Picture Monday-Ghost Signs, March 31, 2008

Monday again. More pictures. This time pictures from around Waco. Most are pictures of ghost signs; remnants of long past signs or ads painted on the sides of buildings. We start our tour in East Waco on Elm Street. I am not sure what the building was but I know they sold Fisk Tires.

Next we have two shots of the old Texas Fireproof Storage building on Mary Street next to the old railroad tracks through town.

Just across the way from Texas Fireproof Storage was the old Central Freight Lines building in it's signature green, also on Mary Street by the tracks. This is where my father worked for many years before they built a new terminal and offices in West Waco on Waco Drive. My father worked there a few years before passing away.

Next I have two pictures of and near the old Waco Theatre on Austin Avenue. In the first picture you can barely make out the the "Wac" near the fire escape stairs in this picture. The "o Theatre" is easier to see in person rather than the picture. This sign was painted on the side of the theatre. The linen cuffs and collars sign is on the building next to the old Waco Theatre. The Waco Theatre is now known as the Waco Hippodrome.

The next two pictures are not of ghost signs. They are of the ALICO Building. The ALICO Building was the home of American Life Insurance Company and American Amicable Life Insurance Company. The company was chartered in Waco, TX in 1909. There is a different American Life Insurance Company with general offices in Delaware. The one in Delaware was originally named Asia Life Insurance Company. I just thought they looked good and wanted to include them. The ALICO withstood the Waco Tornado of 1953 that completely tore down the old R.T. Dennis Furniture Company building just acroos the street on Austin Avenue.

The last picture is a close up of the American flag on top of the ALICO. I love it!

© 2008 Barry T HorstThis work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

What A Saturday, Wal-Mart T&L No More

Here I am, Back to my same old energy wasting ways. I am no longer green. You can see this because the print in the blog is now black again. Apparently there are not enough eco-friendly, green loving, quality of life conscious blog readers that read and enjoy my blog. I only got one response to my "GOING GREEN" post. They said they liked the regular posting better. In fact they said they liked blue better. I think I'll switch to a shade of blue for awhile.

This was a spur of the moment decision. I will search CSS code for a better shade later.

Now, to the doings from yesterday. Uhhh, that would be Saturday. I woke up bright and early. My agenda included getting the oil changed, washing the truck, rotating the tires, and getting the groceries procured. Upon later reflection these plans seemed rather optimistic.

First, I head out of the house on my way to get my tires rotated at Wal-Mart Tire & Lube (T&L). When I get there the man tells me that there will be about a 2 hour wait. Since I had other plans I tell him I'll leave and come back later. Away I go to my next destination.

I get to Genie Car Wash and get in line for an oil change. They get right on it and have ready within 30 minutes. Genie is great. You get a free car wash with each oil change. I'm certainly up for free. After I pay for the oil change I head back to Wal-Mart T&L. BIG MISTAKE!

Back at Wal-Mart T&L I pull up to the line again. The guy acts like he never saw me before. I reminded him that I was the tire rotation from earlier. (Now this is where it starts to go downhill!) I didn't really like the attitude or his way of talking to me. Anyway, I start giving him the information for the truck. Then he announces that he needs to look at the tires to see if they are OK. He pokes around on the tires, mutters to himself, and tells me they don't look good. They are worn on the edges. Now I think to myself, "That's why I want the tires rotated." He wants to look at the other tires. Then announces that this must be done because, "...it's my job and my family on the line." OK! He looks at the other tire on the front and said it doesn't look good either. Now he wants to get the "tire man". I suppose the tire man is a super hero of some sort; you know like Superman or The Tick or whoever. Anyway Tire Man comes over and he joins in on the chorus of doom and gloom. By now I am learning among other things that the tires are no good, they have dry rot, the tread will peel off if I drive 60 0r 70 mph, the side of the truck will be ruined, I will die, there are chunks missing from the tires, it's their job and their families on the line. I suppose they plan on sending their family with me somewhere next time I plan on driving 60 or 70 mph. ???

