Self-Involved / Self-Indulgent Post of the Week: Beer Good, Chiggers Bad

Benjamin Franklin once famously opined (or less famously didn't opine): "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

My skeptical nature sniffs disdainfully at the "God" part, but I'll go with it as metaphor: I love beer and am glad to have it.

Yesterday I had to perform a wetland compliance inspection on a training range at work. This involved about 4 1/2 hours of walking (around and back and forth across) this 200-odd acre range, taking photos and GPS points in late-spring Georgia heat and sun, often getting my feet soaked in dirty water ('cause wetlands). Besides the affectionate greeting of my girlfriend ("What did you bring me?!?"), the end of the day and home offered cool brew. I enjoyed a Tusker lager which my lady had grabbed for me while shopping (she really is generous and thoughtful.) It was new to me and I enjoyed its pale yellow color and crisp taste. I chased it with a Killian's Irish Red, a more mainstream but reliably satisfying choice with a richer flavor. Nothing like the complex interplay of grain and hop flavors (and a mild dose of alcohol), chilled to a degree undreamt of in old Ben's time, to soothe away the day's exertions.

Less welcome were the mementos of chiggers that I obviously encountered in the field. For those who don't know, chiggers are small arthropods related to ticks. Unlike their better-known cousins, though, chiggers have never (to the best of my knowledge) inspired a lovable comedy superhero. Also, instead of drinking your blood, they NO FOOLING EAT YOUR SKIN. I hate them.

"Well maybe we don't like you either, pal. Except your tasty dermis, that is."

The thing is that you can often find a tick and remove it before it embeds and starts feasting on your life-fluid. Chiggers are so tiny that you generally don't know you've been bitten until it's too late. "Too late" is when fluid-filled blisters appear on your skin, accompanied by a constant painful itch.

Some of you may remember me complaining last year (pre-blog) about a bad attack I suffered. This one's not quite so bad, concentrated mostly around my ankles. But yeah, not fun.

So, if there is a God, or gods, who take an interest in and influence human affairs, he (or she, or it, or they) must love us, 'cause we have beer, but also hate us, 'cause we have chiggers.

I did another compliance inspection today, which judging from the state of my lower legs meant more chiggers. Which means, tonight, more beer. Life is a constant balance. At least I haven't met a botfly
yet.

On the plus side, I've learned more about Blogger's sweet formatting features, including embedded links. Yay, me!

IT BEGINS...

So, yeah, this is it. That blog I've been talking about doing for a while. Like so many things in the early stages, it will take a while to find its stride. (Even "Star Trek: The Next Generation" didn't really get good until the third season.) Plus, those of you who know me understand I am consistently inconsistent about getting certain things done. Bear with me if it takes me a while to warm up to this blogging thing. (I've never even been able to keep a journal.)

Anyway, folks - we're living in Interesting Times. As the (possibly apocryphal) Chinese curse suggests, this may be both good and bad. Cultures and ideologies spread, mutate, and interbreed faster than they ever have before. This is stimulating and exciting, but can also cause a great deal of strife. We can fly around the world in a day, but some folks still have trouble getting a bus downtown (let alone a cab.) And, of course, we may be at a point where we ensure our species will be around for a long and happy future, or UTTERLY DOOMED.

This blog may be about anything and everything. I'm going to write about whatever I'm thinking of or interested in at the moment - whether it's in my own head or happening somewhere else in the Universe. Feel free to point me to topics you think I and/or other would find intriguing.

To start us off: a couple of related stories you may have heard about in the news recently. First of all, my current adopted state of Georgia may be about to drop its highway adoption program due to a tizzy about how to handle an application by the Ku Klux Klan: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/13/uk-usa-georgia-kkk-idUSLNE85C00K20120613

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/12/should-the-kkk-get-to-adopt-a-highway/
What do you do when a villain makes overtures towards philanthropy? (If Darth Vader left cookies in the Death Star break room, would you eat them?)

I have a Black girlfriend, so you can guess I'm no fan of the KKK, or of "hate groups" in general. However, I also think we have to allow people to express opinions, even when we find them repellent. Also, plenty of rural areas of Georgia could use whatever lift they can get. On the third (fourth?) hand, it would be terrible publicity for the state. (I heard that the stretch of road the Klan were interested in carried a lot of incoming traffic from South Carolina.)

About the same time as this story surfaced nationally, along came this one, which is enough to make your jaw drop and your eyes bug out, Tex Avery cartoon-style, in a delicious melange of shocked amusement:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/klu-klux-klan-protests-westboro-baptist-church-video/2011/05/31/AGgoiPFH_blog.html

Haters gonna hate haters. Interesting Times!