Best word for today - SXSW (Okay, that's not really a word. Go with the popular "Southby" tag)
Best two words for today - March Madness (Finally, decent sports on TV)
Best three words for today - Daylight Savings Time (Booo!!)
Best four words for today - Didn't it rain, children?
Best five words for today - Lots and lots of bluebonnets!
Our Care Group met in a different home last evening, a place where dwelleth two cats and a seeing-eye dog. It took me 45 minutes before I stood up to interrupt our guest speaker and headed out the door, wheezing. Fortunately we had been forewarned about the animals and Barb reminded me to take an inhaler, otherwise it would have been another mad dash across the city to reach one. I remember my brother and his family coming by right after Rob was born; poor Laurie wasn't in the house but minutes before she began showing adverse reactions to our cat. It's a long-standing family tradition.
We all have neighbors who dally well into the new year before taking down Christmas lights. Some even keep their lights up all year. But keep up their natural Christmas trees? This past week a large, very brown Christmas tree showed up on a neighbor's curb on trash day. I just wonder where has it been all this time?
SXSW is underway, as is high school boy's UIL basketball tournament. Austin runneth over. With an extra 30,000 people in town one shouldn't venture further south than Highway 183. Wonder what it will be like if the Formula 1 races actually happen and we have an extra 120,000!
I found out that my hearing aids have loudness limits; crank the stereo beyond a certain volume and you start hearing sharp little "snaps" as the circuits kick off. Hmm. Maybe that says something about why I need hearing aids today. You think?
You know Austin is weird when the mayor launches his re-election campaign with a video based on Ferris Beuller's Day Off - and the mayor is playing the role of Ferris. And when the City Council bans single use bags city-wide. Bring your bags or pay dearly. How European.
Not sure we can continue to feed the Goldfinches in the manner to which they have become accustomed. Dozens of them hanging on the feeder most any time you check.
Leslie Cochran, described as "Austin's flesh-flashing, cross-dressing, attention-loving, frequently homeless mascot, unofficial ambassador and sometimes mayoral candidate" died Thursday after a slow decline following a brain injury several months ago. There has been an interesting outpouring of sympathy from various segments of the community, including City Hall. The mayor proclaimed March 8 "Leslie Day" at Thursday's City Council meeting. Those at a memorial march Thursday were encouraged to wear boas and tiaras. There's talk of a statue.
Leslie first came to our families attention when he was hanging out on North Lamar and Braker, on the Randall's parking lot corner. The manager of the store ran afoul of the law when he tried to chase Leslie off the premises with a power washer, but Leslie took the hint and moved his show downtown to the corner of 6th and Congress, where he eventually ascended to the highest rank of celebrity status, joining the few known by but one name.
RIP, Leslie.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
World Fair, Fireworks and Fate - Stories for my grandchildren
We did all of our filming at the fairgrounds late at night (see above about unions for the reason) so that left our days free, for the most part, to take in the Fair. We had photo-id badges that identified us as exhibitors to gain access to the fairgrounds, but we soon learned that they also gave us access to exhibits and restaurants without standing in long lines. Sort of professional courtesy. So we took in everything, and it was a grand experience!
One evening we had planned on doing some exterior filming, catching the spectacle of the brightly-lighted exhibits, the colorful pedestrian walkways, the vivid fountains and the like, but a thunderstorm brought that to a halt. We took refuge at the IBM exhibit which had a broad canopy of "trees," made of plastic sky-lights, supported by steel trunks. These sheltered the folks in line as they moved up a series of risers to gain access to the exhibit itself, the idea being that this was a covered garden. The line was short, so we decided this was an ideal time to visit the very popular IBM display.
The only problem was, like real trees, water could leak through and pretty soon we were standing in wet puddles on steel walkways, surrounded by wet steel trunks and railings, and as we progressed up the risers, waiting our turn, a host of people seeking to get out of the weather crowded in behind us, blocking us in. At this point, the storm was right on top of us and the lightning was frighteningly close; every few seconds there was a blinding flash and an immediate BOOOOOM and the hair on your arms and neck would stand up a little higher.
You know the common wisdom about not seeking shelter under a tree during a lightning storm? How about a couple of hundred trees? Metal trees. While standing on wet risers, trying not to touch the wet rails surrounding you. FLASH! BOOOOM! Gasp!
But there's more. Every night at 10pm, the Fair provided a spectacular fireworks display! You know, rockets red glare, giant aerial bombs, incredible pyrotechnics! All bursting up from hidden housing in the middle of the lagoon immediately across the walkway from the IBM site! Every loudspeaker on the fairgrounds would begin booming Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever - and there were a lout of loudspeakers.
