Robguy 4.0

Sunday Blasphemy - Closets

2009-07-19T13:39:00.001+10:00

(seen on veonixrising.com)

Is this why Palin quit?

2009-07-17T21:02:00.002+10:00

Not likely.

We keep finding new things on this planet of ours. A huge blob of goo floating off the Alaskan coast. It’s miles long and no one seems to know what it is yet. Thick, dark and goopy; one’s first thought might be some sort of oil pollution, but it seems more biological.

Is it from Mitt Romney’s hair? A creature that fell to earth? Something that thawed out from an ancient glacier? Or maybe something even more ordinary just in a context that makes it seem so unfamiliar.

Sunday Blasphemy - Chasers

2009-07-12T09:22:00.000+10:00

Brain Power

2009-07-11T17:00:00.001+10:00

Watch CBS Videos Online

My biggest concern with any sort of implant would be the life cycle of the device. Think how often you need to replace your computer. I really wouldn't want to go through repeated brain surgeries as the technology advanced. Still, it's promising.

I prefer geese

2009-07-11T15:30:00.000+10:00

The Pew Research group just put out a summary on the state of marriage equality in the US. While the article makes note of civil union and domestic partner options in several states, I guess the recent dp law in Wisconsin missed their attention.

Here in Australia, we just saw gay couples finally get to be considered "de facto" couples under the national law. We waited till now to file for permanent residency since we were told being de facto would either help or at least simplify the process. (When we immigrated we were considered an "interdependent relationship" - at least Australia already recognized gay couple for immigration purposes, something the US still hasn't). One definition for de facto I saw considered the following.

length of relationship
co-habitation
distribution of household duties
financial interdependence
joint assets
the care and control of any children of the relationship;
whether friends and relatives see you as "de facto";
whether you intend the relationship to be permanent.

The thing about not being legally formalize confuses me. I would think at the time you'd need to be making decisions about estates, medical care, etc - the last thing you want to spend time on is providing documentation that you were in fact a couple. I guess our visa status more or less proves that for us, but I think people would want that piece of paper for piece of mind.

Residency

2009-07-09T16:12:00.001+10:00

Today we ran around giving out money for our application for permanent residency. The biggest lump was for our medical clearance. $600 some dollars for a urine test, x-ray, and a guy to thump your abdomen.

We had to go to a different building for the x-ray. Let me tell you Australia has a weird setup for street numbers. We had to get to a 300 address, we drove the car to the end of the 100s and it went into a pedestrian mall. We went to drive around it, and after 2 blocks we parked and walked to the mall. I swear it must have been 10 more blocks of walking up the street before we came to the right address.

We came home to call around to see what police office was able to print us. The closest one didn’t have the setup, the next one had arrestees so they couldn’t process us. We ended up going to the shop by our work. There was some confusion about what sort of check we needed, at first they thought it would be $175 each. It turned out to be only $42 each. With that paperwork we also had to send the FBI $20 to process it on their end. To top it off we also had to pay a $43 fee for the Australian police to run a check.

That’s only a small part of the process, in addition to other things, they also need to know every job we’ve worked at since high school. We need to have a bunch of things notarized. They need more information on my health. etc…etc… When the health checks and criminal checks come back there will be more to send out. Good thing Australia is a wonderful place to live.

Drunken badger disrupts traffic

2009-07-09T08:06:00.001+10:00

Coming from Wisconsin, when I first saw this headline I thought, That’s news? It seemed like a drunk badger was disrupting traffic at least once a week.

I still won't eat it...

2009-07-06T11:43:00.000+10:00

Sunday Blasphemy – Another one bites the dust…

2009-07-05T12:50:00.001+10:00

Scotland closes it’s last Priest college. They haven’t had reason like this to celebrate in 300 years!

Thursdays

2009-07-02T11:07:00.000+10:00

Bye Bye Beer Garden

2009-06-30T23:45:00.001+10:00

The property we live on has what is commonly called a “granny flat” in the back corner. It isn’t much larger than a garage. The front room is the kitchen/dinette and the back room is the bedroom with the toilet, shower, and laundry right in the same room.

Anyway… it started with a beer banner going up along the fence – those big banners like you’d see at a bar’s volleyball court. It seemed a little bogan, but not that big a deal. Then some pieces of junk furniture showed up – chairs and such. The neighbour could occasionally be found having a few beers with his mates.

