The Blog Pages of Kellan Meig'h

Too Much Stress!

Arrrgh!

What's so hard about selling a 1973 International 1/2 ton pickup? Between low-ballers, crack-heads, tweakers and no-shows, I'm ready to scream! Is $2,000 too much for a daily driver? Hmm? Opinions, please

Kellan, the aggravated old warhorse.

New Chapter!

Hey All!

Chapter 12 of "End Game" has been posted. This particular chapter should tie "Defiance" and "End Game" together firmly.

Enjoy!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Not Good . . .

Something had a foreboding feeling all day today. I couldn't put a finger on it but it was there.

This afternoon, my tigress told me she had been laid off from her job. Yeah. No warning, too.

So this leaves us needing to pull in the old belt a few notches and look at where we can cut corners. I'm glad I hadn't been able to secure lodging for Further Confusion in January. That would have been something we wouldn't have been able to swing right now.

It's also a good thing I didn't buy a brand new truck because we would have been hurting for sure. Gah, we have such bad luck . . .

Kellan

New Chapter Is Up

As a note, I have posted Chapter 11 of "End Game" for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Busy Day Tomorrow

As a quick note, today is 'Baby' the cat's eleventh birthday. She's still with us but she's a bit weaker than she has been.

Now on to the real intent of this blog.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for me. Getting my eyeglasses (Yay!) in the a.m., then fix the driver's inside doorhandle and adjust the MLPS, or 'Neutral Safety Switch' for all of you non-Ford savvy readers.

The door handle is a common thing with these trucks and it's about an hour job. About five minutes to do the actual fix, the rest spent taking the interior door panel off and replacing it afterwards.

The MLPS, however seems like a thirty minute fix at best, since "The Buffalo" sits so darn high! The switch does more than allow you to only start in Neutral or Park. It also tells the TCM (Transmission Control Module) what gear has been selected so it knows how to control the electric solenoids that operate the gears. If it's out of align, it does some 'weird' things, such as a very late, rough upshift from first to third (direct). It also won't allow you to lock out the Overdrive. If adjustment doesn't help, it will be replaced with a $44.OO USD new switch.

A few other things, such as realigning the front and rear bumpers and replacing some burnt out lamps will occupy the remainder of the day. Two pix of "The Buffalo" below.

Front:

Rear:

Have a nice weekend,

Kellan, the old warhorse

New Family Member (vehicle)

It had to happen at some point . . .

As some of you well know, I have been struggling with my 1973 International Harvester Corporation Model 1010 pickup, pulling my hair out trying to find parts for it. The fun and joy of owning an obsolete truck.

My brother works for a tow company so they get vehicles in from time to time that they lien sale off. One such vehicle is a 1997 Ford F-250 XL Heavy Duty Standard Cab 4X4 pickup. I went today and put my money down ($1,600 USD), making it the newest vehicular member of our family. I don't have a picture of her just yet so her stunt double (twin?) will have to stand in.

"The Great White Buffalo" is about 90% as nice outside as this truck is. Pictures will be coming.

My friend "SC" will be glad to know "The Buffalo" is a kindred spirit to "The Bowtie Beast".

Quick specs: 136K miles, 460 SEFI V8, Auto trans, Manual hubs, 4.10 gears. Runs smooth as silk. No kidding!

Because it's a lien sale vehicle, I have to go to the DMV and jump through a few hoops to register it. Wish me luck.

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Another Chapter! Yay!!

Just a quick note-

Chapter 9 of "End Game"  has been posted for your reading pleasure.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Saturday's Tidbits

Well, I finally decided to post this. It's official now; our cat has cancer. And it's inoperable. And it's teminal.

The sad part is she's still her old self at this point, albeit a bit slower than before. Her eyes are still bright and sparkly and she still craves attention. I guess we'll just make sure she's comfortable and do the humane thing when it's time.

Now that I got that off my chest, you can see why I'm not very upbeat at the moment. I've been trying to write but I guess my depression over not being able to help the furry member of our family out is geting to me. Maybe I will get myself out of this funk soon, before it consumes me.

As a side note, have you ever received an email telling you that you have an e-card from Hallmark? Well, some person in our school district opened one of those emails, propogating a trojan of sorts. Before IT tried to put the brakes on it, the disaster had spread to 34 schools and hundreds of computers. Not good. They were still in clean-up mode two days later. Oh Well . . .

To SC; I hope the Sharks get their behinds in gear or they will miss another chance at the Stanley Cup.

