Texas Voter ID Law

Disclosure Statement:  Any time I write anything political I feel it necessary to preface it by stating that I am an independent.  I've never voted in a primary for either party.  I'm liberal on some issues and conservative on others.  That said -

I was scrolling through Facebook today and noticed a few, shall we say, "less informed" people whining about the Voter ID laws in Texas.  One in particular from someone I don't know (and after this I assume would not accept a 'Friend Request' from me) stated:

"Just watched someone get denied the right to vote because they moved recently and the address on voter registration didn't match her ID. Hooray for the Texas voter ID law denying law abiding citizens the right to vote since 2013!"

This prompted me to sit down and shoot out a few Things I Think I Think about voting in Texas.

• The issue above (if true) would have nothing to do with the Voter ID law.  In Texas you are registered to vote in a certain district.  If you move, you must re-register in the new district you have moved to.  It's free and can be done on-line.  Additionally, there is no address matching requirement to the Texas Voter ID law, so even if for some stupid reason you moved and took the time to update your voter registration but not your official ID (which would be required by law if it's a driver's license), you would still be able to vote.  Also, even if you're dumb enough to try to vote in violation of the Texas Voter ID law, you would still be allowed to cast a provisional ballot by law.  It happens in every polling location every single year.  They have them set up and are ready for a flood of people who for whatever reason just can't seem to get a grip on the almost idiot-proof voting system in Texas.  Sorry pal - calling BS on that one.

• The Voter ID law in Texas provides seven different ID options that will work.  If you don't have ANY of them, first off how the hell do you live, and second, Texas will give you one for free!  You can obtain either a Texas Personal Identification Card or a Texas Election Identification Certificate free of charge with a simple trip to the DPS. 

• Democrats and Liberals are claiming (in court) that the Texas Voter ID law is discriminatory against poor people and minorities (their words, not mine).  What they state in their argument to the 5th Circuit Court and the Supreme Court is that "Minorities are less likely to have the required ID, therefore more likely to be disenfranchised by the law."  I could go on quoting from the rather comical claim but I'll go ahead and break it down for you.  The ID is free to anyone for the asking, so what they really mean is that minorities are less likely to make the effort to get one.  What they're basically saying is that minorities - like myself - are lazier than white people!  If you read the case, that's the entire premise.  Sad.

• I agree with liberals that there are people in the state that might be too lazy to go get an ID to vote (although, unlike those liberals I don't think the problem is exclusive to blacks and Latinos).  That said, if someone is too lazy to make the effort to get a free ID, do you really believe that they are going to make the effort to vote?

• Texas may be the easiest state to vote in that there is.  We have early voting for a couple weeks straight in just about any district of size and you can submit an absentee ballot by mail if you aren't going to be around or can't make it to the polls like my father.

• The bottom line is that if you can't cast a ballot in the State of Texas, it's your fault and no one else's!

A side note on another legal issue pending in the Supreme Court about voting redistricting:

The national media constantly reports that the Texas Senate, which is overwhelmingly Republican, is trying to re-draw district lines to (once again) "disenfranchise minority voters".   It's true that the Republican controlled senate is trying to re-draw the district maps and it's also true that it would undoubtedly cost Democrats some seats in the US House of Representatives.  However, if you get your news from MSNBC exclusively there is, as usual, more to the story.

• The Texas Senate is required to redraw the district lines because the 2010 US Census left Texas with four additional seats.

• The current district map was drawn by a Democratic controlled Texas Senate many years ago that "created" minority districts by tying minority areas together using ditches and pipelines, etc.  If you look at the map, it looks like a spider web in many large cities because they wanted to create districts for specific minorities.  The philosophy of the Democrats at the time was "The population of Texas is 22% black so 22% of the congressional seats should be held by black elected candidates".  Hispanics 38%....etc.  Here's the map around Houston:

 

Take District 18 for example.  This is the District of Sheila Jackson Lee (who, regardless of your political affiliation, you have to concede is one of the worst members of Congress maybe ever - and that's saying a lot).  It was drawn by connecting a few black neighborhoods together to create a "black" district.  It makes no geographic sense, no economic sense, no sense of any kind.  They did the same thing in South Texas to create Hispanic districts.  If this map makes sense to you then you've got issues!

I think voting districts should be set geographically (accounting for population of course) and for no other reason.  That's sort of the beauty of Texas - no one cares what you are or what you believe in, even if they disagree with you.  It's a true mix that works great!   

