On to part two, which would be this weekend. My friend Beth and I hadn't seen each other since we graduated college (yes, that's 5 1/2 years), and her birthday was last Monday, so I figured I would head up to Blacksburg and see her as well as visit my friends Joe & Laura that live up there. And then another friend with VT basketball season tickets tells me he has two spares for the Sunday game against Wake Forest, so that pretty much settled it.

So Friday I went up to Blacksburg and hung out with Beth for awhile, then we had dinner and saw The Pursuit of Happyness (which was an excellent movie). Then I headed out to Joe & Laura's where we proceeded to talk half the night.

Saturday was pretty relaxing, sat around with Joe & Laura and watched movies and TV all day, which was a nice way to wind down.

Sunday Beth and I went to church (she goes to the church I went to when I was a student there so it was nice to go back) and then hung out for the afternoon until the basketball game. After that, back to Joe & Laura's and another night of talking til the wee hours of the morning.

Yesterday I took a tour of the new parts of the VT football stadium, seeing the luxury suites and all. Some people have way too much money!

All in all, a great weekend. Every time I visit Blacksburg I end up seriously considering moving back there...

This already came up in Le Marteau's journal, but here it is. After an excellent writeup in this month's Guns & Ammo, I picked up a Stoeger Cougar 8000 in .40S&W. The Cougar was made by Beretta in the past, but Beretta recently shipped the tooling to Turkey for Stoeger to start building them (Stoeger is owned by Beretta). So what was once a $650 or so Beretta is now a $300-$350 Stoeger. Couldn't pass that up. Pictures are here.

Haven't had a chance to clean or shoot it yet, since I was out of town all weekend after picking up the gun Thursday night.

Geez, I've been a slacker. It's been a pretty quiet fall though, except for two trips which I'll talk about in here.

In October was the trip to St. Croix for L & C's "wedding" (hard to call it a wedding since they got married before leaving for Iraq, but this was the big planned event). Pictures are here, and I guess the gallery titles will eliminate any guesses on what the L & C stand for. The trip was great, even though I was sick throughout (taking antibiotics until I left and then getting another batch of antibiotics after my return). If I had it to do over again, I would've stayed the whole week with everybody.

St. Croix is gorgeous. Rum is cheaper than milk, most of the restaurants serve drinks in plastic cups because they don't care if you take it with you when you leave and most don't seem to care if you sit down with one from another restaurant. The hotel location is beautiful. It's not the nicest hotel in the world, but I'm not terribly picky about hotels either. As long as it's clean, comfortable, and everything works, I'm happy; I don't go on vacation to spend all my time in my room, so I don't need anything more than that. Being on a Cay (or Key for us uncivilized mainlanders), ferry service is the only access to the hotel, and regular service only runs til midnight. After midnight, you have to call the front desk and they send it over.

Getting used to the mindset down there took a little while. Nothing happens quickly, so you have to learn to relax and not expect service to be exceptional. Once you get used to that, the people are pleasant and we didn't have any issues. Which is good, because their gun laws leave much to be desired.

So the weekend... everyone flew in Saturday, except part of Chris's family that got stuck in San Juan for the night. We all went out for dinner and drinks and found our way back to the hotel around midnight, then a few of us were up talking til who knows when.

Sunday we went grocery shopping to pick up a few things to help save money instead of having to eat out, which was especially helpful for the people staying the whole week. Then we went on a sunset cruise (pictures are at the link above), highlighted by free rum punch and the chance for Lizzy to throw Chris overboard. Following that, a long dinner and again heading back to the hotel around midnight.

Monday was a mostly free day for everyone except the ladies in the wedding party (who spent most of the day getting ready for the wedding, which was at sunset. I took the chance to tour the fort in Christiansted (again, pictures at the link above).

The wedding was beautiful; we were worried about the weather since it rained early in the day and looked like it was going to rain again, but it held out. The ceremony was followed by a long dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in town (real glasses for our drinks!).

Tuesday I came back, unfortunately. I would go back in a second.

As for other news on Chris & Lizzy, they are safe and sound overseas. Three months in they were asked to go from Iraq to Afghanistan and they accepted.

I'm going to split this up into multiple parts, so I'll end this one here.

Another season ready to start in a little over a month. This year I'm giving a bit more advance warning. Anyone interested? Just like last year, it will be a rotisserie league on Yahoo with an autopick draft.

I have a theory about the holiday we're about to celebrate, and I discussed it with a few people to make sure my memory wasn't completely off.

Once upon a time, tomorrow's holiday was known as Independence Day. Now, you rarely hear it called that, and it's normally referred to as the Fourth of July. Why is that?

I think it's another example of the political correctness and sanitization of our history that seems to run rampant these days.

You have to take a look at what July 4, 1776 meant. On that day, a group of colonists signed their names to a document that was nothing short of treasonous, knowing full well that they might have to pay for it with their lives. Their values and beliefs that freedom was worth fighting for and worth dying for led them to that choice. They believed that in the face of a government that no longer served its people, the only acceptable response was armed revolt.

