The Pro Bowl

Will anyone be watching this evening? It'll be on ESPN. Cable, which I don't have. Not that it makes much difference. I doubt I would be giving it much viewing time, anyway, except perhaps for an occasional glimpse.

[Masterpiece Classic - PBS - takes precedence one of those hours. They're showing part two of a 3-part series on "Emma" tonight. Then, the next hour will see me watching Stargate SG-1. Anyone like that series? It's one of my favorites. Channel 2.2 (local) is rerunning two episodes every Sunday evening. In addition to several of the main characters - not the least of which is Amanda Tapping - continuing to hold my interest, I think Richard Dean Anderson is a "hunk".]

It has been many years since I watched a Pro Bowl game. To give you some idea of how long it's been, I guess the last time was when Warren Moon was playing in it. He was selected to play in that game nine times, the first in 1988 ... I would have watched that one, for sure!

Back then, Jerry Glanville was the Oilers' head coach. Jerry and I both attended Northern Michigan University as undergraduates. We never met personally while in college (I was a few years his senior), but the two of us sure did have a lot of fun talking about 'the good old days' when he was here in Houston. At that time, I was an avid member of the Oilers' booster club and never missed a meeting if I could help it.

[The Oilers lost me permanently as a fan when Jerry was fired, but that's a whole nuther story. I'll tell you about it sometime, if I remember - and am in the mood - to do so.]

I had the opportunity to meet and get to know - just a little bit - Warren's wife, Felicia. We attended some of the same events. (I was still in the art business, altho it was waning.) A lovely, lovely person, both visually and personality-wise. I liked her very much.

But - as usual - I digress. Back to football.

In re-reading some of Warren's biography in Wiki, I noticed prominent mention of the 1992 playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. That's the infamous (or famous, depending on whether or not you're a Bills' fan) one, where the Oilers had a second half collapse of unprecedented proportions.

There was a really good story that made the rounds here in Houston after that game. Lots of good stories made the rounds, but this one sticks in my memory banks. It seems there was this fellow whose wife had been nagging at him for a couple of weeks to mow the lawn. That particular day, the weather was absolutely beautiful here in Houston. He really had no excuse other than the Oilers-Bills playoff game. Well, we know what he did, don't we? He watched the game. At least, the first half, after which he decided - the Oilers were then up by a score of 35-3 - that the rest of the game would go the Oilers' way, as well, and went outside to mow the lawn and try to please his wife and keep some peace in the family. I don't know if he has since stopped blaming himself for their loss or not.

Well, that's about it for my thoughts on the Pro Bowl. I don't even know who is playing in it this year. Do you?

My son-in-law is of the opinion that, as the 'powers that be' scheduled that game in the week between the end of the playoffs and the Super Bowl, they were trying to drum up more interest in the Pro Bowl.

Did it work for you? Will you be watching?

Friday afternoon ramblings

It's going on 3pm, and I've just returned back home from a couple of hours of semi-serious grocery shopping ... I say "semi" because it's not like we're going to be snowed in for a couple of months or anything like that but, according to Polimom's "Winter Storm Warning" posted at 7:55 am this morning, we're due to receive our earliest recorded snowfall EVER with some deliriously 'out there' forecasters predicting as much as a 6 inch accumulation.

[Actually, I should have left the house earlier but was having way too much fun playing bridge online.]

I say 'semi' because I took a good bit of time last night to clean out my refrigerator. I threw away a lot of what once had been perfectly good food. I'm simply not eating - in a timely fashion - foods that I have already purchased. I threw away watermelon, strawberries, some cheese and a ton of Yogurt that I didn't think I could trust to eat!

[I have been a very bad girl. Not only am I not taking my daily Calcium requirements, but my regular diet leaves a whole lot to be desired. Good stuff, but not very nutritious.]

Anyway, Friday is one of our two garbage pickup days and - if I don't put it out the night before, it's missed. Boy, you can set your clocks by the garbage people, usually ... 8:30 am on the dot! Not today, however. When I left the house to go shopping a little after noon, all of the trash was still sitting there.

It couldn't have been the weather, not that early! Some folks might be out sick or perhaps a truck was down for repair. By the time I got back, tho, everything had been picked up. In fact, their truck was just leaving our complex when I pulled in to the drive.

I took my ice scraper with me to the store, just in case. Actually, it wasn't a 'real' ice scraper that I put in the car. It was a hard plastic spatula. Does the trick just as well, did you know that? It was snowing very heavily at that time. No wind, so nothing approaching blizzard conditions, but lots of snow coming down nonetheless.

The temperature was hovering right around the freezing mark and I thought, "Goldenrod, you idiot! You left the house too late!!" But, I continued onward. No icing conditions. Not yet, but I wasn't going to be traveling over any bridges, either! They're always the first to cause trouble.

Tonight, now, is going to be a different story. The temperature is expected to dip down into the mid-20's (Fahrenheit). The roads are all wet and will not even beGIN to dry out before ice starts to form. HISD (Houston Independent School District) dismissed early today. I think that's a very good idea. It takes those buses a long time to safely deliver all their charges home.

[My hope was that I could make it back home before one or two of those teenagers who had been dismissed from school early decided they wanted to try a spinout on a slick or possibly icy - even better! - road to impress their friends/girlfriends. And I did, thank goodness.]

It's going on 4pm now. I just took a look outside. It's not snowing, but it's continuing to precipitate. If the temperatures drop as predicted, there'll be **** to pay this evening and throughout the night on the roads in this area. Glad I'm not driving a taxicab, I'll tell you that !

Have decided that this will be a four blanket night. Doesn't that sound just delicious? And speaking of delicious, I want to assure all of you that - as I was shopping and placing foodstuffs in my cart - I paid particular attention to questions such as: How long will that last? Am I really going to eat that?

This would have been a good time to put some chili together, wouldn't it? Three things wrong with that idea, however. 1) I'm absolutely positive that I don't have all the ingredients on hand. 2) I decided I'd already wasted enough time playing bridge online to further delay my getting out of here by finding the recipe, checking to see which ingredients I had and which I didn't, adding to my list, etc. 3) Once you put it all together, it's a several hour slow cooker thingamajig (but a good thingamajig!), so it's really a morning 'do'.

That's it from here for a Friday afternoon, folks. Hope you're doing ok and are looking forward to your weekend. Stay warm!

Getting tickets

We've all gotten them, haven't we? Come on now, admit it! Well, except for Steven, who doesn't even have a driver's license, much less drive.

What was your very first ticket? Mine was for speeding - in a school zone, no less. The background for this story is that I was late going over to my daughter's school to pick her up for her driving test. Is that incredibly funny, or what?!?

Anyhoo, I was so intent on getting over there that I didn't even notice the school zone warning signs until I was pulled over. Talk about embarrassing. The policeman laughed all the while he was writing this jui$y little ticket. My daughter laughed. Everyone laughed but me. I didn't see the humor until many years later. Now, of course, I think it's hilarious!

Earlier today, I drove out to Hobby Airport to pick up two of my long-timey regular customers. All the while we were driving towards our destination, she pointed out a policeman whenever she saw one. Why? Normally - I say normally - I don't speed, but SHE does! She couldn't tell me the actual number of speeding tickets she's received over the years, but her husband groaned when I asked.

Once I got a ticket in the mail. I had been detected speeding on an interstate by an "eye in the sky" ... that's CB language for a helicopter with radar. It had gone undetected by us CB-ers on the road that day.

Another ticket that I received in the mail was for running a red light. I NEVER run red lights. Never, never, never! When I received it, I was furious, and went charging out to my daughter's house to see if she could pull up the incident on her computer.

She could and did, and there my car and I were, breezily and uncaringly making our merry way through the intersection well after the light had turned red. Was I speeding? No. I was just cruising along in the middle lane. Was I polishing my nails? No. I never polish my nails. Was I paying attention? What a stupid question. I paid the ticket. Guilty as charged. Ye Gods!

In a post Steve published a few months back, he talks about his list of top ten terrible drivers. Among those are red light runners. Well, I didn't run, but I sure did walk! :(

The city of Houston began installing red light cameras all over the area a few years back, and I'm ashamed to admit that I did the dirty deed. And blithely so, I might add!

One time, while driving a taxicab, I was cruising up 59 towards town when I noticed this white car right on my bumper. (That one made Steve's list, too.) I mean, he was right ON my bumper! I switched lanes with no signal* and no room for him to get behind me - or so I thought, but somehow he did. I switched again, as quickly as I could, and there he was again!

I thought to myself, "This has got to be some young fool trying to play games with a taxi driver," and veered at the last second into the far right lane to exit the freeway. I intended to make a U-turn and stop at the gas station I knew was there and let this maniac cruise on up the road and bother someone else.

Well, this white car was right behind me ... on my tail the whole way, only now his lights were flashing. Boy, did that get my dander up! I pulled over, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and was ready to take down his name and badge number for driving so recklessly on the freeway.

He got out of his unmarked cruiser, ticket materials in hand and was all ready - with a smirk on his face - to give this cab driver a ticket. I charged over there and said, "Sir, I want that ticket, whatever you think you're going to write it for, and then I want to stand next to you in the courtroom while I tell the judge how you endangered my life on the freeway."

I was probably danged near apoplectic, I was so mad. He asked, "Didn't you see my license?" "How the devil could I see your license? You were right on my bumper!"

