Sleepless in Midland

How to Make It Rain (when you can't do the dance)

A legal notice in Sunday's Midland Reporter Telegram gave notice that West Texas Weather Modification Association, which has been conducting cloud seeding operations around San Angelo, Texas, for several years, has filed an application for a four year permit to let it try to help keep the rains coming.

How will they do that?  From the notice:

"The aircraft will be equipped with flare racks and/or generators to dispense appropriate materials, either glaciogenic or hygroscopic or a combination of the two, into those clouds deemed receptive to seeding."

One method of making rain is to cause the moisture in clouds to freeze into droplets that become heavy enough to overcome the pressure in the cloud and fall, thawing on the way down, to become rain.  A glaciogenic substance would help stimulate the freezing of the moisture.  Source.

Silver iodide is such a substance as it has a structure similar to ice, and when it's present it helps induce the freezing of the water droplets.  But, the clouds have to contain super cooled water (zero degrees Celsius or lower), so conditions have to be just right before it will work, and it takes some very accurate meteorological information to know when those conditions exist.  Source.

The process also might suppress hail.  Source.

Hygroscopic seeding is the introduction of salts into the clouds.  The salts help transform water vapor into liquid water though the process known as vapor deposition.   Follow the link for details on some experiments and examples, such as a South African paper mill producing effluent of extra large hygroscopic particles which seemed to be causing extra large rain drops.  Splat!

How successful is cloud seeding?  According to the state licensing site, "It cannot be overstated that drought is not the optimal time period for cloud seeding."  However, they estimate that in the year 2003 cloud seeding produced 2.8 million acre feet of rain water in Texas over what might have been otherwise produced by the clouds had they not been seeded.

Doing the math:  There are 640 acres in a square mile, therefore 2,800,000 acre feet of water would cover 4,375 square miles with water one foot deep.  That would cover entire the state of Rhode Island (1,545 square miles) with almost three feet of water.

And finally, the most important question:  How much does it cost?

At one section of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation site the TDLR estimates that the cost is 4 to 5 cents per acre of land expected to receive the rain, an area that could cover 6.4 million acres at the San Angelo project.  However, elsewhere at the same site the TDLR estimates the cost to be 8 to 9 cents per acre.  Using the highest estimate it comes to just over a half million dollars for that project.

Not cheap.  But maybe it's worth the price if the alternative is to dry up and blow away.

The Map to Paradise Placed on hold by Mexican government, invasion instead

There's a Forbes/AP article about the Mexican government program which involved distributing maps showing highways, rescue beacons and water tanks in the Arizona desert.  That program got a lot of attention in recent days, and according to the article, the Mexican government decided to suspend it.  Here's a quote:

Miguel Angel Paredes, spokesman for the federal Human Rights Commission, said the government wanted to "rethink" its plan because human rights officials in border states expressed concern that the maps would show anti-immigrant groups - like the Minutemen civilian patrols - where migrants likely would gather.

"This would be practically like telling the Minutemen where the migrants are going to be," Paredes said. "We are going to rethink this, so that we wouldn't almost be handing them over to groups that attack migrants."

"Groups that attack migrants?"  Oh those Minutemen!  They are so mean.  Vigilantes, they are.  Aren't they?  That was the drum beat a few months ago, but no matter how hard their detractors tried, they just couldn't come up with the facts. 

The Much Maligned Minutemen

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corp. is a group of disciplined volunteers who have been very successful in their efforts to focus attention on illegal immigration.  They have very strict rules, and safety -- for everyone -- is of utmost importance.

Some of the people opposing the Minutemen were chortling about the El Paso Times headline: "Minuteman sent home for aiding immigrant".  But they completely missed the point.  The Minuteman rules say that there should be no contact with anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant, and the man in the article broke the rules and was sent packing.

There is good reason for the "no contact" rule.  The coyotes trafficking in human beings are committing felonies, and there is no telling what they might do to avoid arrest -- these aren't angels of mercy.

But the Minuteman Project has stuck with its goal, and that is to raise awareness of the immigration problem and get the existing laws enforced. To have unfiltered entry into the country is simply dangerous.

Crossing Arizona

There's a movie showing at the Sundance Film Festival titled "Crossing Arizona" with a sympathetic treatment of immigrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally.  See reviews at Variety.com and Rottentomatoes.com.

