Monday, September 29, 2008

Librarian's Patron Saint

My mom, being a retired librarian, might appreciate knowing who the patron saint of librarians is. I didn't know, but I am not a librarian. But as an avid user of libraries anywhere I wouldn't mind an invite to a feast for St. Jerome.

Spirit Of AggieLand



Samantha and I went over to College Station for the A and M v. Army football game on the last weekend of September. It was an 11:30 a.m. kickoff so we had to leave Austin early. We got our tickets from some friends here and met them at Rudy's BBQ in Round Rock. After a few breakfast tacos we drove over to AggieLand.

We arrived in plenty of time. In fact I had to walk back to the car twice forgetting once the camera and then our notepaper with phone numbers and such of the people we were to meet over the day. Our seats were 3 rows up from the field, behind the north end zone. Actually a great place to see all the events of the day, but most of the football we saw on the jumbo-tron.

We were in our seats in plenty of time for the National Anthem, Texas Our Texas, The Spirit of AggieLand, and the Aggie War Hymm. Sam and I sawed the horns off with 80,000 plus other Aggies there. It was awesome to see the entire statium, and it was nearly full, all sawing and singing.

It was "Armed Forces Appreciation Day" so there was a helicopter flyover and four paratroopers dropped into Kyle Field before the start. The Aggie band played all of the military marches from each branch of service, and the Singing Cadets sang America.

After the game we went and took our pictures on the 50 yard line and in the end zones. Next we walked across the campus visiting some old favorites of mine, my old dorm, the All Faiths Chapel where my parents were married 50 years ago. Then we met some fraternity buddies I haven't seen in over 25 years and they were cooking fajitas, so we had a few bites to eat and visited. Next we walked thru the Bonfire Memorial and the headed back to our car and left campus.

We headed into Bryan to visit my cousin Susan and her dad my uncle Bubba. A nice visit of about 30 minutes and then we started our drive back to Austin.

Sam and I had a grand time.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Banana skin usefullness

Next time you slip up on a banana skin, you might want to hesitate before picking it up. You never know where its been.

Apparently, hockey announcers don't have much to do in the off season.

Razor - go guest host on the Hardline or something. Geesh.

An old fable in a new bottle

Michelle Malkin spins a nifty yarn.

"Barack Cicada" had me laughing. I see cicada shells all over the back yard, the bugs shedding their skin, talking of change, but still the same old pests they were before.

I need early voting to get here asap so I can cast my ballot and be done with it.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Alkali Ike

Looks like Hurricane Ike may blow through Austin TX, and may be a CAT 2 when it arrives. It is predicted to get into town Saturday morning (9/13/8). I don't think we've had a storm system like this in my time here, almost 25 years. I can remember working long ago at the City Services oil refinery in Sulphur LA over 2 summers and having to prepare for approaching hurricanes - tying down scaffolding, moving barrels of stuff into storage, and other securing of loose items. All of that work usually meant spending the next week untying all those things.

So far in Austin, football games are being rescheduled, including the game between UT and Arkansas (not official yet, but likely). Gas prices are creeping up in anticipation of people on the Texas coast evacuating here.

The hurricane should make for an interesting weekend.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Obama voted YES on Bridge To Nowhere, Biden too

Barack Obama is trying to make hay about Sarah Palin being for the Bridge To Nowhere before being against it. Apparently he and Joe Biden were for the Bridge instead of diverting those funds to hurricane relief in New Orleans. Hilarity ensued.

I think I am going to side with Alaska's Governor Palin on this one. As a fellow blogger asks, where is the bridge now, and who is responsible for stopping it. Palin.