"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1775

"When fascism comes to America, it will be draped in the flag and carrying a cross."
- Sinclair Lewis, 1935

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933

Happy Independence Day.

Let's recount the last few weeks, because they've been a whirlwind and I'm a little drained from telling the story:

• Wednesday, June 13th: I finish my MASSIVE 7 week weight loss of 35lbs with my parents coming into town for Jenn's Med School Graduation. Very drained from the final cut, got to 228.5.
• Wednesday, June 13th - Wednesday, June 20th: Jenn graduating, family in town, general chaos.
• Saturday, June 23rd - Sunday, June 31st: 2 Weddings and a trip to Cancun, general chaos.
• Monday the 1st: I get the dog and return to work while Jenn is still at her parents; I do a ton of packing.
• Thursday the 4th: Jenn comes back into town from her post-grad trip to her parent's house in CA; I've been at home for a week with the dog. It's RYGEL'S 2nd BIRTHDAY!!!
• Friday the 5th: I take the day off of work to interview for a job in the GME Office at the UVA Med Center. We bring the dog up thinking it'll help him adjust to see it and smell around a bit before the move, unfortunately, it's pouring out all day so I have a wet dog in the car, nowhere to change (we drove up and down same day) and have to keep wet dog off my nice new suit. Went very well though.
• Wednesday the 10th: Jenn leaves for Charlottesville to go to orientation in her car. We're scheduled to get the moving truck Saturday Morning. She can't drive my car (stick shift) and can't drive the truck, so to execute this move, her car must come back to NC. After we move, I need to get back to NC and the train on the following Monday would get in at 1 AM Tuesday which is a no go to still get to work, so the only feasible way to do this is to have my car in VA...
• Friday the 12th: I leave work and drive up to C'Ville (3 hours) in my car, drop my car off, and drive back to Winston (4 hours) in Jenn's car. NOT A HAPPY DAY TO SAY THE LEAST. Tensions are running high and stress is at a max.
• Saturday the 13th: Get the truck exactly at 8 AM. We originaly got the 22 foot, then upgraded to a 26 foot, then went back to a 22 foot, so when we picked it up we weren't sure how big it'd be. It's freaking huge, it has a big rig cab on the front, full on brake meter to show you're brake temperature and pressure. The thing is a HUGE bitch to drive. It's way more than like a 17 foot truck which I've done in the past; those are just like pickup fronts on a truck. This is a full on deisel mack truck. We load this bitch all day, just the 2 of us, grunting and groaning and stressed and miserable. It was not a good day at all. We also were very worried stuff wouldn't fit, and spoiler alert, we got it all in there by the skin of our teeth. At the end there was a bit of "rearranging to make sure there's room for the fish tank" (which was put in last thing) but somehow everything fit, literally with stuff pressing against the door. We go out to dinner and such, trying to recover from bumps, bruises and sore muscles. BTW, Rygel is EXTREMELY stressed out about all of this stuff.
• Sunday the 14th: We wake up late (on the air mattress) and get the car/truck ready. We know we don't get the keys until Monday at 6 AM, so we don't want to leave early and just sit around. The fish are fragile and we don't want them in the temp carriers that long, so we wait to leave by about 3 or 4. We were shooting for 3, but things got delayed as we were packing up. We know it's 3.5 hours normally, but the truck was so hard to drive I was planning on 5. Driving up with the dog the week before he was all nuts jumping all over both of us, but I was there to restrain him in the passenger seat. Knowing I wasn't there, we tried to give Rygel a benadryl to subdue him, and we went online to learn a safe dose, but it didn't affect him at all. I could see into Jenn's car on the drive up and he was in her lap the whole time. The drive SUCKED. I called Jenn and said "we're not stopping just because it's so hard to get in and out of driveways." As long as we didn't need gas, I'd hold it until we got there and would go hungry. The whole drive you're so focused because it's so hard to stay within your lane and stuff. Also, getting closer to the city it's a mountain road that's all twisty and hilly, we were going like 20 miles an hour under the speed limit. We got there in about 4 hours, maybe a little more, and it was all ok. We rolled straight into the hotel where I parked the behemoth in a pullthrough space and began unloading the fish and turtle into the hotel in the temporary tanks. We get to the room, and Rygel has never stayed in a hotel before, he immediately poops on the floor (which stinks for the rest of the night). Rygel also after ignoring him for 2 years has discovered Baron (it's really like he can't see him when he's in the water, but now that he's out of the water and banging around the temporary tub, he's very interesting) so he's barking at him. Chaos, we go to sleep at about 10 knowing we're getting up and getting the truck to the house at 5:45 AM the next day...
