Our First Family got together last night for our annual Christmas party. It was hosted by Jim and Dinah, and seeing as they're both from Louisiana it was advertised as a "Cajun Christmas." I was a little confused when we arrived because I thought it was supposed to be an "Asian Christmas" so I was expecting Chinese food. However, we instead were treated to turduckin, boudin, and the best ham I have ever tasted. On top of this, there was a whole table full of desserts. I was partial to the one Vicki made - a delicious concoction of whipped cream and chocolate pudding. I also had some coconut pie, which was also quite tasty.
After stuffing ourselves we played a few Christmas themed games that Jim came up with. The first involved matching the appropriate person with their "favorite childhood Christmas present" which each of us had submitted prior to last night's event. Some of these were pretty funny. Vicki went with her "little red spinning wheel" and I selected as my favorite a policeman's outfit that I got when I was seven years old. It was the same year that my brothers also each received some type of outfit - an Indian, a soldier, and a football player. When we all put on our new outfits (costumes?) we looked like the Village People, and that was about twenty years before there even were Village People. After the "name that gift" game we moved on to Christmas trivia, where we learned that Christmas was originally a pagan observance of the winter solstice, Santa Claus originated in The Netherlands, carolling got its start in England in the 14th century, and Santa's red suit was actually invented for a Coca-Cola ad back in 1931.
On the way home we drove around for awhile and looked at some outdoor Christmas lights. As I think I've mentioned, we didn't do any outside decorating this year because we'll be out of town during Christmas week, and I decided to take a break from ladder climbing until my knee was 100%. I realized this afternoon that this is the first time since 1978 that I haven't put up outdoor Christmas decorations. Vicki and I decided today that next year we're going to go all out and try to win the best decorated house in Greatwood. Vicki wants to go with a gingerbread house theme. We did that back in our Quail Valley days and got a third place award. It's kind of funny how exited Vicki got about the thought of winning next year. The other day she had decided that I should never climb a ladder again, and today she had visions of me on top of a thirty-six foot extension ladder putting up lights next year. All I can say is - I ain't scared of no ladder, and wait until next year.
I almost forgot. I promised a movie review on Invictus, the Morgan Freeman and Jason Bourne movie about the South African rugby team in the 1995 World Cup. After some considerable thought I've decided that this is probably the second best sports movie of all time, slightly behind Field of Dreams and slightly ahead of Hoosiers. Invictus is Latin for "unconquered" and also the title of an 1875 poem that the Nelson Mandela character quotes in the movie, especially the lines -
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
On a scale of 1-10 I give Invictus a 9.9. Mr. Freeman is a great actor, and he's great in this movie.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sometimes Things Work Out Better Than You Expect
Okay, I was wrong. In spite of the fact that we really could have used a little mo
re time and a few more rehearsals, Winter's Eve was a great show! Other than the few minor glitches that happen with any production - and which the audience doesn't even notice - this may have been the most entertaining Christmas show in the history of FCCC. Andy Pace did a fantastic job with the drama/comedy portion of the show (lead writer, director, and lead actor) and the FCCC chorus was absolutely amazing. I wasn't ready for them to stop singing. I had two segments in the show. First was my starring role - as Cowboy Dean Gunnard - in my very own commercial for Black Jack soda, which was aired on the big video screens. Second was my three minute live interview on the "radio." I just love the theater.
re time and a few more rehearsals, Winter's Eve was a great show! Other than the few minor glitches that happen with any production - and which the audience doesn't even notice - this may have been the most entertaining Christmas show in the history of FCCC. Andy Pace did a fantastic job with the drama/comedy portion of the show (lead writer, director, and lead actor) and the FCCC chorus was absolutely amazing. I wasn't ready for them to stop singing. I had two segments in the show. First was my starring role - as Cowboy Dean Gunnard - in my very own commercial for Black Jack soda, which was aired on the big video screens. Second was my three minute live interview on the "radio." I just love the theater.
Yesterday I attended the retirement lunch for a lady I worked with for fourteen years at Global Marine, GlobalSantaFe and Transocean. It was kind of bittersweet go see so many people after being away for these last eight months. I certainly don't miss anything about Transocean, but I realized that I do miss a lot of the people there.
This has been a potentially promising week on the job seeking front. I got a call on Monday from a small drilling company located in Greenway Plaza. They informed me that they liked my resume and just had a few "pre-screening" questions they were asking candidates before having them in for interviews. I think I got all the questions right, but I haven't heard back from them yet to schedule an actual interview. I also heard from the South Texas Project, which those of you in Houston may know is the nuclear power plant near Bay City (actually the small town of Wadsworth). Once again, I had a brief phone interview with the news that I'd made the "top six" and real interviews would be scheduled shortly after the first of the year. This sounds like it would be a very interesting place to work, but I'm not sure about the 72 mile commute. However, I was assured that there is a van pool that leaves from Sugar Land, and they work four ten-hour days and are off every Friday. We'll see.
On Tuesday night Vicki and I ventured forth into the world of outdoor home Christmas decorating judging. We were one of several teams that judged Best Decorated House, Honorable Mention Decorated House, and Best Decorated Street in the various neighborhoods of Greatwood. All in all we enjoyed the experience, although after awhile it's difficult to make distinctions between the entertainment and aesthetic values of candy canes, snowmen, and Santa Claus motifs. We were especially tickled by the couple who won Best Decorated House in one of our neighborhoods. When I knocked on his door in the dark, clipboard in hand, the homeowner wasn't too anxious to open the door, choosing instead to peek through the side window on his door and shout suspiciously - "Exactly what to you want?" I answered "Your house won." It took a second, but when he realized what I was talking about he flung open the door and literally pulled me into the house while joyfully screaming to his wife and daughter "We won, we won, we WON!!!!!!!!!" His five year old daughter came running out in her Christmas pajamas, jumping up and down, clapping her hands. His wife came around the corner in her robe, also jumping up and down. I really hate to use these words, but the entire scene was just "so cute." The happy family then proceeded to show me around the inside of their house, which was also decorated to the max. I finally led them to their front yard, where Vicki was busy pounding in the sign announcing their victory. More jumping up and down. I told them that if they didn't settle down I would have to call 9-1-1. As we drove away they were literally dancing up their driveway, arm-in-arm, laughing. Ah, life's simple pleasures.
We are now in full countdown mode for our trip to Costa Rica. I just finished making the arrangements for our final excursion while we're at the raft trip jungle lodge - canyoneering. This will involve hiking and six rappels - one of which is a 90 foot rappel down a sheer rock canyon wall. I can't wait to get pictures of Kayla and Vicki's faces. I anticipate some squeamishness.
We might go see the movie Invictus today. If we go I'll be sure go give you one of my on-target movie reviews.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Winter's Eve Update
Maybe I was a little too pessimistic about FCCC's Winter's Eve production. As usual, things just seem to come together really quickly at the end. After last night's marathon dress rehearsal - almost four hours - the show is actually looking pretty good. Last night was the first rehearsal that included the musical acts - which had been rehearsing on their own, and which were great. I especially liked the I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas number. The drama/comedy/play part of the show that we've been rehearsing is really just filler between the music talent, although I'm pleased with the potential entertainment value of my character - Cowboy Dean Gunnard. I'm not saying the Cowboy Dean video will be the hit of the show, but I do think it's pretty funny, especially the part where I draw my trusty six-shooter and blast the bottle cap off a genuine Black Jack soda (you have to show up to understand). Also, last night was the first time we got to see the total set and auditorium decorations, and taken together they are quite festive.
So, please don't let the misgivings in my prior blog posts deter you from taking in Winter's Eve. Two shows, this Saturday and Sunday evenings, show time 7:00 pm both nights. And did I mention that there will be a gigantic variety of gourmet Christmas treats available of consumption by the audience both nights? If this year is like past years, the goodies alone will be worth the price of admission.
So, please don't let the misgivings in my prior blog posts deter you from taking in Winter's Eve. Two shows, this Saturday and Sunday evenings, show time 7:00 pm both nights. And did I mention that there will be a gigantic variety of gourmet Christmas treats available of consumption by the audience both nights? If this year is like past years, the goodies alone will be worth the price of admission.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Countdown to Vacation
Well, we're now counting down the days until our vacation trip to Costa Rica. Now that my knee is all fixed I don't really have much to talk about, other than to tell people that I'm about 98% back to normal. I am continuing my therapy, trying to make sure that I'll be good to go for our action adventures in Costa Rica. I think my rehab experience is giving me an idea of what it's like to have a personal trainer. You pay someone to make you work hard, to feel the burn, to stay focused, etc. Hmmm.
Tonight is dress rehearsal for Winter's Eve - First Colony Church of Christ's annual holiday extravaganza. Call me a pessimist, but I don't have high hopes for the success of this show. Too few rehearsals, difficulty finding willing participants, marginally cheesy scripts . . . But, as I've said before, these things usually end up coming off much better than expected. Let's hope so. My character - a cowboy - has exactly five lines and is on stage for about three minutes about half way into the show, which means that I won't have to stick around past about 7:30 each night. Show time is 7:00 pm this Saturday and Sunday evenings. Good seats still available.
This has been a very encouraging week on the job hunting front. I came across two pretty good leads for jobs that I'd actually be interested in taking. Both of them are in Greenway Plaza. One is in the building next door to my old employer Transocean. I also received a call this week from someone at a company in the Greenspoint area inquiring as to whether or not I might be interested in discussing a contract job that could turn into permanent. I gave it some thought, but then decided that an hour plus commute twice a day isn't something I'm ready to accept just yet.
Yesterday at Second Mile an Eagle Scout candidate brought in about 50 bicycles that he refurbished for his service project. Some of the these bikes looked almost brand new. They'll be distributed to the kids of some of the families that Second Mile serves. These was one interesting incident involving these bikes. When they were being brought in one of the guys who works in the warehouse noticed that one of the bikes belonged to his son. It had been stolen several months ago. That was the bad news. The good news was that the bike was in better condition that when it was stolen.
That's really about if for now. Not much going on.
Tonight is dress rehearsal for Winter's Eve - First Colony Church of Christ's annual holiday extravaganza. Call me a pessimist, but I don't have high hopes for the success of this show. Too few rehearsals, difficulty finding willing participants, marginally cheesy scripts . . . But, as I've said before, these things usually end up coming off much better than expected. Let's hope so. My character - a cowboy - has exactly five lines and is on stage for about three minutes about half way into the show, which means that I won't have to stick around past about 7:30 each night. Show time is 7:00 pm this Saturday and Sunday evenings. Good seats still available.
This has been a very encouraging week on the job hunting front. I came across two pretty good leads for jobs that I'd actually be interested in taking. Both of them are in Greenway Plaza. One is in the building next door to my old employer Transocean. I also received a call this week from someone at a company in the Greenspoint area inquiring as to whether or not I might be interested in discussing a contract job that could turn into permanent. I gave it some thought, but then decided that an hour plus commute twice a day isn't something I'm ready to accept just yet.
