I have been surprised by the boldness of our latest president. He just makes me say wow one week after another. His supporters keep going farther and farther off the deep end. If he is right, how did I and the people who think like me feel like we are so wrong? The latest chapter of adventure has Trump accusing Obama of using the FBI and or NSA to wiretap his Trump towers where he lived prior to the elections in November. This is seen as a wild accusation, which the head of the FBI came out instantly and denied and explained that if this were to happen, he would know. The other head of the NSA also came out and denied the same thing later in the day.
What happens next when the President, like a woman accusing an attacker of rape, provides no evidence other than her word. This seems like par for the course for this new president. All day Sunday we heard on TV that there is no evidence that any of this happened. He heard it like my brother hearing stuff on one of those conspiracy theory shows and now he is running around pretty much trying to use this to ruin Obama's presidential run. This seems like a huge story, and to me, it seems like a huge distraction to move the attention away from the Russian interference of the elections which make Trump almost look treasonous.
Now, less than twenty four hours later, the Republicans and Trump are pushing the new Obamacare repeal and replace plan, so again it seems like the president likes flooding us with news as now the biggest conversation will turn to the medical care. If that is not enough from the white house, he is also pushing the travel ban 2.0 which he tried a couple weeks ago but was blocked by the courts. I personally don't care if he wants to block the world from coming into the United States, but pinpointing some random countries that happen to be in the middle east to protect us from attack is crap when again 15 of the 19 9/11 bombers were from Saudi Arabia, yet that country is not on the list. Hell, none of the countries where the bombers came from is on the list. The countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Sure these countries seem shifty and don't bring us much in the big picture, but blocking them on a hunch won't do anything to protect us, I don't think.
"Mr. I am here to save you money" has cost the US taxpayer in one month what Obama and his family cost in security costs a whole year. Protecting the President and his random family members flying around doing business for the Trump business is costing a lot compared to Obama, who Trump called out for spending too much time on vacation. Trump has now spent about half his weekends as president on "vacation" in his Mar-A-Lago resort, or the White House of the south as it is being called, comedically.
This is not since the start of his presidency, this is just the BS Trump has stirred this weekend. For a seventy year old fart, he sure is keeping everyone on their toes. He has only been president less than two months and yet he seems to have been in charge for a long long time. I don't think he can continue this crazy pace for a full four year term, but I guess we will just wait and see.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Monday, March 6, 2017
3/6/17 Spring Break Countdown?
I am getting excited for the idea of a weeklong break. Every time I take a week off it seems to be a little bit of a catch-22. Either we have money because I work too much, but then I can't afford to take off. Taking time off but then worrying that renting a spot for a week in Corpus for our RV and the whole hassle of moving it is going to cost too much. We usually opt for the Corpus Christi vacation and a little credit card help, if we do fall a little short.
We are not relying on credit cards anymore. This year, Wife and I talked about it and although we told my folks we would join them in Corpus, with my leg, it seems like a fool's errand as I can't even get my leg wet, so what is the point of getting close to the water? Instead, we are taking advantage of living in the eleventh biggest city in the United States and entertaining my family for a couple days. I like the idea of hanging out here in town, as I rarely take a whole week off and stay home.
Part of the reason I am enjoying the week off is because I am under new-ish management. Even though this year Spring Break falls on a long week for me, meaning if I want to take the week off, I need to take four days off, and because I work a 12 hour shift, that leads to burning 48 hours and then because I get paid time and a half for last eight hours, I really need to take 52 hours to keep my check the same. My new supervisor is ok with us moving days around, so I can consider the Spring Break week my short week and only use 36 hours and not worry about losing the eight "overtime hours." This means I'll work the long week the week after I come back from vacation, but I don't mind that. Using only 36 hours and thinking forward, I'll do the same the week of 4th of July, and with the holiday pay, I will only need to use 28 hours, and Thanksgiving week when we get two holiday days or sixteen hours vacation, I'll need 20 vacation hours from my batch to take a week. Those three weeks only amount to 84 hours of PTO, or Personal Time Off. We get 160 hours a year, so I will easily still have 76 hours to take two weeks off during Christmas, if I want. Normally, it always seems like Spring Break and Thanksgiving have always been on the long week, and I hate the idea of burning up to 52 hours to keep my paycheck normal.
So, I will take a few weeks off and it should even be relaxing as I won't feel as I am consuming all my PTO in large chunks. I could theoretically take five weeks off, although that just sounds crazy to me. I want to kind of wait and see if Wife ends up getting the raise that she deserves for all the work she is doing, before I decide to take so much time off.
Knowing we are going to be here means I have to start thinking of activities to do with my family. I think if my brother comes with his family, it might be fun to take them to the skydiving place where you jump into an air tunnel and float in the air, much like jumping off a plane and then opening a parachute. We could possibly rent a boat for an afternoon, but that might be too expensive. We could take the drive to the San Antonio Zoo, the kids always like that, and my sisters kids are the perfect age to enjoy that, if they don't have to be playing with some sort of ball during the break. I always overthink this stuff as ultimately, they end up coming for the weekend and we end up just going to the mall and eating out. We are fluid, so whatever we do will be a fun different pace than week in and week out, plus Wife will get to be here all week.
We are not relying on credit cards anymore. This year, Wife and I talked about it and although we told my folks we would join them in Corpus, with my leg, it seems like a fool's errand as I can't even get my leg wet, so what is the point of getting close to the water? Instead, we are taking advantage of living in the eleventh biggest city in the United States and entertaining my family for a couple days. I like the idea of hanging out here in town, as I rarely take a whole week off and stay home.
Part of the reason I am enjoying the week off is because I am under new-ish management. Even though this year Spring Break falls on a long week for me, meaning if I want to take the week off, I need to take four days off, and because I work a 12 hour shift, that leads to burning 48 hours and then because I get paid time and a half for last eight hours, I really need to take 52 hours to keep my check the same. My new supervisor is ok with us moving days around, so I can consider the Spring Break week my short week and only use 36 hours and not worry about losing the eight "overtime hours." This means I'll work the long week the week after I come back from vacation, but I don't mind that. Using only 36 hours and thinking forward, I'll do the same the week of 4th of July, and with the holiday pay, I will only need to use 28 hours, and Thanksgiving week when we get two holiday days or sixteen hours vacation, I'll need 20 vacation hours from my batch to take a week. Those three weeks only amount to 84 hours of PTO, or Personal Time Off. We get 160 hours a year, so I will easily still have 76 hours to take two weeks off during Christmas, if I want. Normally, it always seems like Spring Break and Thanksgiving have always been on the long week, and I hate the idea of burning up to 52 hours to keep my paycheck normal.
So, I will take a few weeks off and it should even be relaxing as I won't feel as I am consuming all my PTO in large chunks. I could theoretically take five weeks off, although that just sounds crazy to me. I want to kind of wait and see if Wife ends up getting the raise that she deserves for all the work she is doing, before I decide to take so much time off.
Knowing we are going to be here means I have to start thinking of activities to do with my family. I think if my brother comes with his family, it might be fun to take them to the skydiving place where you jump into an air tunnel and float in the air, much like jumping off a plane and then opening a parachute. We could possibly rent a boat for an afternoon, but that might be too expensive. We could take the drive to the San Antonio Zoo, the kids always like that, and my sisters kids are the perfect age to enjoy that, if they don't have to be playing with some sort of ball during the break. I always overthink this stuff as ultimately, they end up coming for the weekend and we end up just going to the mall and eating out. We are fluid, so whatever we do will be a fun different pace than week in and week out, plus Wife will get to be here all week.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
3/5/17 Preparing For A School Dance?
