Cooler but no rain

Here we are near the end of October and while it's been cooler for a few days no more significant rain has come.  The drought is still ongoing.
At the Occupy Austin site there have been arrests made. By Patrick George and Andrea Ball | Sunday, October 30, 2011, 01:40 AM
Update, 5:17 a.m.
Additional arrests were made shortly after 2 a.m., bringing the total number to 38. Police Chief Art Acevedo, who arrived at City Hall around 4 a.m. to talk to remaining occupiers, said that most were charged with criminal trespass and would likely be released soon.
“No one got hurt and that’s what’s important,” he said.

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Police officials confirmed that about 20 members of the ongoing Occupy Austin demonstration were arrested outside City Hall earlier this morning and charged with criminal trespass.
Demonstrators who were present during the arrests say that around 12:30 a.m., officers attempted to shut down a table that was used to distribute food. When the demonstrators refused, they were taken into custody. The names of those arrested were not immediately available early Sunday morning.
Officers originally warned the demonstrators around 9:45 p.m. that a city ordinance prevented food from being distributed at City Hall after 10 p.m., said Brian Overman, who witnessed the arrests. He said officers also removed other parts of the camp, including blankets and sleeping bags.
Another demonstrator, Zachary Hill, said that demonstrators locked arms and sat on food to prevent officers from taking it away.
“The only resistance on this side was passive,” Hill said.
While I understand some of the frustration that has led to these demonstrations I really don't know what the end game is. At what point will those demonstrating say we've done what we came to do and got the results we wanted. Corporate greed is not going away and neither are the rich who like the poor are always with us. Most of us are stuck somewhere in the middle and plod along making ends meet and just living our lives the best we can. I'm feeling very apathetic these days because I no longer believe in change of any kind. People are who they are and things are what they are. The winners so far out of this Occupy deal are the area credit unions. People are closing bank accounts and moving to credit unions in good numbers and I guess now we'll see if the CU change the way they operate with all this influx of cash.
On a lighter note the picture below was taken from our bedroom window. The little blue jay comes often and hangs out on the window sill. Sometimes he's very noisy but he's always very cute. We get other birds too but they don't pose for photos like he does.

The Longhorns won a game making them 5-2 (I think) for the season which means they don't suck as bad as they did last year when they won...hum...if my memory serves, just three games.

Occupy movement still moving in Austin

It's a sunny and cool Saturday morning in Austin and there will be lots of people on the city streets. The Occupy Austin group, see live here, and the LiveStrong 5K are both downtown today. The Longhorns are playing the OK State Cowboys which brings in lots of people to add to the chaos. Tomorrow the Austin Walk for Aids group will be on the streets. So far everything has been orderly and peaceful which speaks well for the folks around here.
It was  50 degrees when I woke up this morning. Very nice but we still could use some more rain and rain would have made it a perfect weather day.

Thunder and Lightning

Woke up to thunder and lightning this morning and rain! Yay! Just raises my mood immeasurably. Also our daughter and granddaughter that live in San Angelo are coming for a short visit. That merits another Yay!
Oh and I did get to order my Game of Thrones book. If you just put in the title of the book the set comes up, if you search science fiction and fantasy books then all the single novels and sets come up. Guess it's a glitch in the search engine of B&N that does that. Anyway all's well that ends well.
I've just thought of another good thing too. The Dallas Cowboys can't lose a game today because it's a bi-week for them. ;-)

Updates done on a muggy Saturday afternoon.

We got some rain showers this morning. Downpours for 30 to 40 seconds but 3 or 4 of them so far. All of it is most welcome.
The Occupy Austin is still going. They did march as a group to the nearest Bank of America and those who had accounts there proceeded (in an orderly fashion) to cancel them.  The group here is organized with child care for those who want to participate in the protest but not have their children there and other groups supply water and food for the demonstrators. You can check out the videos and article here.
Sadly the Longhorns got slaughtered. I could not stand to watch it so I tried to download the second book in the Game of Thrones series.  Alas Barnes and Noble only has the first four book set for the Nook App so that means I'd have two editions of the first novel which would be lame. I didn't know you could run out of an ebook edition! Amazon has it so I might get it there but I have a gift card at B&N and really wanted to use it. Sometimes the tiny things in life can be very complicated. :0\

Occupy Austin

We got a bit of rain this morning and hoping for more over the weekend. The temperatures are still high (it's 93 at the moment) but no triple digits for now.
On my morning walk I ambled over to City Hall and talked to a couple of Occupy Austin demonstrators and took some photos. Most of them are young and either college students, blue collar workers, musicians, and artists.