So the lightning is crashing, the pyrotechnics are flashing, the walls are shaking, the hair is standing and I am thinking - If I'm going to go, this will be the most spectacular send-off in history!
To the great relief of my grandchildren, I survived that experience, so they are around to read about it. But it really would have been a send-off!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Three Little Pigs and Social Media
This is admittedly way off my usual type of post, but I found it interesting. This in an advertisement for the British Tabloid The Guardian. It portrays how the story of the three little pigs might be addressed today in print and online. Follow the story from the paper's front page headline, through a social media discussion and finally to an unexpected conclusion. It's more impressive if you make it full screen.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Monday Meanderings - 03.05.2012
Road trip this past weekend, to Port A, of course. Tried to get there earlier, but everything was booked for some fest or another. We were afraid that Spring Breakers would be arriving by now, but Barb checked with the condo people and they assured us that this was the weekend before the storm, so... here's the report.
Wildflower Report - one or two clusters of bluebonnets showed up in Austin this past week, and while we didn't see many on the trip, we were treated to a plethora of little white flowers, and carpets of yellow blooms. A few patches of Indian Paintbrush and just a smattering of bluebonnets, mostly in the Beeville area. It's significantly greener in South Texas than in the Austin area. Obviously a lot more rainfall down there.
Beach Report - the beach was clear and clean this weekend; no seaweed or jelly fish to speak of. Brisk winds Saturday morning made for very chilly conditions, but by the afternoon, if you stayed in the sun, it was pleasant. Sunday morning was quite nice.
Sea Food Report - We managed to hit all of our favorites, Castaways, Virginia's on the Bay, Trout Street Grill. Virginia's is one of our favorites, right on the water, open-air dining, large portions of crisp fried fish and sides served in 2 oz plastic cups! A pile of fish and french fries and a tiny cup of beans and a tiny cup of slaw! I flubbed the picture, but a 2 oz cup is about the size of self-serv catchup containers. Go figure. I always look forward to the gumbo at Trout Street, but to my dismay, they have changed the recipe and the roux is now a vinegary red substance. Very disappointing.
Room Decor Report - I've wondered in other blogs about where one finds kitschy beach-type items for decor. Like, a bead-work pelican. Seriously!
Working on the Railroad Report - Between Ingleside and Taft there are a number of railroad spurs that cross the highway, serving the large chemical plants on the coast. We often have to stop while they shuttle tank cars back and forth. This trip, the crossing guard arms came down and the lights flashed, and the train tootled his horn, but it wasn't a train - it was a truck! Look closely and you'll see the rail wheels on this truck loaded with cross ties.
Oil Patch Report - The oil bidness is booming in South Texas. "Fracking" is good for business, based on the number of well-service outfits that have scraped some ground and set up operations. Tanker trucks dominate the highway (loved getting stuck behind several of them) and travel trailers are parked everywhere (accommodations for hoards of workers that have gathered). If you are a truck driver or have a trailer park (or dry ground to park a few) times are good in South Texas.
Wildflower Report - one or two clusters of bluebonnets showed up in Austin this past week, and while we didn't see many on the trip, we were treated to a plethora of little white flowers, and carpets of yellow blooms. A few patches of Indian Paintbrush and just a smattering of bluebonnets, mostly in the Beeville area. It's significantly greener in South Texas than in the Austin area. Obviously a lot more rainfall down there.
Beach Report - the beach was clear and clean this weekend; no seaweed or jelly fish to speak of. Brisk winds Saturday morning made for very chilly conditions, but by the afternoon, if you stayed in the sun, it was pleasant. Sunday morning was quite nice.
Sea Food Report - We managed to hit all of our favorites, Castaways, Virginia's on the Bay, Trout Street Grill. Virginia's is one of our favorites, right on the water, open-air dining, large portions of crisp fried fish and sides served in 2 oz plastic cups! A pile of fish and french fries and a tiny cup of beans and a tiny cup of slaw! I flubbed the picture, but a 2 oz cup is about the size of self-serv catchup containers. Go figure. I always look forward to the gumbo at Trout Street, but to my dismay, they have changed the recipe and the roux is now a vinegary red substance. Very disappointing.
Room Decor Report - I've wondered in other blogs about where one finds kitschy beach-type items for decor. Like, a bead-work pelican. Seriously!
Working on the Railroad Report - Between Ingleside and Taft there are a number of railroad spurs that cross the highway, serving the large chemical plants on the coast. We often have to stop while they shuttle tank cars back and forth. This trip, the crossing guard arms came down and the lights flashed, and the train tootled his horn, but it wasn't a train - it was a truck! Look closely and you'll see the rail wheels on this truck loaded with cross ties.