Yesterday at Second Mile an Eagle Scout candidate brought in about 50 bicycles that he refurbished for his service project. Some of the these bikes looked almost brand new. They'll be distributed to the kids of some of the families that Second Mile serves. These was one interesting incident involving these bikes. When they were being brought in one of the guys who works in the warehouse noticed that one of the bikes belonged to his son. It had been stolen several months ago. That was the bad news. The good news was that the bike was in better condition that when it was stolen.
That's really about if for now. Not much going on.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The 2009 Parade of Snowmen
It happened. It actually happened. The weatherman predicted snow on Friday and . . . it actually snowed. I was certain that with all the hype that this would be just another trumped up weather story meant to get everybody all stirred up over nothing. When they predicted that one to two inches of snow was "probable" and that two to four inches was "possible" I figured that if was probable that it was possible that we might have light flurries for about fifteen minutes. But, for a change what Gene Norman said would happen, happened. It started snowing in Greatwood at about 7:30 in the morning and it didn't stop until 4:00 in the afternoon. It started off mixed with rain but it wasn't long before snowflakes the size of dessert plates were falling at the rate of about three million flakes per second. It was such a winter wonderland that I expected Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney to step out from behind a bush at any second and start singing White Christmas.
Because it was supposed to start freezing in the early afternoon the schools all let out early, which meant that every kid in the neighborhood was soon busy rolling out their first snowman. I noticed one across the street so I decided to drive around and check out the burgeoning snowman population. There were kids and snowmen everywhere. A few of the local white guys are shown below.
The hoodlums in the above picture posed after they bombarded my car with snowballs. I was going to complain to their parents until I noticed several parents were participants in the attack. I then looked for grandparents, but I couldn't find any, so we made a truce and I took everyone's picture.
More participants in the Greatwood Parade of Snowmen - 2009.
Just in case you can't tell, this one is actually a "snow bunny" as I was informed by the eight year old artist who created it.
In non-snow related news I am continuing with my wounded knee rehabilitation. The rehab exercises are getting harder and harder, but at the same time my knee is getting stronger and stronger. I'd say right now that it's about 95% back to normal, but I plan to continue to stay serious about my rehab because I want to make sure that I'm ready for Costa Rica at the end of this month.
Because it was supposed to start freezing in the early afternoon the schools all let out early, which meant that every kid in the neighborhood was soon busy rolling out their first snowman. I noticed one across the street so I decided to drive around and check out the burgeoning snowman population. There were kids and snowmen everywhere. A few of the local white guys are shown below.
The hoodlums in the above picture posed after they bombarded my car with snowballs. I was going to complain to their parents until I noticed several parents were participants in the attack. I then looked for grandparents, but I couldn't find any, so we made a truce and I took everyone's picture.
More participants in the Greatwood Parade of Snowmen - 2009.
Just in case you can't tell, this one is actually a "snow bunny" as I was informed by the eight year old artist who created it.
In non-snow related news I am continuing with my wounded knee rehabilitation. The rehab exercises are getting harder and harder, but at the same time my knee is getting stronger and stronger. I'd say right now that it's about 95% back to normal, but I plan to continue to stay serious about my rehab because I want to make sure that I'm ready for Costa Rica at the end of this month.
Speaking of this month, my birthday was this past Thursday. I am know officially 57 years old, which I must admit is really kind of old. When turned 40 I convinced myself that 40 wasn't all that old. I did the same thing when I turned 50. But 57! Whoa! I realize that it's time to stop kidding myself. I guess it beats the alternative. For my birthday Vicki took me out to a gourmet breakfast at Bob's Taco Station (she drove). During breakfast she presented me with a Bob's Taco Station T-shirt. She said it was a special limited edition. I can't wait to wear it.
Bethany and Cody came to town on Saturday afternoon for a short visit (they left this afternoon). Bethany came for a Christmas party with some of her college girlfriends and Cody came along for the ride. We all went to church together this morning, then out to lunch for some Chinese food. I was then absent for most of the afternoon due to rehearsal for the FCCC Christmas extravaganza, which we call Winter's Eve. I'll give you some more interesting details about that in a future post.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Snow? In Houston?
I heard the long range forecast this morning, and believe it or not it calls for the possibility of snow this Friday. That seemed almost unheard of until in the same forecast it noted that it snowed in Houston last year on December 10th. It must have been the lightest snowfall ever, because I sure don't remember anything about it.
My knee is coming along really well. As a matter of fact, unless I bend it in just the right way it doesn't even hurt anymore. I've been getting really serious about my rehab regimen, which I do twice a day. I'm also now riding a recumbent exercise bike 20 minutes a day and taking walks (I'm up to a mile and a half). I borrowed the bike from a friend at church. I put a notice on the FCCC Market Place (the church classified), asking anyone who had a bike they weren't using to let me know if I could borrow it. The response was overwhelming. It seems that just about everyone has an exercise bike gathering dust. I go in tomorrow afternoon for another session with my physical therapist, and she says that she'll be kicking things up a notch. After my workouts I put my leg into a "cryogenic sleeve" that has just come out of the freezer, which I pump up with a small pump. I think Michael Jackson slept in one of these things for awhile. I leave the knee in for twenty minutes, which just about freezes it.
This morning I made my first visit to the Jobs Ministry Southwest meeting, which is hosted by Williams Trace Baptist Church in Sugar Land. I signed up about two months ago, but today was the first time I actually went. They offer workshops on resume writing, interviewing skills, networking, etc. All the stuff you're supposed to master in order to find just the right job. They also sponsor a job bank, for which I registered online when I got home. And, they have a speaker every week. The guy today talked about defining what you're good at, what you love to do, and then selling yourself. It was supposed to be motivational, and I suppose it was for some of the people there, but I left feeling a little depressed about the whole job-seeking experience. It's now been almost eight months and all I have to show in the way of progress is one 45-minute telephone interview for a job I wasn't interested in. I'm going to two - yes two - professional events tomorrow. The first one is downtown at 7:30 AM. It'll be good to drive in some serious rush hour traffic again. I don't want to lose my edge. Maybe it'll be raining, which will make the experience even more memorable.
Speaking of the holidays, we decorated the house yesterday for Christmas. "Decorated" may be a strong word for this year's effort. As I may have mentioned ten or twelve times, we're taking the entire fam on our Costa Rican "trip of a lifetime" this Christmas. In light of the fact that Kayla and Bethany and the sons-in-law won't be showing up until December 23rd, and that we won't be home the last week of December, we went minimal on the decorating this year.
As I read this post it strikes me that it is without a doubt the least entertaining and biggest downer I've ever subjected people to. I'll try to do better next time.
Wait! I almost forgot . . . We went to see the movie The Blind Side this past Saturday night. We arrived about 30 minutes before show time and were surprised to find that there was actually a line of about 100 people waiting to get into this movie. I haven't waited in line for a movie since Forrest Gump. The theater ended up being packed to capacity, with people orbiting around looking for seats right up until the movie started. Sandra Bullock was really fantastic in this movie, but overall I was a little disappointed - maybe because I read the book and my expectations were too high. That being said, however, everyone else seemed to really love the movie (Vicki included). I give it an eight. It's a great true story - definitely worth seeing.
My knee is coming along really well. As a matter of fact, unless I bend it in just the right way it doesn't even hurt anymore. I've been getting really serious about my rehab regimen, which I do twice a day. I'm also now riding a recumbent exercise bike 20 minutes a day and taking walks (I'm up to a mile and a half). I borrowed the bike from a friend at church. I put a notice on the FCCC Market Place (the church classified), asking anyone who had a bike they weren't using to let me know if I could borrow it. The response was overwhelming. It seems that just about everyone has an exercise bike gathering dust. I go in tomorrow afternoon for another session with my physical therapist, and she says that she'll be kicking things up a notch. After my workouts I put my leg into a "cryogenic sleeve" that has just come out of the freezer, which I pump up with a small pump. I think Michael Jackson slept in one of these things for awhile. I leave the knee in for twenty minutes, which just about freezes it.
This morning I made my first visit to the Jobs Ministry Southwest meeting, which is hosted by Williams Trace Baptist Church in Sugar Land. I signed up about two months ago, but today was the first time I actually went. They offer workshops on resume writing, interviewing skills, networking, etc. All the stuff you're supposed to master in order to find just the right job. They also sponsor a job bank, for which I registered online when I got home. And, they have a speaker every week. The guy today talked about defining what you're good at, what you love to do, and then selling yourself. It was supposed to be motivational, and I suppose it was for some of the people there, but I left feeling a little depressed about the whole job-seeking experience. It's now been almost eight months and all I have to show in the way of progress is one 45-minute telephone interview for a job I wasn't interested in. I'm going to two - yes two - professional events tomorrow. The first one is downtown at 7:30 AM. It'll be good to drive in some serious rush hour traffic again. I don't want to lose my edge. Maybe it'll be raining, which will make the experience even more memorable.
Speaking of the holidays, we decorated the house yesterday for Christmas. "Decorated" may be a strong word for this year's effort. As I may have mentioned ten or twelve times, we're taking the entire fam on our Costa Rican "trip of a lifetime" this Christmas. In light of the fact that Kayla and Bethany and the sons-in-law won't be showing up until December 23rd, and that we won't be home the last week of December, we went minimal on the decorating this year.
As I read this post it strikes me that it is without a doubt the least entertaining and biggest downer I've ever subjected people to. I'll try to do better next time.
Wait! I almost forgot . . . We went to see the movie The Blind Side this past Saturday night. We arrived about 30 minutes before show time and were surprised to find that there was actually a line of about 100 people waiting to get into this movie. I haven't waited in line for a movie since Forrest Gump. The theater ended up being packed to capacity, with people orbiting around looking for seats right up until the movie started. Sandra Bullock was really fantastic in this movie, but overall I was a little disappointed - maybe because I read the book and my expectations were too high. That being said, however, everyone else seemed to really love the movie (Vicki included). I give it an eight. It's a great true story - definitely worth seeing.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Turkey Legs and Wounded Knees
Well, things went pretty well with my knee-fixing procedure. There were a few minor foibles, but nothing of any real consequence. I do have one hospital tip for you - if they tell you to show up at 6:00 AM don't come early. We arrived at Oak Bend Hospital in Richmond (formerly called Polly Ryon and affectionately known as "Probably Dyin") at 5:45 and there was nobody there, which when you think about it makes perfect sense. If your work day started at 6:00 in the morning would you come in early? Neither would I. I have one other hospital observation that I'll share with you. Prepare to be progressively a little chillier than you'd like. I spent time in three different rooms, each about 10 degrees cooler than than the previous one, ending up in the actual operating room, which I would estimate to be about two degrees above freezing. Not that it really mattered because once they put the knock out drops into my IV I was out in about two seconds.
I started my rehab yesterday by doing a series of about 15 exercises and a few ten-minute walks around the neighborhood. My physical therapist is coming over this afternoon to take off my bandages and probably give me some more exercise stuff to do. Tonight I'm going to a high school football game with a friend, so life is good.
