The California Supreme Court struck down the same-sex marriage ban that was enacted by the voters in 2004 saying that it did not provide equal protection of the laws for gay people.  As of today, homosexuals can now marry in California.

It’s about time this happened.  This court joins the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in using common sense in realizing that the US Supreme Court decided 50 years ago that separate but equal is anything but equal.

Thank you California.  You’ve finally done something that makes me think about moving back.

I’m back from Arizona. 

Thursday I drove around the Phoenix area wasting gas, but ultimately looking at the housing that is available should I decide to relocate there.  I must say that I’m not impressed with the west side of the area one bit, with the exception of Avondale, but that seemed quite a bit out from the center of town.I didn’t get a chance to look at the west side too much, but I’ve been hearing that Scottsdale is the high rent district, so perhaps somewhere adjacent to that city would be ideal?

Friday we drove up to Sedona and went hiking.  It was a simple trail, but it was nice to get outside and take in the red rocks before the summer hits and it’s, well, hot.  Sedona is pretty, but I don’t think I’d want to live there.  Outside of hiking, there isn’t anything to do.

Saturday, we drove down to Tuscon, then drove up into the Santa Catalina mountains.  I was amazed by this location, and have to say it would be the one redeeming feature about living in Tucson.  Well that, and the fact it is about 40 miles from Mexico. 

As you drive up into the hills you leave the cactus and desert climate to meander up into grass, then a bit of forest, followed by granite and absolutely unexpected in Arizona formations, then up into an alpine forest.  We were at about 8,000 feet up the mountain and there was still some snow on the sides of the road.  At the top of the mountain, all you could see below you was desert for MILES around.  This was simply amazing.

Yesterday we flew back to Conservative Hell.  It actually amazed me that it only took 3 hours and 15 minutes to make the trip from Phoenix to Capitol City airport, as the flight normally takes 4 hours. 

That was the highlight of the day.

We went out to eat when we got back and I received the most deplorable service I have gotten from any establishment in quite some time.  So bad that I left absolutely NO tip.  The food was horrible and the service worse.  I asked for an unsweetened iced tea and was served correctly the first time.  On the refill I was brought sweet tea, that hideous concoction that only someone that shaves their NASCAR drivers number into their back hair would enjoy.

The server rarely appeared, and when we tried to get his attention he kept right on walking.  When we were finally asked if everything was o.k., I replied that it wasn’t, and he promptly walked away.

It was farking pathetic!

Now, if the establishment had been busy, I would have overlooked quite a bit, but the place was far from busy, since mom and aunt Flossie prefer eating at a pig-pick on Mother’s Day, or so I’m guessing. 

It’s been a decade since I stiffed on a tip, and I think this time they deserved such.  I didn’t even get asked, “How was everything” as I paid the bill at the door.

Taking inspiration from all those to-do lists Disenchanted posts, I’m presenting my countdown to Arizona. I leave tomorrow night for Capitol City and fly out the next day.

• See if I can get the drywall contractor set-up to start work on the house. Kind of, got an acceptable bid, waiting for another bid to come in.
• Mow the lawn.
• Blow stray yard clippings off sidewalk and driveway after mowing.
• Get my laundry done.
• Make deposit at bank.
• Get some ironing done.
• Re-locate electric outlet for new over the range microwave so it is in the cabinet when it is hung.
• Get my hair cut.
• Install new box in place of old light switch box in the kitchen and put new switch in it.
• Move the rest of the stuff out of the way of the contractor so they can just come in and WORK.
• Install insulation in the exterior walls of the house where we had to remove it to wire and plumb.
• Move my workspace at the office. Yes, I’m moving for the first time in 8 years.
• Pack for Arizona trip.
• Pray to the gods that the city picks up everything from the sidewalk so I don’t have to lug it back to the back yard. Wow, they actually did it!
• Vote.
• Drive to Capitol City.
• Get on a plane and forget about Conservative Hell for 5 days.

For those that are counting, that’s seventeen separate items. I wonder if I’ll get it all done?

“He is more unpopular than Richard Nixon was just before he resigned from the presidency in August 1974.”

That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

Sleep I need it! Sleep I need it!

OK, projects update.  New garage door mostly installed.  Good enough I can lock it anyhow.  I have a spring support I need to replace, but other than that the door is hooked to the opener and ready to use.  I’m afraid to park the car in there until I get the support repaired though. 

