Today we all have a choice.
We get to choose who our next president will be.
We can choose between this one
or “that one”
Whomever you should pick isn’t something I’m going to chime in on.
Do your research. Come to an educated conclusion. Then vote.
Or quityerbitchin.
Today I hopped on Pundit Kitchen and saw a picture waiting for a caption that I had to roll with.
It goes along with something I whipped up a few months ago…
So I made one and submitted it. Here’s the link if you want to take a look and/or vote.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
Because, really, I have no clue…
| Your Funky Japanese Name Is |
 |
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
Taffy’s so relaxed
Not really! I’m making sure the boys don’t get in trouble!
Oh, my bad.
CNN reported on Tuesday that a person from Beaumont called to say that his mother was not sure the electronic touch screen machine accurately was recording her preference for Sen. Barack Obama.
"She went to punch the selection for Obama and it flipped to McCain," the caller told CNN.
Jefferson County clerk Carolyn Guidry told the news channel that she was aware of the problems voters were having with the electronic touch screen machines, but that the number of reported problems was small.
[...]
Guidry called the touch screens "density sensitive," meaning machines will record were pressure is applied, which may be a different spot on the screen than where a voter believes he or she has touched.
How the hell can you not be sure? Even if you didn’t happen to notice that the wrong one was checked off on the machines we use, you have to go through a confirmation page for all the elections before the machines will allow you to cast your ballot. If you’re still unsure who you voted for after all that then maybe you shouldn't be voting.
People are so stupid…
Allergies have been kicking my ass the past few days, sorry I haven’t gotten back to y’all.
Friday was an experience. I came out during the day to make a quick run to Wal-Mart to get something for the trip when I notice I have a flat tire. I aired up the tire and went to Discount Tire, which was insanely backed up, and thus required me to wait two and a half hours to get the work done. Turned out to be a nail in the tire in a spot they couldn’t patch.
These kind of things are fairly common after hurricanes since everybody piles up their debris at the curb for pick-up, so no huge thing (besides the wait).
Finally got out of Beaumont about 6 and got into Fort Worth a little after midnight. Went straight to bed.
Next morning was the stuff we came for. We rented a U-Haul and went to my aunt’s apartment. Because of some stuff going on with her ex-husband at the time she rented the place, she got a third-floor apartment and our job was to move the bed and couch out of there.
Tons of fun, right?
Oh, it was! Especially since the mattress and couch were made out of fabric that was near impossible to get a good grip on.
Remind me to never get a third floor apartment.
Then we unloaded the stuff at her house and returned the truck. After grabbing lunch at Spring Creek Barbecue, we cleaned up and relaxed for a while before heading to the Stars game.
Instead of making the hour’s drive to Dallas, we decided to take the TRE, a commuter train running between Dallas and Fort Worth that stops right at the American Airlines Center on game days.
It was way easier than driving.
We got to the AAC just about the time they opened the doors and went to find our seats.
 | |
| Cell phone picture I sent to Utteril. Click here for more |
They were so high up that calling them the nosebleeds doesn’t do justice to how high they are.
We were literally in the back row of the building, but the view was still really good.
It was a really exciting game, with the Stars losing 6-5 in overtime. I still believe that a team should never score five goals and lose, but that’s what happened.
The train ride really paid off for leaving, as we got to watch all the people fighting traffic as we sat comfortably in our seats heading towards Fort Worth.
Saturday we took my aunt out to lunch at Massey’s and then had an uneventful trip home.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
Would I FAIL as a pirate?
| You Are 35% Pirate |
 If ye study hard an 'do what the captain tells ye, ye may be gettin' part o' the booty. Get to work on yer pillagin', swordfightin', an' drinkin'. Ye dasn't want to end up in Davy Jones' locker, so make sure ye pipe down when the captain be around. |
So, yes, I would fail as a pirate. Now anyway…
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
I’ve always known this, but you might not have:
more lol celebs! (Click for full size)
Now you know.
Hope I don’t see this on the interstate this evening going up to Fort Worth!
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
I managed to snag the whole gang in one
Don’t ask me what they’re doing…
I’m going up to Fort Worth tomorrow to help my aunt (the wonderful one that took us in TWICE) move stuff from the apartment she rented to her house.
It’s the least I can do for her dealing with us.
The best part of the trip, however, will have nothing to do with my aunt.
My cousin and I are going to see the Stars play the Washington Capitals at the AAC.
I’ve never been to an NHL game before, so I’m really looking forward to it.
