But, at $145, it's a bit too expensive for me. :-p Especially considering the fact that I will likely lose it within the year.

stayed at the Venetian

Room

Room View (daytime pool shot)

View from the room (night)

Walking around the Venetian at night

Lamborghini

More Lambos

although... i'm sort of having second thoughts about my car.
as much as i love my little miata, it just doesn't feel safe.

what would make me feel safe?
hmm... new tires, a roll cage, four point harness, custom fitted bucket seats, new steering wheel (or just an air-bag-less steering wheel) i sit really close to the wheel because i'm small and can't reach the clutch unless i sit super close.

alternatively, i suppose i can just get a clutch extension...
hmm... and new tires....

"The cost of soy is spreading hunger on the country's main island of Java, where millions of poor and working-class families depend on tofu and tempeh every day. It is also devastating an entire local industry based on soy products. Hundreds of factories have closed, thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest soy prices and at least one soy vendor killed himself after falling into debt."

"Over the past decade, Indonesia went from growing more than half its soy to relying on the U.S. for 70 percent of it. Now the poor among this country's 220 million people are going hungry because of changes thousands of miles beyond their shores. It is the same story for dozens of countries that came to depend on richer nations for cheap food, only to find themselves squeezed when prices start rising last year."

Why is this happening?
1. The Mississippi River flooded in June, leaving thousands of acres of soybeans waterlogged
2. Biofuels. About 20 percent of soy now goes to make biodiesel in the U.S., up from almost nothing three years ago, the FAO said. And the demand for corn to make ethanol has prompted American farmers to switch away from soy. Because of the demand for ethanol, the U.S. expanded corn production by 23 percent in 2007, the World Bank found. At the same time, it reduced soybean fields by 16 percent.
3. Fuel prices. Fuel costs are making it more expensive not just to grow soy, but also to transport it to faraway places like Indonesia by truck, rail and ship.
4. Increased Demand. Prices have gone up further because of a shortage of containers from the booming demand from India and China

From http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080907/indonesia_soybean_curse.html

It was pitch dark in the cave... so I'm showing you pictures of what I didn't see.

Climbing

Rental Car: Hyundai

More holes in the rock

Stairway out (This is how dark it actually is in the cave.... well... darker)

"Golden Dome"

Bed & Breakfast

HELP couples who have loved and lived together for all their lives...

The Chief Justice of the CA Supreme Court argues, "An individual's sexual orientation
-- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate
basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights" -- in this case, the
right to marry.

Vote NO on Prop 8!!

Prop 8:

"ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex
couples to marry in California. Provides that only marriage between a
man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Fiscal Impact:
Over next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly sales taxes,
totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local
governments. In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and
local governments."

 Crater Lake Panorama: Click for 2560 x 618

Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta in my rear view mirror

Looking out at Crater Lake

Flowers atop Crater Lake

Shoreline @ Crater Lake

Wizard Island

"Putting gay marriage or the banning of gay marriage up to popular vote makes no sense. Yes-- the public's opinion is important in matters of public policy; but something like gay marriage is a matter of civil rights. It shouldn't be that the opinion of the majority decides on the rights the minoirty can have."

-repost from huginin

"Perhaps in another few decades, we'll realize how foolish we were to deny them their right to marriage. It wasn't long ago that we denied women and blacks the right to vote. "
-Eric

over 1,000 miles of driving! yay!

wish me luck..

Update:
-change of plan - went to Lava Beds, Crater Lake, and then Lassen
-1,299 miles of driving...
total cost of trip for two (including gas, food, lodging, everything): $607

one photo... many more to come..