Author: Derek

Tab Clearing

March 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Bunch of odds and ends I’m not going to have time to make full posts on, but you should RTWT.

A column from the New York Post on why people distrust journalists. Letting your political bias and disdain for fully half the country ain’t helping.

Surviving Your 15 Minutes of Hate I’m not going to lie and say that this does not worry me. It’s one reason I write under a pseudonym.

From Volokh Conspiracy, 3 Rules About Hate Speech This is one thing I dread is having to explain this to my niece and nephew.

From USCarry, 5 Types of People You Should Avoid While Concealed Carry A lot of don’t go stupid places with stupid people doing stupid things.

And for something completely different, how to cook perfect rice in an Instant Pot. Which is the main thing the Wife To Be and I use ours for these days.

No, Derek Really Likes Civ

February 25, 2019 / / 0 Comments

The Brother and a couple of mutual friends were talking, and the conversation drifted to video games. The three of them discussed how much time you could put into a game to be considered “hard-core” playing. After bantering it back and forth, the figure of 200 hours in a game was offered up by one of the friends. Since this conversation was via the Internet, decided to pull up my statistics for hours on Civ from Steam.

Yeah, Derek’s got about 1,600 hours on Civ 5 and about 1,300 on Civ 6.

Yes, I really like Civ. It is one of five video games I play and the only one I play on the computer. One of the requirements when I built my current computer was if it would handle Civ 5, which at the time was the new hotness.

Before the Wife To Be came into my life, it wasn’t unusual for Saturdays to consist of me playing Civ with my iPad streaming Netflix for oh, twelve hours or so. Now it’s down to two and three block intervals with podcasts.

Oh well, she’s worth it.

SCOTUS Smack Down

February 21, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Civil asset forfeiture is a pernicious practice that allows the cops to steal property on the grounds it might have been used in the commission of a crime. Doesn’t matter if the property owner is charged (often not) or the property owner was even aware of illegal activities on or using his/her property.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court said that civil asset forfeiture can be considered excessive fines under the Eighth Amendment. While not a death knell to the practice, this ruling gives a strong weapon to those fighting not only civil asset forfeiture, but jurisdictions that use fines as revenue generators.

Best of all, it was 9-0. When your actions are so egregious that the entire SCOTUS signs on, you done fucked up good.

I’m hoping this is the first step to the courts ruling the whole practice of seizing property without a criminal conviction of the owner unconstitutional and demands restitution.

Six Hundred and Fifty-Nine Days

February 20, 2019 / / 0 Comments

In May of 2017, I decided I would give the weight loss thing another try. There were two main reasons. I was tired of taking pills and buying new clothes. In May of 2018, I put up a post detailing my plan and weight loss up to that point. It was one of my more popular posts and even inspired a Facebook group.

Six hundred and fifty-nine days after starting down this path, I have officially hit my goal of 200 lbs. People ask me if I feel better now. Honestly, it was such a gradual process, I’ve noticed the new aches and pains of getting older than improved health from weight loss. Until I think about the fact that I don’t have to take my high blood pressure pill or statin pill. I have to take my heartburn med every other day instead of daily. That I can go up the three flights of stairs to my office with my backpack and laptop bag without being as winded as I was just climbing three flights of stairs.

I’ve done it. I’ve made my goal. It was hard work to get here, and it will be hard work to stay here. I’ll be counting calories for the rest of my life. It’s worth it though.

I don’t have to take the pills, but I’ve got to buy new clothes.

Starting with a kilt.