Texas Chinese Food?

Today I went to a chinese fast food restaurant. It is called "Magic China". The food was pretty good, and plentiful, but let me give you a taste of the experience. As I enter the small two-room restaurant, the walls are a rough, unfinished wood paneling, the type you would expect to see in a novelty store selling country wares. A mid-aged brunette comes up and asks warmly, "What da y'all want ta drink?" We each place our orders, each deciding on our choice of soup. Mom orders the Hot & Sour soup, Daniel the Egg Drop, and I get Wonton soup. The waitress exclaims, "Well ain't tha' niice! Y'all are all different!" She also calls me "honey". I notice the menu has the slogan Chinese food served the American Way.

Now so far this experience would give you a decent idea of where I am. Certainly not in a big city, and probably in the South. But the next thing that happens made it clear to me that there was no mistaking where I was. Along with our soups, the waitress brings out a bowl and sets it in the middle of the table. It is filled with fried wonton noodles. Now this might not ring any alarm bells for those of you who are not familiar with Texas, so allow me to enlighten you.

Texas is filled with a litany of Tex-Mex restaurants. In East Texas, where my family lives, there are probably more Tex-Mex restaurants than Barbeque places, more than burger joints, more than Ice Creameries or pizza shops, more than Catfish huts or flapjack palaces, probably even more than McDonald's. The one thing that all Tex-Mex places have in common is that chips and salsa are complimentary. Half of the time you get full just by eating tortilla chips.

So when the fried wontons come out and I see the starchy, fried crispy appetizer, I definitely know where I am. Not to mention the table next to us asked the waitress politely, "Do you know where our chips are?"

Clipping Hair and Vines

We went to a Rangers game last Saturday, and the weather was beautiful; mid 80's with a breeze. This did not seem to do the trick for the Rangers, however and they lost without much of a fight. The stadium is really nice, although the scoreboards are a lot easier to read at PNC Park. Thankfully the Rangers have been doing better and actually swept the Red Sox last night! Pretty awesome.

I got a haircut yesterday, so my neck is feeling cooler, whew! I love the heat down here, but it's nice to have shorter hair. I would try to put a picture up, but my computer is getting fixed (one of the hinges is falling apart). The fact that it is getting fixed is somewhat hampering my job search, but I'm working on trying to make the best use of my time so that I'm getting some things done. I keep hearing of more firms that sound interesting! I'm praying that I find the right fit for me.

I'm also helping my mom with some work in the backyard. We still have those big bee-like insects, and they don't seem to have gone away. Today I helped pull some Wisteria vines off of the trees in our backyard. They are everywhere! Mom spent hours pulling them off of our fence, and she only got about 15 feet cleared off.

Attack of the Killer Insects

My mom has a large garden in our backyard and since I've spent some time in it helping, I can't help but notice the gigantic insects! In Pittsburgh I hardly ever remember more bugs than some flies and a few many legged thingys. All the bugs here are twice the size, and there are five times as many flying and crawling around. See my picture of a dragonfly in our yard.

On one side of our house we are being attacked by these large bee-looking insects, except they are about twice the size. And they don't live in hives, they burrow in the ground and make these large piles of dirt where they've burrowed. I don't think they sting people, but they buzz right by you if they can. So if everything is bigger in Texas, let's just say that doesn't always make it better!

On an unrelated note, my car seems to be working fine. I do have to pay insurance, but it definitely seems like a good move and not too expensive. I will say, however, that leather seats are not a good idea in Texas!

What you can get for $5

Today I bought a car for $5! This is not only momentous due to the price, but also because it's the first car I've ever owned. The very, very few of you who have witnessed my driving abilities might be a little scared, but I promise that I will be able to drive just fine, more or less... anyways, it's a strange thing for me. But in Texas you really can't get anywhere without a car. I'm hoping wherever I end up in Dallas/Fort Worth I'll be able to get around some places without a car, but I know that's pretty optimistic.

It's a red '97 Honda Accord. Apparently it's running in decent condition, but is very old, so I'll be using it for only as long as it lasts (note how I'm crossing my fingers). I haven't actually driven it yet, but the people who sold it to me are friends of my parents. Any forthcoming funny/scary stories I will try to write down for your entertainment!

Sorry for the Gap

So as it turns out, it's easy to lose track of time when you're unemployed and enjoying home, and also don't have immediate internet access. I did make it home to lovely Texas, and have enjoyed several days in the beautiful Texas weather (which had a high of 102°F on the 2nd). Today we got a new wireless internet, so I am able to be online on my laptop, woohoo!

I had a lot of fun over the 4th of July. My sister Sarah and her husband Nick came in with my nephew Toby, and we had a good time. Nick loves playing Settlers of Catan (it's a board game for those who are scratching their heads), so we played four games that weekend. I regret to say I only won once (even though I was on some good ports during the other games, and I really thought I had a good chance!).

For the traditional 4th fireworks show, my town has quite a nifty setup. Instead of just letting anyone see the fireworks up close, they charge $200 a car for people to sit in a parking lot. Instead we parked in another parking lot for free. Much more economical, even if they're a little farther away. But what made the experience so great was the atmosphere. I don't know what fireworks shows are like in other states, but let's just say that in some of the more obscure parts of Texas, fireworks are choreographed to music. So should I have been surprised when the twangy country songs melodically intoned with the rockets red blare? I don't think so. Added in with the country songs were several military themes for the different branches, all finally topped off with the most emotional song of all with that line And I'm Proud to be an American, which might have made some people cry. The picture above is me wearing a patriotic red, white and blue hat.

Getting back to the present, I've spent most of this week just getting situated back in my home here in Longview. The last couple of days I've driven my parents' car a little just to get more adjusted to driving since I never really had a lot of experience. Also lots of laundry and helping my parents with things around their house, etc.

So I hope this fills you in a little bit. I'll be posting more often now that I have the connection. In fact I know that tomorrow I will be posting something that should be pretty fun news. So look forward to it. See y'all later!