Here's the knee I've been talking about for the last two weeks. Does it look swelled up?
I started my rehab yesterday by doing a series of about 15 exercises and a few ten-minute walks around the neighborhood. My physical therapist is coming over this afternoon to take off my bandages and probably give me some more exercise stuff to do. Tonight I'm going to a high school football game with a friend, so life is good.
Here's the knee I've been talking about for the last two weeks. Does it look swelled up?
Here's me patiently waiting in Polar Zone #1.
Yesterday for Thanksgiving we went to Camelo's for dinner. As I think I mentioned, this was the year for both Kayla and Bethany to spend Thanksgiving with their in-laws, so we didn't see the need to do the full-blown Thanksgiving dinner routine for just the two of us. Because Vicki's sister and brother-in-law (Cheryl and Bob for those who know them) were in the same boat we decided to team up and go out to dinner. At first it did seem a little odd to be at an Italian restaurant with a menu in our hands instead of at the dining room table next to a big turkey, but we got over that in pretty short order. I wouldn't want to do this every year, but I must say yesterday's experience was very enjoyable. After dinner everybody came over to our house and we had the pumpkin pie I made last weekend for dessert. Not to blow my own horn, but the pie was probably the best I've ever tasted. I'm sure everyone felt the same. Nobody actual said that, but I could just tell.
Get this, on the way home from Carmelo's we passed the Best Buy store in First Colony, and there were people camping out on the sidewalk. And I don't mean just standing in line, but literally camping out - with tents! I wonder just what bargain could possible be so fantastic that one would spend the night sleeping on a concrete sidewalk in a suburban shopping center parking lot? Especially since I understand that you can get the same Black Friday prices online as in person. I hope nobody got mugged.
Okay, I'm off for my first 15-minute walk of the day. Yesterday when I was out for my first walk my neighbor - who had heard of my ladder incident - said "So, I guess you found out that you can't really fly." My response was "The flying part was easy. It was the landing that gave me problems."
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Cutting Has Been Delayed
I found out this morning that my knee surgery has been pushed back from tomorrow afternoon until Wednesday morning at 7:30. I'm disappointed because I was really looking forward to getting this over with, but I guess one day won't really matter much.
I spent today running around getting ready for my big day on Wednesday. First, I had my annual (sort of) physical. I coincidentally had this scheduled for several weeks, which was good because I needed some "pre-surgery" tests done before my knee thing. I gave up my fear of needles several years ago, but if I have too many guys like the guy I had this morning drawing my blood I may go back to being scared of the needle. He was not good, and I have a nice bruise to prove it.
After the physical I had to stop by Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land for a chest x-ray, which was required as part of the pre-surgery check list. I asked my doctor why my knee surgeon required me to have a chest x-ray, and his response was - "It's a CYA required test." His honesty was refreshing.
My next stop was at Oak Bend Hospital to pre-register for my Wednesday procedure. When I arrived, Linda - the lady in the office - handed me some paperwork to verify. They managed to get my name, date of birth, SSN, address, etc. right, but all the forms said my surgery date was tomorrow instead of Wednesday. When I pointed this out to Linda she seemed to think that this error was somehow my fault. She betrayed her thoughts by heaving an extremely heavy sigh that seemed to last for about 30 seconds. She asked me if I was sure my date was Wednesday, not Tuesday. I was then forced to remind her (I really hated to do it) that it was her who called me earlier in the day to tell me the date had been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday. At any rate, I'm supposed to show up at 7:30 Wednesday morning and I should be ready to go home by around 1:00.
On a non-knee note, Vicki and I were notified today that our application to be the judges for the Greatwood Christmas Lighting contest has been approved. I got the distinct impression from the congratulatory email that we were the only ones who had applied for the job. After several years of pondering the judges' decisions on the winners we will finally get to impose our will on the contest. Due to our trip to Costa Rica and my knee problems (I'm swearing off ladders for awhile) we're not planning to decorate the outside of the house this year, so there will be no conflict of interest. For a change we won't get to complain about not winning. I wonder what that will be like?
Vicki was hugely successful in her quest to collect 125 dozen cookies for the Second Mile Thanksgiving food give-away at the Stafford Center this Wednesday. She surpassed her goal by about 100 dozen. You should have seen our kitchen - wall to wall cookies. One of the most wonderful sights I have ever beheld. Have I ever mentioned that I've never met a cookie that I didn't like?
BONUS BOOK REVIEW -
I just finished reading an interesting book, with an even more interesting title - We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families. The book chronicles the 1994 massacre of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis by their rival Hutus. I remember following this at the time, but for some reason most of the world didn't take much notice. The amazing/disturbing thing about this unfortunate episode is that it happened over a period of only 100 days, and the Rwandan government not only let it happen, but encouraged their citizens to do it. More disturbing is that the offending Hutus carried out the majority of the killings by hacking their neighbors to death with machetes. I highlighted one very interesting quote from the author, Philip Gourevitch. "Power consists of the ability to make others inhabit your story of their reality, even if you have to kill a lot of them to make that happen." Hmmm.
On that uplifting note I'll say good-bye for now.
I spent today running around getting ready for my big day on Wednesday. First, I had my annual (sort of) physical. I coincidentally had this scheduled for several weeks, which was good because I needed some "pre-surgery" tests done before my knee thing. I gave up my fear of needles several years ago, but if I have too many guys like the guy I had this morning drawing my blood I may go back to being scared of the needle. He was not good, and I have a nice bruise to prove it.
After the physical I had to stop by Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land for a chest x-ray, which was required as part of the pre-surgery check list. I asked my doctor why my knee surgeon required me to have a chest x-ray, and his response was - "It's a CYA required test." His honesty was refreshing.
My next stop was at Oak Bend Hospital to pre-register for my Wednesday procedure. When I arrived, Linda - the lady in the office - handed me some paperwork to verify. They managed to get my name, date of birth, SSN, address, etc. right, but all the forms said my surgery date was tomorrow instead of Wednesday. When I pointed this out to Linda she seemed to think that this error was somehow my fault. She betrayed her thoughts by heaving an extremely heavy sigh that seemed to last for about 30 seconds. She asked me if I was sure my date was Wednesday, not Tuesday. I was then forced to remind her (I really hated to do it) that it was her who called me earlier in the day to tell me the date had been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday. At any rate, I'm supposed to show up at 7:30 Wednesday morning and I should be ready to go home by around 1:00.
On a non-knee note, Vicki and I were notified today that our application to be the judges for the Greatwood Christmas Lighting contest has been approved. I got the distinct impression from the congratulatory email that we were the only ones who had applied for the job. After several years of pondering the judges' decisions on the winners we will finally get to impose our will on the contest. Due to our trip to Costa Rica and my knee problems (I'm swearing off ladders for awhile) we're not planning to decorate the outside of the house this year, so there will be no conflict of interest. For a change we won't get to complain about not winning. I wonder what that will be like?
Vicki was hugely successful in her quest to collect 125 dozen cookies for the Second Mile Thanksgiving food give-away at the Stafford Center this Wednesday. She surpassed her goal by about 100 dozen. You should have seen our kitchen - wall to wall cookies. One of the most wonderful sights I have ever beheld. Have I ever mentioned that I've never met a cookie that I didn't like?
BONUS BOOK REVIEW -
I just finished reading an interesting book, with an even more interesting title - We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families. The book chronicles the 1994 massacre of 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis by their rival Hutus. I remember following this at the time, but for some reason most of the world didn't take much notice. The amazing/disturbing thing about this unfortunate episode is that it happened over a period of only 100 days, and the Rwandan government not only let it happen, but encouraged their citizens to do it. More disturbing is that the offending Hutus carried out the majority of the killings by hacking their neighbors to death with machetes. I highlighted one very interesting quote from the author, Philip Gourevitch. "Power consists of the ability to make others inhabit your story of their reality, even if you have to kill a lot of them to make that happen." Hmmm.
On that uplifting note I'll say good-bye for now.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
First the Pumpkins - Then the Knee
Well, I finally got the word on my knee. The MRI showed a torn meniscus and "some other damage behind the knee cap" so I'll be having arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage this Tuesday. I'm not sure of the time yet, but I know it will be in the afternoon at Oak Bend Hospital in Richmond. After a week of waiting it's a relief to finally know what's wrong, to get it fixed ASAP, and have the opportunity to get started on my rehab.
Yesterday could have been another day of sitting in the recliner all day, but I decided doing that would probably drive me crazy, so I decided to take control of my life and try to do something - anything - to get off my backside for awhile. After careful consideration I decided to do what anyone in my situation would do. I baked some pies. Pumpkin pies actually. From scratch!
Me baking pies shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone. I've done this before, back in 1999, so counting this time I bake for Thanksgiving every ten years. Check this blog again in 2019 for my next round of baking.
For those of you not as schooled in the fine art of baking as myself I have some tips which you'll want to keep in mind for your future forays into baking.
Ingredients - Before you get started make sure you have everything you need. Try to imagine my heartbreak yesterday when I discovered midway through concocting my pumpkin pie filling that I was out of ground cloves! My concentration and momentum were completely destroyed during my 45 minute trip to H-E-B. Don't let this happen to you. Make sure you have everything before you start.
Bowl Management - This has nothing to do with college football and everything to do with recognizing the number and logical order of your bowl needs during the baking experience. Don't use your big bowls to mix small amounts of stuff. If you do you'll end up in the unfortunate situation of having to put everything together in the little bowls, and that's not good. I found myself pouring things into plastic Astros cups to free up required bowl space. Again, a significant momentum buster.
Read and Follow the Instructions [No Picture] - This goes without saying, but some of you (especially for those of the male persuasion) you may be tempted to try and speed things up by making inaccurate assumptions, skipping steps, and freelancing with ingredients. This can lead to some unforeseen circumstances, all of them bad, including poor bowl management (see above), not having the proper ingredients (see above again), and pies that taste yukky. Remember, any pie worth making is worth making according to the recipe. Don't try to be hero. Follow the recipe!
Yesterday could have been another day of sitting in the recliner all day, but I decided doing that would probably drive me crazy, so I decided to take control of my life and try to do something - anything - to get off my backside for awhile. After careful consideration I decided to do what anyone in my situation would do. I baked some pies. Pumpkin pies actually. From scratch!
Me baking pies shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone. I've done this before, back in 1999, so counting this time I bake for Thanksgiving every ten years. Check this blog again in 2019 for my next round of baking.
For those of you not as schooled in the fine art of baking as myself I have some tips which you'll want to keep in mind for your future forays into baking.
Ingredients - Before you get started make sure you have everything you need. Try to imagine my heartbreak yesterday when I discovered midway through concocting my pumpkin pie filling that I was out of ground cloves! My concentration and momentum were completely destroyed during my 45 minute trip to H-E-B. Don't let this happen to you. Make sure you have everything before you start.
