Other otherworldly thoughts...

Tried to explain the concept of purgatory to a non-Catholic.

Somewhat difficult given that the King James version of the Bible does not have the 'apocryphal' books in it that give background for Limbo.

(And speaking of which, I've heard rumblings that the Catholic Church is considering doing away with the idea of purgatory. I hope not. I like the concept.)

ANYway....

The only thing I could come up with is that you have to think of God as a really good dentist. You know, one who uses a lot of gas and novacaine and has a deft touch with the needle and drill so there's no pain. Purgatory is effectively God's waiting room. If you've not been forgiven of all your venial sins when you die, you have to wait there until you are ready to see the doctor. And, to atone for your sins, you're stuck reading really old and lousy issues of People and Time magazine.

(Those magazines alone would make me want to go to Church more regularly...)

Now a few comments.

First, I hope they nail the bastard to the wall by his scrotum.

Second, Probably not a good idea to confess to involvement in a crime to someone who you may piss off in the future.

Third, Knowing someone who has had intimate involvement with the Texas justice system related to a murder case, I'm unfortunately not overly optimistic about this not being pled out for some ludicrously short sentence that will inevitably be shortened even further by 'good behavior'.

Finally, Who will give me odds that the defense tactic, (if this actually gets to trial), will be to blame the victim, since he's obviously not around to defend himself?

Looks like it's true.

From the FortWorth Star-Telegram: (Registration may be required.)

Man arrested in year-old road rage death
By DEANNA BOYD
Star-Telegram staff writer

FORT WORTH - A 30-year-old man was arrested Wednesday in the death of a Sabre Airline Solutions employee who died of brain damage six days after a road-rage incident early Thanksgiving Day last year.

Officers with the U.S. Marshal's task force and the Fort Worth police fugitive unit arrested Ariel Martinez about 6:30 p.m. at a relative's house in the 3000 block of Oscar Avenue.

Martinez is accused of fatally injuring Steven "Kent" Schnable during an encounter about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2004, at the Rosedale Street exit on Interstate 35W. Martinez and Schnable were both driving pickups, police said.

Schnable's passenger said the assault stemmed from a road-rage incident involving a blue pickup with three occupants. Investigators believe that the incident started on westbound Interstate 30.

Schnable died of a closed head injury Dec. 1, 2004.

"The motive appears to be pure road rage," homicide Sgt. J.D. Thornton said.

Martinez became a suspect after homicide Detective Cheryl Johnson interviewed a witness who lives out of state, Thornton said.

"The witness gave us information that led us to identify one of the passengers in the truck and gave us a first name of the driver," Thornton said.

"Then we interviewed the passenger, and from both those interviews, were able to identify the driver and the person that we believe caused the fatal injuries to Schnable," he said.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether a weapon was used or whether Schnable was injured when his head hit the pavement.

"We obtained a murder warrant, but we'll confer with the Medical Examiner's Office and the district attorney's office to determine the appropriate charge," Thornton said.

Interesting news

I just received word that the Fort Worth PD may have arrested someone in connection with Kent Schnable's Thanksgiving '04 murder.

I'll post links and more information when I receive it.

Best yet, IMHO.

Here is a picture of our Christmas dinner table, (Prior to the devastation it suffered after everyone sat down to gorge.)

It was a lot of work prepping for this one, but I think it was our best ever. New house. Newly redone dining room. New dining room furniture. Most of the family here for dinner. And little to no real drama to screw it up.

That's what it's all about.

The Twelve Days of Christmas, as Seen Through the Eyes of a Cajun

Day 1

Dear Emile,

Thanks for da bird in da pear tree. Ah fixed it las' night wit mah dirty rice an' it was delicious. Ah don' tink da Pear tree will grow in da swamp, so ah swapped it for a satsuma.

Day 2

Dear Emile,

Yaw letta say you sent two turtle dove, but all ah got was chree scrawny pigeons. Anyway, I mixed dem wit andouille an' made some gumbo.

