American Dream...

Houston means that I'm one day closer to you...

So, we are in Houston. We arrived last Monday. Here's the play by play.

Monday: Arrive in Houston, on way to Clear Lake from airport receive call from former NY boss wanting somthing. Let it roll to voice mail, answer via email.

Tuesday: Buy 2007 Honda Accord

Wednesday: Chill at the parents house. Check out huge grocery store, eat Mexican food for $7 a plate.

Thursday: Buy 2005 Chevy Cavilier.

Friday: Go look at houses in the Houston Heights, see one we really like, but a bit out of our price range.

Saturday: Mrs Bubba and Bubba's mom are rear ended in new 2007 Honda Accord by some F@*% nut that has no insurance. Ouch. $500 (that's our deductable for uninsured motorist) down the drain for doing nothing wrong. People without insurance probably don't have any money either.

Aside: Learned that, in this week of shootings (V-Tech and in our backyard, NASA) that one should be allowed to carry a gun in their car. Yes, you could be a very reasonable, responsible person and pass all the gun classes that you want, but when someone without insurance hits you and you lose it and the adrenaline is flowing, you can't predict you won't use your weapon. By moving south I became a liberal from a conservative, without changing my views.)

Sunday: Go to eat raw oysters for Mrs. Bubba, but Pappas on the freeway is out, leave, go to Seabrook to Pappadeaux, they are out. Settle for fried oysters, crawfish. Watch Histroy channel program on Sherman's march, learn that he wasn't all bad. I still think he was all bad, I mean, come on. Interesting note, my grandmothers family, see Bubba's Sis's blog, actually buried silver in Tenn. to keep it from the Yankees. Not Sherman, but probably someone just as bad. When we were in NY I wouldn't let my mom take a picture of a Sherman Statue.

Monday: Take 2007 Honda Accord to get fixed. Learn that I have to change my bank account. Apparently I have a NY Chase account and need a Texas Chase Account. Why can't Chase put the civil war behind them and their "yankee" bank get along with their "Texas" bank?

To do List:

Tuesday: Back to Heights for house hunting

Friday: Astros with Bubba's Dad.

Don't you wish your baby was cute like me?

One More Reason...

Nuri Nuri, the Big Bad Bossman of the Blues.

Sunday mornings, 11AM - 2 PM, Blues Brunch, KPFT 90.1.

I'd like to send a shot out to all the cool cats ...

Houston > Dallas

So, we're listening to Lyle Lovett this Sat. morning, listening to the ice melt off the roof and come crashing down, counting the days until we move back to Texas. Since I've lived in Dallas, but was "born and raised" in Houston, I thought I'd embrace the rivalry between to the two Texas cities and make a list of why Houston is better than Dallas.

1. Herman Park, Memorial Park, Sam Houston Park. Dallas has no big city parks.
2. Miller Outdoor Theatre
3. Astros Baseball. The Rangers don't even play in Dallas, and they are only a distraction until Cowboy camp begins in late July.
4. Performing Arts, Houston is far ahead of Dallas. Just go to the Music Hall at Fair Park.
5. Rodeo Houston (This might be a push because I love the State Fair.)
6. Houston is not dry, like most of Dallas. I want to buy beer in my grocery store, if that makes me a sinner, so be it.
7. Beach. Galveston is not the best beach, but it is a better beach than they have in Dallas.
8. Alabama Ice House. I looked for 3 years in Dallas for an Ice House, they don't exist.
9. Lyle Lovett does a show in Houston every summer, but sometimes skips Dallas in favor of Bass Hall in Fort Worth.
10. 1.5 hour drive to Aggie football vs. 3 hour drive to Aggie football.
11. Houston museums, all of them, are better than their counterparts in Dallas. The Houston Museum of Natural Science had more visitors last year than the New York Museum of Natural Science.
    
12. Houston has trees. I like to say there are no tress in Colin County (north Dallas suburbs.)
13. While both have their issues, I perfer Bubbas in pickup trucks to yuppies in leased BMW's.
14. Goode Company BBQ, there isn't a really good BBQ rest. in Dallas.
15. Rice Stadium.
16. Houston's Downtown is more active than Dallas. Don't buy it, I read in the Dallas Morning News how Dallas leaders were saying they wanted downtown Dallas to develope like downtown Houston.
17. Houston has more downtown theatre seats than any other city in the country except New York.
18. The Houston Texans play in Houston, not like the Arlington, err, Dallas Cowboys.
19. Fresh Gulf seafood; eat shrimp while you watch the shrimp boats come in.
20. Houston is not as divided racially as Dallas, and doesn't seem to be fighting the race wars that Dallas still is.
21. In Houston, you don't have to dress up to go to the grocery store, well maybe.
    
22. Texas Medical Center.
23. NASA, First words spoken from the moon, "Houston."
24. World Headquarters of the oil and gas industry
25. The Bubba's live there!
    

