Bob and Barb's Excellent Adventure

I have posted before about the TSA Pre-check program that lets you zip right through those security lines at the airport. By chance, we got a taste of what that was like during our trip to California and Seattle last summer, and we decided that we should get us some of that!

I also mentioned that the nearest place to get that done was in Victoria, Texas, in a little office located in a service station and open only a couple of days a week! That is, until the first of this year, when they opened an office in Austin. That's the good news. The bad news is that the office is located downtown. On 6th and Congress, to be exact.

Nevertheless, we filled out the on-line application forms and made an appointment for Tuesday, January 20, which turned out to be Inauguration Day in the Great State of Texas, though we didn't realize that back when we made the appointment. In fact, it wasn't until the evening before the appointment that we noticed on the news the plans for the big celebration and the big parade down Congress Avenue, and that many of the downtown streets were going to be closed and there were going to be tens of thousands of extra people downtown!

My previous plan had been to park in a public garage across the street from our destination (even though you know how parking garages confuse me), but according to the street closure map, that would not be accessible, nor would other convenient options, and forget about finding parking at a meter. About that time, Barb said, "What about the MetroRail? We could catch it at Highland Mall and ride downtown on the train." And so began our Excellent Adventure.

Compared to  many metropolitan areas, Austin is a one-rail town. It runs from Leander (part of the day) to the Convention Center downtown. Designated as a commuter rail line, it has Park and Ride lots only on the outer limits of the line in far northwest Austin, but there is a stop near Highland Mall, and there's a lot of parking there, if you don't mind walking a half mile or so.

So on Tuesday, we did hop on the train and went downtown, and walked a few blocks on a gorgeous day and even got to see part of the parade. In fact, that's the new Gov, waving to us.

And here's the Duncanville High School band from the Guv's old Alma Mater..

We made our appointment at the Pre-check office in good time, where they asked us questions like, "Have you ever tried to overthrow the government?" and "Have you ever been in jail for bad-mouthing the President?" Well, maybe not those exact questions. Then they attempted to fingerprint us on a fancy scanner gadget, and although both Barb and I "failed" multiple attempts to get good scans, we were assured that it was no biggy - the government could figure out who we were without them.

And after we finished our Pre-check application, and walked back to the station, this is us on the train, very pleased that we missed all the traffic and parking problems on our Excellent Adventure.

Monday Meanderings - 1.26.2014

If you follow this blog you know that the pecan tree out front over-achieved this year (much to the detriment of numerous tree limbs) and produced a bumper crop. I gathered more than 40 pounds of pecans and others gathered perhaps an equal quantity - especially the little Vietnamese Lady.

You will recall that I ran the Vietnamese Lady off at one point; she was hogging all the pecans. She would spend hours in the yard and flowerbed, snagging every nut at hand, and another woman had stopped and politely asked if she could gather pecans, so I wanted to give her a chance, too.The other lady only came by a couple of times, and I eventually relented and let the Vietnamese Lady gather at will, and she was diligent.

The other day there was a knock on the door, and the little Vietnamese Lady stood there with a plastic bag of apples and oranges for us. She handed them over, said something I didn't understand, and made a "Thank You" bow, with her palms pressed together, and then left. I'm pretty sure there are no apples and oranges to be gathered anywhere in this neighborhood, so I'm sure they were purchased, or bartered for with pecans that sell for about $14 a pound.

Saw a Sleep Number bed advertisement the other evening that promoted some new feature to deal with your partner's snoring. Not exactly sure how it was supposed to work, but Barb was not impressed. She said the only way she could figure that it could successfully deal with the snoring partner was if that side of the bed could eject the offender out the window.

My sister and I attended the same institute of higher learning, though she was Class of "ought-nineteen" and I matriculated much more recently than that. Okay, not that much. Last evening she asked me about a particular tradition of the opening chapel ceremony, an impressive ritual that kicks off the new school year, and then had the gall to suggest that I might not have been in attendance!

Like many conservative Christian colleges, our Alma Mater conducts a daily chapel, and requires your presence at the same, and has done so more than 100 years. They are so keen on your attendance that they check each and every chapel to see if you are in your seat, and when you miss more than a mere handful, you get to visit the Dean.

