Guns and Germs and Whatever

Yesterday, I spent a rather enjoyable afternoon with one of my right-wing-whacko-gun-nut friends. We loaded up a couple of packsacks with guns and ammo and headed over to a shooting range where we proceeded to liberate a few hundred rounds of lead from their casings. Lee had everything from 22's to 45's in those packsacks, and like sampling wine, we worked our way up from the 22's to the more serious stuff. I was pretty pleased with my performance considering I hadn't fired a handgun in over 20 years, and even then it was only a few rounds. Lee was rather impressed with my performance considering the fact that I'm a godless-faggot-loving-commie-pinko-gun-hating bastard. And on top of all that, I'm Canadian! I told him that all Canadians can shoot like me, so if the US ever decides to invade Canada, they better not misunderestimate their foes. After the range, we went over to his place where we proceeded to liberate a couple of liters of wine from their bottles. How's that for an All-American afternoon of guns and booze?!

My travel plans have changed. The Caribbean adventure has been cancelled, replaced with two weeks in Croatia at the end of May and beginning of June. It's actually two separate charters, with one out of Kremik (near Split) and the following week out of Dubrovnik. I booked the second of two boats that will be traveling together. I think we can put together a great itinerary out of the two bases. From Kremik, we can head north to a bunch of desert or near desert islands, and from Dubrovnik we can stop at several medieval island towns. I loved the last trip to Croatia, and wished I could have stayed longer and seen more. It's a totally different experience than the BVI. The BVI is like Disneyland for sailors, with great winds, warm blue waters, great snorkelling, lovely beaches, and night clubs and restaurants at every stop. But don't expect to take in any local cultural experiences, because as near as I can tell, there are none. In Croatia, you can sail in gorgeous waters and lovely scenery, but at night you tie up at a 1000 year-old sea wall in a town with real people actually living and working there. There are Roman ruins everywhere. The Croats are actually interlopers who only showed up some hundreds of years ago. Before that, the area was under Venetian influence, and before that was very much Roman. Marco Polo was born in Korcula, a lovely town that I visited the last time I was there, and will be sure to do it again next year. Another thing I'll be looking for are spotted dogs. The last time I was on the Dalmation Coast, I was quite disappointed not seeing any Dalmations.

Today I sent a letter to the immigration folks trying to get my citizenship interview date of January 14th back. I wish this was all over with and that I wouldn't have to deal with that bureaucracy any more. Getting any answers or changes out of them is next to impossible. Oh well.