Bowl Management - This has nothing to do with college football and everything to do with recognizing the number and logical order of your bowl needs during the baking experience. Don't use your big bowls to mix small amounts of stuff. If you do you'll end up in the unfortunate situation of having to put everything together in the little bowls, and that's not good. I found myself pouring things into plastic Astros cups to free up required bowl space. Again, a significant momentum buster.
Measuring Devices - Pay attention to your implements of measurement. If you don't have the experience of someone like myself it's quite easy to mistake a teaspoon for a tablespoon, or a 3/4 cup for a full cup. Imagine the disaster that could arise from using 1/2 cup of salt instead of 1/2 teaspoon! Don let this happen to you.
Read and Follow the Instructions [No Picture] - This goes without saying, but some of you (especially for those of the male persuasion) you may be tempted to try and speed things up by making inaccurate assumptions, skipping steps, and freelancing with ingredients. This can lead to some unforeseen circumstances, all of them bad, including poor bowl management (see above), not having the proper ingredients (see above again), and pies that taste yukky. Remember, any pie worth making is worth making according to the recipe. Don't try to be hero. Follow the recipe!
Enough lecturing. The following pictures are meant to not instruct, but to inspire. They present a mosaic of the joy that is baking.
When baking from scratch it is of utmost importance to find and use only the finest ingredients. That's why I went to the Fiesta in Rosenberg to find these two gorgeous cooking pumpkins. When selecting these important vegetables it's important to consider their size, texture, firmness and overall visual appeal.
Here's what your pumpkins will look like once you cut them in half and scoop out all the sticky guts and seeds. Put them in a pan and add about an inch of water. Oops! I'm instructing instead of inspiring. Sorry.
Next, cover your pumpkins with foil and place them in the oven (preheated of course!) at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes.
If you have followed all of the instructions, used the proper ingredients, and observed good bowl management you will end up with what is pictured to the right - a perfect pumpkin pie!
Bon appetite!
After successfully completing my pies I turned on the Food Network. Having experienced the actual joy of baking I felt as if I finally belonged. It was awesome. I really related to that short chubby lady with the freckles.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Today Was MRI Day!
Today I had my very first MRI. If you're one of the thousands who follow my blog you know that last Friday I suffered an injury to my left knee when a ladder I was working on slipped from beneath me. Remember - I didn't fall off the ladder. The ladder slipped. After five days of sitting in the same recliner with a gigantic ice pack on my knee watching endless old movies on the Turner Classic Movie channel, I finally got in to see an orthopedic surgeon yesterday afternoon. After some x-rays and range of motion tests his preliminary diagnosis is a torn meniscus, to be verified by an MRI.
INTERESTING ASIDE: During my movie marathon I watched several movies from the 1930's and 1940's. It was amazing to see how many people in these movies were also in either or both the Wizard of Oz and/or It's a Wonderful Life. I'm not talking about the stars, I'm talking about the people who had between one and twenty lines. The reason I probably noticed this is because I've seen each of these movies at least thirty times.
AND NOW BACK TO THE MRI STORY -
I was hoping to get my MRI as early as possible today, but due to a variety of circumstances it didn't happen until 5:30 this evening. The big event took place at the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land. If you've never been to the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land you're missing out. This place is a palace! I felt like I was waiting in someone's gigantic upscale living room. I've decided that one reason health care is so outrageously expensive in the this country is at least partially due to places like the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land. I wonder what percentage of the cost of my $1,12o.oo MRI went to pay for all of the couches, easy chairs, marble tile and fountains in the lobby? I wonder what Obama-care thinks about such frivolous luxuries?
Regardless of the excessive opulence, everyone at St. Luke's was very cordial and helpful. I was dreading being fully inserted into the MRI tube and was extremely relieved when the sliding thing stopped with most of my head still sticking out. I was surprised that before kicking things off the technician gave me some ear plugs because he said the machine was "a little noisy". A little noisy? For thirty minutes it sounded like the opening guitar riff in the Beatles song Revolution, played at volume 95, accompanied by Superman pounding on the side of the tube with a sledge hammer. But, in spite of this I still managed to doze off a few times. I hope I didn't move in my sleep and mess things up.
The next step in my healing process is for the othro doctor to read the MRI and decide if surgery will be required to fix things. If there's no need for surgery he told me that all I'll need will be a cortisone shot to reduce the swelling and get rid of the fluid build up. The possibility of a cortisone shot took me back to a time about twenty years ago when I hurt my shoulder lifting an over stuffed suitcase into the trunk of my car. I got a cortisone shot for that. I remember two things about that shot - 1) it immediately cured the pain almost as if my magic, and 2) it was so painful that it took me about fifteen minutes to fully regain consciousness after I stopped crying.
Prior to my MRI adventure Vicki and I spent about four hours at Second Mile stuffing 1,500 envelopes with their annual end of the year appeal for money. If you've contributed to Second Mile in the past you can expect your letter in the next day or two!
Tomorrow we have big day planned, which will include a gourmet breakfast at Bob's Taco Station, followed by a visit to the $1.00 store in Richmond, followed by seeing the movie The Blind Side. Tomorrow will be huge!
INTERESTING ASIDE: During my movie marathon I watched several movies from the 1930's and 1940's. It was amazing to see how many people in these movies were also in either or both the Wizard of Oz and/or It's a Wonderful Life. I'm not talking about the stars, I'm talking about the people who had between one and twenty lines. The reason I probably noticed this is because I've seen each of these movies at least thirty times.
AND NOW BACK TO THE MRI STORY -
I was hoping to get my MRI as early as possible today, but due to a variety of circumstances it didn't happen until 5:30 this evening. The big event took place at the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land. If you've never been to the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land you're missing out. This place is a palace! I felt like I was waiting in someone's gigantic upscale living room. I've decided that one reason health care is so outrageously expensive in the this country is at least partially due to places like the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land. I wonder what percentage of the cost of my $1,12o.oo MRI went to pay for all of the couches, easy chairs, marble tile and fountains in the lobby? I wonder what Obama-care thinks about such frivolous luxuries?
Regardless of the excessive opulence, everyone at St. Luke's was very cordial and helpful. I was dreading being fully inserted into the MRI tube and was extremely relieved when the sliding thing stopped with most of my head still sticking out. I was surprised that before kicking things off the technician gave me some ear plugs because he said the machine was "a little noisy". A little noisy? For thirty minutes it sounded like the opening guitar riff in the Beatles song Revolution, played at volume 95, accompanied by Superman pounding on the side of the tube with a sledge hammer. But, in spite of this I still managed to doze off a few times. I hope I didn't move in my sleep and mess things up.
The next step in my healing process is for the othro doctor to read the MRI and decide if surgery will be required to fix things. If there's no need for surgery he told me that all I'll need will be a cortisone shot to reduce the swelling and get rid of the fluid build up. The possibility of a cortisone shot took me back to a time about twenty years ago when I hurt my shoulder lifting an over stuffed suitcase into the trunk of my car. I got a cortisone shot for that. I remember two things about that shot - 1) it immediately cured the pain almost as if my magic, and 2) it was so painful that it took me about fifteen minutes to fully regain consciousness after I stopped crying.
Prior to my MRI adventure Vicki and I spent about four hours at Second Mile stuffing 1,500 envelopes with their annual end of the year appeal for money. If you've contributed to Second Mile in the past you can expect your letter in the next day or two!
Tomorrow we have big day planned, which will include a gourmet breakfast at Bob's Taco Station, followed by a visit to the $1.00 store in Richmond, followed by seeing the movie The Blind Side. Tomorrow will be huge!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Today I Started Rehab
After sitting on the couch watching TV for almost three days I finally got started on rehabbing my injured left knee. First thing this morning I went to Ondrusek Sports Medicine. I started off with for some serious icing - with an inflatable ice pack that zipped around my leg and then was pumped full of air. It looks like a puffy cast when it's all charged up. After the icing I was instructed in five exercises that will keep my undamaged muscles in shape. I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday afternoon, at which time I'll find out if surgery will be necessary.
I spent today back on the couch, doing my exercises and icing every two hours. It figures that on the coldest day of the year I'd be in a giant ice pack for most of the day. Vicki heightened the experience by leaving the windows up in the house most of the day to take advantage of the cool, fresh air. By about 3:00 we were both frozen. The windows are now in the down position.
I'm looking forward (not) to two more days on the couch. I don't present the aura of an overly energetic person, but I typically enjoy being busy, so I expect that the next few days will be fairly trying for me. Maybe I'll read a book.
Speaking of books, there's a movie coming out this Friday called The Blind Side, which is based on the book of the same name. Lance passed this book on to me last summer after he finished it. If the movie is half as good as the book it should be good. FYI, the theme of the book/movie is football, but the real story is about an unprivileged kid who is taken in by an upper class family and makes a success of himself. I expect the movie will be a semi-chick flick hiding inside a football story. Something for everybody.
Nothing much happening on the job front. I remember posting a comment back on Memorial Day about finding a job by Labor Day. On Labor Day I envisioned gainful employment by Thanksgiving. I've revised my expectations to next Memorial Day.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, Vicki and I made the big decision today that we won't be bothering with a turkey this year. This year's holiday rotation call for both Bethany and Kayla to be with their in-laws, so putting together the usual gigantic Thanksgiving dinner seems a little pointless. We're planning to go out to dinner with Vicki's sister and brother-in-law (Cheryl and Bob for those of you who know them).
I spent today back on the couch, doing my exercises and icing every two hours. It figures that on the coldest day of the year I'd be in a giant ice pack for most of the day. Vicki heightened the experience by leaving the windows up in the house most of the day to take advantage of the cool, fresh air. By about 3:00 we were both frozen. The windows are now in the down position.
I'm looking forward (not) to two more days on the couch. I don't present the aura of an overly energetic person, but I typically enjoy being busy, so I expect that the next few days will be fairly trying for me. Maybe I'll read a book.
Speaking of books, there's a movie coming out this Friday called The Blind Side, which is based on the book of the same name. Lance passed this book on to me last summer after he finished it. If the movie is half as good as the book it should be good. FYI, the theme of the book/movie is football, but the real story is about an unprivileged kid who is taken in by an upper class family and makes a success of himself. I expect the movie will be a semi-chick flick hiding inside a football story. Something for everybody.
Nothing much happening on the job front. I remember posting a comment back on Memorial Day about finding a job by Labor Day. On Labor Day I envisioned gainful employment by Thanksgiving. I've revised my expectations to next Memorial Day.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, Vicki and I made the big decision today that we won't be bothering with a turkey this year. This year's holiday rotation call for both Bethany and Kayla to be with their in-laws, so putting together the usual gigantic Thanksgiving dinner seems a little pointless. We're planning to go out to dinner with Vicki's sister and brother-in-law (Cheryl and Bob for those of you who know them).
