Sadness introduces the Heir-Apparent
The looming sadness around our household is due to the quietness brought on by the passing of our 16 year old lab, Caroline. Even with the puppy Cabela around, she just doesn’t seem to make as much noise as her elder. The explanations of what happens to dogs when the die aren’t getting easier with our nine year old. Time has flown by as he (the 8 yr old) announced that “YOU got to spend 16 years with Caroline and I only got to spend 8 years with her………..where four of those didn’t really count b/c I wasn’t big enough to walk her. ” WHAAAAAT? Out of the mouth of babes….still struggling to understand. 
Pets are REALLY a part of the family. As the staff at the veterinarian will attest, our family – all 5 of us plus the 75 pound dog – were all in the clinic room as Caroline moved on to another world. I’m pretty sure they would say that that dog was DEFINITELY going to be missed as a family member. Take care of your pets. Take the time to slow down and play with them daily – they really can be a type of stress-release. I’m all for crate training, but gee-whiz, just because we are busy doesn’t mean they have to stay locked up all the time. Just kills me.
Cabela has definitely taken a strong-hold on our hearts, even though she’s lucky to have survived this morning. She strategically left a few “surprises” in my bathroom (hey – at least it’s the bathroom, right?), broke a canister that has been sitting in the window the entire time she’s been here, and got out the gate this morning while Alex haphazardly left the gate open. Wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t been semi-dressed (all I was doing was taking Sis to basketball at 6:55), and if the grass hadn’t been so wet and cold. After 20 minutes of vigorous exercise for both myself and the dog, she’s all comfy in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT! As this little dog (now about 20 pounds) and our family decide how to peacefully coexist, we’ll continue to mourn Caroline while remembering all the good times we had with her. I’m sure Cabela will make Caroline proud, just have to figure out how to convince Grant of that!
Did I mention the 2 separate teen drivers I also tangled with this morning? SLOW DOWN! Just because YOU woke up for school late, doesn’t mean you have to drive like a moron and kill someone. We’ve already had one kid hit in the last few weeks, we don’t need anymore. And by the way……….that round, 8 sided sign with the letters S T O, and P on them means………wait for it. STOP! Try it. You might see something you like. I had to jump in front of the moving cars because I knew they’d see me. It was our fault for the puppy get out the gate, but again – SLOW DOWN.
The drivers on our street are absolutely amazing. I can’t fathom what their auto insurance is like. I know with the erratic ways they drive that they HAVE to have had accidents or hit inanimate objects. It seems that one end of our street just doesn’t care about local driving laws – oh – I’m sorry……these laws apply to everywhere in the United States. Maybe even Mexico. They don’t stop for stop signs. Don’t look before they back out of the driveway…….I’m mean, they come barreling out backwards without looking. The kids that the parents “overlook” the habits that the kids have developed, well……..they aren’t going to be needing my insurance agent contact, they are going to need my auto accident attorney. I’m not even really sure if he represents auto accident involvees if the accident was THEIR fault. I’m on that…………
Anyway, I need to move towards the shower and actually make an attempt at getting ready for work, even though I’ve already technically started – ha! Make it a GREAT day!
End of an Radio Era
Mark Stevens & Jim Pruett - Radio Gawds
Last week, Mark Stevens of Stevens and Pruett – Radio Gawds from 101 KLOL, left this Earth. WOW – what an end to an era. Those of us that have lived in Houston in the late 70′s and 80′s (40ish), grew up with these guys. Even though I’ve always listened to country music, I always woke up to those clowns and listened to them when I was getting ready for school OR on the way to the pool. Coach Nelson, Klein High School swim coach in the 1980′s, listened to Stevens & Pruett on the deck during morning practices. Can I just say – that would NOT be allowed on any campus anywhere now. MAYBE college. HA!
They were bawdy, gross, suggestive……to me, they were the Howard Stern of Houston radio. They were hilarious. I remember being shocked. I remember wondering what on earth they were talking about. I’m not really sure my parents knew I was listening to them. Right after we got married, Gary and I got an invitation to the Stevens & Pruett “Holiday Ball” – one of the “Leather and Lace” Balls. We said, “SURE!” Boy – was I NOT prepared for that one. Fresh out of A&M, I had blinders on. I’m pretty sure some of my friends would say that I still do. I wore a really cute, black-n-white, gingham check short formal. One of the girls we went with…….well, let’s just say, had VERY interesting view of “formal.” This was a BLACK (being the operative) tie event. She wore the Victoria’s Secret body stocking with a blazer over it. ONLY a blazer. I guess I was a bit over dressed. I saw things that night that support the comment, “I grew up with Stevens & Pruett.”
