Friday, June 09, 2006
My latest creation
The latest issue of As The World (Wide Web) Turns - Cougar Edition is now up at coogfun.com. It's long, and it might not make a lot of sense to anyone who isn't a regular reader of the various University of Houston fan forums. But I enjoy writing it, and apparently a lot of Coog fans enjoy reading it, so I thought I'd mention it here as well.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Can Roger Clemens save the Astros?
Remember last April, when we were all expressing concern about closer Brad Lidge even as the Astros sat atop the NL Central? Well, those days are over. The Astros are now sitting at .500, a good 7.5 games behind division-leading St. Louis. They have lost eighteen out of their last twenty-six games. May, indeed, has not been a kind month for the local team.
Now, legendary pitcher Roger Clemens has agreed to postpone his retirement - again - to play with the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Will his presence help lift the Astros out of their current rut and get them back to the postseason for the third year in a row?
While Clemens will no doubt be a huge boost to the team's struggling starting pitching, there's still the problem of an inconsistent bullpen. Lidge is still having problems and some relievers are downright unreliable. And it's not likely that Clemens will do much to help the Astros' anemic offense; the club's .256 batting average is 12th in the 16-team National League.
So I'm inclined to agree with Chronicle columnist Richard Justice: while Clemens will do his part and be a lift for the team, he by himself is not going to pull the 'Stros out of their current tailspin. His teammates need to step it up as well.
There's no reason to believe that the Astros can't do it; they came back from situations worse than this, after all, in 2004 and 2005 to reach the postseason. And while past performance is not an indicator of future results, this team was 19-9 just a month ago.
And that was without Roger.
Now, legendary pitcher Roger Clemens has agreed to postpone his retirement - again - to play with the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Will his presence help lift the Astros out of their current rut and get them back to the postseason for the third year in a row?
While Clemens will no doubt be a huge boost to the team's struggling starting pitching, there's still the problem of an inconsistent bullpen. Lidge is still having problems and some relievers are downright unreliable. And it's not likely that Clemens will do much to help the Astros' anemic offense; the club's .256 batting average is 12th in the 16-team National League.
So I'm inclined to agree with Chronicle columnist Richard Justice: while Clemens will do his part and be a lift for the team, he by himself is not going to pull the 'Stros out of their current tailspin. His teammates need to step it up as well.
There's no reason to believe that the Astros can't do it; they came back from situations worse than this, after all, in 2004 and 2005 to reach the postseason. And while past performance is not an indicator of future results, this team was 19-9 just a month ago.
And that was without Roger.
Chestthumping
This week, the Denton County Transit Authority began express bus service from Denton and Lewisville to downtown Dallas.
It's good to see something I helped create come to fruition.
It's good to see something I helped create come to fruition.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Idiots with guns
Late last night, I was standing in my front yard. In the distance behind me, I heard a gunshot. I didn't immediately think much about it, because gunfire isn't exactly a rare occurence in southeast Houston.
About twenty seconds later, however, I heard sharp cracking sound in the street in front of my neighbor's house, and then the "clink-clink-clink" of some metallic object bouncing down the street in front of my house. Thanks to my yard's proximity to a street light, I was able to see the object come to rest, and walked down my driveway to find a rifle slug, perhaps a .270 or .277 caliber, its tip badly deformed by its impact with the pavement.
I can only assume that this projectile was associated with the gunshot I heard behind me about twenty seconds earlier. It sounded like the shot came from several blocks away; if I had to guess, it probably came from Braes Bayou, where people have been known to discharge firearms from its grassy embankments that are out of view of the surrounding streets.
I don't know why some moron decided to fire his gun into the air that evening. Maybe somebody had recently acquired a new hunting rifle and wanted to test it. Maybe somebody was firing a shot as a Memorial Day commemoration. It doesn't really matter. What I do know is that if the bullet had landed just forty or fifty feet closer, I could have been seriously injured or worse.
Don't these people who randomly fire their guns into air understand that, in accordance with the law of gravity, that bullet is going to have to come down somewhere? It's no wonder that people get hurt or even killed during New Years Eve, when people "celebrate" the beginning of the new year by firing their weapons into the air. Houston is one of several cities trying to crack down on this practice, but, as last night's incident evidenced, the random firing of guns into the air isn't limited to New Year's celebrations.
