My Life Blog

On February 24th, we had a strangely windy day which made Dallas resemble Lubbock — very dusty and hazy. As a result of the wind that day, our neighbors had their fence nearly blow down.

In the days and weeks that followed, we watched as they used mops and other such things to prop the fence up and keep it from falling. On a couple of occasions, the fence leaned over onto our property. Each time, I would push it back in their direction.

After a few weeks of frustration, I finally called the Homeowners Association and complained. The HOA let me know that a letter would be sent out this week. I’m presuming that a letter was received just yesterday, actually.

Well, tonight in Dallas we had another storm with lots of wind. As Suzanne and I were watching the wind out one of our 2nd story windows, she heard a noise. Sure enough, the fence had taken another bad turn. This time, it slammed into our garage wall, unseating a utility box. It also pinned one of our Crepe Mirtle’s to the ground — basically dealing it a potential fatal blow.

As the storm raged, I decided I could not let the fence continue to slam into our house and went out to push it back onto their side. The fence was water-logged and just slightly too heavy for me to push over myself. So with Suzanne’s help, I was able to push it back over.

A few minutes later, the wind swept it back up and over onto our side. This time, one of its segments broke loose. I went back out again and pushed the fence back onto their side and this time I delivered the broken segment to the neighbor’s front sidewalk. I also delivered a broken Crepe Mirtle branch there as well.

I was trying to send the neighbors a message. This issue has been there for 4 1/2 weeks and now our property is being damaged. That’s not okay. These neighbors have been unfriendly since day one, so I didn’t feel too bad about the passive aggressive statement. Apparently respect for property is not core to their culture; wherever they are from.

We noted that the car normally parked along the sidewalk was not there during the storm, so we knew there would be discovery sometime soon. And at 10pm, it happened. I had debated earlier in the night whether I would confront my neighbor tonight or at some other time. I couldn’t help myself, so when he returned home, I was outside within seconds.

He seemed remorseful, but lied to me saying that he had only been aware of the problem for 2 1/2 weeks. Apparently, he and his wife must not talk since on Sunday February 25th, his wife planted new flowers and both Suzanne and I saw her approach and examine the broken fence. Further, they’ve been propping the thing up for over 3 weeks now.

I’m not sure how this is going to end, but I’m sure it won’t end with us all having dinner together. Suzanne and I always strive to be good neighbors and that’s all we want in return. Unfortunately, not every set of neighbors feels the same way. We’ll see what happens next. Hopefully, they’ll fix the fence and give us some consideration for the damage they’ve done.

I’m still mourning the narrow loss to Memphis last night — a one point loss where the Aggies looked like they were in a great position to win the game. So while I puzzle on the free throw and foul disparity from that game (10 FTs for the Aggies, 21 FTs for the Tigers), let me take time to celebrate the season.

Wow! What an entertaining season! I cannot remember a college basketball season that was more fun to watch than this one. Obviously, its much more fun when you have a competitive team to cheer for. I am so proud of our program for putting Texas A&M in the mix as a basketball school. So many wonderful firsts this year; beating Kansas in Kansas, winning at OSU, beating Texas (never gets old), and staying in the Top 10 nearly all year.
I wish our seniors Acie Law and Antanas Kavaliauskas good luck in the draft and it will be fun watching them in the NBA. Whoever gets Acie will be especially lucky — I rest so easy when he has the ball. Nevermind the blown layup last night, his body of work is already established.

And now the point of real concern. The Kentucky job is now open. Now they really are a basketball school. And Billy just demonstrated in Rupp Arena what kind of coach he is. He is sure to be on the short list for that job. All I can hope is that he wants to see the A&M program through. I’m sure he’ll get whatever money he’s looking for from either school, so it will probably be up to him to decide where he’d like to win a championship. Unfortunately, his chances may be better in Kentucky because its easy to recruit there. But we’ll see. If he does go, I’ll take solace in the fact that he’s demonstrated that you really can win at Texas A&M and that this is a coveted job.

Sure was nice to put the “whoop in hoop” this year…

Penn.

Louisville.

Watching the NCAA Tournament when you are a die-hard Aggie fan is like having an ice cream headache.  You look forward to the games, you crave them, but then when its crunch-time, your head aches till its over.  But this season, the pain has been worth it.

The Aggies now stand at 27-6 and are in the Sweet Sixteen in the tournament which resumes in San Antonio this coming weekend.  San Antonio should provide them a home court advantage and they will certainly need it with possible foes like Memphis and Ohio State still alive in their region.

Today’s game was so intense.  Every possession mattered.  There were ties, there were lead changes, and there were momentum swings.  The largest lead was 6 by any team.  Both teams played excellent defense; both teams featured outstanding point guard play.  Free throws decided the game.

My advice for Billy Gillispie is to double up on the free throw shooting time this week in preparation for the game.  They were 55% against Penn and 74% against Louisville.  For the season, they are 71%, but I think they need to step it up to give themselves a chance to win.  Let’s face it, all these games are going to be close.  Every game A&M plays is close.  Aside from the “blowout” by LSU (lost by 12), the rest of their losses are by 3 (once), 2 (three times), and 1 (once).  So basically, they are always in the game and a point here and there matters greatly.

Game Balls:

Acie Law:  My mind is never so at ease as when he has the ball.  This goes double against a pressing team.

Dominique Kirk:  Huge shots from a guy known for his defense.  Maybe we need to give him credit for not being one-dimensional.

Marlon Pompey:  For driving the lane and getting the Louisiville frontcourt into foul trouble and more importantly, making free throws at a critical point in the game.

So on we go and here’s hoping I get to write another entry after next weekend anticipating the Final Four!