He said, "Well, you changed lanes several times without signaling." I said, "Sir, I was trying to get rid of that maniac behind me who kept riding my bumper."

We had a few more exchanges like that and he left. No ticket. Too bad. I was really looking forward to giving him the old 'what for' in the courtroom.

*Years ago, before I began driving a taxicab, I was one of the guilty parties who never used turn signals. Nor did I wear my seat belt. Can you imagine such dumb things? Looking back on those years, it's really hard now for me to believe that I acted so, but I know I did. It's a wonder I'm still alive.

Neighbors

Well, I got my weedeater fixed, and I didn't have to drive out to Katy to do it. My neighbor came home from work and I got dressed - I like to sit around the house stark staring naked (except in winter) - and went next door with the thing in hand. It took him all of about half a second to do it. He showed me exactly what he did, so I could do it myself next time. (Hopefully!)

While there, I listened patiently to all of his rants and raves about how much he hates Houston, hates Texas, hates his 'condominium' (he has a townhouse, just like I do!), hates Glencluster (the name of our Homeowner's Association, and he's not alone in that one!), hates ... ... well, his hate list just went on and on and on.

It included the police department, who has stopped responding to his repeated calls about loud music in the neighborhood and drag racing up and down our street. Well, folks, drag racing up and down our street is simply not possible! I hear loud music from time to time, but it's not a bother for me. There is a vehicle belonging to one of our neighbors, who likes to play his stereo loudly while driving, but - as soon as he's in his garage, the loud music disappears completely. I mentioned this to my neighbor and he said, "Yeah, it's that little red car, license plate #-------."

He's right on top of everything and sensitive as all get out! The last time he saw the police was at 11pm one night, when they came pounding on his front door. He had been sound asleep - he gets up before 4:30 each morning - and staggered to the door, trying to focus his eyeballs. The police were there and ready with pad and pencil in hand to take down every piece of info he had to offer in re noisemakers, people's names, house and license plate numbers, younameits. That visit went over not at all well, as you might imagine!

He seems to think that the police should park a cruiser on our street every night 'just in case' something might arise that would disturb everyday law-abiding citizens. Actually, they did do that once, for a 24-hour period (he told me), at his request. Nothing happened.


Now, historically we've had our share of crime in this neighborhood, but I'm not talking about loud music ... ... I'm talking about stolen cars, thefts and break-ins. One night, a few years back, I had occasion to call the police. It was 12:30 or so, and I was sitting at the kitchen table watching some program or another on television when there came a loud knocking at my front door. It startled me!

I wasn't about to open my front door in the middle of the night. I wasn't expecting anyone. I didn't acknowledge the fact that I was home, either, by calling out, "Who is it?" Instead, I turned out the light in the kitchen (I had already turned off the TV), went into each of the other two rooms (Not the living room! That room led to the front door.) that faced the street (groping my way in the dark the whole time) and surreptitiously parted the blinds to try and see who was out there. I could see a small white car parked at an angle in front of my house, its engine running. The pounding on my front door continued.

I grabbed my cell phone - thank goodness for cell phones! - and called 911. I gave the operator my address, told her what had been going on and advised her that I was not staying in the house, that I lived alone and had no weapon with which to defend myself. I told her that I was going to try and make it out back to the garage, get in and start my car, open the garage door and hightail it on out of there (if I could get away with it) to a Stop and Go just up the street.

I told her the route I was going to take (down the back alley to Wilcrest, then up Wilcrest to the Stop and Go) ... ... at that time, the Glencluster 'powers that be' had not yet decided to block that back alleyway, and so I did not have to exit my neighborhood by driving past what I now suspected were potential intruders and most certainly uptonogooders.

I asked if she wouldn't mind staying on the line with me while I did so. I was so scared! She did stay on the line with me. When I was 'safely' at the Stop and Go, she disconnected, but called me back just a couple of minutes later to tell me that a cruiser was in front of my house and how soon could I get back there?

You want to talk about 'shocked'!?! WHY was the cruiser in front of my house? Why wasn't the cruiser at the Stop and Go, its officer ready to comfort and assist me? (In retrospect, of course, it makes perfect sense that the cruiser had gone directly to the front of my house. It's just that, in my state of mind, I think I was just wanting the whole thing to disappear ... relegate it to neverhappenedland, and retreat back into watching whatever I was watching on television in the 'relative safety' of my own home before I was so rudely interrupted.)

I asked her to have the dispatched officer call me. She did. Two 'she's' - both the emergency operator and the dispatched officer, both competent as all get out and exactly what I needed in my frantic state of mind.

The dispatched officer told me that there was no small white vehicle parked in the front of my house with its engine idling. She could see no activity inside my house, either. All was dark, she said. She really needed to have me come back home and meet with her.

Oh, boy! I told her what route I was going to take (same route, only the opposite, ending up in the back alley leading towards my garage) and asked if she would stay on the line with me. She did.

That was one weird experience! She and I were on the phone the whole time. I told her when I was pulling the car into the garage. I told her when I was closing the door to my garage. I told her when I turned on the back yard lights. I told her when I entered the house. I told her when I began turning on lights. I told her which lights! (I told her everything I heard and saw, which was nothing out of the ordinary, as I entered each new room.) I turned on the lights in every room in the house before I finally opened the front door to this blinding police light, which had been focused on my front door from the very beginning.

I NEVER have felt so safe, before or since! She gave me her private cell phone number and stayed with me until I stopped shaking.

I'm usually pretty good at writing letters of commendation and kept both her name and the emergency operator's name for some time, intending to write such a letter for both but never did. Why? I don't know. Time passed, I guess, but that's not an acceptable excuse for not doing so.


But, let's get back to my neighbor. I could have 'white-gloved' his place. I kid you not here! All the while I was there, he was complaining about this and that, this and that, and I kept thinking, "Whaat?!?"

He has a NASCAR collection in two 'white-glovable' glass cabinets. (He has many more in his collection, he says, but he doesn't have 'room' to put them. You have to be ******* me! All he has there is room! No personal memorabilia, no photographs, no magazines or books scattered hither or thither ... ... just a gigantic - maybe 50" or so - digital widescreen TV that was showing a M*A*S*H episode.

I asked, "Channel 33?" "No," he answered, "24." "Oh," I said. "You have cable." "Yes," he said.

I asked, "Did you get my e-mail yesterday?" "No," he answered. "I've disconnected everything from the Internet. Their service is lousy." (Another of the things on his 'hate' list.)


Oh, my! But he did fix my weedeater!!

Sunday morning

[This post has been written in bits and pieces. It's now going on 9am Monday morning. I'm going to leave it pretty much as I initially began it, but I'll be doing little headlines for you. There'll be a Wendy update down towards the bottom and perhaps another little blurb or two, but it's gotten quite long already. I might just decide to do the Wendy one and leave it at that.]

Sunday morning ... Well, there's not much going on, but I thought I'd share with you what little there is.


[I wrote the above over four hours ago. Actually, there's a whole lot more going on now but I'm not sure whatall exactly I'd like to share with you at this point in time. To say that I'm 'ticked' would be accurate. To say more than that? Well, let's see how I feel as I continue to vent.]


Examiner and bridge ... I'm pretty sure I told all of you that I was accepted as an "Examiner" - actually, as a Houston Duplicate Bridge Examiner - within the past month. I published three articles early, but then danged near did myself in (physically) with my 'there and back in one fell swoop' trip to New Orleans almost three weeks ago. I published my 4th and 5th articles with the Examiner yesterday, one of which began what will be a multi-part series on defense.

I don't know how many of you out there who read my blog are bridge players. If you are not, you will not have the vaguest idea what I'm talking about when I say 'defense'. And even if you are bridge players, you might not have the slightest bit of interest in defense unless you are a duplicate bridge player - and then you still might not have the slightest bit of interest. Tsk, tsk, and shame on you, is all that I can (publishably) say.

It's my #1 interest in bridge and so there you have it. Theoretically, half of the hands you are dealt belong to your side (for declaring purposes) and the other half belong to the other side. Why not give it your best shot at defense if that's your only choice?


Scanner problems ... ANYhoo, while trying to find a good pic that I could use for these articles in the Examiner on defense, I remembered an original cartoon-type drawing that one of my Columbus, Ohio bridge friends created for me many years ago when I lived there. It shows a pipe-smoking frog wearing Texas (or maybe granny-type laceup) boots. Well, I don't smoke a pipe (altho I do smoke!) and have never worn boots of the sort shown in his drawing, but I LOVE the cartoon!

The next thing I did, of course, was try and scan it. There's a big yellow vertical line that appears. The same thing now, as well, on the Mother's Day card that I scanned for you just a few days ago. (It wasn't there when I first scanned it, but it is now!)


[A couple of hours later. Actually, that yellow vertical line was there on the scanned copy of the Mother's Day card, but we just didn't notice it -- and of course, it's there on my post as well, but nobody seemed to notice it. Certainly I didn't notice, my daughter didn't notice ... did you??]


Anyway, to make a long story (hopefully) just a little bit shorter, my son-in-law within the past few minutes exited the house going back out to Katy with my scanner and the original cartoon-like drawing in hand. Not a cable problem. Not a connection problem. Not a color problem. Not a black and white problem.