As luck would have it, we are TOTALLY blessed with awesome neighbors one of our neighbors just happened to be Jim Pruett’s son. What a hoot! Just a calmer, fly-under-the-radar, version of Jim. I remember the day our oldest came home from Jim’s son’s house and said, “I just shot guns with Sam’s granddad.” We just stopped and said, “What?” At this time we did not know that Jim Pruett owns a gun store in Houston called “Jim Pruett’s Guns and Ammo” – over off 290 in Houston. They’ve just moved into a new location and are currently planning a Grand Opening of sorts. Will keep you posted on dates.
This Houston gun store has personality plus. Just like Jim. With barbed wire decorating the walls and all the guns hung on chain link fencing for your viewing pleasure, it’s totally worth a visit. The staff is entertaining to say the least, and incredibly knowledgeable on your gun and ammunition needs. They even have an on site gunsmith that can handle just about anything. Jim has collected quite a few military “antiques” and has them displayed in his “museum” of sorts and LOVES to tell you about them.
Jim Pruett’s Guns and Ammo has all makes and models of guns, including military style weapons. He boasts the tag-line, ” Your Anti-Terrorist Headquarters.” Upon visiting the store the first time, and meeting the staff, one thing was very evident. They are all about safety. While everyone has to fill out the required gun permit, they have another questionnaire on top of the required one. Another statement that is said quite often is “guns don’t kill. People do.” That is SO true. While we were visiting, I bet 5 police officers came in to buy things like sights, holsters, and other items. That’s impressive. To have the confidence of the Houston Police Department, says something about the gun store and their staff.
Jim & Joy Pruett should be really proud of what they’ve built store-wise. The staff acts like family, very protective of the Pruetts – just like Mark Stevens was. God rest his soul!
Digital Age is REALLY here!
Earlier today, comScore released their August 2010 Online Video Rankings and FACEBOOK is #2 on their list. Really?
These numbers are incredible. If you don’t know, comScore is the global leader in measuring the digital world and is reporting, for AUGUST 2010, that 178 million individual, unique viewers watched online video content. They are also suggesting that the average per person……….14.3 hours. The total number of viewing sessions for this 178 million people – 5.2 BILLION sessions. Wow!
As you might have guessed by now, Google owned YouTube.com is first on the list with 146.3 million UNIQUE viewers – meaning
individual users. Facebook, in a distant second, has the number 2 spot with 58.6 million viewers, racking up a total of 243 million viewing sessions. That’s just fascinating news to me. Yahoo! is third, with VEVO in 4th. The average time spent on Google-sites alone was 270 minutes per viewer, or roughly 4.5 hours.
This comScore report also breaks down online video ads and the viewing trends. Hulu had the most hits with an amazing 790 million impressions. Did you read the part about that being the numbers for video ads in August ALONE?
Here at Bizopia, we try to get our clients to shoot videos with us so we can add them to their websites as internet video marketing tools. This data, previously shared, is hard core proof that online video marketing is the real deal. I have but one question – why would you NOT have a video on a company/commercial website? Huh? In my opinion, people are so lazy that they would rather kick back and watch a short video and try to figure out whether or not your product is what they need, rather than combing through a website and ACTUALLY READING. In today’s day and age, we have to be prepared to “entertain” both!
Go view some online video marketing pieces……….
Ike Revisited – With a Good Ending
As Galveston, Texas, continues to recover from a nasty, natural disaster, I’ve taken the time to reflect on the days following the landfall of Hurricane Ike ……… While Sugar Land had a TON of rain and wind delivered via Ike, it could have been a lot worse – and we all know it. Lessons were learned by all – check your homeowners insurance BEFORE a major hurricane takes aim at you. Some learned that batteries ARE important. Some learned that living without air conditioning and a hair straightener is NOT the end of the world, and that if neighbors stick together, “survival” can be kind of fun.
OK – so it was a bit stressful deciding whether to stay or to go. We weren’t thinking about us, we were thinking about the kids. The youngest was terrified not knowing what was going on with this hurricane-thing and slept in a Storm Trooper costume the entire time.. The middle child was in a boot and on crutches due to a dislocated bone in her foot. And the oldest was fascinated with the weather side of things (and the flashlights, weather-radios, and “bathing” in the pool).