I tell them the tires have only 22K miles and 2 years on them. They can't have dry rot. They proceed to show me the tell tale evidence of dry rot. I tell the two men that if the tires have dry rot I will return to the dealer; after all, they only have 22K miles and 2 years on them. I am told that the dealer won't cover it. I begin to see what they see-$$$$$. I believe they want to sell new tires not a rotation. I move on and leave Wal-Mart T&L. In fact, I instructed my daughter not to take her car there for any automotive work.

I now take the truck to the dealer who performs the requested work and does a fine job on top of it. While at Allen Samuel's Chevrolet I discuss the problem of Wal-Mart T&L with the director of the service department. He came out and personally inspected the tires and listened to the dire reports had received earlier. He announced that tires "do not" have dry rot. The wear on the outer edges are evidence that the tires need to be rotated. DUHHH! Why couldn't Wal-Mart T&L figure that out. He said that the small chunks missing are from gravel, glass, and the softer rubber used in these tires. As mentioned earlier they performed the rotation, balance, and alignment. The only down side was I was without the truck until 4:30 PM.

I then go to the grocery store, HEB, and start on the groceries. I forget to go to the pharmacy and pick up my prescription. I go one night with out the prescription. I woke up this morning and was relieved. I was still the same person with no apparent ill effects of missing my medicine last night. No the medicine isn't for that. I take Metformin for my blood sugar. It was 115 mg/dl this morning. Not bad for missing my dosage last night.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

Retro Saturday, March 29, 2008

When I was younger my dad worked at the General Office of Central Freight Lines. They had a warehouse where they sold damaged merchandise every Tuesday at noon. It was called Central Salvage. The company would bring in merchandise that they were shipping that had become damaged in transit. The purpose of the sale was to recoup the claims they paid out for the damaged merchandise.

I can remember quite well my mother packing me into the car and driving down to my dad's office just before lunch on Tuesdays and meeting my dad. Salvage would open at 12:00 Noon for Central employees and their families. Later in the afternoon it would open to the general public. By noon the crowd was pretty large and there was always jockeying for position. When the doors opened it was a race to see who could get the best items. My parent's did much of the Christmas shopping there throughout the year.

When I was in junior high in the late 60's my father got me Mattel's Major Matt Mason set from Salvage. I had great fun with it; playing with the set endlessly. I had the Major as well as Sgt. Storm. I had the crawler, space cannon, and several other extras. I still have the set in the original box. Needless to say, it is showing it's age. Below are a couple of YouTube videos showing the commercials for the set.

© 2008 Barry T HorstThis work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

CPR, AHA, AED, And Other Letters

I had to take CPR training a few days ago for my job. It has changed quite a bit since the last time I took the training. When I first took the training the AHA suggested a 15/2 ratio of chest compressions/breaths. Now it is suggested to use a 30/2 ratio. This is a concession to AIDS and the fact that many people are not real excited about doing the breathing. I can understand. It is certainly not tops on my list of fun things to do.

They are now also emphasizing using the new Automatic External Defibrillators (AED). I got to learn how to use them. There is one a few feet from my classroom door, across from the nurses station. It is really pretty simple. They are computerized and walk you through the procedure. About the only you could get shocked is if you are actually touching the person that it is being used on. If someone is clowning around and decides to take it off the wall and slap it on someone and shock 'em just for grins they will be sorely disappointed. The internal sensors will detect a normal heartbeat and will not let it give a charge. That's good.

The high spot of the training was when a fellow teacher was practicing dislodging a foreign item from the throat of a baby. The training set the mannequin up and gave instructions and then placed the plug (foreign object) in the mannequins mouth. The teacher followed all the rules: placed the baby on her arm, began to use firm blows on the back with the heel and palm of her hand. After 2 or 3 blows the baby's face flies off. And then we all roared with laughter. I guess she was thinking about her 5th graders at the time.

© 2008 Barry T Horst This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

GOING GREEN

Did I miss something?

Apparently the color of choice has changed. I have always liked the color blue. The new color of choice is GREEN.

