On the fish again...

Me and Cathy went to the lake yesterday and had one of the best days so far. Fishing late in the afternoon was slow last weekend. I think the best time is mid morning to mid afternoon strangely enough. Maybe the cool July weather has something to do with it. During a typical July we would not have been able to sit comfortably through the afternoon like we did yesterday.

Final count was 26 cats, a mix of channels and blues. Cathy had the biggest blue weighed in at 4.4 pounds. This was a new area to us, heading up river in the lake. Seems like the usual late summer pattern is to find the cats down river.












There were a lot of throw backs, believe it or not, but this was not the smallest cat we caught.





It poured rain on us on and off through the aafternoon. Everything we have got a good washing including El Guapo, who had the misfortune of jumping in the truck, not knowing what he had volunteered for.


One weird thing. Two of the best blue cats were each missing a left eye, with the socket completely healed over. What's the odds, catching two like this, the same day, same fisherman (Cathy) and being two of the biggest fish?




Some of these fish aare swimming in our bellies, some are sleeping in the deep freeze.

They paid the money...

Seems like I have been so busy lately that when people pay their $39,000 I am slow at getting the pictures up. Here is a few shots from Cathy and Mary's trip last week to Evansville, Indiana to visit Margaret and Kevin. One of the activities was a trip to the race track. If there were winnings, no one said anything. You know how it is, what happens in Evansville, stays in Evansville.

The expectant couple at the track. Maybe half way through? I am out of practice at that kind of thing. Word on the street is that both the parents were big babies. Wait a minute, that statement don't look so good in print. They were large infants. Big boned as we say in the south.

Then there was the matter of the races. The one time they said I went to a horse race I learned that you go out to the horse barns, an area like where Marg and Kev posed for that picture and you look to see which horse defecates first. That one will be the winner of the race.

here is a picture of one of the winning racers and jockey.

Sicko...

Saw the Michael Moore movie Sicko last night. I think it's the best movie he has made.

There are things wrong with the health care system. Insurance companies make a ton of the profit, and they make it by denying care to some people. I have faith that their greed will be dealt with a some point along the line. I think the best point of the movie is that we allow the system to operate in such a way that some folks don't get health care.

We do this by not caring about each and every individual. The very principles of democracy and Christian charity that we in America often preach to the rest of the world are not carried out here, the powers that be use fear and ignorance to divide us, hey make us feel hopeless so we don't vote to change things.

Everyone deserves to be taken care of, no questions asked. I am ashamed that other countries do this better than we do and there are some costs to do this. I will help shoulder my part. I think this country that we brag about as the riches and most powerful, the best place to live can do that with no sweat.

I think I smell nacho cheese...

The kind the band boosters cook in the concession stand at Lufkin High football games. That's right it's begun, the drumline began sectionals yesterday morning. Mary and Kaylee are co section leaders, maybe the first time cymbal players have ever reached the stratified air of such responsibility. Kind of like a tuba player being elected president, which given the current state of things we might as well go ahead and give that a try.

Anyway they start early, Mary just left for practice. Serious business. By the way, they might not be cymbal players anymore, they may be making their debut as card carrying drummers, beating on the round things with the skin head.

what a way to spend the day...

Finished the defensive driving thing. Yep they won't let you out in less than six hours. Through a little series of quizzes and a big test at the end I missed one question. The answer to that question was "space cushion." I wondered how they knew the name of my band.

Which brings me to some of the other things they knew. Now I'm a clean cut kind of guy. Check my deep freeze, only the legal amount of catfish in there. Heck I voted for Bush. I have hunted with Cheney. No secrets here if you know what I mean, I'm out in the open like those other guys.

But the way they do this little course, they keep checking that it's you at the computer, that you have not slipped a ringer in on them. The way they do that is they ask you questions to stuff you have not supplied the answer to. The only identifying thing used is your address and DL number. From that they know stuff I barely knew the answers to.