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tales of Near Death Experiences
Greetings everyone. We've had an interesting week since returning from our Lubbock trip on Monday afternoon. I met with a new headhunter who was recommended by a former Transocean colleague. This lady and her organization were very professional and I was quite impressed with them. She asked me quite a few questions about myself and my experience, and she seemed to have a good grasp of the current market (which still ain't too good). I was also very impressed that she had actually taken the time to read my resume before our meeting, which was a first among all of my other recruiter contacts.
On Thursday Vicki and I did our usual gigs down at Second Mile Mission Center. I could barely contain my excitement when Tom gave me my latest assignment - to organize the medical equipment/supply area of the warehouse! I'm not being facetious here, this was a dream come true. I have been eyeing that area for the last three months. It has been a jumble of walkers, wheelchairs, bandages, expired drugs and all sorts of other medical stuff. The driver behind the clean up is that we'll soon be needing as much space as possible to handle the donations that will arrive for the Christmas toy drive. In the past Second Mile has been able to utilize some offsite warehouse space, but none will be available this year. I jumped into my clean up role unsupervised, which meant I was free to make my own decisions regarding what got to stay and what had to go. I filled up the dumpster with stuff that had been there for a long time. There was some kind of old piece of dental equipment that had at least two inches of dust and cobwebs on it. There were also about 1,000 bottles (not an exaggeration) of expired vitamins, several boxes old shoe insoles, 100's of fliers about how to use a Sonicare electric toothbrush (I'm sure most Second Mile clients have $100 electric toothbrushes), and bunches of other miscellaneous stuff.
Vicki and I returned to Second Mile on Friday for a rare second appearance of the week. The son of one of the ladies who works there died a few days ago and they had a memorial service for him on Friday. Because the entire staff was attending the service they asked if Vicki and I could come in and help mind the store for a few hours. Vicki took care of the food pantry and the clothing room and I was in charge of the warehouse. Friday was a slow day for clients, so I of course was drawn back to my reorganization project in the medical section. Unfortunately, while working on the top of a ladder placing items on the upper level of shelves the ladder slipped and I managed to fall about ten feet to the concrete floor below, landing on my hands and knees. It was like a very short roller coaster ride with a very abrupt stop. After making a perfect four-point landing I lay semi-stunned on the floor for a minute or so, hoping that if I didn't move I wouldn't discover any broken body parts. After finally moving everything at least once and determining that nothing seemed to be broken, I managed to get to my feet. I was panicked to discover that everything was blur and that my vision had been affected by the fall. And then I realized that I had lost my glasses. I returned to the floor and crawled around for a minute or so until I located them. As of today it seems that my only injury is a non-functioning left knee. Based on her Internet research, Vicki has diagnosed my problem as a torn meniscus. Tomorrow morning I'll try to get an appointment to see someone for a second opinion.
Speaking of Second Mile, below is the new leader for the most worthless donation of all time. Many thanks to the generous person who dropped off this piece of junk. 
On Thursday Vicki and I did our usual gigs down at Second Mile Mission Center. I could barely contain my excitement when Tom gave me my latest assignment - to organize the medical equipment/supply area of the warehouse! I'm not being facetious here, this was a dream come true. I have been eyeing that area for the last three months. It has been a jumble of walkers, wheelchairs, bandages, expired drugs and all sorts of other medical stuff. The driver behind the clean up is that we'll soon be needing as much space as possible to handle the donations that will arrive for the Christmas toy drive. In the past Second Mile has been able to utilize some offsite warehouse space, but none will be available this year. I jumped into my clean up role unsupervised, which meant I was free to make my own decisions regarding what got to stay and what had to go. I filled up the dumpster with stuff that had been there for a long time. There was some kind of old piece of dental equipment that had at least two inches of dust and cobwebs on it. There were also about 1,000 bottles (not an exaggeration) of expired vitamins, several boxes old shoe insoles, 100's of fliers about how to use a Sonicare electric toothbrush (I'm sure most Second Mile clients have $100 electric toothbrushes), and bunches of other miscellaneous stuff.
Vicki and I returned to Second Mile on Friday for a rare second appearance of the week. The son of one of the ladies who works there died a few days ago and they had a memorial service for him on Friday. Because the entire staff was attending the service they asked if Vicki and I could come in and help mind the store for a few hours. Vicki took care of the food pantry and the clothing room and I was in charge of the warehouse. Friday was a slow day for clients, so I of course was drawn back to my reorganization project in the medical section. Unfortunately, while working on the top of a ladder placing items on the upper level of shelves the ladder slipped and I managed to fall about ten feet to the concrete floor below, landing on my hands and knees. It was like a very short roller coaster ride with a very abrupt stop. After making a perfect four-point landing I lay semi-stunned on the floor for a minute or so, hoping that if I didn't move I wouldn't discover any broken body parts. After finally moving everything at least once and determining that nothing seemed to be broken, I managed to get to my feet. I was panicked to discover that everything was blur and that my vision had been affected by the fall. And then I realized that I had lost my glasses. I returned to the floor and crawled around for a minute or so until I located them. As of today it seems that my only injury is a non-functioning left knee. Based on her Internet research, Vicki has diagnosed my problem as a torn meniscus. Tomorrow morning I'll try to get an appointment to see someone for a second opinion.
Speaking of Second Mile, below is the new leader for the most worthless donation of all time. Many thanks to the generous person who dropped off this piece of junk.
Remember - Friends don't let friends drop off this kind of junk to well meaning faith-based community service organizations.
Monday, November 9, 2009
1,482 Miles
Vicki and I just returned from a "short" trip to Lubbock to visit Kayla and Lance. They won't be able to make it home for Thanksgiving this year because 2009 is their year to be with the Agan family. However, we get them for Christmas, which is a pretty good trade.
Quick, how many miles is it from Sugar Land to Lubbock? If you guessed 503 you are correct. 503 miles! Where I grew up if you drove 503 miles you had passed through at least three states and part of Canada, but this is Texas. Actually the drive wasn't so bad. It's just like driving to Abilene - which we've done at least 25 times over the last five or six years - except you add an additional two hours and twenty minutes. What's eight and a half hours anyway? If we weren't driving we'd probably just be watching television.
If you've never driven to Lubbock you should do it just to see the windmills. That's right, I said windmills. There are literally thousands of them (and for once I'm not exaggerating). Once you get to Roscoe (you do know where Roscoe is don't you?) on U.S. 84 they more or less line both sides of the highway for the next fifty miles or so. And these are some serious windmills. They look to be at least as tall as a 25 story building. I'm sure that somebody, somewhere knows exactly how many there are, but there are way too many to count. They mostly sit in the middle of cotton fields, and some are surrounded by pump jacks that are going full throttle producing oil and gas. It's really an interesting juxtaposition of the old and the new in the world of energy production - oil and gas vs. wind power.
Once we arrived in Lubbock our tour guide, Kayla, had a full slate of activities planned, starting on Friday morning. Our first stop was the Slide Breakfast House (Slide is a street in Lubbock), where we chowed down on breakfasts (actually brunches) roughly the size of Rhode Island. From there we went to a local movie house to take in the latest incarnation of "A Christmas Carol", this one the 3-D animated version starring the voice of Jim Carrey. I won't give you a full-blown movie review here, but on a scale of 1-10 it gets a nine. One warning however . . . Don't take small children to see this flick. It's probably too scary for anyone under the age of seven or eight.
After the movie we headed out to the countryside for a visit to the Lubbock Corn Maze. The Corn Maze is a 36 acre corn field from which has been hewn a maze in the outline of the Texas Tech mascot. We arrived at dusk, which meant that by the time we'd made our way through it was dark. However, we were totally prepared, having brought along one miniature flashlight that illuminated a three square foot area for about nine inches in front of us. I highly recommend this maze to anyone who likes to wander through a corn field in the dark.
On Saturday afternoon we went to the National Ranching Heritage Center. This sounds sooo Lubbock, but it's not what you think it is. It's actually an outdoor collection of 48 historic buildings and other structures dating from 1780 through the 1930's. If you're a Texas history fan this is a great place to visit. It's sixteen acres in the middle to the Texas Tech campus, and it's more like a nice stroll through history than a visit to a museum.
Saturday night we had some of Kayla and Lance's local friends over for dinner. One of the guys told me all about how to "tarp" cotton, which was actually quite interesting. Without going into all of the fascinating details, when cotton is harvested it ends up in something that looks like a giant white brick, about the size of your living room. To keep the cotton dry until it's picked up and taken to the gin, large tarps are placed across the top. The things you can learn in Lubbock!
Sunday Vicki and Kayla drove down to Abilene for a baby shower for Cousin Lindsay - a short 280 minute round trip. I opted to stay "home" and watch football with Lance. For those of you who don't keep up with the NFL, the Texans lost (boooo!) and the Cowboys won (yawn).
We got up early this morning - early for people who are unemployed - and made the drive home. All told we put almost 1,500 miles on the speedometer. A nice little road trip.
I forgot to take a picture at the
National Ranching Heritage Center,
so all you get to see if the cover of
the Walking Guide.
All of the kids in front of the corn maze sign.
Yes, the official name of the the place is "Atldo Farms." Kayla is apparently taking a little nap.
The maze as viewed from above.
Kayla (apparently rested from her nap) and Vicki on location, deep in the maze.
Windmills and cotton fields.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Thanks to All the Grandparents and Other Old People
This past weekend was a big one for those of us who had the Halloween spirit, regardless of the name by which it was referred. On Saturday night we had our annual First Family Halloween party. It was okay to use the term Halloween because only consenting adults (sort of) were present. As I mentioned in a previous post, Vicki and I came to the party dressed as dominoes, which we thought were pretty cool costumes. The judges, alas, were not impressed with our costume selection and we did not finish in the money in the best costume contest. The winning couple included a nun and a Jewish rabbi. However, we more than redeemed ourselves in the pumpkin decorating contest, where we walked away with the "best in show" award. Thanks to our friends the Jensons for hosting the big party.
Vicki and I during our grand entrance. Vicki wanted to be the
double six because it's the highest numbered domino.
I wanted to be the three-five for a reason that
has now escaped my memory.
Vicki and I working on our award winning pumpkin,
which was by far the best in the contest.
Our winning pumpkin.
Note: After the judging the scissors were added by a
disgruntled competitor who was apparently a sore loser.
On Sunday evening we gathered for the annual Family Fest, which under no circumstances should be construed to be associated with Halloween in any way, shape or form. As you may possibly discern from the following pictures, we were clowns. But not just any clowns. We were the clowns who were manning the enchanted balloon house, where countless children were able to win candy by tossing rings around the clowns' heads. It was a lot of fun for the kids and for us. The only down side was that I woke up on Monday morning with a sore throat and some semi-significant congestion. My guess is that somewhere in my contact with about 500 kids I picked up a germ or two. I'm feeling much better today.
Here I am posing with two of my jovial associates who were taking the first shift in the balloon house for the clown ring toss game. I actually look kind of scary.
Clown team picture. Note that we all apparently went to the same place to buy our wigs.
Guess who?
Vicki and a fellow clownette.
