Goodbye 2007, hello 2008

2007 has come to an end, which means it's time for a quick review of the year just passed.I started the year with two resolutions: take the AICP exam and clean and organize the upstairs bedroom (which has been little more than a cluttered storage area ever since we moved into this house three years ago). As it turns out, I was one for two: I took the AICP exam and apparently passed (I'm still

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2007 Travel Review

The past year's travels might not have taken me to faraway or exotic destinations of years past, like Dubai or Japan. But Lori and I both did get to get out of Houston on at least a few occasions over the past year, and in the process got to see a few new things and visit a few new places. Here's a rundown, complete with pictures:In early May I flew up to Washington, DC to visit my brother-in-law

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Coogs lose to TCU, end 2007 with 8-5 record

The University of Houston Cougars ended the 2007 football season on a down note last Friday evening, losing 20-13 to longtime nemesis Texas Christian University in the Texas Bowl at Reliant Stadium. It was Houston's eighth bowl defeat in a row; the Coogs have not won a postseason game since the 1980 Garden State Bowl. Moreover, it was Houston's eighth loss in a row to TCU; the Coogs have not

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Troy gets screwed. Or shafted. Take your pick.

The college bowl season is well underway, with a a handful of games already in the books (East Carolina's nail-biting upset of Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl being the most surprising result so far) and many more games to come over the following couple of weeks, including the traditional slate of games on New Year's Day and the BCS National Championship Game on January 7th. Once it's all over,

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Meet Artemis and Orion

Due all the distractions and general busy-ness that I've experienced over the past few weeks, I've neglected to mention the two newest members of our family:Meet Artemis, at the left, and her brother Orion. They've actually been with us since right after Thanksgiving; one of Lori's friend's relatives had found a litter of four kittens whose mother had died and sent out a plea for good homes.

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Christmas is a week away

I guess that means I should start doing some shopping, or something.So many things have been going on over the last few weeks that I've hardly had time to even notice that it's the holiday season, let alone buy gifts for people.Thus, I'll get to spend the upcoming weekend fighting my way through the hordes of fellow last-minute shoppers. Oh, joy.

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Weak dollar impacts Dubai's construction boom

Speaking of Dubai: it was inevitable that, sooner or later, this would become an issue: In the four years that it has taken laborers to climb more than 150 floors over Dubai's congested freeways and skyline, the U.S. dollar has fallen with equal steadiness. Its decline has helped trigger unprecedented wage strikes and a rock-throwing protest this fall by the foreign construction workers, who are

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Emirates begins flying to Houston

Last week, Emirates kicked off non-stop service between Houston and Dubai. I couldn't make it up to IAH to witness the event, but fortunately the planespotters at airliners.net were up to the task.As I suggested last February, nonstop service between Houston and Dubai makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. I believe that Emirates will find this to be a highly successful and profitable route,

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When cats attack

Consider yourself warned...

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Big drug bust at University of Houston

Wow, that's a lot of acid:A University of Houston freshman was planning to sell about half a million dollars worth of LSD he had in his dorm room, Houston police said.Clarke Lane Denton, 18, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He was in Harris County jail in lieu of $999,999 bond.Denton, a chemical engineering major, was arrested Thursday after he sold

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Art Briles goes to Baylor

Over the course of this fall's college football season, I had planned to write regular updates and thoughts about the University of Houston Cougars. Of course, other than an entry I wrote after the first game of the season, that simply never occurred. Now the regular season is over; the Cougars have ended their season with an 8-4 record - one win better than what I predicted last August - and

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An unhappy Thanksgiving, and other thoughts

I'm back.Needless to say the last few weeks have been extremely eventful, and in many ways difficult, for myself and my family. Most notably, as I reported in the previous post, my Uncle Glen is no longer with us.The original reason for his admission to the Temple VA Hospital, on October 31st, was because he was suffering from edema associated with congestive heart failure. His condition was

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Glen Johnston 1939 - 2007

Sadly, my uncle Glen passed away on Tuesday, November 20, 2007, from complications related to congestive heart failure. He was about a month short of his 68th birthday.Glen had not been in good health for some time; he was a lifelong smoker with a history of heart problems. Nevertheless, his death came as a shock to all of us.Glen's obituary, which was written by his daughter Laura, ran in last