Anyway, have a nice weekend,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Monday's Blog

Well, Monday morning here at Casa Del Meig'h is an uneasy one.

It seems the little furry feline member of the family, Baby, is soon to go to the vet's office. She's been under the weather lately and a trip Saturday turned up a mass in her abdomen. This morning she will have an ultrasound performed to determine what this mass is and if it is treatable. We really hope it is, both medically and financially.

This comes at a bad time for us, since we had some expenditures that we needed to take care of. Now all of that will have to go on the back burner while we take care of Baby's needs.

On a lighter note, Chapter 9 of "End Game" has went to my able proofers but they must have been busy this weekend. Oh well, I'll get that chapter up soon. I'm about 4+ pages into chapter 10 at the moment.

A few friends here in SoCal are having a get-together at the end of the month and I can't begin to tell you just how bummed out I am that we can't attend. I really wish we could have put the trip together. Maybe next time.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Story Update

Well, as you may know, "End Game"  has its intertwined story penned by my good friend Aslaug, called "Defiance".

Since they are meant to read in some order, here's Chapter 06 of "Defiance" for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Tomorrow . . .

Well, I'm on edge this morning. Why you ask? Because tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th, is my surgery date for my cataract removal.

I've had it done before and it wasn't such a big deal so don't ask me why I'm nervous this time.

If I seem to fall silent for a few days on the 'net, this is why. I'll need to get some reader glasses so I can see to use the computer. I won't be able to do that until my post-operative eye settles down a few days after surgery.

Wish me luck,

Kellan, the old warhorse.

My Eldest Child . . .

And here is my eldest daughter Jan, the one responsible for Dana's make-over.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Monday's Blog

Well, my family has went home after their whirlwind visit so I thought I would post this.

Chapter 06 of "End Game" has been posted.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

The Next Chapter

Hey All!

Chapter 05 of "End Game" has been posted for your reading enjoyment.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

What A Game!

Well, it's official: Canada grabbed the Gold Medal.

I watched most of the game and I have to comment; This was a very spirited game. And I'm proud at any rate because four of my Sharks were playing for the Canucks.

I feel sorry for the American team but let's face it; they were out-skated. 'Nuff said. Now back to writing.

Kel

Just Checking In

I thought I might check in just to prove I'm still around.

Went to work sick with a serious cold/cough this week so I'm very under the weather. Gah, it seems like I have been sick forever. At least I feel a little better today so maybe I'm on the mend.

I know where my friend SC will be tomorrow; watching the Canucks and the Yanks battle it out on the ice. I'm kind of torn by this, since there are many great American hockey players and a number of great Canadian players. At any rate, the Gold remains in North America regardless. I hope I can watch the game and I'm not nodding off like I have been doing today.

I was really hoping for some better weather this weekend because I really wanted to get some shots of my hometown of Niles. I wanted to capture the railroad station now that it has been moved back to downtown but it's raining off and on right now. Maybe tomorrow.

"End Game" apparently has gone over well with my proofers so I hope to get the next chapter done this weekend. That's if I can stay awake. Isn't if funny how cold medication makes you sleepy? Oh well ... 8)

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Saturday's Blog

I had made some plans to do some things today but I'm sick with a cold. Yay me.

I decided to try to salvage the day by posting Chapter 1 of "End Game"  for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse.

General News

I want to start by saying I'm rather disappointed ... it seems nobody may have read the last posting.

*looks down at post below this one*

Anyway, I'm having to swap over from Haloscan commenting system to Echo by JS-kit. If the site looks a bit wonky for a day or two, that's me adjusting the new code.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

New Posting

The "End Game" Prologue has been posted.

For those of you that have been reading faithfully, this may not be much. For those just starting out with my stories, this may be of help to clear up some questions.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

A Few Pictures For You ...

I was looking through my Picasa albums and I thought I would share a few pictures with you.

An interesting shot (accidentally) taken out the side window of our Explorer on the way to Pleasanton.

A train trestle on the west end of Niles Canyon

Enjoy!

Kellan, the old warhorse 

Tuesday's Musings

Well, I thought I would share my thoughts about the last few days. Last Friday, I was putting my truck away for the day when I noticed something in my work boot. It had gotten into a position to irritate my foot so I removed my shoe to find out what it was. Out fell a quarter and a penny! Doh!

Weird stuff part two-

I didn't watch the Superbowl, mainly because I was busy disinfecting a computer. Yeah, not a way to spend Sunday but I was begged, literally, to fix their computer for them. What a mess it was, too.

