In 1996, when campaigning for the Illinois State Senate, Barack Obama filled out a little questionnaire from an Illinois voter group.
Among the questions asked:
Do you support state legislation to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?
"Yes" was all the answer that was given.
When his campaign was questioned recently about his answer, they tried to backpedal, as expected, and claimed that he's consistently supported "common sense limits, but not banning" handguns, and that the questionnaire was filled out someone with the campaign staff, but not him.
You know, either way, this isn't a guy that gun owners need in office, though I'm surely preaching to the choir about that one.
"Common sense limits" is a Democrat weasel-word for "only the police and military should have them."
The scary thing is, this guy, or Billary is going to get the '08 election.
Damn it all to hell.
Thanks to my cousin for the link.
...is NOT fuckin' awesome at a particular point in it's journey through the magical ecosystem that is me.
KFC doesn't hold a candle to Popeye's, but the Colonel's secret blend of 7 herbs and spices doesn't cause an exothermic reaction to explode from my sphincter.
Holy hell.
It's funny.
I keep hearing how much Republicans love war, and how evil they are and how they're always starting wars all over the place.
I've asked for an example outside of the current Middle East situation, and nobody can ever seem to cite any.
Just for accuracy's sake, I did about thirty seconds of research:
Yup, those damned Republicans, always starting shit. Paragons of peace, that's what the Democrats are. We need to elect more of them, a'yuck.
So, you know, forgive me if I completely disregard anything the liberal fucking douches have to say. I'm tired of your incessant idiocy.
Well, if this doesn't just suck balls, I don't know what does...
Army frowns on Dungeons and DragonsIDF says players are detached from reality and automatically given a low security clearance
By Hanan Greenberg Published: 02.28.05, 14:17 / Israel News
Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for elite units? Ynet has learned that 18-year-olds who tell recruiters they play the popular fantasy game are automatically given low security clearance.
“They're detached from reality and suscepitble to influence,” the army says.
Fans of the popular roleplaying game had spoken of rumors of this strange policy by the IDF, but now the army has confirmed that it has a negative image of teens who play the game and labels them as problematic in regard to their draft status.
So if you like fantasy games, go see the military psychologist.
Dungeons and Dragons (also known as D&D) has been a popular roleplaying game for decades and is based on a fantasy world.
One player assumes the role of “Dungeon Master,” which entails directing the game and controlling the labyrinth, while the others select from a large selection of characters that includes warriors, magicians, dwarfs and thieves.
The game focuses on the results of decisions made by the players as determined by the roll of the dice.
In a more "active" version of the game, players leave the table and go out, dressed as the characters they assume for the game, along with the requisite equipment of swords (not real) to play outside, usually in the forest or woods. Most D&D players do not don costumes, and participants in such costume games are called "LARPers" (for live-action role playing).
'Simply detached from reality'
Thousands of youth and teens in Israel play D&D, fighting dragons and demons using their rich imaginations. The game has also increased in popularity due to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
However the IDF does not approve of this unusual hobby and prevents D&D players from being considered for sensitive army positions by labeling them with low security clearance.
"We have discovered that some of them are simply detached from reality," a security source told Ynet.
Game enthusiasts are aware of their problematic image in the army and prefer to maintain their anonymity. Many of them are from the former Soviet Union, where the game is very popular.
In Israel there are thousands of players, between the ages 16 to 35, and include lawyers, high-tech workers and businessmen. Matan, 22, and Igor, a 21-year-old IDF soldier, organize activities for groups of players. Soon hundreds of fans are expected to meet in a forest in the southern part of Israel for a two-day game of pure fantasy.
"It's not a game of winners and losers," Matan says, "but rather entry into another world with stories and plot changes."
He is aware of the game's problematic reputation, especially in the IDF. The army is not indifferent to the unique hobby and is trying to locate soldiers who in their free time dress up as witches and play in forests.
'The game indicates a weak personality'
A security official tells Ynet there are specific criteria for deciding the level of a soldier's security clearance.
