Virtual-Doug

Dodging the Bullet

Alex decided to come ashore in Mexico - about 75-100 miles south of us.  We're getting lots of rain and some wind, but not the brunt of the storm.

Alex the Himmicane

Life may get interesting tomorrow.  Alex has decided to make a visit.

 

Time to tie things down around the house.

Date Night

Old folks need romance too.

One would think that retirement would be a time when old married couples would just sit around the house with each other and blend their lives.  Not so - and as most retirees will tell you, you sometimes wonder how you ever had time to go to work.  Our lives are full (too full?) and we just need to reconnect sometimes.

Hence - date night.  Its a time to go out to eat and catch up with each other's lives.

Nothing fancy - and Monday night is the scheduled night.  Though the occasional upscale restaurant is okay, most nights it is a simple place with simple food.  One of our favorite places is a place we haven't been to for awhile - El Zarape Taqueria.  For those of you who don't know what a taqueria is, its a place that specializes in tacos.  The Mexican food in deep south Texas is different from the Tex-Mex served elsewhere.  It is fresh and not necessarily spicy.  Cilantro, fresh onions, squeeze some lime juice on the ground beef - good stuff.

Don't bother trying to call us on Monday nights - we're out on a date.

Blogging for Money

Weird!  I have been blogging for seven years now.

Seven years!

And its interesting to go back and read some of the old posts, particularly the ones from the time we lived in Viet Nam.

Now, somebody is actually paying me to blog.  No no - not this blog, but one at a university.  Back in January, I took a part-time job back at the University of Texas-Pan American, working for the lady who had hired me way back in 1999.  She wanted me to spruce up the Web image and improve the communication of her Office of Research Administration.  Simple stuff - things even an old fart like me can do.  Besides the web site tuning, I also set up an email newsletter system (we do not refer to it as "spam"), I started a blog for the office.

Intellectual Energy. 

This is not exciting reading folks - but it is of importance to people involved in research.  I'm learning lots of new things (I had no idea there was such a thing as "sustainable manufacturing) and the work is fun.

As the Mystery Guest Blogger says, it keeps me off the streets and out of the bars.