Christmas Outside at the New Convention Center Hotel

Dallas' new convention center hotel, a 1001-room complex managed by the Omni chain, opened ahead of schedule this past November. It has quickly become a hot-spot for celebs in town for what ever reason. It has also become a hot spot for photo ops at the holidays. White the decoration's twin is on display on 6th Avenue in New York, people in Dallas can still say everything is bigger in Texas.

"Buy Texas" made simple for the Holidays

Going to the Dallas Farmers Market has always been a fun trip. Fresh flowers for the yard and pots, a great Chicago-Style Bistro sandwich, fresh and tasty chocolate fudge, ice cream or an outdoor patio restaurant always makes the trip exciting, But the part that I enjoy the most is seeing and talking with an old friend I meet nearly ten years ago in booth 101 on the corner of shed No.1 and the pedestrian walk. Today, I got to meet a new member of the family and talk with an old friend. That old friend is Jerrell Graham, of R.L. Graham & Sons Produce. The Graham family is well noted for their fresh fruits and melons. They Custom Pack Fruit Baskets. They are also know for their paper shell pecans and fresh berries in season.

So, here is a display of their holiday fruit baskets. The "Buy Texas"campaign to help the local economy was never so easy. Drive down to Shed No. 1 at the Dallas Farmers Market and pick up a fruit basket from the Grahams and support the local economy at the same time. They are open 6 days a week and close on Wednesdays. You will be glad that you did and the Grahams will be glad that you did and "Buy Texas" will be glad that you did. Now, where else can you be so glad that you did??

Making Train Watching More Interesting

MSDS placard UN2078  (Toluene diisocyanate)
White indicates an inhalation hazard or poison
2078 identifies the chemical Toluene diisocyanate
and the 6 in the lower triangle indicates poison/toxic solids and liquids,infectious materials



The placard is at eye level just before the front wheels. It must be posted on all four sides one time.


How many times have you been sitting at a rail crossing as an ever-so-slowly train creeps by.  You  found yourself and your mind somewhere between  Uranus or Jupiter and the deep dark voids of space while you waited for the crossing gates to go up. Well, there is a better way to remain sane, educate yourself and be better informed about the transportation industry; chemicals used to created the goods we use,or sometimes eat, and keep our self and family more safe.

A few months ago, there was a fire in a Waxahachie,Texas firm that mixed compounds for the manufacturing industry. While watching the aerial view from a Dallas television station, suddenly, one could see liquid running out of one side of the building down toward a fire truck. Within seconds, flames followed the liquid and it was a mad scramble for the firemen to get off and out of the truck before it was totally engulfed in fire and eventually,totally lost. As in most situations such as this, fire departments have MSDS or Material Safety Data Sheets on hand. During the reporting of the story, it became rather amusing for me to note that the reporters knew very little about MSDS sheets, if they knew what MSDS sheets were at all. In other words, here is a major story and while you can't know everything about everything.....you should be at lease informed in the basics of industry in the area where you work and live. In this case a rail spur to the plant passed between the plant and an elementary school (which was evacuated eventually). On that spur was parked nearly a dozen tank cars of chemicals used inside that plant with fire burning ever more close to the cars.

Yesterday,while waiting for a slow moving and very long train, this post began to take shape. My camera was on the passenger seat of the car, as it always is when I leave the house. This particular train was going to the only siding that I know that can park such a long train all in one piece until it is broken up and reassembled.later. So, I headed in that direction. Sure enough. There sat the train on a two mile lone siding.

Hazardous Material Placards are required to be on all four sides of a tank car, covered hopper,gondola,box or inter modal container by the Department of Transportation. Placards are Red,green,yellow,blue,white,black and white,red and white,red and white dangerous,orange,white and black stripe. Each differently colored placard identifies the cargo (i.e., red -flammable;green,non-flammable;yellow,oxidizer;blue,dangerous when wet;white,inhalation hazard and poison;black and white,corrosive (acid and caustic);red and white,flammable solid or spontaneous combustible;white and yellow,RADIO ACTIVE  or radiation ;orange,Explosives;white and black strip,Misc. Hazards).

