We Are in Ashland

The trip was kind of involved.

I neglected to mention that while Sharon and the kids made the flight, I did not.

I had to run back home, because Natalie forgot to bring her back pack, which had her inhaler, so I had to run homeand get it, (Natale will be on the hook for the taxi fare).

What I didn't mention yesterday was that I DIDN'T make the flight, so I had to fly on another flight.

So we hit the car rental agency late, and then had a 5 hour drive to Ashland.

We got I late last night, at least by our Eastern Time body clocks, and had been up since 4 am.

Tonight, we have singer at a brew pub, and then we see a play.

Posted via mobile.

How About Some Vacation Pix

Crater Lake Pix


The Ashland Shakespeare Festival's Elizabethan Stage

Click Pix for full size

We went to Ashland, Oregon for my step-mom's birthday, and sampled their Shakespeare festival and on the way back, we took a detour to Crater Lake.

A good time was had by all.

Here are my vacation pix.

There is a fair amount of duplication for Crater lake, I used continuous mode in an attempt to get panoramic shots that I could stitch together.

The photos really do not do justice to the beauty of Crater lake.

Kids, Don't Try This at Home

I guess you file this under, "Why little Timmy didn't get a Li'l Tyke fuel refinery for the holidays."

On the was back from the Ashland Shakespeare festival, we decided to stop at Crater Lake.  (It was beautiful, pix to follow)

Unfortunately, as we got to the rim of the caldera, the low fuel warning

went off.

Unfortunately, it's HARD to find a gas station in the middle of a National Park.

We FINALLY pulled up to a gas station in Dry Creek (I'm not joking here), Oregon.

Unfortunately, their pumps were dry, and the next nearest station was 27 miles away!

The guy at the gas station, Pablo, was very apologetic, and called his sister to see if sure had a Jerry can of gasoline.

I looked around, and communed with my inner McGiver.

I saw some camping supplies, and looked to see of the had any Coleman fuel (also called white gas), which is gasoline without any additives to boost octane our detergent additives.

No such luck.

I checked the automotive section, and there were two bottles of STP, which could be used to run a cart in a pinch, as long as the engine was warm, but that was about a pint, which wasn't enough.

While we were waiting for his sister to call back, Pablo looked in in the back shed, and found an old can of Coleman fuel about 3/4 full.

So I added the Coleman fuel, and the two cans of STP, and we managed to coast 28 into Idleyld and pick up some fuel.

One of the reasons to add the STP is that, on addition to dealing with potential contaminants in the old fuel, it's that out had a lot of methanol in it, and so will to boost the fuel's octane.

So we made it to the airport on time, (I would have posted it then, but this is when the plane started boarding, and then, after flying overnight, we all slept), dropped off the car, and checked in.

Crater Lake pix to follow.

Posted via mobile.

Welcome to Trumpistan

A man on a light rail train in Portland, Oregon, was berating two "Muslim appearing" women, one in a hijab.

When some bystanders attempted to intervene, he slashed three people, killing 2:

Two men were killed in a stabbing on a MAX train Friday when they tried to intervene as another man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, including one wearing a hijab, police said.

A third passenger who tried to help was also stabbed, but is expected to survive, said Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.

Officers arrested the suspect as he ran from the Hollywood transit station into the neighborhood near Providence Portland Medical Center in Northeast Portland, Simpson said. Police are still working to identify him and the three men stabbed.

The suspect was ranting about many things, using "hate speech or biased language," and at one point focused on the young women, Simpson said.

The suspect then turned on the passengers who tried to help, Simpson said.

"In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him and appeared to try to intervene with his behavior and some of the people that he was yelling at," Simpson said. "They were attacked viciously."

One good Samaritan died at the scene and another at the hospital, he said. The third victim was undergoing evaluation, but didn't suffer life-threatening wounds, he said.

It has since been revealed that the assailant was a well known white supremecist:

Memorial Day weekend started with a horrific attack on a MAX light rail train at rush hour Friday night. Here is what you need to know about the latest developments:

Police identified the victims who died as two local men. Rick Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche died and a third, 21-year-old Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was injured. Authorities have said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Police Chief Mike Marshman said the three men were stabbed in the neck.

