...I'm breaking the rules and enjoying a fine Cuban cigar procured for me recently. I'm waiting for Castro do die so that our country can get over this thing with Cuba. Admittedly I'm interested for selfish, cigar indulgent reasons. I really wish that JFK's foiled mission to have a cigar blow up in Castro's face (literally) would have worked. I wouldn't be having to smoke inferior cigars 40 years later.

I'm going to touch on the illegal immigration issue also sometime soon... but right now I'm enjoying the day and the cigar far too much to be in a serious mood!

This is one of the times where I'm ashamed to be right about an issue - in particular with respect to the issue of hypocrisy and the left.

Exhibit A - how liberals handle rallys that they disapprove of -

Lets stop pretending that the left embraces diversity. In particular, I can't stop laughing about how lefties condemn others for being intolerant, then turn around and perpetrate what the politicians and citizens of San Fran just did. Sheer lunacy.

You see, the left embraces diversity as long as its LEFTY diversity. Ban a retired Navy ship from San Fran's port? If you are a San Fran liberal lunatic, this makes a lot of sense, because you generally hate the military and believe to the core of your being that you are superior to those who choose the military path, so therefore this is an acceptable solution. Anti-war rallies, gay rallies? Yep, if you are a lefty in San Fran this is acceptable, as it should be. Christian teens rallying in San Fran? NO - its an "act of provocation." So, insulting the military and Christians at every available opportunity isn't an act of provocation, but Christian kids marching around San Fran is? Bullshit.

What a bunch of foolish, senseless, childish sods that city on the bay is populated with. Except (e:twisted) and (e:ajay) - y'all are good people in my book for sure. Grown men and women calling teenagers "fascists" and holding up signs saying "I moved here to get away from people like you?" What a complete and utter embarrassment to themselves. Its things like this episode that make San Fran an ideological island, and ensure that no liberals will win a national election out of the fear that a Democrat would potentially be influenced by people this clinically insane. When you look at who is funding the Democratic Party nowadays, you should be worried about that. This is also why I fully welcome a Hillary nomination for '08.

Thankfully, the Constitution protects these people from themselves and from others. In Sweden, the country of my family's origin, you aren't so lucky. A minister was jailed there recently for calling homosexuality a sin during a church service! Just one of many reasons why Europe could never be as great as the USA is - in Europe, there ARE limitations to what you can say in public, thanks to liberals and the nanny state. Apparently this is hate speech, but what just happened to those kids in San Fran isn't. Its "hip" to insult Christians nowadays, so feel free to do so. But, when you come to me and cry about people talking about their religious beliefs openly, in groups and in public, if what they have to say offends you, I'm pretty much going to tell you to practice what you preach. Oooh, sizzle! Sizzle!

Nothing much to say, just poking my head in. Ooh - a naughty double entendre!

Tonight we're in Greensboro, NC. We're staying at what probably is the nicest Hampton Inn I've ever seen. Its been pretty mundane - I've been doing laundry tonight and not much else. I've been mainly sticking to chicken salads this week but tonight we went to Longhorn for some grilled and seasoned bovine with baked sweet potato. Damn I love Longhorn. I love the roadhouses in general - they actually just opened a Texas Roadhouse off of the 290 Colvin exit in Tizzlewizzle.

I'm home next week, which makes me happy.

Hang on - there was a hookah at St. Matty's Day? Now THAT is something.

Thanks for posting pictures guys. I'm still embarassed about not making it - but I try to be civil around people I like and respect, and didn't want to barge through the door at 2AM drunk and high yelling "HEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!" I'd rather have us yelling "HEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!" together.

I neglected to mention what car they gave me at the rental agency - a Dodge Grand Caravan. By far the worst car I've ever rented, and we've driven A LOT of cars. I pretty much want to duck and hide every time I have to get behind the wheel. I'd rather pilot your little sister's tricycle before ever renting a Grand Caravan again - thankfully I'm not spending my own money on this! If I was on vacation I'd be totally pissed.

I'm not sure why, but I've been fairly apolitical lately. Maybe I have other things on my mind.

EDIT - I switched my user sound from "Alex Chilton" by The Replacements to "Act of the Apostle" by Belle and Sebastian. I needed something else, something with sleepy sounding vocals and a good melody.

I'm not nearly as bothered by the blonde whore getting off as (e:jason) is, although I find it interesting that if she looked like Roseanne Barr she'd be in the pokey right now. It is bullshit? Of course. But our society prizes beautiful people... so there you go. Maybe thats why Roseanne Barr had her face fixed.

I've been thinking about the lower back tattoo lately; maybe thats because myself and about 15 other guys at the airport were gawking at a girl that was bent over recently. It was so blatant that us fellas were grinning and nodding to each other. Now, I've never shied away from the fact that men are pigs. I like the tattoo. But, for those of you girls who are getting that tattoo "for yourself" - thats like saying you are getting a boob job "for yourself." Don't be so ignorant and naive, and please don't insult anyones intelligence anymore. If you get that tattoo, you are doing so with the expectation in mind that you are going to get gawked at and assumed to give it up without too much effort. Is it fair? No. Lifes not fair. The blonde rapist staying out of jail isn't fair. Lots of things aren't fair. Live with it, or if you don't like guys gawking and daydreaming about using that tattoo as a target, get your erotic tattoo somewhere more private. Its more fun that way anyhow - I'd rather find out that my girl has a wild side privately then have her wild side broadcasted like a billboard on the small of her back.

