Of all the places to see a deer.
I have one rather brief but vivid memory of hitting an animal -what we later thought to be a wild boar-- at highway speeds. In the blink of an eye there was animal, brakes, and impact. It was followed by a brief off-road excursion, releasing the brake pedal, and gently steering back onto the road. The later proved to be a mistake as the extent of the damage showed an inability to steer the car on pavement. Oddly enough the offroad environment allowed the damaged parts to operate, but the high traction environment of the road placed me stopped dead center of a two-lane part of a dark country, four-lane divided highway. Time continued to slow. There were massive amounts of people offering "assistance." Initially hesitant to move the car, I quickly acceded and the car was dragged off the road. Then the hoards of "helpful" citizens left me alone to wait beside the highway for the wrecker I called (who happened to be my father in law). More technically, I suppose, I called my wife who called him. After a considerable amount of time, quite a good deal of turmoil, and the resolution to always use my high beams when possible, we made our way home towing a shattered shell of a hybrid car.
Needless to say that when the other day in the middle of Houston driving on I-10 at night, I was less than pleased to be startled by a deer imediately before my car with an imminent collision approaching. The deer quite nimbly leaped into the next lane in one hop and into the subsequent lane on its second hop. Deftly avoiding traffic, the dear made its frightened way across the congested, 12 lane divided highway until I could no longer see its progress across the 6 lane medium. Astounded I wasn't alone. Had it really made it across 7 lanes before I encountered it or had it crossed 5 and changed course backtracking? Given the deer's progress and direction, I'm forced to believe, to hope that the beautiful animal skillfully completed the rest of its course. It was incredible.
Your next Halloween potluck dessert.
http://www.copykat.com/asp/copykatrecipe.asp?recipe=395
Kitty Litter Cake can provide a tasty treat sure to turn your stomach. Spawning multiple questions, such as:
"Who will brave it?"
"Who will laugh as they pass it over?"
"Do we really want our children conditioned to eat kitty litter?"
And perhaps the most disturbing part of the directions is the admonition of using both new box and scooper; Do people really need such admonition?
The Verdict? Disgustingly funny.
Congrats to the Astros, Mollo's observations on Prince
Differing with Radio and TV sports commentator Jim Rome, I must say, once again, that not playing Lidge was the right decision. I'll accept the analysis that Lidge needed rest and was played four nights in a row, but given so, even with the need for Lidge to feel recovered from the blow, how would playing him without the break he needs bring Lidge to greater heights. In truth all it would do is expose him to an eager and capable Cardinal team. Giving him the extended break and allowing him to recover over a longer period of time could make the difference in a real recovery and a stay of execution.
Over at
onlythreesofar.blogspot.com, mollo notes Princes hip replacement, but linking to the article one finds:
And, in a freak accident this summer, David Bowie was temporarily blinded when a
lollipop hit him in the eye during a concert in Oslo. The stick became wedged
between his left eyelid and eyeball - which he damaged as a child in a fight at
school - and had to be removed by a roadie.
Removed by a roadie? Gives new meaning to the phrase "eye candy."
Sorry mollo, that's funnier than Prince.
Now consider yourselves introduced to copykat.
Somewhere on the web lies a cozy little site dedicated to allowing would be chefs their hand at copying restaurant recipes.After the subject of how one makes and spells carrot souffles spurred workplace discussion, I passed on to my coworkers the wonders of
copykat. It has knock-off and alleged actual creation recipes of famous restaurants. (For my purposes, all creations are knock-offs because the staff of the restaurants don't do the cooking.)
Among it's wonders are some Landry's entree knock-offs (Landry's has a long host of well known restaurants with a prominent Joe's Crab Shack among them) and some Pappa's chains including Pappadeux's. I simply love Pappadeux's, so I've decided to directly link to their
Crawfish Bisque. They also have "bloomin' onion" and "awesome blossom" recipes.
And of note to those seriously culinarily inclined is a
Ruth Chris entry.
They even have a blog...My wife introduced me. You can thank her for the information.
Some GQ advertisers are nuts
He is one ugly woman!
GQ does a rather interesting article on Cameron Diaz. Throughout the entire article she comes off as a complaining, needy celebrity albeit
a very beautiful one even though the pictures clearly show her airbrushed. Compare them to the cover of
Seventeen.
Although I'm sure she would disagree with my take on her, I don't find it surprising that privacy is the ultimate commodity to a woman who makes her living by stripping away as much of her clothes as her ethics can stand.