So what's the problem? Boy oh boy, if I knew the answer to that question I'd be the first to tell you! More later on this, of course. Meanwhile, I'm back to being on 'no scanner' status.


AC ... [It's now Monday morning. What happened to the rest of Sunday? Well, what happened was that I played bridge again. Didn't win this time, but had a lot of fun as usual ... that is, until the AC somehow got cranked way up going into the last round - we were playing six-board rounds - and I couldn't wait to get out of there! I hadn't brought a sweater or jacket with me. I'll have to remember to do so next time, won't I? That's a continuing problem in Houston during the warm months. It's hot and humid outside and you're sweating like a you-know-what. Then you go inside and freeze half to death. The next day you're sick, and people wonder why. Well, I don't feel sick today. Don't feel like I'm coming down with something, either, which is a good thing. However, I'll be paying attention all day long and will guzzle down bunches of orange juice and napping as I feel is warranted.]


Questions in Katy ... Scanner - supposedly - is fixed. My daughter took it apart and cleaned the inside mirrors. Wish that c/would have been done here, but c'est la vie, right? Just as soon as I hit the "Publish Post" button for this entry, I'll be headed out to Katy to pick up the scanner and go over some questions I have for my daughter to try and answer about Examiner submissions. Their criteria and the procedures that must be used to submit articles are much different from these kinds of posts. I'm having trouble getting used to them. In fact, it's a real pain in the neck sometimes. I keep accidentally erasing my entries. Examiner has one-hour phone seminars (conference-call-type dealiebops) that they hold several times each week. Think I've got one scheduled on my calendar for Wednesday.

I might even try to publish my next article while I'm out there. It's all ready to go. The Word text is all set to be copied and inserted and my cartoon frog looks great. (They scanned it using my now-cleaned-up-and-ready-to-go scanner.) The only problem I might run into is my daughter's little dinky keyboard. I've got one of these big old keyboards that sits on top of my computer and I love it! It's not that my fingers are actually 'fat', but it sure seems like it when I try and use her keyboard. I had a terrible time in September when I tried to do posts from out there after Ike ... don't remember if I told you about any of those problems.

Installing scanner ... I'll be doing the re-installing of the scanner myself. Can't you just see it all now? Wires wires everywhere and not a plug-in to be found! (Or, if there is a plug-in to be found, I'll make a wrong attachment and fry everything. Ye Gods!) Good luck to all that, right?

Wendy ... She posted a really long piece on the 24th talking about their last attempt to reach the summit. It gives a lot more of the background about that last day - which was, for them, the 18th. The final straw was her increasing inability to move her arms and legs as quickly as they should in order to cross the Khumbu Ice Falls successfully and safely. She felt that she was putting the other members of her party in danger (and, of course, she was!). It's a good post. Upbeat, for the most part, but realistic. Follow the link if you'd like to read more of the details.

Cartoon for examiner "defense series" ... Thought I'd close this by showing you the cartoon I'll be using for this series of articles on defense in the Examiner ... ...


Isn't it just wonderful? Love the glasses!

There are so many things to tell ...

... all of you that I scarcely know where to begin. Well, let's start with ... ...

The flu has flown

Well, of course it hasn't "flown", per se, but it dropped out of the top of the nightly/hourly/minute-by-minute/second-by-second news even quicker than it first came into prominence.

You might remember my writing that our illustrious governor, in his utter panic - and perhaps in an effort to try and reclaim some sense of dignity, self-worth and importance - had declared the entire state of Texas an emergency. Remember that one? Here it is, just as a refresher.

Hundreds (thousands?) of schools throughout our state, in the subsequent 'swine flu epidemic' stampede, announced closings of upwards of two weeks where even "suspected" cases of swine flu were present.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Woe be unto us, the sky is falling! This sort of c r a p - sorry, guys, there's really no other word for it! - predominated the airwaves for days.

Then, yesterday - or was it the day before? - it was announced that the CDC (Center for Disease Control) said schools that had closed due to confirmed or even suspected cases of the swine flu should reopen immediately, that the threat in the US was much less than had originally been feared.

Why were the schools closed? "Well, because the CDC told us to," was the response by public school officials. Why are all the schools all of a sudden being re-opened? "Well, because the CDC told us we should do so."

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Woe be unto us, the sky is falling! Oh, oh! Now, all of a sudden, the sky is not falling?!? Whaat!!

I found myself laughing out loud yesterday when a national news reporter asked how it could possibly be that the American public is blaming the media for the panic. How, indeed? I think all of you pretty much know my general feelings about the media and their seemingly never-ending search for ever more sensationalism in their quest to be #1.

Please do not mistake my intentions here. We should all be aware at ALL times of the need to wash our hands diligently and not unnecessarily expose ourselves to extraneous germs and viruses. That should go w/o saying. But it doesn't, does it?


My beloved Astros

They "suck", what more can I say? I mean, sucksville!

Do you know that, in the last three games, my 'good guys' have thrown over 530 pitches?!? Come on, now! That's more than just a touch incredible, wouldn't you say? I hereby move that we all listen to what (imo) is the most moving rendition ever of our National Anthem and start the season over. Any seconds to my motion? Now, I grant you that Whitney is singing at the start of a Super Bowl (football, not baseball) game, but still!



Wasn't that just wonderful? My goodness!


My plans for the next few days ...

... include a trip to New Orleans, publishing another article in the "Examiner" (it'll be my fourth), one more post on this blog (it'll be a funny!) and doing a load of laundry. Exciting, huh? (Well, let's except the load of laundry.)

OK, let's do first things first. Why am I going to New Orleans? Good question! This came up totally 'out of the blue'. I read in Houston Unit 174's (duplicate bridge) newsletter that someone, whose name sounded more than just vaguely familiar to me, had died. She was a black lady and my mind - in its wandering state (you know me!) - got to thinking about Leonard Jefferson, with whom I had often played many years ago when I lived in New Orleans. A lovely man, just lovely! We had a nice partnership and won many local events playing together. (And, if we didn't win, we always had a good time.) Was he black? Yes, he was. Was he married? Yes, he was. Was I married? Yes, I was. Did we have an affair? No, we did not. (Hope that answers all of your unasked but yet anticipated-by-me questions.)

During my efforts to try and find out if Leonard was still around, I reached the nicest fellow at one of the bridge studios in New Orleans. I didn't remember him at all, nor did he remember me, but we spent almost a full hour on the phone. (And no, Leonard is not still with us.) However, I found out that John Onstott, who was another one of my partners 'back in the day', is going to be the recipient of a special event being held in his honor Saturday in recognition of his having garnered his 20,000th (!) master point. (I didn't put that figure in bold, but I easily could have. Those are almost inconceivable numbers!)

I am SO looking forward to this trip. Will be playing with Marilyn Methvin, a regular partner of mine from 30+ years ago. I need to have all of you wishing me "staying awake while driving" luck and Marilyn and me good fortune in our game Saturday afternoon. (There'll be a big blowout-type of party Saturday night following the game.) I'll definitely be reporting back on this ... that is, assuming I make it back in one piece and still of a coherent mind. :)

What's the "Examiner"? Well, you'd have to go back to this post. It's where I first began telling you about how I was trying to fill out their fairly extensive application. Since that time - about five weeks ago - I have been accepted and am now known as the "Houston Duplicate Bridge Examiner" ... ... all of their writers are known as 'examiners', OK? Here's the link to my page, just in case you're interested.


And last but not least ...

Wendy's now back 'down in the valley', well below Base Camp. She's OK, and has been posting like crazy on her site (twice in the last couple of days). Here's the link again, just in case you need it. I'll let you read what she says for yourselves. Among other things, she talks about how they have to thaw out their clothes each morning.


Talk atcha next week! (There'll be another post between now and then, but it'll stand on its own with little or no commentary.)

Swine flu

Well, it's on every television channel, every radio station and all over the net. I received an e-mail today that I'd like to share with you ... ...


Frequently Asked Questions on Swine Flu Answers provided by an official at St. Luke's Episcopal Health System

Q: If I am healthy, do I need to worry about Swine Flu?
A: No, unless you will be traveling to Mexico. If you are healthy and you are in the United States, you do not need to worry. Just exercise caution by washing your hands frequently.

Q: What symptoms should I look for?
A: The main one is a fever. If you don’t have a fever, then you probably don’t have the flu. Other symptoms are severe body aches, chills, cough, runny nose, nasal congestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Q: Who is the most vulnerable to contracting this virus?
A: People who already have chronic problems, such as diabetes, cancer or other health problems that might weaken your immune system, may have a more severe case if they contract this virus.

Q: What if my friends/family/co-workers are sick?
A: Try to maintain distance between you and someone who is coughing or sneezing. Recommend to your co-workers and/or family members to stay home if they are not feeling well.

Q: Can I get Swine Flu from handling or eating pork or produce from Mexico?
A: No, it cannot be transmitted through food or food handling. It is communicated through direct contact with secretions from an infected person, which means someone coughing or sneezing on you.

Q: Will the flu shot I received in the fall help keep me from contracting Swine Flu?
A: Unfortunately, the information we have received suggests we should not count on it, because the strains in the vaccine are not the same as the Swine Flu strain.

Q: If I’m planning to travel to Mexico, should I get Tamiflu before going?
A: Following recommendations from our federal government, any travel to Mexico should be suspended unless there is a compelling reason to go. I think it’s just better to be on the safe side. If you do have to go and if you have underlying medical problems, then you’re at high risk and probably should be put on Tamiflu. Otherwise, simply take precautions by avoiding crowds and people who are sick.

