Thinking back to the 7th grade at Spring Branch Junior High, I remembered some fun we had. It was at the end of the school where we would wait for the doors to open around 8:30. There was about a six foot square. We would pitch coins in that area for the time before school. The key was to get the coin as close to the wall as you could - but all you had to do was get closer than the others. Two or more could play. It was easy to see who won. And the coins would bounce like a football - in all sorts of unexpected directions.
We thought that Mr. Steph might show up at any time, so there was usually a lookout. We must have done a good job because we never got busted.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Texas Monthly Tour
There was one day of vacation to be had - so I had to make it count. John W. was just the person to join me.
We left Houston and headed toward the back road of Highway 90A to Shiner, TX, where the magic of Shiner Beer happens at the Spoetzel Brewery. We couldn't make the 11 a.m. tour but that was just as well. We hit the gift shop and more importantly the tasting taps. John liked the Ruby Red and I like the Shiner Premium. Fresh out of the oven - best I've had.
We then headed up Highway 183 to Lockhart to Smitty's BBQ. Lockhart is known far and wide for barbecue. We ended up eating at a bench with Mike from Virginia who also came from a long distance. Sausage was excellent, and ribs were tender. Best BBQ in Texas? We can't say - because we must continue to look. We really don't want to stop looking!
Then to New Braunfels via Highway 142 to float the Comal River. We went through the tube chute many times and enjoyed the cool water. I got a little sun despite the sunscreen but it was a good price to pay.
Then we enjoyed a big Mexican dinner at El Nopalito. Needless to say I was pretty tired and had a "food hangover" this morning. But like all hangovers.... it was worth it.
We got back to Houston about 11:15 p.m. via Highway 225. We covered a lot of the back roads of Texas. A trip for the books.
We left Houston and headed toward the back road of Highway 90A to Shiner, TX, where the magic of Shiner Beer happens at the Spoetzel Brewery. We couldn't make the 11 a.m. tour but that was just as well. We hit the gift shop and more importantly the tasting taps. John liked the Ruby Red and I like the Shiner Premium. Fresh out of the oven - best I've had.
We then headed up Highway 183 to Lockhart to Smitty's BBQ. Lockhart is known far and wide for barbecue. We ended up eating at a bench with Mike from Virginia who also came from a long distance. Sausage was excellent, and ribs were tender. Best BBQ in Texas? We can't say - because we must continue to look. We really don't want to stop looking!
Then to New Braunfels via Highway 142 to float the Comal River. We went through the tube chute many times and enjoyed the cool water. I got a little sun despite the sunscreen but it was a good price to pay.
Then we enjoyed a big Mexican dinner at El Nopalito. Needless to say I was pretty tired and had a "food hangover" this morning. But like all hangovers.... it was worth it.
We got back to Houston about 11:15 p.m. via Highway 225. We covered a lot of the back roads of Texas. A trip for the books.
Saturday, August 6, 2016
First weekend of August
This first weekend has been a lot like the July weekends. Home all weekend. We did have the beer garden meeting on Friday night and I got to visit El Rancho Sergio where he is building a new house. I got the tour of that and it will be something, 4400 sq. feet. The best part was sitting in the shade in the corner having a cold beer. It really felt like being out in the country away from prying eyes.
Today I did a lot of things I like to do: sleep late, make breakfast at home, get in an hour of work (no more) went to the movie Suicide Squad, took a nap and make dinner at home. All good things.
I'm trying to get to bed early tonight because I plan to sing at both the 9 and 11 o'clock service tomorrow. Plus I'm the lector. A one man band at St John's Episcopal Church.
Monday I head to Houston and I'll be there until Thursday morning.
Have a great weekend!
Today I did a lot of things I like to do: sleep late, make breakfast at home, get in an hour of work (no more) went to the movie Suicide Squad, took a nap and make dinner at home. All good things.
