IKE IKE IKE

Well today’s the day. The sun is shining and the birds are leaving. The wind is picking up. Is it a sign? I think so. We’ve got some windows boarded up and water and batteries and all the other odds and ends we need. Ike seems to be turning into a massive storm.  I wouldn’t be scared if I didn’t have kids. Where I live is going to be getting the dirty side of the storm. That’s the bad side. Yippie.

My parents had to evacuate and thank God they did. Based on some reports the coast is going to possibly be hit with 20 to 50 foot storm surges.

I’m going to clean my house so when it blows away it’ll at least be clean. LOL   Just kidding! 🙂

Everything will be okay, I’m sure.  For those 3 people that read my blog don’t worry if I’m not around for a day or two. It just means we have no power.

Remembering 9/11

As I was listening to the radio taking my kid to school I was pleased to hear the DJs and callers not only talking about the hurricane but also taking the time to remember the importance of today. This is the day America changed forever. Most people will focus on the negative changes but I am choosing not to do so. I will not remember today’s date as only a time of mourning but also as a day of pride. Why pride? Because on this day seven years ago we the American people put aside our petty differences and instead stood together and did everything we could do as individuals and as a nation to help out our fellow brothers and sisters of this great nation.  No one was immune that.  Rich, poor, black, white, and all the colors in between were affected.  We were all red, white, and blue Americans. The terrorists thought that they would destroy America but they were wrong. We do what we in America have always done in the face of tyranny. We stood together and said you will not knock us down, you will not destroy us. Don’t tread on me is a motto not forgotten. We stood as a nation with a backdrop of red, white and blue. I love America with all my heart and I’m proud to be a citizen.

Remember today in any way you see fit. I will try to honor those who died and sacrificed their lives to save others in the best way possible.  Be nice to each other. Be a proud American.

Well the shit is about to hit the fan. Ike is coming.

IKE is on his way. It’s bigger than Katrina and Rita were and it’s headed here. We’re looking at roughly 85 to 100 mph winds inland and big ass storm surge on the coast. My parents live about 5 minuets from the coast and they are having to evacuate. They have 2 dogs and 7 cats so it should be interesting for them. Hopefully their house will be okay.

I live a relatively safe distance from the coast so I’m not worried about storm surge or anything like that. I am very concerned about losing power and high winds and tornadoes. I’ve gotten most of our supplies but I might go buy more water and pop tarts. I’m also going to be preparing everyone’s bug-out bag in case we do have flee.  Anyone got room for a family of 4 with 2 dogs and a cat? Just kidding. sort of. 🙂

 

Anyway I’m sure we’ll be fine but please take some time out of your day and pray to whatever God or Gods you have that the damage to the people in Texas will be minimal and that we have no deaths.
Thanks!

The best writer you’ve never heard of

There’s this guy.  He writes in a way that can chill you to the bone, make you laugh ’till you cry, and always leaves you wanting more.  The problem is this guy doesn’t know his own worth.  Big dummy.  He creates these characters that you fall in love with, (Dillon anyone?), and paints images in your mind using his words like a giant paintbrush.  He’s done for the water what Jaws did for going to the beach 20+ years ago.  Know the best part?  He just gets better and better. His talent is enormous and with every new story you get the honor and privilege of watching him grow as a writer. I keep thinking it isn’t possible for him to knock my socks off, but with every new piece he again blows me away.

Want to know who he is? Of course you do!  He’s the DarcKnyt. He’s awesome and if you read his work you’ll fall in love too. You don’t know what you’re missing. I plan to fix that! He’s written many wonderful things but I’m going to share some of my favorites with you.

The first is Ghost Hunters. Hands down! This is where I met this kickass writer and his creations. I had no idea what a treat I was in for when I started reading this book. I felt every emotion he portrayed so much and was left salivating for the next installment every week.

Now if you want to be scared and disturbed you need to read Getting Away from it All. Thanks to this story alone I won’t be getting on a boat any time soon.

Now if you’re looking for a hot and steamy mystery you have got to check out Remember Me.  Here Mr. DarcKnyt shows that you can write emotional and HOT love/sex scenes without being vulgar.

Another story that enjoyed beyond words is The Lake. I laughed my butt off at this one. SO WELL DONE!

