so in alaska, abortion (under reproductive rights) is protected under the right to privacy in the state constitution, same thing that allowed a small amount of marijuana in one's home to be legal before legalization.

"Alaska was one of only four states to make abortion legal between 1967 and 1970, a few years before the US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling."

guess what the red hat geniuses want to do? yup, they want to amend the alaska constitution. by all accounts this sounds highly unlikely to happen, and also it would take years, but the audacity of these fuckers! alaskans tend to be pro-privacy and pro-freedom. we want our guns and our abortions and our weed - all of it. but we do have a festering patch or two of of pin-eyed evangelicals whose springs are wound too tight. north pole and wasilla (home to sarah palin), have been the butt of local jokes for a long time. fuck off with your controlling religious bullshit.

they're going to put the first step to amending the state constitution on the ballot this fall (basically asking, "do we want to?") and i hope it gets slapped down with prejudice. it will make voting this nov more interesting.

alaska will probably never go blue because of gun rights. i understand why - 1) we especially hate the l48 dictating stuff to us and 2) guns have more widespread purpose here than other places. there are large predators that can pose genuine threats, even close to anchorage. hunting for food is common and viewed positively. there isn't the sense that guns only exist to use on other people in harmful ways (robbery, threats, murder). if i'm at fred meyer and i see someone carrying, my first thought is, perhaps they live out of town or are visiting their cabin later today and they have concerns about bears. super normal, not alarming, says nothing about their political preference.

this means alaska is a red state, though we can act screwball progressive. legal marijuana, ranked choice voting, etc. if you look at the other hard red states, many have trigger laws for abortion or are otherwise likely to quickly pass something to make abortion illegal. alaska is different. i'm not saying we're "safe", because apparently we have nothing official supporting gay marriage, but we are different.

spouse and i were discussing the scotus verdict and i told spouse to set course for fascism and he replied, "but i don't want to be a jackboot." and i responded with a gif of javert from les miserables (the one with russel crow sadly peering through the window) which is extra funny because "stars" is one of his favorite songs to play when he's feeling pensive. like, ha ha, you're javert, the law enforcement guy who realized he was on the wrong side and committed suicide.

i hear rumors of the red hats working themselves in a froth for july 4 in dc, so i told spouse to be careful and he says he's scheduled to work that day. he's salaried now, and it's a federal holiday. he shouldn't be working. the fact that he is working means that the higher ups are putting bodies in place. make of that what you will, because you know exactly as much as i do. there's a weird black hole that spouse and i do not/cannot discuss. if he knows anything he won't/can't confirm nor deny and i respect that. it's just strange to not be able to bounce red hat gossip off him, like we do with star wars rumors or whatever.

i hope nothing happens.

--

holy fucking shit i am so angry and there is nothing i can do until home depot opens.

okay, so i got the hvlp paint sprayer, the fuji spray semi pro 2, right? and i invested in extra accessories to make sure i have all the things on hand for spraying different liquids and ease of use. and i've spent a bunch of time prepping all the stuff i want to paint first - like bathroom towel racks and shelf brackets and a light fixture, etc. wiped everything down, sanded it, primed it carefully with rattlecan primer (yeah yeah, but it was quick and cheap). all these stupid pieces. i order this special "satin nickel" metallic paint so i can make everything all matchy-matchy with the door handles and other fixtures. finally i feel ready to use this $650 investment. yes, today is the day.

get it all unboxed and laid out. the instruction book looked good initially, but once you actually read it to follow along, it's awful. at no point does it explain the simple steps of setup and skips from "attach hose to turbine" to "don't bend at the wrist when spraying paint", without covering anything in between, such as actually putting paint in the reservoir. like it was written in the 80s by someone with no teaching talent whatsoever, before digital cameras. there's three additional loose sheets telling you not to do stuff they apparently forgot to put in the booklet. (apparently the turbine generates sparks so half the warnings are "DON'T DO X, YOU'LL BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN".) there's no pictures, just a line diagram in the back of the booklet showing a different configuration than i bought, so some parts i have aren't even shown. i waste about 2 fucking hours trying to look up things that aren't explained, and everything on the internet is by guys who suck at youtube. the nuts are screwed on incredibly tight and i have to go after them with the socket wrench (because the supplied faux wrench is inadequate) to loosen them to switch out the paint needle tip thing. i finally get the damn thing all assembled in what appears to be the correct way and i decide i'm going to run some plain water through it to test it out and see if i can figure it out through doing (hopefully without burning down the house).

so i set the gun loaded with water on the table and reach over to get my face shield (don't ask me why i decided i needed it to spray water, i was testing all the things), and the fucking awkward thing decides to TAKE A DIVE OFF THE TABLE WHEN MY BACK IS TURNED AND FUCKING BREAKS ON THE FLOOR. BEFORE I CAN EVEN TURN IT ON.

I AM SO ANGRY.

i have the gravity feed version that has a U shaped metal tube that holds up the paint reservoir (i wanted the bottom feed version but they wouldn't ship it to alaska due to the capricious whims of whatever ferret entered it in the database, and in alaska you just put up with weird shipping issues because companies don't care about fixing things for alaska, in fact i am pretty sure they'd rather we didn't buy anything). the connection between the gun and tube separated (a very thin weld/solder broke?) and now i have a paint reservoir part seperate from the gun part in a way that is not intentional. the fucking nut fastener thing that the end of the U tube fits into is cranked on so tight i can't even get it off with two pliers. the supplied faux wrench (with multiple size cutouts) doesn't even fit this nut. oh my god, i want to strangle someone. i guess i should be grateful it wasn't full of the expensive metallic paint at the time, but SHIT.

so now i have to wait to get some fucking proper wrenches and some jb weld. i'm gonna get this nut unscrewed, and if i have to i'm gonna jb weld this fucker back together.

i'm so angry i know if i call up the manufacturer i'm going to be spewing expletives at some poor guy who doesn't deserve it, like, WHY IS YOUR MANUAL SUCH A STEAMING PIECE OF SHIT, I DARE YOU TO USE IT TO TELL ME WHAT THIS FUCKING CLEAR TUBE IS FOR AND WHERE IT GOES.

i got the wrenches and jb weld. i got the nut off (cut my finger in the process) and there is a steel nipple piece inside that the U tube is supposed to be connected to. it was pretty easy to smear some jb weld on the tube and put the nipple back on the end. there's about .5” overlap, should be enough for a decent bond. i'm waiting for it to finish curing. i got a tool hook thing to make a rest for the gun so i'll have a safe place to set it down, since it is so easy for it to unbalance and fling itself on the floor, apparently.

so i have nothing painted. back when i thought i was going to be painting i invited friends over for dinner tonight, and now i am depressed because everything is still going to be lying around in pieces. i have no light in the bathroom because the light fixture is down for painting. i've been showering in the dark. like ... maybe i should cancel. not in a good mood.

anyway, i guess this feels like an example of how life in general is going. just a bunch of dumb delays that waste energy. i really miss spouse.