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At the young age of 25, Selena Gomez had a kidney transplant due to lupus. Long time readers know MomGeeding suffered from lupus and it destroyed her kidneys. I had to take her to dialysis twice a week and the doctors even used chemotherapy to fight it. It weakened her body severely, but never her sense of determination, especially when it came to doing things without any help or assistance. Sadly, and I should use a better word, but that determination led to her downfall. She tried to make it down the stairs by herself and died from head trauma. All that to say, Selena Gomez made me think of my mom today.
I think some of you didn’t understand my Lesley Stahl comment from yesterday’s post. I’m not saying she’s the most attractive older woman, she’s the most attractive 75-year-old woman. I did a quick search for other 75-year-old women and here’s a sampling: Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Anne Rice, Carole King
The local news had a story on how new schools are built with certain safety standards not thought of before, like an active shooter. I guess this is the new normal, here are some highlights:
- The touch of a button can seal off all exterior doors
- The front doors of the school open into an enclosed glass room, where visitors confront a second set of locked doors. The only way to proceed is through a side door that leads directly into the main office.
- “We like to provide clear sight lines – straight halls, long halls – not a lot of twisting and turning, where you can’t see. People can’t hide,” explained Todd Spore, PBK’s safety and security expert.
- Surveillance cameras are also strategically placed. You’ll find more cameras overall and better quality ones, too, capable of capturing a clear picture of everyone entering and exiting. The Wylie ISD also collaborates with local first responders, who can access images from the camera right from patrol vehicles.
Speaking of the local news, CBS11 annoyed me with their live coverage of the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue. For some reason, they spent at least 20 minutes covering it live as if it was some sort of car chase. Other news stations streamed it live on their website. Personally, I felt they were enticing violence by trying to stir things up with all the live coverage and encourage people to show up. There simply wasn’t any need for it and could have done a three-minute live spot and moved on.
I’ve held my thoughts regarding the removal of statues of Confederate leaders, but now I’m going to slightly dip my toe into it and try not to stir the bee hive too much. I view Robert E. Lee as a traitor, but I give him a bit of a pass because of how instrumental he was when it came to Reconstruction. With that in mind, I can see why a statue of him can be justified. However, all the statues of him I’ve seen have him represented as a Confederate soldier, not in civilian clothes as a peacemaker or unifier. If a statue of him represents his time as a traitor and not a healer, there’s an underlying negative message someone is trying to send.
One more gripe about CBS11. When they reported the launch of a North Korean missile over Japan they used a graphic. It was a simple map of the region with a red arrow showing the path of the missile from Pyongyang going over Tokyo. But here’s the thing, the missile was nowhere near Tokyo, which is located in the middle region of Japan. The missile traveled over the far north of Japan. Sure, flying a missile over Japan is a big deal, but it’s a much bigger deal of the missile flew over of the largest populated cities in the world.
Not that I want him to do anything drastic, but Trump is being softer on North Korea than I expected, especially when he said that they were “starting to respect us” and then go off firing all these missiles over a foreign ally and threatening Guam.
Even though the University of Texas fired Charlie Strong, he’ll still do the hook ’em sign with Mack Brown.
Every former president is invited to the White House by the former president when his official portrait is dedicated. A lot of times these things appear to be awkward but end up being just fine, but I expect weirdness when Obama’s portrait is dedicated and Trump welcomes him.
Game Of Thrones shooting multiple endings to prevent spoilers
- This is how I want the series to end no matter the outcome. The camera is focused on an old man’s hand writing in a book. The camera pans away and we discover it’s an old Grand Maester Samwell Tarley who’s been writing the story we’ve been watching, but the person playing the aged Samwell would be creator and author George R.R. Martin.
A great incense burner for ‘Breaking Bad’ fans.
Waco police arrest 17 in weekend prostitution sting (Note: One of the women busted is more attractive than I expected.)
- Man, there’s a lot of prostitution going on in Waco. Back in February a Baylor coach was busted for soliciting.
I stubbed my big toe badly yesterday and it’s the most I’ve bled in a very long time. Because I could see blood or a dark spot under the toe nail and it started to swell, I was reminded of when I was a kid and how many of my friends’ fathers treated it. They would take a metal coat hanger and bend the hook to make it straight, use their cigarette lighter to heat the point until it was piping hot, and then burn a hole through the black spot of the nail. It was explained to me it was done to relieve pressure and save the nail.
Stephen Colbert was on Jimmy Kimmel’s show last night. Their shows compete in the same time slot. It felt weird watching the interview. I did get a kick when Kimmel introduced him and stated Colbert’s show airs only at noon on Wednesdays. In case you are wondering, Colbert was there to promote the Emmys which he’ll be hosting. He also made a surprise appearance on James Corden’s show.
Yeah, yeah, I need a hug.

