shai

It hovers around $4 here. When I was a kid (1986 or so) gas dropped to something like 68 cents a gallon at one point. When I started working as a messenger (1997) it was about $1.50 a gallon...I've never had a license so gas prices have never directly affected me, or so I'd like to think.

I know or have met most of those people...seems like we know a lot of the same folks. Aside from that all I can say is that it takes years and it usually isn't done for recognition.

He seems okay (we're friends on FB.) LUGR- if you need someone to hang out with or talk to who won't lead you down the wrong path, I'm around.

Wound up going to a couple bars with my friend the other night, and when you're sober that bar smell is something else. Kind of like a combination of vomit, stale beer and disillusionment rolled into one funky package that cuts right through any head cold. I don't think I'm particularly mean-spirited, but if I hang around drunk people every once in a while I feel like it's exactly the kind of positive reinforcement I need...watching last call play out is more affirming than any meeting I've ever been to.

Still sober. Nothing else to report...maybe that's good.

Awfully quiet in there then...

Is this the same room as the one we've been using?

Does anyone keep in touch with Hayabusa? That guy was cool, wish he still posted.

When I say don't do it it's because you are doing well with recovery, but I realize it's not that cut and dried. There's ways to get the benefits of psychedelics without taking them...I know it sounds corny but it's true.

I went through the same thing recently, and took a couple trips more out of curiosity than anything else...would I recommend you do the same? If I were going to err on the side of caution, probably not...whatever insights you will gain from psychedelics will occur within the first five or ten experiences, but after that you're just having fun (or not, depending).

Still on the wagon. I did cave in and have a couple of cigarettes a week ago (stress) but none since.

Crashing in dirt is way different...still potentially bad, but your chances of coming out of it in decent shape are better as long as you don't launch yourself head first into a tree. I used to dirt bike a lot when I was a kid...it was semi-rural where I grew up so there were a bunch of olive groves and fields to mess around in (hence the tree reference). There was a dirt jump spot behind a chemical plant but that got built over by the time I was old enough to ride anything with an engine (nine or so).

That sucks...was it a big kangaroo? How badly did it get hurt? At least a kangaroo isn't hopping across the road on its cell phone and saying self-absorbed bullshit like "Well, I didn't see you" thinking it will get them off the hook.

You're right...I meant to say you have to pass a riding test, which if you take the class is more or less guaranteed. It's $250 now? It used to be a $30 weekend class at most community colleges...since he said he doesn't know which end of the bike does what I still think it wouldn't be a bad idea.

In CA you have to pass the Highway Patrol course to get the M class added to your license...it's pretty easy, everyone I know who's taken the test has aced it. You don't need a license for mopeds though.

If your local DMV or CC offers a riding course, take it. It's well worth it. And get leathers. Chicks dig leather.

Very cool...good job on the mix, BTW.

A good place to start would have been keeping his fucking guns locked up...

I changed my mind when I realized it wasn't a very progressive way of looking at things.

I think what was good about 12 oz then has gotten better...I'm glad there's a foundation to work off of but nostalgia is kind of corny, especially when you don't have a point of reference.

My friend was in the apartment the night Fred Hampton got killed. It's a pretty heavy story to hear from someone who experienced it first hand. I don't really care what the government does because I don't recognize it as being the authority that controls my life. When I obey the law it's not because some arbitrary third party said so and I fear the consequences, it's because it works within the framework of what I consider morally correct and logical...outside of that, I do what needs to be done with the understanding that I might have to take responsibility for my actions. When laws are convenient and unobtrusive people seem to love them, but when they start to apply to their actions they'll do just about anything but take responsibility...it's kind of like the old saying, "It stops being funny when it starts being you." Personally I don't really care about security. At best it's a con, at worst it's a nightmare. Despite all evidence to the contrary people still buy into the con..then when they realize there's no money left in their savings and the cops aren't their friends, they start doing weird shit like occupying parks and public spaces because they don't know what else to do.

As long as you don't leave your brain and your conscience at the door, I'm cool with that. Imagine being in the radical community and treating cops and vets like humans with real feelings. It's kind of an interesting litmus test for my peers...if they're really about changing the world and peace and love, who do you think you need to engage with that attitude first? Well, let's just say a lot of people around me have begged to differ right up to the point of calling me names...it's not my problem if they confuse decency with collaboration.

I know what you're talking about and that's not "small L libertarian" in the traditional sense. It's more of a fucked up amalgamation of objectivism, neo-conservatism and later libertarian ideology...since it's kind of late, I don't really want to go into it in super detail mode but when I tell people "I know what you think you mean but I really think you mean this" I feel like they deserve an explanation. I think cops think they're military, at least based on what I've heard them say at times (referring to citizens as "civilians," using the "I'm just following orders" rationale) so I feel like it begs the question as to what their role really is. If they ARE indeed military, then their role has changed considerably from what its original intent was. If not, they sure as hell need to drop the pretense and be more accountable to the communities they serve...and in the process they might find that people will hate them a little less. Some PDs behave as if their role is an occupying force...the rationale is usually "Well, people don't like us" but they seem very short sighted as to why that might be. There are communities that don't like letting first responders in of ANY kind because they view anything with a light bar and siren as bad news, or at least the harbinger of bad news. That sucks because the role of firemen and EMTs has nothing to do with law enforcement...but to some people the three are more or less inextricably associated. I've seen this happen in person, it's crazy shit...people will take a cab to the hospital and/or let their house burn down just so they won't have to talk to the Man.

How can you be the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and still be a civilian?