Remembering One of My Briefly-Lived PCs

I was completely planning on putting this on my other blog, but wisely decided against it because.....well the because will become readily apparent. I may have told this story before, but I doubt everyone has heard it (I might like it, but it isn't that good)....

I was reading a RPG-themed post on Facebook asking about "epic" skill check failures. Now some games, or maybe just some GMs, don't allow you to completely screw the pooch, but I remember 4th Edition HackMaster sure did. Heck, you could fail so bad when trying a skill untrained that you could never....every, learn that skill because the earlier failure was so traumatic.

Now this isn't a HackMaster story, but a D&D 3.5 story. I didn't play too much 3.5, but this edition saw the beginning of my "infamous" PC that started out as an inside joke about what would happen when two gamers had a kid and treated him like a PC. The mythical tyke's name was BALADAR and he would refer to himself in the 3rd person. BALADAR wants a juice-box! BALADAR wants his blankie! Yes, BALADAR is always fully capitalized....just like on his birth certificate.

After a game session of laughing and having a fun running commentary about this poor mythical kid I had to create my next PC in honor of the joke, but I went with the subtly different "Baladar". He was a 1st level cleric and we were off to our first adventure, once we could overcome the usual DM dickery. Our DM wanted out first obstacle to be actually getting to the adventure location, which was on the other side of this desert. The quickest and easiest way was to get hired on as caravan guards, but the caravans were already full up when our Sorcerer went to make arrangements with the caravan matron, an older woman of "generous" proportions and appetites, according to the DM. Think a female version of Jabba the Hut, but not worm-like. Evidently she was more than willing to hire on a few more guards if the Sorcerer was willing to "satisfy her". Yes, this is the part where I'm to go

Well neither the player or the PC was willing to partake in the means to an end and instead offered up my PC to do the deed. Now I'm trying to think quick on my feet and see something to my advantage so I agree to it. The DM smiles like he's going to roll 3d20 to see how many STDs I get and I just point out that I had prayed for the "Command" spell today. "No problem," I state triumphantly......"I got this." My PC casts the spell and commands the caravan matron to "orgasm".

Now at this point I'm pretty smug with myself and the DM lets me have my 10 seconds in the sun before "politely" pointing out that we are playing D&D 3.5 and not AD&D or even HackMaster. Evidently what used to be a pretty multi-purpose spell was "nerfed" to one of something like 4 command words that could be used. Instead of choosing any one word the recipient had to unfailing try to act upon, I had t pick one of the four. I think I remember him managing a "nice try" as he laughed in my face.

So Baladar figuratively had to take one for the team. It was no surprise to me that in our first combat my dice turned on me an Baladar died a quick and painful death. It wasn't a curse or twist of fate....it was a blessing for that PC because he didn't have too long to live with his shame.

Needless to say, I'm a little more careful about spell selection when I play...especially if it is a new system. I'll just stick with archers until I get the spell mechanics worked out, thank you very much.

$5 Says DM Rob still thinks about that and laughs.....that bastard.

Tree City Comic Con EPIC FAIL

Did you hear the news?! Boise is finally getting a Comic Con!

Just a couple of days ago the news hit that a few folks are organizing a Boise, ....er, Tree City Comic Con later this year. The organizers expect 10,000 400,000 participants and have ambitiously priced their event at the same rate as the Salt Lake City Comic Con.

These organizers are so full of FAIL that I don't even know where to begin, but I'll try.

It occurs to me that someone thinks they can try to make a buck by poorly imitating someone else's efforts. SLCCC is being held in September, a good date, at a good location, and has lots of guests, as well as a good website. Hell, I didn't know about this fall's SLCCC before this morning and now I want to go.

Tree City Comic Con, on the other hand has a crappy date, terrible location, and jack squat for guests. I recognized two names: Lou Ferrigno and the Tardis...

Wait...what?!

They have a fricken prop listed as a guest of honor?! WTFO?!

Don't even get me started on the website. It is a joke, well at least a joke as far as a professional site goes. Not serious, bare-bones, and filled with errors. Hell, their headlining guest doesn't have anything aside from a link and a small headshot.

I think I've saved the biggest issue for last. Boise already has a number of small cons....ones that have been around for years and there is already a con that fits this general con role: Fandemonium. They've been around for what....a decade? Now they don't have Lou, I'll give Tree City that, but they did have the foresight to pick a good venue with access to a hotel......places to shop and eat are walk-able.