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Unsettled times

Earlier this evening, while preparing dinner, I took a casual glance at the big calendar we have in our kitchen. I'll admit that I was shocked when, upon looking at the calendar for a couple of seconds, I realized that Thanksgiving was exactly two weeks away! Yeah, I knew it was coming, but this quickly? I guess that's what I get for not keeping close track of time, but there are a lot of

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Puerto Vallarta dining guide

One last post about our trip to Puerto Vallarta a couple of weeks ago: I wanted to mention some of the eating establishments we visited while we were there. There are a few places we enjoyed during previous trips to PV (The River Cafe, Isla Cuale; Vista Grill, Pulpito 377; Rio Grande, Av. Mexico 1775; La Bodeguita del Medio, Paseo Diaz Ordaz 858) that we simply didn't get to eat at this time

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Happy Halloween

I would have been happy with a single pumpkin. But Lori decided to take this year's Halloween decoration one step further:Ugh. I really need to do something about that mildew on the vinyl siding above the porch.We also made a monkey out of Kirby this year:Of course, very few monkeys actually wear Chuck Taylors, but hey...Anyway, I've always enjoyed the delightful absurdity of Halloween. It's the

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Puerto Vallarta and the timeshare industry

As I noted previously, Lori and I had a great time in Puerto Vallarta last week. We consider PV to be our favorite vacation destination (this was my fourth trip there) for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that PV was an actual city before it became a tourist destination; it is not a place manufactured expressly for tourism like Cancun and so it has a lot of historical charm. For

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Following up on old news

Lori and I have returned home after an enjoyable, if not short, week in PV; I have a post or two about that trip that I'll write shortly. First, there are a couple of follow-ups to previous posts of mine that I wanted to note:Last January, I wrote about the unbelievable story of Genarlow Wilson, a young man from Georgia who was sentenced to ten years in prison because he, when he was seventeen

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Greetings from Puerto Vallarta

I´m currently writing from the Casa de la Playa´s single internet-connected computer, trying to get used to this Spanish-layout keyboard. Lori and I safely made our way here Saturday evening, and are enjoying ourselves. It´s going to be weird for both of us to be away from Kirby for an entire week, but we know he´s in good hands with my parents.Yesterday was rather cloudy and rainy, but today the

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Light blogging

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. Between work, the start of football season, my parents' return from their two-month-long western journey, my brother-in-law Danny coming to visit for a couple of weeks, and other events, I just haven't had much time to write anything lately. That's probably going to continue to be the case for the rest of the month, as Lori and I are going on vacation the

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Is summer finally over?

The last couple of days have been absolutely beautiful, with clear skies, low humidity, and highs in the mid-80s. Last night it actually felt cool outside.Fall in Houston usually doesn't begin until mid-October, so it seems to be arriving right on schedule this year. And I couldn't be happier.

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What now for the Astros?

The local baseball team's otherwise-forgettable 2007 season ended on a memorable note yesterday, as 43,832 people - the largest crowd in the history of Minute Maid Park - witnessed the Astros defeat the Atlanta Braves 3-0. They were there, of course, to see Craig Biggio play the last game of his 20-year career. Biggio, who notched his 3,060th hit in yesterday's game, has now officially retired.He

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The world's busiest airline route

This is something I've always wondered about. Earlier this week, usatoday.com's Ben Mutzabaugh answered it for me:That would be the Barcelona-Madrid route, according to Travel Daily News, which cites data from OAG BACK Aviation Solutions. The data looks at the number of "flight operations" per week to determine the busiest routes. The Barcelona-Madrid route had 971 weekly operations, "closely

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Best of Houston

The Houston Press released their annual Best of Houston issue this week. Want to know where to find the city's best adult video store? How about Houston's best guacamole? The city's best pet psychic? The staff of the Press picks 'em all.Some of their accolades are spot on. Banh Mi Hoang Son does indeed make the "Best Cheap Sandwich" in town; I know this because I've been a regular customer of

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Houston to Aberdeen, nonstop

This is interesting:City Star Executive makes history in the North East of Scotland today, with the announcement it will launch the first ever Inter-continental business only scheduled service between Aberdeen and Houston. The service will operate four times a week between Aberdeen Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, with operations commencing in January 2008.

