So I overheard a guy (college student) talking yesterday about how he had no money (join the club) and he mentioned he emancipated himself from his parents at about the age of 18. Well, aren't you legally an adult at that age? There's nothing keeping you there, if it's so bad leave. My thought is it's a roof over your head, and no rent. Of course I realize that not everyone has it good at home. So playing devil's advocate,  is that a good deal for the parents or what? They're not financially, or in any other way responsible for you and your actions. What do they loose out of the deal? One less person hogging the tv, one less mouth to feed, one less tuition to pay. I'm sure kids have their reasons for emancipation. I wonder if they ever regret it when they're older and start having kids of their own.

When you emancipate your parents, I wonder if that includes their family members and your siblings if you have any. If you don't have parents, then you can't have sisters, uncles, and grandparents... can you? Interesting thought. That would make for quite a lonley world. Hope you have some really close friends. If you have that many problems at home though, wouldn't it make it difficult to get close to anyone else?  I hope emancipators (is that a real word?) don't think all family is bad. It can be a real positive thing. They're there when you need them most.

Someone asked me today if I thought the dog realized how much he's grown? Hmmm. I don't know. How could you tell if they were noticing their change. I guess he figures something's up, but I dont think he really knows what's going on. He scratches a little more and licks himself... uh you know. But then you have to ask how much of it is instinct. He didn't freak out when he started losing his baby teeth.

They grow so fast at the begining. Boony, my dog, is getting bigger, he gains about 4-6 lbs. a week. He's losing his teeth, and new ones are coming in. He's losing his puppy fluff and growing longer hair. He's a golden retriever so it will get longer still :( More shedding. Even his voice is changing, his bark is getting deeper. It's almost like he's an awkward teenager, but he's only 4 months old. That's 4 months in people, a little over 2 years in dog years. Who decided that anyways that 1 people year is 7 years for a dog. That can't be right. Their life expectancy is about 15 years, and that's probably really good. That comes out to 105 in "dog years" (if that really exists). Fifteen is a short life expectancy, and 105 is way longer than the average human's life expectancy. Maybe someone mis calculated and no one ever questioned it. Maybe one year is only five dog years, not seven. Yes, five makes more sense.

So yesterday was the 3rd anniversary of 9/11. And the nation moved on. I hadn't really thought about it yesterday, except for a moment driving down a country highway with flat feilds and farms as far as the eye could see. I started wondering how it affected them, the farmers and rural america. Did they find out right away or was it life as usual on the farm. For myself it was a very odd feeling, very distant, surreal.  It's like the Kennedy assasination for this generation. Everyone, young and old alike, will forever remember where they were, and what they were doing when they heard the news.  (fade to flashback)...

I was in Bahrain, the work day was over and I had gone for a run. I was in the gym and there was a huge crowd in front of the tv they were just watching in awe. We (my friend and I) thought it was a movie until some one told us what had just happened. I was surprised but just thought, "boy, some one had a huge malfunction on the plane".  No sooner had that thought gone by when the 2nd one hit. My friend and I dropped everything and went back to the office to find out more. We were immediately put on 'Delta' No one leaves base. If you live off base you go straight home and stay there. No one goes anywhere unless it's an emergency. We went home and were glued to the tv. Here we were half way around the world not really able to do anything but watch in disbelief. This could not really be happening. It really was happening and there was nothing we could do but stay glued to the tv and be close to the phone. It was like Independance Day but better effects.  There we were stuck in our rooms with Fox news on one tv and CNN on the other and a glass of wine.