Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Rainbow Over Our Community This Morning (thanks C.H.!)

I woke up this morning to rain.  But, as I drove the kids to school, I realized that not only had we been blessed with rain (which we so desperately need here in Southern California), but we had been doubly blessed with a beautiful rainbow.  My boys were so excited to see it as we drove down the hill to school.

The picture above was not one that I took.  It was taken by a friend of mine and I snagged it off of his Facebook page.  But I think that it looks awesome!

The rainbow was incredibly bright.  I think it's been a long time since I've seen one so bright.  And, even cooler, was the fact that it was a double rainbow.  If you look closely, you can see the second rainbow to the  left of the main one.  I can't remember the last time that I saw a double rainbow like that.

Later today, as I sat in my office, I heard a huge ruckus on my office window.  I looked out only to see the rain coming down like buckets, even though the sky was sunny.  It was an awesome sight, so I grabbed my camera to snap a picture.

It was coming down so hard that I was reminded of a quote from Saturday Night Live's "Deep Thoughts" with Jack Handy:

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

I've never complained about the rain here in Southern California because we need it so bad.  But today reminded me that not only is the rain necessary--it can be incredibly beautiful.  Sometimes rainy days aren't so bad...Despite what Jack Handy thinks!  ;-)

The rain out my window today

Outrageous!

Pain at the Pump

This is what I paid the last time I had to fill up my car.  Yes, it is outrageous, even though I know that some of my fellow drivers have had to pay more.

Sadly, I still remember paying less than $1 per gallon in my lifetime for gas.  My personal best for low cost gas that I personally bought was $0.69 per gallon.  Of course that was South Texas, but it doesn't seem like it was all that long ago.

I wish that I could say that I think that prices will be coming down anytime soon ever.  But the reality is that my chances are probably better that I will get used to paying nearly $5 per gallon before gas prices ever take a meaningful dip.

There are solutions to the pain at the pump that is being inflicted on California drivers.  Sadly, I don't think that any of our elected politicians have the vision or courage to find them.

He Ain't Heavy...

...He's My Brother

I've always liked this song.  I didn't know until tonight that it was recorded by The Hollies.  Since this post is about my brother, I thought it was appropriate to reference it in the title.

My brother with our nephew

My brother S. came up last night to play basketball on my office hoops team with me.  S. and I have always been pretty close and our basketball playing days go back to the time that we would play mini-hoops against each other in the driveway.  Maybe longer.  I'd pretend to be Hakeem Olajuwon.  He was Patrick Ewing.  And it would be a dunkfest-slugfest.  But it was fun.

S.'s drive to the game last night was probably at least an hour each way, but I love playing with him.  It was worth it to have him there because he is such a good player and we can read each other's thoughts without really even thinking.  We started the game when I found him in the corner for an open 3 point shot.  S., of course, nailed it.  That made the score 3 to zip--good guys!  :-)

S. played well throughout the game.  He has such a calm, steadying influence on the court.  We led most of the game, but it was close.  With a minute to go, we were down by 2 points and we had the ball.  I managed to drive through the lane and score a twisting lay-up to tie the game and we prevented them from even taking a shot to win it at the end of regulation.

We had a tip-off to start the overtime period.  I knew S. would be ready and so I won the tip and flipped the ball toward him.  S. dribbled up calmly and raised up for another 3 pointer from pretty much NBA range.  The shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net--giving us a HUGE three point lead to start the overtime.

Later, with about a minute left in overtime, S. would drain yet another deep 3-point shot to clinch the game for us.  I always have confidence in S. when he shoots the ball and I just feel really lucky to have such a great brother and that we get to do fun stuff (like play basketball, among other things) together.

After the game, we messed around a bit dunking and shooting 3's.  Here's quick video of S. putting one down.

S., thanks for making the effort to come out and play hoops with us!  We couldn't have done it without you!

5 Random Thoughts For Fall

1.  One of my favorite things about Fall—pumpkin pie and pumpkin pie flavored items.  If you haven’t already, you really need to try the pumpkin pie flavored shake at Jack In The Box.  Also, Jamba Juice usually has a pumpkin pie flavored smoothie!  Yum!

2.  I don’t know if I believe in Karma or not, but I realized today that the next season of the Bachelor will begin on Monday nights just as football season (and Monday Night Football) ends.  So the guys get something to keep them busy on Monday nights for now and then it will be the ladies’ turn.  Seems fair to me…

The Bachelorette Contestants for Sean Lowe's Upcoming Season

3.    It’s officially Fall now (I think).  There’s a lot to like living here in Southern California, but the change of seasons is not one of them.  Rather than getting the beautiful yellow, orange, and burnt red colors as the leaves change, we are basically stuck with brown.  Oh, if we’re really unlucky, we might get burnt leaves—but by “burnt” I don’t mean beautiful colorful leaves—I mean literally burnt, as in burned by one of California’s infamous Fall wild fires.

