Saturday: Hey, Sam, You Feelin' Okay?

[elfs]

Saturday, Omaha, Kouryou-chan and I drove over to j5nn5r's and desirae's house to help them move out of their old abode into their new place. It was a sad job; undoing the bed, the couches, the exercise equipment, and so on, and moving them into the U-Haul. The worst thing was the futon, which was terribly bulky and hard to maneuver.

After that, I immediately got into my car and hurtled down to Portland, a 2½ drive straight down. A friend of mine had run into some trouble with her ex-- and I know that feeling-- and couldn't leave the state. Her son and Yamaraashi-chan go to the same summer camp, and she couldn't get him up here. So I volunteered to go get him.

I'm not that fond of driving, but it did give me a chance to talk to the recorder about story ideas, listen to my iPod, and generally take in the sights. It wasn't too bad. I kept telling myself I should stop for a break, but never quite did until I reached Portland.

Crazy Uncle Sam!/span>

Along the way, I casually aimed the camera out the window and, without aiming, shot pictures of things. One of the joys of traveling I-5 in Washington is Crazy Uncle Sam, a serious wingnut who uses his billboard to spew right-wing slogans. This time, though, I think Sam has lost it. The north side reads... well, you can read it. "HR 700 Federalizes Local Police." Hmm, HR 700 is "The Healthy Communities Water Supply Act", and a glossing of it doesn't say that at all. On the other side, even wackier: "When the war ends, if we have no more freedoms, have we won or lost?"

Sam, are you feeling okay?

I reached Portland and picked up the boy, then hurtled back to Seattle. We stopped at a Taco Hell, which is all he'll eat since he's vaguetarian and they have vagueatarian dishes there.

While we were eating, three boys, probably 15-16 years old came in. They had that cast of skin and face that only comes from the Southeast Asia, and they were wearing beautiful formal clothing, earthtone tunics with beaded decorations. The tallest of them had earrings in both ears. It was one of the most amazing things I'd seen in a long time.

We got back in the car and drove back to Seattle, making it here in a seven-hour round trip that really should have taken only six. Frakkin' traffic. Anyway, we made up the beds and sent the kids to sleep, then Omaha and I went straight to bed.

Comments

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

See, it's stuff like this that make people think you're a nifty dude.


The last few times I've seen Uncle Sam's board it's been a bit, er, out there. I really think he's losing it. It's a pity. He used to have stuff that really made you think.

[mothball-07.livejournal.com]

Sam died a year or two ago. His family is "keeping his tradition alive" in his honour.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Ah, that explains much. Sam had a special brand of crazy; his family hasn't quite got that touch. It's a bit like reading a Dr. Bronner's bottle these days: you know the madness isn't there anymore.

[woggie.livejournal.com]

Sam's family's message only makes sense within the boundaries of the Conservative thinking that government is not for protecting the common good. So the concept that we might use the Federal Government to ensure we have clean water to drink is completely evil, right? :)

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

oh goodness! I drove from Portland to Seattle last week and saw that billboard and wanted to find a way to take a picture of it while driving!