Dudester's Blog

Nobody

Well, the voodoo practicioners of the BCS system have left us with no clear winner of the bowl season, again. The BCS system was supposed to remove all doubt as to who won out the bowl season and here we are the day after the championship was declared with a very tarnished victor.

The BCS rankings pit Oklahoma against Florida for the championhip game. Oklahoma wasn't just ranked number one, their quarterback was the Heisman Trophy winner. The Heisman trophy is supposd to go to the best player in the nation. Last night in the championship, Sam Bradford didn't look like the best player at all. He couldn't sustain anything and the Florida defense outplayed him at every turn. Tim Teabow, the Florida Quarterback, on the other hand, not only looked like he was ready to lead a professional team, but that his pro team would be a playoff contender. The end result was Florida beating Oklahoma 24-14. Florida wasn't the only convincing win in the BCS system.

Utah capped off an undefeated season by thumping much heralded Alabama. Utah comes from the very much spat upon Mountain West Conference. Utah was only allowed into a BCS game grudgingly, having played it's non conference games against teams from highly regarded conferences, and finishing undefeated. Utah was included as a joke, as fodder for Alabama to chew up. Alabama comes from the Southeast Conference. Year in, and year out, the writers have the Southeast Conference winner as the number one or two pick in the country. The Southeast Conference, according to shoe licking sports writers, is the premier conference in the country. After Utah completely dominated Alabama, it appeared that the Sotheast Conference team wasn't all that mighty, or impressive.

USC also has a very valid claim at the National Championship.  USC was only included in the BCS, having won the PAC Ten Conference. This year the PAC Ten Conference wasn't highly regarded, and USC regarded only as a paper tiger. A funny thing happened on the way to the Rose Bowl however, the PAC Ten won all five of it's bowl games. No other conference can claim a record like that, matter of fact, the Southeast Conference was 1-4 in it's bowl games. Fancy that. USC completely shut out eight of it's opponents, not allowing one point from them.

USC dominated Penn State in the Rose Bowl from the opening kickoff. Penn State, led by legendary coach Joe Paterno, looked like they weren't ready to play. USC dominated both sides of the game, offense and defense. USC looked like a national championship contender, but now we'll never find out.

The BCS system looks a lot like the results of World War One. WW1 was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but the aftermath was actually more troublesome than the factors that led to the war itself. Nothing was resolved by the war, and it's end only sowed the seeds that led to World War Two. The BCS system, again this year, left a declared winner, but with three teams with a very valid claim to the championship. When are we ever going to have a playoff and outright winner? When will the powers that be ever listen? I guess we'll never find out.

Ever had one of those really funny Christmas days, or something funny that happened on Christmas?

I got involved very early on with the Volunteer Fire Department. I was awoken early one Christmas morning by an alarm call. We responded to the location-a house fire. It was a single story house, raised foundation, with a false ceiling.

When we went in, there was a lot of smoke along the ceiling, but we couldn't see the fire. After a quick decision, one of the firemen ran outside to get a pike.

Meanwhile, two of the firemen were helping the owners carry furniture outside (that kind of thing used to tick me off). Also, my younger brother had tagged along. Because the living room had a very large plate glass window, he was able to see everything going on in there from outside the house.

The fireman returned with the pike. He poked at the ceiling. The entire ceiling collapsed. Suddenly, fire was everywhere. I just opened my hose and sprayed everywhere. The water hit the fire, creating steam (it was 20 degrees outside). My visor fogged up, so I just sent the stream back and forth. Anther hose crew came in and they were a great help. It only took a few more minutes after that to tap out the fire.

My mother came home from work in the early afternoon. "You boys do anything interesting today?" she asked. "YEAH", my brother exuberinately responded, "we went to a house fire and the roof caved in and he was nearly killed. It was so cool!!"

I saw the color run out of my mother's face and she gripped the kitchen counter to keep her knees from buckling. I dropped my head, knowing what might come, but the fire department was my first love and my reason for existing, so she didn't go off.

It was December 1981. I had enough seniority to take Christmas leave, but my good friends Posey and Odom didn't. I didn't think this was right, so I decided to stick out the holidays with them in the barracks. Several days before Christmas, we bought a small Christmas tree for our squadbay cubicle, and decorated it.