As the summer went on, another banner arrived. This time across the front on it’s own posts to give the area a little divider from the rest of the driveway. The junk furniture was replaced with a new set of outdoor table and chairs. A new grill showed up and eventually a ping pong table (that was taken down and brought inside after they were done with it.

I never understood why they set it up in front of the granny flat instead of their separately fenced backyard. Even though they were right outside our kitchen window they were always quiet and never bothered us (unlike the dickhead drummer across the street).

Last weekend it gradually went away. Considering it’s the end of the month, I’m making the leap in reasoning to guess he’s moved on to different living arrangements. Considering the rental market in the area, I doubt it will be empty for long.

Breaking News:

2009-06-18T16:01:00.001+10:00

Hilary Clinton has fractured her elbow while trying to nudge Obama into giving G/L federal employees the same rights she had already given to employees at the State Department. Reports are unclear if the break happened during contact with the Presidents ribs, or if it was when he pushed her down the stairs for going ahead with fairer treatment before he could take credit for it.

Fox News reports – ‘Hilary is faking it’.

Wordle 2

2009-06-12T16:22:00.001+10:00

It’s been a while since I did a wordle. You’d think I spent a lot more time on cleaning than paying attention to politics or social issues. While US news seems to be shining the spotlight on marriage, here it seems quiet concerning the legal changes that are happening.

Come July, gay couples in Australia can take another step toward “de facto” status. Exactly what will change isn’t completely clear to me, doing a Google on the subject brought up Wikipedia and a news article about the lack of notification regarding the legal changes. I found the Wikipedia article a little confusing since it read like the law went into effect last year, but I’ve seen a few things on government websites that don’t take effect until July.

I know when we moved here, we were classed as an interdependent couple – we weren’t eligible for de facto status as that was only for heterosexual couple for immigration purposes. For tax purposes, we haven’t been able to file as de facto previously (and that would have been a benefit for us as John was the only source of income for the first year and a half). Some things seem to have gone into effect last December, with more are coming in July. I’ve seen a few things on government websites about registering – although that seems to only apply if you need government assistance. The visa company that will be assisting with our application for permanent residency has recommended we wait till July to kick the process off as we’ll have firmer legal standing as a couple.

Wouldn’t it be simpler if couples were really couples?

Our newest favourite DIY

2009-06-10T21:34:00.001+10:00

Over the years we’ve had a number of do-it-yourself shows we’ve enjoyed. Trading Spaces, The Gardener Guy, Dog Whisperer. Lately we’ve been enjoying Lush House. One of the bigger reasons for me is the use of more natural cleaners. So far I’ve liked the results and will be changing what I buy at the store. (although instead of simply getting rid of my “toxic” cleaners, I’ll finish them off the regular way).

The basics she uses for almost any cleaning situation are simple and fairly inexpensive.

Bi-carb Soda – an alkaline and mild abrasive
White Vinegar – a mild acid
Mentholated Spirits – an alcohol solvent, which removes pen marks
Lavender Oil – mixed with water it becomes a mild cleaner and deodorizer
Lemon Oil – very good at keeping spiders and other insects at bay and also for stain removal
Tea Tree Oil – used as an anti-bacterial and getting sticky marks/labels off jars etc
Oil of Cloves - useful mould inhibitor and insecticide
Unprocessed Wheat Bran – a light abrasive and absorbent
Tea – Contains tannic acid which cleans timber
Pantyhose – Mildly abrasive fibres become more abrasive as they get wet

The timing of the show’s start fit pretty well with John’s urge to sort everything into bins, get rid of old clothes etc. I think this is the first time I’ve had all the tools organized. And thanks to Shannon Lush, I know what to do about that mould I found growing on a leather belt.

What happened to candidate Obama?

2009-06-10T03:01:00.001+10:00

… and yes, I have a huge lesbianic crush on Rachel. Maddow for President!!

Sunday Blasphemy – Holy…

2009-06-07T00:48:00.001+10:00

The bimmer stopped by

2009-06-05T20:15:00.001+10:00

When we first moved here John found a 3 series BMW that he loved. It was a nice car, even from me who tells cars apart by what colour they are. Unfortunately, one evening he was going over a raised crosswalk just a little too fast and all sorts of damage ensued, including passenger side airbags going off, rims chipping, tires blowing, structural metally things bending… It was totalled. It would have cost too much to fix, so we ended up selling it to this young guy who stopped by one day. He was really into the particular model and he worked with his father at a body shop. We were happy to get it off the yard.

