Let’s Hear It for Oppressive Government Regulation

I didn’t actually plan for the site to go completely dark for the weekend, but Kate and I were off at a wedding for the weekend, and wound up not actually having regular Internet access, so I couldn’t post any of the weekend things I didn’t get around to scheduling before I left. I’m sure this ruined many a weekend…

The wedding and reception was in a VFW hall in New Hampshire, and when we got back to Kate’s parents’ afterwards, we all took showers and changed clothes to get rid of the cigarette smell. As I type, my good winter jacket is in the wash, along with Kate’s, because they still reeked today.

Back in the late 90’s, when various states started banning indoor smoking at restaurants and bars, I had some sympathy for the smokers and businesspeople who argued against the bans. I wasn’t convinced that the health effect of “secondhand smoke” was really strong enough to justify banning smoking in public, particularly not if tobacco sales in general were still going to be legal.

Ten-ish years later, though, I have to say, I really don’t miss that smell. To hell with libertarian principles– it’s worth a little loss of freedom to have my clothes not smell like death the morning after a night out…