Of Monkeys and Men

I had a lot of time to think last week, mainly due to the fact that I was stuck in a house with two other people and we eventually ran out of conversation topics. That's not to say that a good time wasn't had by all. It's just that when you're on day three of Operation Survive Rita, morale is low and the your telltale ticks of cabin fever are making Jack Nicholson in The Shining look like Mr. Rogers.

I don't remember the reason for it, but the friend whose house I was staying out pulled out his physiology book from college and we got into an interesting conversation of how that subject is absolutely fascinating. Just the idea that the human body is comprised of billions of cells that are being regulated by countless hormones, neurotransmitters, and other assorted chemicals all with the sole purpose of keeping you alive and functional. The thing that blows my mind is that it works. I definitely could not have come up with something that clever.

It was the following discussion that really caught my interest. My friend proceeded to tell me that it was because of this utter complexity, the sheer magnitude of ingenuity and inventiveness, that goes into the human body that he believed we must have had a creater, a sole provider of life. Only an omnipotent God has the ability and foresight to create such a complicated organism capability of doing all that we, as humans, have learned to do over the ages. I should say that this friend of mine is a very intelligent college graduate with a degree in engineering, a man who is no stranger to scientific theory and process.

I find this incredibly interesting because my opinion on this matter just happens to lie on the polar opposite side of the spectrum of this debate. I even went so far as to claim that the complexity of the human body is proof that we have developed through evolution. Only through a step by step process could such intricate systems have developed to support our bodies. I have no trouble believing that vision is the result of millions of years of development in which a number of cells were altered, one by one, until the final result of sight was achieved through an extensive series of hits and misses. No primordeal being ever requested to have vision; it was through a process of hereditary mutations that the ability to detect light and dark (and eventually patterns, shapes, and faces) became a necessary attribute for survival. Rather, there was never an ultimate goal of sight. It was just the by-product of survival. If we still lived in a world in which humans did not control their environment and we did not exist on top of the food chain, it's possible this function would have continued to evolve. Perhaps our range of vision would have extended into the infrared range. Conjecture, at best, but my point is that everything we know to be ourselves has developed over time.

My question, and maybe others can enlighten me on this, is if we were created by an all-powerful being, why would it/he/she have made us so complicated? Presumably, this god-like figure could do whatever the heck it/he/she would like so why not create an organism with sight, hearing, verbal ability, etc. that did not require such complicated specifications and constraints? Why couldn't a person just see, without the need for a retina, an optic nerve, and the occipital lobe? Why couldn't we smell, without the need for a nose and all the sensor cells and nerves that come along with it? These are questions I know I'll never be able to answer though I look forward to hearing anyone's feelings on the matter.

Truthfully, I didn't intend this post to be an evolution vs. creationism ranting and raving. What I thought was most interesting was that two normal, intelligent people with roughly the same world view and education background, can have two absolutely different views on a topic. It's these differences that make us unique as individuals and human beings in general. You don't see dogs fighting about whether people should be allowed to own guns. However, it just shows to me that it will be a long time before certain topics of debate will be put to rest. Fundamental beliefs across an entire nation vary considerably and to get them all to eventually align may never happen. It's a fact I welcome with open arms and despise at the same time. Although we never totally agree on certain things we do have the opportunity to debate them and that's what distinguishes us as intelligent, regardless of where we came from.

Author of the day: Haruki Murakami
Happy thought of the day: The Houston summer is coming to an end

Not Quite There And Back Again

Or
A Rube's Tale

01:00
The alarm clock didn't go off. After a quick check at the switch on the back of the clock I realized I forgotten to turn on the alarm. Fortunately, my body has the uncanny ability of knowing when it needs to wake up (though it's ability to keep itself awake isn't quite as impressive). At one o'clock in the morning the world outside is at it's most calm but today is like no other day. I hope appearances are not deceiving. Hopping out of bed I take a cursory glance around the room knowing that some of what I see lying around needs to be bagged for protection against water damage in case the roof leaks.



02:30
Everything is all packed. Since my original entourage to Austin had already pulled out this was to be a solo trip. No bother. That'll just enable me to pack even more things into my car. Truth is, I don't know if my apartment will be here when I get back. I was surprised to see how little space the things that really mattered to me occupied. My important documents, my photographs, a guitar, a computer, some clothing...all of questionable financial or personal value. However, I had the extra room, and I used that room to save a few extraneous items that I otherwise would have left behind.