Also providing a fair picture that clearly isn't airbrushed is "adfreak". See their comments below:Remember when aging screen stars like Norma Desmond could hide behind favorable lighting and a soft lens? Well, according to entertainment magazine OnHD.TV, some of Hollywood’s finest aren’t quite ready for their close-ups. (If you want to read the New York Post's pick-up of the story, click here.) Among the celebrity flaws noticeable on high definition TV are Cameron Diaz’s acne, Brad Pitt’s crater face and Joan Rivers' facial seams. On the other hand, 23-year-old Anna Kournikova has nothing to hide and Catherine Zeta-Jones is “absolutely gorgeous.”
If you believe the hype, HDTV’s inevitable apex could mean the decline of Max Factor. With such high res pictures, actors may soon be relying as much on the digital effects editors as they do on their makeup artists. Just remind me not to watch my home movies on HDTV.—Posted by Deanna Zammit Photo credit: Giulio/Sipa/Newscom
Hmm HDTV sounds like maybe we'll start to see more realistic people. Do we even want that from TV and movies? I have trouble accepting that Catherine Zeta-Jones is an incredible beauty. I've never really felt the pull towards her. The Sprint ads seem to show an aging woman who isn't even close to the beauty she possessed a few short years ago. I have already noted that Cameron Diaz is less than flawless naturally, so it is no shock at all that HDTV brings it into focus... so to speak. It's amusing that the standard of beauty set by Hollywood isn't even met by Hollywood.
A perfect perfume.
Pure Turquoise
an unspoken understanding
For quite some time, there has been an unspoken understanding in my wife’s side of the family; I am an outsider. I’ve considered whether it has been my own doing –my awkward inability to call my mother-in-law ‘mom,’ but regardless of whether it is the consequence of my own actions or a natural occurrence to millions of husbands or wives, it is revealed at poignant moments when the smallest comments reveal indifference to my considerations.
Recently, she took to cross-examining S on whether or not we might move closer to my job. (This is a natural concern for any parent who wants to stay as close as possible to their offspring, but, even so, S and her mom have an unnaturally close relationship.) For years I have commuted beyond anything that could be considered reasonable. To be fair, S has always taken care of me well, but it's been clear that our lives would be richer if my insane commute weren't what it is.
So, as hurricane Rita placed us temporarily closer to my job, it was only natural, to be honest, that we've discussed moving. We have only said to each other that we should evaluate the possibility. There was no more, nor was there anything less. Although my mother-in-law was never part of any discussion, nor did we ever suggest that we were discussing a possible move, she has taken to religiously nagging S until she gets nervous and reassures her that we are not currently planning to move –true- and that we haven’t discussed the possibility –false.
If I had to say what my m-i-l was doing, I would call it running interference, and this interference is now part of the deliberation; this is the secondary desire of my mother-in-law with the first being the destruction of any move.
There seems to be some territorial scuffling involved here beyond what there should be. During the evacuation period (and beyond because our house is in a chaotic shamble), we have been occupying a spare room at my own mother’s house. Perhaps this is, in and of itself, part of why S’s mom has taken to scratching the ground, flapping her wings, and pecking us (just kidding).
S’s m-i-l, my own mother, has a history of aggravating S. My mom is one who will annoy anyone to death through repetitiously asking if the person is sure about not wanting a drink:
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“It’s really no trouble.”
“I’m sure.”
“We have Cokes, Sprites …”
“I don’t want anything”
And so on.
One day in expressing her enthusiasm, she told S, “I’m not ready for you and the baby to leave yet. Just stay a few more days. I’ll fight your mom if I have to.” This upset my beautiful wife,
who now smells like an absolute angel thanks to her premature birthday gift from me.
S firmly believes that my mother was saying exactly what she meant rather than being kindly in expressing her appreciation of the time we’ve been able to spend together. I’m unsure if this comment made it to S’s own mother, but her reactions seem consistent enough to hazard a guess. I believe the opposite about the statement. My mom is one to annoy out of trying to help.
I’ve suggested that S simply take the direct approach with both sides of the family: We have discussed considering whether to move closer. We aren’t planning on it. We simply would like to discuss it. This seems to be a convenient point to evaluate it because our life is already upside down. Could you help us weigh our options?
This approach could open communication lines, ease tensions, and make it clear that we wouldn’t be bullied either way.
S thought I was insane. “My mom would flip out,” she said before interjecting, “She’s already flipping out!” I assured her I was certain the opposite would happen with my own mother; she would back off.
