I am moving on.  But before I go, some constructive criticism of the platform.  When Six Apart first started down this road of free blog/social media, you guys were far ahead of the pack.  You also had regular development and were constantly adding new features and tweaking the system to satisfy users. 

Something happened and you guys fell behind other social media outlets.  While the SM phenom continued to evolve, Vox has been pretty static.  The last update other than Themes came over 12 months ago and it was really just fixing some things that should have been fixed in the first place rather than adding new functionality. 

I certainly enjoyed the friends I made here. And I will definitely keep my site open for my own personal reading and reminiscing but it is time to say goodbye Vox.  I am moving on to a self-hosted blog that is specific to scooter hobbyists.  I also use Twitter and Facebook for communicating.  As for the other topics I write about - I will be keeping a private journal for those.

I entered blogging when it didn't even have a name or an engine.  I just had a static webpage that I updated with my thoughts that I called my "rant page".  I found Moveable Type in 1999 and started hosting my now defunct damnittohell.com blog.  Those were the good years of blogging and the community was tight knit.  I really enjoyed my time doing it.

As a blog became nothing more than a vanity plate, I became less interested in what was going on in the community. As I saw friends that I respected deleting comments and blatantly lying to push their own agendas, I became even less interested.  At this point, I think that the only people that keep personal blogs are the ones that wallpaper the back of their cars with bumper stickers.   There is the occasional exception to the rule as there are some good writers out there but they are few and far between I am tired of looking for them.

If you want to continue following me, contact me via PM and I will let you know where my public info will be.

Thanks for the good years and good luck in the future.

Jason 

Flying-spaghetti-monster

I am probably closer to an agnostic than I am any organized religion.  I have never died, therefore, I cannot say for certain that there is or is not a continuation of life after earthly death nor a super-being that created and controls with a loving interest this world we currently inhabit.  Equally, I cannot say with any knowledge that there is the lack of the afore mentioned.

I am troubled by anyone that is arrogant about their beliefs in regards to this because it is all subjective in my opinion.  I equate the avid atheist with the most tenacious Muslim, Christian, etc. All call each other out on inconsistencies in their belief system and find ways to demean others that don't believe as they do. 

As different as each of these beliefs are, they all share one common core element -- faith.  While each of the deity-based religions have faith in their God's and after world, Atheists have faith that there is no angry God waiting on them and upon death, they will simply become worm food.

I guess that my point in all of this is that no one knows what will happen at death. There is simply nothing but speculation from all sides and I am more than sick of the arguments, the belittling of faiths, the smug observations about other religions, and most especially the wars.  All brought to us by intolerant, blind faith.  They are all theories.  They are all interesting.  They are all ugly.  They are all beautiful.  They are all a direct reflection of man.  Each and every belief has merit and possibility. Ask yourself this - By the time that I can speak to this topic with any authority, will it even matter? Is there anything I can do about it? Will I care that others believed differently?

As every Christmas season approaches, the wife gets on me to get on Amazon and make a wishlist and as a dutiful husband, I begrudgingly comply.  This is a much harder task than it sounds like because I don't want many things and those that I want, I usually buy myself throughout the year.  Couple that with the fact that Amazon does not carry that many things that I actually want and the fact that I don't want to add a bunch of crap on there that I don't want just for the sake of helping people find something to buy me for Christmas and you have a delema for yours truly.

I don't want people to buy me things that I don't actually want or need.  It is wasteful and takes up space in my house - which I am trying to avoid.  But because I know I will never hear the end of it, I scrape together a handful of things that I would be interested in owning and put them on my wishlist and email it to all interested parties.

That is not that bad of a task.  What irks me is that I have created this greed list(seriously, let's call it what it is) about 4 times now and have yet to get one single thing on the damned list bought for me.  Now, this wouldn't matter except that I am pressured into making the list each year.  Each year, I resist a little more, lower my standards a little more, and weep a little when no one is looking.  But each year, I have the same results.

This isn't to say that I am not happy with the presents I get, I generally like just about any present that I get.  I just don't like making the list if no one is going to use it.

So, this year, if I was going to make a New Year's Resolution(which I am not since last year's resolution was that I would not make another New Year's Resolution) it would be to never add an item to my wishlist again.

From now on people, use your imagination.  I am out of the wish list business.

'Twas the night before Christmas... How are you spending this Christmas Eve? Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions you're excited about?

Yes, there are lots of traditions.  No, none of them are the ones that I grew up with.  While I am excited for my girls, I am not excited for myself and I am ready for it all to end.

Bah Humbug.

I took the scooter out for a short ride today.  I had a great little ride and discovered an awesome little market/deli.  It is called Griffin Family Market and Deli.  It is way the hell out in the country down Central Pike past Mt. Juliet, Tn.  It looks like an old gas station and convenience store but smells like heaven.

At this little place, much like other little southern markets, they take pride in making their own products.  From the smoking of the meats to the half moon fried fruit pies, everything is done there. 

When I walked in, I saw the normal shelves of packaged candies & snacks and the refrigerated beverage cases with assorted sports drinks, sodas and beer.  Behind the counter is a full(and very well-equipped) kitchen.  There is a small buffet-type counter and a cooler with freshly made foods from the kitchen.  In the back of the store, the owner's children were sitting around on folded tables and chairs stringing popcorn for the Christmas tree.

I grabbed myself a fried apple pie and a 6 pack of Miller High Life, loaded up the scooter as the country born and bred gentleman in knee-high boots --fresh in from a cattle run-- tried to figure out what the hell I was riding and just how in the hell I was going to get the beer home on it, and I hit the winding road, relaxed and ready to share my story.

Scooter High Life

The Champagne of Beers

• Is life ever going to be fun again?  I cannot remember the last time I had a great time.
• I love my baby, Ella.  She really is the only joy I have had lately.
• Seriously?  Snow today and it isn't going to be enough to keep me out of work tomorrow pffft?
• I think I took a wrong turn somewhere.  How did I end up doing IT Help Desk.  Everyone expected me to be an earth shaker when I entered college.  I was supposed to invent or discover something that would change people's lives or become a musical virtuoso. Now, I am just some sarcastic shit that sits at a desk and hates you thru my acrylic smile for interrupting my life of meaningless mediocrity.
  
• Jesus walked on water and got nailed to a cross.  I guess there is something to be said about not standing out.
  
• I wish the wife would come home from El Paso.  My boring life is even more boring when she is gone.
• I have cats living in my garage.  I can't get them out.  They aren't mine.  I think they belong to crazy cat lady accross the street.  She turned 2 cats into about 40 in 5 months.  Our neighborhood is litterally crawling with feral cats.  I believe animal control is in our neighborhood's future.  I wouldn't give a shit except they are destroying my insulation in my house.  Fuck, I hate cats.
• I have not had a real vacation in about 3 years.  The last one was my honeymoon, before that family vacation got crashed by my mom and step-dad(who had a heat attack as soon as they showed up and refused treatment), one before that I got arrested on the way home.
• 10 minutes until I get to drive home in the slush and ice pellets.
• I think I require more mental stimulation than most people.
• A high stimulation threshhold is a common trait in serial killers.
• Anyone wanna come over for dinner?  I would love to have you. =)