Found: One Troll

Sorry about the no-bloggy. I took a two and a half week vacation from work, starting with PAX, and I really wasn’t feeling the muse. Some post-vacation updates:

• During my time off I helped my parents clean out some of their junk-filled rooms and we found a bunch of my late paternal grandfather’s stuff, including a pair of framed certificates declaring him an honorary Sergeant-at-Arms of the Tennessee State Senate and an honorary citizen of the State of Tennessee. We have no idea what the stories behind those items are. My Dadu^[1] never applied for American citizenship, choosing instead to retain his dual British and Indian citizenships even after he retired to the US to be with his son.  There were also a large number of my grandmother’s silk saris and other dresses packed away.
• We also found a large number of college textbooks dating to my father’s time at university (late 60s) and a bunch of electronics branded “Digital” from his time as an executive of the now-defunct Digital Equipment Corporation. My father is a serious pack rat.
• It’s late September, summer is technically over, and we might see days where the temperature stays under 100 degrees soon. The winter is much better for shooting around these parts.
• I decided that as a reward to myself for earning my CCIE I will skip the AR-15 and instead get a surround sound system. I want a new rifle but I am in greater need of a new sound system. I’ve had my HDTV for two years and it’s time to unshackle myself from the TV speakers. After much research, I decided on an Onkyo receiver and Aperion speakers. The receiver has arrived and the speakers should be here by the end of this week. I hope to have an initial review of it up next weekend, after a proper party to put it through its paces and help break in the speakers.
• This Wednesday, September 30th, the new gun laws that Governor Brewer signed will go into effect. I have yet to see any restaurants with “no guns” signs up, including, to my surprise, the Four Peaks Brewery where I ate last night. I had figured that most of the bars down in Tempe would have signs up. Out here in the West Valley neither Red Robin nor Buffalo Wild Wings have signs up (the only places I’ve eaten recently). The restaurants must have the sign posted near their liquor license, and one is legally permitted to enter a restaurant while armed to determine if firearms are permitted. If you want to know whether you can carry, just ask to see the restaurant’s liquor license. In order to carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol under the new law one must have a CCW permit and must be carrying concealed. AZCDL will be working to remove these restrictions in future legislative sessions.
• Speaking of AZCDL, the Arizona Citizens Defense League annual meeting is next weekend in Tucson. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend, but next year it’s in Phoenix, so I should be at that one.
• AZCDL has also setup the AZCDLPAC to help influence elections next year and in the future.
• I’ll be at the NANOG/ARIN conferences in Detroit late next month. I have no idea if there will be worthy blogfodder there.
• Here’s some season-appropriate music: Summer’s Over by Jonathan Coulton

1. Bengali for “paternal grandfather.” [↩]