Goof Troop Ag

Good God, not my eyes! Part 3

2009-05-20T09:27:00.004-05:00

Ok, last time I left off after the surgery on my left eye. The surgery for my right eye was done a week later on April 30th.

I was able to return to work the following Monday, after my left eye, while Bob and mom returned to Dallas. My mom came back on Tuesday and we hung out until my surgery Thursday afternoon. Bob couldn't skip class, so he came Thursday evening.

The surgery was pretty much the same, except that we had to wait a lot longer to get back in there. It didn't help much, just waiting around, but I was eventually led into the same room I'd been in the week before. After much protesting, my mom was kicked out of the room. The biggest difference between the left eye and right eye was that 1) I sort of blinked, only a little, but it was really hard to resist because she was applying so much pressure to my eye and 2) after they'd injected my eye to numb it, the doctor didn't stand there for 5 minutes rubbing it in, so it took a bit longer for my eye to completely numb and become stationary. I tried to rub it a little myself, but I know I was being more gentle than the doctor had been the previous week.

My mom was allowed back into the room while my eye was numbing, but then again, after much protesting and telling of stories I didn't want to hear, she was kicked out again while they performed the laser treatment. The laser itself was over in a couple mintues and we were soon on our way.

As with the left eye, I didn't really feel much immediately after the surgery, just a little beat up, so since we hadn't eaten all day (it was around 5pm), we decided to stop by Olive Garden on the way home. We had a nice dinner, and as we waited, the pain from my eye slowly started to seep in. Afterwards, we stopped by the pharmacy to get the pain medicine and we went home so I could rest.

The amount of pain I had after we reached home and I was able to lay down was significantly worse than the previous iteration. To the point that I would just shudder and squeeze my kitty, George, who had come in to keep me company (he's such a good cat). It took my longer to get to sleep, but eventually I was able to and I rested until Bobby showed up that evening. I was still in a lot of pain, after he got there, so I rested until it subsided enough that I could watch Star Trek. The next day the pain was almost gone, which was really different from the previous eye which took days for the pain to subside as much as it had by day 2 on the right eye.

And, that was pretty much it. At least that was what I thought. I continued to have a dull ache, and when I completely came off the steroid drops (in my right eye) looking at my computer was becoming increasingly difficult and light caused such a sharp pain my my eyes that I would have to nap when I got home from work just to alleviate some of my headache. Not to mention that by the end of the day I couldn't read, and finishing the history class I was taking had become a major chore because I had such a hard time reading the computer screen. So, I returned to the eye surgeon to see what was the problem the following week. They couldn't see anything, and suggested I try rewetting drops for awhile to see if it would help (that was Friday May 8th).

By the 11th, I was in no mood to play with eye drops and decided I needed to go back to my opthamologist to get a second opinion (really a third since my eye surgeon was in surgery and another doctor saw me). He did a full exam to rule out possible eye diseases and to check my vision. He told me that the light sensitivity was a side effect of the surgery and that he thought a lot of the pain was due to a major change in my near field vision (I had had a vision test 2 months before, so the change, for the better, in my near range vision was very sudden). He suspected my allergies could have also been causing some of the problem and in addition to ordering me some reading glasses, he suggested I try Sudafed.

The Sudafed helped, wearing sunglasses over my glasses helped with the light sensitivity (outside, inside is still a problem), and the reading glasses arrived the other day and I can actually read again. Small print is still an issue on the computer, but in most places I can increase the font size so I'm doing ok. 8 hrs staring at a computer screen still leaves me with a headache, but I'll only be doing this for a couple more days and after Thursday my computer usage time will drop off significantly.

So, that's where I'm at. I have a follow up appointment in August and two pairs of glasses, one for reading (and working on the computer) and one for everything else.

Good God, not my eyes! Part 2

2009-05-14T23:31:00.003-05:00

So, I got as far as April 16th in the previous post. The surgery on my left eye was scheduled for the following week, the 23rd.

Mom and Bob both arrived here in Houston late on the 22nd, so they could take me to my appointment the following morning. I don't remember exactly when the appointment was, 10am or 11am, but we got up around 8 and made it to the Medical Center near Rice University with 15 minutes to spare.

We didn't wait very long before they had all three of us in the back and were in the process of dilating my eyes. We waited 30 minutes or so in their not so dark, dark room for my eyes to completely dilate. Then, off I was to the operating room. It wasn't what I would normally think of as a standard operating room, because the operating table was shoved against a wall and the main feature to the room was a computer.

But there I laid, on the not so cushioned operating table with the nurse rubbing alcohol under my eye and Bob and mom questioning the nurse on if they could stay and watch, what kind of laser is that, what power, what's this, what's that.... An inquisitive pair. But, no they couldn't stay, so when the doctor was ready to numb my eye they were kicked out.

So, eye numbing, that was a not so fun adventure. The doctor came and stood over me, so I couldn't see her hands, of course, and told me to look at the nurse's finger and not to move.... all I was thinking was, "Don't Panic, Don't Panic, Don't flinch, Don't Panic..." Then suddenly I see it, the longest needle known to man and it's headed straight for my eye, MY EYE! Don't Panic! Ok, so it wasn't right at my eye, just slightly below my iris on the part of my eye between my cheek bone and where my eye lashes are. I couldn't really tell you if I was still or not, because it's really difficult to focus when someone is applying a lot of pressure to your eye. But, the next thing I knew the needle was out, the doctor was rubbing below my eye and Bob and mom were back in the room, asking all sorts of questions. I hate to admit, but I wasn't hearing them anymore. They were now collaborators with the crew that was torturing me.

So, the doctor played rub my eye for a little while, then went off somewhere. The next thing I knew, the nurse was having me look around the room to see if my eye was ready. What I saw, was obviously very different from what everyone else saw my eyes do, because it seemed to me that I could move both eyes, they were just not looking in the same direction. They saw my left eye remain still and my right eye moving around, which meant I was good to go.

The nurse then started putting a jel on my eye, tapped the right one closed (so it would not be effected by the laser light), and began all her preparations. Mom and Bob were again kicked out of the room and the doctor came back in. They turned out the lights... and during this time my ability to see out of my left eye was diminishing, so that all I could see was light (vague right?, think a single ball from Van Gogh's Starry Night, that's all I could see). The doctor put on her "mining" helmet and they quickly began the procedure. It only took a few mintues, with me seeing only a Starry Night spot that flashed green, sometimes a greenish blue.

Next thing I knew, Bob and mom were back in the room, my eye was patched up, and we were heading home. For the most part, I felt ok, a little beat up, but like I had a sunburned ring around my eye, nothing too bad. So, I wasn't about to protest to lunch, cause I felt fine, no real pain at all, and off we went to the 59 diner. Yes, the 59 diner. I hadn't conveyed my concern that my problems were connected to the 59 diner, and since it was only circumstantial, and mom and Bob were all excited, I couldn't protest.

It was a good lunch, and as it wore on, I slowly began to feel a little something. Just a little headache, no need for codeine or any pain medicine, and as we were heading home I told them I felt fine, ... no need to fill the prescription. That was along HWY 59, by the time we reached HWY 290, it was more than just a little headache, and I conceded that I would need to fill the prescription.

We stopped by our local CVS, and filled the prescription as I leaned against Bob feeling as though I'd been stabbed in the eye -- which I had been. When we got home, they tucked me into bed, fed me some codeine, and tried to get me to go to sleep. It took awhile, because every position hurt. Not just a little, a lot. I'd been stabbed and tortured and was now suffering the consequences. So after a short nap, 2-3 hours, I got up and emailed my boss that I would NOT be in the next day. "You'll feel fine the next day." ... right, let me stick a needle in your eye, burn your retina back in place, and you tell me if you're fine the next day.

Well, I did manage to join mom and Bob for some late night Star Trek (gotta love DVR) after the pain subsided a bit. I don't remember much of what we did that night, but I know Star Trek was involved. That night when I went ot bed, I could only sleep on my back. It took me a week to be able to sleep in any other position. I had nightmares that night, which I'm starting to think is a natural reaction to traumatic experiences. I'd been in a lot of pain, A LOT, so looking back, I guess it's understandable.

That's about all I can handle tonight, more later.

Good God, not my eyes! Part 1

2009-05-13T21:57:00.000-05:00

I wish I knew where to begin, perhaps the best place is my state of panic at the thought that I was drawing nearer to a state of blindness. While I know its a bit of a leap to go from dizziness, spots, and eye pain to "I'm going blind!" but the words of my eye doctor when I was in high school telling me that I may go blind later in life, led me into a panic. Not that I verbalized my concern, and I intelligently waited a couple days just so noone would catch on.

My patience was rewarded with a trip to a local surgeon. And, I knew I should have told someone, and I should have had someone drive me, because the lady did tell me to, but with reckless abandon I went alone.

So, after poking around my eyes, -- poking is too polite, she manhandled me, flipped the chair over and everything, then stuck this huge light in my eye and asked me to look around. All I could think of was, 'light hurt, light hurt...."

And even though I knew it was coming, I just stared blankly at her when she told me I needed surgery on both eyes ... something about holes in my retinas, retinal skesis, lattice degeneration, retinal tears, and a small retinal detachment.

I'd known for years it was going to happen because of my "severe myopia" but my mind drifted to isolating the latest strain that would have caused it all. I flipped started with declaring it to be looking at ancient Biblical texts in dim lights (it all started after we went to the musuem to see the Christianity exhibt the day before Easter). I knew I shouldn't have been scanning the texts for letters I recognized, or wait ... no, it was the pot roast and sundae (we went to lunch at the 59 diner... it was a Saturday, afterall).

After all that, she told me to have someone bring me next time and she'd do the surgery on my left eye first, possibly with a local, or maybe just a topical pain reliever.

Random Story

2008-11-19T14:32:00.002-06:00

Never tell someone the truth when a random story will do. Here's my conversation with a coworker:

Coworker: THANK YOU....always know I can depend on you my little cupcake with sprinkles!
Me: never call me that again.
Coworker: WHY....LMAO

Here's where I could have just told the truth and said, "ah, who wants to be called 'little cupcake with sprinkles'?" But I thought I'd bog her down with a random story instead --- thus I could irratate the idea of calling me 'little cupcake with sprinkles' out of her.

Me: ... bad memories.
Coworker: I want to know.....do you have bad memories with a cupcake as a child?
---- BEGIN RANDOM STORY --------
Me: It all started when our hyphen-happy protagonist, Stephanie, woke up in a imaginery desert. It was the fifth time it had happened. Feeling alarmingly exasperated, Stephanie poked a ripened avocado, thinking it would make her feel better (but as usual, it did not). Duly ecstatic about the looming crises, she realized that her beloved little cupcake with sprinkles was missing! Immediately she called her so-called buddy, Bob. Stephanie had known Bob for (plus or minus) 11,000 years, the majority of which were curious ones. Bob was unique. He was plucky though sometimes a little... stupid. Stephanie called him anyway, for the situation was urgent.

Bob picked up to a very sad Stephanie. Bob calmly assured her that most disease-carrying chipmunks panic before mating, yet Indonesian devil cats usually flamboyantly cringe *after* mating. He had no idea what that meant; he was only concerned with distracting Stephanie. Why was Bob trying to distract Stephanie? Because he had snuck out from Stephanie's with the little cupcake with sprinkles only three days prior. It was a saucy little little cupcake with sprinkles... how could he resist?

It didn't take long before Stephanie got back to the subject at hand: her little cupcake with sprinkles. Bob panicked. Relunctantly, Bob invited her over, assuring her they'd find the little cupcake with sprinkles. Stephanie grabbed her hippopotamus and disembarked immediately. After hanging up the phone, Bob realized that he was in trouble. He had to find a place to hide the little cupcake with sprinkles and he had to do it recklessly. He figured that if Stephanie took the wannabe go-fast Civic, he had take at least six minutes before Stephanie would get there. But if she took the Saturn? Then Bob would be scarcely screwed.

