My daughter and her BF WHERE going to stay at our land six miles NW of Yorktown after going to Western Days... her BF got the heebie jeebes when they went there, so they didn't.
Dakota could have been right... a little local lore...
Our place north of Yorktown is in the area of what some locals call crazy man woods.
The story goes that years ago a family lived in the area and had a "strange" son, probably a treatable disorder these days, but anyhow, they couldn't handle him so they kept him chained and in a cage. He would escape now and then and prowl all around the area, peeking in at and scaring other family s, stealing things and just being a pain in the ass, this was in the late 1930s.
My family bought the land in about 1984 or so. And we met our neighbors...
Felix and Anne Respondeck, a brother and sister that still lived in the house they were born in after their parents had passed away. Felix took care of their cows, drove his pickup to town and bought what they needed. Anne probably never left her little piece of land. You have to understand that neither one of them had every married and lived together in their parents house all their lives. Strange in these days but not so much in crazy man woods I guess.
Anne use to come prowl around our house at night. How did we know? Easy, she didn't own a pair of shoes and in the morning we would find bare footprints in the sand, the soil there is sandy.
She would come over during the daylight and stand at the yard fence and yell "Ello", she did have a accent, and be invited in to ask whatever she wanted. She didn't even know how to use a telephone, my mom had to show her. ANYway...I talked to her one day, this is what she told me...
"There is this old woman, a witch, who lives over there (pointed north), she can make herself look like a 20 year old and she goes to the bars in town and talks men into coming home with her, then she kills them, then she turns old again. She has 23 dead bodies in the house attic, she keeps them."
She also claimed that because her brother Felix had had a stock pond dug on their land, that the digging had set loose 16 dead spirits who now run around screaming, wanting to be buried again. Ohh and the long dead Indian that tormented her until she found his comb and gave it back to him.
I admit, staying there alone I have had a uneasy feeling before, but not ever time.
So was Dakotas fear justified or not?
It is not for us humans to glimpse the other world, or is it?
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
There are still some good guys out there
Sometimes you make the right phone call and talk to the right person.
I had a touchscreen monitor go out on a piece of equipment, I called my distributor in Houston and talked to the tech then the parts person.
The parts person said a exchange monitor would cost roughly $450, a new one $1300, but they didn't have any and suggested I call their other locations in Dallas and San Antonio.
Dallas didn't have any either so I called SA, they didn't have any but transferred my call to their tech.
I told him the problem and he asks what manufacturer the monitor was and then says "Does the screen just come on for a second or two when you turn it on and then go blank?" I said exactly.
He says "There are two 470uf capacitors on the board that the power cord plugs into, change them."
Two thumbs up, that fixed the monitor for all of $1.42 and a hour or so of my time.
$450 vs $1.42? That's a no brainier!
I had a touchscreen monitor go out on a piece of equipment, I called my distributor in Houston and talked to the tech then the parts person.
The parts person said a exchange monitor would cost roughly $450, a new one $1300, but they didn't have any and suggested I call their other locations in Dallas and San Antonio.
Dallas didn't have any either so I called SA, they didn't have any but transferred my call to their tech.
I told him the problem and he asks what manufacturer the monitor was and then says "Does the screen just come on for a second or two when you turn it on and then go blank?" I said exactly.
He says "There are two 470uf capacitors on the board that the power cord plugs into, change them."
Two thumbs up, that fixed the monitor for all of $1.42 and a hour or so of my time.
$450 vs $1.42? That's a no brainier!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Rising From the Rubble
From Odd Todds site,
http://www.oddtodd.com/
A ground view of the World Trade Center site.
Almost 10 years after, like the mythical Phoenix, a rebirth is rising from the ashes and rubble.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Lone Tree Creek Retention pond
Let me see if I have this right.
The Lone Tree Creek retention was built a quite few years ago. In fact the dirt from the pond was used to build the overpasses on Loop 463. How long ago was that?
Anyway, when the retention pond was proposed it was claimed that it would remove property from the flood zone. A study was voted on approved by the City Council to modify the flood plan map. Again, how long ago was that? At least 2001 if I remember right.
About 3 years ago, I asked my insurance agent that since the retention pond had been built at least five years before, that if a piece of property that is still in my name, still required flood insurance. He said "Well it's on the border line by the current 1981 maps, the city says they will apply to update the flood zone maps because of the retention pond. In other words, Yeah you still need flood insurance, the city hasn't modified the map.
TODAY, 5/19/2011, ten years later,a letter arrives from Atkins North American Inc., with the results of the study to modify the flood pain map, which basically says that "your property", not the one I asked about btw, has either changed from it previous flood plain status +1% or -1% for a hundred year flood.
To Quote...
"The BFE and floodway shall be revised from a point 1,550 feet downstream of the Southern Pacific Railroad to a point just downstream of John Stockbauer Drive. The LOMR will result in increases and decrease in the 1% annual chance of water-surface elevations with a maximum increas of 0.8 feet at a point approximately 350 upstream of Business 59 and a maximum decrease in the 1% annual water-surface elevation of 2.8 feet at a point approximately 900 feet upstream of Miori Lane. As a result of the floodway revision the floodway shall widen and/or narrow with a maximum widening of 710 feet at a point approximately 1,150 feet downstream of Airline Road and a maximum narrowing of 750 feet at a point approximately 1,250 feet upstream of Ben Jordon Street."
Did you get that????
The last sentence says... "Please feel free to contact Mr. John Johnston at 361-485-3320, at the City of Victoria, if you have any questions or concerns about the proposed changes or its effect on your property."
