It just sort of makes me feel like a low priority in people's lives when these things happen.

I'm sorry. And I know how you feel. I have cousins who would drive within 3 miles of my parents' home twice every summer, and never stopped for as much as a cup of coffee. Even when Mom was dying. They also forgot about my existence, too, although that bothered me less than it bothered my parents. They remembered me when one of their kids was getting married, though. Funny how the possibility of a wedding gift will jar a person's memory.

Can you please explain to a non-American the difference between giving a teenager a rifle or a gun? I'm having trouble to wrap my mind around it. Maybe because I live in another certain part of the world that hands to most of its 18 years old assault rifles

Gun issues are pretty fraught in the US. On one hand, we have a line item in the Bill of Rights saying pretty much everyone has the right to them. On the other hand, we have no mandate saying that anyone has to know how to use them or take care of them. Which has led to people keeping loaded handguns in their dresser drawers and three-year-olds killing themselves or others with them, among other tragedies. But attempts to legislate gun control turn into a huge "gov'ment's comin' to take my guns!!!!!" thing. Probably because many people in the US neither trust nor like their government.

ETA: And it occurs to me that US gun policy is sort of a hot button political issue, and I think we usually discuss those in Natter. Please let me know if you'd like me to move this or continue the conversation there.

A rifle is considered something you could potentially go hunting with, ie, provide food for the family. Also good protection against dangerous animals, which are more a threat in the rural areas that see rifles as tools more than other areas do. A "gun" is probably referring to a handgun, which can be used for protection against animals but, since it's more easily concealable, is seen as more of a weapon to use against other people, so less socially acceptable. Very few people can hide a rifle upon their person, so odds are they're not going to sneak up on someone with it.

Glad the interview went well for TCG, sj.

Posted in Beep Me, but... I GOT THE JOB! Just waiting for background check to be completed.

YAY!!!

YAYAYAYAY Maria!! That's super awesome.

And I was with Connie's rifle vs handgun concept. At least, that's the difference I would make--you don't go hunting with a handgun. You don't shoot trap with a handgun. Generally, you're just going to plan to shoot PEOPLE with a handgun.

Connie and Meara got it when it comes to my specific issues with CJ's rifle. It s for hunting. I have other issues that I'm not going to dwell on while I'm on vacation. By before an update I must add...

YAYAYAY to Maria!!! Congrats on the job.

Yesterday we left LA and drove up I-5 to Santa Cruz (where The Lost Boys was filmed). K's first glimpse of the Pacific was as we hit the Boardwalk area. We walked around the Boardwalk and I shared my memories of visiting there since I was about 5. We went down the beach and played in the water a bit. She decided to play tag with the waters edge and lost. We played in the arcade a bit. I found a functioning Centipede game which was my favorite game back in the day. Some fresh salt water taffy and a tacqaria later and we were on the road to SF.

Today we are leaving the car behind and puttering around SF.

Yay Maria!!! Woo hoo!!! So happy for you.

Thanks, my darlings. And thank you for putting up with me all these years.

Suzi, I'm so glad you're having a good time. You absolutely deserve it.

Maria, that is -- YOU are -- so kick ass!

My old job is giving me fits until the end, which I guess I shouldn't be surprised about. Our last day in the office was July 18, and they told us we would receive our severance papers (which would tell us the amount that our severance will be) by snail mail between July 22 and August 2.

Is anyone surprised that I haven't received a fucking thing yet? Two more days, and I am willing to bet folding money that they call/e-mail us tomorrow and tell us we need to come in to the office to pick up the papers, because they dragged their ass on doing it like they did with everything else and didn't have time to get them in the mail.

Or possibly we'll all get FedEx overnight mail on Friday. t edit Or we'll just get them in regular mail next week, because come on, what can we do to Big!Boss anyway for being late?

I feel greedy, and I guess I partly am, but I also just want everything to be over and tied up with a nice bow. This is just that last bit left undone. Closure, please, god damn it.

(Ha: while I was typing this, the UPS truck pulled up outside, and I thought, "Did I do that with the power of my rant?" But no, it was for the neighbor.)

I'ma make a sandwich.

I shouldn't even be surprised.

t edit again I'm trying to tell myself that it's the universe's way of teaching me patience. That makes me a little less rage-y than viewing at as old!company's tendency to let things go until the last minute and then screw them up entirely.

I grew up in the country, where almost everyone hunted deer (lots of poor people; deer went in the deep freezer and was a food source.) Almost everyone had a gun, and kids went deer and rabbit hunting at a pretty young age, but gun etiquette was par for the course.

We had a couple of rifles and a squirrel gun. We were taught gun safety, and never, ever allowed to touch a gun unless we were receiving lessons. I only ever shot a .22 a couple of times at tin cans. We owned no handguns.

This was the 70's, and the guns were unloaded at all times in the house, kept on a gun rack, and the ammo was NOT anywhere we would reach it.

I have no problems with properly stored guns to whom the owners have been taught gun safety, ACCURATE shooting, and who teach any children very specific gun etiquette. In the city, unless you live in a truly crime-ridden area, I see no need for people to own guns. In rural areas, hunting can mean the difference between eating and not eating.

Assault rifles and things of that ilk...I DO have a problem with. Unless freakin' BEARS invade your home regularly and you have a constant Sharknado insurgency in your hood.

The problem I see with guns is that too many stupid people own them, don't store them properly and see them as the solution to most problems. And most people are shit shots.