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Chicken & Spinach Enchaladas

2010-12-17T09:59:00.000-06:00

Here it is guys. My soon-to-be-famous Chicken & Spinach Enchiladas.

Filling
about 8oz. fresh spinich (I sometimes use more, just depends on my mood)
about 1/2 lb of chicken, cooked and chopped
1 poblano chili pepper - chopped
about 1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 can of Rotell (drained)
1 cup of canned chopped tomatoes (drained)
4 or 5 cloves garlic
4 to 6 oz cream cheese (to my mood )
salt and black pepper to taste

Poblano Cream Sauce
1 poblano chili pepper - chopped
2 tbs butter or olive oil
3 or 4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup whipping cream
1-1/2 cup sour cream
salt & pepper to taste

1 dozen tortillas
Jack or Cheddar Cheese

Filling: Pour oil in skillet heated to medium, add chopped garlic, chopped onion, chicken and chopped poblano pepper. Cook until onions are translucent and chicken is done. Add tomatoes & Rotell cook until moisture is about gone. Turn down skillet heat and add spinach and cook until it is wilted, add cream cheese. (Keep stirring or cheese will scorch.) Stir until mixed and cream cheese is melted. Turn off heat.

Sauce: In a sauce pan melt the butter or add olive oil, chopped poblano chili peppers, garlic, chopped onions and cook until onions are translucent. Add cream, wine, and sour cream, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Poplano chile peppers have to first be roasted, the skin removed and seeded before you can chop them up. I roast mine on the gas burner of my stove by laying them on the grill and rotating them using tongs until they are blackened. Then cool them in cold water in sink. The skin falls off them when rubbed under water, get it all off. They are mild and very tasty chilies.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave. Spray bottom of baking pan and then spread some of the sauce in the bottom of the pan. Spread equal amounts of the filling on to the tortillas and roll them up. Put seam side down in baking pan. Then pour the wine sauce over the enchiladas. Put the cheese on top and put it into a 350 degree oven and bake about 35 min.

Cooling Assistance for RV Refrigerators

2010-07-26T16:04:00.000-05:00

Anyone that uses an RV in the hot part of the summer knows that these combination refrigerators do not cool very well when it is hot outside. It is really just a problem with air flow. Open up your compartment at the rear of your refrigerator and just feel the coils during the hot part of the day. They are so hot they will just about burn you.

I solved the cooling problem on our Tradewinds motor home with a couple of 4.8 inch server cooling fans I picked up on eBay for $10 each, including shipping. I mounted them in the refrigerator roof vent, exhausting upward. Here they are mounted in a couple of brackets I riveted up for them:

Here they are mounted in the roof vent. This is standing on the roof looking straight down with the cover removed from the vent:

These fans only use about .6 amps each at 12V. I took power off the supply block for the refrigerator and put a 2 amp fuse inline. For the sake of convenience, I mounted a switch on the front control panel and just use these fans when it is above 80 degrees outside.

I am really happy with them and so is our refrigerator. We are sitting here in Austin, TX at 100 degrees in the shade and our refrigerator thinks it is in Canada. Easily holds a steady 39 degrees in refrigerator compartment.

Winter in the Rio Grande Valley

2010-02-20T10:47:00.000-06:00

Well, we only have about 19 days remaining on our winter stay in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. This makes our 10th year to come here. This has been an unusually wet winter and unlike any I have seen since we started coming here. A neighbor up the street decided it was time to try his luck at a little fishing - note the rod and reel in the lawnchair and float in the water.

We have been awfully busy this year with teaching 4 days a week at the Pharr Literacy Project and playing gigs 2, sometimes 3 times a week. At this point, we are kind of ready to get home and rest a little.

Elixir Instrument Cable Review

2010-01-22T13:03:00.002-06:00

Hey, check out this cool 20 foot instrument cable Elixir sent me to review. As much fun as it is to get free stuff, I am not going to let that influence me and will give my honest opinion.

First off, I have been a huge fan of Elixir guitar strings for a long time because, like most people, I like to save money. So what, if you spend a couple of bucks extra to buy the strings if they last three times as long as anything else out there? My personal favorites are the Nanoweb strings. They just don't wear out or lose tone and, I usually don't change them until I break one. I play a lot and gig at least a couple times per week and still get several months of use out of a set.

But, back to cables; this is a new product for Elixir and I want to see how it compares to the two cables I normally use - Monster and Century Music Systems. Just looking at the package, first impression is that this is substantial cable - a big fat, heavy wire with nice gold plated connectors that are large enough to actually get a grip on without having to pull them out by the cable.

Let's get this thing unpacked and see how it sounds. That's the bottom line anyway, now, isn't it? The unpacking is my first criticism - this sucker is welded into some kind of super strength, space age polymer that, I suspect, Elixir engineers somehow retrieved from the future in much the same way transparent aluminum arrived in Star Trek IV. Somehow I managed to unseal this vault without cutting the cable or an artery.

My second minor criticism is that the cable could be a little more flexible. You can forget about it every coiling up in a neat little circle like your Monster cable, nor is it going lie really flat on the stage. I got this cable yesterday and actually played a gig with it last night and wondered if I might hang a toe on it on stage but, it didn't seem to be much of a problem. It pretty much laid down after I walked around on it for an hour or so.

Now, packaging and flexibility are part of the picture but, the real test is sound. This morning I got the Elixir cable out along with my favorite Monster cable and Century Music Systems cable. I hooked these up, one at a time, between my Stratocaster and Fender amp. Without changing any guitar or amp settings I tried all cables. I admit, I had a preconceived notion that the differences would be very subtle, if any. Therefore, I got Peggy, our keyboardist, who has a much better ear than I, to listen as well. We were both surprised at the differences and both agreed that the Elixir Cable beat the others by a mile. I was not expecting this result and would not have believed it if I had not heard it with my own ears.

Here is the result that we both agreed upon: First was the Elixir cable, a distant second was the Century Music Systems cable followed closely by the Monster cable in third. Just to confirm the results I did one more test. I had Peggy, with the great ears (other parts are pretty darned good too), do a blindfold test. As I randomly changed cables, she was able to identify, with 100% accuracy, which cable I was using. This was a real eye opener for me!

As for price, I have not had a chance to compare prices yet but, I intend to start using these cables and would say, they would be worth something extra. I'm not saying they definitely cost more than say, Monster - I just don't know what they cost but, they are better, without question.

Update on Rio Grande Valley Gigs

2010-01-22T13:01:00.001-06:00

One of the main reasons we come to the Rio Grande Valley every winter (this is our 10th year) is for the music and dancing. This year, we have really gotten busy! In addition to playing music at least two nights a week, we are teaching GED classes four days a week as volunteers at the Pharr Literacy Project. The teaching thing has made our schedule pretty intense but, it is very rewarding and we both have become quite involved with our students. Lloyd is teaching math and Peggy is teaching English. It is such a pleasure teaching adults who really want to be there.

Starting with about our second week here this winter, we starting playing gigs in the evening. Played the first one at the Cactus Club over at Victoria Palms and have been trying to play over there about once a week since. Most of those have been jams where we set up our sound system at had other musicians join us. Even have some audience members come up and sing some.

Two weeks ago we picked up a regular weekly gig at the Weslaco, TX Elks Lodge. We play there every Thursday night from 5-8 and, beginning Feb. 11, we will start teaching a free dance lesson at 5 just before we start our show. It will vary from week to week but, we will be teaching Two-Step, Jitterbug, Triple Two Step, East Coast Swing, and Waltz. Here is a photo from the other night at the Elks:

It is kind of funny but, we have really had to adjust to playing here in the Valley. This older crowd does not like loud. :( Back in Austin we can just blast it and, electric instruments are more fun to play when they are cranked up. Here we have this 800 watt sound system and only use about 5% of it. We have the mains barely cracked open and most of the house sound is just what spills over from the stage monitors and, trust me, if it was up to me those would be louder too.

Texas Rio Grande Valley

2009-12-25T18:12:00.001-06:00

I've got to get back to posting this blog on a more regular basis. It seems that lately I have just been posting so much on facebook, there was nothing left to say. Anyway, here we are in the Rio Grande Valley for the winter. This is our 10th year to come down here and we have not grown tired of it yet - go figure. Nothing ever holds our attention that long! Here we are stopped for a few days on the way down:

We have actually been here for a month now, even though I am just now getting around to posting. We have been staying busy working at the homeless shelter in Harlingen during the day and playing music at night. Beginning January 4th we will be volunteer teachers 4 days per week at the Pharr Literacy Project. Lloyd will be teaching Math and Science GED classes and Peggy will be teaching English. The semester ends March 12th and we should be back to Austin right after that.

Here is a photo of one of our gigs from a few days ago: The other guitar picker is Shannon Phillips. The lady standing between us, whose name escapes me, was one of the dancers that came up to pose for a photo with us.

I just thought of something else I wanted to post about here but, I will wait until tomorrow. By-the-way, I hope everyone is following Jessica Watson's blog. She is the 16 year old Australian girl who is doing a solo circumnavigation by sail boat. Click here for the site.

One more monkey off my back

2009-10-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday I arose with a long list of items on my list that I hoped to accomplish. Walked up to my shop and was sitting there checking email when Peggy walks in with the bad news, the washing machine had stopped working. So I now had a new, more urgent, thing on my list and all the items I really wanted to do got moved down in priority.

This is a Splendide washer/dryer combo like you would find in a motor home. As with most things packed full of electronics today, you just can not diagnose the problem unless you have a repair manual that gives you the expected voltages and resistances at various points on the circuit boards. A search of the manufacturers web site reveals nothing more than a list of service technicians. So, I spent an hour searching the internet and, in some forum, finally came across this repairman training manual that did the trick.

Turned out to be a DC Motor Control Module that cost about $240 with shipping. Expensive, but better than the $1,200 it would take to replace the machine. The part arrived Friday and everything is working fine again.

Would all you sick people, please die?

2009-10-06T15:01:00.001-05:00

It sounds pretty harsh when you just say it but, apparently, many secretly feel that way. I can't quit thinking about an address to a group of people given by Senator Franken. One man in the audience commented to the Senator that, "If we let all these uninsured into the system, there will not be enough doctors to go around." No doubt, this selfish S.O.B. would prefer they just die! His attitude is, I've got mine and I don't want you sick people causing any problems. By-the-way, I could tell from looking at him that he was on Medicare and already getting government health care.

I've heard the arguments against "socialized" medicine. Let me tell you, I and many other ex-military members, are on the only true socialistic medical program in the U.S., the Veteran's Health Care system and, it works quite well. Many privately insured people would love to have the level of care we receive through the VA at virtually no cost, and it is truly a socialistic system. The facilities are government owned and all the doctors and nurses are paid by the government. On top of that, they offer us great care in friendly, modern facilities, with a level of efficiency that will never be matched by any private system. One of the smartest moves I ever made was serving a few years in the military although, I admit, I didn't know it was smart at the time.

Is Medicare socialized medicine? Only to a point - it is paid for with tax dollars but, uses private sector providers so, lets just say it is half socialistic. Even so, I don't think you are going find many seniors ready to give it up.

How about the so-called "Government Option" talked about in the current health reform bills. That is not socialized medicine in any way, shape, or form. It is a self funded insurance option that is forced to pay for itself in the same way as the USPS is forced to pay it's own way through revenues it generates.

Look, no other country on earth treats it's poor or uninsured the way this country does and, make no mistake, all the uninsured are not even close to poor. Many, many, working families can not afford the $1,400 per month it takes to buy private insurance if their employer does not provide it. It is a crime against humanity that these people are being forced to die or go bankrupt if they get sick or injured. And, just don't give me any of that crap about how anyone can get health care at the emergency room. Sure, by law, they have to treat the immediate emergency, then they will shuffle them out the door with instructions to go see their doctor, which they can not afford to do. Then the emergency hospital will come after them so aggressively for collection that they have to file bankrupcy. So, you say, why don't they just get on some government program for the poor? That is fine, if they truly are poverty stricken and have nothing. Does not work for most working poor who might have a fairly good job, a little savings, or maybe a little equity in a home. These people have to lose everything they own before they would qualify for assistance.

It is time for everyone to wake up and admit we have a serious problem. People need to quit worrying so much about what it might cost them, or whether they might be inconvenienced, and look at this as a national crisis that we have to solve.

Dallas Nightclub reopens

2009-08-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

Well, Peggy and I have a whole new attitude this morning. This has been one long, hot, dry summer here in Austin and, after a while, 105 degrees for two months straight just starts to PISS you off! Last night, not only did it rain (2/10 but we will take it) but, our favorite hang out for the last 28 years, The Dallas Nightclub reopened after being closed for over a year.

Last night was really a lot of fun and all the TV stations were there and we saw many of our old friends. Here is a link to the KVUE Channel 24 story. Watch and you will probably see someone you recognize, wink.

The new owners should be pleased with their opening. When we left, the place was already packed and people were just pouring in, on a Wednesday night. If you have never been to Dallas, and we know people in Austin who have not, you just owe it to yourself to go. Peggy and I dance in nightclubs all over the US and can say, without hesitation, that nondescript building up on Burnet Road known as The Dallas Nightclub is the best in the country. It may not be the biggest, and may not have the greatest floor, but you will see the best dancers ANYWHERE right there at Dallas and that floor flows like a whitewater river. Trust me, the tourists go clog up the floor at the Broken Spoke - the dancers go to Dallas. Hope to see you there!

Lake Travis water level causing problems

2009-08-20T16:45:00.000-05:00

In case you have not heard, Lake Travis is getting very low and this is causing headaches for some dock owners. In fact, the lake is now about 50 feet below it's normal pool elevation and only lacks about 17 feet reaching it's all time low set back in 1952. It is losing about 1.5 feet per week and today is our 60th day this summer of triple digit temperatures.

In spite of the problems we had a great time about a week ago helping our friends, Bill and Jean Dunham, lower their dock which had reached the bottom of their stairs. Our job was to disengage the ramp from the stairs and allow the dock to float free so it could continue on down with the lake. Fortunately, they still have deep water under the dock.

Here is the crew, left to right: Bill (the rock climber and rope man), Jean (supervisor), Peggy (official worrier), Cliff (the only one with a clue), and taking the picture is Lloyd (the winch man). Oh, my job does not refer to anything shown in this photo, in case you were wondering.

This shows us getting ready to lower. You can see the ramp connecting the dock to the stairs is now very close to the end.

This next photo shows the ramp in the water. It was pretty exciting since the cable broke and it dropped the last 6 or 7 feet and landed with a big splash, but no damage. You can see the end of the broken cable hanging down from the stairs.

And here is the solution for getting down to dock until the lake drops to the point that the ladder will no longer reach. Come on tropical storm!!

All in all, it was a pretty easy job and everyone left with all the fingers and toes they arrived with. Plus, it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning!

