Training Update

Just a quick note, I did a 21+ mile run on Sunday which is officially the last long run in my training for the Houston Marathon on Jan 18th. I will still be running between now and the race but I get to start the taper so I am fresh for the race. I'm really looking forward to the race and know at this point that there is pretty much nothing left to do but run it. I'm not sure if I will make my time goal. I have done ok on the previous long runs for time, but you really do start to break down towards the end and that is still 4 something miles short of the marathon finish line. Here's hoping race day adrenaline does its job!

Still not too late to make a difference in my fundraising either. Thus far with your help we've raised $385 for the Gulf Coast Hurricane Ike Relief Fund to help meet the needs of those most affected by the hurricane. Donations are tax deductible and can still be made for 2008!! Let's try and get over $500 before the marathon!

Slicing and Dicing

One of the things I've wanted to upgrade around the kitchen for a long time now is my knives since I've been using the same set of serrated blades since college. Since buying actual real knives is a "lifetime" investment since any good knife will never need to be replaced, we went and got the real deal. I had been looking at a set of Wusthof's but ultimately went a different route. BTW, for anyone who cares the Grand Prix, Classic, and Culinar Wusthof lines all have the same blades but the price difference is based entirely on the handles, being plastic, wood, and stainless in that order and price.

I did a bunch on Internet research and, I guess ultimately unsurprising, several Japanese knife makers came up repeatedly for their quality knives. I say unsurprising since the knife makers are also the makers of samurai swords which any kung fu film clearly demonstrates the sharpness of those!! :) We got a set of the Shun Classic knives (right handers, so any lefties that try to cook in my kitchen are going to have to use the old crappy knives) and they are phenomenal!! I can actually cut through a tomato without any pressure and crushing and that's with the less then perfect factory edge. They actually get better once I really sharpen them! It makes me want to do a whole infomercial demo cutting through onions, carrots, and a shoe, but no I'll resist. They should hold up to the shoe, but really I'm not going to be the one to find out otherwise.

Woo Hoo! More nifty cooking tools!

Happy Christmas!

John and I had a great morning with just a few presents between us and a nice relaxing morning. I made mannaesh for breakfast which we ate with moroccan mint tea, which seems to be a growing tradition for us since I think I made this a couple years in a row now on Christmas morning. We also had the obligatory "A Christmas Story" on TV while we opened presents and made phone calls to all the family. Right now we are getting ready to have several people over for dinner, a bunch of TX transplants who also aren't making back to the real world this Christmas holidays.

So from our house to yours, Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to all!

Rustic Ravioli

This weekend was pretty awesome. I used a little of my sick time I am otherwise going to lose Friday and it was also John's Friday off from the 9-80s he's working. We used that day to finish Christmas shopping for each other and cleaned the house a bit. We had my work party Friday night, good times telling stories till late. Party attendance also didn't disappoint since it was the usual suspects, all of the Operations team shows up, only two of the Systems and Analysis team shows up. Most people, don't realize there is a great divide in personalities of engineers between who is fun and who isn't as my soon-to-be-ex team most definitely exemplifies.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing not much of anything which was enjoyable. Watched movies and football, played video games, etc. But Saturday night I made my second attempt at homemade ravioli. It tasted way good with a spinach-ricotta filling and came out great, better than last time. I also whipped up a homemade tomato basil sauce for it, so it was yummy all around. Visual appeal, however, was still lacking and it still has to be categorized as "rustic" or perhaps more like "primitive". I am still trying to figure out how people can hand make ravioli that resembles something other than ragged, lopsided shapes that look all funny when cooked. Those Italians know something I don't.

I'm Blue Over You

John talked to Dell yesterday. Want to know why it is going to take two months to get our new laptop? Because it is blue... as in the color... as in, if I knew it was going to take two months I would have just ordered black. And we would, except they seem to be completely incompetent and can't just switch the color on the order for a computer that hasn't even been built yet but has every other component sitting on shelves in stock. Now I know why we get a good discount.

Dell-usional

John and I were going to do our part to help the economy this winter by replacing our ancient computer at home with a shiny new laptop. Not really, but it sounds like a good excuse to upgrade to a real computer. After doing loads of research and whatnot, we decided the best deal was on a unit from Dell with my Boeing discount code. It was going to be sweet with upgrades to a bunch of components, 4GB of RAM, and a blu-ray installed. We ordered it online with the Black Friday sale and it was supposed to ship on 12/9.

On 12/9 I received an email saying it was delayed until 12/16. No big deal, just a week. Today (being the aforementioned 12/16) I received an email saying it won't ship until 1/19!! That's right, JANUARY 19th. WTF?!?! The email also said we had to call and confirm we still want the laptop with this ship date or the order would be cancelled for us.

Well guess what, we want you to cancel the darn thing!! Two months for a laptop? In this economic climate, this is your customer service? Recessions cause bad companies that can otherwise get by to fail and you're well on your way.

Needless to say, I'm super annoyed with this outcome. More so because now we have to start the laptop search all over again, only this time there aren't any Black Friday sales and I don't know who's running what sales anymore that we already missed. Maybe your competitors at HP or Toshiba will hook us up with a deal through Best Buy. Way to go Dell, pretty sure you lost me as a customer for more than just this 1 laptop sale.

Hey Hey 30k

After a 2 Christmas Party evening last night, I got up early this morning for the Lakes of Williams Ranch 30k, part of the marathon warm-up series and my training. Wowie, so I finished and I am really happy with the time of 2:48:11. This means I finished on my marathon goal pace even if it did hurt quite a bit in the last couple miles.

It was nice at the beginning when I hooked up with two other runners that were running around my pace and the three of us stuck it out for awhile. But, the girl pulled away around mile 10 and ended up finishing 10 or so minutes in front of me as my pace was slowing by this point. She said she had previously run a marathon in 3:40 so this wasn't unsurprising. The guy we were running with dropped back from me around mile 12, so that felt good for me at least. But he said he did half marathons, the 18 miles was a strech for him. So all in all, good running buddies to have for as along as we stuck together.

As for me, I will be spending the rest of the day on the counch most likely and taking a nap since I am already rather sleepy. Good night... zzzzzzzzz.

Tough Day at Work

Today the 747 carrying Endeavour back to KSC flew over JSC. It doesn't do this often since we aren't exctly in the flight path from Edwards to the Cape. Neato though, so now I saw this bird on the pad, launch, dock (TV), work the mission and all associated activities (TV), and now fly over my work no its way home. What a month. It circled JSC a couple times, but out here at Ellington Field it made "missed approaches" if you will twice shooting Runway 35R twice at low-altitude. Heck-yea, this is one amazing day at the office when all I have to do is run outside for a view of this. Here is my not so great pictures from my point and shoot. I should be able to get some really great ones from a guy here that was using a SLR with a zoom lens.

