Veteran's Day - November 11, 2008

It seems rather weird to say "Happy Veteran's Day"....it's more fitting IMHO to say "THANK YOU, VETERANS, you saved our lives"! I mean that too from the bottom of my old wrinkled heart.

Past, present and future veterans, may God bless and keep you always in His hands.

I've got to keep it at that because, again IMHO, freedom took a serious hit November 4, 2008, and only time will tell if your sacrifices have been in vain. Just know in your heart that there are plenty/many who feel as grateful and respectful as I do. All we can do, is the best we can do and let the rest go before it drags us down.

The Houston Chronicle didn't see fit to even mention Veteran's Day on it's online rag. It's a disgrace, but what fool would expect anything less?

God bless America.

Please God, No "O"!

My View - Miller High Live Commercial

If you haven't seen the commercial...... go here.

As I rule I don't watch commercials if I can avoid them. The joy of DVR!

But I'm forced fed this commercial because I watch baseball games in real time during the playoffs, etc. and I have to take a deep breath before I continue because I'm probably the only viewer in 'Merica that thinks these commercials suck and I'm going to tell you why....

Ok, first off, I'm from East Texas and that wins me a redneck from the get-go. I have to work at it to some extent because on the one side is the East Texas background and the other side is my belief in the Golden Rule. And my distaste for judging whole groups of anything such as 'all cops are', 'all blacks are', 'all whites are', 'all fat people'...... I know, I do it too, but I really would rather go one-on-one with folks and get to know them as individuals before I go off on them.

Or maybe I don't, maybe I just think I do and I'm really just a racist, but if I am, so are the folks producing this commercial. Clearly they are using the political sign of the times to bring about the change that is so sought.....that change being the black man rising above the white one and paying us back.

IMHO this commercial is reverse discrimination. It's bigoted. Its message is that if you can afford the good seats, you aren't worthy of the brew. The actor Windell Middlebrooks is a very talented black. His job is acting, he doesn't write the commercials and maybe because he's black and very believable it's (ahem) coloring my view, but from where I sit it's not possible for me to watch the thing and not feel uncomfortable wondering if I'm the only one of the globe that thinks this is anti-white-rich-folk?

If you look carefully you'll see token black actors in the back, background of all the commercials, I guess that's supposed to be where my argument falls apart, but that doesn't work for me any more than token black in the background have worked for THEM in the white bread world.

Some Impressions On Hurricane Ike

First off, during the storm, the media drove me to distraction using the phrase "hunkered down". A quick Google search finds this...

hun·ker (hngkr)
intr.v. hun·kered, hun·ker·ing, hun·kers
1. To squat close to the ground; crouch. Usually used with down: hunkered down to avoid the icy wind.
2. To take shelter, settle in, or hide out. Usually used with down: hunkered down in the cabin during the blizzard.
3. To hold stubbornly to a position. Usually used with down: "As the White House hunkered down, G.O.P. congressional unity started crumbling" Time.
n. hunkers
The haunches.
[Perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse hokra, to crouch.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Or the more modern definition, born during Hurricane Ike 2008: to annoy the living shit out of people by repeating the same term ad nauseam until it lost all meaning and became an overnight cliche. I was just getting used to "shelter in place" and that was what most of us were doing. We didn't panic, we didn't evacuate, we didn't ask the government for help either before, during or after the storm. Which is not to say that those that did ask for help after the storm didn't need the help. I just found out that one of my kids stood in the ice, food and water lines and I'm glad she was able to endure that. They are still enduring since their power is still out one week later....which leads me to.....

My next impression is of the newest post Ike greeting: used to one would say "hi, how's it goin'" or "how ya doin'" when you'd meet and greet.....NOW it's "you got power?"! And if you do they look at you as if to say "bastard!" and some even say it outright! But, so far anyway, no one I know has gotten violent when faced with these hardships. I think we should all pat ourselves and each other on the back for our abilities to survive and go on as best we can.

If we didn't die, we can rebuild, repair, restock, regenerate, renew and rejoice! My neighborhood's look has changed overnight....huge trees are down and gone forever, but no person has lost their life. Many are still without electricity, but they are alive and kicking and surviving. We all found ways to recharge our cell phones! Some found ways to keep computers, televisions, DVD players and radio going in order to simulate some sense of normalcy and order in the dark.

Some of us have been far luckier than others and that brings about the survivor's guilt that often accompanies such a traumatic, dramatic event. I'm not one to grab a Bible and thump on it, but the spiritual side of my soul is giving God my thanks that all I know and all I love is safe and secure. Over and over I think: it could of been so much worse.

I'm Baaacccckkkkk! ByeBye Ike!

It was bad. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it certainly wasn't as bad as it could of been. The final figures of $destruction$ and loss of human life have not been compilled, but this is, of course, more about ME and MY experiences.

First, I decided to evacuate to my daughter's and that was a good thing as we mostly played cards by candle light and THAT helped to take our minds off what was going on outside. Her house is better insulated than mine I guess because the wind was loud, but it wasn't as loud as I remember Hurricane Alicia being.

My house lost power at midnight Friday, September 12th and it was just restored about an hour ago! That's almost 62 hours (if my math is right...I'm working on a quart low of sleep these days) and since I moved in here in 1976, this is by far the longest power loss EVER. Usually it's a few hours, a day if that when it's a bad storm. The area wide devastation is horrific. Everyone I know lost power...some won't get theirs back for WEEKS. Some still didn't have power from Hurrican Edwardo!

So, the theme of this post is THANK YOU! Thank you Reliant/Centerpoint/Dynowatt or whoever else restored me to my former comfort level! Yea! It's the little things that you appreciate....like opening your closet door and actually being able to see without going for a flashlight! Or the bliss of air conditioning! The good part was it wasn't unbearable even in the 90 plus humidity because I didn't do anything. There was nothing to do except play cards or read or watch my tiny bat operated TVs.

I swear I'd of given the light truck a standing ovation if I'd of seen it. My best friend did see it and she and her neighbor told them THANKS!

More on the storm later, but right now I've got to put away 9000 candles, batteries, radios, TVs, ice chest, etc. .......oh and my .38 that was by my side last night just in case.

Centerpoint: