Phew. I'm finally glad this day is done for. I did A LOT today, and my shins are still aching. Oh well. While pain may weakness leaving the body, it still likes to bitch a lot on the way out. Nicki woke me up around 10:55 this morning sobbing. I was too comatose at first to realize that she was sobbing, but I eventually felt a tear on my hand, and that for some reason shot me out of my haziness and into the real world. She said she had a panic attack over a lot of things, like she worrying about the possibility of her being pregnant (which she is most definitely NOT, trust me), money (which we have enough to pay off all our debts with), and other stuff. She and I lied there for a bit, me just cuddling her and calming her down. She made it to work in a better mood once I took her to McDonalds first to get a lunch.

Then a thought occurred to me. I had planned to clean house today, but I thought to myself, 'Why not surprise her as well?" I played Devil May Cry, since it is after all my weekend and I DO need to do something to chill out, until about three in the afternoon, then I hit the ground running. In the kitchen, I hauled out all the trash, took the soda cans to the recycle bin on the other side of town, cleaned ALL the dishes, wiped down the counters, vacuumed the floor, put the soda in the fridge, and cleaned out all the really old food in there. In the living room, I cleaned the main room, which meant finding a place to put all the displaced tapes and DVDs that we have. They were displaced when we had to move the entertainment center to the bedroom to make room the big-screen. Anyways, I moved the bookshelf that we weren't using in the kitchen to the main room, and placed the tapes, my video game strategy guides, road atlas, and my toolkit there. I also cleaned off the coffee table, wiped it down, and vacuumed the floor there as well. The DVDs are now on top of the big-screen, where I had to change the location of one of our surround-sound speakers, VCR, cable box, and my PS1 and 2 to make room for.

I wasn't done then. Nicki saw just the clean kitchen when I brought her home for lunch, which was what I wanted her to see, so that she'd just think that I'd do that and the dishes. I ordered pizza from her favorite place here in town around 7:30, and they said the delivery would be in about 45minutes. Before that, I went to Target, bought the new pillow covers that Nicki and I liked, more trash bags, and other household items that I knew we needed. When it came, I placed the pizzas on the coffee table, put out four candles and our incense, and some plates. Needless to say, she was delightfully shocked. She says she's going to surprise me now. Hmm...I wonder what it could be (not really. She knows how I like to be surprised). We curled up on the futon and watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail while eating our pizza. I also noticed that the futon is going to need to be replaced. The bottom portion of the frame is sinking in, making it unsuitable really to use as a bed. I suspect it's made of thick aluminum, since it was manufactured in China.

There was an interesting development tonight. Nicki called this evening around 8:15 and said that the guy she sits across from got a caller who made a bomb threat. They evacuated my company's two buildings, and I guess the police conducted a search of both sites, coming up empty. There's rumor that another threat was made last Sunday, although I never heard about it, even though I worked that night. It could have happened to the day. I've heard stories about how this pair of boys from Germany likes to call and make those threats to another one of my company's client's CSRs. Hmm..And me not there for the action. Don't get me wrong, because there's a couple of things here: 1. Bomb threats are indeed scary, but true bombers tend not to give themselves away like that. 2. Although I never asked Nicki about it, I knew she was okay since she was calling with a calm, cool voice and didn't come off like she was hurt, so I knew she was okay. 3. When it's a false alarm, we're paid I think double-time and a half for the time that we have to go hide outside. I could always use a few extra bucks.

Before I went on my cleaning spree this afternoon, I was listening to Rush again. He was talking about a news article from FoxNews.com about how Cartoon Network is not airing Speedy Gonzales cartoons because of fears that Speedy, a little Mexican-accented mouse, is demeaning to Mexicans. Laurie Goldberg, a spokeswoman for Cartoon network, said this in a telephone interview for Fox News:

"It hasn't been on the air for years because of its ethnic stereotypes. We have such a huge library, I think we intend to go with popular shows that aren't going to upset people. We're not about pushing the boundary. We're not HBO. We have a diverse audience and we have an impressionable audience."

It goes to show that Political Correctness has reached a new low. When I was a child, I always digged the Speedy Gonzales cartoons because I thought they were the funniest thing on this earth. I never got the impression that Mexicans are a bunch of drunk, dimwitted cheese thieves. I guess that's what Cartoon Network thinks kids will grow up thinking. Little Johnny will go up to his mom and say "Mom, I think Mexicans are cheese-stealing thieves." They think that kids will go around and cry "save the cheese!" at all Mexican establishments, and sue Mexican restaurants (Read: Taco Bell) run by Mexicans of stealing the cheese they put in their tacos and burritos. All because they saw a little cartoon mouse do it. And people wonder why some of us, including myself, are cynical about the human race and Daria holds sway over us. Oh and by the way: Cartoon Network has a sister broadcast feed for Latin America, which shows the Speedy Gonzalez catroons. Goldberg said the cartoon is "hugely popular." You tell me who's being a sissy here.

I also need to put in my two cents about the reparations for slavery lawsuits. The first time I heard of this, I shook my head, thinking that this would be laughed out of court. Looks like I was wrong for once. The lawsuits content that several corporations profited from the slave trade, and seeks unspecified damages for benefiting from such. First off, the companies, while slavery was LEGAL, were profiting from a perfectly LEGAL industry. It was wrong, and still is today, but it was legal. If we take that premise, that what was once legal then but not now you can sue over, let's apply it to the future. Let's say that they eventually ban ANY type of negative speech, writing or otherwise, against individuals. I make a statement against someone, and a hundred years from now, such a law passes. That means that my descendents, who never had anything to do with my statements, are liable for what I did when it was legal. The bottom line is this: by doing this, you create a potential lawsuit for just about every ethnic race on this planet. Since I'm a Christian, I could sue the Italian government for feeding my ancestors to the lion for their beliefs, claiming that had they lived, I'd control half of Europe under what would be called the Marine Empire, but they denied me such a chance, so I want compensation for it. 

Before ANYONE flames me, I do agree that blacks were indeed wronged, but that's what affirmative action, and all these programs designed to make blacks the people to hire over the white guy, were supposed to correct. Also, keep in mind that, by reading this entry and any other entry, you are bound by my Terms of Viewing. Now, back to the subject at hand. How about this for a compromise: If you can prove that you are a descendant of a slave, you can get that chunk of money, but you will no longer be eligible for ANY affirmative action program. That means that you're left out of black-only scholarships, which are designed to help only blacks, and preferential hiring. If I have to pay for any judgment that's passed, even if none of my ancestors had anything to do with the trade, then this is where you get to choose how my tax money, the ultimate source of income that'll pay for it, gets spent. Not both, since I'll be paying twice of what I should fairly be paying. One or the other. Oh, and in the current case, if there's any momentary damages, they don't go the blacks who were wronged. They go to a GOVERNMENT-RUN TRUST FUND!

Well, better prepare for onslaught of claims that I'm just another racist white guy. I'll need to zero my pistol first so that I can return fire.

"Bring it on, I say. They'll be happy, too." - Fatman, talking to Raiden, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty