Overnight excitement

No, not that kind of excitement, unfortunately. We were sound asleep at around 1:40am when the fire alarms in our building went off. K and I were textbook smooth. I pulled on some sweat pants, a henley t-shirt and a jacket, grabbed my wallet, keys, camera, and phone while K dressed and gathered a few things and the dog and out we went.

I felt the door up...oops, Freudian slip...and it was cool to the touch so we went out into the central corridor. All the fire doors had closed, so I made sure each was cool before I opened them, too. We made it to our 4th floor parking garage where people were starting to assemble. Before we could get our cars started and get well away from the building someone looked down the staircase to the first floor where they saw a torrent of rushing water. Obviously a large pipe had burst and the fire alarm apparently reverted to its default mode.

The cops arrived before the firefighters did, probably because Duncan Donuts was closer than the fire station. While we were all standing around trying to figure out what was going on K looked at me and started laughing.

Seems I had put on my oldest sweatpants with the bad elastic waistband and the broken drawstring, and the weight of my camera and phone in the same pocket was pulling my pants down, plus one end of the broken string was hanging down to my knees. Naturally, had it been a real fire, I would have been the eyewitness featured on the local TV news channel.

Have you ever noticed they always pick the goofiest looking, most redneck person possible to interview? "Yeah...uhh...ah seen this big 'ol fireball comin' at me and ah yelled, 'Hey Earlene, save the beer, save the beer! Ah mean, we coulda been killed, or even worse!'" That fifteen minutes of fame could have been mine. *sigh*

Oh well, maybe next time.

Hope y'all have a good day.

S

Now I know what she meant

Years ago, before K, I dated a flight attendant with one of the big airlines based "up north". One late-winter day I was visiting with her on the phone and she was just going on and on about what a gorgeous day it was there. She said the sun was shining, everyone was out enjoying the fine weather, and how she even had the top down on her convertible. I asked how warm it was and she said, "mid-40's". Huh?? To this Texas boy that would be "coat and gloves" weather for sure!

Here today the temperature climbed up into the mid-40's after hovering between 8 and 18 for the four previous days. Wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a light jacket, I took Emma Belle for a walk this afternoon. I almost felt over-dressed. It's amazing how quickly we, or at least I, can become acclimated to the cold. The mid-40's actually felt comfortable.

Our week of ice and snow is melting rapidly. This is all that's left in our apartment's central courtyard:

I'm sure by tomorow even that will be history, too. If I can just have one really good snowfall every winter I'm satisfied. The Winter of 2011 was good to me. I'm happy tonight.

S

Nanook of the.....South?

While I'm hardly an Inuit Eskimo and Emma Belle is certainly no sled dog, we were outside this morning at 5 am playing the role. The 2 inches of ice covering everything has become old news after the 3 days we've been putting up with it. When we went to bed last night the weather guessers were telling us to expect a dusting to maybe an inch of snow when we woke up this morning. WRONG!! Instead this is what we found:



....about 8 inches here in Plano, TX. It was beautiful virgin snow when I first stepped on it....and Emma first peed on it. Driving on snow doesn't bother me at all, so I dropped K off at her work on my way to my work. It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow (40 degrees), so I'm sure all those who have been cooped up inside since Tuesday will be at the grocery stores tomorrow restocking. Trying to stay ahead of the curve K and I went to Tar-zhay this afternoon and got all our weekly shopping done early.

With all the groceries now put away, it's time for us to go out for our customary Friday Date Night.

Hope y'all are warm and safe this evening. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

S

EDIT: Brick House Tavern & Tap....atmosphere ****....food **....price $$$

Where's Al Gore these days?

What ever happened to Al Gore? For a while they couldn't shut him up, now he's just vanished. Remember 'ol Al, the High Priest of Global Warming? Then he got filthy rich selling carbon offsets or something like that, and poof...he's gone.

Is "climate change" the new euphemism for "global warming"? Seems like good marketing to me. I'm thinking "global warming" might be a hard sell these days in Chicago or New York or even here in Dallas.

S

Seasons are good

I've always been a contrarian. I've never tried to be rebellious....I just see things a bit differently. I drove a tiny little car back in the '70's when everyone was buying big muscle cars. Most people are fixated on "the American dream" (home ownership), while I've learned to love the carefree apartment lifestyle. Most people absolutely detest winter, but I like it, even when I have to bundle up like this:



I love coming back to a toasty warm apartment after walking the dog. I love reading or watching TV wearing sweats. I love going to bed and pulling a thick down comforter up and making my "nest". I love listening to the wind howling outside. I love getting in my car in the mornings and feeling the seat heaters come to life.

And before I can get tired of winter, our Texas spring arrives and I can begin to look ahead to the next winter. It's a cycle I enjoy.

Stay warm.

S

Our "cool" neighborhood

As I already had arranged to take today off work, the winter storm caused me no problems. K had to go in, but she works less than a mile away. Poor Emma Belle wasn't too enthused about going out to do her "business", though. We were out and back in no time. Basically we have a solid sheet of ice on everything with a bit of snow on top. It's 21 degrees @ 3pm, with a low tonight expected to be around 9.

Mr. Restless here couldn't stay cooped up inside all day, so I walked around the hood for a while. There weren't too many souls stirring. One unusual sight I did see was a young woman ice skating down Fun Street, but she was past me before I could dig out my camera....darn.



This was a far cry from last Friday night when Fun Street was abuzz with a movie premiere. The street was blocked off, huge backdrops were erected, searchlights pierced the night sky, the red carpet was rolled out, and fancy cars were lined up for a block. Seems the Angelika Film Center was chosen to premiere Slant 45. It's somehow supported by the NFL, and there were lots of big-name felons....er....pro athletes on hand. I can't wait to not see it. *snicker*

Hopefully you are all inside warm and dry this evening. Stay safe.

S

EDIT: K has pointed out to me AT GREAT LENGTH that I have slandered what is probably a very worthy film, and that not all professional athletes are felons. She is absolutely correct, and I apologize to the producers and the non-felon athletes playing in the NFL. I still can't wait to not see it.

Well lock me up and throw away the key!

One of my daily reads is Spiegel Online International, a German newspaper. Today I read this:

"A regional politician in Germany has been sentenced to pay a fine of 1,500 euros or spend 50 days in prison because he allegedly called Thilo Sarrazin, the author of an incendiary book about Muslim immigrants (and also a politician), an "ass." He....was overheard uttering the word at a demonstration outside a convention hall in the city of Dortmund where Sarrazin was speaking. Sarrazin filed a legal complaint when he heard about the insult."

So it's illegal to call a politician an "ass" in Germany? Jeez, I hope censorship like this doesn't spread to America. If it does I'll be locked up and never heard from again, considering my contempt for most politicians. Anyone want to contribute to my legal defense fund?

S