you can't trust anything named Ike.

i have no idea what that means. it's probably true.

this day has been ridiculous.

the first story i won't be elaborating on is that i got in "fights" with two coworkers this week. one of which was today. they're not FIGHTS. i've just decided not to be a pushover anymore. so that's how i started this evening.

then i went to this thing with all these people, and had the most painfully awkward encounter with another human being that i have ever experienced in my LIFE. this is something you'd watch on tv and laugh at because of how unreal it was, but it was REAL, and it happened to ME. and it's over. and i lived through it.

then i called my parents, and my mom informed me that my dad FELL OFF THE ROOF a whopping TWO WEEKS AGO and nearly killed himself for real. he does a lot of work around the house. fixing it up. he's really quite amazing. i have no idea where he got these skills. he's a pharmacist! but he builds all kinds of things, and fixes all kinds of things, and even throws some creative flair into it. he put down this stone patio in place of the deck that used to be there, and its beautiful. anyway. he was fixing something, and fell off the roof. and they didn't call to tell me. now i know how they feel, because i never call them about stuff either.

side note: my parents are now old enough for me to worry about them constantly. hurricane ike factors into that. i will get to that in a moment. i had no idea i had to worry about my dad falling off roofs, but here we are. this ike character is going to blow their yard in every direction, so they'll have to pick up stuff tomorrow, and my dad is sore from falling off a roof. so i told him to call his friends and ask for help, because he's hurt. and he said "well mike had a heart attack this summer, so i can't ask him." um, OK. close family friend. had a heart attack. no one told me. my parents, and their friends, are now a constant source of worry for me. they're old, man. it's that phase of life. the kids now take care of the elders. freaky.

anyway, hurricane ike. for those of you who don't know or have forgotten, my parents live in houston. hurricane weather is very common. i grew up with it. nothing terribly severe ever blew through houston. hurricanes, yes. tropical storms, all the time. it rained. the wind blew. no big deal. and every time that happened, my parents would remind us that in 1983 there was hurricane alicia. the worst hurricane they'd ever seen. my mom was pregnant with me, holler. anyway, they've compared every major storm to alicia. by the way, i'm 24. thought i'd save you a little trouble doing the math. well my dad just informed me on the phone tonight that ike is alica's twin brother. same category. same wind mileageperhourage. same direction. it's landing in the same place.

a visual aid:

here is alicia. the legend.



and here is ike.



so, if you read this before 2am when it's supposed to be blowing through, pray for them. there are some tall trees in the yard.

awww. look at that little outline of texas. that's such a great shape. texas has the best shape.