I’ll take some pictures from the experience, but nothing like the ones I did for Wildcatters games. Never mind that they won’t allow me to bring my Rebel inside (the AAC doesn’t allow long lenses), but we’ll be sitting in the nosebleeds taking advantage of the $15 seat promotion that they have going on.
 | |
| Free photos for websites - FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
… I’d ask him about these crazy TV rules the league has.
Last year, when they had the Colts-Patriots game that EVERYBODY wanted to see, we had to miss it because the Texans were on the road playing the Raiders. Apparently there’s some rule that the main markets around a team have to show that team when they’re on the road. Since Beaumont’s considered a main market for the Texans, we were screwed.
Fast forward to today. Today’s a single game on FOX and both the Cowboys and Texans are on there. I’m not sure about the Cowboys, but the Texans are definitely at home.
Not that it matters, since this isn’t considered a Cowboys market.
Take a guess which game the local FOX affiliate picks.
Yea, the Cowboys.
They did this once last year too.
And not because the game was blacked out here. The Texans have sold out every game in their history, even when they went 2-14, so that’s not the issue.
If you look at the NFL TV map for FOX today, you’ll see that places like Cincinnati, San Diego, Miami, and Buffalo are getting to watch the Texans game.
Personally, I think it’s a load of crap that K T Cat can watch my team play but I can’t.
Here’s my question: How in the world can it make any sense at all for us to not be able to watch our team at home when we’ve been forced, under NFL television rules, to watch our team when they’re on the road?
Try to not think about that too long, your head might overheat and explode.
At least our CBS affiliate is good about picking the Texans when they’re on there and FOX only gets a chance to fuck this up two or three times a year.
But it’s two or three times too many if you ask me.
from PunditKitchen (click image for full size)
Seriously, what was the point of them? Because I don’t know.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
I’ve always wanted to do one or two of the more “womanly” quizzes for this, but never could find one that would fit.
Well, I found one.
| You Should Call Your Boobs |
 |
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
Well hey there, Petey!
I just love this backyard!
This is from the same set of pictures where I caught that great one of Bruiser running.
Dr. Maxie Dunnam was speaking at our church last night.
He mentioned a husband that was getting after his wife for spending too much money. He told her something to the tune of “It’s not economically sound to spend money that we don’t have yet.” She responded “Yea, but, if you don’t get the money you still end up with something to show for it.”
Dunnam made an off-hand comment that “that’s what got us into this mess we’re in now” after saying that.
So true.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
| Your Autumn Test Results |
 When you are happiest, you are calm. You appreciate tradition and family. You enjoy feeling cozy. You tend to be afraid of change. You are never ready for things to be different. You find love to be the most comforting thing in the world. You feel at peace when you're with your loved ones. Your ideal day is active and full. You like to keep busy with your favorite things, and you appreciate a routine. You are nostalgic. You can't truly appreciate something until it has come and gone. |
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
This week, a picture I took for our insurance adjuster (whenever he comes) of the tree that’s leaning against the side of our house, pinching off the freon line from the air conditioner.
Thankfully, the tree guy we hired is due to be here Monday to start getting it hauled off.
Right about now, I couldn’t agree with this one more.
more lol celebs!
You know, someone like Fred Thompson… Yea… that’d be great.
Oh, and remember: next Friday... is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know, if you want to, go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans.
This time, it’s an institution that’s worth rescuing:
Key state lawmakers said Wednesday they will devise a rescue plan to prevent massive layoffs at the University of Texas Medical Branch, which suffered $709 million in damage caused by Hurricane Ike.
Before legislators intervened Monday, leaders of the state's oldest medical school and the largest employer on Galveston Island were contemplating a one-third reduction in its work force of 12,000.
I really do think that rebuilding UTMB and keeping them from cutting a third of their staff is admirable and should be done.
But there’s one thing about it that I do wonder…
|
| |
| TxDOT crews clear I-45 approaching the Galveston Causeway. |
Should we be rebuilding UTMB in Galveston or somewhere inland.
I know, I know, I know. The school’s always been in Galveston and that it pre-dates the 1900 hurricane.
I also know that it would cost a hell of a lot more to take a facility like they have and build everything brand new inland enough that storms aren’t a major concern than it would to repair what is there now.
It just seems like the smarter investment would be to move the largest medical school in Texas to Houston, where you wouldn’t have to worry about pouring $709 billion (or more) into repairs the next time an Ike happens.
And Galveston being where it is, there *will* be a next time.
Of course, with government being what it is, that will never happen.