We got the April 2008 Country Living magazine in the mail recently. Green; REUSE; RECYCLE; REFRESH; The whole thing. On the inside it had The Country Living Green Guide; 50+ Ways To Make A Difference. I like #17 - Bulb Basics. It suggests that you drop the incandescent and go with the Compact Fluorescent. I've done that in part of the house. I don't like it. I turn 'em on and what do you think they do? They splutter and flicker and start out dim and have to warm up to get brighter. For an old man that makes it hard to see right away. They cost so much I feel like I need to use them instead of chucking 'em and starting all over again with the good old fashioned, heat throwing incandescents.

Same thing with the April 2008 issue of Metropolitan Home. This time Renovation Goes Green. They purport to have advice from top eco-experts. I don't know. I didn't read it. It wasn't my cup of Green Tea.
And now to top it all off I saw an ad from Wal-Mart touting Campbell's Tomato and Chicken Noodle Soup for Earth Day as being green and good for the environment. The label is green and the ad informs us that the can is recyclable; like it wasn't before? The ad also tells us that it costs less in packaging and to ship it because it is condensed. ????

It's always been condensed. So isn't it really the same as before?
I suppose that green is the new gold and if you advertise that your product is green then everyone will flock to it.
Sounds good to me. I think I'll try it!
For the rest of this week this blog is going GREEN in an effort to REUSE, RECYCLE, and REFRESH. By doing this Horst Household Happenings will now be eco-friendly, it will cost less to package and ship, and best of all save all coastlines of the world by keeping the polar ice caps frozen. Somehow the color green does this. I think it has to do with the way the heat energy from the sun is absorbed or something by the green instead of focusing it's deadly powers on the polar ice caps.
PS: Let me know by Saturday if you think I should keep the blog green or revert back to my tacky energy wasting ways on Sunday.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

Take 'er Apart And See What Makes 'er Tick

When I was a little boy the toys I had were simple and relatively inexpensive compared with toys today. When my kids were younger (20 years ago) their toys were relatively inexpensive compared with toys today.

Toys today are like expensive, especially when your toy is a computer and you like to take your toys apart. I did just that not quite a month ago. Refer back my post from February 26. I mentioned briefly my experience with dismantling an external hard drive. Apparently this runs in the family.

My daughter Julie (22 years old) brought something to me last night. "Hey Dad," she said; "Look what I took out of my laptop!" She shows me a wad of dust. Then she tells me that it's all over the inside of her laptop. Then she asks if I have any canned air.

I tell her, "No, I used it all when I took my computer apart last week to get rid of all the dust and hair." Then I tell her, "That stuff is expensive, just blow on it!"

Later, Julie comes in the bedroom and tells her Mother that she put her laptop back together and she had lots of screws leftover. Chris told her that maybe her Dad or brother would like to take it apart and try to find where they go.

"No thanks," she said. "It still works; except the screen!"

It turns out that a couple of nights ago one of her cats knocked the laptop off the night table. The tumble to the floor broke the screen off. Julie had taken it apart to she if she could get the screen to work again. No such luck.

Apple Ipod, look out. Here comes Julie.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

American Living--American????

I took Chris to JC Penney the other day. While she shopped, I looked around. I noticed that they have a new line that they have been pushing. It is called "American Living." Here is a commercial for you to see.

I started looking at some of the products. I picked up a shirt that looked nice. "I might want to get one," I thought. I looked to see where it was made and it said, "Made in Jordan."

WHAT???

MADE IN JORDAN??? American living in Jordan. Okay!?!?

I started looking at other products. I needed an atlas. I felt like I was taking a world tour. I saw Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and China. There were tags from Pakistan, Honduras, India, Taiwan, and Macau. Other tags said Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Thailand. I even saw a tag on a sweater that said the shell was knitted in Taiwan and finished in China. I didn't even know that Taiwan and China were getting along; much less doing business with each other.

Nothing from America.

Wait, there was a tag that said Northern Mariana Islands.

Say, aren't they a commonwealth in political union with the United States? "They sure are," according to the CIA Fact Book.

Wait a minute.

