Final Days (supposedly i’ve said these words before).

As expected Hurricane Ike got my start date pushed back to wednesday. So instead of anxiously trying to fight off insomnia in Houston, i’m in Austin (decided it would be in my best interest to not drive head first into a hurricane, thus stayed in Austin) blogging to my audience of 2. Maybe 3. The funny thing is, I spent all last week telling my story of my 9 month layover and how monday was the big day, and they laughed at me and told me i’d find a way to get it pushed back. I laughed at them and assured them that Exxon Mobil waits on no man, but alas a random Hurricane came in and pummeled the coast into submission, knocked out power to the United States’ energy capital and caused an estimated 10 billion dollars of damage (insured damage). So as I’ve been running into people I get a lot of “you still haven’t left?!”, quite annoying i must say, and they too will find out when they’re in their last days and people are more less kicking them out the door. I simply tell them that i’m a displaced hurricane refugee and that i didn’t know if my house in houston was under 10 feet of water (there was an actual fear of flooding, seeing as how when it lightly drizzles the driveway turns into a lake). 

All of that aside I am scheduled to head back on Tuesday so I can (finally!) make my triumphant entrance into this “real world” that i’ve been hearing about for 9 months.  What i’m returning too has yet to be seen, so far i know two things: 1) My sister, who in typical head strong republican fashion decided to stay in Houston and battle Ike (the real reason is she didn’t want people looting our house while we were gone, So i really do picture her sitting on the staircase with a loaded shotgun just in case) is alive, so that is good news and 2) that we actually have power at the house, putting us in the extreme minority of houstonions. This is good news because I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to handle starting work and then coming home to a house of no power, so Thats one less thing to worry about. 

For my final (once again any time i’ve used the word final, finally, etc i’ve been proven wrong. Ex: I once said Aug 20th was my last day in Austin, needless to say i’ve was wrong, So i’m using the term final in a very tentative fashion, though i’m confident this time. That last sentence was a run-on.) weekend I tried to not waste away in my room such as would have been the case had i stayed with my parents, so i packed a bag and moved into 39th and Ave C for one more time. This time around featured stadium seating (actually a really nice job complete with cinder block raised couches and awkward viewing angles, but still fun for the entire family) and a goat. Yes i said goat, and no that isn’t a codeword for something other then a living breathing goat (why do i have to say living AND breathing. I would think saying the first would imply the second), named Edwin. Edwin was purchased for 30 dollars, and unlike puppies, or other domestic animals the initial purchase is the only money you have to spend. Sure its probably best to take goats to vets and get them shops, but they eat grass! Thats right, not only do you NOT have to spend money on food, but you get your lawn mowed for free at the same time. I seem to have a growing track record with roommates and live animals, as a few months ago while living at the 14er 3 roosters were purchased and placed in others’ houses as pranks. The prank was, 1) a rooster crows very, very loud in the morning (college students and roosters have differing definitions what “morning” is) and 2) they poop EVERYWHERE (an added unexpected bonus). So we placed these roosters in these houses and just waited to hear back through the grapevine. One of the houses actually chased the rooster with a gun and i’m not sure if they killed it or not (i’m hoping not). The second rooster I never confirmed anything on. But the third (and my personal favorite) rooster was returned to us, which we let free in our back yard. After about 5 minutes of doodling in our back yard the rooster disappeared from our sights, never to be heard from again, or at least not for another 3 weeks. Walking to school from our house we found out that our rooster found a new home at 22nd and Rio Grande, at the law office. The clerks at that office actually referred to bubba (our name for him) as their office pet and fed him every day! 

So yeah staying down here holing up to battle Ike has been hilarious to say the least. The funny thing about Austin is, we didn’t get a single drop of rain. Actually we were all quite disappointed with the absurd lack of rain.