43 Things

Number 22 is done, so I should really take it off the list and add something else.

Number 30 is just a matter of time.

Number 41 didn't happen this time, maybe next time.

and number 1...well, we're working on it, but it's slow going.

Project: Part 1

Last week we cleaned out the garage. Today, we built a table.

.

.

.

..

It looks pretty good in the photos, especially considering that the guy at Home Depot didn't cut the lumber very accurately! But it looks pretty good, nevertheless.

We've decided that carpentry, satisfying though it is, is hard work when you're not used to it. We're both going to be sore tomorrow!

WTF?

Girl comes in
sits at my table
eats with her boyfriend
asks for a job application
and leaves me twelve cents!

They Got Another One

So small-town Texas is apparently a bad place to be a schizophrenic.

Plainview police shot and killed a man this morning, for no good reason. Again.
Here's the scoop, so far:

Hale County Deputy Shoots Plainview Man

Reported by: Lauren Murphy

Monday, Aug 6, 2007 @08:57pm CST

A Hale County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed 37 year-old Jose Vasquez.  Just before four o’clock Monday morning, Vasquez got into an altercation with his family.  That’s when his brother, Juan, called police.

Juan said the sheriff’s deputy had the opportunity to handcuff him but didn’t.

He said Vasquez lunged at the officer, and the officer grabbed his gun, and shot Vasquez in the chest. The victim’s friends and family say that deputy did not have to kill him.

“He was a human being. He was treated worse than dog,” said Aurora Gutierrez, a friend of the family.“ them to protect my brother so he would hurt himself. In the end they took his life,” said Juan Vasquez.

The family tells us Vasquez was a schizophrenic.

This is the third fatal shooting this year by law enforcement officials, the second schizophrenic.

Goodbye, Harry

I can't believe it's actually over...no more waiting for another book, wondering where she's going to take the story next.

Ken & I were talking the other night about the Harry Potter phenomenon; we couldn't think of any other book or author that has caused this kind of mayhem. I look forward to a new Alex Cross book by James Patterson, and so do lots of other people...but bookshops don't open at midnight and have themed parties for James Patterson books. There are people who don't even know who Alex Cross or James Patterson are - but everybody, it seems, whether they read the books or not, has heard of Harry Potter.

Ken pointed out that the fans and frenzy of Harry Potter would probably even put Star Wars in the dust. There are countless numbers of highly devoted Star Wars fans (I know; I'm married to one of them!), but the people who lined up for the midnight release of the films were mostly geeks (I know; I was there.)

The people who have followed the Harry Potter books are from all different crowds: the people I know who planned to be somewhere at midnight to get their copy of this last book include two coworkers, who have very little else in common, and at least one family in our small-group Bible study. Then there are my two former coworkers in Dallas, and two old roommates, from two different houses.

And us. We were there at midnight for the last book release, and we almost made it for this one, but only by chance - we wouldn't have left the house to be there at midnight this time, but we'd been out anyway, and were just getting back into town, so we thought we might as well stop. Alas, we got there too late, and they wouldn't let us in. So I went back yesterday morning. Ken got to read it first; he had it read by last night, and then handed it over to me, and now we've both finished it, and we have the complete set on our living room bookshelf, finally.

I like the way she ended it; she tied up all the loose ends, and didn't get (too) predictable. And I really liked the Epilogue, though Ken didn't.

But Goblet Of Fire is still my favorite.

Speaking of Old Friends...

I haven't heard from Cassie in a long time.

Cass, if you're out there, give me a call or drop me a line or something.
Let me know how you're doing.

Or if anyone in Dallas reads this & knows where she is or how to get hold of her,
tell her I miss her.

And, We're Back

Buzz & Sarah were here again this weekend; they drove up for a friend's birthday party. It was great - I don't know about everyone else, but I had a really good time. My qualm last time Sarah was here was that yes, I had a great time, but did it matter? - would I ever see her again? The fact that they drove all the way up here from El Paso just for a friend's birthday meant a lot, not only to him but to me as well.

And what about all the fears & hesitations I had to deal with last time they were here? Gone. It was all based on ten-year old resentments and bad information from a bad source. Sarah is the same Sarah she's always been - as a matter of fact, in ten years, I seem to have changed much more than she has. But it's all good...

I don't know when we'll see them again after this, but I'm looking forward to whenever it is, and I hope to keep in touch in the meantime.

It's nice to have an old friend back again.

If You'll Be My Bodyguard...

Does anybody not like that song?

I was at work today, and it came on in the bar, and so I was singing it in the kitchen a few minutes later, when another guy said "I love that song!" and soon he was singing it too. A few minutes went by, and I heard the kitchen manager pick up the tune, and he wondered out loud "Why do I have that song stuck in my head?" So I told him. Later, he was whistling it, and two more of the cooks started singing along. "Call Me Al" became like our song of the day.

How much talent must it take to write a song like that, that everybody likes and sings along with?

Veronica

Veronica sits in her favorite chair
She sits very quiet and still
And they call her a name that they never get right
And if they don't then nobody else will

Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own
And a devilish look in her eye
Saying "You can call me anything you like
But my name is Veronica."

How do you explain Elvis Costello to someone who's never heard of him?

There's a girl at my job called Veronica, and one day I finally told her, "You know, every time I work with you, I end up with that Elvis Costello song stuck in my head - Veronica."

Her response? A blank stare - but another girl who happened to be in earshot was more to the point. "Who the #%*!! is Elvis Costello??"

Ah, well...
(Kids these days!)

Graduation

So I'm working a Saturday shift, which is somewhat unusual for me.

I was okay with it...then I found out that this is Tech's Graduation weekend -
which, if you work at a restaurant, translates to "insanely, unimaginably busy!"
(No breaks, no early outs - whatever it is, don't even ask - capisce?)

It occurred to me recently that I've been terrorized by Texas Tech's Graduation for most of my life. When I was a kid, my mom worked at Tech; I didn't know then what 'registration' and 'graduation' were - I just knew that those were the times when Mom got home from work really late, and was unusually cranky.

When my sister graduated from Tech, I actually had to sit through the ceremony. Hours of sitting and waiting for one name to be called, one familiar face to walk by for an ever-so-brief photo op. Then more sitting and waiting.

Now, as a waitress, graduation means big crowds - lots of money to be made, if you can deal with the chaos.