On Monday those of us who are on Facebook received a "thank you" note which I'm certain was intended as a compliment for our efforts. It came from a very nice lady at the First Colony church who had brought her children to the Family Fest. It said, "It's so nice of the grandparents and all of the older people [my emphasis added] to put so much effort into providing our children with such a fun time!" Seeing as how Vicki and I are not grandparents it's nice to know that we have officially arrived as "older people." Next year I plan to expose myself to the bubonic plague and hug her kids.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
I Hate It When People Tell Me How Busy They Are
Wow, I haven't posted anything on my blog since October 18th - a record for being absent from blogger land. I hate myself for saying this, but the reason for my extended absence has been that I have been really, well . . . busy. Stop laughing . . . I'm serious. I really have been busy with several projects. The problem from a blogging standpoint is that none of these projects are blog-worthy from a writing perspective because they're all kind of boring. But I'll tell you all about them anyway:
Second Mile Mission Center - I continue to volunteer at Second Mile every Thursday. Lately I've been spending more time working in the food pantry of the mission, which is usually one busy place! Last Thursday I was there from 9:00 until 3:00 and we served 72 clients. If you do the math that's one every five minutes, which wouldn't be too bad if they actually came every five minutes. It was more like nobody for twenty minutes and then ten people at once. A lot of groceries go through Second Mile on an average day.
Speaking of Second Mile, Vicki and I were there today to help out with their annual "come to Second Mile for a free lunch and a short program and then we'll ask you for money." That may not be the official name for this event, but you get the picture. Vicki recruited several ladies from our First Family group, so I was just one of the girls serving lunch to our visitors. I handled the extremely technical job of handing out canned drinks. After about ten people I got the hang of it and did pretty well. My favorite part of the day was the lady who said "This is typical mid-western food - all meat and starch." This triggered two thoughts. Thought number one - it's free. If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it! Thought number two - when did Houston become part of the mid-west? I think I also heard her say she had just moved here from Connecticut, which she probably thinks is part of Canada.
Girls Reflecting Glory Conference - This is an annual conference put on by the First Colony Church of Christ for - as the name would imply - girls. I'm not sure what this year's theme is - something about girls I'm betting - but that isn't stopping me from working on the stage set. This project is becoming eerily similar to any my home improvement projects in that my original estimate of how long it will take to complete will need to be multiplied by at least ten. If you're not doing anything during the day next Monday and Tuesday please give me a call.
FCCC Winter's Eve - This is the annual church Christmas program. As a result of my triumphant stage success in Joseph (and the fact that I'm unemployed with lots of time on my hands) I was asked to participate on the committee that is writing the script for the show. We're trying to change things up a little this year and get away from ten people singing a song followed by the big chorus performing for forty-five minutes. This year's show will actually have a theme - sorry, it's a big secret - and is supposed to be funny. We'll see. I have a speaking part.
FCCC Fall Festival - This is the annual Halloween carnival, with the name "Halloween" strategically removed so that people won't confuse us with worshipers of the occult, witchcraft, or the ultimate sign of satan - the jack-o-lantern. The way this works is different groups get together and sponsor booths. This year our theme - designed and largely constructed by yours truly - is "Clown Town", which will be a madcap celebration of clowns and balloons (Note: there will be no orange or black balloons, which if you squint real hard could possibly be mistaken for a jack-o-lantern). If your kids don't get enough candy during their trick or treat outing on Halloween night - or if you eat all the good stuff after they go to bed and want more - bring them over to the Fall Festival this Sunday. It runs from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. No scary costumes, hockey masks, or any pumpkin-related items will be admitted.
Other items of interest, or not.
This week a new family moved in across the street from us. We haven't met them yet, but they moved themselves in two gigantic U-Haul trucks so they must be some down to earth people. I waved to the dad this morning when we were both taking our trash cans out. Maybe I'll get a chance to go over and introduce myself sometime this weekend. I'll take some cookies.
Bethany and Cody are coming to town for a short visit this weekend. Cody bought a truck somewhere in the area and is coming to pick it up. I'm excited to have a pick-up in the family.
I noticed on the weather news yesterday that Houston is now only 2.09 inches behind on rainfall for 2009, which goes to show just how much rain we've had over the last six weeks. We're supposed to get another 1-3 inches today and tomorrow, so we should be just about caught up by the end of the month. Because November and December are usually pretty wet months we'll probably exceed the average rainfall by year end. Only in Houston could you not have any rain for over three months and still get more rain than average for the year.
Saturday night is our big First Family Halloween party! Vicki and I are going as dominoes (the rectangular tiles with dots on them, not pizza). I'll take pictures. I promise.
Second Mile Mission Center - I continue to volunteer at Second Mile every Thursday. Lately I've been spending more time working in the food pantry of the mission, which is usually one busy place! Last Thursday I was there from 9:00 until 3:00 and we served 72 clients. If you do the math that's one every five minutes, which wouldn't be too bad if they actually came every five minutes. It was more like nobody for twenty minutes and then ten people at once. A lot of groceries go through Second Mile on an average day.
Speaking of Second Mile, Vicki and I were there today to help out with their annual "come to Second Mile for a free lunch and a short program and then we'll ask you for money." That may not be the official name for this event, but you get the picture. Vicki recruited several ladies from our First Family group, so I was just one of the girls serving lunch to our visitors. I handled the extremely technical job of handing out canned drinks. After about ten people I got the hang of it and did pretty well. My favorite part of the day was the lady who said "This is typical mid-western food - all meat and starch." This triggered two thoughts. Thought number one - it's free. If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it! Thought number two - when did Houston become part of the mid-west? I think I also heard her say she had just moved here from Connecticut, which she probably thinks is part of Canada.
Girls Reflecting Glory Conference - This is an annual conference put on by the First Colony Church of Christ for - as the name would imply - girls. I'm not sure what this year's theme is - something about girls I'm betting - but that isn't stopping me from working on the stage set. This project is becoming eerily similar to any my home improvement projects in that my original estimate of how long it will take to complete will need to be multiplied by at least ten. If you're not doing anything during the day next Monday and Tuesday please give me a call.
FCCC Winter's Eve - This is the annual church Christmas program. As a result of my triumphant stage success in Joseph (and the fact that I'm unemployed with lots of time on my hands) I was asked to participate on the committee that is writing the script for the show. We're trying to change things up a little this year and get away from ten people singing a song followed by the big chorus performing for forty-five minutes. This year's show will actually have a theme - sorry, it's a big secret - and is supposed to be funny. We'll see. I have a speaking part.
FCCC Fall Festival - This is the annual Halloween carnival, with the name "Halloween" strategically removed so that people won't confuse us with worshipers of the occult, witchcraft, or the ultimate sign of satan - the jack-o-lantern. The way this works is different groups get together and sponsor booths. This year our theme - designed and largely constructed by yours truly - is "Clown Town", which will be a madcap celebration of clowns and balloons (Note: there will be no orange or black balloons, which if you squint real hard could possibly be mistaken for a jack-o-lantern). If your kids don't get enough candy during their trick or treat outing on Halloween night - or if you eat all the good stuff after they go to bed and want more - bring them over to the Fall Festival this Sunday. It runs from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. No scary costumes, hockey masks, or any pumpkin-related items will be admitted.
Other items of interest, or not.
This week a new family moved in across the street from us. We haven't met them yet, but they moved themselves in two gigantic U-Haul trucks so they must be some down to earth people. I waved to the dad this morning when we were both taking our trash cans out. Maybe I'll get a chance to go over and introduce myself sometime this weekend. I'll take some cookies.
Bethany and Cody are coming to town for a short visit this weekend. Cody bought a truck somewhere in the area and is coming to pick it up. I'm excited to have a pick-up in the family.
I noticed on the weather news yesterday that Houston is now only 2.09 inches behind on rainfall for 2009, which goes to show just how much rain we've had over the last six weeks. We're supposed to get another 1-3 inches today and tomorrow, so we should be just about caught up by the end of the month. Because November and December are usually pretty wet months we'll probably exceed the average rainfall by year end. Only in Houston could you not have any rain for over three months and still get more rain than average for the year.
Saturday night is our big First Family Halloween party! Vicki and I are going as dominoes (the rectangular tiles with dots on them, not pizza). I'll take pictures. I promise.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
A Big Weekend
This was a busy weekend of special events.
Fun & Games at the Driving Range - On Friday morning I went to the driving range with my good friend Greg. Greg actually has a job, but he spends lots of time on the road and occasionally takes some time off between his out-of-town assignments. We are both excellent golfers, except for me. I usually play golf about twice a year, almost exclusively at work-related functions, which have become somewhat rare given that the term "work-related" no longer applies to me. Greg gave me a few pointers at the range and I actually hit a few balls in a respectable manner. The only problem we had was that the women's gold team from Houston Baptist University was also using the driving range, which was quite humbling. Greg and I agreed that we will actually try to play golf at some point in the semi-near future.
Parker's Machine Pitch Game - As if the driving range wasn't enough excitement for one day, on Friday evening Vicki and I went to our good friend Parker's machine pitch game. Parker is in kindergarten, so I think he's five years old. This game was a hoot. Watching the Pirates (Parker's team) "battle" the Astros reminded me of the good old days about twenty years ago when our girls played dad's pitch softball. The highlights included the Astros' shortstop and third basemen having a wrestling match in the infield, and the Pirates' center fielder laying down in the outfield. Parker got a couple of hits and everyone went home happy.
Josiah's 1st Birthday Party - On Saturday afternoon we drove out to The Woodlands to attend the first birthday party of Josiah, Vicki's great-nephew. Usually I think that these parties are quite lame, given that the one-year-old has no clue what's going on. However, this party was different. Josiah was his usual smiley self, and although he certainly didn't really know it was his birthday, he was the star of his own show. The other nieces and nephews were a lot of fun, and the M&M's (my favorite) were in good supply and flowing abundantly. There was a "chug the diet Coke" contest and lots of fun presents. I made myself useful by installing batteries in the new toys, so I felt good about myself. I'm already looking forward to next year's bash.
Benjamin Baptism - This morning we went to church and bible class at FCCC and then headed out to River Point Church to witness the baptism of Vicki's other great-nephew, Benjamin. There were about twenty members of the family present for the event. If you've never seen a River Point baptism you're missing out on quite an experience. As best as I can tell, they only baptize people once each month, so there were at least fifteen people waiting to be baptized. They baptize in a small pool/fountain behind their church building. After the big event we went over to Benjamin's house for lunch. There were no M&M's but it was still good.
I forgot to mention that Bethany came home for a short visit on Friday night (she went back to Round Rock this afternoon), so this was a really fine weekend.
Fun & Games at the Driving Range - On Friday morning I went to the driving range with my good friend Greg. Greg actually has a job, but he spends lots of time on the road and occasionally takes some time off between his out-of-town assignments. We are both excellent golfers, except for me. I usually play golf about twice a year, almost exclusively at work-related functions, which have become somewhat rare given that the term "work-related" no longer applies to me. Greg gave me a few pointers at the range and I actually hit a few balls in a respectable manner. The only problem we had was that the women's gold team from Houston Baptist University was also using the driving range, which was quite humbling. Greg and I agreed that we will actually try to play golf at some point in the semi-near future.
