Hurricanes and snowfall in Houston

You have to love (or hate) what passes for "winter" in Houston. Last Wednesday, it snowed. A few days later, we had temperatures in the 70s. Yesterday morning, with early AM temperatures in the 60s and with the understanding that a cold front wouldn't arrive until the evening, I took Kirby to school wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Oops. Last night temperatures dipped into the 30s. By Thursday,

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Some local sports thoughts

Not that you'd know by watching, reading or listening to the local sports media, but there really is some local sports news worth mentioning aside from high school football playoffs, the Rockets (whose loss to the Los Angeles Clippers - seriously? - earlier this evening puts them at a good-but-not-great 15-9 for the season so far), and the Texans (who are struggling to match their 8-8 campaign

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Which state is more corrupt:

Illinois or Louisiana?The stylistic differences between Illinois and Louisiana can be described as David Mamet vs. Walker Percy. The corruption culture in Illinois tends to be mingy, pedestrian, shameful. State legislators who sell their votes for $25 cash in an envelope (a scandal of the 1970s) do not tend toward braggadocio. When former House speaker Dan Rostenkowski was caught filching postage

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States cracking down on slow left-lane drivers

It's about time.In these days of longer commutes and simmering tempers, nothing seems to set off already-testy motorists like the left-lane camper -- the guy or gal who drives in the passing lane and bars faster drivers from easily passing. Web sites have cropped up to educate other drivers, or to vent. There's a (somewhat painful) YouTube song called "Keep Right." Even bigwigs get frustrated.

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Pollo Feliz!

I discovered this particular Mexican roasted chicken franchise when I was in Puerto Vallarta last year. And I liked it; the food was inexpensive and pretty damn tasty.I know that the Pollo Feliz brand has been making its way northward; the first Houston restaurant appeared on the west side of town last year. So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered their newest Houston location while

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Snow night!

As everybody who lives in Houston knows, last night we were treated to a rare snowfall. Kirby was rather impressed:It snowed for several hours, and we probably got about an inch of snow once it was over. The entire front yard got a dusting, including the Elektra Tree:Needless to say, Kirby and his father spent a lot of time outside, enjoying the wintry spectacle:This is the first snowfall here

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Kirby and the Giant Christmas Tree

This thing was $20 at Ikea. I can hardly believe it, either.

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Coogs end regular season with 7-5 record

Right now I'm watching the Conference USA Championship Game between Tulsa and East Carolina. And I'm annoyed.I'm annoyed because, not only does this game have to run opposite the ACC Championship game on ABC and the Army-Navy rivalry on CBS (Army's camouflage helmets and pants look cool, by the way), but ESPN couldn't even have the decency to put it on their primary network; this game is on ESPN2

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Purple America

As we exit November, a final observation about this month's presidential election:This is a map of 2008 presidential election results by county. Sure, some places are redder than others, and other places are bluer than others. But as this map shows, there are red counties in "blue" states, blue counties in "red" states and, most importantly, an awful lot of purple all over the place.People and

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Thanksgiving reflections

Although perhaps not quite as unhappy as last year's Thanksgiving, this year's holiday was certainly bittersweet and awkward, given the fact that Lori's mom, as well as other relatives on her side of the family, are no longer with us. As such, our Thanksgiving Day gathering was purposefully subdued, consisting of only a handful of people besides Lori, her brother, Kirby and myself. We still

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Update on Lori's car

Following up on this incident: as bad as the damage to Lori's car was, it was not severe enough for the car to be written off by the insurance company. Repairs to the car were completed this past week and Lori picked it up Wednesday afternoon.Aside from the fact that they forgot to replace the trunk light and that one of the rear doors doesn't close quite as smoothly as it used to, the car

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Back from Dubai again...

...for what will hopefully be the last time this year.Friday's trip was about as easy as a 16-hour flight in economy class could be. The guy at the hotel who took over half an hour to check me out last time managed to get the job done in less than ten this time, the taxi to the airport was prompt, the line at the ticket counter at DXB's gleaming new Terminal 3 (which is now fully operational) was

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Cougar football attendance watch

Yesterday's home game against UTEP concluded the University of Houston's 2008 home football schedule. The Cougars averaged 21,519 fans per game for their five home games this season (the game against Air Force that was moved to Dallas due to Hurricane Ike is not counted). This is an improvement of 564 fans/game over the 2007 season.I've updated my historical wins - versus - attendance graph to

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Rotation Seven complete

It's a bit after 10:30 pm and I'm relaxing at my hotel. In a little bit, I am going to finish packing and try to get a few hours of sleep before I wake up and head to the airport, board EK 211 and fly back to Houston. I'm not looking forward to the sixteen-hour flight - I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to get a middle seat and that I'm going to be surrounded by screaming

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Very belated election thoughts

Now that the State of Missouri has finally been called for McCain, albeit just barely, I can officially evaluate my election-eve prediction:Barack Obama will be elected the 44th President of the United States by winning 311 electoral votes to John McCain's 227.In the end, I think McCain will wind up with narrow victories in several states currently rated as "toss-ups:" Florida, Indiana, Missouri,

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Death cab

This was the scene right on front of our office building sometime last week. I hope nobody was seriously injured.Needless to say, my own experiences with da ngerous Dubai taxicabs makes me thankful that I don't depend on them to get around anymore.

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Houston 70, #25 Tulsa 30

It seems like every twenty years, the University of Houston Cougars deliver a beatdown of epic proportions to the Tulsa University Golden Hurricane. In 1968, there was the infamous 100-6 game. Twenty years later, the Run-and-Shoot-era Coogs clobbered Tulsa by a score of 82-28. And now, another twenty years on, the Coogs once again lay the smackdown on 25th-ranked Tulsa, 70-30. The Coogs, avenging

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There goes Dubai's heart disease rate...