Now, how much did the city and county pay for this study that has taken 10 years to complete, and what exactly does it say? Guess I will have to call, but since the property wasn't in the flood plain before, why would it change after the retention pond was built?
Taxpayer funded studies are so much fun, I swear.
The Lone Tree Creek retention was built a quite few years ago. In fact the dirt from the pond was used to build the overpasses on Loop 463. How long ago was that?
Anyway, when the retention pond was proposed it was claimed that it would remove property from the flood zone. A study was voted on approved by the City Council to modify the flood plan map. Again, how long ago was that? At least 2001 if I remember right.
About 3 years ago, I asked my insurance agent that since the retention pond had been built at least five years before, that if a piece of property that is still in my name, still required flood insurance. He said "Well it's on the border line by the current 1981 maps, the city says they will apply to update the flood zone maps because of the retention pond. In other words, Yeah you still need flood insurance, the city hasn't modified the map.
TODAY, 5/19/2011, ten years later,a letter arrives from Atkins North American Inc., with the results of the study to modify the flood pain map, which basically says that "your property", not the one I asked about btw, has either changed from it previous flood plain status +1% or -1% for a hundred year flood.
To Quote...
"The BFE and floodway shall be revised from a point 1,550 feet downstream of the Southern Pacific Railroad to a point just downstream of John Stockbauer Drive. The LOMR will result in increases and decrease in the 1% annual chance of water-surface elevations with a maximum increas of 0.8 feet at a point approximately 350 upstream of Business 59 and a maximum decrease in the 1% annual water-surface elevation of 2.8 feet at a point approximately 900 feet upstream of Miori Lane. As a result of the floodway revision the floodway shall widen and/or narrow with a maximum widening of 710 feet at a point approximately 1,150 feet downstream of Airline Road and a maximum narrowing of 750 feet at a point approximately 1,250 feet upstream of Ben Jordon Street."
Did you get that????
The last sentence says... "Please feel free to contact Mr. John Johnston at 361-485-3320, at the City of Victoria, if you have any questions or concerns about the proposed changes or its effect on your property."
Now, how much did the city and county pay for this study that has taken 10 years to complete, and what exactly does it say? Guess I will have to call, but since the property wasn't in the flood plain before, why would it change after the retention pond was built?
Taxpayer funded studies are so much fun, I swear.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A golf ball update
The neighbor lady came to visit today, after small talk she complained about... GOLF BALLS!
I asked if they had a number on them, she pulled one out of her pocket it was numbered 48. She also said that a golf ball had broken one of her upstairs windows and the neighbors on the other side of her have found golf balls in their yard too.
I knew that air cannon thing was strong but geez, the culprits fire it from behind 710 and they land all the way at 702.
She asked for my collection of golf balls, asked if I knew where they came from, I complied with both requests.
So, she is going to make a report. She is the only one with actual damage, though a few feet to the right and I would have had head damage.
Anyway, it looks like, maybe, the great golf ball attack will at least be looked into.
(I,m glad I held off on the kitty litter revenge!)
I asked if they had a number on them, she pulled one out of her pocket it was numbered 48. She also said that a golf ball had broken one of her upstairs windows and the neighbors on the other side of her have found golf balls in their yard too.
I knew that air cannon thing was strong but geez, the culprits fire it from behind 710 and they land all the way at 702.
She asked for my collection of golf balls, asked if I knew where they came from, I complied with both requests.
So, she is going to make a report. She is the only one with actual damage, though a few feet to the right and I would have had head damage.
Anyway, it looks like, maybe, the great golf ball attack will at least be looked into.
(I,m glad I held off on the kitty litter revenge!)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Am I getting to be the old grouchy guy ?
For awhile I have found golf balls in the back yard.I figured they came from the teenagers that live on Maplewood behind my house and they had hit a errant practice shot from their backyard to mine.
In the last two weeks the golf balls have been numbered, I thought, oh well no big deal.
Today I went out to dip the leaves, clean the filter and feed the fish in the Coy pond.
I heard a, not loud, bang, and a golf ball came sailing by through the Oak tree branches and about 8' from me.
I said,"Damn good shot."
And things got quite from whence the golf ball came.
Occasionally there are a couple of hawks that enjoy our bird bath, last summer I found a hawk dead in the backyard and a couple of weeks later, two dead doves.
At that time, again taking care of the fish, I heard a air rifle going off, I bitched at the kiddos that time and have not found anymore dead birds.
Back to the present, it is obvious that the new thrill is some kind of air cannon thing that shoots golf balls.
That seems like a expensive habit to me, after all the pictured golf balls are Titelest, Pinacle and other brand names that look brand new, they aren't range balls.
So I hope if they run out, or their dad figures out he is missing all his golf balls, this will end too. Although the balls numbered from 11 to 77 so far tells me they have a almost unlimited supply.
Anyone want to buy some golf balls? They are not getting them back!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Mom doesn't want a new TV!
My Moms 10 year old 27" Zenith console TV was showing its age.
On some channels, no matter what you tried, the color just wasn't right, and the sound was funky on every channel.
Her oldest grandson offered to buy her a new TV for Christmas, he has been complaining about it for over a year, she shot that down by saying " I don't want one of those TVs that hang on the wall or set on a table, I like my console TV."
So I broke out the measuring tape, then went to Tiger Direct.
Now Mom has a new 28" flat screen TV... and the best thing for her, she still has her console! A win all the way around.
The Damn trim out to longer than installing the TV in the console. LOL
Finished product shown above.
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