Iced Down

Here are a few more pictures from back east during the big ice storm...

Again, photo credits go to Natalie. However, the Photoshopping credits do not go to Natalie.


Crystal Hamilton gets the photo credit for this one (above).






My house took a pretty good hit from the storm, thanks to a large Oak tree. This is the ceiling of my living room.

The limb alone produced enough wood to load down an entire trailer with a few left overs.


Below is the damage to the porch.

Goober Tube

Our peanut board has made the news a couple times recently here in Lubbock and throughout the state. Granted, we usually like publicity when things are good - not when the negligence of one Georgia peanut plant causes a nation-wide salmonella outbreak.

Yesterday, we had two TV stations from Lubbock come to the office for interviews. Then this morning we did a live spot on Good Day Lubbock, a FOX 34 morning show.

Click here to watch. For some reason they had me help do one little tag at the end of the first story.

A story ran in the San Angelo newspaper based off of our press releases was positive. I also did an interview with the San Antonio Express-News today, so we're hoping that publicity is positive to our state's farmers.

Ice Ice, Baby

I'm not going to waste much time writing anything for this blog post. I think the pictures pretty much say it all. While I wasn't there for one of the worst ice storms to hit Northwest Arkansas in decades, I did feel the brunt of the front end of the storm here in West Texas that went on to hit Arkansas.

We left for Houston Monday night in 20 degree temperatures and freezing rain here in Lubbock, and arrived three hours later in H-town where temperatures were closer to 80 degrees. We never left the state. The next day in Houston, we saw temperatures fall 50 degrees in one day. Nuts. It's nuts I tell you! Ice fell in Lubbock, and they even closed Tech, which is a rare occasion. A plane even crashed the day after we flew out of town.


Apparently, the University of Arkansas hasn't held classes since Monday. They NEVER canceled classes when I was there...

However, when a region doesn't really have trees, it's hard for them to understand the full extent of what an ice storm can really do.


Especially, when a 100 year old oak tree falls on your house.

Yep, this is my house in the Grove. A limb went all the way through the roof into the living room. It is my understanding that my house suffered the worst damage in town. Awesome. If we're going to have an ice storm, we might as well do it up right. It will make a good story someday.


But, I would imagine my Arkansas readers aren't really concerned about what happened in Texas. I haven't been there to experience it first hand yet, but it looks like a bomb went off.



I should give the photo credits here to Natalie.



Stay tuned. More pictures to come...

Bronco Busting

Old 4x4 vehicles have always held a special place in my heart. I learned to drive a standard on a late 40s "Willy" model Jeep my Papa Wilford had. Not only would that thing go anywhere, but it was the perfect standard to learn on because of it's easy shifting pattern. (Natalie, not sure how you missed that boat.)

Scratches and flawed paint jobs don't really matter on these types of mobile fun units. Even a little rust in the floor board can be easily overlooked.

Dad bought a 70s CJ-5 model Jeep that was a limited edition Levi Strauss edition when I was in college. Or was I still in high school? Who really cares. It's neat and I still like to crank it up when I make a visit back east.

Fortunately, I run around with someone who enjoys a similar past time of driving around a set of wheels on dirt roads.

He recently brought his online purchased '72 model Bronco to Lubbock from Rotan to bring back to running speed. He's had it for several years, but the Bronco got moved to the end of the priority list over the past few years.



Getting to tinker with the Bronco is right up neighbor Albert's alley, so he's going to help get "her" running again once he heals up from an injury he somehow got from his yard.


After looking over the Bronco, Albert ran back across the street to his house, and re-emerged with a black and red Budweiser bottle that he claimed should be the Bronco's future color scheme.


I think that would fit nicely in Raiderland.

And to Natalie's defense, she is driving a standard rather nicely now in her and Colt's Jeep.

Peanut Butter Update

I got a call yesterday from a sweet, little old lady in San Angelo, Texas who wanted to make sure she could still eat her peanut butter from the jar. Our main message sent out about the salmonella outbreak has been that retail peanut butter, i.e., peanut butter in a jar, is still safe to eat. However, there has been a recall on a lot of the peanut butter crackers we all love to eat.