City Dawgs

The snow made it through the night since the temperature managed to hover right around freezing but by 8am it is already starting to rapidly disappear. However, before I left for work I wanted to try and get some pictures of my huskies in the snow. This is the second time they've seen snow in their lives (yes lame fact for these SIBERIAN HUSKIES!!), again however, I wasn't in town the last time it snowed so still doesn't count.

What is really sad though is that my wussified, city dawgs don't want to play in the snow because it is clearly too cold. Lotus I got to run around in it a bit, but she ran away and went inside when I threw some at her. Yasha, who doesn't really like being on even warm grass, was a no show on the cold snow. So I have one quick picture of Lotus standing in the half melted snow and that's all I can get. I love my dogs, but if they were human I'd be telling them to "suck it up."

Global Snowing

After work I hit up a work party on Clear Lake and left to find SNOW!! Holy crapola, honest to goodness SNOW!! in Houston on Clear Lake. WTF?!?! I know if snowed here like 5 years ago but I wasn't in town that week so it doesn't count. So really this is my first snow in Houston and I am still quiet incredulous. So here it is proof! Our neighbors and their kids were out throwing snowballs when I got home and right now someone is running around the neighborhood yelling "Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!". Wow, Washington is 0-12, Cougars win the CrApple Cup, and now given that hell hath frozen over, it's snowing in Houston.

Our Backyard!!


Our House and Cars!!

Tree-mendous

Last night John and I got our Christmas Tree and I got all the decorations on it. We were a little light on tree decorations previously, but our tree is a little bigger than normal this year at a full 7ft. So now it is a little bare I think. If anyone know of any good deals on tree ornaments, let me know. I'd normally wait until after christmas sales, but if there are pre-Christmas sales I'll pick some up sooner for the tree.

Hello Goodbye

I guess when there are any big changes in your life it leads to a lot of mixed emotion. I am changing jobs at the end of the month and its pretty radical as I will be changing companies to make this come about. I will start on the Constellation Program on Jan 5th doing Systems Avionics Integration and I am really excited for the change and the new experience. So that is all something I'm looking forward to and happy for.

Except everyday I have left at my current company is another sad goodbye, as if any goodbye wasn't, to be leaving what I've been doing and the people I've worked with for the last seven years. Today was my last day on-console in the ISS MER. We've been through a lot in there bringing this bird to life and I wish everyone the best in the future for all that remains to be done. Kevin had the Flight Director give me my send off and the go ahead for my final on-call which was nice. It is very strange to have that happen though, it just feels rather abrupt. This morning I was there and now I'm... not.

"I say high, you say low
You say why, and I say I don't know"

Weekends in Winter

This was a busy weekend for us but in all the right ways. Friday night we went to El Tiempo in the Heights for dinner with Kim, Lia, and Eric. I haven't gotten to see Kim or Lia in awhile, so it was super-nice to be able to catch up. I didn't realize quite how long it had been though and we had a year plus worth of catching up. Sad, but hopefully we won't let that happen again.

Saturday was the Metro Invitational Pool Tournament to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. We got double eliminated after the two games, but that is fine by us. Neither of us have played pool in awhile, so it really just meant we got to hang out with everyone.

One thing we hadn't gotten updated on the Blog was our house status. Right before Thanksgiving we finally got all the repairs completed from the Ike hurricane damage. So we now have a house with a brand new roof that doesn't have two holes in it, new chimney, and the study has been completely drywalled, textured, and carpeted. John and I are going to paint in there ourselves, that is if we can agree on a color...

MERT

Since I am changing jobs at the end of the month, I have to start saying goodbye to some of the things I've been doing for an awful long time now. One of those is the MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) at work. We get trained to respond to emergencies at work and come help out with medical stuff until the paramedics arrive. I've responded to many calls over the years, but the best part of the team was our training and our awesome instructor Rebecca. I'll miss this part of my job which really had absolutely nothing to do with my job. But usually, the best things are, right? We had a BBQ lunch today at work for all of the MERTs from the all the buildings in appreciation (unrelated to me leaving). Good times and I'm glad I got to say goodbye to Rebecca in person and not by email.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This morning I did the 10k Turkey Trot with Charlie, Carey, and John W. Good race and everyone finished at or near their goal times which is always great. Then we headed over for a Thanksgiving feast at Jaime and Charlie's mmm..mmm..good. Now I am at work but it's not so bad because its only a half shift and I sent Aaron home for his own Thanksgiving. I will mostly try to stay awake and since I can't fall prey to the post Thanksgiving meal nap!

Hope every one's Thanksgiving is a great one! Gobble, Gobble!

Catching up

Realized I hadn't posted in a bit, weekend was busy. Since my parents are in town we had quite a few things going on including a day trip to Lake Charles for some losing of money at L'Auberge du Lac's casino, Saturday went to the Univ of Houston - UTEP football game (which was great) and had a BBQ with friends Sunday. Now I am back on console (read too boring to post anything about) and my parents are off to Arkansas for Thanksgiving with the extended family.

Yesterday it became official that the mission was extended a day, which makes it official that I am working Thanksgiving. MMM... MER coffee for the holiday, what a treat. Actually, it won't be that bad. We will be going over to some friends for a turkey meal and then I will work a half shift (Thank you Aaron for taking the first half!). Happy Turkey Day to all!

Ponderings on Space and History

I have added a link to Wayne Hale's NASA blog here to mine. Even though the category is titled "People we Know", I have never met Wayne but, I don't care, the link stays. Wayne has been around NASA for a long time and was a Shuttle Flight Director until recently when he started working on Constellation. He always writes really good memos and I come across reprints of his blog post on various other websites and think they are always very interesting. So for any other exploreers out there, read on to his blog for whatever interesting story he has lately.

Wittle Baby ISS All Grow'd Up

Today is the 10th birthday of the ISS, Happy Birthday to our own man-made star! On Nov 20th, 1998 (when I was still in college) the first element of the ISS launched which was the FGB (a.k.a. Functional Cargo Block in english, a.k.a. Zarya in PR speak) from the Baikonour Casmodrome. The first element was little more than some basic avionics and some large gas tanks, but all the same you have to start somewhere. Here is a picture of the ISS today (or rather Sunday when the Orbiter arrived) and I marked the FGB so you know just how much we've grown.


Also, here is a picture of me on console from Monday. I may look busy in this photo, but don't be fooled, we are very good at posing for the photographer! In our world, boredom is a good thing because it means all our planning and work up front is right and nothing has yet broken. So I'll take boredom on console any day and hope someone else is too for IM or email.