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The ten biggest upsets in college football history

Continuing on the theme of Appalachian State's historic upset of Michigan last weekend: was it really, truly, the biggest upset in the history of college football? And what, in fact, are the top upsets in college football? In the wake of this game, I've yet to come across an updated definitive list by ESPN or anyone else, although CSTV's Eric Sorenson takes a good shot at it (putting Appy State's

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Southwest flight attendants: fashion police?

According to this story relayed by USA Today's Ben Mutzabaugh, Southwest Airlines is enforcing a dress code. At least, that's apparently what happened when a college student attempted to board a flight from San Diego to Tucson a couple of months ago:Southwest is in the news in San Diego after a flight attendant apparently objected to the outfit worn by college student and Hooters waitress Kyla

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After one week of college football

The Coogs' loss aside, the first weekend of the 2007 college football season certainly did not disappoint. Let's start with the big story:Even though I-AA (or, if you must, Football Championship Subdivision) schools are generally considered to be a rung lower than I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) schools in terms of athletic talent and resources, it is not at all uncommon for I-AA schools to score

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Website updates

I've made some minor changes to my website. Notably, I've placed an announcement on my home page indicating that I plan to move the entire site to a new webhost sometime in the near future. I've also finally updated a handful of my light rail and streetcar maps, including Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Seattle.These are the last updates I am going to be

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Houston 27, Oregon 48

The game was closer than the score indicates; the Coogs were only down by three at the half and both teams were actually tied at 20 until late in the third quarter. However, a promising UH drive ended when Case Keenum's woulda-been-a-touchdown pass was picked off in the endzone. Oregon marched down the field in the other direction to score, and that cemented the game's momentum in favor of the

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But I don't *feel* that old...

My first day of high school was exactly twenty years ago today; September 1, 1987.I began graduate school ten years ago last week.Time flies.

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Radio weirdness

While driving around the sprawling north Dallas suburbs this week, I spent a lot of time surveying the Metroplex's radio offerings. One station I enjoyed was Dallas's "Jack FM" station at 100.3. The Jack FM format features a large and eclectic playlist (much larger than most stations) and the absence of any on-air deejays. It's a refreshing departure from the standard Clear Channel station that

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Late August randomness

August is mercifully coming to a close. I get to spend the final week of it up here in Dallas; nothing to do but work and wait for Friday, so that I can fly back home and decide which sports bar I'm going to go to on Saturday to watch the Coogs play Oregon. I'm not expecting the Cougars to win this one (which, in the eyes of at least a couple of hyperbole-prone posters on one particular UH sports

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Goodbye to the terrible twos

Last Tuesday was Kirby's third birthday. We held a small party for him last weekend. Unlike last year, I was actually able to be there.The "littlin" just isn't that little anymore. Happy birthday, Kirby!

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2007 football outlook: The University of Houston

With apologizes to Andrew Williams, "The Most Wonderful Time of The Year" is not Christmas, but rather the start of college football season. And it's finally upon us! In less than a week, The University of Houston Cougars will make a trip up to Eugene, Oregon to face the University of Oregon Ducks.The Cougars, under fifth-year head coach Art Briles, would like to repeat the success of a season

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Be careful what you wear...

The 2007 college football season finally begins one week from tonight.With college football season comes the renewal of great, time-honored rivalries: Auburn versus Alabama. Kansas versus Missouri. USC versus Notre Dame. Harvard versus Yale. Army versus Navy. Emotions run high for these times of games, and some fans, unfortunately, take their disdain towards the rival school a little too far.Even

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Time for a new webhost

Those of you who have gone over to my website recently might have noticed that some parts of my site are inaccessible. For example, if you go to see pictures of Kirby, you'll notice that none of them will load. Same for my pictures of my trips to Japan or Dubai. And if you try to read Lori's page, you're probably going to come across this: "The Web page or file that you requested is temporarily

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Local TV rejoices as hurricane season heats up

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been occupied with other things. Anyway...Gotta love the weather in Houston. Right after I post that July is technically a hotter month than August, we see our hottest days of the year. I think August of 2007 will actually end up being hotter than July of 2007, since rains kept temperatures relatively low during July. Those rains, of course, have since

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Have I mentioned that I hate August?

