My those tractor starters are expensive

I left you last when the %&X#%& starter had frozen up on the farm tractor. No problem. I'll just call Carl, the mechanic that has done house visits for me for the past 15 years. What do you mean he moved because the city invoked eminent domain forcing him to sell his home? How far away did he have to go? He doesn’t do house calls in Van Alstyne anymore? Uh oh. No problem, I can do this. Local talent (Tim) got the starter off. I just had to find the replacement and there was a phone number on the starter. It worked! … and Tim got it back on the tractor. It started right up. Uh oh. Smoke was coming from the front, center of the engine. Something about a bad bearing that could throw a rod. Not wanting the tractor to become a permanent piece of yard art, it looked like I had two options. Buy a new tractor or sell the farm. I (Shirley) decided on a new tractor when it became apparent the rest of the family would not join me in a relo. … and I just thought the &%#X$& starter had only ruined a long weekend.

All the stars were lined up for the perfect holiday weekend

Jill and Tylir, Eric and Dena and all the grandchildren were at the farm, the weather was near perfect, Shirley was cooking, Eric was grilling, … what could possible go wrong? You’re wrong; it wasn’t Shirley’s cooking or anything else on the list. That stuff was all great. But then there was the other, unexpected stuff. For one, the cards turned on me. Something I could usually depend on failed me in front of the entire group (yes, I had to watch Tylir and his jig … my apologies to everyone else present). Seeking solace, what better escape than the old, dependable Ford tractor and mowing a few acres, except when the X@*&&# starter locked up. I guess I’ll check my emails. Good, there is one from Michael in Berkeley; I wonder why he didn’t just call. Oh, he lost his iPhone on BART. What else could go wrong? What do you mean the barn is locked and the keys don’t work? But this is where the luck starts to go the other way, thanks to our young hero, Landry. He was able to squeeze under one of the sliding doors that had not been properly secured, got in and unlocked the barn. Yea Landry, you saved the weekend.

Sleepover at Hayden's

With an early meeting in downtown Dallas on Thursday, Hayden invited me to spend the night Wednesday. She was her normal cheerful, engaging self. So much so I need to apologize to Mama Jill. I know from recent experience that when visitors are coming it involves days of preparation. There is the hired help to wash the windows and clean the house, the construction of new planting beds and fresh cut flowers for all the rooms. Hayden stole my attention and I didn’t even notice. Sorry.

She went to bed once 8:30 rolled around … and the single malt scotch and the cards came out. Things were looking real bad. Tylir won the 1st two games in a first to win four match and he was already starting to do his jig (not unlike the Elaine Benes dance if you’re a Seinfeld fan). Jill and I each managed to win a couple but then Tylir netted his third … and the jig again … and he gets a bit cocky. Too soon and too bad sucker, I won the next two games, did my own geriatric jig and went to bed for a very peaceful night’s sleep. … A nice time on the road.

Happy Birthday Judge Judy

One January 8th many, many years ago, it wasn't until nearly the end of the day that I realized it was Shirley's birthday. She accused me of forgetting this very important day. I explained that I would never forget her birthday, but what I forgot was that it was January 8th. I was reminded and punished for my forgetfulness for years to come.

Today's events had me looking back on it fondly. Shirley was on her every Wednesday 9:00 - 10:00 call with Mary, when interrupted by a call from Mary's daughter Tarah. Tarah said she knew it was the Shirley call day but that she thought it wasn't until 10:00. Later, the call again is interrupted by another incoming, this time from Mary's daughter Lindsey. Lindsey said she knew it was the Shirley call day but that she thought it was at 8:00. The call resumed when Shirley gets a call from Debbie. Debbie knew that the Mary call was always Wednesday at 9:00 ... but she didn't know that today was Wednesday. Somehow, I do feel finally vindicated.

NASA and Science

NASA has been in the news this week with their record setting repair/rejuvenation of the Hubble telescope. Compared to brain surgery, our astronauts broke all the space walking records in fitting the aging Hubble with a bunch of new equipment. (That's my aerospace engineering degree using some tech-speak.) NASA loves manned missions because of the publicity. It is great theater and they pine for the opportunity to go back to the moon and then on to Mars.

