Jenga

Friday, the end if the work week is here which means two days of catching our breath, getting shxt done and relaxing at home with the fuzzy kid.

Agenda

We currently have nothing on the schedule for the weekend and it feels sorta odd. The past 2 or 3 weeks there has been "stuff" going on to keep us on our toes. Whether it was Cicely's craft shows or dinners with family there was always something. Maybe that is a good thing actually, one final recharge before the holiday is upon us.

Toys

So I ordered a new iPad yesterday afternoon. Not because I really wanted to, but because of the fact that now that my company is adding all of the security stuff to my corporate iPad I needed to get my own again to avoid them locking mine down or wiping it if deemed necessary because of a data breech issue.

I decided on a 32 GB 4th generation WiFi and cellular model in black. Normally I go for the 64 GB models, but having 75% of my data, namely music and videos, in the cloud has helped a lot. Anyway it should be here Monday so more on that later.

Sushi

Today we are having an end-of-the-year celebration in the studio so lunch is being catered in, there will be more games as usual, the Jenga one for example, and lots of fun.

Cicely, myself and one of our co-workers decided we want to go have some sushi instead for lunch today. We have already had our share of holiday food like turkey, stuffing and related so what a great reason to go have sushi instead. I realize it's a little "bah humbug" to not hang with our group today but again, the other option is sushi! Can you blame us?

Jenga

I guess I can elaborate on the reason behind us having a giant Jenga game in the studio. Mostly its because we have friendly competitions between each other, all bracketed so there is an annual champion. We do this with our air hockey, Foosball and now Jenga. It's a lot of fun and the championship belt you get is pretty cool, very similar to those that heavyweight boxing champions get for winning a big fight. More importantly you get bragging rights for the year.

Weather

The weather guessers said nothing about snow and I hear that it is actually flurrying a little bit out by home. I home it waits to "dump" until we get there since we don't really feel like driving home in the stuff tonight. I guess if we do its better to have to on the way home on a Friday vs. trying to get to work on a Monday. For now, that is all...done.

News (from the original Reuters story)

Sad day today in mainstream news. A heavily armed gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children from 5 to 10 years old, in a rampage at a Connecticut elementary school, one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. The gunman - who according to a media report carried four weapons and wore a bulletproof vest - was dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, state police Lieutenant Paul Vance told a news conference.

Authorities found 18 children and seven adults, including the gunman, dead at the school, and two children were pronounced dead later after being take to a hospital. Another adult was found dead at a related crime scene in Newtown, he said, bringing the toll to 28.

Two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation confirmed to Reuters the shooter had been identified as Adam Lanza, 20. Adam's brother Ryan Lanza was "either in custody or being questioned" at this hour, one of the sources said.

The New York Times reported that the gunman walked into a classroom where his mother was a teacher, shot his mother and then 20 students, most in the same classroom, before shooting five other adults and killing himself. One other person was shot at the school and survived, the Times said.

The holiday season tragedy was the second shooting rampage in the United States this week and the latest in a series of mass killings this year, and was certain to revive a debate about U.S. gun laws.

Gun Laws

Don't get me wrong, the story is horrible and the fact that innocent children as well as adults, including his mom were killed is everyone's worst nightmare. My biggest issue is that its going to get all of the hippy gun hating, tree hugging, mother fuckers up in arms about guns being bad and all of that. I get it, you think that you are right and they need to be outlawed and in the same instant you forget that there are wars happening, using guns, so you can sit at Starbucks and sip your caramel latte but yea, guns are bad and as the saying goes, "forks make people fat so we should outlaw them too", right?

My point is don't make a rule because you are scared of something. You will be unpleasantly surprised when you find that those that really want guns will still easily get guns even with laws in place. At the same time, then those with the guns will know that you have no guns so its an open door to do as they please now that you cant defend yourself. Oh I know, call the police and that sort of answer right? When is the last time you had the police show up for something that involved anything more than a basic situation?

Not to mention, how often do you hear about gun stores being held up or robbed compared to the local quick stop corner market. Those are the things most forget in these situations and want to blame the guns. Just like running a car up onto a sidewalk to kill innocent people or lighting a forest fire and so on its the individual and whether its a gun or a match or maybe a vehicle - they will find a way to do harm if they really want to unfortunately.

To not allow me to protect myself and my family because you are a sissified American is bullshxt and I will have no part of it. Because if something were to go down I guarantee your ass will be one of the first standing behind my armed ass to protect your family and kids. It's natural, but I guess I should step aside and you can then throw some words at the "bad guy" and see how far that gets ya'. Pretty far I bet, well about 6 feet below where you are standing.

We have it so fucking easy here in the states that we forget all of the bad things in other countries as well as our own. To start shooting from the hip (no pun intended) rules and regulations is moronic. We love to try and control everything and at the same time pussify it all "for the kids or future".

So wise-up and realize that outlawing guns and making your kids scared of them is not the answer. Teach them about things, the right and wrong and so on - dunno just makes more sense to me than sheltering them from anything you deem evil or wrong because you are afraid of it or don't understand it. Raising a bunch of pussy foots if you ask me.

Teach A Man To Hunt

I have owned and been around weapons my entire life. Played violent video games and so on and I have no urge to do any harm to anyone. Should someone break into my home or threaten my life or my loved ones lives I will do anything I can to protect us, although even still I would prefer another way out before shooting someone if at all possible. I guess my point is, crazy does as crazy does so don't let everyone know how fucking ignorant you are by blaming the apparatus at hand.

If guns were illegal would those kids still be alive? Possibly, or maybe not. Maybe the shooter would have ran through the playground with his car, you never know what these people are thinking. Quit taking the easy way out, step up and teach rather than blame. I know, it takes more effort but isn't that what its all about? For most, sadly, no - they don't want anything interrupting that latte, well unless it makes good news and conversation for the day and gives them a chance to buy a fucking ribbon, slip on a meaningless rubber bracelet or post their love and concern from afar on Facebook. As I have said countless times before. Get off your ass and actually go do something, its the holidays after all so go volunteer at a soup kitchen and feed the homeless and help our own for a change. Yea I know, that is crazy talk right.

Stay Strong

I can only hope for the best for those families that were involved and I hope that you can find a way to deal with this tragedy as I cannot begin to imagine what it must feel like. But please do one thing, do what is right for your child that has lost his or her life and don't be afraid to feel hate and anger toward the bastard that put you in this situation.

Blaming the object, the easy target, is not the solution nor will it ever bring back your loved ones. Rules are much easier to make than to live by and quickly become corrupt and broken so be cautious of what you deem "best" when emotions are in control of a situation..

Fork In Me

That is about it for today as I think I have went off the deep end even more than I intended but this shxt just gets under my skin big time for many reasons beyond the obvious.....Done!

Photo: Giant Jenga tower at work