Halloween. All Saints Eve. Goolish. Ghost. Gobblins. For a Kelt, it's just the first day of winter.

Some people don't seem to understand that the end of October in Texas is not the same as the end of October above the Mason-Dixon Line. The biggest reason there is such a difference lies in where the sun's rays hit the earth this time of year. Basically, Texas is about 30  ( more or less) latitude degrees closer to the Equator than those above that other line--the Tropic of Cancer and yes, even the Mason-Dixon Line ( which is nothing more than the southern boundary of Pennsylvania drawn by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Davis in 1767.

The angle makes the difference in temperature and hence, weather!

Here's the best kind of lawn pumpkins you can have. They are colorful, too! It can be cold, it can be warm.



Lawn Gifts





Some color beginning to show

The Pelicans are back!

Over the river and through the woods to Washington we need to go.

An update to a post at the end of September about the new technology going in on an expressway
that is more "spy" than traffic management.
Since our post, the Associated Press reported in an article,"Growing backlash to government surveillance" by Martha Mendoza, a fait accompli viewed by the Federation of American Scientists secrecy expert Steven Aftergood, " We are setting ourselves up for a total surveillance system that may be beyond the possibility of reversal once it is in place." He continued to say, " we may be on a road where we don't want to go."

"Asleep at the wheel," our guy said
 

 

Columbus Day Sales. Remember the $5 Washers?

The biggest sales blunder that I can remember of late is the JCPenny  sales that really were not sales. That did a lot of damage to the brand in whole. Growing up, JCPenny was known for their quality, especially in the unmentionables and socks! That got lost in some marketing campaign, I suppose.

Some of the late night talk shows have a skit where they send a "reporter" out on the streets to interview the public about a lot of things, mostly things that you know by 5th or 6th grade. One example would be: Who is the vice-president of the United States? Another would be: Who's buried in Grant's Tomb? Of course, the answers are off the wall, which is why it has been so successful but, it also shows how little we know today compared to past generations. Sure, we know technology. Here's the thing with that. Toss the techno-device and its a "Duh-generation". To me, that's sad.  I bet I could ask 100 people what the "C" stands for in the JCPenny (that's how the company displays its name today) name and I would get only a hand full--if that-- of correct answers. Now don't go Google the question because the founder of JCPenny was a real person named James Cash Penny.

This all comes back to the President's Day sales that were so famous in the 1950s. Except, they were called Lincoln Birthday Sales or Washington Birthday Sales. People stood in line for hours. Orderly, I might add. The newspapers ran full page ads. It's an old marketing standby that the younger generation thinks is new when you go stand in line outside a Walmart (that's how they signage their name now) or a Best Buy to buy electronics today, then trample over people to get in the door  of the store. Actually, I find that sad and  funny within itself.

 Neither of those two stores excite me with their advertising, I can poke holes in them all day long.  But, washing machines, dryers and refrigerators sold in the $5.00 to $20.00 range on the original two President's Day. One of those two were on the 22nd of October. Who knows (don't look it up) which one?  In college, I had a marketing professor who always reminded his class that "the more things change, the more they stay the same."  Ain't that the truth!  It's okay to say ain't today, or so I'm told. And, we won't even talk about the new model year cars that shipped with canvas coverings until the official day to show them to the public. The excitement was like an active volcano. Now that was an effective marketing campaign for the auto industry. Then they got swept away in "the future of advertising" and lost sight of what works. Retro today is a vain attempt to reconnect to that old way of advertising. Gee, some find that it really works! Imagine that.

So, the bottom line here is this: James Cash needs to go back to selling quality unmentionables and socks but we have changed so much as a society that unmentionables are now viewed on TV if they have any on at all. That being the case, I would think then, that JCPenny needs to go back to selling washers and dryers and ice boxes (the same old thing as a refrigerator in today's vernacular) on Lincoln's or Washington's birthdays.

Sunday, I drove out to DFW Airport to watch the big 747s come in on a beautiful fall afternoon with deep blue skies. It was the absolute worse day to do that in terms of photography. The airport was flipped because of the north winds, but even worse, departures were on the cross-wind runway on the west side of the airport. From Founders Plaza  there was nothing but "real" birds flying. Overhead, I observed a jet dumping fuel.  The contrails are wider. I didn't want Jet A fuel all over my car so later I took Airfield west around to the south entry/exit to Amman Carter wanting to see the new NBC Universal TV station at Centre Port. As I continued, a EVA Cargo 747 was landing and the shot would have been even better than at Founders had my camera been handy and ready. I was not expecting that. I had already missed the christening of the new NBC5 TV station with Korean Airlines dumping Jet A fuel from above. That flight had a Channel 8 reported on board, too. Nah! No way if you are thinking what I'm thinking. It was an engine that failed after takeoff. Of course, the news reported that.

