Monthly Archives: December 2020
Hot Chowder and Cold Weather . . .
Jan and I decided that today was going to be a fun day, so about 12:30 we headed down toward Galveston. But our first stop was right down FM 1764 at the New England Lobster & Chowder food truck. Yes, a food truck.
With the colder weather coming in, Jan was jonsing for some good New England Clam Chowder, and when we DuckDuckGo’d it, the New England Lobster and Chowder food truck showed up on every list.
So we thought we’d check it on our way down to Galveston and try a bowl. And all the lists were right!
We each got a bowl of the Clam Chowder to eat there before heading on down to the Island.
And it was as good as anything we had in New England back in 2009, or in Florida back in 2018. Turns out that a lot of New Englanders have moved down to Florida, so the chowder there is as good as what we had in NE.
Then it was on down to the Island and our real lunch destination, Tortuga’s Mexican Kitchen on the Seawall. Owned by the same company, Tortuga’s is an upscale version of Monterey’s, like we’ve eaten at for years.
As usual we started off with bowls of their Chicken Tortilla Soup, just as good as Monterey’s up in Alvin.
Then so we’d have leftovers for tomorrow, we got the Super Sampler Platter,
with a little bit of everything.
And after a great lunch, we parked along the Seawall for a while, watching the waves and the birds overhead.
Then after about an hour, we headed back toward home, though with a couple of stops along the way.
And ironically, our first stop was once again at the New England Lobster & Chowder food truck. Jan wanted to get a couple of more bowls of Clam Chowder for tomorrow night’s supper.
Then it was on over to Cowboy Coffee for a couple of large Hot Chocolates, made with Ghirardelli chocolate, cream, vanilla, and homemade whipped cream. Jan says it’s ‘Decadent’.
All in all, a really great ‘fun’ day.
And as you will find out a little further down in the old blogs, 42 years ago today Jan, Chris, Brandi, and I arrived in Houston, where the next day I started work at Johnson Space Center on the Space Shuttle.
Nice memories.
Thought For The Day:
“We don’t seem to be able to stop crime, so why not legalize it and put a heavy tax on it. We have taxed other industries out of business; it might work here.” – Will Rogers, March 20, 1931
December 17, 2011
Chip off the Old Block . . .
First off, more Landon pics.
This is his daycare photo,
and this is Brandi and Lowell’s Christmas Card this year.
About 11:15 Jan and I headed into downtown Houston, actually the Houston Heights area. Jan wanted to visit Penzey’s Spices and we wanted to have lunch at a place our son-in-law had recommend, Carter & Cooley Deli.
Right down the street from Penzey’s, it was a great recommendation. Jan had the Turkey Rueben, and I had a Cuban, with a cup of chili. Very good. I think we’ve found our new favorite deli.
Back at Penzey’s, Jan found the bottle of pure vanilla extract to replace the one that fell out of the pantry and broke on a recent travel day before we got back to Houston. She also wanted to pick up some cocoa powder for Christmas cookie baking.
Heading back to the Clear Lake area we stopped off at Home Depot, before ending up at Brandi and Lowell’s. We (and by we, I mean Jan) were going to babysit Landon while Brandi and Lowell take Lowell’s sister Sherry out for her birthday dinner.
Happy Birthday, Sherry!
While they were out, we took Landon to Barcenas for dinner. And this is where we found out that Landon really takes after his PaPa (me).
It takes out he really likes spicy salsa. We were giving Landon plain chips while we were waiting for our food, and Landon, watching us dip our chips in the salsa, starting trying to reach the salsa with his chip.
So I dipped his chip in a little salsa and handed it back to him. He put it in his mouth and his eyes lit up. He started waving the chip for more. A little later I dipped a couple of the fries that came with his chicken tenders into the salsa instead of ketchup, and he wanted more.
I didn’t give him a lot because I wasn’t sure how his tummy would handle it. Might make for some interesting diapers!