Do you think the powers that be have any intention of reminding people annually that the response to an unjust government is armed revolt? No, it's much easier to dilute the meaning, start calling it the "Fourth of July" instead of its rightful name, and convince people that we should all grill burgers and drink beer (not even light fireworks, because the country that is supposed to be a beacon of freedom for the world doesn't even allow its citizens to possess them) in celebration of... what? Having the day off work?

As Patrick Henry said, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" If someone gathered a bunch of people in a church today and gave that speech, they would all be labeled terrorists and arrested.

I honestly believe the great men who signed the Declaration of Independence 230 years ago would be saddened to see what has become of her.

But despite all that, there is no place else quite the same. As Lincoln once said, the United States is the "last best hope of earth."

Happy Birthday America.

The next time the media starts talking about all the evil people going on MySpace looking for underage girls, remember this.

What happened to parental responsibility and where the hell are the parents of these children?

Edit: on another note, isn't it kinda sad that he goes to meet this girl for the first time and forgets his wallet?

• BMWs do odd and not terribly amusing things when the battery is dying.
• BMW batteries are heavy.
• Warranties that cover alternators are quite nice.
• Dealers that provide loaner cars are even better.
• Driving a brand new Camry for a day leads one to wonder "how the hell do they sell so many of these?"

Ok, I'll play this one. Tempered by current moods and probably favoring things the iPod has been playing lately.

#s: 99 Luftballons - Nena
A: Anything but Mine - Kenny Chesney
B: Bargain - The Who
C: Come Together - The Beatles
D: Don't Worry Baby - Beach Boys
E: Every Time I Hear Your Name - Keith Anderson
F: Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
G: Go Insane - Fleetwod Mac
H: Hotel California - The Eagles
I: I Believe - Blessid Union of Souls
J: Jumpin' Jack Flash - Rolling Stones
K: Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
L: Lyin' Eyes - The Eagles
M: Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
N: Not That Different - Collin Raye
O: Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
P: Power of Love - Huey Lewis and the News
Q: Quadrophenia - The Who
R: Revolution - The Beatles
S: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
T: Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks
U: Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
V: Victim of Love - The Eagles
W: We Built This City - Starship
X: Xanadu - Olivia Newton John (the only X song in the library!)
Y: You Make Loving Fun - Fleetwood Mac
Z: Zombie - Jeff Greer Band

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/15/scotus.search.ap/index.html

The Fourth Amendment says: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Does this ruling contradict the amendment? In my opinion, arming police with bulletproof vests and automatic weapons and allowing them to kick down your door in the middle of the night for a non-violent crime is most definitely an unreasonable search. It's one thing to go into the house of a violent criminal where there is a legitimate threat. But this ruling doesn't make that distinction.

You all know I'm a gun owner. If I hear the door crashing down in the middle of the night, the first thing I'm gonna do is grab a gun. How are the police going to react when they find me pointing a gun at them? They're gonna shoot me. And hopefully my family will find a good lawyer to make them really rich.

One of the most intelligent things I have ever read. And note that it was written before Hurricane Katrina and what we saw in New Orleans in the aftermath.

On another note, as I said after venturing up to northern VA a couple weekends ago, C leaves for Iraq today-- June 3rd (actually a processing stage before going to Iraq, but for all intents and purposes he leaves today). Found out from L today that she will be following next Saturday.

I SAID: "They're crazy if they think they're ready to implement that."

I WANT: to figure out where I'm going from here

I WISH: for safe travels for some people I care a lot about

I DO: a million things at once, since I can never seem to concentrate on just one

I DANCE: not very well

I SING: only when alone

I CRY: when I get overly sentimental, which I manage to avoid most of the time. Last was watching L marry C.

I AM NOT ALWAYS: coherent, particularly lately for some reason

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: code, until I end up with carpal tunnel and am forced into early retirement

I WRITE: on /. and in a personal journal, but rarely anywhere else.

I CONFUSE: people's names. If I meet two people at once I will invariably mix up their names for a long time afterwards.

I NEED: a break from the real world, I think

I SHOULD: be working instead of filling this out

I REFUSE: to compromise myself or what I believe in for someone else, no matter how much easier it might seem to make things.

I START: lots of pet projects that often end up sitting there untouched

I FINISH: eventually. But usually not until there is a firm deadline and we're right up against it.

aka, how L and I met each other, with the pieces filled in that I never knew before Friday.

Note: I wrote this Tuesday after coming back, and after finishing it, I decided that while I needed to write it, it wasn't worth posting. Now I've kinda changed my mind... not sure if that's wise or not, but it's here, for better or worse. Mainly because I want to tell a shorter story that will make more sense if the players are known. Also, since I am posting from home instead of work, I have IM logs in front of me so what was originally a lot of "sometime in spring of 2001" and such are replaced with actual months.

This story goes back to spring of my junior year of college, sometime in January or February of 2000. I have a friend Joe who is a freshman, and one evening we're hanging out in his room watching a DVD or something and he introduces me to L. They met in physics class (both are freshman at the time). At that time, she was involved with a guy she had met in the fall, plus Joe had a major thing for her... so romantic feelings on my part towards her were pretty much nonexistent... we used to talk occasionally but not terribly often.