Kitchen mostly torn apart and in need of drywall.  I must get a contractor in!

Front yard mulched.  This is the first time in probably 20 years this has been done, and it probably added about $10,000 to the value of the house.  I should have done this much sooner.

That is all.

Senator John McCain can’t possibly get my vote, and it’s not because he’s a Republican.  Nope, it’s because he and his wife will deeply offend my gay sensibilities because they have absolutely no clue how to properly dress.  We must stop this fashion disaster duo from becoming the first family of the United States.

You would think someone on his staff could have tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Senator, it’s in poor taste to wear a black belt with tan slacks…”

 The next thing you know, his wife will wear white after Labor day! 

Speaking of his wife, WTF is up with those glasses?  Is she nursing a hangover?

If the rest of America can be so shallow in their electoral decisions, why can’t I?

I think at some point, I’d like to take a day off.  For the past two weeks all I’ve done is get up, either go to work or work on the house, work on the house all day or work on it when I get home in the evening, etc. 

I have managed to get all the new outlets hooked up in the kitchen except two, but that shouldn’t take long tonight.  Considering I wired everything into the electric panel in the garage last night, and then wired most of the outlets after that (4 of the 6-7), the two or three that are left shouldn’t take long.

I promise that someday I’ll have more to say other than I worked on the house.

For a list of what has been done since Saturday morning, continue below.

Many thanks to P for all his hard work on the kitchen this weekend.  Other than hooking up the outlets and making the connections in the electric panel in the garage, the kitchen wiring is done.  Whew!

The part we did get finished is the hardest part of any wiring project - stringing the wire, since you have to be in the attic or under the house to do most of that. 

We still have a bit of demolition to accomplish behind the existing counters, but we’ll do that once they are taken out.  After that we are in reconstruction mode.  We’re almost ready to have someone come in and do the taping and mudding of the drywall.  Yippie!  After that it’s install the cabinets and all the other things that you expect to see in a kitchen.

I’m off to nurse my bruises (from crawling around the attic) and to fall asleep at my desk now. 

*snores*

That’s what the cat said today as P and I “filmed” another episode of Crap Shack Remodel. Today’s episode: Kitchen tear-out.

Yes, that’s right. CQ has the oddest home on the block right now as it is now a 3BR/1BA/No kitchen house. We tore all the plaster off the walls today, so now the kitchen is mostly a room with exposed studs (something I really like when they are the human variety) so that we can re-wire it and prep it for modern appliances. It’s going to have this amazing modern device called a garbage disposal when I’m done. Yippie! I’m so looking forward to that as I’ve not had one since I lived in my apartment 5 years ago.

So I guess for the next month or so I’m going to be eating out a lot, and otherwise working hard to make sure I get this project done more quickly than any of the others that have come before it.

Amazingly enough, I also got fertilizer down on the lawn today before it poured rain. Just the perfect scenario when you put this down because otherwise it burns the lawn.

More to come later. I’m going to try to blog more than I have recently. I’ve suddenly realized that I have not blogged much since I got back from the citizenship appointment.

Dear Company HR:

Where do you find the sales people you hire?  I’d like to know as it seems none of them fit the job description for the position they were hired for.  I mean, they should know basic things such as:

1. How to turn their computer on.
2. How their basic software packages work.  They don’t need to know complex Excel formulas, but they should be able to sort and total columns.
3. How a web browser works.
4. The four fundamental advertising research variables (Audience, Composition, Coverage, and Index).
5. Be able to assemble their own client pitches.  We provide information, not the entire presentation.  Unless I’m going to get a cut of the sales commission, they need to do this themselves.

On another subject - I’m not misogynistic, but really, do all the women you hire for sales have to be a popsicle stick with a chest size larger than their IQ?  I know we live in Conservative Hell, but the advertising world attracts a talent pool that tilts towards gay people.  Perhaps you should take that into consideration when you’re hiring Chesty Love for advertising sales since the odds are about 50% of the men on the other side of the sales table won’t be interested in those perky tits.

Since you’re a Bush supporter, I’m fairly certain you have not noticed the economy is in the crapper.  In difficult economic times it is probably a good idea to hire one or two people that actually know what they’re doing.   I know this is a difficult concept for you to grasp seeing as you probably don’t know your own job very well, but still, you could try.

Sincerely,

CQ