Buying Tires (& Gay Marriage)

Buying new tires sucks. It's expensive, time consuming and fairly unsatisfying. Today I had to buy new tires, and I wasn't pleased.

Now, these damn things are expensive, and they require a good bounty of additional installation, handling and alignment charges. Given this economy and the current proximity to the holidays, it looks like this year's Christmas haul will be meager for the kids ("This year, Santa's gonna keep you from dying a tragic death caused by over-worn tires on the freeway! I don't care if Billy got a bike, his parents don't care enough to keep him safe with new tires! You know what? You were adopted, go to bed!") (Fortunately I don't have any kids, so that scenario will be avoided... at least for this year).

After some searching, I found a "sale" (ha!) at the downtown Big-O. To get my mind off the pummeling that my pocketbook was taking, I spent the two hours (!) strolling through Sacramento's lovely downtown.

It was actually quite plesant. Lots of monuments...

...lots of palm trees...

...and lots of Yes on Prop 8 rallies at the Capitol.

For those who aren't blessed with living in the Sunshine State, Proposition 8 is an attempt to de-legalize gay marriage, which was legalized some months ago. Since its legalization, many have been shocked to find that traditional marriage still exists, churches have not been burned to the ground, and California has not been engulfed by the ocean. However, many aren't willing to take any chances on those apocalyptic demises, and are making their voices heard at the House of Schwarzenegger.

So, for a fella who's got two hours to kill, I figured this could provide a fine venue for some entertaining fodder.

I'm always amazed at what really gets people riled up. Education? Health care? Genocide? Just a hand full of radicals with nothing better to do. Two people of the same sex falling in love? Better call for backup.

As I wandered through the crowd, sipping my coffee and turning down offers for yard signs, I stumbled across one gentleman who wasn't too pleased with their noble efforts. His disdain was met with a woman who felt that homosexuality was "extinctionism", which she detested in all of its forms, whether it be in animals or in people.

As their discourse continued, they inched closer and closer to one another. It was only a matter of time before somebody's accusatory finger was bit.

Here's a sample of their "exchange of ideas", as was seen from the sidelines:

As you can see, the local media moved in on this heated encounter, which was eventually broken up by the state police. A resolution was never reached, and minds were not changed on the matter.

It was later discovered that my impartial witnessing of the matter was captured by several local news outlets.

As I leisurely strolled away from the day's events, I couldn't help but notice that this rally seemed to be something of a family activity, as many of the ralliers decided to bring their kids along.

Again, for those of you who aren't living the Cali lifestyle, one of the main arguments for Proposition 8 is that schools will be forced to teach about gay marriage to children in schools (even if that isn't the case). But a wholesome day of bringing the kids to a rally regarding gay marriage will certainly keep them from learning about it.

As a non-partisan onlooker, I provided a "Huh, that's interesting" to the day's events, and rounded the corner back to Big-O. I was then presented with a bill, to which I declared, "Huh, that's interesting", and proceeded to gouge my eyes out.

I'm glad I stepped out the door this morning, because this inadvertent adventure led me to an important lesson... buying new tires is costly and time consuming.

$27 for tire disposal? Hell, if I had known that, I would have installed four tire swings in front of my apartment! Or I would have built some sort of freshman photog obstacle course! Well, actually I would have dumped them in a local park, but it would have saved me $27!