"One of the tests we do, either by asking soldiers directly or through information provided us, is to ask whether they take part in the game," he says. "If a soldier answers in the affirmative, he is sent to a professional for an evaluation, usually a psychologist."
More than half of the soldiers sent for evaluation receive low security clearances, thus preventing them from serving in sensitive IDF positions, he says.
Igor says exposing soldiers who play the game could result in the soldiers being sent to a military psychologist or even being kicked out of the army.
"Exposing them could also harm their chances at being accepted to other military courses," he says.
Matan says he has personally met soldiers whose military career was harmed due to their connection to the game. Most soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons simply do not admit to it while they are in the army, he says.
Why does IDF believe game is dangerous?
"These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment, a military official says. "They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality - elements which lower a person's security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions."
Unsurprisingly, Igor, Matan and thier friends do not approve of this IDF policy. They say the game is only a colorful, non-violent hobby.
"Many people who play served in the most classified units," David says. "They are intelligent and any attempt to label them as 'weird' is incorrect and unfair."
But in the struggle between the gameplayers and the Defense Minister, the latter wins - or at least this is the case in the real world of the IDF.
Yeah...
So, the IDF thinks D&D players are whackjobs, and Ynet does a beautiful job at finding Matan, who *IS* a whackjob.
Gah. It's a shame that the media is so damned yellow. Just once, I'd like to see a journalist find a sane, well-adjusted subject for their sensationalist pieces...
So, where am I going with all of this? I don't know. I guess this is kind of just a big gripe about growing up, and missing out on the hey-day of my hobbies.
I'm a major sci-fi buff. I'm a comic nerd. I'm an RPG player. I'm a heavy reader.
I didn't get into most of that until I started going to school in Albany - more appropriately, I didn't get into most of that until I got a job during my junior year of high school.
When I finally did get into the majority of my hobbies, it was at the end of the peak years, and the market has kinda crapped out.
My biggest lament is growing up in Halsey. I look at all the things that I would have had access to, and all of the ways that growing up would have been "better", had I lived in an area that wasn't as backwards as Halsey.
It's no place to raise a child that has a modicum of intelligence, and I really wish my parents would have stayed in Corvallis, or even moved to Albany or Salem.
My parents claim that they wanted a child, and that I was planned, which causes me to attempt to wrap my head around the decision to move someplace like Halsey, with an inferior school system, lack of any kind of community resources (library, youth centers, etc.), that kind of thing.
Looking back at our trips to Albany or Corvallis (shopping, doctor appointments, etc.), it always seems like I was an afterthought. I certainly remember kid-friendly or kid-interesting places that I wanted to go to, like video arcades, hobby stores, book stores, toy stores, etc., but we never had "enough time this trip", or some other reason not to go into them.
I suppose at some point, the financial aspect of some of these places became an issue, but, you know, if you have a kid, you need to spend money on their entertainment.
That's not to say that we didn't do things - we made the requisite trips to the zoo, to OMSI, The Enchanted Forest once or twice, but realistically, we never went anywhere that I would have REALLY dug going into.
I didn't set foot into Trump's Hobbies until I was 13 or 14. We visited the store after grocery shopping at Cub Foods (now WinCo), because Dad wanted to look at the HO scale train stuff. It was there that I discovered the Dungeons & Dragons Game boxed set that was released in 1991.
My 8th-Grade art teacher, foolishly thinking she could coax some artistic skill out of me, gave me a handful of old Dragon magazines, chock full of some excellent Sci-Fi and Fantasy artwork. The short stories inside were intriguing, and the idea of RPGs was amazing - but short of mail-order places from the adverts inside the magazine, I had no idea where to get the stuff, until that fateful day at Trump's.
Within a month or so, I had saved enough money from allowances or birthday or wherever it was that I got it, and I bought the box set. I tried to get my parents to play with me, but Dad never much was a fan of games, and Mom, while she tried to humor me, really wasn't interested in the thing.