I guess it should tell me how much she has come to trust me, because soon after, I heard S answer a phone call from my mother and begin to spill her beans about all that we had discussed. Even further to her amazement, my mother said, “you don’t want to move away from your family.”
I’m glad that my mom and S are becoming closer. I wish the same would happen with my m-i-l and I.
“Why are you going to his parents tonight?”
“He has to work tomorrow.”
“So? He drives from here all the time.”
Then, the preceding interchange would give way to a more compassionate option:
“Why are you going to his parents tonight?”
“He has to work tomorrow.”
“Oh, OK. That’s good let him drive less while it’s convenient. If you wanted to consider moving, I would support whatever decision you make.”
“Well, I am sure he would love your insight on the advantages and disadvantages.”
Instead, I am an outsider.
Pictures; The Kitchen/dining area
Pictures; The Master Bedroom
Pictures; The Master Bathroom
Below:
The sink covered in insulation and crumbled sheetrock.
Below: The bathtub with Insulation and a large piece of sheetrock.
More insulation:
The ceiling:
As promised: pictures. (The reference information)
The picture (right) is a rough estimate of the layout of our house. I can visually tell that the layout is wrong here, but if I correct the kitchen/dining area to be smaller, the adjoining rooms seem incorrect. The same is true of bedroom 3.
We spent a good deal of time and energy working on the house about a year ago. The only unfinished room was the non-master bathroom. There was damage to the roof.
The roof damage allowed damage to the Master Bedroom (including closet), Master Bathroom, Kitchen/dining area, and bedroom 4 (including closet).
It seems incredible to me that after putting extensive efforts into getting the house ready to go about a year ago that one good storm can ruin the effort.
House work goes on.
I really do fully intend to post pictures of our devastation. Amazingly, the orchid survived the few days of intense Texas heat outdoors. The plant did scorch somewhat but not really bad at all. I've given the plant to my mom. I purchased it on eBay from a Canadian grower who advertised it as "near bloom size". Well, it's almost a year later, and I have never seen it bloom. It is much larger than when I received it too. I expect to have it at "bloom size" sooner or later.
We spent the whole of Monday pulling down sheetrock and insulation in preparation for the repairs that will need to be performed. We've seen some mold and took to killing it and removing it where it coincided with what the insurance company will repair. It sounds like easy work, and it truly would have been if we had insulation off of a roll, but our insulation is the blow in paper kind. Basically ripping sheetrock down creates an avalanche of paper crud that sticks to your arms, clothes, and neck. You then have to shovel the insulation in garbage bags and throw them to the curb. If it weren't for the mold, we wouldn't have to throw it out; we could save it and reuse it.
After spending the day working, we went out to eat with S's parents. The few restaurants that were open had lines. It looked like at least a half hour wait to go through the drive through at Taco Bell. I like Taco Bell as much as the next man, but I can't imagine waiting that long for it.
The Texas Roadhouse Bar and Grill looked like they were doing healthy business. The parking lot was more crowded than usual. It seems to be one of the Willie Nelson restaurants and he must be making plenty of money off of it. We passed it up.
At the Mexican place across from Central Mall (I can't remember it's name at the moment, not Chula Vista--), they were very discourteous informing us that they were not accepting any more clientele and that they were running out of food, so we skipped across the street to Applebee's where the staff was friendly and polite, even quick! The food was good and I would have trouble finding a valid criticism of their operations.
I must say that if you had a portable food stand, you could make a killing in Groves, Port Arthur, and Port Neches selling barbecue! Now that I've made myself thoroughly hungry, I'm tempted to get a snack.
Death, Destruction, and mayhem.
OK, perhaps there was no death, at least not yet. Fully intending to rescue my Orchid from the house and bring it to my parents, I left if on the ledge of the porch. The plant is a mild weather plant whose leaves will burn with too much sunlight. If you can say one thing, it's that Texas weather is not mild. I'm hoping the plant is still alive the next time we return to the house. Some God-given cooler weather would be instrumental in accomplishing this.
Groves does indeed have destruction... Not the least of which is my house. It would seem that hurricane force winds ripped our roof and allowed wind and rain into our attic. It seems the paper-type insulation was then sodden and heavy collapsing much of the ceiling's sheetrock. We then had insulation and rain enter into our house. We had to pull carpet up and expect our lives to be in disarray, but otherwise fine.
mayhem? I think the massive law enforcement in the city as well as the enforced curfew has held the criminal element at bay.