You want a little vampire in your brain? Then read this short fantastic story My Childhood Friend.

Also, if you want an eye opening and moving experience then please read Not a Typical Morning. This IS NOT just a story. It really happened to my dear friend and it’s shows a stark and gritty portrayal of how low we as people can be. It shook me to the core and was at the forefront of my thoughts for weeks after he wrote it.

I believe in this man’s abilities 100% and I’m honored that he lets me into his world. In the world we live in today where your blog/chat/log-in name means so much I’ve tried to show him how much I appreciate what he does. He’s the reason I’m the KnytStalker.

He’s an amazing writer and an even better friend. Not to mention his wife is one of my most favorite people in the whole universe. I could go on for hours about her too! She’s funny and sweet and tough as nails. That will have to wait for another day because this today is all about The D man. Don’t want to wait??? I sure as hell don’t blame you. Here’s her blog:  http://darcsfalcon.wordpress.com/

So in short if you don’t read what this man writes then there will be a void that you won’t be able to fill. Entertainment that is fun and intellectual seems to be lacking in today’s society. If you’re missing it then you’ve found the right place. Read his work, be blown away, and then be sure to tell him how awesome he is.

Technorati Tags: DarcKnyt,Ghost Hunters,writing,fiction,nonfiction,entertainment,Getting away from it all,awesome,wonderful,talented,stories,joy,suspense,love,mystery,humor,fear

Update on the bad cop!

Well we spoke to Johnny Law’s main supervisor just now. He was surprised and is going to investigate and talk to the cop that was here yesterday and all the other police personnel we spoke to yesterday and today. He is going to call us tomorrow and talk to us again. Meanwhile my husband is going to be speaking with our local ACLU about the matter.

For those who think we might be blowing this out of proportion please stop a minuet and think about this. He refused to do his job and then while speaking to us in an aggressive manner with his hand on his Taser. If any of you live in Texas you know about the big problem here with officers using Tasers unnecessarily.  A badge is not a blank check to do or say whatever you want and it is not a licence to attempt to intimidate people.  His acceptance of a paycheck, but refusal to preform the duties outlined in his job description is, by definition, fraud.

Oh! As far as we know the dogs that started this whole mess are still out and their owners are still unaccountable.

Law enforcement: NOT on your side!

Hi all! Scary news today. We’ve been harassed by our neighbors dogs for a while now. The final blow came when said dogs trapped my 5 year old and me in my car until my husband came and scared them off.  Now I don’t know if you’ve ever been trapped somewhere with dogs circling you, watching you but it’s a terrifying experience.  Remember Cujo? We’ve called the police several times. The last cop that was here at our house told us next time the dogs are out to call the police again. Well today they were out and we called again. Like we were told to. The officer that came out walked up with an air about him that was annoyed. I’m sure he thought he should be out eating doughnuts and hitting on young girls and not wasting his time DOING HIS JOB.

When my husband and I explained what the situation was he said that’s not my problem call animal control. Things went downhill from there rapidly. My husband said you need to go deal with those dogs because the dogs being out not on a leash is breaking a law. The cop told my husband that since my husband knew all the laws and was a law enforcement officer that he should go handle the people. My hubby is not a cop, he just knows the laws like any good citizen who cares about his rights should.

Now, what you don’t know is that the neighbors house is a hangout for gang-bangers and society’s mistakes. It took 6 cop cars to arrest 1 teenager. Yeah, I want to go down there and talk to those people. My lily white ass would do a lot in getting them to obey the law.

Back to the story! Well said Jellyroll and my husband then began to argue more and I made my husband go inside. The cop then told me he wasn’t talking to me or my husband anymore and that we were basically on our own. I followed him to the end of our driveway literally saying please talk to me over and over again. He then got into his car and wouldn’t talk to me until I said for the 6th time I’m begging you to talk to me. He then proceeded to tell me that my husband was a know-it-all and that he thought very little of my husband. I tried to steer him away from the conversation about my husband several times and when I FINALLY did I told him my main concern in dealing with these neighbors was the fear of retaliation. Copper’s response was to say don’t you think they know it’s you already? Well they do now!

