Maybe it is time for us to go all Guy Fawkes against the Talibangelicals who have taken control of this country.

Yes, I'm pissed about Maine and I'm still pissed about California. More that those, however, I am extraordinarily pissed at our so-called "allies" in the Democratic Party who could not be bothered to offer any endorsements or issue any statements of support. Where was our "fierce advocate" in the White House?

I'm thinking... denim coveralls, flannel shirt, John Deere hat, a large "McCain-Palin" button and a "Reject Ref 71" button.

Yup, I want to go as an Eastern Washington Voter. I think I can win "scariest costume" with that.

I've been too lazy to post, so here is an update.

Wednesday we stopped at Costa Maya. It was a small fishing village named Mahahual until the Mexican government began to sponsor redevelopment as a cruise ship destination. The port itself is very nice -- lots of shops selling handcrafts and the usual duty free jewelry and booze, along with a nice pool and some food shops -- but village and the surrounding area is worth leaving port to see. The area is home to a large mangrove forest, and a large coral reef is just off shore. Nearby attractions include several Mayan ruins and, about 60 km to the south is Banco Chinchorro, the planet's second largest reef (after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia) and one of the premier spots to hunt for sunken ships.

I did the "highlights of Costa Maya and beach break" excursion. The highlights basically involved driving down a semi-paved road with the beach on one side and the mangrove forest on the other, until we reached the village. Our guide showed us the tiny church and the school, then we went up another few miles to the Mayan Palms, a beach restaurant, where we spent a 1.5 hours relaxing and drinking. Then back to the village to "Mahahual's Fifth Avenue," as our guide called it, a shopping area with lots of restaurants and souvenier stands. After an hour there, it was back to the bus. The tour was a bit overpriced, I think, but I enjoyed myself.

Yesterday was our last "fun day at sea." I split my time between the casino and the Lido deck and spent a blissful day of doing nothing important.

Today was spent in Nassau, capital of The Bahamas. The excursion I took was to Blackbeard's Cay, a tiny island about 30 minutes away from the city by boat. The developed area had a beautiful beach with the whitest, softest sand I have ever seen, and the ocean was an incredible shade of turquoise. There were a lot of clouds in the sky, huge columns that wanted to become thunderheads but just didn't have the chutzpah. Enough sun got through, though to give my face and head a definite burn -- I'll be peeling for a week.

I didn't go there just for the beach, though; I paid a little extra for the "stingray encounter." They had this area of beach secured with chicken wire from about two feet above the water down into the sand, in a roughly circular area maybe 60 yards in diameter. In that area they had 5 or 6 stingrays (stings removed, of course.) The rays were amazing: all muscle, and both slippery and rough at the same time. After swimming around for a bit, the keepers lined everyone up in two lines in water about two feet deep and started handing out cut up bits of fish. We were to wait for the rays to come up then place the fish on the sand where the rays could eat them. They knew it was feeding time and all of them came up and started swimming between the rows, in between legs... amazing animals. The seagulls knew it was feeding time, too: after the rays had eaten and had mostly retreated, people starting tossing fish into the air for the gulls to fight over.

So now it is 8:30 pm ship's time and we are steaming north about 4 miles from the Florida coast. By 7am, we will be docked back in Orlando, and by 8am (if everything goes well) we will start leaving the ship for good. I have no intention of rushing, as my flight back to Seattle doesn't leave until 6:30 pm.

This has been a great vacation. I already have my next cruise planned out.

Because of shallow seas around the coast of Belize, large cruise ships cannot pull up to a dock; passengers must take smaller boats called tenders between the ship and the shore. With the high winds and rough seas yesterday in Cozumel, there was fear that we might not be able to get off the ship at all. Fortunately, today was calm (although overcast and cool, maybe around 74) so after a quick breakfast, I went as directed to the ship's theater to wait for my shore excursion to be called.

I went on a tour called the Altun Ha and Belize City tour. We went first around Belize City, the largest city in the country and, according to our guide Saúl, the only actual city. While English is the official language taught in the schools (it was formerly known as British Honduras, and remains a member of the British Commonwealth,) Saúl said that the language everyone spoke outside of school was Creole, the dialect of English spoken in Jamaica, the Virgin Islands and elsewhere in the Caribbean. With Spanish a very common second language (understandable, seeing as that's the language in every neighboring country) and there being several surviving Mayan languages, many Belizians, he said, speak three or four languages reasonably well.