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Houston 42, Tulane 14

It's too bad I couldn't be in Houston to see this one. The Coogs finally put together a complete, four-quarter game and steamrolled the Tulane Green Wave at Robertson Stadium Saturday night. It was Houston's sixth consecutive victory over Tulane.The Cougars played sloppy football: they turned the ball over three times, they missed a field goal, they muffed (but fortunately recovered) a punt

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Paris from 37,000 feet

I thought that if I got to the airport early enough I could something other than a middle seat this time. No such luck.



I was also hoping that I might be able to avoid the "flying nursery" section of the aircraft this time as well. Again, no such luck. The number of families with small children that fly Emirates between Houston and Dubai is such that there is no part of the airplane where one

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That was a short week...

Looks like I was a bit conservative with my prediction of Obama's margin of victory in the electoral college. I haven't yet had time to write my post-election wrap-up; in fact, I really haven't had time to do a lot of things I've wanted to do this week. maybe I'll get a chance to do that once I get back to Dubai.Not that I really want to go back to Dubai, mind you. There comes a point at which

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Calling the election

As my regular readers (all three of them) have probably noticed, I have steadfastly refrained from posting about the presidential election this year. It has at times been difficult for me to restrain myself. I will have something to say about the election results (local as well as national) later this week.However, the campaign is finally coming to a close, and I thought I'd test my prowess as a

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College football 2008: the home stretch

As we enter the final few weeks of the college football season, it's interesting to see how much different the national championship picture is today than it was at the season's beginning.The preseason consensus (AP plus USA Today) top five - Georgia, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Florida - have all suffered at least one loss. Two of them have already lost twice and are out of the championship

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Home for Halloween

Three years ago, I celebrated Halloween by making a long journey home from Osaka, where I had spent ten days visiting my brother and touring Japan. Today, I got to celebrate Halloween by making another long journey home from Asia.Not that there was much to celebrate about today's trip, however, other than the fact that it succeeded in getting me safely back home. Today's voyage was nothing short

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Houston 23, Marshall 37

In spite of the national television exposure of an ESPN Tuesday night game, the Cougars played perhaps their worst game of the season and lost to the Marshall Thundering Herd, 23-37, in Huntington, West Virginia.It was the same old story for the Coogs. They started out slow and dug themselves into another hole, trailing 3-16 at halftime. This time, however, there would be no heroic comeback. The

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Fifteen UNT football players fail drug tests

The North Texas football program's 0-8 start is already the worst in program history. They certainly didn't need more bad news:Fifteen University of North Texas football players failed a drug test conducted this fall at the request of head coach Todd Dodge, according to documents obtained by the Denton Record-Chronicle through the Freedom of Information Act. Drug tests were conducted on a pool of

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Happy Diwali!

I admit it: had I not been here today, I probably wouldn't have known about this holiday.But, given the local demographic mix, it's obviously a big deal here. People have decorated their apartment balconies with blinking lights of all colors, sizes and types. Today at work we were treated to a never-ending parade of cakes and other pastries. And this evening, families dressed in colorful clothes

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Lori's car accident

Yesterday afternoon, Lori was involved in a traffic accident in Conroe. She had slowed down to let an ambulance pass, and was rear-ended by the inattentive driver behind her.Lori's a little sore, but she'll be okay. The back of her car, on the other hand, appears to be pretty badly mangled. Depending on what the insurance company decides, it could be a write-off.One of Lori's job duties is

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Houston 44, SMU 38

An ugly win is always better than a beautiful loss, so I can't really be too upset about the final outcome of this one: the Cougars, trailing by eight points late in the game, managed to score two touchdowns in the game's final 2:34 to fend off the SMU Mustangs in Dallas, 44-38, and extend their winning streak to three victories.I am upset, on the other hand, with the reasons why the Cougars were

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Does Wall Street's bust threaten Dubai's boom?

Given the current worldwide financial situation, this has been a hot local conversation topic:Dubai and its real estate market are vulnerable to an international economic downturn, especially compared with many of its Gulf neighbors. As the region's premier business, transportation and tourism hub, it is by definition more entwined with the global economy. And in tight times, Dubai lacks the

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Rotation Six and e-mail problems

Sorry about the paucity of posts; it's been a busy week. I even had to come into work today (Friday), which is normally the weekend in this part of the world.Anyway, this time I lucked out and was able to get the Emirates nonstop from Houston. Even though I had to sit in the middle seat, and even though the plane was a veritable flying nursery full of crying young children, EK 212 is still, by

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One month after Ike

It's been a full month since Ike paid Houston a visit, and it's safe to say that things have returned to normal. So normal, in fact, that my rotations to Dubai can finally resume. I'll be heading to the airport in a few hours.The days and weeks following Ike were slow and disrupted, as if somebody had pressed life's "pause" button. Lori's work was closed for an entire week. My office, while open,

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Houston 45, Alabama-Birmingham 20

It was a tale of two halves at Robertson Stadium last Thursday.The Coogs started out slow and played like absolute crap through the first half. Neither quarterback Case Keenum, nor his receivers, had a good showing: too many poorly-thrown balls, and too many dropped passes. The Cougar offense sputtered and was essentially unable to mount any effective drives during the first half, allowing UAB's

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Finding ways to lose

My father, who has spent many years watching crappy Houston sports teams, has a saying: losing teams find ways to lose. Yesterday's game between the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts was simply proof: the Texans, up by seventeen points with just over four minutes to go, found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.Much of the blame has to be placed on backup quarterback Sage

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Houston 41, (23) East Carolina 24

I certainly didn't see this coming.The Cougars snapped their three-game losing streak in grand fashion last Saturday, upending the #23-ranked East Carolina Pirates, 41-23, before 43,641 stunned fans in Greenville, North Carolina. In doing so, the Cougars notched their first win over a ranked opponent since their defeat of Southern Mississippi in 1996 and their first defeat of a ranked opponent on

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2008 Houston Astros postmortem

With last Sunday's 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros closed the door on their 2008 campaign.Given the fact that I was in Dubai for much of the period between April and August, I honestly did not follow the Astros as closely as I normally do. So I really don't have anything too insightful to say about the team other than the fact that, while they certainly struggled at times,

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Electrification at last!

