Blogger's block?

So it's hard to keep writing on a blog, mainly because you run out of ideas for things to write about... or you just forget. Anyhow, I've been trying to come up with some ideas, so here goes:
The weather in Houston usually has one speed... HOT! Maybe, I'm exaggerating a little, but most of the time the sun is shining and it's over 90 degrees with high humidity. Some of you might be turned off by this, but I really don't mind unless I'm outside, which isn't a lot. I'd eagerly exchange snow and ice in the winter for hot and humid in the summer, but that's just me.

However, recently I've come to learn that weather in Houston actually has two speeds, HOT and MONSOON. The other day we were going into some dive bar for lunch with my coworkers. Some English guy who is working in Geneva, Switzerland was over here for a week and we were giving him a sendoff. When I say dive bar, I mean it's a shack with the insulation not covered in the roof and big holes in the plastic picnic tablecloths. The food was nice and greasy, and I felt a little sick afterwards, but I guess that's a small price to pay for local color. Anyhow, I digress.

So when we walk into this place, the weather would be most aptly described as quintessential HOT. The sun was bright and I don't remember a cloud in the sky. Literally, five minutes after being there, I here thunder that sounds like it's about five feet away. I mean loud enough to shake the shack... I looked outside and it was a torrential downpour with lightning and the whole shebang. Awesome, right? So we have lunch, which included sweet potato fries... which is a whole 'nother blog post. By the time we get back to the office and I look out the window... the weather has gone straight back to HOT... seriously, the weather here is schizo.

This has now happened at least three or four times since I've been here, including right now, but never as dramatically as the lunchtime typhoon... you gotta love Texas.

Bill out.

White or Red, Nowhere in Between

Hey all,
I've been a little busy with Alisa here, but now that I'm here by myself again, I have time to BLOG!!! Oh yeah...

While Alisa was here, we went all over Houston and ate twice our bodyweight at every meal... at least I did. There is actually a really good Vietnamese restaurant right down the street from where I'm staying, it's called Vietopia and I highly recommend the stirfried noodles... even the tofu was good. And I HATE tofu. Also on the "Must Try" list is Pappasito's. The waiters come out and make guacamole right next to your table... it's fantastic. I have to say that guacamole has most likely become my favorite green food (previous leader... mint chocolate chip ice cream... now brocolli is a distant third).

We also went to the Schlitterbahn, where we rode the lazy river and hit some awesome waterslides. After being there for a few hours, even with a thick layer of SPF 40, I still turned a pinkish / reddish shade. Gotta love those Dutch / German genes, it's white or red with nowhere in between.

I also came away with a few lessons learned from the waterpark. #1. If you're really, really fat... wear a t-shirt... PLEASE! #2. Don't get a tattoo... they look stupid... all of them... I'm serious. I especially dislike the "patchwork" style of tattooing. It's like these guys say to themselves one day, "I totally want a Garfield tattoo... yeah that's totally sweet." Then the next week they're like, "I think I'll get a skull with snakes coming out of the eyeholes!!! Yeah!" Then they get a Batman logo, and the grim reaper, and a pufferfish, and JEM (truly outrageous). There's no theme! You can't have a naked lady tat next to your MOM tat... it just doesn't make SENSE (and people might want to date your mom)! But I digress. #3. Teenagers annoy me. If I'm ever in danger of having teenagers, I'm sending them to boarding school in Switzerland at age 12. Why Switzerland you ask? Chocolate and liederhosen, 'nuff said.

Anywho, hope everyone's having a blast this Summer.

Bill out.

Alone No More!

Well, still alone for the moment, but Alisa will be coming to Houston on Wednesday! I'm not sure what we're going to do here yet, but I hear that the Zoo is nice... and hot. The world's best waterpark (The Schlitterbahn) is nearby, but also really, really hot in Galveston. So until I have pictures from our adventures, here's a few from my fun job.

The first one is the "Trading Floor". It's actually just a bunch of rows of computers in a big room. I sit on the end.






This is the view from the "patio" on my building. Can you see the smoke rising from the trees since they spontaneously combusted due to the intense heat? Okay, maybe not yet, but by August, I'm pretty sure it will happen.












Finally, this is actually the building I work in. I love the "stairstep" design of the outside. It's super duper awesome.

Bill out.