A preview of Autumn?

Our weather here in Dallas yesterday was very un-August like, which was a good thing.  It was cloudy all day with a shower here and there, but by late afternoon the rain became steady.  The best part was the temperature...it was in the 80's most of the day, dropping like rock when the rain came.  We went out for dinner and found we could actually have used a jacket.  With the wet and the wind and the temp at 68 degrees, it felt great to this warm-blooded Texan.

Today it's sunny again, but the high is still expected to be only around 90, maybe less.   I'm going to Whole Foods today and pick us up a couple of nice steaks, and grill them this evening and serve them up with some big 'ol baked potatoes.  I'd have a hard time picking a "last meal" as there are a lot of things I love to eat, but a steak and a baked potato will always be my default fave.  Mmmmm....

Here's hoping you have a great day planned, too.

S

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

It definitely does NOT apply to thunderstorms.  From mid-afternoon yesterday I watched the radar as thunderstorms began percolating in southeastern Oklahoma.  The best part was they were moving towards me, which is very unusual as most of our weather forms to our southwest.  By 6 pm I received a text message that a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued for my county (nothing damaging expected, just rain, thunder and lightning).  WooHoo!

Wouldn't you know it....just as it arrived on the outskirts of my very town, it fell apart.  We had a little wind, a couple of claps of thunder, and barely enough rain to wet the street.  About the only benefit I got of all this were some gorgeous cloud photos at sunset like the one above, taken looking south from my den window.  

Maybe today will bring us another chance.  Happy Sunday everyone.  ;)

S

One to remember

I remember many years ago when I was a student at Harvard-on-the-Plains, more commonly known as Texas Tech University, Lubbock had the mother of all thunderstorms.  It lasted most of the night and was just a flash of lightning and clap of thunder one after another after another.  I remember I turned off the lights and, just to see if it was possible, read a chapter in a textbook using just the illumination from the lightning.  The next day everyone I saw looked like they hadn't slept all night, probably because they hadn't slept all night.  FLASH...BOOM!  FLASH...BOOM!  It was a crazy night.


Last night here in Dallas it wasn't quite that intense, but it was still memorable.  So far we've had more lightning strikes than you can count, and 2.5" of rain with another 2+" expected before the storm moves out.  Our area lakes, which are all several feet (or more) low, are getting a nice fill-up.  We've been on Stage 2 or 3 (I can't remember which) water restrictions for months, and we've been warned that if we don't get some major replenishment before spring we'd soon be on Stage-whatever-is-the-highest.  That would mean short showers and ducking behind trees for "relief".  Just for the record, La Nina sucks.


Did anyone watch The Prez on TV last night?  I actually watched the replay this morning and thought he made a great speech.  Now let's see if he can deliver on any of it.  I thought it spoke volumes when he mentioned the banking/financial reforms and congressional insider-trading reforms that were still needed, and then the cameras panned the Republican delegation to show them all staring at their shoes.  Or maybe they were checking their pay envelopes they were handed by the banking lobbyists as they entered the House chamber.  I couldn't tell which.  At least the Democratic delegation slipped theirs into their coat pockets to be counted after the cameras were turned off.  Smart.   :)


S

"Rain, rain, go away"...no, wait...PLEASE STAY!

"I don't need no stinkin' trainin'."  Smart dog.  Haha!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rain is always to me a good news / bad news sort of thing.  We desperately need more rain here in drought stricken Texas, but as a homebuilder, rain wrecks a construction schedule.  In a perverse way, not having a home under construction right now is good because we're expecting rain all day and night....2-3 inches of the liquid sunshine, and now I can enjoy it.   I have a couple of errands to run today, but otherwise I'm sticking close to home.  I asked K what needs to be done around here (I'm really scratchin' for something to do, can you tell?) and she said I could clean out the pantry.  How do you "clean out" a pantry?  Do you dust the cans, or maybe arrange them in alphabetical order?  Geez, I'm bored, but....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So Mitt Romney made $42M last year, but paid only 14% in taxes.  I think people are outraged by that for the wrong reason.  I don't blame him for taking advantage of every deduction and loophole available to him.  You would, too, and don't lie and say you wouldn't.  I blame congress, who WE elected, for allowing those loopholes to exist in the first place.  And to say, "Yes, they (congress) are bad guys, all except MY guy, and he's good" is why things never change.  Just because your congressman sent you a birthday card or gave you a commemorative paperweight isn't reason enough to vote for him/her.  At the same time they were robo-signing your card they were emptying your pocket in order to subsidize 'ol Mitt and his buddies.  Think about it.