Service Charge

When you buy, say an airline ticket to Texas, if you call and get it they charge you extra. They want you to buy it online, even print your boarding pass online so they don't have to pay someone to serve you. If you want someone, they charge you extra.

When you buy, say an Astros ticket, if you go to the box office and buy it from a human, no service charge, but if you buy it at home on a computer and print at home on your printer, involving no humans, they charge you a service fee.

Why wouldn't someone like, say the Houston Astros baseball club, take ticket opperations in house, cut the online service charges, and make buying tickets to their events easier and cheaper for their customers?

New Beginnings

So, I resigned my job here in NY with TT two weeks ago. We are moving back to Texas. I'm going to work for ExxonMobil Development Company in Marine Engineering working on offshore oil platforms. We are very excited about the move and the new job. The negative with the job is travel, some overseas. No I will not have to go out on the platforms, I will be involved with the design not the operations. EVERYONE asks me this and EVERYONE knows someone that goes out on the platforms.

So, the first of April we will visit Mrs. Bubba's parents in West Texas and then arrive in Houston, our new home! We're ready to leave NYC, as good as its been to us. But now with child we value different things from the place that we live and we frankly can't afford to provide those things here in NYC.

Also a plus, Astros games!

Texas University

I think this picture from the NY Times says it all...

Sleeping Patterns

So, little Drew likes to sleep with his arm up by his face. See the picture below. (The bandaids are from him having to give a little blood at the doctor's office to test his jaundice.)



This is the best one. He's topless again to get some indirect sun on him for his jaundice. But what's important is his arm placement.



Finally here is his 3D ultrasound picture we got at 20 weeks. (He was born in his 40th week.) Notice the arm placement. Seems he is sleeping now as he did in the womb. I think this is incredibly interesting.

Hello World, Here I Come...

My boss is an A-hole

I emailed saying I really wanted to take the next week off, which he asked if I was going to take 2 weeks before Drew came, so I thought taking 2 weeks wouldn't be bad. His response: I need to know where this is, where this is, can you do this at home next week, and where is this. Also thrown in this was "we're real busy with this," so I'd feel guilty about staying home. Nice! No, how are things going, congrats again, nothing. This will be fresh in mind when resignation comes.

I email back saying where things are, but not addressing item 3, can I do this at home. So the response, what about item 3. So, I'm coming in one day next week to take care of that and get them off my back. Let alone this is vacation that I'VE EARNED LAST YEAR and carryed over to this year for this particular purpose.

Note to employers: If you treat your employees good, they will want to stay and work for you. If you try to squeeze every little ounce of work out of them and show no interest in anything they are doing outside of work, like celebrating the birth of their first child, they will not want to work for you and will leave.

Day 2 at Home

Today we took a bath, ate some (Mommy's milk is here!) and took a nap.

Drew

Here he is!

Aggies Upset KU

If you haven't read in the papers yet, A&M beat Kansas last night in men's basketball in Lawerence, Kansas. This is the first win over KU ever for the Aggies, the first win for a Big 12 South opponent in Kansas. The Aggies overcame a 11 point 2nd half deficit and finished on a 17-4 run, highlighted by Acie Law IV's 3 pointer from the corner to give the Aggies a 1 point lead with 20 seconds left.

Why this win is sweet for Bubba. I was an Aggie basketball fan back before we were good. In my 6 years at A&M I never saw them beat our rival texas. When the Big 12 was formed, Kansas and Missouri complained that the Texas schools were going to drag the conference down. Well, now you're looking up to us.

It was one of the top sporting event watching moments for me. So much so, I'm watching again on ESPN Classic this morning!

Little guy

So, on Saturday night the Aggies travel to Kansas to take on KU in basketball. Then Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. Monday night the Aggies host the evil orange toads from Austin. So, the Superbowl, and two of the biggest basketball games in A&M history. Surely the little guy will want to watch some of this, wouldn't you think? With his Daddy? Rooting for the Ags!

Storm in Europe

Did you see the storm in Europe? High winds, etc. Those crazy pics of planes taking off sideways? Yikes! I saw this note from the NY Times article:

The name Kyrill stems from a German practice of naming weather systems. Anyone may name one, for a fee. Naming a high-pressure system costs $385, while low-pressure systems, which are more common, go for $256. Three siblings paid to name this system as a 65th birthday gift for their father, not knowing that it would grow into a fierce storm.

Strange, but I'd like someone to name the next Hurricane after me. "Hurricane Bubba made landfall today at 8:30 10 miles SW of Port Arther."

Churches and Presidents

Don't know if you've been following the debate at SMU (Bubba's Dad is a Grad, as well as Bubba's Granddaddy.) But the George W. Bush Presidential Library has narrowed it's choice to one, SMU. But it seems some at SMU don't want to be associated with the Bush politics and a "think tank" planned at the library.