The truth be known, far more science is achieved for a small fraction of the cost with the unmanned space missions like the Mars rover, Hubble and spy satellites. I know you're thinking that he just bragged about the "manned" repair of the Hubble. Yes, once again great theater but we could have put a new and improved telescope into space for a fraction of the cost. In fact, the Europeans launched two new telescopes this week from a single Ariane rocket. Herschel with its 3.5 meter mirror will study the formation of the galaxies in the early universe. Plank will focus on the darkest, coldest and oldest parts of the universe to study dark matter. .. and they are new, using the latest technology.

Now you are thinking "but what about space junk if we just let the old Hubble die?" True Grasshopper but once again a small fraction of the junk we will have once we abandon the international space station as planned in the next few years. Manned space exploration is all about marketing and keeping the budgets a lot higher than they need to be while achieving a fraction of the real science possible with the unmanned.

Health Care and Capitalism

The profit motive is not consistent with quality health care. It is far less profitable to develop a cure for a disease than it is develop a daily pill that relieves the symptoms that you need to take for the rest of your life. It rewards drug companies to spend hundreds on millions of dollars to develop and advertise pain relievers that cost over 100 times more than the safer, more effective aspirin and ibuprofen.

The Dallas Morning News published a report in today's paper comparing the French public health care system to ours. Here are the stats:

Life Expectancy: US 78 years vs. French 80.9 years
Infant Mortality per 1,000 births: US 6.7 vs. French 3.6
Health spending per person: US $6,714 vs. French $3,450

We have more obesity, the French more smokers. I'd say a wash.

Conclusion: The Dallas Morning News must be a left wing rag to publish this kind of stuff.

Texas Justice (continued)

When people are given power, especially in government, it almost always leads to abuse. Usually it is used against political enemies (or the press) at the highest levels of government. It hits at a much lower level on Maslow's hierarchy of needs for small Texas towns.

Law enforcement officials have the right to confiscate valuable assets if they have reason to believe that they were obtained through the illegal sale of drugs. They get to keep a share of the assets taken. Small Texas towns use the law to profile individuals (that means African-Americans) driving down the highway. They then confiscate all valuables from the vehicle/occupants. They threaten the occupants with arrest, then get them to sign a waiver that it was okay to take their stuff so they can go on their way. No charges made, no prosecution planned, just take the money and run. It helps them keep the local yahoos employed. One of our finest small Texas towns used the money to send the sheriff and his entire staff to Hawaii. Oh, and they included the judge that approved the expenditure. It is often a blurry line between good and evil.

Trinity River Project

The Trinity River Project will give Dallas some personality. Dallas does have a nice skyline, a great developing arts district and good food ... but nothing that makes you go WOW. WOW cities to me are San Francisco, Vegas and New Orleans. I think the lakes, wetlands and parks that will border Dallas on the west and the south will add the WOW effect, making Dallas a high demand destination. Living and working downtown will become much more attractive. The only probable negative will be the toll road bordering the east side of the river. I think we would have been better off with further Dart expansion. Dart fits the evolving character of Dallas much better than another toll road, but that is water over the dam and down the river, the Trinity that is. Voters approved the project about 10 years ago and I don't think it is shovel ready yet. I only hope I live to see it completed.

Recovering blogger

Yes, it has been over a week since my last blog but I have been extraordinarily busy. I had to watch Audrey for a week (Shirley says it was four hours and that she did most of it … but I remember watering everything in the yard by hand, sharpening every crayon in the house, several meals plus feeding the fish, working on the computer while the chair spun in circles, watching cartoons from every TV, eating some more plus thinking about eating the air freshener stones that look like candy, playing with the new hippo and much, much more. It had to be at least days). I watched Landry for a day (Shirley says it was an hour ...but we did a crossword, ate chips and dip, played basketball, worked on the Norma Memorial yet to see a butterfly planting bed, got the lawn mower from the barn, ++). It had to be at least a day.

Also there has been a lot of traveling. We made it home from a nice visit at Berkeley with Mike. A nice visit with Mike consists of good meals between doing his laundry, cleaning his apartment and searching for a dumpster to throw out several months worth of trash. I’m on a plane right now returning from a speaking gig in Miami. It went well considering my topic was technology innovation and I was the least technical person in the room. It was a conference of the global partners for a $15 billion French company, Thales. They seemed really pleased but I won’t hold my breath for a Paris invite. And the good news is … I’m back.