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I never thought I would have the material for a Job Tate grade post of this title, but I managed it tonight:

Audrey: so why are you growling at me?

me: cuz you are encouraging me to be a better person when i dont feel like it
Audrey: hahaha that is the best quote ever!

Apt pix

District of Columbia v. Heller

Second amendment supporters like myself were given some encouragement by this decision this week. It scares me to think this was a 5-4 decision, however, and even the opinion of the court contained some questionable reasoning.

Good:

Held:
1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a
firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for
traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
Pp. 2–53.
(a) The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but
does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative
clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrate that it
connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms. Pp. 2–22.
(b) The prefatory clause comports with the Court’s interpretation
of the operative clause. The “militia” comprised all males physically
capable of acting in concert for the common defense. The Antifederalists
feared that the Federal Government would disarm the people in
order to disable this citizens’ militia, enabling a politicized standing
army or a select militia to rule. The response was to deny Congress
power to abridge the ancient right of individuals to keep and bear
arms, so that the ideal of a citizens’ militia would be preserved.

(Emphasis added.)

Amen.

But...

Bad:

(f) ... United States v. Miller, 307 U. S. 174, does not
limit the right to keep and bear arms to militia purposes, but rather
limits the type of weapon to which the right applies to those used by
the militia, i.e., those in common use for lawful purposes. Pp. 47–54.
2. Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited...
The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on... laws
forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools
and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications
on the commercial sale of arms.

(Again, emphasis added.)

What?! Are you guys smoking crack? Did you miss that part that says "shall not be infringed"? Last I knew, that phrase meant you can't place restrictions on the right here and there as you see fit.

And don't even get me started on Stevens' dissent. Oh Boy. Yeah. I'm really trying. Not. To. Say. Something. Really. Nasty...

Moving Weekend...

was busy and complicated, but I bought a nice computer desk at a yard sale that was conveniently going on nearby that weekend, along with a bed frame and box spring (I already had a couple mattresses). I spent my evenings all week cleaning the place and putting things away, but its looking decent now. Pics to be added next week (this post updated 6/28).

And now,

I have an apartment lined up :) I'll be starting to move in this coming Friday. It is a studio apartment but I have a private bathroom and kitchen and the living area is a pretty big room. Plus, even though I have to pay for heat and electricity separate from rent (which is only $400), the owner told me that last winter, even thought the apartment was empty and the heat left off, it never dropped below 65 because the tenant downstairs apparently appreciates 80 some-odd degree temperatures. So it sounds like my heating bill will be minuscule.

Got that Job

I am now an employee of Morse Auto Sales and Service, LLC, in Berlin, VT. I showed up Wednesday last week and asked the owner if he was currently hiring, having been referred there by a guy at another shop. I was told that he was not currently hiring, since he had had too many bad experiences with employees in the past. I talked with him a few minutes and left my resume along with a couple references, just in case he changed his mind. Well, a half-hour later he called me up and asked if I could come on Friday morning for an interview "sure, no problem." About 3 hours after that, he called me again and told me he had done a reference check, he was very impressed by what he found out, and could I show up tomorrow (Thurs) for a paid trial day? "absolutely." So the short form of the rest of the story is I'm hired.

Job Hunting

...puts a lot of miles on the car. At least my mileage is back up to where it's supposed to be. I hit 430 miles since last fill-up today. This winter I was lucky to hit 300 miles and even since the warmer weather I'd only been getting 350 or so on a tank. Just goes to show how much short trips kill mileage I guess.

Oh yeah. That $@%#!&#! wheel bearing I replaced in September is apparently bad again. So my car flunked inspection. Been illegal half a month now. Hopefully nothing else is bad and she'll pass on my Friday appointment.

Things I Learned Today

A "more than a half hour" trip takes 18 minutes when driven correctly.

But... too many speeding tickets can ruin your prospects for certain jobs.

Salvation army raised their clothing prices.

But... it still beats JC Penny prices.

It costs 6 cents to print one page with the cost split 80/20 for ink/paper.

But... you have to pay for 500 pages at a time.

And... things never go as planned. Well I already knew that. But today I planned on doing more unpacking, visiting the department of labor, getting my car inspected, and opening a checking account at a local bank. None of which happened. Tomorrow is up early to get some all that accomplished and still have time to go job hunting.

I Wish I had $50,000...

...because I've realized $2,500 in about 50 hours of trading on a fifty thousand dollar play money trading account. On my real money account I've realized about $20 on a beginning balance of $84 in the same time period.

AWSHX vs CWGIX

Washington Mutual fund sucks. Big time. So I switched to the Capital World Growth and Income mutual fund. Which has posted almost exactly double the returns as Washington Mutual with almost identical risk. Now thats what we call optimizing. Currently for the week its up-down-up for CWGIX closes and down-down-down for AWSHX. Just thought I'd share.