tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56627585818455310142011-11-27T16:25:06.596-08:00My thoughts, stories, and pics.dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-23734086145437170202010-01-15T14:43:00.001-08:002010-01-15T14:43:45.691-08:00

Unemployment is an epidemic. Seems everyone knows someone without a job. Without a job because their company felt the need to tighten their belts. Because their company felt like they needed to make more profit. At one time companies would make less profit for a time in order to do the right thing and take care of their employees. That time is over. I found my self on the business end of a

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-69665434224068832812009-10-02T12:32:00.000-07:002009-10-02T12:32:28.555-07:00

At one time Budweiser made one beer. Budweiser. That was it. Then in the 70s Miller introduced Miller Lite to the world and Budweiser countered with one of the best selling beers in the country, Bud Light. In the past 10 years, Budweiser has tried to branch out, diversify it's offerings. There was Bud Ice (cheaper Budweiser), World Beer (a Heineken ripoff), even an energy drink, B2E (truly

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-66258498017810839482009-06-30T11:12:00.000-07:002009-06-30T11:56:08.347-07:00

Summer in Houston is hot. I know this is a news flash to you. But this Summer has been incredibly hot. We have had the least amount of rain for a 60-day period in the history of the city. That means it is historically hot and dry here. It feels it too. Temperatures of 103+ are the norm lately. My neighborhood has started mandatory water rationing. The only problem is they haven't told

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-58188007109671886432009-06-26T05:12:00.000-07:002009-06-26T05:13:19.149-07:00

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d810f3527/32-in-32-Houston-Texans

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-2526667675761402232009-05-26T06:55:00.000-07:002009-05-26T18:06:24.831-07:00

Remember the Denise Austin and Kiana Tom shows on TV? Remember the Jane Fonda Workout? Well, now the Wii has ushered in a new era of home workouts. It started with Wii fit last year. A program that allowed the user to do workouts with a new board peripheral. Now it seems there will be atleast 6 workout programs on store shelves this year for the Wii. The biggest release is EASports

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-88296127923218610842009-05-25T08:16:00.001-07:002009-05-25T08:27:39.447-07:00

I have been thinking about what to do with this blog for awhile. First thing is I really hated the hosting and blogging software I was using. It was so basic and such a chore just to get to the writing part that it made writing a pain. I had thought of going to Squarespace, but while it offered some nice and easy controls, getting to the writing part again was a pain. It actually has too many

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-12996921173503635672009-03-09T12:12:00.000-07:002009-03-09T12:13:53.537-07:00

I have gotten a few e-mails from people around the country asking how I am doing and how it was to go through Hurricane Ike.  First of all I guess I should write about the day of the storm.  I had the day off as my office was closed.  I went to the grocery store and bought alot of canned foods, snacks, bottled water, dog food, etc.  Not much, the bill was under 30 bucks.  I sat at home looking at

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-50644741747755917162009-03-09T11:57:00.000-07:002009-03-09T12:09:07.640-07:00

Remember all that playoff talk before the season?  Remember when even coach Kubiak talked about the playoffs and how that was the goal this year?  Well, that seems long, long ago, doesn't it?  2 games into the season and the only bright spot we have is rookie Steve Slatonwho ran for 100+ yards in the latest defeat against the Tennesee Titans.  Nothing else has looked good so far this season.  The

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-2167745261546605492009-03-09T11:55:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:56:30.283-07:00

I have just got to some power and able to write.  I am fine, the house is fine, Petey is fine.  Everyone in my family made it through it unscarred.  The night of the storm may have been the most nervous I have been.  I hesitate to use the word "scared".  I thought my house would withstand the winds, but I was really nervous something would hit the windows and break them.  Around 4:30AM the winds

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-47464188933118208682009-03-09T11:52:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:53:36.109-07:00

So the Rockets made a splash yesterday by making a trade for Ron Artest.  Rockets gave up over-the-hill PG Bobby Jackson, a 1st round pick next year and the rookie Donte Greene.  Everyone is totally giddy about it, predicting championships, saying the Rockets are in the upper tier of the Western Conference, etc.  Now this is a team that has not gotten out of the first round for 6 years straight.

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-85224934311192844612009-03-09T11:48:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:49:28.396-07:00

First of all I finally have pics up of the completed home.  You can go here to see them:  http://picasaweb.google.com/derrick.hanna/CompletedHouse.  You can see the kitchen, family room, and master bath.  The rest of the house is not fit for photography as of yet.  Boxes everwhere!!!  Check out that cool ceiling fan I put up.Secondly, moving into a house means spending alot of money.  Now I could

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-28723489962955013682009-03-09T11:40:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:43:28.410-07:00

I know I haven't written much about the house lately.  I started to get extremely frustrated with how long things were taking.  I felt like I didn't see the sense of urgency that I should have seen from my salesman and my construction manager.  So I made a deadline, dictating when the house needed to be finished or I was backing out.  Well, that worked because I had never seen that many crews in

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-15099773975809541202009-03-09T11:32:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:38:35.841-07:00

Other than obsessing about the house, I have been going back and forth about Texans season tickets for next season.  The team finally has gone 8-8, looks like the team could be pretty good next year and I am thinking of backing out of the season tickets?  Am I crazy?  Maybe but let me explain myself.  I am starting to get tired of getting up early and walking up the ramp and then driving all the

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-56673199274565782232009-03-09T11:28:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:31:00.057-07:00

This week alot of work was done on the house.  Countertops were installed, AC vents installs, AC unit installed, sinks put in, tile and backsplash put in as well.  That is alot of activity for one week and the week is not over.  But as I think about how long this process has been going on, I am getting a bit frustrated.  Maybe I am expecting to see the house worked on 7 days a week and 24 hours a