Not really having any friends with a similar interest, I read and re-read the rules and contents of the game over and over again - and then about a week later, I put it in a box, and it collected dust for about a year, until I traded it to a punk kid at South Albany for a beat-to-shit set of the Marvel Super Heroes basic set, which I have to this day. YAY Halsey.
I didn't set foot in an actual comic store until the summer of my sophomore year. I stayed with my Grandma up in Tigard for a week or two, and she let me have a ton of freedom my parents never did, which included walking the short distance from her place to a nearby Safeway, and staying there for hours, browsing all of the magazines and comic books.
I bought a bunch of Wolverine and Marvel Comics Presents books there during my brief visit, and when I got back home, after weeks of whining and convicing, finally got my Mom to take me by the Comic Crypt in downtown Albany.
I had discovered geek Mecca. This place had it ALL. Comics, cards, RPGs, anime, figurines, action figures - a tiny little hole-in-the-wall shop, and it was AWESOME.
But, it wouldn't last. The comics industry was going to crash in 1996, and the RPG market was already in the gutter.
Once again, I missed my generation's golden age. The 1980's were gone, and the 1990's were nearly half over, and I lost out on the cream of it all.
Driving around, seeing the few places still in business, and the locations where those now closed used to be got me bummed-out.
I really regret growing up in Halsey. There was nothing to do there, and when we did go to a bigger city, I didn't get to enjoy it - I got to march around a grocery store, or wait in the car.
I think the rural upbringing limited a lot of things that would have been beneficial.
I don't mean the last few days to be any kind of scathing criticism of my parents - I think that, overall, they were pretty good at the job, but there's times that I wonder if they realized that they really didn't want kids...
Today, I don't know that I'd change things, given the option - today, I enjoy where I'm at and what I'm doing, but the grass is always greener, you know?
It's just that I see my hobbies drying up and fading away. Where there used to be five or six comic stores in the area, there's now one, and even with that one store, the comic industry seems to be in a self-destructive loop, pissing off their long-time readership, time and time again. The D&D RPG is getting all fuckered up with the new version, and the alternative RPG market really isn't there like it used to be, so you're stuck with a couple of major systems, and that's about it.
One upside to all of this is that, with all the years that I didn't spend reading sci-fi and fantasy, there's a TON of material out there for me to pick up and read now, which is a bonus, I suppose.
Ah, well. Time to stop whining about things I can't change.
My Mom has always been, for lack of a better descriptor, a techie. If anyone gets the credit for turning me into a nerd, it would be her.
In the early 1980's, if someone owned a typewriter, it was likely a non-powered, or low-end electric model. Mom bought an IBM Correcting Selectric II shortly after they were released in 1973.
Around 1984, Mom had purchased a TI-99/4A "personal computer".
A few short years later, we had an IBM PC-XT (8088) clone, complete with a 360K 5.25" floppy drive, a 20mb HD, an EGA monitor and a 9-pin dot-matrix printer - a decision I complained about continually, preferring the sleek and sexy Apple IIGS that I had fallen in love with in 5th grade over the clunky DOS-based behemoth.
I told you I wasn't much of a nerd.
At some point, she purchased a SupraFAXmodem (2400bps data, 4800bps fax) - more of her gimmick/gadget addiction.
Growing up in Halsey, going to school in Central Linn, nobody knew what a modem was capable of. I had no exposure to any other real geeks, so I didn't see the potential in plugging the computer into the phone line. She bought it because she thought it would be nifty to have a fax on the computer - and it was a cool gimmick.
Around the 8th grade, the XT was replaced with AMD-based 386 clone, and the modem followed it. My freshman year of high-school brought me in contact with a some imports from outside of the area - a science teacher from Eugene, and a couple of students from the same area. *THEY* knew what modems were, and it wasn't long until the science teacher had a modem installed on his PC, and a phone line in the classroom. Soon after, I was introduced to the world of BBS'ing - totally awesome, but too little, too late. The BBS era was coming to a close.