When I got to 183, I was thinking about getting on the BMW Mercedes Lexus Turnpike back to LBJ 635 but then I decided to just take the old way, 183 to 35E to LBJ 635.The road is a bit more bumpy than the smooth thick asphalt on the turnpike. Of course, I didn't have to stand in the line at the NTTA and make arrangements to pay  $50,000 in unpaid tolls, either. I wonder if a NTTA booth inside a JCPenny store might bring in some customers? Maybe not.

The old standby still stands

The BMW Mercedes Lexus Turnpike

 

They Are Percherons, Not Clydesdales

Breeds of horses have always interested me. I'm not speaking about the breeds that stud the horses we all watch come down the stretch on the south side of Eastern Avenue in Louisville the first Saturday in May. I'm speaking of the breeds similar to what we see in the Budweiser commercials, especially during the holidays, more Pomp and Circumstance. Notice that I said similar because I'm not talking about Clydesdale's from northern Scotland, either. Although, there is a place in my heart for the Clydesdale having enough Scots in my veins to stand my ground. My love has been for a breed that I don't always remember on the tip of my tongue, but comes to mind quickly when I ask, "What's the other breed like the Clydesdales?" Those that love the breed as much as I do are quick to say, Percheron !

Most think of the Clydesdale as being German, but they came from Scotland originally. They built, Australia, being exported there in large numbers early on. But the French lay claim over the argument of the Belgium that the Percheron are theirs.

Today, I ran into a couple of gentlemen that I have meet before. It's always a chance to see these beautiful animals and I just can't pass up the opportunity to stop and say," hey! "
 

Friends for life

Beautiful Percherons

Funeral Carriage Horses

It's Time to Pull Arthur Gordon Off the Shelf Again

The Power in Purposeful Pausing

There's an old paperback on my bookshelves that was gifted to me in 1991 by a very dear friend. That book is a book filled with inspirational stories and graduation speeches over the years by the author, Arthur Gordon. There are two stories that I dearly love. One, is his meeting of Rudyard Kipling and the other is his meeting with Tom Watson. There are also quotes from Einstein, Stevenson  and Thoreau among others. In short, the little book is packed with inspiration and collected wisdom.

One of the chapters that I like in particular is, The Power in Purposeful Pausing. We have all heard the old cliché, take time to smell the roses. This chapter takes that to levels beyond. Art Linkletter said of Arthur Gordon that he" really knows how to make his reader fall in love with life."

So when my soul needs that little shot of vitamin to carry it alone, I reach to the shelves and pull down Arthur Gordon. I can't read a chapter without making more marginal notes. It's like having no  flour in the kitchen, no salt and pepper on the table. Sometimes, a good book that you can turn to is better than trips to the doctor and the pharmacy.

Here's a visual of how you feel after reading a chapter or two.

 

He said,"It might be a good time to....."

New Reader in a non Toll Lane on LBJ 635

My mother 's life's lessons still come back to haunt me at times. Not once, was she wrong.
She was the master of asking the question that forced you to tell her the truth! Over the years, she taught me as my grandfather had taught her. That's the way knowledge is best passed on from generation to generation. It's not so much that the information needs to be updated but more that the generations need to know the processes where our ancestors learned. The points and facts that make the difference.

One example of that very process came into play just a few days ago. One day on my way home for a doctor's appointment, I noticed one of the new license plate cameras mounted on a light pole in one of the intersections that I pass through routinely. That got me to thinking using the formula that mother had passed down. The next time I went to the grocery store, or drugstore, the post office or the gas station, I started to watch for the cameras. They began to appear frequently in my travels.

After a couple of months, parts of the puzzle began to fit together. One of the facts from mother's teachings was observation. From that, it taught one to look for the things that appear to be normal and fit in, but really are quiet the opposite. They are designed to trick and mislead and draw away suspicions from the real purpose. Hunters use those same tricks in a deer blind.

One day on a trip to the plastic surgeon to have some small stitches removed, it occurred to me that I could make a game out of this and I tried to get home without being in the  reader of one of those cameras. That is when the link begin to fall into place.  There were other cameras, as we all know, but they were not part of this equation. The test was only involving the new black and white cameras on the poles.

Sure enough. Now, with the information that if I stayed on the one street, I would pass by three cameras. So, I decided to cut down another street that came around to the street where I would turn ahead several miles down the road.  Ahead at the next major intersection was yet, another camera. and ahead of that was yet another and after a turn, to complete the box pattern, was yet another.

The findings were alarming.  It showed me that a report was generated that if after going past the first camera I turned, it could pin-point that I stopped at a drugstore for a period of x number of minutes although it would not show which store in particular I had visited. In other words, it could physically track movement between points A,B,C and D even if I went down another street.

That every evening, on the news, the police were seeking more cameras. If should be noted that the word "camera" takes on the meaning also of the license plate readers. There are two distinct, but similar devices. But who pays attention to detail anyway. We are busy with living life and little things like that are insignificant. Of course, that is the point here.

