End of Silence

I botched it last week and forgot to plug the KUT Holiday Sing-a-long. We went last year and it was a lot of fun. This year was good too, although the warm temperatures made it a little harder to get into the spirit. It was either that or the cranky screaming toddler we brought with us.

It probably doesn’t need any plugging, but Trail of Lights begins Sunday and runs until December 23rd. Last year was the first year that we missed since having kids. I’ll let you in on a little family secret. We generally avoid the long traffic lines by parking on one of the side streets by Green Mesquite, having dinner there around 6, and then walking to Zilker. It makes for a bit of trek on the way back, but I’d rather be walking than sitting in the car, especially in this weather. (For those that read this more than a week from now, it’s supposed to be 76 and sunny on Sunday. Not that I’m rubbing it in or anything.)

The wettest November on record and I decide to get a new roof and replace some water damaged siding and eaves on my house.

Between this month and May/June of this year, we’re on track to have one of the wettest years ever. Check out this flood history while you’re waiting for the rain to stop. If the meteorologists are right, today is the last of it for a while.

I grabbed this from the National Weather Service:

National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio, TX
2:58 am CST TUE NOV 23 2004

Record monthly rainfall set at Austin/Camp Mabry.

So far this month, 12.99 inches have fallen. This makes November 2004 the wettest November on record. The previous wettest November was back in 2001 when 10.00 inches fell.

So far this year, 50.83 inches have fallen. This currently makes 2004 the 8th wettest year on record. The all-time wettest year is 1919 when 64.68 inches fell.

The wettest years ahead of 2004 follow:

1. 64.68 – 1919
2. 53.99 – 1900
3. 52.21 – 1991
4. 51.97 – 1888
5. 51.73 – 1921
6. 51.30 – 1957
7. 51.24 – 1923

These totals will increase today. Possibly increasing the rank of 2004.

I’ve been here long enough to remember the December, 1991 floods, but the rest are a little too far back for me.

Two different businesses charged with caring for Austin youth have gone out of business this year under shady circumstances. Both times, those businesses were run by Dolores Hillyer. First, there was the Texas Academy of Excellence, a charter school whose biggest claim to fame is that it’s the first one in Texas to file for bankruptcy. Now, there’s the Capital City Creative School-Capitol Complex, a daycare for state workers which shut down abruptly last week.

As a parent who has one child in daycare and another in a charter school, this pattern concerns me. We’re trusting that the people running those businesses have the best interests of our children and our families at heart and we’re trusting that they are competent enough to run their business. I don’t know how this woman keeps getting in a position of trust with the track record that she’s had over the past year (and even before that according to the Statesman story on the charter school). Since she already had control of the daycare when the charter school shenanigans came to light, I can understand how this might have been missed until now. I wonder if any parents at the daycare had suspicions once the charter school story broke earlier this year?

Bottom line: If you’re a parent in Austin, you’d do well to check out who’s running your daycare or charter school. If you hear the name Dolores Hillyer, run. Run very far away.

There’s a lot of creative mapmaking going on around the blogosphere today. There are shades of purple maps and maps creating new countries called Progressivia or Jesusland. Thommy Saraceno from the Boston Metblog posted a map from the Boston Globe breaking down the popular vote in the presidential election by county. I just wanted to point out something to everyone outside of Texas (especially you international readers) who are likely to take this week’s decision as an endorsement of the policies of the last four years. Take a look at that map. See that little blue spot sort of in the middle of Texas? That’s us. We’re surrounded and I don’t know how much longer we can hold out. Send us your pr0n, latt

David Rees of Get Your War On and My New Filing/Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable will be at the Alamo Village on Saturday at 4pm.

I’ve got a prior engagement, but I’m really trying to get there because his stuff is snort-coffee-out-of-your-nose funny.