I hink I need a new compuer!

2009-08-02T16:40:00.000-05:00

M 10 ear old lapop is beginning o show i's age. Can ou guess which 2 kes have jus sopped working? I have acuall been hoping his slow piece of crap would craer for he las five ears so I could jusif a new one. I hink I jus go m wish.

Look what the cat dragged up

2009-07-26T12:12:00.002-05:00

A few days ago our cat, Lucille, comes walking out of the woods with this baby deer right behind her so, we grabbed our camera and started recording. Of course, we were careful not to touch the deer and, a few minutes later, led it back into the woods and left it where it laid down.

Here is a link to our YouTube channel in case you want to see more of our videos, or subscribe: Our YouTube Channel

Following up on the fasting thing

2009-07-16T14:12:00.000-05:00

We made a blog post on about four and a half months ago about the benefits of periodic fasting with regard to life extension: Here is a link. It has now been about six months since we started this routine of fasting two days each week and we just wanted to do a quick follow up in case anyone was wondering if we stuck to it.

It has been surprisingly easy to keep it going and we have not missed a single day since we started. Lloyd has lost a couple of pounds although, the intent of this was not to lose weight. We still do the fast each Monday and Thursday and have no plans to stop. One thing we have noticed is that it helps to stay busy on the fasting day because you don't think about being hungry if you are continuously occupied. Feeling hungry has really not been that big a deal anyway.

Remembering Neda Soltan

2009-06-22T15:44:00.003-05:00

If you have not done so already, you might consider viewing the video of Neda's murder by the Iranian government. We are not leaving a link here but, you can easily find it online if you are interested. It is very graphic and you should only watch it if you really want to understand what the protesters in Iran are going through. Seeing it is very hard but gives some hope that this senseless act will be the undoing of this repressive regime.

We have been watching events unfold in Iran with great interest over the last week or so. Normally I would expect to refer such events as "student protests" but, in this case, it has come to involve all aspects of Iranian society. These protesters deserve the world's help in the only practical way it can be offered, moral support. And, that is why we are blogging about this today.

How an educated society such as Iran ended up with their theocratic mess of a government is something we have trouble understanding but, we think they now regret their mistake. Since the protest began, we have been messmorized by the ham fisted way in which the Iranian government has handled the problem.

Today President Sarkozy stated that the Burka had no place in France. He is absolutely right, this symbol of oppression of women has no righful place in any country.

We are back in business!

2009-06-10T15:11:00.000-05:00

I hear you ... some are saying you haven't seen us do anything productive in the last decade so what business are you talking about? I am talking about the business of ending my horrible neglect of this blog. You notice I didn't say one word about the business being "productive", although that could change at any second. We now happen to be bringing in about $1.00 per month off this blog, and it is all profit!! Wooo Hoooo!!!! Cha Ching!

We actually have quite a few things to update about. Been videoing the Grand Daughter while teaching her to ride her bike. Happy to say, she has it down pat now. Of course, I've been going through my workout routine (clearing cedar off this land) everyday. Peggy and I have been working on our music every day and looking forward to playing the jam sessions next winter in the Rio Grande Valley. We have trips planned for the Dallas area, Abilene, and Rio Grande Valley over the next month or so.

Grand daughter tells about the Wooly Booger!

2009-05-14T21:28:00.002-05:00

What is the point in having grand kids if you can't fill their heads with a bunch of crazy stories that will make their imaginations run wild? I figure I have maybe two years, at best, before this one has me figured out, so I am not wasting any time. Here is Peggy interviewing one of our six year olds about the Wooly Booger, Bigfoot, etc.:

Here is a link to our YouTube Channel in case you are really, really, really bored and want to see our other videos. You can "subscribe" or "friend" us over there and make us so happy we might just pop.

Huge dead snake

2009-04-09T13:42:00.002-05:00

This has to be the biggest dead snake I ever saw.

Blacktop (hot mix) driveway paving

2009-04-05T20:47:00.002-05:00

Well, we decided to do our part to stimulate the economy, whether we could afford it or not! The contractor, M. Carroll Blacktop Service was here in the North Lake Travis area doing a much larger job and had a few truck loads of hot mix left over and made us deal we couldn't refuse. He stopped by our place about 1:00 PM and by 5:00 PM we had 450 feet of driveway installed and they did a very nice job. You can see the whole process in the video below:

Earth Hour - tonight - March 28, 2009 - 8:30 PM local time

2009-03-28T10:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a symbolic gesture you can make tonight that is, essentially, casting your vote in favor of a more sustainable energy consumption policy. Tonight, beginning at 8:30 PM local time simply turn off everything in your home that is electrically powered; TV's, computers, lights, etc. and leave them off for one hour.

Some background from the Earth Hour web site: "Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday."

Our plan is to put the hour to good use by teaching our granddaughter about the need for all of us to try to do our part to reduce energy consumption. Get our your candles and make a fun event and learning experience of Earth Hour for your children and grandchildren. Teach them about fuel economy, overly large houses, dangers of imported oil, global warming, excessive consumerism, polution, etc.

Make yourself into a Simpson character

2009-03-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

Here is a fun site for the rabid Simpson's fans like ourselves: Simpsonize Yourself. Have you always wondered what you would look like with yellow skin, blue hair, blue pants, three hairs on your head, and three fingers? Click the link and Make a Character of Yourself!

A little preparation is in order. Have a fairly high resolution photo of yourself, taken looking directly into the camera, and crop it pretty close to your face. Here is our result with a little tweaking:

Lloyd and Peggy Morris as Simpson Characters

I recommend that, if you what to get the true Homer Simpson experience from this, you should do this at work on your office computer. Then, take a good long nap after you finish.

A Milestone for This Blog - 10,000 visitors

2009-03-26T17:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's hail storm created a pretty good surge in traffic to this blog and carried us past a significant milestone. Today we recorded our 10,000th visitor! We were very happy about that, especially in light of the fact that we recently changed our hosting domain from blogger to our own domain, austinweird.net. That change caused our google search rank to suffer for a few weeks until the web crawlers caught up with us. Actually, it is still down somewhat after nearly a month at the new domain.

Austin Hail Storm 3/25/2009

2009-03-26T12:07:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty major storm pass through the area yesterday. It was actually a lot of fun since the hail really dumped! We didn't get much damage here but there were some windows knocked out all around the area. The fun part was our six year old grand daughter who was here with us when it hit. She had never seen anything like this and the noise on our metal roof was just incredible! She was running around screaming, "This is the most fun day of my life!" Next, she wanted to know if school would be canceled the next day so she could play in the ice all day?

Here is a video we did during the storm.

New Approach to Life Extension

2009-03-03T16:33:00.001-06:00

Here is a little something to consider for those of us wishing to live as long and healthy a life as possible. No doubt, you have seen dozens of products that claim to make you live longer. The fact is, for now at least, they are all either snake oil or claims with no scientific basis. The only proven method of extending life, possibly as much as 20 - 25 %, is calorie restriction. This has been proven in studies beginning with C. Elegans (a small 1mm worm) all the way up through primate studies, now on going for nearly two decades.

Calorie restriction (eating about 30% less than your body needs) works, we know it works but, it is extremely difficult and not something most people will ever do for an entire lifetime. However, there is probably an alternative that is not too terribly difficult. In the last couple of years there have been some animal studies that suggest that intermittent fasting works just as well, if not better than, full time calorie restriction. In other words, stop eating one or two days each week.

Peggy and I decided to give this a try about two months ago and have found it to be very easy. The way we do it is to take two 24 hour periods (Monday and Thurday) each week and do nothing but drink water on those days. We start the 24 hours after breakfast and go to breakfast the next day. Admittedly, we feel a little hungry around dinner time but, it is no big deal and, by breakfast the next morning, we are really not even hungry. This is something, unlike calorie restriction, we can realistically do for years and years until something better comes along. And, rest assured, there are many things in the works that are going to completely change the equation on aging. The idea is to be around long enough to benefit from them so, intermittent fasting is something you might want to consider as an easier alternative to calorie restriction.

Ibanez acoustic/electric - hours and hours of fun!

2008-12-19T11:44:00.003-06:00

I mentioned, a few weeks ago, that I had this new acoustic guitar that I wanted to talk about so, here goes. How about a photo to start off with?

It was about a three month search for this guitar. I have spent many many hours playing dozens of guitars at Guitar Center stores in Austin and Dallas looking for just the right combination of sound and playability. As you can see in the background of this photo, I like electrics. That is a Fender Stratocaster, a Peavey Raptor, and a Fender Precision Bass sitting next to a Peavey 212 XXL and Fender G-DEC 30. I wanted the acoustic so I could have something to play quietly while watching TV at night. If you pay attention to TV commercials you are going to hear some great music. Unfortunately, I can hear some great riff or some awesome rhythm and, by the next day, it has evaporated from my head. Now, when I hear something, I can just sit and play it over and over and over until Peggy begs for mercy, but I remember it.

IMHO, there has never been an accoustic instrument that can not be improved with the right electronics. This one is no exception. There is a pickup under the bridge going through a battery powered pre-amp with three band equalizer, tuner, phase change switch, and notch frequency adjustment. The later two items used for eliminating feedback so, you can play it LOUD!! Run this through that big Peavey amp you see there in the background and you can blow out your windows.

One last thing I wanted to mention, because I just found it interesting. This guitar was one of the display models they leave out for everyone to play in the Guitar Center stores so, naturally, it showed a little wear from handling with a few light scratches. I sat and played it for about and hour and a half and just fell in love with it. So I told the sales person my search was over and I wanted to buy it and he said, "Hold on and I will get you a new one out of the back." So, he brings out the new one in a box which looks identical, except in absolutely perfect condition. So I tune it up and get ready to try it out. From the first note, I could not believe the difference in sound coming from this seemingly, identical guitar. I swear, it sounded like a cheap, $100 guitar and those dead notes could not hold a candle to those beautiful, mellow tones coming from that display model. Naturally, I said I wanted the one on display and they said, "no problem" and threw in an extra set of strings and I have been one happy guitar picker ever since.

Snow in Austin

2008-12-10T12:30:00.001-06:00

Well this is something that you don't see very often in Austin. Last night at around 9:00 PM it started snowing. The temperature was about 38 degrees, so it did not stick but, it was still fun. By-the-way, the temperature dropped 47 degrees in 9 hours yesterday.

One of the grand daughters (Robin - 6), who has never seen snow, called last night from Abilene to tell us they were expecting snow there. She wanted to know if we were aware that you could stand outside with your mouth open and catch snow in your mouth? We will have to call her today and tell her we ate some snow last night. Unfortunately, they did not get any in Abilene.

Try to curb your enthusiasm

2008-12-03T10:36:00.001-06:00

Finishing the gate leads logically into the next project - road improvements, and we might as well start at the new gate and work our way into the property. Here is what we have done, so far:

We have 450 feet of road to build in this first project and have decided to use a ribbon curb system. These 12" wide concrete curbs will line both sides of the road and be filled in with caliche up to within about 1" of the top. The final inch will be filled with whatever material we choose to make the final road bed, asphalt, gravel, crushed granite, etc. We are leaning toward crushed or, as it is more commonly known, decomposed granite. It makes a good, hard, relatively dust free surface, and is a nice color. The distance between the curbs is 13'9" and the curb on the right is set 3" lower than the one on the left to aid in water run off.

As you can see in the photo, the left side is already poured and the right side is formed. One thing that is interesting about this project is that we are using, what I call, caliche concrete. Rather than purchasing sand and gravel to make our mix, we are simply using caliche, which we can dig right out of the hillside with the loader. We then add 12.5%, by weight, Portland cement and enough water to make our concrete. It is finished off just as you would normal concrete. I have never seen concrete made this way before but, it seemed like a good idea. We made some test batches first and were pleased with them. It does not have the strength of regular concrete but, is more than adequate for applications that do not require extreme strength. I would guess it is 75% of the strength of regular five sack mix concrete.

Installing a new gate

2008-11-09T14:05:00.002-06:00

I mentioned earlier that we were building some interesting things with concrete. This is not exactly the most interesting thing I was talking about but, we did make some pretty great posts upon which to swing a gate.

First, we started by forming the posts 9" X 9" square. Each has two pieces of 3/8" re bar running longitudinally in diagonal corners about 2" from the surface of the concrete. There is also a 3' piece of the same size re bar which is bent double to form a loop which sticks out the top of the post a couple of inches to form a lifting eye. Keep in mind, each of these posts will weigh about 400 pounds so, a lifting point is pretty important. One last internal detail is to provide for the gate hinges which are the through bolted type using a 3/4" bolt, about 10" long. We pre-made a couple of holes through the posts by positioning 9" long pieces of 1" square tubing laterally through the forms making very sure they were in the correct position for the gate hinges and that they would be in absolute vertical alignment when the post was set. They were poured right here on the floor of the shed where I park the Caterpillar so that I could work in the shade. Here they are after the forms are removed:

Living in the Texas Hill Country is great and it is very beautiful, however, there is one big draw back and that pops up any time you want to dig a hole. You don't use post hole diggers to dig a post hole around this part of the country. Those are only for cleaning out the debris which is, hopefully, loosened after you have pounded away with your rock bar. There are times you hit something you simply can not get through. I can recall a couple times using a skid loader mounted rock bit with carbide teeth and and turning for 20 minutes with the front wheels of the loader completely off the ground, without cutting one inch into the rock. Fortunately, stuff that hard is rare as it is mostly limestone.

Here is how you set a 400 pound post in the hole and a closeup of one the hinge holes:

Here is the way I like to permanently set a post. We dig this caliche right out the hillside with the loader and mix 5 shovel fulls with 1 shovel full of portland cement and dry tamp it very tightly in the hole. You just can't believe what a rigid post this makes! Here are the photos in order - caliche, portland cement, mixing it all together, tamping it in the hole:

This is closeup of one of the hinges in place:

And here is the finished gate:

This is a 14 foot, 2" tubing gate purchased from Tractor Supply and it comes pre-painted. I would have liked to have built the gate myself but, you simply can not justify building one when they only cost $155 at Tractor Supply. There is about 100 feet of 2" tubing which would have probably cost more than the completed gate. By the time you add in hardware, painting, welding rod, etc., it is a no brainer.

Can Obama live up to expectations?

2008-11-03T15:42:00.002-06:00

We feel as though we have just witnessed one of the most important historical events ever to take place in our lives and we are feeling pretty good about it. Now, we will see if we were correct in our assessment of Obama. Expectations are running extremely high, not only among the majority of Americans who voted for him, but among the rest of the world as well. Talk about carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders! Expectations are so high, I wonder if it is possible for anyone to live up to them?