Q: Is the United States prepared to handle a Swine Flu outbreak?
A: We are very prepared. The level of preparedness today is better than ever. We do drills for this. Our city, state and federal governments are all working together to be well prepared.

For more information on Swine Flu and government advisories, visit the following Web sites:

The City of Houston: http://www.houstontx.gov/health/swineflu.html

Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services: http://www.hcphes.org/Default.htm

The State Health Department (providing information about Texas' situation and response): http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/swineflu/default.shtm

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

The World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html


Both the above and this next were sent out today ... ...


An Open Letter to All SLEH Employees

April 29, 2009

Today, I am writing to update you about the swine flu and to announce that I am going to be holding some live blogs, available to all employees, to answer your swine flu questions. The times for these live blogs will be posted on the Source.

First of all, let me commend all of you for your continued dedication and professionalism. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is a tremendous asset to this community and time after time, whether it is flooding, a hurricane, the financial markets collapse, or now a swine flu epidemic, the people of Houston look to us to be there for them and to continue to provide the high quality and compassionate care for which we are known.

I also want you to know that while there is certainly reason to be cautious, there is no reason to be scared or panicked. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, the other TMC hospitals, the city, the state, and the federal government have been planning and training for a flu pandemic for years now. We have well thought out plans and we have plenty of supplies, including antiviral agents, to deal with this current outbreak.

As of the time of my writing, there are 91 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States. Sixteen of those cases are in Texas. There is only one confirmed case in Houston and that patient, a 23 month old child has died and this is the only death from swine flu in the US. It is important to note that this child lived in Mexico, contracted the illness there and then was transferred to a US hospital. I mention this because, so far, the cases of swine flu that have occurred in the US appear to be much milder than those reported in Mexico. We don’t yet know why this is the case. At this time, we are not seeing unusual volumes of patients in our Emergency Department or Community Emergency Centers and that is also the case for all of the TMC hospitals except Texas Children’s Hospital and the Harris County Hospital District hospitals. We have only seen two cases suspicious for swine flu in our hospital facilities and those patients were not sick enough to warrant hospitalization.

The following are the precautions we are taking. First, I want to encourage all of you to do what you already should be doing - wash your hands (or use the hand gel) frequently, and especially each time before and after you care for a patient. To assist our visitors, we are installing hand gel dispensers in each public elevator lobby.

Second, if you are ill and have fever, communicate with your manager and stay home. If your child is ill, do not send your child to school or child care. Be sure to see your physician right away and do not use the emergency room unless you or your child is too ill to go to the doctor’s office.

For those of you who work in the Emergency Department or the Community Emergency Centers, we are trying to identify patients who have flu-like symptoms at triage, place a mask on them and isolate them. If they can be discharged, we are sending these patients home to recover. If we do end up with a patient so ill as to require hospitalization, we will place them in droplet and contact isolation.

For any of our employees returning from Mexico, we are requiring symptom and temperature screening in Occupational Health before they report to their department or unit for work. This will occur every day until a week after their return from Mexico. Anyone with a fever will be tested for influenza and sent home to follow-up with their physician.

There are a number of reasons to be optimistic about this flu outbreak. That is not to say that I don’t expect many more cases of swine flu before it is over, but the fact that the disease we have seen in the US has been much milder than what Mexico has experienced is a positive sign and the fact that this is occurring so late in the flu season suggests that this will be much less severe than had it occurred in the typical winter months.

Swine flu will be a risk for the next upcoming flu season this fall. By that time, the flu vaccine should contain the necessary protection for the swine flu. I want to encourage every employee who does not otherwise have a contraindication, to get the flu shot this fall. It will be offered to all employees free of charge.

In the meantime, please watch for updated information on the Source, including the Frequently Asked Questions already available and posted.

I encourage you to write in any questions you may have on our live blog. We will get that schedule out to you soon. Check the Source for all the latest details and information.

Thank you for all you do for St. Luke’s and our patients.

Sincerely,

David C. Pate, M.D., J.D.
Chief Executive Officer


St. Luke's Episcopal is located in what we in Houston term "The Medical Center". It is prestigious. I don't know what some of you might be hearing, seeing or reading about in the news, but above are the facts. Our governor has announced a state of emergency in his panic and some schools are closing. I have not been ill, do not feel like I'm getting ill, but have no plans to travel to Mexico or expose myself to crowds unnecessarily, either. Normal precautions ... well, maybe a little more than normal because this disease is just beginning to make its presence felt in our area.

I know it's been several days since I last posted, and thought I'd better get one out there before you all start worrying. Just real busy. I'll tell you about what's been going on soon. Take care, and I'll talk atcha later!

My weekend ... #1 ...

I haven't had a couple of days like that for a while, and don't expect to again any time soon. How very, very special.

You all probably know that I've been looking for something I could do to bring more dollars in to Goldenrod's coffers each month. I've considered all sorts of different possibilities. Theoretically, I'm highly qualified to do many things.

I investigated tutoring late last Spring, but in retrospect I realize that I did so only half-heartedly. I have a notebook full of information about institutes here in Houston that are looking for tutors and teachers. I don't remember applying for more than one or two! I got kind of excited last fall about the possibility of teaching in Korea in their winter program. Filled out page after page on the application. Even got my passport. Never heard a word back. Tried to call the phone number listed, but could never get an answer.

Now, before you get mad at them, I should tell you that I never attached a resume. I couldn't see the sense in it. They already had all the info on my application. What pure and utter nonsense, I felt! See a potential problem here? Goldenrod's attitude is going to have to change if she wants to move ahead in this area!!

[But do I want to? That's the key question, isn't it? Honestly, if I had my druthers, I would probably never work another hour as long as I live! But, I don't have my druthers. I have reality, and push is getting ever closer to shove.]

This next month now, my coffers are going to see an infusion of several hundred dollars - all of that coming from old-timey taxicab customers, which is a very good thing, cuz due up are my annual property taxes, an electric bill of close to $400 (only paid $2.79 or some such ridiculous amount last month - they must have just estimated it instead of taking an actual meter reading), and a new (digital, of course!) television set.

[Hey, Goldenrod! Get to the point, will you please? All right, already!!]

So anyhoo, in my seemingly never-ending task of sorting through every single little bit of paper in my house before I throw it out, because who knows what it might be ... could be a birth certificate, a divorce decree, a will, or even a college diploma (and yes, I've unearthed some of those types of what one might consider more important items!) - and no, you don't want to see the inside of my house (but maybe you do, if you're one of those who brakes at every accident scene to see if you can spot some gore ... lots of gore here), I came across (just this past week) a somewhat yellowed "Writers' Network" pamphlet.

I thought, "Oh, my goodness! I wonder if any of these are still in existence?" I got on the net. Lots of "Southwest Literary Arts Council" listings when I Googled that name, but none specifically for Houston. And so I tried to further define in my search what I was actually looking for.

I found it! I indulged myself by reading all about the (what looked like) many such organizations in the Houston area. I e-mailed one that I found of particular interest. Supposed to have been meeting that evening. I questioned the mode of attire, was there an assigned room, etc. I heard back, almost immediately, from a "Diane", saying that the meeting had been 'put on the back burner' (my terms) but she was delighted to hear from me, etc. and blah.

To try and make an already long story just a touch shorter, Diane and I met at a local restaurant Saturday. An absolutely delightful couple of hours were spent with she and I (along with Ann, another local attendee) constantly interrupting each other! Rrvit!!

Diane's opinion is that there's money to be made ($$$) in non-fiction, which is my area, is it not? (Would that it ever be so! I'm talking about the $$$ to be made, not entertaining a possible debate as to whether or not my writing is non-fiction, I hope you understand?)

The past couple of days, give or take a few hours here or there, have been spent filling out entry forms and updating my autobiography. Am still nowhere near finished. It appears as tho I might have to get an agent. Argh! Double argh!!

[Her computer has been 'down' since last Friday, and so I haven't been able to e-mail her with some of my questions. I have several, as you might imagine!]

OK. Now you have Saturday and the subsequent many hours hence. Let's move on to Sunday (next post).

Brrr!!

It's only chilly here, not really cold like it is up north. Steven now, just the other day, wrote about how it was 25 below there. He was talking about Centigrade, not Fahrenheit. Still plenty cold! Frigid, even!!

Tammy, who lives in Idaho (Steven hails from Canada, by the way), wrote yesterday about how they had received 13" of the white stuff already with more falling ... 4-5 inches expected through the night with 40-50mph winds. Folks, that's a blizzard!

Her daughter Katie shot a video of the storm yesterday afternoon, and it's posted on her site (complete with sound effects). Brrrr!!!


I remember one time, when we were living 'way up there' in the frozen north, we were scheduled to fly out of Marquette, some 40+ miles away. We called the airport to make sure our flight was still scheduled. Why? Well, there was a blizzard going on, that's why!

The person who answered said, "Oh, we'll be taking off all right. Who's this?" When we identified ourselves, he then said, "You'll have to follow the snowplow up, eh?" (That's a UP-ism, the 'eh' - pronounced as in 'weigh'. Took me over twenty years to lose that!) We replied, "Yes." "We'll hold the plane for you," he told us.