So, watch for the placards as trains go by,note a number or color and when you get home, check it out with the DOT ERG or Department of Transportation Emergency Guidebook, which you can download on the web. You will be amazed, or  minimally amused, at what hazardous chemicals are in your own backyard.  And, if you are one of the young reporters at a major market television station, take one of those Saturday afternoons that isn't to good weather wise and go look around your town where the closest Starbucks is six miles in the other direction. You might get picked up by the networks more quickly than your co-worker. Look at Bob Orr, from WCMH in Columbus,Ohio. His knowledge of the prison system landed him a full time network reporter job for the big CBS eye because he knew what he was talking about when the big story broke!
This posting is heading toward a project for the winter months. The project will be to identify and post as many chemical hazards in the Dallas area as possible. Now, all I have to do is talk my editors into publishing all the placards that I photograph over the winter months. 

Final Edit but No Less Important than the First Edit

A Very Big Boot!



 An Equestrian Unit.




Spotted by a Jedi !



Hope You are Highly Satisfied.....and by the way, I wasn't.

The local Kroger's that takes my money and gives me food in exchange has gotten off track lately. When retailers are stressing how important the customer experience is to their bottom line, sorry to say, some just do not get the meaning of experience or bottom line, or both.

On a little street named East Pearl in old Cincinnati, Ohio, No. 66 E. Pearl Street, to be exact, Barney Kroger opened his first grocery and bakery. The year was 1883. The little company has grown a bit since then. By Kroger's own date line, they name 1946 as the beginning of their modern era. Surprisingly, I was a living creature on this planet and I walked into a Kroger's for my very first shopping experience  in their stores in 1952. So, I have shopped at Kroger's for a few years--more like a few decades! But, I have not had a problem at Kroger's ever, until two weeks ago and the occurrence of that same problem today.

So, I have been giving Mr. Kroger's name sake my money for far to long and the store allows me to take home that value in food stuff. It's a good arrangement. I've not objected one way or another and the store ,likewise. But, debating for several minutes if I was being to over-reactive or just being a crusty old man who waited a long time to be able to scream out: "Get off my grass." "Stay out of my yard." "No,you can't have your ball back."  I decided that it was the crusty old man part and said to the checkout supervisor that,"No, I will check out here." That I was,"..... tired of being run all over the front end of the store when I am already  tired, already had my walk for the day and just wanted to go home and relax".What stirred my emotional well and got my veins inflated was when she walked away from me shaking her head. I called out to her, don't be shaking your head at me.She rolled her eyes and laughed. I was not amused in the least and to have my cashier tell my checkout girl that she can't talk to customers.....well, that's the moment that I decided that I would contact Kroger's Corporate office.Before that thought had been completed I spotted a new sign that had gone up since my earlier view a few days prior. So, I got my cell phone out snaped this shot and went on out in the cold to stay my purchases in the car. At home, I pulled up the Kroger web site and clicked on the "contact us" button.

Since 2005, I've only highlighted  Corporate America on three featured blogs that were of this nature. Two of the three have been this year !

Many years ago I listened to David Roderick, CEO of US Steel, in a speech, declare that we were not turning out middle and upper management of any significance. Since that point in time, observing what was meant in that speech have earmarked many examples of that very tenant. It hasn't gotten much better and continues to be bathed in corruption and deadly sins of old Corporate America. It's time more people start to speak out. It is the very essence of the Occupy movement! 

Wind Is Not This Girl's Best Friend

Showtime!

A Private Moment



The Wind Arrives



Getting ready for the show

Miss Texas,Kendall Morris, rode in the annual Children's Hospital Parade in downtown Dallas,Texas,Saturday,December 3,2011.

The Children's Hospital Holiday Parade



Dallas,Texas,Saturday,December 3, 2011: Crowds line up for the Children's Hospital Holiday Parade.