Oil Patch Report - The oil bidness is booming in South Texas. "Fracking" is good for business, based on the number of well-service outfits that have scraped some ground and set up operations. Tanker trucks dominate the highway (loved getting stuck behind several of them) and travel trailers are parked everywhere (accommodations for hoards of workers that have gathered). If you are a truck driver or have a trailer park (or dry ground to park a few) times are good in South Texas.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Happy marriages and the password conundrum
You don't have to be heavily invested in the Cyber world to come up against the password conundrum; every application requires a "strong" password and the security gurus insist it should not be the same word for every application and it should have upper case letters and special characters, and numbers, and it should not be a password you have used in the previous 27 years, and soon the care and feeding of proliferating passwords takes on a life of its own.
I was reminded of the password conundrum the other morning, when Barb hesitantly asked me for some technical assistance when her iPhone Gmail account barfed and asked her for a password and then turned up its nose at any and all passwords offered. I say hesitantly, because I confess I'm less than patient when it comes to technical support at home, and we've had... how shall I put this... "issues" over passwords in the past. So much so, that she would rather ignore the fact that she has 22 AppStore updates pending than ask me to help her figure out what her Apple password is. Okay, another confession: she has two Apple accounts and two Apple passwords as a result of my technical support on a prior occasion.
And the Gmail account? She knew her Gmail password in times past. It was the same password she used for everything else and all was well until Google notified her that it appeared someone was trying to hack into her account and it might be best if she changed her password. I cooked up a doozy, changed her password, told her what it was, and promptly forgot it. She used it successfully for a while, until the other morning, when Google decided she should re-enter it. At that point the discussion around the breakfast table went something like this:
She said: "Dear, Gmail won't accept any of the passwords I know. Could you take a look at it?"
He said: "Why certainly, dear. I look forward to this opportunity to use my technical background and knowledge to assist you with this problem. Do you remember what your password used to be?"
She said: "It used to be ********, until you changed it. I really regret to say that I'm unsure what you changed it to. It could have been ******* or *******, but I'm not sure."
He said: "Not a problem, dear. I'm sure you stored it in your password vault app. Didn't you?"
She said: "Of course, sweety, and I did try that one, but that mean old Gmail just won't take anything I try."
He said: "Don't fret, my love. I'll have this set right in no time."
She said: "You're so good to me."
Well, perhaps that was not the exact conversation, word for word, but it was something very close to the above, I'm sure. I'll get back to you on that whenever Barb speaks to me again. Which may not be soon.
So let me pass on some hard-earned advice to those of you men who find yourself in a similar situation: the key to a happy marriage and the password conundrum is to recognize that she has no interest whatsoever in the formation, storage and use of good, strong passwords, and when they get messed up - as they will, from time to time, our role is to shut up and fix them.
I was reminded of the password conundrum the other morning, when Barb hesitantly asked me for some technical assistance when her iPhone Gmail account barfed and asked her for a password and then turned up its nose at any and all passwords offered. I say hesitantly, because I confess I'm less than patient when it comes to technical support at home, and we've had... how shall I put this... "issues" over passwords in the past. So much so, that she would rather ignore the fact that she has 22 AppStore updates pending than ask me to help her figure out what her Apple password is. Okay, another confession: she has two Apple accounts and two Apple passwords as a result of my technical support on a prior occasion.
And the Gmail account? She knew her Gmail password in times past. It was the same password she used for everything else and all was well until Google notified her that it appeared someone was trying to hack into her account and it might be best if she changed her password. I cooked up a doozy, changed her password, told her what it was, and promptly forgot it. She used it successfully for a while, until the other morning, when Google decided she should re-enter it. At that point the discussion around the breakfast table went something like this:
She said: "Dear, Gmail won't accept any of the passwords I know. Could you take a look at it?"
He said: "Why certainly, dear. I look forward to this opportunity to use my technical background and knowledge to assist you with this problem. Do you remember what your password used to be?"
She said: "It used to be ********, until you changed it. I really regret to say that I'm unsure what you changed it to. It could have been ******* or *******, but I'm not sure."
He said: "Not a problem, dear. I'm sure you stored it in your password vault app. Didn't you?"
She said: "Of course, sweety, and I did try that one, but that mean old Gmail just won't take anything I try."
He said: "Don't fret, my love. I'll have this set right in no time."
She said: "You're so good to me."
Well, perhaps that was not the exact conversation, word for word, but it was something very close to the above, I'm sure. I'll get back to you on that whenever Barb speaks to me again. Which may not be soon.
So let me pass on some hard-earned advice to those of you men who find yourself in a similar situation: the key to a happy marriage and the password conundrum is to recognize that she has no interest whatsoever in the formation, storage and use of good, strong passwords, and when they get messed up - as they will, from time to time, our role is to shut up and fix them.
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