Last weekend was another one of my three day weekends because of my 9 hour work schedule. So I essentially had 2 days off (last weekend), 2 days on, 1 day off (the fourth), 1 day on, 3 days off, and now 5 days on. Not that it really matters... I am not doing anything.

Amaris and I hooked up with Lucas and his wife and went up to Philly last weekend. We didn't really plan the trip months in advance, but it was appropriately timed. I had forgotten most of my US history relating to Philadelphia, but there is a lot there! The country was born when the capital was there, so there is Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was written. There is also the Liberty Bell, the First and Second National Banks, and some serious history. We ate at a place that has been open since 1775 where some of the founding fathers met over brew to talk about how to get Independence from Britain. All of the dates were a little fuzzy, but walking around gave me a quick refresher.

July 4 was the day that they finished the Declaration of Independence. They didn't sign it until a month later and that was when the war started. Not only that, but New England didn't even support the war so only about half of the US was actually fighting the war (and even then many people in those states were loyal to Britain). With all of the patriotism around the fourth, it is easy to think that we got our independence that day... but that isn't the case. We finally won in 1781, but that was just to get independence from Britain. The Constitution created a *united* set of states and wasn't adopted until 1787. Washington became president before all of the 13 original even became states in the United States.

Good stuff.

So the town that we are living in has an annual parade that is kind of a big deal I guess. People actually set chairs out on the side of the road a week ahead of time to save their spots (although I think it is more of a symbolic thing because even on the day of the parade it is easy to find a place to sit). The parade was an hour and a half long and had some of the state's senators and representatives in it, so I guess it really is a big parade.

But there were two parts of it that bugged me. Right before the parade, there was a girl (had to have been 12 or 13) who was wearing a shirt that had the British flag all over it. I don't know if she was doing it for a reason, but seriously... we are celebrating the idea of getting away from the "taxation without representation" and the other policies that the king imposed that we didn't like. The other was a float in the parade that said that war is not the answer... peace is. They had people walking along side it with tribal looking things on their head. I felt like ripping those things off and breaking their legs with it. Maybe they don't understand that we are celebrating the WAR THAT GOT US OUR FREEDOM. Get the fucking sand out of your vagina and go drown yourself in your own smugness. That was not the right parade to be at you damn hippies.