The Big Benford Show

Well, I went to a local gas station today before Open House started to grab some food to hold us over and when I looked at the gas prices, I about crashed my car (probably would have been cheaper to repair than fill up!). $2.62/gallon for regular unleaded!!! The guy behind the counter said at 4:30, it went up 13 cents a gallon. Amazing! I also heard that they’ve been talking on the news today about rationing gas. I remember when we first moved to the United States, they were doing that in California. That was 1978 or 1979.

Okay, so here’s the part that keeps me awake at night. It takes 15 gallons to fill my Honda.
Current:
$2.60/gallon x 15 gallons/tank = $39/tank x 4 fills/month = $156/month x 12 months/year = $1872/year
Yesterday: (literally)
$2.40/gallon x 15 gallons/tank = $36/tank x 4 fills/month = $144/month x 12 months/year = $1728/year
A while back:
$1.50/gallon x 15 gallons/tank = $22.50/tank x 4 fills/month = $90/month x 12 months/year = $1080/year
When I first started driving:
$0.99/gallon x 15 gallons/tank = $14.85/tank x 4 fills/month = $59.4/month x 12 months/year = $712.80/year
Feel free to check my math. It’s late and I could be off a bit.

The cheapest gas around here has been $2.02 (from what I’ve heard). I wonder what it is now…. If you’ve seen gas cheaper than $2.62 since Tuesday afternoon, post a reply here of how much and where. We’ll do some research and help each other! Even if you don’t live in the Austin area.

This weekend, I got to go down to Houston to hang with Len. I left for Houston after work on Friday and got down there around 9 or 9:30. I was SOOOOO tired when I got there. I was at work from 6:30 am until around 5:00 pm. It was a pretty typical but good day. I got to Len’s and crashed out almost immediately!! What would I do if he weren’t so understanding?

Saturday, we got up pretty early and headed out to Kohl’s for their 50% off sale. We each bought a few things and it was a fun little shopping trip. We decided we were hungry so we went to find a Chili’s for lunch. I was feeling like their mushroom swiss burger. It’s my favorite of their burgers. We found several Chili’s close to his house but decided to go to the one out on Hwy 45 by FM 1960. For any of you that know Houston, you’ll know that location isn’t very close to Len’s house but you will know it’s fairly close to Fry’s. That alone was tempting enough for us to drive to almost Dallas for a burger!!

So, we ate then went to Fry’s. After wandering Fry’s and getting some DVD-Rs for me and a movie for Len, we headed back to The Heights so Len could get his hair cut.

We went back to the house and Len watched his movie Constantine. Since I’m not much for movies of this type, I took the opportunity to take a nap!! I was still tired from the drive the night before. It hit the spot because after the nap, we ate Chinese from The Eastern (YUMMY!!!) and headed to have drinks with Super Dave and the crew from Whole Earth at The Heights Sports Bar. I like that place. I could stand to be a regular there when I’m in town! We had some good drinks and coversation and we all voted for Westwood in the KEYE/Rudy’s Marching Band Challenge. As of right now, I have no idea who won. I looked on their website but didn’t find any results yet.

Today, we went to church, then Spanish Flowers to eat (YUMMY!!) then I headed home. It was a nice weekend — just what I needed. I can’t wait for football to start. Between Stony Point, Univ. of Houston and Tx State games, we’ll get our fill between now and November. I’ve got a friend who’s in charge of the pep band for the Houston Texans so I’m going to try to make one game as part of their band. I’ve been offered an opportunity so I just have to find/make time to do it. I think it’ll be a lot of fun!

You know, I’m tired. I must be getting old or something but I honestly don’t remember being this tired a year ago. Maybe the adrenaline from the new job kept me from being as tired or something. Getting up at 5 a.m. for 7 a.m. rehearsals seem to come all too quickly! Then again, I’ve had a few extra evening work obligations that have kept me from getting to bed when I’d like so I guess that doesn’t help.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I wake up in the mornings wishing it was Saturday or Sunday and I could sleep in but as soon as I get to work and the kids make me laugh and smile, I’m re-energized. It’s amazing how true the statement is about how you can’t help but become happy when you smile.

The kids are working very hard. I find myself nagging at them but it’s because I want them to have what they want — success. What is success in our world? For most people (including me to an extent), success during marching season means earning a 1st Division rating at UIL Region 18 Marching Contest in October. Who decides if we’ve earned one or not? 3 random Texas band directors that have gone through a process to become judges. There are specific criteria that we must meet but since they’re artistic qualities, it’s very subjective. This is the success that helps us keep our jobs.

What is the rest of the definition of success for me? That they come back for more. That they’ve learned something along the way. We’ve already achieved that. We do bits of that every day. This is the success that keeps me coming back for more.

I guess I should get some sleep tonight…today was a good day!

Jessie is one of my sorority sisters….

HEY GUYS….PLEASE BE IN PRAYER FOR JESSIE MCCLELLAND (see below).
Thanks, Donnalynn

E-MAIL FROM JESSIE:
Just wanted to let you know I am having a procedure on my heart on Tuesday, September 6. The Dr. will send a catheter through a major vein up to my heart and burn the extra wire I have that connects the atrium to the ventricle which causes a rapid heart beat. It should cure the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome I was born with but did not get diagnosed until I was out of college. I will have the procedure at Presbyterian in Dallas and have an overnight stay which I’m not looking forward to. It is a fairly safe procedure but please pray for me anyway.(not only for my health but for my nerves)

~Jessie

So much has happened lately. Summer band, visiting Len, watching Alfie (1.5 out of 5 stars ), buying the iBook, Len visiting last week, seeing The Island (2.5 out of 5 stars ), school starting and having a filthy house that has now been somewhat cleaned (I mean it was FILTHY!). The cats have totally missed me and they’ve kept me up a few nights.

This past weekend was nice. Cathy & I went to the House and Garden show and saw Paul James “The Gardener Guy” answer questions. There seems to be quite a problem with trees in the Austin area by the looks of the questions asked on Saturday.

Saturday night, we went to Dennis Whitehead’s going away party. After all these years of working in the Austin theatre scene, he’s taken a job as the Music Director at the Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, TN! The party was fun. Cathy & I got to catch with some old friends and have a few drinks. It was a nice time.

I spent today cleaning house, going to see my mom (and get a massage) and now I’m watching Shark Tale. It’s a pretty cute movie but it’s no Finding Nemo.

I’ve got to go to bed early and keep my sleep schedule from being completely messed up. Maybe I’ll write reviews on the movies later. I’ve not been as good with keeping up with those lately.