Wife has been assigned to decorate for the father/daughter dance in her school, coming up this week on Thursday evening. Her Supervisor saw someone post images of a similar party at their school, and he thought it would be a good idea. He pitched it to Wife who was telling me about it Valentine's weekend. She did not want the responsibility and hassle of a dance, considering that she has 14 real programs she is in charge of and trying to get through TEA evaluations.
Once she is tasked with something though, she does the best she can. We got up around noon, ate breakfast tacos and went into the guest room where we watched TV and napped for a couple hours. At around 4pm, she finally panicked and got me going to go shower and get ready to leave the house. I didn't want to really go anywhere, but we started at the Dollar Store where I dropped her off and I left to go gas up my truck. I came back, hoping she would be done, but no, she said I could wait in the truck or get off and go inside. I figured I only see her one full day a week, so I should try harder and be next to her, not stay in the truck because of a little drizzle. She bought a couple of things to decorate the tables and a couple of Pepsis for us to drink.
The weather was quite shitty for a Saturday afternoon, but we made the most of it. It wasn't really raining, it was just wet and drizzly, normally, I love to lay in bed and let the day do what it wants when it is like this. Alas, there we were, across town, in a Party City wasting the day away, buying decorations for a party she is not wanting to be a part of.
The funniest part of all this was Wife was trying to get ideas and input from various coworkers and the superintendent, who has been at the casino since Thursday. He texted back that it was quite distracting to be getting pictures of pink decorations. It was his idea, but because he was doing his favorite thing, gambling, he would rather not be getting texts right now.
Between the two stores, Wife spent over $100 in decorations. They are just the tip of the iceberg. Between now and Thursday, the ladies in the administration building must come up with music (some teacher or aid is a part time DJ, so he may volunteer), food (superintendent was thinking all the teachers could donate something, like a cake, case of sodas, etc, but he hasn't told them yet), they are selling tickets and Wife said none had been sold yet, so the whole thing may be a moot point. Super keeps asking Wife "you had big house parties, you can handle this." She's told him a couple times that yes we did, but we would end up spending anywhere from $600-$1200, depending on what we were doing with the food. He doesn't seem to get this through his head.
I told Wife whether the dance works or not, the next day is Friday and we start our Spring Break week together. Although, I can envision the dance a success and then Wife will be doing it again the week after Spring Break for the mother/son dance. Wife even heard there is a party for the teachers at the end of the school year. This is your reward for doing good work, you get to do more work than other people.
Once she is tasked with something though, she does the best she can. We got up around noon, ate breakfast tacos and went into the guest room where we watched TV and napped for a couple hours. At around 4pm, she finally panicked and got me going to go shower and get ready to leave the house. I didn't want to really go anywhere, but we started at the Dollar Store where I dropped her off and I left to go gas up my truck. I came back, hoping she would be done, but no, she said I could wait in the truck or get off and go inside. I figured I only see her one full day a week, so I should try harder and be next to her, not stay in the truck because of a little drizzle. She bought a couple of things to decorate the tables and a couple of Pepsis for us to drink.
The weather was quite shitty for a Saturday afternoon, but we made the most of it. It wasn't really raining, it was just wet and drizzly, normally, I love to lay in bed and let the day do what it wants when it is like this. Alas, there we were, across town, in a Party City wasting the day away, buying decorations for a party she is not wanting to be a part of.
The funniest part of all this was Wife was trying to get ideas and input from various coworkers and the superintendent, who has been at the casino since Thursday. He texted back that it was quite distracting to be getting pictures of pink decorations. It was his idea, but because he was doing his favorite thing, gambling, he would rather not be getting texts right now.
Between the two stores, Wife spent over $100 in decorations. They are just the tip of the iceberg. Between now and Thursday, the ladies in the administration building must come up with music (some teacher or aid is a part time DJ, so he may volunteer), food (superintendent was thinking all the teachers could donate something, like a cake, case of sodas, etc, but he hasn't told them yet), they are selling tickets and Wife said none had been sold yet, so the whole thing may be a moot point. Super keeps asking Wife "you had big house parties, you can handle this." She's told him a couple times that yes we did, but we would end up spending anywhere from $600-$1200, depending on what we were doing with the food. He doesn't seem to get this through his head.
