OK, last night sucked. I am going to bed and as I am getting ready I am just killing time in my office. Hmm kinda hot in here, let me check the AC. Its 80. Damn. Its not running. Fuck. Go down stairs and check the breaker and flip it good measure. Nothing. Check the freon return line to the compressor and it is totally iced over. Shit. The compressor that runs the 3rd floor is toast. OK, great.

Thinking it is relatively cool outside I think I can crank the downstairs unit and crank up my ceiling fan to compensate so I head to bead to try that. No luck as I spend the next 3 hours tossing and turning and finally get up at 3 to go to my guest bedroom which is cooler. I forgot how firm that bed is compared to my new bed. Next thing I know it is 6:00 AM and time to head to the pool. Great start to the day. But it is fixed - there was a freon leak in the system near the compressor ($335.00 later.....)

Now I am dead tired and headed off to finally sleep. Was pumping this one hella strong headed home from dinner tonight. I always thought it would be cool if these guys got together with the Beasties. Incubus - Idiot Box.

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And what the hell is this?????

New for 2006, the Dodge Abductor! 350 Horsepower, obscured windows for privacy, quick open back doors to quickly nab your suspect, and 13" wheels.

These vans are always parked outside my home on my street. I don't think I have every seen anybody park them, drive them or anything. They come, and then they go. Who drives this thing? It's not like there is a company logo on the side. I cant see your average soccer mom driving this thing. Weird.

2006 Houston International Festival

This was the first time that I have had a chance to go to the festival in several years and I have to say it was really cool. Each year the festival spotlights a different country and their culture over a two weekend span every spring. This year the feature country was Jamaica. Although the focus is on one country, you get a chance to sample culture from all of Houston's different communities. You can get a taste of India, Louisiana, Mexico, Vietnam, and several Latin American countries just to name a few.

All in all, there are plenty of dancers, sights, vendors, bands and of course, the food. Events like this are one of the many great things about Houston because you get to see just how diverse the city really is. The capoeira dancers were a favorite of mine. All the pictures over here.

This year one of the artists playing was Patrice Pike who I am a big fan of. She played a small intimate set that was really cool. I will have to see if CastPost will cooperate for me to post some video.

Never mind. Just go here for the video - seems to not be worth the effort. Also seems to only work in IE, no dice in FireFox. Hmmm. The audio works for sure so maybe I will toss a full song here later.

Yes sir, summer is here!

Back in the deep end

There is no better feeling. Deep breath, push off the wall, three dolphin kicks, coast, reaching back with my right arm, then forward, and finally that first long stroke across my body and then to my side. I am off.

Today was my first day back swimming in far too long. I signed up for a membership at the Downtown Clubs of Houston yesterday so that I could have access to a pool. Although they don’t have a pool per say, members can use the pool at the Four Seasons. Actually the pool there is not that bad at all and it was not crowded this morning. I have not swam consistently since I moved back here to Houston. Running is simply getting boring, and it feels like less of a commitment to me. As a bonus, the club has weights and a basketball court so I can do that in the morning as well. If I can find a raquette ball partner then its a bingo bonus.

Interesting email I got today voicing outrage on the issue of immigration. I need to digest those thoughts but I dont know if I am gonna like what I come up with. Hmm more on that later.

Just when you think ......

Funny how these things happen in life. I heard from an old (many, moons back) ex a few days ago. This one was really out of the blue, but very welcome. Until we figured it out I had no idea that it has been say 3 years since we have spoken and boy has her life changed - in a good way though.

I think it's always interesting to reconnect with people that you have not seen in a long time. It gets really interesting when it is somebody that you were in a relationship with. Some feelings come back, and then some of them don't. In this case it was more of a sense of happiness for her and her life now. She has a lot of cool things to be happy about. Also it reminded me of how I felt when I was with her and truly in love. It certainly reminds me not to settle cause the good stuff is still out there. Here is to you babe.

Oh, and I plan to hold her to her promise to introduce me to Jayne Seymour!

He Said, She Said: The Movies or a Familiar Date...........

(George) - What did you do last night?

(A) - Oh I saw this really good movie, Friends with Money. It opened at Sundance this year. It was kinda a chick flick.

Oh really.

Yeah, I dont think you would have liked it.

So I guess it had no fighting, nobody got shot?

No, none of that, and no car chases. It was just a lot of talking.