Before he could come up with any reasonable ideas, Bob was interrupted by nine oafish Cats that were lured by his little cupcake with sprinkles. Bob grimaced; 'Not again', he thought. Feeling displeased, he aptly reached for his dull pencil and recklessly deflowered every last one of them. Apparently this was an adequate deterrent--the discouraged critters began to scurry back toward the disease-infested jungle, squealing with discontent. He exhaled with relief. That's when he heard the Saturn rolling up. It was Stephanie.

----o0o----

As she pulled up, she felt a sense of urgency. She had had to make an unscheduled stop at The Salvation Army to pick up a 12-pack of gerbils, so she knew she was running late. With a heroic leap, Stephanie was out of the Saturn and went earnestly jaunting toward Bob's front door. Meanwhile inside, Bob was panicking. Not thinking, he tossed the little cupcake with sprinkles into a box of dangerous oil-soaked rags and then slid the box behind his refrigerator. Bob was stunned but at least the little cupcake with sprinkles was concealed. The doorbell rang.

'Come in,' Bob earnestly purred. With a careful push, Stephanie opened the door. 'Sorry for being late, but I was being chased by some dimwitted self-righteous ass in a magic flying carpet,' she lied. 'It's fine,' Bob assured her. Stephanie took a seat exotically proximate to where Bob had hidden the little cupcake with sprinkles. Bob turned red trying unsuccessfully to hide his nervousness. 'Uhh, can I get you anything?' he blurted. But Stephanie was distracted. Absolutely thrilled, Bob noticed a stupid look on Stephanie's face. Stephanie slowly opened her mouth to speak.

'...What's that smell?'

Bob felt a stabbing pain in his kidney when Stephanie asked this. In a moment of disbelief, he realized that he had hidden the little cupcake with sprinkles right by his oscillating fan. 'Wh-what? I don't smell anything..!' A lie. A annoying look started to form on Stephanie's face. She turned to notice a box that seemed clearly out of place. 'Th-th-those are just my grandma's potatos from when she used to have pet Indonesian devil cats. She, uh...dropped 'em by here earlier'. Stephanie nodded with fake acknowledgement...then, before Bob could react, Stephanie aimlessly lunged toward the box and opened it. The little cupcake with sprinkles was plainly in view.

Stephanie stared at Bob for what what must've been eleven microseconds. Unaware of the bleakness of existence, Bob groped charismatically in Stephanie's direction, clearly desperate. Stephanie grabbed the little cupcake with sprinkles and bolted for the door. It was locked. Bob let out a eccentric chuckle. 'If only you hadn't been so protective of that thing, none of this would have happened, Stephanie,' he rebuked. Bob always had been a little abrasive, so Stephanie knew that reconciliation was not an option; she needed to escape before Bob did something crazy, like... start chucking wolverines at him or something. Duly ecstatic about the looming crises, she gripped her little cupcake with sprinkles tightly and made a dash toward the window, diving headlong through the glass panels.

Bob looked on, blankly. 'What the hell? That seemed excessive. The other door was open, you know.' Silence from Stephanie. 'And to think, I varnished that window frame seven days ago...it never ends!' Suddenly he felt a tinge of concern for Stephanie. 'Oh. You ..okay?' Still silence. Bob walked over to the window and looked down. Stephanie was gone.

----o0o----

Just yonder, Stephanie was struggling to make her way through the lemur-infested moor behind Bob's place. Stephanie had severely hurt her fingernail during the window incident, and was starting to lose strength. Another pack of feral Cats suddenly appeared, having caught wind of the little cupcake with sprinkles. One by one they latched on to Stephanie. Already weakened from her injury, Stephanie yielded to the furry onslaught and collapsed. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was a buzzing horde of Cats running off with her little cupcake with sprinkles.

About nine hours later, Stephanie awoke, her ear throbbing. It was dark and Stephanie did not know where she was. Deep in the hazy bush, Stephanie was excessively lost. Suddenly inspired by the wise teachings of Confuscious, she remembered that her little cupcake with sprinkles was taken by the Cats. But at that point, she was just thankful for her life. That's when, to her horror, a little Cat emerged from the swamp. It was the alpha Cat. Stephanie opened her mouth to scream but was cut short when the Cat sunk its teeth into Stephanie's armpit. With a faint groan, the life escaped from Stephanie's lungs, but not before she realized that she was a failure.

Less than three miles away, Bob was entombed by anguish over the loss of the little cupcake with sprinkles. 'MY PRECIOUS!!' he cried, as he reached for a sharpened gerbil. With a skillful thrust, he buried it deeply into his ear. As the room began to fade to black, he thought about Stephanie... wishing he had found the courage to tell her that he loved her. But he would die alone that day. All that remained was the little cupcake with sprinkles that had turned them against each other, ultimately causing their demise. And as the dew on melancholy sappling branches began to reflect the dawn's reddish glare, all that could be heard was the chilling cry of distant Cats, desecrating all things sacred to virtuous men, and perpetuating an evil that would reign for centuries to come. Our heroes would've lived unhappily ever after, but they were too busy being dead. So, no one lived forever after, the end. :'( *

Of course, I don't have the story telling skills to come up with such a story on the spot, but I'm very familar with a little internet toy called the Random Story Generator. So, my nonsense was thanks to them, and my coworker won't be asking for any more stories from me. :)

* I gotta give credit where credit is due, so here's the credits for the story:

LOLz!!1
*** L337 Story Generator v1.0
*** Written by Derek Clark. Copyright © www.the-elite.net ~ 2004-2005
*** Forever pwning with earnest.
http://www.the-elite.net/---/story/

Ike at the Office

2008-11-14T09:25:00.004-06:00

I've been procrastinating a lot lately, so in an effort to procrastinate new things I thought I'd post some of my pictures of the damage to our office building caused by Hurricane Ike. We were out of work for almost a week due to Ike and when they brought us back we were on generator power without AC for a week and then after they obtained a larger generator we were on generator power with AC for another week. It took about a month to get the office cleaned up again. Of course, in that time everyone switched offices (except me since I'm on the back hallway that was for the most part not effected.

They tore up the wet carpet and dry wall before they let us back in the building.

They had fans running to dry everything out.

It was just my side of the building that flooded -- the east side.

My *new* bosses old office. He's down the hall from me now. He went on vacation after Ike came through so he missed a lot of the office mess.

This office was empty, but it becamse a joke that we now knew what happened to the guy that had been in this office ... he slowly dug his way out. :)

I'm not sure exactly how much water we had inside but they took about 4 inches off the dry wall.

Towards east of building.

Looking back towards the back of the building.

Just Say NO!

2008-10-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

I've tried to steer clear of being politically vocal for the past couple years because of the amount of anger and frustration I felt towards others, but I felt compelled to write Congress on the economic bailout plan and thought I'd post it here:

I am writing to you to urge you not to pass the $700 billion financial rescue plan. This plan is short sighted and does not present a solution to the fundamental problem behind our current financial situation – which lies with Main Street, not Wall Street.

I don’t mean to imply that Wall Street is without blame, they’ve clearly taken advantage of the liberal financial policies of the American family, but bailing out Wall Street will do nothing to set the US back on track to family fiscal responsibility. This is what our fundamental problem is – living beyond our means, buying today what we’ll spend the next 30-40 years to pay off. What Americans don’t realize is that we’re all part of the problem; it’s our lifestyle of excess that has got us into this situation. If it weren’t for our company sponsored retirement plans, how many of us would truly have any savings? We bicker about the rising cost of healthcare, and constantly see stories of the financial strain caused by the rise in healthcare, but really, how many of us are prepared? Not many and that’s our problem.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t do something about our current situation, but providing access to more loans and more debt only extends the problem into the foreseeable future when it will inevitably come back to bite us. What we need to do is focus on the underlying problem which is the American people not paying their debt.

Ultimately, what I want are alternative solutions. Don’t give me a $700 billion rescue plan – we can do better than that.

Thanks for your time,

Having been introduced to differing managing styles, I've found that the most fruitful are those that follow an Ideo style strategy in brainstorming in which, ultimately our collective ideas are always better than our individual ideas. Thus, I propose an Ideo style brainstorming session, because I’m certain our collective wisdom will produce something better than a $700 billion bailout.

Here are my ideas:

1. We need to put an end to bankruptcy, or if as a nation we can’t stomach actually having to pay our debts, put a hold on foreclosures and keep these people paying their mortgages.
2. Get rid of the early 401K withdrawal penalty, because as people near financial desperation we shouldn’t be penalizing them for wanting to pay their debts. We shouldn’t penalize people for tapping their last resource before filing for bankruptcy. Not to mention they’ve already taken a beating in the market, what’s the purpose of hitting them a second time?

Iota Kappa Epsilon

2008-09-14T19:41:00.001-05:00

Bob and I have decided this is a more fitting name for IKE. Since the news keeps using all CAPS to name Ike, we figured the Greek was more appropriate. Makes it sound like a scary fraternity now! Raarrr. Iota Kappa Epsilon, raaarrr!

Hurricane Ike: Hurricane Theology

2008-09-13T12:26:00.002-05:00

I read this great post over at my friend's site and thought I'd pass it along. It's a good read for anyone concerned that natural events, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and the like, are God's method of punishment for sin.

A Christian View of Hurricanes

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-13T10:23:00.002-05:00

Bobby and I made it through Hurricane Ike ok and thought we'd share
some pictures of our area -- they're only in the area where we live.
If I said I wasn't scared while it was going on, I'd be lying. When
the winds first started at our place they were coming from the Northeast.

For those that don't know, our apartment faces due east. We have an open
lawn between us and the adjacent building that runs north-south.

Looking east (as the storm is beginning to come in)

Looking northeast (as storm is coming in -- winds from northeast)

As I said, the winds were first coming from the northeast and there was one window in our apartment that was feeling the strain and growning. I was really concerned about this window because it seemed really stressed in the early stages of our wind development --- Ike still had not made landfall.

Well, around 2am Bobby and I went to lie down for a little while because we were getting really sleepy. Up to this point the wind really wasn't that strong, maybe 30-40 mph.

So, then around 3:30am or 4am -- I'm not quite sure the precise time because our electricity had gone out shortly after we lied down -- I heard this loud bang against our window and then I heard the wind. I'm not quite sure what the bang was, we think it may have been a bird or something. The wind however was running from north to south and was flowing pretty strongly through our open lawn. Bobby being the more brave ventured outside periodically and I would pull him inside when I thought it was unsafe -- which means he was eventually grounded inside. :) While we were watching we'd periodically see bursts of green light as transformers were bursting around town. It was truly the darkest I'd ever seen Houston.

By around 6am or so the wind shifted again so that it was blowing east to west, and about this time Bobby began to see debris flying off our roof and I began to grow concerned about the front windshield on my car. Of course, there wasn't much I could do about it because I was unwilling to allow Bobby to go outside and we had parked our cars so that the they would be protected from north winds -- which we felt would likely be the strongest. So as we're hanging out and we here the wind flowing through our corridor that is open east to west, our apartment began to shake. It wasn't the entire complex that was shaking, just the wall and floor immediately adjacent to the corridor. Since we were pretty sleepy, we figured it was a good time to retreat to the bedroom and take a nap.

I was woken up around 8am to the power coming back on and with the dawn of a new day I thought I'd take a look to around to see what had gone on under the cover of night. Here are the pictures:

Neighboring Apartment (wall faces east)

Lawn near apartment that runs north to south (roof tiles)

Showing roof of apartment across the way

Toppled tree

My car -- it's OK! Just a little covered in leaves :)

Drain that luckily didn't hit my car (or Bobby's)!

My roof looks bad!

Looking down from our balcony

Our door -- death by leaving

Another picture of drain

Another picture of our downed tree

More downed trees

Bushes torn apart

Bark ripped away from tree

Debris clog in pool

Neighboring complex that is missing siding

Overall, we got off lucky compared to the stories I've heard from around Houston. We are very thankful that our apartment was facing the best way to minimize effects from Ike. It's not completely over yet, but we're hopeful that our good fortune will continue. :)

New Testament Course: Part 3

2008-09-12T17:50:00.001-05:00

After much reflection and concern that I would never be able to pass a course in which I disagreed so fundamentally with the instructor (and finding the class highly illogical) I decided to drop the course. It wouldn't have transferred anywhere anyway, so ultimately it was more stress than it was really worth.