Electricity was restored to our house shortly after noon on Saturday September 27, roughly two weeks and twelve hours after Hurricane Ike took us off-line.Cable and internet service still has not been restored, however. I'm currently writing from my hotel in Plano, where I am spending the week on business.

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I told you I wasn't sold on USC

Back in August, I wrote:But this is also the same Southern Cal program that, over the last couple of seasons, has developed an uncanny knack for losing games it shouldn't; see Oregon State and UCLA and 2006 and Stanford (!) last season. Will Pete Carroll's team get tripped up by an inferior opponent again this year?Now we know the answer. Although I wasn't expecting it to happen this early in the

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The no-electricity blues

We are now on our twelfth day without electricity.Originally, Centerpoint said that 80% of my ZIP Code would have power by Monday the 22nd. Monday has come and gone. Now they're saying Friday. Maybe.What makes it even more frustrating is that crews were working around our neighborhood early last week when they were bringing the housing complexes adjacent to the University of Houston back online.

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Houston 25, Colorado State 28

Yesterday my brother and a couple of friends drove up from Denver to Fort Collins to witness another heartbreakingly-close loss for the Cougars. The Cougars had rallied back from a 17-point halftime deficit and, with eight seconds left, were in position to send the game into overtime with a field goal. However, the Coogs decided to take a shot into the endzone before sending out the field goal

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Keeping cool

It's been over a week since Hurricane Ike, and power still has not been returned to my house.I guess this is one way to seek relief from the heat until the power comes back on...

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Ike, Part Five

It's been almost six full days since the storm hit. We're still without power, and Centerpoint is now saying that our zip code won't be back online until sometime next week. Lori's dad brought us a generator, and we've been using it to run the refrigerator and some fans, but our whiny neighbor who lives behind us complains when we run it after 10 pm. There's nothing for me to do at my work right

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Ike picture time!

Now that I'm at my brother's place in Denver and have steady and reliable internet access, I can finally upload the pictures that I took right after the storm hit. Click on any photo for a larger image.This was the view from our street as the outer bands of Ike began moving out and people began emerging to survey the destruction. Falling tree branches broke out the back window of the car on the

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Houston 28, Air Force 31

In spite of the fact that Houston held their opponent to zero passing yards (a feat they haven't accomplished since 1955) and mounted a late three-touchdown rally, the Cougars fell to the US Air Force Academy, 28-31, in a wind-driven, sparsely-attended game that, due to Hurricane Ike, was played at SMU's Ford Field in Dallas.As was the case against Oklahoma State the week before, the Cougars were

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I survived Ike

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we survived the storm: no injuries, and no structural damage to house or cars. No electricity, either, and it will probably remain that way for a few days. My neighborhood got hit pretty good, and tree limbs and downed power lines are everywhere.We are doing well with supplies: plenty of food and water, and a FEMA distribution point for ice is very

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Ike, Part Four

Now shortly after 9 pm. The wind is really beginning to pick up and I have a feeling I'm not going to have power for too much longer. Still no rain.Right now, I'm still a good 5-6 hours from seeing the strongest effects of this storm.UPDATE: Now 9:45 pm. The digital cable just cut out, but I still have internet. We're beginning to get some rain.

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Ike, Part Three

It's about 6 pm, and we've started to get some strong gusts in our neighborhood. Very little in the way of rain so far, but it will come soon enough.The track really hasn't changed much since last night. Right now, it's pretty clear that this thing is going to go right over my house:It's been 25 years since Alicia and in that time we've dodged a lot of bullets (although Allison certaintly did its

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Ike, Part Two

Ike did manage to put a huge crimp in my tailgating plans for Saturday, by forcing the Houston - Air Force game to be moved to SMU's Ford Field in Dallas.Apparently, the remaining schedules for both Houston and the US Air Force Academy preculded the game from being rescheduled: it was either play on Saturday or not play at all. That really sucks for the team, because the Cougars will be playing a

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European car or European vacation? Why not both?

The Chronicle's David Ellison discovers an obscure program whereby American purchasers of European luxury cars can go "directly to the source" to get their cars - and enjoy a vacation at the same time:Through a well-established but little-known program casually known in the industry as overseas delivery, buyers of a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Volvo or Saab can pick up their new car at the

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Prepare to feel old...

According to Billboard, the number one song in the nation twenty years ago today was Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses.

It topped the charts for two weeks in September 1988, until it was knocked out of first place by Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy.

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Ike

I always take hurricane projections that are five or six days out with a huge grain of salt, but this could put a big crimp in my tailgating plans for Saturday:It's way too early to start evacuating - right now it looks like it's headed towards southern Texas, although we still don't know with any certainty where this thing is going or how strong it will be - but it's never too early to start

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Houston 37, Oklahoma State 56

Two games into the season, and a clearer picture of the team emerges. The Cougars are now 1-1, easily beating a team they were supposed to beat (Southern) and losing to a team they were not expected to defeat (Oklahoma State). What troubles me about the Oklahoma State game is not the loss itself. The Cowboys are an improving Big XII program, the Cougars had to face them on the road, and their

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Yes, I'm still here...

I would like to assuage the fears of my regular readers (all three of them) by assuring that nothing happened to me on the way back from Dubai (the trip was fine; Delta's in-flight entertainment system even worked throughout the entire duration this time). I've just been so busy since I got back to Houston that I haven't had any time to put up any new posts. There was the start of football season

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2008 University of Houston Cougars outlook

There are always risks and uncertainties involving a new coaching staff, especially one led by somebody with no previous head coaching experience. But I'm looking forward to the reign of new University of Houston coach Kevin Sumlin. He has a stout resume, having spent the last five years working under Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops as the Sooners' offensive coordinator. Previous to that, he

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Rotation 5 complete

I am at DXB, waiting for Delta 7 to board. From there, it's fifteen glorious hours to Atlanta. I'll spend a few hours there before continuing to Hobby; I should be back in Houston about 22 hours from now. I'm not looking forward to the long-ass trip and the accompanying jetlag, but I am looking forward to getting back home.As this point, it looks like at least one more trip over here is in my

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More on the drinking age debate

A few months ago, I took note of a movement aimed at lowering the drinking age. At the time I didn't think the idea would go anywhere. Thanks to the continuing efforts of a former Vermont college president, however, the idea seems to have received a boost:The college presidents said they wanted a national debate on the 21-year-old drinking age. They got it.For years, former Middlebury College

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First day of school

Kirby pauses on the steps before beginning his first day of pre-K at his new school. I hope he enjoys it and will one day forgive daddy for not being there for the big event...

