Happy Memorial Day

While it's great that we all get the day off of work, please, please, PLEASE don't forget what today is about. It's not really about barbecues and hanging out at the pool. It's about our military members and their families, past and current, who have sacrificed so much for us to be able to barbecue and lounge by the pool.

So while you are celebrating, please thank a solider and their family. Because that's what today is really all about.

Oops!

I deal with this kind of stuff every day. Everyone, and I mean everyone, expects that because you are in PR and communications you will never, ever, ever, EVER make a mistake. And my response is always, "that's an expectation that I cannot meet, so you are automatically setting me up to fail." It's true. We're all human. We make mistakes. No matter how many times I look at a brochure, news release, email, catalog, etc., along with three or four people in my office, it sometimes happens. Plain and simple. We're all human.

And it happened at the University of Texas.



I'm not gonna lie. It's embarrassing when it happens. But it just goes to show that it happens. And all you can do is apologize, fix the problem, and move on. After all, it's really not the end of the world. I promise.

And so it begins...

The official start of the 2012 hurricane season is still weeks away, but the Atlantic has its first named storm - Alberto - off the coast of the Carolinas. While it doesn't appear to pose a threat to the U.S., it's still a reminder that those of us who live along the coast need to start preparing.

I went to a pre-hurricane season meeting earlier this week, and the folks from NOAA are predicting not as many named storms as we had last year, which is good, but Texas needs to take heed. Because of the weather pattern and the warm Gulf of Mexico (remember that mild winter we had? yea, not so good for hurricane season) there is the potential for rapidly developing storms in the Gulf. That means we may only get 48 hours notice, rather than 96 or more. Remember Humberto a few years ago?

So, get your water supply ready (I will be picking up several cases tomorrow at the grocery store), get those batteries handy, and have a plan in place. Having been through Ike, and through a couple other tropical storms, it's serious, so please be ready!

In case you're wondering, here are the 2012 hurricane names.

Alberto
Beryl
Chris
Debby
Ernesto
Florence
Gordon
Helene
Isaac
Joyce
Kirk
Leslie
Michael
Nadine
Oscar
Patty
Rafael
Sandy
Tony
Valerie
William

Happy hurricane season, y'all!