Milestones

These days, it seems that I am witnessing a constant procession past the big, bold milestone with the number "30" on it (For now, I witness it from afar). The latest is my friend and brother Tommy Pyles.

When I was nine, waiting for soccer practice in the front yard and surrounded by a band of neighborhood kids riding around me with their bikes, Tommy was the one who ran in like an ape[censored] banshee and ran them off. We played basketball in my driveway on Darryl Drive almost every day for most of grade school, and are probably even at about 1000 wins apiece. When I was unjustly suspended for a UIL Tournament by Ms. Lockhart for hiding on the bus, Tommy mouthed off at her until he was suspended too. I won State in Number Sense my Junior Year, which paid for most of my Civil Engineering degree from Texas, but would not have done so if Tommy had not carried me there. As fellow Longhorn fans, we've suffered through the Mackovic years, the Simms-Applewhite saga and the 5 Long Years of Domination by OU, and screamed like mad when Vince made it all worth it in the Rose Bowl. Between us, we've made enough inappropriate comments to make Don Imus look like Paul Harvey, and are annually the toast of whatever section of DKR Texas Memorial Stadium we view football games from (Next year - the return to the Student Section!). I'm proud to call him my friend and brother, even at his advanced age...

Tommy's not the only one with a milestone happening right now. My good friend Jeff Turner is graduating from UT with a Doctoral Degree in Pharmacy, after a mere 12 years of college education. Counting grade school, Jeff is finishing up a quarter century in the American educational system, and after five universities, three degrees and approximately 1 million barbs from his friends, it's high time he entered the working world. If Jeff is as successful a pharmacist as he was a student, I think he'll do fine...



Finally, Jacob Riesser, my cousin from Jersey (left in photo above) is graduating from high school, and for his senior project, he has come to Texas to work alongside me at LCRA for a couple of weeks. He's really bright and a sweet kid, and can't stop talking about how much he loves cars. He loves them so much that this fall he will be attending Kettering University in Flint, Michigan to learn how to design and build them. I hope y'all get a chance to meet him while he's here...

That's all for now...