During the first week of school, we noticed it was taking our kids what seemed like forever to get in the car line at the end of the school day. The school has a nice process. A teacher is outside and reads the car tag hanging on the rearview window and talks into a walkie-talkie so another teacher can retrieve a child from the waiting area. Well, it turns out the teacher was calling for “GReeding” and the kids didn’t budge because that isn’t their last name. It wasn’t a defiant thing, just a “well, that’s not my name so I didn’t respond” sort of thing. I chuckled because it’s a common problem which has plagued all Geedings. I simply told the kids they need to be aware sometimes people will make a mistake with a name and if they ever hear anything which sounds close to it, they should check to see if they actually meant Geeding.
Teen Sworn In As Council Member In Rowlett
- That article reminds me of when I was a sophomore in college. A classmate from Arkansas decided he was going to run for a spot on the Abilene City Council and even called a press conference. I remember seeing the television news segment and being a bit awestruck. It was big news around campus, but it was even bigger news the next day when it was revealed that while he met the residency requirement, he didn’t meet the age requirement. He then decided to campaign to change the age requirement in the city charter. I don’t remember if he was successful.
I can’t name a lot of 75-year-old women, but I’m just going to proclaim Lesley Stahl the most attractive of them.
First Baptist Dallas must have a large advertising budget as they air a lot of television commercials.
After the ’30 for 30′ episode on the 1987 NFL strike, the next show was about how the U.S. Marshals set up a sting by luring in fugitives thinking they won Redskins tickets.
Cassini’s swan song: 13-year Saturn mission ends Friday – In the early morning hours of September 15, NASA’s 13-year mission exploring Saturn and its moons will come to an end as the spacecraft deliberately dives into Saturn’s atmosphere and plunges itself into the planet.
- I thought this phrasing was beautifully decadent. It’s like knowing someone died and then waiting for 90-minutes to hear their final words.
  - “The spacecraft’s final signal will be like an echo,” said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager. “It will radiate across the solar system for nearly an hour and a half after Cassini itself has gone.”
The town of Mustang, Texas is for sale for $4 million
He’s an odd ball – Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive who is awaiting sentencing for a fraud conviction, was sent to jail on Wednesday after a federal judge revoked his bail because he had offered $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair.
Yesterday President Trump met with Senator Tim Scott. I don’t write for GQ or anything, but the blue jacket and black pants isn’t a good look.
A few more thoughts and tidbits from my book about the relationships amongst presidents:
- When George H.W. Bush left office, he had a funny email address. The local-part, that is, the part before the @, was FormerLeaderOfTheFreeWorld.
- This is what George. H.W. Bush wrote in his diary the day he lost re-election.
- Some of you may recall my rant about presidents saluting uniformed military personnel. But I’m going to put that aside for a moment for all you Reagan fans. When Clinton was president-elect he visited Ronald Reagan who gave him two pieces of advice. The first, go to Camp David often and take in nature and get some alone time. The second, work on the salute. Reagan told him “…the trick was pacing. Soldiers like to bring the hand up slowly as if dripping with honey and then Shake It Off briskly as if it was covered with something less pleasant.” And then there was this tender moment.
Reddit has a favorite meteorologist thanks to his professional skills in this video and not because of some bit or mishap. He did an Ask Me Anything the other day and I provided some highlights below. I thought it was some good stuff, like how does a “chief meteorologist” differ from a regular meteorologist. To my surprise, Pete Delkus is even mentioned and there’s some TICKET humor included.
- What things other than presenting does your job entail? I thought TV meteorologist was just in-and-out kind of job
  - WKRG_AlanSealls – Aside from TV, we have radio and Facebook. As a chief I coordinate all operations of the weather department- scheduling, computer maintenance and updates and purchasing, graphics, training, while working with our sales and promotions and news departments. Then we all have community outreach. I do actually forecast the weather so I’m always trying to study to get the latest.
- So, if I understand correctly are you actually interpreting raw data to make your own forecast? Or are you presenting a forecast which is made by either computer simulations or a trained analyst? If it is the latter case, are you managing said software and/or analysts or is that an external service which you share with other weather services?
  - KRG_AlanSealls – Good question- I make my own forecast from plotted upper air charts, wind profiles, satellite and radar depictions and then computer model forecasts and numerical output. We share it within WKRG but not outside of the station. I’m trained as all government meteorologists are. I make my own forecast because that makes me comfortable with what I’m saying. It is, however, rarely that far different from what the National Weather Service would say for my area.
- What is a cool meteorological fact few know?
  - WKRG_AlanSealls – There’s really no new water on Earth. It just cycles and recycles through the ground, oceans, air, and our bodies.
- I hate that I have to say this, but the following is an honest question. Please, reddit, don’t hate me for asking an honest question. Since this is a perfect opportunity, and a lot of the early discussion was about the word… what was/is your own personal reaction to being called “articulate” as an African-American?
  - WKRG_AlanSealls – I chuckled when I was called articulate since most broadcasters are. It’s possible that some of the people meant I articulated a thought well, more than my presentation was articulate? Either way, I don’t think it was ill-intentioned but some people of all races are surprised when they see or hear someone who is not the stereotype of what they expect. I was raised and trained to be articulate and intelligent. All of my African American friends and family are so it’s nothing unusual to me. I’ve been lucky to grow up, go to school with, and work with a diverse group of people. Everybody holds biases from personal experiences but I start my day as a human being.