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Burj Dubai

I took these pictures yesterday while visiting the new, and as of yet relatively empty, Souk Al Bahar. Pictures just can't do this thing justice.

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2008 North Texas preview

Todd Dodge had an outstanding career as a high school coach at Metroplex powerhouse Southlake Carroll, but his first year at the helm of the North Texas was anything but. The Mean Green could only manage two wins last season, and many of the ten losses - 10-79 to Oklahoma, 7-66 against Arkansas, 7-45 against Troy - were downright ugly. Dodge and his staff have a lot of work to do in order to

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Desert Safari!

The "Desert Safari" is a de rigeur tourist activity in Dubai, but I had never been on one until yesterday. A driver in a Toyota Land Cruiser picked myself and a couple of other people up at my hotel and drove us out towards Hatta, where we joined about twenty or thirty other Land Cruisers, formed a caravan and made our way across the dunes:The meandering ride through the dunes took us up along

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2008 college football outlook

Exactly two years ago today, I sat in a Dubai hotel room and wrote about the upcoming college football season. Amazing how history repeats...Anyway, with college football one week away - the first games will be played on the evening of Thursday the 28th - I guess it's time for me to get to work. I'll provide my preseason takes on the University of Houston Cougars and the University of North Texas

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The survival of the commercial airline industry

Oil prices are beginning to moderate, which is bringing some financial relief to a domestic airline industry that has been ravaged over the past several months by high fuel prices. Many airlines had taken to implementing new fees, cutting routes, and reducing the size of their workforces in an attempt to offset the higher fuel costs, while other airlines have ceased operations altogether. But it

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But what's going to happen to Sammy LaCorte?

The decision by the Finger family to rebrand their local furniture business means that yet another hometown brand is disappearing. Fingers Furniture Co., a Houston presence for 81 years, is assuming the identity of Wisconsin-based Ashley Furniture. The Houston Press, which is obviously going to miss those Fingers commercials on the ten o'clock news, is not impressed:"Ashley"? Sounds pretty damn

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Wrong Birmingham!

Seriously, how could a mistake like this not get noticed ahead of time?Britain's second-largest city, Birmingham, has a new skyline — only it belongs to its Alabama namesake.Birmingham City Council distributed 720,000 leaflets that praised residents for exceeding recycling targets, carrying a message that read: "Thank You Birmingham." The message appeared stamped across a photograph of the city's

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Widespread dust

A couple of days ago a dust cloud descended upon Dubai. Of course, this is not exactly an uncommon weather phenomenon here. Visibility was reduced, but not overwhelmingly so. The dark sky and blowing wind reminded me of what it sometimes feels like in Houston when a thunderstorm is approaching. At least the dust kept the temperatures down; the day's high topped out at only 99 F!

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Watching the Olympics

At my hotel I can follow the Olympics in any of three languages:a. Arabic,b. German, orc. Italian.This isn't so bad, however, because I don't have to sit through NBC's inane, annoying and commercial-laden coverage of the Games.It's worth mentioning that even the Arab announcers on Abu Dhabi Sport are absolutely fawning over Michael Phelps.

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Rotation five

Dubai again. At the rate my passport filling up with UAE entry and exit stamps, I'll need a new one before too long.The trip out here was not quite as much of a hassle as the last one; I didn't really get any sleep this time, but Delta's in-flight entertainment system managed to not crap out until the flight was almost over so I got to watch a movie and listen to some music to pass the time. I

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Katherine Jane Johnston 1940 - 2008

I can't say that I knew my Aunt Jane especially well; she divorced my uncle when I was still young and lived in Oregon for most of my life. Last Thanksgiving was the first time I had seen her in years.Jane, who had relatively recently moved back to her childhood home in northern Oklahoma, had been in an Oklahoma City hospital - ironically, the same hospital where she studied to become a nurse -

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There goes Edouard

Tropical storm Edouard made a slight detour Monday night, making landfall north of Galveston early Tuesday morning and sparing Houston a direct hit. Not that it would have mattered; the storm simply wasn't that strong and, other than some localized flooding, did not cause any major damage as it passed to the north and east of Houston and into the center of the state to dissipate.Truth be told,

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Here comes Edouard

A tropical system formed rather suddenly off the coast of Louisiana over the weekend and is now headed this way. Edouard will probably be a strong tropical storm or even a weak hurricane when it makes landfall sometime tomorrow. As of late this evening its projected track takes it right over Houston:There is, however, a possibility that its track could be shifting to the east. We won't know for

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Putting my foot down

Another exciting edition of my least favorite month is upon us. As was the case two years ago, I'll be spending most of it over in Dubai, where it is even hotter than it is here in Houston.But it's good to be back home again, for at least a few days. As I mentioned in a previous post, the constant travel is beginning to take its toll - not just on myself but on my family as well - and I'll be

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Memo to Delta Air Lines

To: Delta Air Lines From: Thomas Re: Get your shit togetherI recently returned from another in a series of business-related trips to Dubai. As I have done for most of my trips there this summer, I flew from Houston to Dubai via Atlanta on Delta Air Lines. My experience with Delta, while not exactly horrible, was not particularly pleasant this time around. You guys really need to get your shit

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Charles Ray "Blackie" Lightfoot 1936 - 2008

Until I read his obituary, I didn't know that Uncle Blackie's real first name was Charles. Everybody just called him Uncle Blackie, and that's how I always knew him.Anyway, Lori's uncle put up a courageous three-year fight against cancer, but that fight is now over. Blackie's obituary ran on the Montgomery County Courier's website, but since I don't know how long it will be available there, and

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Pictures from New Orleans

It occurred to me that I visited New Orleans over six weeks ago but never wrote anything about it. Better late than never, I suppose.Anyway, last month's visit was my fourth trip to the Crescent City since it was flooded by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Every time I go back I see that the city is indeed recovering, however slowly: more businesses are open, more tourists are exploring the

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Adventures in abysmal customer service

Samuraisam has a fascinating account of how it took Etisalat, the telecom monopoly here in Dubai, 43 days to upgrade his internet connection.It's a very long post, but worth the read if you have time.

