Musings – Page 3

Tech vs. UT – a sociological delight

October 31, 2008 by Grandpa R

Football IS the official state religion of Texas, but I’ve never seen anything to equal the religious fervor we’ve had in Lubbock this week over this Saturday’s game.

Yes it’s a battle of unbeatens. No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns against No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock.

Yes, it’s two of the highest scoring teams in College football. Yes, it’s Sports Illustrated’s Game of the Week. However …

Students started standing in line at Jones Stadium MONDAY for Pete’s Sake, to get the best seats (student seating is not reserved). They pitched tents. Some had generators. Tuesday there were a couple hundred who had taken up residence at “Raiderville.” They even have a mayor and a police department. By Wednesday there were 700 residents. Thursday another 1,000 moved in. Friday classes across campus were noticeably devoid of students. If it were Harbor High in the early sixties, I’d swear 17th Street was breaking over head with a 15-knot offshore and water temps in the 70s.

His Eminence Mike Leach, Master of the Spread Offense, Pirate Potentate (“once in awhile a pirate can beat a soldier“) and Pigskin Plenipotentiary of the South Plains paid a surprise visit to the student throngs surrounding the stadium Thursday afternoon. He fed the multitudes while preaching love and (school) spirit to them. One eyewitness report worth reading was written by one of my former students.

All that is interesting enough, but somebody else started moving onto campus Tuesday. ESPN. ESPN is doing their College Game Day thing on the Tech campus. So they started moving in Tuesday. They plunked down their trailers, their trucks, their cameras, their satellite dishes, furniture, fencing and all right in the middle of campus. They took over the Tech Engineering Key with all their munitions. And it’s clear they agree with Sports Illustrated. This is ESPN’s “Saturday Showdown.”

It doesn’t stop there, folks. All flights out of Lubbock for Sunday were sold weeks ago. There’s not a hotel room left in town for the weekend. And some enterprising soul has all the local media, students, and even people not ordinarily conscious of Raider football involved in a city-wide “blackout.” Tech’s colors are crimson and black. And the call this week has been for everyone to wear black on Friday (Black Friday?) and to the game on Saturday.

As a sociological phenomenon, this is about as good as it gets.

You might want to tune in at 7 p.m. (Central) Saturday, and keep your

Guns UP!!!!!

Aurora Borealis shining down in Dallas

June 18, 2008 by Grandpa R

The Muppet Movie had a number of great lines, great songs, and great lines in great songs — if you enjoy playing with words. This morning we had a glorious natural sunrise phenomenon that inspired Nancy to quote a song from the movie.

We had some thunderstorms roll through the South Plains last night, and around 8:30 our power went out for about three hours. So when we got up in the morning, we went through the ritual of re-setting the clocks and radios and anything else with real-time timers and checking other appliances for signs of life.

There were still some lingering storms as the sun began to rise. For just a few minutes, as the rising sun peeked over the horizon but under the clouds there was a grand and glorious glow. I motioned Nancy to come outside, and her immediate response was “Aurora Borealis shining down in Dallas…” to which the only response could be “can you picture that?” Picture that?

Picture! It was a transient phenomenon, so I ran back into the house to snag a camera and did manage to get a couple of quick shots before it entirely disappeared.

“We have met the enemy, and he is us!”

March 11, 2008 by Grandpa R

One of my favorite cartoons used to be Walt Kelly’s “Pogo.” One particular episode in the life of Pogo Possum dealt with high-minded political discussion about environmental pollution. In the course of conversation, Albert (the alligator) flips his cigar into the swamp. In agony, Pogo cries, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
Monday night we all (three households, 7 souls altogether) agreed to meet at Buns Over Texas for dinner. At our home, we have contractors in refinishing the floors in the living room and kitchen; so we pretty much had to eat out. And Nancy has been watching the Aiden and Lilly in the afternoon until Kenneth can pick them up. So here we all show up at a burger place for dinner. Somehow the conversation turned to global warming / climate change / greenhouse gases. I looked at our table and laughed. Seven people and we got there in five separate vehicles. I thought of Pogo.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.

No stroke – Bell’s Palsy

December 11, 2007 by Grandpa R

Well, at least we can be grateful it wasn’t a stroke. Should have been easy to figure out. It was only my face that was messed up, not the whole right side of the body. So Nancy and Marina had figured Bell’s Palsy even before Doc McCarty came in Monday. He confirmed their diagnosis. It seems that the palsy is an artifact of a little cold I have been dealing with.

Never trust a virus you can’t see with the naked eye.

The good news is that it isn’t a stroke. The bad news is there is no cure. The good news is it usually goes away on its own, in 3-6 months. Good news is that they can hasten the acute part of the process with steroids. Bad news is that [Read more…]

Jacob stiffed at Circuit City

November 23, 2007 by Grandpa R

In the Black Friday feeding frenzy this morning, opportunists at Circuit City abused the system and left Jake and Andrea shivering in the cold. Here’s what happened.

Long on the prowl for a notebook computer he could take to classes, Jake was encouraged when the Thanksgiving newspaper advertisements listed a name brand laptop computer for $299. He and Andrea got up at 3 a.m., drove the 30 miles to San Luis Obispo, and got in line in freezing weather.

At the appointed hour, Circuit City employees handed out all the vouchers for computers to a few people at the front of the line. Those people, now armed with multiple vouchers, walked down the line offering to sell the vouchers — at a profit for themselves — to others in line. One of the scalpers was asking $100 just for the voucher. In this manner, if he had three takers, he would be getting a free computer.

Jake and Andrea refused to play that game, but told store managers, pointing out one of the scalpers in line to claim a computer. The Circuit City managers’ response was “there is nothing we can do about it.” What do you think?