Marc and I had a pleasant and uneventful drive down to Phoenix, where we caught our flight on time. We arrived in Houston a little early, which was nice. We got our rental car, and then the fun began. Heavy traffic on Beltway 8 slowed us down. We checked into our hotel in the Woodlands, then departed for David and Melissa's house. The traffic on I-45 was heavy, but the traffic on Beltway 8 was even heavier. We ended up taking about 2 hours to get to David and Melissa's house, which was maybe 30 miles away. We did make a quick stop at SPEC'S for some alcohol.
We finally arrived at David and Melissa's house to find Louis and Monica and their daughter Jessica visiting. Their son Kevin and his girlfriend Jody were working out at a nearby gym. Louis' energy looked better, and he seemed happier and more with it than last year. In fact, he stayed up past his bedtime to continue visiting with us. Monica and Jessica looked good, and Jessica was rather feisty through the evening. Melissa was cheerful as ever. The kids were loud and noisy as ever :-) David was in fine form as usual.
Melissa was busy cooking our dinner. So David and I talked, while Marc and Louis visited. David told me that the oil companies ( EXXON-MOBIL, CHEVRON, etc.) are building campuses in northwest Houston, causing real-estate and hotel prices to sky rocket. Jobs in Houston and Texas in general are plentiful, and the state economy is doing great. David felt that APPLE was doomed now that Steve Jobs was dead, citing the APPLE knockoff of GOOGLE maps as evidence. Then he proceeded to advocate the theory that GOOGLE is taking over everything, pointing out how GOOGLE executives have free access to the White House (likewise APPLE). We discussed privacy, and I mentioned the movie TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY APPLY. We talked about land and growing your own food. David said that property in east Texas was cheap with lots of rainfall; however, the neighbors were a little less cultured than in Houston. I asked about Richard; David said that he was doing good. His son Andrew was off the medicines for now, so his immune system must be working again.
David and Louis talked about 1 of Uncle Dallas' World War II stories about how the SS soldiers kept shooting after Germany surrendered. So the U.S. (and U.K. and French) Army would direct artillery to wherever the sniper was shooting from and level the whole block with artillery shells. I had never heard this story before. We shifted slightly into a discussion about Russia and the Ukraine and Crimea; David mentioned that he had a co-worker who was Russian and a devout Communist who thought Lenin had some good ideas (David obviously disagreed). Then Marc joined the conversation, and the topic shifted to the Flashman books, which both Marc and David had read. Then Louis shifted the conversation a little further and talked about a book that a U.K. vet wrote about horses just prior to World War II.
Later in the evening Kevin and his girlfriend Jody arrived. Kevin is now going for his M.S. in Physics, after talking with Richard. Hence, the danger of talking with Richard :-) Kevin quit his job with HALLIBURTON to go back to school. Kevin seemed quiet compared to Jessica. Although he felt that the gym he worked out in clearly did not compare to RED LERILLE'S gym in Lafayette.
Around 11:00PM, Marc and I finally said our goodbyes and drove back to our hotel. Without the rush hour traffic, our trip was surprisingly short; maybe 35 minutes. And then I crashed for 8 hours of dreamless sleep. And such aws our 1st day in Houston.
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