Oh, that's right. I have. And unlike last year, there's probably not going to be a surprise trip to the Middle East to divert my attention away from the wretchedness that is August, either.August is regarded my most locals as the hottest and most oppressive month of the Houston summer. Technically, however, July is marginally warmer, with an average high temperature of 94 degrees. August's

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An industry dedicated to screwing its customers

I recently screwed up and paid a credit card bill late. I forgot to make the payment until after the 5 pm EDT cut-off, and got hit with a $39 late fee.The funny thing is this: I actually made this payment two days before the actual due date. But it was still considered late.Why? The due date fell on a Sunday. However, payments made after 5 pm on Friday are not processed until the following Monday

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A Houston icon passes away

When it was announced a few weeks ago that Marvin Zindler had pancreatic cancer which had metastasized to his liver, I knew that the end was near for him. I just didn't think it would happen this quickly. As everybody who lives in Houston now knows, Zindler shoved off this mortal coil yesterday evening. He was 85.Marvin Zindler has been a local television fixture longer than I have been alive; he

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It's just me and the boy...

For the next few days, at least. Yesterday Lori left to attend the annual convention for her wine-tasting gig. She'll be hanging out in Sonoma, touring wineries, rubbing shoulders with fellow consultants and enjoying the cool northern California climate until Wednesday. It's a mini-vacation for her, one that she's been looking forward to for awhile.My parents also left town yesterday, finally

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Dodgeball time in Denton

There's a good write-up about new University of North Texas head football coach Todd Dodge on usatoday.com right now. It includes this frightening tidbit about his past, which I did not know before I read the article:In the spring of 1987 the former standout University of Texas quarterback was working for an electric company in Austin while he finished coursework at the university. During routine

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It's now official

The concrete skeleton of the Burj Dubai has just surpassed Taipei 101 to become the tallest building in the world - and it's still nowhere close to completion. At 1,680 feet, the building is more than a quarter-mile high."Burj Dubai is now taller than Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which at 508 meters has held the tallest-building-in-the-world title since it opened in 2004," Emaar Properties, which is

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Rabbit-sitting

I still think they make lousy pets, but the bunny I'm taking care of for the weekend is actually rather well-behaved. That is to say, she hasn't gnawed through any baseboards or power cords (at least, not yet), she hasn't used the restroom outside of her cage, and she actually comes up to Lori and me looking to for a hand to pet her.Frieda lives at Kirby's daycare, but routine maintenance over

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So much for religious tolerance...

Yesterday, for the first time, the daily prayer that opens Senate proceedings was recited by a Hindu chaplain.One would think the recital of a Hindu prayer on the Senate floor would be a wonderful statement about the diversity and tolerance that make the United States great, especially considering that over 750,000 thousand Americans are practicing Hindus. Unfortunately, some people in the Senate

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The Astros at midseason

The second half of the 2007 baseball season begins today, and it's no stretch to say that the Astros are struggling. They are 39-50 and in fifth place in the NL Central. So far, it hasn't been a fun season for Astros fans.There have been some bright spots, to be sure. Craig Biggio's entry into the 3,000-hit club is one. The exploits of Hunter Pence, who has a great shot at being named NL Rookie

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The All American Football League

If you, like me, are a football junkie who is broken up about the recent demise of NFL Europa, there's good news. A new spring football league is gearing up to begin operation in 2008. But does it have a chance to succeed where other leagues have failed?They come. They go. The World Football League, the USFL, the XFL. Some entrepreneur has a vision — there's room in a football-obsessed nation for

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Cats are Democrats, Dogs are Republicans

It's a few years old, but I hadn't seen it before. It made me laugh. Check it out:http://kirktoons.com/october_2004/images/Catsanddogs.jpg

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One more Black Swallowtail update

I promise, this will be the last post about the hungry caterpillars. At least until I find more of them hanging out in the garden...The second butterfly came out of its chrysalis earlier this week. This time, I was actually in the dining room when it emerged. But I still didn't actually witness it. There's obviously no prolonged struggle involved in getting out of the chrysalis; they just pop

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Independence Day, without the fireworks

My family has a long-standing Fourth of July tradition wherein we fire up the grill, ice down the coolers and invite a bunch of people over for what I like to call the "all-day beer and barbecue." This year was no different; in fact, we must have hosted at least forty of our friends, family and neighbors at my parents' house last Wednesday. It was very successful, as usual. Everybody had a good