The summer comes and Joe decides to stay in Blacksburg and take a few summer courses. L has rented an apartment with some friends for sophomore year, but it's only got two people in it for the summer, so Joe moves in to be the third person for the summer session (that fall Joe was my roommate on campus for my senior year).

At this point is where the story was never really filled in for me. L and I talked on IM occasionally, and Joe and I were in touch, but all I was told was that there had been a big argument of some sort and Joe was moving into the fraternity house for the rest of the summer (he was still just a pledge so they bent some rules by doing that). What I learned this weekend is that Joe had been badmouthing L to his frat brothers, but it turns out that many of them were friends of hers, and when they came to help him move, they were quite pissed when they found out she was the one he had been calling a bitch all summer.

And apparently the main thing that started all the fighting was Joe professing his undying love for her, which didn't go over too well seeing that (a) L was with someone at the time and (b) Joe can often be something of a jerk and L didn't really like him all that much to begin with.

So the fall comes, and Joe and I are roommates, and L and I are still talking on IM, but she never comes over to our side of campus to visit or anything, and never really gave me an explanation why. So in February of 2001 she and I are talking online, and she's coming on campus, and asks if Joe is around... so I told her no, and while she was on campus she dropped by to visit. She and I talked for a while, and then Joe got home. He looked at her, he looked at me, and he turned around and walked back out of the room. The look on his face was priceless... at that point she gave me a partial explanation of what had happened. After she left and Joe came back, he never mentioned it at all...

After I graduated, L and I were out of touch for a long time... we started talking again in December of 2002, right before her graduation, and that's when the real friendship started to form. What began as a random IM (I honestly have no idea what it was that got us talking again) turned into an amazing friendship over the next two years. We talked online all the time, we talked on the phone when we had the chance, and of course she visited me on Memorial Day weekend of 2004... from then on it's the story I've told before.

Weekend was excellent. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but all went well.

Got up there Friday around 5:00. L wasn't home from work yet but her fiance was (we'll call him C because his name starts with a C!), so I met him right away. He is a good guy and we got along right off the bat. L got home soon after and we all sat down and talked a bit, relaxed in front of the TV, eventually had dinner...

After dinner the three of us sat out on the porch and talked until 1:30AM. It was like we had known each other for a long time, not like we had just met a few hours before. And it was quite clear early on that the two of them belong together. At one point, C walked over to the 7-11 near their place, and left L & I alone to talk for a few minutes. She looked at me and told me how happy she was that we were hitting it off and then gave me a big hug.

Saturday morning we all got up, showered, dressed, etc. L's mom came over to help her get ready, then we went to Macaroni Grill for a pre-wedding lunch with some other friends of theirs. Ended up having eight of us for lunch.

Then we went off to the ceremony, which was in front of the statue at George Mason University, since they met while working on their Master's Degrees there. The wedding was small, with just L & C, L's mom, myself, two girl friends of L's, and the Justice of the Peace. I felt pretty lucky to have the chance to be one of the few there. I have pictures, but I'll leave it up to them where they get posted and I'll follow up with a link later if people want to see.

After the wedding we headed back to L & C's for the party. Ended up being about a dozen of us just hanging out and drinking for most of the evening. Three bottles of champagne, a bottle of rum, some white wine, some red wine, some tequila, and who knows how many beers later, L was asleep on the couch and everyone else had gone home.

So he took L upstairs and then came back down and we went outside and had another drink, which gave C & I a chance to talk. That was a good thing to do because, let's face it, L & I are still great friends, but she and I did date and there were only a few weeks between our breakup and when they started dating, so things could have ended up very strange between us.

I made sure that he knew that if he ever hurts her I'll kill him (although it's quite clear that it will never come to this, he really is a good guy). And if I had had any doubts about him, they went away during that conversation. I told him to bring her home safe, and to bring himself home safe. And he told me he would do his best to do both, but "she's more important."

What more could I have needed to hear to know that one of my best friends in the world has ended up where she belongs?

Sunday was relaxing, we slept in, watched a little TV, L had some breakfast then C & I went out to Taco Bell. Soon after that I loaded up the car and headed home.

C got his confirmation on Saturday-- he leaves for Iraq on June 3rd. L will follow as soon as she has everything straightened out here-- dental work, shots, other stuff like that.

And that is all.

As I told you all a few months back, L is engaged. The wedding is in October in St. Croix...

But she and her fiance are going to Iraq. The company he works for is one of many that is offering a ton of money to people go to for a year, and she's going with him. I'm not too happy with the idea, but I don't get to make that choice do I? They're going to Basra... for those of you who follow news, Basra is where the British helicopter was shot down a couple weeks ago. RW, since you've been over there, I'd be interested in your opinion especially.

Now this weekend they're having a party since it'll kinda be the last chance until the wedding. And they're "officially" getting married on Saturday... just doing the legal aspect so that they are married when they go over there, which makes sense.

So this has the potential to be a very interesting weekend...