Now it appears Methodists don't want to be associated with the library, see Dallas Morning News article.

Now, what I find amusing is Bush is a Methodist and the Methodist don't want him. Plus I remember when Clinton (who is a Baptist) was not wanted by the Baptists.

Cribs and Hope for the Future

The crib is here! This is an end to a long crib fiasco. The men are setting it up. When they leave we are going to eat lunch, then get the mattress. Tonight all will be set up!

I also noticed the crib was made in Vietnam. This gives me hope, that one day, Drew will lay his baby, my grandbaby, down in a crib made in Iraq.

For Baby Drew

Baby Drew, we're waiting for you. When are you going to come out and play? We've got your crib on the way to be set up on Saturday. I'll have to teach you how to handle things when they don't go the way you want, like the crib episode. Sometimes if you're patient you might end up with something better. Another lesson for me to teach you from this is sometimes you need to step up and take charge of the situation instead of just waiting to see what happens.

We were watching the NFL playoffs last weekend, waiting for you. I'll have to teach you about the old SWC, which I miss. And I'll teach you about the old time football players, like Doak Walker, who played at SMU and was my Granddaddy's favorite player. I think you'll like football. I can't wait to take you to a game at A&M. I know that your Mama may smirk, you know she went to the other school, but maybe some day we can sneak away, just the two of us. We can go see Uncle Tim Smith, my old college roommate. You'll love Tim Smith, and you two can talk about computers and stuff. You'll probably think we're silly together, but I wish for you a friend like Tim Smith.

Today they annouced the Baseball Hall of Fame inductees while we wait for you. Of course I'm going to teach you my other love (besides you and mama) and that's baseball. I'll teach you to throw and catch, to hit and run the bases. I'll teach you about the Astros. I'll teach you to play your best and to play to win, but I'll also teach you that sometimes you won't win, and that's o.k. too. I can't wait to take you to your first Astros game. We can watch the game, eat hotdogs and I might buy you a big foam finger. My Daddy, your Granddaddy, used to take me to Astros games all the time, and I'm sure he'll join us on our outings. I want to teach you how to watch, but mostly I'd like you to learn that what is most important is spending time together.

I'm a little frustrated at work, but I've got a new job lined up so I can take care of you and Mama. I'd like you to learn that money doesn't grow on tress, that you need to work to earn it, and hard work is admirable. But it won't be all work, life is fun too, and we work so we can have the fun times.

This Sunday I'm going to teach our Sunday School Class. We're going to take you to Church. We pray for you already, every night. My prayer is for you to come to love Jesus on your own terms, and that you will walk with him all your life.

We play music for you sometimes, while you're still in the womb. Maybe you will be a muscian, like your Mama and her family. That would be great. I want to encourage you in your endeavers, whatever they are. I'd like you to teach me things that I don't know. I can't wait to discover new things with you.

I really love your Mama, and we are so excited to see you. I'd like to you see how much I love your mama, and to learn the way to treat a woman.

There's so much for me to teach you, I can't wait for you to show up. We've got time I suppose, and I'm sure I'm getting ahead of myself. But I feel some pressue to be a good daddy for you. You see Drew, I had a great daddy, so I've got alot to live up to.

The Tender Bar

I just finished reading The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer. This is a wonderful book that I highly recommend. It is a memoir, so it's a true story. It's about a little boy who is growing up without his father. He takes refuge in the local bar where he seeks the company of the men of the bar. We follow him from childhood, to college to his first job in NY. The story is set on Long Island, NY, in a suburb of the city.

While reading this book I thought how wonderful it would be to have a place like the bar where he essentially grows up. The community and companionship is something we all seek. But like everything it examines how sometimes things in your life can hold you up, and how life has phases that you come into and grow out of. Something else I got out of the story is how big an influence others had on this boy and what a wonderful thing it is to reach out to someone and help them along the way.

Mrs. Bubba and I have had a similar experience with a bar here in NY. When we were studying for our PE exams we would study on Saturdays. So Friday nights we would go out to dinner and to our local bar so we could still have a night out, but also be home in a 5 minute walk. We got to know the bartenders and some of the regulars. But as we passed the PE and were not coming in so regularly and the bartenders went on and pursued their ambitions, things changed.

As we await the little Bubba, I sometimes think about how life will change. For one, I think most that read this blog are aware our days here in NY are now numbered. Our nightlife will probably take a hit as well. But what I've come to realize and also come to look forward to is that these changes are good and necessary. Everyone is right, things won't be the same anymore. We will miss our days down the street at the local bar, chatting with the regulars. But we can't grow, mature, better ourselves, and face new challenges if we stay stagnant, and stay where we are. Change is scary, but it is a inevitable part of life.

As our lives change, I hope we embrace the change, grow from it, and become better people from it. A fitting New Year's lesson for 2007, the year of big changes for the Bubba's.