Thursday afternoon in the big city, 4:45 p.m. A co-worker walks in and asks if I have looked out the window lately. Turning around, I notice the low, black clouds and the bands of rainstorms in the distance. Lightning flashes, it starts to pour.

Immediately I turn to my computer and pull up the Houston traffic situation at http://traffic.tamu.edu and find a very ugly picture and the bane of any Houston commuter - red lines all over the map indicating freeway speeds are in the 0-19 mph range. A decision looms - wait a bit to see if the rain lets up before I begin my 40 mile commute through downtown to the southeast side, or brave the torrent now? I decide to wait.

At 5:25 I enter my beat-up pickup truck and pull out of the parking garage. Rain pounds the roof, I make it to the entrance ramp, and begin the long, crawling journey home. Two miles from the town I live in the rain abruptly stops - I reach the domicile at 6:59, just in time for the premiere of Survivor Thailand. There on the screen is the cheery Jeff Probst declaring the beauty of this season's location, and that it is during the monsoon season for the Survivors. Just what I needed to see - more rain. I know how the Survivors must feel.

The exciting, starting twist we have heard so much about? The tribes are chosen like a pick-up baseball game on a sandlot - with the older kids getting to be the captains. Jake picks a young lineup (apparently he doesn't want to stay in the game too long), while Jan seems to pick the older and eclectic crowd. The young team, Sook Jai, is crowing about their supposed superior strength and stamina, while the older team, Chuay Ghan, begins considering their maturity and teamwork. But who really made the better strategic and tactical decisions here? Jake picked a young team, much younger than himself, which makes him up front the outsider - is his age going to be an asset, providing the team with wisdom, or is it going to put him on the block? Tactically for the tribe, it was a good decision - strong, enthusiastic members that should win a lot of the immunity and luxury challenges. But Jake may have shot himself in the foot - who is the most likely (well after Robb) to be given the boot?

Jan, on the other hand, looks like a weak player. Strategically she chose some people that will probably be booted out before her. And her players are no slouches - look at Ted - he is a monster of a man. And if it hadn't have been for Ghandia's fumbling of the puzzle in the first immunity challenge, they would have won that easily. It is a good tribe.

What can we say about John? He made almost all of the mistakes that you shouldn't make at the first which can get you kicked out. Trying to take over the leadership role, bossing people around, complaining no one knows what they are doing or aren't doing enough, going off on his own, and playing a joke about a crucial element of survival. Too bad he didn't have some crazy guy that would make him look good, or at least a little more desirable.

What he really needed was to have Robb from the other tribe on his team. Here is a loose cannon that has no idea what he is doing, and has picked a fight with one of the female members already. And instead of rolling over, Shii Ann stood up to him and made him look like a fool. Robb better shape up or he will be making that walk of shame soon.

The tribal council vote was somewhat interesting. Of course John voted for Ghandia - she lost the immunity for them. But everyone else but Helen voted for John. Was this coincidence? I think not. The question becomes - why wasn't Helen clued in to the massive voting block that ousted John. And is she next on the chopping block?

The only thing more we can hope for is some sunshine - but of course it is still raining.


E!

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