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Russ Stovall

Wayne:

Great turn out for the parade and to the best of my knowledge they were civilized.  No burning of cars or other destruction of property.  

Wayne Gary

Russ,

I just saw on CH8 where City of Arlington  had to pick up a large amount of trash.  The city rep said they learned they needed to have more trash cans with the city name.  Aparently most of the cans were un marked and next time they need a lot more porta potties. Lessons learned for World Cup

David Cordell

Janalu,

I have thought about the last paragraph of your last post. I have long felt guilty about not showing enough appreciation to my parents and not being attentive to my parents as they aged. Martha and I never lived near my parents, and my sister was the one who had close contact with them in those years. 

In recent years I have spoken aloud to my deceased parents, and even my grandparents and other ancestors I never knew, to express my gratitude, in the knowledge that if any of them hadn't existed, I would exist! So many endured great hardships in their lives, but my path has been easy by comparison.

It really does make me feel better to talk with/to them, but I still wish I had been more demonstrative to my parents.

Bob Davidson

Janalu and David:  Yes!!  So true.

Jim Bedwell

Bet this one sells out! HUH?

Sandyland Presents: Stand with Texas starring Sandra Bernhard Tickets, Sunday, December 3 2023 | Prekindle 

Kurt Fischer

The discussion of how close we were to our parents strikes a note with me too.

My wife's parents lived in Wisconsin and we were only able to see them every few years when our children were young and then followed the same pattern after they were grown.  We've always felt like we stole something from their lives since they were not able to watch the grandchildren grow up.

My parents lived in Dallas and we had a bit of an odd relationship.  When our first was born, my wife felt very intimidated by my mother.   A common problem.  We moved away to Lufkin, Tulsa and Omaha, only to return when our kids were in the 3rd and 1st grades.  By then my parents had an arms length relationship with us.  We would go out to eat with them every month or two, but I felt they too seemed to miss the opportunity to interact with our kids as they were growing up.  When my son was born, my mother tried hard to reconnect, but by then her health had reduced her to limited mobility. 

After my mother passed away, I made it a rule to talk with my father every two or three days and felt like I made up for some of our misses.  He seemed to genuinely enjoy hearing about our family.

We have been blessed by having both our our daughters living in Plano.  The teacher sees us twice a day when she brings her dog over while she is at work.  The other daughter with two grandchildren talks with my wife every day.  My wife has made it a priority to be involved in their school and she watches over them two days a week during the summer.  We go to all event and games, so we see them all the time.  My son lives in New Orleans, but I talk with him on a weekly basis and he calls for my wife to talk every few weeks.

Regretfully, we wish we could have had the same relationship with our parents, but do feel blessed with having our children close to us.

Jim Bedwell

Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts, July 4, 1920

Charging an electric car, Seattle, 1973:

O'Leary's Corollary to Murphy's Law: "Murphy was an optimist":

Electric scooter, 1916 (so 53 years before our graduation in 1969, now 54+ years ago):

Kids will be kids...............

Wayne Gary

After my dad retired and we got involved in a Scout troop in Pleasant Grove I got to spend a lot of time with him camping, fishing, shooting and hunting.  When camping anf hunying I heard a lot about his time in WW II in the Navy CBs (construction batallion) on Hawaii and Guam.  He made the invasion of Guam.  I got to have fun with him which my brothers and sister did not get to do. On campouts the scouts liked to heae about his time in WW II.  While sitting around the camofire they would ask questions.to most of them Dad was the only person that was in WW II.

Wayne Gary

Jim,

Do you know when and where the last picture of the kids was taken.  My wife and I think it was in thr 1920s in either England or France.

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

David, Bob and Kurt,

I'll bet my bottom dollar that your loved ones realized the good and loving hearts that each of you possess, so I feel you need not worry about what you may not have said aloud to them.

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

Jim,

Those were cool pics!

I wonder if the kid controlling the guillotine actually fulfilled his task?  And I wonder what the kid positioned at the bottom of the contraption DID to deserve his friends' wrath?   I'm thinking that the kid about to get whacked was able to deliver a sincere 'mea culpa' in the nick of time, don't you?

Jim Bedwell

Wayne/Lady Lanajuju,

The kids' having their "harmless" fun were from 1933 and I'm thinking also that that is England. Did you notice on the left, the future transgender boys' wearing the dresses? The future real men are on the right obviously.

The tire man's pic was from 1966.

Lady Lanajuju,

Oh, by the way, nice touch "in the nick of time" - I missed that the first time.

Jim Bedwell

Wayne Gary

David,

I got your e-mail about the reunion volinters.  This is for you.

David Cordell

Did you know?

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and his then-new wife took in a 16-year-old black boy, who is now 40.

https://www.businessinsider.com/speaker-johnsons-adopted-black-son-prison-without-him-2023-11

Jim Bedwell

Jim Bedwell

This group, Southern Culture on the Skids, is appearing TONIGHT in Knoxville and I get to see them!!! YEE HAW! This is one of my favorites of theirs - "White Trash (Don't Call Me That)" - and don't you, like I, just LOVE the usually-standing drummer's wife-beater t-shirt?:

Also I was getting my car fixed last year here and a teenage fellow customer had a t-shirt on that said "Not Today, Satan". I told him I really liked his t-shirt, which engendered a big smile from him. Then a few weeks ago I saw at a music show an adult with a t-shirt that said, "Maybe Today, Satan". Oh, well........................