I had never ran up against a virus that prevented any process except a browser from running! To make matters worse, it managed to block the computer from running in SAFE mode on more than a few occasions, forcing a reboot to try for SAFE mode again. Nine and a half hours of frustration. You can guess where they were surfing ...

On to my favorite intrusion alarm duo. They are Ademco Vista 128B alarms and I have learned they are not user friendly. I spent about 3 hours just putting a few users into the systems. Since I'm not a certified installer, I don't have access to the Vista software that would make programming much simpler. Argh!

So, that leads up to now. My tigress is sitting here, pondering her case of chicken pox. Yup. Now, I really can't remember if I had them as a child so I might be infected. Won't know for a few days until they have had time to incubate in my system. I'm hoping I don't have them. Oh Well ...

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

FC 2010 Images

Hey all!

Just a quick note that I've posted a few pics from the convention.

Gallery for Further Confusion 2010 

I'll get some links up for the full sized (4000 x 3000) shots in a few days.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Further Confusion 2010 ... Comments on Saturday

So, here I am, 2200 hours at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, attending Further Confusion. We arrived on Friday and attended a few panels. I was tired so we gave up early and crashed out.

This morning we had breakfast with Teric and Xaqtly at CoCo's in Sunnyvale. This has been a tradition since FC2008 and we really enjoyed our meal but most importantly, their company.

Attended a few panels, gained a few tips about fur suit construction and made a trip through the Dealer's Den. That was interesting because Rule #34 was in effect. We had to cut off my tigress before she stopped to check out Bad Dragon's table. Just told her, "You don't want to check it out."

Had dinner at Johnny Rockets on First street, right by the Fairmont. The food was great but the $33 USD price tag before tip was steep.

We watched the performers show off their new suits for awards and then called it a night. My back is killing me from sitting in the chairs provided for the panels.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

The Epilogue

Well, it had to happen some time. The Epilogue for "A Loss Of Rights" has been posted. As I had posted over on Planet Furry, my thanks goes out to those that have read the story and have stuck around with me as I churned out this senseless drivel I call writing. I hope that all of you will stay tuned for the next "Immortal Warriors" tome called "End Game."

I would also like to take a moment to thank Aslaug, Teric and SC for allowing me the use of their characters in my stories. What are friends for, anyway? Thanks all from the bottom of my heart.

Keep an eye peeled for the next story,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Wanted: Proof Reader

As you would guess by the title I am looking for a proof reader for the next tome that I will spit out.

Qualifications:

• Must be very familiar with "The Immortal Warriors" series, the "Transitions" series and the assorted works of Aslaug, The Silver Coyote and Tigermark.
• Having some familiarity with "A Little Nothing", "A Little Something" and "Surt Show" would be a bonus.
• May have read "Zig Zag The Story" and "Identity Crisis" or have some familiarity with them.
• Use OpenOffice. I hate M$ Word! 8P
• Be able to proof and return with comments in one week approx. 10 to 12 pages.
• Be able to deal with 2 to 3 chapters a month.

If you think you are interested, email me at kellan (AT) kellanmeigh (DOT) com. Please include a short (2-3 pages) of your work if I am not familiar with yours or point me to your works on the web.

Slainte M'hath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

First Blog Of 2010

I'll start this first blog of the new year by wishing all of my friends a Happy New Year.

I'm sitting here, being a good hubby by helping to do the laundry. My tigress and I are both sick I have the flu and I hope her's is just a bad cold. I know I've been very ill, actually missing out on a number of get-togethers with family and friends.

My companions have been Sudafed, Mucinex, Afrin nasal spray and an occasional dose of Robitussin DM for my cough. I know my friend The Silver Coyote would possibly suggest I ingest something amber colored, at least 80 proof to go along with the other more traditional medication. It probably would have helped.

I'm still trying to wind up "A Loss Of Rights" and I would guess my illness has made it hard to keep a line of thought going. I start typing and the idea just disappears in my mind. Hopefully I will be able to get back on track with this.

The storyboard for the next "Immortal Warrior" saga is coming along nicely and I hope to start posting the first chapters in March. What I will need is a proofreader for this story. I have noticed that my typing, for some reason, has become very sloppy. A good proofer would be a great help to me. Let me know if you're interested.

Anyway, I have to help put the laundry into the dryer so I better cut this short.

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Last Blog Of 2009

This is the last blog for the year 2009 so I thought I would share a few of my musings with all of you.