In leiu of dropping this course, I thought I might take my mother-in-laws advice and actually go take a class from a local church. I went to Christ the Redeemer Monday night and I found it -- well, far and above the course I was taking. Unfortunately, my understading of Catholicism was a little too weak to completely follow along, so I think I need a more intro level course that explains some of the theology so I can merge that with what little I know of history. We'll see.

Yummy Cereal

2008-09-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love this cereal. Try it - you'll thank me.

Kashi Cereal

New Testament Course, Part 2

2008-09-05T02:18:00.001-05:00

So, after talking with the dean and the dean visiting our class, it appears that the instructor has moderated his tone a bit -- at least now he's not blatantly telling me I'm wrong, he just alludes to it.

Other than having the joy of being able to call up Bobby after class to gleefully state that "it's demons," this took on a very different tone compared to last week's. Most notably after the dean left the class, we watched a short on the Spiritual Freedom Church, and their exorcism's of demons (hence the demons comment). Now, I don't believe in demons, so my disparaging remarks - yes I made them in class - is not surprising. So, while I knew that everyone else in the class believed in demons, because I was the lone desenter when the question was posed, I felt obligated to to provide an alternative view otherwise the class comments would have sounded as though they were taken from some political party convention - it's no fun if everyone is in agreement. Here's my take on the Spiritual Freedom Church:

You need to consider the purpose of this individual. He's a Televangelist. That means he's in the business of selling God. He's about hype and encouraging people to not accept responsibility for their choices in life. This guy [the one that had the demon in him] clearly is torn between fulfilling his mother's desires to go into ministry and his own wishes to do something else.

I know it's not a popular view, but there it is. I think this one girl in the class attempted to make a point so as to prove demons existed by quoting something from 1 Peter 5 -- I'm not sure how this was really supposed to relate, because I didn't see any reference to demons. If anyone knows, please let me know. I probably should have asked her after class, but the only reason she mentioned the book and verse was because she knew I'd ask -- and she said it so dismissively that I dared not actually talk to her.

So, the other exciting event that occured in the class -- at least for me, was what I will always refer to my gift from God. As I noted before, I'm not keen on the New King James Bible and have held steadfast to my Catholic New American Bible even though he requested we all use the New King James Bible. As I mentioned in my previous post, one of my biggest concerns with this course was the instructors presentation of these alternative dates of authorship of the New Testament that placed them prior to the Fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Well, right after the dean had questioned him on his dates of authorship he selected a parable from Matthew for us to read and try to interpret. His statement concerning the dating of texts centers around his belief that there are no references to the fall of the Second Temple in the Gospel and that this lack of information alludes to the fact that the texts must have been written prior to it. Ok, so back to Matthew -- well, of all the Gospel parables he could have selected he chose Matthew 22:1-14.

I'm going to let that sink in a minute because the significance of Matthew's The Parable of the Wedding Feast at that exact moment, I mean right after he said there was no reference to the fall of the Second Temple... it was just perfect.

So, part of the beauty of my NAB is the footnotes, so I'll include here an excerpt of the footnote for Matthew 22:1-14:

22, 1-14: This parable is from Q; see Lk 14, 15-24. It has been given many allegorical traits by Matthew, e.g., the burning of the city of the guests who refused the invitation (7), which corrsponds to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70. ....

Beautiful. Of course, he disregarded it -- but at least he didn't say I was wrong.

New Testament Course

2008-09-01T00:27:00.001-05:00

New Testament Course
Category: Religion and Philosophy

I began taking a course on the New Testament from one of the local community colleges this past week and was horrified to discover the course was more suited for my sister's church than an institution of higher education.

While I do not have a quarrel with my sister's faith, I do with teaching a class on the basis of Biblical infallibility and speculation of dates of authorship*. Not only does this class suggest infallibility it outright rejects Biblical criticism and skips over this section in the text in an effort to present only an Evangelicals viewpoint. In an effort to minimize any attempt at noticing these chapters were skipped, the instructor has presented a second book for us to usein the course that minimizes any discussion on literary criticism. Overall, at first glance the class appears to be setup for the purpose of religious indoctrination, rather than religious scholarship instruction.

So, like any bad student, after questioning the instructor in class and being scoffed at for not knowing the Bible, I notified the dean of my concerns with the course. Noting that I had taken other courses that did not reject alternative points of view, such as my Old Testament course during the summer -- while it spent a lot of time on Biblical criticism, at the end of the day the instructor gave us literary samples that both rejected and supported literary criticism.

And, while I do have humility in my scholarship of the Bible and relish understanding alternative points of view, I am not interested in a course that presents only one -- particularly that, that one is fact.

*Note: While I do not begin to suggest that we should blindly follow Biblical scholarship on any, much less the dating of the New Testament books, I do question the agenda of an instructor that presents the more controversial view. Nor do I believe that an introductory course should dive head first into realm of religious discussion but should gain a base knowledge of the current status of scholarship -- then as they progress in their studies they should delve in discussion. While I hold this view for infallibility and the dating of the New Testament books, I do not hold this view for Biblical criticism -- as at its most fundamental level, this is what Biblical scholarship is about. And if it were the instructors opinion that this topic was just as controversial, I would hope that they would hold to teaching neither rather than selecting one as superior to the other as scholars studying the Bible are more closely split on this topic.

Good read

2008-08-30T02:13:00.004-05:00

I was browsing through one of my previous instructor's blog and came across his views on abortion. I thought he made some valid points and I liked his blog enough that I thought I would pass it along. Contrary to what the title may suggest, this is not supportive of abortion.

Abortion: What's the Big Deal?

I Blame Bobby

2008-08-11T13:28:00.003-05:00

I know I can't blame Bobby for my blatant addition of letters to words, such as adding u's and q's to words, or even my more recent turning Pogues into Progues, but I can blame Bob for this verbal slip:
"You can catch more honey with flies...."

It's so reminiscent of "Let's spill," "I'm forced to agree with myself," and "Open mouth insert tongue," and definitely all his fault!

Hurricane Day

2008-08-04T09:52:00.005-05:00

I've had snow days, vacation days, and sick days, but I've never had a Hurricane Day. We'll get official word later this afternoon, but I won't be too heart broken if I don't.

Update: We got official word this afternoon stating that our Houston offices would be closed tomorrow in advance of Edouard. My first Hurricane Day, I'm so excited! Ok, so it's more likely just going to be a Rain Day, but I prefer that to an actual Hurricane Day -- but I'm not going to complain about a paid day off. Now I just need to bring in all my junk from the patio.

Update to the Update: Edouard was a total disappointment. I guess I should be happy, since we suffered no damage or anything -- but my Hurricane Day turned into a Rain Day. It wasn't even an impressive storm, we had much better storms with the hurricane that struck Brownsville.

Where am I going and What am I doing here?

2008-08-03T21:48:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about life, the universe, and everything. Mostly I've been trying to decide whether I want to stay in engineering or not. For anyone that's talked to me in the last couple years, it's been a major struggle for me -- for several reasons.

On the stay in engineering side:

1) Money. I make good money as an engineer, and the financial prospects will only get better over the next ten years. If I were to stay in engineering and progress professionally, I could easily double my salary in the next ten years. Obtaining the Professional Engineers license would only enhance this.

2) Analysis. After been out of an analyst type position for the past year, I seriously miss it. I like numbering crunching, I like writing programs to number crunch, I like interpreting data and the results of data processing, and I like running numerical models -- my favorite being wave and sediment transport models.

3) Prestige. I like the way people respond to me when I tell them I'm an engineer. It's a little self confidence boost everytime it happens.

4) Variety. Unless you're in a large company, everyday in engineering is different. While I can not say I like wild swings from day to day, because I do like some stability, I do like the variety of work where I could spend one week programming, the next analyzing sediment samples, the next writing a bid document, and the next running a wave model.

5) Construction oversite. I've not been able to do this much of late, but its something I really enjoy. Of course, the only projects I've ever done it on would not have resulted in any deaths -- other than possibly my own, but there's something nice about getting to see your work completed and constructed. Not to mention the thrill of stomping around in work boots outside for day!

Against engineering:

1) Other engineers and contractors. This has been my biggest and most difficult hurtle in engineering. I've been told by potential employers that they were not interested in hiring married women, I've been told by a previous employer that I would not be able to manage a construction project because I was married -- all the while both KNEW my husband and I were living apart while he was in graduate school. Then, there's always the "boy club." Imagine being the ONLY female engineer in the company and having the boss come tell you that he and all the male engineers are going out, but "You're not invited because your husband would mind" even though he knew Bob wouldn't care and knew I was living alone. While at first glance it may seen mild, but functioning as a team is difficult when you're never a part of the bonding experience in the group.

That's not to mention the arrogance of engineers. They are some of the most ignorant, arrogant people I've ever met. There have been times where I attempt to argue a particular concept and rather than focusing on task conflict, I get this response: "I've been doing this for X many years, and X spent X amount for me to become an expert - So, trust me." Is it really so much to ask that engineers let go of their ego long enough to argue method?!

2) Children. And boy, oh boy, do I want kids! Kids are a part of my biggest struggle because working full time regardless of which profession you're in will mean sacrifices of time with the kids. Now I know engineering, so I know if a major project comes up personal plans get put aside. When major changes happen in the office, vacation, and flex hours disappear -- something I'm experiencing now, and how much would I really be willing to give up? How many sporting events (or recitals, or whatever!) would I be willing to give up? I know that my parents missed a lot (and I understand if its a necessity, but if I could work it out so it wasn't .... ), and having experienced the disappointment of looking in the stands and rarely finding them there, I don't want to repeat that in my childrens lives. Of course, I may not have a choice, but if I did....

3) Engineering itself. While there are aspects of engineering I like, there are others I really don't. My biggest fear is that I'd kill someone -- and while I know I'm not the only engineer to repeatedly check a calculation prior to construction for fear that the whole thing would just fail, it's not an enjoyable part. Then there's mechanical engineering -- a soul crushing experience in my opinion. Widgets and gadgets are cool to play with, but the designing aspect of it is not for me. I like water and sand, not metals.

Of course, then there's some of the basic grunt work of engineering. Design calculations and design standards. While very necessary, I prefer to analyze a situation more than I enjoy the nit and gritty of tiresome design calculations.

Plus, engineering isn't even what I spend the majority of my time thinking about. When I daydream I drift into a land of religious and philosophical quandry. It's what I spend the majority of my free time focused on, and it's what I'm most obsessed with -- not engineering. If I had to chose between Modern Marvels or a Discovery program on religion --- I'd be on the religious program in an instant.

4) Job stability. As more and more engineering jobs are being shipped overseas, it's only a matter of time before ocean engineering will be performed in Singapore, India, and South Korea ... where a large percentage of vessels are constructed. My future prospects aside, the oil and coastal industry also fluctuates with oil. Every 10 years or so, the market collapses and by all accounts we're due for a collapse. And while I hope I can maintain a position when the inevitable occurs, do I really want to put myself in a position similar to my mom where I'm just waiting for them to close the doors so I can try and figure out what to do with myself?

5) Bob. Bob and I have never had much luck finding jobs in the same location. His highest job potential locations are inland, and mine are coastal. As he gets nearer to the end of his PhD, could I really limit his search again -- after all that time and money he put into the PhD? I don't think so, and I told him I wouldn't.

So, here's where I am now. I'm at the point where if I'm going to stay I should take the PE exam, but even still there are times I want to take the PE exam regardless just so noone could ever say I left engineering because I couldn't hack it -- but is giving up 3 months of my free time and suffering through an 8 hour exam just to prove a point worth it if I don't want to stay in this profession?

Questions, questions, questions... if only I knew how 42 applied.