We also made plans for Christmas. We knew that we got off duty at 7 p.m., and that the local supermarket closed at 7:30. Our evening was going to require split second timing. After duty, we hurriedly changed clothes. At the market we split. Odom went after cookies. I went after hot chocolate and other liquid refreshments. Posey went after other goodies.

When we returned to the barracks, I started making the hot chocolate while the guys laid out their finds. I asked if anyone had ever read the story:"Why The Chimes Rang" (by Raymond McAlden).  No one had, so I began telling the story.

A thousand years ago, in Europe, a great cathedral was built with spires that reached high into the sky. Atop one of the towers, a set of beautiful chimes were hung. The first rope attached to the chimes broke. A larger rope was attached-it too broke. First a light chain, then a cable, also broke. Finally, an angel appeared to the bishop and explained that the person who brought the greatest gift that Christmas would make the chimes ring.

Word spread soon and far across the land. As Christmas was nearing, people who lived far from the cathedral began the trek to the city. A couple of day's walk from the cathedral, the parents of two boys decided to make the trek. They left their boys some food and two silver coins to make do while they were gone. It wasn't long after the parents left that the boys too made the trek.

It was a difficult trek, across country, up mountain and down, in the cold and snow. Finally, on Christmas Eve, the boys arrived in the city of the Cathedral. There they found a long line to the cathedral. Those in line around them were dressed very well and carried chests of jewels and gold. The boys, paupers, had only their two silver coins.

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While I told the story, I noticed Marines from other parts of the barracks appearing at our cubicle. I had no idea that that many were also there for the holidays. We shared some of our food with them. I went on with the story.

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While the boys were in line, they noticed an old woman, struggling to carry a load of wood to her home. The woman was being ignored by everyone in line. The oldest boy instructed the younger one to stay in line, while he saw to the woman. The older boy took the wood from the woman and helped her get home. He then started a fire for the woman in her hearth so she could warm herself. The older boy then returned to his younger brother.

The line was moving and nearing the church. The boys grew excited. Just then, a beggar begging for alms made his way down the line. Like the old woman, he too was ignored. The beggar told the boys he was starving and cold. The older boy then gave the younger brother one of the silver pieces and the older boy saw to the beggar. The older boy then took the beggar to the bakery and bought a loaf of bread. He then took the beggar to the old woman's home. With the bread, and the soup the old woman was making, there was a great meal for both.

The older boy then returned to his younger brother as it was their turn to go in the cathedral. Finally, when it was their turn, the boys laid their one silver piece at the altar.

From high up in the sky came a sound that none had ever heard before. It was the magical chimes ringing out their beautiful music. Everyone there knew that they were experiencing a miracle. The Bishop then held out that the boys, who had only given one coin, but had given all that they had.

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As I finished the story, from outside a Catholic church, only two hundred yards away from the barracks, a set of chimes began ringing out "Silent Night". We all got goosebumps and knew that on this Christmas Eve night, far away from our families, we were not alone, or forgotten.

It's that time of year. Except for the bowls, the college football season is over. The bowl matchups have been decided and I couldn't be more unhappy. According to the BCS Poll, seven of the top ten ten teams have one loss. Two are undefeated, and one has two losses. There is no real frontrunner-no real dominant team(s).

Boise State is not only undefeated, they're going to the little noticed Poinsettia Bowl to play TCU. Nothing against TCU, but I hope Boise State romps 73-0 to show they belong in a BCS bowl, not shuffled off to a little noticed pre Christmas bowl.

College Football is the only sport without a playoff structure. The organizers would like for us to believe that there is no way to have a playoff (aren't there 38 bowl games?). The playoff quarterfinals could be played in small bowls, like the Albuquerque Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl, and Emerald Bowl. The semifinals could be played in more prestigious bowls, like the Poinsettia Bowl, Insight Bowl, and Chick Fil-A Bowl. The games to determine 1,2,3 could be played in the Rose, Fiesta, and Orange Bowl. It could even be a sixteen team, round robin tournament with a winner and loser bracket. Do that, and you will determine a very clear cut number one, two, and three.

