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.