I'm not "anti-gun" by any means. But I do wish that people who own firearms would understand that there are proper ways to use them, and that firing them into the air in a crowded urban area is not one of them.
About twenty seconds later, however, I heard sharp cracking sound in the street in front of my neighbor's house, and then the "clink-clink-clink" of some metallic object bouncing down the street in front of my house. Thanks to my yard's proximity to a street light, I was able to see the object come to rest, and walked down my driveway to find a rifle slug, perhaps a .270 or .277 caliber, its tip badly deformed by its impact with the pavement.
I can only assume that this projectile was associated with the gunshot I heard behind me about twenty seconds earlier. It sounded like the shot came from several blocks away; if I had to guess, it probably came from Braes Bayou, where people have been known to discharge firearms from its grassy embankments that are out of view of the surrounding streets.
I don't know why some moron decided to fire his gun into the air that evening. Maybe somebody had recently acquired a new hunting rifle and wanted to test it. Maybe somebody was firing a shot as a Memorial Day commemoration. It doesn't really matter. What I do know is that if the bullet had landed just forty or fifty feet closer, I could have been seriously injured or worse.
Don't these people who randomly fire their guns into air understand that, in accordance with the law of gravity, that bullet is going to have to come down somewhere? It's no wonder that people get hurt or even killed during New Years Eve, when people "celebrate" the beginning of the new year by firing their weapons into the air. Houston is one of several cities trying to crack down on this practice, but, as last night's incident evidenced, the random firing of guns into the air isn't limited to New Year's celebrations.
I'm not "anti-gun" by any means. But I do wish that people who own firearms would understand that there are proper ways to use them, and that firing them into the air in a crowded urban area is not one of them.
Basilblogging
Lori and I recently planted an herb garden, and while the mint, thyme, lavender and rosemary all seem to be doing well, the basil is absolutely thriving in the Houston heat. We don't have basil plants anymore; we have a big basil bush!
If you live near the University of Houston and need fresh basil for your pesto or bruschetta, let me know...
If you live near the University of Houston and need fresh basil for your pesto or bruschetta, let me know...
Friday, May 26, 2006
More about Elektra
Lori and I have gone several days without Elektra, and we miss her. It's difficult to get used to her not rubbing our legs or sleeping at the foot of our bed anymore.
In retrospect, it's reasonable to ask why we allowed our cats to roam freely outdoors in the first place. Had we kept them inside, after all, Elektra wouldn't have been run over because she never would have been out in the street. And therein lies a sad irony: Lori and I originally intended Athena and Elektra to be indoor cats precisely because of all the hazards that cats face when they go outdoors. When we lived in our apartments in Austin and Lewisville, their only trips outside were onto the patio.
But, in reality, it's hard to keep cats indoors all the time. Especially when they sit at the door meowing incessantly for hours on end and they try to escape every time you open the door. We began to relent and start letting them outside for brief periods when we had our townhome in Denton with its own yard. They became indoor-only cats again when we moved into our apartment in Midtown Houston, but once we bought our own house it again became difficult to justify confining them indoors. We just had more important things (fixing up the house, taking care of Kirby) to worry about and so the cats began to come inside and go outside as we pleased.
Elektra was a very curious cat and she liked to go across the street to see what was going on in other peoples' yards. We weren't too worried about her getting run over, because we were naive and thought "our cat isn't stupid; she'll get out of the way if a car comes." Maybe so. But as cats grow older and become a step slower, they don't always get out of the way in time. And I think that's what happened with Elektra, especially considering that so many moron drivers speed through this neighborhood without really paying attention.
We know we can't confine Hermes III indoors. But, as of Sunday, Athena is once again an indoor-only cat.
Last Sunday evening, we laid Elektra to rest in our front yard. Here's the story:
Earlier this year, after being told by two different arborists that it was diseased and would fall over sooner or later, we cut down the large, old water oak in our front yard. It had already shed a few branches and we just didn't want to risk more limbs falling on roofs or on people, especially as another hurricane season approached. However, the operation left our yard completely devoid of trees. We realized that we needed to replace the oak (we do live in a subdivision named University Oaks, after all), so a couple of weeks a
go we purchased a Quercus shumardii sapling. We intended to plant it last weekend, and we did so.