You have to understand that this was in the late 1950's, and I'm talking small town here. I mean, small town!

So anyway, we 'crawled' directly behind the plow all the way. Couldn't have made it otherwise. The wind was howling from the north - directly off of Lake Superior - and that snow was drifting, drifting, drifting almost as soon as it was plowed.

When we finally made it to the airport, we were met at the gate by snowy figures carrying snowshoes for each of us to put on. No way could a car be driven inside! I don't remember having to carry our luggage. I think some sort of travois on a toboggan-type sled must have been provided.

We got out to the plane - a guide rope was strung so that none of us strayed, our luggage was loaded, and we climbed inside. It was nice and warm in there. Toasty warm! "You're the last ones," they said, and I thought, "Good! That means we'll take off shortly. I'm ready to get out of here!!"


But we didn't take off shortly. No, we just sat there, plane engines revving, nice and toasty warm, but not moving. I thought, "Well, the pilot's just waiting for a little clear space so he can see to take off." You could hardly see your hand in front of your face, it was that bad. Seriously!

As we continued to sit there, tho, I thought, "We're going to have to go back to Munising. We won't ever be able to take off in this weather!"

Then, all of a sudden, the door to the outside opened and this somewhat indistinct figure came in - blizzard coming into the cabin with it - bearing what looked like the bottom of a cardboard box filled with open containers of 'something' with steam rising from their tops.

First delivery was to the pilots. Next we each got one - it was either coffee or hot chocolate, I don't remember which. The figure went back outside, closed the door, and we took off. They weren't waiting for a 'little clear space'. No, no, they were just waiting for their hot beverage! Rrvit!!


[I hope you'll forgive me if I've told you that story before. I was pretty sure I had, but spent a lot of time trying to look up exactly where I might have done so and couldn't find it. It's far and away my favorite blizzard story. I have a lot of snow and cold weather stories, but I'll save those for another post - or two.]


Meanwhile, back here in Houston, we've already received our first snowfall - which made national news a couple of weeks or so ago, the first one in four years.

What happened four years ago really made history. We actually had a white Christmas! Galveston, I seem to recall, received their first snowfall ever and there were many pictures taken of residents and visitors alike outside in their thongs and shorts building snowmen and having snowball fights. I kid you not here.


What's happening right now? Well, it's raining. Nothing like Houston in January (except that it's still December) for yukky weather. Cloudy, windy, and rainy. Yuk! And it's supposed to continue like this all week.

At least snow is pretty! That is, until you have to shovel it, then shovel it some more, or have to first get out of your driveway and then try and get to wherever it is you need to go ... the airport, the store, wherever. Then your idea of what's pretty changes. I know. I've 'been there done that'.

Our biggest concern is ice. This might sound really strange to you, but it's the truth. In fact, in this post, published within the past two weeks, I wrote more than just a little bit about this problem.


My most toasty warm thoughts go out to all of you who are in the midst of winter already, although - officially - I think it has barely begun. Yikes!

Here, there, and everywhere ...

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, will this post ever be scattered! As with such posts before, I will highlight each little (or big) section in bold to try and make it easier for you to read - or not - as you are interested.


Baby, it's cold outside!

I went out to the store several hours ago. Had the car radio on the whole time. They said that the actual temperature was 42 degrees (Fahrenheit), but I would have sworn that it was at least twenty or thirty degrees colder! The wind is coming directly out of the north. I'm not even going to take the time to check and see what the actual velocity is. I don't need to. I know what it feels like! Brrr!!

I reported in my "Snow!!" post that there were 'no accumulations to speak of' of the white stuff, and yet I keep hearing all these stories of 3" of the wet stuff on the east side of town and 4" in SugarLand, just 'down the road' and southwest of where I live. I must have been watching the wrong newscasts, whadya think?!?

Where I live, we only got a 'dusting' ... really and truly.

[693 motor vehicle accidents this morning between the hours of 4 and 11 on Harris County roadways]


Buyer beware!

In my post "Testing digital" , I spoke briefly about the efforts our local television stations were making to ensure that everyone was informed about the upcoming government-mandated changes from analog to digital.

I received a comment from Tammy on that post that I found most distressing. Seems that her family had purchased a supposedly digital TV last summer from WalMart, but - when their local TV stations had provided such a test in their area just a couple of weeks ago, their television set was not compatible! That comment incensed me!!

In my ignorance, I suggested to Tammy that she not let go of this, that she take the TV back to the store where it was originally purchased and insist that they exchange it, that she raise a real 'stink' about it. She responded that they had already tried all that (except for the stink-raising). The store would do nothing for them. Said that the warranty, a 60-dayer, had long since expired.

Today, I called a lawyer friend of mine whom I've known over thirty years to hear what he had to say about all this. "Unfortunately," he said, "stores have no legal obligation to take anything back! And in this economy," he added, "their policies are becoming more and more stringent. The fact that they've often done so in the past was due more to their willingness to promote customer goodwill than any legal requirement."

I asked what would happen if Tammy wrote a letter of official complaint to the Better Business Bureau or the local newspaper. "Probably nothing," was his answer, "but it might make her feel a little better! And, you never know, WalMart may even accede to her wishes."

Wish I had better news for you, Tammy. Meanwhile, you can visit www.dtv.gov or call 1-877-DTV-5353 for more info on how to get those free $40 coupons (two per household) towards the purchase of a converter box.


Christmas Specials

We've got another one coming up Saturday night on NBC ... "It's a Wonderful Life" ... I'll be watching. (Unfortunately, I think I'm going to be in for about a half hour's worth of commercials. They've got it slotted in for three hours. It's not that long a movie, is it?)


Cornbread Sausage Casserole

I finally put it all together and tried it yesterday. I've never been much for cornbread, so used a combination of that with mashed potatoes as the very top layer. Figured that'd be good.

Well, folks, I'm sorry to report a "10 thumbs down," as Kayla would say. It was the sausage!! Who'da thunk it? I love sausage! One recipe down. A billion good ones out there, I'm sure, but I'll stay away from any with sausage for a while.

[I must confess, tho, that I used a ground "country" sausage instead of "breakfast" sausage. Don't know if that would have made a difference or not.]

Meanwhile, I've been ingesting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today to try and get the awful taste out of my mouth. Brushing my teeth and tongue, along with liberal swishings of mouthwash, simply did not do the trick!

I'll be putting together another batch of chili later tonite. That'll be good, and perfect for this weather.


Ike

A bit of interesting news to report. It was announced yesterday that first prize, in the amount of $10,000, had been awarded to a duo from Rice University for their suggestions on how to recycle 5 million cubic yards of trees that had been destroyed when Ike struck nearly three months ago.

Charcoal, which would be used in fertilization (seemed logical to me!), was one of their suggestions. Another, which I don't understand but sounds plausible, talked about producing methane gas as an energy source. Prototypes are in the works.


Maintenance fees

For the first time in several years, monthly maintenance fees for my townhouse are increasing - from $172 to $177. That's becuz they're doing such a 'wonderful' job maintaining, doncha know?

It'll be three months tomorrow since Ike blew through. My neighbors just across and down the back alley finally took matters into their own hands and replaced their fence themselves. It's a really good-looking fence - much classier than the ones the Association puts up. I hope they're allowed to keep it!


Odetta and Elvis

An update from yesterday's post. I received a long comment today from Dan Bessie, who knew Odetta personally and had a few interesting stories to tell and little tidbits to share about her. Check the comments section from that post to learn more.


Paul Harvey

As I said earlier, I had the radio on while I was out and about and happened to catch Paul Harvey's show. A fellow named Ron Chapman was guest-hosting ... hope Paul's OK. As usual, there was a cute story. Here it is ...

Seems that this woman went out to her car one day, started it up, and was about to start running her errands when she noticed that some things just weren't working right. Windshield wipers, horn, turn signals, funny engine sounds and the like, so she took it to the shop. When the mechanic opened the hood to try to begin diagnosing the problem, he found everything inside literally covered with black walnuts! Seems a chipmunk had been using that area to store his goodies.

A question here: How long had it been since she had last driven the car?

Snow!!

For the first time since 2004 - Christmas Eve, actually - we had some snow.

Not much on my side of town, altho the rooftops and parked cars had the white stuff all over them. I'm probably about the only person in town who owns an ice scraper, but my baby was safely tucked away in the garage - the rest of the folks would have had a slight problem unless or until they figured out that all they had to do was grab a hard plastic spatula from a utility drawer in the kitchen. That works pretty well.

The 10pm news was full of shots of snow falling - not terribly heavy, no accumulations to speak of, but it was enough to create a winter wonderland scene at the outdoor ice skating rink downtown and cause a car accident or two.

There were worries, because we have literally hundreds of overpasses in Houston, of the wet roads overnight becoming like glass resulting in a nightmarish rush hour this morning. And they would have (and probably some were in the hours between 10pm and midnight), except that the temperatures did not continue to fall into the 20s as predicted. Rather, they held fairly steady from 9pm on (when we were right at the freezing mark) and even rose three or four degrees.

Currently, temperatures are ranging between 33 and 36 degrees with winds either from the WNW at 8mph or NW at 10, 11, & 13mph, depending on where you live in Houston. Those figures are different from those of an hour ago. They're significantly lower.