I'm trying to get to bed early tonight because I plan to sing at both the 9 and 11 o'clock service tomorrow. Plus I'm the lector. A one man band at St John's Episcopal Church.
Monday I head to Houston and I'll be there until Thursday morning.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Things Have Changed
It's now been 14 years that I've been in McAllen. Seven normal years is really 1 year in Valley terms. So people still ask me "How's it going?" They're also the same people who moved away for a while (the Dog Years analysis works both ways) and they say "Things have really changed here!"
Here's a list of some significant changes in the last 14 years:
1. The rise of terrorism both worldwide and at home. After September 11, I thought we'd have more situations like in Israel, bombs in restaurants, etc. It look a while, and they come in the local gun form, but its here.
2. Drug Violence in Mexico. Fast and Furious helped get guns in Mexico and the bad guys used them.. a lot.. to intimidate and eliminate their enemies and everyone else. A generation of Mexico has been scarred. And we wonder why immigration (legal and otherwise) into the USA has grown out of hand.
3. Enron and the corporate meltdown. Billions of dollars of value go away and no one gets any real punishment. A real shame for the working man.
4. The Great Recession. Housing markets crash. See item 3 above.
5. US Oil Boom/bust. At least we don't have a criminal basis or a greed basis. Its simply a lack of "want" - no need to invest in the USA when Saudi Arabia will sell the oil cheaper. Again, its the working man that suffers, maybe not at the gas pump but on paycheck Friday.
6. Social media/ Facebook. I read a book called Web 2.0 that talked of the change into user-created comtent. Facebook gets all its content for free and then sells the ad rights. A $45 billion + company, all created in the last 14 years.
7. Cell phone usage. While they were around, now everyone has one and uses it without regard to any incremental cost. And the phones cost $600-800 and even children have one. Apple has made a mint off this. And now we have what we always thought was out of reach: video calling. And it's (somewhat) free!
8. Decrease in the Estate Tax. A little esoteric but the rise of the exemption from $625,000 net worth to $10.9 million means that this 45% tax on net worth has basically gone away. There a lot of wealth that will transfer for the next generation as a result.
9. Disparity between Rich and Poor. See items 3-8. The rich have avoided the downturns and the poor have absorbed the costs. Its a shame that people are working for less than a living wage in this country that is the richest in the world.
10. The increase in the US population. Texas now has over 22 million people and the US at last estimate is about 310 million. Birth rates are not raising that much across the board, so people are clamoring to get here.
11. 2 Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All with a "volunteer" army. A certain segment of the population has born the significant share of the cost of war. No wonder we are happy for the soldier - happy that he/she is doing the job for the rest of us. Thank to those who answer the call.
12. Google as a verb. Back in the day, search was not where the Yahoo's of the world thought the money was at. How wrong they were.
13. Criminalization of the youth. I did my part overseeing the crimes that young people were accused of (disruption of class, etc.) and I'm proud that I finally stood up to speak out against it. I'm happy to say it's a thing of the past.
14. And still, no jet packs, no return trips to the moon.
Here's a list of some significant changes in the last 14 years:
1. The rise of terrorism both worldwide and at home. After September 11, I thought we'd have more situations like in Israel, bombs in restaurants, etc. It look a while, and they come in the local gun form, but its here.
2. Drug Violence in Mexico. Fast and Furious helped get guns in Mexico and the bad guys used them.. a lot.. to intimidate and eliminate their enemies and everyone else. A generation of Mexico has been scarred. And we wonder why immigration (legal and otherwise) into the USA has grown out of hand.
3. Enron and the corporate meltdown. Billions of dollars of value go away and no one gets any real punishment. A real shame for the working man.
4. The Great Recession. Housing markets crash. See item 3 above.
5. US Oil Boom/bust. At least we don't have a criminal basis or a greed basis. Its simply a lack of "want" - no need to invest in the USA when Saudi Arabia will sell the oil cheaper. Again, its the working man that suffers, maybe not at the gas pump but on paycheck Friday.