However, the young oak is no longer just a replacement tree; we decided to also make it a living memorial to Elektra. She is buried directly underneath the tree, and as her body decomposes and fertilizes the soil, she will provide sustenance to the roots of the growing tree: she will, in essence, become this new tree. Her collar and tag, in fact, now hang around the tree's slender trunk.
This way, Elektra will always be part of our home.
In retrospect, it's reasonable to ask why we allowed our cats to roam freely outdoors in the first place. Had we kept them inside, after all, Elektra wouldn't have been run over because she never would have been out in the street. And therein lies a sad irony: Lori and I originally intended Athena and Elektra to be indoor cats precisely because of all the hazards that cats face when they go outdoors. When we lived in our apartments in Austin and Lewisville, their only trips outside were onto the patio.
But, in reality, it's hard to keep cats indoors all the time. Especially when they sit at the door meowing incessantly for hours on end and they try to escape every time you open the door. We began to relent and start letting them outside for brief periods when we had our townhome in Denton with its own yard. They became indoor-only cats again when we moved into our apartment in Midtown Houston, but once we bought our own house it again became difficult to justify confining them indoors. We just had more important things (fixing up the house, taking care of Kirby) to worry about and so the cats began to come inside and go outside as we pleased.
Elektra was a very curious cat and she liked to go across the street to see what was going on in other peoples' yards. We weren't too worried about her getting run over, because we were naive and thought "our cat isn't stupid; she'll get out of the way if a car comes." Maybe so. But as cats grow older and become a step slower, they don't always get out of the way in time. And I think that's what happened with Elektra, especially considering that so many moron drivers speed through this neighborhood without really paying attention.
We know we can't confine Hermes III indoors. But, as of Sunday, Athena is once again an indoor-only cat.
Last Sunday evening, we laid Elektra to rest in our front yard. Here's the story:
Earlier this year, after being told by two different arborists that it was diseased and would fall over sooner or later, we cut down the large, old water oak in our front yard. It had already shed a few branches and we just didn't want to risk more limbs falling on roofs or on people, especially as another hurricane season approached. However, the operation left our yard completely devoid of trees. We realized that we needed to replace the oak (we do live in a subdivision named University Oaks, after all), so a couple of weeks a
go we purchased a Quercus shumardii sapling. We intended to plant it last weekend, and we did so.However, the young oak is no longer just a replacement tree; we decided to also make it a living memorial to Elektra. She is buried directly underneath the tree, and as her body decomposes and fertilizes the soil, she will provide sustenance to the roots of the growing tree: she will, in essence, become this new tree. Her collar and tag, in fact, now hang around the tree's slender trunk.
This way, Elektra will always be part of our home.
The Enron Verdict
As everybody knows by now, a federal court here in Houston has found former Enron CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling guilty of a variety of counts, including conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. The jurors decided that the two repeatedly lied in order to conceal accounting gimmicks and business failures that led to the 2001 collapse of the energy company, which at one time was the seventh-larget corporation in the nation. Over 5,500 people lost their jobs and billions of dollars in retirement savings also disappeared as the company crumbled. Enron's fall, which occurred at about the same time as the terrorist attacks of 9/11, sent Houston's economy into a tailspin that has only recently ended. Lay was also found guilty of several counts of bank fraud in a separate trial.
I don't have anything to say about the results of this trial that haven't been already said elsewhere. Lay and Skilling are now convicted criminals and, barring a successful appeal, both are looking at a long time - perhaps the rest of their lives - in federal prison.
But I do have a humorous footnote to add to the whole Enron debacle. It comes in the form of a rejection letter Lori received in the summer of 2001, while she was sending out resumes in advance of her final semester of business school at UNT. We like to think of it as the "best rejection letter anyone ever received." Note that it's dated August 16, 2001: one day after whistleblower Sherron Waktins's famous memo to Ken Lay regarding the company's twisted and devious accounting schemes that marked the beginning of the end of Enron.
I don't have anything to say about the results of this trial that haven't been already said elsewhere. Lay and Skilling are now convicted criminals and, barring a successful appeal, both are looking at a long time - perhaps the rest of their lives - in federal prison.
