Here's a thought

"The essence of contemporary liberalism is the illiberal conviction that Americans, in their comprehensive incompetence, need minute supervision by government, which liberals believe exists to spare citizens the torture of thinking and choosing." George Will

As of January 1, we now have a ban on driving while touching a cell phone (or other handheld electronic device) on the Big Island, as well as in Honolulu. (Don't know about the other counties.) You can talk on the phone with bluetooth or ear buds, but don't touch the phone. And if you want to pull over to answer or call, make sure you turn off the engine; otherwise you'll still be in violation and in line for a $97 fine. So tell me which is safer: a) using my Iphone GPS feature to guide me to my location, b) talking to a person at my destination who gives me instructions, or c) trying to navigate with a map I'm holding in front of the steering wheel? If you choose c), you won't be fined.

The End of the Story

On Wednesday, Christian, Shandra and Tristan came down from Orange County for the day. It was great to see them. Tristan just gets cuter and cuter!

Thursday eve we met my cousin Craig (left far end) and his partner, Larry, and ex-, Iddy, for dinner, before they headed off to Temecula for a late night show. We had a fun visit (and good dinner). It was good to see them again.

That's all my pix. For a more complete account of our adventures, see Court's great post.

Wild Animal Park

Monday we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The weather was great; there was lots to see. A few samples follow.

More Southern Cal

Saturday, Whit, Mom and I drove down to San Diego and spent the afternoon at Balboa Park. Must return again this week for more. After Court & Todd arrived, we went to Macaroni Grill for a wonderful dinner.
We ended the evening with the deferred opening.

California Christmas

Christmas morning we slept in late, then drove down to La Jolla Cove to walk along the beach. The weather was cool but beautiful. Lots of seals and birds
Enjoyed the rock formations
Ended the day with a lovely dinner, followed by Vicious Gin with Whit and Jim's friends, Reed and Dan.

New Happy State Study

A new study on happy states comes up with distinctly different results than the one I cited previously. Hawaii's still #2, however, right up there with Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama. Turns out this time that happiness is a function of sunshine. Who'd a thunk? Also, factors such as how crowded, air quality, house prices, etc. Top Ten:
1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine
Wyoming comes in at #13, Utah and Virginia are in the middle at #23 and 26, respectively. (Rob and Anna should hardly notice the difference!) The bottom five are:
46. California
47. Indiana
48. Michigan
49. New Jersey
50. Connecticut
51. New York
Sorry, Whit and Jim -- at least you're not in New York! I find the inconsistencies most curious. For example, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska are grouped together -- #31-33; makes sense to me. But why a 19-state difference between Arizona and New Mexico (#24)? You can find all 50 states and D.C. listed here.

Winter Humor

Now that many of you have snow, I thought you might appreciate this.