Common sense, people.

I read this today:

"A McClatchy investigation found that instead of confining terrorists, Guantanamo often produced more of them by rounding up common criminals, conscripts, low-level foot soldiers and men with no allegiance to radical Islam - thus inspiring a deep hatred of the United States in them - and then housing them in cells next to radical Islamists...Soldiers, guards or interrogators at the U.S. bases at Bagram or Kandahar in Afghanistan had abused many of the detainees, and they arrived at Guantanamo enraged at America."

Well, no shit. I don't want alot of hellfire about how un-American I am or how I side with terrorists because I don't. Terrorism is not acceptable and it disgusts me. However, I tend to agree with what I quoted above: If I were unfortunate enough to be confined in Guantanamo as a possible terrorist by a foreign military simply because I fit the stereotype and got caught with firearms or with some kind of contraband (as deemed so by afore-said foreign military) then yes, I might be in that same boat. Who wouldn't? And really think about that for a moment.

Damn it, now my head's full of angry goo.

An idea for your "stimulus" check...

(Taken from a local Vegas newspaper.)

Brothel owner Bobbi Davis has a plan to "stimulate the economy," and she means that exactly the way you think she does.

Starting July 1, her Shady Lady Ranch will hand out gasoline gift cards to paying customers who make the drive to the bordello on U.S. Highway 95 north of Beatty. Spend $300 on you know what and get a $50 gas card. Spend $500 and get a $100 gas card.

Davis hopes the promotion will bring back some of the business they have lost to record-high fuel prices.

"We've noticed it a little this month. It hasn't been frightening, but it's been a little (slower)," she said. "We have some people from Las Vegas who have been loyal to us. We thought this might be a way to get them to come back and say hi."

Davis said the brothel usually has three to five women working at a time. Three hundred dollars will get you a full hour with the shady lady of your choice.

"You get a little half and half, with multiple positions and multiple climaxes," Davis explained.

For $500, you get, well, more.

The promotion is slated to run through the end of the month or until Davis runs out of gift cards, whichever comes first.

Brothel industry lobbyist George Flint likes the idea. He's just not sure it will work on men in Las Vegas.

"There's enough ladies of the evening available, illegally or legally," he said. "They don't need to get in their cars and drive to a place 135 miles away."

Actually, it's more like 150 miles one way from downtown Las Vegas to the Shady Lady's yellow mobile home alongside an otherwise deserted stretch of U.S. Highway 95 in southern Nye County. Depending on the car, $50 worth of gas will barely cover one round trip.

But Flint, who also owns a wedding chapel in Reno, said you can't fault Davis for trying, especially in this economy.

"There's a lot of people out there are hurting right now," he said. "Anything an owner can do in any business should be applauded for trying."

The impact of rising fuel costs is obvious at brothels along Interstate 80 in Northern Nevada, Flint said. Business there has declined by about 20 percent, mostly due to long-haul truckers who can barely afford diesel fuel, let alone creature comforts on the road.

Meanwhile in Southern Nevada, some brothel owners have told Flint that "things are as bad as they've ever seen them," he said.

Over the past three years, the Shady Lady's two closest competitors -- Angels Ladies to the south and the Cottontail Ranch to the north -- have closed their doors.

"She's a voice crying out there in the wilderness all by herself," Flint said of Davis.

She and her husband, Jim, have owned and operated the Shady Lady for 16 years.

They made headlines in 2007 when they joined with the American Civil Liberties Union on a successful challenge of a state ban on brothel advertising in Clark and Washoe counties, where prostitution in illegal.

Since then, Davis said, the brothel has taken out some "modest" ads in Las Vegas and seen a small increase in traffic as a result.

Lately, though, the pain at the pump has spread to the parlor, Davis said.

According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is now $4.25 in the Las Vegas Valley.

Davis said her husband just paid $4.38 a gallon at the nearest filling station in Beatty, so it's a probably a good thing that none of the gasoline cards she bought will work there.

She added that a customer can also earn the card by spending $300 on souvenirs, though that would be pretty hard to do. All the brothel sells -- aside from the obvious, that is -- are T-shirts, key chains, shot glasses, poker chips and commemorative coins. "But you could really stock up," Davis said.

The Shady Lady isn't the only brothel trying to lure customers with a unique promotion in dark economic times.

At the Moonlight Bunny Ranch near Carson City, outspoken owner Dennis Hof is offering to double the money of the first 100 customers who choose to cash their federal stimulus checks at the brothel.

Since the promotion was launched last week, nine men have taken advantage of the deal, Hof said.

"What are you going to do, take you stimulus check to Wal-Mart? That money is going back to China," he said. "Give it to the hookers, and it will go to tattoo parlors and beer and massage therapists and hair stylists and manicurists. We're keeping the money in America."