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NFL Europa bids auf wiedersehen

Yesterday, the owners of the National Football League decided to shut down its sixteen-year-old European developmental league, NFL Europa.NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said it was strictly business, insisting that after “significant investment” it was time to close NFL Europa and concentrate internationally on regular-season games outside the United States.This is unfortunate, but I had a

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Hungry caterpillar update

One of the caterpillars emerged from its chrysalis today:Meet the adult Papilio polyxenes, or Black Swallowtail butterfly. Because of the larger blue spots and smaller yellow spots, this one appears to be female.Unfortunately, none of us observed it emerging from its chrysalis. I just walked into the dining room this afternoon and was startled by the big, black butterfly that was hanging out in

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Congratulations Biggio

Let me join the chorus of local bloggers celebrating Craig Biggio's 3,000th career hit tonight. He only needed three hits going into tonight's game to reach the milestone, but he decided to do even better: Bidge went 5-for-6, including a hit in the bottom of the 11th inning that helped set up Carlos Lee's spectacular game-winning grand-slam.There's not much else for the Astros and their fans to

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Jury duty

Earlier this week, I was called for jury duty and ended up being selected to serve on a jury for a DWI case. As it was a misdemeanor, the jury I served on was comprised of six persons (as opposed to the twelve-member juries required for felony cases).This was the second time I have been called for jury duty in Harris County. The process is fairly straightforward: you go to the jury assembly room

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The very hungry caterpillars

Earlier this week I found these guys munching on Lori's dill plant in the front yard garden:With the help of the internet, I was able to identify these guys. Lori and I also thought it would be a good idea for Kirby, who is a fan of this children's book, to bring them to his preschool for his show-and-tell:Kirby brought the little guys safely back home and Lori put them back on the dill plant.

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Kenny Phipps is celebrating tonight

One of my classmates at the University of Houston College of Architecture was a guy from San Antonio by the name of Kenny Phipps*. He was a huge San Antonio Spurs fan, and he never let anyone forget it. He had Spurs posters and other memorabilia around his drafting table, and during the evenings he could oftentimes be found at his desk, working or studying while listening to Spurs broadcasts on

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Alternate "Sopranos" ending

Okay, I'll admit it. I liked the way it ended. But for those of you who, four days later, are still griping about the manner in which The Sopranos ended, here is an alternate ending with a bit more "closure" that you might appreciate:Video via Max Silvestri.

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A frustrating experience

My father went in for spine surgery today. It was a routine and relatively noninvasive procedure (keeping in mind that "noninvasive" and "spine surgery" probably don't belong in the same sentence) to correct a herniated disk that had been compressing his spinal cord and apparently causing him severe and debilitating sciatica pain. The procedure reportedly went well and if all goes according to

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You gotta be kidding

If he really runs for governor I might move to Louisiana just so I can vote against him.Ugh.

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Jennifer's boyfriend

It's a phenomenon I've observed and wondered about since high school: why some of the nicest people in the world choose to go out with complete assholes.I am not referring to good-looking women who are with men who are only physically unattractive; this happens quite often and studies have indicated that a majority of women, when looking for a mate, value personality or financial success over

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Has it only been five years?

I've oftentimes noticed that nostalgia-drenched discussions about the past seem to center around the phrase "has it really been that long?" People, generally, fondly and clearly remember past events in their lives, and the perception that "time flies" in many cases creates a sense of astonishment that so many years have passed since an important event in their lives has occurred.In this one

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Women in art

Somebody forwarded this to me - a take on 500 years of womens' portraits in western art - and thought it was cool enough to share:

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Skybus and the race to the bottom

This past week, Columbus-based airline Skybus began operation. Skybus, a no-frills, ultra-low-fare airline modeled after highly-successful - and oftentimes controversial - European carrier RyanAir, hopes to become the lowest-cost air carrier in the United States. The airline has received much media coverage; USA Today's airline blogger Ben Mutzabaugh has been diligently following the airline's

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ATA calls it quits

I didn't notice this until well after the fact, but as of May 7th ATA has discontinued their twice-daily nonstop service between Houston Hobby and New York LaGuardia. The service started a bit over a year ago, and the hope was that ATA, through its codeshare with Southwest Airlines (Hobby's dominant carrier), would be able to make the connection work. Looks like that didn't happen,

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Ode on the death of a favourite cat

(As the title suggests, I'm not the only Thomas Gray who has written on this subject, even if my cat did not die in a tub of gold fishes...)Yesterday marked one year since Elektra was run over by a car and killed.Accepting the death of somebody or something very close to you - even if it is a family pet - is one thing; "getting over it" is something entirely different. Lori and I still miss her.