Oh well.
Apparently the Texas DPS wants you to prove that you’re here legally before issuing you a drivers’ license:
In a clampdown on illegal immigrants, the Texas Department of Public Safety has adopted a new policy requiring non-citizens to prove they are in this country legally before they can obtain or renew a driver's license.
Gov. Rick Perry applauded the change, which went into effect Oct. 1, as a way to strengthen the state's security.
"Texas is a great place to live and work, and while we welcome legally documented individuals to the Lone Star State, we must ensure that this privilege is not abused by those seeking to enter our country illegally," he said.
But Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the policy change is a bad idea because illegal immigrants are going to drive anyway.
"People have to drive to get to work. You want people to get (auto) insurance. They can't get insurance if they don't have a driver's license," he said.
I love the idea. If you’re illegal you don’t belong here. And you certainly don’t deserve a license.
Now, someone tell me, why the hell wasn’t a policy like this implemented sooner?
I’m not really a drinking person, but I felt a heck of a lot like this when we were in Fort Worth for Ike:
see more puppies
Yesterday afternoon I went and watched An American Carol, David Zucker’s new flick poking fun at Michael Moore.
Granted I’m on the side, politically, where i’d enjoy the movie. Then again, I’m all for poking fun at both sides of the asile, as I see both side’s flaws. Heck, I might even go see W when it comes out later this month.
Amyway. the movie started off as a laugh riot. Unfortunately, I found that as you got deeper into the movie the politics involved kind of killed the funny, which is the flick’s major weakness in my opinion.
I’d give it a 6 of 10, but go see it if it looks interesting to you.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
| The Recipe For Justin |
 2 parts Pizzazz 1 part Power Splash of Success Finish off with whipped cream |
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
It’s not often that I blog about choir at church, but I’m doing it.
The piece we’re doing on Sunday (Hall Johnson’s Ain’t Got Time to Die) is a really awesome piece and I’m really looking forward to it.
I thought we knocked it out of the ballpark Wednesday night during rehearsal and if we can do that on Sunday morning we just might see the congregation’s jaws drop.
Not sure who’s performing it in this video, but they’re really good, so give it a listen if you want:
I hope we sound that good on Sunday!
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
Bruiser was working on a bone when I was shooting these:
So much fun!
They're rather silly about their bones. We'll give each one of them one of those and they'll fight over one of them.
All I can say is wow:
A Lamar professor was amazed by what she found when she returned to the Bolivar Peninsula last week to check on her beach cabin.
Unlike many of the cabins in her neighborhood, Cissie Owen's beach home was still in one piece, but it wasn't where she expected to be.
Cissie Owen has to walk through a field, and over roofs, to get to her beach home.
"A neighbor found it Friday and called and sent a picture on my phone. That was a surprise," says Owen.
Amazing, isn't it?
K T Cat announced today that (he or she?) is against the bailout in any form.
I’ll admit that I don’t really get all the factors involved. I know I don’t.
I’ll admit that I’m weary of taking out credit, preferring to pay for things in cold hard cash-in-hand if at all possible.
But I know that it doesn’t always work that way.
I mean, after I’m established in Fort Worth (or wherever I end up in my “get the hell away from the coast” move) I’m probably going to want to buy a house with a fenced-in yard for Bruiser to run around in and all of that.
And, unless you’re rolling in dough, you have to take out a loan to do so.
The reason I support the bailout is because, without it, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that. If I can’t do that, then most Americans won’t be able to. And that spells problems.
Sure it’s hot happening now. However, I keep hearing that it will begin to happen unless something’s done. Will it? I don’t know, I’m not smart enough to answer that. I do, however, think that this country should do everything in it’s power to prevent that from happening.
Of course, our politicians in Washington are more concerned with keeping their jobs than looking out for us and preventing that kind of disaster from happening. I didn’t vote for you to do what’s politically popular. I voted for you to do what’s right for this country, not throw it in the toilet so the big kitty cat can flush just because something’s unpopular.
I’m not of the persuasion that says “don’t re-elect anybody.” but right now that might not be such a bad idea.
Whatever your opinion on the bailout is, remember that y’all can vote your rep out if you’re unhappy.
Here’s the list to see how your rep voted.
Mine voted against it and, come November, I’ll be voting against him.
Hi. I’m Justin and I can’t find my Muse.
Ever since I’ve gotten back from the Ike evacuation, I’ve been struggling a bit trying to figure out what to blog about.
