Slice of Life

Relax

Got Rings?

 

Yes they do.  [Cross-posted at Insanity Plates].

Welcome to the 21st Century

N.C. House approves smoking ban; bill sent to governor

I forgot what it was like to smell like shit after spending 15 minutes in a smokey bar or restaurant . . . until I moved to Charlotte.

Sweet

You know what's complete and total bullshit?  The fact that if I was so much as a single day late getting my friggin tax returns in to the great state of North Carolina, I'd have someone with the Department of Revenue up my ass faster than you can say 'beancounter.'  So imagine my dismay when I came across this fucking news today, my checkbook out of whack for the past 6 weeks because I figured once I e-filed my family's state tax return I'd be getting my automatic deposit "within 7 to 10 days."  I pissed at anything and everything having to do with big corporate banks and government these days.  I pay my taxes on time, my bills on time, and corporate America and big government is sticking it to the little people.  So I started paying our mortgage within the 15-day grace period on a regular basis.  I'm done busting my ass to make sure my payment is scheduled right on the last day of every month.  Chances are my lender made a shitload of bad decisions in underwriting $300K loans to individuals whose only source of income came from the Assistant Manager gig at Waffle House.  So my mortgage company can bite me.  The state can bite me.  It doesn't pay to do things the right way these days, just look at the banks.  Fuck up the biggest and arguably most powerful corporations in the country by making dumbshit decisions and guess what, Uncle Sam is ready to pucker up his lips in billion-dollar handouts.  It's disappointing more than anything, and I'm disappointed is all.  I suppose it could be worse.  Morale at the "big banks" is poor from I hear these days, and luckily we don't own any big bank stock that is trading for pennies.  If anything, the past year or so has really brought out my true inner Libertarian, a positive thing.  It's simple:  if you fuck up, that's your own fault.  It's not my fault, it's not government's fault, it's not your mamma's fault.  It's your fault.  We're really turning into a nation of candyasses.

Lovely

Charlotte bus driver charged with DUI after wreck

Ahh, Global Warming

Today's high of 74 degrees breaks 84-year old record

All Hell About to Break Loose

Winter Storm Warming; 3-5 inches predicted for Charlotte

The comments following the article are pure comedy, mostly consisting of the northern transplants bashing the south and vice versa.  I'm not afraid to say it though:  people down here can't drive for shit.  It's remarkable given this part of the country being the birthplace of racing and all.  In 2 years I've witnessed 2 accidents as they happened, once as I jogged my loop and not too long ago as the wife and I were out to do some shopping (an SUV switched lanes behind me and piss pounded an unsuspecting sedan of some sort).  It's a pity all of our National Guardsmen and women are in Iraq because we might actually need them tomorrow.  I'll be hitting the road first thing with a latte, my dog, and a camera.

Hoggin'

One of my favorite books of all time is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, a book I read during my junior year of high school for an advanced English class.  As much as I bitched and griped about working in a gun factory during my summers in college, I certainly had it much better than what the book's main character, Jurgis, had to endure in a 1930s meat-packing plant.  I recently confessed to some of co-workers that I used to go into one of the stalls in the bathroom of said gun factory and take naps in the afternoon.  Let me tell you something about the air quality of a small men's bathroom in a gun factory in the middle of August.  Actually, use your imagination.  Still got my zzz's in, however.  In any event, it was interesting to see that a North Carolina pork plant recently voted to unionize in an effort to give its workers better conditions.  I've never been a fan of unions; in fact, I place the majority of the blame for the Big 3 automakers' current failures on the United Auto Workers union.  But in this instance, a union and a pork processing plant go hand-in-hand.  (Bah dump dump dump.)

The Confederate Flag Out Front Gave it Away

Hilarious.  Still amazes me that Obama won this state:

Iredell County fire leads to moonshine bust

Burning Some Plastic

I justify spending money on different stuff on the grounds that it is helping the American economy.  With this store opening up just minutes from my wife's place of work, we may be entering a whole new realm of consumer goodness.