Kevin Scott: July 2009 Archives

West-Isle Little League here on Galveston Island is proud to announce its 13-14 year old Junior League All-Star team has won the Texas East State Championship.  The team started with the District 14 Title and continued with the Section 3 Championship before beating Sinton to win the Texas East State Championship.  Travel plans to the Southwest Regional Junior League Baseball Tournament in Midland are now being made.

West-Isle will now compete against other state champions from West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.  In order to make the August 6-12 tournament, the team is accepting help in any way possible.

If you'd like to make a donation, make checks payable to:  West-Isle Little League c/o Geri Gillard; 3211 80th Street; Galveston, TX 77551.
 

Galveston legend Jack Johnson won over 70 fights during his professional boxing career.  His most recent fight, one only his admirers and fans have been able to carry out, may be his biggest.

In 1912, Johnson violated the Mann Act, which was against the "transporting of women across state lines for immoral purposes."  In Johnson's case, it basically boiled down to the fact that he was involved with a white woman.  He was eventually found guilty, but he skipped bail and fled the country.  Johnson lived out of the country with his wife (who was one of the women he illegally "transported") for seven years before he finally turned himself in and served his sentence.  For some time now, several attempts have been made in order to posthumously pardon Johnson of his conviction.

Finally, this week, Congress passed a resolution asking for a Presidential pardon for Johnson.  This means all that is needed i s President Obama's approval.

Locally, Johnson had an abstract statue in M enard Park, but it has since been torn down due to damage.  There are plans to push for a new statue to be placed on the Seawall.  Johnson does have a street named after him.

So.  Here's to Jack Johnson.  BOI.  Boxing legend by choice.
 

So I was stopped at a red light by a lady the other day while driving home.  A truck pulled up next to me and asked me to roll my window down.  I did.  She must have noticed my IBC stickers and the rather large and unmissable magnet on my tailgate.  She asked me if I was in IBC.  I said yes.  She then asked me how she could "join."  She said she'd been wanting to "join" really badly, but she couldn't figure out how.  Because the light turned green on our conversation I didn't have the chance to tell her that IBC is not something someone "joins."  Instead I just blurted out the website address, and we drove on.

I figured I'd clear up any confusion she (or anyone else for that matter) has about "joining" IBC.  Islander By Choice (IBC) is a business.  And as you can read in the "About" section of the website, IBC is all about supporting local and anything Galveston Island.  Therefore, someone can't really "join" IBC.  Instead, someone can purchase IBC merchandise and/or attend IBC functions.

I found myself a little flattered that people around town may view IBC as something they can "join," but at the same time, I felt uncomfortable that IBC might be misunderstood.  Hence the post.

Now.  Repeat after me.  Islander By Choice (IBC) is not a group/organization/political faction of any kind.  It is a business reflecting on the way of life Islanders choose to live, albeit designed to (perhaps one day) make money.

 

Have you ever really listened to the waves that crawl ashore and tickle the beaches with their moustaches?

Have you ever watched the sky paint itself purple at the end of a long day?

Have you ever watched the Gulf dance under a full moon?

Have you ever sunk your toes in downtown?

Have you ever really walked through historic downtown and smelled the future?

Have you ever felt protected by history?

 

So Mrs. Mondo and I just received our final insurance payout from our mortgage company who'd been holding it hostage.  Although it was a minor fraction of our entire payout, it still feels good to finally have it all behind us.  It got me thinking.  I wonder how many folks (now that we're just about 10 months post-Ike) are still battling with insurance companies?  Our house's damage truly turned out to be very, very small marbles compared to some of our close friends' damages.  And it took us this long to get our final payment.  Whew.

I try not to meddle in my friends' business too much, so I never ask people how their insurance woes stand at the moment.  It's almost like asking, "how's your sex life?"  It's really not my business.  Neither one.  But.  I got to thinking that if the Mrs. and I just received our final insured gesture of good faith (and again with the fact that our damage was minimal), then other folks with more extensive damage must be still waiting on funds.  Bleh.

I remember before the storm I thought the insurance game worked like this: I have damage.  They inspect it.  They give me a check for what it'll cost me to repair the damages.  All's beuno (that's Spanish for good/well).  Wrong.

Instead it operates like this:  I have damage.  They inspect it (at their leisure it seems).  They determine what they think it'll cost me to repair what I lost (all precisley calculated using the "oh-so-lovely" depreciation factor).  They give me a check made out to me and the mortgage company.  I endorse the check.  Check goes to mortgage company.  It's like a game of hot potato until the mortgage company gets a hold of my money.  Then the money's given out like a weekly allowance to a five year old.  So forth.  So on and on.  I'll spare you the rest of the details as I'm sure you've all been there.  Welcome to the suck.

So for what it's worth.  How's your great insurance battle of '09 going?

 

Tomorrow, July 4th, will be the first birthday for Islander By Choice.  That's right.  IBC officially launched last year at the 4th of July parade, and we've been going strong since then.

It has been an eventful year for IBC.  One filled with T-shirt parties, hurricane recovery cookouts, and bathing beauties.  So here's a great big "thank you" to all our customers, friends, blog followers, sponsors for the Beach Revue, and most of all to Galveston Island for providing the inspiration.

I would also like to thank my fellow partners in Islander By Choice for pulling off one hell of a year.  And here's to many, many more.