Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Yep, www.wisecounty.com is down. I'm trying to get an answer from the website hosting company which is beyond frustrating. This loss of service happened about ten years ago, and it finally got fixed after four days. It happened to the Messenger site once because of the ineptitude of their web site hosting company, too, which I think they booted.  It's amazing that there isn't some type of redunancy/backup for websites in this day and time. (Side note: WiseCounty.com is hosted by Verio. Horrible hosting site. So sad. I've got my business website on GoDaddy which has been amazingly flawless and easy. I'll try to move wisecounty.com there if I can figure out how to. Yep, I'm mad.)
• Edit: Problem will be resolved in 24 to 48 hours. GoDaddy, here I come. 
• A new word I heard from the weathermen over the weekend during the heavy rains: "Ponding." You know, that actually makes sense.
• Why are deputies with the Wise County Sheriff's Office doing traffic enforcement? 
• And do DPS trooper cars now have license plate readers? Based upon the last few DVD's I've looked at, I'm beginning to think that is true. 
• Pudge Rodriguez made the Hall of Fame. During his rookie year in the Spring, I was out in the outfield stands at the old Arlington Stadium with Pudge behind the plate and Nolan Ryan pitching. Early in the game, Pudge took the pitch and fired it off to first base where a runner was lollygagging off base. He didn't throw him out but it was a rocket. The murmurs in the crowd of "What did we just see?" remain to me with this day. Edit: Someone pointed out that his rookie year began on June 20th. I know it was a night game, and I know it was "cool" but not cold. 
• The other memory about that night was that the partners in the law firm I was with took me and my young buddy co-workers to the game. One of the partners' wives (probably in her thirties and a little high tone) told us that she was going to the Fort Worth City Council meeting the next day to express her displeasure with the way the city's dog pound was being run and the treatment of the animals. My co-worker and buddy (Robert Wagstaff now in Abilene) looked at her and asked in a comedic fashion, "You gonna wear that fur jacket you got on?" Thankfully she laughed or we would all have been fired.
• You guys understand that a school vouchers program means that your tax dollars can go to a private school which can have an ideology and curriculum that you disagree with and there's nothing you can do about it?
• George P. Bush is using H.W.'s hospitalization as an excuse not to attend Trump's inauguration. W is still going (which I find amazing.)
• Rick Perry is going to get roasted today during his confirmation hearing for the head of the Department of Energy. A department he wanted to eliminate, couldn't remember the name of during a debate and, as the New York Times reported, had no idea is responsible for the maintenance and care of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. God help us. 
  
• Edit: A faithful reader called me and said the guy on the left looks familiar. Any idea? 
• Haven't the most recent heads of the Department of Energy been nuclear physicists or am I wrong about that? 
• If you want comedy, look and see how the Internet had fun with this: 
  
• I watched Tucker Carlson on Fox News in his new time slot for the first time last night. That guy is horrible, gets destroyed by his guests (even Lindsey Graham outsmarted him last night), and he fake laughs when he gets boxed in. Fox News should have seen that coming ever since the writer for Teen Vouge put him in his place a few weeks back. 
• Tony Orlando will perform for Trump! (Dawn could not be reached for comment.)
• From the Update: Wise County commissioners Tuesday approved a reserve constable pilot program for Precinct 4 at the request of Constable Kevin Huffman. 'When I’m doing evictions and writs, it’s nice to have someone to back you up,' he said. '[P]eople tend to get a little irate. If you’re by yourself, that’s not a good situation to be in.” Serious question: How many evictions do constables do?