Watson Wire
Focus
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
It's a busy week. I'm traveling on business, passing through too many airports, and, as always, working on the medical school and our other 10-in-10 goals.
But there's an even bigger deal in Watson-land this week: our oldest son, Preston, is graduating from UT on Friday.
We All Win if We Finish the Job
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
In case you've been in a coma, I have two bits of news that I didn't expect to be so related. First, I've been doing a fair bit of talking about health care. Second, I've lost a fair amount of weight.
Because of the weight loss, I feel great, I think I must look as great as I feel, and I get to write and brag about it all.
However, I think it's created some confusion. As I’ve noted before, I occasionally have to deal with people’s hallucinations about things like missing facial hair.
We’re Succeeding
Thursday, May 03, 2012
A few minutes ago, the Board of Regents for the University of Texas System voted to commit tens of millions of dollars a year to a medical school in Austin. That means we’re close – closer than we’ve ever been – to delivering this community a medical school and the wealth of health care and economic resources that come with it.
So today’s a big day in the history of Austin and Central Texas. It shows that our new playbook – one that relies on innovative public-private partnerships, the coordination of resources, and a ton of creativity and hard work – is working.
A Healthy Weekend
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
How was my weekend? So glad you asked.
In terms of well-rounded quality, Saturday was pretty close to perfect.
Tune In, Turn Out This Week
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Given all of the false starts, missteps and court cases that have gone into deciding whether we'll ever get to vote for our legislators and congressional reps again, it’s easy to forget that there's an election coming up.
Less Is Not More
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
So there's this old drunk. His drinking's bad: his wife and kids are threatening to leave him, and he's about to lose his job.
Knowing he's in a bad place and needs to buy time, the drunk tells everyone that he isn't going to drink any more.
I Didn’t Shave My Moustache
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Someone asked me last week when I shaved my moustache.
Puzzled, I answered, “I didn't have a moustache.” She said, “Sure you did.” Then she thought about it, corrected herself and said, “Well, why do you look so different?”
We agreed that it must be the more than 35 pounds I’ve lost in the past few months. I guess that’ll make you look like you’ve removed your facial hair. Man, it would’ve been so much easier to have been able to just shave.
Texas Can Do Better
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
We love it. It's great. But Texas can do better. And Texas should do better.
I spent part of last Saturday at the Save Texas Schools rally at the Capitol. It was an energizing, exciting day.
Thousands of folks came out from across the state declaring that the future of our schools and our kids is worth getting right. They – we – called for Texas to do better when it comes to investing in education and our future.
Bright Light - in Springtime and on Government
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Before I get started on one of my favorite topics (I’ll let the suspense build up a little bit), I want to make sure you saw my piece that ran in the American-Statesman on our vision to invest in the health and economy of this community by achieving 10 Goals in 10 Years. As I said in the article, it’s the best thing we can do for ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods and our future.
The 10-in-10 goals include a medical school affiliated with the University of Texas, a modern teaching hospital, cutting-edge medical research facilities, badly needed psychiatric care, comprehensive cancer care, facilities that bring our medical discoveries to market and unique health clinics tailored to the needs of our neighborhoods and our people.
It’s the Time of the Season
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Last Tuesday, you may have developed an odd twitch – a strange compulsion to walk into a small, confined area and twirl a dial or press a button or (for some a tiny bit older) pull on a lever.
March 6 was supposed to be Primary Election Day in Texas. But since nothing’s ever easy, our state’s elections have been on ice for a few months (for some of the gory details, check out this write-up from a couple of months back).