Sign of the times

You see them on almost every street corner - the folks employed to be walking signboards. Often they hold the tall signs tacked to a single pole that shout "Furniture Warehouse is Going Out of Business!" Again. With these signs you often cannot see the holder, hunched behind the placard, earphones in place to fight off the boredom. Others are a lot more visible - the Jackson Hewitt folks in the Uncle Sam suits and hats actively wave and try to engage your eye. Boy there are a lot of Jackson Hewitt offices in this town!

It gives you pause that people are cheaper than sign poles. Yes, I know that having a person hold a sign gets around all the rules and regulations about posting your advertising street side, but Realtors have successfully skirted these regulations for years (though I'm beginning to see human realty signs).

And it makes you think about the economy and realize the market is full of folks who are willing to stand around holding a sign these days. And you also remember that you've seen pictures in books of human signboards in other periods of our history; nothing new under the sandwich board, I guess.

And maybe it beats being a greeter in Wal-Mart - at least this time of year. I'll have to give that some thought.

Productive day

I've been chafing at the four-day work week for some time now (I know there are some having trouble working up any sympathy for me, to which I say tough cookies!) so when the project manager said we were removing a large segment of the project from the current schedule, I magnanimously volunteered to cut back to three days a week, team player that I am. Starting this past Friday!

Having Friday as our run-around, do the shopping, go to the library, etc. day leaves us a gloriously free Saturday. We did leave the house at noon to go eat some wings with coupons we get when the Ladies win, but otherwise we hung out at home and got a lot done. Mom studied Greek (big test next week); in fact she's still studying. I worked on an office project for several hours and then turned to (drum roll, please....) Taxes.

Well, okay. I opened up the program and imported last year's information. Oh, and sorted some papers. Phew! No need in overdoing it. Now I'm watching Texas and Oklahoma play roundball. First half went to Texas. We'll see about the second half (not holding my breath).

Later I'll check in on Facebook, then have a snack and get back to my latest book (W.E.B Griffin). Yes sir, a very productive day, if I do say so. Now where did I leave that remote?

You would think this would be in Austin...

If something weird is going on you normally think, "Well this is Austin!" But lo and behold this exhibit of out-house art is in San Antonio. Personally, I liked the decorated guitars better.

Read this book

I don't do book reviews. I normally don't even recommend a book, because tastes are so different; I guess I think that if you don't like my recommendation you will think less of my taste in books (and perhaps think less of me, as well).

But I want to recommend this book. No. I want you to read this book. I insist. And if you don't like my choice of books then too bad!


My taste in casual reading ranges widely, but the core of my favorite authors runs to authors like James Lee Burke, or Leonard Elmore, or Robert Crais - or even W.E.B. Griffen; you know, tough he-man type books. Good guys and bad guys, or maybe flawed guys and more flawed guys. I'm not opposed to the feminine viewpoint - Among others, I read Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan series (but I don't do Patricia Cornwell) and even Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series (as a friend said, what could be better than a sexy woman who uses tools) - but I'm happiest with a good manly man book.

So when Barbara handed me this book, I was dubious. It looked a bit dainty and a little too sweet. Dainty it is not; it deals with the German occupation of Guernsey Island during WWII and pulls no punches about what that was like.

I guess the best thing I can say about this book is that I wish it was not fiction. I wish the characters in this book had lived, and this was really and truly their story. It's been out a while - you can probably find it in the library or at Half-Price. But do find it.

New York City? Get a rope!

A major client of the company I'm working nearly full time for (in my retirement) is headquartered in the Big Apple - New York. Over the course of time, nearly everyone in the company has spent time at 55 Broadway, including me.

This past week, it was our Network guy's turn. Now this guy - let's just call him Ricky Bobby - is smart; he's probably the best Network guy we've had. He's the kind of guy that can diagnose problems just by looking at the ends of the wires to see what 0's and 1's fall out, but you really wouldn't know that just by looking at him or talking to him casually. His accent is so West Texas we make fun of him, and if you looked in the dictionary for "good 'ol boy raised on a farm in the Texas Panhandle" you would find Ricky Bobby's picture - snuff can in the hip pocket and all!

The Senior Trip for his high school was a visit to Lubbock. He said Lubbock was okay, "as long as you kept to the outskirts so's you could see the horizon." He lives about an hour out of Austin - in the country, of course, and works odd hours so he doesn't have to drive in rush-hour traffic. And we sent him to New York City!

Wisely, our boss John went with him to keep him from totally freaking out (did I mention that he's the best network guy we've ever had?). And the vast majority of their time has been in the computer room and wiring closet at the client's offices (including a couple of all-nighters). John said nearly every one in the office stops in daily to visit - not because they are interested in the project - they just want to hear Ricky Bobby talk! I overheard a phone conversation today from the next cubicle, and my co-worker here said, "What do you mean, where is he from? He's from Texas! Can't you tell?" For his part, RB says he hasn't understood a word spoken to him since he got off the plane.

John said RB's done pretty good. He opened his eyes the other night on the subway. For a while he wouldn't even get on, which presented somewhat of a problem, since on these trips we always stay in Brooklyn and take the subway into the City.

He did, however, change his flight reservations. He's not coming back with John - he's flying to Amarillo, so he can look at the horizon for a couple of days. He thinks maybe that will stop the twitching.

How bout you? Any questions?

Today an email was posted to one of the church mailing lists. It read:

"My sister-in-law and her fiancee are looking for someone to perform their marriage this weekend. If any of the ordained men at the church can take some time to help us out, it would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to call me at 123-4567 if you have questions (I don't doubt this e-mail will engender some questions, but I'd appreciate calls from only those who can likely help)."

Serve Out

You know, when you decide you'll make a meal of the bits and pieces that are still hanging around.

First, an update on Howland Owl. Howland, by the way, was the name of the owl in Pogo - a cartoon series from wayyy back - the cartoon strip that gave us "Deck us all with Boston Charlie" (yes, I can sing the entire song from memory - and often do) and the greatest cartoon quote of all time, "We have met the enemy and he is us." But I digress.

We decided we didn't have an owl house - we have an owl motel. After the first owl visit, it went away for a couple of weeks, then showed up for one night, then gone a couple of days and now has been back for a couple of days. So we don't have a tenant - we have an itinerant, So either this is a traveling salesman type of owl, or the word is out that a good night's rest can be had in our backyard and various owls on the flyway of life are stopping by. Just don't know that much about the nesting behavior of owls to tell which. And they all look alike to me. We'll keep you posted.

And I did forward my $100 bill to the Nathan Dodd Memorial Foundation, Thanks Amy (and thanks to others for the suggestions, too).

A couple of thoughts springing from a wonderful afternoon at the Erwin Center, while watching the Lady Longhorns thoroughly trounce the Lady Techsters by 31 points:

• Why do we sing the National Anthem before ball games? I know it is a very old tradition, but what is patriotic about a ball game. Any ball game?

• And how do you suppose the man leaving the Erwin Center came to have half a dozen bananas in his hand? Free chicken wing coupons, yes. Bananas?
  

Just wondering.

And while watching the Grammy awards, I realized that if all I ever listen to is the Classic Vinyl channel on XM satellite, it is no wonder that I didn't have any idea who most of the strange looking folks were on TV. Except Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. And, dare I say it? Neil Diamond.

If ex-governor Blagojevich ran the fire department

You gotta love living in Austin!

As long as we are on the subject of Great Escapes