Day 3

Dear Emile,

Why don' you send me some crawfish? Ah'm tahd eatin' dem darn birds. I give two doze prissy French chickens to Mrs. Ruiz over at Grand Bayou and fed da tird to mah dog, Phideaux. Mrs. Ruiz used dem for sparring partners for her fightin' roosta.

Day 4

Dear Emile,

Mon Dieux! I tole you, no more friggin' birds, cher! Deez four, what you call, " callin' birds", dey so noisy you could hear dem all da way to Napoleonville! I used dey necks for mah crab traps an' fed da res' to da gators.

Day 5

Dear Emile,

You finally sent something useful. Ah liked dem golden rings, me. Ah hocked dem at da pawn shop in Thibodeaux an got enough monies to fix da shaf' on mah shrimp boat and buy roun' for da boys at da Raisin' Cain Lounge. Merci Beaucoup!!

Day 6

Dear Emile,

Couchon!! Back to da birds, you Cajun turkey! Poor ol' egg-suckin' Phideaux is scared to death dem six geese. He tried to eat dey eggs and dey pecked da heck out ah heem snout! Dey good at eatin' dem cockroaches, dough. I may stuff one dem wit' erster dressin' on Christmas Day.

Day 7

Dear Emile,

Ah'm gonna ring your fool neck next time ah see you! Boudreaux, da mail man is 'bout ready to keel you! Da merde from all doze birds is stinkin' up hees mail boat. Heem afraid someone gonna slip on dat stuff an' sue heem. I let doze seven swans loose to swim on da bayou and some duck hunters blasted dem right out da water. Talk to you later, cher.

Day 8

Dear Emile,

Poor ol' Boudreaux had to make chree trips on hees mail boat to deliver dem eight milk maids an' dey cows. One of da cows got spooked by da gators an' almos' tip over da boat. An' I don' like doze shifless maids, me. I tole dem to geet to work guttin' fish an' sweepin' mah shack, but dey probably tink dey too good to skin the nutrias ah caught las' night.

Day 9

Dear Emile,

What you tryin' do? Boudreaux had to borrow da Lutcher Ferry to carry these jumping twits across da bayou. As soon as dey got here they wanted a tea break and crumpets. I don' know what dat means but I says, "Well la di da. You get Chicory coffee or nuthin." Mon Dieux, Emile, what Ah'm gonna feed all deez bozos? Deys too snooty for fried nutria, and the cows ate mah turnip greens.

Day 10

Dear Emile,

You got be out yaw mine'! If da mailman don't keel you, Ah will. Today he delivered ten half nekkid floozies from Bourbon Street. Dey said dey be "ladies dancing" but they don' act like ladies in front doze Limey twits. Dey almos' lef' after one dem got bit by water moccasin over by dee out-house. Ah had to butcher two cows to feed toute le monde an' get toilet paper. The Sears catalog wasn't good enough for doze hoity toity lords' royal behinds. Talk at you tomorrow.

Day 11

Dear Emile,

Where Y'at? Cherio and pip pip. Yaw 'leven Pipers Pipin' arrived today from dee House of Blues, second lining as dey got off da boat. We fixed stuffed goose an' beef jumbalaya, finished da whiskey an' we're having a fais-do-do. Dee new mailman drank a bottle of Jack Daniels and he's having a good old time dancin' with the floozies. The old mailman jump off the Sunshine Bridge yesterday, screamin' your name. If you get a mysterious, ticking package in da mail, don' open it.

Day 12

Dear Emile,

Ah'm sorry to tell you but Ah'm not your true love anymore. After the fais-do-do, I spent da night with Jacque, the head piper. We decide to open a restaurant and gentlemen's club on da bayou. Da floozies, pardon me, ladies dancin' can make $20 for a table dance, and the lords can be the waiters and valet park da boats. Since da maids have no more cows to milk, I trained dem to set mah crab traps, watch mah trotlines, and run mah shrimping business. We'll probably gross a million dollars next year.

Joyeaux Noel!