New Computer

2008-08-03T20:10:00.001-05:00

For the past year or two, my 2001 Sony VAIO was dying under the weight of the many updates that Microsoft has put out. So much, that I could no longer have any programs on my computer other than Quicken, Office, Windows, and Messenger. My 11 gig machine was barely managing that and I was using an external drive for all my music, websites, pictures, and other documents.

After fussing about it for over a year, Bob and I finally went out and purchased a new computer. We had been saving up for a vacation, but a lot has changed in our group at work and a vacation is out for the near future -- so we decided the money would be well spent on a new laptop.

It's an HP -- we looked at the VAIO's but were more impressed with the features on the HP. With all my programs installed, music, pictures, and documents copied over I still have a staggering 200 gig to work with. Mesa like. :)

C.S. Lewis stuff

2008-05-30T22:34:00.001-05:00

I don't normally get us this early in the morning (was up at working at 6am), but the cats were pestering me so I thought I'd finish my bolt (yuck!) calculation for work and send it off so I wouldn't have to do it later.

Well, after I finished I pulled out Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis to procrastinate the remainder of my work day and started looking at the list of quotes that was slowly accumulating on my makeshift bookmark. I don't normally keep quotes from books on my bookmarks, but I always hate when I read a great line and can never remember what it was -- so I thought this time I'd write them down.

Here's what I've got this far:

(pg 29) The statement that there is any such thing, and the statement that there is no such thing, are neither of them statements that science can make. And real scientists do not usually make them.

(pg 71) God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers.

(pg 112) If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.

Now if only I could convince the rest of the world of the accuracy of these statements.... Another day perhaps.

Trying not to think about it...

2008-05-28T20:13:00.000-05:00

...and it seems to be a lot lately.

First, my car has been a huge issue these past few months. It all started last June when my ignition cylinder started locking up. For awhile, I could just jiggle the key for a bit and it would eventually unlock. Since it appeared to be getting steady worse I finally took it into the dealership to have them fix the problem. After I got it back it seemed to be ok for awhile, then in March it completely locked up stranding me at work. Luckily, we had just moved to the apartment closer to where I work and I walked home -- a punishing 2 mile walk in dress shoes. The next day a coworker picked me up at home and he helped me start the car to take it to the dealership. Since they were doing the same thing they'd done the previous June, I mistakenly thought they'd fix it free since they'd just worked on it less than a year previous. My mistake -- because the dealership only warranties their work for 1 year or 12,000 miles, and super lucky me was at 13,000 miles, so I was blessed to have to pay for the same work AGAIN.

Well, then when I got the car back, less than a week later the air conditioner went out. I didn't think too much of it, because I could rough it in the heat till I could afford to get it fixed. Then the following week when I was attempting to drive to Dallas to visit Bob, the car began to rapidly overheat in traffic in Houston -- so I turned around and went back home. Luckily, Bobby came to visit me and we took the car to another dealership to see what the problem was. This little trip ate my annual bonus and then some, leaving me wishing I could toss the car out the window!

Now, fast forward to today and since I'm so close to work I decided to come home for lunch. I'm glad I did because otherwise I would have found myself stranded at work for a second time -- at least today I was stranded at home. The bad thing was I didn't have anyone to get it started for me, so a coworker came over and spent 30 mintues fiddling with it until he got it started and we dropped it off at the dealership on the way back to the office. They called me when I got back to the office and told me that the casting was bent and that was not covered under the warranty - to which I replied, well maybe if you'd have discovered this the first time around I wouldn't have had to pay for the twice already. End story, they still have my car and another coworker dropped me off on her way home -- we'll find out tomorrow if I have to pay for round 3 or not.

This all wouldn't be too bad if my brother hadn't ditched me with his car payment. Yea, I was stupid enough to cosign for his car. It wouldn't have been too bad if he hadn't been sticking me and Bobby with a lot of the payments over the past 3 years, if he hadn't wrecked it, AND if he hadn't ditched the car so that our only option was just to leave it or pay the fee to get it out of the impound. So, after paying that fee and his payments we finally confiscated the car a couple weeks ago and donated it to the Ronald McDonald House in Ft. Worth. I know I could have been nice and just given it to him, but with the financial burden he's placed me under I just couldn't without being perpetually angry with him forever -- so I figured if I'm going to have to pay $14,000 for a busted up car that would have taken $6,000 to fix -- well the only thing I could do was to donate it.

So, this wouldn't be a problem if Bob and I were actually living in the same place -- but we're not. Which means I have 2 rent payments, 2 electric bills, etc... and now thanks to my brother 2 car payments.

Which still would be fine if I weren't still paying for MY engineering degree, or if I didn't cringe at the thought of being an engineer and crunching numbers in a cubby for the rest of my life.

So, money is my primary issue. Next comes my age -- I'm getting far too close to 30 and the thought of starting over professionally at 30 is super frightening. And the thought of prolonging a family even further just makes it all worse. And there's always Bobby and wishing we were together.

And finally, there's my grandmother who passed away 4 years ago May 26th. I think about her occassionally and dreamt about her the other night. It was a super odd dream, but just the thought of her kind of struck me. Her and I were never super close --- I was always the odd kid out in my family, but I seem to dream about her this time of year. Our relationship was always kind of odd I guess, but even with that weirdness, she was the only person in my family to visit me while I was in Seattle -- other than when I sent my brother a plane ticket and some extra money to help Bob and me move. Of course, she didn't make the trip for me, but because she had a friend in Seattle she was visiting and she popped in on me and Bob while she was visiting him. Anyway, even though we had an ackward relationship, I really miss her -- she was always our resident party planner and I miss how our family used to revolve around her; she was the glue that held us together, and sometimes I feel that her absense is most felt in the missed family gatherings.

My problem with Buddhism

2008-04-28T22:30:00.000-05:00

I don't really have a problem with Buddhism, or my experience at the Buddhist temple -- but after having a little black rain cloud over my head for the past 2 days, it finally occurred to me why my actual problem was --- ok, so I didn't figure it out, but when one of Bob's classmates pointed out how similar my reaction was to my reaction to the atheist discussion group I went to in Austin, well it was a moment of clarity.

Just a little background -- after Bob left Austin for grad school, I was super lonely and in desperate need to make some friends and/or join a group so I wasn't so lonely all the time. So, in my brillance, I decided to go to this Atheist meetup to talk about religion and philosophy -- two of my favorite things. Btw, I'm not an atheist, I just *thought* with my grand intelligence that this group would have just the most awesome discussions known to man. And, if I were to seek a challenge to my argument ability this group would be the place -- surely no one would choose to be an atheist without a complete and full understanding of what they were rejecting.

Obviously, I'm mocking how naive I was, because the one (and only) discussion I went to left me fuming with anger at their lack of *general* knowledge about anything religious, other than perhaps some of the unsavory bits of religious history. It was horrible. After listening to a husband/wife groan about how awful religious people were, I (and another woman) took over the conversation. Then after I couldn't take their lack of knowledge anymore, I left --- called Bob, and fussed the ENTIRE way home about how uneducated these people were. It's one thing to have a rational argument about what you believe or don't believe and another to just whine about the color blue even though you've never seen it and only heard of it.

So, what Jeff pointed out was that my problem is really when I go somewhere expecting that the people would know what they're talking about only to discover my nothingness of religious knowledge eclipses theirs. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common problem for me when I expect someone is an authority and I find out they don't know anything more than I do, or worse -- they know less. It's not that I mind people not knowing things, but if you're going to tell me you're the resident expert (or you choose to talk heavily about a particular topic), know what you're talking about or at the very least be brave enough to tell me you don't really know.

What happened to the first quater of the year?

2008-04-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

I'm really not sure what's happened to the last several months, but this year seems to be flying by.

My Introduction to World Religions class ends next week. I currently have a 98 in the class and could sleep through the final and still pass. I need to finish my write-up for my alternative religious experience. I've been procrastinating writing it, because I was super disappointed with the Buddhist Temple I went to. It's supposed to be the scholarly research Buddhist center of Houston, but they segregated the Americans into this small meditation room near the kitchen and gave us the lone American monk. Bob and I went for the hour meditation -- we only participated in the sitting meditation (40 minutes) -- and the dharma study afterwards.

I've gotta give a brief description of what went on in my head during the meditation because it was a near impossible thing for me to do. So, we go sit down on this padded bench (all the benches were padded) and the monk begins to say that we should clear all the thoughts from out head and focus on our breathing. So, I attempt to do this by focusing, "breathe in, breathe out." And as I'm doing this, I begin to become very aware of the noise and chatter outside the temple. Since the Americans and Chinese were segragated, the Americans were in a room near the kitchen and throughout the meditation I could here the chatter from the kitchen. And while I'm trying to think, "breathe in, breathe out" I begin to start thinking, "well how am I supposed to do this with all the chatter next door, maybe if it were just the birds tweeting and stuff, but not with this chatter." Then I remember I'm supposed to be focused on my breathing, "breathe in, breathe out, breathe in. Wow, this bench is really comfortable -- I don't think I've ever sat on a bench as comfortable as this, and yet it has no back support and my butt isn't aching -- dangit, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, how am I supposed to concentrate with people coming in and out of the room. Can't they read, the sign clearly says not to enter the room during the sitting meditation. Ugh, breathe in, breathe out. I wonder what everyone else is doing. Wow, their posture is so good. I wonder how long they've been doing this. Breathe in, how can anyone possibly do this? Sit still for 40 minutes. I wonder what time it is. I bet these people are just sleeping sitting up like Bobby does. Yup, that guy is breathing really deeply -- there's no way he's not sleeping. Haha, there goes Bobby, he's going to sleep -- better nudge him so he doesn't fall over. Yea know, I bet the Buddha just taught himself to sleep sitting up and that's all they're really doing- sleep sitting. Breathe in, breathe out. I wonder how they know it's time to finish meditating. If they don't open their eyes to look at the clock, how do they know? How could you possibly tune out that chatter outside? I thought this was supposed to be a quiet time -- not outside chatter time. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Birds are so funny. Ah, I like the AC, it tunes out the noise outside. Breathe in, I wonder if he knows (the monk) that I can't concentrate on anything. He probably thinks I'm a fool. Nah, he's sleeping, not moving at all. Ding, Ding, Ding. I wonder what that bell is for. Ah, everyone outside stopped talking. Ding, Ding, Ding. Oh, now they're talking again. I wonder what Bob's doing? He's doing so much better than me. Breathe in, Breathe out."

Ok, so I know I thought about other things, but this is what I remember spending the most time on. Like I needed this all running through my head constantly for 40 minutes. :) I know, not the intent, but Bobby's experience was surprisingly similar.

So, both the meditation and dharma were cool and I was relatively happy with those experiences. My dissappointment was caused by talking to the resident expert that was supposed to explain everything to me. My line of questioning was primarily along the lines of, "What's that, what's it for, why's it in here, what are they doing that for?"

I was asking questions about everything, even things I knew from my studies just to get their point of view on it. Now, I can not say that someone has an incorrect point of view, but when we start spewing Nazi rhetoric for an Eastern symbol -- I'm going to lose my ability to talk to you; and, in general I'm going to be overwhelmed with your stupidity. Ok, so the only thing he said was that the swastika stands for perfection --- which is not true. Perhaps in some twisted way it could be, but no, that's never something I would say.

Anyhow, my entire experience culminated in that single instant and I've had a little black rain cloud over my head ever since. So, I've been trying to think about what to do with myself. I'm still planning on going back to school and getting my masters degree, but what I can't figure out is what to get my masters in.

Ugh, so my little black rain cloud encouraged me to skip karate tonight - which I've been participating in for almost 2 months now. I like it, but I just couldn't force myself to go tonight.

Hopefully, my rain cloud with start to clear tomorrow.

Texas Democratic Caucus

2008-03-05T22:22:00.001-06:00

I went, I caucused and if I could I'd switch my vote. I don't think I've ever felt this way after voting, nor have I ever been so horrified by the democratic process than I do tonight.

