Misc

Thoughts on Transgender

Recently a friend announced that she is trans, that not so long ago she had the operations to change her sex from male to female. I think that’s awesome. If she’s happier as a woman, then that’s cool.

I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand why someone would have their sex changed. It’ll probably always be a little strange to me. But I don’t need to understand it to be fine with it. I won’t criticize you for it. In fact, I’ll be your biggest cheerleader.

This friend is married. Had been married to a woman for some years now. They got married long before the operations, and they’re still married. I understand it to be a happy marriage.

A common belief seems to be that a man would want to become a woman because he’s attracted to men. And vice versa, woman, man, because women. Maybe that is the case sometimes. But I think often it has nothing to do with whether you’re attracted to the same sex or the opposite sex.

It might not have anything to do with attraction at all. Maybe it’s that some people feel they should’ve been born as the opposite sex. I can, kind of, wrap my brain around that theory. But transgender is a complex subject.

If you’re transgender, whether you actually had an operation or not, you got my full support. If it makes you happy and it’s not hurting anyone, then I see nothing wrong with it.

Though my friend is now a woman, I don’t think her interests or personality have changed. She’s the same person and I’d still have a beer with her. My only complaint is, now I gotta get used to calling her by a different name.

Hunting

Firearm Season is Here

Firearm season started yesterday, but I didn’t make it out yesterday. I did today, though.

On the way to the shack, I rounded the hill and a deer ran across my path. It disappeared into the woods. A moment later two more deer went by. Guess I spooked them. They were probably lying around in the field when I came stomping along the path.

I never mastered the silent walk, but I should try to be a little more quiet next time.

I made it to the shack, put some apples on the ground and got settled in. I was reading Joe Hill’s Horns on my phone when I heard a crunching sound. I looked and saw this little deer eating the apples. By the time I got my phone’s camera ready, it was walking away.  That was the only deer that showed up at the shack today.

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Hockey, NHL, Sports

A Bummer on Ice

That’s gotta sting. At the beginning of the third period, the score Lightning 3 and Red Wings 1. But the Red Wings picked up their game, got in one goal and then another, bringing the score to 3-3.

As the last few minutes ticked off, I thought they would end up in another shootout. But, the Lightning struck again, 4-3.

The Red Wings did not manage to score again before the buzzer sounded.

Series Talk

Ooo, Negan

On last night’s episode of The Walking Dead, Negan turned up at the town gate with his barbed wire baseball bat and a bunch of assholes. I don’t like Negan, he’s a shit sickle. You know what he did last night? He threatened to kill Judith if Rick didn’t turn over all the guns that the town had listed. Two of the guns on the list were missing and Negan wanted them found.

How about that? Negan had the right idea there. If you want to control people, the best thing to do is disarm them. And oops, if Rick’s town hadn’t been keeping a list of all the guns, Negan wouldn’t have known how many there were and some of the guns could have remained hidden.

Well, Rick was tempted to bash Negan’s head in, but he didn’t. If Negan was cut down, though, I wager his herd of sheep wouldn’t hold together so well. So, really, Rick needs to grow his balls back and bash Negan’s head in.

It’ll probably happen later in the season, but how many will die before it does?

Football, NCAA, Sports

No Blue

Well, damn. It just happened. Iowa wrecked Michigan’s perfect season. By one point.

The Wolverines were ahead. The score was Michigan 13- Iowa 11. But the Wolverines’ defense failed to hold the Hawkeyes back as the last seconds were running out.

The Hawkeyes got themselves within field goal range with three seconds left on the clock.

I prayed that Iowa’s kicker would miss the mark or one of our guys would miraculously leap and block the ball as it flew overhead.

But when has God ever listened to me?

Political

No American Should Have to Fear the President

I’m grateful for the people protesting Donald Trump’s presidency. I don’t care how fair the election was. I don’t care if the other half of the voters want Trump in the White House and are just anxious for the day he takes over. A lot of people are scared. If that many people are afraid of the president-elect, then something is terribly wrong.