A closer look at the tag says that the fabric was imported. So It was made in the Northern Mariana Islands (USA) of imported fabric.

Oh well. You can't win 'em all.

While I was still looking at the American Living products in Penney's I began to look at the Arizona products to see if any were made in Arizona.

Nope!

Let's try being made in China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Mexico. Nothing from Arizona.

One day I may try to figure out where St. John's Bay is.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

Picture Monday, March 24, 2008

The picture above is not really from Easter. We took the picture of Scott on vacation in the Ozarks in 1987. I think we were at a miniature golf course in Branson, MO. Humpty Dumpty gives it a vague Easter Egg theme.

Easter 1988. Scott is holding a couple of stuffed animals he got and Julie is reveling in the warm sun in the front yard. She might have an egg or two in her lap.

What's cuter than brother and sister on Easter morning? Here they are in 1989 ready to go to church.

Fast forward to 2008. This is Jace showing off some of his loot from Easter morning.

More loot from yesterday morning. And to think they left them at our house in the refrigerator. I guess I can have them for later.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.

The Meaning of Easter

I found the following published on the Jesus Central page "The Meaning of Easter." If you would like more information on Jesus Christ please feel free to visit Jesus Central.

Jesus "Christ" is known as the founder of "Christianity". Christmas is a Christian holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus. At Easter, Christians celebrate their belief that Jesus came back to life after his death (called "resurrection"). Read the resurrection story from an ancient biographer (Mark 16).

"The Passion of the Christ" refers to Jesus' final hours of torture and execution on the cross. Read this "crucifixion" story from an ancient biographer (Mark 15). Christians recognize Jesus as God, and the cross as God suffering a penalty on behalf of humans. Christians believe therefore that God no longer needs to punish (can forgive) humans for their wrong doing (sin).

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Please visit the Giveaway of the Day at the bottom of the page for free software downloads daily.>

Giveaway Of The Day Added to Blog

Visitors to my blog may be interested in knowing that I have added a new feature this evening. I have added "Giveaway Of The Day" (GOTD) to the blog. It will be located at the bottom of the sidebar. Scroll all the way down and check it out.

If you visit GOTD from my blog you can download the "Software of the Day" for free. Also, on the weekends they will have one or two games available for download for free. I have downloaded a couple of games and a few programs and have not had any problems.

One note to remember: If the software or game looks like something you would like or could use, go to the Download Page. Simply click the "Proceed to Download Page." Once there scroll down a short way and look for the box on the right hand side that says "User Rating: Rate It!" This gives you quick Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down on what others think about it. Scroll down a little further and check out the Comments section. I use this quite a lot to help me decide if I download or not.

Happy downloading and enjoy!

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Retro Saturday March 22, 2008

How many of you remember Soaky Toys from the 1960's. Well Chris remembers them quite well. She and her brother Tom had quite an extensive collection when they were younger. For those of you that don't remember them or are perhaps a might too young to have enjoyed them here is a video clip for you to watch. I hope you enjoy it.

One thing I remember when I was young was the Frito Bandito. I loved the song and the commercials. Then one day I woke up and he was no more, never to be seen or heard from again. Gee that's hard for a kid to understand. I still don't understand it. If you liked him like I did you can enjoy him again. Here is a video below for you to enjoy.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

More Blog Tools

Yesterday I wrote about a few of the tools I use. Today I will mention a few more. One source of great tools and gadgets has been The Javascript Source. This is a great source for all sorts of tools and fun stuff to use on your blog or website. Anytime I visit I end up spending way too much time exploring and playing. I have a link button for them down below with the RSS buttons.

Another tool that I use for my advertising is Commission Junction. All ads placed on my site are through Commission Junction. I have learned that you can be more selective with the ads through them. Google AdSense seemed a little restrictive on ad size and selection. Commission Junction allows you to select specific advertisers from their list and then from many types and sizes of ads. I currently advertise for eBay, Half.com, Zoobooks, eBay Pro Stores, Disney Movie Club, 123 Inkjets, The USO, LifeLock, Trac-Fone, and The Checks in the Mail. I have a lot more fum with this set-up than I did with AdSense.

