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,
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Electrification at last!
Posted on 8:01 PM by jackline
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.
Friday, September 26, 2008
I told you I wasn't sold on USC
Posted on 12:51 PM by jackline
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
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The no-electricity blues
Posted on 6:48 PM by jackline
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.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Houston 25, Colorado State 28
Posted on 12:30 PM by jackline
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
Keeping cool
Posted on 12:27 PM by jackline
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...
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Ike, Part Five
Posted on 1:01 PM by jackline
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
Ike picture time!
Posted on 1:01 PM by jackline
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
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Houston 28, Air Force 31
Posted on 3:43 PM by jackline
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
Monday, September 15, 2008
I survived Ike
Posted on 10:15 AM by jackline
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
Friday, September 12, 2008
Ike, Part Four
Posted on 7:05 PM by jackline
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.
Ike, Part Three
Posted on 3:58 PM by jackline
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
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Ike, Part Two
Posted on 9:57 PM by jackline
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
European car or European vacation? Why not both?
Posted on 9:41 PM by jackline
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
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Prepare to feel old...
Posted on 1:22 PM by jackline
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.
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.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ike
Posted on 5:54 PM by jackline
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
Houston 37, Oklahoma State 56
Posted on 4:27 PM by jackline
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
Yes, I'm still here...
Posted on 4:18 PM by jackline
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)