Sure there’s the recovery from Ike I could do, but those get kind of boring and depressing, so I try to avoid it.
I could always blog about my life, but there’s one problem with that. To blog about your life you must first have a life worth blogging about.
There’s always the big topic of the day, the economic crisis, to blog about. But as I said in the comments of a post K T Cat did on it:
I'd love to have an intelligent opinion on the deal. However, a semester of economics in high school isn't really enough information to be able to assess something like this with any real know-how whatsoever.
At least I realize that, as I’m sure many people don’t.
I could do a post about the new WIndows Live Writer beta, and I probably will eventually. But I’d like to get more time with it first.
I guess that just leaves perusing the news until something strikes me as blog-worthy.
That’ll work.
Thanks again to K T Cat and Dean from Beers with Demo for guest-blogging while I was away. The help was much appreciated. Y’all be sure to let me know if I can ever help y’all out in the same way.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
Created by OnePlusYou - Online Dating Service
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
A shot from the nosebleed seats at Minute Maid Park from a game in 2006 that my ex-girlfriend's mom invited me to. I forget why she invited me, but who was I to turn down going to a game?
It's the same game where I got a shot of my ex on a humongous boot.
Last night my cousin and myself got started on fixing some of the Ike damage by setting new posts for a section of the backyard fence that was built after Rita.
This is what the fence looked like when we got home:
As bad as it may look, it’s really not taking much to fix. We’ve set five posts and tomorrow we’ll put up new 2x4’s for framing and putting the pickets back up.
5 posts, 3 sacks of concrete, and 10 2x4’s. About $100 worth of materials, since it looks like all the pickets are good enough to save.
Sometime in the next few days I’ll upload some pictures to the photo gallery.
Being back in town now and having internet, I've had time to look at YouTube and found a few videos worth sharing.
Ike 1, Geraldo 0:
Taking a stroll along the seawall...
Ike tries to blow one reporter away:
And in my own hometown, a "pretty wild streak:"
Watching these yesterday brought a smile to my face.
Howdy y'all.
That's right, folks, I'm home!
On to the random thoughts:
That's all I can think of for now y'all.
I'll leave K T and Dean here to guest-blog for a while while I get back in the groove of things and all that.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
Created by OnePlusYou - Online Dating
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
The city just lifted the boil water notice, the last thing we were
waiting on before we went home.
We don't have air conditioning because a tree leaning against the
house crimped the freon line from the compressor, but it should be
nice enough outside that we'll manage with fans.
The tree doesn't appear to have done any major damage so that's good.
Monday can't come soon enough,
Justin
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
A Texas Wildcatters player fires a shot during an intrasquad scrimmage during their 2006 training camp.
I just thought this was an interesting shot, seeing the bend in the stick and all.
Just heard from my cousin that we have electricity.
We're still gonna wait until next week at the earliestnto go back tho.
--
Just a 23-year-old South Park Republican with a blog and a lot of free time.
http://www.jrtblog.com/
Good news on the home front today. After looking at the news I believe
it's safe to assume that we'll be home next week, hopefully as early
as Monday.
Of course, that doesn't mean an end to the guest blogging so soon,
there's still no telling if we'll have internet hooked back up.
In other news, we're ordering take-out tonight from Spring Creek BBQ.
They have some of the most awesome BBQ ever, give them a try sometime.
Trying to enjoy my evacucation,
Justin
--
Just a 23-year-old South Park Republican with a blog and a lot of free time.
http://www.jrtblog.com/
I've got a relatively neat house. I try to keep it clean and bug-free. However, our Maximum Leader, in her desire to hunt, keeps bringing in these:
We don't have mice or rats in the area and the birds are all in the trees and hard to get. The roaches, on the other hand, rush about in an attractive, random way and provide plenty of exciting chase opportunities. Our Maximum Leader catches them outside and then brings them indoors to present them as gifts and continue to play with them. After a while, however, the roaches get boring and she wanders off to the food dish to see if anything new is in it. The roaches, still alive, crawl under the coach to plot their revenge.
Pretty soon we're going to be living in a terrarium.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
To check out the meaning of your name, go here.
Here's what they've got for Justin:
Just; upright; righteous. Form of New Testament Biblical name Justus.
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
We lost part of the fence in the backyard and a whirlygig blew off the
roof. My cousin didn't see any water damage.
This is GREAT! It could have been so much worse.
As for my return, there's no telling, but i think it'll be at least a
week from now.
I have internet access through my PDA via a neighbor's unsecured wifi
if you must know.