There was not a big crowd this morning but it was over a thousand last night and as the day wears on and people get off work and out of classes they expect more. The two young men I talked to said they were hoping to make the people pay attention to the devastating effects of corporate greed. Greed in and of itself is not the problem it's when it's pervasive and gone wrong. They specifically talked about   the Bernie Madoff debacle, the Bank of America recent announcement of the $5.00 debit card fee. I gathered from their statements that these companies making  obcenely large profits on the backs of the middle classes is the reason the economy is in the tank. They believe that the workers who make the companies grow are being lied to and cheated. The two young men (pictured) seemed sincere enough and one was a college student and one worked downtown. I didn't ask them for any personal information but I did ask them for permission to post their photo on my blog. They were happy for me to help them spread the word. I really don't see any clear cut cause (in the 50s we had Ban the Bomb, the 60s we had the anti-war dissidents) but I'm hoping that the organizers get their act together and establish a real strategy to make their case more cohesive and clear. They have the growing man-power and I hope they use it in a positive and productive way.
On my way back across the river I saw a large number of police gathering in the park. I think at the time I was there the police outnumbered the protesters. I just saw on the news that the number of protesters has grown but the tone of the demonstrators is still peaceful.

Our daughter texted the picture below. It appeared on our grandsons doorway. We have no idea what it means. Perhaps someone looking at the blog might have some idea as to what it could mean.

Autumn Is Here..Not !!!

The calender may indicate that it is Autumn but alas around here the temperatures do not. We should be around 86 this time of year but for the past three days we've had highs in the 100+ range again. 90 days of 100+!  Our average temperatures for this time of year should be around 84. Right now it is 88 thanks to a 'cold front' that blew in this morning. Highs in the 90's are forecast for the rest of the week. Ick! Parts of Texas were lucky enough to get some rain yesterday and the day before but only a spritz and sprinkle fell in a few places in the Austin area. The leaves are falling from the trees and they are brown but it's not because the season has changed it's because they are dying from the intense heat and lack of rain the area has had in the last year. Very depressing and I could just scream when I watch the Weather Channel and hear them wax poetic about blue skies and sunshine making for a perfect day, weather wise that is. We're up to our dried out eyeballs with sunshine and if I sound cranky and grumpy it's only because I am. Oh to have a few cold rainy days that allowed you to sip hot tea or coco and slip into some fuzzy socks and curl up with your favorite honey or blanky and be all comfy and cozy. Umm...bliss.
My granddaughter and I went to see the movie 'Contagion' which is about a fast moving virus that kills thousands of people and wouldn't you know it...my granddaughter got sick. 101 fever, nausea, the whole bit. When she was on the mend I got sick but with different symptoms so I don't think she passed on anything to me.  We are both feeling much better now. The movie did make me mindful of a couple of things. Wash your hands more often and don't touch your face unless you have clean hands.
Our grandson started school at the Aveda Institute  http://www.avedainstitutesbb.com/austin-salon.php
and we're really proud of him for deciding on a career and going for it. I'm really looking forward to him doing my hair. :-)

I'm So Over Summer!

Love and compassion arising with a clear recognition of the importance and rights of others will reach even those who would do you harm. (Dalai Lama)

I follow the Dalai Lama on Twitter because I like his tweets. Some, like the one above make me fell better about things.

It's still excruciatingly hot here, in the 100+ range, and more of the same is in the forecast until next week when we can expect highs in the upper 90s. Big cool front huh? BTW no rain in that forecast either. Ugh.
It's difficult to enjoy a daily walk when the morning temperatures are 82 with 79% humidity. But, I'm still out there walking. Not fast but at least I'm doing my 3 miles a day 5 days a week.

Happily some Texans did get a bit of rain but a good old wide spread soaking is needed to bring any kind of relief .

Not only are farmers and ranchers in deep trouble because of the lack of the wet stuff and over abuncance of heat but trees are in distress and other vegetation is dying. Animals and birds in the wild are abandoning their young because of a lack of food and water. We've seen mockingbirds, bats, and other insect eating species looking pretty ragged and scrawny these days because no rain equals a low insect population and thus no food for them. We can help the seed eaters by keeping the bird feeder full and our two birdbaths filled with water. Insect eaters are harder to take care of but we did read that they would eat fruit so we often chop up a pear and add some raisens to the seeds. It's not much but we're hoping it helps the little critters out. I think other animals might be drinking out of the larger of the two birdbaths such as possums and a raccoon we've seen scooting across the yard early in the morning. While we are not in the horrible crises that Dafur is in the drought here is still pretty terrible and we hope it ends soon. 

I'm keeping out of politics this time around other than voting of course and the occasional donation. From what I've seen on the news things are already getting ugly and I have no desire to see anymore. 

Football has started and I hope the Longhorns do better this year...I know how could they do worse than last year but hey I can hope can't I?

It's September already and I started this post in the early part of August...hum, am I procrastinating or just lazy. Perhaps a little of both things.

I am reading Game of Thrones: Song of Ice and Fire and it's pretty good. Love me a good fantasy story. I do see a bit of the Lord of the Rings in the story though but I guess if you're going to borrow from a storyline you shroud borrow from one of the best. :-) Also downloaded Mile 81 by Stephen King but haven't read it yet.

So hopefully it's goodbye to the summer and its heat and a wishful, wistful, hello to winter full of cold days and lovely rain.