"We hope today will begin the healing process for everybody," he said, before adding: "How would you feel if your son was going to jail?" As someone pointed out in the opinion page a few days later, how would he feel if his son was the one who had been sodomized and choked and the criminal who did it was getting away with a slap on the wrist? If my son came to me and admitted he did this, of course I'd want him to stay out of jail, especially if I thought he was contrite, but at the same time I'd want to beat him myself because this is a horrible thing to do. Senator Bennett might not have used his influence, but because of who he is, his son got away with his crime.

This case is just a microcosm of what's happening in the U.S. today. You can argue it if you want, but I don't think it's really debatable that the rich and powerful get away with pretty much anything they want to. This is frustrating because the middle class keeps shrinking and the U.S. begins to resemble a Third World country more and more. We're not there yet, but we're on the path to it, and as those of us who aren't rich become more and more marginalized, it will just get worse and worse. The government should be there for those who don't have power, but it's not. That's why Bush is a failure - not because he's an idiot, but because he, like most presidents, sees the office as just a way to accrue power to himself and make his friends richer. Bush and his friends don't need to be richer. They need to look after the powerless. That doesn't mean throwing money at them like Democrats want, but it does mean helping them in any way they can. Trickle-down economies don't work. Developing systems by which the powerless can get true justice would be a start. But we're a long way from that, unfortunately.