STS-126 Launchapalooza

Last night we got to watch one heck of a sight in the launch (on-time in perfect weather) of STS-126. What an amazing sight to see a night launch and from only 3 miles away where we were. The pictures I have don't do it justice, I just snapped a couple to say I was there. For good pictures refer to the NASA official photos that are taken with cameras slightly more sophisticated than my point and shoot. I don't know what images captured, but the two best moments in the launch were 1. Ignition (of course and there are pictures of that) and 2. when the Orbiter passed through a thin layer of cirrus clouds. As the orbiter passed through these clouds, we could see the shockwaves ripple through the cloud and cause them to dissipate (all illuminated by the light from the engines). That was the simply awe-inspiring part of the launch and all the better because we certainly didn't expect something like that.

The other cool part of the evening and the whole rest of the SFA trip for that matter was that our good friends Brian and DeAnn were also there. DeAnn got an SFA for her hard work on the ATV program, Congrats DeAnn! So we had a great time just hanging out and talking while we waited for the launch.

After the launch it took 4.5 hrs to get from KSC back to the hotel in Orlando, that is normally an hour or so trip. We were pretty beat and tired of being on the bus by the time we got back but it was certainly worth it for the launch.

...Now to console tomorrow for docking to "work" the mission.

Canaveral Carnival

John and I are in Florida (as John said, didn't expect to be back here this soon) for the STS-126/ULF-2 Launch. I got an SFA award so it's a pretty nice semi-vacation to be here on the company. Last night we had the company banquet and actually received our framed certificate things, John said it went on forever and included thanks to the floor, the walls, and just about everything else for all their hard work. It wasn't that bad and we at least had a nice dinner with all the other 3 ISS Avionics and SW recipients, spouses, and the VP of the ISS.

Today was the tour of KSC. I've been on a tour previously, so much of it was something of a repeat but it was pretty nice. I didn't take a ton of pictures but the slide show covers everywhere we did go. We did get up pretty close to the pad with 126 on it and that was nice. The best part of this is that since I am the lead for my team for this flight, I've now seen the bird on the pad, may get to see the launch (cross your fingers for good weather tomorrow night), and then am going to make it home to work the docking shift Sunday. Not a normal occurrence to pull that off. Anyhoo, will post an update after the launch. I am really hoping this thing flies on time so we can see it and its a night launch so that should be really awesome to see.



P.S. The random seeming car picture in the middle of the show, isn't really. As we were going between two stops on the tour, we just happened to look over at the car waiting to turn and it held none other than "Spock" himself, Mike Griffen the NASA Administrator. I had the camera in my hand and just snapped one. Can't really see anything, so you'll just have to trust me on that one.

MUDD-E and Proud Of It

Saturday was the Mud Run 10k Race in Ft. Worth. Our team MUDD-E had a great time and certainly qualified under the "muddy" category. It is a great race and is lots of fun even if it was a little slow waiting in line at obstacles and stuff. This though is definitely something we'd go do again and are already planning for the April event when Melissa will be all healed and able to run with us. Since she was sidelined on this race though, we did end up with some fantastic photos for you to enjoy.



Update: After the race Saturday, Melissa went to stay with some friends but the other four of us girls headed out for a nice big post-race dinner. We went to the H3 Ranch in the Ft. Worth Stockyards for some fat steaks and table-side prepared guac (mmmm). We also celebrated with a round of Mudslides which are super-yummy. Cheers!

Sad Cookie News

I just found out Mother's Cookies declared bankruptcy earlier this year. I'm very sad about this because these were always the special cookies when we were little. Everyone loved their white and pink sprinkle covered circus animal cookies and how are kids going to play with their cookies now? What kind of world is it when their are no sprinkle covered animal cookies anymore?

Are We Done Now?

Tuesday was the election as everyone knows. Wednesday slightly more than half the country was extremely happy and slightly less than half was extremely unhappy and many of whom spread some vile hate-speak. Understanding that passions were high because its politics and for some reason that makes it "ok" to lie, cheat, and steal on both sides, now that it is Thursday how about we all go back to just being Americans? To quote the oh so wise Fatboy Slim "Stop the hate, forgive each other."

Haiku for Houston Drivers

too lazy to walk
rolling in big cars too fast
rudely block runners

First Flights

Today I wanted to get a tryout in the Tampico from the aero club so I can go get checked out in it later to fly on my own. The plane is a little different and involved curses to the French a couple times for having a few wacky features, but is otherwise a great little airplane. Becca was PIC, I co-piloted, and since its a 4-place, Alicia came along in the backseat. Jen and Carrie also took out one of the Warriors and we all flew up to Brenham for lunch at the dinner on the field. Good times.

This was also Alicia's first time in a small aircraft and I think she enjoyed it. We also enjoyed her because she didn't get motion sick at all even though we stayed below the clouds in the bumps and a lot of first time fliers do. We even got cleared through class B around Hobby so she got a great view of downtown Houston going by. As proof of the flight her are the pics.

H-town Halloween

Halloween 08 has come and gone. We went over to Beth and John's for the evening to meet up with several other couples and have a pretty chill evening. We handed out candy at our haouse before we left and thankfully didn't come home to toilet paper or eggs later on. Since neither John nor I are super big into costumes, my last minute what's easy but still decent costume idea was 'Mac' and 'PC', as in from the Apple computer commercials. So here we are, I had to be PC since I own a brown tweed jacket. John lucked out getting to wear jeans and a polo, what a champ. And here are also all the girls from the evening, under the sheet is Alicia as Charlie Brown's ghost costume in Great Pumpkin.

From Halloween 08

Crazies in Camo

Last night we had our first "official" Mud Run practice. This involved Lisa, Erin, Alicia, and I running around the woods hopping over Hurricane Ike downed trees (our stand-in Mud Run obstacles) in our boots and camouflage like mad women. We did like 5 feet worth of "military crawl" practice since the ground is hard and full of bugs. Good enough, when we have to do that for real it will be in giant mud pits so we'll deal with it when we have to. All in all it was great fun and I felt like I was 8 years old again trekking through the woods with my sisters. Plus, being in the woods like that down here almost made me forget I was in Houston.

Sad news is that we may be one woman down for the real run. Melissa has a torn muscle and will likely have to be our cheerleader/team photographer instead. We can still run without her, but can't compete for prizes, HA like we were going to finish in the top 3 anyway. It would have been more fun with Mel in the race, but she does need to heal up. Get Well Soon Melissa!