As I was outside begging the cop to talk to me the dogs came out and ran up to someone on the street. Well the cop then went over there but I’m positive it was only because i was outside at the time.  I came back inside my house and we call the pig’s Sargent and talked to him. The Sargent said flat out that we were not to go talk to these people and what the boy in blue did was wrong. He said that the office that came here and turned me into a nervous wreck was in the wrong. He claims that he will talk to him but I won’t be holding my breath.

My new concern is that we pissed this jackass off. Will we receive proper police protection now? I hope so, but again I’m not holding my breath. So if Mrwakeupcall and I disappear please remember this and call Fox News. Or maybe Nancy Grace, she’s a real bitch who loves busting chops.

 

I would also like to say that while in general I have issues with authority I am a law abiding citizen that pays her taxes. I also have respect for the badge and generally hold police officers in high regard. I DO NOT however have respect for those who abuse the badge. Especially those that have no problem taking a paycheck that we the people provide them but refuse to do their job unless it suits their mood.

Just because you can make babies doesn’t mean you should…

A big story happening here in Texas is the problem of parents/grandparents leaving their kids/grandkids in hot cars for hours at a time. Sadly, in August 2 small children died because they were left in cars for hours in this unbearable heat. Both of the children were accidently left in cars while their parents went to work.

What’s worse is that yesterday it almost happened again. The big difference this time is that the boys are still barely alive and they were left in the car because their mom was drunk. Seems mom didn’t think it was a bad idea to take her 1 and 2 year old boys to a party that she left at 4 am. She says she consumed 5 alcoholic drinks and that she left the kids in the car when she got home because she was going to run in and out. Well she ended up falling asleep. When she woke up at 1 p.m. she suddenly remembered she forgot the children in the car. Those little boys sat in that car for 11 HOURS. By the grace of God the kids were still alive and a neighbor preformed CPR and thanks to her actions both children are alive.

See http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5980386.html for the entire story.

Now I would like to state that I know I’m not the world’s best mom but I’m sure as hell not the type of mom to keep her babies out until the crack of dawn partying. Every time I get out of my car I look in the back seat, even if my kids aren’t with me. It’s a good habit to have and one I never break. I’ve also gotten in the habit of glancing into people’s cars as I walk through parking lots because people leave their kids on accident more than we think. I hope more people will do this too.

So please people, pay attention to things going on around you because if we’re all a little less self-centered maybe this won’t happen as much.

Why Houston is better than Chicago

There’s a debate going on at my big sisters page. This has been going on for a long time. She lives in Chicago and HATES it. Hates it so much she started a wonderful little section on her blog about why Chicago sucks. There is a wonderful little man named Frank on her blog that for some strange reason loves Chicago. He seems to think Chicago is better than Houston and I’m here to tell him why he’s wrong.

 

Gasoline – This morning I filled up my car for $3.19 a gallon. According to this website http://www.chicagogasprices.com/ the cheapest gas in Chicago is $3.85.

 

Crime – Now we in Houston have our fair share of crime just like Chicago. The major difference in the types of crime. Here is a wonderful little comparison chart of the crime statistics in Houston and Chicago. It would appear that, with the exception of murders (a whopping difference of 1.8 per 100k), current data from www.city-data.com suggests that Chicago actually leads Houston in violent crime, and Houston leads Chicago in crimes related to money. However, before Katrina, that was quite the contrary. Incidentally, New Orleans’ crime has gone down since Katrina which would suggest that at least a portion of the criminal element that came to Houston during Katrina, stayed in Houston afterward. Eventually, it will get back to the average which is about 5 below what it is now, and about 7 less than Chicago’s average.

 

 

