Trip to Sea World - in the freezing cold

We went to Sea World San Antonio today while my mom is visiting from France. The weather was meant to be around 45 degrees (F), but the wind brought the wind chill down to about 30 degrees! We were freezing. The park was deserted, the poor park attendants were turning blue. But the Shamu show is still awesome to watch, the sea lions always good for a laugh, and the food still over priced and not very good. Some things just won't change.

Great afternoon spent in downtown San Antonio

We've been living in Austin for a few months now but until now had not made it to the heart of San Antonio. It is a great way to spend an afternoon - especially when you can enjoy 78 degree weather in mid December as we did today. The River Walk is obviously the centerpiece, with many boutique hotels, a variety of restaurants and shops lining the way. I would also encourage the fun Market Square, including the hard to resist pastries at Mi Tierra and the live entertainers. Between the two you can find San Fernando cathedral where it is believed the remains of the heroes of The Alamo are buried.

Will definitely plan on going back and taking time to dine and shop down by the river banks.

Too close to home

One of my team members in Austin is from India and was visiting family & friends in Mumbai the day before the recent terrorist attacks started there. Upon his return to the office, I learned that a woman who used to be his school teacher was one of the victims gunned down at the Oberoi hotel. His family had kept in touch with her over the years and are deeply saddened by her death.
I don't know why these tragic events feel even worse when there's a personal connection of any kind, but I sure found it sobering to think about the utter waste of these senseless crimes.
May she rest in peace.

Heresy! A gas tax!

Call me crazy, but all this talk of tax cuts when gov't spending is reach new heights and deficits are out of control just doesn't sound right. I was just thinking today - as I filled up my gas tank for barely $25 - that a $0.50 gas tax now would be a great idea for 2 reasons. Everyone was paying over $2 for gas just a few weeks ago, and $3+ not long before that. So anyone who says pushing gas prices back up over $2 would tank the economy would not convince me. But I'm concerned that all of a sudden the momentum to build smaller cars and find alternative energy sources will slow down just when it was really becoming mainstream. Also, there's much talk in Washington about a bunch of massive public infrastructure projects to revive the economy. Sounds great and long overdue, but again that's not cheap. A gas tax is kind of like a toll road but on a massive scale. Not sure how much it would generate, but it would sure help bring some fiscal sanity to Washington. Having said that, I don't see enough politicians having the political guts to pass something like that. But then again, one day someone over in D.C. is going to have to start bringing in more than what they spend, we all know what happens to people who continue over-extending their debt without starting to pay it down.

In the 'I can't believe...' category

I can't believe we left Ireland and have now been in Texas for almost 5 months. I also can't believe how flaky my blog writing has become. I could argue I don't have time, but that's a lame excuse. It really doesn't take much time. Maybe I haven't had much to write about. That's also lame, I'm never short on things to say :-)
I can't believe our first born is now 13, got her ears pierced and is asking for make-up on her Christmas list.
I can't believe Merril Lynch's CEO has the gall to ask for a $10M bonus, after seeing the company's valuation and asset base plummet and laying off thousands of employees. That'd be like a salesman blowing every single deal in the quarter, losing most of his customers and asking for a full commission.
What I can believe is that things will improve. Not just because they always do. But also because there are blue skies on the horizon, even if the skies above are still full of dark clouds.
I do believe a new sense of responsibility and hope will follow this era of carelessness and lack of reality check.
So until then, I'll continue feeling grateful for all the truly valuable things in my life like my family, my health, my friends, my good job, our fun pets, our nice house, sunny days, etc...
Take a moment to remind yourself of all the things that are positive in your life, it makes the days a lot more enjoyable.