There was yet another update released of my blog software and I’ve installed it. Hopefully this fixes a few little wacky things I’ve noticed (one being some browser compatibility issues). The speed does indeed seem to be a bit faster than the previous generation.
It was very interesting to see how this Zumbo affair worked itself out this week. Surprisingly, it even made mention in the general media. Apparently, the Washington Post had something that was sindicated to MSNBC here. Naturally, it misses the point, but at least it was mentioned. In summary, Zumbo has lost every major (and maybe not just major) sponsorship he has. Also, he lost his job, has been distanced from the NRA, and basically disavowed by anyone and everyone that could get hurt by association with his comment. His multiple apologies he has put out completely miss the point. He still doesn’t get the outrage. Sadly, he probably never will. The only real positive I’ve seen come out of this, though, is a new grass roots coalition is forming among the firearms enthusiasts to try and organize for the coming 2008 elections. I’m not talking about something that will be another NRA or GOA, no, nothing like that, but a concerned and dedicated group that will try and pool their vast collective resources to push back on the misconceptions and common false beliefs about our sport. We’ll see how it works out. People all too quickly become complacent.
We went to see The Astronaut Farmer on Sunday. I’m a sucker for these kinds of films. Others of the genre I have enjoyed are October Sky and Space Cowboys. Anyway, this is a nice family film. Like Breach, it’s not something you should to think too hard about. Aside from some logical incongruities, there are some obviously over-the-top, campy kind of things in it too. Things that almost lead me to think this might have been conceived as a comedy. The end result is good. I certainly recommend it for some easy viewing.
At some point in everyone’s life you have one of those foot-in-mouth episodes that could have very easily been avoided if one thought before speaking. Well, Mr. Jim Zumbo has just had the SHTF for a comment he made in his blog, because of not thinking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a firestorm like this online. It’s amazing the level of fuss this has caused. Remington has even already put out several statements from several levels of management (including the CEO) to get some CYA going. It’s a shame, but I’m certain their business will take a little hit from this despite their quick response. Hopefully this all gets worked out, but I’m actually glad the topic is bubbled to the surface. This is something that is a fundamental difference between 2 sets of gun owners that needs to be resolved before we can put forth a united effort to fight for our rights in the face of those like the Brady campaign. I only hope that those sportsmen that don’t understand our evil black rifles take the time to hear what we have to say. It’s bad enough when the general population (that seems to get it’s point of view and “understanding” of our hobby from Hollywood) misunderstands what our hobby even is. Let the dialog begin. Read what started the storm:
http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/zumbo/2007/02/assault_rifles_.html
For those that don’t wish to read from the link. Mr. Zumbo basically called people that have AR-15s (and AKs) terrorists.
I just did a software update on the blog. It’s been weeks in the coming, I just never got around to it. We’ll see how it works. The devs say it should be a lot faster, but I can’t say for sure. I think I’ve found some new bugs, though. It could just be me.
We went to see Music and Lyrics on Sunday. I say, this is a great film. Well, maybe great isn’t the word to use, it was very good. Certainly it’s not a life altering affair, but it is good. The previews and trailers were a horrible horrible thing. They didn’t do the film justice. Casting was good, the story was good, the dialog worked for me. There were some great transitions and special effects (not something I’d expect). I liked how they were poking fun at Christina/Britney/Shakira/Madonna and the current ostentatious generation of pop stars. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the fake songs. Some of them I think could do quite well in the real world. Go watch it!
We went to see Breach on Saturday. I really liked the movie. It’s a semi-clever film that you shouldn’t think too much about. In fact, after getting home and thinking about some of the scenes a little more, I started to realize how they didn’t make sense. In fact some of the characters were insanely stupid. Things look fine if not scrutinized too closely, but the details and continuity are quite lacking. My biggest question, how much is actually “based on a true story” and how much is Hollywood? I tend to believe that the only thing that was real is that a Robert Hanssen was convicted of treason.
We had our Design Center appointment today. It lasted about 4 hours as we went through every single little detail. I think we came away with everything picked fairly well. The proof will be in the pudding. It was certainly a chore to stay within our means. Maxed out on upgrades could have easily gone up to maybe even $40k, but we tried to stay reasonable. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The only real disappointment is the lack of networking in our choices. They wanted outrageous rates for single jacks and even their package deal had my mouth drop. No way am I paying $2020 for 4 network jacks (well, maybe 8 if they run 2 to a plate). I don’t know if I’d pay half that for network jacks in every room.
So, back to figuring out what refrigerator, washer, dryer, freezer (maybe), garage floor sealer, fence, blinds/shades,
Well we had a big week. Our house contract was ratified. I got a call to setup our appointment for the Design Center to choose our options and upgrades. Shinta was overly busy with a big project at work this week, so I ran over there to get a quick run through and pictures of everything. That gave us a big help in starting to think about exactly what we want before going in and choosing. We spent most of the week reading up on various things trying to get up to speed on everything (appliances, flooring, lighting, shades, etc). We’re certainly far from being experts, but we are a lot farther down the road now.
This weekend we got our taxes done. Luckily, it looks like we’ll be getting a refund. It’s not a ton, but every bit helps. We went back down the the edition we’ll be in and took a look at a couple of the inventory homes (and the model home) to see how the mostly standard options look compared to the upgrades. The standard kit isn’t bad. It’ll be fine, but we’ll see what kinds of upgrades we might be able to afford up front to make things a little nicer and not need upgrading later (the idea being why pay twice). Some things (like the balcony railing) look like necessary upgrades, but it’s going to be up to how much they numbers come out to be. The railing upgrade in the model home was nearly $9000, and that’s way out of our budget for ALL the upgrades we do combined. We’ve made a list of priorities and we’ll go through it at the design center with real numbers to see how it works out. One thing we’re fairly certain about is not going with the option to have some of the major appliances be supplied from the builder. We’re fairly sure they won’t have a very wide array of options and we’re still sorting through exactly what we want. We’ll have six months to get that worked out and find what deals we can. The two appliances included (the dish washer and range) we’re hoping we can do some changes on too. I’m wanting a gas range, but it’s electric by default. Also, we don’t know if the color/finish is selectable (it better be). There’s so much to keep track of…
