11.04.09 Wed. "I give up."

You know the best thing about having visitors? It reminds you of how amazing the place you live in is. While Shareena was here we did the Ride the Ducks. In all of the years I’ve lived here, I’d never ridden the ducks. It was a blast! The view of the city from Lake Union is pretty dang amazing. The only downside is that I now want a boat and to live in one of those floating houses.

I had an observation about why it’s better to believe in God than not. Especially if you have kids. Over the weekend Tessie asked me “Daddy, why are you a Daddy and not a Mommy?” Rather than launch into a complex discussion on gender and biology I simply told her “well, that’s the way God made me.” She said “oh” and we moved on with what we were doing. What do atheists do? Whip out the medical journals and explain human plumbing and evolution to a toddler?

I decided not to vote. As a conservative in Western Washington, voting just depresses me. It’s like cheering for a losing team. So rather than suffer with post-election depression because nothing I vote for nor anybody I vote for ever win, I’ve opted to just go on with my life and ignore the whole nonsense all together. If I lived in a state where I could win occasionally I would start voting again, but because of the left leaning tendencies of Seattle and Western Washington, I’ve decided to from no on be a non-voter. Voting conservative here is like cheering for the Mariners to win the World Series. Sure they’re your team, sure you like the players, but eventually you have to face reality that they are never going to win…

A Florida man got away with a ferret from a pet store by hiding it in his pants. Hearing about this crime, as a protective, preemptive measure as one of his final tasks as Seattle mayor, Greg Nickles has decided that it only makes sense to ban pants in pet stores.

A story this week in the New York Times ends with an admission by a food magazine editor that those too-perfect-to-be-true turkeys you see in magazines are, in fact, too perfect to be true. "I know it seems like, hey, what could be simpler than roasting a bird? But the perfect roast bird is a challenge. Turkey, as a model, is very much like a fashion magazine with fashion models. There are plump turkeys, and, I'm not kidding you, there's skinny turkeys, there are chesty turkeys, breasty turkeys, there are flat-chested turkeys." Then the food magazine editor says, referring to a turkey photoshoot: "I was like, 'I just need the breast to get a little bit higher.'" She admitted, "We have enhanced the breasts of turkeys."

When I dropped my niece off at the airport yesterday I happened to walk past the Virgin Airlines check in. The other check ins at the other airlines look ghetto compared to the Virgin one! It’s all fancy and high class looking.
Speaking of Virgin, they don’t stop with just fancy looks. People scared of flying can now press a button on their iPhone to help them deal with their panic. Virgin Atlantic Airways has launched an app for its Flying Without Fear course which boasts a success rate of over 98 percent. The airline said the app was designed to help people overcome fear, be it of the unfamiliar aircraft, the strange noises a plane makes, or of losing control. The airline developed the app with Mental Workout, a company developing software to help people resolve issues and increase mental performance. The Flying Without Fear app has an introduction by Virgin president Richard Branson, a video-based in-flight explanation of a flight, frequently asked questions, relaxation exercises and a fear attack button for emergencies with breathing exercises.

Well there are two less terrorists in the world thanks to a bear in South Kashmir in India. A bear has mauled two Hizbul Mujahideen militants to death as they hid in its cave. Officials who were hunting the terrorists say it was a really stupid decision for them to try and move in to the cave. An Army patrol party found the mauled bodies. The two were identified as Kaisar Ahmad and Saifullah, both residents of Kashmir, and the patrol party also found two AK47 rifles and some ammunition in the cave. Do we promote that bear or just give him some kibble for a job well done?