Oops! Look What Floated Into My Yard

Yes, that is a 2006 Cadillac CTS. Some fool came driving down our street during our last major rain event. That was on Saturday, April 18, 2009. He was apparrently trying to avoid the flooded streets. As he came down the street the water continued to get deeper. He first jumped up onto the curb and then came up onto the sidewalk trying to avoid high water. The car sank down into the mud in the middle of our yard and his tires were simply spinning. He was going no further until a tow truck was able to get to him out.

I snapped a number of pictures to document this 'Stupity Event'. I also took all the pertinent information including name, address, and phone number and the insurance of the driver as well as VIN#, license#, and registration# of the vehicle. I have filed a claim for the damage to my yard with his insurance company.

This fool apparently thinks he can drive through yards in an attempt to avoid deep water. Well he is trying to avoid more than the high water. He never returned calls to the insurance adjuster working on the case. They first indicated that they could not settle unless they could get his side of the story. They were unable to verify a policy for this particular car. The insurance adjuster called me back for more information on the car. Since the car had a paper plate from a dealership in our neighborhood, she called them for more information. Well it turns out that the dealership is also looking for this guy. He had apparently made purchase from them for this vehicle only a few days prior to the flood. When he had the car towed from my yard he had it returned to the dealership. He was apparently going to try and back out of the deal on the car. The dealership was trying to make a claim on his insurance and he was avoiding calls not only from his own insurance company and from me. He was not returning calls from the dealership.

I am still waiting for a decision from the insurance company. I get call every few days to update me. They are now waiting for details of the sale from the dealership to their client. If they don't pay off I may file a police report and sue for damages in small claims court. Pam originally called the police. They never came to give a ticket or make a report. They do have a record of her call and I can go to a police substation to file a report and get a case number. Hopefully his insurance company will make some kind of settlement. Well, come back later for any future update on 'the fool and his Cadillac'!

Hello Dolly

Oops! Wrong Dolly.

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Tropical Storm Dolly has been upgraded to Hurricane Dolly. At this point the storm seems to be coming ashore well south of our location. We will continue to monitor the situation and remain vigilant to any changing conditions. Pam and I have weathered a number of these storms and we always try to prepare in advance with supplies of food, water, batteries, and other emergency items. Our most notable hurricane experiences were with Alicia in 1983 and Rita in 2005. We rode out Hurricane Alicia in our home and the eye of the storm passed directly over our house in the early morning hours of August 18. With visions of that event in our mind we decided to evacuate on Wednesday, September 21 for Hurricane Rita. The hurricane itself was pretty much a "non-event" but, the evacuation became the most grueling and tiring experience I can remember. What would have been a 3 or 4 hour drive in normal circumstances turned into a 28 hour driving ordeal with a caravan of 4 cars full of our valuables and each member of the family, including 2 friends of the family and their dog as well as our own 3 dogs, 6 cats, 2 chinchillas, and 2 cockatiels. Our only stops were for gas until we reached our destination. We are still thankful to my brother and his family and to Pam's brother and his family for putting us up in their homes for the few days we stayed away before returning home.

Picture Frenzy

My wife, Pam, recently went into a picture taking frenzy. Several years ago I gave her a digital camera for Christmas. Of course there was a liberal dose of Christmas pictures that year. Then as special occasions came up we would have a new set of birthday pictures and an occasional picture for Mother's Day, Father's Day, a set of vacation pictures, or whatever the occasion might be. Then the camera seemed to go dormant for a while. It came out ocassionaly and was shoved into my hands to snap a few pictures. Recently I got my own digital camera as well as a one of those inexpensive HD video cameras. Pam's camera seemed to have disappeared for a while. Then, with the Grandaughter, Kira, growing and changing so fast the camera has recently been resurrected from the closet. Here follows some of Pam's recent photographic endeavors:

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Here is a really good picture of Kira taken recently.

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Next is a picture of Kira with . . . ?

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Kira with . . . ?














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Wait a minute! What happened to the grandbaby? These are pictures of clouds.












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I'm looking through pictures from Pam's camera and all of the sudden I come across a whole set of pictures of clouds. It seems Pam has a particular fascination with clouds. One recent afternoon, just before sunset Pam went out and saw these clouds. She came back in for her camera and went out taking pictures of every cloud in sight. She tells me these are Mammatus Clouds and are usually seen after a severe thunderstorm has passed. Earlier that day we had experienced a set of passing thunderstorms, which is a usual weather occurence for this part of Texas at this time of year. For more information on Mammatus Clouds you may follow the links to the Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Innocuous Suggestions!

I recently suggested to my brother in one of his Blog Posts that I liked the color 'Blue' in his Blog. See his Blog by linking here with 'Going Green', Thursday, March 27, 2008 or with the Horst Household Happennings to the right in Favorite Places and go to his post for that date. I indicated I would give him a few references which would explain my preference for Blue. Well, here goes . . .

Blue Hawaii: The first of three Elvis Presley movies filmed in Hawaii.

Blue Light Special: A discount store uses this phrase to signify their in store specials or sales.

Blue Jay: Popular bird in North America noted by its bright blue coloring and notable song pattern.

Bluebonnets: The Texas State Flower - I'll let the picture speak for itself!









Blues Jazz: Popular jazz music style also known as 'the blues'. My preference is New Age or Modern Jazz, but I do occasionaly listen to blues jazz.

Blue Ribbon: This refers to some high quality or highly rated item.

True Blue: To be loyal or faithful. This also seems to be popular as a song or album title. A number of companies also use this in a variety of slogans or promotions for their company or for their products or services.

Blue Moon: This refers to a rare occurrence or event.


Blue Angels, Blue Velvet, Blue Bayou, Blue Ridge Parkway, Blue Sky, Blue Water, Blue Man Group, Blue Oyster Cult, Jet Blue, Blue Ray, American Express Blue, Kelley Blue Book, Blue Jeans, Blue Crabs, Blue Cross-Blue Shield . . . . . . . . . . . .


Gee! When I suggested I liked Blue, I thought it was a rather innocuous suggestion. When I started the research for this Blog I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. I thought I would simply "Google" a few phrases and be done with it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I,ll be more careful before I make another of those innocuous suggestions!

Please note that I have not included any links (except to his original Blog Post which got this whole thing started) in the Blog Post above. I did not want to deny you the opportunity to try it out. You may link with 'Google' (this and his link are the only links) and type in any of the above phrases and see what you get. Try it and you will see what I mean!
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Brazos Bend State Park

Day Trip

Day Trips!

Day Trips! Pam and I like to take day trips in and around Houston. We love to visit a number of places, but one of our favorite places is Brazos Bend State Park. I would like to invite you to share with us on one of our trips to Brazos Bend. Please come with us on a Day Trip! This trip was one we took in July of 2004. Here are a selection of photos from that trip.

Alligators at Brazos Bend

Remember you can also visit through the link to the right in Favorite Places on the blog page or you may use this link Brazos Bend S.P.

Bittern at Brazos Bend

Thanks for visiting. Come back soon!