The fairgrounds technically has places to eat nearby, you just have to walk past the parking lot, to the corner, cross the street, and either walk back down the other side of the road or cross an even busier street and walk down a little bit. Hotel? The closest decent hotel you HAVE to drive to. Walking isn't an option.

Tree City Comic Con, please take my $50 so I can go to Boise's fricken fairgrounds mid October to see the man who played the Hulk when I was a child. No offense Lou, but as strong as you are you can't carry the weight of this on your shoulders.

Seriously, if you want a Boise Comic Con, just go to the Library! Comic Con in September. Even they know how to pick a good date.......

Paraskevidekatriaphobic

Call me when tomorrow was here.

I was much happier until I realized what day it was......

Blog of Tattoo EPIC FAILS

Those of you who know me in real life know that I have some ink. Nothing too major, just three pieces that hold a strong personal significance to me.

I am neither for nor against tattoos, excepting for some stupid ones, because I think tatts are, or at least should be, personal. I also expect people wanting to get ink done to be mature and sober. In case my nephew reads this, I think getting your last name tattooed across the whole of your back (shoulder to shoulder) in an ugly font is a bad idea.

I think getting wasted on a three day pass in a foreign country and then getting your first, second, third and fourth tattoos covering your shoulders and both pecs is also a bad idea. I wish I had taken pictures of the guy I'm thinking about.

Seriously though...bad tatts basically just turn you into a walking billboard of dumbassery. Why let people know at a glance that you are stupid? Let them walk up and talk to you for a while first. Make them earn that knowledge. Of course I do realize that telling dumb people about earning knowledge is oxymoronic...and they wouldn't be reading this anyway.

The whole purpose of this post, aside from a related story I'll have to tell later this week, is to draw attention to this awesome blog called Hanzi Smatter. People send in picture of their Kanji tatts and the blog author translates them. Evidently there are a lot of tattoo parlors that have several kanji "alphabets" where people just get English words and phrases translated on a letter-by-letter basis.

Anyone who has traveled outside of the US to non-English speaking countries pretty much at all should understand why this just doesn't work. First of all, language differences aren't just a difference in alphabet and pronunciation. Proper nouns, idioms, well everything comes from a different train of thought.

I'm not going to get into semantics, but with Kanji whole words or even sentences/concepts in English can be expressed with a single graphic. Besides, unless you can actually understand the language, do you really want to have some foreign writing permanently etched onto your body?

These people did......

Another Bizarre Dream/Nightmare

Last night we had a strong windstorm blow through town and a lower-than-normal temperature drop accompanied it. It felt more like late August or early September rather than the 1st of August.

When the seasons change here and the relatively cool night start to turn cold I end up having some real freaky-deaky dreams. When I wake up I usually can only recall a fragment or two, for which I'm thankful, but if I get woken up early I can often remember far much more.

Over the years I've noticed that if I have a "nightmare" I tend to wake up early.

This morning I woke up quite early.....

Hazing Incident Shows Escalating Creep of Bullying

I remember, back in the day, when "hazing" was little more than a few stupid pranks, like sending the new guy for map rectangles or making him change the winter air out of the tires and put in the summer air.

It seems like over the years hazing has just become another term for bullying, but this time you bully people that you like?

A slow and steady escalation of hazing BS over the years has finally come to a head. There are a couple safe for work, but disturbing, pictures that I'll post after the break. If you come in straight to this article there isn't much I can do.

Glee Says "Up Yours" to Jonathan Coulton

Glee went ahead and aired "their" version of Baby Got Back last night.  They've even made "their" single available for sale in iTunes.

According to Jonathan Coulton, "They (Fox) also got in touch with my peeps to basically say that they’re within their legal rights to do this, and that I should be happy for the exposure."

The rub is there really isn't any exposure from Fox or Glee.  No credit or mention given.  The only exposure comes from blogs, tweets, and websites like mine.  If JC hadn't brought this to the attention of his fans, it probably would have gone unnoticed until today when fans of both Glee and Jonathan Coulton noticed the blatant rip-off.

JC has asked that his fans, "Thanks for your support, but please continue not to burn anything down. "  A few have been purchasing his original cover or Baby Got Back on iTunes.  It took me a while to find it for some reason and it gave me a laugh when I did because it has been re-titled, "Baby Got Back (In the Style of Glee)".  I just hope that was his idea of a joke otherwise it isn't funny and I shouldn't be laughing.

