The Land of Sugar

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DETERRING CRIME WITH ALL CAPS
Houston, yet another city not high on my list of cities to visit. To be honest, I knew little of the place -- somewhere in Texas, right? Way down in that stomach-of-a-cow region, that hot and dusty stretch between California and Florida. So it was with little in terms of expectation that I was sent there to do some work for a client, out in Sugar Land, a suburb of Houston. Turns out that there is little to do, and not much more to see if one's free time is only in the evening and one does not have a car. Even with a taxi at hand (a rare beast), one gets the impression of tourists being second-class citizens.

I suppose I had an okay time though, and in Houston's defence I didn't get around to seeing the Space Center, the only point of interest I'd hoped (against hope) to visit. But the highways! And the lack of public transportation into the downtown! It made me appreciate the TTC all the more.

Statue of Sam Houston
I've started playing Guild Wars 2, and they have done a fine job of building a new GW universe -- the visuals are striking, the levelling doesn't feel like farming, there's plenty of skills to play with, and the world itself is huge. After many hours I've still only seen a small percentage of the world available. Haven't tried the PvP yet either. The no-monthly-fee is nothing to scoff at either.

It's an election year for the US, and man has it got me nervous. I realize that I may be overplaying my role as the old, crotchety man but is not the prospect of a pro-life supporting, homophobic, all-around backwards person in serious running for president truly frightening? How is it, with all the advances in technology, all of our knowledge, that we are still debating over such basic human rights? The land of sugar indeed!

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