Thursday, May 31, 2007

Memorial Day 2007

I suspect that this Memorial Day will be very memorable for my neighbors. I came home early from my friends' anniversary party and was relaxing on the couch when I heard lots of squealing tires. I heard the car screech around the corner and start down my street. I got up and ran out on the front porch. That's when I heard the crash and screams. I took off running down the street. That's when I saw a guy running down the street and the truck crashed into my neighbors' house. By the time it was over, we had two fire trucks, two ambulances, and five cop cars on our street. The driver was found and arrested. Luckily, the only thing that got hurt was the house.



Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Where in the world was Pineapple?

May 11, 2007


Look! I'm in New York...



Oh, that's just the other Statue of Liberty in front of the Midland County Courthouse...

"Home" of W

May 10, 2007
Midland, Texas

There is an old saying: Just because a cat has her kittens in the oven, that doesn't make them biscuits. So here is the deal. Baby Boy Bush may have lived in Midland as a child, but he was not born in Texas. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is not and never will be a Texan. That being said, here are pictures I took when I drove past his childhood home.



Aren't you excited?


I guess they are expected big crowds because the parking lot is HUGE!



But if by some chance, that many people wanted to visit at the same time they couldn't all fit inside. I guess they would have to visit the gift shop next door.


Thursday, May 17, 2007

Garden City, Texas

May 9, 2007
Garden City, Texas


I bet you are wondering -- "where is the picture of the garden?" Well, Garden City is one of the many towns in Texas with a name that is ironic or perhaps just hopeful. I got to visit two of them in one week (Big Lake and Garden City). While I was there, I bought a lottery ticket and decided that if I hit the jackpot, I would build them a much needed garden. When I asked about the town name, no one had an explanation. However, after a search on google, I discovered that the town was supposed to be named after a store proprieter named Mr. Gardner, but it was misspelled.



This is the Glasscock County courthouse, built in 1910.



This is the old jail (built in 1894).



I don't know what this is, but it was on the courthouse grounds.



This is the new jail and home of the tax assessor's office. Naturally, the sheriff jails people and collects the taxes.


Thursday, May 10, 2007

Lake! Big Lake!

May 8, 2007
Big Lake, Texas



Did Long Duck Dong wreck Grandpa's car here? Probably not. Apparently the Big Lake was drained in 1975.



But because it was raining, I had my own personal big lake in front of my motel. Yeah, me!



And because I take a picture of the courthouse in every county seat I visit, here it is.



This is La Mula, the mexican food restaurant. Yummy!



Too bad, there weren't enough people to keep Poppa Joe in business. Sho-Nuff!


Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Rankin, Texas

May 7, 2007
Rankin, Texas




Mmmm, rusty water tower...



This is the courthouse. Exciting!



This used to be a place to eat. Now it is an out of business junk shop that still has a cow on it and a sign that says "eat." When I first saw the cow, I was excited because I found the place I wanted to eat lunch. I was sad to discover the truth. Instead, I ate lunch at La Familia and it was really good. You should eat there if you ever end up in Rankin.



This was the Yates Hotel, home of the Rankin Museum. It is closed like just about everything else in Rankin. Once upon a time, Rankin was a hoppin' little town with the Yates Hotel, a country club, places to eat, and so on. Unfortunately, the economy went South and so did the people.



Here is an odd piece of yard art in front of the former Yates Hotel/Rankin Museum.



And some more yard art next to the building. It makes you wonder what could have been inside the museum...

I'm a lucky pineapple

April 29, 2007
8 Miles East of Columbus, Texas on I-10:


So I am driving down I-10 on my way to Houston when I hit something and the tire blew out. This is what it looked like after we took it off the car:



So here is the scary part. There was something else in the road and this is what made me lose control of the car. This is the point when I did a 180 across two lanes of traffic and ended up facing the wrong direction in the median. Of course, the car did not stop before it hit the fence in the center of the median. Here is the damage:



This was probably one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me. But now that I have had some time, I can recall a couple of things about this that were pretty damn funny. For instance, after the car started spinning out of control, MOTL told me that I should slow down. Gee, thanks! Then, when I called the handy-dandy number on the back of my license for road side assistance I was explaining to the dispatcher where I was and she said I think you are near the wreck that was called in. I told her that I didn't see a wreck and she replied that I was the wreck. Duh!

Disclaimer: Do not try this at home (or on a busy highway).

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Another dumb sign

I was in Houston at the Harris County courthouse when I saw this wonderful sign.


Do you think that they realize that chairs are, in fact, furniture?


Today's lesson is: SHARP!

I have these neighbors that decided to do some landscaping recently. Their choice of ground cover is quite interesting. It is broken glass. I found this interesting on many levels. For one thing, it should make for an interesting gardening experience when they decide that they want to plant things. Sounds like fun to kneel in a big pile of glass and dig around, does it? The other thing that is interesting is that they have a small child. I bet once that kid starts walking, it won’t take long to learn about sharp things. Oh, and the other fun thing is that they decided to fill in the cracks on the sidewalk with broken glass. It is not fun to walk through glass wearing flip-flops. I learned about sharp that day (and to walk on the other side of the street).



Here is a close up of the broken glass.



and a pretty picture of the the future good times they will have gardening.



And the whole picture.