I hate to say, "I told you so" ... not really, I actually love doing that because it happens so rarely. We may have been one of the earlier predictions though. Back on February 13th of this year, long before Obama got the nomination and while Hillary was still trying to change the rules to allow Florida and Michigan to count, we predicted Obama would win the nomination and "beat McCain like a drum."

A Canadian friend emailed me the other day and said they just elected their new Prime Minister after a 2 month campaign. That must be nice; two years is entirely too long. And, I shudder to think this starts all over in just a couple of years. I don't know what we are going to talk about now - probably just sit around and stare at each other.

Anyway, I am ready to think about something else besides politics. We have been building some neat stuff with concrete, I have a new acoustic/electric guitar I want to talk about, I am getting ready to build Peggy an electric steel guitar, and I am thinking seriously about building a curved top, hollow body electric. There may be a green house project in the works. Roads are under construction. Plus, we have to somehow work in our winter trip to the Rio Grande Valley. Stay tuned.

Caterpillar Loader Operator

2008-10-14T18:36:00.000-05:00

Check out our new loader operator. Best employee we have ever had - she works for ice cream! This is Alyssa, our six year old grand daughter, and it really was amazing how quickly she picked up on everything. She helped me cut in some roads here on our place and now she hops right in there and works those controls like a pro. It was cute last Sunday to watch her explaining to her four year old cousin how everything works. I was glad I had the key in my pocket because I had the impression she might have given a live demo.

Cutting Bush a little slack

2008-09-13T12:38:00.006-05:00

Anyone who reads this blog might get the impression we don't like George Bush, and they would be right. However, that does not mean the buffoon has to be wrong 100% of the time. Here is an email that has been making the rounds since early last year and we wanted to share it here because it makes a point near and dear to our hearts.

LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU
CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

HOUSE # 1:
A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas.
Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated
by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the
average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for
electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural
gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property
consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home.
This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's
in the South.

HOUSE # 2:
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university,
this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction
can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and
is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central
closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water
through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67
degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The
system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes
25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling
system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000
gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets
goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The
collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers
and shrubs native to the are! a blend the property into the surrounding
rural landscape.

HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of
Nashville,Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist
(and filmmaker) Al Gore.

HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford,
Texas. Also known as "the Texas White House," it is the private
residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

The reason I wanted to publish this has less to do with patting GW on the the back than with pointing out what a total, two faced hypocrite Al Gore is. Don't get me wrong, Gore is absolutely right on global warming and the solutions to the problem and is doing good work in getting the word out. He just wants those solutions to be everyone else's problem - not his! As environmentalists ourselves, we just have a huge problem with anyone using more than their fair share of the earth's finite resources simply because they can afford it. If we really want to make the world a better place, everyone needs to do their part, and no one needs a 10,000 sq. ft. home. When you get right down to it, it should not take any more than 500 sq. ft. per person to live comfortably and no one needs a personal vehicle that gets less than 35 miles per gallon. That's just my opinion and, I am sure, some might disagree on the numbers.

Of course Gore will tell you he put solar panels on the roof, buys green energy, and drives a Prius. As someone who lived on a 100% photovoltaic system for three years, I can tell you what a pitiful drop in the bucket that amounts to on a 10,000 sq. ft. home but, it makes Al feel better. As for green energy, electrons are electrons and, if they were not feeding his mansion, they would be going into the grid to reduce carbon emissions on a more worthy cause. Drives a Prius .... PLEASE! .... our Beetle TDI gets as good or better mileage.

Lest anyone think we are lecturing Gore without walking the walk ourselves, let me add this. We live in our approximately 400 sq. ft. motorhome and drive a VW Beetle. Between both vehicles, we average about 50 gallons per month in fuel, which is less than most use driving their car back and forth to work. When public transportation is available, we use it. We have some land which we use as our "home base" when in the Austin area and do have a heated and air conditioned work shop there. Other than about 10 gallons per year of propane for cooking, we get all the energy for our living space and work shop from electricity. On the worst triple digit Austin month, we never exceed 800 kwh in use and the year round average is half that. That translates to about a $45 dollar electric bill each month. All of our water, when in Austin, comes from roof collection to a cistern tank. If you think 400 square feet sounds confining, you should check it out for yourself because you will probably be surprised. We lived in a 3,000 sq. ft. home before we knew better but, now find this very comfortable. Plus, I have to say, we get a lot of personal satisfaction from not using more than our share of the earth's resources. We know we could do better and are always looking for ways to conserve.

Wasilla, Alaska City Hall

2008-09-01T14:41:00.001-05:00

Here is where the "highly qualified" GOP Vice Presidential pick was a little over 18 months ago - running a laundry mat, apparently.

Sarah Palin for VP? LOL

2008-08-29T16:30:00.002-05:00

Well, here we go again - we swore we were going to lay off the politics for awhile, even though it does happen to be topic numero uno around here. But, that pledge was before this latest comedy, courtesy of the GOP. Anyone who reads this column needs to understand exactly what this means and how to interpret the McCain campaign spin.

According to the spin doctors the selection of Ms. Palin, who prior to becoming Alaska's Governor in 2006 was a part time mayor of a city of 8,500, is a bold move designed to shake up the status quo and give the electorate a candidate eminently qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Given McCain's age and health history, voters should consider that carefully.

If you believe the spin, McCain passed over Mitt Romney, who did very well in the primary, Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota, a state they badly need to win, Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania, Sen. Joe Liebermann, and many other highly qualified candidates to pick Palin who's only two qualifications are she is a woman and she is pro-life. And when you consider all the other highly qualified women in the GOP, all you are left with is pro-life. And furthermore, women do not vote for someone simply because of gender and should be a little offended by the suggestion.

So, why did McCain really pass over all these exceptional VP candidates? In short, he didn't, they passed on him. Every last one said, "NO." Palin was all he could get in the face of a certain loss to Barack Obama. At first we actually felt a little sorry for Palin since she is in way over her head but, upon reflection, she probably sees it simply as a spring board to the national stage and, possibly, a ticket to the Senate.

An Austin institution is back - "Kind of"

2008-08-21T12:23:00.002-05:00

As many Austinites know, the Dallas Nightclub closed last Spring and left many of us who frequented the place over the last 26 years feeling like we lost one of our best friends. Honestly, Dallas was just the absolute best place in Austin to dance and meet your friends. It's absence over the Summer has been a huge let down to all it's fans. I don't want to over dramatize but, you get used to a great place like that when you go for a quarter century and you really miss seeing all the regulars. Also, Peggy and I have danced all over the country and I can say, without a doubt, we have never found another place with as many great dancers as you find at Dallas. I'm not counting yours truly in that group as we barely hold our own with those Dallas dancers!

Anyway, the good news is that Dallas opened up last night for one night and only for three hours, but it was a barrel fun and so great to see all the familiar faces. The impression I get is that they plan to do this periodically for an indefinite period. If you want to be notified, go to their web site and leave your email address.

I have heard so many differing stories as to why they are doing this odd schedule that I will not even try to explain. Who knows what the true story is? I just wish they could get back on their regular nightly schedule and start on their next 26 year run.

A national vegetable garden

2008-08-07T12:38:00.001-05:00

I came across this video, put together by Kitchen Gardeners International, and just thought it was a really neat idea. So, here I sit on a hot Austin afternoon giving you all the details.

We have all heard the benefits of buying all we can locally. Kitchen Gardeners International's purpose is to promote the cultivation of home vegetable gardens with a side benefit of reducing the distance food must travel from the field to your table, now an average of 1,500 miles. A nice side benefit is that you just might get some better tasting, healthier food at a reduced cost and, not only save the fuel cost of transporting the farm grown veggies, but reduce your own fuel consumption with fewer trips to the grocery store. I find it interesting that during the second World War the, so called, Victory Gardens, promoted by the government, were producing 40% of the nation's produce right out of the yards of it's citizens, thereby freeing up resources for the war effort.

It just goes to show what can be accomplished through education and leadership by example. At the time Eleanor Roosevelt had a Victory Garden planted on the lawn of the White House, I believe, the last to do so. This video makes the case for another vegetable garden on the White House lawn. No doubt, tomatoes out of that garden will cost a thousand bucks each ;-) but, that's not the point. It sets an example that could lead to something very helpful to many people.

No doubt, gardening is not for everyone but, think about it seriously. Peggy and I have been gardening, off and on, our whole lives and find it to be a lot of fun on top of all the other benefits. You will be amazed at the huge quantities of food you can grow in a very small space. Apartment dwellers can use pots on the patio. Our last garden we had at the RV Park where we stayed in downtown Austin was no more than 10' X 10' and we had fresh vegetables every day throughout the year. If you want to see what can be accomplished if taken to the extreme, take a look at Path to Freedom's Urban Homestead - 3 tons off one tenth acre!

Obama campaign buttons

2008-08-04T13:37:00.001-05:00

Want a free Obama button? MoveOn is giving them away totally free--no strings attached. Even the shipping is free! We just got 45 of them, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.

Click this link to get a free Obama button:

http://pol.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?id=-9799810-0Sze5_x

Enough said

2008-07-21T08:39:00.001-05:00

New family member

2008-07-10T11:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, we got a new addition to the Morris family. Not the kid, we have had her for over 5 years, but the cat. Ever since our 13 year old cat died a few years ago, we have proclaimed that we would have no more pets because they are just so confining. However, here we are with a new one year old cat. I guess we just can't help ourselves - we like them and they are worth the trouble.

We have not named this cat yet and would appreciate any suggestions. Officially, this is Allyssa's cat when she visits the "farm," as she calls it. However, the only crop we grow on this land here on the north side of Lake Travis is rocks. Anyway, this is her farm cat. As for the name - Grandma, myself, and Allyssa have been thinking up names for the last day and half. Right now, Fredda, seems to be at the top of the list. By-the-way, it is a female cat, in case anyone out there has a suggestion. I kind of like Lucille but, Allyssa is not crazy about it.

A note to our readers

2008-07-07T11:18:00.002-05:00

Although we try to provide posts on a variety of topics, some have noted that the blog is becoming quite politically oriented. The reason for that is that we are working for the Obama campaign and are doing our best to see him elected. However, even though we are working for Obama, we will never write something we do not believe in - it is possible that we could be wrong about something but, you can trust that we believe in what we publish.

Anyway, it will be over in November and we will be back to our regular weird ass stuff and, hopefully, give someone a laugh.

Which fourth do you belong to?

2008-07-06T08:08:00.011-05:00

If you look at any large group of people, disregarding education, ethnicity, or gender there is a certain percentage of that group that will not think for themselves but will mindlessly follow the leader of the group. This is not referring to the ones that will pretend to follow because it is in their interest to do so but, the true believers. There are countless examples to illustrate this behavior but, all you have to do is watch a season of "Survivor" to see exactly what I mean.

What is that percentage of the population that will pretty much buy into anything their leader tells them is right no matter how wrong? I am not asking about the ones who can occasionally be fooled and eventually figure it out for themselves but, the ones who will follow the leader wherever he leads; the ones who will remain silent as he takes a country to war under false pretenses, who never say a word as thousands of their sons and daughters are killed and hundreds of thousands civilians die for nothing, who sit idly by and watch their own constitutional freedoms erode, who never blink an eye as they and their fellow citizens are wiretapped and spied upon without warrant, who defend their leader's right to use torture, who will stand by and sacrifice any personal freedom while their leader builds a police state, who truly believes the rhetoric of fear and intimidation, who support their leader's callus disregard for the the sick, uninsured, and elderly who can not afford health care, who cheer him on as the wealth of the nation is squandered on his needless campaign, who say nothing as the borrowing to finance his war leads the dollar to new lows and feeds inflation that robs them of their personal financial well being.

Still that question, "What is the percentage that will go along with anything?" I would suggest that the Bush approval rating (23% to 28%) gives you a pretty good idea. If you look at all Presidents throughout history you find an all time low of 22% for Nixon so, it is safe to say we have just about reached the bottom - let's just call it one fourth. In other words, one fourth of the population is so thick headed they can not be reached and the rest of us should just let it go. It is a hard thing to do but, it is better than beating your head against a brick wall. And, although you can not reach that particular one fourth, we all have an obligation to speak out and tell it like it is!

Sure has been HOT in Austin!

2008-06-18T16:51:00.005-05:00

Well, I think it is time for us to update our resumes. We are now Heating and Air conditioning Technicians and masons. After 25 years in the building business (off and on) it seems odd that we have never had occasion to do one of these relatively straight forward tasks. We have just always subbed them out.

Anyway, we needed to install a heat pump in our workshop this week and decided to do it ourselves. Of course, you can learn to do any task on the Internet, so it was no big deal. I had watched enough of our subcontractors lay brick to know how to do that. Only had six blocks to set to build a platform to raise the outdoor unit about 24 inches off the ground. It was easy to do but, a bit of a challenge to get everything perfectly level. Just requires a critical eye on the level. The only reason I set it so high off the ground was to keep it in the shade of the eaves during the summer. We designed the overhang to place the shade right at the base of the wall when the sun is at it's most northerly position. Since we had to set the heat pump out about 10 inches from the wall, it had to be raised to stay in the shade. I don't know if that makes any difference in efficiency but, it seemed like a good idea.

Installing the heat pump was a little more involved than laying the blocks but, still a pretty straight forward job. Probably took us 7-8 hours of work but, if we had another one to do, could do it in four. Had to run wiring to supply power to the outdoor unit and had to install a disconnect and put the unit on it's own circuit. Then comes the wiring and tubing between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit. Here is the outdoor unit installed:

This system we installed is called a ductless, mini-split, heat pump. I have never seen one before because we have always installed systems in houses with many rooms, and these are not made for that application. The indoor unit just mounts to the wall and supplies heated or cooled air from that one point, although, you can buy these systems with up to four indoor units. Since our shop is basically one large room, this system works perfectly.

These are easy to install and come from the factory pre-charged with enough freon for up to 25 feet of tubing (we only used 8 feet since the outdoor unit is directly outside the wall from the indoor unit). You do have to have a vacuum pump and gauges to hook up to the service port to evacuate the tubing and indoor unit prior to opening the freon valve. That, and a flare tool are the only special tools you need. By-the-way, I set a new personal lifetime record on this install. Made six flare connections in a row without forgetting to put the nut on before flaring. Didn't have to cut off a single flare. Here is what the indoor unit looks like:

This 12,000 Btu system is very quite and cools this shop nicely. I don't really try and cool my tool room or the upstairs area of the shop but, the main work area and office is about 1500 square feet, and this is doing just fine on that. Today it is 103 degrees outside so, it is a pretty good test.

If you have the right type of space to heat and cool (not chopped up into a lot of rooms) this is the way to go. Plus, it was fun doing the install.