Who can't sympathize with someone whose only crime is that they want a decent job?  And some of those people trying to immigrate had to make some real sacrifices in order to get into the U.S.  In a perfect world the Mexican economy would be so strong that no one would want to leave.  But due to an inefficient and corrupt Mexican government the economy there is incapable of handling workers who want jobs.  And with an open border policy we are aiding and abetting that corruption and inefficiency.

Well, if it's only honest people who want jobs then let's do it in an orderly fashion so that we can know who comes in and try to keep out criminals.

We don't need no stinking badges!

It's not just people looking for jobs.  Look at what's happening in the border towns.  There appears to be a narco war going on in Nuevo Laredo.  And just the other day some armed men in Mexican military uniforms had a confrontation with deputy sheriffs in Hudspeth County, Texas.  See this AP article at KHOU.com for details.

And Sterry Butcher's story in the Big Bend Sentinel said that the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. issued a statement, to wit:

"The incident is under investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection is coordinating closely with the appropriate federal, state and local authorities. ... The U.S. government is also discussing the matter with the government of Mexico and is asking for a thorough investigation and response."

Well now that should solve the problem.  And what is the Mexican government's solution?  Oh that's easy.  Simply hire a public relations firm to smooth things over and improve its image in the U.S.

That's great.  I'll sleep much better once I've seen a few high quality tv commercials telling me how wonderful the Mexican government is.

So THAT'S why TaxCut was free!

I got the TaxCut software free this year.  Yup, it came in the mail.  Thanks for the free software, H&R Block.

But why did they send it free?  That frightened just a little bit.  The package says "Guaranteed Accurate Calculations or we pay penalties plus interest."  So I was worried that this was a peace offering to make up for some glitch in last year's software.

Well, apparently they were just trying to gin up their usage numbers for their lawsuit.  They sued Intuit, maker of the competing TurboTax, for misleading advertising claims, to wit:  "More returns were prepared with TurboTax last year than at all the H&R Block stores combined."

According to news reports Intuit settled by agreeing to pull the ads.  "H&R Block ... said in its court filing that its stores prepared more than 26 million returns last year while taxpayers used TurboTax to prepare 21 million returns."

So in the year 2005 there were 47 million taxpayers who had to resort to either computer software or a paid preparer.  And those are just the taxpayers who used those two companies' products.  The people who actually do their taxes themselves without help from tax software is probably less than 1%.

Steve Forbes was onto something.  The flat tax looks more enticing every year.

[For a comparison of TaxCut and TurboTax see PC World.]

Local Gal Bags a Big One

Local sportswoman, Gaylene Stansbery, participated in an elk hunt and fishing trip last October in central Texas, and it was taped for television.  Talk about a reality show!

It's the Academy Outdoors Show, and it airs Sundays 9:30 am and  Tuesdays 1:30 pm on the Outdoor Channel.  Times are CST.  I don't know whether the 1/22/06 show is the one featuring Gaylene, but I've set the VCR.

When the elk head gets mounted it will be put on display at Academy Sports in Midland.

Next season:  a trip to Manatoba, Canada!

Oh yeah, she adds:  "Please remember that the camera always adds 50 pounds or so!!"  Okay, we will.  Thanks Gaylene!

Misfire. Updated 1/22/06; 10:53 am:  The Outdoor Channel, which I don't get, is not the same as the Outdoor Life Network, which I do get through Cox cable.  So unfortunately, my vcr taped something altogether different.

"Talk Nerdy to Me" --- and other great T-shirts

Some hilarious T-shirts are available at T shirt hell.com.  Note:  Some might not be appropriate for wearing to work.  Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Via Slap Dummy.

Lexus 500 hp sports car

Here's my dream car of the moment:  The Lexus LF-A.  It's still a "concept" car, but apparently Lexus displayed it at a few auto shows around the world.

In a Wall Street Journal article titled "Luxury cars get engines with Nascar-like horsepower"  -- see it free at AZ Central -- some of the luxury-car makers, including Lexus, are developing cars with 500-plus horsepower engines.

The Lexus LF-A is a stunning looking auto.  And hey, when you live out here in the wide open spaces you need a car with a little get-up-and-go.  In reality, with the highest speed limit in Texas currently set at 75 MPH there wouldn't be much opportunity to use all of that horsepower.  But a fellow can dream, can't he?

