Today has been absolutely stunning, weather-wise. The temperature’s creeping up into the low seventies, and the air is crisp and clear thanks to the three days of miserably cold rain we’ve just slogged through. Samson is greatly relieved that he can now do his business in relative comfort instead of being dragged out into the torturous drizzle.

The other morning, between rainstorms, I was out walking Sam when an older lady passed us on the sidewalk. I flashed the quick smile I usually exchange with people I pass on walks, but she was clearly up for some chit-chat. “What are you doing out in this weather, girl?!” she half-shrieked. I didn’t know what to say because, um, this guy at the end of the leash? He needs to poop. And he can’t be trusted to keep himself out of trouble on the way. So that’s what I’m doing. But maybe she was making conversation, so I laughed politely.

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1. Wikipedia has a category titled “Fictional chameleons and geckos.” There are four; dollars to donuts you can’t name any of the other three. And no, Karma Chameleon didn’t make the cut.

2. Yesterday I passed a Schepps-branded eighteen-wheeler on the freeway. Is there a widely recognized trucker signal for “A steady stream of milk is pouring out the back of your trailer”? I couldn’t think of one, so I drove on. It was milk, after all, not jet fuel, and even if he did find out I don’t imagine there was much he could’ve done at that point.

3. Have you seen the “Caves” segment of Planet Earth? Those people who base-jump hundreds of meters into underground caves are insane. See also, underwater cave divers.

4. Chocolate smoothie with fresh banana? Darn tasty.

My apartment and my school are both fairly close to downtown Houston, so you would think it would take a long time to get from one to the other relative to the distance between them.* Lucky for me, I live off of a limited-access surface street that links directly to I-45, which goes right past UH. My morning commute takes between nine and twelve minutes, depending on how fast the freeway is moving and how I hit the two traffic lights along my route. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

But this morning I was surprised to find the ramp onto 45 closed by a construction crew. I was dumped into downtown with no easy way to get on the freeway. I started driving, through twisty streets and traffic lights, in the general direction of the school. Eventually I landed on 288, which got me to the opposite side of UH from the law school. This morning’s trip, with its ad hoc detour, took twenty-one minutes.

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