I told Wife whether the dance works or not, the next day is Friday and we start our Spring Break week together. Although, I can envision the dance a success and then Wife will be doing it again the week after Spring Break for the mother/son dance. Wife even heard there is a party for the teachers at the end of the school year. This is your reward for doing good work, you get to do more work than other people.
Saturday, March 4, 2017
3/4/17 The Lego Batman Movie (Movie)
We just saw the Batman movie and it was mostly good, but honestly, I fell asleep as I figured out the set-up for the movie. It started out loud and annoying enough. The Joker, played by Zach Galifinakis brings mayhem to the city and as usual is escaping capture but he is taunting Batman, played by Will Arnett, in a weird way, bringing up that he is Batman's arch enemy. Batman is in a mode of not wanting to accept anyone as being in a relationship with him, since the loss of his parents, he has turned into a recluse, only the honorable Alfred by his side. Before the Joker flees, Batman leaves him crying, proclaiming he is fighting a couple of different bad guys, he is not serious with only one, and never will be. Joker is hurt because he wants to be the bad guy in Batman's life.
The next day, Superman is on TV, talking about fighting his own bad guy General Zod and placing him in the phantom zone. You can see the Joker's face as he just got the idea to go get these guys from the phantom zone to help him. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Batman has just been phased out by a new commissioner, played by Rosario Dawson, although the cartoon was red headed and lighter skinned, I was thinking it was Scarlett Johanssen because of the hair. She has evidence that although Batman encounters the bad guys, he never really catches them, they always escape and of course the simpletons in the city turn on Batman as they are supposed to.
While I slept, the Joker gained force and had Batman at the brink of defeat. He now has a young Robin by his side, as he adopted him accidentally while he was all lost staring at the hot new commissioner. Batman needs to learn to be a team member, to trust his partners and to be vulnerable and human again. He has been a tortured lone man for way too long, and only by accepting this will the guards in the phantom zone willing to let him go to save his friends.
Going to the Alamo Drafthouse is still cool. We are now sharing a pizza between Wife and I to cut down on the price. We share a big popcorn, soda and pizza, Chubs orders his wings and fries and the bill is now closer to $40. Much better than $70-80 when we were all ordering pretzels and cookies and milkshakes. They did bring back Coca-Cola products, which helps, those natural sugar sodas tasted cheap and quite shitty.
In the end, Batman and company win by playing together. Separately, they cannot defeat the forces of the Joker and his huge army, but the good guys round up their own army and then they go at each other. I liked how they mention some of the other movies in a tongue in cheek kind of way. Batman tells the Joker he is fighting Superman, the Joker says "that is not your enemy" in an exasperated voice. Then when the commissioner comes to ask him for help, some of the bad guys offer to help, and there is another reference, such as that idea cannot work.:
The next day, Superman is on TV, talking about fighting his own bad guy General Zod and placing him in the phantom zone. You can see the Joker's face as he just got the idea to go get these guys from the phantom zone to help him. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Batman has just been phased out by a new commissioner, played by Rosario Dawson, although the cartoon was red headed and lighter skinned, I was thinking it was Scarlett Johanssen because of the hair. She has evidence that although Batman encounters the bad guys, he never really catches them, they always escape and of course the simpletons in the city turn on Batman as they are supposed to.
While I slept, the Joker gained force and had Batman at the brink of defeat. He now has a young Robin by his side, as he adopted him accidentally while he was all lost staring at the hot new commissioner. Batman needs to learn to be a team member, to trust his partners and to be vulnerable and human again. He has been a tortured lone man for way too long, and only by accepting this will the guards in the phantom zone willing to let him go to save his friends.
