Covered

It is going to be covered in full which is a nice thing. They couldn't really determine what happened to cause the failure. So they are ordering all the parts to put it back together. Unfortunately they had to order a new engine block from Sweden, but its supposed to be here in the states in 7 - 10 days. Even after they receive all the parts some of them will have to be milled and the car engine back together. So I will have to make an extra trip back down to Raleigh, NC in a couple of weeks when they put it all back together.

Looks like tomorrow I will start heading home or Sunday at the latest. I need to swing by the car and pick up some stuff i left in it. I'm looking at taking some smaller roads to get a different look at North Carolina. Problem is though it may make a two trip into a three day trip because usually i drive much further north of Raleigh on the first day of driving home. Until they fix my car they are paying for a nice rental car. It's a Buick Lacrosse CXL. Its fairly well equipped and after a 100 miles driving it so far it's not a bad car. Although I wish it was a standard as I have tried to shift it on a couple of occasions already.

It was a cloudy day in Florida with rain in the morning. Still we travelled south to Marco Island about twenty minutes for lunch. There a little place there of of Bald Eagle Drive named the Snooks Inn. It sits on the water and is a favorite place of mine down here in Florida. I had the broiled seafood platter which comprised of shrimp, scallops, grouper and mahi mahi with crab stuffing. A salad bar and fresh baked bread and some Chardonnay and you have the makings of a nice meal.

Health care has passed and we are all still here so that is good. I have seen a couple of blogs commenting on how stupid us Americans are over this health care, but you have to remember we aren't brought up on the idea of social medicine or mandated health care, so its going to take time for every one to see the possible benefits.

Anyone watching FlashForward i think that is a pretty good show myself. Kansas, did anyone else pick them to make it to the final four and win it all? Looks like immigration will be the next big topic out of Washington, how do you guys feel, should we just make everyone a permanent resident? California is looking to actually legalize marijuana, (apparently this is ok but gays being married is destroying the family in California) what do you think? William F. Buckley declared we lost the drug wars in the eighties, should we just legalize and and tax it or what?

Ok so there are a few things I'm thinking about it these days. Is there anything you are interested in, a topic that is making headlines in your country? Let me know I love to read foreign newspapers and see what going on out there.

I hope you are all well and that life is mostly positive for all. Thanks for reading, take care and be safe

Cvn70

Waiting in the Sun

Well no news is good news they say but I am going to have call someone tomorrow and find out if GM is going to honor its warranty. Thanks to those of you who have expressed concerned about my little problem. And Even if they cover it it will take a couple of weeks to repair. As much as I would like to spend all that time in Florida I do have go home and get some work done. My friends at home believe GM will try and deny coverage and while i hope they don't nothing surprises me anymore.

So I have been spending some time at the beach this week, the picture above is from yesterday when the breeze was up and there were some kites surfers, and oh yea these two guys caught my attention too. Naples, Florida is a funny place in the world in some ways, the whole place is built for about three months a year from December to February. This picture was from around Christmas time when the beach is full of tourist from really all parts of the world.

And after the season is over Naples becomes a typical tourist town out of season, empty and easy to get around. This picture below taken this week of the same beach area just looking the other way shows how deserted the beaches are. I do recommend Naples to anyone visiting Florida as a place that provides an easy way of life. There is plenty of shopping, fishing, golfing and beach activities. Or you can just enjoy the restaurants and the views

Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed to hear some good news on my car. I've been thinking about Obama care and what it will mean to me and the Country. I have to believe that this is the first step to a naturalized health care system for Americans. Am I happy about it, well yes and no, but I do step its a step forward for civil and human rights, unfortunately its a step that may bankrupt the country. I read in the Wall Street Journal that historically this country has taxed its populist about twenty percent in general. This means that total taxes paid by all, has cost the country about twenty percent of what it has been made by all and now under Obama's plan it will increase to twenty seven percent. And there appears to be no cost controls built in to the system.

