SNOW in Houston

It was 15 years ago - 1989 - the last time we had snow. It caught us by surprise on Christmas eve. As L and I drove to church suddenly the flakes were falling and falling. All during church it kept falling - leaving a white blanket on our cars. Amazing. SNOW!  It snowed in Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of us, for the first time in 86 years - and they got a foot of it! 

Of course people here don't know how to drive on it. Coming back on 59 we got to the Brazos River bridge and someone had spun out on the ice and a line of cars was backed up, so we took the turn-around and detoured home another way.

Of course it all melted on Christmas Day, but it was a nice change, and a treat. But with the war still going on in Iraq - an explosion from a suicide bomber in a mess tent killed over 20 a few days ago - I just couldn't get into the holiday spirit. I hope 2005 will be a better year.

Aftermath

Well, the campaign is OVER and I'm finally poking my head out again. The incumbent got fewer votes than ever before, but I still lost and so did all the other challengers. But it was a great learning experience and it was my first time on a general election ballot.

Now to move FORWARD.  After nearly 30 years of practicing law I am ready to try something different. There are too many lawyers and the work is not really that exciting. I liked international negotiations a lot more than having to do a divorce.

But our system seems to discard those with the most experience - the few international jobs now go to young kids who know very little but get paid the big bucks. Forget getting a corporation to hire someone over 50 regardless of talent. Same for the law firms. Age discrimination is not legal but is the norm. And the incompetent seem to rise quickly to the top (e.g. Rumsfeld - no war plan, no armor for the troops, etc.).  Sometimes I think we've changed from being a nation of the best and brightest to a nation run by the best connected who know how to kiss up (it's not WHAT you know but WHO you know that counts).  In the long term, it will be our undoing.

So, for me, it's either back to doing the mundane or I need to create something new and interesting, but what that is remains to be seen. Last week I was so bored I even applied for a job in Iraq!  No, it's not a death wish, but a desire to do something more interesting than hunt down land titles or hear an ex complain about their spouse they want to divorce. 

Even running for office was better than that. We shall see what develops.

6 Days to Go - Getting ugly

Six days to go before the election, and it's getting ugly. I'm not talking about the national campaign, but this Congress race. 

The 20-year incumbent, who hasn't had a sign or campaign office in a decade, suddenly has tons of both. And he's even throwing out negative attack ads, a sure sign of desperation.

My only question is: Where do I sign up to get attacked? Heck, DeLay's giving name recognition to the first-time Democrat challenger by attacking him.  I want some equal time! LOL.

Heck, I'm the one pulling away the incumbents GOP voters, the moderate ones who are tired of him. The Democrat's base is only 35% of the district. There are at least 40% moderate Republicans that refused to vote for DeLay in the March primary in his home county - a greater number. Ummmm.

So, if I get attacked in the next few days, I'll know that I've "arrived."

Actually, like many voters, I'm ready for this election to be OVER. It's gone on too long and is too negative. I have tried to focus on issues instead of mudslinging, but mudslinging is winning out...where's my mud ball?

Campaign End stage

The campaign is, thankfully, near an end. The outsome is still uncertain. I just saw a poll that said the incumbent (DeLay) is at 47% --pretty low for a 20-year incumbent. It seems like every day there is another story in the papers about his ethics or other problems.

We actually got to debate at a candidate forum hosted by the Clear Lake High School debate team - DeLay waited until 30 minutes before it started to call and say he was coming. When I got the word I immediately called the TV stations, who started walking in during the debate--too late for him to duck and run.

Afterward, to my amazement, a lot of people came up and said how I had impressed them. About half of them said they were switching their vote to me as a result. Too bad it wasn't televised live. My poll numbers would skyrocket.

So the underdog continues to do it grass roots. Ended up on another TV station tonight.

I am TIRED. Ready to wrap this up. It's an excitiing finish. No clue as to how it will come out yet. Anything could happen.

 

DeLay's Aides Indicted While I fix my car

I had a radio talk show interview today, Meria Heller from Arizona, then was getting my car transmission fluid changed --which was taking forever since it was a trade with a client who couldn't afford to pay -- when news broke of several of my opponent's (Tom DeLay) aides getting indicted.  I didn't find out about it until news time.

Suddenly, things are changing. Anything could happen, with 40 days to go to election day. God works in mysterious ways!

Reving Up

Thank God August is dead. I felt as if  I'd been fried under a microwave all month. September SOUNDS cooler, even when it's still hot.

The political season has begun. My underdog campaign against the dragon DeLay somehow survived the heat and the economy that has been on life support. The trickle down economics hasn't really been trickling - I think the heat evaporated it on the way down.

Florida must have really ticked off the big guy in the sky - two hurricanes in one season! First Charley, then Francis. And it may get knocked down again by Ivan. That what happens when you hang chads and let Ralph Nader back on the ballot!

Ummm. Heat may have fried some of my brain, or Ralph's - along with everyone else running. DeLay is polling 45%, the lowest ever and is promising if he gets reelected he'll start eating vegetables again. Ok, maybe not vegetables...

Later..Henri the dog is demanding a break. Never deny a dog that needs to go...

Ant Bites

Blogging has been zero due to extreme heat and a full schedule.

I have a long red blotch on my ankles that itchs like mad from fire ant bites - apparently they penetrated through a hole in my sock as I was walking the district.

It's finally a bit cooler for a few days, after hitting 110 heat index for days on end. My nose looks like Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer from keeping my car top open for ventilation (A/C is still out and needs to be converted from an R 12 to one of the new systems that doesn't kill ozone - not sure it's worth it).

A client needed some help so ended up going to L.A. on a case (a big company attacking his little one, the usual) - but in this economy cash is tight so he could pay only part of it. The rest he wanted to pay via a barter with a third party --to get me something I need, a pickup. Well, the pickup looks great but instead of running well it has a dead engine.

It reminds me of the depression stories. "Thanks Doc for your help, but gee, we've got no cash -- but we can give you a chicken and a goat!"

Well, I didn't get a goat but I did get a pickup that doesn't (yet) work. Amazing. I took it. I figured "Half a truck is better than none."  In time I can always get a motor in it and will enjoy driving something that hauls my stuff and has a working A/C!

While I'm trying to survive and take in chickens and pickups for fees, the other two candidates have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars - one has spent a million -- yet both of them have gone DOWN in the polls!  Amazing.....

With less than $10,000 I - the 3rd candidate-have been going UP (I had no where else to go).

I found out that the incumbent polls without using my name (giving him false numbers since it only compares him vs a Democrat) and the Dems poll using the independent me -- and it shows my being on the ballot has dropped the incumbent below 49% without my even making a phone call or a mailing.

Not to bad when you running against someone who has been in power as long as Saddam and has more money than some countries!

Tells me the boy's in a heap of trouble. We could yet see a David topple a Goliath.

We could use one of those stories, especially when you scan the awful headlines - Iraq is still a hellhole, politicians are being overly partisan and the whole world really needs a makeover and fresh faces in leadership...

We'll see what happens. I have to go check, after a long absence, the blog of the Iraqi girl who lives in Baghdad - to get the real facts of what is happening over there.

I don't think our gov't or media really gives us an accurate picture than someone living in it....more later, when the ant bites subside.

Mike