I went to Houston Texas the other day. I flew down on Continental to George Bush International Airport, and the shareholders' meeting was in the George Bush Room of the Conference Center, I presume not far from the George Bush Toilet and the George Bush Dog Grooming Aquarium.

We lost the deal; our attempt to throw out the board of the oil/energy company narrowly missed being approved by the shareholders. Our loss was due to the company's stupidities, not ours, as we usually win in these kinds of situations. The company is TERRIBLY badly run, the stock price is in the toilet etc so it is surprising we lost in our attempt to throw the bastards out. Our director who was running this attempted coup d'etat is an Iraqi Jew with a heavy accent (though a fine and distinguished business record) so maybe that had something to do with it.

Because I noticed Texas is not a very enlightened or broad minded place. I was working hard the whole time but I did get to visit a book store next to the Four Seasons where I was staying. You can tell quite a bit about a place by their bookstores and TV and I always try to get to both when I travel. The biggest sections were the...wait for it...Christian Living section and motoring section. The small space devoted to politics (all US politics, no other countries at all) was filled with anti-Clinton (both Bill and Hillary) works and books by famous right wing conservative assholes like Bill O'Reilly and William Bennett. Sigh.

Didn't get to eat a lot as I was only there for two full days but they are extremely carnivorous with ribs ribs ribs everywhere. They have stuff called "pulled pork" or "ripped pig" and other vegetarian nightmares.


The flight back was nice because even though we lost the deal, our director let us use two of his private jets to come back home. Some cronies and I were in the Gulfstream which seats 11 in two small cabins with one flight attendant and a galley.

Not sure what trips are on the horizon but I know there aren't many left for this "busy season". That's unfortunate. I've done well this year but I should look for a real job now. I'm REALLY hoping our services will be required back in Honolulu and if they are I will certainly stay on a few days after I'm required there.

D.