Nothing says Christmas Eve like a thick, juicy steak

Between 10 and 11pm tonight, I drove around to see what businesses were open, now that the bulk of Texas is shut down for Christmas Eve - a Christian holiday.

What was open: every gas station; 7-11 stores; drugstores (CVS and Walgreens); liquor stores and at least three of the finer steak houses (although they appeared to be closing around 10pm .. the valets were handling the last cars). One local bar was doing a brisk business at 11pm. Not surprisingly, a few churches were holding late-night services and had full parking lots. I spotted a couple "24x7" restaurants -- IHOP and Denny's -- open, but the only fast-food drive-thru doing business was Burger Street. The hotel lobbies were open (of course) - probably for people who were banned from their relatives' homes for the holiday.

It'll be interesting to see how many of these businesses will be open by noon tomorrow. Yesterday - Christmas Adam (a/k/a Festivus) - everything retail was open.

During tonight's trip, my car thermometer registered between 1-7C (colder as I neared the various creeks), and I noticed regular gasoline averaged $2.80, $3.10 for premium (and diesel selling for about $3.50).

numerology: from 12.2 to 9.2 (with a stop at 14.5 en route)

Ah, the joy of electricity deregulation. My provider waited until 1 picosecond after my contract expired to raise my electric rate from 12.2¢ to 14.5¢ (per kwh). So, I logged onto Power To Choose and switched providers - again. I think this is about the 5th time I've changed since deregulation happened here. Now, I have a rate of 9.2¢ per kwh but that's expected to fluctuate, and since there was no contract I can switch without penalty if they get out of line.

The fact that my new provider uses about 50% coal is irrelevant. If it was important that we conserve resources and use renewable sources of energy, the Texas legislature would mandate it, right?

cascading ...

Last Friday, Trish-Bob sent me to Benbrook to deliver Rambo to a foster family (long story, don't ask). Naturally, I couldn't leave until 4pm because Justin-Bob -- Tim-Bob's son -- had to go back to Lowe's for more stain (he was supposed to be there 10 days earlier but it turns out solid-core 1-3/8" doors are a special order item).

If I haven't lost you yet, I will ...

While I was waiting for Justin-Bob, I noticed the pop-up message on my PDA saying that it was Daniel-Bob's 50th birthday. Hmmm. I phoned Judy-Bob to inform her of the fact and she suggested we all meet at Ed's Deli on Sunday for a Breakfast Birthday Event [BBE]. Since I'd never been to a BBE before, I agreed (5 of us would eventually be there, including Mark and Joe-Bob).

The nicely-wrapped gift of Faux Spam wasn't the highlight; that honor goes to the plain-white-cover on the Sexaholics Anonymous book (lest I digress)

As I was leaving (did I mention it was Cold & Rainy?) I spotted a pour soul with an EVENT jacket standing in the intersection at Preston/LBJ-635 with a "sandwich sign" saying that Petco was having a G.O.O.B. sale -- not to be confused with a GOOB(er). "Whaaat?" (I shouted to myself as I clamped on the brakes). "Petco's going out of business?" (turns out it's limited to the location at Preston Royal, where the Mean Old Landlord has raised the rent to the point it was unprofitable to remain open .. now Tom Thumb -- owned by Safeway -- will expand into their space starting in January).

I can no longer pass up a CLEARANCE sale (thank you, Judy-Bob), so JACK (Just Another Car) ferried me there post haste. I was checking out the "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" merchandise (did I mention this is where Jill Wazabob found Marvin?) -- I've learned that while the (currently 20%) discounts certainly will increase, the only thing left at The End of the Going Out Of Business sale will be those poor orphan items that Only A Mother Could Love -- I ran into an Australian with dreadlocks, shopping (with his Dallas-originated girlfriend) for one of those multi-level cat houses. I noticed his Aussie accent and asked if he was from Melbourne. "No," he said, "The Great Barrier Reef". Since I didn't know that any humans actually lived in The Reef (I strongly suspect he lived nearby) I asked him if a news report I'd read about the coral being bleached due to Global Warming was true. He said "yes, it's true .. it's still not widespread but the early effects are obvious and it may all be gone in our lifetime - the next 50 years or so".

So there you have it. If Trish-Bob hadn't done The Intervention (again, don't ask) I wouldn't have confirmation from an Aussie-with-dreadlocks that our American excesses WRT power are bleaching/killing the coral halfway across the globe. I silently wondered if Jill - who dived there years ago and met Paul The Divemaster - knew about that Catastrophe In The Making, and the cascade effect it will have.

Now can I go back to reading the prose on my breakfast cereal box?

genealogical deep thought

does anyone know: are Dad Gummit and Dag Nabbit related? If so, how?

Messing with Texas

I just turned in a litterer (anonymously, since the website [Don't Mess with Texas : Report A Litterer] didn't ask who I was). I wasn't sure what he threw out - chicken bones, cigarettes, papers .. all I saw was a pile-o-stuff being launched, about 10 feet to my right.

What will happen next - he'll get a postcard saying "someone saw you"? I'll bet he frames those as trophies. (actually, he'll probably just toss them out his window at the next opportunity).

flabbergasted

okay, will someone explain to me why there are no (zero) 2-line DECT phones?

I am baffled why there are dozens of 1-line phones, but ansolutely none that meet my needs - of a second phone line. This cannot possibly be an oversight - is there something in the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications 6.0 standard that says "single line only"?

sniff, sniff ...

I've had the A/C off for over a month, and last night I flipped on the heat (thermostat set for 20C in the winter, 26C in the summer). Indeed, there was that unmistakable aroma, as in years past ...

Watching Dallasonians (Dallasites? Dallaseneans?) is entertaining this time of the year, as they pull their Heavy Winter Clothing out of storage when it drops below 20C outside. It seems to affect Our Latino Friends the most, who appear .. well .. paralyzed. I can only image the trauma affecting those who migrated farther north .. like (gasp!) New Hampshah.

Weather watchers (Jill, are you listening?) will be entertained to know that rain is predicted for the 2nd half of this 4-day weekend. And you know what that means, right? Free Car Wash!!!