The skies are clearing, which is bad news. With no cloud cover the temperatures will continue to drop. If the roads are still wet, we'll have those icy conditions. Not good for the morning commute. I'm glad I don't have to be out this morning. It's not my driving I'm afraid of. It's all those other idiots out there!

[OK. It's now a little after 5am. Just did the latest weather check, and it would appear that we are out of the woods. The skies are all now 'clear' and 'fair', wind speeds range from 7-16mph, and the lowest temperatures are up a degree to 34. Good news all around, it would seem. I'm going to go into the other room in just a sec to see what they're reporting on the news. If there's anything of interest to add, I'll let you know.

Well, too bad. I was being too much of an optimist. Accidents everywhere. Many overpasses are difficult if not impossible to negotiate safely. In fact, accesses to some are being blocked off. The glare of ice can easily be seen from Transtar cameras. Temps now at the freezing mark. Nightmare commute. Glad I'm inside.]


Christmas is just around the corner. If we get some significant snowfall between now and then, I'll do a post on Christmas in 2004. In fact, I might just do one anyway! It's worth talking about.

Body Worlds 2, the Brain ...

... is the exhibit I plan on viewing this coming Monday.

I was just looking up more info on it via the Internet, and it appears as tho there is more than just a little controversy over this.

See this site for the latest info. I'll be keeping you informed as I learn more.

The only reason I'm referencing this today is because, as they say on the site, "A major contributor to this article or its creator appears to have a conflict of interest with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view."

I thought that those of you who might be interested in learning more about this topic as it's currently presented should have an opportunity to read this article before it's altered, if indeed it will be.

More scattered thoughts

Mostly on Ike, I'm sorry about that. I'll try and sneak in one or two other items that are not Ike-related. We'll see.


Schools ...

are almost all back in session, except for Galveston and the areas immediately around Kemah (Seabrook, for example).


Galveston ...

The beaches are open -- Navy must have done its job! It's "at your own risk", of course. (Question: Who would want to go swimming in the Gulf right now with all the debris that is almost certain to be floating around or just below the surface out there?)


Power restoration ...

As of last night, there were still 114,000 Centerpoint customers without power!! "Mostly in the heavily-wooded areas," said Centerpoint. Supposedly, there are still 12,000 workers working 16-hour shifts daily to try and correct the problem/s.


Gas prices ...

continue to fall. However, last night (driving home from playing bridge) I noticed a 40 cent per gallon differential -- same type/brand of gas, just different locations. You really have to do your homework, don't you?


Florida's regulations ...

Shoot! Can't find my notes on this one, but I'm pretty sure I heard that FL's legislators passed a law requiring that gas stations have their own generators.

That sounds really good to me!

There was plenty of gas at stations all around the Houston area following Ike, but they had no power to work the pumps!!


Boliver Peninsula ...

Three more bodies were found just this past couple of days -- one washed ashore, two found beneath rubble.

If you will look at a Texas map in detail, the Boliver Peninsula is located just across from Galveston and goes for many miles.

Those folks have been historically on record for not evacuating, for being tough, for facing up to and withstanding any storm. They were among the 90-some helicoptered off of their roofs, as I mentioned in an earlier post.

I do not know how many more bodies might be found. Search dogs were called off a few days ago because they were being bitten so badly by mosquitoes.

Many are missing. My thoughts and prayers -- and I know that yours do, too! -- go out to them and their families.


Local television stations ...

are all now back on the air, except for Channel 33 (Conroe, I think). Channel 14 just got back on last night, but there was no way I could stay up to watch The Shoes of the Fisherman, with Anthony Quinn. Wanted to, but sleepysand called. Wonderful film!

Channel 26 has, for the past week or so, been running what they call "Ike Interruption Theater", airing popular shows that did not run because of the ongoing hurricane and its aftermath coverage.



Sorry, guys! Guess there's nothing really here but Ike and more Ike. Hopefully, this will be the last one that I will feel obligated to post.

Bits & pieces

Went to bed last night before 10pm (and no, I did not watch the 'great debate', as I'd already said in another post) and woke up about 4:30 this morning. Six and a half delicious hours of sleep. May or may not have dreamed.


Got up and checked Milwaukee's score from last night. I knew that the Mets had lost, meaning we were still barely hanging on by a thread. However, the Cubs have decided that they can now coast to the end of the regular season, having secured their divisional first place finish recently. Milwaukee won. The Astros are out.

We did it to ourselves, really, but the 'godlike' commissioner of baseball didn't help. Right now I'm a little turned off by baseball in general. I don't foresee a post baseball season withdrawal coming, but one never knows, right?


Wrote my post on banking (not political -- personal), cruised through some of my "Favorites", and then went back to bed for a short nap. This nap, of one hour duration, produced a recurring dream with variations which I'll have to share with you another time.

It's kind of a weird combination of the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and my continuing to miss exits as a taxicab driver while transporting a family of three (He is here on business. His wife and mother-in-law [??] are accompanying him.) whom I have driven several times before.

At least one point during this dream, I woke myself up by talking out loud to one of my passengers!


Went into the other room to catch the tail end of the local news, where I heard a couple of updates about Ike's lingering effects.

1) There are a large number of baby squirrels being cared for currently by the SPCA. Boy, are they cute! The caretaker, in responding to a question about why the squirrels weren't scared, said, "Their hunger overcomes their fear." I have two squirrels in my back yard. If they had a baby or two that needed to be rescued, I didn't find it/them. (They are still here, by the way. They're continuing to throw acorns on my patio roof just as hard as they can to try and crack them!)

2) I've mentioned, a couple of times, about our problems due to traffic lights not yet having been restored. This morning's newscast stated that all traffic signals should be back to normal by November. (!?!)


Got my weekly "fix" when Gerald Treece came on for his 5-10 minute Saturday morning appearance where he starts off with a short monologue on the topic of the day -- in this case it was concerning the 150 e-mails he's been getting daily on problems concerning Ike -- and then takes questions from individual callers.

One of the callers had questions about insurance companies, what they cover/don't cover, how long must one wait for an adjustor to appear, etc.

I get a kick out of him. He cautioned that the caller must be prepared to wait. Settlements don't come right away, even if the adjustor is there within the hour.

Then he said that his insurance company hasn't shown up yet, but they've given him great hope that 'someday' they will!


He concluded by saying, "Don't get down, Astros fans. Spring training is only five months away. There's always next year!"



PS. I haven't seen a cockroach since Ike. (Knocking on wood like crazy.) Now there's a mixed blessing for you!

The Economic Summit

The post I published Wednesday made me think of the Economic Summit held here in Houston in 1990.


"The city and its suburbs have launched an all-out war on trash and blight to scrub up for the international visitors", one newspaper said.

And, indeed we had. I have not before or since seen our city so clean and sparkling, and not one street person to be found! I have no idea where they all went, but they weren't downtown. Nor were they in any other area where visitors might likely go.


Security was unbelievably tight. Sewers were walked through and then manhole covers permanently secured. Trees and flowers and shrubs were planted. Lawns were manicured to the nth degree.

Standards of the individual nations to be represented at the event were constructed and placed in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center, where the press corps was headquartered. (A few years later, when the international terminal at Intercontinental Airport was completed, the standards were moved there.)


After midnight one evening, a friend and I went downtown and watched them doing live news reports to Europe and other parts of the world. That was interesting!

Have you ever wondered what some of these reporters are wearing below the waist? I never did until after I watched that night.

There were all of these tremendously bright lights, of course, and people milling around in shorts, t-shirts, and tennies or flip flops. It was hot!! I found myself wondering where the person was who would be doing the broadcast, and starting looking for someone sweltering in a suit and tie. Not there.

Then, all of a sudden, someone produced an impeccable shirt, jacket, and tie. One of the 'millers around' put them on, quickly grabbed a microphone, and the broadcast was on! Ha!! Still wearing his shorts and flip flops.

SO, to this day, whenever I see a reporter sitting behind a desk or shown just from the waist up at an outside location, I wonder.


Each country's representatives were housed in a different hotel. I happened to acquire a regular customer just before the Summit was due to begin.

He was from Puerto Rico, with the Secret Service, and was here to guard members of the Italian delegation. When he wasn't on duty or sleeping, he wanted to go sight-seeing, and so off we went.

The last time I saw him was when I dropped him off at his terminal at Intercontinental Airport. He said he hoped that I could get to Puerto Rico sometime. Gave me his card (which I kept for years, but don't have the slightest idea where it is now!) and then said, "I'll do the driving."

I didn't know quite how to take that. Surely he wouldn't have used my services all those times if he didn't like the way I drove? But when I looked over at him, he had this impish grin on his face.


One other regular customer was obtained by picking up a 'flagger' downtown at around 10:30pm. He was in a hurry to get to the post office, he said. Could I give him directions?

Well, as it turned out I had just come from there and said, "Get in. I'll take you." It wasn't very far, but it was hot.

He was from Canada, one of the many hundreds of press here to cover the Summit. We didn't have as many trips together as Manuel and I did -- he was required to be at the GRB almost all of the time -- but those that we did have were enjoyable, including his trip back to the airport.

Leftovers

These impressions are from yesterday. Hope you don't mind if they're reheated.


My day began with an early morning pickup to the airport, so I didn't get to sleep until I woke up. Then I had a couple of hours before I was due to pick up two more customers from the same airport, so I decided to drive through downtown and then go over to Memorial Park, park in the shade, and read some more of Michael Connelly's book, The Closers '05. It's been sitting on my kitchen counter, along with several others for more than a year now, silently pleading, "Read me, read me!"