Republicans have lost their bearings

2008-06-09T18:38:00.011-05:00

Just take a look at this pathetic crew and ask yourself if this is really the best the Republicans can come up with? We have never called ourselves Republicans but, will admit, we did identify with them a little more closely during the Clinton years. Although, let's be perfectly clear on this, we have never voted for one for President since Ronald Regan. In other words, we have never cast a ballot for a Bush! And, if you think that means we voted for Clinton, think again. We were forced to vote independent those years.

We are working hard to see Barack Obama becomes the next President and believe he will beat Bush's love monkey by a landslide. One of our weird South Austin friends sent an email today that we thought was hilarious but, right on target. Don't worry, he takes "weird" as a compliment just like we do. Anyway, here is a reprint of "A GUIDE TO REPUBLICAN PRINCIPALS" by anonymous:

Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney then did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find bin Laden"diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing UN resolutions against Iraq.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco's links to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

--------------------

If you got the email too, you can see we edited down the list simply in an effort to be fair to the Republicans. We just left the ones in that were not even debatable.

It is time - End aging now

2008-06-04T16:27:00.003-05:00

One of our very favorite organizations and one of the most interesting web sites you will find on the internet is that of the Methusela Foundation. Here, you can find all the information you can absorb, and then some, regarding the emerging science of life extention. Check it out and, if you feel so moved, give them your support. You can make a tax deductible contribution or support the research in many other ways, as you will find out on the web site.

There is a very interesting article in COSMOS magazine on this very subject and it begins as follows: "Developments in a number of scientific disciplines suggest that we may soon be able to increase life expectancies from the 70- to 80-year range already seen in the richest countries to well over 100 and, perhaps, to over 1,000. We shall, in one sense, have made ourselves immortal.

We shall not be immortal in the sense that we cannot die; plainly we could still be killed in a car accident or by a cosmic event such as an asteroid striking the Earth. But we could not be killed by disease or age, our bodies would be immune to infection, dysfunction or the ravages of time. We would be medically immortal.

Some say this will happen quickly within, perhaps, 30 years with the first clear signs that we are on the right track appearing within the next decade. Others think we are at least a century or two away from attaining medical immortality. Some consider it completely unattainable. But the majority of scientists and thinkers in this area now consider life extension and even medical immortality possible and likely." To continue reading in COSMOS click here

Obama Makes it Official

2008-06-02T12:08:00.008-05:00

Back on Feb. 13th, after Super Tuesday, we posted that the Democratic nomination was essentially settled. The prediction turned out to be correct but, who would have thought it would have taken to early June to be confirmed? Will this be the last we hear from the Hillary and Bill show? We can only hope.

Some say sexism was involved in Hillary's defeat - I wonder? It probably had more to do with CFS (Clinton Fatigue Syndrome) - misrepresentation, distortion, outright lying, and a continuation of the same old tactics that the country has grown sick of? How would Obama have fared if he had tried to change the rules on Michigan and Florida simply for the benefit of his campaign? What if Obama had decided to shed a few tears to garner sympathy? What if Obama had tried to show he was tested under fire by lying about sniper fire in Bosnia? How far would he have gotten with the "Oh, I was sleep deprived" argument? No doubt, being a woman is hard but, being black is harder.

Now comes the crucial VP decision and, hopefully, we will not have the so called "dream ticket" which in reality is the "nightmare ticket." It should be still fresh on Obama's mind that the Clintons compared his candidacy to Jesse Jackson; called it a fairy tale, could not quite remember clearly that he WAS NOT a Muslim, has repeatedly distorted the election numbers, and tried desperately to bring in Michigan and Florida after it became apparent that it suited their purposes. I doubt that he wants a Presidency tainted by the stench of the Clintons and all their flagrant self dealing. Nor does he want to go through a campaign answering questions about the Clinton scandals - travel gate, Rose Law Firm documents, Tyson Chicken, cattle futures, Whitewater, White House pardons, "donors" to Clinton Library, and a hundred other things I can't think of off the top of my head.

Who should he pick for VP? I really don't know - there are hundreds better than Clinton. I personally like Biden, Edwards, Richardson. At this point, I would say anyone but Clinton.

Peggy and I are volunteers for the Obama campaign. Not sure what we are going to be doing at this point - maybe just blogging but, we have offered to travel to work in battle ground states, if needed. I guess we will see - stay tuned.

Watch where you stick your finger!

2008-05-21T10:37:00.012-05:00

I am typing today with only 7 fingers (I don't count the thumbs since they only have one small task). So, forgive my typos. Wanted to show everyone this cool thing I made to help my finger get well. Also works well if someone needs a good lecture with a finger waved in their face. Here is a photo:

Pretty neat looking medical device, huh? Maybe I will sell them. I snipped the metal part out of a sheet of aluminum, which I bent around my finger. The foam padding is made from a foam paint brush. The purpose is to keep my finger from bending while it heals and, it works great!

Of course you ask ... why? Because Peggy told me I had to have stitches, or it would not get well. I showed her - taped it closed, made my medical device, and it is coming along nicely. I think it will be OK in a week or so.

As for the, how - a simple matter of an angle grinder that zipped through my glove like it wasn't there - skin on my knuckle offered little resistance - not sure the bone was faring any better but, I was awake by that time and decided to end the ordeal.

It was such a smooth cut it did not really hurt, at first. I continued grinding until I noticed my glove was getting wet. Boy, did I dread taking that glove off! So, a minute later, just before the knees buckle, I am lying on the floor with my feet elevated and Peggy going on about how I had to get to the VA and get this sewn up. So there I am in a semi-conscious fog, with the word "stitches" echoing in my head, and I come up with the tape-aluminum-foam paint brush medical device thingy. They say, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Eliminate most Adobe Flash problems

2008-05-15T11:20:00.004-05:00

I know many people have been experiencing problems with Flash crashing and taking down Internet Explorer with it. You are sitting there with 12 tabs open and up pops the message, "IE has experienced a problem and needs to close" and you just want to sling you computer across the room. If you look a little further, you will find that the original culprit was Flash.

Today, I came across this nifty little free program called Toggle Flash that allows you to easily turn Flash on and off with a simple tool bar button. Now, you can just leave it turned off until you absolutely need it to view some Flash content on a particular page. A side benefit is that you will not see the ads created in Flash.

This little program really works great! It doesn't use up any system resources and just sits there silently on your tool bar until you need it. All it does is enable and disable Flash. If you like it, I am sure a Paypal donation to the creator would be appreciated.

The only good cedar tree .....

2008-05-11T00:25:00.005-05:00

Last Tuesday was a nice rainy day around here and that made it a perfect day to teach a lesson to some lousy, allergy causing, cedar trees. You can see in the photo that these particular ones will not be causing any sneezing or itchy eyes this winter. This is one of the two brush piles we burned on Tuesday and I already have another, bigger pile, ready to light on the next rainy day.

The tractor is our new Caterpillar loader. If you have never driven one, you can not imagine how much fun it is. We had a Bobcat before this one and, don't get me wrong, it was a good piece of equipment but, the Cat will just work circles around it. It has a normally aspirated Caterpillar diesel that I seldom have to run much above an idle. Today I took out a cedar tree that was close to three feet in diameter and it came up with a root ball at least 10 feet in diameter filled with rock and dirt. The Cat just ripped it right out of the ground with hardly a strain. You control forward, back, turns, lift arms, and bucket tilt with small wrist movements through a little, short joy stick in each hand.

My South Austin Truck

2008-05-05T17:18:00.005-05:00

Everyone with more than 10 acres needs a truck. So, when we got back from the Rio Grande Valley this year I announced to Peggy that I was looking for a truck and she said, "Sounds good to me."

Now, after 26 years together, I know what is going on in her head before she even knows and here is what was rolling around in there immediately after the words, "Sounds good to me .... Hmmm, I wonder what color we should get? Leather seats would be nice, we should consider that. Definitely want a large back seat. Really pretty wheels are nice too."

So here is the truck I found on Craig's List:

I showed her the ad and she laughed and said, "You're kidding, right?" Nooooo. "Do you want me to ride in it with you?" I hoped you would. "This is an April Fools joke, isn't it?" Nooooo.

Anyway, after some convincing, we went and looked at it and she liked it as much as I do. I bought it for $800 and it had brand new tires and $100 worth of gas in it. I runs great and the a/c is cold. Best of all, it has some character and is not one like everyone else drives.

Rio Grande Valley in the rear view mirror

2008-02-28T23:36:00.004-06:00

Just to bring everyone up to date. Peggy and I left the Rio Grande Valley about two weeks ago, where we have been staying for the last couple of months. We are now slowly working our way East toward Mississippi for our Grand Daughter's 5th birthday on the 8th of March. Should be back in Austin by the middle of March. By the time we get back we will have been gone for 3 1/2 months and I am starting to get a little home sick.

Here we are stopped at a rest area somewhere along IH 10 in Louisianna:

At the moment we are at the Coushatta Casino RV Resort in Kinder, LA. This is really a great place to stop. At first, we were only going to stay for a day but, ended up extending for five. Been going dancing every night to some great cajun blues music here in the casino. This is a big place too. I have been going for a run every day and one lap around the casino is 3 1/2 miles.

I suppose we will be leaving here on Monday and heading on to Gulfport, MS for a week or so. Hoping to hear and, hopefully, play some good blues music while in Mississippi. This form of music has always been a big deal in Mississippi but, lately it is starting to be heavily promoted as a tourist attaction. The Mississippi Blues Commission has, what they call, a blues trail which features many sites all over the state which are noted for their blues heritage.

As usual, we had a great time in the Rio Grande Valley. I believe this was our sixth winter spent there. Met a lot of people this year that like to jam so, we got to play a lot of music and had a ball. Looking forward to next year.

Democratic Nomination - Essentially settled

2008-02-13T19:15:00.005-06:00

Well, last night we watched another sweep by Barack Obama and it appears he will take this streak all the way to the convention. It appears that the gears have stripped on the Clinton election machine.

We believe Obama will be the nominee and are supporting the campaign financially and through our physical efforts. I would urge you to go to the web site and sign up for email updates and, if you feel so moved, make a contribution - you can help change this country for the better.

In a way I feel sorry for Hillary, even though I consider the Clintons to be the sleaziest couple of liars I have ever seen. I should not feel any sympathy for her but, I see this as the culmination of her life long ambition to be the first female President and to change history. She lost her chance by making the wrong political choice to support the illicit war in Iraq, reliance on polling rather than saying what she really thinks, and attempting to inject race into this campaign. I feel bad for her but, good riddance to the Clintons! And, by-the-way, Obama is going to beat McCain like a drum!

Aubrey de Grey on Comedy Central

2008-02-13T18:56:00.003-06:00

I just came across this video and, although I would rather be watching politics on MSNBC, I just had to stop and post this. In case you do not know, Aubrey de Grey is our favorite spokesman for the anti-aging movement and is a Ph.D. Biogerontologist from the University of Cambridge.

You have to see this! Actually, it is a serious subject and Doctor de Grey is a serious scientist but, this is just hilarious. I know you will enjoy it.

My personal journey to hell

2008-02-04T18:51:00.000-06:00

Until a week or so ago I had not been to a dentist in 20 years. Without question, I doubt that anyone actually enjoys going to the dentist but, here is how much I hate it. About 16 years ago I had two back teeth with large fillings that had the sides break off, leaving very sharp edges. Sure, I could have gone straight to the dentist to get this fixed, as almost anyone would. However, my solution to the problem was to get a file out of my tool box and file off the sharp edges, thereby, avoiding a trip to the dentist.

We have friend, who's son-in-law is a dentist, who has been assuring me for years that dentistry has changed immeasureably and bears no resemblence to the barbarity of 20 years ago and that I should just suck it up and go. Well, I have done that and can tell you, in no uncertain terms, it is exactly as I remembered it from two decades ago. I say this mearly as a fact, and not to take anything away from the extremely skillful dentist who is doing my work. In fact, I consider the man to be a real artist who is doing beautiful work. However, those needles still hurt like hell and the process is terribly uncomfortable.

OK, here's the deal - I am getting four crowns - the two back teeth that I filed on 16 years ago, plus my two upper front teeth which were broken 42 years ago in high school football. Actually, I was not very worried about those back teeth but, the front ones had me concerned. I have been through a lot with those two teeth - temporary crowns that kept coming off, eventually a permanent crown, broken bones in the gum, root canal, metal post implants. I think it actually makes it worse that I have gone through all this and have never even liked that stupid, lame ass, game of football which caused the problem. Can't even remember the last time I watched a Super Bowl game. I'm not even going to get into the broken fingers that now make it hard to play the guitar that I really do love. So there you have it; let's go to the dentist.

Back ones were first and not that bad. Sure, there were the usual 6" long needles jammed into the gum and jaw (Some Beach) but, I got through it. Before he started on the front teeth I asked how he would get the old crowns off. The answer made me suspicious, "We cut them right off in two minutes - no big deal - we do it every day." Here is how it actually went, and I am recalling this from about 3 hours ago: needles into the upper front gum followed by the roof of my mouth. By the time that was over with, I am sweating profusely. Then the grinding started so agressively that it was difficult to hold my head still, followed by a metal pick that still wouldn't free the crown. So, out comes the jack hammer which pounded so hard it shook me down to my spine. Finally, they came loose and my lot improved immeasureably at that point.

Honestly, I can't say it was all bad. I did have the hottest and sweetest dental assistant you could ever imagine. She did the deadening before the crowns came off and, while doing the injection, held my head against her left boob, which was pretty nice! Each time after she stuck me she would pat me on the chest with her right hand and say, "You poor thing, I am soooooo sorry." I have to admit, it REALLLLYYY helped! Then, while the jack hammer was running, she stood there and gently patted my shoulder. I will take her comforting any day over nitrous oxide.

All that is left is to go back and get the crowns glued in place. The worst is over and I am going to live through it but, don't let anyone kid you into thinking that dentistry is anything but an extremely brutal ordeal. But, aren't we all lucky to have these skillful, professional dentists that are working today? And, for goodness sakes, let's not forget those assistants!

Obama for President

2008-01-12T12:24:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you but, around here it is all politics - all the time. We simply can not get enough of it. After nearly 16 years of Clinton/Bush we are finally able to get excited about an election that holds the promise of so much positive change. As all our Facebook friends already know we are supporting Barack Obama for President.

We think there is little doubt that the next President will come from the Democratic Party and will be either Obama or Clinton. Obviously most Republicans feel the same way as evidenced by the sorry lot they have fielded to counter the Democrats. The only real question now is, "Will it be Obama or Clinton?"

As for Clinton, I really don't think she would be a bad President, however, I am just sick of hearing about the Clintons and have no interest in rehashing White Water, Rose Law Firm documents, Tyson Chicken, cattle futures, etc., etc. It is time for that chapter in history to be closed and for us to move on to something positive. That positive being the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama.