“Holy smoke. There’s a fire over there!” (Sizzling Fajitas)
When we all got back home we waited outside for the fire truck Santa to come by. Every year the Forest Bend Volunteer Fire Department escorts Santa around the subdivision for the kids. The fire trucks are decorated with Christmas lights and sounding their horns and sirens, and are a big hit with the kids. And a big hit with Landon, too. He was fascinated with all the lights and noise.
We had a great time, but after a long day, it was good to finally get home.
Thought for the Day:
The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!
December 17, 2012
A Great View . . .
After our morning walk, Jan and I sat out by the rig and just enjoyed the view, and the wildlife.
We had a Great White Egret,
a feeder full of Monk Parakeets,
and a hungry pelican looking for breakfast.
While we were walking around the park, a lady stopped and introduced herself as Lillis Palmer. She said our mutual friend Chris Yust had told her we were here and described our rig well enough that she was able to track us down.
Although she had just finished her walk she ended up joining us for the rest of ours. Then we got to meet her husband Dick as he was leaving the park on some errands. We ended up having a good talk about our RV lives and mutual friends. A very nice lady.
About 1:30 I headed out on some errands myself. My first stop was the new CVS where last night I had uploaded the Christmas cards to be printed, since the first one had printer problems. When I mentioned it, they gave me a 25% discount on the cards. Nice!
Then it was on to Fry’s Electronics to check out some new computers for a client. The first thing I noticed is that it’s getting harder to find anything with Windows 7 on it. But I did find a couple of possibilities that I’ll run by my client.
Then after a quick stop at the bank, I headed over the house to check the mail, and then it was back to the rig.
Finally it was off to McDonald’s for dinner, since I was craving a McRib, before they go away again.
Thought for the Day:
If pigs could fly I bet their wings would be really tasty.
December 17, 2013
Eats, Drinks, and Scenic Views . . .
About 1pm Jan and I headed out for our 2nd movie day. This time we were going to see Thor: The Dark World. Luckily I have a beautiful wife who likes movies like this just about as much as I do. I mean,two sci-fi movies in two days.
We decided to see the 3D version since, 1) the time worked better for us, and 2) the last few 3D movies we’ve seen have been very well done. Something is not jumping out of the screen every 10 seconds like in the past and you don’t spend the entire time dodging flaming arrows and spears.
Before the movie started, we had the usual trailers, including a couple that looked really good. The first one, an extra long one, was for the next Captain America film coming out this summer. Really looks good.
The second was a completely different genre. Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, and Bill Murray, it tells the true story (well, as ‘true’ as any movie tells a true story. Check out “The Butler”) of a group of art experts during WWII who were sent to the front lines to rescue artwork stolen by the Nazis. Looks really good and is now on our “Must See” list.
After a really enjoyable movie, we headed across the parking lot for a first visit to Twin Peaks, a regional restaurant chain that’s growing fast.
Their motto is “Eats, Drinks, and Scenic Views”.
Here’s the Eats, a really great Poblano Chipotle Chicken Sandwich on a Brioche bun.
And the Drinks, really good Iced Tea.
And here’s one of the ‘Scenic Views”. This is our waitress, Lauren. And there’s brains behind the beauty. She’s in college studying to be an engineer.
And now you know why the place is called “Twin Peaks”.
I mean, what’d you think they were going to call it, ‘Hooters’?
That would just be tacky.
As far as Lauren working here and studying to be an engineer, we found something like this before when I was Webmaster for the School of Business at a local University. One night we went to Hooters and ran into two students working there that I knew. One of them was finishing up her Masters in Business and the other one was getting ready to take her CPA exam. So, not all of them are ‘Dumb Blondes”.
Twin Peaks, along with Hooters, Bone Daddy’s, and Bombshells, is one of a growing number of “Breastaurants”, as they’re known in the industry. We both really like Hooters, but weren’t really impressed with the food at Bone Daddy’s when we ate there earlier this year, but Twin Peaks is really good. Jan said her “Chicken Ranch Sandwich” is possibly the best chicken sandwich she’s ever eaten. We’ll definitely go back.
On the way home we were greeted by a beautiful full moon. Just gorgeous.
