Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A couple of Highland stories

The news from the Highland Church (I was there the day they took the "of Christ" portion of the sign off the building) is that they are undergoing a major renovation of the auditorium, a facility that has remained essentially unchanged for nearly 60 years.
While the building is being gutted, the congregation is moving to the Civic Center downtown for Sunday services. Shades of AMC.

Here's a link to a nice time-lapse photo of the chairs being removed this past Sunday that Rob sent me. If you have any history with the building, you might want to check it out.

It's interesting that Rob sent the link; he does have a history, from the Sunday after he was born until we moved to Austin in 1970 (and other times when he was living in Abilene as a student).

Story one: I'm off behind the scenes somewhere, recording the sermons (we ran a tape duplicating service for Highland at the time). Barb, pregnant out to here with Julie, is alone, herding two-year old Rob during services, and for some reason (she swears she does not know what possessed her to do so) she was sitting in a section waaay down front. 

She's sitting on one aisle in an otherwise empty row (wisely people are avoiding this area) and after only a mere moment's distraction, she looks up to see Rob at the far end of the row, one foot into the aisle, looking at her with what any mother would recognize as the "Let's play a game. You make a move toward me and I'll run down the aisle screaming while you chase me" expression on his face. Every mother has seen this look.

Lesser women would have failed this challenge, but Barb calmly reached into the church bag and took out a toy and placed it in the seat next to her. And waited. Rob, ever one to be easily distracted, came trotting back down the row, and into his mother's loving, iron-clad embrace.

Story two: The opera-style chairs at highland folded up if there was no one sitting in them. I daresay every child that has ever attended that church has been partially swallowed when his or her chair folded up at some point during a wiggly sermon. In fact, the term at Highland for that event is "the whale swallowing Jonah." 

Yes, it happened to our children, even though we, like most parents, jammed a songbook between the cushion and the armrest. After so many songbooks were destroyed in this manner, they begged folks not to use them in that fashion, so Barb covered a short, songbook-sized piece of wood with fabric and stuck it in the church bag. Problem solved. Usually.

When word got out on Facebook that the chairs were coming out, people began saying, "Hey, can we buy a chair? That church was significant in my journey, and it would be great to have a chair." Evidently, one can buy chairs, so my recommendation to Rob is that he ought to get one. It would go nicely with the pew he already has. He could claim (and probably rightly) that it was one of the ones he got stuck in.



Monday, April 28, 2014

Monday Meanderings - 4.28.2014

At last some good comes from the countless orders placed with Amazon. I'm going to get some of that money back!
 I'm still planning on how I'm going to spend my 73 cents. I'll let you know.

Article in the paper this week said that on average, restaurant alcohol sales in Austin total $480 per person per year. That means a couple of people are spending twice that to cover our share. Cheers.

There is a promotion that runs on the Longhorn Network, promoting viewership of all things Longhorn. The promotion features a teacher calling roll in what appears to be a 2nd or 3rd grade class, and every student - boy or girl - is named "Ben." I mentioned to Barb that this promotion did not make any sense to me; what was the deal with all these kids named Ben. She looked at me and said, "Vince. All these kids are named Vince."
And on the subject of the University of Texas, someone has come out with new fragrances for Longhorn fans.
Now the scent for the ladies may be just fine, but I'm not sure I want to wear a fragrance for men that has a reference to a steer on it.

You had one job and one job only!
Actually, if you have to cut down on coffee, maybe this is not such a bad idea.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Doctor visits and blog stories - gotta love 'em

What would I do without Doctor visits? No, I don't mean in terms of curing ailments and staying healthy - I am talking about the source of good blog stories. For instance:

Yesterday I was in a medical office and they needed to draw blood. Andy, the friendly paramedic who was assisting me asked if I would mind if he used this occasion for a teaching moment for two new medical assistants. That was fine with me, so he introduced me to Melissa and Emily. Melissa was actually their X-ray technician and had the least experience, so she was picked to do the deed.

Andy discussed the best way to get a vein to present and had Melissa tie off one, then a 2nd tourniquet, and while I was squeezing the little rubber ball they checked each of my veins and discussed the pros and cons, and the directions of the veins and a lot more that I didn't follow, but everyone was paying close attention and they all agreed on the vein.

Melissa tells me that this is going to "stick a little" and slides the needle in very easily with almost no pain. Good job, Melissa!

So I am congratulating Melissa on the lack of pain and everybody is all smiles until Andy says, "Melissa, do you notice anything about this IV?" Melissa looks puzzled, and Emily steps up and looks, and I look, and we're all pretty clueless until Andy says, "Melissa, where's the blood? You missed the vein, dear."

By the way, Emily drew blood on the first try (while poor Melissa was in the corner, going, "Ohhh, I'm so sorry. Oh, noooo!").

Monday, April 21, 2014

Monday Meanderings - 4.21.2014

I hope the Easter Bunny brought you happiness this past week. In addition to the road-side vendors selling baskets and stuffed animals, we noticed vendors offering bags of cascarones this year. Remember, the rule is that you must ask if it's okay for you to smash the confetti-filled eggs on someone's head!

Okay, Mr. gnaw-through-the-plastic-birdseed-bucket Squirrel! Chew on this!
Oh, and the all-metal Finch feeder is on the way, so you can cross that snack off your list as well.

After sitting as a burned-out shell for the last eight or so months, there is finally some activity at the house the next block over. This is the fire we slept through after returning from the Lake, you might recall. For months, absolutely nothing happened, but finally crews have cleared out the debris and they are rebuilding on the existing slab. Much to the neighbors delight, I know.