As it is now, eight teams all have claim to number one. BCS-pretty screwed up-thanks for nothing.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought I'd share a funny Thaksgiving I lived through. Share your holiday chuckles.

The High School  in the same town I grew up in was located on the far west side of town. After a football game, the quickest way to get back to town was to cut through the town cemetary. My brother and I found this way too tempting.

The second week of the football season, we ducked behind a couple of gravestones and jumped out to say boo. With each week, we became more brazen. The game the week before Halloween was our high mark (they played away the next week).

We put on kabuki makeup and used white sheets to make us look like spirits. We even set up some ropes to make it look like we were flying through the air before we descended on our victims.

We chased girls all night. There were screams heard for quite a distance. It was a hoot. However, the next week we just stayed home because the football team was away. The following Monday at school, a couple of guys asked us where we were Halloween night. We told them we were at home. They then told us that some girls had gone to the cemetary looking for us. They wanted us to frighten them. A missed opportunity.

Have you ever pulled a fun Halloween prank?

I very much love Rock n Roll. What I hate is when radio stations play the same stuff over and over. One station bills itself as a "classic rock station", yet in the 25 years of classic rock (1964-89) are there only about fifty songs, played over and over and over (ad infinitum) to death? I love Queen, but if I hear "We Will Rock You" and"We Are The Champions" one more time, I'll scream-and not for an encore!!

I know what some of you are thinking-"Just switch to satellite radio". Satellite costs money.

The problem is play lists, developed by focus groups. Do you know what a "focus group" is? It's ten unemployed New Yorkers, offered ten bucks an hour to take a survey. That's right, the music you hear here in Houston was selected for you by unemployed Yankees in New York City.

People hear this play list, developed by the focus group, and they grow accustomed to it. I've developed an axiom about it:"Spoon fed garbage long enough, people will develop a taste for it." I especially apply this to Mondays, when the station has you pick the songs day. People call in and pick songs from the very same playlist, played day in, and day out. They don't take the opportunity to hear something different.

Did you know that Pat Benatar has twenty two hit songs, and not just three? If you listened to Houston's rock stations, you would only hear three of her hits. It's really quite discouraging. When was the last time you heard Treat Me Right, or Promises in the Dark? Did you know she had a song about the great novel Wuthering Heights?

It's not just about Pat. When was the last time you heard anything from the Bay City Rollers? They had some giant hits in the 1970's, but when was the last time they were heard on Houston Radio? ABBA dominated the charts in the late 70's, early 80's. Heard anything besides Dancing Queen on Houston Radio? And my absolute fave, Triumph, when was the last time you heard their hits on Houston radio?  

To quote Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream." I have a dream that one day I hit the lotto. I buy a Houston radio station, and I play rock music. I play stuff not on the play lists, hit songs, and some not hits, but important. People would call in and say:"Dude, I haven't heard that in years", or "Dude, I've never heard that before, it's awesome!!"

I would turn back the clock to 1974. I would make a radio station that responds to the public, but also educates them on great music. I would teach them the magic of Triumph, the fun of the Rollers, and let then rejoice in live Cheap Trick. Ah yes, it would be fun.

I've been voting for 28 years, the last ten in the same place. When I went to vote today, I noticed something-the really long lines. Polls have been open for five days, and people are still turning out in droves. I've never seen anything like it. Made me think.

In the late 1960's, Nixon spoke of "the silent majority". Nixon felt that there are a lot of people never have their voice heard. Admiral Van Doren Stein, about the same time, said:"America is a land where someone will sail ten thousand miles to fight an enemy, but won't cross the street to vote."

America is sometimes the subject of giggling in other coutries because American voter turnout is routinely low. American poll taking services have their mathematical models set on low turn out. I think this election will upset their apple cart-big time.

I think of the last time the poll taking services were so very wrong-1994. The pollsters were aware that there was an undercurrent of angry American voters who were going to turn out. The pollsters predicted that the Republicans would take over Congress with a five to ten seat advantage. When the numbers were counted, the advantage to the Republicans was actually fifty seats. How could the pollsters have been so wrong?

In the 1994 mid term Congressional elections, we learned the term "Angry White Male Voter". It signified that Americans were fed up with sixty years of Democrat rule in Congress. They were fed up with career politicians trying to take away their rights (i.e. the semi automatic gun ban, etc.). The Angry voter was ready to throw them rascals out.