Obama says he will collect it from the rich, but in this economy the rich are fewer and fewer. Is Health care a right, maybe in a lot of countries it is unfortunately its not here. Should it be a right, maybe but that is not the question. I already counsel people how to avoid taxes and government mandates. I think this maybe give me some more business.

A few years ago i would have sent some money to people working against Obama Care, but after meeting some of you who i know will benefit from this plan, I will just swallow the cost and hope for the best, for now at least.

Thanks for reading, take care and be safe out there my friends

Cvn70

Broken down and waiting

So things were going ok, I left yesterday morning on a trip to Florida. I did run into to a lot of traffic yesterday in Connecticut, which delayed my meeting Dodger for lunch. It’s always nice to stop and have lunch with another member of the community Even coming thru New York City there was a bit of extra traffic but still I pushed on south. After lunch in Philadelphia I starting moving south again and didn’t stop until I reached the middle of North Carolina. I drove over eight hundred miles (almost 1300 Kilometers) or a little over half way before I stopped for the night.

Got up and had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. They had one of those Belgian waffle makers so I made some, yum. Packed up the car and got on the road again. As I neared the end of North Carolina I heard some noises from the engine compartment and then I lost all power to the car. Luckily it rolled along the highway and down a nearby exit ramp. I pull to a stop off the exit ramp. Not happy at all. Here I am stuck in the middle fog basically rural North Carolina.

I called the nice people at Saab. Since the car is under warranty they will tow it to the nearest Saab dealer. Some eighty miles north of where I am . So an hour later a tow truck appears and we make the drive north to Raleigh. I’m waiting right now to hear what is wrong with the car. OK blown engine, yep I never saw what one of the cylinder rods looked like before but the technician shined the light up and there it was. The bottom of the engine block was gone. Fuck

So they gave me a rental and told me they would know Monday if the engine was covered under the warranty. I asked the service manager just what does a bumper to bumper warranty covers if it doesn’t cover blown engines. They are worried I got water into the cylinder head last week when I had some troubles starting the car after I went thru some water. So they gave me a rental car and I’m off to Florida again. Monday will either be the start of a good problem or a bad problem

Even if it covered my car and me are serrated by some eight hundred miles and it wont be done in a week so that I could pick it up as I returned home. At least the rental car is nice it’s a Buick Lacrosse. Well I need to get on the road again and get to Florida. I hope everyone else is doing better out there than I am today

Thanks for Reading, take care and be safe

Cvn70

Death, Uganda is that really the answer?

Okay it appears that I took February off from blogging, I am not sure what happened either, but I'll give it a go again. Tonight a little red wine is helping, over the years I have used several things to pass the days, sometimes I think you just need a little something.

Did you notice Uganda wants to kill gay people. A new law under consideration proposes the Death penalty if a minor or disabled person is involved in a homosexual act or if an "offender" is HIV-positive or is a "serial offenders". Life in prison awaits anyone who engages in homosexual acts. For helping, counselling, or encouraging another person to engage in a homosexual act a penalty of seven years is proposed. Uganda currently criminalizes [BBC report] homosexual behavior with up to 14 years in prison

The new bill wants to raise that to life imprisonment, even though no-one has ever been convicted of homosexual acts in Uganda. And just because Uganda wants to be fair to families members of LGBT, the bill also imposes punishments of up to three years in prison for those who fail to report the identity of a person who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered within 24 hours, including family members.

Uganda is headed in the wrong direction. I know Uganda isn't alone in the news lately as our American government is pandering to members of LGBT with Presidents Obama's strong pledge to rid our military of Don't Ask Don't Tell. For those of you who don't get to pay taxes to Washington, Don't Ask Don't Tell is a Clinton era deal in which LGBT persons can serve in our military as long as they don't admit their desires or act out in any manner. It just doesn't work and I'm not sure our military is ready to allow this common sense approach of just letting people be who they are. Believe me I didn't join the Navy because I was gay rather because I believe I had an obligation to serve our country.