2009 has been a very challenging year for us here at Casa Del Meig'h. It started with the new year, finding us trying to cope with my being out on workman's compensation due to an injured back. I eventually recovered enough to return to work only to find myself the only tech on duty for several months.

We had made a few plans that were derailed by the need to help family members to get by until they found employment. Oh well, maybe next year.

Anyway, that brings us to today. Here I sit, sick with a nasty head cold. I'm going to cut this off and head out to get something to make me feel just a little better. After that, I'm going to set down and storyboard "End Game", the penultimate saga for Torvald and Victoria Svensen.

Wishing all of my family and friends a joyous New Year,

Kellan, the old warhorse.

December 24th

Everyone wish me luck-the Tigress and I will be going out to find a few more gifts at the last minute. At least I have my personal shopping done!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice is here and I took a moment to celebrate (an impromptu Blöt) this time of the year when the days would begin to get longer. In proper fashion, I opened a drink and gave thanks for the little things in my life that brought me joy and happiness. I'm thankful for my family, my many friends, my health and a steady job.

The drink, strong like a Nordic Mead:

And a pic of our hills (Mission Peak Wiki ) the day after our recent storm:

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse.

An Interesting Thought

I was looking up the time for the Winter Solstice so I could celebrate the lengthening of the days. It was during my search for the date/time when I thought of my friend Aslaug. Now why would I do that, you ask? Because Aslaug is a heathen, and the Winter Solstice is a time for her to celebrate. Filly, if you are interested, I'll post verbatim anything you might want to email me about what the Winter Solstice means to you.

Anyway, looks like it's Monday, December 21st at 9:47 PM PST for me. I will open up a container of Steel Reserve, give thanks for the many joyous things I have been given to enrich my life, ask the gods to watch over all of us and make known my wishes for the New Year.

Best Wishes from my family to yours,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Monday Evening

Okay, so I have installed XP Pro and a few productivity programs so I can work for the moment. I can say with all honesty some programmers have never used their programs. Teric, this is not aimed at you, just so you know.

I tried to install Thunderbird and Firefox on my laptop only to be thwarted at every turn when I tried to copy over my files/settings. It finally came down to brute force that I was able to do so but not the accepted way.

I installed Thunderbird and then brute-force copied from my old installation the whole program and identity file. Same for the favorites in Firefox. Unorthodox but it worked. I was aided by turning the old drive into an external USB device for copying. Added a whole $13.oo USD to the grand total but what the hey, it worked.

Anyway, the laptop had never ran so crisp. I'm pleased, so far.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Going Silent

Of note to my family and friends-

As you all may know, I have been using my poor, abused Dell Inspiron 1501 for a few years now. When I purchased it, I was offered to have it shipped with Windows XP Pro on it. That particular option was $100 USD more than having it shipped with Vista Home Basic. Well, being the frugal Scotsman that I am, I passed. What a mistake.

Vista has been a thorn in my side from the get-go. Basic was like dealing with Windows ME. It was terrible. I tried to upgrade to Vista Premium but that didn't give me much more than a fancy interface and the "Flip" thing that proved to be a PITA.

Sitting here by me is a copy of Windows XP Pro and the drivers for my laptop. I will be doing the deed soon so if I fall silent, you know that happened. For those who run a flavor of linux, I cannot install this because several of my programs will not run on Wine and I can't afford VMWare to get by.

Getting ready for the deed,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Chapter Up!

Of interest to those that are reading the story, Chapter 35 of "A Loss Of Rights" has been posted for your reading pleasure.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best holiday wishes from Kellan and his family.

Chapter 35 Progress

Not much to post other than I'm still alive and writing.

Chapter 35 of A Loss Of Rights" is still in progress, just trying to smooth it out considering its contents. Hope you all like it once it's posted.

Slainte M'hath,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day - November 11th

If you know a veteran, let them know you appreciate their sacrifice to keep this country free. Honor our vets.

Kellan

Sunday Sillyness

Just some sillyness for my family and friends.

Q. How do you fix a Jack-O-Lantern?

A. With a pumpkin patch! *groan*

Take care-

Kellan, the old warhorse

The Next Installment

Hey All-

Just a quick note to tell all of you Chapter 34 of "A Loss Of Rights" has been posted for your reading pleasure.

Slainte M'hath!

Kellan, the old warhorse

Of Interest To My Gearhead Friends ...

Hot Rod Grilles 

Kel

The Longest Week

Yeah, it was a long week for the Old Warhorse.

