Painful navigation to a quality movie gathering :)

So the navigational lesson I learned tonight is four-fold. First, don't get directions from Sarah. ;) Second, get or verify given directions on a map or mapping website. Third, if a map is checked, check the details thoroughly, and do so the first time. Fourth, make sure your cell phone has sufficient minutes to do any good, or make sure you have other means of making a call.

See, while I was in Manassas, Shauna got a call from Sarah inviting her and Jen (Shauna's roommate from college, visiting) to join Sarah, Manda, and Vlad at Vlad's house. Shauna got directions, verified that I was also welcome, I checked the general location on a map (and corrected a street name) and we headed out--I on my motorcycle, Shauna and Jen in Shauna's car. Aaaand that's where the problems began. ( Far too many stops, U-turns, map-checking, and non-calling )

I arrived to find only Vlad, and learned that Shauna and Jen had made the same mistake--7W past Leesburg--before calling our dad and getting directions, meaning they only arrived ~20min before I did! They'd decided on "Marilyn Monroe Movie" and returned shortly thereafter with Some Like It Hot, which neither Jen nor I had seen, nor had either of us ever seen a Monroe movie. (They also returned with Manda, and Kilani showed up after the movie was over.) Very good movie, very funny, well worth seeking out. :D (And so quotable!)

The ride home was thankfully uneventful, with the exception of a brief chat at a stoplight with a guy on a red Yamaha YZF about Ducati maintenance--he has a Duc, and wondered where I got my service done. :)

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From subbes, this is just fucked up. Help breeding is the last thing these girls need! O_o

Anti-Gay Allen

Why I dislike George Allen and his politics. I quite approve of the letter Misty sent (also at that link) and the discourse that followed, plus similar (Now With Added Vitriol!) by/with Megs over here. :)

I can understand having form responses for controversial issues--but you could at least have multiple form responses so it wasn't blatantly clear you had no interest in the opinions of your constituency, at least when it comes to gay marriage.

More politics, plus music and erranding

So, Kerry picked Edwards as his running mate. Okay. (Though one paper jumped the gun, and as xviragox calls it, Dewey Defeats Truman. Reporting at its finest, indeed. :D) The Aussie on my list chimes in with her opinion--seems reasonable, though I haven't given the matter much thought--I'm pretty cynical about the real power of the VP and even the President.)

Ten pretty cool electronic tracks by Internal Dialogue available here.

Ran errands by motorcycle. Took my suit/shirt to the cleaners, where they determined that they couldn't crimp a new snap onto my motorcycle jacket. (I was unimpressed.) Then down to Woodbridge by the back roads, didn't find what I was looking for at Coleman, scouted out Petsmart again, visited the umbrella cockatoo and the adoptable cats, bought superworms for the beardie, then headed over to Milwaukee Custard, whose decor is a strange hodgepodge of Milwaukee/custard articles and photos, kids' fads (Spongebob, Buzz Lightyear), trains (two O-gauge running around ceiling level tracks), and classic and high-performance cars (you could buy 1/18 scale replicas.) Curious, but their strawberry daiquiri icees are good. :) Headed back up the back roads to Springfield, picked up salad and fruit for beardie and macaw, noted the air temperature as 98ºF, and headed home to A/C. (Got complimented on my bike at least twice while I was out, too. :)