After getting a terminal emulator setup on the 386, and a couple of several hundred dollar phone bills, that particular avenue was cut off, but I think this is what finally prompted my parents to resolve the situation they had put me in. I was transferred to South Albany High School the following year, and things got a LOT better.
I was still living in Halsey, but I was able to interact with more people with similar interests. If it hadn't been for Mom's technology addiction, I don't know if I'd be where I'm at today.
But what about all the time I had lost?
More Tuesday...
I took my lunch break yesterday, and ended up driving around Corvallis for about an hour.
I drove by our old house on Green Place, and tooled around the area (Kings & Circle, Kings & Walnut, around there), and realized something:
My childhood sucked ass.
Whether or not you care, I'm going to expound upon that a bit, over the next couple of days.
Today, a brief biography.
I was born in Corvallis, OR. Somewhere around when I was two, my parents sold their house in Corvallis, and bought a place in Halsey, about 20-25 miles away.
Halsey is a tiny little farm community. In the 1980's, the place had a population of about 500-600 people, a gas station, a small grocery store (not a mini-mart, but an actual full-fledged (albeit small) grocery store), a bank, and a crappy little diner.
Today, it's got about 700 people or so, the gas station, the bank and the diner are closed (though, there may be some crappy sandwich place in the same area).
Now, as then, it's primary purpose is grass seed growing, shipping and receiving. The Union Pacific Railroad goes right through it, and it's about 2 miles away from an on-ramp to Interstate 5.
Halsey is the self-styled "Grass Seed Capital of the World" - a title that Linn County (of which Halsey is part of) also claims. Supposedly, more grass seed moves in and out of Halsey (and by default, Linn County) than any other location in the world.
Cool. Grass is important. A metric fuck-ton of it's farmed around here, and it's pretty much is the explanation for Halsey's existance.
In the opposite direction of the freeway, another 2-3 miles away, is the Georgia-Pacific and Pope & Talbot corporations, which have been one of the big area employers for quite some time. GP makes toilet paper and paper towels, while P&T pulps wood, both for the GP facility, and other customers.
Given Halsey's proximity to Eugene, Corvallis and Albany, a good portion of the mill's workforce lives in these towns.
It is, without a doubt, a podunk little rathole with nothing going for it, save for cheap land/housing located close to the freeway, and a reasonable commute to a real city.
And this is where I grew up.
Halsey is at the center of what is known as the Central Linn School District. Take three jerkwater towns (Shedd, Halsey and Brownsville) and put their schools together, and you get this district. When I was there, there was an elementary school in Shedd (K-4), an elementary school in Brownsville (K-4), a Middle School in Halsey city proper (5-8), and a High School between Halsey and the freeway (9-12).
Due to the chronic mismanagement of liberal state officials who'd rather give money to illegal immigrants, shiftless layabouts, career breeders and other assorted flotsam of the genetic cesspool, compounded by the general attitude my many of the area residents who don't have school-aged children, and therefore, pretty consistently vote against any bond measures the school district tries to pass (an attitude that I sadly share, these days), the school district isn't really getting any better.
Enrollment numbers are up, but money is way, way down, and that has resulted in the Shedd school being sold, and the Brownsville having it's staff relocated to Halsey, and the facility turned into the District Offices.
The Middle school is now a K-6 Elementary School, and the High School is now a 7-12 Middle School/Elementary School.
I'd agree that things are worse now than when I was there, but not by far.
Due to Apple's publicity-mongering charity stunts of the 1980's and early 1990's, most classrooms had an Apple II-series in them, or a Macintosh as we got into the upper end of Middle School/High School.
Toy computers in a time that is quickly becoming digital, and me a burgeoning computer nerd.
The school libraries sucked, and the city didn't have one. Going to a library meant traveling to Brownsville, which had a public library slightly larger than the school library, or traveling to Albany, and using theirs.