Weezing After Weezer

Last night John and I went to see Weezer with the Sholls (that is now an official reference too, not just a *pending* upcoming wedding event reference, congrats Erin adn Cory) and the Marshiks. This was an outing in celebration for Charlie's birthday which was a few weeks ago and Weezer is one of his favorite bands. It was good times and it was a good concert. I had to shove a flailing drunk girl out of my own personal bubble at one point but that was the only minor blight for a good evening out. Happy Birthday again Charlie, you are the Charliest Marshik I know!!

Given that we were out late, getting up early to workout wasn't going to happen. Good thing too, because even trying to run after work was less than stellar too. Probably something to do with drinking a bunch of beer the night before and not much water before trying to run.

Fall has Fallen!

YAY!! Today I went outside to go to work and it is NOW officially fall! I know everyone not in Houston reading this is saying what is she talking about, fall started a month ago (or if you are in Seattle it started 3 months ago). But no really, a cold front pushed through last night and now it actually IS fall in Houston. The high today is 68deg, the first day since probably April to pull off something like that. Today, I am a happy camper, this is weather I like even if it is short lived. Sunday's high is back to 81deg! :)

Runway Runaway

Last night brought a close to the latest season of Project Runway, which is one of my addiction TV shows. It has been an interesting season, but I am glad that there have been more "I might actually wear those clothes" designers than "crazy fashion only size 0 people would wear on runway clothes". Leann won which I was expecting since her clothes were very well done, but I was really pulling for Korto. After seeing Korto's runway show, I wanted her to even more. I really liked her clothes and specifically this green dress. This was far and away my favorite outfit of the night and given the chance I would buy this dress, assuming her new found fame doesn't mean it's going to cost mega-bucks, which it probably does.


But the best part was seeing snarky Kenley get unceremoniously dumped quickly. She had two decent outfits (I like the one with the painted flowers), but really does anyone want to wear something Joan Collins might have worn in 1985?

10 Toes for 10 Miles

This morning was the United Space Alliance 10-Mile Race and I entered last week since I had previously expected to be out of town and wasn't. I was SUPER glad to do this race because a) I am actually in training for the marathon and b) my training had taken a backseat the last couple weeks due to hurricane cleanup and travel.

So the race wasn't "easy" by any means but I did very well and I ran it in 93:17, which are 9:19 mile splits and is a great pace for me on a long run. I was afraid of bonking in the beginning of the race after going out in the first mile in 8 MIN!! I really reigned it in after that since it was very hard to figure out my pace in the initial surge of the crowd when everyone is full of energy.

One race down, many more miles of training to go and a huge race coming up in January. Please help me raise funds for the Gulf Coast Recovery Fund to help those in need that were hit so very hard by Ike by making whatever size contribution you can on my marathon website. One aspect of the race that makes this especially poignant is that it took us right along Clear Lake, the neighborhoods along the water, and even the NASA Hilton which were all badly damaged by Ike. Just a reminder of why I'm trying to raise money with this run!

Pictures Speak More Words Than Me

Instead of doing a recap of our trip to CT and PA, I'll just add the photo albums. It was a wonderful time in both places and a beautiful wedding, see for yourself below.

Connecticut:
Yes, those are TWO John E. Merancy's in the first few pictures. The picture of John driving is taken in his Grandfather's Porsche Carrerra, you can tell by the blur of trees going by.


The Sholl Wedding and Events in Lancaster, PA, with some Philidelphia pics too. All wonderful friends and good times celebrating to wedding of two soulmates.

Race in the Place of Travel

Since I am unexpectedly "in-town" this coming weekend, I just signed up for the USA 10-Miler which I previously didn't think I was going to do. This race starts at UHCL and loops around on Bay Area to Red Bluff, Kirby, and NASA Road 1. Race time 7am Sunday!

This will be my kick-start for the long-run training I was missing while getting our house back into shape post-hurricane and on vacation the last couple weeks, although I did get several short runs in during this time.

Back in H-town

This will be a short post but I will get an update on here longer. John and I are back home in Houston after a whirlwind week in CT with John's family and then PA for the Sholl wedding. We had a great time visiting everyone in CT and saw as many people as possible in a very few days. We do hope to get John's cousins Kara, Kirby, and Kassie down for a visit sometime so maybe we can work that out in the next few months when they have breaks from school.

As for PA, we both couldn't be happier for the Sholl's to tie the knot!! It was a beautiful wedding and it was so nice to be there for it and celebrate with them and all their friends and family. We had lots of fun throughout the extend parties and BBQ and Nujoud even braved the cold PA river water for some brief wakeboarding. We hope they have a great time on their honeymoon (how could they not ;) and I will get pictures uplinked when I am not so tired from vacation.

As for right now, I have happily removed the "soon-to-be-Sholl" from the weblink to their blog. Congrats you two!

Connecting in Connecticut

John and I are currently in Connecticut at his grandparent's for a few days. Unfortunately, this means we are limited to dial-up, DIAL-UP, internet which means our posting and just about everything else will be limited.

So far we've hung with the gramps and gramma, the uncle's family and met the other John E. Merancy, and you thought just one was bad. We are having a good time, but it is a shorter visit so we have bookings every day for people to see. Thursday we head to PA for the Sholl wedding, yay. I would put an exclamation point on that yay but it's not working for some reason.

anywho- will consider posting pictures when I have something other than dial-up.

Not Your Mother's Station-Wagon

In the midst of hurricane evacuation it was becoming clear to John and me that my Pathfinder I've been driving for almost 7 years, and was almost 9 years old, wasn't holding up so well. There was a knock in the steering in addition to the other little things that have kinda always gone wrong with it, like the driver's window not rolling down during hot weather. As for the window that pretty much means it didn't work 8 months of the year seeing how this is Houston. So we decided it was time to get a new car for me before something broke that would cost more to fix than its worth. With SUV values being in the toilet, that's not hard.

So we started looking around and my basic criteria were: something nice, something with better gas mileage, but something I could still toss the dogs in the back of. This makes for some odd vehicle choices but I ended up settling on the Audi A4 S-Line Avant wagon, especially after we found a loaded out brand new 08 model for a very acceptable price since the 09's are starting to hit the lots. It may be a wagon, but this isn't even close to those pokey giant wood panel jobbies from the 80's, you'll find that out when I blaze by you and with 50% better mpg than my old truck!

Running... Now for a Reason

Many of you know I have already been training to run in the big Houston races coming up. While I was waffling on marathon vs. half-marathon, I decided to commit to the marathon and already switched my bib over to that race. The deciding factor was that I am now entered in the fundraining effort (Run for a Reason) with my cause being the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund. This is the local fund established by Mayor Bill White to raise money to help those that need it most following the hurricane.

