Advice to prior self

(I got it from eleri, she got it from jb98. ...unfortunately, we're not entirely sure who it was that gave it to him...)

You, $Reader, have been given the opportunity to go back in time ten (10) years and tell yourself three (3) things.

What are they?


( So many things... )

...yeah, it's more than three, but I've done a lot. Anybody else?

Best Brains: History of Islam

I'm going to be starting a project on NFZ here in a week or two, and in conjunction with that project, I could probably use a good history of Islam. Does anybody out there in LJ land have any recommendations? I'd prefer something a little less on the academic side (i.e., doesn't read like a textbook), but that's not a hard and fast requirement.

What am I up to? I'll probably explain on Thursday on NFZ, but the short of it is that I got a book in the mail in February or so, and I've been meaning to try and read it. And it's interesting and timely enough that I think folks might want to follow along.

it's a good thing to know we have diligent parking enforcement in this county...

Parking on the sidewalk is illegal. Who knew?

Okay, I guess I knew. At least, I knew not to block the impediment of traffic on the sidewalk. But I didn't know that even if your wheels are just a little bit up on the sidewalk that it counts as parking on the sidewalk, at least enough to get a parking ticket for your troubles. (Thank you stupid rounded curbs that make it hard to tell from inside the car just where you are in relation to the curb...)

It's still annoying that this county can't manage to negotiate a deal with the sanitation workers until our trash hasn't been picked up for nearly three weeks, can't bother to show up to a dark parking lot when somebody is calling to report that their window is busted out -- even if they're female and alone, but yet has diligent (possibly *over-diligent*) parking enforcement. So diligent, they have time to cruise neighborhoods to make sure we're all parking correctly.

Wait. You mean parking tickets are revenue enhancing? Ah, right. That explains everything.

Seriously, Sac County, you want me to vote a percent increase in the sales tax to build a new arena downtown, but you're not exactly impressing me as of late that the money would be spent responsibly and wisely. And yes, voters are that fickle.

So I now owe the County of Sacramento $35 for having my wheels just a bit up on the curb. Yeah, it could be worse, and I know the money's useful, but it's still bloody annoying.