Another tool that use are the various widgets for Weather, News, and Sports feeds. They come from Accu-Weather, MSNBC, and NewsGator respectively. They are all easy to customize and easy to place.

Another important tool I use is not actually a tool at all, but a resource. It is the licensing information from Creative Commons. Through this resource I am able to copyright my work and then give notice to all at the end of each post and on the blog in general.

As I said yesterday, these are all great tools and resources. I use them not necessarily because they are the best, but because I found them after searching the web. There are many more resources on the web waiting to be found. Take some time and look. Maybe you can come back and share some of your great finds with me in the future.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Broken Link Repaired-Be Prepared To Be Easily Amused!

I just discovered this morning that the link in the Easily Amused section located at the bottom of the blog was broken. I have just fixed it. Click on the link occasionally and it will take you to one of the sites that Easily Amuses me. Hopefully, it will Easily Amuse you also.

PS-I will change this link weekly at some random time. So check back often to be Easily Amused.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Some Of My Blog Tools

There are several blog tools available for the novice blogger. I will mention a few that I use. This is by no means a complete list or necessarily the best tools. they are simply the ones I use and have become accustomed to. Lets face it. When you get to be my age one you learn something it is best to stick with it a while and then ease into something new.

One of the first things you need, after a blog site and a host service (Sometimes these are one and the same) is an image host or server. I use Picasa for three reasons: 1. They host a relatively large amount for free; 2. It's easy; and 3. It's what I started with so I know how to use it. (Refer back to the last sentence of the first paragraph.)

After getting my blog started I decided that I wanted to find out where the visitors came from. That is how I came upon Feedjit. They give a nice tool that you can use to post a map on your blog that shows where the traffic comes from. They also supply the Live Traffic Feed that lists where your traffic comes from and sometimes how they exit the site. Both of these post on the blog and give your visitors a good idea of the scope and reach of your blog. I use both.

There are also tools that you can insert in the site code that tracks the visitors. Among these tools are Google Analytics and Stat Counter. Both of these tools are interesting. Stat Counter especially gives you a wealth of information; such as Country/State/City/ISP information. Stat Counter will also give browser information, time on site, entry point, and exit point. This is good information for designing your site to be compatible with certain browsers, and also determining what type of information your visitors are looking for.

Another tool that I use to try and increase my reach is to burn an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. In this way readers can subscribe to the blog and receive each new post via their RSS reader. I have links to many of the more popular RSS feeds on the bottom of the blog page. My RSS feed is burned through Feedburner. If you would like to subscribe go the bottom and look for your feed service and click. If you don't see your contact and I will try to add it. You can also subscribe to my blog by e-mail. I have those links in the same area.

If you have any advice, questions, or comments drop me a line. You can comment on the blog post or e-mail me. The e-mail link is at the top of the sidebar just below the date.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Blog Tweaks

I hope that you like the minor tweaks that I have made to the blog. As you can see I have kept the same basic layout and design.

I have tried to place similar things together in the sidebar on the left. I kept the Headline animator at the top and then tried to place all blog raters next. There is still one on there bottom of the page since the code for it has to remain where it is in order for it to work.I have moved the Bible Verse of the Day just above the Feedjit widget. Below Feedjit I have added the Live Traffic Feed. Below there I placed the Neighborhood from BlogCatalog. Below the Neighborhood is My BlogMap. This is interesting because it shows the location of nearby bloggers that belong to the BlogMap site. It also indicates when any of them are online.

Next comes the venerable Kitten that we all know and love. Kitten keeps perch above the Donation and Shopping Section. Yes you can actually make a donation to Kitten through PayPal at the link here. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and E-Checks; but then you probably can see this. Next in this section is new advertisers interspersed with links to my stores at Cafepress and Amazon. Next in the sidebar are my favorite links as well as some of my del.icio.us links. You can add me to your network here.

Then we have the Blog Vault which contains the blog archives. Following this I have placed the News Center with various weather, news, and sports feeds. Enjoy this section. It took me a while to get what I wanted.