And wrapping up the blog, here’s the latest fashion accessory for the working man.
Thought for the Day:
“If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried…”
December 17, 2017
Foggy Hockey . . .
Jan and I were out the door about 12:15 this afternoon heading up to the Sugarland Ice Rink to watch Landon’s last hockey for this season.
‘Watch’ however is not really the operative word here since it was so foggy in the rink that it was hard to make out anyone.
I guess due to the recent heavy rains the humidity in the rink area was sky-high making fog over the ice, and further obscuring the Plexiglas windows surrounding the rink.
It also didn’t help things that the rink was in the low 50’s instead of the usual low 60’s. cold enough that you could see your breath. Plus there were some comments make about how cold the toilet seats were. Brrrrr!
But our next stop made up for everything, our usual after-hockey dinner at Floyd’s Cajun Seafood right down the road.
And a meal of Chicken Fried Chicken, Crab Bisque, Shrimp Gumbo, Boudin, and Fried Okra warmed us right up. We spent most of the time talking over our upcoming Christmas Eve and Christmas Day plans.
Looks like Brandi and Lowell will be hosting a total of about 15 people this holiday, including a number from out of town.
In addition it looks like we’re on for our long-time family tradition of having Christmas Eve dinner at King Food. In the last 25 years or so we’ve only missed it a couple of times. Our most memorable time was the Christmas Eve in 2004 when it started snowing while we were having dinner. By the time we headed home there was a couple of inches on the ground with parts of Brazoria County getting almost 13 inches of the white stuff.
Jan and I plan to have lunch there on Tuesday and let the owner know how many we’ll have coming.
The Headline of the Day:: Grieving daughter to sprinkle mother’s ashes — on Christmas dinner!
Thought for the Day:
I’d Kill For a Nobel Peace Prize!
December 17, 2018
40 Years Ago Today . . .
Forty years ago today, December 17, 2018, Jan, myself, our 10 year old son Chris, and our 5 year old daughter Brandi arrived in Houston, TX for the next big adventure in our lives.
For the previous two years I was the Chief Electronics Engineer over Alabama and Georgia for Storer Cable TV in Montgomery, AL, at the time one of the largest cable TV companies in the country. Later, in the mid 90’s, it was sold off and split up between Comcast and TCI.
Although I occasionally helped troubleshot problems out in the field, the ‘Electronics’ part of my title meant that I maintained all of the headend electronics equipment, but especially the satellite system.
At that time there was only one satellite downlinking TV channels for cable systems. RCA Satcom 1 only had 12 channels to start with, though it later went to dual polarization, with 24 channels.
Among the original 12 were HBO, TBS, WGN, MSG (Madison Square Gardens), ETWN (Eternal Word), PTL (Praise The Lord), and a few others that I’ve long forgotten. It was only after the second 12 channels were added that the whole satellite thing really took off.
At that time you didn’t receive satellite channels on some dinky little 18” DirecTV dish. No, it required a 10 meter (33 feet) antenna like one of these.
And at the time the entire installation was over $100,000.
In addition to the satellite receiver installation, there was also a microwave system that linked the satellite installation up in Prattville about 15 miles to the northwest, with the offices in Montgomery. It was enough to keep me entertained. But I always had another dream.
My father worked for Boeing on the Apollo program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, and Jan’s father worked for Rocketdyne at Cape Kennedy. So when I was offered a job working on the Space Shuttle Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston, I jumped on it.
Although I accepted the job in October, I told them I didn’t want to start until the Christmas vacation time frame to make it easier for Chris and Brandi to switch schools.
One thing nice about the move was that they moved us. So while the movers were packing us up on Thursday and Friday, I was wrapping up things at Storer, with Friday the 15th of December being my last day. And later that afternoon we were on our way to Houston, with Jan and I driving our two cars, and my parents in theirs.
After spending the night along the way we finally got into Houston very early on Sunday morning, the 17th. It took a lot longer than it does now because large parts of I-10 were still under construction. But the reason for all the rush was the fact that I was supposed to start work at NASA the next day, the 18th.