S  

Magical salad

Trying to eat better in order to begin enjoying a more active outdoor lifestyle (whenever it cools some), last night we went to Jason's Deli for dinner.  We both had the salad bar.  We sometimes have a small salad with dinner, but rarely do we have a salad as dinner.  We're carnivores and darn proud of it!

Since then strange things have been happening.  First, I took Emma Belle out for her last dootie call of the day and found it to be cool.  Again...I said COOL.  It's a relative term, I know, but compared to the 107 of late afternoon, 80 felt cool.  Strange.

Then I woke up at 3 am with an idea of how to build a balance board (improves balance and coordination) using inexpensive building materials instead of  paying $50 for a store-bought one.  But how big?  I got up and went to the internet and did several minutes of highly intense academic research and decided what I really wanted was a "wobble board".

 At 3 am.  Very strange. 

Finally at 6 am this morning, as I was throwing on some old clothes to take the dog out for her first dootie call of the new day, I heard it....thunder.  Then I heard....could it be?....rain!  Radar showed one tiny little shower right over my side of my town, right over me.  Beyond strange.  

I'm thinking it was the salad.  What else could it be?  It must have had some mighty powerful juju.  I promise I'll never make fun of salad again.

S

Another day in Paradise...with photo

My beloved 'lil Audi is getting spruced up today.  "Detailed", that is.  It's pushing 5 years old with 83,000 miles on the clock, and in great mechanical shape, but in need of a shave and a haircut.  I get those Living Social emails daily (similar to Groupon) and not long ago they had an offer for auto detailing at 1/2 price. DEAL!


Another nice benefit of me cleaning up my car is the rain.  It's common knowledge if I wash my car it will rain.  A simple wash, a little rain.  With a full-fledged detailing, I'm expecting a LOT of rain.  Maybe not as much as my friends in Virginia and the Carolina's will be getting in a few days (and hopefully they'll all come through unscathed but just wet), but rain none-the-less.  If I don't see rain here within 48 hours I'm going back and asking for a refund.  Breach of implied promise, or something.


My birthday was a good one.  I heard from all my loved ones, even the little ones who can only slobber and mumble.  A new season of Top Gear was aired last night in my honor.  Thank you BBC.  :)  K and I had a nice dinner at home as we're going out with All My Children on Wednesday to celebrate.


Other than that, the days drone on.


Adios mi amigos,


S

Looks pretty good all cleaned up, huh?

Oasis found!

Like the parched man wandering in the desert looking for even a small puddle of water, I've been hallucinating over water for weeks....no, months now.  It's been 105-110 degrees every day with nary a cloud in sight.  Parched, I tell 'ya.

Two days ago rain drifted south out of Oklahoma and made it titillatingly close to Dallas.  We didn't get any, but it made the lead story on the local news, ahead of news of the world economic implosion and a possible cure for cancer.  (Hey, we have priorities!)

This morning I finally dragged myself out of bed at 7:30 to take the dog for her dootie call and was greeted by....wait for it....RAIN!  WooHoo!!  Emma Belle wouldn't even step off the porch, but just looked at the rain, then at me, her eyes asking, "What am I supposed to do with that?"

I had a suspicion this might happen as last night it was cool enough for us to actually walk around our neighborhood and see the "beautiful people" (read: ladies) milling around waiting for tables at restaurants, and listen to a killer blues band playing under the porte-cochere.  


Which reminds me:  We saw couples where the lady was dressed to the nines....absolutely magazine-cover gorgeous....and the guy looked like he just crawled out from under the car after changing the oil.   What's with that?

Have a good day everyone.  :)

S