Parker's Machine Pitch Game - As if the driving range wasn't enough excitement for one day, on Friday evening Vicki and I went to our good friend Parker's machine pitch game. Parker is in kindergarten, so I think he's five years old. This game was a hoot. Watching the Pirates (Parker's team) "battle" the Astros reminded me of the good old days about twenty years ago when our girls played dad's pitch softball. The highlights included the Astros' shortstop and third basemen having a wrestling match in the infield, and the Pirates' center fielder laying down in the outfield. Parker got a couple of hits and everyone went home happy.
Josiah's 1st Birthday Party - On Saturday afternoon we drove out to The Woodlands to attend the first birthday party of Josiah, Vicki's great-nephew. Usually I think that these parties are quite lame, given that the one-year-old has no clue what's going on. However, this party was different. Josiah was his usual smiley self, and although he certainly didn't really know it was his birthday, he was the star of his own show. The other nieces and nephews were a lot of fun, and the M&M's (my favorite) were in good supply and flowing abundantly. There was a "chug the diet Coke" contest and lots of fun presents. I made myself useful by installing batteries in the new toys, so I felt good about myself. I'm already looking forward to next year's bash.
Benjamin Baptism - This morning we went to church and bible class at FCCC and then headed out to River Point Church to witness the baptism of Vicki's other great-nephew, Benjamin. There were about twenty members of the family present for the event. If you've never seen a River Point baptism you're missing out on quite an experience. As best as I can tell, they only baptize people once each month, so there were at least fifteen people waiting to be baptized. They baptize in a small pool/fountain behind their church building. After the big event we went over to Benjamin's house for lunch. There were no M&M's but it was still good.
I forgot to mention that Bethany came home for a short visit on Friday night (she went back to Round Rock this afternoon), so this was a really fine weekend.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Joys of Rampant Humidity and the Texas Workforce Commission
I mentioned the other day that I was finally going to actually apply for unemployment benefits. I registered with the Texas Workforce Commission back in May, but I've never applied for benefits ($369/week) because until recently I was not actively seeking employment. I anticipated that navigating the TWC wouldn't be a picnic, and unfortunately my assumption has now proven correct.
The last time I was unemployed - for nine months back in 1995 - the TWC (then called the Texas Employment Commission) was a fully non-automated process. In order to do anything - and I mean anything - you had to go to one of their offices. Upon arrival you would find a line to stand in and then stand in it, often for hours. On occasion this experience - although excruciating - could be interesting, because you were surrounded by people from all walks of life who were out of work. One day you might be standing between a CEO and an IRS agent, the next day maybe a short-order cook and a phone solicitor. Upon reaching the front of any line there was a 97% likelihood that you would be told to go stand in another line. If you managed to stave off starvation and collapse after standing in multiple lines for several hours you would finally reach the desk of a TEC employee, who was most likely competing in a contest with his fellow employees for the coveted title of "Most Apathetic and Unhelpful Employee of the Century." A visit to the TEC was almost always an all-day affair.
But the new and improved TWC is nothing like the old TEC. Everything is now done online. As far as I can see, the human element - and I use that term loosely in this case - has been all but eliminated, which based on my experience is a good thing. Unfortunately, while the automated process has eliminated the need to stand in endless lines for endless hours, it has not improved the efficiency of the overall experience.
Here's my story (so far). On Monday afternoon I pulled out my TWC file, located my login, my password and my security question. I then logged on to the TWC site, foolishly anticipating that something good was about to happen. After logging in and navigating to the appropriate page I saw a message that said: "It has been three or more weeks since you last requested benefit payments. In order to request benefits please call either of the telephone numbers listed below." I called the local number first and listened to the following recorded message: "We are unable to serve you at this number, please log on to www.twc.goodluckchump/lol for assistance. CLICK." I then tried the toll-free number (silly me) and listened to exactly the same message, followed by exactly the same CLICK. So the TWC has come up with an ingenious way to continue to waste your time and frustrate you to death, but without the convenience of having to stand in long lines. I'm continuing to look, but as of now I can find no way to even contact the TWC. I'll keep looking. Maybe I'll even go down to their office and get into one of those wonderful old lines.
On a more exciting note, I learned this week that banks (at least Bank of America) don't want you to roll your coins before you take them in and exchange them for real money. Vicki has a large Tupperware container into which we have been tossing our spare change for a couple of years. We're planning to use the money to visit someplace, someday. Being that the container was almost full we decided it was time to cash in our coin collection. Assuming that I'd need a bunch of those paper coin sleeve thingees, I asked for a supply when I went to the bank last week. However, instead of the coin thingees I was given a large, heavy-gauge plastic bag that looks like something they give the bank robbers to haul out the money they steal. The new process is to put your coins in the bag and return it to the bank with your account information. The bank then "sends it downtown" where it is counted and credited to your account. Yeah for automation. Are you listening TWC?
Vicki and I came to a very important understanding earlier this week. It's something we've had several earnest discussions about recently and I'm glad we finally both got our feelings out in the open and came to a decision. After much soul-searching we've decided to dress as dominoes for our first family Halloween party. Vicki wants to be the double six. I'm partial to a non-double, maybe the five and the three. I'm looking forward to starting this tomorrow.
For those of you who are not Houston area residents, I'll bring you up to speed on our recent whether. Without much effort you'll recall that we had a fairly serious drought and heat wave here this past summer. It honestly didn't rain at our house for over three months and the temperatures were over 100 degrees on more days than we could stand. Well, things have changed - sort of. With the advent of fall it has rained almost every day for the last three weeks, which is good. However, with the exception of a few cool days that were obviously sent by the devil to get our hopes up, it has remained hot. The high yesterday was 93 and the high today is supposed to hit at least that. It has also been off-the-charts humid, and to top that off the night time lows have been in the low 80's. We're looking forward to those brisk winter days when the temperature dips into the 60's.
The last time I was unemployed - for nine months back in 1995 - the TWC (then called the Texas Employment Commission) was a fully non-automated process. In order to do anything - and I mean anything - you had to go to one of their offices. Upon arrival you would find a line to stand in and then stand in it, often for hours. On occasion this experience - although excruciating - could be interesting, because you were surrounded by people from all walks of life who were out of work. One day you might be standing between a CEO and an IRS agent, the next day maybe a short-order cook and a phone solicitor. Upon reaching the front of any line there was a 97% likelihood that you would be told to go stand in another line. If you managed to stave off starvation and collapse after standing in multiple lines for several hours you would finally reach the desk of a TEC employee, who was most likely competing in a contest with his fellow employees for the coveted title of "Most Apathetic and Unhelpful Employee of the Century." A visit to the TEC was almost always an all-day affair.
But the new and improved TWC is nothing like the old TEC. Everything is now done online. As far as I can see, the human element - and I use that term loosely in this case - has been all but eliminated, which based on my experience is a good thing. Unfortunately, while the automated process has eliminated the need to stand in endless lines for endless hours, it has not improved the efficiency of the overall experience.
Here's my story (so far). On Monday afternoon I pulled out my TWC file, located my login, my password and my security question. I then logged on to the TWC site, foolishly anticipating that something good was about to happen. After logging in and navigating to the appropriate page I saw a message that said: "It has been three or more weeks since you last requested benefit payments. In order to request benefits please call either of the telephone numbers listed below." I called the local number first and listened to the following recorded message: "We are unable to serve you at this number, please log on to www.twc.goodluckchump/lol for assistance. CLICK." I then tried the toll-free number (silly me) and listened to exactly the same message, followed by exactly the same CLICK. So the TWC has come up with an ingenious way to continue to waste your time and frustrate you to death, but without the convenience of having to stand in long lines. I'm continuing to look, but as of now I can find no way to even contact the TWC. I'll keep looking. Maybe I'll even go down to their office and get into one of those wonderful old lines.
On a more exciting note, I learned this week that banks (at least Bank of America) don't want you to roll your coins before you take them in and exchange them for real money. Vicki has a large Tupperware container into which we have been tossing our spare change for a couple of years. We're planning to use the money to visit someplace, someday. Being that the container was almost full we decided it was time to cash in our coin collection. Assuming that I'd need a bunch of those paper coin sleeve thingees, I asked for a supply when I went to the bank last week. However, instead of the coin thingees I was given a large, heavy-gauge plastic bag that looks like something they give the bank robbers to haul out the money they steal. The new process is to put your coins in the bag and return it to the bank with your account information. The bank then "sends it downtown" where it is counted and credited to your account. Yeah for automation. Are you listening TWC?
Vicki and I came to a very important understanding earlier this week. It's something we've had several earnest discussions about recently and I'm glad we finally both got our feelings out in the open and came to a decision. After much soul-searching we've decided to dress as dominoes for our first family Halloween party. Vicki wants to be the double six. I'm partial to a non-double, maybe the five and the three. I'm looking forward to starting this tomorrow.
For those of you who are not Houston area residents, I'll bring you up to speed on our recent whether. Without much effort you'll recall that we had a fairly serious drought and heat wave here this past summer. It honestly didn't rain at our house for over three months and the temperatures were over 100 degrees on more days than we could stand. Well, things have changed - sort of. With the advent of fall it has rained almost every day for the last three weeks, which is good. However, with the exception of a few cool days that were obviously sent by the devil to get our hopes up, it has remained hot. The high yesterday was 93 and the high today is supposed to hit at least that. It has also been off-the-charts humid, and to top that off the night time lows have been in the low 80's. We're looking forward to those brisk winter days when the temperature dips into the 60's.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
I'm Addicted to Facebook (NOT!)
As do many of you, I have an account on Facebook. Bethany decided during one of her visits home a few months ago that I needed to be a Facebook person, so she set up an account for me. I don't look at Facebook much - usually only when someone wants to be my "friend". It's nice to have friends, even if a lot of them are the adolescent children of people who are my age. Anyway, this morning I was accepting my most recent friend and I actually took some time to read some of the posts other people had made. Now, I don't want this to sound mean-spirited or anything, but . . . get real! I thought that I had a boring, mundane life, but compared to some of the drivel I read on Facebook I'm a rock star. Here's a sample of a few of the most fascinating posts and my theoretical responses:
. . . sitting on my back porch drinking coffee. [Please provide more details regarding your porch.]
. . . my plane is fifteen minutes late. [Is that good or bad?]
. . . I'm about to have lunch. [Please let me know as soon as possible what you ordered.]
. . . I just scored 85,000 points on All That Glitters is Gold. [I just bowled a 237 on my Wii game so now I get a glittery bowling ball, which means that we are both into glitter!]
. . . I'm going to bed now. [I hope you wake up. If not, let me know.]
