Eminent domain vs Private Property

Supreme Court rules cities may seize homes

By now you have probably seen this news item.

It is amazing to me that this country has gone to such extremist measures in the name of greed.

What we have is the government now able to tell any person to fucking move. You don't OWN your house, you don't OWN your land, regardless of how much tax money you pay. The government owns it and allows you to pay them money through taxes and allows you to keep it at its whim not to take it from you.

This ruling means that ANY home is unsafe from Eminent Domain. If there is a potential "economic gain" for the city then you are shit out of luck if you happen to be in the spot that developers want to build.

Sure, they are given "just compensation" whatever that fucking means but is that really "just"?

Say you have lived in your home for 50 years. A developer asks your city council to have your land because it wants to make a new hotel or whatever. Well, given the infinite wisdom of your elected officials, they can choose, by Eminent Domain to kick you the fuck out of your home.

Sure, you can get "market value" for your home. But can it compensate for all the memories that accumulate over your lifetime? Can you keep your neighbors? Your neighborhood? All myriad of things that make a home a home and not just a house.

Of course, a house is just a thing. And when you finally paid off your mortgage it was YOURS. Or so you thought.

Now what?

This country has become so fascist in the short time I have been here that it won't be long before you will be TOLD where to fucking live and who you can associate with and what you can say or what you can watch or what you can listen to.

And this decision comes from the "liberal" memebers of the Supreme Court, but they are all fascists just like our executive and legislative branches are and it will not get any better until there is a thorough cleansing of the government, one way or another.

What's mine is mine and you can go fuck off!

Workout and Reiki and Cosmos

So I worked out again yesterday as I tend to do several times a week.

But this time was different.

This was my first workout with Reiki.

And holy crap it worked out great!

Last week I had upped my level of difficulty on the stationary bike when doing all the fun hilly stuff. Needless to say, it was pretty tough, especially on the last mega-high hill, but I managed to keep the 80 rpm and got through. Then I do my usual bench presses etc for anaerobic activity too.

Anyway, flash forward to yesterday, or is it flash back only not as far? Hmm.

So I did the same difficulty, my new one, that I did last week. And as a thought, I would do Reiki while biking.

It was sort of odd at first not touching the little handle bar thingies while biking, but I didn't much.

Well, when I stopped doing Reiki my heart rate would shoot up more like what happened last week then when I was doing Reiki. Now it was definitely elevated and I definitely knew I was working out but I wasn't really getting tired. And my breathing was pretty regular.

I also didn't struggle...AT ALL.

I was just in this zone that let me know that my body was doing work. I was aware I was working my legs pretty hard but all I really had to do was concentrate on keep my legs moving at 80 rpm. Because the Reiki is usually used for relaxation, I had to concentrate to keep my legs moving at a steady pace.

Other then that it was great! Even the highest hill I wasn't breathing heavy at all and my heart rate was elevated but not at the high rate I had on the hard parts last week.

Let me just say it was a rather uncommon experience.

And it was wonderful.

I plan to go up a level on Thursday and see what happens.

Heck I might as well go to 12 since I am on level 10 already.

I also didn't get any of the aches usually associated with working out after doing Reiki after each set of working out and after on my way home.

I also did a full self Reiki when I got home just to clean out, and I had an hour to kill before going out. :)

Ok, enough Reiki talk for now. :P

Check out the Cosmos launch stuff! (The link is currently pretty busy)

Weekend Wrap-Up

That kind of sounds like a news story.

It isn't. :)

So I took my Reiki workshop on Saturday morning and I am now a Reiki Practitioner. Basically that means I am able to do Reiki on myself, other people, animals and plants. Basically anything with living cells.

So if you have pet moss I can give Reiki to help heal it. :)

Pet rocks are right out though.

Anyway, it was definitely an interesting experience and I found a great resonance with the attunement. I am also grateful my friend LM went as well. It made the class better knowing someone there.

I then went to a Litha ceremony to celebrate the summer solstice. I called East. I am not really a pagan but I support my friends who do, so I did the calling because I was asked to. Plus it is nice to be in a community of loving people.

Speaking of community, I have currently three different communities that I am a part of right now, all of which I like a lot and try to split my time with all of them equally (though that is not always possible). The other thing I like to do is cross-overs. I WANT people from all my communities to be part of the same one but that isn't realistically possible because not everyone can like everyone else. So I like to bring some over to different activities from different groups.

