Why I Like High Gas Prices

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Wow, an update two days in a row! I don’t have anything to say about the game except that despite the outcome, it was very fun. =)

Today, I want to talk about why I like these high gas prices. No, I don’t like paying $35+ each time I fill up, which is nearly once a week. I like them because they are the only way to convince us to conserve gas. It’s easy to buy the huge, gas-guzzling SUVs and drive our own cars wherever we want when gas is $1/gallon. Now that it’s $3/gallon, people are buying more fuel-efficient cars, thinking more about alternative fuels, carpooling more, and using mass transit more. Jenny and I are even starting to talk about moving closer to work within a few years. The US consumes nearly a quarter of the world’s oil production but has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. Think about that. To make matters worse, significant portions of the world’s oil supply are controlled by Middle Eastern countries whose opinions of us range from uneasy tolerance to hatred. President Bush was correct recently when he said, “America is addicted to oil.” Paying so much for it will slowly help us break our addiction.

The Cup Beckons

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The Stars have begun their 2006 quest for the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, they got off to a lackluster start Saturday night in Game 1 against Colorado, but I’m hoping it was a very loud wake-up call for them. Game 2 is tonight, and Mom and I plan to be there. The Stanley Cup is the most interesting trophy in professional sports. The same Cup has been passed from team to team for over 100 years. The players for each winning team have their names engraved on it, and each player gets to spend one day with it during the summer. Tradition dictates that no hockey player can touch the Cup unless he has won it, although non-players can when it’s on display. No one, player or not, can hoist the Cup overhead unless he has won it. Two full-time guards escort the Cup as it spends time with winning players during the summer and on publicity tours during the season. To read more about this spectacular trophy, visit the Stanley Cup page on NHL.com.

In school news, I finished my airline ops and mgmt course, number 10 of 13. I’m scheduled to start class #12, International Mgmt and Aviation Policy, on May 7.

Seeds

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Jenny and I have a new project for this year: a vegetable garden. We built a raised garden in the backyard off the end of the porch. Friday night we planted cucumbers, tomatoes, banana peppers, squash, zucchini, green beans, basil, carrots, and leaf lettuce. We are very excited to see what happens! We already had some other tomatoes and strawberries growing in pots. It still amazes me that God can turn a tiny white seed into a tomato plant that provides food for us, using nothing but water, sunlight, and nutrients from the soil. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but I’m thankful that it works. We’re trying to use organic techniques to take care of the plants, minimizing our use of pesticides and other non-natural chemicals. We’ll release ladybugs to eat aphids. We planted some marigolds to repel some types of bugs. To enrich the soil, we mixed in peat moss and compost rather than artificial fertilizer. The veggies should begin to sprout within a week or two.

In SWA news, we plan to add service to Washington Dulles (IAD) this fall. I was NOT expecting IAD as our next city, further proving that SWA is full of surprises! I think Dulles will be a good airport for us, nicely complementing our Baltimore service and pulling in passengers from the rapidly growing west side of the DC area.

A Nation of Immigrants?

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I’m a bit confused by all of the recent protests over the pending immigration legislation. The protesters seem to want the right to ignore the law and to live and work in whatever country they want without following the proper procedures. It is true that America is a nation of immigrants, and I don’t have a problem with people who come here legally. Indeed, although not perfect by any means, America is a great place to live. I understand why so many Mexican nationals want to escape the poor living conditions in Mexico and come here to live and work. I respect their drive to change their situation and take better care of their families. I’m sure I would do the same if possible. The problem is the ones who do it without documentation. Some get paid in cash, so their employment is off the record and invisible to the government. Others get fake documentation, which isn’t that difficult if you know where to go. They come here and use our services (county hospitals, freeways, etc.) but generally don’t pay many of the taxes they owe, leaving the legitimate taxpayers like me to pick up the tab. My sister (a labor and delivery nurse) will tell you that in some hospitals like Parkland in Dallas, the majority of the patients have no health insurance. They just show up at the hospital wanting a doctor to deliver their baby, knowing the hospital can’t turn them away. Some of them, like the man who rear-ended me in 2004, drive around with no license and no insurance, hoping they won’t get caught. If declaring them all felons is the only way to do it, so be it. I don’t know what the best answer is, but something needs to change.

On a happier note, tomorrow is Jenny’s 30th birthday! We’re having a pizza and skating party in Irving to celebrate. =)

Classmates Who Become Famous

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The Dallas Cowboys recently signed a new linebacker from the Jaguars named Akin Ayodele. I went to MacArthur High School with him. We used to carpool for a class called PALS that we took together. It involved spending time with local elementary school students. I remember three main things about him: 1) He was usually the one we were waiting on before PALS each day. 2) He was tall and muscular, so he sat in the front seat of my car when I drove. 3) He was extremely fast.

One time we were playing touch football together, maybe for FCA. I was “covering” him while he played wide receiver. I’m not the fast, nimble kind of guy who usually plays cornerback, but I was giving it a try. He caught a pass. When I tried to tag him, he stayed just out of reach for a couple of seconds, as if toying with me. Then he switched to a different gear and was gone. Gone. It was an odd feeling – not being burned so badly, because that wasn’t so unusual, but seeing someone so in tune with his abilities and so able to turn them on at will. No matter what I brought to the game, he could bring more. Welcome back to Dallas, Akin.

It makes me wonder who else from our class wound up famous or will someday. He’s the only one I can think of. Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood and theater/film actor Kevin Daniels (Ladder 49) went to Mac, but they were a couple of years ahead of me. I’m definitely not famous, and I’m quite happy that way. =)

Graveyard Shift

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I worked my first two midnight shifts over the weekend – Friday and Saturday nights from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. They actually weren’t that bad! The hardest part was an unpressurized ferry flight on Friday night from Phoenix to a contract maintenance facility in Dothan, Alabama. It was running 5 hours late, so it arrived around 3:00 AM, when the airport is normally closed. It caused me some problems, but it was good training. The second night I managed to finish my Airline Mgmt homework and complete my first Sudoku puzzle during the slow early morning hours when I had no flights in the air. After each shift I came home and slept. Then I woke up and hung out with Jenny some in the afternoon. I probably won’t bid the midnight shift for next year, but I’ll be OK if I get some midnights here and there.