Yikes, it's Ike

My family lives in Houston, and I'm a bit concerned. My sister will probably be high and dry in her 1920s duplex, which is in a higher part of Houston (if you can imagine flat Houston having a "higher" area). But my brother and mom live in an area that floods. And they are not leaving. They plan to stay. I suggested that they should make sure they have plenty of fresh water and food that doesn't have to be cooked. My brother told me they would "make their own water" which does not mean what you think it means. It means they have a water filter. An electric water filter. They have an electric stove, too. I think my brother believes they will sit out the storm watching television and popping popcorn. In an electric microwave oven.

Sometimes I think my mom and brother are Dumb and Dumber. I gave them these nicknames a few weeks ago, when my brother started talking politics. He said that Obama didn't want to allow offshore drilling and that would ruin business for petroleum landmen in Texas. I thought he was joking...but he wasn't. "Not allowing offshore drilling will ruin business for landmen? Huh?" If anything, I would think Texas landmen would want drilling to occur on land, not offshore, so they could get the leases and drilling rights to the oil. I really don't understand him. He thinks Obama is going to raise everyone's taxes because he saw it on a McCain ad. He thinks Obama is a secret muslim because he heard it from someone. He doesn't read the newspapers. I can't even write what my mother thinks. Thus, the nicknames. Then, when my sister told me about some other dumb thing my brother said, I told her about the nicknames. She laughed. Later that night, she called me and said: "OK, so, which one is Dumb and which one is Dumber?"

You probably think I dislike my mom and brother. To the contrary, I love them very much. You might think that I am rude to them. I'm not. Well, maybe sometimes, when they say really stupid things. I have told my brother that he owes it to the rest of the country to educate himself before making ridiculous pronouncements. In the alternative, he and my mom should do everyone a favor and stay home on election day. Sometimes, they are more than a bit frustrating. The thing that bothers me most is that they may be representative of the majority of this country. Terrifying thought.

Anyway, I'll update the Ike situation later. And the dumbness situation too, maybe.