But I do have a humorous footnote to add to the whole Enron debacle. It comes in the form of a rejection letter Lori received in the summer of 2001, while she was sending out resumes in advance of her final semester of business school at UNT. We like to think of it as the "best rejection letter anyone ever received." Note that it's dated August 16, 2001: one day after whistleblower Sherron Waktins's famous memo to Ken Lay regarding the company's twisted and devious accounting schemes that marked the beginning of the end of Enron.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Elektra 1997 - 2006
To the careless driver (who probably lives in my neighborhood) who ran over Elektra late Saturday afternoon: thanks a lot for killing my favorite cat, asshole.
Lori and I adopted Elektra along with her sister, Athena, as kittens shortly after we moved into an apartment complex in Austin in 1997. They've both been with us ever since; we've taken them all over Texas with us, from Austin to Lewisville to Denton to my parents' house to Lori's great aunt's house in Sagemont to our apartment in Midtown Houston to our current home. They've been part of our lives for so long that life without them will be difficult and empty. Unfortunately, that emptiness has begun.
Unlike her solitary, easily-annoyed sister, Elektra was affectionate and social. Lori oftentimes remarked that Elektra acted more like a dog than a cat due to her friendliness; she never met a human that she did not like. She didn't merely rub someone's legs; she would hop up and "bodyslam" them. If she really liked somebody she'd twist over and flop herself on top of their feet and look up at them with her yellow eyes. She rarely hissed or growled, as
her sister is prone to do. Instead, she'd purr and meow in a sweet, soft voice. She never really liked being picked up - she would whine in protest everytime she was held - but she was always looking for a hand to pet her or a lap for her to fall asleep in.
Elektra was patient and even-tempered. She tolerated Hermes III as an energetic kitten, when Athena did not. She tolerated Kirby as a curious toddler, when Athena did not (and, unlike Hermes, she never tried to bite him when he pulled her fur). She got along with my parents' cat Orestes and Lori's parents' dog Cash.
Pets really are part of someone's family. When they die, a part of the family dies. It is with great sadness that we must bury Elektra. We will miss her greatly.
Lori and I adopted Elektra along with her sister, Athena, as kittens shortly after we moved into an apartment complex in Austin in 1997. They've both been with us ever since; we've taken them all over Texas with us, from Austin to Lewisville to Denton to my parents' house to Lori's great aunt's house in Sagemont to our apartment in Midtown Houston to our current home. They've been part of our lives for so long that life without them will be difficult and empty. Unfortunately, that emptiness has begun.Unlike her solitary, easily-annoyed sister, Elektra was affectionate and social. Lori oftentimes remarked that Elektra acted more like a dog than a cat due to her friendliness; she never met a human that she did not like. She didn't merely rub someone's legs; she would hop up and "bodyslam" them. If she really liked somebody she'd twist over and flop herself on top of their feet and look up at them with her yellow eyes. She rarely hissed or growled, as
her sister is prone to do. Instead, she'd purr and meow in a sweet, soft voice. She never really liked being picked up - she would whine in protest everytime she was held - but she was always looking for a hand to pet her or a lap for her to fall asleep in.Elektra was patient and even-tempered. She tolerated Hermes III as an energetic kitten, when Athena did not. She tolerated Kirby as a curious toddler, when Athena did not (and, unlike Hermes, she never tried to bite him when he pulled her fur). She got along with my parents' cat Orestes and Lori's parents' dog Cash.
Pets really are part of someone's family. When they die, a part of the family dies. It is with great sadness that we must bury Elektra. We will miss her greatly.
My website is a medical training resource
Of all the e-mail I've received about my website - be it from angry rabbit lovers, Super 8 film enthusiasts, travelers to Ecuador, people asking how they can make their city's freeways look prettier, even economics students interested in dollarization - I never, ever thought I would receive the following message:
One of these days, Kirby will be happy to know that he did his part for medical education!
Thank you for sharing Kirby's photos. In one photograph you've allowed much discussion and learning opportunity for student nurses at Fayetteville Technical Community College in Fayetteville, North Carolina. [at a distance- before the actual clinical experience begins for the Maternal-Women- Newborn health rotation]. The photographer did an excellent job in capturing the forcep marks, the vernix, the amniotic fluid, the "normal" transition assistance of the healthcare team and Kirby looks to be a fine wee one as he prepared to leave the hospital.This person is, of course, referring to the very first picture of Kirby, which was taken right as he was delivered. I put that picture, graphic as it might be, on my website because I wanted to document my son's life right from its first moment: him literally taking his first breath. That the picture is able to serve an educational purpose as well, even though that wasn't its original intent, is really rather cool.
One of these days, Kirby will be happy to know that he did his part for medical education!
Southwest to reconsider its open seating policy
Earlier this week, it was reported that Southwest Airlines is considering assigned seating on its flights. Southwest, of course, is currently the only major airline in the United States that does not assign seats to flyers. Instead, seating on the plane is provided on a first-come, first-served basis: the sooner you get your boarding pass and get to the gate, the better your pick of seats will be. The so-called "cattle call" has been part of Southwest's business model since its inception, but current upgrades to Southwest's reservation system will allow them to assign seats in the future, if they so choose.
I've never had strong feelings, one way or another, about Southwest's open seating policy. I've always accepted it as part of flying Southwest. Apparently, however, a lot of people do feel strongly about it. As the almost-300 comments regarding the topic on Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog on usatoday.com indicate, there are a lot of people who refuse to fly Southwest expressly due to the open seating policy. There are others that prefer Southwest due entirely to that same policy. A sampling of the comments:
Southwest probably won't make a decision on assigned seating anytime soon, and although I don't think they need to fix what isn't broke, I really won't care what they decide to do. Judging from some of these comments, however, I'm one of very few people who don't care.
I've never had strong feelings, one way or another, about Southwest's open seating policy. I've always accepted it as part of flying Southwest. Apparently, however, a lot of people do feel strongly about it. As the almost-300 comments regarding the topic on Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog on usatoday.com indicate, there are a lot of people who refuse to fly Southwest expressly due to the open seating policy. There are others that prefer Southwest due entirely to that same policy. A sampling of the comments:
I would kill myself or retire before I would ever fly Southwest. When I see the cordoned lines of persons standing for ages to position themselves, all I can recall are lines of cattle in feedlots waiting to be slaughtered!(I want to meet this guy with a vial of arsenic in one hand and a Southwest ticket in the other and see if he's serious about killing himself before flying Southwest. As for the "cordoned lines of persons standing for ages," has this guy ever been through security screening?)
WN is a cattle car operation airline which I never fly because of the no assigned seating. If they opt to offer reserved seating and treat the passenger like a person and not cattle, I might consider flying them.(Uh, which airline doesn't treat you like cattle these days?)
The open seating policy is the reason I fly SWA over any other airline - over and over again. I am a firm believer in their policy. It works like a charm and SWA employees are fantastic.(Well, all of them are fantastic except for that one clumsy flight attendant who tripped in the aisle and made me knock my beer all over myself. She wouldn't even get me another drink to replace the one that she made me spill!)
I used to fly Southwest out of Manchester and couldn't stand the cattle call. There is always a loser camped out in the front of the A line. Get a life!(Yeah, and that guy probably thinks you're a loser because he's going to get a better seat than you...)
Southwest has the coldest beer of all the airlines I've flown. Who needs a seat assignment?(Can't argue with that logic.)
I love the Open Boarding system. I hope that they never change. Most who fly SW do so because of cost and understand the system. The wonderful thing about competition is that you have choices. Those who want assigned seating have other options.(True. If you don't like Southwest, then don't fly Southwest.)
You people who cling to your precious assigned seating can continue to fly your legacy carriers, even as they hemmorage money, dump their pensions, cut service, charge extra for pillows and blankets and exit row seats, stick you aboard aging MD-80s and cramped RJs, and treat you with contempt all the while. Meanwhile, I'll continue to suffer the traumatic indiginites of standing in line and will continue to fly Southwest, a profitable, courteous, reliable airline will be around long after your unprofitable, arrogant, elitist legacy carriers with their sancrosanct assigned seating have all shriveled up and disappeared.(Wow. Somebody really has it in for the legacy carriers. Of course, discounters like AirTran and Frontier assign seats, too, so it's not just a legacy carrier thing.)
Southwest probably won't make a decision on assigned seating anytime soon, and although I don't think they need to fix what isn't broke, I really won't care what they decide to do. Judging from some of these comments, however, I'm one of very few people who don't care.
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