Last night I learned that Byron's roommate had bought several packages of peanut butter crackers days before the recall, because they were all on sale. I wonder if some guy at the grocery store had an insider?

It's interesting (and comforting) to see how Americans truly love their peanut butter. I've heard the statement a couple times that "they'd rather take the risk than not eat their peanut butter."

I guess that's their choice, but our hope is that the salmonella scare, while it should not be taken lightly, will not cause a huge dip in peanut butter by the jar sales. That not only causes problems with food manufacturers, but could later cause a surplus of peanuts on the market and drop prices even more than they've already fallen.

If you're not sure what products are on the recall list, go to the FDA's web site.

Go to the TPPB site to read our statements.

Continue Eating Peanut Butter, Please

I'm sure you all have read the headlines over the past couple of days that warn, "Do Not Eat Peanut Butter" or "Peanut Butter Recall" or "You Will Die a Slow Painful Death if You Eat Peanut Butter"...

Since my job is basically to promote peanuts and peanut butter, I'm going to tell you that you should keep eating peanut butter - out of the jar.

Yes, there has been a recall on peanut butter products that were used to make cracker snacks. However, peanut butter in jars on your grocer's shelf is very safe and nutritious to eat. In fact, you should all eat some every day, especially if you're Hispanic. It lowers your risk of diabetes, and Hispanics are about six times more likely to have diabetes.

I got this email from the American Peanut Council yesterday. I think it tells you what you need to know:

The FDA and the American Peanut Council are urging consumers to postpone eating products made with peanut butter pending information about which products contain ingredients produced by a plant in Blakely, Georgia. Products from that plant have been linked to salmonella contamination in Minnesota, Georgia and Connecticut. Retail peanut butter brands on grocery shelves are safe and need not be avoided. Consumers should visit www.fda.gov for a list of affected products in the days ahead.

This also gives me a chance to further preach on how the media tends to sensationalize the facts. Some people may argue, "You work for the peanut industry. Of course you're going to say it's O.K. to eat peanut butter."

My answer to them is, "Yes, I do work for the peanut industry, but we don't make a habit out of telling people to eat something that is going to destroy their intestines."

A headline like the one that was on MSNBC yesterday that read "Do Not Eat Peanut Butter" is ridiculous. No, you shouldn't eat the products that are being recalled, but to encourage everyone to give up peanut butter eating all together? It makes me want to buy an ad that says, "MSNBC Doesn't Wash Their Hands After Using the Bathroom" or "MSNBC Eats Roadkill".

No, I don't know if those statements are true for people that work at MSNBC, but they could be damaging to their reputation, just as their headline was to the peanut industry.

My main point here is don't always believe what you read in the headlines. There's always another story behind what's printed. My job used to be centered around writing news stories and headlines. Did they ever teach us in our college journalism classes to sensationalize the news? If they did, I must have been eating peanut butter or something inherently dangerous like that and didn't pick up on that bit of information.

New URL Name Thing

Hey team, I changed the URL of the blog to EssaysFromTexas.blogspot.com from the old lindsaymariewest.blogspot.com. If for some odd reason you had the old site bookmarked, be sure to update it to the new one. If you don't have it bookmarked, then that's fine, too.

If I made you mad by changing the URL then leave a nasty comment or something.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say Woo Pig Sooie in honor of the Hogs knocking off No. 7 Texas Tuesday night. Other than the fact that beating Texas is almost spiritual for me, it's also nice to finally have enthusiasm back in Arkansas basketball. It's about dadgum time.

Double Team

The bad part about loving a sports team is you set yourself up for very few highs and a lot of lows. When you're passionate about a team you're going to get your heart broken. I've been a Razorback fan all my life. When the Hogs went to the national championship in basketball in '94 I was eaten up stupid with Hog Wild pride. During March Madness that year, I would get so wrapped up in the games I would have to run outside and shoot free throws to help them win, which I'm sure really helped. I also remember wearing a Razorback cap in the bathtub the night they played for the national championship against Duke, because I thought I would jinx them if I took it off before game time. Hey, I was 11, give me a break.

