It's a smoke shop, it's a gift shop, IT'S WHERE THE DRUGGIES HANG OUT!!

Is it just me?

There you sit, probably in traffic, listening to the radio (just for clarity, this is the Dallas radio market I'm talking about). An ad comes on for someplace like "The Dragon's Breath" (now with two locations) or "The Gas Pipe". It doesn't really matter which one, because they're both billed as smoke shops/gift shops. And OH! the things you can get there. Hydroponic supplies, grow lights, water pipes, rolling papers, and my personal favorite, detox agents. Now mind you, these products are being advertised on the radio. It's not like it's a little section of the local cigar shop that stocks these things if you know what to ask for, these are trotted out with "Pepsi products, 12-pack for $2.50 at Walgreens" matter-of-factness.

So, full disclosure. I don't use drugs, haven't even experimented. The closest I've come was secondhand marijuana smoke at a Blue Oyster Cult concert when I was 18, and KISS and Queensryche concerts (no, not together, but wouldn't that rock?) a couple years ago.

Okay, and we're back. Anyway, if you're really serious about enforcing drug laws, how stupid do you have to be as a cop not to have these places under constant surveillance? I refuse to believe that the tobacco-smoking public has gotten so sophisticated that people are growing their own tobacco, rolling their own tobacco cigarettes, and smoking tobacco through a water pipe. I understand that all of these things are "dual-use" items, and the shops in question are not breaking any laws, but someone who buys all of them is a walking probable cause for possession.

Aaaaaand another thing! When did "I'm holding it for a friend" become anything other than a ludicrously transparent, pathetic attempt at an excuse? I'm looking at you, Michael Irvin. If it's in your vehicle, or it's in your home, then you are in possession of it. If your "friend" has a habit of leaving his illegal drugs in your house or car (or jacket pocket), maybe you should look around for a better class of friend?

Oh, pay no attention.

Howdy, howdy, howdy.

Sometimes life hands you a big ol' plate of something else to bitch about. This blog is my sometime safety valve, a place to vent my spleen. "Where nobody knows your name" (sing it!) "And they're rarely glad they came..."

I come from a large family (6 siblings), and the one thing we all have in common is a love of the art of the bitch. The finely-tuned complaint is an art form in my family. Do it sloppily, and you're just whining, or in danger of actually doing something to fix the problem. Can't have that.

Now to be fair, we don't just sit and bitch. The problem eventually gets handled, whatever it is. It's the temporary wallow that refreshes, so to speak.

So, who knows what I'll say. From time to time, I may even seem happy. But don't you believe it!

P.S. - About the name, CaptainAlgorithm...an unfortunate marriage of superhero and geek. I've used that moniker off and on since about 1987. I've also vowed to name a dog "Fractal" at some point in my life, and think "Massively Parallel" would be a cool name for a metal band. TMI? TDB.