Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 17.2

666
Yesterday's post about Ivana Trump post #666. I'm just sayin'.

Ike update
A month ago many of us were dealing with the aftermath of being bitch slapped by Ike. And like Tina Turner all we asked for was our electricity our name a new normal.

AttyHou and Everyday Italian have put up a new fence so I no longer have a room with a view a view of the swimming pool next door; just like old times. I don't see my neighbors very much anymore. For those few days, we were comrades in arms. ¡Viva la revolución! Misery loves company.

There is still debris in the streets. There are still people missing from Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula.

Instead of saying, "Hey! How are you?" the new greeting is, "How long were you without power?"

Instead of talking about plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas people are talking about what size generator they're going to buy in anticipation of Hurricane Season 2009.

I guess this is the new normal.

What's In A Name
John Culberson is running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. This morning on the telly I heard one of his commercials. What got my attention is he referred to Hurricane Ike as the storm of the century. Uh...

Ike was a strong Category 2. This is only 2008. Katrina was in 2005. How can Ike be the storm of the century? Just askin'.

Have you ever...?
seen someone who looks like their dog?

Today on my way to LeFittes I was cutting through Midtown and I saw a guy from the gym walking his dog.

This guy is about 5'6" and is built like a brick house. He was walking some breed of bulldog. Definitely a pair.

I have been told that if I had blonde hair I would look like Calvin.

Once upon a time there was a tavern restaurant
My longtime friend Kanadian Ken from Kalgary is in town this week. I have not Kanadian Ken in a few years and it is always a pleasure to spend time with him. He is one of those friends that when we see each other we can pick up where we left off no matter how long it has been.

So last night Kanadian Ken from Kalgary gathered the usual suspects for dinner at Cafe A Do Me Adobe on Westheimer. I was at the office until 545P (CDT) and had three things to do before I could arrive at A Do Me Adobe.

I was a bit surprised when I arrived a few minutes late and was able to find parking and easily found my tablemates for the evening. It wasn't crowded at all.

This used to be the place to be seen on a Monday night in Houston. Dead as a door nail I tell ya!

We pondered why this was the situation and none of us could come up with a good answer. The economy? Post-Ike depression? People have a new place to be seen on a Monday and I didn't get the memo? Who knows?

So that is about it bois and gurls. Catch up with you soon!

Pictures post-Ike

Thought you might enjoy looking at some pics. I'll have a few more later but these are a few that I got ready just you!

So...when I purchased The Cal Mobile the intent was to get something that could be loaded up with some of my belongings and it wouldn't be low to the ground and I could evacuate before or after a hurricane. Well, I listened to the city and county officials and didn't evacuate. And even if I wanted to leave after the storm I couldn't because I had a FENCE ON THE CAL MOBILE!!!!

The power went out a bit after 9:00 p.m. on September 12. Here I am on Sunday, September 14 around 4:00 p.m. I was a prisoner of CenterPoint Energy. And yes, that is Cakebread Chardonnay in the glass. I was a prisoner with class and good taste.

On September 21, AttyHou, some neighbors and I decided we needed to finish cleaning up his yard and my yard. I thought it would take a couple of hours. Uh...it took a bit over 5 hours. I had not eaten lunch and I was delirious and started channeling Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, Michael Kors AND Nina Garcia.

The challenge was to use the debris from Ike and make a couture dress. This is what I came up with.


I want to be on the cover of ELLE Magazine dammit!

My mom told me that she saw a story on the telly about how Houstonians were helping Houstonians post-Ike. Neighbors and strangers reaching out and helping each other. Calvin decided to do his part and join in the recovery and cleanup of Houston.

Calvin opened up a small Bed & Rawhide and invited over Baxter & Tanner who were without power.

They were all a bit pooped out from playing. Here they are relaxing.

And you know how I have a song for everything. While Ike was beating us up this song popped into my head. Yes, even while the house was shaking due to the sustained hurricane winds, rain not falling from the sky but hitting the house sideways, transformers popping outside and wondering if the insanity would ever stop, I thought of Ike and Tina Turner.


It's getting late. I'll have a few more pics for you soon.

blogging Hurricane Ike

I dropped off Calvin at the groomer. He really needs to be groomed and I really need a haircut and well you know who comes first.

Prior to taking him to the groomer I stopped at the other office for my daily fix. There was a weird vibe in the air. I think it is because people realize we could get hit hard by Ike. Damn him! First he beats up Tina because he says she deserves it and now he is coming to punch us. Add to that the fact that today is the 7th anniversary of 9/11

After I dropped off Calvin, I found a gas station that didn't have a line (the stations near the house were crowded this morning) and I topped off the tank. I only needed 1/4 of a tank to fill up.

The eye is still heading toward Freeport. They will do a mandatory evacuation for some of the zip codes in Harris County starting at noon. They're doing this because of the storm surge along the coast. Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers and Wharton counties had already started an evacuation and they asked the residents of Houston to stay off of the freeways so that people from those counties can get through town.

I have no idea if the office is going to be open tomorrow. I'm sure HISD will be closed. The mayor has suggested that offices close tomorrow so that people can get things in order to ride out the storm. They're also telling us that if power goes out evacuate after the storm. Not sure I understand that logic.

I'm going to talk to Jim later and find out what he is going to do. I did stock up on canned food in case the power goes out. Calvin has plenty of food. I also have plenty of water. I also have plenty of batteries, vodka, mixers, tortilla chips and magazines and books. Will charge up the iPod nano later.

If I had vacation time accrued, I'd use it and leave but since I don't I'll have to play it by ear. By the end of the work day it is going to be too late to leave and I really don't want to be stuck in the car for 24 hours and get caught in the car in the remnants of the storm. The voluntary evaucation of Hurricane Rita in 2005 is something that I never want to do again.

If Jim stays put, Calvin and I may go to his house since it is more sturdy although he has a bunch of glass. I'll also ask if I can put the car in his garage. Right now there is room in the garage.

You may not know this but my birthday September 10 is the peak of hurricane season. The last time a storm like this hit the Texas coast around September 10 was in 1961. Hmmmm.

If we end up getting interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN, at least Calvin will look handsome and I'll look like a lush.
Will keep you posted.

Ike Turner

This afternoon when I went to pick up The Calvinator I heard on NPR that Ike Turner died today. He was 76 years old.

Together with his ex-wife Tina, they recorded some classic songs: River Deep, Mountain High (long before Erasure and Celine Dion); A Fool In Love; It's Gonna Work Out Fine; and their signature song of the Creedence Clearwater hit Proud Mary.

For all of their successes, it was not a happy marriage. In fact, in interviews I have heard Tina refer to her marriage to Ike as "that relationship I was in." In her book I, Tina Tina wrote about the physical abuse she suffered. Ike has always denied it.

When the book was released in 1987, Ike made an appearance on The Maury Povich Show. Ike was there to tell his side of the story. Within the first 10 minutes of the interview, Maury addressed the allegations of physical abuse. Maury said, "Did you ever hit your ex-wife?" Ike replied, "If I did, she deserved it."

The audience turned on Ike and I honestly cannot remember the rest of the show after that comment.

And that is all that I have to say about Ike Turner.