Here are some of my thoughts about the crisis on wall street, for what its worth:

• I can’t imagine what’s its like to have hundreds of thousands or even more wrapped up in the market right now, especially if I was a few years away from retirement, or retired and depending on the income.

• I can’t imagine what it’s like to show up to work knowing that your days are numbered.

• I would hate to see the country head into a depression similar to that of the ’20s and ’30s.

• I do find it fascinating to watch and learn.

• From a personal and somewhat selfish standpoint, I am very excited by the dip in the markets.  We don’t need the money for another 35-40 years and see this downturn as a great long-term opportunity.

Wish I had time to drive around and take pictures around Lubbock. A friend called me a minute ago while walking his dogs on the golf course. He said 5 or 6 holes were completely submerged including the greens. Here is a picture of an SUV that was obviously swept away at some point.

I’m not sure how many inches of rain we have had during the past few days, but I have never seen the streets as flooded as they were on my way home from work. Currently the city is filling 5,000 sandbags to be used throughout the town. Here are some pictures that I took with my Blackberry on my way home from work. The first picture shows a car in the middle of 98th street, a six lane road.

Graham Harrell threw for 536 yards in a 49-24 win over Eastern Washington last night. While it was a win, it wasn’t a very inspiring one. Tech had a record number of penalties (18 for a grand total of 169 yards) which made for a pretty sloppy game on both sides of the ball. It’s only the first game of the season and a win is a win, but we have plenty of room for improvement.

After years and years of school, Marcie finally landed the job she wanted.  It wasn’t until the night before her first day that I realized just how nervous she had become.

After spending the weekend in Midland, Marcie checked her e-mail back in Lubbock.  Turns out she had received a message informing her that she had to pick up an extra class for the semester.  I offered to take her out to grab a bite to eat, but she decided that she wanted to cook a meatloaf instead.  After 20 minutes or so of preparation I heard her shout a four letter word, with tears following soon thereafter.  Turns out the wax paper had busted in the middle as she was moving the meatloaf to another counter.  I know, it’s kind of funny, right?  But the tears kept coming, and it didn’t take me long to realize they weren’t over the meatloaf.

Wait, it gets better…or worse if you are Marcie.

Monday morning rolls around and once again I hear a four letter word shouted across the apartment.  She had dropped the pointed end of a clothes hanger on her foot.  I laughed (to myself this time).  She always seems to be dropping things, but apparently she does it alot more often when nervous.

Wait, it gets better…or worse if you are Marcie.

So whoever leaves the house first each morning usually makes a point to kiss and say bye to the other.  Turns out I had to leave first Monday morning so I headed down the hallway to the bathroom where I assumed she was messing with her hair.  No four letter words this time, just Marcie on her knees digging in the toilet (clean, thank God) for hair pins or whatever you call them.  I laughed, out loud.  Like you wouldn’t?

Of course her first day was fine, and her second day even better.  She wasn’t dropping things this morning, at least not that I was aware of, so I’m guessing everything is turning out just fine.  All in all, I couldn’t be prouder.