Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Little bit of chaos last night when the bridge on 280 at Runaway Bay was shut down for flooding. But how about the directness of the Runaway Bay FD's message: "CONFIRMED: TxDOT will be closing Hwy 380 at the Lake Bridgeport bridge. Please do not call the Sheriff's dept to ask questions. If we get word on whether they are going to open it back up or not, we will try to keep everyone informed." TxDot's website says that it is expected to open at 4:00 p.m. today but I'd take that with a grain of salt. 
• That horrible story of the family in Wimberley whose cabin was picked up by flood waters has a fact in it which is hard to believe: The surviving man was found alive 12 miles downstream. Most stories say the cabin was carried by flood waters for "miles" before it crashed into a bridge and everyone went in the water. I'd like to know how far he went after going into the water. Surviving for long in rapid flood waters would be hard to do.
• Another project over the weekend: My old gas stovetop started "clicking" about every five minutes even though the burners were off. As a result, I now have learned more about how a gas burner works than I ever wanted to.  I think I've got it diagnosed but my temporary work around involves using an extension cord to cut the power to it when not in use. That's the equivalent of fixing things with duct tape. 
• Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was indicted Friday for lying about hush money that he spent to keep a seedy affair private.  That led to this from the Washington Post: "If I understand the history correctly, in the late 1990s, the President was impeached for lying about a sexual affair by a House of Representatives led by a man who was also then hiding a sexual affair, who was supposed to be replaced by another Congressman who stepped down when forced to reveal that he too was having a sexual affair, which led to the election of a new Speaker of the House who now has been indicted for lying about payments covering up his sexual contact with a boy."
• I made a trip to Home Depot but before I did I downloaded the company's app. Greatest development ever: Look up a product and it will tell you what aisle it is on for the specific store you are in. 
• New Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton is on fire but I expect he'll have some mental meltdown in the next few months. But in the meantime, the Angels have to have Slumped Shoulders as they are on the hook for $63 million of his salary over the next three years. 
• I managed to drive five miles after accidentally leaving a hack saw on the trunk of my car. And it didn't budge an inch. 
• A long read that I have saved: Wired's "The Untold Story of Silk Road".  And it becomes even more fascinating with the news that the "creator" of a deep Internet site responsible for peddling drugs and perhaps murder for hire any maybe more was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday.