Alert Gazette readers will remember how I teased them with this preview of potential Independence Day bicycle decorations in preparation for our participation in the local (Horseshoe Bay) parade. The final modest result pictured below belies the hour or so of toil in the sauna-like confines of a garage in the middle of a Texas… Continue reading Patriotic Weirdos on Parade
Category: Society & Culture
Learning Spanish to Teach English
¿Hablas español? Solo un poco. Pero quiero apender más. MLB and I are volunteering as teachers in an English As A Second Language (ESL) class sponsored by our church. We inherited a class comprised of adult students primarily from Mexico. Since they are all native Spanish speakers, we are trying to improve our fluency in… Continue reading Learning Spanish to Teach English
Toilet Wars
A female friend posted this on Facebook a few days ago: The ensuing comments provided a preview of the nuclear equivalent of the War of the Sexes, with each side accusing the other of being less sanitary or courteous when it comes to the state of public restrooms. Scholarly studies were quoted; personal anecdotes were… Continue reading Toilet Wars
The Greatest Generation: A POW’s Story
As they marched us back from the river, one soldier was carrying an American flag. That flag was a beautiful sight. I wish that flag could have the same meaning to everyone in this country now. — Loy Dean Lawler Dr. Loy Dean Lawler was an optometrist who practiced for many years in Mount Pleasant,… Continue reading The Greatest Generation: A POW’s Story
Boxing Batch
I hate to alarm you, but we have a packaging crisis in the United States. As in…too much of it. This became obvious yesterday upon the arrival of two items we had ordered. Exhibit A is a dress that MLB purchased from the website of a well-known clothier. Here’s the box in which it was… Continue reading Boxing Batch
USAF/USMC Viet Nam-Era Recruiting “Infomercials”
Before we get started, take a listen to this (length – 39 sec): Your browser does not support the audio element. I’ve probably mentioned this before but I worked as a DJ at a small AM radio station in West Texas during my high school and early college years. That was back in the late… Continue reading USAF/USMC Viet Nam-Era Recruiting “Infomercials”
“Our Desired Future” website launches
Texas has 500 times more water underground than anything you see above the surface. The question is, how much do we pump and how fast? Late last year I reported on a project called Our Desired Future that focuses on issues surrounding groundwater conservation in Texas. I’m now happy to report that the new ODF… Continue reading “Our Desired Future” website launches
Questioning a Gallant Gesture
A front page article in our local newspaper described how the incoming president of the University of Texas at Austin – the second largest university in Texas, by student population – has declined a $1 million salary in favor of “only” $750,000 per year (plus deferred pay, and a bonus which he also requested be… Continue reading Questioning a Gallant Gesture
Miley Cyrus Warned Us
I’ve been going back through some old posts – articles that I had deleted when I thought I’d kicked the blogging addic…habit – and I ran across one that I wrote back in April of 2008. I wrote it as a reaction to a Vanity Fair profile of Miley Cyrus. The primary focus of that… Continue reading Miley Cyrus Warned Us
“Code 7 – Dinosaur on Aisle 9”
You’ve been there. You’ve done your grocery shopping – which is stressful enough by itself – and waited at the end of an interminably long checkout queue, and you finally – finally! – get your groceries loaded onto the conveyor belt, ready for the checkout process to begin so you can move on to the… Continue reading “Code 7 – Dinosaur on Aisle 9”