Hey and I am not suggesting the military to anyone its not a place which treats us well. Watch out for the Commission to be formed alter to study this issue to death before I believe the military will allow it. My guess is that we will have peace in the middle East before gays serve openly in our Military.

Oh yea I also want to mention another American institution of hate which turned 100 years old last month and that is our Boy Scouts, who believe its more important that you swear an allegiance to god and that its members are all straight, rather than worry if their members are taught and lead to be trust worthy, loyal to each other, faithful to their rules and considerate of others. I read some of those words once in their handbook.

Man does the economy suck where you are? Small Businesses are continuing to fail and housing foreclosures are going strong. Some days its frustrating talking to people as no one seems to be riding high and happy in their business in this economy. One second I need to refill, okay back again. I do hope for the sake of all our college/UNI bloggers the economy picks up when they graduate.

While I am complaining about things tonight I just don't see how the Obama health care bill is going is going to help us and cut costs. And i know some of my liberal friends may say how cruel and everyone deserves health care blah blah blah. Its not that i don't want to ensure people are healthy or even are against a universal health care, its that i can't see it being done without using real costs and having real cost controls. As long as doctors, hospitals and insurance companies are free to charge what they want I am going to get screwed and that is how i see it.

Ok I guess that is enough ranting. I really want to thank all my new followers and well everyone who bothers to read or comment. Always feel free to add me MSN. I am going to try and be more visible on that. If you prefer talking then typing ask me for my skype address.

Otherwise I hope everyone is well as they can be. Keep moving forward and improving yourselves in this life. to those of you with struggles going on i hope you find the peace and help you need. Take care and be safe everyone, thanks for reading

CVN70

Community

Grammy's, the Pro bowl or the Winter X Games and if the truth be known i think the X Games had more entertainment tonight. Although I did like hearing Stevie Nicks sing one of Fleetwood Mac's classics from my teen years.

I just wanted to speak a bit on community and the one I feel apart of here. When I first met some of the bloggers who I follow and linked too it seemed to be a tight knit group of bloggers who easily let people in and linked them to their blogs. This little Australian really believed in and used to plug and link new bloggers. Now that he has suspended his blogging i hope people continue to link new bloggers and plug those you like. Mirrorboy used to say its like a spider web so lets keep going it gives everyone a chance to find someone, a new friend or maybe more. In light of that

Thoughts of a gay teen - Oliver is a young student in Paris who is looking for some followers. He hasn't been blogging long and just got back from a trip the to Hague, which i believe is in Europe somewhere where he roomed with and interesting boy ...

The Difference in Me Luc, is a french Canadian, who is 18 years old and in college. He tells us he is out to a few people. He also has few followers and could probably use some followers

A Life of One Sexually Confused Boy B (you may remember him as Hypnos) is back with a new blog for those of you who remember him. He also is in college and enjoying the life and his dreams.

The Daily Jizzt My friend Torchy has brought back the Daily Jizzt, if you have some time check it out and im sure he would appreciate input and co authors even

So when and if you can point out some new blogs that you find and link them let people know they can find friends here. I have been very lucky to meet so many of you and while its hard to chat with everyone i thank all that take the time to do so.

Recently i have the good fortune to dine with and enjoy the company of several of our fellow bloggers. I can only hope that those of you who are closeted like me can find a few friends like Jeremy, James, Shane and especially Naturegesetz, who I and another blogger were able to help celebrate his birthday at symphony. He truly is the elder statesman of the blog world. If you can just meet someone it helps it really does just to be in their presence so thanks guys

Well once again thanks for being out there and reading. Take care and be safe

Cvn70

Will democracy prevail in Prop. 8 trial?

We in America do not live in a democracy. Democracy is not threatened by having federal courts review a law or action to ensure it is Constitutional. America after all is a constitutional republic consisting of fifty states and some federal territory.