My evening started off ok. I was cramming for my mid-term exam in my Religions course. Actually, I was freaking out because I feared I hadn't prepared enough and was anticipating a C -- praying for a C -- until I took the exam anyway. Of the 40 questions I knew 36 of them -- and I mean KNEW, no question, no guessing, I knew them. The other 4 I guessed (wrong). Then there's the essay and other than missing the official name of the yin/yang symbol, I'm confident I got all the points for explaining its meaning and significance. I know I missed the least number of questions -- the rest of the class glared at me :) -- and I did some of the extra credit, so I know I got an A.

Anyhow, after the exam and Zorastrinism I sped off to my local polling location to see if I could make it under the door for the caucus. I got there around 8:30 or so, quickly found my precinct and started talking to some other people in my group. There was this one elderly woman who took me aback a little, because had we not been at a Democratic caucus, I would have sworn she was a Republican. Well, come to find out she was, and she was only voting in the Democratic caucus to keep Obama from getting the nomination. She was the most foul woman I've ever meet and I had to "take a walk" otherwise my argument with her would have escalated to me punching a stupid, old woman. It wasn't until 9:30 or 10 that they actually opened the doors for the caucus to begin. Due to the large number of people participating, the precincts were broken up and my precinct was shuffled off to the cafeteria (we were at a local elementary). My precinct had the Obama people start signing in first, with the reason being that it was the courteous thing to do and I heard some mention of "A PLAN."

I really wasn't paying much attention to "THE PLAN" that was afoot because I didn't care and all I wanted to do was vote and see if I could be a delegate. So, I sign in and wait around for the delegate nominating process.

After everyone had signed, this one Hillary supporter started leading the group through the nominating process. I say leading because that's what should have happened. What really happened was the most absurd thing I'd even seen. I'll try to adequately portray what took place.

The Obama and Clinton people are divided up -- almost along race lines. The Clinton people, minus me and another guy, were sitting at one end of the table, and the Obama, plus me and this guy, were at the other. I recognized a couple of the Obama people from my apartment complex and was talking to one woman about how if Obama won, I'd happily support him in the election -- just if given the choice between the two I preferred Clinton because of her health care and stuff like that. Then this Clinton woman, stood up and started talking really fast, I didn't hear her very well and suddenly a bunch of the Clinton people start saying, I nominate ___, I 2nd, I 3rd, DONE, any nominations for Secretary, I nominate ___, I 2nd, I 3rd, DONE. The Obama people, this guy, and me have no clue what's going on -- the Obama people start yelling foul, and I mean YELLING. The Clinton and Obama people are yelling at each other, the Clinton people saying its done and we're not going back, and the Obama people yelling that they had no idea what was going on. Our whole precinct is now yelling and one of the Obama supporters goes off to get the Election Judge to resolve the situation.

Of course, the Election Judge makes the Clinton people resort to an ACTUAL democratic process and we renominate the Delegate Chair and Secretary (they fill out the paperwork for our precinct and submit our votes to the Democrats of Texas). Well, by now the group is strongly divided between Obama/Clinton groups and that's pretty much how the group votes -- except me and this guy who thought the whole previous situation was CRAP and wasn't going to give this power to Clinton group -- and our vote decided the Obama group was in charge. While I was voting for this Obama girl to lead us, this old woman (see above) kept grabbing my arm and yelling at me that I didn't understand who I was voting for. I firmly told her I did, but she kept yelling that she was Obama not Clinton. I didn't care - what's fair is fair, and if the Clinton group was prepared to run the group in a dictoral process, it wasn't something I was interested in participating in.

So, we get past this situation -- me voting for the Obama girl, we fill out our paperwork and begin to select our delegates. There's 8 for Obama and 4 for Clinton from our precinct. I mention to the Clinton group that I would like to be a delegate, and they tell me that Obama supporters are not allowed to be their delegates. I assured them that I wasn't - I voted for Clinton - and they countered that I hadn't supported the Clinton group with the whole Leader/Secretary fiasco. So, they go to the guy that also voted for the Obama girl and asked if he wanted to be a delegate -- all the while I keep saying I want to be a delegate. Well, he says yes -- but after he leaves they realize he also voted for Obama girl and decided he wasn't trustworthy enough and was taken off the delegate role. So, out of the 10 people remaining during this mess -- him and I are the only ones excluded from being either a delegate or a back-up delegate. And, this may not seem odd unless you realize the remaining people that said they would be delegates were like, "Well, if noone else wants to be, I guess I will..." with me in front of them saying, "I want to be a delegate, can I be a delegate, I'm free then please, can I?"

After this, I was just pissed off. Between the mix of stupid old woman who would never vote Democrat other than to keep a black man out of the running and kept badgering me with her idiotic nonsense about why she liked Clinton -- because she represents more status quo and no change in government so she can keep more of her money; oh, and so she can get more handouts from the government because at her age (retirement) she wants every handout she can get (but she's still voting McCain in the fall) -- to the usurping of power by the Clinton crowd in an obvious attempt to get a leg up on the Obama crowd; I was just dusgusted with my vote. If my vote meant standing in a crowd of anti-democrats (anti-democracy) and bigots --- it's not a crowd I want to be in.

And now, I'm just fuming. I like Hillary -- but this experience is making me worry about her as a candidate and her past indescrecians (I can't spell and I'm not going to look it up). If this is how her candidacy is running ... I wanna change my vote!

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 30

2008-01-31T22:39:00.000-06:00

I've still been super sleepy all week, so I've been taking things easy. Plus, I have to do a presentation on Buddhism next Tuesday night so I'm trying to prepare for it. It's been awhile since I've given a presentation, so we'll see how I do. My classmates seem to have faith in my abilities, but I'm not sure if they're just being nice or not --- I do ask a lot of pointed questions in class, but I tend to already know the answer (not always), and I'm just asking to make a point. I don't think my professor this semester likes my questions. Ah well.
Well anyway, I did walk last night. I made it to 2 miles before I thought I was going to passout walking.

Walking: 2 / 35.5 / 46.5 mi Biking: 0 / 85 / 155 mi Swimming: 0 / 500 / 8000 yds

To Joe and Amanda - Live Long and Prosper

2008-01-13T00:40:00.000-06:00

Ok, so that was my toast to my brother and his wife at the lunch after their wedding Thursday, 1/10. The wedding itself was short, but Bob and I enjoyed lunch with my parents, her parents, Joe and Amanda afterwards at Olive Garden. ... and Bob and I managed to get her mother to toast the two of them by saying "May the force be with you." Hehe.

I would have pictures, but Bob and I forgot our camera so ....

They were officially married at 11:05 am 1/10/08 at the Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth. Amanda's parents, Joe's parents, Bob and I were in attendance.

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 12

2008-01-13T00:22:00.001-06:00

Walking: 1.5 / 17.5 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 55 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 11

2008-01-12T19:56:00.000-06:00

Walking: 1.5 / 16 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 50 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 9

2008-01-11T11:24:00.000-06:00

For the 9th:

Walking: 1.5 / 14.5 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 45 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 8

2008-01-11T11:23:00.000-06:00

For the 8th:

Walking: 1.5 / 13 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 0 / 40 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 7

2008-01-08T01:34:00.000-06:00

Today was perhaps my roughest day in the past month, not because of leg pain but because it was my first full day with Bobby back in Dallas. The first full day, ok month, is always rough as I get super bummed and lonely. And, as a rule, Mondays are always worse, because I feel like I've been torn in half and separated from my other (better) half. It is the reason I haven't swam with my team in awhile, because Mondays are so rough and Fridays I'm trying to get out of work early. So, while I didn't make it to swim practice today (partially because I went to the Post Office to apply for a passport -- something I was supposed to do over the holidays) after sulking and taking a nap I managed to drag myself to the gym - sniffles, cough and all. I probably should have attempted an allergy pill or something before going but I hate taking medicine so much ...

Walking: 2 / 11.5 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 40 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 6

2008-01-07T01:28:00.000-06:00

My progress for the 6th.

Walking: 2 / 9.5 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 35 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 5

2008-01-06T03:58:00.000-06:00

My progress for the 5th.

Walking: 1.5 / 7.5 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 30 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

I'm slowly isolating the cause of the pain in my feet, heel, and shins to fix them. I've had the shin pains before and was previously successful in correcting the cause by getting new shoes. The feet and heel pain, however is new to me and I thought I'd try out different ensoles to see if I could find something to solve the problem. I originally thought it was poor arch support, but the arch support ensoles only made the problem worse. So, today I tried out a heel support ensole with no arch support and that seems to help a lot. My heels are still a little sore, as are my feet, but they feel a lot better and not as strained as they did yesterday. These ensoles seem to work better, so I'm going to try glueing them into my shoes to see how that does. Hopefully that will do the trick and I won't need to buy new shoes until these are worn out -- it looks like I'm going to have to go to a specialty shop again for the next pair of shoes so I don't have to go through this again with the ensoles (that's how I solved the problem before).

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 4

2008-01-05T23:57:00.001-06:00

My progress for yesterday.

Walking: 1.5 / 6 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 25 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Jan Fitness Challenge: Day 4

2008-01-05T23:57:00.000-06:00

My progress for yesterday.

Walking: 1.5 / 6 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 25 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

January Fitness Challenge: Day 3

2008-01-04T11:55:00.000-06:00

My progress for yesterday.

Walking: 1.5 / 4.5 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 10 / 20 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

January Fitness Challenge: Day 2

2008-01-03T02:22:00.000-06:00

Walking: 1.5 / 3 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 10 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

January Fitness Challenge: Day 1

2008-01-01T12:53:00.000-06:00

Well, it's time to reset my fitness challenge. Last month I got off to a slow start but I managed to pull it out in the end by uping my daily walk distance. I had the swim rapped up pretty quickly and since I've got into a steady pace with the walk and bike, I thought I'd up them all for January.

This was last month:

Walking: Goal - 26.2 mi / Completed - 27.3 mi
Biking: Goal - 112 mi / Completed - 117 mi
Swimming: Goal - 4200 yds / Completed - 4500 yds

And here's my goal for this month:

Walking: Goal - 46.5 mi
Biking: Goal - 155 mi
Swimming: Goal - 8000 yds

And my current progress: Today / Total / Goal

Walking: 1.5 / 1.5 / 46.5 mi
Biking: 5 / 5 / 155 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 8000 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 31

2007-12-31T20:21:00.001-06:00

I thought I'd top it off.

Running/Walking: 1.0 mi / 27.3 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 5 mi / 117 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 30 take 2

2007-12-31T04:05:00.000-06:00

I couldn't go to bed 1.5 miles from the finish line, so off to the gym we went to finish it! Of course, I went a little extra for good measure. :)

Running/Walking: 1.6 mi / 26.3 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 0 mi / 112 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 30

2007-12-31T01:17:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 1.5 mi / 24.7 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 6 mi / 112 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 29

2007-12-30T03:40:00.001-06:00

Running/Walking: 1.7 mi / 23.2 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 6 mi / 106 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 28

2007-12-30T00:43:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 1 mi / 21.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 100 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 27

2007-12-28T01:21:00.001-06:00

Running/Walking: 3 mi / 20.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 0 mi / 90 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 24

2007-12-24T15:45:00.001-06:00

Running/Walking: 1 mi / 17.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 5 mi / 90 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2007-12-24T14:02:00.001-06:00

All

I hope this Holiday season has you all doing well and with family.

As many of you know, Bobby and I just celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary. A lot has changed in the past 5 years and we find ourselves treasuring this time of year, as it’s a break from the constant travel and distance.

Bobby is still living in Dallas and working on his PhD in Physics at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has had a lot of success in his studies over the past year and maintains his 4.0 in his PhD coursework. Additionally, he passed his qualifying exam with distinction and will begin working with the space sciences group this next year. Every weekend during the semester is a travel vacation for him or myself.

As for me, I’ve been having fun working with the ROV installations group at Oceaneering in Houston since the spring of this year.

Merry Christamas and Happy Holidays!