I can't deny that my apartment has basically become a storage shed for the driftwood that has accumulated on the shores of my life. Everything in it had a memory attached to it though total destruction could never take that away. Some could be replaced, others could not, and still others I'm really better off without. Less clutter. I would never be able to replace everything in my apartment if it was lost, but my life would be far from ravaged if the clutter that makes up my personal possessions were permanately removed from my charge.

With my body half out the door, the light switch flipped to the "off" position, and the clicking sound of the deadbolt my journey to Austin had begun. Before closing the door I said goodbye to my apartment. I'm talking the kind of scene you see on your favorite prime time sitcom at the final moments of it's final episode, right before it fades to black. Lights go off and the door closes, never to be looked upon again. It's sad that pop culture has taken away the sanctity of what should have been a truly sincere moment. Instead, it's turned into a game of reality copying entertainment copying reality.

03:30
On the road.

The first 25 miles of my trip were uneventful. More traffic than I would have expected for the wee hours of the morning but nothing to get me nervous. I was surprisingly awake despite having woken up so early. The sleep shifting all week had finally come in handy. I encountered only modest traffic around the 45/610 interchange, the first sign of the mass exodus from Houston. Despite this traffic, I eventually made the exit onto 610 and encounter absolutely no traffic for approximately 15 miles. If only the whole trip had gone this well.

It was at this time that I hit the kind of traffic that can only be expected when the entire population of a city leaves at one syncronous moment. In this case, however, "leaves" is only an expression as no one was actually going anywhere. The nature of this evacuation had me believing that the lack of movement might actually be due to a traffic light somewhere in the Austin area. I had no reason to believe the line of vehicles ended anywhere between here or there.

04:30
Going nowhere.
05:30
Still going nowhere.
06:30
Wait, I think I'm...no, not going anywhere.
07:30
I hate traffic.
08:30
I mean I REALLY hate traffic.
09:30
Still hate traffic.
10:30
Getting really sick of Cheerios and Reese's Pieces
11:30
Getting tired. Took a nap while waiting in traffic.
12:30
Sure is getting hot outside. It's a good thing I have the air conditioning on.
13:30
Crap. Now I understand why everyone else has their AC off and windows open. Gas is getting to be an issue.
14:30
Windows open. Sweating a lot. Getting worried about gas. Started reading a book.
15:30
Almost half a tank left. At the next opportunity I'll get off the highway and start looking for a gas station.
16:30
Still waiting for that next exit. Only half a tank left. I'm in trouble. At this rate there's no way I'll make it to Austin without getting any gas. Man on the radio says that gas is hard to find these days in the area between Houston, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio. That's a large area. I wasn't very worried about this trip before I left. Now I'm concerned. This could get very messy.

17:00
Gas is non-existant. I creeped my way off the highway in search of fuel. Every gas station in a 10 mile radius is empty. No, every station is empty, I only had the heart to search the 10-mile radius. This isn't going to happen.

The plug has effectively been pulled on my weekend. After much thought I've come to the rational conclusion that I have two options: 1) Continue on to Austin and stall on the side of the road or 2) Turn around. I'm not a happy camper. I've been waiting a long time for Austin City Limits and I'm getting screwed because a hurricane had to hit Houston at absolutely the worst time. That's not to say that there's ever a good time for a hurricane, but it's all relative. Next weekend would have been much better.

The sad fact is that the hurricane is only the catalyst for the dilemma I'm now facing. Weather isn't stopping me, or anyone, from making it to their final destination. It's the lack of gas. The traffic is horrible, true, but we all have time. It's the needle pointing to "E" that screws us in the end. I thought that leaving when I did was a good idea. I was wrong.

I know I can't go on. I see too many vehicles on the side of the road with very hot, uncomfortable, and scared people waiting for help to come. I see too many vehicles waiting at gas stations for a tanker to come because they have no other option, despite already knowing that no tanker is on it's way.

17:30
For the first time in fifteen hours I've gone above 10 mph. Not surprisingly, the roads are empty on the way back into Houston. With the car parked in a parking lot and the cell phone running out of power, I managed to find my refuge. A friend (and coworker) of mine had previously offered a room at his house in southwest Houston. Not the best place to be in a hurricane, but at this point I had no other options, apart from returning to my apartment.

On a side note, it was very relieving to know that all my friends were frantically calling each other making sure that everyone was safe. I had a lot of people worried about my little head for some time today and I'm grateful for that. Disasters are never so bad when you know you've gt someone looking out for you.