Brownsville happened infrequently, Albany happened never. As a fan of Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and tons of other Sci-Fi growing up (thank God for syndication!), my access to other avenues of this particular interest was blocked.
Social interaction consisted of sports, shitkicking and goatroping. I was a nerd living in a hick town, and both of my parents were educated professional types, and my primary male role model, Dad, didn't partake of the vast majority of the stereotypical male hobbies such as sports or hunting/shooting/camping like the parents of my peers, which led to further social ostracism. The one "manly" thing that Dad was into, cars (and he definitely has an aptitude for repair/restoration) never grabbed me, due to his oh-so-excellent tutelage - Dad brought home one of his first projects, a 1939 Dodge sedan (suicide doors!!) that was to become a street rod project. Listening to him talk about everything he was going to do to it, and getting all excited about the eventual end result, I was hooked on cars! Finally, something that I could relate to the rest of the kids my age with.
It lasted about 30 minutes. Dad, as much as I love the guy, had an awe-inspiring ability to crush my interest in things. I think all young boys are fascinated with tools and machinery, and I was no different. Any time Dad went to work on any of the family vehicles, be it as simple as changing the oil, or something a bit more complicated, like replacing head gaskets, I (at least, initially) was quick to be there, ready and willing to help. Obviously, there's not a LOT that a kid can do, and more often than not, the kid gets in the way, makes a mess, and makes things take twice as long as they should. Again, I was no different. Dad didn't have a lot of patience with me or the job at hand, and my role quickly became that of curb warmer. Dad wanted to get the job done, he didn't want to deal with me under-foot, and he didn't want to include me on the job. Today, I can't say that, in his place, I'd do any different. Kids annoy the piss out of me, but I was *HIS* kid.
Fast-forward to the street rod project, and the last chance I had to get interested in cars (until over a decade later, when I had moved out and bought my own). Dad announces that the street rod will be a family project, and is going on about some things, and, with the exhuberance of a small child, I can't wait to find out what my job will be.
Then he announces it: my job will be body prep. Specifically, when he takes the fenders off, my job is to sand the crap down to bare metal, so he can primer it. Do I get to do any of the painting? Nope. Do I get to use a power sander? Nope. Will I get to work on the engine? Nope.
FUCK THAT.
Cars, tools, mechanical type stuff? The interest this might have held just got dealt a deathblow.
So, I stayed a nerd, or as much of one as I could become in a dead-end town, with nothing but re-runs on TV to feed upon.
More Sunday...
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You know, I wouldn't have to do this if this stupid software would just leave the last 5-7 posts on the front page, instead of updating the front page anytime someone edits/adds/comments.
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So, I haven't posted for about for a few days, and don't feel like making up the content.
So, you get filler.
---BEGIN FILLER---
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If you're a gamer, and you haven't seen Three-Dragon Ante, you should take a look at it.
While I hate to recommend purchasing any Wizards of the Coast product, what with the upcoming release of D&D 4th Edition (and their general attitude towards 3rd Edition/3.5 and the existing customer base), I've got to say, this game is fun.
It's a non-collectible card game, with the goal of winning gold from the pot, and it's pretty damned spiffy.
The cards are well-designed, with a nifty, slightly-oversized deal going on, and they look pretty nice.
Plus, it's $15.00, which isn't too bad at all, in this day and age.
There's also alternate rules that can be used in a D&D campaign, with character skills affecting the outcome of the game.
Give it a try! We've been playing it here for about two weeks or so, and we like it so much we're going to give their other similar game, Inn-Fighting a try real soon.
It's winter, and that means the wee beasties from outside move inside - into the walls, and, occasionally, scurrying across my living room.
Mice suck.
My cat does, too. He treats them like toys, not food. He plays with them, and lets them go.
So, here I am, looking for creative ways to get rid of them. I don't want to deal with the standard trap, because I know my cat would fuck with it. D-Con and other poisons are out, because of the risk to the cat, either from the baitbox, or eating a poisoned mouse.