The night before the night before the storm, there was a magical night at Sasu Sushi with AMAZING food and friends, then a hurricane party at a friends house complete with pool-volleyball. Then a mass exodus back to the house to finish taping, boarding, and prepping for the storm. The night before landfall was a calmer dinner of Louisiana gumbo and wine in preparation of what was about to happen. We stayed through the first power outage, but the second outage got everyone’s attention and the party broke up. Hugs and kisses, and back to the casa.
When the winds began, the phones starting ringing. Some of us were up in the middle of the night comparing where our kids were sleeping (in my closet sleeping like babies), were our husbands sleeping through it all (yes he was), and where were the dogs/cats/lizards/frogs (away from windows). When the winds and rain died, a neighbor knocked on the door EARLY in the morn to get us to help with a tree on a different neighbor’s house. How cool is that? Multiple guys got out with chain saws and the truck to pull the tree off the house so it wouldn’t get worse. We walked the neighborhood and entered the houses of those that left checking on things.
Obviously we had no electricity due to the hurricane. Most of our subdivision did not have power, and some didn’t get it for weeks post-Ike. A few smart neighbors had small generators that they graciously offered to charge cell phones for us. Once we all had naps, semi-recovered from the night before and found our rain coats, we all hit the streets with flashlights and food. Did I mention THE FOOD?
With big games of flashlight tag(all ages) going on and neighbors sitting around a fire pit for light, our neighborhood came to life. Neighbors that we had never met before (after 2.5 yrs in the house) ventured out into the darkness. No one was worried about their hair as neighbors drove around, missing downed trees and swapping tales of the storm. Back to the food……We ate like kings for MORE than just one night. We all joke about gaining wait during the hurricane because of how good we ate. We are quite a talented bunch on gas and charcoal grills. Our freezer was full of redfish, duck and pheasant, ice cream and steaks. Other neighbors had wild game, plenty of diet coke, and beer that was getting warm……and in Texas, you don’t let Blue Bell ice cream go to waste. So out came the Dixie cups and straws and slushy Blue Bell was poured into the kids’ cups.
For those that suffered damage, I am so sorry because I know what kind of nightmare insurance companies can be (especially with all the roof damage). For those that left town, you missed a HUGE party. For those that we had the pleasure of hanging with, WAHOOOOO – what a blast!
Will I stay for another hurricane……….hmmmm………….still pondering that one.
Waiting for Word
It’s a tough news day………really, a tough month. First, the coal mine tragedy, now this oil drilling platform explosion , and while reading the news this morning, the little 2 month old boy that was “kidnapped” in Houston – his little body was found this morning. I just don’t get it. How does someone kill a baby?
I feel really bad for all of these families. The coal miners’ families whose loved ones were involved in that industrial explosion in the mine….These groups seems to be such a tight nit groups – coal miners and their families. I know working in a mine or on an offshore drilling platform is a decision they’ve made, but man-o-man, what a life – what risk. Now we are learning more about the oil industry – seems to be a pretty tight nit group too – unfortunate that under these circumstances they are gathering, but still good to see the support. Stories of the phone trees used in the middle of the night to get the word out after the explosion on this deep water drilling platform staffed by Transocean, leased by BP, and called DeepWater Horizon. Did you know that some of the workers leave their families for 2 weeks, then are home for 1-2 weeks and some stay on the platforms longer?
These poor workers are saying that they had NO time – the only decision was to jump. One of the rig blast survivors said, “It blew and we had like ZERO time from the time the alarm went.” Less than 4 minutes to make a life-altering decision. Jump into 5000 feet of water with no boat.There are still 11 missing and as time goes by, hopes are fading. Most of the workers interviewed are stating that if they didn’t jump, that they probably burned in the fire. Some families are receiving great news – it just took a while. These workers are having to be “boated” back to shore. 52 miles out………takes a while to get back in, especially on a large vessel.
I can’t imagine the thoughts that some of these families are having to deal with right now. Who do I call? We still don’t know. What caused the blast? Of course, the major players in this explosion are investigating, but in today’s day and age, you KNOW they have their Jones Act and Maritime lawyers on call. The law that governs open and navigable waters is called the Jones Act. These oil rig and drilling platforms that are NOT permanent fall under the jurisdiction of this law. It’s actually fascinating to study, but there are a lot of maritime lawyers out there – that’s all they do is represent those who have suffered an injury at sea, injury on a vessel, or in this circumstance, and injury on an oil platform. This is an exploratory rig that exploded in the middle of the ocean. With 126 or so workers on it, 17 people were injured at sea and taken to hospitals in the southern Louisiana area………this could be one of the deadliest offshore drilling accidents in the past 50 years……………
3D TV & Alcohol don’t mix – REALLY?