The odds are extremely high that Glee actually stole not only his arrangement, but actually used his instrumental track to produce their version.  There isn't much that you or I can really do about that situation other than support Jonathan Coulton.......

....except......

We as a group of people...fans...consumers, don't have to sit back and watch while some ass-hats tromp on copyright, artistic license, and common decency.  We already know that Glee is in the wrong and their network Fox doesn't seem to care.  What about their advertisers?

I propose we start a media and email/letter-writing campaign to the sponsors of Glee.  You know the Golden Rule, right? If the show and the network don't care about the actual Golden Rule, then maybe they will pay attention to the financial Golden Rule, which is, "he who has the gold makes the rules".

Please take a moment or two to write a "nice" letter to the shows advertisers and let them know in no-uncertain terms, that you do not appreciate them sponsoring a television show that steals the artistic endeavors of others.  There is no reason to be mean about it....no reason to "burn anything down", just let them know you will not support their company unless they choose to un-affiliate with the production of Glee.

Here is a list of advertisers of the show and how you can reach them:

T-Mobile
T-Mobile Customer Relations
P.O. Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380
1-800-866-2453
http://www.t-mobile.com/Contact.aspx

University of Phoenix
Central Administration
University of Phoenix
1625 W Fountainhead Parkway
Tempe, Arizona 85282-2371

For media relations or PR inquiries call (602) 254-0086
media@phoenix.edu

Unilever
1-800-298-5018 Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-6:00 PM Eastern Time
http://www.unileverusa.com/resource/contact/default.aspx

Lexus


P.O. Box 2991-Mail Drop L201
Torrance, CA 90509-2991
1-800-255-3987
http://lexus2.custhelp.com/app/ask

Toyota
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 South Western Ave.
Dept. WC11
Torrance, CA 90501
800-331-4331
http://toyota.custhelp.com/

Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 996-1010
To submit a claim of alleged infringement for content available on the iTunes Store, visit http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/itunesstorenotices/

Gaming Company Jumping the Shark

I got an email this morning announcing Paizo Publishing jumping on the Kickstarter bandwagon and I have concluded that either Kickstarter or Paizo, possibly both, has officially jumped the shark.

From my email announcement: "Goblinworks Inc. is proud to announce our first Kickstarter project for the Pathfinder Online MMORPG. The Pathfinder Online Technology Demo Kickstarter will help Goblinworks finance the creation of a Technology Demo that we can use to show investors what Pathfinder Online will look like. Successful funding of this Kickstarter will also demonstrate the community's desire and excitement for Pathfinder Online."

Seriously?!

SOPA Part II

Congress is at it again...

The Stop Online Privacy Act didn't make it through the legislative process, largely due to voter outrage, so Rep. Mike Rogers (MI) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD) decided to have another go at stomping all over privacy in the name of "cybersecurity".

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523) is currently on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 311.

State Bill 1387 and Another 15' in the Spotlight

Carolyn and I went downtown to my favorite pizza place for dinner and on the way back we drove by the dwindling "Occupy Boise" encampment.  I'm not really in favor of the Occupy movement, but I'll freely admit I'm not against them either...well aside from the fact that they are camping out on public property and a general eyesore.

As we passed the Capital there was a protest going on....a protest that we later found out a friend of ours was attending.  Since we cut the local cable we don't always get the local news so I didn't know what was going on.  Evidently the legislature is working on State Bill 1387.

Pink Slime

Is this a new HackMaster monster?

Nope, just a colloquial term for a meat by-product that evidently is being added to a large portion of the ground beef being made available for retail.

ABC News posted an article yesterday about how some USDA scientists objected to what the industry loving calls "pink slime".  Of course, the call it something innocuous when speaking to the public.  The scientists were overruled by the head of the USDA who, when she stepped down, immediately took a position with the manufacturer of pink slime.

Teen Wolf

I've mentioned a couple of times recently how the wife and I are in the middle of a How I Met Your Mother Netflix marathon.

Last night they had a reference to the movie Teen Wolf.  This was the 1985 movie, not the 2011 MTV series.

MTV series......I still remember fondly when MTV was about music videos.  When I last had cable finding a music video on MTV was as rare as seeing some T&A on network TV.

Stupid Drinking Game (Not for the Squeamish)

Thankfully my "chest" part of my chest cold is gone, but now I'm suffering from a particularly nasty bout of congestion which makes my face all puffy and a bit runny.