Yes, since Trump won the election, he has said some things that almost restore hope. It sounds like he doesn’t plan on wiping out the Affordable Care Act, but intends to make changes to it. I hope they are good changes. He also said something about wanting to work with all parties and bring the country together.

But a number of things he has said during his campaign are not forgotten. This is why so many people are afraid. Since Trump’s victory, there has been a number of hate crimes reported. It’s going to get worse as time goes on.

No one in the United States should have to accept a president who promotes hate.

I don’t know that the protests will make a difference. I think the best we can hope for in this scenery, is that the protesters do not give up and continue to grow in numbers. Maybe with enough pressure, Trump will resign before he even takes office.

But that’s a huge maybe. I doubt it’ll happen, because the number of Trump supporters is practically equal to the number of people who voted against Trump.

I pray that Trump ends up being something like Louis XIV and has a total change of heart.

Political

I Blame the Two Party System

I was watching as the election results came in last night, but at around 11:30 PM, they were still counting and I was getting tired. So, I went to bed. I woke up at 2:30, went into the living room and turned on the TV. I was just in time to see the final states wrap it up and the headline informing us that Clinton called Trump.

Donald Trump will be our next president. Even though I did not support Clinton in this election, I would feel better if she had won. But she didn’t. Trump is the president elect.

We have a two party system. That means there’s always going to be a tug of war between the two parties. It’s always going to be a back and forth motion. Democrats are not always going to win and Republicans are not always going to win. And it can only be one or the other, according to this bullshit two-party system.

It really shouldn’t be a  big surprise that Trump will be our next president. We’ve been going back and forth between Republicans and Democrats for the last several election circles.

Let’s see….

George H. W. Bush (Rep), served a four year term. When was that? Late 80’s-early 90’s, right?

Bill Clinton (Dem), served two four-year terms, through the rest of the 90’s.

George W. Bush (Rep), served eight years, 2001-2009, right?

Barack Obama (Dem), served eight years.

Donald Trump (Rep), will begin his presidency in 2017.

Do you see this fucking back and forth motion. It’s practically predictable. It’s going to keep happening because there’s no more options. It’s always got to be one of those two, one of those two, ONE OF THOSE TWO! Always!

It’s not always going to be your candidate and it’s not always going to be their candidate.

This two party system is the real problem in our country. That’s how I see it.

Yes, I am concerned about what a Trump presidency will mean for all of us. I could continue on about that, but John Scalzi said pretty much what I’m thinking, so I’m just going to link you to his post.

I find comfort in Scalzi’s last paragraph: “But at the end of that time, I hope you come back to us. Looking at the numbers as they stand right now, Trump won by just about 300,000 votes Clinton got at least 100,000 more votes than Trump out of about 120 million individual votes cast. There’s a lot of us who will stand with you, when you’re ready to stand again with us. There’s work to be done over the next four years and beyond. We need to get to it.”

Also, my friend Jackie said this a couple weeks ago: “No matter which candidate wins neither of them is going to be as big a disaster as their detractors make them out to be nor as wonderful as their supporters think they are.” I’d like to believe that. I hope she’s spot on.

As I said before, I voted Libertarian because I feel the Libertarian Party takes what I value from both sides and puts it together. The two major parties make me feel like I’ll have to give something up, something that I very much want to keep. The Libertarian Party does not make me feel that way.

I’m not proud that our country elected Trump, but I am proud of my Libertarian vote.

I posted this on Facebook shortly after the final results came in. So, you might not see me around there for a while, if ever again. I haven’t decided yet.

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Misc

It still works, but I want it gone

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It took me a few years to get around to it, but I finally willed myself to move this old bomb of a TV out to the road for the garbage truck. It had been sitting in a corner of my bedroom doing nothing but collecting dust. It’s one of those big models from the late-80’s to the mid-90’s.
That sucker is heavy. Hope I didn’t give myself another hernia. It still works, but I want it gone.
Next Day Update
Someone claimed the TV before the garbage truck did. Whoever it was, I hope the TV brings them much joy. I still got the remote control here, I should’ve taken it out and left it on the TV yesterday. But the same buttons are on the front of the TV, so at least they’ll be able to work it.