Monday, I was still under the weather so I didn't work that day. Kinda wished I didn't work Tuesday, however. That was the storm that brought forth every roof leak that our school district had. I was on the roofs myself, armed with a tube of Henry's roof goop. O joy, O thrill.

I guess I said something at one time or another about the 'Strip Mining' that occurred inside my work van while I was off. My heavy duty rain jacket was one of the items mined from it. I was issued a replacement that was just short of criminal. It stunk like a cheap child's pool toy and it was so thin, a sneeze was all that was required to rip it. At least it kept the Henry's off my clothes. Didn't keep me dry, however.

Thursday brought some heat, around 80 degrees or so. Today (Saturday) was nice.

Doesn't do a thing for my sinus infection or chest cold, though. I hate rain because that means I will be on a roof somewhere, trying in vain to stop it from leaking.

Sorry for the rant but I needed to vent.

Kellan, the sick old warhorse

Sunday's News

I want to start out by offering my friend 'The Silver Coyote' our condolences. I seems Granny Fox, as she was known to us by, had a bad spill at home recently and I'm not privy to the circumstances but it may have contributed to her demise at the tender age of 86. SC, we share your sorrow and we hope that you're able to move on when the time is right.

On to less somber things -

I'm still working to clean up the look of my website. I'm using a template that was put together by Andreas Viklund to give my site a cleaner interface. Look for a change in the next few weeks.

I'm still chugging away at chapter 34 of "A Loss Of Rights" which I hope will be posted in a few days. Chapter 33 might have been the showdown but it's not over. Not by a long shot There have been a few hints as to what will be revealed in the next chapter(s) so stay tuned.

Take care and say a prayer for SC and his family, would you?

Kellan, the old warhorse

"A Loss Of Rights"

Two quick notes-

Chapter 33  of "A Loss Of Rights has been posted. Yeah, the showdown. Enjoy.

As a side note, a friend's I.P. address has been associated with spamming by Spamhaus. I hope that gets straightened out for him soon.

Cheers,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Tuesday's Things Via Thingamablog

So, here I sit, trying to recover from this cold-pseudo flu going round. Since I had a little time on my hands, I updated my galleries.

Ardenwood Ren Faire is HERE  and our most recent camping trip is THERE 

I read my friend SC's blog to see he's had a little high point in his life (his daughter's 16th birthday) and some lows, too. He laments his pay cut and I can sympathize with that because I took a cut in pay to keep my job, too. His mate's mother took a spill, which is not good at the age of 86. I'll keep Granny Fox in my thoughts and prayers, SC.

Anyway, progress on chapter 33 of "A Loss Of Rights" is going nicely. My muse decided to help out for a change. Yay me!

Take care all,

Kellan, the old warhorse

A few days of silence

If you don't hear from me for the next few days, these are the reasons.

Getting my eyes examined today which means they will dilate them. That means I will be in a world of hurt for at least two days.

We are also going camping(?!?) this weekend. Yeah, I'll still be one of the walking wounded while we try to enjoy ourselves and have a good time with some friends.

Hope to be back in action soon.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Saturday, Saturday ...

Just a short update and some musings for you-

I thought I would share this with you all:

Yeah, the hardware in our schools are modern, up to date equipment ... NOT! Note the build date on that clock mechanism.

A good friend made a comment about that last pic I posted. I smiled, then giggled, then busted up laughing for some unknown reason. She managed to lift my spirits on what had been an otherwise tedious day. I smiled a bit the rest of the day because of that little comment. Thank you, Aslaug. I needed that.

Now, on to the actual reason I started this post after my bit of digression was to inform my friends that Chapter 32 of "A Loss Of Rights" is posted for your reading pleasure. I admit it's a bit short but it sets up the next chapter.

Enjoy the weekend,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Sunday's ... Troubles ...

So, here I sit, attempting to put thoughts to text. I'm not being very successful, either.

I'm not sure what happened but I have lost all inspiration to work on several works that I haave been thrashing. I'm not sure if it's the heat, the heavy workload or my brother's troubles, but for some reason I have grown cold to either story. My inspiration is gone.

I'll type some more when I feel more motivated.

Kellan, the old warhorse

Sunday's Ramblings

Today's ramblings will be short and sweet.

It's been a long week and my back injury has been catching up with me. So much so that I didn't attend the Scottish games yesterday. Maybe today.

It still ceases to amaze me what I find at the school sites. Found in a junction can:

Yeah, that one surprised me, too. In case you're not a techie, that's a box of cabling, 2 each 22 guage wires in a white jacket. Purpose? Unknown. Reason for being in the junction can? Unknown also. The orange corrugated tubing houses two fiber-optic cables, in case you're wondering. The telco room is on the other side of that wall, btw.