I know many of our friends are going to email us and say they were surprised to learn we are Democrats. We are NOT Democrats, we are Independents and always have been. We support Obama because he tops all the other candidates by a mile. In all honesty, we think Washington works best when the Legislative and Executive branches are split between the parties. That is not an option this year because the pendulum has swung so far right, and the Republicans screwed it up so badly, it now has to make it's inevitable swing too far left. This needs to happen to bring things back into balance.

Barack Obama will be a voice of reason and of change, both of which are desperately needed. We will probably see a couple of Supreme Court appointments during the next eight years, which is also needed to restore balance. Science will again occupy it's proper place without influence for political or religious purposes. We will probably also have an Executive Branch that abides by the Constitution and forgoes the many ways Bush has contrived to subvert it. I guess I could go on and on but, if you are interested, I suggest you check it out for yourself.

Home for the holidays

2007-12-31T13:12:00.000-06:00

Practically the whole clan was here in Austin for x-mas, which was fantastic! I won't mention any names but, even that bunch that dragged our grand baby off to another state was here, although for waaaay to short a time. Wish they would move back to Austin - HINT!

Check out our two youngest hippie grand daughters wearing Peggy's beads and glasses:

Here they are riding around Pecan Grove in Robin's Barbie Jeep:

In a few days, I suppose we will be on our way south for the winter in the Rio Grand Valley. Will post more when we are on the road.

Peggy's Garden

2007-12-31T12:53:00.000-06:00

I think, a few months ago, I posted a photo of Peggy's elephant ears from the planet Gigantus. Just in case I am losing my mind, here they are again:

By-the-way, her Okra was over 12 feet tall this year but, that is another story. These ears were the talk of Pecan Grove and, I think, are the result of the fertile soil here along the Colorado River. Keep in mind this soil has probably never been farmed and was laid down as a result of millions of years worth of floods prior to the building of the flood control lakes along the river. She doesn't even fertilize anything here. I thought the bulbs that came from these elephant ears were pretty interesting. We dug these up just a couple of weeks ago and must have gotten 30 bulbs from under these elephant ears.

Austin's shuffle king - WC Clark

2007-12-31T12:29:00.000-06:00

A few days before X-mas during the Amadillo Christmas Bazaar, Peggy and I had the opportunity to do one of our very favorite things; go see WC Clark play dem blues. Our friend, Gene Tankersley, went with us and we arrived early and got a seat four feet from the stage. Here is a photo of WC on stage:

If you like the blues and have never seen WC's show, you owe it to yourself to go. The man is a blues genius and, trust me, the audio experience will have you smiling from ear to ear. Check his schedule on his web site and pick a place. You will find him all around Austin and various other Texas cities every month. If in Austin, I would suggest the Saxon Pub for it's up close and personal seating and fantastic audio system.

The Lucky Cap - One Year Later

2007-11-27T18:49:00.000-06:00

If you have been reading this blog for long, you probably remember the controversy from a year ago when Peggy tried to wash my lucky jogging cap. If you don't remember, here is a link to the previous story from October, 2006: Lucky Cap - Or NOT?

---------------This is the photo of the lucky cap from Oct. 2006-----------------

I am very happy to report that the cap managed to escape washing and has therefore, been able to protect me from any injuries during my daily run. As you can see below, it is now pretty full of salt. It can be quite uncomfortable to be caught out in the rain wearing this cap due to the salt ladden water pouring down into your eyes. Although, I am happy to report that a couple of good rain showers is the closest this cap has ever come to being washed.

------------This is the photo of the same cap taken today, Nov. 27, 2007-----------

I feel fairly certain I can get a few more years of use out of this cap. My major worry is that the fabric is now so stiff that it doesn't stay on your head very well. Since I do my running around the lake, I am always worried that it will blow off while crossing one of the bridges and be lost in the water. I will post another photo in a year.

The South Austin Appeal

2007-11-23T14:21:00.000-06:00

Just in case anyone was wondering why Peggy and I like living in the weird world of South Austin, why we have never taken jobs, why we like to play blues, why we tend to be a little strange and treasure our weird friends? This little tune from "Weeds" says it all:

I hope our grand kids and nieces and nephews are paying attention because I want them to have the pleasure of weirdness as well.

This little song could also be called the Austin City Council Condominium Waltz as they seem to be doing their best to have us all in ticky tacky little boxes.

Cutting through the stem cell hype

2007-11-23T11:37:00.000-06:00

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last week or so, it is impossible that you missed the media blitz regarding a new, "stem cell breakthrough" in which adult cells were turned into what appear to be embryonic stem cells (ESC). It is important to understand that, while this is great scientific achievement, it has no potential for therapeutic use within the foreseeable future. That great potential still only resides with what we know today as true ESC.

As usual the media blows this sort of thing completely out of proportion in order to grab a headline. We have heard the Bush administration cheering this new development as confirmation of their policy restricting use of ESC for research. Just another example of their manipulation of science for political purposes.

Allow me to put this in perspective. This advance was achieved by inserting four genes into the genome of a skin cell by use of a retrovirus vector. Therein lies the problem. As long as viral vectors are the only way we have to insert these genes, these cells can never be used therapeutically. Why, because a virus is a very inefficient, shotgun approach for inserting genetic material. It is as likely to place the genes on chromosome 1 as on chromosome 23. As likely to place the gene in a non-coding area of the genome as it is to place it right in the middle of some other very important gene, thereby causing some other problem. Which is exactly why they are reporting about a 20% rate of cancer using these cells. That will always be a problem using a viral vector.

Someday we will surely have a restriction enzyme that will go in and clip the DNA in just the right spot and insert these genes. Or better yet, a way to chemically awaken the original genes that have been silenced in adult cells. My guess is that we are 5-10 years from either possibility. Many of those needing stem cell therapy do not have 10 years, or even 5 years, to wait. And, why should they have to wait when ESC are available now which are being discarded as medical waste?

The thing I really want to emphasize is that, while turning adult stem cells into ESC is a significant achievement, for now it is more a distraction than anything else. It gives those in the Bush administration and their supporters on the religious right ammunition to delay ESC cures for many human problems such as Parkinson's, diabetes, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injury, etc.

Save the Bandwidth

2007-10-24T15:33:00.000-05:00

I am sure that most who read this blog are just like us in that they love getting all the joke emails that make the rounds every day. There is something you can do to make the process much more efficient for the large files that contain a video.

When you get an email with an attachment that contains a video, you have probably noticed that the file size is huge, often running 5-10 MB. Even on a fast connection, these take some time to download. And, when you pass them on, they take even longer to send since nearly everyone's lousy ISP throttles their uploads. (I understand Verizon has started a synchronous service in a few cities - can't wait till it gets to Austin.)

Not only are these files time consuming but, many people have limited storage space on their mail server and these files can cause your friends to miss important emails that are rejected due to a full mail box. If someone on your distribution list has a dial up connection, forget about it!

Here is the solution: When you get an email containing a video file, instead of just forwarding it, go to www.youtube.com and do a simple search to find the movie. I have been doing this for months and have not gotten one yet that was not easily found on youtube. When you locate the movie on youtube, select "Send link by email" from your browser's menu and send to anyone you like. The file size will be at least one whole order of magnitude smaller and will go in the blink of an eye. And your recipient will appreciate your sending a 5 KB file with a link instead of a 5 MB file with an attachment.

Make Simpson Characters of Yourself

2007-10-22T16:11:00.000-05:00

A little preparation is in order. Have a fairly high resolution photo of yourself, taken looking directly into the camera, and crop it pretty close to your face. Here is our result with a little tweaking:

Simpson Characters

Lloyd Morris and Peggy Morris

So sit back with a large box of multi-colored donuts and have fun. If you make a mistake while customizing your character, just give it a big "Dohhh!" and hit undo. Notice I added what has been my daily uniform for the last couple years (black t-shirt) and Peggy's funky, retro glasses.

I recommend that, if you what to get the true Homer Simpson experience from this, you should do this at work on your office computer. Then, take a good long nap after you finish.

Garmin StreetPilot c330 - Don't leave home without it!

2007-09-20T11:14:00.000-05:00

I bought this little Garmin GPS on eBay a couple months ago and have, just now, had the chance to check it out on a long trip. It is safe to say, I am hooked! After three weeks of traveling from Austin to San Francisco, and many stops between, I can honestly say I will never again use a paper map to find my way.

How many times have you been in a strange city at night and wanted to go out to a certain restaurant or bar? You know what a hassle it is to try and read a map while struggling to see in the dark, watching for traffic, while not even knowing which way is North. Tell this little Garmin to take you to the nearest Jack in Box and your problem is solved! It will give you turn by turn directions, then tell you how to get back to your motel as well as the time you will get there.

The high points:

1. Nice display, not huge but, large enough to see clearly

2. Speaker is loud and clear enough to easily understand voice directions

3. Extensive database includes almost anything you could ask to find - hotels, food, entertainment, attractions, rest stops, etc, etc.

4. Satellite locks happen quickly, usually within 30 seconds.

5. Price: about $150

Low points:

1. Slow processor but, see number 5 above. Seldomly a problem but, if satelite lock is lost for any reason, can take 15 seconds or so to recalculate the route. It is possible you might miss a turn during that time.

2. This is not really a criticism of this particular unit but, with any GPS you are likely to occasionally lose the satelite lock if in a downtown canyon with tall building on both sides of the street.

Relief From the Heat

2007-09-20T10:17:00.001-05:00

After the long hot and humid summer of Austin, this was a welcome change. Here we are three days ago in Durango, Colorado. That white stuff all around the car is a mixture of small hail and sleet. Temperature at the time was 36 degrees.

Heading East Again

2007-09-13T03:27:00.000-05:00

I really did not get a chance to post immediately after the second day of the San Francisco Singularity Summit. We are now back in Las Vegas and have been here for about three days now, just doing our part to support the casinos through our generous donations. As I write this, it is 2AM and we just made it back to the room.

We are leaving here in a couple of days and heading to Albuquerque, NM to spend a few days. The primary reason for going there is the University of New Mexico's Museum of Anthropology. It is just incredible and, when we visited a few years ago, we only got to spend about half a day there. We swore at the time that we would come back when we had no schedule and could stay as long as we liked.

By-the-way, the Singularity Summit was excellent and very thought provoking. I imagine we will attend again next year and, if you are interested in that sort of thing, I would highly recommend it.

After we leave Albuquerque we are planning on going to Durango, Colorado to ride the narrow gage train to Silverton. I suppose we will be in Durango for a few days, then will start heading back toward Austin. Unfortunately we will miss ACL this coming weekend in Austin.

Singularity Summit 2007 - Day One

2007-09-08T17:04:00.000-05:00

Today, we are in San Francisco for the Singularity Summit on Artificial Intelligence and, at the moment, are sitting in the auditorium listening to one of the speakers talk about open source development software that will allow any of us to write customized algorithms to test in Advanced General Intelligence systems.

More on that later but, first a little about getting here. On the way out we spent one day in Las Vegas then went to Bishop, California on Thursday. After the hot and humid weather we have been having in Austin, it was refreshing to wake up to 38 degrees on Friday morning. Friday we left Bishop and headed for San Francisco by way of Yosemite National Park.

The Singularity Summit 2007 is a complete sell out this year and is hosting about 1,000 people who are interested in the field. Here is a phone camera photo from inside the conference room.

I have been pleasantly surprised at the speed of the Internet connection here in the conference room. They told us at the beginning that there was only one pipe in the room and, sitting here, I can see several hundred other bloggers and surfers in the audience right this minute. Must be a pretty fat pipe because it is quite speedy. :-)

More to follow tomorrow.

Scottsdale, Arizona

2007-09-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

Now, back to the West coast trip. Peggy is having one of those biggie birthday years in a few days - turning 60 on 911. I know some people don't like to disclose their age but, she can brag about it because she looks younger than her years.

Anyway, we thought it would be nice to spend her birthday in Reno and, on the way we are attending the Singularity Summit on Artificial Intelligence in San Francisco. Lots of great speakers lined up to talk about a subject in which we are very interested.

Here is a photo of about 1/1000th of 1% of energy generating wind mills in West Texas. Pulled over and took this from IH 10.

We have decided we don't much like Scottsdale, AZ. Have you ever been to Sun City - this is a whole, major city that looks exactly like a Sun City. Everything is earth tones, there are no signs, and the small business names they allow on the side of the buildings are nearly the same color as the building itself. What a boring place! If these people saw South Austin they would think they were in the Twilight Zone.

Catching Up

2007-09-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

OK, obviously I have not been posting to the blog but, I have a pretty good excuse. It is probably no big news to anyone that when Peggy and I get an idea, we tend to jump in with both feet. About a month ago we it occurred to us that we should get a motor home and sell our place out in Lago Vista. So the next day we started moving the things we could not bare to part with and selling everything else. Plus we made a rule that those things we were keeping had to fit in a 10 X 10 storage building or they were history.

So far we have given away, or sold, 4 van loads, 6 pickup loads, and a 16 foot trailer load of stuff. Plus we have moved all the “keeping” stuff to storage. As soon as we get back from the West coast the real estate is going up for sale.

Peggy and I are on our way to San Francisco and, today, are cruising along IH 10 between Las Cruces and Scottsdale. More to follow ....

After the Flood

2007-07-01T15:29:00.000-05:00

A couple days ago the bottom fell out over the Texas Hill Country. One gauge at Marble Falls recorded 19.5 inches over night. Lake Travis now stands at about 700 MSL which is 19 feet over what is considered full. Just a few weeks ago it was 45 feet low. Four flood gates are open on Mansfield Dam and the photo below is the result of all that water coming through Austin and Town Lake.

We took this photo this morning during our walk on the Town Lake trail. Keep in mind, this is the dammed up portion of the Colorado River which forms Town Lake in downtown Austin. Normally you would not even be able to see the current moving. In fact, right out there in those rapids is where you are likely to see the UT rowing teams practicing in their long, slender rowing sculls.

Here is a link to a whole gallery of photos of the flood, including the open flood gates at Mansfield Dam.

TA-65 Conference Call

2007-06-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to let you know about an important event coming up next month on July 7th. TA Sciences will be having a conference call regarding developments in Geron's telomerase promoter molecule which they have licensed.

Go here: TA Sciences and register to receive your log in number for the conference. You will be able to access the conference on the web or by phone and, will be able to ask questions if you like.

Another stem cell veto looms

2007-06-07T22:08:00.000-05:00

Where's my data?

2007-05-31T16:54:00.000-05:00

I think you will like this short video. If you have ever wondered what, exactly, was making that clicking noise when your computer was reading it's hard drive, now you will know.

Keep in mind, while you watch this, that the disk is probably rotating about 120 revolutions every second. It really is kind of amazing that the read head can locate and read data at such speed. Equally amazing that these drives are now manufacured at such low cost. Half a terabyte now around $150.