He stopped by again tonight. I’m going to guess it’s been close to 9 months? It looked great. As he showed it to me, he went over in some detail all the things they had to do to fix it up. Just for the discounted parts they needed, it ran over $13k (I don’t know what sort of mark-up they have if we had purchased them as part of the repair). My experience with bodyshops/mechanics is that the parts are usually less than the labour. I was almost glad John wasn’t home from work yet as he would miss it again. The timing is a little funny as the BMW was finishing up repairs about the same time we picked up the Tucson.

I prefer geese

2009-06-03T11:45:00.001+10:00

June – Pride Month

2009-06-03T01:16:00.002+10:00

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

Obama isn’t the first to make this proclamation – it just feels like it after the last 8 years. Bill Clinton put out similar nods once he was in his second term and didn’t have to worry about potential fallout.

I find it a little funny that in his proclamation, he lists several things that he promised to take care of during the campaign, but hasn’t done any visible work on since taking office. Even with broad public support for the elimination of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, there hasn’t been any (public) effort to change the law.

I understand that DADT isn’t just an executive order, it’s now a federal law so it isn’t a simple pen stroke. However, DOMA is also federal law and Hillary Clinton has chosen to offer similar benefits to same sex couples as are offered to “opposite marriage” couples. Obama could assign a low priority to it’s enforcement – he could also stress the third part of the law that is often forgotten “Don’t Pursue”.

Sunday Blasphemy – god loves me best

2009-05-31T00:27:00.000+10:00

The Rapture & The 72 Virgins-God Loves ME Best-#3 - The best bloopers are here

Marriage PSAs

2009-05-29T12:31:00.001+10:00

The ruling last Tuesday by the California Supreme Court, upholding Proposition h8 as a valid ballot initiative, reopened a lot of the hurt feelings from after the initial vote. Even many foes of equality admit that gay and lesbian couples will eventually be able to marry (they’re just sadistic fucks who want to inflict as much suffering as possible in the meantime).

I first saw these short films on Facebook, but they’re also available on YouTube.

BluRay? pfft!

2009-05-27T20:27:00.001+10:00

In Melbourne they’ve figured out a way to store data in 5 dimensions – which gives you a disk that will hold 10,000x the data you can fit on a standard DVD.

Five? That sounds pretty Star Trek to me. I’m sure porn collector’s on the internet are breathing a sigh of relief from worrying how to back up their terabyte drives.

I’m sure it will be a while before you find them standard on PCs and game consoles.

Propostion h8 Ruling

2009-05-27T16:23:00.003+10:00

From Towleroad.

Sunday Blasphemy: Anti-Gay Jesus Boobs

2009-05-17T00:36:00.000+10:00

Ok, I promise to stop talking about a topic that I keep saying is irrelevant.

Click on the picture to go to this person’s blog. I don’t know about the rest of it but this particular post is funny and well illustrated.

I “love” how so many people are saying it isn’t fair that people have an opinion on Ms. Silicone’s opinion. She expressed a bigoted opinion in a public forum and everyone has the right to express their thoughts on her thoughts.

The Beauty/Drama Queen

2009-05-12T09:25:00.003+10:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I really can't believe anyone still cares about these stupid contests with plastic women who can't speak coherently (whether they're talking about "opposite marriage" or people not having maps.) Still, I think if they had stripped her of the Miss California title more people would have thought it was because of her bigoted opinions (and shouldn't that be enough?). We'll see if this puts a brake on her "opposite-marriage" campaigning or if she'll force their hand.

Someone had suggested that until marriage is available to same-sex couples, when referring to exclusionary wedlock we put scare-quotes around "marriage". I'm leaning more to calling it opposite-marriage, vs the true marriage that is currently available in only 3 (soon to be 5 - VT and ME haven't gone into effect yet) US states.

robguy2 [Flickr]

2007-08-20T05:01:53-07:00

Robguy1 posted a photo:

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Rob [Flickr]

2007-07-01T22:28:46-07:00

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bodyfat1 [Flickr]

2007-04-21T22:29:54-07:00

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