4.  For the first time, I walked outside my office today and felt a cool, briskness to the late afternoon breeze.  Our summer here has gone from hot to scorching hot.  I’m definitely looking forward to cooler temps (hopefully) soon.

5.  I read an article recently about how people are faking the need to use a wheelchair so they can skip the long airport security lines.  Then when it’s time to board the plane (or they clear security), they are miraculously cured.  I actually laughed out loud as a flight attendant was quoted at how her job permits her to ensure the safety of the passengers as well as feed the hungry (with yummy airline food and beverages) and heal the sick!  She may have a career in televangelism ahead of her!

Plus one bonus item:

I just read that Caveman Bachelor (Ben Flajnik) is officially "Splitsville" with model Courtney Robertson.  Man, I wish I could have seen that one coming!

Caveman + Courtney

The Presidential Debates - Round #1

Mitt Romney Makes a Point

Did you watch the Presidential Debate tonight?  I saw some of it.  I had some thoughts about how each candidate did, but I'm convinced that what I think doesn't matter.  And it doesn't matter what you think either.

What really matters is what "everybody" thinks.  What they're saying in the Spin Room.  And what they're saying in the Blogosphere.

And near as I can tell, what "They're" saying is that Romney absolutely nailed it tonight.

Even the President's own spin doctors seem to admit that the President came out flat. But don't take my word for it:

• Headline: (Chris Matthews was the talking head who famously said that Obama sent a "tingle" up his leg)  "Chris Matthews Freaks Out at Obama: What Was He Doing?"
• Andrew Carville (the Ragin' Cajun and Democrat party hack): "Mitt Romney came with a chainsaw tonight."
• Van Jones (former Obama Environmental Jobs Czar): "Romney was able to ‘out-Obama’ Obama. On the connection piece, on the authenticity piece, on the being able to tell the story."

Perhaps most impressively, CNN--not a traditionally conservative outlet by any stretch--came out with a post-debate poll showing that Romney had outperformed Obama in the debate by a margin of 67% to 25%.  I thought that this was the most interesting quote from that article: 

"No presidential candidate has topped 60% in that question since it was first asked in 1984," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Anyway, there is still a lot of time for the election, but I think tonight's performance gave Romney supporters around the country something to smile about.

Who did you think won the debate tonight?

The Green Machine

The Huffy Green Machine

I was walking through Costco today when this display caught my eye...I couldn't believe it.  By "Green Machine" I mean the Big Wheel variety--not the drink variety!  I couldn't believe that they were still making these!

The Green Machine drink is much more
popular today than the Green Machine Big Wheel

First of all, I'm a little shocked that Costco's Christmas displays are already up.  I feel like Fall just barely started and we still have two significant holidays (i.e., Halloween and Thanksgiving) before I can even start focusing on Christmas stuff.  But I guess Costco is desperate for us to remember that 'Tis The Season--for buying Christmas crap!

Seeing this display brought back some memories and a wee bit of nostalgia for me.  I still remember riding my friend's Green Machine back in the day.  I must have been 7 or 8 years old.  I remember that you could do some awesome skids with the Green Machine!  Good times!

For half a second, I debated getting the Green Machine to put under the Christmas tree.  I have a weakness in that I tend to want to buy stuff for my kids now that I always wanted when I was a kid back in the day but that my parents never got for me!  Luckily, I recognized this impulse and was able to resist it.  I also realized, sadly, that I'm not even sure my kids would really even like this as a toy for Christmas morning.

Even though I feel like Christmas is a long ways off, I confess that I made my first official Christmas gift present this week.  It's something for the kids.  I'm sure that there will be some additional purchases too in the coming weeks.  I like to think about Christmas gifts for the people on my list way early because I hate scrambling at the last minute.

Speaking of Christmas, I also made a purchase today that I've been saving for since last Christmas.  I literally had an envelope in my desk drawer at my office stuffed with Amazon giftcards.  I rolled those out today and took the plunge.  I'm a little embarrassed at what it is and I'm a little embarrassed at how much it cost.

Maybe I'll blog it when I finally get it.  Prepare to be simultaneously underwhelmed (at the actual item) and overwhelmed (at the price tag).  But to all my friends and family who contributed Amazon gift cards throughout the year, thanks and I'm really excited.  :-)  I probably never would have bought this on my own for myself!  :-)

What's on your "hot" list for Christmas this year?  Or is it too early to even worry about yet?

Say It Ain't So!

Jef + Emily

I saw this magazine on the rack at Costco today.  My first thought was a variation of Mark Twain's famous quote: "There are lies, damned lies, and tabloid magazine covers!"

The article itself was, unfortunately, fairly convincing.  I hope it's not true because I like Emily.  And I like Jef.  And I like Emily and Jef together.  But given the Bachelor franchise's track record for creating successful relationships...

...I'm afraid that there may be something true in there somewhere.  (If there isn't, I know a good lawyer that would love to take Jef and Emily's case!)