Then more Shameless Commercialization. Yes more ads to help pay the bills. You will also see an expanded commercialization section at the base of the blog with various banner ads. Below the sidebar commercialization I have updated the About Me picture. Next we have our copyright information. Finally, in the sidebar we have our USO link.

At the base of the blog is the first banner area that contains the various catalogs and directories which I am affiliated with. There are also links here to subscribe by e-mail or perhaps rate the blog. You Tube is still here to but it has been moved to the bottom.

Tomorrow I will try to briefly explain the various affiliations. For now, Have A Great Day. I know I am!

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

No Time To Rest

Spring Break for teachers can be a time of rest and relaxation. It is also a time to catch up on important tasks. Like filing income taxes. I completed and E-Filed income taxes this morning for Chris and I. I also completed and filed for Julie. My next task is completing business tax appraisal for the county.

Yesterday I spent half the day at the doctor. He said I am fine and has released me to fend for myself for the next six months. The other half of the day was spent tweaking the blog. I have tried to arrange it more logically and I have changed weather and news feeds. It's amazing how long that takes when you are trying to watch movies at the same time.

I am also getting ideas together for a new web-site. I want it to be educationally themed, targeting Kindergarten. I am needing to plan the page design and content but I can't find the html editor I like. If you have any ideas, shoot them my way.

It is raining today. Hopefully it will stop today and dry out enough to put the garden in on Thursday. I am shooting for Thursday because that is the only day that Scott can help.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Picture Monday, March 17, 2008

The pictures today are devoted to my sister Michal Ann. I found these last night while going through a few boxes. All were take while she was enrolled at Sam Houston State University during the latter half of the 1960's.

This was probably taken when she ran for Homecoming Queen or some other honor.

This picture was taken when she was cheerleader. This is the Homecoming in which she ran for queen. Obviously it was taken at the parade. Michal is in the middle wearing her cheerleader uniform.

Michal and the other cheerleaders. Michal is in the upper right.

Michal and the other cheerleaders again. This time at the bank. Probably a shoot for an ad. I would imagine that the bank was a sponsor of some sort. Michal is in the upper left this time.

This is a picture of Michal and her sorority sisters. She was a member of the Pink and Green, Delta Zeta. Michal is in the #36 jersey in the front.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I'm Back UPS

This is the weekend. Yesterday was, well, short of spectacular. First I still have this awful sinus business going on. Which means it is hard to sleep at night. Which means sometimes you take sleep when you can get it. Which means sometimes I get real sleepy in the middle of the day. Which means, well, I take a nap. If there are any missing I may have them. Yesterday I was afforded the luxury of taking a nap. When I woke up Chris asked, "Did you turn the computer off?" "No!" I said. "Well it's off!" she said. "Turn it on!" I said. "Won't come on!" she said. After a few more "He said," "she said's" it was determined the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) had been interrupted. It must have taken off for South Padre Island for Spring Break. This was determined by the lack of power spewing forth from it. That and the fact that nothing connected to it was working. So I headed to Sam's Club to get a new UPS. I decided to do this because a new battery for mine would cost $149 and the fact that I needed it like now and not whenever it could get here. Once at Sam's I determine that I will purchase the APC Back-UPS NS 1250. With tax it came in at just over $150. I opted for this one because of the self diagnostics and the automatic shutdown if an "event" occurs while I am away. I pile the thing into the truck and head home for the next task. I'm home now. I disconnect the computer and unpack the UPS. I glance at the instructions and hastily begin to hook it all up to the new UPS. Mid way through the process I realize that I need to install the software. I start this and then notice that the screen is black. WHAT? Everything else works. What's the problem? "OH!" It helps to hook up the monitor too. Now I finish hooking all the components too the UPS and fire it up. It works beautifully. I run diagnostics and all went well. THEN.....the computer told me it could not communicate with the UPS. WHAT? They have already had a spat after 5 minutes? Is it an age thing? After all the computer is much older than the UPS. After monkeying with all the cables, the computer, and the way I tilt my head; I decide there is a problem and have to pack it up and take it back to Sam's. The new one came home with me and cooperated with the computer to the Nth degree. It works great and I'm a happy camper. Oh by the way, the UPS is made by APC (American Power Conversion). It was manufactured in India. Go figure! © 2008 Barry T Horst