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Halfway through rotation four

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. We're facing a critical project deadline this Thursday so I've been pretty busy here at work.I think the fact that I've spent the better part of the last four months here in Dubai is beginning to take its toll. It's gotten to the point that I'm really looking forward to returning to Houston next week, and I'm really wishing my return here in August for my fifth

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Budweiser is not real beer

Belgian brewer InBev SA has purchased American brewer Anheuser-Busch for a cool $52 billion, and some people are upset about the loss of a piece of Americana to foreign interests.I, on the other hand, think this is a good deal. Because now, under European guidance, maybe Anheuser-Busch will quit brewing that disgusting swill known as Budweiser and start brewing real beer.Seriously. Budweiser is

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Houston-based ExpressJet ends self-branded service

Take a good look at the airplane in the picture below, after September 2nd, you won't see it anymore. Houston-based regional carrier ExpressJet is pulling the plug on its self-branded service.Until 2002, ExpressJet was a Continental Airlines subsidiary known as Continental Express. Even after becoming an independent company, it continued to operate regional services for Continental Airlines under

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What do New Orleans and Denton have in common?

According to the US Census Bureau, New Olreans and Denton are two of the top ten fastest-growing large cities in the United States. New Orleans, which continues to repopulate following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, grew by 13.8% in the year that ended July 1, 2007, making it the fastest-growing large city in the United States. As of a year ago, the Census Bureau estimated the Big

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Well, at least it waited until I got back to Houston

The hard drive on my work laptop crashed yesterday. One minute, I'm happily working away. The next minute, I hear a screechy grinding noise and my computer freezes up. Great!Luckily, my company's IT folks were able to install a new hard drive, and I'm back in business. I'm also fortunate in that I was fairly good about backing up all my local files onto my company's servers, so I haven't lost

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Greetings from Dubai International Airport

I don't know what's slower: this airport's wireless internet connection or the drink service at this bar.Anyway, my flight boards shortly, and I'll be on my way back to Houston. Via Atlanta, of course. It turns out that the nonstop service on Emirates is booked solid through the end of the summer.I'm looking forward to seeing fireworks with Kirby tomorrow night. Not that I'll be jetlagged or

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Is Oklahoma City a major league town?

I guess it is now. Meh. I never liked the Supersonics anyway.

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Obama versus McCain... In Dubai?

The Washington Post's David Ignatius unveils an interesting, if not far-fetched, idea apparently making the rounds in the royal palaces here: why not invite Barack Obama and John McCain to hold one of this fall's presidential debates in Dubai?The idea for this debate emerged in conversations and e-mails over the past week with officials in Dubai. It appears to have the unofficial blessing of

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For those who think Houston is hot:

When I checked the local forecast on weather.com this afternoon, I was greeted by this:I can't wait to see what it's going to be like in August...

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Sixty days out

So much has been going on in my life over the past few months that I really haven't given much thought to the upcoming college football season. (That might be a good thing as far as my Coogs are concerned, because the more I think about UH football the more excited I get, and historically the more excited I get, the worse the team actually does.) Today I looked at the calendar and pleasantly

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A great way to start the day

The taxi driver who was taking me to work this morning nearly got me killed. He was too busy eating his apple, listening to the radio, talking on his cell phone or whatever else he was doing to pay attention to the traffic around him, and just narrowly missed causing a massive accident at the always-congested intersection of Sheikh Rashid and Oud Metha Roads.Friends, family and acquaintances of

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George Carlin

I just discovered that George Carlin has passed away at a Los Angeles hospital.My shock and grief over his death is suitably expressed through his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television:"SHIT PISS FUCK CUNT COCKSUCKER MOTHERFUCK TITS!George Carlin was one of my favorite stand-up comics. When I was a kid I used to sneak to the downstairs television after my parents were asleep just so I

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Denton replaces its mayor

What has turned out to be a surprisingly long, controversial and expensive mayoral election has finally come to an end:Voters ousted Denton Mayor Perry McNeill on Saturday, handing the city’s top elected position to rival Mark Burroughs. Burroughs won decisively with 62 percent of the vote, capping an unusually costly and bitter race between two former City Council colleagues. “I’m just so

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Third rotation underway

As difficult as the last few weeks in Houston have been, I would have liked to have stayed there a little bit longer. Lori and her family are still coping with the loss of her mother, and I know my presence helps them. However, the time had simply come for me to get to return to my work responsibilities on this side of the planet.The nonstop on Emirates was booked, but my second choice - Delta

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Monarchs in love

I was going to title this post "Butterfly Porn" but decided against it.Anyway, I thought this picture was cool: these monarchs are mating on a milkweed plant that very well could end up being the home of the caterpillars they're creating. Click the picture for a larger version.

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Continental tightens its belt

High oil prices and a sluggish economy continue to take their toll on the commercial aviation industry, and the hometown airline is not immune: Continental is shaving 3,000 employees from its workforce and cutting 6.4 percent of its total capacity (measured in available seat miles) across the board, and completely eliminating service to fifteen cities worldwide. Continental's Air Micronesia

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Time for another butterfly post

A Chronicle blogger is enjoying his own experience with a bunch of very hungry caterpillars.Which makes me wonder: why hasn't the black swallowtail fairy paid a visit to my garden yet?I've had a lot of fun this spring with the monarchs - as I write this I notice that an adult monarch is perched atop my remarkably resilient milkweed plant - but the black swallowtail is still my favorite butterfly

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Remembering Astroworld

Last week marked the 40th anniversary of the opening of Astroworld. Chronicle blogger Rick Campbell marked the occasion; Bayou City History has some pictures of how the park looked way back then as well.The theme park located across Loop 610 from the Astrodome was originally owned by Judge Roy Hofheinz and his family; in the mid 1970s, it was sold to Six Flags. The park operated for 38 seasons.

