"Hello and welcome to Tex...
Weather: 26 Degrees. “Blue skies… smiling on me… nothing but blue skies… do I see…”
CD: The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
… the automated Telephone Enrollement Exchange for the University of Texas at Austin. Please enter your 9 digit, personal identification number, followed by the pound key.”
Ladies and Gentlemen… I used to curse at that damn voice. I’d curse it up and down at 7:30 am on a winter morning my freshmen year of college while trying to get into that one class that was already filled.
But oddly, there was always something soothing in the voice. Something that reminded me of home. I noticed it for the first time while studying abroad in Berlin. I had some registration matters to attend to, and it was just so refreshing to hear that bumbling baritone voice forcing me to hurry up and make my next decision. Despite the familiar recollections, I imagine I still cussed at it that day as well. Getting angry at TEX was an easy thing to do. It was his fault that the classes were full. It was his fault that you had a bill that still needed to be paid. And it was always his fault that the only class available was a 7:30 am seminar.
TEX is going into retirement this week. The man behind the voice did a short interview, which is available here. It’s a bit strange putting a face to the name.
So everyone, give TEX a call for that one last time. 512-475-9950. Tell him I said hey. Or better yet, tell him I said “Goodbye and Goodluck”.
On another note, two male friends, whose names I will leave unmentioned, visited me from Texas a few weeks ago. One of them left a bottle of shaving cream in my bathroom. This past week I ran out of shaving cream and started using the forgotten can. It is pink. And has a very fruity smell which lingers under my nose all day. The point of this story is simple: One of my friends uses women’s leg-shaving cream to shave his face. Or his legs. Who is it? And how long will I continue to use this effeminate body-care cream before I finally go out and buy another can of Gillette Gel?