Going to the Alamo Drafthouse is still cool. We are now sharing a pizza between Wife and I to cut down on the price. We share a big popcorn, soda and pizza, Chubs orders his wings and fries and the bill is now closer to $40. Much better than $70-80 when we were all ordering pretzels and cookies and milkshakes. They did bring back Coca-Cola products, which helps, those natural sugar sodas tasted cheap and quite shitty.
In the end, Batman and company win by playing together. Separately, they cannot defeat the forces of the Joker and his huge army, but the good guys round up their own army and then they go at each other. I liked how they mention some of the other movies in a tongue in cheek kind of way. Batman tells the Joker he is fighting Superman, the Joker says "that is not your enemy" in an exasperated voice. Then when the commissioner comes to ask him for help, some of the bad guys offer to help, and there is another reference, such as that idea cannot work.:
Friday, March 3, 2017
3/3/17 Thoughts On The Whole Illegal Alien Issue?
I don't have a stance one way or the other in regards to the illegal alien problem, as long as they are here to work and probably at the shittiest jobs the market has to offer. If they were trafficking drugs, then yeah, they should be imprisoned and punished or whatever else you do to people that deliver products that get consumed somehow by a population that never has enough.
My problem with the issue is that the companies never get so much as a warning to cut the shit out. We all know that new houses are built 80% by illegals. Americans just aren't that small on average, anytime we drive through a community to look at new houses, even my younger boy can point out the Mexicans. How come Lennar Homes doesn't get fined? You can drive through there any time and there will be a few crews, I assume of illegals, if they are doing the jobs that Johnny can't or won't. If my son can figure them out, why can't immigration do the same? If this was done and then followed by a stiff fine, would Lennar or whoever be as tempted to do it again? I am not saying the Mexicans are roaches, but if there is food left out, your house will eventually have roaches. If you are clean and don't leave anything out for them to scavenge, the roach moves on.
Somehow, it always turns to hate on the lowest part of that chain, why? Because people like to bitch about "they're taking our jobs, but damn that house is now affordable." Put your money where your mouth is, don't eat where they hire a bunch of illegals (every restaurant it seems), don't buy houses where you see the 4 foot workers, don't eat any fruits or vegetables, unless machines are harvesting them, or shut the fuck up and let them do their shitty jobs. Grapes are expensive enough, if Billy and Sally are plucking them from trees, grapes will be as expensive as cherries, $10 a pound.
Trump keeps saying about keeping out bad "hombres", does that mean because they are brown or because they bring drugs? The drugs are here too. Meth is made on both sides of the border, most of us saw Breaking Bad, it looks fairly easy, specially if there is crazy money to be made. It is getting harder and harder to identify Marijuana as a bad drug, if it has medicinal value. If it is the magical elixir to cure all that ails you, we have to get over it and let it be available more openly.
We, the US, already have the highest percentage of our citizens arrested because of drugs, can we say that punishment is not getting it done? I know the prison system is a big money thing, so it isn't likely to change, and I do like the violent and sex offenders kept locked up, but surely not everyone in there is a drug mule carrying 200 pounds of drugs when they got caught. Some of these "bad hombres" might have been better off with some counseling and other options, if they are US peeps. To be funny, we should dump some of those illegal aliens from Mexico over in Europe, see how they get back or how they assimilate into other lands.
Thursday, March 2, 2017
3/2/17 Austin Is #11
So much for calling Austin a little city as I thought of it. Turns out that due to all the people moving in, it is now the eleventh largest city in the United States. We are not alone, Houston is No. 4, San Antonio is No. 7, Dallas is No. 9, and we are No.11. Texas is alive and doing well, if well means people moving into it. It's either that or the natives are reproducing like cable television and the internet were never invented.