-Steph and Bob

Fitness Challenge: Day 23

2007-12-24T13:37:00.000-06:00

I didn't post yesterday, but I'm getting really close to my goal -- YEA!

Running/Walking: 1.5 mi / 16.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 0 mi / 85 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 21

2007-12-22T03:51:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 2 mi / 15 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 5 mi / 85 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day

2007-12-21T13:02:00.000-06:00

I was too tired to post this last night, so here it is.

Running/Walking: 1.5 mi / 13 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 5 mi / 80 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 19

2007-12-20T00:20:00.001-06:00

Today was a light day, since tomorrow is my last day to work this year and I'm trying to get everything finished before heading off.

Running/Walking: 2 mi / 11.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 0 mi / 75 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 18

2007-12-19T01:00:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 1.5 mi / 11.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 75 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 17

2007-12-17T21:29:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 1.5 mi / 10 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 0 mi / 65 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 500 / 4500 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 16

2007-12-16T21:54:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 1.5 mi / 8.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 65 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 4000 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 15

2007-12-16T12:00:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 1 mi / 7 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 0 mi / 55 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 1000 / 4000 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 14

2007-12-15T01:18:00.000-06:00

This is proving far more challenging than I initially thought. Between trying to spend extra time with my husband while he's home for the holidays and trying to finish all my projects at work before I take off for the holidays, my progress has been rather lackluster.

I am getting somewhere though. Here's my progress today:

Running/Walking: 1.5 mi / 6 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 55 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 3000 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 9

2007-12-10T01:43:00.000-06:00

After falling off the bandwagon for a few days after my husband returned home from school I managed to push it a little further today to get back on track. With my husband's loving push, I met my fitness goals for the day!

Running/Walking: 2 mi / 4.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 45 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 1000 / 3000 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 5

2007-12-06T01:06:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 0.5 mi / 2.5 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 5 mi / 35 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 2000 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 4

2007-12-05T01:06:00.000-06:00

Running/Walking: 1 mi / 2 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 30 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 2000 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 3

2007-12-04T01:11:00.000-06:00

I was hoping to get in a walk/run this evening, but the swim was enough to knock me out -- that and work! :)

Running/Walking: 0 mi / 1 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 0 mi / 20 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 2000 / 2000 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 2

2007-12-03T01:13:00.000-06:00

So far I'm off to a good start. Of course, it is the weekend.

Running/Walking: 0.5 mi / 1 mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 20 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 4200 yds

Fitness Challenge: Day 1

2007-12-01T14:20:00.000-06:00

I've been looking for something to help me focus on doing something about my fatty fatness and I saw this fitness challenge online and thought I'd give it a try.

The Ironman Triathlon Fitness Challenge for December has begun! All skill levels (and distances) welcome. You do not have to aspire to be an Ironman to join this challenge. You may join at any time and adjust your goals to fit how much of the month is left. (We'll be back next month, too.)

The rules are simple:

Between December 1-31, you must complete:

2.4m of swimming (4200 yds)
112m of biking (any bike indoors or out will do)
26.2m of running/walking/elliptical

Add up your distances and post them to the daily thread using the following format:

Earned Today (or most recently) / Earned to Date / Goal for Month

If you do a little bit at a time it is totally manageable.

Will you reach the finish line by the end of the month? Good luck

I started today so here's where I stand:

Running/Walking: 0.5mi / 0.5mi / 26.2 mi
Biking: 10 mi / 10 mi / 112 mi
Swimming: 0 / 0 / 4200 yds

Star Wars Fan Days

2007-10-25T23:30:00.000-05:00

Bob and Peter Mayhew

Rebel

Darth Helmet

Dolly Death Star and the Pimpin Stormtrooper

Men Costume Winners

Women Costume Winners

Bob's Qualifier

2007-09-24T10:57:00.000-05:00

The official email says:

Congratulations, you have passed the Qualifying Exam with distinction.

YEA for BOB!

For those that do not know, this means that Bob is officially in the PhD program at UTD and that he is sufficiently prepared to obtain a PhD. Of course, he still needs to pick a dissertation topic, research and defend his topic, but he's another step closer to finishing! YEA!

Bob's Stalker

2007-08-22T15:35:00.000-05:00

.... Yup, Bob has a stalker. Appartently someone called his apartment complex this afternoon trying to get information on his apartment number out of them. They were so concerned about this call that they called Bob to inform him and to see if he needed to move or change his information (because clearly the person that called was a stalker).

Oh ... did I forget to mention that I called Bob's apartment complex this afternoon, explained that I was on the lease but I don't live there and that all I needed was the address and who the local cable service provider was, so that I could look into ordering cable for Bob? ... ya know, because that's what wives do when they know their husband needs to devote all their spare time to studying and not fiddling with pidly tasks such as calling the cable company.

Transformers Rock!

2007-07-04T03:45:00.000-05:00

After working all weekend, driving back to Houston at 5 in the morning Monday, and working half a day before going home to take a nap - Bob and I managed to slip into a midnight showing of the new Transformers movie.

I was mostly just tagging along as this was Bob's movie and I was there for him. Not that I don't like Transformers, but I wasn't really expecting much and while I had watched Transformers as a kid (and seen some since then since we have the DVD's) and had an Optimus Prime - I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan.

So, I was mostly just there. Interested, yes, but not aching to go.

We got to the theater just in time for "Spider-pig, Spider-pig..." and the movie started soon afterwards. Of course, we saw Decepticons first, but I loved how they transistioned BumbleBee from a Volkswagon Bug to a 70's model Chevy Camaro and then to the new Concept Chevy Camaro. I instantly feel in love with BumbleBee.

Overall, I thought the movie was great! So wonderful, that I convinced Bob we needed to go see it again today. Then we went straight to the store and bought an Optimus Prime and ordered a BumbleBee. I know, we're bad - but I loved this movie! :)

My future job

2007-06-24T15:01:00.000-05:00

More Fun Quizzes at QuizPox.com

Can't hide my geek

2007-06-09T01:42:00.000-05:00

I noticed 2 of my coworkers wearing red shirts today, and commented how cute they looked together. Of course they started droning on and on about how cool red shirts where, to which I said, red shirts always die.

They stared at me for a minute like I'd lost my mind and I said, "Come on, you know, Original Series Star Trek - the red shirts always die."

... I fear I've said too much.

Weird Al in McKinney July 14th

2007-06-06T09:39:00.000-05:00

I hadn't been paying attention for awhile, but I was procrastinating work (and trying to think of a sweet birthday gift for Bob) and I noticed Weird Al was going to be in McKinney July 14th. If only Bob weren't in Dallas, we'd have gotten last minute tickets to the show in Houston tonight.... Damn Damn.

Obviously, I've found Bob's birthday present, but we're hoping to get a group together to go - any takers?

YEA - Happy Birthday Bob! :)

Long Time

2007-05-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

I know it's been awhile, but I thought I'd update my blog just in case anyone is still reading.

Things have been relatively uneventful these past few months, well, if you consider changing jobs and moving to Houston uneventful. Most everyone knew I was pretty unhappy at my previous job. So after moaning and groaning about it for awhile, I decided it was time to take a chance and see what else I could do.

I considered going back to school for awhile, but my disdain for debt and financial insecurity (and a gentle prod from a fellow coworker who was also quitting) led me to consider searching for something more appealing in Houston. About the same time I was contacted by a recruiter in Houston, so I took advantage of his services and was within weeks interviewing for a position in Houston. I contacted a view other people, but I knew what I was looking for and when it was offered right away, I took it. Of course, by right away I mean 2 weeks after I interviewed while I was on vacation in Dallas - which means I was SUPER chipper to return to work the following Monday and announce my 2 weeks. Best come back from a vacation, ever.

Then, after much chaos that included identifying references, doing a lot of paperwork, and getting a drug test (which I feared I would fail - not because I do drugs, but because I was in the vicinity of a pot smoker for approximately 2 seconds at All Con the previous weekend and because I'm paranoid) I found myself suddenly in Houston. I left Austin on a Friday and was in Houston sleeping on a mat on the floor the following Monday. Hindsight it was almost too quick, but because Bob and I had a scheduled vacation in May - I thought I'd give them a full month prior to taking off.

That was April, and now we're approaching the end of May. That is obviously our biggest news.

In other news, Bob was able to maintain a 4.0 for a second semester. With all the coursework he's completed already this year, and credits that should transfer from A&M after he's completed all the 2nd year coursework (only 1 more left) he'll soon have 50 credit hours towards his PhD. That means he has at least 2 more years till he's done. We'll know for sure how much time he has left after he's taken his qualifier and presented his research topic to his committee. I can hardly wait, being away from each other is always difficult.

Then there was our vacation. While we've had short trips for weekend camping, trips to see family, and such, this was our first real vacation in years. Naturally, we went to Disney World, the location where we planned to go on our honeymoon had we not been sick and had the time and money after we got married. Surprisingly, a lot had changed since Bob proposed to me there in 2000. There are a lot of new rides, a lot of new shows, and even more ways a parent could spend money on their children. We were there for a week, the weather was really nice, and for the majority of the trip the park was pretty quiet for Disney World. Perhaps even more surprising was the infrequency of fussy, whiny kids. Having worked in the parks in 1999, I knew there was a high frequency of fussy children and parents in Disney World, but this was the first time I'd been where the majority of the parents AND kids were pleasant and adorable to watch. Picture little princesses gleefully gliding through the parks, kids skipping and singing, and still more passed out in their strollers as their parents wheeled them back to their beds - so cute. Of course, perhaps the difference was really us because as we age we get more and more interested in having our own, so we look at other kids a bit differently.

Well, that's where we are now.

My Disney Vacation

2007-05-14T15:46:00.000-05:00

It took 4 and 1/2 years but Bob and I finally took our long awaited honeymoon in Walt Disney World. Our flight out of Dallas last Sunday was uneventful and we were lounging pool side in Orlando by early afternoon as we waited for a visit from Bob's sister and brother in law.

After a brief monsoon that soaked our guests, we ventured into Magic Kingdom to enjoy our vacation and soak our guests a second time on my favorite ride, Splash Mountain. We rode all our favorites and then headed back to the hotel to get some shut eye (and because Bob's sister and brother in law needed to get home because they had to work the next day).

During our trip we managed to make it to all the major parks and Disney Interactive Quest. We didn't make it to any of the water parks nor the Disney Sports areas, but overall I felt the trip was relaxing and we had a great time watching the excited little kids prance around the park.

Surprisingly a lot had changed since our last trip to Disney World 7 years ago when Bob proposed. There are a lot of new rides in all the parks, some of our old favorites were modified, and they have a new make over to turn little girls into Princesses and little boys into Pirates. We saw little Princesses all dolled up all over the parks, and they looked so cute and were so happy that they brought a smile to our faces. Not to mention the little kids that still had energy to run around the parks in the middle of the night (picture a little girl, maybe 3 or 4, running through Epcot just as happy as could be .... in the middle of the night - so very cute).

Overall it was a great trip and I was super sad to leave - not just because I would be leaving the happiest place on earth (and one of my favorite places) but because it meant I was going to have to come back to Houston by myself. Can't even begin to explain how much I miss Bob and how much I wish we had a couple more weeks in Disney World .... maybe next year. :)

Lions, tigers, and BlackBerries - oh my!

2007-04-17T00:47:00.000-05:00

... some people just can not be disconnected from their email. I've now joined the ranks of those that are always connected. My new toy - email everywhere I go. :)

Of course it's not all fun and games. The thing is a bit reminscent of all that is unholy in the world, and other than the fear of getting constant communications from the wrong people I have hope that this is a sign that things are coming together for me - finally a glimmer of hope.

It's not like I get that much email anymore anyway, but Bob will always be able to get me and that's gotta count for something - as long as I remember to take it with me that is.

... then when Jesus prayed to God, was he speaking to himself?