The only difference between 1994 and now is the media. In 1994, a few "journalists" pretended to be objective. This time around, all of the alphabet networks are proudly and loudly campaigning for one side, and one side only. Even staid and usually objective Barbara Walters, whom I've been watching for thirty years, has loudly made her intentions clear. I think this shameless campaigning for one side has ticked the silent majority off, and they are turning out to let their voice be known. Obama has been measuring the drapes in the oval office for over a month now, but I seriously think he should wait. Why? Besides the shameless promoting, which is ticking off the silent majority, there are a few items in play.

1) The Palin Effect-earlier this week the media attacked Palin because the RNC spent 150k on her campaigning clothes. The public isn't anywhere near as stupid as the media paints them. The public knows that Palin has a few nice items hanging in her closet, but the rest of her closet is filled with blue jeans and T shirts, just like the rest of us.

2) Joe the Plumber- was minding his own business in his own yard, playing catch with his son, when Obama walked up and started campaigning. Joe, a very articulate man, caught Obama by surprise with a very good question. The media, upset that Joe didn't genuflect in Obama's presence climbed up Joe's colon with a microscope and started looking for dirt. This backfired for Obama, big time. Mark my words, in four years, Joe will have his own highly rated TV or Radio show, or he'll be the Republican nominee for President.   

3) The Silent Majority-has been forgotten since 1994. This year, the media awakened them with it's shameless promotion of Obama. In the words of Admiral Yamamoto:"I fear all we've done is awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve." 

After this election, the media should go talk to the Japanese.

In 1939, writer/artist Bob Kane developed a comic book character named "Batman". What set Batman apart from other superheroes was that Batman was just an ordinary man-he couldn't fly, didn't have superhuman strength or speed, and he didn't have shape changing or magical powers. What Batman did have was a billiant deductive mind, a gift for gadgetry, and a strong desire for innovation.

For more than two decades, Batman was just another comic book character, but the Batman's popularity suddely took off because of a really horrible campy TV show. Luckily, the show only lasted a couple of years. About the same time, a series of cartoons about Batman started, however, Batman got a gigantic makeover in the early 1980's, when Frank Miller penned a couple of graphic novels about Batman.

The graphic novels were different from the comic books in that there was harsh language and adult themes. Batman's new nickname became "The Dark Knight". For the first time, we understood that Batman is a very tortured soul taking out his anger on any criminal that crossed his path.

The Dark Knight sagas led to new Batman movies. The first Batman movie was actually quite good, but as Hollwood is, the movies quickly went down in quality, then became flat out - a waste of time.

For me, the definitive Batman was the Batman portrayed in early 90's animation. The scripts were very intelligent and the cartoon itself, quite mesmerizing. Two episodes stand out as stand alone stories. In the first, Bruce Wayne awakes to find his parents alive, his debutante girlfriend very much in love with him, and there is no Batcave. Bruce finally figures out that he's in a dream because he can't read a book (the side of your brain that dreams is incapable of reading). So, Batman quickly vanquishes his foe, based on the knowledge that he's in a dream.

The episode that tops the list is "Over The Edge". The Joker kills Batgirl by knocking her out and throwing her off a skyscraper. She lands on Commissioner Gordon's car, and Gordon finds out that Barbara is Batgirl, and there's more to her relationship with Bruce than just mentor/student. Gordon uses the Police, media,  and courts to destroy Bruce and Batman.  Batman's biggest foes go on Phil Donahue and cry about how Batman ruined their lives by creating them and then they announce a one billion dollar civil suit against him. Good stuff.

There was a Batman Beyond cartoon that cashed in on the previous cartoon's popularity. In this incarnation of the Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne is retired, and a teenager is doing Batman duties in Gotham. Beyond was really great for telling secrets about the Batman/Bruce and tied together personal secrets of the various' Robins who served alogside Batman, and also the relationship between the billionaire Bruce and the very underage Barbara Gordon.

A couple of years ago, there was a Batman Begins movie. I saw it and was incredibly bored and disgusted. The recent sequel to that movie smahed box office figures across the globe. Richard Roeper said the movie was violent, and a friend recently confirmed that Roeper was soft soaping it.

