Hi everyone.
First some comments before I get to what my plans are for tonight.
Jaclyn and Songbird (part one): On the gun control stuff, I only have this to say--I was raised around firearms, and I was taught to use them properly, and when I used to shoot (something that I don't do often anymore), I placed, like my father, a high value on marksmanship. I was also taught that firearms are weapons that should be handled properly.
That being said, you won't hear any arguments from me that certain people shouldn't have firearms, or access to them. And I do feel that sometimes, some people need to be discouraged from owning certain weapons, but I feel that an outright ban is too far, so I say that certain guns perhaps need to be treated like tobacco and alcohol--IE, they possibly should be taxed. Threaten to touch people's money, they'll listen to you. That's also why the gov't here won't ban firearms, because they tried it with booze, and it didn't work--it was better to put a sin tax on the stuff to get some revenue.
And whatever happened to background checks--federal law requires a background check of every citizen here in the US before they can buy a firearm. It's part of the National Firearms Act--no background check, no guns until you're given a clean bill of health, both as far as one's mental state, and one's criminal record (under the NFA, no violent felons or those convicted of domestic violence can legally own a firearm unless they're granted clemency or a pardon). And even then, there's a 7-10 day waiting period to go along with that. But it doesn't stop those who want to commit premeditated acts who are willing to bide their time and those who subvert the law (getting guns from friends and family, stealing them or getting them from illicit sources).
OK, that's maybe more than a "little bit" to say, but I know that there are laws against what happened in CT the other day, with how that guy got his guns. That's to me just as unsettling as what happened. Too many people don't understand firearms laws, and I don't think that the one's on the books are enforced enough. But who'll enforce them, and every other law? Here where I live, only just very recently, as in the past day or two, a budget was approved to keep 9 local police officers on the job who were about to get layed off. If we had more police, and if they were better trained and law enforcement bodies more in tuned with enforcing laws without stressing about manpower and money and especially gov'ts were in tune with helping them enforce laws already on the books, that would boost the morale of people who are thinking of getting guns for self defense and make them think that it's less necessary to do so, no wouldn't it? Logic would say so.
But unfortunately, that takes money, and people here don't want to pay more in taxes to ensure that law enforcement has the tools that they need to help protect us. That, and our gov't enjoys wasting money--all gov'ts do anymore--but why not take some of that money and help out law enforcement and help out with other social causes. But my older brother did explain that gov't committees have budgets, and if they don't spend it all, they might have a hard time getting that amount of money for when they really need it. But it would still be more useful to help out things that are struggling and would help a lot of people, than just waste it.
OK, I've had enough with being on my soap box, but where I live, because of how police jurisdictions work (Ohio Highway Patrol is our main police where I live), and that we live in a rural area, reasonable firearms ownership is almost necessary. But if you don't like how gun laws, mental health, or other things work in your area, complain to your state governor, city mayor, county commissioner, or senator or congressman. Your tax dollars pay their salaries, it's about time you remind them why you voted for them and where their paychecks are coming from by giving them a piece of your mind if you're pissed at them.
Jaclyn (part 2): I'm still on the fence about seeing BD2 in a theater. I sort of want to, but I'm kinda a home body and I can't find anyone who'd see it with me who's a fan. My brothers aren't fans of the saga, and I know that they don't enjoy the movies. My older brother was being nice when he took me to see NM and Eclipse, but I knew that he didn't enjoy the movies. He'd probably enjoy watching the
Bio-Booster Armor Guyver OVA cartoons on the big screen, but I wouldn't enjoy it as much--I'd damn sure rather watch those at home IMO. That, and though I'm a fan of the story, I'm not as big a fan of Guyver or of anime/manga/comics in general as much as he is. Guyver, IMO, has a cool story and what not, but I'm not as big a fan of it as say, the Twilight Saga.
I also don't want to drag my mom to a movie that she doesn't know the story about. And anyone from school that I know who's a fan of it is either in a relationship/married, or lives far away. All I can say is that if I can't enjoy the experience with someone since I have to go with someone else, I probably won't enjoy it. Kinda sad, but that's how it is with me, and my brother drags me everywhere because I don't drive, and I don't want to inconvenience him anymore than that. I'd be thrilled if someone from in my area would love to go with me, though.
