I'm not fond of some kinds of pain

I have a toothachepain that is more than distracting. I'm not ready for the expensive trip to the dentist. I have not saved up my $4K co-pay.

I am NOT fond of dentists.

I have gotten to the point that I can sit patiently in a dental chair and not have my hands knotted so badly that they hurt for days after. That's a bonus. And I have had several dentists tell me I tolerated this or that procedure very well.

Still and all, dentist visits rank #1 on my phobia list. Fear of falling (from heights) is #2. It isn't even a close second.

This is day two. Saturday night, I woke up at about 3am with my jaws closed so firmly my entire face ached. I'm sure that is the cause of my pain yesterday and today. I've done this before. A physical reaction to a very ugly dream.

Love.

Empty House

I woke up late (bad night last night, too) and to an empty house. I think I have to more stridently stress to Stacey to not "let me sleep" when she is going out. I REALLY hate waking up to an unexpectedly empty house. Leaving a note, which she didn't, isn't enough, either. I can't see a note until I have awakened. It is the first moments in which I realized the house is empty.

Love.

Santa Barbara and the paradise it isn't

Have I mentioned lately just how much I loathe Santa Barbara? For so many reason I won't mention here, I find the cultural attitude of Santa Barbara disgusting. Then there is UCSB. It is a very good academic school. In fact, they graduate more people into med school than any other college in the US.

There is, however, a geographic entity called Isle Vista next to UCSB. It is mostly tightly packed apartment houses. Some are even row houses. It is filled to the brim with UCSB students. It is also many continuous drunken parties.

I have only minor problems with the party atmosphere and they all deal with respecting one's neighbors. Not every student wants to be at a party every day. Some would actually like to sleep and pass their classes. And, Santa Barbara being what it is, it is difficult for students to live anywhere else.

I do have a problem with the atmosphere in Isle Vista, though. It is entirely lawless. As in, the cops refuse to go into Isle Vista, they don't investigate crimes in Isle Vista, and they (and all of Santa Barbara, for that matter) think the school and it's students have ruined their Garden of Eden. Isle Vista is complete anarchy.

Now take a population of young men, take away all enforcement, give them all the beer and pot they want, then give them access to pretty, young women. Rape is the number one violent crime in Isle Vista.

AND THE COPS DO NOT INVESTIGATE RAPE IN ISLE VISTA. They take a report. They say the young women shouldn't go there and they shouldn't party if they don't want sex. Yep, the attitude of the police department is: Knowing what happens there and going to a party there is the same thing as consent.

I can not believe that students' parents know the situation at this school.

Now. It is a big school. And the residents and party guests in Isle Vista is a small percentage of the total student population. I'm talking a few hundred out of many thousands of students. Human nature, being what it is, means Isle Vista is to be expected under these conditions.

It is the very fact that the conditions in Isle Vista are predictable that makes its existence unforgivable. They have been left to their own devices and it has turned ugly.

And all the so-called adults in the county have written these young people off. If I had legal standing, the police department would be in court defending their egregious malfeasance.

I have enough standing, though, to write to the UC Board of Regents, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State Attorney General.

To condone, through acknowledged inaction, crimes of violence in a community of young adults is, at best, disturbing.

For the community of Santa Barbara to treat all the UC students like pond scum is, at best, disgusting.

Did I mention just how much I loathe Santa Barbara?

Money

I started to write a post about money and ended up ranting about Santa Barbara.

Now, about money. It's an old, familiar conversation, but it's in my face again. I do not like capitalism.

I have to go to Santa Barbara for a Naked Voices concert and to see Kevin, Alex's BF, graduate from UCSB. I don't particularly want to do either. I am not much in tune with rites of passage in general and college graduation is near the bottom of that list. Also, I was not impressed with NV's last concert. So I'm predisposed to be upset by any and all irritants associated with this trip.

I am also going to Moorepark for the CalCup field hockey tournament. I'm slightly more excited about this one. I was looking forward to it until Stacey started talking about being outside in the sun for hours and hours and hours.

What they have in common, though, is hotel rooms. AND PRICE GOUGING. Yes, boys and girls, under the guise of the "immutable" law of supply and demand, the hotels are all charging a premium price for their rooms on the respective weekends, and they are requiring a two night stay.

For the Santa Barbara trip, we are going to stay in Ventura. I am not going to spend $600 to hear NV and see Kevin graduate from college. I think we might get a discount for CalCup by joining up with the Rachel's team on their block of rooms. Still it's going to be many hundreds of dollars for the three days.

I'm old and I can't help but compare today's prices with yesterday's prices. (I remember when gas was two-bits a gallon.) But I can also compare today's prices with today's prices.

Any time a business ups their prices for a special event, my dislike for greed leaps right up and tweaks my nose.

stuff

In my world, the major issue with stuff is that it requires periodic replacement. Sometimes the stuff is meant to be used up and replacement is a conscious part of the cycle. When one buys a box of tissue, for instance, one can assume that another box of tissue will be required in the future. We think about a lot of stuff as "consumables." We just know they will be an ongoing expense. Sometimes we buy stuff not intending to replace it when it fails or is used up.

Mostly. though, we buy stuff that will eventually need to be replaced. Small and large appliances, computers, cars, home entertainment equipment, houses, etc.

The issue today is a coffee mill that only seem to grind one level of fineness. It would be wonderful if that one level of fineness is one I use, but, alas, it is not. It is course enough to be called "wood chips." As a handyman of sorts, I tried to take it apart to see what might be done to get it to espresso fineness. Turns out, it wasn't intended to come apart except at the level of replacing the power cord. The rest of the insides is inaccessible. Oh well. A trip to to the store is needed. Sigh.

In other stuff news. I just swapped modems with the cable company. I am hoping that takes care of the flaky internet.

Love.

Dubya

In an effort to appeal to his idiot base, the idiot in chief about to propose that we assign 6,000 or so National Guard troops to the Border Patrol.

Oh boy, I feel so much safer now!