So, there's half a dozen incarnations of the detective vigilante. Which incarnation is your favorite? 

It was released today that seven Army recruiters in the Houston area have committed suicide in the past five years. Why did they do it?

A) Recruiting is a gift duty, given to Infantry people who have seen rough duty.

B) Recruiters, especially lately, have been under tremendous stress to meet quotas.

What's wrong with this?

Someone serves under tremendous stress in a combat zone, and the first thing we do is take them from that environment and place them in another environment where they don't have the training, or skills, then place them under the strain of having to meet quotas.

This is so very indicative of the military's wrongheaded thinking. Someone has served under stress in combat, and we're going to put more stress on them. Brilliant.

Recruiting in today's job environment requires people (read civilians) with college degrees in marketing and sales in order to bring young people into today's military. The incentive really isn't there for young people to serve, there should be more there than just a good bonus if you sign up for a very dangerous job. Let me let you in on a conversation I had with a friend awhile back.

Me: "What did the military train you to do?"

Friend:"Hang bombs on planes."

Me: "No other training, college?"

Friend:"Nope."

In World War 1 and 2 it was imperative, for the nation's defense, to recruit 18 year olds and send them off to war, but that day has passed, times have changed. We are recruiting young, inexperienced in life people, training them to kill, then sending them to foreign countries to be our ambassadors. Is it then, any wonder, that in countries like Japan, for instance, that the populace of that country will become furious with the US because some 19 year old American raped, and/or killed, some teenage girl. We are imperiling our standing in the world because we are clinging to an obsolete policy, that war should only be for the very young. Therefore, I recommend some very drastic changes:

A) Everyone who joins the military instantly goes to junior college. Once they get their AA, they can serve in an occupation, once they have finished the "A School" for that profession (everyone going into the military gets an education, a degree).

B) Officers shall be selected from those enlisted personnel who excel in their area of expertise. They shall then go on to a bachelor's degree, then back to their trained field of expertise.

C) The military shall hire highly qualified civilian personnel to handle highly visible and administrative jobs (i.e. Recruiters, admin, supply etc.). No longer shall the unit secretary be that pretty Sergeant whom the Colonel admires.

D) The uniform code of military justice shall have a rich infusion of civilians into the process, with the removal of state crimes from the UCMJ (i.e., rape, assault, battery, murder). State crimes shall be turned over to the local Sheriff for disposition.

E) Personnel who have served in combat zones shall receive the appropiate psychological help, while serving in a non stress inducing job (i.e. Recruiter's assistant, to raise the image of the profession, while not being under stress themselves).

F) Transfer. Military personnel shall have the right to transfer professions every two years (with a six year minimum military requirement, not counting junior college). Any organization becomes richer with a diversity of knowlege).   

G) With the exception of combat deployment, no military personnel will serve overseas unless they are over the age of 21. Representing high visibilty professions (i.e. the military) requires someone with more wisdom than that found in a teenager.

H) The military will establish a job placement office in order to help reintegrate military personnel back into civilian life (if you break something, fix it. Common sense).

By the way, I served eleven years in the military. I found many things wrong with the military that need fixing. First, and utmost, the military should be a more user friendly organization that does a better job of training people for life, and for a profession. What is a machine gunner, or mortar man trained to do, besides kill? The military should train people so that any job they had in the military, they can leave the military with a degree, plus the discipline and training that will serve them later in life.

The military should let better trained people handle certain jobs. A year after I got out, my brother invited me for a weekend on base. I had reservations at the BOQ (Officer's Quarters), but when I arrived I was told that they wouldn't know, until after midnight, if anything was open. Can you imagine a hotel like that?

I welcome your feedback and thoughts on the matter.

a.k.a., the ever changing goal

I'm a middle aged single guy, never married. This past March I took a drastic step. I declared myself "a confirmed bachelor" and I started wearing a wedding band. I took this step after being approached by two married women, who either wanted me to be their "Plan B" or other guy. Insulted, I bought the ring and told myself that the ring was mostly for me-anytime some woman would flash her pearly whites at me, I'd look at the ring and remind myself that this won't happen.