I don't know that I am upset to have so many people living around me, what does bother me is that we have one ok mall, two if you count the one 30 miles away, Lakeline Mall. As many people as are moving in, though, I don't see the housing boom of ten years ago. I don't want to say that I want to move, but we do go and look at new houses and subdivisions now and then. Most everything new is headed out of the city. Easton Park which was touted as the Circle C of the east looks hokey as hell. I wanted to like it, our first house was close to that area, but the houses are mostly wood and cheap looking wood on the outside. We have been over there a few times and they have been slower than anticipated, but I think part of the problem is that they are overpriced. Othere than that, there's a large community across the freeway from Cabela's, but that is Buda territory, huge communities by Salt Lick, but that is outside of Austin as well. There is that Estancia place on 35, right before the toll roads, the community looks pretty good, but they are pricey, like upper $350's for an average house.
What is keeping Austin so hip and popular? There might be semiconductor jobs, but it can't be as good as it was in the 90's. There are the various universities, but they don't pay well, I don't think. The music scene is crap, back in the 90's there was at least Southpark Meadows for big open air concerts. I don't know that the big names come to town, like Metallica or Aerosmith. They usually go for San Antonio or Dallas.
The weather is fairly mild, except for the summer when we stay above 95 for like 4 months. The lakes are nice when we aren't in a drought and they are only half full. The parks are fine, if you don't mind paying to hang out in a public park, at least Zilker Park used to charge on busy weekends, to park, in a park! Traffic is a freaking mess. Anytime, nowadays, I-35 is going to be crowded and full. I leave work at 6:30am and nothing but white headlights headed into the city and red lights leaving the city.
I don't know that I am upset to have so many people living around me, what does bother me is that we have one ok mall, two if you count the one 30 miles away, Lakeline Mall. As many people as are moving in, though, I don't see the housing boom of ten years ago. I don't want to say that I want to move, but we do go and look at new houses and subdivisions now and then. Most everything new is headed out of the city. Easton Park which was touted as the Circle C of the east looks hokey as hell. I wanted to like it, our first house was close to that area, but the houses are mostly wood and cheap looking wood on the outside. We have been over there a few times and they have been slower than anticipated, but I think part of the problem is that they are overpriced. Othere than that, there's a large community across the freeway from Cabela's, but that is Buda territory, huge communities by Salt Lick, but that is outside of Austin as well. There is that Estancia place on 35, right before the toll roads, the community looks pretty good, but they are pricey, like upper $350's for an average house.
What is keeping Austin so hip and popular? There might be semiconductor jobs, but it can't be as good as it was in the 90's. There are the various universities, but they don't pay well, I don't think. The music scene is crap, back in the 90's there was at least Southpark Meadows for big open air concerts. I don't know that the big names come to town, like Metallica or Aerosmith. They usually go for San Antonio or Dallas.
The weather is fairly mild, except for the summer when we stay above 95 for like 4 months. The lakes are nice when we aren't in a drought and they are only half full. The parks are fine, if you don't mind paying to hang out in a public park, at least Zilker Park used to charge on busy weekends, to park, in a park! Traffic is a freaking mess. Anytime, nowadays, I-35 is going to be crowded and full. I leave work at 6:30am and nothing but white headlights headed into the city and red lights leaving the city.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
3/1/17 How Do You Become The Authority/Expert?
As I mentioned, this weekend I was looking to push buttons with Boy's friends concerning religion. As can happen in lively debates, new things get discovered, like when you shake a dirty blanket and out pops a cockroach you didn't know was there. I know some people would rather leave things alone and just not displace anything, but I love knowing where all the roaches in my domain exist, so I can deal with them.
A subtle thing that came out of discussing and learning about Lillith, other than men 2000 years ago really didn't like women, is that Boy's friend has an issue with how I bring up my debates. I think I do a very straightforward approach, because I want to be able to use it with Chubs all the way to when I discuss with some of the guys at work that really know a thing or two. Her point is that when one deals in absolutes, there is the risk of a slippery slope. I didn't really follow, and she was trying to bring up for example with gay rights which I didn't get her point.