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Chicago

I'm here for less than 48 hours, and most of my time is being spent either in workshops or asleep here at my hotel. The only local attraction I've been able to see is Navy Pier, which is within easy walking distance (those short lake cruises that depart from the pier are actually rather enjoyable). So I really can't pass much judgement on Chicago.But: the people seem to be friendly, the street

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Off to the airport...

This afternoon I'm flying to Chicago to attend a workshop. This will be my very first trip to Chicago.Saturday evening I'm flying to New Orleans. I'll be spending a few days there vacationing with my family.Wednesday morning I return to Houston.The following Friday, I head back to Dubai.This ought to be fun...

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The aftermath and reorganization

Some adjectives that could best be used to describe the past two weeks include "awkward," "surreal," "bewildering," "overwhelming" and, above all, "difficult." In other words, the last couple of weeks have sucked. Funerals are not fun; aside from the shock and grief of losing a loved one, there are a host of other tasks - planning the ceremonies, informing friends and family, writing the

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Synthia Marie Harding Stevens

My mother-in-law's obituary ran in the print edition of the Wednesday May 21, 2008 Houston Chronicle. Because I do not know how long Cindy's obit will be accessible online (and because I think there were a couple of aspects of her life which were not mentioned in the printed obit), I am posting a "permanent" version of my mother-in-law's obituary here:SYNTHIA MARIE HARDING STEVENS departed this

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Mother-in-Law

Yesterday morning, Lori's mom collapsed at a relative's house and was rushed to the hopsital.They are still not really sure what caused Cindy to collapse - they believe it was a stroke - but she never regained conciousness, never showed any response to any stimulus tests, and lost the ability to breathe on her own.Today, Lori informed me that they had decided that there was nothing else they

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Replacing urban freeways

If this looks like something I've written about before, it's because I have. Rather extensively, in fact:Oklahoma City is doing what many cities dream about: saying goodbye to a highway.More than a dozen cities have proposals to remove highways from downtowns. Cleveland wants to remove a freeway that blocks its waterfront. Syracuse, N.Y., wants to rid itself of an interstate that cuts the city in

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Another local TV legend passes away

Last summer it was Marvin Zindler. Yesterday, Ron Stone:Ron Stone, who anchored the news on KPRC TV for 20 years and was a Houston broadcasting legend, passed away from prostate cancer on Tuesday with his family by his side, KPRC Local 2 reported. Stone, who turned 72 on April 6, spent more than 30 years on the air in Houston. He was a daily fixture for KPRC viewers from 1972 until he retired in

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The noises that Thomas hates

Okay, so I've accepted the fact that I am going to be staying in the same hotel every time I travel to Dubai this year. It's not the best hotel in the world, and it's not in the greatest location, but it's clean, the beds are comfortable, and since my company has a contract with this particular hotel there's really not much I can do about it in any case.

Every morning, breakfast is served in the

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Denton election headed to runoff

Following up on the controversial municipal election in Denton, Texas: it looks like it's not over yet.Denton Mayor Perry McNeill and rival Mark Burroughs are headed for a runoff after neither secured a majority of the vote in Saturday’s mayoral race.Two other candidates, businessman Justin Bell and college student Darac Favre, combined to receive about 12 percent of the 3,330 votes cast —

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The noise that teenagers hate

By now just about everybody has heard of "The Mosquito," a device developed in Britain a few years ago that is designed to repel loitering teenagers by emitting an annoying, high-frequency sound that only they can hear. The device takes advantage of the natural tendency of people's ears to lose the ability to hear very high-pitched sounds as they age; as such, the noises these devices emit do not

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IAH-DXB via EK 212

Dubai again.This time I finally got to take advantage of the non-stop flight from Houston that Emirates began operating last December. It was about as I had suspected, with attentive service, decent food, good in-flight entertainment and (relatively) comfortable seats. My only disappointment was that, unlike the Airbus A340s in Emirates' fleet, their Boeing 777s don't come with footrests in coach

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A brief week and some brief thoughts

Wow, that was a short week. I can't believe that I have to go to the airport, get on a plane and head back to Dubai in just a couple of hours. Like I said, I never thought that coming home would seem like a vacation for me, but that's exactly how it felt.The past week has been busy; I had a lot of things that I needed to get done during my short time here, both at work and at home. The week was

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Butterflies are free

And there are more where that one came from; we have five pupae that should hatch sometime this week.

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Gas tax holiday

Other bloggers (local as well as national) have already written about this, but I feel compelled to add my voice to the chorus: the summer "gas tax holiday" being promoted by presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton is a stupid idea and is little more than cynical, transparent political pandering of the worst variety.The average national gas price is currently hovering right above

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No more peach preserves for Kirby

We received the following message from Kirby's preschool today:Lori and Thomas-Just FYI, Kirby will eat the orange apricot/peach jelly... but the actual pieces of fruit are getting put into other childrens' lunches - which in turn have to be thrown away. Can we possibly avoid the fruit pieces or switch jellies? Thanks! The joys of having three-and-a-half year old kid.