And on top of that I paid extra to have them come bringing the results to my house. Not George and Dick, Fed-Ex.

Having so much funnn...

I am spending a Sunday morning coming down taking a video/computer defensive driving course.

If I had got drunk last night I do not think a hangover would be this bad.

One hour down.

I always look like this...

That's what Mary says when she makes my picture. What does she mean is what I ponder today. Is it the great winning smile? Is it the secret maniac in my heart showing through? Aint it good to be consistent?

I am just trying to find my place.

Awful Quiet Around Here...

Well except for the ringing in my ears from the State School Band gig tonight that is, but most folks are gone. Cathy and Mary headed out to Evansville Indiana to see Margaret, Morgan has an orientation at A&M later this week and I'm working. Working is good, I am surely not complaining. Somebody might suggest going back to school. Someone at work suggested I take this special neuro course where you have to write a case study and everything, a certification and I kind of got sick to my stomach thinking about it.

Maybe I'll take this time to visit past glories. Here is a picture from the World TKD tournament in June. That's me with my trophy in from of the Eternal Grand Master Lee Memorial Garden. Some TKD symbolism inside, but I liked this entrance best of all.

Bugs and Flowers...

I have said it before, I aint no Dan-Danz, you can check his link on the side bar for the pro stuff, but I do try.

This is a yellow butterfly, one of many that are feeding on what I call a trumpet plant. I have a lot of trump plant around here, a bit of a nuisance really. but it does draw in the butterflies, big bees (these were out this morning, but hard to get a focus on, I need to go back and read the new camera directions) and hummingbirds so I will put up with them.

Light's a little bright on the yellow wings, but I like the color on the flowers.

beat the rain long enough...

Rain this morning and rain this evening but with some New Orleans visitors we managed to squeeze in a lake trip.

This is Nancy. She did not have time to stop and get a Texas fishing license

Here is Nancy's kids, Dylan, Adlis, Meira and Sam.

These fine folks are passing through on vacation.

Here is Cathy and Nancy on the tube.

And of course the tub shot. Swimming in our bellies of course.

Sooner or Later...

Everybody is gonna need a ventilator. That was a line in a song. Now I don't need a ventilator but I never dreamed I would have to make one of these things either. Check the labels for the history of these things around here. I had the sump pump in my septic system go out. That happens about every ten years or so, this is my third or forth one I think. First one I ever put in my self, it's all rigged to go. While I am at work today my aggie electrical engineer will do some mods to the electrical delivery to this unit so I hope we make a clean quick hook up.

Busy week, work, the kids both did a TKD mid term testing last night and looked real good.

Nancy and her four kids come from New Orleans today for a visit. Shaping up for A fun weekend.

El Guapo missed and where did the big white dog go...

Got home from work yesterday. Went in sat around a few minutes and me and Cathy decide to go to the lake. Did a little crappie fishing, give the cats a rest, two keepers, a cat and a drum were all we managed.

Getting ready to go I noticed El Guapo was nowhere around. He is usually right there in my business helping with whatever business there is. We called, check to make sure he was not sleeping in the house and headed on to the lake.

We get back, Mary is home from work, now driving self and I ask if she has seen him. She opens the door to look and we see his head pop up from the backseat of my car. Some how he must have jumped up in my car without notice when I got home from work. he seems none the worse for wear for being in a shut up car several hours. Probably found food scraps to make a meal.

Fans of the big white dog may have noticed no mention of him since late winter. That was about the time of the last sighting. If you remember he always kept his own schedule. May be when the weather cools I will mount a search. I would hate to have to drag him from a cool spot.

Happy Birthday to Mary...

Mary is 16 years old today. Here is a picture of her driving the boat. She is headed on down to the DPS today to get squared away about driving something else.

For some reason this blog won't let me put a title today.

No I was not posting from the lake yesterday no matter what this looks like.

Me and Mary did go down to where Jeremy and family were camped out and spent an afternoon after work, a youth group garage sale and a dead trunk battery kneeboarding.