I had a Brain Storm

2007-05-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

I know, some of you think that storm may have been a category 5 tornado. Fortunately, I suffered no dane brammage what-so-ever! I did come across this very interesting video during my daily reading today and I think you will enjoy it too. It explains what is going on at the molecular level when we use our brains.

The plan was for this post to be a follow up on the full clinical trail on TA-65. However, the complete trial, which was supposed to be posted April 30th, was something less than I was expecting. An expanded study was posted on the TA Sciences web site but, it is conspicuously missing the Appendices which are essential for a full understanding. So far, no explanation for the omission. I will keep you posted.

Ponce de Leon was a little too early

2007-04-25T15:27:00.000-05:00

First, appologies for taking so long to get this post up but, I have been thinking about how to say this. I want to tell our readers about something that you definitely need to know about but, that being said, you should take what I am about to tell you with a healthy degree of skepticism, just as I do.

As many of you know, I have been interested in, and studying, molecular biology for nearly 10 years now. There are many companies around the world working on finding a way to slow, or reverse, aging. Some are more open about their goals than others but, regardless of their public position, from a profit prospective, aging reversal is the holy grail.

It has been my opinion for the last 4-5 years that the one company with the most potential to solve the problem was Geron. Although Geron is involved in many areas regarding the diseases associated with aging, the diseases of aging and aging itself are almost one and the same. There is not room here for me to get into exactly why I think Geron's approach to anti-aging is superior to anyone else's but, you can read all about the science on their web site or many other places.

Here is the real point of this post and the thing I want our readers to know about: Geron recently licensed a company called TA Sciences which, within the last month, has opened an office in New York. The purpose of TA Sciences is to market an anti-aging therapy developed over the last several years by Geron.

Why did Geron choose to market the product through TA Sciences instead of their own name? I think there are at least two reasons. One, companies that openly profess to be engaged in the emerging field of anti-aging research are often not taken seriously by the investment or the scientific communities. This method keeps the product at arms length for them. Secondly, it gives liability protection in the event that this turns out to be an absolute disaster and, that could happen, which is why I warned you to be skeptical of this, for now.

Now, most importantly, why do I think TA Sciences in not just another snake oil sales company? It very well could be but, the association with Geron, the MOA stem cell companies, gives it a certain credibility, in my mind, plus, they are taking the approach to the problem that I have always considered to be the most promising. On the 30th of this month, the full results of the human trials of the product are supposed to be published on the web site of TA Sciences. I am really looking forward to seeing that!

I know the emails are coming that will ask if we are going to take this treatment ourselves. We are still in our 50's, barely, but in good health. I think we can afford to wait a year or so and get more data. If I was 70 you can bet I would be thinking very seriously about giving it a go. If I was 80, I would already be on my way to New York simply based upon what I know about Geron and the science behind it.

This could very well be the first of many real anti-aging therapies that will come along over the next several years. In a later post I plan to discuss some of the socio-economic implications we are all going to face over the next few decades as a result of radical life extension. There will, no doubt, be huge issues but, we are just going to have to deal with them as a society because, this is coming sooner than most realize. This treatment from Geron and TA Sciences may not be the perfect solution but, there will be others right behind them.

If you are interested in following the research, I think you should start reading and learn the science inside and out. Understand that there could be serious risks at this stage. Here are some additional links that you might want to follow up on if you want to learn more:

Advanced Cell Technology
Sierra Sciences
Telomolecular

Words Cause Real Harm

2007-04-09T15:06:00.000-05:00

It is not often that I agree with Al Sharpton but, today we are definitely of like mind. I am referring to Sharpton's comments regarding the asinine statements made on the radio by Don Imus where he referred to the Rutger's Women's Basketball team as "Nappy headed hos".

I second Sharpton's statement that enough is enough! "Somewhere we must draw the line in what is tolerable in mainstream media," Sharpton said Sunday. "We cannot keep going through offending us and then apologizing and then acting like it never happened. Somewhere we've got to stop this."

The Imuses, the Richards, the Gibsons, and all the rest of the morons who have not figured out there are others in this world besides white Christians need to wake up and realize this is 2007, not 1907 - although, I doubt being an ass was any nicer in 1907 than today.

Of course, Imus did the standard celebrity apology the next day and said, "I am not a bad person, I just said a bad thing." Well, that is total bull shit because anyone who can verbalize those words, is a bad person, in at least one respect. I suspect, with many celebrities, this is a calculated move based upon the belief that any publicity is good publicity regardless of who gets hurt. Imus needs to wake his dumb ass up and join the present century. It is never too late to start the evolutionary process.

If you would like to delve a little deeper into the very serious damage these stupid, public comments cause, take a look at this short, eight minute, film by seventeen year old Kiri Davis. Let me warn you, it is hard to watch.

On a lighter note, if you would like to see some great wildflower photos from this year, take a look at our friend, Jo's blog, here. She has updated it just in the last couple of days and, trust me, you will like it.

Mobile Phone GPS Tracking

2007-04-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

I found a very cool web site our readers might be interested in. It just makes my day when someone comes up with this kind of technology, then makes it freely available on the internet! Do you want to know where your kids are; now you can track their cell phone in real time. Did someone steal your cell phone; track it and see where it is right now, then call the police.

One thing I really like about this site is that it uses the Google Maps Satelite Images with a street map overlay to pinpoint the location of any cell phone. I think it must be using more than just simple GPS data because it seems to find all phones, even ones that are not GPS enabled. It must triangulate off the nearby towers as well.

Here is the link: Cell Phone Tracking

Enjoy!

Million Musician March for Peace

2007-03-18T12:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Peggy and I and two of our friends from here at Pecan Grove walked over to the Capitol to participate in the Million Musician March for Peace. This was a nationwide event to mark the 4th anniversary of the President's illegal war in Iraq.

This first photo shows the marchers forming up in front of the State Capitol, where the 45 minute march to City Hall began. I suppose there were a few thousand marchers in the Austin event.

The march was noisy and the crowd was very vocal but, completely non-violent in every way. This group was united in a common message to bring our military forces home, now! I have to say it was quite a moving experience to be among this large group of free thinkers who see right through the haze of fear and intimidation this administration has constructed. Bushy's message of "support the troops", "better to fight in Iraq than here", is falling on more and more deaf ears today. However, enough bought into his BS in 2004 to get the him re-elected.

There were a number of floats that said volumes in their messages, including one by residents of Crawford, Texas. Camp Casey was represented although Cindy Sheehan was not present and, I assume was at the Washington DC march.

Arriving at City Hall we were greeted by an amazing concert featuring Carolyn Wonderland and Guy Foresyth. Notable speakers included Liz Carpenter and US Representative Lloyd Doggett.

This photo to the right is 86 year old Liz Carpenter speaking from her wheel chair. She gave a very entertaining and enlightening talk. The key point I took away in her words was, "If you can write about this, then get after it!" So that is what I am doing today.

Lloyd Doggett, who has always been our friend and a cut above the mealy mouthed, poll watching, double talking Washington bunch, gave a great talk where he minced no words. He pointed out how this President had dragged this country into war with a country which was no threat to us, had lied and manipulated intelligence, cost 3200 American lives, found no weapons of mass destruction, declared "Mission Accomplished", sent an under-manned and under-equiped force, ignored all advice of the Iraq Study Report, is spending 10 billion per month on this foolish endeavor, and wants to be called "The Decider". Well, it is time for Congress to start doing "The Deciding" and bringing our troops home with the only means at their disposal, cutting funding!

The photo on the left is of Rep. Doggett at the podium.

Ina Marie Hill 1921 - 2007

2007-03-11T16:10:00.000-05:00

Peggy and I are, at the moment, on the road en route to the funeral of my Aunt Ina who died last week. I pretty much stayed up all of last night thinking about my aunt and, this morning, decided I would like to make a blog post regarding my recollections. This first photo is Aunt Ina taken, I am guessing, right around 1950 shortly after moving to Texas from Ohio.

As a child I remember always being happy to visit my Aunt Ina and Uncle Dill and recall my aunt as a very nice, fun person. I liked it even better when they came to visit us in Greenville.

When you really sit and try to think back 50 years to when you were a kid, it is odd the silly things that pop into your head. One goofy thing I have never forgotten was that Aunt Ina had some of these aluminum glasses that used to be popular back in the 50's. Totally impractical inventions that, if you put something cold inside, would condense rivers of water on the outside. Of course, that means nothing to a six year old and I could not wait to get to Aunt Ina's and get a drink out of that wonderful anodized aluminum container.

I also saw my first remote control TV at my Aunt Ina's house and thought it was just incredible. This was probably in the late 50's and the remote had only two buttons, if I remember correctly. One, through a series of gears and belts, rotated the channel tuner clockwise and you can guess what the other one did. Of course you really needed a remote control living right in the heart of the Metroplex and being able to pick up 8 or 9 stations! TV at my Aunt Ina's house was quite an adventure for a young boy from Greenville used to, maybe, three and half stations on a good day. I wonder if women, in those days, understood the male's absolute right to ownership, and sole possession of the remote control?

As a child I saw my aunt as a nice, fun person but, I did not gain a full appreciation for her until well after I became an adult. This is when I learned what an intelligent, opinionated, interesting person she really was. In stark contrast to the vast majority which are meek, compliant sheep willing to be lead around by, so called, political or religious leaders, my Aunt Ina had a mind of her own and was not afraid to express herself, and I loved this about her. In fact, I have noticed that is a characteristic common to most of her brothers and sisters as well. Is that trait learned or genetic? I prefer to think genetic, and hope I inherited some of those genes through the Joneses.

And, speaking of those genes, here are my Grandparents (my aunt's parents), Cliff and Marie Jones. I think this photo is from about 1915 in Cameron, Ohio.

As someone who despises laziness, practically the highest compliment I can give someone is to say they worked hard. My Aunt Ina was one of the hardest working people I have ever known. She raised a large family and I know she worked many overtime hours at General Dynamics and, worked many years longer than financial need required. She was a bundle of energy!

Here is a photo of Aunt Ina and her oldest daughter, Barbara from around 1954. I wish I also had a digital image of Ina and Uncle Dill together to post but, we are driving down the interstate with no way scan a snap shot. And, thank you to Wally and Ruth Ann for the photos that are posted here today.

I am going to miss my Aunt Ina and think the world is probably a little less interesting place this week than it was last.

Austin Intel Bites the Dust

2007-02-28T16:11:00.000-06:00

About 7:30 AM last Sunday the unfinished Intel building in downtown Austin was reduced to a heap of concrete and steel with the help of over 700 pounds of explosives. The demolition makes way for the new Federal Court House to be built on the site between 4th and 5th streets.

This old shell has stood on this location for many years as a visual reminder of the tech bust. Seems a shame just to implode it, as it looks like it could have been finished as Class A office space.

The demolition company that brought it down said it was particularly difficult because it was designed to support 10 stories but, only four were complete, which meant they did not have the weight of these upper floors to help flatten everything. I think this was a first for Austin.

The Longest Embrace

2007-02-09T11:01:00.000-06:00

The BBC story below has been in the news lately but, here it is in case you missed it. To me, it is one of the most touching photos I have ever seen. The human skeleton normally evokes images of violence, murder, B-grade horror movies, or Halloween. Here we have a beautiful image of a young couple locked in a 5,000 year embrace. Maybe I am outing myself as a sentimental old fool but, to me, it is just nice.

I find myself torn between a scientific curiosity to know what happened to these two, and desire to simply leave this image intact. Knowing they are just bones, and having no superstitious, spiritual beliefs, why would I care? I would prefer to say I don't but, for some reason, I do - shrug.

Ancient skeletons embracing

Archaeologists in Italy discovered a pair of 5000-6000 year old skeletons embracing.
The pair, almost certainly a man and a woman, are thought to have died young as their teeth were mostly intact, said chief archaeologist Elena Menotti...
"It's an extraordinary case," said Ms Menotti. "There has not been a double burial found in the Neolithic period, much less two people hugging - and they really are hugging," she told Reuters news agency.
Flint tools, including arrowheads and a knife, were also found alongside the couple. Link to the full BBC story.

Guitar Town Austin

2007-02-06T18:48:00.000-06:00

Today, I mainly wanted to let everyone know about a something very cool going on in Austin, as well as, remind you of the blog belonging to some of our friends here in Austin. First, Guitar Town Austin which is sponsored by Gibson Guitars. Ten foot tall, artistically decorated Gibson Guitars are displayed all over Austin. These will later be auctioned off to benefit four Austin charities. Check out the web site and see all the designs - some are amazing. Here are a couple we snapped with the phone cam down on the hike and bike trail:

In a previous post, I pointed you to the blog of our friends from the UK, Jo and Alan Hunter who have some really great photos which Jo updates regularly. There are some new photos posted today, as well as some observations they have made of the differences in life between the US and the UK. They are interesting to read and, if you go back in the archives a little way, see what they had to go through trying to set up housekeeping here with no Social Security Number! Life is tough until you get that SSN!

On an unrelated subject, I wonder how many of the "Ditto Heads" have pulled their heads out of the sand now that the climate reports have made it official that global warming is real and caused by man? I know a few I need to ask.

Until next time -

Here's to you Molly, we already miss you.

Yo, Dawg!!

2007-01-29T19:16:00.000-06:00

Bumped into this very cool dude out on the Town Lake Trail a couple of days ago. This photo is taken on the Lamar Street foot bridge over Town Lake. It is like he is saying, "I'm just way too cool to actually look into the camera."

This sign is on the door of the passport office in the 6th Street Post Office. Looks like Tony Soprano might have some competition with executions only running $30 here in Austin.

Is anyone else tired of the tangle of wires around your computer. Snaking across my desk are power cords for a computer, monitor, router, printer, plus a couple of ethernet cables and several usb cables. Until today, there were also cords to a mouse and keyboard. Of course, it is all hanging down in a huge tangle at the side of the desk.

I have been thinking about getting a wireless mouse and keyboard for a while and finally found one at Walmart yesterday, at a price I was willing to take a chance on; $16, which shows you how much of a gambler I am.

After using it for a day, I can honestly say, I am about ready to go back to the wire. Keyboard is a little difficult and misses a letter here and there. Plus, the mouse does not have enough resolution. Maybe if I paid $70 for one, it would work better. Anyone have any ideas on that? Also not all that happy with a mouse that contains two AA batteries. Makes it a little heavy and bulky.

Big cold front due in this weekend. Super Bowl party to go to on Sunday, then we are out of here for the Rio Grande Valley until it warms up a little.

By-the-way, anyone reading this in the Austin area might want to consider Carolyn Wonderland at the Saxon Pub on Thurday. It is pretty amazing to see her show in a room with only fifty other people. If you have never seen her, she reminds me of a mix of Joplin and SRV. If I am not mistaken, this is her last week at the Saxon. We have gone the last two Thursdays and will be there this Thursday.