I'm debating the D-Con enclosed traps, the things that look like hockey pucks, but I don't think that they're re-usable, which kinda sucks.
Anyone got any other suggestions?
New business rubs neighbors the wrong wayBy Alex Paul
Albany Democrat-Herald
A business that opened Wednesday at 919 Ninth Ave. S.E. in Albany has neighboring owners upset and city officials perplexed as to its legality.Pussycats Private Adult Entertainment had its first customer on Wednesday and two more by noon on Thursday, according to the shop’s 20-year-old manager, who would identify herself only as Gemini. For $60 nn $30 for the shop and a minimum $30 tip for the entertainer — a customer can purchase a half-hour lap dance.
The interior of the shop is painted hot pink. Entertainment occurs in a nearby small room illuminated by a black light. There is a small couch, a table and a corner cabinet.
There is room in the shop for only one show at a time.
According to Gemini, touching is allowed, but not where body parts could be covered by lingerie or a bikini. A handwritten sign on the front door advertised for models 18 or older.
Gemini said she has been employed in this type of business for about 18 months, previously in the Portland area. Similar clubs are in Salem, she said.
“It’s classier than stripping,” she said. “The clientele act more like gentlemen. They’re not just interested in seeing 36-24-36. They want a connection. Some just want someone to talk to.”
The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that nude dancing is protected as freedom of expression under the Oregon constitution.
Carmen Keyser has owned the Mirror Image Hair and Nail Salon next door for nine years.
“I’m not happy about this one bit,” Keyser said. “I hope they’re shut down immediately.”
Keyser said she and other nearby shop owners asked construction crew members what type of business was going in there but were never told until a lighted sign was installed over the front door on New Year’s Day.
Cindy Lowrance and her husband, Chris Whittaker, have owned nearby PermaGrafix Tattoos for three years.
“I’m embarrassed that our customers nn who include teachers and nurses nn will have to see that shop,” Lowrance said. “I’m worried about the kinds of people who will hang out around there.”
Property owner Michael Fredette lives in Washington state. Messages left on his answering machine were not returned in time for this story.
City is checking on new businessCapt. Eric Carter of the Albany Police Department said an officer visited the operation on Wednesday.
“They’re not serving alcohol and to our knowledge, sexual acts between people aren’t taking place,” Carter said. “We are looking into it concerning building codes and licensing.”
Assistant Building Official Melanie Adams said city staff, including the city attorney’s office, and representatives from the police department planned to meet today to investigate.
“We are going to coordinate our efforts and arrange for an inspection. We know the property owner is concerned about this situation.”
Inspectors require improvements at PussycatsBy Alex Paul
Albany Democrat-HeraldPussycats Private Adult Entertainment, which opened Wednesday at 919 Ninth Ave. S.E., can remain open as long as the owners make some building and electrical system improvements, city officials said Friday afternoon.
Neighboring business owners had objected to the new business, which provides lap dances and other services starting at $60 per half-hour.
Pussycats is owned by Ben Cunningham, who also runs a business by the same name in Salem.
Staff from several city departments met Friday morning to address complaints they had received.
“Some people may have been confused about our municipal code, thinking it might prohibit this type of activity — nude dancing or exotic dancing — but that only applies to places that serve alcohol. This place does not serve alcohol,” explained city spokeswoman Marilyn Smith.
Smith said the city is bound by a state Supreme Court ruling that nude dancing is a constitutionally protected form of free expression.
After Friday’s staff meeting, a code compliance inspector, building inspector and deputy fire marshal visited the shop and conducted an inspection.
“We knew they had done some kind of construction work over the weekend and hadn’t gotten any permits,” Smith said. “We needed to know if what they did was OK.”
Smith said the inspectors found some electrical problems, including overloaded outlets, no emergency lighting for the exits and no exit signs.
“There was also some abandoned plumbing from a previous use that had not been properly capped,” Smith said. “They did put in some new non load-bearing walls. They needed permits for that. The building department will require some structural, plumbing and possibly some mechanical permits.”
