So I see from this morning's NRA-ILA update that we're probably going to have a law soon that will allow law enforcement officers (federal, state, and local, both active duty and retired) to carry concealed firearms anywhere in the nation, on or off duty, even in areas where they have no law enforcement jurisdiction. The NRA is supporting this discriminatory legislation, which I find somewhat surprising (usually, it's gun control advocates, not gun rights advocates, who want to give special firearm privileges to the government).
I'm pretty pissed off about this for several reasons -- not the least of which is that we've been trying to get concealed carry reciprocity for private citizens for some years and haven't been able to. And apart from the fact that this legislation is a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the law for all citizens...
...I am sick to death of people -- on both sides of the gun control debate -- making a distinction between private citizens, law enforcement, and the military when it comes to firearms. The odd thing is, most people who want to make these exceptions just seem to presuppose that there should be such exceptions without even thinking about why those exceptions should exist.
It's not a safety issue, because private citizens are much safer with their firearms than the military and law enforcement. It's not a law enforcement issue, because an LEO who leaves his jurisdiction has no law enforcement authority -- an off-duty New York cop in Tennessee is just a private citizen. It's not a training issue, because the military and law enforcement generally receive pretty minimal training with their firearms (often less, in fact, than is required of private citizens). It's not a question of "needing your gun", because private citizens use their firearms for self-defense far more often than military or law enforcement officers do (and even if that weren't the case, it would be nonsensical to say that LEOs have the right to protect themselves with a gun, but that nobody else does).
I think it's that these days, most people have forgotten what the relationship is between government and the people. They believe that the government is the people's master, when it is actually our servant -- our employee (we hire it with our votes and we pay it with our taxes). And it is impossible for an employee to have any rights or privileges that the employer doesn't also have, because employees receive all their rights and privileges -- and responsibilities, for that matter -- from their employers. That being the case, when you say that the government has any right, privilege, or responsibility, you are automatically admitting that the people also have that right, privilege, or responsibility, because the people are the ones who gave it to the government in the first place. Would that more people remembered that these days... I'm not holding my breath, though.
Another fairly routine trip to Union Station... I'm getting into the habit of going there about twice a week to ship the items that I've sold on Half and Amazon (I'm averaging about two items a day). I then went to see "King Arthur", which is a pretty good flick. There was a woman a few seats over who reminded me of me -- constantly shifting in her seat (as I do, since my lower back gives me trouble in cinema seating) and showing a lot of the same mannerisms/stims that I have. Not a lot to go on, of course, but I did wonder whether she might be on the spectrum.
After the film, there was one other guy besides me who stayed for the credits, and he was yammering on to one of the custodians about how some cinemas leave the lights down during the credits and they don't start cleaning up until the credits are over (I wish all cinemas did that... I hate having the lights come up and the crew coming in during the credits, since to me, the film isn't over yet). As he and I walked out together at about the same time, I saw a kiosk advertising a new Chucky film for Halloween, and as he was talking about whether "Spider-Man 2" might have spent too much money on prints for all the screens it opened on (making me wonder whether he, like me, was an autistic with a cinema perseveration), I handed him my camera and asked him to take a photo of the kiosk, showing the film's surprise star.
A new dimension in horror. (Fairly large-ish image, but I didn't want to lose any detail by reducing it.)
The last couple of days have been moderately productive. I've listed all of my books on Amazon now, as well as Half, to try to reach a wider selling audience. I plan to list my CDs on Amazon next. Denise said she'd be concerned about doing that due to the risk of two people buying the same item at the same time. That also occurred to me, but I think the risk is probably pretty low. And if it does happen... well, I'll figure something out.
It does have advantages. When I was listing my CDs on Half the other day, as I mentioned, I found out that one of my CDs, "Good For Your Soul", by Oingo Boingo, is a highly desired collector's item. I listed it on Half for thirty dollars (along with several other listings), then I checked it on Amazon and found that it was scarcer there and going for a much higher price, so I also listed it on Amazon for fifty dollars. It sold on Amazon yesterday morning -- to someone who wants it shipped priority mail, too, no less. So in this case, at least, the cross-posting gave me an extra twenty bucks.
