Friday Fretting

The day after we had the ribs at Spring Creek BBQ we received another coupon in the mail. Last night we used it and had ribs again. How lovely. This time I was much, much smarter. I only ate half my ribs, so only felt half as stuffed as last week. I also have dinner for tonight!

The ribs weren't quite as tasty as last week (how quickly familiarity breeds contempt) but they were still quite good. I think it is the best coupon in town. The mac and cheese wasn't quite as creamy as last week though. The coleslaw was a little better and Darling is right. The green beans are delicious. The rolls, of course, were wonderful, but I need to make a note to eat a bit later; I think they start bringing fresh rolls to the table at about five, not four. (Hey, I was hungry.) 

And I still like the pickles.
The service is incredible, too. Darling dropped her knife on the floor. I had barely picked it up when one of the staff brought her new utensils. One of the young ladies working there also helped an elderly woman carry her take-out to her car. You just don't see that much.

We are getting invites to free dinners if we go listen to speeches. Last night we could have eaten free if we were willing to listen to some local chiropractors. I wasn't willing. Next week we got an invite to listen to some investment folks on retirement. That might be worth our time and their food.

On the positive side of the news, Orange County rescue workers found the missing second hiker, Kyndall Jack, in the Santa Ana Mountains alive and well. Good job to all of them.

Roger Ebert, famed film critic died yesterday, succumbing to a recurrence of his cancer. I used to watch Siskel and Ebert occasionally. He was 70.

Hayden Panettiere now has a sentence tattoo down her back. One of the words is spelled incorrectly. Where's spell-checker when you need it?

On other entertainment news, Fox had a short interview with Marie Osmond where she talked a bit about her son's suicide and her oldest daughter being gay. Everyone loves Marie Osmond, and for good reason, I think.

Sen. Nelson, FL Democrat, now endorses same-sex marriage. This is a wave that will sweep the Congress, I predict. Endorse, not endorse - I don't care. As Rev Graham said, we can redefine marriage if we want, but God defines it as one man and one woman. I personally don't care if the government wants to legalize civil marriages. Render unto Caesar still works for me. I might point out that the early patriarchs almost immediately decided that God's definition didn't work for them and opted for one man and many women; mankind really hasn't changed in thousands of years. Thank God there's a new "no world-wide flood" rule. Really, Congress, don't you have bigger issues to settle - like the economy or North Korea?

Speaking of North Korea, I see that we aren't going to yell at them anymore. We don't want to make them nervous or upset. After all, they are only aligning nuclear missiles on their eastern coast. AND they are using an older iMac to plan their attacks. (Looks like mine, actually.) Experts say they won't reach the US mainland. Experts have been wrong before. And what's with the war games? Russia is simulating attacks on our missile defense sites in Asia?

President Obama has a new budget which has cuts to Medicare and Social Security and an increase in taxes. It seems to anger liberals. Apparently he wants to make this budget disagreeable enough that Republicans are forced to get serious. That's a great plan, and worked well with the Sequester. No, wait, it didn't…

I want a new budget. I want a budget that is good for the US people. That will certainly include higher taxes - we have to do something to counter the decades of irresponsible spending and taxes will go up and programs will need to be cut. Balancing is hard. Some of the first things to cut might be the expensive perks of our highest government officials. I already wrote about the excessive spending for trips for the VP. Now I read about the concert that our President is still planning to have. I don't look at it as dollars any more (apparently neither do our executives). When our VP spends a million dollars, the government says it isn't much (and it isn't compared to our national spending). When I see a million dollars I see enough for twenty families to live for a year. I wish our representatives had to spend money that way. "Well, let's see, Joe. That trip to London just cost us ten family-years. Paris was eleven. Oh, and Joe? That limo cost us seven family-years. That's twenty-eight family-years, Joe. Want to choose which families will go without or shall I do it for you?" I guess it does make me mad.

And how about the $500 million that President Obama is giving the Palestinian Authority? I had to find that in an overseas paper. It sure faded from our news sources quickly. I need some verification on that one.

Pebble Watch

I prefer to write about tech and gadgets. Samsung apparently thinks it's time for a smart watch (pun intended), which is cool, since I'm wearing one on my wrist. It doesn't do much yet, but it's fun to listen to music and see the song appear on the watch face (yeah, that's Celtic). I also don't really need to take my phone out of my pocket any more. I can read texts on my watch and with Siri I can send a response. In practice that doesn't always work, though, since I don't want people hearing me talking into my headset. What I need is a sub-vocal microphone like in Metal Gear Solid.

On the personal front, I haven't seen the new GI Joe yet (and may wait for the DVD), but my taxes are finally finished and it's time for planting a garden. We released our little bunny rabbit into the back yard. He just wasn't happy in the house. Darling make him a hiding place in the corner, somewhat protected from the elements. Darling calls him "Whisper" but his real name is Usagi Destroyer of Worlds. I expect great things from him in the future.

I started a short story about Usagi, but just couldn't get it to flow. Perhaps I misheard his real name. Perhaps he is Usage Destroyer of Whorleds. That might make more sense, especially if he is a sentient rabbit from a far-off world.

The soft fabrics folded softly around his body, soothing him as he sat in his transport device. Two beautiful women carried him, occasionally glancing in his direction, but not quite daring full eye contact. He did his best to ignore them. After all, what were they to him but simple followers, brought here only to tend his needs?

He is Usagi, Destroyer of Worlds.

Those are enough snippets for today. Enjoy and feel free to comment.