6. Social media/ Facebook. I read a book called Web 2.0 that talked of the change into user-created comtent. Facebook gets all its content for free and then sells the ad rights. A $45 billion + company, all created in the last 14 years.
7. Cell phone usage. While they were around, now everyone has one and uses it without regard to any incremental cost. And the phones cost $600-800 and even children have one. Apple has made a mint off this. And now we have what we always thought was out of reach: video calling. And it's (somewhat) free!
8. Decrease in the Estate Tax. A little esoteric but the rise of the exemption from $625,000 net worth to $10.9 million means that this 45% tax on net worth has basically gone away. There a lot of wealth that will transfer for the next generation as a result.
9. Disparity between Rich and Poor. See items 3-8. The rich have avoided the downturns and the poor have absorbed the costs. Its a shame that people are working for less than a living wage in this country that is the richest in the world.
10. The increase in the US population. Texas now has over 22 million people and the US at last estimate is about 310 million. Birth rates are not raising that much across the board, so people are clamoring to get here.
11. 2 Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All with a "volunteer" army. A certain segment of the population has born the significant share of the cost of war. No wonder we are happy for the soldier - happy that he/she is doing the job for the rest of us. Thank to those who answer the call.
12. Google as a verb. Back in the day, search was not where the Yahoo's of the world thought the money was at. How wrong they were.
13. Criminalization of the youth. I did my part overseeing the crimes that young people were accused of (disruption of class, etc.) and I'm proud that I finally stood up to speak out against it. I'm happy to say it's a thing of the past.
14. And still, no jet packs, no return trips to the moon.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Middle of July
It is actually July 24 and the month is clipping by. Amazing how things will go even staying home and taking it easy on the weekends. But with a little late sleeping on Saturday and church on Sunday, and of course the nap time, and cooking dinner, the days will go fast.
So I pretty much described my weekend. My friends Rich and Mary lived it up in Austin this weekend. I got tired just looking at their Facebook pictures!
I did get my new Amazon Fire Stick installed on the TV - all by myself - I was pretty proud. It looks like it will interface great with all Amazon features so that will be worth using it just for that.
Movies kind of stunk this weekend so I will wait for Bad Moms next Friday.
Have a great week!
So I pretty much described my weekend. My friends Rich and Mary lived it up in Austin this weekend. I got tired just looking at their Facebook pictures!
I did get my new Amazon Fire Stick installed on the TV - all by myself - I was pretty proud. It looks like it will interface great with all Amazon features so that will be worth using it just for that.
Movies kind of stunk this weekend so I will wait for Bad Moms next Friday.
Have a great week!
Monday, June 20, 2016
Surgery today
JoAnn had surgery today and it was my first experience with that. After I dropped her off, I hung around the hospital until it was clear to go outside. There, I met Homer who was waiting for his mother there. He was about the same age as me and we had a long talk about mothers, and life and it was good to have someone to share some important thoughts with.
Then I ran into Sammie who was waiting in her car for her friend who lived in the same park resort. She was part of the Choctaw Nation so that license plate caught my attention. She said her friend had no family here so she was with her friend for support.
Both Homer and Sammie were outside smoking because there is no smoking inside anymore. I was glad to make their acquaintance and have someone to discuss these matters with. We're all in this together.
Then I ran into Sammie who was waiting in her car for her friend who lived in the same park resort. She was part of the Choctaw Nation so that license plate caught my attention. She said her friend had no family here so she was with her friend for support.
Both Homer and Sammie were outside smoking because there is no smoking inside anymore. I was glad to make their acquaintance and have someone to discuss these matters with. We're all in this together.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Golf in Austin and San Antonio
In keeping with our tradition, my father Ed and I met for a trip for 2 rounds of golf this past week. I was pleased to make the first leg arranged, with a round at our old club Austin Country Club, now famous for the Dell World Match Play Championship. It was cool to watch on TV and made me want to go back. So last Wednesday we did.