2007-04-06T15:48:00.000-05:00

Obviously, I've been reading a lot this week. Mostly swimming material I obtained from my old swim coaches in Austin, but after finishing those I moved on to "Lost Christianities" by Bart Ehrman, which is where the subject line quote comes from. I'm about a third of the way through the book and this line cracked me up. Jesus talking to himself!

Other than reading, things have been pretty slow this week. Bob and I finally got around to purchasing a washer and dryer, the energy efficient front loading kind. Now I've just got to wait till I can liquidate my old retirement fund so I can pay for it!

Happy Holidays :)

2006-12-15T23:32:00.000-06:00

A picture speaks a thousand words

2006-11-09T11:58:00.000-06:00

How white and nerdy are you?

2006-10-07T11:50:00.000-05:00

How White and Nerdy Are You?

Forgiveness

2006-10-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

Amongst all the news concerning the Amish children, I found this gem over at the Christian Science Monitor (here).

While Roberts is now gone, the Amish example of forgiveness is a reminder that real safety lies less in acting out of fear to prevent violence and more on qualities such as forgiveness that better connect people. Such compassion reduces fears and reaches those prone to violence.

Bob in Dallas

2006-08-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

Bob has been in Dallas for about a week now (minus the weekend) and so far things are going well. We were really fortunate that between the two of us we had the majority of the books that he needed for his classes. I'm still amazed that he's using the same Materials Science book that I used at A&M, and super glad I kept it!

Of course the being away from each other isn't fun, but we both know how much better off financially we'll be if I keep my job here in Austin. In fact, we're getting so close to be debt free that I can almost taste it! I see the light at the end of the tunnel and having been through the stress of a life in debt I feel as though I never want to reenter that awful, hellish world. Of course, part of the hellishness of the debt world is my own doing (in addition to it being my debt, plus Bob's) in that vacation money is diverted to paying stuff off, but I hope that in the end it will have been worth the pain of not visiting Disney World in 5 years.

The kitties and bird all miss Bob and it took a bug being in the back room for them to decide they should come hang out with me rather than sitting at the front door waiting for Bob to come home, well that and me coming to get them for cuddle sessions.

In other news, work is going good. I’ve been filling out a lot of grant applications. Thus far we’ve been really successful, with 12 of the original 16 making it through the first phase. We’re also supposed to be doing some construction projects later this year, so hopefully I’ll be down on the coast for the construction. I’m really looking forward to our project constructing bird habitat in West Galveston Bay. My other work related news is that I have eight more months to study for the Professional Engineer's exam. I'm not looking forward to it, but then again, who would look forward to an 8 hour exam? In the meantime, I'll be busy cataloging the last 5 years of my professional life for the licensing board to scrutinize, completing the endless amount of paperwork and trying to study. Study, must study.

Ashita ga aru sa

2006-07-16T13:09:00.000-05:00

There's always tomorrow.

Thanks to the Jelly Pinched Wolf and Kashi, Bob and I were recently introduced to this song. After hearing the song, we looked around online for a translation and came across the following music video on YouTube.

There's an English translation at the bottom of the screen - the video just made us love the song even more!

I get mad, I get mad, I GET MAD!

2006-06-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

For years I've been listening to Bob do this Sesame Street skit about a goat that "gets mad!" I've always loved his rendition, and finally found the skit online at YouTube.

Enjoy: Sesame Street - I get mad!

Marie Parr Wangler (Bob's grandmother)

2006-06-08T08:01:00.000-05:00

Marie Parr Wangler, 84, passed away Monday, June 5, 2006, at a local nursing home.

Funeral Mass: 11 a.m. Friday at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church. Burial: Mount Olivet Cemetery. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Greenwood Funeral Home, with rosary at 7 p.m. in Greenwood Garden Chapel.

Marie was born July 12, 1921, in Tarrant County, in the area now known as Haltom City, to Lucia Mais and Arthur N. Parr Sr. She was a homemaker and a longtime resident of Haltom City.

Marie was preceded in death by her husband, Ervin J. Wangler; brothers, Charles E. Parr and Arthur N. Parr Jr.; and sister, Helen Moore.

Survivors: Sons, Michael Ervin Wangler and wife, Joan, of Washington, D.C., Daniel J. Wangler and wife, Joann, of Allen and Jim Wangler and wife, Jacqui, of Cedar Hill; daughters, Kay Haaser and husband, Bob, of Irving, Beverly Gordon and husband, Mark, of Lenexa, Kan., and Barbara Steward and husband, Kenneth, of Arlington; 11 grandchildren; sisters, Margaret Price and husband, Bill, and Patricia Burk, both of Hurst; brother, Raymond Parr and wife, Pauline, of Richland Hills; and sisters-in-law, Theresa Matzer of Richland Hills, Jenny Parr of Arlington and Valerie Parr of Haltom City.
Copied from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram 6/8/2006.

Happy Birthday BOB!

2006-06-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to my Bobby
Happy Birthday to you!

I know, I'm a couple hours early. :)

Trip to South Dakota

2006-05-31T22:20:00.000-05:00

Bob and I took a trip up to South Dakota for my sister's high school graduation. I posted some of the pictures over at sname. Since all us girls were together I took a shot of my 3 sisters, below.

We took a quick trip to Mt. Rushmore, walked around the trail, simulated blowing up the mountain, fun stuff.

Update

2006-05-05T13:06:00.000-05:00

I've slowly been updating my website so that :

The pages are coded in CSS style sheets,

My photo album contains the story of the photos and not just pictures, and

I'm moving the destination photos to www.sname.com and keeping family pictures on nautmile.com.

Thus far I've moved over My Construction Project and My Goonie Adventure and added Northern California.

Other than updating the website, not much going on down here. We've had a couple monster storms that have sent us running for buckets to keep from soaking the carpet. Bob is doing well at Dell and looking forward to starting classes this fall. I may have another construction project later this year, but it depends on how quickly I can get this job permitted. My record is 2 weeks, but I cheated by having a Congressman write to the Corps to speed up the project.

I will need to start studying for the Professional Engineers exam later this year, as I plan to take it next April. I could take it later this year, but after witnessing what a colleague went through prior to taking his, I'd prefer more time to study for it. Especially considering there it no Coastal Engineering PE exam, so we have to learn some environmental engineering to take the test, an 8 hour exam.

In the meantime, I'm just swimmning and preparing to go up to South Dakota for my sister's high school graduation (bio-father's daughter with new wife). Bob and I will spend a little extra time to go see Mt. Rushmore and possibly Crazy Horse, so it should be fun.

Army on Hold

2006-04-03T15:51:00.000-05:00

My brother's entry into the Army has been temporarily postponed.

While he was pretty bummed over the weekend, the rest of the family saw it as a blessing in disguise, particularly because my dad was admitted into the hospital last Tuesday due to chest pains and by Thursday morning the doctors were saying his chance of survival was 50-50. Envision family freak out.

My understanding of the situation with my dad is a little hazy, but his doctor said that it appeared that the bypass on one of the arteries was in the wrong location and that to correct it they'd have to go back in. In addition to that, he had 3 other arteries that were clogged. The method the cardiologist wanted to use was pretty risky, since my dad has already had open heart surgery and is held together with wires and all, so my parents got a second opinion from the surgeon who suggested that the procedure to get to his heart would be too risky and to use stents rather than a bypass.

The doctors got together and concluded that the surgeons plan was safest and the cardiologist was successful at placing stents in 2 of the 4 arteries. Afterwards, he told us that the damage was likely already done to the heart from lack of blood from the arteries he could not fix and that the only other option was to try the bypass, which he did not think we should do now.

That was last Friday and by Sunday my dad was able to go home.

After spending another weekend in the hospital I can see why Joe is interested in becoming a medic, HEB has some really great nurses. Of course, he's currently talking about going to medic school and holding off on nursing school for a couple years because he's really interested in getting out of Texas. Personally, I'd prefer him to get his RN first, then travel but I'm a school first play later kind of gal and I know he's going to do what he wants regardless and seems unconcerned about the prospect of going to Iraq, and in his words, "... would rather die in Iraq than spend the rest of his life as a pizza delivery man...."

Of course, I know going to war is the chance you take when you join the military, it's part of the job, but as his sister, I'd much rather have him in a military hospital compared to the frontline in Iraq. Yea, I'm selfish, I don't care. I just know I had to look at my dad's brothers, a medic in the Marines, picture on the mantel my entire childhood and I'd prefer my brother not suffer the same fate.

Joining the Army

2006-03-29T14:12:00.000-06:00

After months of intense exercise/starvation, my brother is scheduled to swear into the U.S. Army tomorrow morning in Dallas. If everything goes according to plan and his weight is under the limit, as his recruiter claims it is, he is scheduled to ship off to Fort Jackson, South Carolina next Tuesday.

I’m kind of at a loss for words on what to say concerning him joining the military. Emotionally I feel as though I’ve been put through a ringer. Not because I disapprove of military service, because I was set to join the military, had taken the ASVAB and was regularly talking to a recruiter until I got accepted to A&M, well, that and I let a stupid boy get in the way of my plans, but because he’s my little brother and I worry about him. My feelings on the war in Iraq aside, the thing I fear the most is losing him. I couldn’t imagine living the rest of my life without one of my best friends around, because even though he’s been a huge source of frustration for me in recent the past, he makes my world a brighter place just by being in it. Not to mention how much I’d miss the phone calls just to tell me corny jokes.

My recent experience has made be realize how true "Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to suffering" is, because I quickly traversed that path emotionally. It took him telling me that his AIT training would be in San Antonio and that he may take advantage of the additional training programs the Army has for me to simmer down and release some of the tension that had built up in my back and shoulders.

If you take out my fear for his well being and fear of losing him, I’m immensely proud of him. He’s lost so much weight, more than 30 lbs in 2-3 months that I’m just blown away by his determination and drive. Of course, I always knew he had it in him and told him so repeatedly, but for so long he seemed hesitant and unsure what to do with his life that this "NEW JOE" just knocks me back a bit where I just stare at him in wonder.

Plus, he couldn’t have picked a more admirable career to pursue in the military than the one he did. After Basic is over, he’s scheduled to begin classes at the medical training facility in Fort Sam Houston. Not only will he be close, but he’ll be pursuing the career that will give him better opportunities when he leaves the service than what most of the college graduates I know had when they graduated. His first step is to get Medic training and afterwards he plans to enter into either the RN or Physicians Assistant program. Of course, even if he stops after medic training it would still qualify him to be a paramedic, where his future career potential will be high.

I still worry about him and I hope we still have time to hang out but most of all, I want him to know how proud I am of him and that I wish him the best as he heads to Dallas to swear in tomorrow morning and as he heads to South Carolina for basic next week.

Interesting news item

2006-03-17T14:47:00.000-06:00

"Pray-as-you-go"
Excerpt:

From the beginning of this month, the British Jesuits have been offering daily prayer sessions complete with soothing spiritual music and Bible readings as free downloads from the internet.

Stressed commuters can then listen on their iPods, mobile phones or other MP3 players on their way to or from work, college or school.

The initiative was due to end at Easter, but has proved so successful in Britain and abroad that the Jesuits are now expected to extend it well beyond the season of Lent.

Congratulations Citizen Bob!

2006-03-09T12:39:00.000-06:00

We just got word that Citizen Bob was accepted to the Physics Ph.D. program at the University of Texas at Dallas. The secretary called to tell him this afternoon and told him he should get the official paper work in a week or two. He will be starting there this fall.

Yea for BOB! :)

Willie Nelson

2006-03-01T14:10:00.000-06:00

Latest song from Willie Nelson:
Secret Cowboys

Jesus Survives

2006-02-24T20:42:00.000-06:00

Linky

Which Sci-Fi crew would you best fit in?

2006-02-15T13:31:00.000-06:00

Found this over at Fiat Lux!

You scored as Enterprise D (Star Trek). You have high ideals and know in your heart that humanity will continue to evolve in a better people. No matter what may happen, you have faith in human beings. A rare quality. Now if only the Borg would quit assimilating people.