That point was driven home even more as I have begun to notice the "toll tag" readers going up on 635LBJ. Well sure! LBJ is going to have toll lanes in the HOV lanes. Ah! asleep at the wheel again.
These readers are not in the toll lanes. That's right. NOT in the toll lanes. Things begin to appear in places where they should not be, or if they were there in a "shouldn't be" place, what is their real purpose then?  That was another one of mom's lessons. Ask questions. Ask lots of questions.

So on Wednesday, I got a chance to ask a lots of questions to a TX DOT official on the Q-T. At first, he didn't want to answer some of the questions. Then, as time went on, he began to be more down-to-earth and honest about some of the things happening without being tagged as the one who spilled the beans.

He began by saying that people in Dallas are asleep behind the wheel. Then, he would point out an example of what he meant as traffic whisked by. Then, he made reference to the fact that it was now to late to do anything and again cite an example of what he meant. Mostly, about a project being about the almighty buck. Example was that the tolls were being collected for 50 odd years by a foreign company or a sub-contract hired to collect the money. The HOV lanes as toll lanes were just an excuse to get the other things done.

And finally, when talking about noticing things that are out of place or don't really fit in with the overall scheme of things as intended, he made the most crucial statement of all. He made the reference that now was the time to put in the things that don't belong there (those not really intended for the purpose of traffic engineering functions) because people see the construction going on and just assume that everything is part of the project. "People, I tell you, are asleep at the wheel and when they wake up they are going to be asking the question, 'how did that get there?' or when was that ordinance passed?' 

By then, it's way to late to do anything. I agree with him. I've seen the "out of place" things going in. I thanked him for his candor and thought about this awhile. It is to late already, I thought.

So, the next time I go to the polls if you are an incumbent,  you won't be getting my vote. Now, we just need millions more to have the guts to do that.

The bottom line is people are asleep at the wheel. Technology isn't always used to "keep you safe" as lawmakers do their work of telling you that it is for your safety.


Updated 05 July 2017. Additions, corrections,

John Carpenter's Little Ranch Packed!

John Carpenter had a little ranch that he called Las Colinas. Saturday that former ranch was covered with people from one end to another. The Irving Convention Center was hosting a walk for poverty. I got caught up in  the traffic for that and waited 27-minutes for the marchers to pass.  Then when the last of the marchers had passed and the street was opened up for traffic, it was soon to be discovered that Irving police had blocked off my usual entry into the Lake Carolyn venue for the National Red Bull Flugtag.

 I had spent 40-minutes already in bumper-to-bumper traffic on LBJ 635 as a result of a Monte Carlo facing east bound in the west bound lanes with its front and rear wheels and axels ripped off the car's frame. A young girl in Daisy Duke attire was leaning up against a barrier wall inside a circle of Dallas Police Cars that had encircled at least three lanes of traffic blocking off the accident and its passenger on the barrier wall.

 So, after a couple of trips in circles on the service roads and Las Colinas Blvd., I drove the car into the entry to the Grand Trevino, paid my 5-bucks for the day, grabbed my camera bag and water jug and headed out for about a 10-block walk. There were several photographers at the media tent and a young girl who was clueless was trying to tell us that our cameras would not be allowed inside. After about 30-minutes of discussion, she had worn down everyone but myself and one other photographer. It's funny that this whole image thing has just gone wild with everyone with a camera phone in their pocket or purse, even some of those now have packs that can accommodate changeable lens like a DSLR camera. What's even more amazing is that there is now a phone camera that has 43 pixs. That's more than some DSLR's. It's amazing.After that, I didn't even bother picking up my wrist band until about an hour before I was ready to leave.

People were curb-to-curb, wall-to-wall,elbow-to-elbow. The lines at the food trucks stretched across the roadways that normally are used to walk to and fro. I've never been able to understand why people don't bend the lines at an angle so as not to block the roadways but that would take my friend, Patrick, the anthropologist at U Mass , some research time to figure out. And Patrick, while you are at it, can you tell me why the people in lines then get mad at the people trying to get up and down the street when they have to cut through the lines just to get from point A to B?

At first, I was going to ride the Orange Line out, but then I remembered that the People Movers didn't work on the weekends and I figured what's the use. Walking was a major distance thing at this event. If you were an observer in the "beach" area and had to make a trip to the port-a-potties, good luck.The walk was more than a little jaunt. It's more like the 'red trail" for the experienced hiker. As I am walking back to the Grand T where my car had stayed in cool shade, I discovered that the People Movers were, indeed, working and from the Orange Line station, I could have used the PM to cover that entire distance. I sat in my car in the parking garage in line for 18-minutes just to exit. The Orange Line gets my vote from here on out. Dart was running three full cars on the Orange Line,too! Dressed in Flugtag blue vinal wrap!

All-in-all, it turned out pretty well. Now, I just have to rest up for the re-birth of Big Tex and the opening of the State Fair on Friday! At least I can have a corny dog and a coke while I'm resting inline.

This was one of the small lines

Anyone gives you any trouble tell 'em Sue said it was okay!.Sue with the yellow glasses? No, I'm not Sue.

It Ain't Gonna Fly! No Way!