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-29540618156191502022009-03-09T11:21:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:28:29.177-07:00

I used to get sick maybe once a year.  That was when I had my first apartment (that I lived in for 5 years) and was so broke I couldn't go out much and be exposed to wild germs!!  Now my sick quotient is up to about 4 times a year.  Well, I didn't waste any time getting sick in 2008.  I got this cold/flu or whatever that is just nagging me.  Myself and a woman on my team have it pretty fierce

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-25495976464765468342009-03-09T11:20:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:21:23.775-07:00

This is the 3rd part of my saga.  It is about the 2nd most frustrating part of the entire process.  I have heard that closing is the most frustrating part, and seeing how I am not getting ANY communication from them even when I attempt to talk to the loan people, I believe them.  The issue is that you make the decision to put yourself in debt, you get excited about the prospect of living in your

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-91057669449929089712009-03-09T11:18:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:19:25.853-07:00

So I have decided what home I wanted.  The floorplan was large enough for all my stuff, with plenty of room for me to acquire new things.  The floorplan is a really open concept.  At this point, I checked out my credit report.  You want to look and see what the loan company will see before you are asked about it.  Also if there are any errors, you want to clear them up.  I met a sales guy at the

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-53552857783639293632009-03-09T11:16:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:18:01.799-07:00

Some of you may have noticed some interesting pictures over on the left side of my page.  Some pictures of house construction.  Well, I am building a home up in Spring, Texas.  I know a few people thinking about taking the plunge into homeownership, so I thought putting the steps on how I got to this moment might be beneficial.  Actually when I was trying to decide if I would buy or build or

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-48708244675058556412009-03-09T11:14:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:15:52.378-07:00

We use the phrase 'Worst Case Scenario' to refer to a possibility that remote at best, but you should be aware of just in case.  Like the directions flight attendants give us before a flight, "The chances are that it will never happen, but just in case we crash into an ocean on a flight from Houston to Dallas, this is what to do."  Sometimes those Worst Case Scenarios do happen.  Like in the

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-87678286588034131902009-03-09T11:05:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:07:02.591-07:00

Texans scored a franchise-record 29 points in the fourth quarter and had 4 passing TDs.  So that is the recipe for a big win, right?  Well, not when you turn the ball over 6 times on the day.  That is exactly what the team did.  In addition to all that, Matt Schaub was knocked out of the game twice Sunday.  After the game the health of the QB is the least of our problems.  The big question has to

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-11159237194990274682009-03-09T10:59:00.000-07:002009-03-09T11:01:22.124-07:00

After possibly one of the most un-impressive wins I have ever seen over the Dolphins, the Texans go on the road to take on the Jaguars.  The first of the only two true rivalry games the Texans have each year.  The Texans couldn't get any rushing offense going at all against the Dolphins, the defense was terrible, but luckily we had Kris Brown who was Mr. Hyde this week and hit 5 FGs.  I know many

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-34239074617647823262009-03-09T10:56:00.000-07:002009-03-09T10:58:37.050-07:00

Who would have thought that the Texans would be in a position to have a must-win in week 5.  But the way things are going, a loss thos week would put the team a 2-3, three losses in a row, just like old times and people not going to games again.  Not that the team is bad, just injuries have hurt the team big time.  IF we had a healthy team, we would be 5-0, 4-1 at the worst.  But that isn't

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-8451113803051986932009-03-09T10:54:00.000-07:002009-03-09T10:55:44.942-07:00

I had marked the Colts game a loss on my fabled, "Road to 10-6", so my mindset was hoping the team didn't get embarrassed and give everyone a wake up call.  Well, the Texans loss, but showed everyone in the stadium that these are not the same old Texans.  The game started out with # 13, Mathis running the opening kickoff back for a TD.  The stadium was as loud as I had ever heard it.  Then the

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-6800464061068054772009-03-09T10:51:00.000-07:002009-03-09T10:54:02.232-07:00

  Texans demolished the Panthers in a game that was not as close as the final score, 34-21, indicates.  The game sounded an alarm that the Texans have finally arrived.  It also sounds the alarm that the bandwagoners have jumped on with full force.  The game started out about as bad as it could have.  Texans down 14-0 before you knew it.  Then, the Texans decided to stop playing around and scored

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-9020228540877578632009-03-09T10:48:00.000-07:002009-03-09T10:51:07.948-07:00

When the schedule was released, I stood in a friend’s garage and proclaimed the Texans would go 10-6 in the 2007-2008 schedule.  Free Agency hadn’t been completed, trades hadn’t happened, training camp wasn’t even a thought at the time.  After week one, my optimism was rewarded.  The Texans blew out the Chiefs, 20-3.  A defensive TD by Mario Williams and a 70+ yard TD from Schaub to Johnson

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-66559908378363861872007-05-23T12:20:00.000-07:002007-05-23T12:22:19.272-07:00

You have seen the commercials. A couple on the screen, the man is complaining of a headache and hangover and asking his wife how she is feeling so good even though she drank more than him. She tells him she took Chaser so she is just fine. I often wondered why she didn't give him some too, but that probably would cut into the effectiveness of the commercial. Maybe they met at the party and

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5662758581845531014.post-56693212512558800522007-01-02T09:16:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:03:05.848-08:00

2006 was a crazy year. I started the year in a friend's garage, among friends, drinking and drinking, listening to some CDs I made. I was living in a overpriced apartment that I really didn't like. I had just broken up with a girl who I ended up living with later in 2006. I was working, yet constantly broke and not really happy at all. Throughout the year, I lived under 4 roofs. The

dskillzhtownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07241653479547969046noreply@blogger.com0