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First rotation complete

I left Dubai shortly before midnight last night UAE time, and arrived in Houston shortly after 10 am today CDT. Add in the nine-hour time difference, and that's a good nineteen hours of travel, not including the two-and-a-half hours I spent at DXB checking in, passing through passport control and waiting for my flight. Fortunately the trip was relatively eventless, with the exception of the

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Denton election crisis averted

Following up on last week's post, it appears that Denton's upcoming mayoral race will not be thrown into turmoil after all:A district judge Monday allowed Denton Mayor Perry McNeill and two other candidates to remain on the May 10 ballot, after a lawsuit challenged their eligibility. Visiting Judge David Evans said he would not intervene in an election that is under way. Early voting in the City

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Cricket

Since I've been here, I've been watching a lot of cricket. The Indian Premier League is getting a lot of coverage here, and the only other sport on TV with any regularity is soccer.I've watched so much cricket that I think I'm beginning to understand it.Moreover, I think I'm beginning to like it.(In fairness, I should probably point out that most of the matches I've been watching are of the "

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Welcome to Constructionland!

Some views from Dubai's main highway, Sheikh Zayed Road. Click on any picture for a larger version... Is it the world's tallest building, or an enormously out-of-scale smokestack? The Burj Dubai dominates a cluster of high-rises in various stages of completion. Towers under construction at Business Bay (or is it the Dubai International Financial Centre? I can't keep track anymore...). The bridge

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Bummer.

Yesterday I found out that the Dubai dining deal I discovered the last time I was here no longer serves a full menu.The establishment is still there, and they still serve drinks and snacks, but it appears their business model has become that of a shisha bar instead of an actual restaurant. Which means the excellent Persian kebab-and-rice dishes I used to enjoy there are no more.Too bad.

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Election trouble brewing in Denton?

This is interesting:A district judge expressed doubt Monday over Denton Mayor Perry McNeill’s and Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp’s eligibility to run in the May 10 election. Visiting Judge David Evans said he had a “hard time” accepting Denton city attorneys’ argument that City Council members could bypass term limits by running for different seats, as McNeill and Kamp are attempting.The City of Denton

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Dubai skyline at night

The towers along Sheikh Zayed Road rise up from behind the villas of the Mankhool Community in this picture I took while walking home from work Thursday night (I'll explain why I was walking in another post). The picture's a little bit crooked because the surface I found to place my camera for this long exposure (notice the headlight streaks on the road) wasn't perfectly flat, but I thought it

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Dear Memphis Tigers:

As a University of Houston fan, I feel your pain. Indeed, it was in the National Championship Game exactly 25 years ago that my beloved Cougars choked away a title in the waning seconds. Seeing you guys choke away your shot at the championship yesterday brought back some pretty unpleasant memories for me.And what a splendid choke job you guys managed! As somebody who has seen his teams pull off

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Back in Dubai

When I last left Dubai in mid-October of 2006, I honestly didn't think that it would be another year and a half before I'd find myself back here again. But that's the way things worked out, as the assignment I was supposed to have in the spring of last year disappeared and the job I was scheduled to work on last fall was delayed until now.But finally I'm back, 17.5 months later, and although I've

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Monarch Chrysalis

The pupal stage of the monarch butterfly has often been likened to a fine piece of jewelry, because of its jade color and smooth, gold flecked- exterior:(click for a larger picture)This particular butterfly will probably emerge early next week. I won't be here to see it, but hopefully Lori and Kirby will be able to witness it.

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Requeim for four airlines

It's been a tough week for the airline industry, as rising fuel prices, a sluggish economy and competition from other carriers forced no fewer than four domestic carriers to cease operations. Although none of these airlines could be considered "major" domestic carriers, the fact that four of them closed their doors in the span of a single week might very well be a harbinger of distress for the

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Marching orders have arrived

My relationship with my company's Dubai office is of the "hurry up and wait, and then hurry up" variety:• First, I get the e-mail. "Hey, we may need you to come out and help us on a project that's coming up. We think it will start soon. Be prepared, we'll let you know."• Then a lot of time goes by. Days, weeks, sometimes even months. Nothing happens.• Then, finally, I get one of two follow-up

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Memo to Yaz

To: Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet, of the early-80s synth-pop group Yaz (Yazoo in the UK), who are reuniting for a tour this summer

From: Thomas

Re: Your lousy reunion tour schedule

When I found out that one of my favorite early 80's synth-pop bands was reuniting to go on a world tour, I was pretty excited. I thought it'd be kind of cool for me to see this band in action after being apart for

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Hungry caterpillars, 2008 edition

I enjoyed my experience with the black swallowtails last year, so I decided to see if I could replicate my success with monarchs this year. Last month I purchased and planted a small milkweed plant in my garden expressly for this purpose.It looks like it worked:(click on any picture for a larger version)I don't know if these caterpillars are the offspring of butterflies passing through on the way

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From the Department of Pleasant Surprises...

So Lori and I finally decide that, since April is quickly approaching, it's probably about time for us to do our taxes.In the process of getting the necessary documents together, I go to my student loan company's website to print out my 1098-E deductible interest letter.That's when I discover that, as of last month's payment, my student loan has a negative balance. Woohoo!I knew I was getting

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Lowering the drinking age?

I can honestly say that I wasn't aware of this movement:Debate over lowering the drinking age is heating up in several states, fueled in part by legislators who contend that men and women who are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are responsible enough to buy alcohol legally. Legislation introduced in Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina would lower the drinking age for military

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Yummy strawberries!

Today Kirby paid a visit to the strawberry fields at Froberg Vegetable and Fruit Farm in Alvin:They always taste better when you pick them yourself!

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Shockwave Traffic Jams

If you've driven along the freeways of a large metropolitan area for any length of time, you've probably encountered them: traffic jams that seem to appear out of nowhere, for no apparent reason. These rogue slowdowns are especially frustrating to drivers, since the only thing more annoying than a traffic jam is a traffic jam that seems to occur for no reason, i.e. it's not rush hour and there's

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21 wins in a row...and I was there!

