A-hole of the day

I'm declaring myself the a-hole of the day. I don't feel too bad about it. If I hadn't acted then the guy I inconvenienced would have been the a-hole of the day, and a much bigger one.

After 3 and a half days of sitting at home the kids were about to go through the walls instead of bouncing off of them. Lidia and I aren't nearly as entertaining as 7 infants, much less a room filled with 20+ two year olds, and no daycare means Ana and Gene are bored to tears. When it came time to go grocery shop everyone loaded up in spite of the nasty cold rain.

I pulled into the grocery store parking lot I saw that there was one spot for shoppers with kids open. This is one perk of being a parent that I love, and now that Southwest has followed the other carriers and no longer allows parents with small children to board first it's the only immediate perk I have left. Sure, I'll hopefully see them graduate from high school and college, get married and have kids of their own, but for the next 4 years or so I have random precious moments and good parking spaces to look forward to.

As I turned on to the aisle with the open spot a car went cruising into my spot. I didn't see any car seats and stopped. Sure enough, two healthy, fit, single guys climb out of the car. I wasn't going to take it. I beat on the window and gave the driver my best G-rated (kids in the car) gesture to express my displeasure. He was shocked back to decency and hopped in and gave me the space. I made sure to say thanks as he walked by as I was helping Lidia get Gene out of the car.

So I saved this poor guy with no umbrella from being a parking spot stealing jerk, but I did make him walk in the cold drizzle with no umbrella. I'm the a-hole of the day, but I'm ok with it.

Having our cake and eating it too

The unthinkable has happened. Two wins in a row over Texas AND Fran has stepped down from his position. While I'm a bit disappointed that I never got the angry mob to help run Fran out of town on a rail -- you can ask Bubba and Wes about how long that pot of ire has been stewing -- I'm glad to see him go without taking a large buyout with him. Part of the statement by Bill Byrne does make me raise an eyebrow though.

"One thing I would like to say at this juncture concerning the private email incident. We now have reviewed all of the information available, and have taken what we think are appropriate actions on behalf of this institution. With regards to Coach Franchione, we are now convinced that he did not intentionally, knowingly, or directly participate in actions that were inappropriate or in violation of rules or policies. We do believe that Coach Franchione was guilty of inadequate supervision and oversight."

I read this as the letter of admonishment issued against Coach Fran being rescinded. Coming out and saying "He didn't do anything wrong, he was just mismanaged" without following up with, "and I take responsibility for that and will take the following actions to make things right." seems underhanded to me. Clearing Fran's name was probably part of the departure package, but the need for someone to be held accountable for the newsletters isn't diminished. If Bill Byrne says it happened under his watch because he didn't run a tight enough ship, then he also needs to say what he's going to do to correct it. Unfortunately, most Aggies, myself included will settle for 2-of-3 today and be happy we beat Texas and Fran is out of the picture.

Wes has a write-up with some criteria for selecting the next coach. I don't follow football well enough to add to the criteria. I'll just sit back and second guess "Dollar" Bill.

A Different Day

It has rained all night, and I am on campus early. The sweet smell of rain, the gently dripping trees, and the neat precision of the memorial in the gray light hide the horrors of that morning eight years ago.

We will never forget.

Roughing It

The tent city of folks camping for t.u. football tickets sprang up over the weekend. There have always been guys that would drag out their televisions and game consoles to pass the time. This morning I discovered someone has gone above and beyond that.



I must confess my first thought when I saw the tents this morning was, "They're camping out for basketball exhibition game tickets? I thought there was a lottery system in place. I guess that's only for the big games."

Yep. Texas A&M the basketball school. Who'd a thunk it?

Hit and Run Update

Three weeks ago I completed my first 10-k Race. That was the immediate reason for the past run related posts. My training went well, and race day was a big success. I was fourth overall, second male finished, and first in my age group. That netted me my first award for an athletic accomplishment since a 6th place sack race finish at an elementary school track meet.

The next big race is the Houston Half Marathon, and my training officially kicks off tomorrow with a rest day -- the perfect way to start a program. Since I've run twice in the past three weeks (race recovery and a long cold have been my excuses) this first week of training is going to hurt. Anyone looking for a good laugh in College Station next Saturday can come out and watch me try to run the eight mile long run.