As promised, I’ve completed the time lapse movie showing scenes from our back yard in the days following the massive (for us) post-Christmas snowfall, aka Winter Storm Goliath. It took me a lot longer than I expected, not because of any special technical complexity, but mainly due to my use of Apple’s iMovie, a consumer-grade… Continue reading Disappearing Snow Time Lapse
UE Boom 2 Bluetooth Speaker
One of the things I hinted for at Christmas was a Bluetooth speaker. I often like to have music going while working in the yard or the garage and while both porches and the garage have wired music capabilities, I like the idea of being able to remotely program the tunes. I didn’t have a… Continue reading UE Boom 2 Bluetooth Speaker
Newsflash! Mother Nature Inexplicably Thwarts Man’s Best-Laid Plans
A week ago today, Midland experienced its third heaviest daily snowfall in recorded history. Officially, we received more than seven inches of snow, making for some very pretty scenery. I had a brainstorm while gazing out at the winter wonderland our back yard had become. Given that I’m a long-time West Texas resident and thus… Continue reading Newsflash! Mother Nature Inexplicably Thwarts Man’s Best-Laid Plans
Tivo Problemo
One of our Tivos (Tivoes? Tivii?) went out last night, right in the middle of an episode of iZombie on Netflix. One second we were watching Liv feast on a delectable dish of brains au gratin, and the next we saw that ridiculous Tivo emoji-guy and the dreaded “One moment while Tivo restarts” message. We… Continue reading Tivo Problemo
30 Years of Persistence
In 1985, I began keeping a spreadsheet-based log of workouts, possibly as a way of ensuring that my accounting degree wasn’t an aberration but an actual affirmation of my personality. For the next thirty years, I maintained a daily log in varying levels of detail, but I’ve never actually gone back and analyzed the results.… Continue reading 30 Years of Persistence
Ch-ch-ch-changes
I’m pretty sure David Bowie wasn’t thinking about someone in our situation when he recorded that song in 1972, and it’s a stretch beyond my capabilities to make the lyrics apply completely. Nevertheless, changes are coming to Casa Fire Ant. MLB and I are retiring…sort of. 2015 was the fortieth year of our professional careers. *sigh*… Continue reading Ch-ch-ch-changes
Winter Storm Goliath: A West Texas Pictorial
On Saturday night, December 26, the immense winter storm known as Goliath began to edge into the Permian Basin. MLB and I first encountered it ten miles east of Monahans at about 8:00 p.m. while driving back to Midland on I-20 from Fort Stockton, where we’d cut our Christmas visit with family short in an… Continue reading Winter Storm Goliath: A West Texas Pictorial
God With Us
Mary, did you know That your baby boy Would some day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy Has come to make you new? This child that you’ve delivered, Will soon deliver you. Mary, did you know That… Continue reading God With Us
Numana in Midland: 60,000 meals in one morning
We arrived at the church just before 9:00 on Saturday morning, and were issued hair nets and disposable plastic aprons. We were then seated in a row of folding metal chairs, waiting to be ushered into…well, we weren’t sure. This was our first time to volunteer for a Numana “food assembly” project. We’d never heard… Continue reading Numana in Midland: 60,000 meals in one morning
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”