I thought growing up in West Texas, I knew what windy was.  Houstonians gripe about 15 miles per hour being windy.  Sean and I have played golf in 45 mile per hour winds from the north trying to finish 18 holes before the rain shows up.  Wind does not bother me.  I have been in the middle of dust storms that look like the scene from the Mummy where the plane gets knocked out of the sky.  I have seen sand turn 3pm into midnight.  I thought I knew windy.  Brother, let me tell you something.  Geraldo Riveria standing out in a storm reporting makes it look easy.  Hurricanes blow, literally.  The eye of Ike was about 60 miles across at landfall, but it diminished somewhat, but 75 miles inland, we had lower level hurricane winds, (75+ miles per hour) for a couple of hours, and then high level tropical storm winds for several hours more.  All in all we had high winds for about 9 to 10 hours.  The worst of the storm blew over by noon on the 13th, but heavy rain and wind was still flowing out of the system.  Once the data was out, Ike’s eye passed about 20 miles to the east of our area.  I saw stuff flying around the neighborhood, that I had no idea was aerodynamically sound.  I even saw the Wicked Witch of the East on her broom, whom Sean has met.  (more…)

New Employee Plaster Prank

There is someone at work I’d love to do this to…

Now today was a great day.  I tried to be superman and not used my crutch to get around today.  Everything was GREAT, until I got home and my toe had bled through the bandage and was swollen.  Thus Nurse Joanna sent me back to work with a crutch and a swift kick in the ass.

I got alot accomplished at work and really felt good about everything at the house.  I can see the beginnings of the end of stage 1 of a 5  stage process.  Once, this weekend is over and, we have the kids room painted will I feel comfortable.

But I am choosing the rest of my time on the blog this evening to tell you about my friend Mitch. Yup, he’s stuck in Spring, Texas and recently has spent 12 days without power.  His family, of his wonderful wife, beautiful step-daughter and wonderful son have been in the closest thing to hell that any of us know next to Doc Chako and Special K whose Iraq visits take the closest plane of hell available.

I’d like for you to look around and see all the things you do with just simple power. From charging your cell phone, to keeping your bottle of pop cold.  They have none of it.  As well as limited gas and a hole in the roof.

So while we sit with our fans and AC going, they are sweltering away with mosquitoes biting and frustrations at new lengths.

They are having the same problems of supplies and other insurance issues, that happened before in this country.  What is it going to take to actually get a government that will respond?

As for the bail outs that have dominated the news… Why?  Give me a reason that we need to give the boneheads anything.  The rules that protected us were eliminated.  Because of greed.

So if you want to bail them out, go ahead.

But this taxpayer wants my $2,300 share of the bailout in stocks/bonds/assets of these boneheads.  For when they get back to doing stupid stuff and making millions.

I want to get paid back…

In spades!

Over 6.45 inches of rain today.

The remains of Tropical Storm Ike wont hit us, but Tropical Storm Lowell has continued to send moisture to interface with a low that was stuck over the South Plains to cause mass cancellations.

So I might not have to deal with Joanna’s Dad.  OW.

I do.  I guess.

I have a story to tell you all but I may just cross post it to Instanttragedy.com too.  I’ve been busy with the home repairs/renovation process.

Slowly but surely we are making progress.  Pictures when I get further along.

That, as well as the five day forecast coming up…

When I look out the window, I see a world of possibilities.

I see an almost empty parking lot that dreams of being full on a Texas Tech football game day. The smells of grilling meat, stale beer and anticipation hanging in the air. The sounds of rowdy Tech fans laughing and debating which player is going to be the star of the game. The sights of various tailgate parties with big screen TVs hooked up to a random satellite dish in the back of someone’s truck. Young children dressed in their favorite player’s jersey (custom made to fit a 4 year old aspiring quarterback) or the newest size 6 fashion in Tech cheerleader uniforms. College students dressed in what they feel is the most impressive piece of Tech gear they own. (and ladies, not all of us look attractive in the flour sack dress with the cowboy or UGG boots!) The parents and grandparents running herd on all of the kids, and drunk college students. Every person brought together for a common goal, to see Tech GO, FIGHT, WIN!!! And after the game, when all of the vehicles have left until the next game, the parking lot looks a bit bare. Like all of the life has been removed, but just so it could rest. But it still has the dream, as the leftover trash blows in the West Texas wind, that the next football game could be the one.