Best died at the scene, and Namkai-Meche died at a hospital. Family and friends say the fact they both intervened was in keeping with their personalities and values.

Namkai-Meche, a 23-year-old Reed College graduate from Ashland, was remembered as the sort of person who would stand up for what he believed was right, even if it meant putting himself at risk.

Best, 53, had retired from the Army in 2012 after 23 years in the military. He lived in Happy Valley and had worked for the city for the past few years. He had three teenage sons and a 12-year-old daughter.

The accused was a convicted robber who spewed hatred. Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, remained in jail on accusations of aggravated murder and attempted murder, as well as lesser crimes.

He had filled his Facebook posts with threats to kill people and Nazi sympathies. He came to wider attention in Portland during a march in April. The march occurred after a larger planned parade along 82nd Avenue was canceled over fear of disruptions.

A video of the event shows Christian, wrapped in a Revolutionary War-era American flag, casting Nazi salutes while shouting, "Die Muslims!"

He described himself as a sociopath. His only criminal record appears to stem from a hapless 2002 robbery. When he was 20, he stole cash and cigarettes from a North Portland market. The owner said the robber walked in wearing a black ski mask, with openings cut out for the eyes, nose and mouth, but he knew all his customers and immediately recognized Christian. During the ensuing police chase, Christian was shot in the face.

BTW, the Tweeter in Chief has been studiously silent on this.

My guess is that he lacks the courage to offend his base by condemning what is clearly an act of domestic terrorism.

Holy Crap!

Eric Cantor just lost his primary for reelection to a Teabagger:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.), the chamber’s second-ranking Republican, was badly beaten in a primary contest Tuesday by an obscure professor with tea party backing — a historic electoral surprise that left the GOP in chaos and the House without its heir apparent.

Cantor, who has represented the Richmond suburbs since 2001, lost by 11 percentage points to Dave Brat, an economist at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va. It was an operatic fall from power, swift and deep and utterly surprising. As late as Tuesday morning, Cantor had felt so confident of victory that he spent the morning at a Starbucks on Capitol Hill, holding a fundraising meeting with lobbyists while his constituents went to the polls.

He did not just lose, he got shellacked.

With the possible exception of John Boehner, whose dislike of, and rivalry with, Cantor was very tangible, the Republican establishment must be profoundly unhappy now.

To paraphrase Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), reports of the Tea Party's death have been greatly exaggerated.

Not sure where the Dems will go from here, but reaching across the aisle would not be my suggestion.

Some Navel Gazing on My Part

I've been fairly clear on this blog that I think that various actions of Obama renders him unfit to be President.^*

I also understand that there are people who make arguments that could be called compelling to vote for him, most notably the Rude Pundit's, "In the End, Vote for Obama Because F%$# Romney,"^† (%$# mine)  because Mitt Romney is unfit to be President as well.

While I was in Ashland, I talked with my dad about this, and explained to him my position, and further explained that, living in Maryland, I had no moral dilemma, because my vote for President had not consequence.

He asked me what I would do if I lived in a battleground state, and I responded, "That way madness lies."

My was flip, and it was a cop out. 

I simply don't know what I would do if I lived in Ohio, or Virginia, or Florida,^‡ or New Hampshire, or Wisconsin, or Colorado, or Iowa, and any statement that I might make would be self serving and shallow, and ultimately meaningless.

What I'm saying here is that, on this matter, if you think that I'm full of sh%$, then I'm full of shit, and if you think that I have a f%$#ing point, then I have a f%$#ing point. 

There are any number of times where I make an argument that is fact based, and I try my best to supply links to those facts, but this is not one of those times.

I think that I'm right, but opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.

^*Normalizing torture by refusing to prosecute, his war on whistle-blowing, his steadfast refusal to prosecute the malefactors of wealth, his assertions of a executive authority that makes Dick Cheney look mild, etc.
^†H/t Cthulhu for the catch.
^‡OK, I know what I would do if I lived in Florida, I would kill myself.

Travel Day

Heading to Oregon for my step-mom's 80^th birthday.

We are all heading down to Ashland, Oregon to celebrate, and to watch Shakespeare.

Just about to get on the plane.