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? created with QuizFarm.com

Georgie Porgie

2006-02-15T13:28:00.000-06:00

Georgie Porgie puddin pie
Kissed the girls and made them high
When the boys came out to play
Georgies Porgie turned them gay.

HSP IV

2006-02-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

My dad went back into the hospital Monday morning, it was supposed to happen Friday, but North Hills Hospital is incapable of performing the simplest of tasks without making it complicated.

Monday morning, he went in to have surgery on his hernia and the aneurysm in his upper right leg. The surgery went well. It took a little while for his pulse to return to his leg, but it did and he warmed back up and is now in the Recovery Center over at HEB.

Other than the slow return of his pulse to his leg and a nurse giving him morphine (to which my mom said, "You realize he's allergic" and a mad dash ensued) his only other episode happened this morning when his retard of a nurse stopped paying attention to his blood sugar and he passed out. My brother had just been in to see him and he said that my dad looked totally out of it and was not able to talk or anything. Just minutes after Joe left he passed out and his nurse was suddenly very interested in what was going on with him.

Hopefully they'll get a better nurse on him this afternoon and he'll be ok to go home Thursday or Friday.

Update: I found out last night my dad's blood sugar level had dropped to 18 mg/DL (normal is around 100). After my mom found out what happened, she called up my dad's nurse and gave his nurse a ear full. :) I love my mom. :) She started yelling at them telling her that my dad needs to be on a potassium drip since he won't eat while in the hospital. Of course, it took the doctor telling the nurse to put him on the drip before he did it, but my mom had a moment of "I told you so" when she found out that the hospital put him on the drip.

Of course, my mom gets over things pretty quick and by last night she was sharing kitty pictures with the nurse. As long as she's doing her job and making sure my dad's ok, my mom is cool.

Hospital Suck Part 3

2005-12-29T19:09:00.000-06:00

2005 decided it would like to end on a crappy note and sent my dad packing to the hospital the day after Christmas. I knew Christmas Eve that he would be making a trip to the ER, but not wanting to be in the hospital Christmas day he decided he'd fake (in my opinion) feeling better until the holiday had passed.

So Monday, my brother, husband and I took my dad to the ER. Close to 2 hours later he was given a room. Unfortunately he had to share his room (I'm not really sure whether this is a good or bad thing, because if you're super serious, from what I saw, you have a room to yourself). My brother and I were the only two allowed back in the room with my dad, so Bob was lucky to evade the discussion on why the girl sharing the room with my dad was there*. Of course, even while we had to put up with her incessant talking we were slightly amused with making up theories on why she has had so many "domestic altercations" with men** and with my dad mouthing "Shut up."

After another hour or two, a doctor came in to check on my dad and sent him out for a couple xrays (he had pain in the area near his gall bladder). Several xrays, pokes and prodes later they determined that my dad had diverticulitis and was admitted to the hospital (it may have happened in reverse, my memory fails me).

Well, after being in the hospital all week, he was finally released this evening (hopefully his dog didn't go completely insane during his absense; she gets depressed when he's not around).

While I hate hanging out at the hospital, I feel as though I've learned a lot from these "adventures" this past year. The two biggest things I've learned:

Patience; I was getting a bit crazy with wanting a house and babies now and after spending an extended time with my sister and her kids and time in the hospital I realized how horrible of a parent I would be right now. Bob and I are so unstable right now. We don't know where Bob will be accepted to grad school, we still owe 58% of what we owed when I graduated, I have career issues... we're just not in a good stable place yet.

Moderation good, exclusion bad; A least in part (I'm no doctor) diverticulitis is caused by a poor diet; in particular, the exclusion of fiber from your diet. And while I knew moderation was better than exclusion, seeing the effects of exclusion makes it clear how important a balanced diet is (This doesn't include smoking, where exclusion is good).

* She had a "domestic altercation" with her ex-boyfriend and depending on which version of the story you believe, the one she told when she first arrived at the hospital or the one she told the cop 30 minutes later; either her ex, while they were fighting, slammed her against the car roof, or she slammed into the ceiling while trying to get away from him while hitting him with her heel.

** Her ex-husband broke her jaw about a year ago.

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-06T23:43:00.000-06:00

Religion

2005-11-06T22:53:00.000-06:00

I found this survey online that predicts your religion, Belief-o-Matic

Here are my results (unfortunately, since my response was not in the choices that means I'm a Neo-Pagan, but that's ok - I've been called worse):

1. Neo-Pagan (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
3. Liberal Quakers (92%)
4. New Age (88%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (87%)
6. Secular Humanism (85%)
7. Scientology (85%)
8. New Thought (81%)
9. Mahayana Buddhism (80%)
10. Theravada Buddhism (78%)
11. Reform Judaism (74%)
12. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (71%)
13. Nontheist (68%)
14. Taoism (61%)
15. Bahá'í Faith (60%)
16. Jainism (53%)
17. Orthodox Quaker (53%)
18. Islam (50%)
19. Orthodox Judaism (50%)
20. Sikhism (47%)
21. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (46%)
22. Hinduism (42%)
23. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (35%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (35%)
25. Roman Catholic (35%)
26. Jehovah's Witness (21%)
27. Seventh Day Adventist (20%)

Hospital Suck Part 2

2005-10-24T08:45:00.000-05:00

My dad made it out of the hospital Sunday afternoon and is now home snuggling with his dog.

The bypass went really well and other than a seriously negative reaction to morphine and ambien he did super. They knocked him out Thursday afternoon since he hadn't been sleeping and had gotten into a disoriented rage due to the medicine and slept till Friday afternoon when he woke up to be his cheerful self, sort of, he thought his family had been a dream and when he realized we were real he was overcome with emotion.

All he needs to do is keep from smoking, eat healthier, exercise and keep healing. Now if only we can convince my mom that she should quit smoking and maybe I won't have to go through something like this again...

Hospitals Suck

2005-10-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

I don't like much about hospitals or doctors, but I'm super thankful they're there when you need 'em.

My dad has been in the hospital for more than a week now because while trying to get a prescription refilled 2 weeks ago his doctor discovered he'd had a minor heart attack and had damage to his heart to prove it. I'm still not sure what made is doctor perform the EKG, because he wasn't scheduled for one and it was kind of a random thing to do, but luckily he did and they discovered that my dads arteries leading to his heart were 95-100% blocked, the arteries leading to his kidneys were 95% block, and he had an aneurysm in his leg. They discovered all this last Monday and he was admitted to the hospital to monitor him because he was deemed an excellent case for suddenly dying due to a blood clot. He quit smoking overnight.

On Wednesday he had surgery on the arteries leading to his kidneys to put stents in. During the surgery he had a blood clot in the second artery leading to his left kidney and they had to terminate the surgery after they completed placing the stent for fear he would have another clot. They completed placing the stents on Friday and he went in for the quad-bypass yesterday (of course after having a visit with his puppy outside the hospital on Sunday).

Luckily, it went really well and he was able to talk a little to us last night. He says some really weird stuff, but I prefer him squirming and hurting over not being here at all. They say he probably won't need to take as much blood pressure medicine since his arteries are clear and that maybe for the first time in years we'll be able to go on our evening walk the night before Christmas (something he hasn't been able to do in a couple years).

So, he's doing a little better now. His surgeries are over (except the surgery on his leg for the aneurysm) and they gave him a sleeping pill so he could finally get his rest up. With luck he'll be out of the ICU this weekend and will be up walking around and causing hell like normal.

Bobby pictures

2005-10-07T18:18:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to scanning and posting some pictures I have of Bob from his photo album. I posted them under my photo album page and will eventually move them to my family tree if I ever get around to posting that.

For now, the pictures are here.

Of course, this one is my favorite. :)

Aggie Preparation for Hurricane Rita

2005-09-28T17:45:00.000-05:00

Texas A&M bookstore located on the "Aggie" north side of campus.

What's up with them buoys?

2005-09-25T00:37:00.000-05:00

I've spent a lot of time over the past couple days watching the buoys and tide gauges along the Texas and Louisiana coast to get an idea of what our project sites would be experiencing during Hurricane Rita. Unfortunately, my buoy watching experience was seriously disappointing - either something is wrong with them or my idiotic conspiracy is true!

As a brief explanation, the Saffir-Simpson hurricane classification is as follows (note: wind speed refers to sustained wind speed):

Based on a review of the NOAA data stations (1. NOAA Tides Online, 2. National Data Buoy Center, 3. National Hurricane Center), the highest wind speeds (gust - not sustained wind) recorded at the land station near Sabine Pass was 99mph with a maximum sustained wind speed of 82mph (2). The offshore buoy (42001) that had the lowest air pressure (close to 27in - which suggests the Hurricane passed directly over it) was even more disappointing with a measured wave height less than 35 ft and wind speeds near 50mph (reported during the storm) (2). While these two values correspond (to each other) based on wind/wave analysis (calculations that predicted the fully developed wave height based on a sustained wind speed) - they differ drastically when compared to the wind speeds reported by the National Weather Service and what the expected wind speed should have been based on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. I obtained a final final plot from buoy 42001 which shows (I'm guessing) information not posted in the Hurricane Rita update windows that shows the maximum wind speed near 90mph (created after the storm) (2).

Even the storm surge was less than that predicted for a stronger storm, ranging between 2-5ft along the LA and TX coasts (1).

While not a big deal to the general public, this discrepancy is cause for concern among coastal and ocean engineers as buoys and near shore data stations are the source of historical wind conditions that are used to create statistics that give us an idea what the probability is for a storm to occur during a projects lifetime. Not having correct wind conditions could distort the statistics and result in analysis that underpredicts the wind speeds for a particular area and projects that are under designed.

And, while I'm glad Rita didn't come ashore as a stronger storm, I'm disappointed that the tide gauges, buoys and other stations did not record better data - blah!, I wanted to watch it come ashore numerically!

Of course, for those interested in an alternative explanation Bob and I (because we obviously have nothing better to do) created a great theory that would explain why the buoys didn't record higher winds, waves or surges - and true to form it involves a government conspiracy...

Katrina, Andrew

2005-09-03T16:49:00.000-05:00

For my sister, I've written a brief summary of the difference between Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

As shown in Figure 1, Hurricane Andrew made landfall in south central Louisana while Hurricane Andrew made landfall just east of New Orleans, shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1: Path of Hurricane Andrew, 1992

Figure 2: Path of Hurricane Katrina, 2005

A close up of New Orleans, shows a better picture of what the differences are, shown in Figures 3.

Figure 3: New Orleans

The most notable difference between the two is the location where landfall was made. Hurricane Andrew storm passed to the west of New Orleans and would have reduced in strength prior to hitting New Orleans. To simplify the analysis of the 2 storms, I'll neglect this and assume that Andrew passed New Orleans at the same strength it made landfall at.

To further simplify the analysis, I will just refer to wind direction and setup. There are of course other factors that amplified the differences between the two storms, such as pressure, size of the hurricanes, the rivers/channels that flow through New Orleans, and then there's wave dyanmics, and other coastal processes, but wind provides the simpliest explanation.

Hurricanes rotate in a counter clockwise direction. For a storm that passes to the west of New Orleans, the wind direction would have been to the north and east. This is important because the wind would have pushed water away from New Orleans rather than directly at it. In addition to waves, the wind would create a buildup along the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, called setup. This is what happened during Hurricane Andrew.

Hurricanes that pass to the east of New Orleans would have had a wind direction to the west and south. This would have pushed water directly onto the levees protecting New Orleans, like Katrina did. The water build up would have run along the levee, down channels, sort of probbing for weak spots.

Now, from my sources through work, the levees were built to withstand a category 3 hurricane, and Katrina was on the upper tolerance of the levees design. Tack on that sections of the levee had sunken by four feet (much of LA is sinking and losing more than an acre of wetland every 30 minutes that protect LA from storms and the gulf, but that's a whole different story.

If you're interested I recommend reading Bayou Farewell by Mike Tidwell. I also have some other Coastal studies at work) and were not repaired due to budget cuts and other constraints, its easy to see how such a disaster occured.