Hopefully I'll be back in town soon. Until then, I'll keep twitter and
utterz updated.
Y'all take care now,
Justin
--
Just a 23-year-old South Park Republican with a blog and a lot of free time.
http://www.jrtblog.com/
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
This week it's another pic from the July 4th celebration at church:
Photo links to the picture in my photo gallery.
I've got a couple of links to old posts of mine to share with y'all.
The first is to my post about Linda C. Lee for Project 2,996 two years ago.
The second is my post last year about how I found out about the attacks.
This year I'll share another story I just thought of.
I had a substitute teacher later that school year for World Geography. She'd worked for either one of the big banks or brokerage firms (I forget which) and was supposed to be at the World Trade Center for an early-morning meeting on 9/11, but something kept her from going. I think it was that one of her kids was sick, but I don't recall for sure.
After that, she realized she must have been meant for something more, so she quit that job and was getting into teaching.
It's now official. Jefferson County just called for a mandatory evacuation due to Ike.
Needless to say, after having to do this for Gustav just a week and a half ago, I REALLY didn't want to have to go through all this shit again.
We've got some hatches to batten down, but we'll likely be heading out this afternoon or early tomorrow morning.
How it's looking I think we're far enough away from the center to not get whacked too hard (assuming it holds the forecasted course) but I'd rather be wrong in Fort Worth than wrong here.
On an unrelated note, feel free to steal my button.
Also, here are some relevant local links. I know I've posted them before, but I figure it's good to have them here for quick access:
I've got a couple guest-bloggers lined up to try to keep this place fresh. This time I think I'll let them introduce themselves.
Thanks, y'all!
I leave you with this:
Looking at Ike today, it looks about the same as last night.
Since I last wrote about Ike, the forecast track has shifted up the coast a bit. We're still on the edge of the cone.
As of now, there's no planned evacuation of the area, but that could change if it goes more to the north.
My gut feeling is that we won't need to pack up and head out, since the NHC has a pretty good track record with forecasting storms like Ike.
We should have a better idea what we're looking at tomorrow.
I swear, having to deal with this stuff twice in such a short span has really got me wanting to move away from the coast.
I hate this stuff.
Yes, that's right! For just $29.95 you can have your very own Sarah Palin action figure, courtesy HeroBuilders.com.
You can choose from three variations. They've got the plain one with her in a pantsuit, one with her dressed up as a school girl, and the "super hero" one.
I think I'll pass...
Since yesterday, Ike's forecast track has shifted dramatically to the left.
That's a good thing, and it leaves me cautiously optimistic about Ike. It's looking way better than yesterday, when the forecast had Ike pointed right at Galveston. Now it looks to be aimed more towards Corpus.
However, it's important to remember that Ike's still four days out and not even in the Gulf yet, so it's too early to sound the all clear. I don't expect to be able to do that until Wednesday night or Thursday at the earliest.
I'll be back tomorrow with another update.
According to the Atlantic tropical storm name list for 2008, the next storm that would form would be named Kyle since Josephine already formed and fell apart.
If Kyle should form really fast, would it kick Ike?
I got some inspiration from a song to send this in to GraphJam:
If you don't get it, listen to this.
Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.
| You Are 32% Abnormal |
 You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at low risk for having a social phobia. It is unlikely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer. |
Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.
Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.
I'd had a different one scheduled for this week, but I loved this one so much I had to move it up.
I'm gonna catch you, Taffy!
While we were up in Fort Worth for Gustav, we let the dogs out in the backyard at my aunt's house and stayed out to watch them. I decided to bring out my camera and the long lens (because she has a big backyard) and take some pictures.
The one above is a snapshot I just happened to get lucky on.
For those that haven't seen One Hour Photo, here's a quote that will explain what I mean:
According to the Oxford English Dictionary... the word "snapshot" was first used by an English sportsman by the name of Sir Andrew Hawker. He noted in his diary that almost every bird he shot that day was taken by snapshot... meaning a hurried shot taken without deliberate aim.
I've got tons of good ones I'll be able to run, but I'll hold off on sharing them until next month, when all the ones I have scheduled have run.
I have to admit, I knew a little more about McCain's Veep pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, than most people.
My grandmother had heard a rumor about her being considered on TV somewhere a few months ago and called up my aunt that lives in Alaska.
My aunt said something that really speaks well for Palin and what she's done. It was something to the tune of:
"I didn't vote for her, but I really like what she's done"
Politics being what it is, that's a pretty strong statement. Seeing as her approval ratings hover in the 80-90% range, it's safe to assume that it's a sentiment felt among many Alaskans.