After reading these interesting posts I realize that I am waaay behind on keeping everyone updated on the minutia of my life. So, in a effort to catch up, here are some posts that will bring everyone up to speed:
. . . I'm heading to the kitchen for my first bowl of Cheerios. Actually they are Honey Nut Cheerios, but in the end a Cheerio is a Cheerio. FYI, I also like the newest addition to the Chreerios family, which is Banana Nut Cheerios. It's made with real banana flavoring and other artificial ingredients (including BHT to preserve freshness). Cereal is a great way to start your day, don't you think?
. . . just bought some stuff to kill the brown patch in my yard. Death to brown patch and all other lawn diseases! Don't you just hate lawn diseases?
. . . just dozed off watching The Doctors. I just hate that I missed it. It was about insomnia.
. . . just cut the toe nails on my right foot.
. . . just cut the toe nails on my left foot.
. . . just burped (must have been the Cheerios).
. . . just contemplated the meaning of life.
. . . just ate some ice cream when Vicki wasn't looking.
. . . just realized I forgot my Dad's birthday again for the 27th straight year. It's Vicki's fault for not reminding me.
. . . can you tell it's still raining, that I have nothing productive to do indoors, and that I'm really bored?
. . . just realized that I've been shirking my responsibilities to Facebook. I'll try to do better.
. . . sitting on my back porch drinking coffee. [Please provide more details regarding your porch.]
. . . my plane is fifteen minutes late. [Is that good or bad?]
. . . I'm about to have lunch. [Please let me know as soon as possible what you ordered.]
. . . I just scored 85,000 points on All That Glitters is Gold. [I just bowled a 237 on my Wii game so now I get a glittery bowling ball, which means that we are both into glitter!]
. . . I'm going to bed now. [I hope you wake up. If not, let me know.]
After reading these interesting posts I realize that I am waaay behind on keeping everyone updated on the minutia of my life. So, in a effort to catch up, here are some posts that will bring everyone up to speed:
. . . I'm heading to the kitchen for my first bowl of Cheerios. Actually they are Honey Nut Cheerios, but in the end a Cheerio is a Cheerio. FYI, I also like the newest addition to the Chreerios family, which is Banana Nut Cheerios. It's made with real banana flavoring and other artificial ingredients (including BHT to preserve freshness). Cereal is a great way to start your day, don't you think?
. . . just bought some stuff to kill the brown patch in my yard. Death to brown patch and all other lawn diseases! Don't you just hate lawn diseases?
. . . just dozed off watching The Doctors. I just hate that I missed it. It was about insomnia.
. . . just cut the toe nails on my right foot.
. . . just cut the toe nails on my left foot.
. . . just burped (must have been the Cheerios).
. . . just contemplated the meaning of life.
. . . just ate some ice cream when Vicki wasn't looking.
. . . just realized I forgot my Dad's birthday again for the 27th straight year. It's Vicki's fault for not reminding me.
. . . can you tell it's still raining, that I have nothing productive to do indoors, and that I'm really bored?
. . . just realized that I've been shirking my responsibilities to Facebook. I'll try to do better.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
It's Time to Take Down the Christmas Lights
We got back this afternoon from a fun trip up to Marble Falls/Austin/Round Rock. We were there to attend the wedding of a college friend of Kayla and Bethany. It was an outdoor wedding, and the weather was a little iffy for awhile, but aside from it being a little on the cool side, everything went well and we all had a good time. For a change Kayla and Bethany weren't bridesmaids. This time around they were members of the "house party" which is really a pretty good gig. Unlike bridesmaids - who have to cough up some cash for a dress - the house party girls operate as more or less honored guests. They're not quite in the starting line up, but they are still members of the team. No dresses to buy, but they still get to attend all of the wedding festivities - bridesmaids luncheon, rehearsal dinner, good seats up-front at the wedding, and they get in the official group wedding pictures. Like I said - a pretty good gig. And, oh yeah, Cody did make the starting line up on the groom's side. He was an official tux-renting groomsman.
While in Marble Falls we were guests of the Simmons's at their recently acquired/renovated house on Lake Buchanan, which was also the site of the bridesmaid luncheon on Friday (which was hosted by Vicki and Diane Simmons). I hear it was a great event for all who participated. This morning we had fun sitting around with our girls and with several of their ACU friends who had come to town for the wedding and then crashed at the Simmons' place last night. On our way back to Sugar Land we made a quick stop in Round Rock to drop off Bethany and Cody.
When we got back home I dropped Vicki off and drove over to the church building to attend a screening of the video of the Joseph show. As I was driving into the parking lot I was thinking that we're a little like those people who leave their Christmas lights on until the middle of January because they don't want the fun to end. The video was entertaining to those of us who had never really seen the whole show from start to finish. We laughed and applauded and teased each other. But, enough is enough. Tonight was it. The show is now officially over. Turn out the lights, take down the tree - it's time to move on.
Speaking of moving on, I found out this past Friday that I'm on the committee that will plan the entertainment for this year's FCCC Winter's Eve program, which is our annual Christmas extravaganza. Our initial plan is to make this year's show a little more of a variety show instead of just a series of singing presentations. We plan to introduce a little more humor than is customary.
This past Thursday was my Second Mile day and I spent my time building a table. A table, you ask? Why a table? Well, it seems that a local company donated a very functioning copier to Second Mile that is far superior to the one they are current using. However, they neglected to donate the stand that the copier formerly sat on, which is necessary so that the sorter, stapler, collator attachment can be used. So, in order to make everything work together it was necessary to find a table that was 15 1/4" high. After unsuccessfully scouring the warehouse for such a table I decided that the best thing to do was to build one, which I did using scrap lumber that I found laying around. As you can see from the picture below, it won't be mistaken for an Ethan Allen original, but it will hopefully serve the purpose.
My job search is going nowhere and I am starting to get really disgusted with the whole thing. When I think about what's transpired to put me into my current situation I get more than a little irritated. Until November 2007 I was working for a perfectly good company. It was profitable, well-managed, highly respected within the industry, and generally a very enjoyable place to work. Then along came Transocean - the antithesis for GlobalSantaFe. As a company Transocean was years behind GSF in its use of technology, it relied on systems that were inferior to those of GSF on all fronts, its policies, procedures and documentation were out-of-date and generally not effective, and it was a sweat shop with a rampant employee turnover problem. Since the takeover, the CEO's of both companies - the two guys most responsible for this disaster - have extracted their financial windfall and bailed, as have almost all of the members of the senior executive teams of both companies (the SVP of HR of GlobalSantaFe being the most notable exception). I'm not sorry that I have had the opportunity to escape from Transocean - to the contrary, I'm thrilled to be gone - but I'm starting to get just a little bit bitter that this whole unfortunate turn of events ever happened in the first place. If there's any silver lining in this whole situation it's that it has allowed me to refocus on what is really important in my life, which is my faith and my family. Whatever happens over the coming months (years?) I'll rely on God to point me in the direction He would have me go. Sorry for the rant. It won't happen again (at least not again soon)!
This coming week has several notable and exciting events on tap. I have an appointment on Tuesday regarding my upcoming colonoscopy. I promise that there will be no further details on this event. I'm also going to borrow my neighbor's pick-up truck and get a load of top-soil for my drought-ravaged front yard. Keeping with the yard/lawn theme, I'll also be spraying my back yard with whatever chemical I determined is required to kill brown patch, which with the advent of slightly cooler weather has invaded and is beginning to wreak havoc with the green grass that survived the summer. I also plan to file my first claim for unemployment benefits this week. I'm guessing that that will be both fun and exciting.
While in Marble Falls we were guests of the Simmons's at their recently acquired/renovated house on Lake Buchanan, which was also the site of the bridesmaid luncheon on Friday (which was hosted by Vicki and Diane Simmons). I hear it was a great event for all who participated. This morning we had fun sitting around with our girls and with several of their ACU friends who had come to town for the wedding and then crashed at the Simmons' place last night. On our way back to Sugar Land we made a quick stop in Round Rock to drop off Bethany and Cody.
When we got back home I dropped Vicki off and drove over to the church building to attend a screening of the video of the Joseph show. As I was driving into the parking lot I was thinking that we're a little like those people who leave their Christmas lights on until the middle of January because they don't want the fun to end. The video was entertaining to those of us who had never really seen the whole show from start to finish. We laughed and applauded and teased each other. But, enough is enough. Tonight was it. The show is now officially over. Turn out the lights, take down the tree - it's time to move on.
Speaking of moving on, I found out this past Friday that I'm on the committee that will plan the entertainment for this year's FCCC Winter's Eve program, which is our annual Christmas extravaganza. Our initial plan is to make this year's show a little more of a variety show instead of just a series of singing presentations. We plan to introduce a little more humor than is customary.
This past Thursday was my Second Mile day and I spent my time building a table. A table, you ask? Why a table? Well, it seems that a local company donated a very functioning copier to Second Mile that is far superior to the one they are current using. However, they neglected to donate the stand that the copier formerly sat on, which is necessary so that the sorter, stapler, collator attachment can be used. So, in order to make everything work together it was necessary to find a table that was 15 1/4" high. After unsuccessfully scouring the warehouse for such a table I decided that the best thing to do was to build one, which I did using scrap lumber that I found laying around. As you can see from the picture below, it won't be mistaken for an Ethan Allen original, but it will hopefully serve the purpose.
My job search is going nowhere and I am starting to get really disgusted with the whole thing. When I think about what's transpired to put me into my current situation I get more than a little irritated. Until November 2007 I was working for a perfectly good company. It was profitable, well-managed, highly respected within the industry, and generally a very enjoyable place to work. Then along came Transocean - the antithesis for GlobalSantaFe. As a company Transocean was years behind GSF in its use of technology, it relied on systems that were inferior to those of GSF on all fronts, its policies, procedures and documentation were out-of-date and generally not effective, and it was a sweat shop with a rampant employee turnover problem. Since the takeover, the CEO's of both companies - the two guys most responsible for this disaster - have extracted their financial windfall and bailed, as have almost all of the members of the senior executive teams of both companies (the SVP of HR of GlobalSantaFe being the most notable exception). I'm not sorry that I have had the opportunity to escape from Transocean - to the contrary, I'm thrilled to be gone - but I'm starting to get just a little bit bitter that this whole unfortunate turn of events ever happened in the first place. If there's any silver lining in this whole situation it's that it has allowed me to refocus on what is really important in my life, which is my faith and my family. Whatever happens over the coming months (years?) I'll rely on God to point me in the direction He would have me go. Sorry for the rant. It won't happen again (at least not again soon)!
This coming week has several notable and exciting events on tap. I have an appointment on Tuesday regarding my upcoming colonoscopy. I promise that there will be no further details on this event. I'm also going to borrow my neighbor's pick-up truck and get a load of top-soil for my drought-ravaged front yard. Keeping with the yard/lawn theme, I'll also be spraying my back yard with whatever chemical I determined is required to kill brown patch, which with the advent of slightly cooler weather has invaded and is beginning to wreak havoc with the green grass that survived the summer. I also plan to file my first claim for unemployment benefits this week. I'm guessing that that will be both fun and exciting.
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