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Career Day Synopsis, For Those That Are Interested

Career Day is over and for all it seems that it was a success. Our rotations included a dental hygienist, a book monger, a veterinary technician, a librarian, as well as a video about farming, career bingo, and the ubiquitous activity sheets. Yes, it was a grand day. And to top it off, Spring Break started the moment I walked out the door, started the truck, and drove home.
The dental hygienist brought "Fred Head" and a set of "false' teeth with her. ""Fred Head" is a teaching tool used by hygienist students to practice their technique. It is simply a head with articulated jaws and a set of teeth. It can be attached to a mount that gives the student the sensation of working on an actual patient sans body. The "false teeth" were not actually real false teeth. Again, they were a model used to help hygienists demonstrate proper brushing and flossing techniques. It was a laugh when she passed those around. Some of the students were not sure what to think.
Next stop on the tour was the book monger from Barnes and Noble. She brought several books to read to the kiddos. She also described some of the things she did at the store; such as helping customers, ordering books, helping the younger kids with reading, etc. One book she read was Eric Carle's "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" I have read this book to my class several times in the past. (Remember, I have had some of these students for 2 years in Pre-K and Kinder.) The book monger got frustrated whenever my students started to recite the story as she read. That is the hazards of reading a story with predictable text and repeated patterns.

Our next stop was with the veterinary technician. I don't really remember much about this stop. By now the kids were getting tired and one of the students was crying and whimpering. She wanted to go home. It seems that during the normal course of the day this is their usual rest-time.

After the vet. tech we moved to the video about farming. The same child is still upset. I don't remember much here either except that another child is now trying to go to sleep.

Next stop is the librarian. This was interesting. The librarian was the mother of one our teachers. She was visiting from Missouri and was filling in for someone who did not show up. Not a bad presentation for being impromptu. Our whining and crying started to subside here.

Our final two stops were much better. We were all awake and getting back true to form.

Then it was over and time to go home. Enough said!

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Career Day, Spring Break, Gardening

Hallelujah! Friday is here!
Today is Career Day at school. It is also the last school day before Spring Break. What can I say?
At Career Day we will have various speakers that will come in and speak with the students about various career choices. Of course for Kindergarten the discussion will be much simpler, but will expose the kiddo's to some different types of careers. In the past we have had nurses, pharmacists, chefs, and delivery drivers come an speak. It is always a good time for all. I will report more later.
The last day of school before Spring Break. Let me say that again. The last day of school before Spring Break. It took approximately 120 school days for it to get here; and it finally got here. I can finally rest my throat. My allergies, a cold, and constant talking in class begins to take it's toll this time of the year. And this year is no exception. The coughing, clearing of my throat, and other unpleasantries can finally take a rest and let my throat get better.
Another plus with Spring Break is I can get back to the garden. I will plan on putting in a vegetable garden next week. Hopefully all of the freezes and frost are over for the season. Tentatively I will plant tomatoes, squash, peppers, corn, cucumbers, beans, and perhaps some other surprise items. I can hardly wait. There's nothing like supplying the rabbits, aphids, beetles, and other assorted creatures with free lunch all summer.
© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Feeling the Fallout

Geraldine Ferraro has stepped down. After verbalizing an astute observation on her part regarding Barack Obama's aspirations, Geraldine has decided to step down from her position in the campaign. She served as an unpaid "Honorary New York Leadership Council Chair," on Hillary's finance committee. I guess this is the latest round in the tag-team resignation match between the two camps. I believe the first happened last week after Hillary was branded a "Monster."
Elsewhere in New York, Client #9 has resigned. It's about time.