And it Continues

2007-01-20T12:12:00.000-06:00

It has been four days since the peak of the big ice storm here in Austin and, while the ice has now melted, the unseasonably cold weather continues. If you would like to see some more photos of the Austin ice, Jo Hunter has some new photos on her blog that are very nice.

Peggy and I went to the monthly dance in Lago Vista last night and had a great time, as usual. I learned something last night that I don't quite know how to take. Our friend Joy, who works for the State of Texas, gave me the URL of a web site that features a publicly searchable national database of all driver's license records. It includes a digital image of your actual driver's license, with photo. You do have the ability to opt out of the public search and only have it available to law enforcement which, to me, makes sense. If you want to remove your record from the public search, here is the link: National Driver's Licence Records. Just pull up your record and click the button labled "Make Private."

Well, I just had a couple of things I wanted to mention today, so I will sign off and see if I can go for a run without freezing my lungs in this cold air. Ahh, what the heck, I should probably, at least, throw in one gratuitous photo of a grand kid. How about two for the price of one; this is Allysa and Robin taken at xmas. Aren't they cute!?

An Austin Blizzard!

2007-01-16T15:34:00.000-06:00

Can not remember when the last time was that I saw traffic this light on 183. Last time was probably around 3:00 in the morning. As you can see from this TX DOT traffic camera, we are having quite an ice storm here in Austin.

If I remember correctly, the last major ice storm we saw here was in 1985. I remember it so well because Peggy and I thought we HAD to drive in it that day. Little did we know! We were living in Leander at the time and had a closing that day at Stewart Title in Austin. Rather than call first, we drove all the way in at a top speed of about 20 MPH and found the title company closed, sooooooo, we turned around and made the hour and a half drive back home and waited for the thaw.

Today, we are riding out the blizzard downtown at Pecan Grove in our RV, and staying warm most of the time. Just returned from a three mile walk around the lake and got a little chilled. One of our propane bottles ran out this morning. It was nice that it waited until after we got up to do that.

Even though we have another full bottle of propane, I decided to go fill the empty one at the propane dealer just up the street. Got there just as they were locking up at just after noon. They filled my bottle anyway but, I was the last one to get propane from them today. These Austin propane dealers are not as dedicated as the ones in Arlen, Texas. Hank Hill would never abandon Strickling Propane on a day like this. Hank would consider this a propane emergency and probably spend the night on duty.

Just spending a lazy day playing some music and watching the TV on mute. I got a new guitar and Peggy is learning to play keyboard. Looks like we are in for a lot of snow tonight. If it happens, I will post some photos of it tomorrow. Today, I took the lazy way and captured a photo off a web cam.

Actually, here is a better idea for some good weather photos, just check our friend Jo's blog here. She is a professional photographer and you will find better photos than I could ever produce. In fact, I would suggest you should check her blog every week or so.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T13:29:00.000-06:00

I imagine I am doing something now that a lot of other bloggers are doing today, saying Happy New Year to our readers. Peggy and I want to wish you the very best 2007 you can dream up.

Last night Peggy and I saw in the New Year in a very calm (for us) manner. I can't tell you how much we love living downtown at Pecan Grove. It makes everything so easy. We had dinner at Manuel's over on Congress with our neighbor, Karen. While we ate the First Night parade was coming down Congress. Then we all walked around downtown for the many First Night events which were going on.

Later, Peggy and I walked over to Sixth Street and stopped in at Friends where we heard just a kick ass blues band. If you get a chance to go see Walter Higgs and the Shuffle Pigs, you owe it to yourself to go. They are great and I can't wait for them to show up Antone's where there is a pretty good dance floor for Whip and West Coast Swing. The whole time I was listening to them at Friends, I was thinking to myself, "It just goes to show how many fine musicians live in Austin (the live music capitol of the world) that a band of this caliber is here playing for tips."

Here is another photo I have been anxious to get posted in the blog. Below is another Pecan Grove neighbor and good friend, Jim, the Balloonatic, Dickson. I get the biggest kick out of the many unusual ways folks here at Pecan Grove make their livings. Jim has one of the most unusual I have come across in that he makes balloon animals. Be sure and check out the link above to his web site. This photo is in front of our trailer and features Jim on his new electric bicycle with Loose Lucy riding in the basket.

Pickin' Party

2006-12-20T08:49:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday afternoon a few of us here at Pecan Grove RV park got in our cars and drove about 30 miles West into the Texas Hill Country near Spicewood. Our destination was a very cool party at the home of Freddy Powers. There was a solid 8 hours of some of the best music you could ever hope to hear.

You may not instantly recognize the name Freddy Powers but, you know his music. He holds 5 BMI awards for #1 records which he has written for Merle Haggard and George Jones including, "Looking for a Place to Fall Apart," "Friend in California," "I Always get Lucky with You," "Let's Chase Each Other Round the Room Tonight." You may have also seen a PBS special about him just a couple of weeks ago.

Neither Willy nor Merle showed up while we were there but, we did get to hear a soon to be released cd that Willy had dropped off before we got there. Also present was Hall of Famer, Sonny Throckmorton who has 18 number one hits to his credit. That is Sonny in the photo sitting right in front of the bass player (just to the right of the gray hat). Our friend Ron, that invited us to the party, is on the left playing the drums. Immediately to the right of Ron, playing the guitar, is Steve Carter.

We sure had a great time just standing around listening to music and visiting with everybody. Looking forward to the next one!

New RV

2006-12-18T12:22:00.001-06:00

Lloyd has written of our sailing trip so well that I didn't really feel the need to add to it. For a city girl like me it was quite an adventure and one I will never forget. I will say I did much better than I thought I would. My sailing experiences had been limited to Lake Travis on days that the weather was perfect so I really did not know what to expect, although Lloyd did his best to explain what the experience would be like. I would do it again though, but not right now.... for now we are happy to be home and getting back to normal.

About 2 weeks before we left on the sailing “mission” (as Lloyd puts it) I found a heck of a deal on a 32 foot, 1999 Prowler 5^th wheel with 3 slides. Being short on time, we had to really hustle to complete the purchase of the new-to-us trailer and sell the smaller one. Selling the old one was easy! We took pictures and posted it on Craig's List (that is where I found the new one). We sold it in 2 days to the second person who looked at it and got nearly what we paid for it 4 years ago. So we were happy! A friend helped us move the 5^th wheel from it's location north of Georgetown because our truck wouldn't pull a trailer this large. We finished getting it set up in Pecan Grove RV Park 5 days before we left on our trip so we barely had our things moved back in before we left.

This one is in really good condition. It looks like it had been used only occasionally. We had to replace the refrigerator and the carpet to put it in tiptop condition. Oh and we did have to evict some wasps and dirt dobbers. The wasps were pissed off let me tell you!!!!

I am thrilled about all the extra space we now have. We have two huge slides in the living area, and one in the bedroom which gives us lots of room! We have tons of storage, so everthing has it's place. The kitchen has hardwood flooring that matches the cabinets.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to decorate it. Guess when our grandaughter, Noel, gets here she can help since interior design is her major. AND grandma can use all the help she can get.

We are not Moving

2006-12-15T10:25:00.000-06:00

I think, by now, every single person we know in Austin has called or emailed to tell us how sorry they are to hear we are having to move due to the closing of our RV park in downtown Austin. The thing that got all this started was a development plan for the land that now is the Shady Grove RV park which is a 37 lot RV park next door.

This does not effect Pecan Grove, where we live, at all. We have no illusions that we will be able to stay here forever but, for now, there are no plans to close Pecan Grove. In fact, the Shady Grove thing is far from being a done deal, from what we hear. The developer is asking for a variance to build to 75 feet, which will require council action, in the face of neighborhood opposition. Who knows how that will go.

Since we have primarily made our living in real estate, we understand the desire of owners to see their property develop. On the other hand, it is sad to see a uniquely Austin business, like a downtown RV park, replaced with high rise condos. Every time something like this happens, Austin loses a little of it's weirdness.

Just wanted to clarify what was going on. We should be here for many years to come and, if someday the RV park closes, we may get a condo or apartment downtown. We have gotten used to living down here and it would be hard to find anything we liked as much.

In Case You Still had any Doubt

2006-12-07T15:26:00.000-06:00

Normally when I write about our country's foolish endeavor in Iraq, it turns into a complete rant. I am not going to do that this time even though I am still infuriated at the needless loss of life and waste of this nation's treasure. It will not be a rant this time because the tiny group that still supports this unmitigated disaster is, at this point, unreachable and I can now accept that with a certain degree of calm.

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group report is now in and confirms what this writer and many, many others have been saying for years, and now should be clear to the entire world. Not since WW II has this country been in such a potentially disastrous position and you can thank President Bush for every life lost and dollar spent.

The Report clearly states there are no good options out of this situation. We will probably just pull out over the next year or so and leave behind even worse problems, along with, at present count, up to half a million dead Iraqi's.

What will happen to those that lied, manipulated intelligence data, invaded a sovereign nation, killed a half million people, killed 3,000 of our own boys and girls, injured 10's of thousands more, destroyed our standing in the world, and unnecessarily dragged us into the most expensive war in our nation's history? The short answer is, "Nothing," other than a little political heat.

If any other country had done this, we would be the loudest voice calling for the arrest and trial of the perpetrators as war criminals. I guess there are distinct advantages to being the biggest bully on the block.

Catching Up

2006-11-30T00:35:00.000-06:00

Obviously, we have been back in Austin for a while now and I have not posted anything to the blog. I almost blogged myself out on the three weeks we were away sailing. I have actually gotten a few emails to the effect, "What the hell is going on, we know you are home, post something!"

Sorry about that and here goes. We have been busy catching up on going out dancing. It is amazing how much you forget in three weeks. Also, I did not get to do any running on the trip and have been trying to get back in shape since we got home.

Thanksgiving was great! We had dinner with Betty Peterson and her family. Allen and Deborah brought Allysa down to Pecan Grove the next day and we all had a nice visit. Here is a photo of Deborah and Allysa on our patio. Just look at that long curly hair; have you ever seen anything so cute???!!!

Here is one of Allysa with the stuffed turtle we got her; at the moment, turtles are a big deal to her.

A couple of days ago we had a very nice happy hour here in our RV with our new friend and next door neighbor, Sandy.

Ted and Nancy Forcum stopped by Pecan Grove with their RV a couple of days ago while on their way to the Rio Grande Valley. We all went to the Dallas Night Club tonight. A very weird thing happened tonight at Dallas. This was only the second time in our lives we have gone there on a Wednesday night. We bumped into an old friend, Tim Mosely, who we have not seen in at least 10 years. Tim said this was his first trip to Dallas in about 8 years. It was quite a coincidence and great to see him.

I hope this gets me off the hook. More will be coming and, on a regular basis.

Back in Austin

2006-11-18T20:48:00.000-06:00

Well, we are home from the sailing trip. Actually got home day before yesterday, but have not had a chance to post anything. Been catching up on a lot of sleep but, to be honest, have gone out running a couple of times and even made it out dancing Friday night at the Dallas Nightclub so it has not been all rest.

Had a few more photos from the trip that I wanted to post. After we got into Tampa, Bob had the boat hauled out of the water and put in storage to sell. The photos of it coming out of the water were fairly interesting, to me at least. I hope you enjoy them.

Here is one of a visitor we had after we entered Tampa Bay. We actually had several of these offshore, but this is the first one we managed to get a photo of. It is very hard to get a shot because they come up so quickly and are so quickly gone. Notice there are two in this photo.

I can't believe we do not have a photo of all four of us together, so I am making do by posting two photos. One is missing Gene and one is missing me - can you guess who was taking the photo in each?

By-the-way, the lift you see picking up Sirena is controlled wirelessly from a hand held controller. It has a diesel generator supplying power to the motors and is rated for 55 tons. Sirena weighs 17 tons, so was no strain at all for the lift. This boat yard also had a 75 ton lift. After lifting the boat, it is driven wirelessly to the storage area where it sets the boat down.

Here is one of Sirena being set down in her new parking space. Notice the yellow thing in the guy's hand behind the boat. That is the wireless hand held controller with which he is driving the lift.

Nov. 14 - Tampa, Florida

2006-11-14T21:52:00.000-06:00

Well, I am happy to report we have made a successful delivery from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands to Tampa, Florida via St. Croix and Puerto Rico! At the moment, we are all pretty well worn out from the trip and glad to have it behind us. However, we all are very happy to have made the voyage.

Got tied up to the dock about 4:30 PM this afternoon. Since we did not have an internet connection at the marina, Peggy and I went to a nearby motel to get all the posts that have been waiting put on the web site.

The trip from Key West was a pretty quick 30 hours or so. We are going over to the marina in the morning to help Bob get things off the boat and do some cleaning, then we are off to the airport for a 3:15 PM flight to Austin.

The leg to Tampa was mostly windless so we motored most of the way. Here is the Skipper having his lunch today. Notice the glassy water in the background.

And, here is the Skipper sleeping off that lunch.

Sailing a modern, well equiped sail boat is difficult, but much easier than it was just a few decades ago. Sirena has roller furling main, staysail, and jib. All lines can be handled from the cockpit which means there is very little need to go forward while underway. It also allows for infinitely adjustable sail area, which is much easier than tying in a reef.

There are a couple of people that we all agreed needed to be thanked for making the trip much easier for us. First we want to thank Rudolf Diesel who kept us moving when the wind didn't. And we don't want to forget Mr. Garmin who gives us our position any time we want it to within + or - 30 feet.

Nov. 13 - Key West

2006-11-14T21:22:00.000-06:00

Got in Key West about 1:30 AM this morning. It is a fairly complicated arrival, but probably easier at night than in the day since the lighted bouys are easier to see. There are about 8 miles of narrow channels with 5 or 6 turning points to navigate through the shallow waters surrounding Key West.

We pulled into the Conch Harbor Marina and found the fuel dock and tied up for the night. Around sunrise we got a knock on the hull to indicate the fuel dock was open and we filled our fuel and water tanks.

After moving the boat out to an anchorage, we all took a well needed shower and hopped into the dingy to spend the morning in Key West. First stop was Customs and Immigration where they simply noted our passport numbers and sent us on our way.

It was great to get out and walk a little after lying around like a couch potato for over a week at sea. We didn't need to buy much since we stocked the boat pretty throughly in Puerto Rico, but we did pick up some fresh fruit and a chart for the remainder of the trip to Tampa, Florida.

Got back out to the boat just before lunch and decided to get underway. It takes about an hour and half to run through the channels to get out to deep water in the Gulf of Mexico. Peggy had lunch ready for us about the time we made it to the end of the channel.

Here we are leaving Key West as we pass the cruise ship docks.