Extremely unusual for me to have two sets of customers in a day now, much less in one morning! The early morning PU was a fellow that I hadn't heard from for a couple of years. Altho I had driven him only a few times, I remembered him distinctly. Well, not him so much as his house and the animals that were in his neighbor's back yard (goats).

His house is really interesting. He and his wife had moved it there from Kemah (a fishing town right on Galveston Bay that was TERribly damaged during Ike ... Marvis, one of my cab-driving friends, and I had intended to go over there for lunch between Christmas and New Year's, but I don't know if they can be rebuilt by then). He then added porches of varying lengths around the sides of the house (he's in the construction business) and painted the house a soft (but not too soft) yellow with a stark white trim. I'm not usually fond of yellow, but it's perfect for that house in that location.


There was a TON of traffic. You'd think that a ton of traffic might be aggravating, but I want to tell you that it was wonderful to see that small sign of normality return! I had taken the Beltway over to his house (along with hundreds of others -- tollways are still free*), and it was heartening to see convoy after convoy of telephone trucks on the way to their latest destinations.

The majority of traffic lights on the city's streets are still out, so when I got off the Beltway there were long lines of cars at each (what was now a) 4-way stop. At some of the major intersections, however, particularly as we got closer to the airport, policemen were directing traffic (sometimes they are actually helpful!).


The airport PU was a referral from one of my long-timey cancer patient customers who lives in Florida, a husband and wife team. He is here for extensive testing, which is beginning as I write this, to see whether or not he could benefit from an experimental drug treatment program or what some of his other options might be. I've been trying to send hopeful thoughts and prayers his way ever since he first called me a week or two ago.


We chatted about a number of different things. This is their first visit to Houston, and they knew absolutely nothing about the Medical Center or its immediate surroundings. As we were pulling into their hotel, I asked him what time his first appointment was. He said, "Not until tomorrow (today, now) morning."

I asked him if they might like to take just a little tour through the Medical Center, going by MD Anderson, the cancer center (of course!), to try and get just a little better oriented. He snapped the invitation up. (They couldn't officially check in to their hotel until around 1:30, anyway, as it turns out, so they were glad for the offer. Also, they were hungry, and wanted to stop for some lunch.)

So we took the tour, and I included some of Hermann Park, where we stopped at Miller Outdoor Theater to walk a bit and pick up current programs. I thought this might be a good thing for Lorraine to know about during her long waiting hours ... not the theater, necessarily, but the zoo and the park itself, just a short walk from MDA and safe enough during daylight hours.


I'm thinking about them this morning and hoping for the best.


One note here, before I go on to something else ... Hobby Airport seemed almost deserted to me. I mean, I know that it wasn't, but still! I've seen it when it was busy. It's not busy!! I wonder how these cab drivers are 'making it'? I didn't go over to the cab staging area in between trips, primarily because I didn't want to hear -- first hand -- their sad stories (and I know that they would not have been exaggerated, in this instance, because they would have been talking to someone who would have been able to see through their BS).


Along the way -- to the first PU, and then again going over to Memorial Park -- I had the radio on and heard a bunch of things that I hadn't known before, and so took some extensive notes (before I forgot the details) when I first arrived at the park to include in this post. And guess what? Not much of Michael's book got read. (You already guessed as much, didn't you?)


Some of the news included ... ... school reopening schedules (Katy, where DGD goes, reopened yesterday ... Alief and HISD today, although less than half of HISD's schools are -- power issues ... all others undetermined as yet ... ... Galveston's allowing west end residents (ONLY residents!) to come "look and leave" beginning tomorrow morning at 6am (until 6pm). They may not stay. They are asked to bring any food and water they need with them. Free tetanus shots are being given on the island, and returnees are advised to wear gloves and masks. (Snakes, rats, and other such varmints took shelter in whatever high ground was available during Ike.)


Paul Harvey's show was on, but it wasn't Paul Harvey. (I forget who the guest was. Hope Paul's OK.) ANYhoo, it seems that yesterday was an anniversary of when Johnny Cochran uttered those in/famous words, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."


Stopped by Kroger's on the way back to Hobby and picked up some of that yummy grape salad. Even picked up a dinky container of same for my new customers. Figured that, if they didn't like it, I might somehow be able to 'force myself' to eat it!


We've had really gorgeous weather ever since Ike came through! The rainbow after the storm? It's warming up now, tho, little by little. Yesterday the AC came on several times. (At least, I think it did!) When I finally got back home, a little after 2pm, I collapsed onto the pillow and knew nothing else for several hours but sleep. Probably dreamed -- I almost always dream, but don't remember any of it/them from yesterday, if I did. Woke up just in time for "Wheel" to come on, and then spent the next couple of hours watching the premiere of "Dancing with the Stars".

The new season is here! Still no M*A*S*H, tho. Oh, well.


Hope all is wonderfully well with you.



*DSL insists that the only reason the toll roads are still free is because they don't have the power back up yet. Nothing to do with the goodness of their hearts. He may be right!



PS. Also heard, while I was listening to the radio, a partial interview with Alan Alda, who has a new book out. I like Alan Alda! Will definitely not buy the book, but will tuck it away in my memory banks as one I would probably like to read.

Bits & pieces

Well, Channel 11 is showing Ike relief and recovery efforts again this morning instead of Charles Osgood, so I thought I'd take a looksee through some of my "Favorites".



Do you all know what a "meme" is? ... ... Any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation.

In my relatively short history of time spent in the blogosphere, I have seen many different memes of varying themes. Two days ago, Nancy posted "The Husband Meme" on her site. It's clever, and you would probably get a chuckle or two if you clicked on the link. It's dated Friday, September 19th. My link thingee isn't properly working for this one, so if she's posted another since then (and before you read this and hit the link -- she hasn't yet, but you never know, she could sneak another one in on us), just scroll down until you get the right post, OK?

She suggests that a man do "The Wife Meme". Perhaps someone will take her up on that?



Very early this morning, Tammy posted pix of her family going to the circus last night, and she includes a couple of YouTube dealies of the 3-motorcycle act inside a large ball and the human cannonball, in addition to a few photos of some of her family enjoying the festivities. Neat!


It reminded me of the last time I went to the circus. It was about ten years ago, during my cab-driving years.

One of the "up" sides of the taxicab business is that you get to meet so many different people. (It can also be one of the "down" sides ... depends on the people.)

Anyway, this one afternoon I picked up a gentleman at Hobby Airport who wanted to go where the circus was setting up. Well, uninformed me! I wasn't even aware that a circus was setting up!! So, he got on his cell phone (What did we ever do before cell phones??), talked with someone who was at the site, and away we went.

I've always loved the circus. Does anyone not? We had a fun time all the way there talking about his circus, whatall kinds of special acts it had to offer, etc. It was obvious that I was excited just talking about the circus, and he invited me to attend that evening as his guest! (Turns out he was the owner.)

Long story short, I did, and one of the special features was three motorcyclists doing the very same precision act that Tammy includes in her post.



Kind of a sad note ... M*A*S*H is nowhere to be found! This change in scheduling occurred about a week before Ike blew through. Two local channels -- 20 & 26, co-owned -- carried the reruns. I imagine this void will exist until the station/s receive enough requests/complaints to start showing it again. (I must make a mental note to call the station/s and make the request/complaint.)



Thought I'd post this one and #2 on "Fun with word games" this morning. Won't have time later. DSL's coming over to see if he can get my monitor back. Sure hope it wasn't 'fried' a week ago Friday night. Also, I think he's planning to get up on the roof and try to clean out my gutters. You can probably imagine the debris!

Also this afternoon, the Astros game (they're in Pittsburgh right now) will be televised. They lost again last night, and so their hopes for a 'wild card' berth are pretty much gone, but still -- they're my team. You'll probably notice me going into a post baseball season withdrawal in another week or two. If you do, and you think I'm not coming out of it like I should, give me a swift kick in the you-know-what in one of your comments, OK? I hereby give you permission to do so.

Later this evening, I'm scheduled to play bridge in a team game with Bob Johnson, but that one's kind of up in the air. It'll be at a new location -- just off the Beltway, and no more than 10 minutes from my house, how's that for convenience? -- but Bob didn't know for sure the other day when he called that it would take place, what with all of Houston's power problems. We'll see.



SO, there you have it! Hope your day is starting off well. See you later!!


PS. It's now 11am. DSL came over quite a bit sooner than expected. He's now gone over to WalMart to get me a new monitor ... old one "died" ... we said a few choice words over it.

The aftermath

It's kind of hard to know exactly where to begin, or what all to say, so I'll just start.


Power ...

Almost all of Houston and surrounding areas were without power immediately preceding, during, and certainly following Ike, who struck as a Cat 1 "only". That's a huge blessing because he was so immense! In addition to that, he turned more east at the last minute and the REALLY devasting storm surges that had been feared did not occur. The destruction is bad enough as it is.

99% of us were without power from sometime Friday onward. 60% of Houston is still without power. Many hospitals, businesses, and homes have power only because they have generators.

My power was restored last night around 9:00, but I could not get onto the Internet. It's only been within the last half hour or so that I could. Everything seems to be working fine now except for my monitor. DSL will probably try to get "on" later to see if he can fix the problem remotely and avoid a trip over here.

