My blogging will be at a minimum for at least two weeks. My family is going off to visit my family in California! My son has been counting the days til we leave since August 1st. We are half packed and ready to leave tomorrow. Tomorrow will be airline hell, but by Tuesday I will be happily settling into my California relaxation mode.

I used to love flying. Now, if it wasn't for my family living across the country, I'd avoid flying like the plague. Between Homeland Security's ineffectual but degradingly insulting measures and the airline's incresasingly petty fees and service cuts, the fun has been totally sucked out of air travel, leaving nothing but a husk of misery, anger and bitterness. I used to travel with a smile and just enjoy the ride. Now I fly with a tight lipped sense of dread. Thank you very much airlines. You suck and your suckiness gets worse year after year.

Brief moment of computer time. Thankfully I have been paying little attention to news and mostly relaxing. Spent several days staying with friends in the Hollywood Hills (in a house that originally belonged to D. W. Griffith) now with relatives in Santa Barbara.

I hear Fred Thompson, supposedly the savior of the Republican's chances for the White House, has hit some rough waters. No real surprise, of course. It's going to be a rough ride for ALL the candidates, particularly the Republicans who have to somehow appeal to an America sick to death of Bush but also appeal to the base that is so fanatically right wing they practically are from another culture altogether.