Wet Saturday!

Had a great Thanksgiving day. Frankie came over on Friday after their trip to Dallas so he could visit with his sisters and later the girls went over to Cyndi's to celebrate Lauren's and Krystal's birthdays. They were born 7 years apart on the same day! Cool, huh. Derick went over for a bit as did Cyndi's boyfriend Mike. I think a lot of singing and eating of pizza and some partaking of jello shots went on but what happens at Cyndi's stays at Cyndi's. ;-)
It started raining sometimes during the night and was still raining lightly until around noon today. It's cooler too and we are expecting lows in the 30s tonight. Yea! Awesome weather. :-)
The Longhorns won and so did the Cowboys! Now if the Crimson Tide can win today that will be super duper. Have a great weekend folks and stay safe.

Safe and Happy Holiday

Everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. We're busy getting lunch ready and then it's time for football. It's the last game for a long while between the Longhorns and the Aggies. I suspect the Horns will lose but one can hope they will win. The Cowboys play at 3:15 and I'm looking for them to stay on a winning roll. Fingers crossed!
I'm not planning on going anywhere tomorrow, especially shopping. Too many scary shoppers out there bleary eyed from getting up at midnight to buy stuff that will most likely get returned the day after Christmas. Just not my thing but luck to those who enjoy it.

Just Posting Stuff

Now this is a beautiful morning!

We actually got a bit of rain on Thursday and it was cool for a couple of mornings which made for nice walking. The heat is back though and that stupid sun is shining brightly burning and fading everything it touches.
Started this post a few days ago waiting for something interesting to happen but no such luck.
Clouds, sunshine, warmer temperatures. Longhorns losing. Same, same.
They arrested 5 people down at the Occupy Austin site for chaining themselves to a tree because they didn't want to move so the place could be power washed. It was orderly though and no one was pepper sprayed or hurt.
My carotid test results were worrisome but could have been worse so it's something I can hopefully manage. I think that for most of my life I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop but it never does. This can be a good thing or not depending on how you view life. I just bumble through it glad to be alive.

Disgusting heat is back

The heat is back with winds from the south and no rain no matter which way the wind blows. Bah.

Giant under eye bags

My glasses stay icky because my eyes are constantly watering from my allergies and from the frickin' giant fatty bags under my eyes. Can't see half the time. Another bah.
Had another carotid doppler on Thursday but expect it will be okay. They did it because I have been having morning headaches. I suspect it's because my BP has been a little high. We'll see. My football teams (Longhorns) are lossing but that's nothing new.
Lots of bad stuff in the news so life is better with the TV off these days. Think I'll stick my head in the sand and ignore it all. For a while anyway.

Time Change

While I don't mind the fall back an hour time change I do wish that we could have the same time all year long. This jumping back and forth an hour messes with your body clock and I just don't think it's a good thing. Plus running around changing the time on the clocks that don't automatically update themselves is a big pain in the drain.
Our weather warmed up again but some clouds rolled in and we did get a bit of rain over the weekend. The weatherman said a cold front was on the way and should get here tonight and bring some thunder storms and more rain. We hope he's right.
Nothing exciting on my walk today. They are cleaning up the area around Auditorium Shores that was host to the Fun, Fun, Fun Fest this weekend. Lots of tents and fences to take down but not a whole lot of trash which is a good thing.
I didn't go to the Occupy Austin site this morning but I did read in the paper that they had a successful march to the downtown banks on Nov. 5.  Across the country thousands of people closed their bank accounts and joined smaller local banks and credit unions. Maybe the banks will notice and maybe they won't but I do think that the movement is on the right track by using this tactic. If the movement affects their bottom line they will take notice and make changes.
On a completely different note I've got to say here that I've been enjoying 'Once Upon a Time' and 'Grimm'. Fairy tales have always been a favorite of mine and it's nice to see them being re-imagined.

Cool Morning Walk



Some will have a job...painting over this.

Had a nice walk this morning thanks to the cool front that blew through here late last night. I must admit that yesterday I was skeptical about it getting cooler when I sat watching the evening news while sweating and eating a Popsicle. But the front came through and made things much nicer. Could have used some rain but alas no rain fell in our area.

The photos I'm posting were taken on Tuesday and one of them has a word in it that has been edited, by me, for obvious reasons. I don't like graffiti but it is around so I captured a few bits of it.

Not a Perry fan I'm guessing. (edited by me)

The GOP campaign seems to have gone down a road that is not a good one. I prefer to judge candidates on their policies not their private lives but I guess you can't get away from it these days. Hopefully things will not get any uglier and everyone can get back to talking about the important issues that affect us all and the solutions to them so everyone can make an informed decision in the voting booth come Nov. 2012.
And will the media please not devote so much time to the Lohan and Kardashian woes. I'm tired of hearing about them and just want them to go away.

Upside down Ron Paul sticker

Occupy Austin Updates

My visit to Occupy Austin on Nov. 1, 2011. I decided this morning to walk to the Occupy Austin site and take some photos and do some interviews if possible. The site was quiet and by my estimation there were more police officers than demonstrators. The vibe I got was one of peace and the area was clean and tidy. I observed a gentleman walking around with a broom and bucket sweeping up any bits of litter he could find. Some people were asleep and some had left to go to their jobs or take care of family business, classes, and other appointments. I talked with Burt who is a veteran about his reasons for joining the Occupy movement as well as two other gentlemen who were holding signs by the street corner. The following are some of my thoughts on what I heard.

Burt-Vet. and Occupy Austin participant

Burt joined the movement to protest the treatment of veterans and the possible reduction of benefits and medical treatment of long time vets and those returning from the middle east.
One young man joined in the protest because he believed that greed and government were taking away the opportunity of American citizens to get an affordable education. He had been attending college but had to drop out because of the lack of funding. He thinks that a free education for those serious about attending college to 'better' the world would help out the country and less emphasis should be placed on those seeking education and jobs that deal with just making money. He cited lawyers specifically but I didn't quite understand why.


Two Austin Occupy Demonstrators

The other man I talked to (the one with the signs and the ball cap) was the only one who showed real passion and some anger. He wanted an end to lobbyist controlling the outcome of legislation that was detrimental to the common man by buying the votes of unscrupulous politicians and said those people should be voted out. He also had some heat for the banks that took the bail out money but did not change the way they did business and continued to foreclose on homes and refused to lend money to small businesses. He encouraged everyone to come out and join their march to the nearest Wells Fargo Bank on November 5th.While I do believe that for the most part the people of the Occupy movement are sincere I think that a lot of them are searching for a more cohesive cause to rally behind or perhaps someone to lead them. This movement is not the angry violent anti-war movement of the 60's but it does have an air of frustration with the way things are in the world. Most of the rhetoric is directed at the wealthy and big corporations. For now the leaders are happy that banks have backed off of debit card fees but they only see it as a small victory. Where will it all end? I haven't a clue but it will be interesting to go along for the ride and see.