Anyway the show tonight doesn't start until 10:00 (9 Dallas time). So if anybody feels the totally understandable desire not to miss this show, I can likely pick you up at the airport before it starts!!

Finally, what do you call a guitarist with no wife or girlfriend? Homeless.

David Cordell

To: Texas homeowners --

I received my bill from the Collin County Tax Assessor yesterday. My property tax went down by about $2,400. I checked with that office and they confirmed the number. If I understood correctly, the legislature put some sort of cap on the local school districts' ability to tax, and made up the difference at the state level. Or something like that. If you have a mortgage, you might want to talk with your mortgage company about your escrow account.

Lowell Tuttle

i spoke with my CPA yesterday.   Then, i went to harris county appraisal district.   no bill for this year yet.

But, my house is appraised at only 280,000 and my taxes for CYFair ISd, Harris County, and my Champions MUD district were only 2400 last year all together...Exemptions knocked it down to a base of 262,000.

Harris County tax is 338.000.

CFISD tax is probably 1400.00

Champions MUD tax is 600.00 and change...

This is updated from prior erros i made...

We actually did not have a MUD tax in this utility district from 1993 until about 2019 or 2020.   All the infrastructure bonds had been paid off and they were 'living' off the water bill paid by us each month.   But, after about 45 years or so, the patching up of broken pipes, pumps, tanks, all began to come apart.   So, gradually they have to re build all the machinery and procedures to keep our water safe.

it's not like your municipalities up there in DFW.   Each of you guys are in a town.........and each town has their own utility service, so you pay city taxes to take care of your water.  

We are not in a city.   We are in Harris County, but an unincorporated area, so there are neighborhood municipal utility districts, run by a neighborhood board...our water bill includes water usage for the MUD, sewer and garbage for the neighborhood, as well as North Harris County Regional Water Authority, who takes a big chunk each month for getting surface water to all the unincorporated areas (MUD's)

So, we have now got a MUD tax (which we voted in) and a water bill (which includes water, sewer, and garbage.   Total water/sewer/garbage bill and MUD for our 300,000 house is roughly 2500 a year.

CYFAIR ISD (the third biggest school district in Texas) has about a 1400.00 tax on us.

Harris County  tax...we are exempt due to Hmestead and O65 except for Lone Star College, Fire, and EMS which runs 338.00.

Lowell

Jim Bedwell

Remember that photo of the moose cow & the 2 calves?

The former co-worker of mine returned home to Anchorage and found that a tree had fallen in the yard.

Winter in Anchorage is October 15 until April 15 every year. If you live your entire life in Anchorage, then half your life is winter.

Marty Fulton

Jim - thank you for reminding me why I would never live north of the USA - Canada border.....

Wayne Gary

From Texas State Historical Assn

On this day in 1918, World War I came to an end. The armistice found the two most prominent Texas units on active service in France. The Ninetieth Division was fighting its way through the Meuse-Argonne, while the Thirty-Sixth Division was resting behind the lines after suffering heavy casualties in the same offensive. A total of 198,000 Texans saw service in the armed forces during the course of the war. Five thousand one hundred and seventy-one Texans, including one nurse, died in the armed services; 4,748 of the dead served in the army. More than a third of the total deaths occurred inside the United States, many of them as a result of the influenza epidemic of 1918. Four Texans were awarded the Medal of Honor. In a trend that would become even more marked during World War II, military camps were established in Texas to train men for service and the state was the main location for pilot training for military aviation

Jim Bedwell

Until today, I had no idea of the composition of this song's group, the Newbeats with their (I would have guessed late 1950's or very early 1960's) 1964 hit, "Bread and Butter". We all remember that song. At the end the leader seemed like the male Janis Joplin to me. I know Janis had a normal singing voice that was good, but then she had that version from her albums/shows that blew away the surprised crowd at Monterey Pop - maybe Janis saw this Bandstand show and started imitating the lead singer, and VOILA! She discovered her alternative, uniquely brassy & bluesy voice from this falsetto. Anyway, I had always thought that the singer of this song was a black female. And I would have loved seeing Janis & this guy's singing together in a duo.

Lowell Tuttle

$76,000,000 buyout for Jimbo Fisher...

I wonder what A&M alums will be paying their next head coach, and for how long?

I think a system needs to be set up...where there is a general manager for the football teams who is in charge of recruiting and entertaining and getting player pay contracts enhanced.    Then, a team/field head coach manager who is just an expert on plays, designs, game management, and practice/teaching (and keeping/getting assistants on board.)

Somehow this personality/cult pay them a lot to be head coach thing doesn't really work out too well.

You would be able to keep the GM person and paint them as the University's face for players to come in, and be able to hire and fire coaches without losing players just because their head coach buy in choices changed from a poor record.

I am guessing there will be a lot of players change allegiance from A & M...just like they would with any school who loses a large personality head coach.   Too much power there. 

Same thing at Texas.  15 to 20 million a year for these guys who just can't manage to beat teams like Georgia, or Alabama because they basically are composed of mostly professionals?   (except every once in a while) and then not win at the end...Like Roger Daultry says in Majic Bus, "No...That's too much..."

Wayne Gary