Chicago Crime VS. Houston Crime

Crime in Chicago by Year
Type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Murders	641	627	665	648	598	448	446	467
per 100,000	22.9	21.7	23.0	22.4	20.7	15.6	15.6	16.4
Rapes	2,469	2,237	1,976	1,963	1,799	1,757	1,618	1,524
per 100,000	88.2	77.2	68.2	67.8	62.3	61.2	56.5	53.6
Robberies	20,210	19,449	18,473	18,532	17,302	15,965	15,961	15,860
per 100,000	722.0	671.6	637.9	639.9	599.5	556.4	557.6	558.0
Assaults	28,027	26,660	25,571	24,842	19,784	18,820	17,934	17,441
per 100,000	1001.3	920.6	883.0	857.8	685.5	656.0	626.6	613.6
Burglaries	30,122	28,401	26,026	25,552	25,064	24,542	25,298	24,125
per 100,000	1076.2	980.7	898.7	882.3	868.4	855.4	883.9	848.7
Thefts	112,454	105,728	98,544	96,380	96,779	94,651	83,235	83,518
per 100,000	4017.6	3650.8	3402.7	3328.0	3353.1	3299.0	2908.0	2938.2
Auto thefts	36,075	35,570	27,571	25,245	22,779	22,788	22,491	21,823
per 100,000	1288.8	1228.2	952.0	871.7	789.2	794.3	785.8	767.7
Arson	1,267	1,106	1,006	1,022	947	772	683	716
per 100,000	45.3	38.2	34.7	35.3	32.8	26.9	23.9	25.2
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2)	872.4	803.6	743.6	727.1	666.3	633.7	610.0	604.2

Crime in Houston by Year
Type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Murders	241	230	267	256	278	272	334	377
per 100,000	13.3	12.0	13.4	12.5	13.6	13.3	16.3	18.2
Rapes	748	813	945	892	768	908	872	854
per 100,000	41.3	42.3	47.3	43.7	37.6	44.4	42.6	41.2
Robberies	8,350	8,256	9,921	11,212	10,985	10,182	11,128	11,371
per 100,000	460.7	429.9	496.6	549.5	538.2	498.3	544.0	548.3
Assaults	12,178	12,192	12,286	12,598	11,957	12,065	11,653	11,648
per 100,000	672.0	634.9	614.9	617.4	585.8	590.4	569.6	561.7
Burglaries	24,744	23,254	25,108	26,905	26,522	27,110	27,541	26,869
per 100,000	1365.4	1210.9	1256.7	1318.5	1299.4	1326.7	1346.3	1295.7
Thefts	66,068	67,102	69,371	73,445	72,032	74,752	72,476	73,091
per 100,000	3645.6	3494.3	3472.1	3599.2	3529.1	3658.1	3542.8	3524.6
Auto thefts	19,445	19,864	24,089	23,939	21,451	21,563	20,408	21,093
per 100,000	1073.0	1034.4	1205.7	1173.1	1051.0	1055.2	997.6	1017.2
Arson	1,735	1,642	1,758	1,696	1,553	1,255	1,262	1,121
per 100,000	95.7	85.5	88.0	83.1	76.1	61.4	61.7	54.1
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2)	659.5	621.1	659.8	678.5	652.2	653.3	659.6	659.2

 

Now this is what Forbes has to say about Houston.

 

Houston becoming a top tech city, says Forbes

Houston came in at No. 4 behind Columbus, Ohio; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Palm Beach County, Fla. http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/03/10/daily22.html

 

Forbes: Houston best place to buy a home

HOUSTON — Forbes Magazine says Houston is tops on the home buying list.

Forbes looked at 40 of the country’s metropolitan areas to come up with the data.

 

This is more information I got from citydata.com and it’s the statistics for unemployment in September 2007:

 

Houston:

Unemployment in September 2007:

:Houston	4.3%
Texas:	4.4%

 

Chicago:

Unemployment in September 2007:

Chicago:	5.7%
Illinois:	4.8%

 

 

I could go on and on and on. But what I want to talk about next is the real reason I love this state and city. The people here are nice, strangers talk to each other and the words are nice, not nasty. If you get a flat people pull over and help you change it without wanting anything in return, they don’t yell at you for making them late as they drive around you. The people and the much lower cost of living are wonderful.

 

I know Houston has it’s problems, the heat and humidity, the man sized flying bugs and it’s probably one of the worst cities to live in if you have really bad allergies. Not to mention the traffic sucks. All and all though the good far outweighs the bad. I’ve been all over the country and there’s no place like home. Where having a stranger wave at you just because is no big deal because we’re all friendly like that. Also, and this is minor, our state slogan was voted the best in the country. Where does Chicago’s rate? I don’t know and don’t care. All I know is, don’t mess with Texas.

So that’s where I’m leaving off, with the people. It’s the thing people who visit here remember most.

 

 

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