Our street has 11 homes on it.  The makeup is a lot like Texas:

1 Black family

1 Asian family

1 Same-Sex family

2 Elderly families

1 Hispanic family (that's us I guess although Nel doesn't really look the part)

2 Eastern European families

3 White families

That should just be a voting district.  You shouldn't try to tie our house to another Hispanic house a few blocks away to create a Hispanic district.  Racism has no place in voter laws!  

Birth Day Gift?

So my wife is pregnant, really pregnant - she's due any day now.  I think we're ready for everything (logistically I mean - I'll never be psychologically ready for a baby in the household).  Anyway, the other day my sister-in-law calls me:

Shelley:  "Did you get Branelle a present yet?"  

Me:  "Present for what?"

Shelley:  "To give her in the hospital after the baby comes."

Me:  "Is that a real thing now?!?"

It had never occurred to me to get something for Nel for having a baby.  For one thing, we aren't all that touchy about gift giving.  Don't get me wrong, we buy each other stuff all the time, we just don't make a big production about special events.  And for another thing, if anyone should be getting a gift on baby day it should be me.  This was Nel's idea - I'm terrified of babies!  

I thought about it for a few days and decided it couldn't hurt to get Nel something.  She's awesome and certainly deserves presents for any reason I suppose.  But what to get her?  I thought about the obvious options like jewelry or purses.  Maybe I could run down to James Avery and grab something that was baby themed?  Nah, too predictable and Nel doesn't wear a lot of jewelry anyway.  A book of "Super Sexy Scott Coupons" just seemed cruel - she'd be stuck in a hospital and unable to cash them in.

I was struggling to come up with anything appropriate.  It needed to be a gift that celebrated the birth of our child.  Celebration….. Hmmm.  I remembered reading somewhere about a special edition Porsche made to "celebrate" the company's 100,000th 944 rolling off the assembly line in the late '80s.  I did a little research and sure enough, Porsche sold 250 1988 Porsche 944 "Celebration" models in the US in a special color called "Zermatt Silver".  Branelle has always said that one of her favorite places we've spent time in is Zermatt, Switzerland.  (By the way - naming a car color "Zermatt Silver" is ironic since Zermatt doesn't allow cars in the town at all.)  To make it even more appropriate, my first car was a 944. 

1) Nostalgic value - 2) Nel's favorite European spot - 3) A "celebration" - PERFECT!!!   

"Zermatt Silver" was one of two special colors for these - It sort of looks like silver with a hint of tan.

Now, to be honest I'm not much of a car person but if it makes my little wife happy I'm OK with another vehicle I suppose.  I started looking around and found two for sale - one of them was in Dallas.  I hopped on a plane after telling Nel not to have the baby until I got back (but secretly kind of hoping she would…..not really….but kind of). :-)

The interior is one of the "special" things that distinguishes the "Celebration Edition" from other 944s.  They call the pattern "Studio".

The car was in pretty good shape so I bought it and drove it home.  No issues really, just a few little items I can attend to in making it perfect (I'm sure I'll be looking for an excuse to get out of the house for the next few months anyway).  I couldn't find any giant baby themed bows to put on it like they use in the Lexus Christmas commercials every year so I just let her open the garage.

Just arrived home.  The car chewed up the four hour drive from Dallas.

I know what you're thinking ladies:  "Even though Scott doesn't like cars he went out and bought one for his wife as a labor present!!  He's so dreamy!  Why can't my man be more like that?"  Don't hold it against your hubby's girls - not everyone can be completely selfless all the time and the ability to buy "the perfect gift" is really something you're born with more than something you learn.  

This medallion is located in the glove box.

I wonder if she got me anything.  Probably not - just sayin.

B-Nelly in Zermatt.  See, no cars!

 

2001 Sea Doo GTX

Another random vehicle blog......

2001 Sea Doo GTX

 

My random vehicle blog program has assigned me a jet ski today.  While my watercraft history isn't nearly as extensive as my automobile history, I have had a few over the years and this is the first time one has come up in my blog program.  I had this GTX and a 2001 XP at the same time in about 2003 I believe.  They were both like new and a total blast to run.  The area we live in is great for all sorts of water sports and we used these quite a bit in both Clear Lake as well as launching them down in Galveston.  The GTX is a good jet ski because it balances a nice stable size with a big performance motor.  I think this one was some kind of special edition having something to do with Jeep, but I'm not sure.

