Motorcycles, Taxes, Women Equality & More

I had quite a bit of time to reflect on certain issues this past week.  I was at a week long workshop at Cal State Long Beach for work, and needless to say, there were some portions of that 8 hour day that were a little dry....hence, some thoughts.  Also, I would like to add that CSU Long Beach is a surprisingly nice campus.  Either that, or I have been working at Los Angeles City College for too long.

Motorcycles

  About a year ago I decided to get my motorcycle license and buy me a motorcycle.  I did this for several reasons.  I save gas money, I am able to split lanes and get around LA traffic, parking is easy, and they are really fun.  For those who are not aware, there exists a few written and unwritten mutual agreements made between a moto. rider and the government.

I know full well I could end up like this guy, in fact,
I already have.  I take this risk for the benefits of
parking, splitting lanes, etc.

1. I can use the carpool lane
2. I can park pretty much wherever I want and not pay.

  The benefits are not one sided.  I have agreed to put myself in a situation where I can cause permanent bodily injury or death for these benefits.  I drive a bike that gets 50 miles to the gallon...better than almost all hybrids,  I provide relief to an already severely congested roadway and highway, and I don't take up dedicated spots when I
park.

"Motorcycle Permit Required"

So, to my surprise, when I went to go park at Cal State Long Beach last week I saw a sign that read "Motorcycle Parking Permit Required."  To me, this is outrageous.  I had just spent 45 minutes on a 75 mph piece of moving plastic on the same road as 17 year old chicks texting and putting on makeup so that I could park for free.  Long gone, it seems, are the days of incentives for those who are trying to alleviate transportation problems.  I hope that this was an isolated instance, but in the days where my speeding tickets of 10 mph over the speed limit now cost me $400, it seems to be another money grab by greediest of greedy.  Citizens of Long Beach, I implore you to call your congressman (or congresswoman) and stop the madness before it gets worse.

Women Equality

Let me start off by saying that I do not believe that men and women are equal.  Nor do I believe they have ever been equal.  Nor do I believe that we were made, by nature or God, to be equal.  I do not believe, however, that women are inferior to men, nor that women are superior to men.  You may be saying to yourself, "Gee Wiz, Eric....if one gender is neither greater rf lesser than the other gender, than they must be equal."  No.  Generally speaking, women excel is many areas where men are weak, and vice versa, so we are not equal, but just because we excel at different things, that does not mean that one gender is ultimately superior than the other.  The comedian Adam Carolla once posed the question, "Who would you pick in a marathon, an Eskimo or a Kenyan?"  I would pick a Kenyan.  This does not mean that I hate Eskimos or even that Eskimos aren't good at marathons.  I would pick the Eskimo in a variety of other situations, like igloo building.

Of course women can compute

Although men are physically more powerful than women, our minds are exactly the same.  Many women are smarter than men.  I can see at my workplace that the women are just as bright, or brighter than the men.  Can we, then, finally take down the underdog "we can do it" posters I see everywhere.  The "Women in Computing" poster you see to your left is just one example.  Who doesn't think that women can't compute?  Girls, you can do anything a man can do...except bench press 250 pounds and be stand-up comedians.

Let's just all agree that a world without men would mean a lifetime of sub-par basketball, tennis, golf, etc, and a world without women would look much more bleak.  Together, though, we make a pretty good world.  We are a team, and we can not live without each other. 

Taxes

You can see why I don't like cleaning his
crap.  Hes the size of an English Bulldog.

Look, I'm not going to complain that much about this years taxes.  I really am a good guy.  I do not like to complain.  I've made it a point to not complain about anything in public or to my peers and colleagues.  I will, however complain from time to time on this blog.  Also, I think I complain to my wife, Alisha, sometimes.  Mostly when she asks me to clean the cat litter.  So I'm not going to complain that I owe California and the Feds $2,000 more dollars...sure I have the most taxes possible taken out up front, and sure we gave over 10% of our income to charity (and for those of you who scoff because its to the Mormon church...shut your face), but I guess that on top of the 9% of everything I buy, including ONLINE purchases, they need a few more thousands of our dollars.  And the fact is I wouldn't complain about it if I knew it would be helping me somehow, or any other deserving person.  But I know that I will be driving my motorcycle to work and hit the same exact pot holes on the same crumbling, deteriorated roads with garbage and fecal matter strewn about, Oh but I am comforted in knowing that those people who serve no discernible purpose working at any community college protected by  the unions will be comfortable and happy with their new contract negotiations with a bankrupt state, cause I am confident hat is how California is funding it.  

See, no complaining.  I would like to say before ending this portion that I know that I am extremely fortunate to be in the position I am.  I also know that there are those who have not been so fortunate who need help.  I just hope that some of the money I now owe goes to those hardworking individuals who need just a little help to get back on their feet, and not to feed the belly or pay the overhead costs of a government "committee" that does nothing to try and get to the root of real problems...only throw money at the surface of the problem like throwing a band-aid over a gaping flesh wound.  

Thanks to those who read the entire blog.  I do not profess to be an interesting writer, and only do this because I want to get my thoughts down on something before I leave this existence.  As a reward, here is a funny random clip from Family Guy.

  

LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

This is me

 This is my wife, Alisha

We have been married for 5 years in June. We don't have kids yet, but we do have the next best thing...a cat.

Meet Charles

I grew up in Redlands, CA with these people:

Dad & Mel

Mom

Kenny

Brother:  Paul Jr.

Sisters: Holly & Krystal

When I was 19, I left to serve a church mission.  Yes, a Mormon mission.  Days after I left, my Mom and my late Stepfather, Kenny left to Belarus to pick up these delightful young ladies

Nadia & Dasha
My little sisters

Alisha and I met while studying at Brigham Young University in Utah where things kinda look like this:

And the people look like this:

And we moved to Los Angeles, which sadly, looks more like this:

And people tend to look more like this:

Disclaimer: Not EVERYBODY looks like this guy. There are several variations of basically the same look.

I kid though.  There are several great things about Los Angeles that I can't help but enjoy

1. The Dodgers
2. Every place is either a restaurant or muffler shop (I frequent both on a regular basis)
3. The weather is nice.  
4. I can ride my motorcycle all year round (and split lanes)
5. Year around softball leagues
6. Palm Trees

Union Thugs

I blame the steady decline of what used to be the one of the finest cities in the nation on these guys:

Our Semi-Retarded Mayor
Tony Villar

Don't even get me started.

But again...I digress.  I love my life and Alisha and I are getting along fine here in the big city.  I work at Los Angeles City College with Harris & Associates doing Construction Management.  I am now 29 years old.  I don't really know how I got to be so old already.  I have decided that I need to keep a journal of my thoughts, and blogging might just be the best outlet.  Since this is my first blog post ever, I will keep it nice and short.  I hopefully will have something interesting posted every week.