Before I say anything I want to make it clear that I am still a Red Raider through and through just as much as I am still a Buckeye through and through. I am however, embarassed about the 65-21 THUMPING the Red Raiders took last night. Sitting at a friends house watching the game I could not help but remember exactly how this feels.

While I was spending the majority of the last 3 weeks talking about how cool it would be at the second school to win a national title and a heisman trophy I forgot that with a loss I would still be in good company. Ohio State has made it to the last two national championships and imploded in my presence. While it made for fun vacation weekends it always sucked going home. This year I was asked repeatedly to come with friends to watch the game in Norman, Oklahoma. I declined because I had too much going on but maybe my subconscious was trying to protect me.

So instead here I am in company of myself and my fellow Red Raider fans watching a good team implode when it really mattered remembering New Orleans and Glendale. I guess it’s not that bad. At least I am in good company. At least there are still bowl games. Go Buckeyes and Go Red Raiders!

Those of you that know me well have heard me complain that its unbelievable how young people get married here in Texas. I also think marriage is more prevalent here in Texas. I have lived in Florida for 17 years, Ohio for 5 and Texas for 1.5 years. In the 1.5 years I have lived in Texas it seemed to me that more people were getting married here than anywhere else.

I decided to look it up. I wanted to see the marriage and divorce rate by state. Now, it is true Lubbock is a little different but I wanted to see the state average. What I found was the marriage rates per 1,000 people by state. In 2004, Nevada was the highest marriage rate with 62.4 per 1,000. OBVIOUSLY this is because of Vegas. In second place was Hawaii with 22.8 and this is of course because people go to Hawaii to get married.

So to compare the states I have lived in, Ohio has 6.6; Florida has 9.0; and Texas has 7.9 marriages per 1,000 people. The divorce rate is Ohio 3.6; Florida, 4.8; and Texas 3.6 per 1,000 people.

Here is some more statistics for you:

Under 20 years old: 27.6% of women get divorced, 11.7% of men.
20-24 years old, 36.6% of women get divorced, 38.8% of men get divorced.

So I have to ask, if you are in love, what is the rush? I am nowhere near the same person I was when I was 18. I am not the same person I was when I was 21. If you all are going to be together anyway why do you need to have the marriage? Why not wait until you are done with school and are settled in a life. Just does not make sense to me. the odds are certainly against you.

My adviser, Dr. Bradley received a book last year for a gift. The book was titled, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” I had never heard of it. It peaked my interest as a book I wanted to read solely because I do a lot of motorcycle maintenance myself. I have two motorcycles, one off-road and one on-road. Because I am constantly busy with school I do not keep up with the maintenance as much as I would like. Today, I needed to get up from the computer and I decided to do some things I had been putting off on the bikes.

The dirt bike needed the air filter cleaned and replaced, the spark plug cleaned, and the gas tank drained. The tank needed to be drained due to my lack of math skills resulting in a miscalculation in the oil/fuel mix but that is another story. I went out to the garage and started removing the plastics and getting to work.

I have been a home mechanic for a long time now. I started wrenching on cars when I was 16 and I watched my brother work on bikes since I was 7 years old. I know a thing or two. Typically however, I am always rushed working on my cars and bikes and it is never a relaxing and fun time. This is why when I heard the title of the book I figured the author must be crazy. Today was different. I had no time pressures, and if I did not get the bike finished I could simply leave it in the garage and come back to it. It was extremely relaxing.

I kicked on some music, and got to work. I finished the necessary maintenance in just over an hour and it is amazing how relaxing it was. Even when I removed the air filter and discovered it was crumbling I was not angry at all. I simply made a note to remind myself to order a new filter.

I need to learn to set aside time to work on things I used to enjoy. I love my research and I love school work but I miss the bikes.