While we had some damage, it is nothing much and will easily be taken care of, so I wanted to find a way to help out and this is what I decided on.

Please visit my fundraising page and make a donation if at all possible, even a few dollars will mean a lot to someone on the Gulf Coast. I've set a personal goal to raise $2000 and will continue to make updates as we all make progress to that goal.

Intersection Idiosycrasies

With all the wind damage around here, even a trip to the grocery store a couple miles away gets "interesting". Every time you approach an intersection, it's almost a guessing game what is supposed to happen. Most traffic lights are either out or blinking, so four way stop right? No problem and people are generally being polite (strange for Houston). But then you actually get to a working stop light and this confuses people, I watched more than one person run a solid red traffic light not realizing it was actually on. Who can blame them, they just went through several in the 4-way category.

But then here's the third category: Intersections that used to have traffic lights. What exactly do you do here? Are rules based on memory of previous light locations or current existence? I'd like to know because I blew through one before remembering.

Ike Damage 2.0

After we arrived home yesterday, we immediately set to work trying to cleanup from the storm. Our area of Clear Lake has a lot of trees and this being my first trip home I was rather astounded at the general damage to the area. Whole trees were uprooted in some cases, major branches and limbs down, and just piles and piles of limbs being created. House-wise, it appears to be minor damage, like our missing chimney and almost all fences are down, but no one appears to be completely homeless in our area at least. We have unboarded the house and started making our own large pile of limbs in the front yard too. The trees in the front are generally fine, but the pecan in the back is rather homely now.


We did open the study door to a bigger mess than John left. The wet drywall started to rain down in the room and then we got up there and pulled down everything that was damp to stop the smell. The carpet has also been pulled up from the room and I am trying very hard to air out the entire house and that room in particular. Lucky for us we are actually having unseasonably cool (low in the 50s, highs in the 70s) weather to allow me to open all the windows. The major discovery with regard to this was that the water the got into the study came from a second hole in the roof. When the chimney came down, it punched through the decking over the study and it looks like that is how the water got there. Which means the water from the chimney hole may still be above the fireplace for all we know, we just can't tell.

Ike Damage Pictures

Here are the awaiting damage pictures. As soon as we get power back John and I will head home and start tearing this out. It's not too bad really. The hole in the roof has been patched over with plastic and plywood and caulked to seal. Insurance claim has been started but they aren't even giving estimates on when we can get an adjuster out or start repairs, etc. Giving that this is relatively minor damage I think we will be prioritized rather low in the list so it may be awhile.

House Status Duex

John and Aaron made a pilgrimage to Houston today and managed to get stuck in traffic for a long time. A fatal accident on I-45 backed things up in north Houston and the access roads were all flooded (still?) so they couldn't get off and go around in any way. They did eventually make it to our house and we have some idea of the damage.

The hole in the roof where the chimney seems to have been formed when they backside of the eye wall passed over us. There is a small amount of water on the living room tile that drained through the ceiling spotlight in front of the fireplace. However, the major water damage appears to be in the study which is east of the living room. This indicates the wind drove the rain into the hole in the roof and soaked the study. The ceiling and wall drywall are falling off and the carpet in that room is soaked. Clearly, we are going to have some house repair to do but at least John is getting the hole patched and sealed up as I type. The rest of the house is fine and the good news is none of our "stuff" seems to be affect for the most part. The electronics in the living room and computer equip in the study both stayed dry amazingly enough.

I'm really looking on the bright side here, our stuff is fine and the study is one of only two rooms left in the house which we had not yet remodelled. So, now we can.

John has the camera and took pictures which I will post when I can. They cleaned out our fridge and freezer too because we don't know how long the power will be out and I really don't want to return to the nastiness that could become if I don't have too. John and Aaron are going to finish up and get out of H-town again before the curfew starts to get back to D-city.

House Damage Report

We heard this morning from a neighbor that stayed in the area that our house is largely intact. I say largely, because we no longer have a chimney and instead have a hole in the roof. The hurricane did pass directly over our house as we watched the radar we could easily tell that Clear Lake City passed through the western portion of the eye. This means we saw peak winds during the eye-wall, but were spared (most thankfully) the storm surge from the hurricane which we wanted least of all. The flooding that has occured east of us in the Beaumont/Orange areas is the result of the surge.

We are sure we have some amount of rainfall that has entered our attic and potentially the living room. Unfortunately, since we secured our house so thouroughly, it is impossible for our nieghbors to get in without actually breaking into the house to find our for us. We will figure out what we are going to do over the next few days. We are fully covered and well insured so we are confident we can have this taken care of as painlessly as possible. We also know our fences and our neighbors are all down as well, but that is easily remedied.

Will continue to post status as we know it, of course. We are, along with the rest of Houston, without power, so our return is uncertain since we wouldn't be able to do much if we did.

Liquor and Pedicures

What do you do when a hurricane is attacking your house? Why you have a few drinks at dinner to forget and then go get a manicure and a pedicure in the morning. Last night we enjoyed a nice dinner at Pappadeaux (mmm) before heading back to the house to watch the Weather Channel for awhile. Then this morning, all four of us (yes, John too) went and got manicures and pedicures. The boys got MAN-icures just to be clear, so no pretty pink paint for them. But here is a picture of John to prove it happened.

We did not shoot JR.

John and I (and Lotus and Yasha) have safely arrived in Dallas at Ron and Jeannie's refugee location. Rachael and Grant are also here and were going to head back to Baton Rouge, but will have to wait to Ike passes to see what damage they get from that one too.

So here we are, the dogs are boarded nearby, and we are well prepared for a few days stay. We'll of course be watching to see what Ike does before we can predict what's going to happen with us in the next few days.

We are also in touch with most of our friends from Houston and pretty much everyone from our Clear Lake area has already left and is safely out. The traffic was very good this time and extra good for us because we left before the rest of Houston woke up to find the mandatory evac orders for Clear Lake and Galveston. For those not familiar with or location, Clear Lake, home of NASA-JSC, is located very near Galveston Bay which is why we all must go to avoide the potential storm surge and high winds that will occur nesr the water. Score one for Ike at this point making us leave.

Ike-atude

Here is our status for anyone reading this. John and I just spent the evening boarding up the house, for reference it took an hour to do the whole house and another hour and a half to raise the "drawbridge" on the one (singular) giant window in our master bedroom. To all future homebuyers on the Gulf Coast: DO NOT BUY A HOUSE WITH A MASSIVELY HUGE WINDOW!! Buy a house that has multiple small windows instead!! Trust us!!