Although I had good intentions, my absences made me a regular visitor. I won't say how regular, but I soon noticed that there was a chair reserved for me in the Dean's outer office. Interestingly, I sat beside that Dean, Paul Faulkner, in Bible class yesterday. He claims that he doesn't remember my transgressions. But I doubt that.

Here's one of my chapel attendance stories: on the last day of a particular summer semester, I found myself for some reason in chapel, in my assigned seat, and sitting beside me was a good friend. I asked him what he was doing in that seat, and he said that it was his assigned seat, and asked if I was in my regular seat? Turns out, we went through the entire semester seated beside each other and neither of us knew it until the last chapel of the year.

But I never missed an opening chapel. One, I needed to find my assigned seat. At least once.  Two, I might be seated next to a cute Freshman girl. You never knew until you checked it out.

Monday Meanderings - 1.19.2015

We were sitting quietly the other day and Barb's iPad rang! As in, there was a phone call. Turns out that is a new feature of the current Apple software, but of course, Apple makes these things hard to learn about.

I ordered something the other day that promised 2-day delivery. I ordered on Friday, and the confirmation said the package would be delivered on Sunday. Sure enough, we got home from church and there it was. Maybe Amazon is already using drones.

Passed a new/old business the other day - a trampoline park. You remember when these were all the rage, back in .... oh, never mind. This one was indoors, which makes a lot of sense. The businesses that sprang up back in the 60's were merely a series of pits dug in the ground outdoors with trampoline frames covering the pits and gravel piled around each of the tramps. From the pictures I have seen of the new venture, they have improved on this model with a LOT of padding.

Padding is a good thing. Back in the day, I was out at one of the parks with some college friends, one a football player originally from Breck named Glenn Dixon. Glen was about as wide as he was tall, and very solid. He was better at football than the art of trampolining, though. He would take about 3 big bounces and the mat would launch him out into the gravel median. He thought that was the funniest thing that ever happened. Then he would get up and do it again. We just stood around and watched in awe as a 300 pound body hit the ground from about 8 feet up.

And at long last scientific inquiry has revealed that all those YouTube videos showing how to fold a fitted sheet are fake. The truth is that they cannot be neatly folded. I'm so relieved.

Monday Meanderings - 1.12.2015

It's not often I wait until Monday itself before writing Monday Meanderings, but we were holding a memorial service for the late lamented Cowboys and Broncos last night and it ran long. Which neither the Cowboys or Broncos themselves actually did.

The Cowboys-Packers game was billed as Ice Bowl II, but it looked balmy compared to IB I; I know, because I was there. Well, I was in the TV audience. We didn't have a TV in 1967- not too many did -  so we drove to Breckenridge to visit my parents and went over to Johnny Brannon's to watch the game. That one didn't turn out well either.

It's been a quiet week in my home town. About the only news item that caught my attention was that police arrested a couple of guys for stealing a big trailer...full of crackers. Maybe they were going to open a chili parlor, or a BBQ joint.

And in what seems fairly typical for our uber-eco-friendly town, we invited the Cyclo-Cross community to hold their national championship races in Zilker Park and then got all bent out of shape when the Parks Department found out that a thousand or so bicycles going in circles through the park make ruts!

Oh, and we did hunker down for the great ice storm of January '15. That didn't amount to much either. Not sure what we are going to do with these 6 cases of peanut butter. Let me know if you would like a jar. Or a carton.

Hab a goo wee. Dwat. Go' peaut buer stu to da roo my mout!

Monday Meanderings - 1.5.2015

The way I usually prepare Monday Meanderings is by making notes through the week of odd or newsworthy things I see or do. Then I sit down and review my notes, and if I can remember what my cryptic messages were meant to remind me of, I write the blog.

I looked at my notes and I had two items for the past week: one said that every ABIA parking space was filled during a 48-hour period between Christmas and New Years. Even the off-airport lots were full.

The other note said a man was arrested for slapping a horse in downtown Austin. Unfortunately for him, it was a police horse.

That's it. You can't say that I don't live an exciting life.

Have a great new year.