The years seem to fly by.

However, my brain in particular seems to be really bad at recognizing things that it’s missing. I get a vague feeling of “Hmm, I miss something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it…”

After some thought, I think I’ve figured it out. I miss winter and the smell of pine trees. Living in the desert, I don’t really have many pine trees around, and I miss that.

There’s now two in Tucson. The first one, which is on the north side of town, used to have a “gun busters” (warning: PDF) sign, but after some polite prodding by the citizenry, they took it down — permit-holders are not forbidden from carrying there, so long as they don’t drink. There’s been no incidents of violence, gun-related or not, at the restaurant that I’m aware of.

However, the newly-built BJ’s on Broadway has a “gun busters” sign. A polite letter asking the management to remove the sign, like the other restaurant, has been dispatched to the management. I urge others to do the same.

1. Try their red. It’s outstanding.

Sure, it’s cool, but Explosions and Boobs is a bit more fun.

• Google Accounts
• Google Apps account

Google Accounts can be, but are not necessarily, a Google Mail/Gmail account. One can have a Google Account without having a Gmail account (e.g. user@example.com) and can use such an account for accessing services like Google Reader, Google Docs, etc. I created such an account years ago for my personal email address.

Google Apps accounts are accounts associated with Google Apps, which are separate from regular Google Accounts. Google Apps provides email service for my personal domain.

Unfortunately, this means that both my Google Account and Google Apps account had the same username, which lead to considerable confusion.

I’m just now trying to get this all straightened out by only using Google Apps for email and XMPP chat and migrating all my other services (like Google Reader, Google Voice, etc.) to a single Google Account. This is exceedingly frustrating.

Any thoughts? Is it a decent gun?

1. I’m left-handed. This is important.

I’m a big fan of Prvi’s M193, but have been looking for M855 for a while, and snapped up a case while it was available.

Update: D’oh. AIM Surplus has it for even cheaper, even with shipping taken into account. Of course, I discover this after I place the order at Ammoman. Live and learn.

I was intrigued that they really focused on “gun violence”, and many of the discussions involved complaints about “easy access to guns” rather than a profusion of violent criminals.

I commented to my wife that we have incredibly easy access to guns in our condo¹, yet we’re not even remotely prone to violence². Clearly, there’s more contributing to violent crime than simple access to firearms.

The parts of Chicago they were discussing had serious issues with gangs, drugs, and economic depression. I suspect these issues are a bit more important than bad guys getting guns. Take the guns away, and the gangs will use knives, rocks, or boards with a nail through it. Get rid of the gangs, and violent crime goes away. Funny how that works. I truly respect and admire those who are willing to guide vulnerable youth on the good path, away from violence and gangs.

I’m also quite happy that the law-abiding people in Chicago have had the most egregious restrictions overturned, and are able to (even though they need to jump through some hoops) own firearms for their own defense. Hopefully the remaining infringements will be overturned shortly, without the need for time-consuming legal battles.

1. the holstered gun on my waist, two old revolvers in a case on the coffee table, and a pile of long guns in the closet
2. Though we do take MarioKart for Wii quite seriously