As part of the promotion, Hof has placed a giant thank-you card in the brothel's parlor for customers to sign after doing their piece to spur the economy. Once the card fills up, Hof plans to mail it to President Bush at the White House.

Désolée, mais...

Je sais que j'ai promis plus. Je sais qu'il a été plus qu'une semaine depuis que j'ai écrit. Cependant, je dois dire quelque chose petite.

Parfois, je peux être heureuse. Je ne crois pas que ma vie est gaspillée. Je sais que la vie a changé et je suis très bénie. Je souhaite seulement que j'aie su pourquoi je continue la pensée à l'Avant, quoique je ne puisse pas le changer. Parfois ils voient mes cicatrices. Je pourrais dire la vérité mais pourquoi? La vie devient compliquée. D'abord ils posent des questions sur mes cicatrices, puis ils demandent quand. Encore, si je dis la vérité, ils demandent pourquoi. Parfois la vérité est la meilleure quand elle est cachée. Personne ne veut savoir.

Mais d'autre part: Je ne peux pas cesser la pensée. J'essaye de ne pas penser à mon enfance, mais parfois il me hante pendant des jours. J'ai dit avant que j'ai été adoptée quand j'avais 14 ans. C'est vrai. J'aime que j'aie été adoptée. Mais en même temps, je déteste ce que je me rappelle d'Avant. Je déteste que je ne sente pas en sécurité. Je déteste que je ne puisse pas faire confiance à d'autres. Je déteste qu'il soit si évident.

Très peu de personnes peuvent comprendre. C'est ma faute. Je ne dis jamais la vérité au sujet de mon enfance. Probablement 5 personnes savent entièrement. Encore 10 savent la moitié. Le repos savent seulement des mensonges, ou vérité partielle. Pourquoi néanmoins me blesse-t-il? Pourquoi font je néanmoins se trouvent, quoique ce n'ait pas été ma faute? Tellement beaucoup m'ont indiqué que j'étais la victime, je n'ai eu aucun choix et aucun droit. Mais je me rappelle, et parfois je suis en désaccord. Je me demande s'il est parce que je ne veux pas admettre que je n'ai eu aucune commande.

Je veux être honnête. "L'honnêteté est le nouveau noir", Flynn me dit. Mais pas ceci. Personne ne veut savoir. Et secrètement je me sens que je serai punie pour cette honnêteté, la même que j'ai été punie quand j'étais une jeune fille. Rien à foutre...

Hey all...

I'm sick. Some stupid summer cold that's got me all stuffed up with a sore throat and all achy. Not fun.

I do have other posts written, saved out-of-view in their raw form (no capitalisation or punctuation, and rarely in full sentences), therefore I'm letting the world know that once I'm not a slave to my homeopathic concoctions and hot teas, I'll get to posting what's been going on.

Highlights to look forward to:

~My first off-roading experience; ---> see 06 June 2008
~An awesome new endevour at work;
~A concert I attended that was literally unlike any other....

I'll be back to posting soon. Promise.

Am I so wrong?

Broken. That's okay. My beliefs have shifted dramatically in the past two years. My understanding of truth and reality have shifted. I've overheated and dehydrated. I'm watching a silly animated program, drinking a Mudslide, and completely exhausted. But I can't sleep; I'm not who I was before and it concerns me. I hope it's for the best.

I was deflowered!

So, it's true. I lost my off-road virginity. It was exhilarating and frightening at the same time, but I'm really anxious to do it again. :)

Flynn goaded me into it, I mean it's not that I didn't want to but I'm not one for embracing completely new experiences. I get skittish and nervous and well, like a dumb girl as they say. But anyway, as I was saying, Flynn took care of everything. He was up front about what I needed (water, snacks, a jacket in case it got cold) and he planned the whole thing. It made me worry much less than I would have otherwise.

We went out to Potato Ridge. I followed him directly from work to the beginning of the trail...more than a good half-hour. He specifically chose this run so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed. Out of a possible difficulty score of 5, Potato Ridge is like a 2-1/2. Not bad.

At the beginning of the trail, Flynn laid out what we were going to do as he deflated my tires. I was such a newbie I didn't even know why he was deflating them, but he explained that it was so that the tires would widen out and grab more. Sweet. I love that kind of thing, that kind of random information that's actually useful. Then he made sure I had no questions, and got into his Jeep (Snow White) and I got into mine (as yet without a proper name).

It was simple enough to begin with. I cruised behind him thinking the trail was cake. We went slowly, but for the most part, it started off straight and flat. Then it got interesting...and exciting.

I saw Flynn pull off the the side and motion for me to pull over as well. I did. He told me to get into his Jeep. I did. I was thusly introduced to the Rock Garden. It was just...large rocks and small boulders one atop the other, scattered about, and as it was my first time he wanted to show me how to plan my path. He walked me through the entire thing, explaining aloud each decision and making sure I understood. There was even a point where I was certain we'd tip over and yes, only two wheel were touching ground, but he taught me how important it was to not panic in such situations. It was good, learning all that. Then he made me get out and do it myself.