Luckily for us, my job with the DOD, moving around to different airbases in the late 60’s – early 70’s, gave us a lot of experience coming into a town and quickly finding a place to rent. And by later that afternoon Jan and my mother had found us a house in the old part of Heritage Park.
While we could have stayed in the hotel a couple of more days and taken our time, we had another reason to rush. The moving van with all our furniture was due the next day, and if they couldn’t deliver it as scheduled, then it would have to go into storage. And WE would have to pay the unloading, storage, and reloading fees.
So that’s how we all became Texans. As they say, “We weren’t born here, but we got here quick as we could.”
Tomorrow afternoon is my appointment with the ‘cornea guy’ to check out the slight yellowing/thickening of the cornea in my left eye, which is what the Sam’s Club optometrist mistook as a cataract.
So we’ll see what he comes up with.
Thought for the Day:
Nothing is sometimes the right thing to do, and always a wise thing to say.
So Sad To Hear . . .
I heard from my cousin’s wife up in Athens, AL this morning that my Aunt Janice is dying of terminal cancer and only has a few days to live. She’s been in hospice for a few weeks, and three of her children have come from out of state to help take care of her.
I have a really warm place in my heart for my Aunt Jan, not just because she was family, but also because she was instrumental in my meeting my Jan 53 years ago, in 1967.
At the beginning of the summer my mother was talking to her and mentioned that I was thinking about heading down to the Alabama Gulf Coast or maybe Florida to work for the summer. So Aunt Janice invited me to come down and stay with them as long as I wanted.
At that time she and my uncle Ed lived in Sanford, FL, where Ed had a large veterinary practice and a big house with plenty of room. So around the first part of June I headed down that way, but stopping off in Gulf Shores, AL to catch up with some old friends along the way.
Sanford is about 30 miles from Orlando, so once I got settled in, I started checking out the want ads in the area, but nothing popped out at first. Then around the 1st of July I came across an ad in the Florida Today paper for a job at an amusement park over in Titusville, about 35 miles away.
It was called Florida Wonderland and they were looking for someone to do take care of the animals at their Marine Life facility, and also do the animal act performances there. So after meeting with them and getting the job, I started on July 5th.
Later that day I walked across US A1A to get a couple of buckets of ice. We didn’t have an ice machine, so to keep the fish iced down that we fed the animals, I needed to bring it back from there.
So that afternoon when I walked into the Miss Kitty’s Pleasure Palace & Saloon, part of Western town, to pick up the ice,
the first thing that caught my eye was a tall, redheaded saloon girl. And I guess you could say I was smitten.
It took me two weeks of nagging to get her to go out with me, so I guess today I’d be a stalker, but back then I guess I was just persistent.
And that’s how it all started.
Thought For The Day:
How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?
December 16, 2010
BAHEP and SATOP . . .
We awoke this morning to much better weather than we’ve had the last couple of day. Both warmer and less windy.
About 11:30 Jan and I did a 1 mile walk, though with less wind and higher temps, it was actually kind of hot. But it looks like that will change again in the next couple of days.
Getting back to the rig Jan fed the birds. At least today the feeder wasn’t blowing sideways.
I did get this photo of a pelican out in front of the rig. Unfortunately he didn’t come close enough for Jan to feed him.
A little before 6pm we headed up to Pasadena to have dinner with our good friend Barbara Cutsinger. Barbara is a great cook and we always look forward to eating with her.
We’ve known Barbara for about 5 years since I did IT support for BAHEP (Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership) where she works.
BAHEP is a membership group that works to stimulate regional economic development and employment. And through their SATOP (Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program) group they also connect small business owners who need technical advice with a NASA scientist or engineer.
One of the things that Barbara does there is compile and publish the Business Development Update, a document that details commercial and retail development in the area, along with office and warehouse space available.
When we’re on the road we always enjoy reading the latest issue since it lets us keep up with what’s going on back here.
We got back home about 10:30 and Jan went right to bed, since we’ve got to get an early start tomorrow. We’re Landon sitting after Brandi takes him in for his 4 month checkup.