The great OTC meds do help, but they don't exactly leave you mentally sharp, which is fine when you just watch TV or even play a little Xbox, but if you want to do any actual work, like some pet projects or html writing....or actually looking for work, you have to lay off the decongestants.

I'm staring at my next dose now......which I can take since I've got that job application off already.

SOPA and PIPA Explained (Infographic)

The fine folks as Lifehacker linked to an excellent article from Lumin Consulting:

Brought to you by Lumin Interactive and Condor Consulting

Winning the battle, but we need to win the war!

Recent news that SOPA has been slowed down is good, but there is still the PIPA bill to contend with.

I received a well-worded email from  http://fightforthefuture.org which I won't share here, but I will share their press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT

Fight for the Future

Tiffiniy Cheng

Holmes Wilson

press@fightforthefuture.org

(614) 465-6371

(508) 474-5248

January 20, 2012

Fight for the Future, which ran the largest organizing sites for the recent SOPA protests (sopastrike.com and americancensorship.org), applauds the announcement that the Senate and House have postponed action on the proposed web censorship bills.

“We sent the MPAA back to the drawing board,” said Fight for the Future Co-founder Holmes Wilson, “But any law that lets the copyright lobby block our websites, censor our search results, or cut off our Paypal accounts--without even going through a judge--will be soundly defeated.”

“This was the largest online protest in history,” said Fight for the Future Co-founder Tiffiniy Cheng, “The MPAA was trying to quietly force this bill through Congress, but when internet users started paying attention, real democracy happened.  This is a watershed moment in the fight against lobbyists’ influence on politics.”

“The MPAA could have proposed a law to address copyright infringement,” said Holmes Wilson, “Instead, they proposed giving rightsholders veto power over online innovation and free expression.  At that point, it was just a matter of getting the public involved.”

A timeline of the SOPA protests: http://sopastrike.com/timeline

Statistics from the January 18 protest: http://sopastrike.com/numbers

Statistics from the November 16 protest: http://americancensorship.org/infographic2.html

http://fightforthefuture.org

Click to see the full infographic

This isn't over yet.....not by a long shot.  What has been accomplished so far is pretty good, but there is still the PIPA bill over in the Senate. Thanks to a TON of calls and emails we've managed to get the word out to about 13 million people.  That sounds like a lot, but it's only about 4% of the US population.

This shouldn't be a "fire & forget" campaign.  We all need to contact our Representatives and our Senators everyday until both bills are DEAD.

Not "slowed down", not "shelved", but DEAD....as in "if you are dumb enough to revive these bills, kiss off any chance of re-election"

Yes, SOPA and PIPA need to be political death sentences. 

Click for full infographic

Please don't forget that this threat isn't over just because Wikipedia and Google have given up their blackouts.

Email your Representatives and your Senators.  Feel free to call them up.  The US Capitol switchboard is

(202) 224-3121.

I highly recommend not only putting some pressure on their place of work, but feel free to call their home offices.  Let them know that you have a long memory.  There is no need to threaten your congressmen, but if they cannot get the job done, feel free to let them know you'll support someone else who you think can.

PIPA and SOPA need to be political suicide....period.

Senator Risch EPIC FAIL

Unless you just crawled out from a rock, you have no doubt heard about the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA).  It is a House of Representatives bill that has a Senate counterpart that not as many people have heard of.  The "wonderful" Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011, or PIPA, or Protect IP Act is the Senate's version of the same dangerous bill.

It's like using a chainsaw instead of a biopsy needle to check the body for cancer.

I've used an online form that was designed to send my Congressional representatives a form letter to fight/not support either bill.

Tonight I went online to see who supports SOPA and PIPA, as well as who is actively opposed to the bills.  I was a bit upset to not find one name from the four elected representatives from Idaho.  I was downright pissed to see that Senator Risch was not only a support of PIPA, but he was one of the co-sponsors of the bill.

WHISKEY.......TANGO.......FOXTROT.......OVER

Oh, hell no!  Some form letter isn't going to cut it.  I headed over to Senator Risch's website so I could send him an email.  He has an email link on his Contact page, but you cannot actually use it to send a regular email.  Instead he has a contact form you can fill out.  Like a good little citizen I go and fill out the form, entering in a respectful letter asking him to reconsider his sponsorship of PIPA.  I enter the Captcha text and hit submit.

Nothing....well, almost nothing.  The page reloads and tells me I have to enter in my last name to send the form.  There must have been an issue with the auto-fill text.  I re-enter my name, fill out the new Captcha text, and hit submit.