A lot of talking huh....So I suppose that there was no sex. Everybody kept their clothes on?

Yeah, everybody kept their clothes on for the most part.

So there was just a lot of "talking" and all the clothes stayed on. OK.

Yup. And it really was not about anything. At the end nothing really got resolved.

So let me get this straight. It was just a lot of talking, everybody kept their clothes on, and at the end, all the talking really was not about anything. Yup, certainly a chick flick (or a familiar date)

First Skydiving.......

Now rock climbing!

So I gave indoor rock climbing a shot today for the first time. I kinda feel like I have been missing out on something cause this was a lot of fun! This was totally not what I expected. It is a delicate balance between strength, agility, and smarts. Really challenging. As I was watching some other peeps scramble up the walls I felt pretty insignificant. BUT if I develop the right muscles (strong hands and ankles) then I think I can do this. I suppose my sweaty hands don't help either.

Welcome Home

Some family members and friends (ahem…..Chelsea) have been on me for some time to send around some pics of the casa. This past weekend was really beautiful and very sunny so I decided to take some pics with the windows open and the sun shining inside. Make yourself at home, help yourself to whatever is in the fridge. Whoever shows up first gets the bed. Keg, the Reidel is up top – the Shea Pinot is really good these days.

If you want the pics with commentary, you can go here. To just check out the slideshow without comments, look over here

Golf Day

Taking the second half of the day off today to play in the His Grace Foundation annual golf tourney. Should be fun, I don't see many of the board members often. Also hoping to see some of the kids and families that can make it.

Tiger plays for his father, I suppose I will play for my little brother today.

What if God Shuffled By?

Hell of a weekend even though I felt like death all day yesterday. Seemed like the week was nothing but a bust given my mood for most of it. Kinda had to laugh at the end though. Walking on the floor Friday morning and seeing green Bear fliers was hella entertaining. What in the world is going on? I suppose the grand exodus of the heart of the company is whats going on. Big props to Woodrow for pulling me out of my funk Friday, that is what I needed. I owe a really nice dinner here at the casa for that for sure.

Funny how music makes it better. This song has been one in heavy rotation for me recently and it is not really one of my favs but I suppose it says a lot about what's on my mind. It's all about life and living it. Really ironic that this sog came up in conversation with Scotty last night. Sweet, looks like I got the audio to finally work in FireFox! Looks like it takes a moment to load while not playing or its choppy.....hmmmm.

"Lying on the roof counting
The stars that fill the sky I wonder if
Someone in the heavens looking back down on me
ll never know"

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The Me in the Mirror

So the George looking back at me is not somebody that I have wanted to deal with too much recently. Comes down to one thing: Calpine.

Things have been going far from stellar of late and maybe I should have expected this back in Dec with the Chapter 11 filing. Paul is gone. Sean is gone. Randy is gone. Bear Sterns is gone. The credit is gone. Near term commercial viability, yeah that’s gone too. Time to face facts that unless a rabbit comes out of somebody’s ass (and soon) I am done. Time to face fact that my career goes nowhere unless something changes. If nothing else at least I have some hope that I am not gonna be out on the street in the near term. I hope. But that is never guaranteed. So many promises. Maybe I would have been better off if I had just fallen on the sword for the round one layoffs.

Face the fact: I am on my way out. Time to go. Make the move. Change. Seems like that is all my adult life has been about. Change. I know I am a survivor, I am just tired of proving it again and again. I have no idea what is next. Maybe I will get an audience with the Dali Lama or maybe hike the Grand Canyon. I gotta do something to figure this out.

“How long do I have to climb,
Up on the side of this mountain of mine?”

Not bad except for Haley

Not a bad weekend - Ibiza, wine, TCH, Cova, (wine), church, and a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Funny story from TCH this weekend. I stopped by to see little Haley who I simply adore. She got her bone marrow this weekend so good for her. I met her and her parents a couple of weeks ago when she turned 4. The foundation bought her this huge kitchen play thingy that we put together for her bithday gift. Anywho. So now she is on isolation which means gown, mask and gloves for visitors. I wash up and gear up to to in and as soon as I cross the door she starts screaming, "MOMMY.....MOMMY........MOMMY!" She would not stop! Obviously she thought I was another doctor. Ugh. Totally heart breaking. Memory loss for kids going through this stuff is fairly common. Sucks to be mistaken for the bad guys.