As for the rest of it, I am now severly tired and cranky after that and we will be going to bed. In the morning we will most likely make the final decision on evacuation. Right now its looking like we will be getting the heck out of dodge. Our intended destination is Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Ron's house in Dallas, to join our fellow hurricane evacuee cousins from Louisiana, Rachael and Grant who are still there from Gustav.

We will continue to post updates here on our where-abouts if need be. We can also continue to be reached by our cell phones or by email. Should JSC have significant destruction, Nujoud is also on the MER team that may head to Huntsville to provide ISS support if necessary. Again, follow our progress here if need be.

What To Do...

...do we go or do we stay? Much to ponder over the next 24hrs...

Land Lubbers Once More

Well, the shortened Anniversary cruise to nowhere is over. :( We had a great time and it was super nice just to relax and not do anything for a few days. We both agreed that it was easily better then just laying around the house since at home we'd still feel like we needed to run errands or get stuff done.

As for the cruise itself, we did all the crui-sy things like lay by the pool, eat, watch cheesy revue shows, eat, gamble, and eat. We have no pictures, so there are none to post since we didn't bother carrying our camera around the boat. It was just us and our blue card. The biggest downside of the cruise was the super long 3+ hrs it took to just plain get on the boat Wed. It was late arriving in Galveston (as in more than just the 2 days already) and people were still getting off when we arrived at noon. So everyone was standing around in line waiting to get checked in forever (and an hours worth of that was outside in the heat, tres horrible!!).

The first night at dinner it was us, an older couple on their honeymoon, and a gang of the white trashiest folks ever. The trash was complaining loudly and with many four letter words thrown in that they had a group of 8 and were supposed to be sitting together and not split between two tables. So the already frazzled waitstaff (lots of last minute bookings on a $99 special apparently since there were a lot of cancellations) was trying to deal with them as best as possible but they were half drunk and stupid to begin with, so nothing was good enough for them. Best part (at least for me who found it funny) was how one of the girls spent the rest of the dinner with lots of "yes, sirs" and "no, ma'am" with proper table manners painfully trying to appear genteel after the initial ghetto fabulous display. Lucky for us and the other couple, we got to enjoy the rest of the dinners without them since they were reseated at a table for 8 by themselves the following night. YAY!!

Our overall thoughts on the boat: you get what you pay for. It's a very average boat, with average amenities, for an average price. So we enjoyed it because all we wanted to do was get away and it would work if you want the same. But if you are looking for a real nice vacation, we'd recommend you upgrade to a different cruise.

Delay of the Sail Away

The effects of Gustav are already being felt here in Houston, just not the wind and water kind of effects yet. The 5-day cruise to Mexico we were supposed to be on Monday afternoon has now been shortened and delayed by Carnival. It is now departing Wednesday afternoon for 3 days and cruises to nowhere. We get half off the cruise refunded and a 50% discount on another cruise with Carnival by the end of 2009. So not bad, we can still cancel outright and get a full refund but we think we will go and at least have a couple days to relax on the boat.

For reference, we are not boarding up the house and evacuating unless this thing turns sharply in the next 12-20hrs and heads for Houston. The model concensus has been directed at NOLA for a couple days now and we are going to work on the assumption that its right. Pretty much most of Houston is also working on this assumption as no evacuations are in progress from here.

Pre-Gustav Bathroom Status

Tonight I finished installing the new cabinets in the master bath remodel. I figured I should take some pictures to document the status just in case Gustav comes along and makes all my work pointless. I doubt that will happen but who knows, we are still in the "Cone of Death" as Aaron calls it. The list of new items in the bathroom are paint (walls, trim, and ceiling), cabinets, toilet, mirrors, light fixtures, towel racks and hooks, and the under-sink plumbing. Left to do: vanity top and sinks (sitting in the garage, John can help this weekend), the shower door, and hang the mirrors.

John is Officially Headed Home!!

In fact, he is just past Gainesville, FL almost to I-10, which makes him about 12hrs away right now. YAY!! The 6 months on construction is officially at an end.

Gustav is My Least Favorite Thing

ARGH! This TS/hurricane is making my mad. The models shifted Gustav back to the west this morning on its projected path which means Houston is well within the "Cone of Uncertainty." First, I don't want Gustav anywhere near Houston seeing how its our house that acts as a minor windbreak and/or rain spounge for something like this.

Second, we are supposed to be enjoying John's week off from work! Namely, by taking a cruise departing from Galveston terminal and this sucker is getting in the way! I just hope this doesn't turn out to be lesson learned for why one should buy into the trip insurance rip-off.

John's Last and Final ETH (we hope)

After a long and fabulous weekend of partying for Erin's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette party, it only gets better by being topped off with news that John is really coming home. John's last day at work in FL is OFFICIALLY Friday, which means he will drive home and be back to Houston sometime Saturday. YAY!!!

As for our plans, he will get all of next week off from work, least they can do seeing how he's work 6 or 7 day weeks for 6 months. Since our anniversary is the weekdend after this one, we just booked a quick last minute cruise out of Galveston... only to have a hurricane form less than 24hr later. We'll find out what this means as the situation develops. Technically, our honeymoon cruise also involved a hurricane so it's only right that the anniversary does too in some resepects. Gustav looks to be a biggie though so who knows right now.

Humble Pie, Often Served on the Floor

Best fight video ever!! Just watch it, it needs no explanation.

U-S-A!! U-S-A!!

The US women defeated arch-rival Brazil in the Gold Medal Matchup this morning 1-0 in OT!!! This is a huge win for a young US team, a team that has been without their leading gola scorer Abby Wambauch with a broken leg for the whole tourney. Brazil was looking hungry in the second half, but the US defense held them off. Then just a few minutes into OT, Carli Lloyd scored on a great shot which remainded the only goal of the game!

I am also super happy that the MER tagup this morning was on the loops instead of in the conference room since OT started at the same time as the meeting. I was not looking forward to having to leave the streaming video on my computer just for the tagup. I don't know why we got to do it on the loops, but I sure am glad!

Tropical Storm Fay and Face Book

Well, as I sit here in West Palm Beach, FL, I find myself thinking "Is that all you've got?".
TS Fay didn't hit FL nearly as hard as some people thought. Winds gusted to about 65 mph and we've received about 10" of rain, but no major damage to report. There were 2 tornadoes that went through my town this morning but no fatalities, just a busted roof on a Shell station and some tore up horse stables.

The other day Amira (Nujoud's younger sister) invited Nujoud and I to join Face Book. I was surprised to see just how many people found me in such a short period of time. I re-connected with many people I served with in the Navy. Some of those people I wish would've just stayed hidden but you get the bad with the good, right? I'm still on track for an August 29th release date from this project in FL, which would be awesome because that means I'll be home for Labor Day weekend.