Worst of all though, The Baylor University Lady Bears basketball team went down in flames in the Big 12 quarter-finals. This is the first time they have lost in the first round and the first time that a #2 seed has lost in the first round. Firsts are not that great all the time.
© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Politics 101

You know, when I started this blog I told myself, "Self, I'm not going to make this political." I imagine that I've already made it political once or twice already. Well, here I go again.

What is it with the Democrats? The candidate in the delegate lead has been offered the VP slot by the candidate in second place. Well, well, well. To no surprise #1 pretty much declined the offer from #2. Not only does he decline, but he mocks her.
Now another prominent Democrat has suggested that perhaps Mr. Obama has only made as far as he has because his skin color. It seems that this same prominent Democrat has had this problem before.
Now the Democrats face the unenviable task of deciding what to do about the delegates in Michigan and Florida. If they count the delegates in Florida, look out. Who's going to pay for it? Who's going to vote? How is it going to take place? Good questions. Time will tell.
On top of all this, Ralph Nader is in the race again. Yippee!
I thought after the Texas and Ohio primary all of this would be over. Sounds like now it's not even close to being over. But then maybe it is close after Saturday's Wyoming victory for Barack and his Mississippi win yesterday.
© 2008 Barry T Horst


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It's A Deal-Sort Of

I'm sure this is not news to anyone. But oil closed at another new high yesterday. According to Bloomberg.com energy prices, West Texas Intermediate closed up $2.75 / barrel at $107.90 / barrel. Also Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (RBOB) futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $2.7099 per gallon. Add to that about 40 cents plus for taxes and profit and you're looking at unleaded gas hitting $3.20 or more per gallon. This is not good news.

I did find a good deal last night though. I was nearly on fumes and desperately needed to refill my tank. I stumbled upon the local Wal-Mart and discovered they were still selling unleaded for $3.05 a gallon then you get a 3 cents discount per gallon for using their card. I ended up spending $75.00 for gas last night. That was for me and Julie's car. Afterwards, I couldn't believe the words I uttered, "Gee, $3.02 for gas was a good deal!" Even the truck stop nearby the house was $3.09 a gallon.

When I started driving years ago I paid 30 cents a gallon. I also got paid $1.00 an hour. I guess it's all a wash.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Picture Monday March 10, 2008. It's All About Me!

Here I am sitting on the front steps when we lived on Speight Ave. This is about November 1964.

Now this is a clever piece of work. This is a picture of me taking a picture of me. In the mirror you see. I believe this is in July 1974 right after high school. I suppose that is when we knew it all.

This picture is probably in 1976. I was still at MCC at this time. I still had my Toyota. Oh by the way, I'm the good looking one standing up. That is my college roommate, Paul, sitting. I sure wish I could remember who took the picture.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Hello World! I'm Back!

Is the world still out there? This happens whenever I get sick. I seem to withdraw into my own little world and lose track of things. Is Hillary still running for President? I haven't heard. What's going on in the rest of the world? Is Colombia part of Venezuela yet? There's nothing on Drudge about it now. Have I been out that long? Monday starts a new week and I can catch up then! © 2008 Barry T Horst


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Allergies Still; Or Maybe It Should Be Steal! Plus other Nonsense

As mentioned yesterday my allergies have really kicked in. I have been out of most of the day due to the medicine. (It's amazing what Benadryl does. Dries you out and puts you down. Then you wake up like a rock hard sponge.) From what I understand today was beautiful. I wouldn't know. In a way it feels as if I have had today stolen from me. I have spent the bulk of the day in the recliner with the remote. I have been clearing off movies from the DVR. Watching some, sleeping through others. Now in a few hours I will have another hour stolen when I change the clocks for Daylight Saving Time. How I hate Daylight Savings Time. I am sure there is a good reason for it, although I don't know what it is. In the deep, dark recesses of my mind I believe that it is an insidious Communist plot to rob the American workers of their sleep and therefore bring down civilization as we know it. I mean after all, if the days are getting longer anyway why do we have to make them any longer? Does the sun stay in the sky longer because we moved the clock?? I'm convinced that there is treachery afoot here. Or maybe it's just the Benadryl. © 2008 Barry T Horst


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