Smith said it isn’t unusual for people to undertake construction projects and then get permits once the city learns about the activity. Although it isn’t the preferred method, at least the city can inspect the work for safety, she said.
The owners were given 24 hours to obtain a licensed electrician and make immediate repairs, Smith said.
Smith said state law also requires posting of a sign warning minors they are not allowed on the premises.
“Temporarily, they put up a handwritten sign and we provided them with the correct ORS numbers to put on it,” Smith said. “They will have to get a permanent sign.”
A sandwich board advertising the shop’s opening, which had sat between the sidewalk and Ninth Ave., has been moved, Smith said.
“It has to be closer to their shop or at least 10 feet from the street right-of-way,” Smith said.
People with questions can contact Smith at 917-7507.
This shit is HILARIOUS!
Fuck that dumb cunt, Carmen Keyser. Albany has far too many "Hair & Nail" shops. We need to put a $5000/month tax on every last place that cuts hair or does nails in the city of Albany, or shut them all down.
Oh, wait, you don't like the idea of that? THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU STUPID WHORE.
And don't get me started on the tattoo parlor - this is the last business on earth that should be complaining about embarassment. I've seen the lowlife dregs that go in and out of that shit-pit. Every last one of them should be sterilized before they can breed, and if any of them have had children, said children should be put in a bag with a large rock, and chucked in the Willamette before they can breed.
I love the response from the city - if they'd go to this level of code enforcement with EVERY business in Albany, things might actually get done - but, no, they don't.
Downtown is a shit-heap of sandwich-board signs and tackiness, but nothing is done. I quite seriously doubt the fuck-ton of Mexican restaurants, or any of the little bodegas that cater to that clientele receive the level of scrutiny as the sex parlour does.
I've said it a few times, both here and to my friends - even with all the political bullshit that was going on with Mitsubishi/SUMCO, even with how they treated their employees, even with the pay (or lack thereof) issues, I still miss working there.
Or, perhaps, maybe it's just that I miss working in Salem.
Don't get me wrong - the commute to Salem sucked - even when I was living closer. I don't miss the drive, which was 25-30 miles one way. My drive now is only 15-20, and it still sucks.
I think it was the fact that there's actually something to do in Salem.
I bugged out of work for my lunch break today, and ended up driving from the north end of town to the south end, and let me tell you - there ain't shit to do in Corvallis.
Salem has a WIDE variety of places that interest me. There's gun stores, there's game/comic shops, there's tons of neat little businesses, there's the pawn shops. The downtown area even has a fair amount of parking.
Corvallis? Not so much.
They've got one comic/game store that, while it has a huge selection of stuff, it's a pretty static selection. Sure, some new stuff comes in from time to time, but for the most part, it's the same shit in there. The owner is nice guy, and I'm glad he's running the store, but it's a poor business. It's cluttered as hell, it's dark and dim (I don't know if he's too cheap to buy more UV tubes, or if he's trying to save money on the power bill), his small children are there about 75% of the time, because he doesn't pay a babysitter (which adds a LOT to the mess - food, garbage, toys, etc.). It's just kinda depressing.
There's no gun store (shocker!).
There's a couple of half-assed pawn shops, but those are located in South Town, which means the selection sucks, because South Town sucks, and nobody goes there.
Neat stores? Well, not really. See, Corvallis is a hippy/libby college town - yay pot, nay intelligence. Most of the stores are potsmoke-filled head shops or music stores, the obligatory 20 antique stores, and a plethora of other useless shit. Seriously, how many goddamned coffee shops does one town need?
There's the Memorial Union at OSU, which I haven't been to for quite a while now, so maybe I'll go gander at that one of these days. The OSU bookstore is there, along with a bowling alley, an arcade, and a bunch of other stuff. I'll go gander at that, and see if there's anything there worth spending time or money on, but even if there is, that doesn't go far enough to redeem the town.
It sucks.
I need to start bringing books to work, or something.