Storm Clouds

The wind outside is whistling, a storm front just passed though this morning.  It feels like we are waiting for a hurricane because my wife went to the store and bought cereal and other junk that we dont normally eat.  The stores are running low on food, with a hurricane this wouldn't be a problem, the storm would pass and if we dont get flooded or blown down things return to normal pretty.quickly.  it will be at least 3 weeks before this ends, and we will be eating ramen noodles after a week or so.   I am kind of worried about looters coming out of houston, looking to steal my noodles.  With limited food and limited money things could turn bad pretty quickly.  If I am unprepared for a month long siege, the people with no money will be totally blindsided.  How they react will shape the outcome of this problem...will it be a long work at home vacation eating a lot of carbs, or will it turn into a mad max scenario.

bed of Procustes

One of the books I am reading is NNT's Bed of Procustes, which is a book of aphorisms.  Some of them are just decent advice. Others are like a punch in the gut.  It is pretty easy why he says to read just 4 at a time.

"Procrastination is the soul rebelling against entrapment."

"Decline starts with the replacement of dreams with memories and ends with the replacement of memories with other memories."

"In your prayers substitute “Protect us from evil” with “Protect us from those who improve things for a salary.”

Primary election time

For the first time since Ross Perot ran for president I got involved in a political campaign.  I went out door knocking for Wesley Hunt for congress, and he won the primary.  Luckily he won with 60% of the vote so he won't have to do a runoff campaign, and I won't have to knock on more doors for a few weeks. 

His opponents were a feckless bunch.  To pick who I was going to support I went with straight ageism.  No one who's been in Houston politics before Harvey, or before Culbertson lost reelection.  Candidates saying "I've been in Houston politics since the '90's, and I know how the system works" would have been appealing to me in the past, now it tells me they were part of a big failure.  Before they completely rebuilt 30 miles of I-10 over 10 years, someone suggested digging a cut and cover tunnel underneath for an emergency water route to the bay.  Someone said no.  I would veto anyone in politics in the 90's just to avoid an ijit that made a decision like that.  Not much extra cost, no extra time and inconvenience...flooding prevention solved and extra traffic lanes for free.

One candidate kept harping on how she was involved in local politics and previous congressional primaries.  Before 2018, Culbertson won every primary with a 90% margin, then lost the general election.  Anyone claiming great experience from that debacle should hide in shame, not crow about it.

Then I eliminated the noble, but crummy politicians.   I often have supported the noble people who if you just look past the lack of public speaking ability, good looks and charm, they would be excellent leaders.  (eg, Ross Perot, but if we had elected him, most of the problems we currently face would have been avoided.  China virus, al Qaeda, etc).  We need more than good ideas, we need the smart good looking people on our side for once.

Then I tried to engage the candidates on twitter, looked at their backgrounds, and I went to the debate.  Wesley Hunt mopped the floor with the other candidates so thoroughly that it looked like the other candidates were woken up from a deep sleep and thrown on stage to debate.

I'm not sure how door knocking will work in a general election.  I knocked on around 600 doors, spoke to around 50-60 humans that are registered republicans.  3 or 4 times the address had changed and a democrat opened the door, and responded with a door slam or a mean comment.  I don't see any way to convince people on the other side.  They are playing a different movie in their heads, with different views of reality.

Anyway, onward, upward, to victory!