The city itself was kind of depressing. Belize is wealthy and stable compared to other Central American countries -- Saúl was careful to point out that Belize has never had a revolution or civil war, and is the only democracy in the region -- but it is still very poor. Tourism is more than a third of the nation's economy, with agriculture (oranges, cashews and livestock) making up the rest. A great many buildings were very run down, and there were a number of construction projects that had been started only to end up abandoned half-way through. Saúl talked a little about this and about how difficult it was for a developing country to become prosperous by Western standards; he then pointed out that Belize had a lower unemployment rate and a higher life expectancy than the US, and a national literacy rate that was almost as good. He said that while life wasn't always easy, the people of Belize were very proud of their country and very happy to live there.

It was about a 50 minute drive to the ruins of Altun Ha, which is believed to have been a major trading center for the Mayan empire. The ruins were discovered in 1961 and have only been partially excavated. There is evidence that human sacrifice was done there at least once, but it seems never to have been a regular event. Instead, Altun Ha was a site of blood sacrifice, where the priests and priestesses would have blood drawn from them to be offered to the gods, heal up for a period of time and do it again.

The ruins were in the middle of the jungle, and it was very dense jungle. Scarey dense. The kind of dense where you could walk ten feet in and then get completely lost. Not that I tried that, of course: the mosquitoes that swarmed the edges of the clearing were even scareier than the jungle so I stayed well away.

When we arrived, Saúl took us on a brief guided tour, explaining the history of the Maya and this particular site, and how it was discovered and excavated. Fascinating, and far too much to write here: take a cruise and go on the tour! We climbed to the top of the Temple of the Masonry Altars, the highest pyramid. The view was amazing: the top was several feet above the surrounding jungle canopy, so you looked out onto a sea of the most amazing verdant green you will ever see again. I have to wonder if this was the design reason for the pyramids: to climb above the jungle, the material world, into the realm of the sky.

The weather has been less than ideal so far, with it being cloudy and cool yesterday and clear but very windy today. In fact, the winds were so bad that many of the Cozumel excursions were cancelled: the sea was too rough for smaller craft to go out. Ok, I can accept this; instead of taking a speed boat around Cozumel to a smaller island and spend the day on the beach, I stayed in port, did some shopping (I hope my mom likes ammolite), then went back to the ship to lay in the sun poolside and latter do some writing. I booked through the ship, so the cost of the excursion has already been credited back to my shipboard account.

But crimeny, the way some of the other passengers have reacted!

You would think that the cruiseline was DELIBERATELY screwing them out of their dream vacation. I saw one couple go storming back to the port's gate and start yelling at the security guard, who works for neither the tour company or Carnival. I saw another woman burst into tears because she would not be able to swim with the dolphins. The sense of entitlement some people have is beyond astounding.

And while I am on the topic of American selfishness, what about American gluttony? At 5' 9" and 230 (I really need to start losing again), I am classified as obese. With a pants size of 40, I am used to being above average weight at most events. Here? I dare say I am well below average. It is kind of creepy in a way, but it is helping me to stay away from extra desserts. All I have to do is look around, and ask myself if I want to be there in five years.

I did very little today and BOY! did I have fun not doing it.

I slept in until about 8:30... that sounds late, but its only 5:30 Pacific time. Had some fruit from the buffet for breakfast, wrote a bit on one of the short stories I'm working on, went to a talk about "shopping smart" in Mexico (which got me some nice coupons to use in Cozumel,) played blackjack, went to lunch, took a nap, played some more blackjack, had dinner, and now I'm in the almost empty restaurant writing this.

Tonight was the "cruise elegant" night in the dinning room: basically, an opportunity to dress up and pretend that cruises are still floating country club resorts. I wore a white banded-collar shirt, grey slacks and my new black jacket. Food was good, as expected.

Tomorrow is Cozumel. My shore excursion involves a high speed jet boat voyage to a small island off the coast of the larger island, where I will spend several hours enjoying the beach.

The hotel was very nice, but frightfully expensive: dinner (diet Coke, a salad and a combo pizza) cost $29 with tip, and breakfast (the buffet) was $19 with tip. If I ever stay there again, I go down into the airport and eat there, it can't be any more expensive.

The transport to the terminal was very smooth. The bus check-in was down an escalator and a short walk, and there was a bus (only half full!) ready to go. The trip itself took about 45 minutes from the airport to the ship port. Going through security was a pain, as I had to pull out my lap top and divest myself of watch, ring and belt. At least I didn't have to unpack the C-PAP, that would have been annoying. A surprisingly quick wait in line, then get my card key and board. Woo-hoo!

My cabin is tiny but very well laid out: I've stayed in larger rooms that felt much more cramped. Deck 10, comfy double bed, large window facing the sea, a balcony... Ahhh, I can feel the relaxation beginning.

