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Last Sunday I spent a chunk of my day in the oddest places. First I went to a gun show. In this case it was show for collectors of older guns. I was wanting to get a little more information on the guns my grandfather had and figure out how to best care for them. I was pretty amazed at the things I saw and did. For instance I have never walked around at the Minnesota State Fair grounds with a couple of rifles. It's an odd experience. The oddest thing though was how friendly the people were at the gun show. It's one of the few times in Minnesota where a lot of people have walked up to me to strike up a conversation.

After I left the gun show, I drove home and realized I was passing a store that sells comic books in addition to d&d supplies and other odds and ends. I decided I would stop in to get a few comic books for Matthew. I don't frequent stores like this so I was totally unprepared for either the patrons or the diversity of worlds that were presented to me.

I wondered about the overlap between the people who attend gun shows and also attend comic book conventions. The people who might be packing heat, but the "heat" is highly collectible and should not fired.

I also thought a lot about writing a short story. The idea is this, a woman thinks she is gong to a speed dating event only she accidentally shows up at the gaming table. It's called "Roll of the 20 sided dice". After thinking about it more, I think I was actually writing a bad sitcom in my head.

I listened to the new "Counting Crows" album almost all day Friday and Saturday. It's a good solid album. I was looking for more from them. This album didn't really break any new ground. I was hoping for a bigger reinvigoration of their sound. I didn't get it, but there are still some great songs on the album. I think I like them because of the upbeat melancholia they manage to emit; it's a good approximation for my normal mood.

"I left a lot of ghosts in San Francisco
and now you wanna say you see through me
but what you wanna see ain't your memories of me"
-- Los Angeles, Counting Crows

The U.S. Congress would never consider a proposal to add a “7 day love vacation” where everyone is encouraged to “devote themselves to each other “both at an erotic and emotional level”“. A member of the Finnish parliament, Tommy Tabermann, proposed this recently to the Eduskunta. The proposal was debated and sent to committee for study.

Being married to a Finn I can say I find this worthy of study as well.

I had been in Darjeeling for days and hadn't seen any sign of the mountains surrounding the village. The next morning I was going to Tiger Hill to see the sunrise. I had been told I had a 20% chance of seeing Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world from the vantage point on the hill. I had to leave the hotel around 5:00 so I slept fitfully. When I finally fell asleep the wild dogs started having a territorial dispute nearby. The dogs were so loud, it may have well been in my bathroom. I drifted back off to sleep, afraid I would miss my alarm. At 4:30 the absurdly loud phone in the hotel started ringing. No one answered it. It would stop for a minute or two and then start again. There was no going back to sleep at this point. I padded upstairs and downstairs to see if I could find the staff. There was no one to be found, at least not without barging in to their private living quarters. I went back to my room and got ready for my excursion ignoring both the phone and the banging on the front door. By the time I was ready to go the night man at the hotel was shuffling around. He led me out through an auxiliary door that led through an alley barely big enough for me to walk through. My taxi driver, the source of the phone calls and insistent banging was ready to go.

We made our way to Tiger Hill. It was still pitch black when we arrived. He asked me which ticket I wanted. There was both "Deluxe" and "Super-Deluxe" to choose from as well as the no frill just park your car ticket. "Super-Deluxe" was the third story view of the sunrise, which meant you were higher than other guests and you had comfortable couches and heaters. At approximately $2 it seemed like a bargain to me. I climbed the icy stairs to "Super-Deluxe". It was disconcerting. I had never been in a room with 20+ saffron couches. It reminded me of a modern art exhibit. The room was cold, but it was out of the wind and there was an array of electric heaters on one end. I found a seat and waited for other to arrive. Other tourists started to shuffle in and each of them seems to bring a backpack full of complaints with them. "Why was it so cold." "The windows aren't optically pure enough." "The couches are run down." After a few minutes of chatting with a couple and noticing someone had taken my couch for their own, I decided I was in the wrong place. If I went to the parking lot level the view was exactly the same and I probably wouldn't have to listen to people complain.

I went to the parking lot and I didn't regret the choice. The people were friendlier, the view was the same and I didn't have to listen to people complain about the heaters.

In life as well as on Tiger Hill, I have learned more about truth, beauty, sacrifice and hospitality from the people in the "parking lot" than I have from the people in "Super-Deluxe."

I came to the conclusion that my people are generally not in "Super Deluxe" -- although thankfully some of us get to visit it once in a while.

Here is a summary of what I learned from my latest sales on Ebay. All of these items below are obvious to most people I think.

1. Make sure you have those neat little USPS flat rate boxes.
2. Make sure things fit in those neat little USPS flat rate boxes.
3. I need a postal scale.
4. The APC machine at the post office is slow, although not as slow as waiting in the line behind the group of people who need a passport.
5. Use reserve pricing so you don't sell things for one penny. If you ignore this rule double check the price of shipping. Doh!

And last but not least ... "People will buy almost anything."