Anyway, after that I did a little research on her and saw the things she'd accomplished in her short time as governor and I was very impressed. It was clear to me that she didn't just talk the talk when it came to change, she walked the walk.
Ever since then, she'd been who I wanted McCain to pick.
So, last week when I heard the news, the first phone call I made was to my grandmother, who was visiting her sister in Fort Worth, to see if she'd heard.
Needless to say we were both very happy with the pick.
And then, while we were evacuated to Fort Worth for Gustav, this story about Palin's oldest daughter being pregnant came out.
I could care less. That kind of thing's irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. First off, parenting shouldn't be on the table in the political realm. Secondly, even the best parents have kids that make mistakes and are, using Barack Obama's own words, "punished with a baby."
And then there was Palin's speech last night.
Her speech really impressed me. I suck at critiquing speeches, but I thought she knocked the ball out of the park last night. She was energetic, feisty, and got people fired up. She did what she needed to do.
For a more detailed analysis of her speech, check out my guest blogger K T Cat's breakdown of the speech. It's worth the read.
All in all, I'm really happy with the pick and her performance so far.
(The polaroid image above was made with the Polaroid Picture plugin for Windows Live Writer, which I've decided to give a try.)
Well, it was last night.
The first choir practice of every month we traditionally have cake to celebrate the birthdays that month.
Well, last night there was no cake.
I'm sure it was because of Gustav, but I couldn't help but think of the phrase last night when I saw there was no cake.
The only thing that kept me from saying the phrase was that I'm sure nobody else in the room would have gotten it.
If you don't get it, click here for an explanation.
Sunday morning, we made the call to pack up.
We had a really good route picked out:
It's not the way we normally go into Fort Worth, but the normal ways you'd go from here are both blocked off during mandatory evacuations because they cross other evacuation routes.
Anyway, our evacuation was as smooth as it could be. We got to Lufkin in about two hours, the same amount of time that it'd normally take to get up there, and a vast improvement over the 20 hours it took during the Rita evacuation.
The only bad traffic we hit the whole way was in Jacksonville, which was purely a creation of all the stoplights in town.
The dogs handled the trip up really well, sleeping a good chunk of the way.
My time in Fort Worth was short and uneventful. The dogs didn't adjust to being up there too well at first, but they could have been a lot worse. Monday I went to Wal-Mart to get an oil change and then planned to do lunch with Twitter friends @shika and @GadgetVirtuoso but I was forced to cancel the lunch.
Why?
My cousin and grandmother decided they wanted to go home then to beat the traffic and avoid getting caught up in the massive rains expected from Gustav on Tuesday.
I hated missing lunch, but what could I do?
The drive back, which was my normal route, went smoothly.
Man it felt good to be back home.
It turned out to be little more than an inconvenience, which I'm thankful for.
I'd rather not be inconvenienced like that again, but I'll settle for that over coming back to a torn-up town any day.
Today I'm going to start back to my normal blogging.
I'd like to take this moment to thank K T Cat again for filling in for me while I was gone. providing us with a video from Red State Update and A Sarah Palin fact.
Let me know if you ever need me to help you out a little K T, I'd be honored to fill in for you anytime.
I'm going to miss Sarah Palin's speech tonight.
I was actually planning to watch it, but I called my church up this morning and found out that we'll be having choir practice tonight.
Guess I'll be watching it on teh interwebs sometime later.
I'll probably blog what I think about it.
When Sarah Palin cooks snake, it doesn't taste like chicken. It tastes better.
And I'm back.
Gustav ended up not doing much here, I don't think we even got any rain today.
I got in last night about 9 PM and the winds were about 20 MPH gusting to 30.
I'm going to keep K T Cat on as a guestblogger for a few days while I settle back into normal life down here.
I'm already unpacked and everything, but I am so worn out. Two long drives following two nights of less than adequate sleep is enough to take it out of just about anybody.
I'll have a post about the experience in the next few days, but I'll take this moment to applaud the local officials, TxDOT, the DPS, and everybody else involved in making the evacuation process as smooth as possible.
To give you an idea, Lufkin is about a 110 mile drive away. During Rita, it took us around 20 hours to get there. This time it took about two.
And I'll also applaud the NHC for their forecasting of Gustav. They were very accurate, even five days out.
Enough for now, I'm off to bed.
(Note: I scheduled this post last night, I'm not really going to bed at 6 AM, it's a little before midnight right now)