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Which train do I take?

My brother-in-law Danny waits to get directions on his cell phone while staring at, and basking in the illumination of, a Washington Metro route map. The woman in the advertisement behind him seems to be looking over his shoulder to ask me, "do you really think this asshole knows where he's taking you?"I took this picture two weekends ago while visiting Danny. It was my first-ever trip to the

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Van Grumpy gone

I've made no secret of the fact that I'm not a huge Jeff Van Gundy fan, so I'm pleased to discover that the Houston Rockets, after several days of ambiguation, have finally relieved him of head coaching duties.This isn't to say that Van Gundy was a horrible coach. His record with the Rockets - 182-146 over four seasons - isn't exactly miserable. And, to his credit, when he took over as coach

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One last taste of spring

Yesterday was nice. Today is even nicer. The warm-but-comfortable temperatures, clear skies, gentle breezes and low humidity are supposed to last through Sunday. A late-season cold front passed through the city earlier this week, knocking temperatures down into the low 80s and giving us our last taste of spring. As the local meteorologists have noted, the weather simply doesn't get much better

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Was that you, Mr. Lesar?

According to my visitor log, somebody from Halliburton came across this blog while trying to find out the distance between Houston and Dubai.As I've previously mentioned, the distance between the oilfeld giant's co-headquarters is 8,181 miles.Speaking of Dubai, I wonder if I'll ever get to go back there...

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Quit being a jerk, Murph

Over on the Chronicle's University of Houston sports blog, sportswriter Michael Murphy mentions (see the end of the post) that he was co-hosting a sports talk show on a local AM radio station for four hours last night and did not receive a single call from anyone wanting to discuss UH athletics. According to him, the fact that nobody called in to talk UH sports means that Cougar fans are no

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Why isn't anybody watching TV anymore?

This AP article about dwindling TV veiwership, and the implications it has on the advertising dollars that the networks depend upon for their survival, was interesting.In TV's worst spring in recent memory, an alarming number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months: More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year,

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A bit of good news

Once again, I apologize for the lack of recent posting activity. I do have a few items I want to write about; hopefully I'll do that over the next few days. In the meantime, I wanted to pass along this bit of good news.You might remember that Lori was laid off from her job right after the new year began. As I noted at the time, it was probably for the best: she really didn't like that job or

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Okay, some of you people out there are just nasty

While doing my semi-regular perusal of this site's visitor paths on StatCounter, I discovered that somebody came across this blog while doing a Google search for nude pictures of children's musician Laurie Berkner.I don't know what disturbs me more: that somebody would be looking for naked pictures of her, or that this blog would be involved in such a search...

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The Houston Rockets, one year later

Exactly one year ago, I was bemoaning the fact that the Houston Rockets had concluded their disappointing 2005-06 season with a loss to San Antonio. The Rockets ended that injury-plagued season with a rather poor 34-48 record and a distinct lack of local attraction. As I noted at the time, the Rockets were "something of an afterthought on the local sports scene;" a team that many local sports

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The search for answers

I hadn't planned on writing anything about the Virginia Tech massacre. What kind of insight could I provide, after all? What could I say about the horrible event that hasn't already been said by somebody else?But, in the wall-to-wall media frenzy that has followed this tragedy, one particular and oft-repeated phrase has caught my attention: "the search for answers." People, naturally, want an

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Blog update and other thoughts

As is obvious, I haven’t been very active with this blog lately. I've been busy with other things, and there just hasn't been anything I've felt a pressing need to write about. After all, it's too early in the season for me to begin fretting about the Astros, even though they stumbled out of the opening gate (and yes, I know that they're now on a three-game winning streak), and I just haven't had