Merry Christmas!

Yes Darryl, We Have...

So, the renewal of sixteen critical provisions of the Patriot Act was filibustered down today by a bunch of pussies in the Senate. The vote was 52 for, 47 against, with the ever useful Chris Dodd of CT absent and not voting. (Gee, I wonder how he would have voted?)

I don't think I've ever witnessed a hind-sight with a cataract.

The state hardest hit by the moslem destruction on 9/11 shows its true colors by having both its senators vote to return to the mindset of September 10, 2001.

Maybe the "Heroes" of Flight 93 should've just STFU and let those evil bastards fly that thing into the Halls of Congress. Unfortunately, even that wouldn't enlighten these dim-bulbs.

"OK Mr. terrorist, here's my lunch, just don't try it again, alright?"  I think that was the Clinton gambit for about eight years or so. We all know how well THAT worked, don't we.

All I've been hearing about is the intelligence failures that led up to 9/11 and even this current war. How the hell can we reform intelligence if we give it the same set of tools it had that caused it to screw up in the first place?

If I handed an electrician a set of stainless screwdrivers with no insulation and demanded he work on a 480V cabinet while it was hot, he'd rightfully kick my ass for jeopardizing his safety.

Thank God congress isn't in charge of anyone's safety….

Just wondering...

The Louisiana coalition to ban everything enjoyable is running smoking ban ads on the radio here. They state that 75% of Louisianians don't smoke, so why should they have to put up with the other 25% .

Fine. Then I have a question for all the whiners. Why, since a new poll shows that 94% of americans believe in God, do we have to kowtow to the idiotic 6% that don't?

Speaking of the weather...

Have I mentioned it's pretty nice down here? There was a "cold-snap" last week. The highs didn't get above 50 for a couple days. Today it's 78.

I really miss snow.....(If you'd buy that I've got some ocean front property in Arizona for you as well.)

Christmas

We picked up a local tree for the season. Kinda strange down here. The farm we went to doesn't grow spruces or firs. They grow several different types of Cypress. We have a nice 8+ footer and it seems like it will be less of a maintenance hog than the spruces we're used to. The needles/branches are very similar to cedar so there seems to be little needle shedding. Just another local difference.

Oh yeah. That and the fact it was 82 degrees when we went to get the tree and there were people in the fields in shorts and flip-flops.

Gotta love this...

I heard about this on the radio Sunday morning. The DJ was interviewing the cast of this production. I'm almost tempted to check it out. See what you think:

(Although Tchaikovsky is probably whirling about now...)

The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou

Been a while...

We remain in like Flint.

The new dryer arrived safe and sound on time and the delivery crew threw in a free new cord and dryer duct to placate us I guess. It's pretty cool when your laundry pair has more lights and dials than your entertainment center. They make laundry fun.

Went to DFW for Thanksgiving. Had a good, if melancholy time seeing everyone again. Spirits were not necessarily high, but they were flowing freely.

Finally finished redoing the first room. We started in the foyer because the way the house is situated, no one will ever use the "Front" entrance, so if we screwed it up, it would be reasonably hidden until we could fix it. Dining room is next before the new furniture arrives.

Work is going well. I'm on nights for a few days this week, but otherwise, it is enjoyable. We attended the Christmas party last Saturday. Nice spread. A good time was had by all. (And the fact that it was held in the atrium of our favorite casino didn't hurt.)

Finally took my car to the dealer to have them check out what I perceived as a buzzing in the right front. They said there was nothing out of the ordinary other than the car was in excellent condition. So, I guess that settles it. Happily, they didn't charge me the diagnostics fee even though they had the car for two days trying to figure out if there was anything wrong.

My God, though. The traffic in Baton Rouge is LUDICROUS. The first day I went to the dealer to pick up a blower motor resistor for the Durango, I got stuck in traffic and it took we about an hour to go the final 1.6 miles to the dealer. It was a bit better the next couple times, but I'm SO glad we purchased up here in the boonies.