I had a somewhat late lunch at the buffet -- not bad, for buffet food -- and took a nap. I was rudely woken by a siren that signalled the mandatory safety demo. After that, I looked around the shops and waited in the lobby for dinner to start seating at 6pm. Our server had just started and she was a bit nervous, but service was good and the food was better. Tonight: gazpacho, a flat-iron steak with peppercorn sauce and Carnival's (in)famous "melted cake," basically a warm, thick chocolate pudding.

I have already blown $200 in the casino -- I really think the auto-shufflers are programmed to let the dealer win -- and I will soon be heading off to the Friend of Dorothy's social tonight at 11p. Then to bed and awake for A Fun Day At Sea.

The flight, for the most part, was great. I had a window, so I got some wonderful views of the Rocky Mountains and the amazing flatness of middle America. Breakfast (I do love first class) was a bowl of fruit, a blueberry pastry and a tomato and onion quiche. Alas, the cloud cover came back in just as we were reaching the Mississippi River so that was shrouded from view, and the ground was not visible until we were starting to make our descent into Orlando.

Then I remembered the last time I was in Florida, on business, and what happens when you combine very wet air (ocean and swamp) with very hot air (88 degrees.) Yup: as we approached, we had to dodge around cumulonimbus, vast columns of cloud and turbulent air. I saw five different systems; fortunately, no lightning. The landing was pretty rough, thus the title I've given this entry. I figure that was the Bad Thing that happens when I fly Alaska, so now I can rest easy.

I am now checked in to the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport. Not the Hyatt Regency near the Orlando Airport: the lobby is one floor up from the central area of the main terminal and right over a large security checkpoint. My room is way around in back, at least a quarter mile hike, but at least it will be nice and quiet. The view... not what I was expecting. I have some pictures that I'll get put up soon.

I have arrived at the airport -- early, even -- and getting through security was less annoying than usual (flying with a laptop computer, a C-PAP, a belt, shoes, a jacket and metal fillings typically means getting pissed right at the start. I love to travel but I HATE airports. I am now sitting in Alaska Air's first-class lounge (yeah, I'm splurging on this trip,) munching on toasted slices of a good rasin bread and sipping fizzy water. My departure gate is right next door, so there will be no rushing when the plane is ready to board.

Am I being overly paranoid in wondering when things will start going wrong?

I mean, I am flying Alaska after all. They consistently rank towards the best in various rankings (on-time departure, customer service, etc.) but dang it all, that just makes me very afraid to fly other airlines. About half the time I've flown Alaska, we have been delayed by 30 minutes or more. Once, we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes because the coffee maker was busted and, somehow, this was an essential part of flight safety. Another time, we were delayed almost an hour because there was no hot water. You will pardon me for not being terribly optimistic.

I figured I would get my first vacation blog post done while I'm waiting for the shuttle to the airport.

This has been a very stressful year, what with me being sick, family members being sick, the unexpected death of a colleague at work. It will be nice to go away for a while and detox. I have taken a few long weekend trips, but somehow those seem to be more stressful than not: with the day travelling to and then back, I just don't have much opportunity to put the frustrations and worries of life to one side.

My trip this year is to the western Caribbean, on Carnival Cruise's ship Glory. It is based out of Orlando, Florida, so I am flying cross-country today, staying the night in Orlando, then boarding the ship tomorrow. The itinerary is:

• SAT: Depart Orlando
• SUN: "Fun day at sea"
• MON: Cozumel, Mexico
• TUE: Belize City, Belize
• WED: Costa Maya, Mexico
• THU: "Fun day at sea"
• FRI: Nassau, The Bahamas
• SAT: Return to Orlando

The first three ports-of-call are off the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, just to give you an idea of where in the world I am. More as it comes up.

Latter this week, ballots will be going out for the general election in Washington State. On that ballot is a question called Referendum 71:

If approved, registered domestic partners will have access to almost all of the legal rights and protections granted by state law to married couples. Do not buy into the lies being spread by the bigots: Referendum 71 is NOT about marriage, it will NOT limit or otherwise infringe on the rights of any religious group or person of faith and does NOT mandate teaching anything in state schools.

Please vote APPROVED on Referendum 71.

If more science were like this, America wouldn't be a nation of ignoramouses. The abstract from When Zombies Attack!: Mathematical Modeling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection:

Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then refine the model to introduce a latent period of zombification, whereby humans are infected, but not infectious, before becoming undead. We then modify the model to include the effects of possible quarantine or a cure. Finally, we examine the impact of regular, impulsive reductions in the number of zombies and derive conditions under which eradication can occur. We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all.