I see a field that has just been harvested. The crops have been cut and stored or shipped off. The field will now be plowed under to allow it to rest for the winter. Like everything else in life, it too needs a rest. Until the last frost, when it will begin to grow once more.

I see the West Texas sky, though dark at this very moment, held a beautiful sunset a few hours ago. The sun set in a sky which held hues of red, gold and orange, like fall leaves. It reminded me that no matter what happens in the day, ‘this too shall pass’, like the sunset. The night sky, which I love in Lubbock, far surpasses almost anywhere else I have ever lived. My parents have the advantage of living outside of town, and even though I can see the Milky Way from their house, it’s just not the same as the stars in West Texas. We can drive out 10 miles in almost any direction and face away from town and see all the stars we want.

These are just a few of the reasons that I really do LOVE Lubbock. It hasn’t always been my favorite place on Earth, and that has to do with the things that I didn’t mention, such as the allergies, but over the last 3 year, it has been really good to me. I have made friends here that will last me a lifetime. I know that no matter where we are in the world, as long as there’s a phone, I have my friends right there with me.

Lubbock wasn’t my “number one” choice for ‘life after graduation’, it was my number two. It was that, long before I realized that my reason for moving back to Austin had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to go back to Austin, just that I had no reason to stay in Lubbock. There were no ties for me to stay in a great place, where I have been happy.

All but one of my friends had left the area, and I didn’t feel like I wanted to go to the ‘trouble’ of making new ones. Then I realized that I wouldn’t be happy here for the 9 months that I was going to be here ‘by myself’ if I didn’t at least make the effort to find a friend or two. My one friend from what we refer to as the ‘past’ tried to get me involved in Junior League and Young Professionals of Lubbock, and my excuse was ‘I’m leaving in December”. That’s been the excuse for as long as I can remember.

Enter Sean. Through him I have made at least 3 new friends in the last 3 weeks. And guess what, I already consider them good friends. They accepted me for who and what I am, and for that I am grateful. It will make staying in Lubbock even better.

I got even better news last week! Another friend  of mine is moving back to Lubbock, and one more might come back too!

So, all in all, even though staying in Lubbock had become my back-up plan…I think it was probably always my original plan. I had already looked into a job, which I got good news about yesterday.(yes, they are still hiring, and I should go ahead and apply, since I will be a Tech graduate, they will probably hold a job open for me to start after I graduate. And if I get my commission reactivated before I get hired, there are positions open at the airport immediately…can we say off at 2200?!) I had looked into buying a house, but now, I can be an answer to a friend’s prayer and help her with rent. (instead of paying $1000 a month in rent alone!) As far as my family is concerned, back when I had talked of the possibility of staying in LBK, my dad did a little research on returning to Lubbock when they retire. (My parents went to Tech, back in the day.) So, to all the nay-sayers, I will tell you a secret…I plan on staying in LUBBOCK!!!  =)

Then I talked to Mom, and I’m going to take “The Deputy” to see the family next weekend while Texas Tech is away at Nevada.

GULP.

Then the following weekend I get to meet her dad.  She says “it won’t be that bad, my god I’m scared of your parents.”

Wow, mutually destructive thoughts. 

Well since I am going to be unable to visit with Kerri this weekend, I guess we will see an old friend.  Jeff Strahan is going to be playing at the Spoon and I haven’t missed a Friday Night Show yet.

Why start now?

Laundry and breakfast for “The Deputy” then we will go tailgate at the game. PLEASE TECH WIN!

I’ve self censored myself on some topics that I would have covered in the past with people who have been my sunshine and been HUGE DISAPPOINTMENTS.  But it serves nothing to air out all my fun.  I think that the last month has tempered me.

There is a difference is what SHOULD be said. And what I NEED to say.

And that’s the difference between Tragedy and Happiness.

Stay Strong, Live Brave!

