This line’s a classic

The St. Louis Business Journal has an otherwise long, boring article about Carl Z. Levin, a local business consultant who claims psychic abilities, and about how his clients have responded to the news of Levin’s claims.

But the article contains this great line from one client who terminated their business relationship with Levin:

Levin was disappointed by the termination, notification of which, Fleming said, was made by phone. “But if he is a psychic, he obviously didn’t see this scenario happening the way it did.”

Parry dogs

Last week, Gordon Atkinson wrote about his youngest daughter mispronouncing ‘ponytail band’ in her childish way.
This past weekend, Mawmaw came to visit us, and she had goodies for the kids from her recent bus trip across the western U.S., including a book about ‘parry dogs’ for Samuel. I agree with Gordon: I should cherish childhood while it lasts.

Putting down roots

We’ve lived in Pflugerville for over seven years now, but until recently, it’s just been the place where our house is located. We led significant parts of our lives in other parts of the Austin area: work, church, kids’ school, etc.
Eighteen months ago, we bought a different home within Pflugerville, and things started to change. First off, we (and especially the kids) have made quite a few friends in the neighborhood. I attribute a lot of that to the lack of privacy fences and the greenbelt behind our house where the neighborhood kids play.
We decided a few months ago to try to take root in Pflugerville: first step, we joined Pflugerville First United Methodist Church. We’ve also taken the kids out of private school. Hannah just started fourth grade at the public school two blocks from home, and Samuel is attending the preschool at our church. Turns out, Samuel’s preschool teacher lives a couple of blocks from us, and we run into her every day at the elementary school.
All in all, our plan to take root here is going pretty well. It sure feels good not to have to drive the kids all over creation to school. Unfortunately, Katie and I both still work far away and do a lot of commuting, but that’s a much bigger challenge, given our professions.
I think I’m particularly sensitive to the sense of rootlessness in modern American urban and suburban lifestyles, since I grew up in the country. In any case, it feels very good to become more a part of our community.

Cheap Bastards

I love this quote from a New York Post article about how poorly the delegates to the Republican National Convention in NYC are tipping:

Abraham Bolzman [concierge at the New York Hilton] was also perplexed by the prudence of his guests. “It’s just no tips at all,” he said.
“It’s strange. It’s not that they’re not friendly. They’re always saying ‘God bless you.’ I guess I’m used to something more tangible.” (emphasis added)

Autumn morning

I took this shot off the deck this morning. The first fall cool front came through, and it was pleasantly less warm this morning (I wouldn’t yet characterize the temps as ‘cool’). The kids, dogs and I enjoyed the change in weather by playing in the backyard and on the greenbelt before school, and I didn’t get very sweaty on our walk to Hannah’s school.
UPDATE: I uploaded a desktop-sized copy of the sunrise image. You’re welcome to download and use it.
autumn_sunrise.jpg