Not surprisingly, traffic was non-existant back into Houston. I would have been cursing up a storm out of my frustration and disappointment if I wasn't so incredibly tired. I figure at this point I must have slept about 4-5 hours over the past two days. I'm not sure how I made it this long, but I did and I was only surviving on the fact that it would all be over soon.

18:00
My travels are over. Having arrived at my friend's house I'm now in the position to mentally prepare myself for the worst. As you may notice, my final position does not differ too dramatically from my starting point, though I am far enough way to put me potentially out of harm's way.

Now it's just a matter of waiting this bastard out and seeing how we pull through in the morning.





...Friday Morning
If you followed the news you know that Rita was downgraded to a category 3 before hitting land just east of Houston, but this city in a much better situation. In fact, I woke up to a powerless house and some moderate wind outside. After all the citizens of Houston had been through, the hurricane that was expected to ravage the city had hardly left a dent. In only thing flying around in the wind now was relief. The city could once again breath easy.

The story does continue, mostly with a lot of commentary on what had transgressed during my day between the traffic and the disappointment of not making it to Austin. However, I will hold off from posting that until a later date, like tomorrow. This entry has become a monster in itself and I'm better off just making a clean break and continuing later with an aftermath debrief.

For all those interested, both myself, my friends, and all our stuff have survived the hurricane. No need to worry any longer; all is well once again in the city of Houston.

Update

Forget what I said. It's now a Category 5 storm. This is going to be interesting.

The big one?

To my loyal reader(s), family, and friends:

As you know I live in the questionably justifiable city of Houston, TX. As you may have noticed, heading in our direction is the incarnation of the wrath of God, otherwise known as Hurricane Rita. Don't worry your pretty little heads off over me. As we speak I am in the process of moving most of my worldly possessions into the trunk of my VW Jetta. Sadly, the actually do fit into the trunk of a VW Jetta.

Now, Rita is currently a category 4 storm heading straight for downtown Galveston with an eye on really fucking up Houston. Even hurricanes hate Houston. Are we looking at another New Orleans type disaster? I hope not. For one, that was a category 5 storm and, with any luck, we won't reach that point. Also, New Orleans is 20 feet below sea level. Houston is at least 20 feet above sea level, not to mention about 20 miles inland. That being said, this will not be a walk in the park. There will be some serious damage in Houston, especially the area in which I live which is closer to the coast.

Most of the communities in this area have imposed mandatory evacuations. My neighborhood has not though if I cross the street from my apartment I'd pretty much be in one of those zones. As you can tell, an imaginary line separating one zone from another is not going to save my apartment. I live on the second floor so I'm not concerned about flooding. I see to worst case scenarios: 1) flying debris smashes my windows, soaking everything in the apartment and 2) the incredibly strong winds blow the roof of my questionably well built apartment complex, causing water to cascade from the 3rd floor to my apartment. A third scenario does exist, being the combination of the two, but it's too tragic to even think about so I won't mention it.

And for those of you who think that I'd be stupid enough to ride out the storm you should have more faith in my. Two million Houstonians can't be wrong, and if they're heading out of town, who am I to argue with them? As a fortunate coincidence, I was already planning on heading to Austin this weekend for the annual Austin City Limits festival. The good news is that I have a hotel for Friday and Saturday night's already. The bad news is that I have nothing for tonight or tomorrow and, although the concert will go on, it's going to be mighty wet. Throw in the fact that I've been working the midnight shift this week (the Johnson Space Center has been officially evacuated so no more work for me this week) and I've been so busy with departure preparations that I've only gotten about one hour of sleep in the past 24 hours. The plan right now is to finish up packing, take a little nap, and leave. Where I go, I'm not entirely sure. I'll probably head to Austin and find myself a place to stay. It's really not planned out so well. However, I can bum a hotel room tomorrow night and then I'm good to go.

This may be the last entry I write in some time, depending on how this plays out. The computer will be with me but will be quite useless, seeing how it'll be in the trunk of my car. If all goes to plan, I'll come back late Sunday evening and my apartment will still be here. I haven't begun to think of the alternatives.

The important part, though, is that you should now I'll be safe. Assuming, of course, that I get through the traffic out of Houston. I know this really isn't the best way of telling everyone but I'm a little rushed to get out of here and time is limited. I'll try to make a few calls during the guaranteed long car ride I have ahead of me. Feel free to call me and keep me awake. All I know it's going to be an interesting weekend. Until next time...

-Dave

When the moon hits your eye

Yes, this is my second post in one night. You're going to see a lot of that this week. Working the wee hours of the night is dangerous. Not only is it the breeding ground for strange philosiphical thoughts but it also affords me plenty of opportunity to record them here. Just wait until Friday morning when I've been at this for a week. You'll be amazed at some of the things I can come up with.

