Review of 2021

Some of the good things I did this past year of 2021:

Made good investments and met savings goals

Took good personal care

Had some adventures:

Driving the Penske truck/golf at Gus Wortham / fly fishing in Colorado/ Getting the Lunar Lander/ solo trip to Columbus OH/ fostering Dolly the dog/ starting comic and vinyl collections/ making golf lesson videos/ buying new golf clubs/ selling and purchasing real estate 

Moonlight Ramble 2008

 Around late October when the time changes there used to be a bike ride through downtown Houston called the Moonlight Ramble.  It started at 2 a.m., when the time changes technically and is a fun, non-racing ride of a lot of people over 12-15 miles of city streets, from 2-4 a.m.

In October 2008, Sam Rush, John Wren and I did the "Ramble" and for good measure, then had a 4 a.m breakfast at Taco Cabana and then drove out to Katy, staying up all night with just a catnap in the car for me.  Then at sunup, we entered a triathlon!  Yes, an 800 M swim in a lake, followed by a 12 mile bike and a 2 mile run (more or less).  I of course was much younger then (and not nearly trained properly) so I was going just on adrenaline and finished which was the goal.

Later on would I learn how hard triathlons can be!  But this time, it was just a fun stay up all night type of night with two good friends.  John even wanted to go to the Texans game that Sunday afternoon, but I had to say "enough" and we watched  on TV.

I was thinking about that last night looking at the crescent moon and realizing it has been 5 years since the death of Sam.  We sure do miss him - how many other people would be up for an adventure like that?  And that was just one of many that we all had.  

Learner's Permit

 I had to get a copy of my driver's record and noted that I received my learner's permit in Austin, TX on July 30, 1980.

I believe I had already taken a written exam in the classroom portion so I just had to get the actual permit.

The classroom was a summer school class taught at O. Henry Junior High in the month of July when I was 15 years old.

Dream analysis

 One of these days, we'll be able to track our dreams like we track our heartbeat or sleep now.  In the meantime, I'll have to rely on the old-fashioned 'get up in the middle of the night and try to write it down' method.  Which rarely works well.  But last night I did get some information down:

I was in Amarillo, Texas ( a place I've never been).  I was playing golf at a country club, very similar to a place you might expect.  I was paired with a husband and wife and we had a pleasant time.  It was in modern Covid time.  The date was March 9 - I even wrote that down at 3 a.m.  

Afterwards before I was to leave, the husband and wife showed me a 25 basin hand-washing station, where I washed my hands before leaving.

After surgery last year when I was on a lot of medication, I did not sleep well and did not have dreams.  Glad to be back to normal, even if the dreams are anything but normal.

Last 4 states

 I am planning to finish up my 50 state quest in 2021.  Now's the time to get them all done.

I had a new idea, after stumbling on a video of Amtrak.  Now our national rail system is kind of a joke, but there are some areas where there is some market penetration.  Turns out the route that I will need to take, Fargo ND to Cleveland OH to Albany NY and then Rutland VT will hit the states that I need to get.  So maybe I will do a leg, Riding the Rails.

It might be just the time.  It looks like if time is a factor then the train is the longest way, but it might not be bad for a solo traveller who doesn't want to do all that driving.

Something to factor in!

Summers in Industry, TX

In the late 70s, 1977-79, one of my vacation highlights was spending a week in Industry, TX (then pop. 1,001) with my good friend Reed at his grandmother Lillian's home.  A real throwback of a time in retrospect.  Lillian lived in a small frame 2 (maybe 3?) bedroom house in town, just off a main road.  The house was not air conditioned, althought I think she had a window unit in her bedroom.   So when we were inside, it was quite warm.  We would therefore be outside most all day long.  I used to joke that we would go outside to cool off.

What did we do?  She had a large backyard, with a canning shed, so there was some room to run.  We could walk everywhere in town, so sometimes we'd go to the library, or to a local general store.  The town must have had some pull because it had a bank, a library, a car dealership.  Some quick research says it was the first permanent German settlement in Texas.

On Saturday nights, there was a dance at the Industry Fireman's Hall, and that was a big social event.  We got to go but just hung out in the corners.

Reed's mother and father both were from the area, so we would go visit family here and there.  His parents would usually take us one weekend and pick us up the next so they were around a lot.

One fun memory is we would ride our bikes down the large hill near her house - fly down.  Then we had to pedal back uphill.  I guess we walked or biked around town our fair share as well.

Lillian cooked all the meals for us and I recall some big breakfasts as well as eating at a small kitchen table.  She must have been a very calm person, because nothing we ever did seemed to rattle her.

I think she had a TV but she watched what she wanted and we rarely watched any TV.

Part of me has always dreamed of buying that house and fixing it up.  But I'm afraid that the best times for me were back then in the 1970s.  You can't go back to 13 years old again.  And spending the whole week with your best buddy. 

Mary Ann

I was talking to my friend Dave and telling him what a good car my 2015 Lexus ES 350.  Reliable, good looking colors in and out (silver and black), and should last a long time.

So he asked me "Have you named her?"

I thought for a minute, having just watched Gone in 60 Seconds and thinking of "Eleanor" so it was an easy choice...

Mary Ann

Spelled the common way, like the good girl on Gilligan's Island, it's really named after my godmother Marianne who was a long time friend of my late mother.  Marianne was married to  Sterling McCall, one of the first Toyota dealers in the US in the 1960s and who went on to become very successful.

I thought it was an inspired choice!