So, Rule #1 - don’t forget your laptop’s power supply.

• This year, I smoked a turkey to take to Dallas. By all reports, it turned out just fine. It tasted OK to me, but not as good as my brined and roasted turkey. So, since my kid had an extra turkey in the freezer, next weekend, I plan to brine and smoke it, and see if it comes out better.
• If I-35 is the Texas Backbone, and it might as well be, then Austin is the Texas Checkpoint. I’ve come to detest that city simply because getting through it is a nightmare.
• Anyone who bitches about radio station variety deserves a pimp-slap. I have this little dealio for my truck that broadcasts my iPod into my radio on an FM station. It’s great, except finding a blank space on the dial is next to impossible, and when you do, it doesn’t last 50 miles. So, while the rest of the nation may be suffering from a lack of free terrestrial radio, Texas ain’t. Now it might not be playing your favorite indie emo bands from down at your local, but there’s plenty of people making something work somewhere.
• The Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan buyer-driver have taken over top spot in my Most Loathed Pickup Drivers (a spot held for many years by Chevy Silverado & Z71 drivers.) You’d think with all that damn chrome, they might go fast.
• It takes a mighty will to drive from San Antonio to Austin with a fresh-smoked turkey and a fresh-smoked ham in the cab of the truck without touching either. Even though they were both wrapped in foil, inside plastic containers, and in an ice-chest, it was torture.
• Lone Star 92.5 needs to be stripped of the name “Lone Star” when they play Traffic, followed by Asia, followed by Bob Seger, followed by the Rolling Stones, followed by Wilco. That last band is the only one that comes close to a Lone Star sensibility. Paying Willie Nelson to do your station IDs and sticking ZZ Top on your billboards is only the start, kiddies. You suck, sirs.
• The highways are full of dumbassery this weekend, so watch out for the podunk po-po out filling up their ticket books. If I saw one, I saw 200, and they inevitably cause more trouble than they could possibly be solving.

What am I most thankful for this year? That my grandson remembered me and called me Granddad when I came in the house on Thursday. Actually, it was more Guhduh, but you know, I know what I heard, heh heh. Only two more months till Nathan Jr. Jr. makes his debut, too.

Eep, two grandkids.