OK – I’m a mood today – it’s Friday. I think I might be starting something new – FUN FRIDAYS (that’s what we call it in the swimming world). One of the newest forms of in-home entertainment, is the 3D TV. Just now hitting the market and becoming available to consumers, Samsung comes out with a HUGE warning viewable to all (click the Samsung link just prior) – but here’s the paired down,low-down: (and I quote)…”We do not recommend watching 3D if you are in bad physical condition, need sleep or have been drinking alcohol.” REALLY? It goes farther…”If you experience any of the following symptoms, immediately stop watching 3D pictures and consult a medical specialist: (1) altered vision; (2) lightheadedness; (3) dizziness; (4) involuntary movements such as eye or muscle twitching; (5) confusion; (6) nausea; (7) loss of awareness; (8) convulsions; (9) cramps; and/or (10) disorientation. Parents should monitor and ask their children about the above symptoms as children and teenagers may be more likely to experience these symptoms than adults.” Really? Makes me want to run out and buy one.
To borrow from SNL – REALLY? If you don’t know what I’m referring to, look it up on YouTube.com. Didn’t your mom always tell you NOT to sit to close to the television or it would ruin you eyes? What about causing epileptic seizures? Mom missed that one – I’ll have to talk to her about that. I’m thinking we probably won’t go buy a 3D TV for a number of reasons:
Number 1: We’re not in BAD physical shape – but define “bad shape” for me just in case. What if someone comes over like my kiddos’ friends. Do I need to ask them – are you in good physical condition? Seriously, that rules out a lot of my kids’ friends (unless they are swimmer friends – that’s different). Realistically, this rules out a TON of my friends……so I’m thinking, buying a tv like this might not be a great idea.
Number 2: Don’t watch if you need sleep? OK – seriously, I only watch tv at night (unless it’s Aggie Football) AND I work AND have 3 kids. I’ve been falling asleep during LOST lately. Need sleep, really? I always need more sleep. Don’t all moms?
Number 3: The alcohol thing. Well, gee, that rules out Friday and Saturday SUSHI nights with my IN SHAPE friends. Now I have to monitor drinking prior to watching tv? Really?
This is obviously sort of funny to me. The guys at work say that there are epileptic seizure warnings on some video games…..haven’t read them, but that’s pretty serious to me. I don’t recall any warnings being posted while walking into Wild West (Dance Hall and Bar in Houston) or Mo’s Place (same but in Katy) – they have flashing lights AND alcohol AND lots of REALLY “not-in-shape” people (brother-in-law calls them “muffin tops” – hee hee! ) Should they be posting something to? What about these new “red light cameras” in Houston? They flash……I know, that one is a stretch.
Oh well – I think we’ll just a buy a tv at J&K Electronics in Houston – they’ve normal, beautiful, big screen tv’s that WON’T KILL YOU or MAME YOU FOR LIFE. Ours is about to blow – it’s only 19 years old. That’s a good life for a television, right?
Now kids remember, workout BEFORE you watch 3D TV, be well rested, and never, NEVER drink alcohol prior to 3D TV viewing……….you might die!
SEO & Facebook
This is going to be the first of a few Facebook related posts……………..Networked Blogs is a pretty cool tool where you can have your blog or others’ blogs posted to your own profile page automatically. This will increase traffic to your own blog or someone elses’ blog……and just flat get the information out there for all to read.
Let’s face it. Facebook is a very nice tool to get information out to the world. Most of my friends are on but some rarely check their pages. It’s just like everything else – it’s my job to MAKE them check their pages. I’ll keep you posted on this one…………I’m calling it SMO….Social Media Optimization 
Have a GREAT day! More tomorrow – promise!
Haiti and Houston Handyman
It is REALLY hard not to feel sorry for these poor people in Haiti – another 6.1 earthquake this morning? As I sit at my computer (nice little Dell by the way) and start banging out today’s work while being mad that I have to replace a back door, a garage door opener and drive in Houston (which I absolutely hate doing), these people have NO homes, no water, no food……it’s crazy. I can’t imagine how the children feel – it’s not like kids in California that are sort of use to a tremor now and then.
I don’t wake up well anyway – someone yelling GET OUT – GET OUT at 4:00 in the morning is not going to be met kindly. You assume things are built well. Hotels, hospitals, etc…..they can’t possibly be trusting anything in Haiti now as it has all been shaken. As I go through my day, I know I will be feeling bad that I’m contacting a “home remedy” company – a remodeler of sorts JUST to fix my back door that the dog has scratched so badly. These people need a ISLAND remedy company – not just a door company.
With websites and blogging being my business, I usually sit down in the mornings with something in mind to blog about on some site somewhere. Sometimes I check out the news first. So…..I sat down to blog about my garage door opener (that I squished my fingers in the door closing it last night after putting bikes away) that is broken and whether or not I’m going to try to replace the gears or just buy another one. A neighbor said by a gear driven one……any comments? But in the background I can hear the Today show discussing yet another earthquake in Haiti – THOSE POOR PEOPLE.
I wish I could send our buddies at Home Remedy Houston to Haiti instead of my house. I can live with the scratches on door and frame (now the mice getting in is another thing ). Home Remedy Houston is a Houston handyman company. They do large home remodeling projects as well as small projects like mine. I can fix a lot of things, but the door frame has to come out. I’ve already spoken to Home Remedy Houston about a kitchen remodel and got a good paint quote for painting the foyer that requires creative scaffolding. I’ll keep you posted. We take care of their website, so I’m going to use them personally.
Now I’m off to the tax office to try to find my LID taxes and to drop some disks off for DVD duplication at Sugar Land DVD. I really hope things settle down for Haiti – this is truly tragic!
Valero – Texas City
Living in a big city definitely has it’s conveniences – but it also has it’s major drawbacks. I always tell my husband that I want to live in the middle of no where – where the kids can play and me not have to worry about their well being pollution/traffic/kidnapping wise. The traffic here in my neighborhood is not bad, but we have a couple of neighbors that rip through here like THEIR kids don’t play on the streets and in the front yard.
Something I DON’T have to worry about is industrial explosions or industrial accidents causing me to evacuate or worry about my kids breathing the air around us. The poor people that live in Texas City constantly have to be aware of what is around them. Most of us don’t have to worry about that………right?
Friday, December 4, 2009, I was sitting in the Natatorium in College Station for Senior Gulf Champs and the people living in and around the Valero Industrial Plant in Texas City had to worry about a blast that killed one man and seriously injured two others at last count. Prayers are definitely with the families, especially with the family of the deceased!!! This is a situation that is unavoidable no matter how hard these industrial facilities try to be safe, with humans involved – there are going to be industrial accidents. It’s just a fact of life.
Even though the site has been secured and Valero is telling Texas City residents that there was no cause for concern and the incident is still under “investigation.” How trusting are we that we believe them? Do we have a choice? What exactly was released into the air because of this industrial explosion??? The government groups the industrial accidents into four groups or “levels.” This was a level one industrial explosion – even though it was bad enough to kill someone, it was supposedly not to be of concern to anyone else….? WHAAAAT?
Valero is North America’s largest independent petroleum refiner and marketer……..can they be trusted?
Living Close to the Tracks!
Living in certain parts of Houston can be dangerous in my book. Just today, a Union Pacific train had 29 cars out of 116 derail in Southwest Houston. What does derail mean? A Houston Railroad Accident. JUMPED THE TRACKS! BLOCKED TRAFFIC. The bad part is that 16 of these 29 cars carried petroleum coke, 4 cars carried ammonium nitrate, 2 carried aluminized pellets and one carried polyethelene pellets and another carried good old fashioned cars. Luckily the remaining 5 were EMPTY!
What’s bad about this? Why do I have a problem? Ammonium nitrate is highly explosive when heated up. Train derailment…..heat from accident. BOOM! Definitely possibility. Ammonium Nitrate is the “fertilizer” compound that was used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Trains carry things like this all the time. We never even know about it unless there is an accident. And today, there was a very dangerous accident. It is unclear at this time what caused the derailment and it was also not clear if there were any injuries. It happened during rush hour – something will pop up.
If you or someone you know was involved in this accident or another accident like this, call Russell Burwell or James Nebout at Burwell Nebout Trial Lawyers. They are great, normal guys that practice in Houston and Texas City. I to Texas City a few weeks ago to visit their office and get some information for a new website that I”m building. The are FELA attorneys. FELA stands for Federal Employers’ Liability Act – the FELA Act protects those working on trains, tracks, or in the yards as well as those innocent bystanders that are involved in train accidents. Call them - they’ll help you understand your rights under the FELA Law.