More tomorrow…
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Thought for the Day:
“We treat terrorists with kid gloves, and citizens with rubber gloves.”
December 16, 2012
It’s Landon Time . . .
We woke up this morning to pouring rain so it was time for hot coffee and no morning walk. In other words, a nice, quiet, overcast day.
But finally, a little before 2, Jan and I headed up to Friendswood to Landon-sit this afternoon. But we left early enough to make a couple of stops.
The first was at a CVS pharmacy to pick up the Christmas cards that I had uploaded last night. But as it turns out they were having printer problems and our cards weren’t ready yet. We’ll check back on our way home.
Our next stop was King Food for our Chicken in Hot Garlic Sauce and Jalapenos, XXXXX Spicy. Seems we can’t go for more than a week without our King Food fix. And lucky us, we’ll be eating there this Thursday night with friends, and then again next Monday night, Christmas Eve, for our traditional family dinner together.
About 3:30 we headed over to Brandi and Lowell’s to Landon-sit for the afternoon. It’s Landon’s Aunt Sherry’s birthday, and Lowell and Brandi are taking her to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory right down the road at Baybrook Mall.
On a side note, on last week’s Big Bang Theory, the one about Santa Claus, Sheldon mentions his mother taking him to the Baybrook Mall in Galveston when he was 5. Baybrook Mall is not in Galveston. It’s actually on the very southern edge of Houston. Galveston County starts down the road a couple of miles, but Galveston itself is about 25 miles south of here. Just keeping the facts straight.
Landon likes to play Peek A Boo when he sees the camera pointed at him, so it can be a real challenge to get a picture sometimes.
This went on for about 30 minutes until Kitty decided to curl up on the sofa and bring the game to a halt.
Brandi, Lowell, and Sherry got back about 6:30 so Jan and I headed back to the rig. We did make a quick stop at Kroger’s for a few things, and another try for our Christmas cards at CVS, again with no luck. I told them to cancel the order and I will submit them to another CVS location tonight.
On a final note, I saw this sign the other day and I’m not quite sure what to make of it.
What exactly is “Psychic Karate”?
Mind over Matter, The Power of Positive Thinking, or maybe “Use the Force, Luke” from Star Wars.
Almost makes me want to call the number and find out.
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Thought for the Day:
Since 1951, when records started being kept, there has never been a mass murder at a place where guns were allowed.
December 16, 2014
Road Trip Wrap Up . . .
Finishing up yesterday’s road trip.
Before we left the Gone With The Wind exhibit, I discovered a rare treat in a side alcove, an original Gutenberg Bible.
Printed in 1454 or 1455, this two volume set is one of only 48 still-existing sets, and one of only 5 sets in the United States.
I was interested to learn that the red highlights were actually put in by hand, by a person called a ‘rubricator’. Gutenberg had originally tried to print each page twice, once for the red ink parts,and then for the black text. But he was never really able to perfect it, probably because of the difficulty of keeping the pages aligned.
So instead, he printed the pages in black, leaving empty areas to be filled in by hand by the ‘rubricator’, usually a priest or a monk especially hired for the task,
It was really amazing to look at these volumes on the other side of the glass case and know they were printed more than 550 years ago and handled by Johannes Gutenberg himself.
We left the GTTW exhibit and drove about 15 minutes to have lunch at Trudy’s Texas Star.
We used to eat here every time we came up to Austin to visit our daughter Brandi when she was in college here, and always really enjoyed it.
But it’s been a long time since we’ve been back, so we wanted to try it again while we’re in town. And we weren’t disappointed.
I had the Migas and Beef Fajitas
and Jan had the Beef Chile Rellenos
Jan said these were the best rellenos she’s ever eaten, beating out the previous #1, Esther’s in Placentia, CA who are renowned in California for their rellenos.
My Migas were delicious, but the Beef Fajitas were fantastic, probably the best I ever had. It seemed like that after they were cooked normally, they were coated in a rub of some sort and then put on the grill for a short time. This gave them a slight charred crust on them, making them really great.