The only complaint I had at the time was that the two Sea Doos were on separate trailers.  Having a two boat rig on a single trailer is awesome, but the trailers are usually too wide for a single garage space.  At the time, I wasn't using a warehouse yet for my collection so I didn't have unlimited space.

The GTX had to share a garage stall with another toy and I believe the XP was stored at a friends house - or maybe my brothers place.

Here is a picture of my brother and I trying to do something (I have no idea what).  While I enjoyed the boat the entire time I owned it, the maiden voyage wasn't without incident.  A group of us took both Sea Doos to Galveston beach and launched them right into the surf.  Unfortunately, someone forgot to put the plug in first and the GTX flooded leaving us with just the XP for the rest of the day.  Other than that, never had any problems with it.  I do have to say that jet skis on the beach is by far the most fun place to ride them.  Having waves, regardless of how high they are, is like having never ending ramps to jump and ride and bank turns from.  

1971 Chevrolet C-10

1971 Chevrolet C-10

It's no secret that when I go to an auction I am easily distracted and actually pretty dangerous.  I tend to gravitate towards, shall we say, unique items.  That's what happened with this C-10.  I can't even remember what I paid for it, but it was back before trucks went crazy in the collector car world so it was probably a fraction of what it would cost today.

This truck was a custom build (obviously) and had been done right.  It had exactly 6 miles on the complete build when I bought it.  When I sold it 3 or 4 years later it only had about 200.

The girl I was dating when I bought this might have been a factor in my 'impulse buy' if I'm being honest.  Sheri loved Fords, HATED Chevys, and had the rather large truck you see in the background of the picture above.  "Blue" was what she called her truck, and it wasn't a show piece by any standard, but she loved it and I thought it was funny bringing around a truck that she couldn't help but appreciate and admire…..and it was a CHEVY!

 I entered the truck in one small show and it won the truck class.  The funniest part of it was I had to leave before the awards were presented so Sheri had to accept the trophy.  I had a great time teasing her about it "taking a Chevy for her to finally win a trophy for a truck."  Thank God she had a sense of humor.

 The interior was as mint and custom as the rest of the truck.  It was a simple vehicle, but certainly got a lot of stares. 

It was so wide it barely fit on my trailer.  When I sold the truck, I actually sold the trailer it's on here with it.

 The guy who bought it from me spent a fortune taking it to the next level.  He sent me this picture of his '72 next to the old stepside.  I'm glad it went to a good home.  The thing just sat in my shop most of the time I had it.  I'm just not a custom truck guy.  That said, I certainly appreciated how nicely done this one was and even though it wasn't any fun to drive…at all…I still appreciated it.

How Texas is that!?!

Fork In The Road

Fork In The Road

One of many bits of wisdom from the immortal Yogi Berra:  "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."  I feel like when we all get older we will look back at certain choices we make during our lives and wonder "what if".  I'm not a 2nd guesser by nature so I don't mean look back with regret, just wonder what things might have been like if you had taken door #2 instead of what's behind curtain #3.  For example, I know that at one point my father had a choice between attending Duke Law School or entering a doctoral program at LSU.  He chose LSU.  Had he gone the other route, he never would have met my mother and never would have had me (OK - maybe he regrets that last part a little:-).  Branelle and I had one of those "fork in the road" moments earlier this year. 

My wife was working as an aerospace engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.  She was a project manager building flight hardware such as a new fire extinguisher for the ISS.  We were quite happy and not really looking for anything to change when a large international agricultural company recruited her for a position somewhat out of the blue.  I say 'somewhat', because there was a small connection that I won't get into but Nel wasn't looking to leave NASA.  She asked me if I thought she should talk to these people and I said sure - there's never anything wrong with listening.  The position was out of her area of expertise, but I was sure she could handle it.  What made it extremely interesting, however, was that it was located in Soda Springs, Idaho.

 

If you've never heard of Soda Springs, you're not alone.  It's a small town, and I mean SMALL, in the middle of nowhere Southern Idaho.  The nearest town of any consequence is Pocatello, not exactly a metropolis, about an hour away.  There are about 3000 residents - keep in mind that our current "town" of Houston has about 6,000,000.  When we initially started researching the place we were both unnerved and intrigued at the same time.  Branelle did a couple of phone interviews and the next thing we know they want to bring us up for a site visit.  It all happened kind of fast but we were flying up to Idaho (into Salt Lake City about two hours away actually) later that week - the end of January.