Not Confusing At All

There has been a lot of road construction around the space center as this area grows, but a year or so ago they changed the name on the original road to JSC from NASA Road 1 to NASA Parkway. Amoung others I disliked the name change, it had been NASA Road 1 since the space center was first built.

But they have also been bldg a bypass about half a mile south of the road from the highway to the space center, since NASA Road 1 (or "Parkway") is so heavily travelled and always jammed. Well the bypass is open and I drove by it today running errands and what do I see but the "new" name for the bypass: NASA Road 1 !!

No kidding, that's not going to be confusing to name a new road the exact same thing as the old but still in existance road of similar direction and everything but only half a mile away. I think I am more annoyed because I might have to actually start using the NASA Parkway icky name just to distiquish. Maybe not, maybe if you ask me for directions you will just have to figure out which one I am referring to on your own.

Revised John ETH

Every time John's supposed "estimate" of when he will be coming home gets to about a week away, it moves out another week. The latest data is that he will be working at the jobsite until at least Aug 29th. So if you want to keep score, this is ETH number 4, one fore each week in August startin gon the 8th. Awesome.

So maybe he will be home in time for Labor Day weekend, then again there might be just another week.

Curling and Coutry-Western Gangsta Rap

What a weekend!

Friday night I went curling for the first time. I've always enjoyed watching curling when its on TV in the winter O's and now I actually went and tried it out. It is really fun in a laid back sort of way. I scored a point with my very first curling rock ever, so I think that bodes well for me and the sport shoudl I ever go again.

Then Saturday night we went out for a belated Aaron birthday outing to McGonigal's Mucky Duck. Great bar and good irish food, but more importantly they are known for their live music. The Asylum Street Spankers from Austin were playing and they were great. They are kinda a humor based band but they have really good singers and musicians. My personal favorite song was the country western-gangsta rap song "Hick Hop". Great night out for music. I also really liked the song "Breathin'" which was like and old blues tune.

34 miles of pipe are in the ground....now what?

It has been a long time since my last contribution to this blog so here it goes. As many of you know I am still in West Palm Beach, FL overseeing the installation of 34 additional miles to our natural gas pipeline. This gas line will feed the new FP&L (Florida Power and Light) plant being constructed by Zachry, the company John Wilke works for. Up until this morning I really thought I would be starting my drive back to Houston either the 15th or 16th. Now that is in jeopardy. Upon completion of laying the pipe, a hydrostatic test is done to ensure the line's integrity. The pipeline failed it's first attempt miserably, but then passed a 2nd hydro test this morning. How could this have happened? Good question, and that's why my boss is on a plane as we speak. A logical theory is that we were experiencing a very strong temperature gradient, due to various sections of pipe being buried at varying depths ranging anywhere's from 3-30 feet, and the pipe just needed more time to allow temps and pressures to stabilize. Experts have told us that what we experienced is not uncommon, but the problem is proving a temperature gradient was the cause and not a slow leak that may not exist at lower pressures but then rear it's ugly head at test pressure (2220 psig). Needless to say, this "little" problem does nothing to facilitate my return to Houston. The 15th / 16th is still possible, just less likely.

Something else happened yesterday that hadn't happened in over 5 years. I got a speeding ticket!!! 10 over. Really? 10 over? come on, your sheriff buddy just passed me and you let him through. Oh well, I just completed the 4 hour online course to make sure it doesn't go on my driving record and keeps my insurance rates from going up. Even with the reciprocity rule between states, there's a good chance the FL ticket wouldn't get connected to my TX insurance policy but I'm not taking any chances. 5 months and no tickets. Then with less than 2 weeks left in the state I get slapped for 10 over in a 55mph zone. Whatever.

I sure am glad that Nujoud is re-doing our bathroom. I really hate painting. My goal is for her to have it finished before I get home so all I have to do is enjoy the fruits of her labor. We still need to hunt for a shower door replacement but other than that all the hardware is either installed or on its way to Home Depot for pick-up.

Yo! Where's my Gurt?

I went grocery shopping yesterday and one of the things I frequently eat is yogurt, plain, fat-free, and good, often with fresh fruit mixed in. I usually buy the individual serving containers so they can stay sealed and won't go bad like a large container will before I can finish it.

When I got them I thought they seemed small. I got home and still had one in the fridge, sure 'nough, they are now only 6 Oz!!! vs. the original 8 oz. So lame, here's is your grocery costs rising, smaller packages, same price. I'd rather pay more and get a real 8 oz serving personally.

But what was especially annoying, was the "New Creamier Recipie" advertised on the package. I was skeptical to start and once I opened it, it really was just more "watery" and instead of having some firmness like yogurt should. It seemed like their cost cutting has just thinned out the yogurt and now the quality suffers. So I guess I will be finishing these and then finding a new brand, Lucerne just lost a yogurt customer.

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall...

Tonight I finished grouting the mirrors for the bathroom remodel, work completed courtesy of the "hurrication" day. I think I will have to call this my Edouard-ian style mirror. The grout is still drying in these pictures and will actually be bone color when dry as opposed to the beige it is wet. These will go up over the bathroom vanity, that is when the vanity arrives and gets installed at least.

Note to future DIY-ers: This is a really inexpensive way to make nice mirrors or frames. I spent around $50 on the tile/grout/glue and $30 for the pair or mirrors from Ikea. So for the whopping price of $80 and some time, I came away with what I think are good looking mirrors that would probably run $100 or more each from a store. Cheaper tile could also be had, but this was the style I was going for in the first place.

What Can Wright Do for You?

It's ARRIVED!!! Here it is, my actual United States Federal Aviation Administration issued Private Pilot's License!! I think I'll have to take this baby out for a spin this weekend!

Taking Donations

I was pointed to an article on this aircraft awhile ago, but my boss Jim just found it and came by to talk to me about it. I would love to be able to buy one of these when they come out in 2010 since they are half the cost of a new Cessna or similar. They sure would be a great way to fly and own your own plane with all the bells and whistles of a new aircraft and better reliability. If you care to help make that happen, I will accept any sizable donation.

www.iconaircraft.com

Edouard Stats

During the night Monday Edouard (which had been making a bee-line for Houston) shifted northward in its track and came ashore east of here over the Sabine Pass area. Good for us, even though we were prepared. With that shift, it pretty much just meant a strong, steady rain for about 4 hours at my place. The statistics for my part of H-town are 2.8 in of rain, wind peak at 21 mph, and peak gust of 37 mph. All in all, nothing much different than any other strong T-storm around here.