• Monday the 15th: Jenn and I couldn't sleep, we were both up at 3:30. It's supposed to thunderstorm all day long. We leave the tank in the hotel and roll into the truck and the car, and it's def. raining. Jenn pulls up with the car and the dog ahead of me to see if they're out, and I'm pulled up into the turn lane outside of the complex waiting for the word. They're not out yet, and we sit there until about 6:15. It kind of stops raining, but it's VERY threatening. So they pull out, and the house remains unoccupied for all of 1 minute, literally. So we start loading, which is fine. Jenn's classmate Rah's husband Tim comes to help at about 7, and we go and go and go until it's all unloaded by 9, miraculously. And it doesn't rain. Like within 10 minutes of Tim leaving, the Comcast guy comes and BOOM all done within an hour. So it's 10 ish, we arrange for a bit, then go to the hotel by about 11 to shower a bit. Low and behold, I get a phone call while at the hotel, it's Pam from GME *offering* me the job! She said they've recommended me to HR and I should get a call from HR with the official offer in the next day or 2, and that I'd be "very pleased" with the compensation package. WOOT! I immediately phone in my 2 weeks notice to Greensboro. At this point, I'm so tired I can barely think but very happy we shower and go to buy things for the house. Over the rest of the day, we go to lowes and get the new shed for the yard (using the truck from hell mind you) and return the truck, then set up the shed and a few other things, then I leave to come back to Winston Salem to work the next day.
• Tuesday the 16th: I go to work, which is fine, then I come home and begin the huge task of replacing the door in the living room with one that doesn't have a doggy door cut out of it. Mind you, every muscle is sore at this point, but I'm pretty unscathed. What do you know, in installing this door, I completely rip the muscle on the side of my torso. Not rip, but pull severely. Fail. I needed a drill to install this and Jenn had mine in C'ville, so I had to go and actually buy a drill. I decided to actually pay for something good and not opt for Harbor Freight crap that will break in a week. So I did that and started to pull the fence out of the yard, which was going to go to Barbara at work who would use it for her barn. Let's talk about my stuff for the week: while I was setting up the fish tank and Jenn packed me a bag. I have a king air mattress, mind you, and need 5 days worth of work clothes. She sent me home with 11 underpants, 7 socks (not pairs, socks) and 2 queen fitted sheets, plus some pants and shirts. Awesome. I didn't sleep well on the air mattress at all.
• Wendesday the 17th: Work again. Still haven't gotten the call from UVA Med Center HR, but being patient. Jenn actually sees Pam at orientation where the new residents (260 ish of them) are doing benefit paperwork, so I understand, HR is swamped. She said it's a done deal and it's just paperwork, so it's cool. For those of you wondering, this is why I've been hesitant to announce it, I fear some sort of Jinx if I officially announce it, so I'm waiting until I accept the official offer. I go home, do more cleaning and housework, do a bunch of painting, and go to sleep, again not sleeping well, I need weight on me to sleep and a fitted sheet is not weight.
• Thursday the 18th: Work again, still no offer, slightly stressing but that's just because I'm a worry wart. This is the last night in the house, so I get the car all packed up except for the mattress and such which needs to be done Friday Morning. House is all vacuumed and good to go.
• Friday the 19th: I wake up an hour early to finish closing up the house, and off I go to do the last commute from Winston to Greensboro ever! Kind of sad to leave the house we got married in and that our baby grew up in (yes Rygel is our first child). So I go to work, still no call from UVA HR, then leave at 4 to go to the airport to fly to CA for Jenn's cousin's wedding. She can't go because of training, but as soon as I knew where I'd be I volunteered to be the Gullo representative at the wedding. Flight was very smooth, no incidents which is rare for me. I actually brought my laundry from NC to CA to do as I have no laundry equipment at the moment, so my bags were stuffed, but all was well. I get in at about 1AM my time (10 there) and crash.
• Saturday the 20th: I wake up early to work on dad's website while I'm there. Get that done, get some In-N-Out, then get in the car to drive the 2 hours to the wedding, which was very nice, then drive back to the parent's house, do Fathers day, and get to bed at about midnight. WHIRLWIND OF A DAY!
• Sunday the 21st: Wake up at 6AM, leave house at 6:30, and fly out at 7:30AM back to NC. Get in at like 5 PM after not eating all day, and get to my hotel, which is all good, it's a crappy motel but it's fine and has a comfy chair, so I chill out the rest of the night.
• Monday the 22nd: Work again, hotel again. I actually called Pam at UVA today to ask her ahead of time for the day off for Michael's wedding, and she asked if HR had called yet, and I said no, and she said they're bogged down and she'll make a call to see if it can be done in the next week. She also told me what they recommended to pay me...lemme put it this way, you could make the argument that Jenn and I make the same amount, which is HUGE. Like, all our problems solved huge. But no official offer yet, so I sit patiently and finish out the last week. Oh, and I had panda express.
• Tuesday the 23rd: Another day, another dollar. Brooks was out today, and I feel kind of crappy since I have no kitchen to cook in, am eating fast food, and the hotel's fitness center's equipment is all broken. Today I got another call from Pam in UVA, saying HR contacted her and the amount she told me they recommended to HR yesterday was rejected for a lower number, that I have some room to negotiate, and that I should hear "this evening or tomorrow." That's all fine, I just want the offer and to start. I know I looked online and in the area for my position title the median income is $38,000, so I've got a lot of buffer room to still be satisfied with. Just waiting.
• Wednesday the 24th: FINALLY! At about 9 AM, I get the call from HR, they make the offer, less than they originally said but with the signing bonus pretty good, very much in line with what I'd expected from the beginning based on research I did about pay in the area, and it's all good! I offered to start the 29th when Pam and I originally talked, but it looks like there's a chance the paperwork can't get done that fast, so I may get until July 13th to set up the house. They'll let me know if it's possible, either way I move up Friday and it's all good.

