Monday Meanderings - 7.14.2012

The Pres was in town this past week. For some reason, he really loves to come to Austin. I'm not sure that all Austinites return the love. Not only does everything come to a screeching halt while he's here - the airport, the city streets, the downtown sector around his hotel - it cost upwards of a quarter of a million dollars of Austin taxpayer dollars to manage everything. And no, the Feds don't reimburse.

He did have his priorities straight; after his speaking event he stopped at Franklin's for some barbecue. For those of you who don't keep up with the art of burning meat, Franklin's is considered the barbecue Holy Grail; the wait in line is usually 3 or 4 hours.

The Pres, however, jumped to the front of the line. Aaron Franklin wasn't happy about that. He's been known to evict people who try to cut in line. But it's a little hard to tell the Pres no, what with all the armed dudes surrounding him. Obama did pay for the meals of some of the folks he jumped ahead of, and dropped another $300 for "enough barbecue to feed a small village," according to Franklin. Which  meant that there were a bunch of folks at the end of the line who went without.

I planted a flowering shrub out back on Thursday. I was able to walk again by Sunday. Getting old is not for the faint of heart.

I mentioned the VBS theme at Skyview Baptist was "Weird Animals."  Last week I saw another church advertising the same theme. Much to my surprise, "Weird Animals" is a published curriculum, not some misguided committee's brainstorm. Who knew?

Well, the World Cup is over. Sixty-four games, ranging from ridiculous to sublime. Most thought Brazil and Spain would be in the finals. Multiple-times World Champion Spain didn't even get to the knock-out round. Heavily favored Brazil lost back-to-back games by a margin of 10 goals to 1. Brazil had not lost 2 games in a row since 1937!

Watched Brazil and Netherlands in the consolation game Saturday and remembered that we saw these same two sides live in Dallas 20 years ago. Brazil won that game, and the Cup. But that was then.

And the final was an excellent game; the Germans were probably the best team in the tournament and got a pretty win. Now we have to wait for the Women's World Cup next summer. However, only 47 days to UT Football kickoff. You know, the other football, where they use their hands.

Reached 100 degrees yesterday, the first triple digit reading of the summer. Actually, we have done quiet well, temperature-wise, but can't help but think about how nice it was in Alaska!