Okay, the whirlwind Dexter-watching marathon is complete just in time for us to get ready for Season 4. My wife will need the short break in nightly serial killing in order dream about something besides how I might have a secret dark side she is unaware of. I assure you, I don’t even own a boat.And if you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, you’d better get to Blockbuster or NetFlix so you can catch up on the first three seasons. Or, if you have a reader of your own named Deb who offers to lend you the DVD’s, that much better, but hurry, you will not be disappointed.
We of course had to put off some of our regular activities during the Dexter thing. It turns out; we find ourselves a few episodes behind on Son’s of Anarchy. We’ll have to correct that, immediately.
Have you looked at the new Prime Time Jay Leno Show? Of course we DVR everything, so I went back and started to watch it, but never got more than 15 or so minutes into it. Then, I went on Hulu.com while I was tread-milling and started watching another episode and realized that in his old time slot, I usually fell asleep before the first guest ever appeared. I find Jay’s monologues humorous and I was always a fan of Headlines. But since I was on the treadmill and not susceptible to drifting off to sleep, it occurred to me that not much else is funny. A few examples: There was some comedian who came on, I forget his name but he was called the “Uninvited Guest”. He had his own little monologue complete with staged photos so you could visualize the punch line of his jokes. His segment lasted about half an hour. Okay, maybe it was only two or three minutes, but everything after the first 15 seconds seemed like half an hour.
Another thing Jay had was this segment called 10 Questions or something like that. I saw Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz sitting on a movie set somewhere, answering 10 not so funny questions. I realize now that without the assistance of special hair gel, I don’t find Cameron Diaz that attractive or funny. And really, unless there is a couch involved, I don’t see anything humorous about Tom Cruise, either.
And speaking of Oprah, they had a little skit where Jay’s first guest, Jerry Seinfeld (or as my wife calls him, SignField) uses his clout to have Oprah appear via satellite feed. The dig is, Jay could not get her to be the first guest on his new show, but Jerry has no problem getting her. Then, Jerry proceeds to interview Oprah and she totally ignores Jay. Did I mention how enormous her face looks in High Definition? Attention Macy’s, your blimp got away…
Anyway, I suspect that aside from the first 15 minutes, there will be no requirement for me to catch the new Leno show, but that gives me time to catch up on other important viewing, like Hung.
I don’t know if you heard this or not, but on Thursday evening, our Community Improvement Association (CIA as opposed to HOA) appointed me to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors. Obviously I am honored and will do my best to serve our community. There was another guy who was up for the position and we met for the first time last night. As it turns out, Chris is a reader of this blog and I might mention a very cool guy. It was one of those moments when you feel bad that you get picked over someone else. So if I didn’t feel bad enough, on the way home my wife, in a moment of pure spousal support says, “I think they should have picked the other guy.” In fairness though, this board thing may cut into our TV viewing time, at least until season 4 of Dexter starts.
Speaking of seasons (man, am I working the transition or what?), am I the only person who has noticed how wonderfully cool it has been the past few mornings? For readers outside of Texas, it probably is cool already where you are at, but here in San Antonio, we have had several months of record fireball action, with more 100+ days than ever. I know, see, AlGore was right; we’ll soon have beach front property. Anyway, I get up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and walk out on the back patio with my dog Gracie, (it is still dark at 5:30 and she is afraid), and both of us have noticed just how wonderful it feels. I’m ready for more of this weather.
And finally, again for the locals - we got the shocking news that Chris Marrou is going to hang up his anchorman hair at the end of the year. KENS-5 just won't be the same I tell ya, but I'm sure Chris will turn up somewhere. I know that many people just hate the way that Marrou has to add his little comments to the end of every single story; I for one love it. It was only that much better when his old friend Dan Cook was still around to join in on the off the cuff remarks.
For readers not familiar with Chris Marrou and Dan Cook, just imagine an anchorman and a crusty ol' sportscaster after a news story about a bank robber that gives the teller a withdraw slip complete with bank account number and real driver's license, before showing a gun and asking for all the money. Chris would say something like, "Well, that was pretty stupid." and Dan would say, "What a dumbass." Okay, maybe not those exact words, but you get the point. In the past year or so (since the long ago retired Dan Cook passed away), Chris has really stepped-up his commentary on news stories. Combined with his recent law degree, my amateur analysis says he will be running for political office. Hey, it runs in the family. You know his older brother, Andre Marrou, has been a candidate for president numerous times.
That's it friends. We have a busy weekend of eating, garage sailing and perhaps a visit tomorrow to the bone orchard. It was 9 years ago today that my wife's father passed, and we would like to do a little yard work on his resting place. Which reminds me of something he told me once.
(Eva and Nando on his last visit to Garner State Park)
He told me that he had a job where he was "over" hundreds of people. "Oh really" I said, inquiring for more detail. He said "Yea, I used to mow the grass at the cemetery". Good ol' Scobey.
We got in the habit when our kids were a lot younger that we would take one day during Fiesta, go down to the Market Square for a brief wandering through the area, eat some vittles, see all the weird people found during the day, then leave before the evening crowd arrived. 
