#151B8D or #000099 - They're Both the Same To Me

In an earlier post I ranted (?) about the connection that the color green has with now current idea of concern for the environment. I remember when I was in high school in the early 70's the big thing was "ecology". Now there is a word I haven't heard in a while. Anyway, it seems that everyone and everything wants to jump on the "green"bandwagon. Why even Mr. Obama is now saying that he wants Mr. Green; OOPS! that should be Mr. Gore, to advise him on solving the vexing environmental issues that face us and will surely lead us to a quick demise if not addressed in a timely fashion. As you may remember, I chose to switch the font color to green as a small show of support. Extremely small show of support actually. In fact, I don't really support it at all. I just simply thought it would be kind of fun to do. But I digress!

In the above referenced post I also mentioned that I really like the color blue. My brother then wrote me and said he liked blue also and would post on it soon. He did and here it is on HORST ONLINE. His post got me thinking about something. Now that is an accomplishment. I have been asked before, "What were you thinking?" Now I can honestly say that I was thinking about what in the world does blue mean. How do you define a color? And no, I don't mean some silly hexadecimal code or some other such nonsense.

So I did a little research. Very little in fact. Well to be perfectly honest I googled "blue" and just started looking for things that looked like they might tell me something interesting. Here is what I found. On Emily Gems I learned that blue is the preferred color of conservatives. At Color Wheel Pro I found out that blue is associated with males and is considered masculine. So far, so good! In the Bible, blue is seen as a heavenly color. At three-musketeers.net I read that blue is associated with femininity and girls with pure qualities. Wait a minute. Isn't that different than the other thing I read? The same site said that it blue can symbolize depression.

Hey, I don't like where this is going now. I think I'll wind this up and just leave this whole meaning thing alone. I still like blue and the reason is simply because I like it. So there! I don't care about the meaning. It's pretty and I like pretty. Yeah, it's also cool and calming and relaxing, and reminds me of the sky, and water, and pretty blue eyes, and bluebonnets, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

© 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.

Star Wars-Revisited

I read sometime back that Spike TV acquired the rights to all six Star Wars movies. According to seat42f.com They will be airing Episodes 1-3 on April 4-6 and Episodes 3-6 on April 11-13. For many of you this may be exciting news. A chance to catch all the episodes in order, especially if you don't have all the DVD's.

If it has been a while since you have seen the Star Wars saga I have taken it upon myself to search far and wide to find the best way to jog your memory so that you can jump right back into the saga. And if you have not seem them yet; don't worry. The videos I have found will get you up to speed pronto!I hope you enjoy them. I sure did.

The video below is good if you can get past the Organic slant. Be patient. You'll like it.

I also came across the footage below from one of the Imperial Broadcasting Network's television shows. It shows the Imperial Storm Troopers at work.

© 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.

Digital TV- The New Horizon Beckons

I was talking with one of the teachers at school yesterday. She mentioned that she and her husband bought a digital television converter box at Wal-Mart this weekend. She said that her husband had applied for the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box coupon that the government is sending out to consumers. The purpose of the coupon is to allow consumers to buy the boxes at a reduced price. The coupon is valued at $40.00. I suppose that this is another example of our tax dollars at work. The box at Wal-Mart is made by Magnavox and costs $52.97. That makes the box $12.97 + tax after the coupon. She also said that the TV they used it on has a much better picture on it.

I decided to check it out on-line. I applied for my coupons several months ago. It turns out that the site has a link to check the status of your application. I checked and mine is supposed to be in the mail soon. The web-site Digital Television has all the information you need. This is a government web-site and it has the link on it that takes you to the Coupon application page. It is off-site so you have to go through a confirmation page first. Here is the direct link to the coupon application page. PS: It is still a government page; just not the FCC. If you have already applied you can go to the status page to check the status of your application.

Remember, if you have cable you do not have to buy a box. The cable company already converts the digital signal and makes it analog for the older TV's. BUT, if you want to ditch cable and use an antenna you need to have the converter box in order to watch TV after February 17, 2009. Also, if you already have and HDTV with an HDTV tuner you will not need a converter box.For more information on digital tv and converter boxes check out Digital TV Facts.

© 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-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.