So what do you do with a free day off from work while it rains and rains you ask? Why you glue a few thousand tiny tiles on to a pair of mirrors. I guess I can thank Edourd for giving me the time to just sit there and get that mostly done. I still have a small section left to do on the second mirror and then grouting, but they are much closer to being done then they would have otherwise been.

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send Edouard Over

Looks like Edouard spun up from a nothing to a something in about 24hrs and is tracking straight over Galveston/Houston, e.g. me. Since it's so close to land the prediction puts it at either a strong tropical storm (60-73mph winds) or minimal Cat 1 hurricane (75-85 mph). Either way, I am riding out the storm at home with the puppies. I live in a Cat 3 evacutation area, so I am quite comfortable for this one. Given the short notice and limited intensification, I am also not going to get the boards up on the windows, but I don't know anyone that is. I did make one very important hurricane preparation with regard to the garage, see below. Took a little work, but I monkey'd things around enough for this. I am well stocked on water and food and I have a gas stove and, if nothing else, a grill.

JSC and all the contractors shut down at noon today and we will be off tomorrow as well while the storm is at its worst. We'll see how this goes, but I'm ready for you Ed!

Not a Weather Guesser

Here in Houston the weather "forecasting" usually seems to be anything but accurate. The "chance" of rain typically has no bearing on whether or not it will actually rain on YOU. But they must be feeling pretty confident now. Check out Tuesday on our 5-day forecast. I would love for this hurricane to miss us mostly for the humor that they were wrong again.

Dynamite Dynamo

Saturday night I went to the Dynamo MLS soccer game with Melissa and Natalie. Great game, Dynamo won 2-0 over Columbus crew. The Dynamo are the two-time defending MLS Champs and still look great this season currently in second place. I love soccer, but even if you've never played it is a great game to watch and go hang out at.

Highlights of the game were Brian Ching's goal from a great setup 12 yards or so out and the poor Columbus defense. The Columbus keeper was very unhappy with the mistakes his fullbacks were making and that was obvious from the yelling he was doing. Here are a couple pics.

Bathroom Status

Just a quick note on where I've gotten to with the bathroom. I demo'd everythign that had to come out, of course, and then got everything prepped for painting first. I am almost done with painting, still have the trim to go, but I am ever so glad to be done with painting the ceiling as of last night. I'm glad it's just a bathroom but having to hand paint over your head for anything stinks and it had to have two coats to really look good.

As far as "reconstructing" the bathroom, the vanity is on order and is pending arrival. But I do have the new toilet installed already, YAY a working toilet! Tomorrow will be light fixture install. The other item I'm held up waiting for is the art supplies for the mirrors. Since I couldn't find what I wanted, I'll just have to make it. Will post pictures of those when they are done but its going to take me some time to finish them. Also need the materials to arrive so I can match a trim paint color to those.

All in all, its coming along. The vanity pieces should be at Home Depot around the 14th, so I'm still looking at a couple weeks before I can really finish it. It is sucking up most of my time in the evenings working on it though and weekend time too. At least, when not in the software lab for work!! It already looks much better though, I told John it looked better than before when all I had was primer on the walls since anything was an improvement over the floral wallpaper.

No pictures till I'm done.

John ETH (Est. Time Home)

The project in FL is nearing the end and all of the pipeline is almost in the ground and complete. Which means the only thing left is integrity testing and whatnot cleanup. So John heard from his boss yesterday that it is 80% probably that his last day at work in FL will be Aug 15th, which means probably driving home on the 16th. He is going to get a week off from work before he goes back in the office, so that will be a nice rest after their marathon of work. The other 20% day for him to come home may be the 22nd or so if the testing goes poorly and there is more work than anticipated.

I'm hoping for the 15th, personally.

People Suck...

...specifically, illogical and irrational engineers who were supposedly trained to be logical and rational when confronted with a problem.

Points of View

Today at work a bunch of coworkers and myself got into a political discussion when most of us were getting ready to head out the door. Normally taboo in the office, but all of us have worked together pretty happily for 6 years or more and this happens every once in awhile with no ill effects. The amazing thing about my group is that we are very diverse both in backgrounds and political views. The great thing is most of us can have frank discussions and discuss "why" people feel the way they do and understand at least where people are coming from even if you don't agree. More often we find common ground and wish congress would try this "talking" thing once in awhile since it just might work.

But there is one guy who is adament in his defense that he is right and having a "discussion" kinda gets derailed very quickly when he walks by and joins in. But beyond that, he thinks Dubba-ya is doing a great job, has been 100% right in everything he's done, its all turned out peachy, and history will judge W as being a great american president. I do respect people's views, but really? Nothing in the last 8 years could have been done better? Not even one tiny thing? The Easter Egg Roll, maybe? Oh BTW, he did say he's not "big on facts" (his words).

R.I.P. Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch passed away yesterday, which is sad because the world only needs more people like him. He was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon that was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer awhile ago. They have a lecture series called the "Last Lecture" and the presenter is supposed to imagine what they would want to say if they knew this would be their last one ever. For Randy, it kinda of was but instead of being depressing it is a really great thing to watch. In case you haven't seen it, I really do recommend it and it is as nice a legacy as anyone can really leave in this world.

View from My Desk

Another view from my desk while at work today. It's a little far but, yes, that is Air Force One. Bushie jr. is in town this afternoon for something in River Oaks, maybe visiting Bushie sr?? Anyhoo, warning to all pilot's in the area, TFR in effect till around 6pm local. Don't really want those F-16s on your tail.

Not What I Thought... or can explain

Anyone who has ever done remodeling knows there are bound to be surprises when you get to work, often the result of some very strange construction or repair jobs by previous owners. So in our bathroom, I had always assume these two panels were some sort of access covers for the jetted tub.













I took the first one off and thought wow this is the stupidest thing ever. To patch a large hole with a piece of plastic covered in wallpaper and then badly screwed on top is just a terribel way to do things. Now leaves me a fun task of actually patching this hole properly.

But then I realized, that can't possibly have been the stupidest thing ever once I took off the second panel. I can't begin to understand why.

Bye-Bye Bathroom

When John and I bought our house the things we hated most were the awful yellow trim, the deck in disrepair, and the 80's bathrooms. The deck and the front bathroom have already been taken care of, a crowbar went a long way on the deck and the front bathroom was made presentable years ago. Now its time to do something about the master bath. I am really not a fan of wallpaper, and even less so for fugly 80's floral wallpaper. So as of around 7pm last night, the bathroom will never be the same again. Here are the "before" pictures, give me a few weeks and I'll hopefully have some snazzy "after" pictures.