It isn't that we are anti-social (okay, maybe a little), but the truth is, if we wanted to have our kids mingle amongst a bunch of sweaty people spilling beer on everyone and acting all a fool, we'll just have a cook-out at home and save a bunch of money.
So over the years, we got in this habit of going to the same place, doing the same thing and we have it down to about a two or three hour operation. Since we did it today, I took a few pictures that I'd like to show you and perhaps make a comment or two about.
I already mentioned that we had lunch at La Margarita, then it was off to gawk at our fellow citizens and the tourists who try so hard to understand our ways.
During the early afternoon, people drink just as though they were attending in the evening. Granted, many of the same people who drink during the day continue drinking into the evening, hence my references to spilled beers. But what this causes is a serious fart smell that permeates the area. 
And imagine if you were at face level with every ass in the crowd? 
The music is loud and when people gyrate to the sounds, I guess it just happens. 
Or in my case, I wait until I'm around someone who looks like they would be the guilty person, and I generally let loose there.
You can always tell who started really early. They are the lone dancers. They got the beat. The rest of us gawk. The tourists assume that it is part of the show.
San Antonio is not a svelte city. But we look good at it.
If you live in San Antonio and understand the "lingo", you would recognize this picture as a solid candidate for Jay Leno's Headlines. But I don't know about "Delicious".
Lest you think it's just a freak show, there are lots of otherwise entertaining things to see at the Mercado. Great bands and people who can do more than make fools of themselves on the dance floor. This couple put on quite a show.
My wife wanted me to get out there and dance with her but she realized that some idiot would take pictures of me doing my fantastic dance-moves in public, and she'd end up as an example of what not to do on someone's blog, so instead, we just enjoyed the sights and were happy to leave before anything really got going.
My wife and I are big fans of Jay Leno's Headlines on Monday nights after his monologue. If you aren't familiar with it, he basically shows newspaper clippings or advertisements with misspelled words or inadvertent double-entendre's.
So today, my wife and her mom along with a freind went over to the Marbach and Loop 410 area to eat lunch at Gilbert's Authentic Mexican Food. My wife reports that the owner was very nice and the food was acceptable (She says, "2 Tasty Treats"), and they had an enjoyable time, but the highlight of the event was what she captured on her cell phone camera.
See if you can pick out the headlines: 
I don't mean to poke fun at the guy, in fact, even with the use of spell check, I get the occasional friendly e-mail telling me that I used the wrong use of a word (you know; they're, their , there), but I just found this to be a hoot. 
So if you find some Headline's around SA (or wherever you are at) send them to Jay or at least send them to me!
Oh, who am I kidding? Timber Path Road in between Grissom and Old Grissom floods every time it rains more than a lifeguard drinking beer at a Luau pisses.
So last night as we watched the Jay Leno expose on Senator Larry Craig's tap dance in the men's room and simultaneously enjoyed the rain covering our lawn and filling the aquifer, I knew there would be a good reason to leave a few minutes early for work today.
So, I pull onto Timber Path on the off chance that it might be open, but sure enough, the barricades were up. So, I turn onto Grissom to go towards Culebra.
Now for those of you reading this, that have no idea what I am talking about, please allow me a moment to explain.
There are close to a bazillion people trying to get out of the neighborhoods that make up the Great Northwest and several other communities. On a normal day, this is done by taking various back streets and short cuts and such. The goal is to get to either Bandera Road to our east, Loop 410 to the south, or perhaps Highway 151 via Westover Hills Blvd. But, when it rains, all the shortcuts are basically blocked and you have to use Culebra Road to make the exit. This triples the amount of traffic at the intersection of Culebra, 471, Grissom and Tezel
The traffic lights don't recognize the change.
Okay. So here is my public service announcement: Please understand that everyone is trying to get to work in a safe and courteous manner. Everyone knows that the traffic has tripled. Nobody is amused by anyone trying to be an inconsiderate sphincter by simply bypassing the the half-mile long line in the turning lane so you can force your way into the turn at the last minute. Having a fuel efficient car does not help your case.
Case in point. As I waited through 7 cycles of the traffic light at Culebra/Grissom/Tezel/471 (don't get me started with street naming conventions), I calmly and nicely listened to re-runs of Lisle and Hahn. As I made it to within a thousand feet of the actual intersection, an inconsiderate asshat (that's Internet lingo) in a white VW felt that it was more important for the rest of us to wait, so he or she could simply bypass the ten minute long wait, and cut in front.
People, this is how road-rage gets started. You think your time is more important than my time.
Don't get me wrong. I can appreciate if you didn't know, and hey, someone is nice and lets you in as a courtesy, that's fine. But in the case of this VW, they actually stopped the flow of traffic in the non-turning lane so they could force their way into the turning lane, ahead of all the people who had respectfully waited their turn.
I've got news for you buddy: My van already has a tiny scratch on the front passenger side fender where my wife scraped a pole. It needs to get fixed sooner or later and I don't mind your insurance company paying for it.
So, long story short - VW didn't get into the turning lane on my watch. And I'm pretty sure it may have taken a while with all the other pissed off people behind me watching these inappropriate and inconsiderate antics.
Play nice out there and by all means, turn around, don't drown.
(Eva and Nando on his last visit to Garner State Park)
