I'm not so much confused...

...as I am bewildered and mildly amazed and hopeful.

Rachel and I went to Jake's game on Friday, and I overheard some other parents talking about gas prices and such. And then they went on to talk about the Iraq War, and they kept adding sarcastic remarks like, "It won't cost much...There are WMDs...Gas prices will fall...The Iraqi people will love us..." and so on.

They were saying the sort of things that I expect to hear from my progressive friends. But I'm 97% sure that these very people voted for Bush in '00 and '04. And I'm also sure that they only recently came to hold these new beliefs. And I'm wondering if people like these can take the next progressive step and vote for Obama. And I'm also wondering if there's anything I can do to help them step in what I consider to be the right direction.

When I was in Texas, (I never got around to that food post, did I?) we went to lunch at a BBQ joint. And I overheard two older men talking. One said, "I don't know about this Obama."

That was encouraging to hear in South Texas, that he was even being considered. But he went on, "I heard he has ties to terrorists." I kept my mouth shut.

And his friend said, "What? Where did you hear that?"

"Well, it was on Fox News something about he might have ties to terrorists."

"What kind of ties?"

"Well, I didn't see the whole thing, it just said he may have ties to terrorists."

And then I couldn't restrain myself and said, politley, "Excuse me, but can you repeat that?" And he did. And I said, "That sounds like nonsense to me. That's like saying Bush has ties to terrorists because his family did business with the Bin Ladens."

And when he said, "Oh, well OK then, that's good," I took it to mean that he believed me.

I talked with Rachel about this, and asked, "I understand how Fox News works, and how someone like this would believe what he barely heard, but why would he believe me?"

Rachel said, "Well, you had a nice shirt on."

If I could, I would put on a nice shirt and talk to everyone in Texas willing to listen.

I had to go to Wal-Mart today. I know, I know, nobody has to go to Wal-Mart ever. But factoring in everything, Wal-Mart was the best choice for what I needed today. Crafts stuff for Rachel, a battery cable for the Hotel Yorba Courtesy car (which is running again, by the way), underwear, socks, and, since the spa store was closed, bromine tablets. And while I was there, I got my fishing license.

Anyway, I was at Wal-Mart - and they had a whole section of T-shirts and hats with environmental slogans on them. The were in a clearance section. Now I haven't been to Wal-Mart in a month or so, so I am only guessing here, but I have to assume that these items were once out with the other T-shirts for NASCAR, Raiders, Dickies Brand, and so on. It's sad that they didn't sell and were put on clearance. But let's be positive here- it's very encouraging to see them there at all.

Sure, there's some irony in that these were probably made in a third world sweatshop and boated, flown, and trucked halfway around the world to end up selling for $5.00. But it's still encouraging.

My favorite one said, "Protect The Environment...Duct Tape Can't Fix Everything."

Is there anything wrong with thinking the right things for all the wrong reasons?

Is this a...what day is this?

Not much to report.

Work is pretty busy. I'm working on the type of project where the prep work is very time consuming. A lot of seemingly trivial decisions need to be made in short order so we can finalize the goals and requirements, complete the design, and begin building the application. We had a three hour meeting to review 16 design issues. We only got 4 firmly resolved and our discussions generated two new issues. The rest all require input from some other department or individual. But we did make some progress.

Last weekend, Travis joined us for dinner at Ting's...

...and Andrew and Travis stayed over Saturday night. Sunday they jammed. I told them I planned to suplement my income by selling pictures of them once they are rich and famous.

This is a little geeky and a little off color, but Chris and I got our horses in World of Warcraft. And I managed to capture this screenshot...

Other than that, with each passing day, I grow more and more frustrated with Hillary Clinton. At the same time, I become more and more confident in Obama's campaign. I remember when Hillary first started with the typical campaign attacks, and my initial reaction was that Obama should hit back hard. And when he didn't, I thought there was no way he could survive. But he did, and he has, and he continues to triumph without resorting to politics as usual.

Rachel and I had a discussion the other night that started with, "How did the grunge movement start and could it happen today?" We agreed that any new "movement" is co-opted before it can fully materialize, at least in terms of consumerism and commercial viability. But I believe that Obama's campaign is a movement. I also believe that between now and the general election, it will gain momentum as people begin to realize what's been done to them over the years by two Bushes and a Clinton. I believe this political movement will be energized by a new workers movement. Which will in turn reinvigorate the anti-war movement. And before you know it, all of our problems will be solved.

At least that's what I'm wishing for when I blow out the candles on my cake next week.

Our recent guests...

Laurie and Brianna stayed with us recently. For about a week. It was a great visit, we hung out and talked and played and goofed. The dogs all got along too.






Although my dogs don't think it's fair that Brie can be on the furniture and they can't.





And we have to explain, "Well Moe, and Cody, the Hotel Yorba is a services business and we must be accomodating to the unique needs of all of our guests."



I learned that my little sister has no fear of electricity.





I've been meaning to replace the light fixtures out front since...oh, since about the day we moved in here. And Laurie banged them out in an afternoon.





Rachel helped...







And she also repaired the grout on our front porch...


And I took the usual teasing about being Marty Stewart and was told that I should just go bake a cake or something.

It seems that there was once a bee colony behind this one. And that bee colony was replaced by a spider den.



Work's been really busy for me. And while I worked, the girls crafted. They did another batch of Mosaic projects.

And we went and watched Jake play ball. He's been getting in the lineup more. And he's been doing well. In 4 at bats, he's had a hit, two walks, a stolen base, and scored a run.


He's got another game today here against Willits. And then Monday at Ft. Bragg. I never had to drive two hours for high school sports outside of the occasional wrestling tournament. But when you live in the sticks, that's the way it goes. Lake County Schools play Mendocino and Sonoma county schools.

My Dad always said, "A walk's as good as a hit." I'm not sure if this is going to work as I shot the video with my cell phone, but here goes...

Oh great, it came out sideways. Well, just tilt your head.

Or your monitor.

Other than that, our roses are popping in all kinds of beautiful colors - oranges and reds and pinks and purplesm, and our lawns, front and back, need some attention. And I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to get to them.