Have a great one, and I’ll check in later.

When I came to Lubbock in 1992 I had dreams and hopes of getting that elusive degree. I spent he first two and 1/2 years in the dorms. My first stint was with my roommate Larry at the ORIGINAL non air-conditioned Carpenter Hall. We spent a week in August in that hell hole playing Madden.  Larry was good enough to play with one hand. We had all the game systems in our dorm and our dorm room was the home of various contests, all with Larry winning while we all tried to catch up to his excellence.

From there Larry and I moved over to Murdough Hall, which had air-conditioning, a key during the 100 degree days in August.  The only room that they had available was a room on the “Intensive Study Floor” on the seventh floor.  What the hell we said, because anything was better than the sweat that was pouring down our faces at Carpenter.

We headed over to the floor, moving our stuff, with the intent of finding people, horribly stuffy people that we would have nothing in common with.

Au Contraire my friends, we found fun “off” people who seemed to march to the beat of a different drummer. That’s what Larry and I were looking for.

One weeknight Larry and I were walking by to see some friends on the third floor when we passed a room with a man sitting in a hammock in a bathrobe watching baseball.  I could tell more but that’s a Mitch story for another day, the point of this story was after a crushing defeat (9-5 ) for Hall Council President by a girl who will only to be referred to as perky “I’ll show you my tits for your vote in hall council” Lisa, I decided that I was going to move off Tech property.

And so I did, I moved away to The Intern, a property at 4th and Indiana.  It was such a nice place (sarcasm thick isn’t it?).  And such good memories were had there.  When we couldn’t get student tickets for A&M @ Tech, we watched the Pay Per View at my apartment.  Christy became my psuedo-roommate so I could get cable so she could watch her soaps while I was at class.

Or the adventure of watching it dust storm, followed by mud storm, rain storm , hail, more wind, and snow… all in the matter of thirty minutes. I watched the storms come in at the Intern.

My dad listened to me get on the radio from the Intern, I proposed to my ex-wife Angela at The Intern. My friend Mitchell, got an apartment at The Intern, during the dark days that aren’t mentioned.  I was Mitchell’s wing man at the Intern.  West LA anyone? Ah the memories.

But then this year the “Marsha Sharp Freeway to Nowhere” (tm 2008 Donahue.org) project caused people to rethink that area and it was torn down to be rebuilt in a gaudier and more expensive fashion to overcharge students for close housing to Tech.

But in a way, I am glad.  That portion of my life had to be torn down.  And rebuilt.

So goodbye Intern.  Hello future.

I first met her at the hotel at which my, at that time, girlfriend worked.  I had no idea who she was, but she was in “MY SEAT” and I wasn’t going to have any little missy give me any lip.

“Hi, nice to meet you, can I sit down next to my girlfriend,” I said with venom hissing out of me.  Who does this woman THINK she is?

“That’s nice, no you can’t sit on the floor,whoever you are,” she said with an equal amount of venom.  We both hissed and marked our territory with her, being my girlfriends best friend.

I had no reason to talk to her as we ended every discussion with a fight.  Meaningless little fights as small as who was the last to spend time with the girlfriend.

One day my girlfriend told me that “her” would rather favor women than to ever see me.  I responded that I would rather knaw my arm off than spend one moment with her.

We didn’t talk again for a year.

Whenever we did it was snarky, rude just venom filled hate. I still don’t remember why we hated each other so much. But we did.

So a couple of weeks ago, as I left a promotional appearance for my job, I was honked at.  I didn’t know who the person was that honked but gave the standard “Hi, thanks for listening wave.”

She sent me a message that said, ” you know, when you see someone that you know in the convenience store, you should say hi…even if you absolutely despise that person…lol…”

I was pissed, I waved, Great, it was HER and I had to respond.  What did she want. We had not talked to each other in over a year and it was the best year of my life. I mean the last time I talked to her I told her ”
Just take the nightstick out and realize that we (The Current Girlfriend at the time and I) think you are great, though we are worried about your desires to handcuff men to your bed. Luv ya, mean it sd”

So I was polite and responded, ” When did I see you? I don’t despise you at all, Call me sd” because I really didn’t despise her, just didn’t understand why she chose to always be nasty to me.