Basketball was my bread and butter then. Now it's college football.

It's safe to say I will always be a Hog fan first and foremost. And, all Hog fans can agree, we've been through some ups and downs emotionally over the past couple of years. But we keep on keepin' on. Many fair weather fans have long since jumped ship, but the rest of us hold on in hopes of the team that will bring us back to glory.

Since I sought higher education at two universities (Arkansas and Texas Tech), I was faced with the struggle of whether or not to root for the latter. When I first started graduate school out here I went to several Red Raider football games. Yes, I was entertained by the "air raid" high powered offense that usually put 50 plus points on the board, but there was a part of me that just wouldn't allow myself to feel the passion I felt while calling the Hogs. I'd like to call it loyalty, others might call it stubbornness.

However, after re-immersing myself into Raiderland, I've taken on a 60-40 sports perspective: 60 percent of my heart calls the Hogs while the remaining 40 percent puts it's guns up. I do feel a loyalty to Tech since I went to school there, but my alma mater will always win out when it comes to my loyalty if the two schools play each other (which I pray never happens for relationship purposes - I can be very hard to tolerate when winning and losing and pride and bragging rights are on the line.)

Needless to say, being a Razorback fan was miserable during this year's football season. However, being a Red Raider fan was like a crazy roller coaster ride that got me through the season. It was kind of like having your cake and eating it, too, then having it completely taken away from you. The Hogs sucked, but Tech went undefeated through 11 games.

I was at the Texas game when Tech beat the then No. 1 Horns in Lubbock on a last second pass to the best receiver in college football. It was the most amazing sports moment I will likely ever witness in person...or on TV for that matter.


Lubbock was on fire with that same hype I remember from Fayetteville when the Hog basketball team was ripping up the nation, and I was feeling it, too. I think a few other Arkansas fans back home even put their guns up this season, because there wasn't anything better to do in Hog country.

Then Tech got their national championship hopes crushed after going into Norman, Okla., as the No. 2 team in the country - the highest rank in Tech history. The stupid Sooners took us to the trash can. Lubbock felt like someone had let the air out of the city the next day. That also kind of goes back to the whole West Texas football craziness that exists out here, too. The region's hopes and dreams rest on what happens on Friday and Saturday nights during football season.

Since Tech was one of three one-loss teams in the Big 12 South, we were thrown into a tooth and nail fight for a spot in the Big 12 championship. We didn't get in, but we got into the Cotton Bowl. The idea of Texas Tech getting no national respect is a whole other blog topic, but non-Red Raiders just don't like the idea of Texas Tech being in the national championship picture. They've never been there, so they need to stay out of it, apparently. Jerks.

So, on to the Cotton Bowl we went. I was there last year as a Hog fan and got my heart broken. Bad. We got thrashed my Missouri. Despite have a terrible New Years Eve, New Years Day 2008 was worse.



But this year I went as a Red Raider. We were to play Ole Miss, who is now coached by the Arkansas-loathed Houston Nutt, who did his best to destroy Arkansas football before he left. I couldn't decide what I wanted worse - Tech to win or Houston Nutt to lose. I realize those are the same thing, but they were actually tow different things in my head.

Apparently, I am terrible luck to any team I support when I attend their away games. I went to a Tech game in Austin a few years ago - lost that one. I went to the Cotton Bowl last year when the Hogs played there - lost that one, too. I went to see Arkansas play Texas in Austin this year - lost again. And, now this year's Cotton Bowl...

Unfortantely, we lost. I hate even typing those words: "We lost". It hurts me. And, I feel comfortable saying "we" when referring to Tech.

Tech's cinderella season came to a disappointing end at the last game ever to be played at the 73-year old Cotton Bowl in Dallas, which was a lot bigger this year than it was last year for some reason.

I hate losing, but I did get to throw a tortilla at kickoff - a time honored Texas Tech tradition that somewhat finally made me feel like a real Red Raider.

I am now content with me a double teamer. Does that make me a Red Hog? A Razor-raider? Or a Raider-back? At least the colors are similar. That makes things handy.