As it is, I just wanted to mention one more reason why I work here. I try not to write about work too much because I know most people don't care about and those who do get enough of it at work where they don't need to read about it here. Them's the breaks...it's my blog, I'll do what I want. Oriting the Earth about 250miles above our heads is the International Space Station. Attached like barnacles to this structure you'll find numerous video cameras which, given the right satellite coverage, beam footage to the ground. Tonight I got to see such footage. In it's relentless race around the globe the ISS picks up many objects with its cameras, the moon being one of them. Tonight I got to see the station out run the Moon causing our only natural satellite to appear to set behind the Earth. For lack of better words, it was magnificent. As the moon started dipping into the bright haze of the sunlit Earthly atmosphere, it's outer limbs melted into the light that outshone the fullness of it's face. It only took a few seconds before it disappeared entirely.

I don't feel so bad about having to stay up all night anymore.

Late night thoughts

Yes, it's true. The day has finally come when it's been agreed by all that I am capable of working in Mission Control all by myself. It took a lot of hard work and about two years of my life but I've finally made it.

Quick recap for the uninitiated: Grad school in Boston-->Houston to work at NASA-->Training as a Biomedical Flight Controller (fancy term for person who makes sure astronauts are still healthy while in space).

Am I nervous? A little. Confident I'll do a good job? Sure. The toughest thing I've discovered around here is determining the difference between they way my coworkers do something and the right way of doing it. Ah, before my coworkers get offended at this statement I will explain. First, let me say that I have nothing but respect for those with whom I work. They do an excellent job performing their duties and putting up with the many things we do. The simple fact, though, is that despite us performing the same duties we all have our unique ways of doing them. I've found that one of the most significant aspects of my training was being able to wean proper procedure from the final product, wound tightly with subtleties and personal flavor. But isn't that true for most things in life? Truth is relative, but basic fact is absolute. Everything we receive in life has been altered by the giver, changed in such a way as to hide its true nature. It's an unavoidable fact of life and not necesarily something to be wary of. However, it's critical to understand this fact in everything you do. Question everything, accept nothing at first glance. Only by knowing the fundamental nature of something can you fully understand the basic fact at its core.

But what do I know? It's 3am and I still have another four hours of work ahead of me.

Part of the Solution

Before you get excited, this has nothing to do with solving the puzzles. There's still time for that. No, this is actually related to my recent switch to a new power company. Bear with me on this one.

Up until now, like most people in this country, the electricity I received came from a mixture of coal, natural gas, and nuclear power sources. Not one of those is so great for the environment. In fact, they are all pretty damn shitting over the long term. Coal is one of the dirtiest form of electricity production and what nuclear power lacks in carbon production it makes up in radioactive waste that will survive everyone of us. The current solution is to store it in mile long tunnels in a mountain in New Mexico and even that will probably not happen. All in all, not the greatest way of doing it.

Just a few days ago I switched to Green Mountain Energy. I don't know how it works in your state, but here in Texas you have your choice of energy suppliers. Every one of them produces electricity that goes into a large pool of community power referred to as "the grid". The consumer then uses electricity from the grid and pays the producer of their choice. So, technically, you end up using power from all types of sources but your money just goe s to one. Clear? Green Mountain Energy produces 100% of their electricity from water or wind power.

Why water or wind? Because it does not produce any pollution. A couple of years ago Green Mountain completed what is currently the largest wind farm in the U.S. I suggest checking out the link. The sheer size of these windmills will shock you. Granted, that is definitely one of the drawbacks of these type of production. The turbines are large and the farms take up a very large area of land. On the other hand, west Texas has a vast abundance of empty land and, if given the choice between a nuclear or coal power plant and a wind farm, I'd choose the wind farm. There's something magical about 160 wind turbines spinning effortlessly in the wind. I won't bore you with the statistics and I won't claim that 100% of our energy should be produced by wind, but it definitely is a method that should gain a foothold in this country considerin the current state of environmental damage and non-renewable resources.

I don't like pollution and I believe that this country is far behind in environmental causes than it should be. There's also nothing you can tell me to make me believe that we are holding ourselves back technologically from attaining a much greatly improved energy infrastructure. I'm not saying it's a conspiracy but between Congress and private industry there are a lot of people benefitting from the continuing usage of fossil fuels. Renewable energy is our future. The question is just how long will we put it off?

New Clues!

