Monday Meanderings

Wow. 105 degrees or hotter since Wednesday. Makes you appreciate the A/C. However I didn't understand the weather thingy on a local channel that said, "Temperature - 103; heat index feels like 102."

A blog that Barbara reads explained the rules for playing "Swat Bug" recently. This particular blogger has ultra-competitive boys so the rules have to be very finely drawn - like for instance how you deal with the Volkswagen Dealerships along the route. We reminisced about our Swat Bug playing days when the kids were young and then we moved on. At least I did. Barb has taken the game to heart now like she never did during the old days. Every few miles now she yells "SWAT BUG!!" and pokes me in the arm. I'm sure she'll rebut this, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Went to Chuy's last Monday night, as is our custom, and asked for a particular server. While the brand-new hostess was looking up this server's tables, Barb walked over to a table that she knew was in the server's group. When the hostess caught on, she said something about "We must have been here before." Barb said, "After coming every Monday night for 20 years we do know our way around." To which the hostess replied, "Ohhh, that's so sweet. It's like a date night."

True. Monday night is date night. And so is Tuesday night and Wednesday night, and... Then there are the Monday morning and Friday morning breakfast dates. And sometimes we even have dates at home and eat together there as well.

During the ballgame the other night Orel Hershiser was talking about chewing sugary bubblegum when he was pitching and it was very hot and sweat created problems when gripping the ball. He admitted drooling just a bit so the ball would get slightly sticky. But he was quick to point out that he always used gum made in the USA so he could look the Ump in the eye and declare truthfully that he was not using "a foreign substance" on the ball.

Bumper sticker: "Pflugerville - between a rock and a weird place"

On some prior trip to California Pizza Kitchen we received a "mystery discount" coupon; bring it back and get the discount under the scratch off label. We've done this before and received a nominal 10% discount, but the other night the mystery reward was "Dinner for two up to $40." Whoo Hooo! With careful planning and dessert we owed .26 cents on our ticket. I love free food!

Why women live longer than men...

These pictures were among the Internet flotsam and jetsam that swam by one day. I think they tell a story. For instance, standing on a bucket on top of a ladder? Thank goodness someone is holding the ladder here.

And here.

Doesn't this violate the seat belt law?

Wonder what HE makes an hour? It can't be enough.

Who needs a truck?

Oh yeah, THAT's safe!

Ropes are for sissies.

At least it's eco-friendly.

Hey, it's strapped it down.

No problem, he can see through the holes.

It starts at a young age and just gets worse.

You hold it while I whack it with this hammer.

The hat trick. Three buckets!

Monday Meanderings

When was the last time Texas Baseball team won a game the old fashioned way? You know, get ahead and stay that way till the end. Consider:

Regionals - behind Army 10-6 in the bottom of the 9th, 8 runs cross the plate to win 14-10. Four to tie and a walk-off grand slam to win.

Regionals - tied with Boston College, Austin Wood pitches 12 1/2 innings of no-hit baseball. In relief! Horns win after NCAA record 25 innings. Yes, 25.

Super Regionals - NCAA record 7 sacrifice bunts and a walk-off grand slam against TCU.

Game 1 CWS - With the score tied and two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Texas beats Mississippi State with a walk-off walk! Augie told the batter: "Take on every pitch. Do not move the bat off your shoulder."

Game 2 CWS - Down 6-0 in the 3rd inning against arguably the #2 pitcher in college ball, Texas ties it in the 4th, knocks #2 pitcher out of the game in 3 1/2 innings and wins 10-6!

Game 3 CWS - Again up against Arizona State and #2 pitcher, down 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th; Texas, known as a small ball team wins with back-to-back home runs!

It will be interesting to see if there are any more miracles against LSU.

Indulging ourselves with fresh Bing cherries from Central Market. They are so good. And almost affordable. I remember fresh cherries in an outdoor market in Prague. As I recall they really were affordable.

Birthday and Father's Day this past week. Both were very enjoyable occasions. I've received well wishes from friends and families, dined well, shared in a cake at the office and enjoyed myself thouroughly.

Mom's black eye is slowly getting better. And no, there will be no pictures posted. And I know what you are thinking and the answer is no, I did not! If there were a black eye under that circumstance it would be the other way around!

Required reading...

You already know my philosophy about recommending books. But if you are a member of the same tribe as I am (and you know if you are) recommending this is a no brainer. If you are not of the same tribe you should read this book anyway. You will never find as much theology in such understandable terms anywhere else.

Randy Harris is well-known as a speaker, and deservedly so. His wit keeps you listening and his wisdom leaves you stunned. A couple of years ago I gathered in one place every mp3 lecture of his that I could find on the Internet; I searched high and low, and I'm pretty good at finding things on the Internet. I even purchased a few lectureship CDs. This was a rich, rich collection.

This book reads just like one of those lectures. You hear Randy speaking on every page. Some examples:

“My friend Augustine died in 430 (most of my friends have been dead for several hundred years; I’ve found that makes the friendship much easier).”

“Here’s the theme of the book of Revelation: God’s team wins. Pick a team. Don’t be stupid.”

“My friends refer to me as the Dead Sea of e-mail. I receive and I receive but I do not give.”

I was reading this book while waiting my 30 minutes of indenture at the allergist's office and I embarrassed myself by laughing out loud.

And his take on 2 Corinthians 1:18-20 left me in tears.

The only place that I can find to buy this book is Leafwood Publishers or the bookstore across the street from the ACU campus, if you happen to be going through town.

Try it. You'll like it.

Whoa! We've been de-treed!

I mentioned that the City of Austin had tree-trimming crews in the neighborhood. They stopped by and left us a description of the 5 trees they were going to remove (small hackberrys) and the two trees they were going to trim - but they didn't mention that if there were smaller trees between the 5 they were going in the chipper too. Here's the before and after:

The view toward the house in back of us - before.

The view toward the house in back of us - now.

The corner toward the Nichols - then.

The corner toward the Nichols - now.

I feared the trim job on the Bramblett pecan.

But they didn't take too much there.

I do think it set our birdwatching back significantly. I saw a Cardinal down by the fence, looking around as if saying, "What the @#$% happened here? I went to work this morning and every thing was fine. I come home to a pile of sawdust!"