Yesterday evening I finally got to attend my first Houston Rockets game at Toyota Center. In the process, I got to witness a little bit of basketball history being made. The Rockets defeated the Charlotte Bobcats, 89-80, to win their 21st game in a row. With that win, the Rockets now own the second-longest winning streak in NBA history.Lori's friend's husband had won four free tickets to last

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Local sports musings

Lots of interesting things happening on the local sports front:• As somebody who still fondly remembers the fifteen-game winning streak that the Rockets managed at the start of the 1993-94 season - a season that, incidentally, ended with a championship - the team's current eighteen-game winning streak is a real treat. Especially since it's so unexpected.The 2007-08 season did not start out well

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More follow-ups

Happy Leap Day! I wanted to end the month by following up on a few previous posts.• The office relocation ordeal is over, and, with two full weeks at the new office complete, things are about what I had expected. Which is to say, no me gusta.As it turns out, I don't even get a cubicle at this new office: a "cubicle" would imply partitions on at least three sides of my work area. Instead, I've

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2008 UH football schedule released

This schedule first appeared on Coogfans earlier today. Michael Murphy confirmed it this evening. Home games are in bold:Sat Aug 30: SouthernSat Sep 06: @ Oklahoma StateSat Sep 13: Air ForceSat Sep 20: @ Colorado StateSat Sep 27: @ East CarolinaSat Oct 04: openSat Oct 11: UABSat Oct 18: @ SMUTue Oct 28: @ MarshallSat Nov 08: TulaneSat Nov 15: TulsaSat Nov 22: UTEPSat Nov 29: @ RiceNot a bad

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Hilarious

I can relate... From xkcd. Hat tip: Ezra Klein.

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The silliest of holidays

Anybody who knows me knows that I am not particularly fond of Valentine's Day: I believe it is an annoying, ridiculous and contrived Hallmark Holiday. Its origins are dubious: alleged connections to the Roman festival of Lupercalia or to any number of early Christian martyrs named Valentine are tenuous at best. Its realization is insidious: it compulses those in amorous relationships to "prove"

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New human announcement

Lori and I would like to congratulate our friends Carl and Marie Flores on the birth of their son, Aedan Mahon Flores. Aedan was born this morning at the Womans Hospital of Texas. He and his relieved parents are resting comfortably.It remains to be seen whose lives will be more affected by this new arrival: Carl and Marie themselves, or their three dogs, whom up to this point were the children of

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The Tomcat 500

On Wednesday, the Houston Humane Society neutered 488 cats, just a dozen tomcats short of their goal for the day.Orion was one of the lucky (or, depending on your point of view, unlucky) participants.Congratulations to the HHS. It never hurts to throw a few dollars their way, if and when you have a chance to do so.

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Curtains for the Red Light District?

It looks like Amsterdam is about to pull the plug on its famous (or, perhaps more accurately, infamous) Red Light District:Arguing that too many brothels and sex bars are linked to criminality, the authorities plan to all but erase the Red Light District. If the plan goes through, the peep shows, sex shops and prostitute windows that line the small alleys and canals will have to go, giving way to

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Four years for 0.003 of a gram

It's hyper-fanatical nonsense like this that is going to keep Dubai from becoming the global trade and tourism capital it wants to be, regardless of how many skycrapers or golf courses or palm-shaped islands it builds.Keeping drugs out of the UAE is one thing; throwing people in prison for four years because they had a few poppy seeds on their person or a minuscule speck of cannabis on their shoe

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Too far to drive, too close to fly

That's the conundrum I face when I have to attend meetings with our client in San Antonio.A general rule of thumb regarding short business trips (in this part of the country, at least; along the East Coast, the rules are probably different) is this: there's a 200-mile cut-off between driving and flying. Any trip shorter than 200 miles - from Houston to Austin, for example, or Lake Charles - you

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The Patriots failure

I'll admit it. I was rooting for the New England Patriots to win, if only because I wanted to witness a perfect season (and, in the process, tell the '72 Dolphins that they can finally STFU now).Alas, it wasn't to be. And the New England Patriots, instead of being remembered as the greatest team in the history of the NFL with an unblemished 19-0 record, are now more likely to be remembered as the

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The SOQ from Hell

We've been given a bit of a reprieve at work - the office relocation date has been pushed back from January 31st to February 15th. This is welcome in that it gives me more time to clean, organize and pack; I've been so busy over the last couple of weeks that I really haven't made a lot of headway in that regard. I still can't say I'm overjoyed about the prospect of trading in an office with a

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A raptor in the neighborhood

I caught this guy sitting atop a tree across the street from my house a few days ago:I think it's a red-tailed hawk. Without a telephoto lens for my camera, however, it's hard to tell.

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Happy fun office relocation time!

I knew this was coming, so I wasn't particularly surprised when this e-mail hit my work inbox about an hour ago:We just received this information late yesterday. Facilities Management will be terminating our current lease effective January 31, 2008. We will be relocating [to a building that already contains our firm's architecture sector].I don’t have any other information about logistics on this

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RIP, Dave's Jeep

My brother David was involved in a pretty major traffic accident last weekend in the mountains of Colorado. He lost control of his Jeep in icy road conditions (yeah, the same one that took us up to Jones Pass last summer) while trying to make his way to Winter Park. David hit his head hard enough to require staples; his friend Fred, who was riding with him, suffered a broken leg just below the

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18 stunning bridges

Two be sure, three of these eighteen bridges don't exist yet and one is still under construction, but I agree that the ones this site has chosen are pretty cool.I can only say that I've actually been on two of these bridges: Tower Bridge in London and Erasmusburg in Rotterdam. I've also seen the Akashi-Kaikyo, albeit from a bit of a distance:Believe it or not, I have yet to make it out to San

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LSU, the BCS, plus-ones and playoffs

The 2007 college football season has come to an end. The Louisiana State Tigers convincingly defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, 38-24, Monday night in the Bowl Championship Series Championship Game, securing both the BCS National Championship as well as the Associated Press title - the closest thing to an actual "national championship" in major college football. This is LSU's second BCS

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This blog is lame

In 2006, I posted 130 entries on this blog.In 2007, I posted 102.That's pretty lame, especially considering that I didn't really start this blog until late April of that year.It works out to 8.5 entries per month in 2007, compared to 14.4 entries per month over the nine months this blog was active in 2006.Hopefully I'll be a little better about writing entries in 2008.

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