It wasn't easy to get to this position. I've had some long term relationships in my life. I could've extended two of them if I could've lived a lie-or lived with a lie. One of those gals had been in my life (off and on) for ten years. It turned out she was a nymphomaniac, but she was in remission only when I was with her. She proposed marriage to me, but then told me she wanted an open marriage. Homey don't play dat. My college sweetheart had a long term physical relationship (hidden from view) with a family member (hers), and wanted to continue doing that. Homey don't play dat either.

Women I've dated since then seem to be comfortable with lies. I guess people are comfortable with that, I'm not.  I've tried all kinds of solutions-church single groups, dating agencies, singles mixers, online dating, and I even tried a singles bar. I get the same results pretty much everytime.

It bugs me that I can't have a relationship because I'm a results oriented person. For instance, in planning a mountain climb, you make sure you have the right equipment and right data before starting your climb. You also carefully choose your route-you just don't head off in some direction and hope to get to the top.

This is how I approached relationships. Because I think, and plan, I don't succumb to some of the pitfalls that some people fall into. For instance, when I got the "let's go to the bedroom look" I asked myself:"Do I want this person in my life for the next eighteen years?" , because that's a consequence of that action.

The thing is, I had a goal in mind. I wanted to get to the mountain peak along a carefully chosen route, avoiding dangerous cliffs, loose rocks, and dangerous critters. I wasn't willing to take on unnecessary dangers. Sure, life is a crap shoot, but did you check to see if the game was rigged first ?

I never was able to reach the peak because the location of the peak kept changing. Just when I thought I had it in sight, it moved.

The most important thing though, is when you go on a climb, don't go alone. Choosing a partner is the most important decision you can make. You have to be able to trust your partner. You have to know that if you get in trouble, your partner can get both of you out of danger. And I think this is why I was never able to reach the peak-my partner kept crapping out on me, the goal kept changing.

First, let me preface this by saying that I'm not a baseball fan. I find the game boring. The game has it's purposes, and in an earlier age, the game was a place for people to have a good time while fogetting their problems for a while. Which brings me to my rant.

On Sunday, the very last game was played at Yankee Stadium. Yankee Stadium is also known as "The House That Ruth Built", in reference to the legendary player Babe Ruth.In the past eighty five years, legendary players, from Ruth to Andy Petite, have played in this great monument to the game. Next year, the Yankees will move across the street, and....Yankee Stadium will be torn down.

How can you tear down such a historic place? Isn't there a law against this? From the viewpoint of an amateur history buff, this is disturbing. That being said, let me give you a disturbing thought.

The Yankees epitomize excellence in baseball. No team has won nearly as many World Series', let alone played in the World Series as many times. Among the advantages the Yankees had was a legendary curse against their main rivals-the Boston Red Sox. The curse was a result of the then Bo Sox owner selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees so that he could finance a play. It was said that the 86 years the Bo Sox didn't win the World Series was as a result of the curse. Suddenly, a few years ago the curse was broken. Can it be that the Yankees broke the curse themselves by planning to tear down the house that Ruth built?

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Along the same line-the Dallas Cowboys are planning to move out of their Stadium. Like the Yankees, the Cowboys epitomize excellence. Legendary players have played in Cowboy Stadium. Players with names like Staubach, Emmitt Smith, and Troy Aikman, to name a few. If it weren't for an anti Cowboy bias among sportswriters, there would several dozen more Cowboys in the NFL Hall of Fame-they richly deserve the honor, but I digress.

Staubach was the Original "Captain Comeback" and games that he turned around with his perseverance and athletic skill are chronicled amongst the NFL's most memorable games, games that were played in Cowboy Stadium. The Cowboys didn't originate the Shotgun Offense, but they did ressurect it, and few have used it better than Staubach. The Cowboys had an offense called "The Double Pump" that was so effective that the NFL outlawed it. The use of a receiver with blinding speed was originated by the Cowboys with Olympic sprinter Bob Hayes. The Cowboys were the first to have an international radio network,and the use of satellite to broadcast a game was originated by the Cowboys-in Texas Stadium. Texas Stadium is a historic place, with a rich history of legendary players, legendary games, and a history of innovation. In a couple of years, when the new stadium is completed, the Cowboys will move out and Texas Stadium will likely be torn down.