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My new toy

Although I use Windows for much of my computing activities, I'm still a Mac person at heart, and my primary personal computer will always be an Apple. Such is the case with my newest machine:This iMac replaces the venerable G4, which has served me well over the past seven-and-a-half years (I was still living in Lewisville when I purchased it in the fall of 1999; it really seems like eons ago). I

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When brothers move away

I just received a call from my brother David informing me that he has safely made it to Denver, Colorado. Dave needs to get settled up there (i.e. find a job, get his own place, etc.), but otherwise, the Mile High City will be his new home.Dave had been planning this move for several months. When he returned to Houston from Japan two Decembers ago, he understood that his stay here would only be

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Life imitates art, basketball edition

Chances are, you missed yesterday's NCAA Division II Championship basketball game between Winona State (Winona, Minnesota) and Barton College (Wilson, North Carolina). The game's ending was absolutely amazing:The last few seconds of the game, in fact, are eerily reminiscent of this Nike Air Jordan commercial that's been running recently:(The music is the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem, in case

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The EU's "open skies" agreement and Houston

This past week, the European Union approved an "open skies" deal that scraps most restrictions on trans-Atlantic flights. The deal, which has already been approved by the United States, is intended to enhance competition among airlines by allowing them to fly anywhere in Europe to anywhere in the United States, and vice versa. The arrangement, which goes into effect on March 30, 2008, replaces

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Missing out on March Madness

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (more commonly known as "March Madness" or "The Big Dance") has begun. The tournament, which over the course of three weeks whittles a field of sixty-five schools down to just one, is the biggest sporting event of the spring; it ranks among the World Series and the Super Bowl as one of the nation's premier sports events.But I'm not playing close

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"The iRack looks like it doesn't even want those things in there."

If you didn't see it on last night's Mad TV:Absolutely brilliant.

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Is Dubai's development model sustainable?

I've asked this question and examined its effects before, but someone else has explored the possible pitfalls of Dubai's hyperbolic development pattern with more detail and eloquence than I (emphasis mine):...[T]he Dubai urban model, in spite of its remarkable successes, is facing a number of challenges that seriously threaten its long-term sustainability. On the level of daily life, Dubai’s

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Cool skyscaper poster

I came across this on HAIF and thought it was pretty cool: a 40" x 20" poster of 33 of the world's most notable skycrapers (you can see a larger view here). Maybe I'll buy a copy. (Or maybe I should wait a few years, after these buildings are finished and the poster is updated...)It features 33 of the world's tallest and most famous skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building, the Sears

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Attack of the crane flies!

The crane flies are here. And, like a bad horror movie, the delicate, gangly flies are everywhere. In spite of our best efforts, they manage to get into the house by the dozens. They congregate around light fixtures, bounce along the ceilings and oftentimes land in inappropriate places. This evening one even landed in Lori's glass of wine, and she took no pleasure in gagging and pulling fly legs

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2007 UH football schedule released

With kickoff is exactly six months from today, the University of Houston has released its fall 2007 football schedule:Sat Sep 01: @ OregonSat Sep 08: openSat Sep 15: @ TulaneSat Sep 22: Colorado StateSat Sep 29: East CarolinaSat Oct 06: @ AlabamaSat Oct 13: RiceSat Oct 20: @ Alabama - BirminghamSat Oct 27: @ Texas - El PasoSun Nov 04: Southern MethodistSat Nov 10: @ TulsaSat Nov 17: MarshallSat

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JetBlue redux

Another week, another weather-related service disruption for JetBlue at its New York City hub. Monday's snowstorm required JetBlue to cancel almost 70 flights, but that was nothing compared to the havoc caused by the "Valentine's Day Massacre" of a couple of weeks ago, which was a public relations nightmare for the popular airline. Newsweek financial columnist Allan Sloan suggests that JetBlue's

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A sad discovery

My aunt found her daughter dead in her College Station apartment Saturday morning.I cannot say I was particularly close to Evelyn. She was the product of my aunt's first marriage, before she met my mother's brother, and I only met her on a few occasions over the course of my life. Ironically, the last time I saw her was rather recently, at Thanksgiving. This was right after she moved from Kansas

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JetBlue's reputation takes a hit