We noticed a woman casually shopping in Central Market this past week, while her Guatemalan nanny trailed behind, pushing the cart with the twin babies strapped in. Barb said, "Why didn't I think of that when our kids were that size!"

And you might correctly assume that I found this for sale in Central Market.
I'm just not sure what this product is. Help me out here.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The Passport Stories

While renewing our passports, I wandered back through the old, expired versions recently, and here is what I found.

1978
No wonder Customs always wanted to chat with me.


Mexico and Guatamala, July 1978, June 1979


1994
A little better, but I still get pulled aside.
Every time.


I can't figure out the dates from this, but we made 10 trips altogether; 
most of the time together, sometimes just one of us.

Including one train trip to Austria.

And another to London.
And often, home through Atlanta, 
where I would get to visit with immigration.



2004
How could you not trust that face?


Needed Visas to get into El Salvador.


Medical Mission trip to El Porvenir - "The Future."


Into Peru for a clinic at the La Comunidad de NiƱos Sagrada Falilia.


And while we were in Peru

Back to Lima and left Peru about 3am for Atlanta.
I approached Customs and Immigration with a gigantic case
of medical supplies and equipment that we were bringing back,
 and for once, they could could not care less!
Next!


2014
Where shall we go next?

Monday, April 14, 2014

Monday Meanderings - 4.14.2014

Happy Tax Day Eve.  You still have a few hours left, but it may be time to buy that copy of Turbo Tax.

For some reason, someone has regularly been calling the house in the wee hours of the morning this past week. The phone has rung several mornings, consistently at 8:10am - an unholy time, as far as I am concerned. Strangely, it rings once and once only, insufficient time for Caller ID to identify the miscreant. "Give me a ring, Vasily. One ring only."

We regularly drive by a Christian school that proclaims proudly "Home of the Visionaries." Really? That would make for some interesting cheers: "Go, Visionaries,  Gimme a V, Gimme an I, Gimme an S, Gimme an... oh, wait. the games over."  Besides, shouldn't they know ahead of time how a game was going to end?

Saw a couple of news items about the home town this week: First, Gallup released its "U.S. Community Well-Being Tracking" poll, which charts given areas based on their overall health and well-being. Surprise, turns out Austin is the least-stressed place in Texas. I guess there is something to keeping weird.

The second item was that the Austin metro area has more toll roads than 43 entire states. It's to the point that you can't leave town in any direction without encountering a toll road, and we are building more as we speak. MoPac is adding a "flexible rate" toll lane; the fee changes based on the demand; the more cars on the road, the higher the toll charge.

Apart from paying for the privilege, toll roads probably contribute to the well-being of Austinites. I mean, there's nothing like cruising down an almost empty highway at 85 mph on your way to a good BBQ joint.

While we are speaking of traffic, how do you think the average daily commute was this past week with four, count 'em, four U. S. Presidents in town, all at once! Unfortunately there are no toll roads in downtown Austin. Yet.

Had breakfast at an eatery that I will not name (but Radisson Treasure Bay Grill in Corpus, you know who you are), and requested salsa for our eggs. When we got the bill, $1 had been added for the salsa! A Texas eatery charged us a dollar for half an ounce of salsa!! Get a rope!!!

Wait! You can download Turbo Tax from Amazon; I don't have to go to Walmart after all.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Monday Meandering - 4.17.2014

Took a road trip this past week. Spring means it is time to head to the beach - after all the Spring Breakers have vacated the place, of course. Seeking a little variety (and more comfortable beds) we turned right instead of left and ended up on North Beach at Corpus Christi, with the beach right outside our hotel room. Really.

 This was sort of a nostalgia tour as well as some beach time. Barb was born in Corpus and spent quite a bit of time there in her younger years. We drove by places familiar to her; the now-empty courthouse where her parents got married, the church where an aunt and uncle married, visited a T-head in search of a favorite restaurant - now a Joe's Crab Shack. Couldn't find the motel where we stayed during our honeymoon, mainly because we couldn't remember the name of the place - never mind that it is now probably the site of the Civic center or some such.
Corpus was windy! Really windy! Of course the folks who live there said, "Wind? What wind? This is a gentle sea breeze." And it was humid. Sort of reminded us of Lima, where it never rains but plants grow because the humidity keeps everything wet.

I have to totally withdraw my comment about this not being a good wildflower year. There are acres of bluebonnets now; the drive to South Texas was delightful; swaths of bluebonnets and paint brush and wine cups and thistles. Interestingly, the flowers diminished markedly at about Kenedy. South of there they were scattered and isolated. Sort of like this little guy we found right on the beach.

 

I have commented several times about how Google seems to be tracking our every move. Last week I opened the Google app and found our itinerary for the Corpus trip; hotel reservations, check -in times, near-by attractions and maps of suggested routes and travel times. Yes, I know I agreed to let Google read my email, but that's a little spooky.
What Google didn't tell us about the route was that all the tanker-truck traffic has destroyed the roads in much of South Texas. Pavement in some areas is just shattered; there are potholes you could get lost in in many stretches. There is no way the highway department can catch up with the damage being done; the truck traffic will continue to grow until the Eagle Ford play is exhausted. By then, there will be nothing but gravel roads from Luling to Beeville.

And on that happy note, I wish you a pleasant week.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Read the label

We have all seen them. The ubiquitous warning label, most likely created by the legal department, that is applied to almost everything in the marketplace.

Here are some examples:

 Okay. Use the safe sword.


 But it's so much fun!


 That's clear to me.


 More than the content stinks?


 It's a tee shirt, people!


If you thought stepladders were dangerous.

 
 What? No wrestling?


 Open wide. Very wide.


 Makes sense.


You've been warned.