Again the page re-loads, telling me that I need to enter my last name in order to send my "email".

Seriously?  No wonder my Senator sponsors SOPA.  He obviously just doesn't get how some basic internet "stuff" works if he cannot get a simple website form to work.  I find it amusing, in a getting-kicked-in-the-balls-and-you-chuckle-too-keep-from-losing-it sort of way.  Here I am trying to use the internet to tell my Senator to withdraw support for a bill obstinately designed to make the internet difficult to use, and the internet is difficult (if not impossible) to use for just this one purpose.

Obviously he's already got the fucking up the internet part down at least in his own little corner.

Yes, I get that Senator Risch doesn't actually program his own website.  He probably doesn't have a clue about HTML, IP addresses, or even how to hook up to his wireless network.  He has people to do that for him.  It should be safe to assume he also has people to advise him about aspects of upcoming legislation he doesn't know anything about.

I want to know who told him that not only is PIPA a good idea, but it's a great enough idea he should hitch his wagon to it as a co-sponsor.

This person will be shopping for a new Congressman, possibly more than one should either bill go through.

Luckily for me I can still call, write, or possibly visit his local office.

EDIT: My wife informed me that she was able to get Senator Risch's online form to work for her.  I find it interesting that and hour after my blog post and a small Twitter rant it works all of a sudden.  99.9% sure it is a coincidence, but the .1% is hoping that there IS a connection and maybe we'll hear tomorrow that Senator Risch is also abandoning the bill.  As of right now though, still EPIC FAIL.

Contact Your Congressman to Vote Against SOPA & the PROTECT IP Act

Today Wikipedia, Google, and others are instituting a "blackout" of sorts to protest and bring attention to some current legislation that is more than capable of destroying the internet as we know it.

Please, read more about the Stop Online Privacy Act and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011. 

On the surface, both of these bills may sound like a good idea, but id passed, it won't be long until you can kiss off the internet as a place for free speech.  What would basically happen is that the US would have to eventually have it's own internet.  Gee, doesn't Iran and North Korea do this already?  How well does the internet work for their people?

Please, contact your Representative and you Senator and let them know you don't support either act and you don't think they should either.


You don't have to use either of the links above unless you want to keep them for future use.  Wikipedia has an easy breakout of just your Congressmen based off of your zipcode.


If you just want to fire off a quick and easy form letter, http://americancensorship.org/ can help you out and do the legwork for you.  If you would rather mix and match, like taking that form letter and tweaking it for sending using your Congressman's web contact form, here is the body of that form letter:


I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to vote "no" on cloture for S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act, on Jan. 24th. The PROTECT IP Act is dangerous, ineffective, and short-sighted. It does not deserve floor consideration.  I urge my representative to vote "no" on SOPA, the corresponding House bill. 


Over coming days you'll be hearing from the many businesses, advocacy organizations, and ordinary Americans who oppose this legislation because of the myriad ways in which it will stifle free speech and innovation.  We hope you'll take our concerns to heart and oppose this legislation by voting "no" on cloture.

Worst Christmas Song Ever

One of the things I miss the least about working retail during the holiday season is being forced to listen to hours of Christmas music.  My boss and the store director never understood my loathing of the store music system mostly because they didn't have to suffer as much as I did.  The Christmas music would start around 1 PM before I came on shift and shut off after 2 AM when I would get off shift.  The only thing usually keeping me sane was concentrating on the mad overtime I was getting.

I may have lost it that one year when the feed they chose for Christmas music had four different versions of the same song.

My wife, who still works for that particular retailer, isn't bothered as much by the 4th level of Hell which is the retail Christmas music prison.  Even with her high level of tolerance, there is that one song she loathes above all others.  I really hadn't heard that song until tonight.

Jezebel.com put together an old-school elimination chart to determine the worst Christmas song ever.  Wouldn't you know it, my wife's song won.  I can't even find my song on the list and her friend's worst Christmas song made it to the Semi-Finals.

If you hadn't personally experienced "The Christmas Shoes", well....here is your chance.  just remember you can choose to end the suffering at any time, perhaps by reading some of my other blog posts.

Big Sister Night

I was pretty active in the Boy Scouts in my youth, as well as a good portion of my military career.  Every year I was involved in the ritual that is Boy Scout Summer Camp.  First as a camper for two (maybe three) years and then as a staff member for five.  Camp Wapello was practically in my back yard since I'm from Pulaski, IA.  I also worked up at Camp Mitigwa for three years.  Heck, I lived at Mitigwa for a while before and after the 1991 camping season while I was getting my head straight trying to figure out what to do.  There has been a lot of conflict between the supporters of both camps and my father, an old-time Scouter and Wapello staffer in '65 and '66, has been involved since the get go.