Last week, popular low-fare airline JetBlue suffered a huge setback after extreme weather conditions at JetBlue's hub at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City all but shut down the airline. Several planes were grounded on the JFK tarmac, with passengers inside them, for as long as ten or eleven hours. Tempers flared as passengers trapped inside the airplanes became restless, toilets overflowed

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Why the new dollar coin won't work

Today, the United States Mint is unveiling a new dollar coin. The new coin, featuring the likeness of George Washington, will be the first in a series of dollar coins bearing images of the Presidents of the United States. Later this year coins for John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will be released into circulation. This program, which follows in the footsteps of the current 50-state

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IAH - DXB nonstops begin December 3rd

Looks like the 8,181-mile journey is about to get a bit shorter, according to the Chronicle:Emirates will kick off nonstop service between Houston and Dubai beginning in early December.The new flight will be among the world's longest, but it will shorten travel times between Houston and Dubai, said Nigel Page, senior vice president for Emirates."We believe we will have the fastest service from

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If college football writers covered world news...

...this is what the front page would look like: May 8, 1945Berlin -- In the end, its capitol lay in ruins. In the end, the "master race" wasn't. In the end, it wasn't even close.A conflict that started with the hope of world domination for the once top-ranked army on the planet ended in a rout as the Allies defeated Germany yesterday, ending World War II on the European continent. The loss

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Staying home

As it turns out, I'm not going to be making any trips back to the Middle East this spring after all. My company's Dubai office has finally worked out its staffing needs for the next few months, and they dod not include me. There is a possibility, as always, that my presence there could be required there later on this year as more projects over there get underway.On one hand, it's probably for the

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Get a blowjob, go to prison

This espn.com story about 20-year-old Georgia inmate Genarlow Wilson, whose promising future as an collegiate athlete ended after he received consensual oral sex from a schoolmate, is very long but is worth a read.All I can say is that it is unbelieveable that bullshit like this still happens in our country in this day and age. I was especially blown away by this tidbit:At the same time this

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The University of Houston wants a medical school

The University of Houston is considering partnering with The Methodist Hospital and Cornell University to start a new medical school at the Texas Medical Center.The idea of a new medical school makes sense, as UH President Jay Gouge explains: "We would be remiss if we didn't explore the possibility... When you're sitting next to the world's largest medical center, in a state that's 41st out of

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New coaches at Rice and North Texas

Last week, Rice University hired David Baliff as its new head football coach. Baliff was formerly the head football coach at Texas State, where he led the Bobcats to a 21-15 record over three seasons, including the 2005 season in which the Bobcats won their first Southland Conference championship and reached the Division I-AA semifinals.Rice football has its second coach in as many years due to

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The 2006 college football review

The college football season ended one week ago tonight, with Florida's suprising 41-14 trouncing of previously #1 and unbeaten Ohio State in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game. I'm glad I don't bet on sports, because if I had I would have lost some money. No doubt, most people who did put money on this game are poorer now, as very few people expected Florida to beat

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Memo to Combat Candace

To: Candace, the night manager at the Kroger at 4000 Polk and Cullen in Houston, Texas (known by UH students and alumni as "Combat Kroger" due to its less-than-prime location in Houston's near East End)From: ThomasRe: Your lazy assLate this evening, I went to my neighborhood Kroger (not really in my neighborhood but the closest place to buy groceries from my house) to pick up a few items.I

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Random January thoughts

I've always found January to be a rather boring and dreary month. Perhaps it's a natural reaction to the passing of the festive holiday season, but January is my least favorite month of the year behind August.Anyway, I'm sorry about the lack of recent posting activity. I'll try to put up some new material (inlcuding my recap of the college football season) over the weekend. In the meantime, here

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The Liberty Bowl report

Lori, my brother and I departed Houston at about 5:15 am on the morning of Thursday December 28th. The nine-hour drive was uneventful; we arrived in Memphis about 3:15 that afternoon and checked in to our room at the Marriott downtown. After spending some time in the hotel working our way through my brother's bottle of Crown, we walked out to the trolley stop and made our way to Beale Street for

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Starting the year off wrong

A belated Happy New Year to everyone! Unfortunately, it hasn't been very happy for us so far: Lori went in to work Tuesday morning, only to find out that she had been laid off from her job, a job that she had held for slightly over three years.Lori was told that she was being let go because the company was not turning a profit. For a firm that takes its workers and their families on ski trips,

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