Songbird (part 2): Sucks that your son broke his toe. I've never broken a bone in my body to my knowledge, and that's a good thing. I can't stand pin pricks, needles, cat scratches, sinus headaches, etc. I mentioned above how I feel about gun laws, but I'll also say this: If the Second Amendment here allows for firearms ownership, I'll add to that it also allows for one to not own firearms if they don't want to. Firearms ownership is a choice, not a necessity for most cases. If you're in a rural area away from police like I do (I see mine as a stupid case--we only live like a mile away from a city incorporation limit), I can see why people would own guns--we have guns here at my home. Granted most of them are WWI or WWII era bolt action rifles that my father has collected, but we also have 1 or 2 guns for target shooting and for, god forbid, self defense.
But as I said, in my situation and those of my neighbors, I can understand it. But in a city, it should be a little less of a necessity to own a firearm for self defense, though I can also understand hunting and target shooting, both of which my family used to be into. Hell, I can tell you that it would've been cheaper (in theory) for me to shoot three wild turkeys (yes, we have wild turkeys where I live--one year, there was about 10 or so in my yard!) than to buy the three turkey breast at the store. Of course, that would be balanced out more than likely because then I'd have to have a butcher clean the birds, since I have no idea on how to field dress a turkey. Some use that idea is now, isn't it LOL. Sort of a romantic idea to hunt for your own food, but not really practical today, as it's easier to buy the stuff. And I am an advocate of hunters eating what they kill, or at least selling or giving the food to someone who wants or needs it, or making use of what animal that they kill.
Anyways, enough with the firearms talk. We just have two different points of view, and my POV probably won't be in agreement with a lot of people's here. As long as we all can disagree respectfully, I don't have a problem with it.
And god, I can tell you about being tired. My job isn't the most demanding, but it's still two-four hours a day of standing, running, and doing other physical things. I know that it's probably a pacing issue, but 2-4 hours isn't a ton of time to get things done. On top of that, I've done a ton of running around for Christmas stuff. I'm glad that work for the most part has been slow and I haven't had to do a ton of running around.
Amanda: I have to admit that I feel bummed that I don't have a girlfriend. No one to share experiences with outside of the family, no one to be a companion of, and with where I live, not only is the law enforcement part a bit screwed up IMO, but it's kinda lonely out where I live, and there's really no girls of my age that I can socialize with, or people my age period really. But of course, I can see how it's a pain that you can't see your BF for such a long time once you get home. It has to be at least annoying, especially since you'll only get to see him for one day before he has to leave for his stuff.
Lynne: I haven't bought anything with my debit card yet, and I'll probably be waiting for a while before I do so, too, so I can put more money in the bank. I also wish that I was getting a bit more money for my next check, because there's a Quizno's sub place literally a 5 minute drive away from home, and their stuff is pretty good, but it's a bit expensive. This paycheck I'll be getting Friday is from when I was off work for my Grandma's funeral stuff, so it stands to reason that it'll be less. But I'm thankful that there's other good, cheap food out there.
Everyone: Speaking of cheap food, Burger King is probably now my favorite fast food place. They have chicken nuggets that are like McDonalds with a bit of a touch of what I like about Wendy's. And cost for when I splurge is pretty competitive with those places, and they have great chicken sandwiches, even their dollar menu stuff is great. But for breakfast stuff, McD does have the edge, though.
I slept in after work and and I'm now in the mood for some serious fan fic writing. I didn't get to it last night because I went to bed at around 2:00 and didn't get up until about 10:30 this morning.
At least I hope that I get around to writing fan fic, because if not tonight, then I probably won't until this weekend, because I have to go into work at 9:30 Thursday, and Tomorrow is my only day off this week until the weekend, though I get four straight days off counting that.
At least I think that it's a doable thing tonight with the fan fic. I also hope to get chapter 3 done, since you'll get to see pretty in depth how Melinda (one of my OC's) is doing after (spoilers)
getting married and channeling her happiness into a dream business, a
wedding dress boutique, and I think that you'll like how she deals with an
ex-lover who deserted her on her wedding day when she was supposed to marry him. This, I think, will be a pretty funny chapter of Bio-Booster Armor Twilight.
I also found this song on You Tube. It's from those Guyver OVA cartoons, but it does remind me of Twilight, so I though that I'd post it for anyone who is curious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntzVu4k8Clk
I'll be back later