It’s no secret that our region is the beneficiary of an economic boom of historic proportion, due to a perfect storm of high commodity prices and technological advances that have unlocked significant oil and gas reserves that were considered by most to be unrecoverable a decade ago. The benefits of this boom are easily enumerated:… Continue reading The Uglification of West Texas
Author: Eric
“The Hobbit” – A Short Review
Note: There are spoilers below, but not until after the heading that cleverly reads “Spoilers Ahead.” Just so you know. We caught a matinee showing of the first episode of The Hobbit trilogy today at the Palladium IMAX theater in San Antonio (located at The Rim shopping center, near Fiesta Texas). We elected to see… Continue reading “The Hobbit” – A Short Review
Two Things: Venom / Dogma
We’re deep into the Christmas shopping season and some of you have been asking for gift hints. This post is for you. And by “you,” I mean, of course, Warren Buffet or The Sultan of Brunei. Hennessey Venom GT Forget 0-60. That’s soooo 1960s. Forget 0-100. That’s for wannabes. The new gold standard for vehicular… Continue reading Two Things: Venom / Dogma
Why are scammers such bad designers?
Many of you probably received the following letter, or one very similar to it: Yours probably had a more legible address; I’ve blurred mine to foil people who don’t have access to phone books or the Internet. Clever, huh? Now, this is obviously a scam, which you can confirm for yourself simply by Googling “US… Continue reading Why are scammers such bad designers?
Ask and Ye Shall Receiver, or Not
Have I mentioned that we got a new A/V receiver a couple of months ago? Astute Gazette readers may recall this tragic post in which I documented our tragic inability to watch 3D movies at home because of our tragically old-and-busted equipment (which was really neither, but technology is a harsh mistress). It’s a Pioneer… Continue reading Ask and Ye Shall Receiver, or Not
Christmas Decorations 2012
In an unprecedented and probably unrepeatable display of common sense, I decided to no longer venture onto the roof to hang Christmas lights. I’m going to use a pogo stick. OK, just kidding. About the pogo stick, not the roof climbing. I feel confident that I could continue to walk around on the roof, untethered,… Continue reading Christmas Decorations 2012
Dad: A Major Award
This is the first of what I hope will be a series of posts about events during the life of my Dad, who passed away in early November. The year was 1955. I was three years old and my brother was about six months old, and our parents were in Chicago, a long way from… Continue reading Dad: A Major Award
In Memory of My Dad
My dad passed away a couple of weeks ago, following a battle with Parkinson’s Disease. I want to post a few things about his life to honor his memory, but for those who didn’t know him, I’ll start with his obituary. I drafted it, and if you’ve never written an obit for a loved one,… Continue reading In Memory of My Dad
Ten Years of Fire Ant
Today’s a semi-momentous occasion for the Gazette, as it marks the ten year anniversary of this blog-like thing. Due to a few other more important things going on – which I may elaborate later – I’m not going to do much more than note the event, but I figured it warranted at least a mention.… Continue reading Ten Years of Fire Ant
Fun with Office Supplies
Perhaps I’m easily impressed and/or amused, but I had no idea until I went back into the world of corporate dronage that the Liquid Paper I grew up with had been replaced by cool correcting tape that’s applied with a dispenser filled with all kinds of rollers and gears and semi-circuitous pathways. Anything worth engineering… Continue reading Fun with Office Supplies