Today...

I turned in my voter registration form at the Registrar of Voters. This is one of the rights I've been eagerly anticipating.
I have never voted before. I moved to the States when I was 17, and the UK voting age is 18, same as it is here. I received a voter form for the UK in the mail, but never got involved. I was young, didn't much care about politics in Blighty (or anywhere at that time, for that matter) so I never voted. In the last few years this right is one that has become more important to me, especially as I have watched the changes around me that I have had no say in. I cannot wait to finally make my voice heard.
Heck, I even want to serve on a jury!

Yosemite

A few shots of Yosemite for your viewing pleasure...

Random shot of the valley floor. Well, not so random I guess - my wife loves ferns...

My Little Princess and her cousin, with the entire valley as a backdrop.

Sasha found the only shade available under our truck, plopped down and wouldn't move. She actually looks dead in this picture...

Yosemite Valley floor, as seen from Glacier Point. That's a LOOOONG way down...

Half Dome, seen from Glacier Point.

Bridalveil Fall...

Number One Son and his cousin fishing the Merced River.

The view from our room's patio...

I am an American Citizen.

Yesterday, I stood up with 2701 other new citizens in the LA Sports Arena and took the Oath of Naturalization. I cried throughout the whole thing. Aside from my wedding, and the birth of my two children, I'm hard pressed to find a day with more significance in my lifetime.

It's been a crazy last few days. The ceremony was scheduled smack in the middle of our planned trip to Yosemite, but I wasn't about to reschedule something I'd been waiting on for so long... so, Wednesday we drove up (380 miles) and got settled in to the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal (great place, by the way - our rooms overlooked the Merced river - but the crappiest staff I have encountered in a hotel in a LONG time).
Thursday we drove into Yosemite, up to Glacier Point - amazing vista - and tooled around for a while, then back out to the hotel for dinner and a celebratory toast with the family, before I headed out on the road again at 9pm to get back into LA. Got to my brother-in-law's place in Long Beach around 4am and crashed on his couch for about 3 hours.
Friday I got up at 8:30 am, fretted around for a couple of hours getting ready before I made my way to the Sports Arena. Got in line, got herded around like cattle, completed the oath ceremony, listened to President Obama say a few words (videotaped of course) and filed out to pick up my certificate of naturalization. Saw sunlight again at around 3pm where I met up with a couple of my church friends who had come out to support me, grabbed a quick bite at Denny's with them before heading back up to Yosemite AGAIN. LA traffic by this time was absolutely abysmal and added a good two hours to my trip. I didn't see my hotel room until midnight.
Got up this morning, packed up, took the 120 East through the valley and came home down the Eastern side of the Sierras, via 395. We pulled in to the Kingdom at 9:30, and now I'm looking forward to my bed. I have driven close to 2000 miles these last four days. I'm tired, as is the rest of my family (although they didn't accompany me down to LA) but elated at finally possessing proof of US citizenship. Now to switch out my red passport for a pretty blue one and register to vote. I'll be getting started on both of those Monday.
Bitchen pictures of Yosemite to follow...

UPDATE: I just learned by reading Say Uncle that yesterday was also the first anniversary of the Heller decision! June 26th will forever be doubly auspicious for me! Gun blogger taking the Oath of Naturalization on the anniversary of the Heller decision. Way cool!

Happy Father's Day

Dad,
I want to say thank you.
Thank you for giving me an example of how to be a good husband and father.
Thank you for all the sacrifices you've made over the years for your children.
Thank you for the wisdom and advice you've passed on throughout my life, even in those times when I was too dumb to heed it.
Thank you for all the work you endured, in all the crappy places around the world to provide for your family.
Thank you for bringing us here to the United States to chase our fullest potential.
Thank you, Dad.

Citizenship....

May finally be happening!  I have an appointment to appear at the LA Sports Arena on Friday June 26th to take my naturalization oath.  Wow!  This has been a LONG time coming - and its not over yet, but the end is in sight!  Going to celebrate with my family tonight...

Ruger jumps on the AR bandwagon...

Imagine that...
The SR-556. Small print states that it may not be available in all states. That means no Ruger AR for you, California...
With an MSRP of $2K, I wouldn't be in the market for one anyway, I suppose.

In case you had any doubts...

...whether our elected representatives made staying in power a higher priority than principles, hopefully Senator Arlen Specter's behavior this week cleared that up for you.
Facing a trouncing in his upcoming Republican primary (judging by the polling data), Specter decided to switch his party affiliation to Democrat, mere weeks after affirming that he would stay Republican.
This man is obviously much less concerned about giving one party a filibuster-proof majority than he is about personally losing all (well, most; he still scores a lifetime retirement check for his "service") the perks associated with being a US senator.
Here's the money quote: "I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate."
Get that, Pennsylvania Republicans? He doesn't answer to YOU, you filth. Who the hell do you think you are?

Another sign of the apocalypse...

Funny...yet sad... pretty much confirms my opinion of humanity as a whole...
I am so very thankful this technology was not available during my partying days...

Jackhammer Gardening

My friend and I dug four of these today, getting ready to plant some citrus trees. I started off the day renting a two-man auger, but it was useless - just bouncing around on top of the ground. We went back to Home Depot and traded it out for a jackhammer...

It did the trick, but man that's some work!

The holes are about 2-3 feet wide and 3 deep, and that white stuff you see in the picture is granite. Hopefully there will be enough drainage towards the front of the holes for the trees... guess we'll find out.

I'm going to bed now. I am very sore.

How was your Sunday?

Tea Party for lunch...

First. Protest. Evar!

My darling wife and I spent our lunch break today attending the Riverside, CA Tea Party. On the way in, I stopped by a store to grab my protest flag.

I was a little hesitant about this, figuring it might be just a half dozen or so folks, but I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout - I would say 100-150 people maybe.

The rally wound its way through downtown Riverside in a very orderly, civilized manner - staying on the sidewalks, obeying the traffic signs etc. There were no cops in attendance, with the exception of a couple of Sheriff's deputies who came out of the courthouse to see what was going on.

Everyone in the protest was very friendly - pretty low-key, not a lot of shouting or hectoring, just a bunch of people walking together,holding signs and chatting amiably. Quite a few made positive comments about our choice of banner.

There was one guy, out in the Farmer Boys parking lot, who asked with a sneer, "Aside from everything, what exactly is it you guys are protesting?", to which I replied "The size of government; the loss of liberty". Yeah, a big talker I am not...

Well, we did a circuit of downtown, and the march wasn't stopping. They continued on to do a second lap. Wifey and I looked at the watch, then at each other, and decided that we had to split. We had to go back to work - taxes to pay, y'know...