Before you dismiss this as something from The Onion or The Journal of Irreproduceable Results, the paper was published this last July in Infectious Disease Modelling Research Progress which, as far as I can tell, is a legitimate, peer-reviewed research journal. The paper is about mathematically modeling the spread of a highly contageous disease, and could just as easily have been about H1N1, Ebola or a virulent strain of the common cold. That the authors chose to model the spread of a zombie plague shows a kind of imaginative genius that you don't often find in science research. It has certainly gotten the paper a lot more public attention than most such research.

I had laser eye surgery about two and a half years ago. I love the results: I went from about 20/890 with severe astigmatism to 20/35 with no astigmatism, and was able to get rid of the coke-bottle glasses I've worn for 30 years. The only problem is that 20/35 is not 20/20, and my distance vision leaves a bit to be desired. So, a few weeks ago, I got some one-day wear contact lenses to use on the rare occasion of my driving, or when I play tourist and want to see the sights clearly.

Now, these lenses are very thin, and very difficult to get out. I've worn contacts before, back when my vision was bad; the lenses were the heavy-duty prescription and of the "clean every day and replace every two or three years" variety, so they were very easy to get in and out. These new ones are little more than plastic wrap and a bit of a challenge to remove.

I went to a party this last Saturday, and decided to wear contacts. I got home really late, and between being tired and not wearing the lenses every day, forgot to remove them. Sunday morning after my shower, out comes the left lens. The right... I just can't seem to get a grip on it. I tried, on and off, all day. Nothing: it won't come out.

I called the on-call doctor at my eye care place, and he told me that I had a few days before it would become a problem, so Monday, make an appointment to go in and have the contact lens specialist remove it.

Monday, I go in. The specialist looks into my eye and announces that she can't see it. She put in a few drops of flourescent dye and shined a black light in: nothing. She pulled back the lid and peered underneath: no lens.

Most likely, I lost it ns Saturday night. I sleep on my right side, and between gravity, REM sleep and the fact that most people actually do open their eyes at some point while they sleep, the specialist said it had probably fallen out. The irritation and discomfort? Because I had been poking at my eye throughout the day on Sunday and a few times on Monday morning. If I had left it alone, I would have been fine and saved $135 for a visit to my eye doctor.

Kind of makes me wish I still wore glasses.

The state House and Senate both approved a revised equal marriage bill which spells out that religious groups who object to equality do not have to perform such ceremonies (unnecessarily, as the First Amendment already protects religious groups from being forced to conduct ceremonies, but oh, well.) The bill was passed to Governor Lynch, who signed it immediately. The law takes effect January 1, 2010.

New Hampshire now joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (effective Sept 1, 2009) and Maine (effective 90 after the state Legislature adjourns) in offering full, equal marriage rights to same-sex couples.

News story

From their website:

I think it is a great take on the various religious "promise ring" movements. Declare yourself today!

The California Supreme Court issued their ruling today on Proposition 8. The proposition was judged to be valid, and existing same-sex marriage are also valid.

Basically, the Court decided that basic civil rights can be put up to a popular vote. Today, it was gay couples. Who will it be tomorrow?

Read more here.

As depressing as this is, I think there is still a silver lining. The ruling creates separate rights not only between straight people and gay people, but separate rights between gay people that were legally married in the state and gay people who are no longer allowed to be legally married in the state. This could force the issue back into the state Supreme Court, or better yet, force the issue to the United States Supreme Court. Hopefully, the next ruling will be one in favor of equality rather than abject bigotry.

Wolfram Alpha is described as a "computation knowledge engine" rather than a search engine. When you enter your search criteria, it will attempt to actually provide an answer rather than just a list of links to pages that might have an answer. For example, type in the words weather and Seattle and you will get, not a list of pages that give weather information, but formatted blocks of data giving current conditions, historical charts of weather information, a forecast, the name of the weather center from which the data was taken and the name and location of nearby stations. USA and population gets you the answer (306 million, 2007 estimated), a historical graph showing the last 40 years and a breakdown of the demographics, including life expectancy (78.1 years; ranked 50th in the world) and median age (36.7 years, ranked 53rd in the world.) You can click on the data blocks to get copyable text, and there are additional links provided with the blocks and on the text popup that allow you to pursue the results deeper.

Right now it is slow and buggy, but then, Google was slow and buggy when it was first introduced. I would not want to use this for news or political information -- it would be far too easy to hide "inconvenient" stuff -- but for plain facts, this has a lot of potential.

Read more at the Beeb.

In his blog Pharyngula, biologist and tireless champion of reason over supersitious nonsense PZ Meyers recommends a new book titled Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by Charles P. Pierce. Meyers quotes from the book:



It looks interesting.

I saw the new Star Trek movie on Saturday. As a dedicated Trekker, I have to say that I found it rather disappointing.

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

( Continue on to spoilers )