It's just wrong.  

I'm at work. I'll be at work for the next several days. My company manages a dozen high rises. Before leaving for work today, I sent my family an email. I told them I would be at work for the duration. They are probably shaking their heads, asking:"Why would somebody live in a hurricane prone part of the country?"

Actually, it's simple. Five generations of my family are buried in Texas. They first got here in 1856. It was my grandmother and a few of her siblings that moved away. They couldn't stand the summers (this was before air conditioning). Although I can sympathize, I don't fully relate.

Let me tell you where most of my family lives. It is desert. An average of four inches of rain falls a year. The wind will blow sixty miles per hour, sometimes for months on end. Sand gets in everything-eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. They think they are fortunate to live in such a place, with a state income tax, institutionalized corruption, and a news media that takes vicious swipes at each other on the newscasts, while they wish they were somewhere else-constantly sending audition tapes to anyone else who will listen to them.

A hurricane is bearing down on the city. The news media is working diligently to give us the best information, coordinating aid, and evacuations, in some places. There is a collective thought that we will get through this together, we've done it before. In dire times, the rich and poor, quite literally, find themselves in the same boat. Differences are forgotten and bread is broken over the table at the evacuation center and shared amongst people of different ethnic groups and income stratas. It doesn't matter where anybody is from, or who they are. In this emergency, we are all Texans. We will get through this together, and when it's over, we will all roll up our sleeves and put things back together, all of us, together.

I'm the lucky one.

First, let me say this, the only people who should be using this expression should be from the South. Someone from the North saying this is like them trying to say "Y'all", or "fixin". We own it, they shouldn't be using it.

Second, let me disclaimer this by saying I am a Manager at a Fortune 500 company. If one of my male employees had used "lipstick on a pig" in the context in which BHO had used it, they would find themselves answering to sexual harassment charges. At the very least, the offender would get three days off without pay, at least. If they were up for promotion, they could kiss that goodbye.

All in all, isn't BHO trying to get promoted?

Back in the 1980's, a guy named Mark White was running for Governor against Ann Richards. He used a phrase that doomed his campaign. He said:"If you're going to get raped, you might as well just lay back and enjoy it." Up to that point, he was in the lead, after that, let's just say that Ann won the election.

When BHO loses the election, and all his allies at the alphabet networks are crying, they should remember his gaffe, because that was the moment that cost him the election.

"Just words, just speeches".

oops

I lived a reckless existence as a kid, and I’m sure that Angels probably got me through a fix or two, with me hardly recognizing their existence. However, it was after I became an adult that they really began, noticeably, appearing.

I was barely eighteen, and involved in a military incident. I had third degree burns to my upper right arm (skin was burned off most of it). I was rushed to a military burn trauma unit. As soon as I was wheeled in on a gurney, a female corpsman (sailor trained at paramedic level) said:”I’ll take him”.

She then wheeled me over to a sink in the corner of the room. She draped my right arm over the sink, filled seven pitchers with ice, then she would fill a pitcher with ice water. She would pour the ice water over my arm. This she continued to do for ninety minutes. At first, when she started, she went into a long dissertation on the expansion and contraction of cells, and how this affects the body’s ability to handle heat. When she finished her dissertation, she began to hum.

She had a beautiful voice. Although I never heard her sing, her humming voice was magnificent. There was another thing though, she was very beautiful. I mention this because later on in this story, it will make a difference. She then put some yellow goo on my arm and told me to return in two days so that she could change my dressing.

Two days later, returning for my appointment, I picked up some roses because I wanted to thank the lovely corpsman who had worked on my arm, however, when I got to reception, I was in for a shock.

I told the receptionist that if it was possible, to be treated by the same corpsman who had treated me two nights before. I then described the corpsman. He told me no such person existed. He then looked at my record and told me that I had been treated by “Johnson”, and he pointed at an overweight male sailor. He then called Johnson over. Johnson looked at me, and the medical record, and said:”I don’t remember signing that, and I’d sure remember treating something like that”(pointing at my arm). There was then an awkward silence for a few seconds before Johnson agreed to treat me.  