Anyway, so I went out dancing after the ceremony with another community of mine. I saw many folks and danced, per usual. I wore a light colored shirt so I didn't dance as much as I normally do. Then again, it shouldn't really matter what I wear as long as I have fun.

Yesterday was Father's Day, so I went to dinner with my dad. It was nice to see him because I haven't seen him for a month or so. We had lunch at the Clam Bake because he is a big seafood fan. We also took a walk on the beach a bit and then had some Father's Day ice cream cake. I didn't know cake was associated with Father's Day but oh well. :) My step-mom is interesting like that. :)

So then I visited a short bit with LM and Mo at the playground to drop off some cash. Mo needs new glasses and I am helping out. :)

Last, but not least was the making of tunics and pants for Pennsic. Inge is kind enough to help me out with her seamstress knowledge and we only got to wash the fabric and cut some patterns for shorts because she was watching Aubrey for a few hours also. Plus DH8 was watching my Stargate SG-1 season 2 and I got distracted too.

*shakes fist* Damn you! ;)

All in all a great weekend. IMNSHO. :)

So here I am at work, doing Reiki on myself while chattering on the blog.

What do you want for nothing?

Oops

So I stayed up pretty late last night and had a great time talking and dancing and flirting and drinking and just being myself. And it worked out rather well.

It seems like I make new friends almost every night I go out, usually cute but mostly attached to someone else. But hey, practice makes perfect. :)

Anyway, the oops part is that I forgot to set my alarm before collapsing for the night.

Oops.

So I woke up at 10:30 in the morning.

Ugh.

So I get all my shit together as quick as I can manage and get to work way late.

Luckily I mostly work independently so no big deal as long as my shit gets done.

See the thing is, I get my shit done, done well and done before it needs to get done. It allows me leeway to do things like be late or play on the internet or be friendly with folks in different departments...mmm love summer interns. ;)

So anyway, here I am late at work, and gonna head out and hopefully get my stuff ready for Pennsic.

Ugh.

But I do look forward to "Tunics for Taco" night, I just need to get to the fabric place with Inge so I can get some stuff. Thanks Gaius. :) (There would be a link there if he started a blog! hint hint)

Hmm and Reiki

So I haven't written in a few days.

Too bad for you!

Sucka!

Ok, ahem, now that that is out of the way...

I really haven't been in the mood to update. Mostly because I have been busy with RL and wanted to do that rather than update this.

In any event, I am going to be going to a Reiki class on Saturday and I'm looking forward to it.

I have been told I have great energy and I seem to be able to project that into other people when I give massages. I am not a profession masseur but I am pretty good at it. With more training I might be able to focus my energy better to ease the pains that people have. And maybe even some that I have.

Of course, I am a pain in the neck for most people so maybe I can massage it out for them. ;)

Anyway, I guess we'll find out and I *might* tell you about it if I remember to. :)

Just like I said I would talk about the Pizza Girls. ;)

...I know I can be such a tease sometimes. :P ...

VNV Nation

So I had an interesting and long weekend this week and got to see a band that I was newly introduced to.

They are a lot of fun and play hard hitting techno type music (though I am sure there is a real term for their style that I am unaware of).

Anyway, Saturday was "Girl's Night Out" but it meant that the guys got to go out and then meet up with the ladies afterwards.

I drank a bit too much wine, but being "Sweet & Sexy" I needed to have a flight of that at the wine bar we went to. I know it is an unwritten rule, but flirting with our waitress was fun and it was good. :)

So needless to say, I got pretty fershnookered Saturday night and went to bed, after going out to Denny's (ugh), and got home about 3am.

I woke up Sunday morning at 8am not feeling so hot, so I drank three glasses of water and went back to bed.

I woke up on Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm, which happened to coincide with the time I had to pick up Wally and head over to the Mall to pick up Stoikangel and Ivar to head to the show in Boston around 3ish.

I was a bit late but everything seemed to work out well.

Strangely enough once we were in Boston trying to find a parking spot, Ivar saw his cousin Al (who we were supposed to meet at the club) walking down Newbury Street which somehow we found ourselves on (I was driving).

So we picked him up, found a parking spot on Boylston street near Fenway (which is strange enough as it is) and had dinner over Thatcher's which my brother and my friend George used to frequent, plus I go there with them when I am down visiting.

Moving on...

The show was awesome with 2 opening acts which were fun but the club was way humid and the AC was out. It was fucking hot. Ice and cold water (along with some beers) were the order of the night.

Anyway, I definitely recommend them if you like techno style. Plus the lead singer was a riot and had us laughing between songs. :)

And that was my weekend.

