Webcam Photo taken Oct. 27, 2008

POLITICS

EARLY VOTING IN HARRIS COUNTY

10-28-08

Margaret and I did something I thought we would never do is "vote early". This advice has been given several times by those apparently concerned with voter fraud. Well we did after waiting in line for approximately a half hour at one of the county courthouses in Pasadena, TX, (Pasadena is a very close suburb to Houston, in case some of you are wondering). We were happy to have done it and recommend it to all voters. From what we understand the lines at many of the voting precincts Nov. 4, 2008 are going to be very long. If you read this in time: VOTE EARLY!. RES

10-29-08

It is just less than a week to go and we will know who the next President will be!? Or will we?? It could be a repeat of the 2000 Election, only worse! Accepting the fact that "politics" is a very dirty business, we can expect that anything will happen. It seems that it always comes at the expense of the voters themselves. I am not making any predictions...no sireee! What will be, will be, and let us hope that the right person wins, whoever that may be. "Gott segne uns, Amen!" RES

GALVESTON, TX 10-25/10-26-2008

We made our first trip to Galveston last weekend since Hurricane Ike. There was much cleanup progress, however, with all the hurricane destruction, there is still much more to be done and it may take months before Galveston is completely back to normal. As we drove the Causeway onto the island, we noticed countless number of various types of boats piled up on each other off to the side of the Causeway. The trash has not been completely removed off Broadway, which is still considered to be I-45 and the State of Texas's responsibility. Our main concern was the church where we have sung for eight years namely,Trinity Episcopal Church. The Gulf surge from the hurricane having a tsunami effect perhaps did the worse damage compared to wind. The stained glass altar window was blown out, but what was even worse was the salt water damage that was done to the church's electrical system. The electrical system was immersed in salt water and has to be completely replaced.. How soon electricity will be restored is anyone's guess. However, our rector says that November 16th is the date set to reopen the church. I will keep you posted on that. "Gott hilfe uns. Amen! RES

October 23, 2008

"Hello Everyone!"

That was how the late musicologist, pianist host of Adventures in Good Music,Dr. Karl Haas greeted his radio audience on his syndicated radio program five days a week while he played on the piano the second movement of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata. Judging from the listening audience, his program perhaps was the best classical music education program ever presented on the airways. Karl Haas died several years ago in his late eighties. A lot has changed since his passing and I would say not for the better. I am not referring to classical music or performance, but rather the mental state we are all in at the present. Since I wrote my last blog, our US economy is collapsing, here in Houston and Galveston,we endured and survived for the most part one of the worst hurricanes to ever strike the Gulf Coast namely,Hurricane Ike. Our oldest daughter, Jeanne has filed for divorce against her husband of some 15 years,Sergio Ortuno. Their house they built just a few years ago was recently up for foreclosure, fortunately,they were able to get a buyer before the inevitable happened. The church where Rodney,Margaret and Jeanne sing every Sunday was severely damaged by the high water surge and winds of Hurricane Ike on Galveston Island. This was Rodney and Margaret's means of part time employment, now put on hold until the middle of November. We had no electricity for a little over two weeks as a result of the storm,causing Margaret to temporarily close her Active Arts Academy business until power was restored. Our daughter Julie,Ovi and their children had to move out of their house as the roof was nearly blown off due to the storm. They are now living in temporary housing until their home is repaired. In addition, there is the uncontrolable financial debt we all have to contend with. The positive is that we are all alive. Our family experienced no injuries from this devastating storm...but the aftermath exists both here and worse still in Galveston.

Beside everything that has happened, we have a National Election in a couple of weeks which promises to be the most controversial election in American history, the fact that many potential voters are not being allowed to vote, due to apparently some voting glitches or whatever ie. reminiscent of what happened in 2000. It seems that this is unbelievable here in the USA,such a thing happening? Fixed elections only happen in third world countries, not in the USA. What really scares me is what could happen after all the votes(or supposed votes) are counted? We are being told to believe everything will work out...but will it? Stay tuned for the next chapter. Thank God we can still sing and relieve our frustrations despite all the mess that has occurred and is still happening. RES

 

August 23, 2007

Dear Family & Friends!!!!

Finally, I know what a "blog" is, ie. anything that is personal, pertaining to family and friendsor even political in nature, that is commentary or parody etc. It should'nt be for what I was originally doing trying to advertise affiliates in a home marketing business. Oh, I guess I can have a little bit of that, but discretely. I plan to combine whatever I write on this blog and MyFamily.com. I will be adding some recent photos and possibly work on some sort of design for my blog page. Eventually, there will be soundbites and videos. But now this blog will devote itself to current events or the latest news.

Opinion(Energy) - 4/29/2007

Remember the days when the American people actually tried to conserve energy?! We all complain about the rising gasoline prices today and the possibility that the fault lies with the petroleum industry. When we lived in Europe some almost 40 years ago, it was only natural that Europeans in general would conserve energy. Thermostats were turned down at night, unecessary lights were turned off etc. and since gasoline has always been more expensive across the Atlantic, unecessary auto trips were avoided. But today what do we have here in the US?. Gas guzzling Pick-ups and SUVs are the norm where these very same yahoo motorists who drive them complain about the high price of gasoline. The big three auto companies also share much of the blame. They still believe in the slogan, "Build it and they will buy it" without any regard to fuel economy. They brought back eight cylinder vehicles, while there was talk of global warming and soaring energy prices. It took Japanese and other foreign auto makers to show the mistakes of the big three twenty years ago, and it is going to be deja vu all over again only this time in spades. I wonder what the American motorist would think if a 55 mile an hour speed limit again would have to become law? Probably this and other factors will be necessary, because today's US motorist just doesn't seem to have the savvy to learn how to conserve !....

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