Right before we flew up to Idaho, Branelle was asked by NASA folks if she would consider making a move from flight hardware to become a MER Manager.  I won't get into explaining the MER here, just know that the position is an advancement in both salary and exposure to real-time NASA ops.  Nel had never considered the MER (Mission Evaluation Room - in case it was bothering you), but she was flattered and interested so she agreed.  We didn't think too much of it and headed to Soda Springs.

 

Soda Springs is a nice, quant little town.  It was actually quite pretty, sitting in a valley of small mountains in the high dessert.  There was a lot of snow as you could imagine and it was cold, but not Minnesota cold.  I dropped Nel off at the plant one morning and while she interviewed I sat in a small coffee shop listening to a bunch of local old-timers chat.  To be honest, it was really growing on me fast.  A few hours later I met Nel and the plant manager and a few others for lunch.  Everyone was extremely nice and they gave us a lot of insight into the area.  I could tell they liked Branelle, and I was proven correct when she got a call from the corporate recruiter offering her the job about 10 minutes after lunch ended.  We told him to put it in writing and send it to us.  In truth, we were sort of trying to stall.

Our rental on Main Street

That afternoon we spent our time looking at homes with Shannon Whitney, a local agent.  The biggest issue I had with moving here was finding a place to live.  There were a total of 59 properties available the day we looked, and quite frankly I wouldn't have really wanted any of them.  We talked about building, but in a remote location like that it's both costly and slow.  We decided that there was one property we could work with if we wanted to make the move - It had a big home and acreage with nice valley views and didn't cost that much so we could remodel and add on.  Shannon was extremely nice and helpful and met us the next morning to look at a few more places before we headed out. 

This was the view from one of the contenders

We decided to stay in Salt Lake City for a few days and do some skiing.  We hit Deer Valley and Solitude and just kind of thought about things.  The company was really pushing Nel to take the job and we kept stalling because we wanted to hear back from NASA about the MER position.  Sure enough, NASA called and offered her the gig.  Now what?

Mulling over the decision, but the area is really starting to grow on me

Nel picking out a vacation home

When we got back to Houston we still couldn't decide.  Branelle was stalling with both companies.  She had never told NASA about the other offer and hadn't mentioned the MER promotion to anyone at the agricultural company.  She wasn't trying to leverage either against each other, just making a choice. We asked a few close friends and family members what they thought and got all kinds of mixed opinions.  I remember video chatting with Nel's parents and at the end of the conversation asking them what they thought.  Mrs. C said she wouldn't do it and Mr. C said he probably would.  That's the way it went with everyone.  We told the Ag company to come back with their best offer - again kind of just stalling.  We even flipped a coin - not that we were going to let it decide for us, just to see how we felt when it came up.

 

The money side was close, certainly not far enough apart to make the difference.  I could do what I was doing anywhere so that didn't factor in.  I liked the idea of being "off the grid", but Branelle was a bit less enthusiastic about it.  It was actually very stressful for her.  Ultimately, I think that the biggest negative factor for Nel was the fear of leaving what she knows at NASA for an entirely different world.  I'm pretty sure she would have done great in a plant environment and I'm also pretty sure she would have ultimately loved it, but I understand the trepidation.  We made the decision to turn down the Ag company and take the MER position.  I think Nel thought it was over, but I knew better.  Shortly after rejecting the offer, Nel got calls from the plant manager and others trying to change her mind.  They came up with about everything they could and the relocation package and signing bonus were top notch. 

I think I could have steered this one in either direction, but in the end I felt that Branelle was just a little too uncomfortable leaving NASA so we decided to stay.  My thought was that while I think we would have been very happy in Soda Springs, it was an unknown and I know that we are happy here.  We're still in Houston and Nel is enjoying her new gig with the MER, but I kind of wonder what things would be like if we had taken the other option at the fork in the road.  I imagine we would have bought a big place on the outskirts of Soda Springs with a bunch of acres and probably a vacation home in Jackson Hole a couple hours away.  Who knows.  "Never look back" is something I like to say, but it's interesting to imagine.

 

I used to say to Nel when we were deciding that "there's no wrong choice".  I'm still not sure if we made the best choice but it's cool.  I guess if I had to decide, I'd say that we probably made the right decision to stay….but I still wish we had gone!:-)