Did I mention I got back home at 2:30am this morning and still got up for work at 8?

Guess I am a glutton for punishment. :)

Annoyed

So I am getting annoyed with women.

Not any one of them in particular but that fact that they have so much power over men.

It is just fucking stupid that I let it happen to me but what am I gonna do?

I mean what the hell? They control the booty and I can't get any unless they let me.

What do I have to do?

I am a nice guy, I treat people with respect, I am pretty cool, I am mostly non-neurotic, I am not overly dramatic, I am not beautiful but good looking, a bit chunky right now but I'm athletic and I work out, I dance pretty well, I make good money, I have a nice apartment, I have a nice car, I live within my means, I have a healthy size penis, I am a sensitive and attentive lover, I am fun in the sack, I am fun most of the time actually, I am artistic, I play music, I write poetry and songs, I make art, I support and have many friends, and I am generally likeable.

Now what's not to like? Heck, what's not to love?

All my dating friends say "It'll happen". Yeah whatever. Someday maybe in the far distant future?

It's not like I am not putting myself out there. I go out what 3 times a week on a regular basis and other times during the week to places I don't normally frequent.

I talk to people all the time whether I know them or not. Sure my personality doesn't shine through immediately because of my old shyness still lingering so I am guessing my first impressions are either really shitty or I am a fucking pariah or something.

Did I mention it was frustrating?

And telling me it will work out some time in the future is not good enough any more.

Give me the right answer.

Just be an asshole? Treat them like dirt? Be a fuck head jock type with short hair and fucking baseball cap?

Ok, I am almost done venting. :)

Grumble.

I am just a bad finisher I guess. Even if my first impressions go over great, I can never figure out how to steer the conversation to that right spot. Maybe I should just fucking say it, "Hey let's fuck". It's bound to work 1 in 1000 times right?

Well I want more than that too. I guess I'll take what I can get right now, which smacks so much of desperation. But then again, if I told you how long it has been you would see where I am at. :/

Ok, a little better.

No, not really.

The Wheelchair

Ok, so I have had some weird experiences with wheelchairs this week.

It only occurred to me this morning that there seems to be a pattern forming with me seeing wheelchairs in strange locations.

Now, the weird thing is it isn't wheelchairs with people in them, near them, moving them, touching them in any way. It is wheelchairs sitting or leaning against something or just open and resting in a position of not moving.

Anyway, the first incident was Monday night when I was heading over to Goth night over at Styxx. I had just left my apartment and, instead of taking my normal shortcut through the parking lot of the building across my street, I went around the building on the sidewalk.

At the corner of the sidewalk on one of the wires holding up the corner telephone pole was a black wheelchair. There is very little to no incline on my street where I live so I can't imagine it rolling backwards down the sidewalk to rest gently on this wire with its back. The only door to the building it was in front of was on the other side of the house, on the parking lot side. The next building up is a business and there is like a dip in the sidewalk for the parking lot (there is one on opposite corners of the building to the parking lot, hence a short cut) so I wouldn't imagine it rolling down then up that incline, especially with some bare cobblestones showing through the sidewalk pavement.

At the time it struck me as odd, since it was an empty black wheelchair, really basic, unmotorized leaning against a wire with its back against it with no one else on the street.

But I pretty much forgot about it until today.

Today, I was walking to the cafeteria at work to grab some breakfast. While walking there, there is sort of a crossroads of hallways and at the base of a stairwell, the stairwell is not built into the wall so it is sorta free standing in this big open area similar to a spiral staircase only not so spiral.

Anyway, there is a raised cement area just underneath the stairwell and we need to maneuver a little around it at the hallway confluence and lo and behold, a very basic black wheelchair is upright and folded sitting on this cement stand under the stairwell.

Now, there are some people walking in the hallway this time but there is no one paying any particular attention to this wheelchair. There was no one in it obviously because it is folded but it is curious to me as to why it would be in that particular spot.

Now we have some folks with disabilities at work, but they usually have their own transportation. There is security office and a nurse's station (sorta) much down the hall but not near this location. The only thing that would make any sense in this situation is that there is a first aid kit across the hallway from this wheelchair.

In any event, though now that I think about this one it is not so far fetched, but it did bring attention to the one I saw on Monday night. Though coming back from lunch, I did not see the wheelchair in the hallway or under the stairs any more, or next to the first aid kit for that matter.

