We're not in Florida anymore, Toto

I heard on the radio this morning (the NPR affiliate, in case it matters), that a number of drug arrests were made yesterday in KCK. The correspondent said that these arrests and the related drug seizures came after 7 months of investigation, and will break up the drug trade in the city.

They siezed.......................
6 pounds of meth
and 5 pounds of cocaine.

Clearly, this is a major blow to the trade. I almost ran off the road laughing. I'm from Florida, kids. They have to scrape 5 pounds of cocaine off the hubcaps of cop cars in Florida every other week. They just pick it up like road dust. You'd shake 5 pounds of coke out of a college dorm floor on a Thursday. Nobody would even bother to report this on the news at all. So that was fun.

On the other hand, I'm starting to forget where things are, if they're here in the Midwest, or there, in Florida. I mean, some things are easy to place. If you can get grits there, it's in Florida. Sweet tea = Florida. Obviously, if there's ever been a major drug bust there, it's in Florida. But other things, I'm not so sure. I saw a minivan a couple of days ago with a high school sticker on it that I recognized. But from here, or there? No idea. I'm also starting to get things like restaraunts and bars confused. Especially if I haven't been there in a while. Is it that I haven't been there in a while because I just haven't got round to it, or because it's lots and lots of driving hours away? No idea. I suppose this stuff isn't really important, but it is a little alarming.

We're not in Florida anymore, Toto

I heard on the radio this morning (the NPR affiliate, in case it matters), that a number of drug arrests were made yesterday in KCK. The correspondent said that these arrests and the related drug seizures came after 7 months of investigation, and will break up the drug trade in the city.

They siezed.......................
6 pounds of meth
and 5 pounds of cocaine.

Clearly, this is a major blow to the trade. I almost ran off the road laughing. I'm from Florida, kids. They have to scrape 5 pounds of cocaine off the hubcaps of cop cars in Florida every other week. They just pick it up like road dust. You'd shake 5 pounds of coke out of a college dorm floor on a Thursday. Nobody would even bother to report this on the news at all. So that was fun.

On the other hand, I'm starting to forget where things are, if they're here in the Midwest, or there, in Florida. I mean, some things are easy to place. If you can get grits there, it's in Florida. Sweet tea = Florida. Obviously, if there's ever been a major drug bust there, it's in Florida. But other things, I'm not so sure. I saw a minivan a couple of days ago with a high school sticker on it that I recognized. But from here, or there? No idea. I'm also starting to get things like restaraunts and bars confused. Especially if I haven't been there in a while. Is it that I haven't been there in a while because I just haven't got round to it, or because it's lots and lots of driving hours away? No idea. I suppose this stuff isn't really important, but it is a little alarming.

A Bear, and Pascal's Wager

The other day, I had a dream in which I was being chased by a bear. I often talk about dreams in terms of being chased by a bear (which I must have learned from some television show), as in "You had a bad dream? Were you being chased by a bear?", but to my knowledge, this is the only time that I have ever actually dreamed of being chased by a bear.

In the dream, I was back in college, in my Philosophy class. I was arguing with the professor about Pascal's wager. Now, for context, I really did have a philosophy class, in which I really did argue with the prof about this, and got roundly ignored for it. But here, in the dream, I had much better arguments than I had in real life. But anyway.

sky_pilott came in and informed us that there was a giant bear ravaging the campus, and that the best thing for it would be to run for our lives. And so we did. And there was, in fact, a giant bear. When I say giant, I don't mean giant like a real grizzly bear is giant. I mean giant like a bear in a kaiju film would be, if they ever made kaiju films about bears. It was rending the buildings and shaking students into its maw. This was, of course, when I woke up.

And I was thinking, how is the thing with the bear any different from Pascal's wager? I was told that there was a bear, and that if I didn't react in the appropriate way, I would suffer for it. Bear + running = fine, no bear + running = fine, no bear + no running = fine, bear + no running = dead. And I was perfectly willing to run from this reported bear, on no more evidence than sky_pilott's say-so. Now, I do consider sky_pilott to be a generally reliable source, so that's something. And yet, I reject the idea that I should believe in a deity based on someone's say-so, because I fear that if I don't, then something bad will happen to me. I suppose that I'm perfectly willing to have a fear-based relationship with giant bears, but not with gods. Or something.

A Bear, and Pascal's Wager

The other day, I had a dream in which I was being chased by a bear. I often talk about dreams in terms of being chased by a bear (which I must have learned from some television show), as in "You had a bad dream? Were you being chased by a bear?", but to my knowledge, this is the only time that I have ever actually dreamed of being chased by a bear.

In the dream, I was back in college, in my Philosophy class. I was arguing with the professor about Pascal's wager. Now, for context, I really did have a philosophy class, in which I really did argue with the prof about this, and got roundly ignored for it. But here, in the dream, I had much better arguments than I had in real life. But anyway.

sky_pilott came in and informed us that there was a giant bear ravaging the campus, and that the best thing for it would be to run for our lives. And so we did. And there was, in fact, a giant bear. When I say giant, I don't mean giant like a real grizzly bear is giant. I mean giant like a bear in a kaiju film would be, if they ever made kaiju films about bears. It was rending the buildings and shaking students into its maw. This was, of course, when I woke up.

And I was thinking, how is the thing with the bear any different from Pascal's wager? I was told that there was a bear, and that if I didn't react in the appropriate way, I would suffer for it. Bear + running = fine, no bear + running = fine, no bear + no running = fine, bear + no running = dead. And I was perfectly willing to run from this reported bear, on no more evidence than sky_pilott's say-so. Now, I do consider sky_pilott to be a generally reliable source, so that's something. And yet, I reject the idea that I should believe in a deity based on someone's say-so, because I fear that if I don't, then something bad will happen to me. I suppose that I'm perfectly willing to have a fear-based relationship with giant bears, but not with gods. Or something.