After multiple pleas for help I've decided to provide more clues to my painfully easy puzzles that no one seems to be able to solve.

Puzzle #1:
I'm going to make this easy for everyone. The boy is speaking Spanish. What else is the boy doing? Building a gingerbread house? House? Hmm...what is the spanish word for house?

Puzzle #2:
This one is admittedly difficult. A lot of synonyms in this one. What's sticking out the most in the picture? Cartman's ass, of course. Let's play some word association with this one. Ass..butt...booty...Hmm, what other words come to mind?

Why would he write a poem? Seems rather strange, doesn't it? What's another word for poem?

I'm giving up on Puzzle #1 after this. If you can't get it with that clue then I might as well just tell you the answer. Puzzle #2...well, hopefully this will get you moving in the right direction at least.

Good luck!

Addendum

In the name of fairness, I should probably mention that the fact that I did not contact the very nice girl for a week was probably not the only reason for our lack of a third date. Truth is, it could have been due to a number of other reasons and this just happened to be a good segue to nothingness. Would I have liked to see her again? Sure. But if it's not meant to be, then it's not meant to be. Life shall go on.

On another note, I noticed that no one is solving my puzzles, though I have had some creative feedback on them. This is not good. Expect some more clues in the next few days. You'll get the answers even if I have to walk you through them...

I blew it...big time

For those of you who are concerned, I am finally pulling away from the clutches of the virus whose unholy presence occupied my body last week. I thought it was a cold. It was quite possibly the flu, which is strange because I'm not usually susceptable to the flu. Either way, it sucked, and it came at the worst possible moment. Last week was my final check out week for Mission Control. To save you all the unnecessarily boring details, as of Saturday I am now allowed to work in Mission Control by myself. No more people watching over me, making sure I don't screw up. Now, if I screw up, only I'll be there to fix it. As you can imagine, it was crucial that I perform to my highest potential last week and being sick did not help at all. Fortunately, it turns out that I'm so good at what I do that even in my incapacitated state I still shone. Damn I'm good...

But I said that I blew it, and I'll tell you why. I've told you about my two previous run ins with the very nice girl. That might be the end of it. Being sick and all, I have absolutely no ability to function outside of those processes necessary for life. That includes getting my ass of the couch after work and making any phone calls. You see where I'm going with this? I had told the very nice girl via email that I was sick early in the week. Then I proceeded to not have any contact with her the rest of the week. I never would've thought that this kiss of death would be my only kiss in the relationship. History has taught me that in order to have a healthy relationship one must actually communicate with the other person. I neglected to do that. In my defense, it was enough of an challenge to move myself from the couch to the bed. Even if I did call her it would have gone something like this:

Me: Hi there very nice girl.
VNG: Hi Dave.
Me: ugh, my body hurts.
VNG: Freak. Never call me again.

I've since tried contacting her. I'll let you know how it goes...

But like every cloud, there is a silver lining. Being sick last week afforded me the time to watch a few movies, like I Heart Huckabees, Stripes, and The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. There's nothing bad I can say about the last two. I Heart Huckabees is a great movie. One of those films that you watch and think, "what the hell did I just watch?" If Vin Diesel is your favorite actor I'd stay away from this one. Stripes is just classic Bill Murray. Can't go wrong with that. But the high point of the week was when everything was said and done and it was time to celebrate with a nice little barbecue amongst friends and coworkers. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I may be disgusted by much of what Houston stands for, but they sure can barbecue down here.

My coworker and friend has a smoker in his back yard. Due to his dedication and love of smoking, he cooked up some incredible brisket, chicken, and an obscene amount of sausages. The only thing more obscene was the sight of us ramming them down our throats. But they were good, damn good. It wasn't until I got down to Texas did I realize that I had never truly barbecued before. I had grilled. I had used a barbecued to cook burgers and sausages and an assortment of various types of meat and meat product. True barbecuing, never. When the day finally comes for me to leave Texas (not soon enough) I will look back with a tear in my eye at the sight of a brisket covered in bbq sauce.

Side dish of the day: Mashed potatoes

There's a spikey armadillo in my throat

At least, that's what it feels like. That's in addition to the intense gravitational field surrounding my body making me weight six times I normally would. Did I mention the magnetic field that's screwing with my synapse slowing them down to a snail's pace?

Of course, it just happens to be a coincidence that this may just be on of the most important weeks of my two plus years here in NASA. Pure coincidence. It's a good thing it's only a four day week. Plenty of time on the weekend to recuperate. What's that? I had to work on Monday? Oh yeah. Five day week. No problem. At least there's the weekend. Except for the fact I'll be working on Saturday. Oh boy...it's a long week.