His business has to be conducted via the Internet, and they were without it for four and a half days. Service was restored to them yesterday, and he really cannot afford the time to come over. I can live without the monitor until he has time. I'm having to use my bifocals to read what I'm writing. Ridiculous, huh?

[Had to take a little break. DSL came on, but still no monitor -- so, he'll be coming over tomorrow sometime to take a looksee. OK. Back to the bifocal ranch.]


It was interesting trying to get out of my garage. Double-wide, oversized doors, and a real beast to try and lift manually ... felt like I was a prisoner in my own house. Long story short, lots of help from DSL and neighborhood kids!


Damage ...

The areas of destruction are so wide that it's almost impossible to list them all.

Galveston, of course, has been extremely hard hit. The mayor politely asked the news media to leave the other day. (Don't know if any did or not.) Something like 15,000 of the vultures have been perched in various hotel rooms down there, trying to interview every paid or volunteer recovery and rescue worker in sight.

In one of her noon news conferences, the terribly weary mayor was taken to task for not allowing reporters to talk to recovery workers. That actually happened. I heard it. She said (and I paraphrase), "There's nothing here for you right now. Please leave. I'm asking you to leave."

[Johnny's arm has been severed in a farming accident. He's rushed to the hospital, where vultures are wanting to know which arm, can it be saved, how many stitches, how is his family holding up and where are they so that we can inundate them with a gazillion intrusive questions because "the public has a 'right to know'."]


Bodies are washing up on the shoreline as I write this, bodies of people who decided to stay and ride out the storm. I really don't want to see replay after replay after replay of that recovery.


I don't know how many of you read my Golden Triangle post of earlier this month -- at least I think it was earlier this month! -- but that part of Texas has sustained great and, in some cases, irreparable damage.


Me? I'm OK. Really! Certainly compared to everyone else!! I 'suffered' only the minor inconvenience of being without electricity, water (at times), and light (candlepower only goes so far). DSL brought me a battery-powered radio. (I used to have one! Wonder where it went?)

Had to throw out a bunch of foodstuffs. Gave me the opportunity to clean out the refrigerator and freezer. (Shouldn't have needed an excuse, but I did!)

I am not known as a woman who puts housekeeping at the top of her list. In fact, it's probably so far down the list that it cannot be found, I kid you not. So there you have it. The truth about Goldenrod, although -- if you've been following my posts for any period of time -- you already know that.

(Think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that my idea of a perfect world includes a house that cleans itself.)


Irritating things ...

News media ... calling this a "worst case scenario" (This is bad, very bad, but by no means a 'worst case'.) ... continually trying to interfere with relief workers' attempts with their insatiable appetite for exclusive interviews ... clogging up important news conferences with their attempts to place 'blame' on perceived slights.

JQ Public's occasional outburst at a POD ... when there are hundreds more vehicles patiently waiting in line, "Is this all the ice, water, MRE's I get?" (POD=Point of Distribution ... 50/60 some sites throughout the area)


Good things ...

News media ... Local radio and television stations carrying round-the-clock coverage (and continuing, actually, as I write this post!) ... really, absolute life-savers!! As one local radio station put it, "A lot of people just want to talk to somebody."

Hundreds of relief trucks carrying workers ... quite literally, from all parts of the United States and Canada, many of them offering to sleep in their cabs if no accommodations were immediately at hand. (Haven't heard of any coming here from Mexico, or I'd be giving them credit.) Convoy after convoy of them. Thank you, wonderful friends!


I'm sure I have left a bunch of info out that some of you might like to know. If you will leave a comment with your question/s, I will try and address it/them.

I have been trying to 'edit' this post as I go, and have had to rewrite bunches of it as I have inadvertently hit one little teeny tiny key after another, deleting what might possibly have been the 'world's greatest utterances'!

I hope that you will take that last sentence for how it's meant. I'm trying to see these teeny tiny little keys through my bifocals. Every now and then I accidentally hit one that deletes half of what I just said in the last two paragraphs and then have to try and reconstruct where my 'mind' was when I wrote it.


I'm pretty sure that I have been by no means successful. I apologize in advance for errors which have been left undetected.


It has taken me over three hours (!!!) to complete this post, and I'm going to try and publish it before I accidentally hit another teeny tiny little key and delete the whole thing.

Ike ... #1

I hadn't intended to do a post on Ike until tomorrow, but that's ALL they're talking about on television right now, so I thought I'd better get this out there so all of you are up to date on what's really going on and what my preparations are.


A really good site for you to follow (and it updates every ten minutes or so) is this one. Make sure it says "My Tropical Tracker", OK? It takes perhaps thirty seconds to fully load, so you have to have a little bit of patience.


I don't think there's much debate on whether or not Houston will feel the effects of Ike. Not much doubt, really, that we're going to get a direct hit.

However, this will NOT be a 'worst case' scenario. At present, his sustained winds are at 100 mph, a category 2 hurricane. Category 3 kicks in at 111, 4 at 136. The pressure keeps falling (not good) and his eye is well-defined (again, not good).

A 'worst case' scenario would be a cat 5 coming in from the east (Ike will be coming in from the south, and I very much doubt that he will make landfall higher than a cat 3).


Mandatory evacuations have already been ordered for all coastal areas immediately south of Houston. Tolls have been eliminated on all toll roads (we have four) to try and make it just a touch easier for those folks who are trying to go north.


Another site that you might find of interest is this one. I live in zip code 77099. If you remember that I said I live on the southwest side, that'll help you find it. I should mention that if you hover over the zip code you will get additional information.



SO, what will I be doing the rest of today? Well, I'll be continuing my icecube-making, for sure. Later this morning I'll go to pick up my new glasses. Am kind of interested in seeing how that new prescription is. Supposed to be significant changes. Will let you know.

Then, I'll go over to Nielsen's deli (haven't been there in a year, I betcha) and get one of their scrumpdeliocious egg salad sandwiches (good for one meal, at least!). I'll probably check out their soups while I'm there, as well.

I might even head over to Krogers to see if they have any grape salad. We'll see.

Later today? There's some overgrown grass in my backyard that has been crying out for some attention. Think I might tackle that before the rains come.


That's about it for now. I've titled this post "#1" ... expect another later, OK?

I'm all right. Don't worry about me.

Gustav, Hanna, and the MDA telethon updates

Gustav came ashore earlier today pretty much as predicted, which was a surprise to me! Watching the progress of a hurricane is normally a 'wait and see' what he/she decides to do type of thing.

There's really very little preparation that can be made other than battening down whatever hatches you can, moving potential flying objects out of the projected winds, and preparing for loss of electricity for a few days. That's about it.

You MUST evacuate if your area will be in the storm surge, so having plenty of gas in your vehicle is a no-brainer.


OUR forecast has changed significantly over the past few hours. Initially, we were expecting heavy rainfall beginning as early as tonight. How long that might have continued depended on whether or not Gustav stalled out just to our north.

It now appears that he is going to continue moving to the northwest, perhaps stalling out in northeast Texas, near the Red River (TX/OK border). Shreveport, LA, will most certainly be affected. Other systems which still are not fully in place will be dictating his movements (or lack thereof). Fast is good, slow is bad.

Our rain chances have been downgraded to less than 20%. That is a huge surprise!!


Now, as far as New Orleans is concerned, so far the levees appear to be holding. A really good thing. The center of Gustav seemed to go directly over Morgan City, approximately 65 miles southwest of New Orleans. I'll be interested in watching the news later to see if the levees continue to hold.

New Orleans is on what we call the 'dirty side' of this storm. Should receive some pretty good-sized rainfall amounts before all is said and done.

Morgan City, on the other hand, is surrounded by levees. I have been trying mightily for the past many hours to send as many strengthening and prayerful thoughts their way as I can that their levees might be strong enough to do the trick in holding back major floodwaters.



Let's talk for just a bit about Hanna. She's now a cat 1 hurricane, and is currently pounding the Bahamas. She waffled tremendously a few days ago, traveling perpendicularly southwest from her projected track, and nobody had anything other than the foggiest idea where she might eventually go.

It now 'appears' (I use that word a lot, don't I?) that she will, indeed, hit the Carolinas with hurricane force winds -- perhaps as strong as a cat 2 (which was, by the way, Gustav's strength when he made landfall in LA earlier), perhaps more. We'll just have to 'wait and see'.


Meanwhile, back out on the Atlantic's ranch, other disturbances are brewing. Yes, it's true, unfortunately. September is normally one of the more active months for hurricane formation. Things have been heating up for quite a while, and now they are coming to fruition. But, we don't have to concern ourselves with those today, right?


What's happening with the telethon? Well, it's still going on, you might be pleased to know. Our local NBC affiliate has its hands full today trying to juggle coverage of Gustav, a big golf tournament, and the telethon. As my mother used to say, "They're busier than two cats trying to cover up."


It's now around 2pm. The sun is shining. I have some things I need to get done before the Astros come on at 3:00. It'll be so unusual to watch them other than on a Sunday! They're playing against the Cubs today in Chicago. Go, Astros! Think we just concluded our most successful August EVER!! Too late, I'm pretty sure, but it's always nice to see your team playing well.


Still haven't written the post I promised you about Labor Day, a taxi-driving story. That will have to wait until later, possibly even tonight. Have a good one!