Also really good were the Borracho Beans, cooked with bacon and onions. as well as the perfectly seasoned rice. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to go back soon.
Heading toward home after our great meal, we made a stop by a local Christmas Store so Jan could look for some Christmas lights she wanted and then it was back on the road home. After making a quick pitstop at Buc-ee’s, we got back to the rig a little after 6pm, another fun, but busy day.
Getting home I found a spray bottle of De-Solv-It Contractor’s Solvent sitting on the rig step.
I figured it was either left by Christmas Elves, or maybe my friend Tom Christian who thought it might remove the drill mud from the roof of our rig. And according to the label, it should remove just about anything. In fact the label warns you to test the surface you’re using it on to be sure it doesn’t dissolve it too. According to the website, it cleans stained concrete, removes silicone, caulk, putty nails, floor adhesive, water seal, wet paint (won’t harm dry paint), oil, roofing tar, wax, diesel soot, pine sap and resin, and more from virtually any surface! And apparently, according to one commenter, it will even take the skunk smell off of dogs. Who knew?
So later in the afternoon, I got the ladder out and gave it a try on the top of the front cap. But unfortunately it didn’t really touch it. I could see a slight darkening on the towel I was using, but I couldn’t see any change in the roof surface. But later I did try it on the diesel soot on the rig’s chrome exhaust pipe and it cleaned it right up.
So it’s back to the drawing board on the drill mud.
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Thought for the Day:
Merry Christmas from the Enterprise!
December 16, 2016
Flash and Cash . . .
I was hoping to get another text from Todd about a gate this weekend, but no luck so far. But I still could, so here’s hoping.
Of course, I’m not sure a gate in 30° weather would be much fun.
About 1pm Jan and I headed out for lunch and Wal-Mart. Our lunch stop was our second visit to Flashburger. Although it has the look of a franchise location, according to Google, it’s the only one.
As before, I had the El Jefe burger, with Two Patties, Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, a Fried Egg, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions Pickles, Chipotle Mayo, and Flash Sauce.
Which piled all together looks like this.
This time we got their Regular Fries which were really good. There are two different ways to fix French Fries, low heat and high heat.
High heat (375° – 400°) gets the dry, crispy McDonald’s type fries, while a lower heat (325° or so) gets you the softer, moist, textured fries with a lot of flavor. It’s not a matter of how long they’re cooked. In fact, if you cooked them longer at the low heat, they will just get tough and chewy, and not crispy.
Jan got a single patty burger, with Cheddar Cheese, Sautéed Mushrooms, Sautéed Onions, Tomato, Mustard, and Ketchup. Hers looked like this.
Both our burgers were delicious, as well as the fries. There will be a third visit for sure.
Before we left I told Jan that I was going to the restroom to wash my ‘good’ greasy fingers. When she looked questioningly, I said, “You know, good, from greasy hamburgers and fries, and not ‘spent the afternoon replacing the wheel bearings on the car’ greasy.
As we were leaving we told the cashier that the only thing that would make the meal better would have been onion rings. She said that they were working on onion rings, wings, chicken tenders, and fried green beans. Looking forward to it.
Then it was on to the Wal-Mart right up the hill, and that’s where things went off the rails.
Our first stop was at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for Jan, and when I reached into my back pocket for my wallet, my hand all the way out the bottom of the pocket. The bottom was torn out and my wallet was gone.
I backtracked out to the truck while Jan made a quick stop at the Customer Service Desk to see if it had been turned in. Then we drove back to Flashburger and when I walked in, the cashier was holding up my wallet.
Whew!
I figured it would be rude to check things until I was outside, but was a little disappointed to see that, although my cards were all there, my cash was gone, somewhere between $20 and $40. Not a big deal, but really?
The only thing I can figure is that my pocket got hung up and tore on the booth bench seat slats, and then fell out when I went to the restroom to wash my hands. I’m assuming that that whoever turned it in took the cash.
Well, maybe a kid got a better Christmas.
Thought for the Day:
I don’t like hunches. Too many times they’re right.