Quote of the day: We have so much time, and so little to do! Strike that, reverse it.

Big sisters rock!

Really, need I say more? Especially when they want to know why I don't show this side of myself more often in real life. Can you imagine bringing up some of this stuff in conversation on a regular day? :) I'm glad I can give you a glimpse into my mind. Though, once you start into it there's no turning back...

Fun tip of the day: Dig a hole or two in a friend's yard and they'll make you dinner!

Status Report

In keeping in line with the Sunday-only social life, date #2 with the very nice girl was tonight. In addition to continuing to be very nice I also learned that she also has a cute laugh.

She was also spared another date-by-committee as most of my friends didn't actually attend the comedy show tonight. Good for us, not so good for the group the money was going towards.

Will there be a date #3? Tune in and find out!

Recommended movie of the day: I ♥ Huckabees

Guys do NOT have diaries

Crap. I think this has officially become my diary. It was never meant to be but this is the first thing I come to now when there's something on my mind. Second to friends, of course, but when they are not around, this is it.

The reason why I write that is because I have this interminable feeling of weight on my mind tonight that started somewhere around hour 1.5 at the mall today. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I just hate being in the mall. Ever since, though, I've been feeling downright horrible. Not sick, not depressed, no weary. Lost. That's probably the best way of describing it. I have this terrible feeling of my head spinning at a million miles an hour and it doesn't know where to stop. Or, rather, it has countless places to stop but doesn't know which is correct. It probably stems from the fact that is supposed to be a fun three day weekend and 1) I have to work on Monday and 2) I have nothing incredibly fun planned for tomorrow (or today for that matter). Not that this is something new. Usually I'm content with doing my own little thing. Not today. There's either something terribly wrong with the world or I have an internal chemical imbalance. I'm voting for chemical imbalance for everyone else's sake but I'm not taking any bets just yet. I'm willing to chalk it up to inhaling too much mall atmosphere. That stuff will kill ya'...

What really gets me, and I realize this, is that I feel like I wasted my entire day with work and the mall. I hate wasting my days though I couldn't tell you what else I would've done. No, I probably could tell you. There are a hundred things. That's what bothers me. There's too much to do and not enough good weekends to do them on and I feel like I'm blowing this one. I put WAY too much pressure on myself. Weekends are supposed to be fun and if too much emphasis is put on them being fun, they stop being fun.

Tonight I'm off with some friend(s) and an assortment of others that I don't know to have something. Fun? A beer? I hope so, but probably not in that order :)

Mood of the day: sideways

On a high note, I have date number two tomorrow night with the very nice girl. I'm really looking forward to it because, as it turns out, she's a pretty cool person. Let's hope she feels the same about me :) Let's also hope she's not reading this because that might be awkward...

It's go time

Living in the Northeast for most of my life, I thought I had experienced some pretty severe weather. From the intense heat of summer to the blur of interminable blizzards, I have lived through some mighty impressive stuff. At least, so I thought. The minute I got to Houston I understood that I had never known what heat and humidity really was. Blizzards, well, are blizzards and will never be experienced in Houston. With blizzards, though, you end up maybe missing work, crashing your car, and losing power for a few days. Trivial impacts, nothing to be remembered as anything more than a slight inconvenience in the long run.

Welcome Hurricane Katrina. In New York we used to experience hurricanes, meaning that once they hit land somewhere around the Carolinas they eventually wandered up to the Northeast where they manifested themselves as a strong rain storm. Laughable, really. At least it is to the 25,000 people who will be coming to Houston over the next few days from New Orleans where everything they considered to be their lives is now under 20 feet of water. Another 25,000 will be making their way to Austin and it's anyone's guess where the others will go. The lucky ones escaped with the bare essentials: their lives and the lives of loved ones. The unlucky ones will be remembered as tragic casualties of a terrible event.

As a resident of Houston, I have the opportunity to volunteer my time to help out with all these displaced victims. I urge you to do what you can to help out. I know money is tight. It's always tight, especially with gas prices skyrocketing the way they are. But we have the luxury of buying gas, the luxury of driving, and the luxury of living normal lives. I know my readership is very modest, but I ask all of you to spread the word to your friends, post a request on your blogs, or do whatever it is you think will get people to make donations. From what I hear, monetary donations to the American Red Cross is really your best bet at this point.

Please, do what you can. Houston will be struggling for a while to support their new residents and we would all appreciate your help.