"Friday Night Lights" -- the tv show

Movie director Peter Berg wrote a pilot script and may direct a tv show based on the movie "Friday Night Lights" but set in present times.   Link:

... while NBC is looking ahead to next season's return of the NFL to the network with a pilot order for a drama based on the feature "Friday Night Lights."

/snip/

The 2004 film "Friday Night Lights," from Imagine Entertainment and NBC's corporate sibling Universal Pictures, starred Billy Bob Thornton as a straight-arrow coach who leads his small-town Texas high school football team to the 1988 state semifinals. The "Lights" pilot is set in the present.

The feature's director and co-writer, Peter Berg, penned the pilot script and is executive producing the NBC project with Sarah Aubrey and John Cameron, his partners at the Universal-based company Film 44, and Imagine's Brian Grazer. Berg also is on board to direct.

Imagine's TV arm, Imagine Television, is producing the pilot with NBC Universal Television Studio.

Thanks to PEGJOVI for the heads-up.

Updated 1/23/06; 6:37 pm.

Terry left a comment at one of the earlier entries about the movie Friday Night Lights.  (Link).  And he gave us a headsup about the casting call in Austin for football players for the tv series.  But there's a short fuse, they take place 1/24 and 1/25/06.

KXAN.com has the lowdown.

The network is working on a pilot called Friday Night Lights, based on the 2004 movie and the book by the same name.

Auditions will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at Austin Studios on East 51st Street, starting at 9 a.m.

For directions and times, you can call 512-538-0197.

Thanks Terry.

Get Well Trey

Trey Barker, former Midlander, has been dealt a setback.

He is a Lee High School grad of a couple of decades ago, and he's currently a deputy sheriff in Bureau County, Illinois.  And, he's an author and a blogger.  He's written songs and plays, and some of his first short stories were published in 1994.  His novel, "2,000 Miles to Open Road," can be found at Green River Books and at Amazon.com.

His blog can be found at Bullets and Whiskey.

Now he's facing a hurdle.  He was diagnosed with stage three cancer last year.  Then he had a heart attack.  But you can't keep a good writer down -- the treatments and all that he has had to endure are chronicled at his blog.  Excerpt:

A month later, I went to the World Horror Convention in Seattle. Amidst the well wishes from writer friends and memorials for Dick, one publisher sat me down and asked, "So, was this a publicity stunt?"

Yeah, let me show you the picture of the cardiac before and after. Yeah, because I've made so much money, gotten so much press, from having a heart attack. What an ass. He followed that up with, "Did you think you were going to die?"

There are quite a few things that scare me, but death hasn't yet been one of those things.

In neither case, the heart attack nor the cancer, did I think I was about to cash it in. In neither case did I cozy up to any angels and give them a big wet smack on the lips.

Trey, we'll joke about this in about 40 years.  In the meantime, hang tough.

More Wacky Tv Ads -- "It's a Hemi!"

You might be a redneck if ...

Advertising must be a tough business.  As tv viewers, we can appreciate those creative, funny advertisements and laugh in all the right places.  But most of the time the ads fall far short of persuading us to go out and buy that widget.

One ad that's getting a lot of air time these days is the Dodge pickup commercial in which two yokels pull up beside a truck hauling a new Dodge pickup truck.  One of the guys climbs aboard the truck trailer and removes the pickup truck's cover.  The poor fellow is simply enthralled with that new Dodge pickup.  The cover flies off and obscures the windshield of the car the other guy is driving causing him to crash through the fence and sail off the highway.

So here's the thing.  Why do we drive the cars we do?  Once we get our basic needs: food, clothing, shelter and tv set, then we need a way to get around -- a set of wheels.  But, ever since the days of Henry Ford the vehicles we drive are not just for transportation, we need to make a statement.

Whether it's a Hummer or a hybrid, a sports car or a sedan, we are trying to impress someone.  Who is it?  The neighbors?  The co-workers?  The people at the gym?  The other parents at the soccer game?  Deep down inside each of us knows the answer.

Which brings us back to that Dodge advertisement.  If when you shop for a new pickup truck your goal is to impress the likes of those two Dodge-crazy hillbillies, then you might be the subject of a you-might-be-a-redneck joke.  Jeff Foxworthy, call your office.

Rebate madness

I suspect that the percentage of people who are tempted by a rebate is quite high but that the percentage who actually follow through and collect the rebate is significantly lower.  The rebate offerors probably love that disparity and seem to work to make it even less likely that buyers will seek that rebate.