I thought about going to the post office today to mail the CD, but I decided to wait until tomorrow to get some more stuff done around the house and also to see whether any more items would sell, so I could take them all with me at once to the post office tomorrow instead. So far, it's paid off... getting a lot accomplished around here, and two more books sold today. *bounce bounce*
I finally worked up the nerve a couple of nights ago to rebox some of my old memories (such as my papers from college, souvenirs from my trip to Great Britain, and so on) in new, sturdier boxes. The old boxes go into the closet to wait to be used for shipping. Going thru those boxes was a rather unpleasant experience... I have memories in there of all kinds of stuff, going all the way back to early childhood, and looking back on those things can be rather distressing. Fortunately, I got it done, and the closet now looks a lot nicer.
I just got a call from Social Security, telling me that they've received all my forms and paperwork, and that now it's just a question of sitting back and waiting. They said a decision on this kind of thing typically takes about four months. Bleah.
I've ordered some candlemaking supplies on eBay. My little glass apothecary jars got here the other day, and my other supplies are in transit. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at this... I think it should be fun.
Well, I didn't get anything listed on eBay today, but I console myself with having listed most of my CDs on Half. There are a few I'm having trouble listing, probably because they're very obscure (such as "Technophobia", by Spin Cycle) or because they were issued thru unusual channels.
Most of it was about what you'd expect from listing used CDs for sale, although there were a few surprises. About six or seven of the CDs I entered had "pre-sale" listings. I went for two of them, since I'd have listed them for only a dollar or two more and didn't think it was worth the wait. The others, I skipped, since the price differential between the pre-sale offer and the actual value of the disc was significant.
Another odd thing I found was that, apparently, two or three of the CDs I own must be really rare or in high demand or something. "Good For Your Soul", by Oingo Boingo, is listed on Half for over thirty dollars, even though it was only about half that when selling new. I wonder how that happened...
And there were also a few CDs I have that were so obscure that no one else had them for sale, such as "Blue Solitaire", by The Telling. (Just out of curiosity, has anyone else ever heard of them? I'd bet not many have, not even Denise's highly music-perseverant brother.)
There are a number of advantages (and a few disadvantages, of course) to listing on Half rather than Amazon. Half charges no base fee, only a commission, and unlike Amazon, the listings don't expire. Also, Half is integrating with eBay, meaning that if someone searches for your CD or book or whatever on eBay, they'll also get Half listings. At least, that's the theory; the integration isn't complete yet.
I've sold a few more books on Half, and also four more items on eBay. It feels good to be getting all this accomplished. I should have done this quite some time ago, but dealing with it is just such a headache that I haven't had the executive function to do it. Also, going thru my music collection is emotionally very difficult for me.
Music triggers memories of the past for me, and for some reason, I get really upset whenever I think about the past, even if the past memories are good ones. It's really unfortunate, because it means I can hardly listen to music at all anymore, and I really used to enjoy it.
Well, I didn't get anything listed on eBay today, but I console myself with having listed most of my CDs on Half. There are a few I'm having trouble listing, probably because they're very obscure (such as "Technophobia", by Spin Cycle) or because they were issued thru unusual channels.
Most of it was about what you'd expect from listing used CDs for sale, although there were a few surprises. About six or seven of the CDs I entered had "pre-sale" listings. I went for two of them, since I'd have listed them for only a dollar or two more and didn't think it was worth the wait. The others, I skipped, since the price differential between the pre-sale offer and the actual value of the disc was significant.
Another odd thing I found was that, apparently, two or three of the CDs I own must be really rare or in high demand or something. "Good For Your Soul", by Oingo Boingo, is listed on Half for over thirty dollars, even though it was only about half that when selling new. I wonder how that happened...
And there were also a few CDs I have that were so obscure that no one else had them for sale, such as "Blue Solitaire", by The Telling. (Just out of curiosity, has anyone else ever heard of them? I'd bet not many have, not even Denise's highly music-perseverant brother.)
There are a number of advantages (and a few disadvantages, of course) to listing on Half rather than Amazon. Half charges no base fee, only a commission, and unlike Amazon, the listings don't expire. Also, Half is integrating with eBay, meaning that if someone searches for your CD or book or whatever on eBay, they'll also get Half listings. At least, that's the theory; the integration isn't complete yet.
I've sold a few more books on Half, and also four more items on eBay. It feels good to be getting all this accomplished. I should have done this quite some time ago, but dealing with it is just such a headache that I haven't had the executive function to do it. Also, going thru my music collection is emotionally very difficult for me.
Music triggers memories of the past for me, and for some reason, I get really upset whenever I think about the past, even if the past memories are good ones. It's really unfortunate, because it means I can hardly listen to music at all anymore, and I really used to enjoy it.