Last week a trial began in United States Federal Court in California, in which one of this nations premiere conservative lawyer’s is arguing that gays should be allow to get married. Mr. Theodore Olson the man who defended Bush in front of the Supreme Court during Bush v Gore, has joined his old nemesis, David Boies (Mr. Boies defended Mr. Gore in the same trial), in arguing that the actions of the State of California in redefining Marriage and who can be married is unconstitutional. They argue that the actions of the state are violations of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and thus should not be allowed. If they are successful gay marriage will be allowed thru out the nation

Every day since the Prop 8 appeals trial started I have been checking the Internet and blogs for news and opinion on the trial. I am tired of reading this bull about how a majority’s wishes have been over ruled by the wisdom the courts of this nation. Voting and elections is only part of how this nation governs and the courts are an equal branch.

The author of the article linked here and several like it argues that those are very bad reasons to redefine marriage as something other than one man and one woman. But he adds that at the heart of the court trial is "whether or not the principles of democracy will survive and whether or not seven-million voters in California have their vote count and whether or not the constitution of California can be overturned by a single judge in federal court."

Majority rule was specifically rejected by the founders of this nation. They wanted each state to have a fair shake so each state has two senators no matter its size. The bill of rights and subsequent amendments to the Constitution were to guarantee equal and fair treatment of the populace by the government.

This nation courts have routinely rejected majority rule when protecting civil rights whether its ensuring blacks and minorities are educated with whites or allowing contraception devices (including rubbers) to the public. I mean no one would think it’s rational to separate blacks and whites in every function of society, anymore that is. The Courts and the decisions it Judges make and this country upholds; is one thing that what makes this country great.

The trial may last another week and what ever the Judge’s ruling it’s sure to be appealed to the US Supreme Court. It may take a couple of years or it could be taken by the Court right away, but I do believe once there, they will have no constitutional foundation to prevent or disallow gay marriage. Of course time will tell but this trial is historic in of itself.

Thanks for reading. Take care and be safe

Cvn70

A New Year is Upon Us

Hey did anyone notice that a couple of guys got married in South America, that did help the year finish on a good note. As a group we made some progress in 2009, and although i know there were still some set backs as far as legalizing marriage here in the states, things overall have gotten better.

For me this has been a good year too, I have met some new friends and really in some ways accepted being gay more than I ever have before. In this upcoming next year i would like to make further personal progress maybe even starting over in a new life in a new city. I am encouraged by the actions of so many of you and the friendship of so many more.

We have a beautiful little community here of people young and old from basically around the world which offers support and friendship. It a place that we can garner support and strength. It a place i have felt comfortable in last year in some ways more than I have ever been comfortable in the real world. In short you have all shown me what's missing from life.

I don't really make resolutions but i do make plans and while I am writing this from Florida as I am still on Vacation, this time next year I hope to being writing this from a new home in Florida where I will begin that life.

I will leave here the day after tomorrow and begin in earnest to seek out employment, then find a new home to buy, close down my practise and sell my home and if i can do tat in this economy then I will Begin to change my social life also. Well that is the broad outline of the plan.

Ok a little updating on my life, two weeks ago almost i drove to Florida. I had a nice lunch with Dan, Go Left At The Fork and Dodger, A Nexus. In fact if we eat i think three more times together our next meal is free according to the little card the restaurant gave us. Then got stuck in a snow storm in Virginia, 7 hours to go a 100 miles, thank god the Canadians who just formed a lane of traffic south and plowed through the snow and scared southerners :)

Oh remember that case I told you guys about where the old lady who lived with the Dad was trying to take all the estate money for herself, well I'm having some success in resolving that case before the trial date. Court does scare the guilty.

In closing today, I need to go to the beach, I am going to be watching fireworks tonight and thinking of all my friends in blog land. I do hope this upcoming year brings you all happiness, growth and treasures. There will be of course some bad days but hey we need rain and then sunshine can come into our lives again. and if you have a chance this year climb mountains cause the view from the top is excellent

Thanks for reading, I hope everyone is doing great, take care and be safe

Cvn70