The next bizarre event happened several years later. I was in the Marine Reserve at the time. I had a full and part time job, and I was very much undecided what to do with my future. At that time, I lived in what was essentially a subdivision of apartment complexes. Most of the apartments were taken up by retirees, so it was very quiet at night.

I got off at two in the morning and made the short drive home. Right after parking my car, I heard the whoop whoop of a Police siren. I looked to see what was afoot. Just then I saw a large car round a corner, go out of control, and slam into an outside staircase. The driver bailed out, jumped across his hood, and with a Police car in hot pursuit, the bandit ran right at me.

I turned tail and made the sprint to my apartment. I locked the door, left the lights off, and put my back against a solid wall. Seconds later I heard him round the corner and start beating on my door. Needless to say, I didn’t open the door. A few seconds after that, he ran off. I opened the door and saw the Police Officer. I pointed in the direction the bandit had run. The Police Officer went that direction. I came outside. Minutes later, there was a dozen Police cars there.

The Police Officer had lost the bandit somewhere. He told me that he had been chased from the scene of a home invasion. I leaned up against a VW Bug and the Police Officer interviewed me. Just as he was finishing, a Police Officer walked in front of me and I heard his two way radio say:”He’s under the bug”.

Talk about pucker factor. The Police Officer told me not to move. Just then the twelve Police Officers were pointing their guns under the bug, yelling at the suspect to come out. It was then that it happened.

In the dark of night, I saw a shaft of light come from the sky. I heard a deep voice call me by my first name and say:”This is what you must do.”

So, after six months of looking, I found a college where I could still be in the military while going to school at the time. A month after I arrived, I was called to headquarters. I thought I was in some kind of trouble. I was told that there a Military Police Company on campus and that their oncoming commander had developed a serious case of mono, and had to spend the next six months in the hospital, and was I interested in taking an Officer’s commission and being the new Military Police Company Commander? Talk about right place, right time. I took it.

I didn’t hear the voice again for five years. I had left the military, but was still in college. I was very seriously involved with Janet. I had come back from a Sunday afternoon study group session. As I walked in the dorm, I heard the voice. The voice told me to go to Robert’s room (Robert was a mutual acquaintance of Janet’s). I knew better than to question the wisdom of the voice, so I went.

When I knocked on the door, Janet opened it. I asked her what she was doing there. She told me that Robert needed help with a termpaper (Janet was a phys ed major, and a D minus student at that. Robert’s paper was on a complicated legal case). Janet then told me that for her headache, Robert had given her a couple of new type of aspirin. I asked her to describe the pills. She described what I knew was a very powerful muscle relaxant. I knew then why the voice ordered me there.

I saw Janet to her room and told her to stay in bed (she would be out fourteen hours). I returned to Robert’s room and described the horrible death he would suffer if he ever so much as spoke to Janet again.   

I didn’t hear the voice again for ten years. I was working an extra job at a hotel. It was three in the morning. I was writing my mom, congratulating myself. I had broken up two attempted carjackings, and I had talked a jumper off a bridge. I was quite pleased with myself. I heard the voice call me by name. The voice told me to go around the back of the hotel. At first I ignored the voice, but it called me again, stressing the words “RIGHT NOW”.

So, I got up and walked around to the back of the hotel. There was a convenience store across the street, but it was closed. There was a woman making a phone call on a payphone. I was debating whether I should go across the street.

Just then, a car pulled up next to the phone. A man got out. He was trying to offer the woman a cigarette. His body posture told me a lot. I recognized his posture as a trick cops use to pounce on an unsuspecting person. I quickly closed the distance and got between the woman and the man. With a nasty tone in his voice, he asked who I was. I opened my jacket to show him my badge and gun. He quickly retreated to the car and they sped out of there.

The woman told me her car had broken down a mile away and she had been praying for help, and trying to reach a relative on the phone. I had her come across the street where she could make her phone calls in safety. A half hour later, the relative picked her up.

I’ve heard the voice a few other times since then, but not in such dire situations. I pay attention, and obey. For me, there is no hesitation on whether I believe or not. For me, there is no question whether there is a higher power. I just never imagined that there would be a supernatural 911 center, but it exists, and someone is on duty 24 hours a day.