When I debate, for example, in religion, I like to compare religions, and why does yours matter and not the others. Not to pick on my Mom, but last time I brought it up, I asked what about the Greeks, were they just wrong in believing in Zeus and Apollo and all those gods? "I got something like oh Junior, those make nice stories, but Jesus Christ is my god, so he is the one that counts." That is really great except we know Jesus came about later, even if we accept that notion, then all the people born before Jesus who did not get a chance to believe in him are seating in purgatory or some lesser place than heaven for not praying to the right god simply because he was not yet born? I am going from logical step to the next, I'm not trying to prove anyone a fool. These are facts. People did exist before Jesus, and they have a written record and they mattered, at the time.
As far as Boy's friend bringing up gay people, I am pretty much a liberal, whatever makes one happy, hey, as long as nobody is getting hurt. Why do old white men care so much whether they can get married or not? If marriage is such a holy affair, how come people are let off so easily? There should be some sort of classes to explain what marriage will be like. Wife and I could have split up a couple different times, but we don't. At this point, I want to see her succeed and I believe in her and what she is going to accomplish in the near future. We made offspring and it is both our responsibilities to see them grow and succeed, like mighty oak trees, they are both saplings right now, but someday, their roots will run deep, and I will take full credit for that. Not because I phoned it in and talked to them once a month, but because I deal with their shit every day, I get in their face and make sure they aren't being idiots. When they need a hug, I am there, and when they need a flick of the pointer finger on their forehead, I am there as well.
The point was how come some people get to talk like authority figures on things they barely comprehend? How come me asking simple yes or no questions makes me a slippery slope kind of guy? I think I also risk coming across as a jack-ass when I do that, I was told. Wife simply says I'm a jerk because I don't stop. I know I am not going to change people's minds, but those that I challenge and debate I believe are capable of arguing, and I am really looking to learn from you, not change your world view.
A subtle thing that came out of discussing and learning about Lillith, other than men 2000 years ago really didn't like women, is that Boy's friend has an issue with how I bring up my debates. I think I do a very straightforward approach, because I want to be able to use it with Chubs all the way to when I discuss with some of the guys at work that really know a thing or two. Her point is that when one deals in absolutes, there is the risk of a slippery slope. I didn't really follow, and she was trying to bring up for example with gay rights which I didn't get her point.
When I debate, for example, in religion, I like to compare religions, and why does yours matter and not the others. Not to pick on my Mom, but last time I brought it up, I asked what about the Greeks, were they just wrong in believing in Zeus and Apollo and all those gods? "I got something like oh Junior, those make nice stories, but Jesus Christ is my god, so he is the one that counts." That is really great except we know Jesus came about later, even if we accept that notion, then all the people born before Jesus who did not get a chance to believe in him are seating in purgatory or some lesser place than heaven for not praying to the right god simply because he was not yet born? I am going from logical step to the next, I'm not trying to prove anyone a fool. These are facts. People did exist before Jesus, and they have a written record and they mattered, at the time.
As far as Boy's friend bringing up gay people, I am pretty much a liberal, whatever makes one happy, hey, as long as nobody is getting hurt. Why do old white men care so much whether they can get married or not? If marriage is such a holy affair, how come people are let off so easily? There should be some sort of classes to explain what marriage will be like. Wife and I could have split up a couple different times, but we don't. At this point, I want to see her succeed and I believe in her and what she is going to accomplish in the near future. We made offspring and it is both our responsibilities to see them grow and succeed, like mighty oak trees, they are both saplings right now, but someday, their roots will run deep, and I will take full credit for that. Not because I phoned it in and talked to them once a month, but because I deal with their shit every day, I get in their face and make sure they aren't being idiots. When they need a hug, I am there, and when they need a flick of the pointer finger on their forehead, I am there as well.
The point was how come some people get to talk like authority figures on things they barely comprehend? How come me asking simple yes or no questions makes me a slippery slope kind of guy? I think I also risk coming across as a jack-ass when I do that, I was told. Wife simply says I'm a jerk because I don't stop. I know I am not going to change people's minds, but those that I challenge and debate I believe are capable of arguing, and I am really looking to learn from you, not change your world view.
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