The Dread Pirate Ysengrin Tells His Weekend Tale

The weekend went too smartly. (Gangway!) Sleepin' in 'til 8am on Saturday follow'd by breakfast o' a cold sesame seed muffin 'n reheated coffee 'n a round o' pours in two sets o' paws 'n cold foamin' a head. (Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar!) dark_fang wakes up sometime in thar, 'n be grumpy fer the rest o' the mornin' 'cause he skipp'd breakfast. (Bilge!) We head down the hill into San Jose for the FC meetin', where we accidentally wander'd into a Folsom Street Fair security meetin' (at least methinks that’s what it was). (Aaaarrrhhh!!!) We sail from the meetin' t' Clay Planet, gettin' thar just ten minutes afore they close, 'n pick up two hundred pounds fourteen and a quarter stone o' Ultracal 30. (AAARRRRHHH!!!) Then it’s aft over t' a burrito place that nicodemusrat turned DarkFang onto. (Shiver me timbers!) Yum; fat custom-made burritos. (Dead men tell no tales.) I went for a tasty base o' spanish rice, black beans 'n chicken mole. (Weigh anchor!) I didn’t sleep for crap the night before, so I drift'd off t' sleep on the couch. (Man the guns, ye cowardly swabs!) Just aft midnight, we had a minor quake that woke both o' us up, 'n I pok'd 'round on the ‘net 'bout it for an hour or so while the aftshocks faded below where they could be felt. (Weigh anchor!) Sunday DarkFang was up early while I slept later; gettin' up at nine t' make a breakfast o' cackle fruit, biscuits 'n gravy for both o' us. (AAARRGGHHH!) 'N coffee, don’t forget coffee. (Aaarrrrhhh!) I did one more pour in a set o' feet (they take an extra pour compared t' the hands) 'n cleared out o' the workshop so DarkFang would have enough room t' make new paw molds from a set o' masters. (AAARRHH!!!) I finally install'd Google Earth 'n blew the next few hours with it. (why be all the really interestin', obscure places I like in lower-rez areas? Blimey!) I take off t' do the week’s shoppin', 'n DarkFang comes in 'n be hook'd by Google Earth. (Weigh anchor!) He searches out all the places he’s lived in or billet'd at, natch. (Sink me!) I decide t' take a pleasant cruise south on Highway 9, 'n discover that gas be $2.83 a gallon when I fill the Jeep The Black Jewel of the Sargasso Sea – that’s down almost twenty pence. (Aaaarrrhhh!!!) I find that the highfalutin remodel'd Safeway in Scotts Valley carries all sorts o' bizarre specialty foods now, but dinna carry sacks o' potatoes. (Bloody privateers!) Too common, methinks. (Aaarrrrhhh!) Aft home aft a second grocery avast, 'n I whip up a big batch o' me chicken curry for dinner. (Arrgh!) DarkFang handles heatin' the sake, 'n we sit down t' the latest episode o' Battlestar Galactica while we eat. (Yarrr, more grog, wench!) 'n that was the weekend that was.

Now t' drink more coffee (and rum) t' exorcise me inner pirate. (Bilge!) Arrrrhh.

Meme Du Jour

The Politics Test ( behind the cut )

PotW

The new picture of the week is up.

18 September 2005 This is the rocky coastline near Elk, California, looking south across Cuffeys Cove at a set of unnamed rocks. For those of you who are really curious, the rocks are at 39° 08' 13.25" N, 123° 43' 39.79" W.

The linked image is 800x600. I was standing on the shoulder of Highway 1 when I took this picture; the fog was coming in off the Pacific in the background.

(no subject)

David Brin speaks up on the handling of recent events ...

The crux? Whoever bears tactical blame for this or that specific blunder - even if the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans were pinheads - it remains irrefutably FEMA’s job to prepare a fail-safe process that we all can rely upon. One that will react quickly and adjust with agility, overcoming all individual failings.

By definition, FEMA is the agency with responsibility for managing emergencies. Could anything be more clear? Can there possibly be a deeper and more profound test of confidence, than for a mission that was so clear to have been so clearly botched?

I'd agree with that, though I'd extend it to cover the Department of Homeland Security as well.