Dysfunctional City

Two days of 25 degree temperatures and New Orleans has gone to Hell in a Handbasket. Major highways (I-10, Miss River Bridge, Causeway) were shut down for black ice and there were no contingency plans except to wait for warmer weather. Besides water lines breaking to private residences, they lost some water mains. Water pressure got so low they had to issue a boil water advisory and high rise building (hotels and offices) were closed due to lack of water pressure. There wasn't enough water pressure at the airport to flush toilets. Several areas lost power. The local Homeland Security guys were caught totally flat footed. When Trump talked about S Holes, he should have included NOLa.

Happy Birthday Murphy

Jan 11 is the 100th birthday of Edward A Murphy, Jr., the man credited with originating Murphy's Law. The Law was first stated during high speed sled tests at Muroc, California in 1949. The actual Law states, "If there are two or more ways of doing something, and one of those can result in a catastrophe, someone will do it." Murphy had been frustrated with a technician who wired a strain gauge wrong and said that if there was a wrong way to do something, he will. If you want to learn more about Murphy's Law, go here.

Book Review - The Wanted

Robert Crais seems to be on a 2 to 3 year schedule between new releases but when he does release one it is worth the wait.

Elvis has been hired by a single mother to check into her sons activities. He's been flashing a lot of cash and she is concerned that he is dealing drugs. Elvis finds that he is part of a home robbery crew that targets rich peoples homes and that the police are looking for them. Elvis is trying to arrange his surrender when he discovers that the crew has stolen a laptop that someone wants back and they are willing to kill for it. His job then shifts to protection and trying to find the killers before they strike.

As with most of his books this one is hard to put down.

Head Count

Saudi Arabia ended the year with 10 be-headings. This brings their 2017 total to 133. and with the New Year the count begins again.

Christmas Traditions

With our extended family getting so large, we have had to develop systems to spread Christmas visits. For example, we have the 3 grandsons over to our house on the eve of Christmas Eve for an overnighter and present opening on the 24th. Even though they are all teenagers now and one is in college, they still look forward to this tradition. Our TV playlist always includes "Die Hard", because Christmas does not start until Hans Gruber drops. This year we added an educational show and watched the origin of Festivus by watching Seinfeld. (I've had a Festivus Pole for several years and they expect me to put it up in the foyer) If you want to learn about Festivus, go to Seinfeld, Season 9, Episode 10, "The Strike".

I hope your Christmas brought you as many laughs as we had.

The 12 Yats of Christmas

This is a traditional New Orleans Christmas Song. A "Yat" is someone born in New Orleans. The etymology of the word comes from the traditional greeting, "Where y'at?"

Fencing and Frogs Legs