The course has held up well over 30 years and the recent renovation courtesy of the PGA Tour helped a lot. The greens were as good as I've seen, like at Sand Hills where if you just miss a bit that you've got a tough chip. And no easy putts. I played from the Riverside tees, 6,200 yards and that was plenty.
Ed remembered how he was playing with Davis Love, Jr. and his son Mark Love in 1985 or so when I came out and played the last 3 holes and hit a lot of good shots. I had forgotten but I remembered along with him. That was unexpected. And then to live it again, I crushed a drive on 18, over the bunker, down the hill and in front of the hazard. Just had a partial wedge in. I felt like a pro. We measured the drive at 330 yards. Downhill, downwind, didn't matter, it was still huge.
Our host John was a lot of fun and he walked all 18 holes in the heat. After we finished, we drove the long way to San Antonio through Dripping Springs and Blanco. With the sun going down, it was a great Hill Country drive. We had dinner at the Oak Springs Cafe in Dripping Springs, and it was a real Texas cafe. Complete with peach cobbler.
Thursday we continued the historic Texas golf tour at Brackenridge Park, one of our favorites. We had Dad's good friend Jim there and he was charming as usual. We also played with a nice guy Josh who rode around on a skateboard type golf cart. He was very athletic so he made it look easy.
The last time I played Brackenridge I had a great round, so I had something to live up to. I played hard again, but made double bogey on 13, 14 and 16. On 13 I hit a great drive and then my second shot over the green out of bounds on the par 5. But the drive was 300+ yards again. I bounced back with birdie on 15, and gutsy pars on 17 and 18 for an 80, my best round of this year (so far).
Thursday night we had a nice dinner at Paesano's and then watched the NBA Finals game 6 (Cleveland won) and then I fly home Friday. Not a bad couple of days off.
It was nice to be together during this Fathers' Day week. Ed said he was glad he had introduced me and Elizabeth to the game. I was glad he got to see and remember some good shots by me.
The course has held up well over 30 years and the recent renovation courtesy of the PGA Tour helped a lot. The greens were as good as I've seen, like at Sand Hills where if you just miss a bit that you've got a tough chip. And no easy putts. I played from the Riverside tees, 6,200 yards and that was plenty.
Ed remembered how he was playing with Davis Love, Jr. and his son Mark Love in 1985 or so when I came out and played the last 3 holes and hit a lot of good shots. I had forgotten but I remembered along with him. That was unexpected. And then to live it again, I crushed a drive on 18, over the bunker, down the hill and in front of the hazard. Just had a partial wedge in. I felt like a pro. We measured the drive at 330 yards. Downhill, downwind, didn't matter, it was still huge.
Our host John was a lot of fun and he walked all 18 holes in the heat. After we finished, we drove the long way to San Antonio through Dripping Springs and Blanco. With the sun going down, it was a great Hill Country drive. We had dinner at the Oak Springs Cafe in Dripping Springs, and it was a real Texas cafe. Complete with peach cobbler.
Thursday we continued the historic Texas golf tour at Brackenridge Park, one of our favorites. We had Dad's good friend Jim there and he was charming as usual. We also played with a nice guy Josh who rode around on a skateboard type golf cart. He was very athletic so he made it look easy.
The last time I played Brackenridge I had a great round, so I had something to live up to. I played hard again, but made double bogey on 13, 14 and 16. On 13 I hit a great drive and then my second shot over the green out of bounds on the par 5. But the drive was 300+ yards again. I bounced back with birdie on 15, and gutsy pars on 17 and 18 for an 80, my best round of this year (so far).
Thursday night we had a nice dinner at Paesano's and then watched the NBA Finals game 6 (Cleveland won) and then I fly home Friday. Not a bad couple of days off.
It was nice to be together during this Fathers' Day week. Ed said he was glad he had introduced me and Elizabeth to the game. I was glad he got to see and remember some good shots by me.
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