So there must be some subconscious significance to the wheelchair events or I am using my imagination too much again. :)

Ah well, I guess I will just let it pass, for now, until another wheelchair incident happens.

*keeps an eye out for mysteriously placed empty black wheelchairs*

What would you do?

So I have been thinking about how close we are to losing our comfortable and safe way of life.

Think about it this way. I live in Portland, which is not ground zero for anything most likely. But Boston would be. And it is only 2 hours away.

Imagine this scenario: You look out your window right now and in the SW you see a flash of light brighter than the sun. It either temporarily blinds you, if you looked right at it, or it looks like a real bright lightning flash all around casting long dark shadows across everything.

Now, what would you do? Heck, what could you do? You could panic and go crazy, like most people who can't cope with the real world. You could ignore it and pretend it was just your imagination and keep walking to the Starbucks for a coffee. Or you could get the hell out of the city before the rioting happens.

I have a great group of friends with many diverse skills, but having a place to go is not one of those things. Sure, there are some folks who live away from town some 20-30 minutes or so but is that really far enough? The thing is, is it too far?

More than likely there all your electronic dohickeys got melted by the EM pulse associated with the flash. Now what?

See that's the thing, I am not sure what I would or could do. I am not a panicker or anything but still there is a level of helplessness that annoys the hell out of me.

Anyway, the reason I ask is can anyone actually be ready for that kind of change?

Probably not unless you KNOW it is coming way in advance. Perhaps it is just my paranoia talking but shouldn't you have a plan, any plan, just in case?

Sure, the Cold War is over, but is it safer? I say no but then again we are living in a culture of fear so it may just be that being pounded into my brain so much.

Or I have been reading too much about Auto Assault. :)

Either way, I have a feeling it is not as far away as you think.

What Pre-1985 Video Game Character Am I?

I am an Asteroid. I am a drifter. I go where life leads, which makes me usually a very calm and content sort of person. That or thoroughly apathetic. Usually I keep on doing whatever I'm doing, and it takes something special to make me change my mind. (If you were not an Asteroid you would be a Pacman Ghost.) What Video Game Character Are You?

Still out of practice

It looks like I am out of practice with writing blogs. I went a week and a half without doing it and haven't updated much since I got back.

I am really ambivalent right now on what to do with the blog. I have no burning desire to talk about community or how the government is fucking us over. I am not interested really in talking about my social life per se, though it is rather busy on occasion. And really I am not sure how much I am getting out of spewing my thoughts onto the net.

Maybe I am in a good spot, or a real bad one, I can't tell at this point. I don't feel bad, or I am delusional. One of those.

Anyway, just thought I would get that thought out and see if it led me out of not wanting to blog. Obviously I am currently blogging so it is defeating the purpose of talking about not blogging or not feeling like blogging WHILE actually blogging. Yes, I am a hypocrite, but at least my hypocrisy doesn't kill people.

Ok, now that you actually got this far (or did you) I am going to conclude that I am going to blog as often as I want to. Unless there is a great outcry from the universe that I continue blogging daily then I may. But until then, I will do it as often as I choose to.

"Be an egoist, it's better for you!"

Back to work

So here I am, day 2 back from my vacation at work.

I get here yesterday and apparently all is not well. I get swamped with figuring out what is wrong with the new build (that was supposed to be finished just before I left) AND I had to interview someone to join our algorithm group with only 3 hours notice AND I also need to help the Futures group with a new algorithm (which I still need to do).

And I could give a crap. :)

I actually had a real nice day at work. It was nice to be needed even though I was thrown head long into the mud as usual. Thankfully I don't get stressed out about much and I was pretty relaxed after my vacation so there you go.

Anyway, so here is my only angst in this life so far.

[Left turn Clyde]

I haven't got laid for a while. Now, a lot of that has to do with my poor self-image that I was maintaining for so long, but now that I have been working on it and my personality, you would think someone would want to sex me up. :)

I am apparently a very poor finisher. I have no problems meeting someone new, talking with them and flirting...a lot. :) But I have not been able to figure out a way to shift the conversation to the sex part or heck, even the making out part. My lack of signal processing is my downfall, either that or my choice in women is too high for me.

I guess the women I am attracted to aren't attracted to me. Which is why I have been work on my body to get rid of all the junk fat that I have been keeping for a while.

Anyway, I should be working, but like I said, I don't worry about it that much since I will get my shit done on time and well regardless. :)

Ok, enough musing and changing subjects.

I had a great vacation and work isn't as bad as I thought it would be. :)