So that's the drill. I'm not updating this post any more, I've been sitting on it for a while holding off out of fear of jinxing all this, so now you can read this in all its glory. I will pack up the hotel on Thursday night, and drive up Friday after work, and that's all she wrote.

“Essentially, we just ran out of time,” was the explanation from a staffer for New York State Assem- blyman Steve Englebright on the failure to pass a bill legalizing and regulating Mixed Martial Arts in the state during the past legislative session. Governor David Patterson called the state Senate into an emergency session to break a leg- islative deadlock resulting from several members alternating between political parties. As a result, the focus of the session will be on high-priority bills including city budgets and same-sex marriage, while less-priority bills including the regulation of mixed martial arts will be deferred to the following year.

UFC President Dana White and heavyweight Mirko “CroCop” Fil- ipović (24-6-2, 1 NC) participated in a conference call about CroCop's return to the UFC and the org- anization's historic first event in Cologne, Germany. This call gave reporters the opportunity to question CroCop before the event, as he will be unable to attend the UFC 99 “The Comeback” pre-fight conference.  Continue reading for highlights from the call.

  My last rant (Time Warner Sucks), I felt, was pretty good. It pretty much summed up in conclusive fashion how Time Warner abuses its power as the only possible provider of cable service to your home. However, they've failed me as a customer YET AGAIN.

  We are moving out of this house on the 15th of June, and called TWC to get it canceled that day. So what happens? A truck arrives at our house early this morning (June 7) and shuts off our cable and internet. The one time they're not late is when they shut us down a full week early. So I call, and the lady on the phone says "hmm, how odd, it's in here for the 15th, we don't know why they came out." We have to wait a whole day for the tech to get his happy ass back out here again and turn it back on. FUCK CABLE.

  This is why deregulation of cable failed. When the conservatives pushed deregulation of the cable industries through in 1996, they ended capitalism and instituted monopolies. Time Warner is my ONLY choice for cable here, and I can deal with that, get satellite (I'll deal with that in a minute) and DSL (we don't have a phone line to our house, not an option) or go without. Tell me, next time you argue with a conservative about capitalism or socialism, what they say to the idea that only one company is allowed to deliver a service to your home and they have 100% control of the price and options you get. Capitalism, the "Survival of the fittest" of the economic policies, gives way to "survival of the most prominent lobbyists."

  Case in point, when we move to Virginia, the cable provider we're assigned to is Comcast. We have 4 tv's; did you know that as part of their own internal rollout of digital services called "project Cavalry," you must have a box on top of every TV you want to watch on. A box you rent for $7 a month. I suggest you read this: "How the Unknown Digital TV Transition Could Screw You" We want the digital package where I can order my MMA Pay Per Views on the main TV, but to have that service on one TV you must have it on all.

  So get Satellite and DSL you say? Oops, where we're moving, the homeowner's association (you know, that loveable institution where people who can only get what they want by complaining to a bureaucracy get to fuck with their neighbors) has decided that having options for what you want to watch is too ugly. So we have no fucking options, except good old fashioned, monopolized, deregulated comcast.

  If you have the option to get satellite, I strongly suggest you exercise it. I would have had I know how effed up the whole cable industry was, and when I get to a place where I can have sat tv I will, but for now I will have to suck it up with this.