RED ALERT - I PUT OUT!

Ok. Be good, (e:strip)pers, and look both ways before crossing the street.

Damn (e:jason), you bear a striking resemblance to Paul Wall!

Don't you love it when someone sends you something like this?

---

JUNE

---

You've got the best personality and are an absolute pleasure to be around. You love to make new friends and be outgoing. You are a great flirt and more than likely have an a very attractive partner. a wicked hottie. It is also more than likely that you have a massive record collection. You have a great choice in films, and may one day become a famous actor/actress yourself - heck, you've got the looks for it!!! IN the next 6 days you will meet someone that may possibly become oneof your closest friends, if you repost this in 5 minutes.


Never mind that this paragraph is stunningly accurate - what bothers me is this crap at the end of the paragraph. Things like this clog internet bandwith like plaque in an artery.

Anyway, (e:peeps), I'm reporting to you tonight from the state of Delaware. I don't mind saying that this place isn't one of my favorites. Today's train ride was cool - almost 4 hours of just relaxing... its rare that I get to do that when I'm on the road for work. We got the car and promptly drove from Baltimore to the hotel. Theoretically I'll be home sometime tomorrow, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Rachel Ray, will you marry me?



Today was a good day. We worked in East New York, Brooklyn. Thugalicious for sure, but it was cool - the facility we visited had this crazy $8 million dollar printer/bag maker. Its sad when you can go to Wal-Mart, randomly pick out items and say, "Yeah, I was there and saw this being made."' The company we visited today makes the plastic bags that other companies use to package their stuff - socks, etc. - you get the idea. The manager we worked with even hooked us up with a ride to the subway in his Mercedes-Benz CL500 coupe - VERY nice car. He told us that if he didn't have another appointment he would have driven us all the way to Penn Station... which I would have absolutely loved.

After work we took the 3 line in Brooklyn to Penn Station then took an Amtrak train to Stamford, CT. It was my first time taking a regional train, and I have to say that its more enjoyable than flying. Its almost just like flying, actually; there are many similarities and you almost feel like you're in a plane. Except for the view, of course. As far as the traveling experience, overall if you ask me its far more enjoyable than being in a plane. The seats are larger with more legroom and are more comfortable, each double seat section has a 120v jack if you want to monkey with your laptop and not worry about battery life, theres a snack car, and also another car with cafeteria-style seating. Theres also a business class section, but I didn't bother. Overall, after countless flying hours, I have to say that after my first ride in a train I wish that airplane travel was more like train travel.

For you wrasslin' fans, we drove right by the WWE headquarters! My first impression of Connecticut is that its full of blueblood, snooty, extremely rich people. Which is probably true for all of New England but still, the area is beautiful. After work tomorrow we go back to Stamford and take another train to BWI airport, then drive to Dover, DE for the night. Then the next day, we work in DE, come back to Baltimore for a short revisit then fly back home... all the same day.

I talk a lot of shit about NYC, but theres something about the place that I love. Could I live there? I'm still not sure, but I know that I'm more accepting of the idea now than I was 5 years ago.

Hey peeps -

I got a chance to see my college buddies tonight in Queens - we hung out in Astoria and had a couple pints. It was very nice to be able to see some old but dear friends. Astoria is definitely one of the places I could imagine living in if I ever moved to NYC.

Anyhow, thats it!

So I got up at 5AM today for no reason, apparently. I'm sitting in Rochester airport happily leeching the free wireless access and waiting for my flight. Everything got backed up 2 hours, so now I have to sit here and wait until we can get to LGA. The bad news is that the audit I was supposed to execute today is going to be rescheduled... which leads to the good news. Free day in Manhattan for Joshy! We're gonna check in to the hotel, drop our crap off, then head straight for the subway.

Rochester airport is smaller than BUF if you can believe it, but in some ways its nicer. The airport food here is sparse, but they have a Hudson News and a nice business center with free wireless throughout the airport - thats definitely enough to keep me happy!

I forgot my camera but I'll be sure to describe my exploits during the week. Have a good one, y'all back in B-Lo.

My assignments for the next three weeks involve NYC, CT, MD, DE, GA, TN, SC, and VA. Tomorrow I leave for New York City to work for two days, which is great because I have a big group of friends down there that I'm going to be able to catch up with. To be honest I have mixed feelings about the place - I have people I care about there, but on the other hand in some ways I absolutely hate NYC. We plan on dining in Little Italy tomorrow, which I'm definitely looking forward to.

The new job search is definitely on - the trouble is going to be orchestrating interviews with my chaotic traveling schedule. I'm very confident that things are going to end up well for me in this respect but on the other hand its going to be a serious pain in the ass to set up interviews when have very little open time to prepare adequately and even get in to interview. I've thought about quitting my job outright, or letting my current boss know that I'm looking elsewhere, but the advice I've gotten is to keep what I have and don't quit until I have something locked up... which is difficult to achieve when you aren't around to interview. I'm going to have to wait and see, but I'm going to float my resume out for the next three weeks and when my current work schedule is over with I'll reevaluate.

Thats about it - I've enjoyed my hibernation and its time to get back on the road. I'm going to try to get some pics taken and update while I'm gone!