You might remember posts about Jeremy in the past, he is headed back to Iraq for a second tour. That's Brittini Jeremy's wife, Jeremy, Jeremy's dad Mark and Mary back there on the knee board.

Nice to have celebs in town...

No it was not Brittney. No Paris. It was none other than Alan Keyes, former presidential candidate and one of the many fine stars of the Borat movie.

Keyes was in town with a traveling roadshow called Vision America. They met at the civic center here in town and while the Lufkin Daily News (those pinko liberals) reported the turn out of 300, half the available seats, as "slim," I prefer to think of that number as just the right size lynch mob.

Keyes seemed to have a message which he touted as religious in nature, but I must admit has not been brought out in the Gospel readings we use at my church. The Daily News reports that Keyes said that Christians were not required to love everybody and should hate evil doers while loving God and their neighbors.

Now I got to admit, there are some folks out there that are not easy to love. I kind of have the picture in my mind of an old boy on the other side of the gas pump at the station the other day. Black cowboy hat, an earring in each ear, rough denim shirt and pants, draining mother Earth into a big old truck. Hard to love I bet. Be a lot easier to lump him in with those evil doers I'd think.

But then maybe that's the problem. Or maybe not a problem. Seems it has already been decided who sorts the sheep from the goats. I don't have to worry about that.

And my neighbors? Well that's Buford and Brenda.

I stand corrected...

And no, I was not corrected by the lady in seat 14 row 12 despite the fact that I am married to her and that I was in seat 13.

I was corrected by my mom. I got her age wrong. She called and informed me, this was after reading the blog of course, that she is only 83 years old. My big mistake, I thought she was 84.

I took some of the heat off my butt for this by telling her, "but mom, it's on the internet, it will screw up everything if I have to change it. Al Gore will be mad. LBJ will rise again."

When someone, even your mom, has you cornered, just toss a few big player's names in the mix. Makes them back down real quick if they think you know folks.

More from the Astros game....

What's more 4th of July than baseball? Here is more from the Astros game on Sunday. Seems that things happen so fast that I don't have a chance to get it all documented properly.

Here is a bullpen shot. I like the bullpen seats. You get to see the guys messing around, it's really a good view of the game, and you are close to all the long balls. There was one guy, a coach who stood up facing the stands for most of the game. I told my wife to watch that guy, he whispers to the others, "turn around slow, seat 14 row 12, no bra, seat 20 row 18, mini skirt," and so on. It's his job to keep them posted.

Here is a fan shot. Houston fans can be fickle, especially when the team starts losing. These folks here are on board for the duration.

We wanted tickets for a game in August, but something was funny about the reservation thing. We wanted 20 tickets, make a big party out of it, but turns out that is the day they are retiring Bagwell's number. Standing room only.

Happy Birthday Mom...

My mom is 84 today. Cathy's folks and brother Matt came for some fishing, we caught 20 so we had her out for a fish fry.

Me and Mom.

Here is Matt, Mary and Pop on the lake. Mary has one of those things in the net that my dad used to call "a marine growth." Some kind of big ball of stuff that grows around old stumps and stuff in the lake. Not real abundant, but you see it now and then.

Had a big scare this morning. My computer crashed real hard. Blue screen of death and everything. I got it back. I am the baddest man on the planet right now. Do not mess with me.

Busy weekend...

First there was the Lufkin High School Band Alumni Concert, all proceeds going to the scholarship fund. Here is me on tuba.

Here is Mr Schultz one of the middle school directors and Morgan. They held down the percussion section.

A shot of the group with Waymon Bullock, one of the greatest Texas High School band directors, now retired, directing.

Today, a funny thing happened. We went to see the Astros play, me, Cathy, Mo, Mary, Rose and Juan and there was Mr. Williams, the Lufkin High School director, who played and directed at the concert on Saturday. That's him and Mary talking. She claims he said, "this is like band camp, what happens here stays here."