I admit I panicked a bit; but I got in and he walked beside me as I talked out my path options. Sometimes he helped with advice. Sometimes he shrugged and said it was my call. Sometimes he had me get out and see what crazy position I had forced my poor Jeep into. (Like the time I squished it into a crevice and the sad little wheel was all snug deep inside the wheel well.) I also saw a lizard!

It was definitely a unique experience...after my second tour in the Rock Garden I felt far more confident and not too far after that we made it to the peak. It was calm, I looked at the scenery, I appreciated the moment. We took a break and talked a bit, mostly mundane things, then made our way back down: it was crazy. Most of it was thisclose to the drop, and I was a tiny bit nervous about it--most everyone knows my fear of heights--but I just used my newly-acquired skills of planning my path and I was careful to notice where Flynn took Snow White. Obviously, things went well.

We ended up at Red Rock Canyon: 3 hours and about 20 miles later. It felt great. Flynn inflated my tires again, as well as his own, and it was so sweet how vehicles stopped to make sure we weren't stranded. It was just so good to be in the thick of nature, it felt divine and adventurous and calming and ferocious. I loved it, and I can't wait to go again. I still want baby-trails, for now, but I hope to work my way up.

Final shutdown.

When I was transferred from Drew to Jay and began working on the rigid conduit in January, it became our crew's responsibility to handle the shutdowns of certain substations so that we could prep gutters and such for the eventual splicing-in of power from the condo tower. This was out last one.

It was the XBH substation, the first I'd done as a journeyman. We had our normal 02h00 start time, but this one was different because of the fact that it was the emergency power, which meant that once we shut it down, life safety went offline. Fire alarms, magnetic doors, security...maybe I'm a geek but I thought that was incredibly exciting. In F-Card class we learned that if the life safety went down, security personnel had to be posted at every floor of the tower and at various exits, plus within a certain distance of one another, so that if a fire did start, they could scream out approved warnings in lieu of the sirens and such that a fire alarm system would be capable of doing. I secretly wanted to sneak about and search for the security personnel posted here and there, but that wouldn't have been looked upon favourably.

So, after the shutdown from central plant, Jay radio'd that it was clear. I donned my 11 cal/cm2 hot-suit (very sexy, people!) and with Victor's guidance I used the hot stick and grounded it all out. This was the sixth one so really, it was no different other than the whole life safety aspect of it.

It totally kicked ass though. Emergency power was out for three hours; aside from a few girls wandering aimlessly from the clubs into the dimmed restrooms, no one noticed. I was told a long time ago that an electrician did the job correctly if no one notices anything. After five years in the trade, I know that to be true.

It's sad I won't do another shutdown again anytime soon. I think that kind of thing is loads of fun. Sure, it's dangerous (a few thousand volts) but I seriously dig it. Not quite as kickass as photovoltaics...but not too many notches below it, either.

Need to name my Jeep.

He's a 2007 silver Jeep Wrangler X, no current mods, but may soon begin off-roading. I thought of a few, and some were suggested. Please give me opinions and let me know if there are other good names out there!

So far:
Gunnar
The Brick
Brody-West
Mud Swan
X
Doc Silver
Thaddeus
Zander


....more?

Very happy!

I've been exploring lately, many aspects of myself. I am slowly becoming more comfortable and content with it all; there is a bit of trembling with this newness of course but I think it may be excitement. Changes are afoot! (Stay tuned...)

Been thinking...

First off, Ayla I think one of your sons got ahold of your cell phone, haha. I got a phone call this morning with lots of singing, I think. Was adorable. :)

I've been thinking about trust, lately. More specifically, when giving trust is appropriate, to whom, and in what degree. I mean of course there are different levels of trust; for the most part, the trust a child has for a parent (even if undeserved) is stronger and deeper than the trust an employee might have for his payroll department. I know there are appropriate and inappropriate kinds of trust. I know there are situations that trust is mandatory, as in a life-threatening situation.

But I'm looking back, years ago, to how my misguided trust has affected me. I chose the wrong times, the wrong people, the wrong type of trust. I wonder how much of it has to do with my upbringing. There are certain aspects of one's childhood that affect adulthood, and I've always found it difficult to trust properly. I could go on and on about bullshit that would help to possibly explain but something are best never said. But I do wonder sometimes, if all I learned then--the maladaptive coping mechanisms, the lack of impulse control, the ability to speak while saying nothing--were of any value at all, or if they hindered me. If perhaps it still hinders me.

I feel so fucked up. I need cardamom tea and some burning sage. And calming oil.