As I write, we have been headed for Tampa for about 24 hours. We are currently making 7 knots which will put us in there in about 5 hours, at about 4:00 PM this afternoon. Next post will be from Tampa.

While we were in Key West they were having power boat races and I thought this overly wide boat on it's trailer was well worth a blog post.

And the truck that was pulling it was very cool too.

Nov. 6 - 13, At Sea

2006-11-14T21:10:00.000-06:00

Here is a close encounter of the freighter kind.

This is going to be a fairly long post because we have been at sea for a full week and I will not be able to post it until we reach Key West tomorrow night.

We had barely left Puerto Rico and were less than 10 miles offshore when we started thinking about skipping the Turks and Caicos and going straight to Key West. The reason we were considering this is that it is difficult to get out of those ports once you are in due to the reefs and prevailing Easterly winds. It necessitates a long beat to windward which none of us were looking forward to – they don't call it a “beat” for the fun of it.

The big issue was how were we going to let anyone know since everyone was expecting us to check in from South Caicos in about three days. So here we were with everyone on deck with a cell phone trying to get a signal from Puerto Rico since we could still see the lights. Finally, Bob managed to get a digital roaming signal strong enough to get a call through to his brother, Ken. We gave Ken all our contact numbers and he said he would let them all know not to expect us for a week or so.

As I write this, we have been at sea for six days since leaving Puerto Rico. As of about half an hour ago we were 170 nautical miles out of Key West and making about 5.7 knots. Should be into Key West around 10:00 PM tomorrow night.

We have been having a great time and eating like Kings. Peggy has been feeding us very well. Even though we are sleeping odd hours, we pretty much all wake up and eat together three times a day.

Bob, Gene, and myself are standing watchs of 2 hours each which makes it 2 on and 4 off, round the clock. It is not as bad as you might think grabbing a few hours sleep two or three times throughout the day. After a week of this, we have fallen into a comfortable routine and it is no big deal.

All of us on this boat are very old friends and, since we have now been together on this boat since the 28^th of October, I think it is safe to say we will remain good friends after this is over. I think I can speak for everyone when I say it has been a real pleasure to be together so closely and for so long.

I have known Gene for over 20 years and Bob for well over 10 years and yet, have learned a few things I didn't know about them. Although I knew Gene played guitar, I had no idea how good he was and especially how well he could sing. It has been a real pleasure to listen to his music at night when we were in port.

I have also learned that Bob played tuba in his high school band and also plays the piano. And, although I knew Bob could sail, I had no idea what an excellent sailor he really is. In fact he is, by far, the best I have ever sailed with. And, when I say excellent, I am not comparing him to your weekender or day sailor. He is one that knows his business offshore, which is a whole different ball game.

Most lifelong friends are made early in life in high school, college, or military service. It is rare to make those kinds of friends late in life but, I can say without hesitation that I will be friends with Bob and Gene from now on.

We have had good weather except for one night of a cold, windy rain that lasted all night long. Two hours at the helm in that was not fun but, we did make good time because it was really blowing. We have had some periods of light winds but, all in all, the weather has been close to perfect.

Last night was an excellent night for sailing and we were making 6.5 knots through the water with a 2 knot following current as we came up through the Bahama Channel along the north shore of Cuba. We really made good time and had a 24 hour run of 152 nautical miles. Some time tomorrow we will cross the Gulf Stream and into Key West.

Nov. 5 - Puerto Rico

2006-11-14T21:00:00.000-06:00

This is another one of those posts that will be put on the blog after the fact. No internet connection here at this marina in Puerto Rico.

Before we left St. Croix, in addtion to a fairly brutal windward beat of about 6 hours just to get there, we must have worked another 8 hours getting ready to leave. We were all exhausted by the time we left port. Here is a view from the top of mast that Bob took while we had him hoisted up there. Just checking things out and mounting radar reflectors.

We sailed all last night and arrived here around 10:00 AM this morning. We have already filled our water tank and, at the moment, I am sitting here on the boat at anchor. We launched the dingy and Bob went to get us checked in at customs while Gene and Peggy are buying groceries. I am just sitting here writing and trying to keep my foot elevated to help the swelling go down. Here it is after 4 days on antibiotics. Yuk!

I think we will probably make it out of here by 5:00 PM or so this afternoon. We may stop in the Turks and Caicos on the way. That is roughly three days from here, although I have not plotted it out. Will try to do that before everyone else gets back from town.

I will be keeping a record of each days sail but, probably will not see an internet connection for at least three days. Hopefully, I can find and internet cafe or something in the Turks.

Here is a photo that has nothing to do with Puerto Rico but, is one you might like to see. This is Sirena under sail while Gene and I moved her to St. Croix. Bob or Peggy took this photo from Cruzan Gold.

Nov. 4 - St. Croix

2006-11-04T17:24:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post to say we moved both Sirena and Cruzan Gold to St. Croix today. Bob and Peggy took Cruzan Gold and Gene and I moved Sirena. It was about a 6 1/2 hour beat, which was pretty tiring. We are leaving Cruzan Gold here and all getting aboard Sirena for the trip to Tampa.

We have been doing a lot of last minute things all afternoon and plan to head out for Puerto Rico about 9:00 PM this evening. Should be a really nice run to Puerto Rico with a full moon. Here is Bob up the mast mounting the radar reflectors and inspecting the mast head.

I will try to post again from Puerto Rico.

Nov. 3 - Still in Red Hook

2006-11-03T11:20:00.000-06:00

We were supposed to be out of here today and in St. Croix by this afternoon. That is now put off until tomorrow. A few things cropped up.

First, a couple of days ago I managed to puncture my skin on my ankle with some coral. No big deal until yesterday afternoon. In a matter of about six hours it went from a 1/16 inch hole to a very ugly dark red to black area with a pretty big center which rotted out. This morning my foot was pretty swollen as well.

Tried to go to the VA clinic here on St. Thomas and after $65 in cab fare and getting the royal heave ho from the VA ("go to emergency room, I am too busy with my 2 patients," worthless bastards), I returned to Red Hook and walked across the street to a clinic and $200 and 15 minutes later was on my way to a cure. I am about to change my high opinion of the VA since this is now the second time this has happened in two years. Let me think about this for awhile and, if I get really pissed about it, this subject may turn into my next rant. I actually feel it coming on now by just typing that last sentence. Serenity Now!!

Trust me, MRSA is not fun and is terribly painfull. I can think of at least 5 women who know me pretty well that are going read this and say, "You big baby, it probably doesn't even hurt." Well, just Google MRSA and see what you say then. The doctor told me he is seeing 20 cases per week in his clinic.

I had to laugh during my visit to the doctor. He told me that if it formed a cyst while at sea, I would have to cut it open with a scapel, get the puss out, wash it, and pack the hole with a wick to keep the puss out of the wound. I mentioned to him that he was talking to someone who weak kneed at just the very thought of a flu shot.

Anyway, I am on an antibiotic that is supposed to work and am feeling better every hour. Bob, Gene, and Peggy are a lunch at the moment. I am just so happy to have an internet connection that I am skipping it. I think this is the fourth post I have made today.

Another reason for waiting was that Bob wanted to get a new dingy motor for Cruzan Gold and it is not being delivered here until 5:00 PM. So, we will do the St. Croix thing tomorrow. I know I will feel better tomorrow because I absolutely could not put weight on my left leg this morning, much less sail Serina, even with Gene's help.

That about all that is going on today. Spending a lazy afternoon here in the coffee shop surfing away.

Nov. 2 - Back in Red Hook

2006-11-03T11:06:00.000-06:00

After we all had breakfast this morning, Bob hollered up from below, let's go to Red Hook. Gene and I took us out of the cove on St. John's and headed out for the hour and a half run to Red Hook over on St. Thomas. No doubt, this was a test to see if we really did know how to read a chart because Bob never came up from below until we were in the harbor. I bet he was looking out a port hole though and hoping we didn't run his boat up on a reef. ;-) He may think I didn't know it was a test, but I know the professor too well.

Back in Red Hook we sat about getting the boat ready for the return trip. Transferred a bunch more stuff off of Cruzan Gold onto Serina and bought more groceries. We picked up the newly repacked life raft and now have it stowed on deck. We also have the dingy stowed on deck and are pretty much ready to head out for St. Croix tomorrow.

Bob and Peggy plan to take Cruzan Gold and Gene and I plan to take Serina over to St. Croix, where we will leave Cruzan Gold and all get aboard Serina for the trip to Florida.

Peggy fixed us all a great Spaghetti dinner tonight and, at the moment, she and Bob are installing lee clothes on all the bunks. Hopefully, I will get to post this tomorrow along with the last three days when I had no internet connection. I think I saw one internet network the whole time we were in the BVI and couldn't connect to it.

We stopped at the Indians to do some snorkeling and saw this little kid (maybe 18 months) riding on his daddy's back with his mother swiming next to them. Notice the pacifier in his mouth. Just thought it was worth a photo.

By-the-way, I know my formatting is screwed up. I am writing in Open Office while off line and posting in Blogger when I get a connection. Doesn't trasfer just right and I never get a connection long enough to fix it.

Nov. 1 - Wreck of the Rhone

2006-11-03T10:37:00.000-06:00

I had hoped to post yesterday's blog today, but no internet connection has been available. Should have one tomorrow evening, since we will back in Red Hook on St. Thomas.

Had a very interesting day today tooling around the British Virgin Islands. Went first to The Baths, not to take one, but to dive. The Baths are a huge pile of granite boulders, some larger than most houses, piled up on the Western shore of Virgin Gorda. Very interesting to swim among and see the sea life.

Below is a photo of Serina moored at The Baths.

Afterwards, we headed to the 150 + year old wreck of the British steamship, Rhone. It was quite a sight to see this huge ship lying on the bottom in the exact spot where a hurricane drove it up on the rocks.

Now, we are back in an anchorage on St. John's in the USVI for the night. Tomorrow, back to Red Hook to start getting ready to leave for Florida. Hopefully, we will be on our way by Saturday.

On the way to our anchorage this afternoon we snacked on cookies and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Now peanut butter cups have always been one of my favorites and, as a school kid, it was not unusual for me to spend my lunch money on them instead of lunch. However, after a couple hours in the sun today, these were to the point where I would not even touch them. That didn't stop Bob though who opens one up and promptly runs liquid peanut butter cup all down the front of his shirt. Peggy offered him a wash cloth, but he declined and spent the next 10 minutes sucking chocolate out of a shirt that was none to pretty to begin with after three days of sailing. Now that is a guy that likes his Reese's!!!

Oct. 31 - Tortola

2006-11-03T10:33:00.000-06:00

Got up this morning at the ungodly hour, for us, of 7:30 AM. No use trying to sleep too late on a boat with Bob aboard! I am not sure what time we first heard him up, but I did open one eye enough to see that it was still plenty dark outside.

The plan today was to leave the US Virgin Islands at St. John's and go into the British Virgin Islands for a few days. We went through Customs and Immigrations on Tortola around lunch time today. Below is a photo of the Customs House taken from Sirena's mooring in the harbor.

Bob, Gene, and myself motored ashore in the dingy to clear Customs while Peggy stayed on board Sirena and fixed lunch (we took her passport and filled out her paper work.) It was something to see these very formal British Custom's officials in their starched, dress uniforms. I felt they needed a flashing neon sign that said, “Warning – Bureaucracy Ahead.” There was form after form in six point type and triplicate.

The only undotted “i” was that Peggy (who was not there) had forgotten to sign her passport. It was not an issue but, when we got back to the boat, we told her it was a HUGE problem and they wanted to see her in customs immediately! Furthermore, we were told that the three of us could not come back ashore under any circumstances and that she would have to take the dingy in by herself (which she had never driven). This had the potential to become a practical joke that would go down in the record books until Bob couldn't contain himself and cracked up. All it would have taken was another two minutes and we would have had her into the dingy and launched.

A couple of minor electrical problems to repair in Tortola and we were on our way into the British Virgin Islands. Stopped at Sand Island for some snorkeling and saw a lot of interesting sea life. I think Peggy's experience was the most interesting in that she had a Barracuda, almost as big as she was, pull up next to her, within arm's reach, and swim along in formation for awhile.

Afterwards, we sailed on to a nice anchorage and went ashore and had dinner. It was Halloween night and lots of kids, dressed as pirates, kept coming in the restaurant to trick or treat. It was a lot of fun. After we got back out to the boat I tried to get an internet connection to post this, but couldn't quite do it. It was there, but just a little to far away. Darn, I will hold it until tomorrow.

Oct. 30 - St. John's

2006-10-31T10:33:00.000-06:00

Woke up this morning with rain coming through the port holes and hatch and hitting us in the face. Really not that huge of a problem – I simply pull the covers up over my face and make a few whining sounds until Peggy gets up and closes the openings ... no big deal.

A few rain showers every night seems to be about normal. Today, after coffee here in the marina, Bob and I took the life raft into town by taxi to be inspected while Gene and Peggy stowed gear on the boat. Although the life raft was out of date, we found out it would have worked anyway, had we needed it, since the inspection process involves inflation using the internal bottle. However, it will be reassuring to now know for sure it is up to date and ready to go.

Bob and I walked the couple of miles back to the marina then we all headed over to the local grocery store to buy food for the trip. We only bought about a weeks worth since we are staying here in the area to mess around for a few days. The plan is to re-provision in San Juan on the way to Florida. Besides, we will be making one more stop back in St. Thomas and one in St. Croix before leaving the Virgin Islands.

Got out of St. Thomas this afternoon around 3:00 PM and went straight to St. John's to do some snorkeling. Made it here in time to get in about an hour before dark. Now sitting on a mooring in a small cove at St. John's. We had dinner this evening at Peggy's Restaurant as you can see below.

The photo below is approaching St. John's. That is Gene sitting up there on the forward deck.

Oct. 29 - Preparing to Leave Dock

2006-10-30T06:39:00.000-06:00

Here is a photo of our new home away from home for the next month or so. Her name is Sirena and she is a 45 foot Island Packet. Our plan is to leave the dock here some time tomorrow afternoon and go play for a few days before heading out for Florida.

Today, our first full day on board, was a fairly busy one. After breakfast in the marina we went about moving supplies from Bob's other boat which is moored in the same marina. While Bob and Peggy selected items we might need for the trip, Gene and I used the dingy to ferry these items to Sirena at the dock.

This afternoon, while Peggy and Gene took a nap, Bob and I worked out a way to raise and stow the dingy on the forward deck of Sirena. We made up a sling and used the spare, main halyard to lift it out of the water and swing it into position. It worked easily and will be much better than towing that thing all the way to Florida.

Peggy ended up getting herself a little dehydrated yesterday and felt pretty bad. It is surprising how much water you have to drink down here in the humid air. Anyway, she has learned her lesson and is pouring it in.