California Vacation 2018

The Captain and First Mate just returned from a Thanksgiving trip to southern California.

It’s a beautiful time of the year out there, and we were blessed with warm and sunny this trip!

Unfortunately, most of the fruit was not yet ready to pick.

Sadly, the avocado trees were bare.

First stop, In-N-Out!

It’s a family tradition.

Oddly, the success of the drive-thru burger franchise on that corner had caused major traffic back-ups as people waited in line on the street to place their order. So in conjunction with the city, traffic was re-routed “to ease congestion”. Here is their solution:

Captain’s Note: Your Captain is not an engineer – of any sort – but that is the dumbest traffic-flow layout I have ever been involved in!

Most of the week was family time, which included a trip to Downtown Disney with the Favorite Pirate Niece. She’s scooping ice cream at a place called “Salt & Straw”.

“Deliciously interesting ice cream!”

If you’re the adventurous type, the Captain highly recommends it!

Upon our return, everyone asked about the wildfires.

No, we were farther south and did not see anything. There were times when we caught whiffs of smoke when the wind shifted, and Los Angeles once again has the brown layer of haze it did when I first arrived there in 1985, but we were out of harm’s way.

It puzzles the Captain to ponder why the President sent 5,000 U.S. soldiers to our southern border but did nothing to help fight the wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and took more than 80 lives.

Speaking of the troops – which Trumpf once again avoided this Thanksgiving – word was released last week that the troops were coming home; their job at the border was done.

Captain’s Note: Some, including your Captain, believe their mission was simply to tip the mid-term elections in favor of the Republicans… a mission that mostly failed!

But the very next day that order to go home was rescinded, and the White House released a policy shift that would allow the troops to use deadly force against the refugees if necessary.

Yes, the most powerful fighting force in the world facing off against unarmed men, women, and children who have walked 2,000 miles seeking a better, safer life in America.

And on Thanksgiving Day, of all days, these asylum-seekers were greeted at the American border with tear gas.

Where did my America go?

You may want to know that a gallon of gas in SoCal cost $3.45 a gallon… and Californians were celebrating the “low” price! By comparison, it was only $2.38 at home before Thanksgiving, and it is now sitting at $2.10  $2.08  $2.06.

As expected, President Trumpf took to the airwaves to crow about the lower gas prices, naturally taking credit for the drop in price: “It’s almost like a tax cut!”

Or could it be a gift from Saudi Arabia after Trumpf characteristically dismissed the CIA and FBI reports about the gruesome murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi at the behest of the Saudi crown prince?

R.I.P. Jamal Khashoggi

California recently outlawed the ubiquitous single-use plastic grocery bags. Not being accustomed to carrying my own reusable shopping bags (we re-use the plastic ones when we clean the cat litter box), there were several occasions last week when the Captain walked out of the grocery store carrying our purchases in hand.

Captain’s Note: Yes, we are too cheap to pay an extra $.10 for a paper sack.

Upon our return home, we did the “We’ve been on vacation for a week and need to re-provision the larder” shopping trip. With the voice of my socially-conscious friends echoing in my head, we bypassed the self-check lanes and patronized a low-paid checker and bagger.

The “professional” bagger put no more than three items in a bag.

Three 4 oz. bottles

A four-pack bundle of Kleenex boxes was unnecessarily bagged.

And then there was the three “buy-two-get-one-free” Reese’s Peanut Butter Christmas Trees...

Yes, they got their own sack!

In all, we came home with more than 20 plastic bags!

California may be onto something…

But we’re back and back at it! The First Mate insisted on setting up the Christmas tree on Saturday, so now we’re ready to settle in for a long winter’s nap…

Or something like that.

I Voted!

Captain's Note: It's a busy week, but I just wanted to jot off a quick note to the krewe. Of course, this was the perfect time for Blogger to develop glitches...

I voted last Tuesday!

Fat lot of good it did me. All of my candidates lost... except for those who ran unopposed.

Alas, the Captain is a liberal Democrat living in a Republican stronghold.

Seriously, candidates do not come here to campaign because they already know how the vote is going to go.

And it did. For all the major offices on the ballot, the count was pretty much 9,000 to 5,000 (give or take) in every case.

But the Captain did his patriotic duty.

And we'll try again next time.

After the last General Election, a lot of Democrats woke up and realized that the Mid-Terms were also important. This scared the Republicans, so suddenly people on both sides of the political spectrum were pushing to get out the vote. 

And by all counts, it was a big turnout.

Because a lot was at stake.

And while there is plenty of evidence to prove that Republicans have dug in...

We also know the stakes were much higher. 

If anyone asks what the real difference is between Democrats and Republicans, simply show them this picture.

That's what the Mid-Terms were really about!

Captain's Note: Mates, if you look at the above picture of the newly-elected members of the 116th Congress and don't understand what I'm taking about, perhaps you're sailing on the wrong vessel.

 

It's That Time!

There are times in a man’s life – even a pirate’s life – when terror creeps in, when the body switches into fight-or-flight mode, or it simply wants to shut down altogether.

But knowing that fear is a liar and inaction could lead to more terrible things, a wise Captain springs into action!

So today, I pulled the drain plugs on The Tiki Hut, preparing her for a long winter’s nap.

We are NOT going to have a repeat of last winter’s tragedy!

The overnight temperatures this weekend are forecast to dip below freezing. While we know that won’t be a sustained freeze this early in the season, the Captain figured it better to be safe than sorry!

And I might as well do it while the air temperature is at least tolerable.

And pretty much on schedule, the Army Corps of Engineers has drained the lakes down to winter pool – which means sandbars and shallows lay secreted under the water’s surface awaiting The Tiki Hut’s propeller.

Not this year, you bastards!

So, until the Spring thaw comes, The Tiki Hut is a floating office and getaway. She is provisioned for both entertaining and survival, and a small electric space heater warms up the cabin quickly.

So, come on Winter! Give it your best shot!

The Tiki Hut will sail again!

Soon!

Oh, and by the way, go vote!