Weirdest appointment ever

I had my cardiology appointment yesterday and the entire experience was a bit unreal.  Jumping to the important part first: everything is fine with my heart.  The doctor said I'm probably one of the 15% or so of the population that has this specific "condition".  It is a very long name that contains the word "blockage" in it and it sounds so much worse than it is.  In short, there is a part of my heart that isn't as electrically conductive as it is in the majority of the population, which makes part of an EKG look a little wonky.  Since I don't have a single symptom that would make the doctor think there is anything even slightly wrong to warrant further testing, I'm good to go on the bone marrow donation.

The rest of my experience was simply "out there".  Since I live in Boise, I really didn't see the need to print out my appointment details.  How hard is it to remember 300 Jefferson at 3:30 PM?  I just drive downtown and try to drive down Jefferson, but I cannot.  A good stretch of Jefferson is a Westbound one-way road.  No problem, I'll just take the Eastbound road one block South.  Looking up 3rd Street I can clearly see the St. Luke's Cardiology sign right at 300 West Jefferson.  I've pretty much been here before.....it is just across the street from the Idaho Medical Association (IMA).  I pull in to the parking lot and go inside exactly 15' before my appointment like the hospital asked.

Problem is, my appointment isn't at this Cardiology office.  Excuse me?  Oh.....my appointment is at 300 East Jefferson.  The hospital has two cardiology offices, both at 300 Jefferson.....just 6 blocks apart?  At some time, somebody thought that was a good idea?

I get to the correct address and manage to grab the last parking space.  Upon exiting the building I pass by this guy sitting on a bench up against the entrance.  The parking lot is completely empty of vehicles save mine and I make an off-hand comment about it.  Once in my vehicle I call Carolyn and tell her the news.  I'm just about to start the truck to leave and that guy raps on the hood.  I notice he has a Kleenex in his hand and I cannot help but to think, "great....now I have snot on my hood."  This guy waves and takes a couple steps down the sidewalk before turning towards me.

Now this guy is a heavier-set hispanic dude sporting a nice neck tatt and baggy clothes.  Kind of a preppy-ish chicano gangbanger.  He looks a little upset.  It's a hospital, bound to be upset people.  He stares at me a second and then asks me if I know where the closest church is.  I'm not that familiar with this part of town (I did just go to the wrong cardiology office), but I tell him there is a Chapel at the main hospital across the street and aside from the larger churches 10-12 blocks towards downtown, I'm not sure.  He thanks me and asks if he can ask another question.

As a quick aside, I hate this particular question.  "Can I ask you a question?" YOU JUST DID YOU IMPERTINENT ASSHOLE!  Ok, it doesn't make me that upset, it is just if there is some requirement to be courteous, which I think is a safe assumption with this inquiry, then wouldn't the very act of asking this question be rude?  That is all I'm saying.....


Instead of getting annoyed in the usual fashion, I think to myself, "Great, this guy is going to ask me to pray with him." Maybe he wants a ride to a church?  Instead he asks, "Have you been saved?"

You have got to be fucking kidding me?  What an ass-hat question to be asking me.  You want to piss me off to no end, imply that your religious beliefs are somehow superior to mine.  I find that very question abhorrent.  What if I was Buddhist, or Jewish?  Hell (pun intended), in this neck of the country I could easily be Mormon.  I almost responded that it was none of his damned business, but I simply said "no".  I could have lied and said "yes", but then I'm just initiating a dialogue with this guy.  In my experience the only way you can "appropriately" answer in the affirmative is if you happen to adhere to the same dialect of crazy-religious that the questioner conforms to.

I'm not trying to delve into religious matters, but I will note that I think I was heavily influenced by my earlier studies in anthropology.  Having read too many instances of missionaries utterly destroying native cultures because the spiritual beliefs that have endure longer than the missionary's religion has, I pretty much hate missionaries.  Enough said.

What happened next in this brief exchange was the really weird part.  This guy cranes his neck away from me while closing his eyes to little slits.  Staring at me from this odd angle he tells me I need to get out of here.  "This is a place of prayer" he adds.  Whatever dude, I was just about to leave before you wiped your damned snot-rag on my hood.