Anyways, enough for now.

Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day and please be careful if you have a barbecue or an open fire pit going! California has enough wildfires going as it is ... don't add to it!

Kellan, the tired old warhorse

Monday's Ramblings

Well, Monday comes to find the Old Warhorse in a world of hurt. We went on a small road trip to my sister's home in the Central Valley, Chowchilla to be exact. We were at one point within a stone's throw of that particular Perko's in Turlock. Anyone that's been reading the current story will know which one I'm talking about.

We encountered a fire on the way, about a mile or two east of Casa De Fruita on the 152 between Gilroy and Los Banos. The fire eventually burned 1,650 acres before it was contained.

It was beginning in the afternoon Saturday and the firefighters were still in mop-up mode Sunday evening. 20+ engines, tankers and helicopters.

To my friend SC-I was about to make a comment on that locked thread only to find Mike had locked it while I was composing a response. Oh well, it was best to lock that thread.

This week may find me a bit scarce-school starts on Wednesday and I have a ton of loose ends to try to tie up at me school sites.

Take care,

Kellan, the old warhorse

Friday's Blog

OK, I guess I need to vent so bear with me.

A forum I belong to had a recent post that managed to end badly before it was locked. It surrounded the idea that homosexual rights would be the downfall of the church.

Before I go any further, I'll point out that I am straight/hetro, married, children/grandchildren. You might even add the tag "Mormon" to that.

The discussion was quite heated at times but it all ended with the original poster actually (verbally) attacking another because of his church affiliations. I have to admit that this was just a new low to the board. I actually felt ashamed of what went on.

I have friends that while not many in number, I can say they are true friends. I have Pentecostal friends, Mormon friends, Heathen friends and Christian friends. I have friends who are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual (I think) and transsexual. That particular transsexual friend I consider to be a very close friend as are a few special folks from the SoCal area. You all know who you are.

So, as you see, I have a a few friends. Not a lot but more than one or two. Those that aren't straight/hetro like me, I still think fondly of and in a way, care for. They may be different in a way but when it comes down to it, we are all members of the human race. Now here comes the theological part.

It would be wrong of me to discriminate against any of my friends or those like them, well, because it wouldn't be right. I am very accepting and tolerant of such things. Sexuality is something we are born with. If we are straight, gay, bi or trapped in the wrong gender of body, that was how we were born. We did not learn this, it wasn't some disease that caused this, it's how we are. Now, for a church to openly discriminate against another group or even individual, that is wrong on so many different levels. It's darn near homophobic in a way. And it's disturbing to me.

I said I'm Mormon. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the model LDS member and I might better serve as a bad example to other LDS members. I have to say that I didn't agree with my church getting behind the Prop 8 debacle. I was all for it because it just seems to be a logical progression. Back in the biblical days, homosexuality would have been a death sentence in some circles. In today's world, it is very common. It's time for the churches of today to wake up and realize this is how it is.

I don't actually expect the LDS church (or any other of those 'Christian' churches for that matter) to be accepting of alternate (read: not straight/hetro) lifestyles. It would be nice if we could all just get on the same page, agree that this is how it will be, accept our gay/lesbian/bi/transsexual neighbors for who they are and what they are and just get on with life.

There are some churches that have seen fit to include everyone in their congregations but a few seem hellbent to exclude a large number of folks for being different. Remember I said 'homophobic'? That's what it looks like to me. Maybe I'm too accepting but I'm still sure I'm right in this matter. I was shocked that these churches actually got behind Prop 8 in the first place! Religion has no business in politics and vice versa. Maybe churches that do so should lose their tax exempt status if they want to be in politics. Nonetheless they need to keep out of this.

My hope is that someday, the churches wake up and smell the coffee. Be accepting. Don't discriminate in the name of God. Don't wave the bible around for attention without reading it first. Love your fellow man/woman.

Again, my apologies for venting.

Kellan, the saddened old warhorse.

The Warhorse's War Wagon

My Friend The Silver Coyote recently lamented the loss of his work steed, a very heavily used (abused?) 4WD truck. He was given a 2WD van to use that he wasn't happy with from the sounds of it. Well, SC, this is my War Wagon, a 2000 E250 with a 4.2L V-6. 113K on the odo at this time.

Yeah, I have managed to get it stuck at a school site!

Slainte!

Kellan, the old warhorse