She wrote back, “you’re a dork…and i don’t have your number….lol…i sasw you the other day at the gas station at frankford and 19th.”

And then it all clicked. THE HONKER! Well crap, what did SHE want?

It couldn’t be easy, it had to be difficult, ” better idea…why don’t you call me.”

Games, always had to be games with her.

I called her that night and we talked.

And talked, and talked. Until 4, yes ladies and gentlemen FOUR in the morning.

I found out that she NEVER did hate me, just wanted to be a pain in my ass.

So I had already had gone out on Friday to run some errands after staying late at the house and headed back in from (what I found out later was her side of town) when she texted me. [Come meet us for dinner].  Her friend Megan and her were at Moe’s eating dinner. I wasn’t able to since at this time, I was letting mugsy out of his cage so he could use the restroom and walk around each night.  I had to put him up so the tile guys who were putting down the new floor, wouldn’t have mugsy jumping up and down on them while they tried to work.

So I let Mugsy out, and headed to the date that would change the way I thought about her.

I met her friend Megan and her at the New Buffalo Wild Wings and we watched the opening ceremonies and she and I tried to play trivia without boxes.  I schooled her and we just started to talk.  All of the sudden, Megan excuses herself and she and I are alone. We talked about our hopes, our dreams, our wishes. And then it clicked.

She had to get ready for her two week trip to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for visiting her best friend and her cousin’s wedding. I wished her luck and walked her to her car. As we got to the front door I tried to hold open the door.  And she walked right past me opening the other door and then she turned back.  I must have had a look of shock or disappointment on my face because the look on her face was priceless. I had kicked her dog, smacked her face and peed in her post toasties. She knew she had screwed up.

When we finally got to her car I gave her a hug, telling her the night was still young. But it wasn’t meant to be. She opened her truck door and got in. I turned to walk to my car and go away, but I had to do something.

I walked up to her and in my mind said ok. Make your stand.

“Honey, if I don’t say this I’m going to hate myself forever. But after talking to you and thinking, I realized one thing. Maybe all this time I was dating the wrong girl.” And I kissed her, tenderly, passionately and it only took a tenth of a second for her to kiss back. It was wonderful. She went home to pack and I went home to crash, but it didn’t happen. That night we talked to 2 in the morning and I had a remote and she had cleaning to finish before she left so I went to bed thinking. “What in the hell did I do tonight?”

The next morning I went to my remote and she called me telling me that we wanted to come and see me before my remote was over. But she never did and as I was leaving for the station she called me asking if I could come see her. I went over to her apartment and as I called for directions (I’m like that, I really need a GPS unit) she laughed and directed me in.  Now Megan was supposed to take her to the airport. But as the clock got closer and closer she got more nervous.

“How about I just take you to the airport hon?” I asked trying to help her out.

“Megan has to get my keys,” she said as she vacuumed nervously. “She has to feed my fish.”

So we waited until we couldn’t wait any longer, I started to help her take her stuff to the car. “You can drive my truck if you want Sean,” she told me.

“Nah, let me use my car,” I said as I started loading things in.  I really don’t drive other people’s vehicles, all I drive is my company car and my car.

As we started to pull out in came Megan and her various assistants. SHE gave the keys up, and I got her to the airport.  As I unloaded the bags I gave her a hug and a kiss on her forehead.  I didn’t try for a kiss on the lips. I wanted to play this slow.

She left and I didn’t think another thing about it, till I got a call from her telling me how much she appreciated me.

We talked on and off all the way her trip to Philly.

Every day the next week, we talked to 2 or 3 in the morning. We explored our friendship with each other and I had to pass several tests, including the “best girlfriend test”, the “friend who is a psychologist test” and the “Talk to my mother test”

I guess I passed.

So I told you that I would be making a small announcement here, so here it goes…

(more…)

Thanks Bam-Bam for getting this song in my head… So Happy.

I’ve been dealing with issues that I didn’t want to admit nor discuss.  But I have to… Recently I was told the words that I thought I would never hear from my children.

(more…)