Here's an example.  Yesterday at Office Depot I bought a Western Digital Passport -- an 80 GB portable hard drive.  The price on the shelf was $129.99.  Not bad.  But a close scrutiny reveals that it's actually $179.99 with an instant rebate of $20 and a mail in rebate of $30.  Well, okay.  Not quite as tempting, but that's not a deal killer.

The cashier rang up the instant rebate and was kind enough to print out the rebate forms and make two copies of the receipt.  Why two copies?  Because there were actually two mail-in rebates, one for $10 and one for $20.  One was to be mailed to El Paso and the other to Detroit.

Both forms had to be filled out.  Both forms required the original or a copy of the receipt.  One form required the original or a copy of the UPC, and the other required the original UPC.

So the only tricky part was making sure that the original UPC got in the right envelope.  But, the whole process was cumbersome and time consuming which I'll serve up as evidence of my original point that the rebate offerors are trying to discourage the collection of the rebate.

But I'll show them.  It's off to the mail box I go.  Oh wait.  The postage rates went up the other day, and I don't have the correct postage stamps.  Dang!  Foiled again.  (But only until I get some new stamps.)

A Real Man's Guide to "Brokeback Mountain"

The two most important things that those of us who are "real men" most do is this: (1) make sure everyone knows that you are not gay, and (2) make sure everyone knows that you are not homophobic either, in that order.

It's okay to have gay friends so long as the two of you are never alone together, and never, ever in a hot tub!  And by all means, don't carry a man purse!  Uh, not that there's anything wrong with that.

So if you go to see "Brokeback Mountain" make sure there's a woman sitting beside you.  Better yet, one on each side.

I understand that the two guys who play the gay cowboys are closet heterosexuals.  Well, okay.  But, you just know that most young leading men types really love the adulation they get from their female fans.  That has to be one of the lures of stardom.  What hetero guy wouldn't relish the thought of scores of beautiful gals swooning over them?

So I have to wonder how those two actors will feel when it develops that their biggest fan base consists of gay men.  Oh well, just stay out of the hot tubs.

This movie will eventually appear on tv, Bravo channel is a good bet.  So, fellow real men, if you see the movie then there has to be something you can say you liked about it or else you might appear homophobic.  So here it is: "The scenery is spectacular!"  (Or so I've heard.)

A new years resolution: get the desk organized

New year resolutions are usually quite easy.  Simply adopt any "to-do" list that's already in progress.  But this year I'm going to address a real life long problem:  A work space cluttered with rather large and unmanageable stacks of paper.

It starts out simply enough.  If there's a piece of mail or paper I want to keep and an empty surface space, then that's where it goes.  As long as it's a short stack it's manageable.  But after a while the stack loses its shape and becomes a pile, and retrieval becomes a bit more difficult.  (Somewhere in one of my stacks is a printout of a pretty good article on how to get organized.)

We've all seen some immaculate co-worker's desk that has absolutely nothing on the surface.  Don't you just hate them?  Clutterers like me could console ourselves with the old saw:  an empty desk is the sign of an empty mind.

That works for a while.  But, eventually that stack of paper transforms itself, werewolf like, into a blob, an angry blob.  Needless to say, by that point retrieval is impossible.

So what to do?  One of those clean desk people once told me what works for him.  Whenever a piece of paper arrives at his desk the first thing he does is decide where it should go.  That was the best advice I had gotten up to that point.  But saying it is easier than doing it.

There's no shortage of websites willing to offer advice.  And all of it looks very well organized and efficient.  But each of us knows our own limitations, so much of it is simply unworkable.   However, here's one  at organizerswebring.com that has a useful suggestion:

Base filing on retrieval, not storage. Instead of asking yourself, "Where should I file this?" ask yourself, "Where would I look for this if I need it?" Then label the file accordingly.  Consistently insert new papers into the front of the file folder.  When purging files, start from the back where the oldest documents are.

Okay.  I'm ready to make the resolution: Clean my work space of stacks of paper.  And keep it clean!

I'll start tomorrow.  No wait, tomorrow's a holiday.  I'll start Tuesday.  Tuesday at the latest.  Yeah, that's the ticket.

Joking aside, this time I'm going to do it.

Resources:  Step by step instructions at OrganizeTips.com;
More step by step;
Can't get organized?  You've got brain damage;
Give up?  Hire a Professional Organizer.