Sleepless in Midland

The earth shakes, and Judge Judy saves herself

I'm not a big fan of the Judge Judy show, but after seeing the way she reacted during yesterday's earthquake I'm even less of a fan. Watch the video, and you'll see the plaintiff and defendant standing at the bench pleading their cases. Then the earthquake hits, and the structure starts shaking. And Judy takes off. It was every man and woman for him and her self.

Maybe she's not a real judge and just plays one on TV, but what little of the Judge Judy show I've seen suggests that there's the whole courtroom decorum thing going on -- "all rise," "quiet in the court room," etc. It's an atmosphere where one would expect the judge to rule. And Judy herself seems not one to be trifled with. So with a commander in charge of a room full of people, shouldn't that commander take charge in an emergency, or at least make a helpful suggestion to the people in the room?

Nope. Judge Judy can be seen hightailing it out of the room leaving everyone else there to fend for him/her self. Any notion that she should help went out the back door.

We all have a moral responsibility to look out for each other when disaster strikes. But maybe that responsibility has to be learned. This coming September is National Preparedness Month, and I'm sure there will be lots of opportunities to learn some disaster survival skills. Just this last weekend, 7/26/08, there was a Permian Basin Regional Citizen Corps Conference titled "Energizing Community Resources," which introduced citizens to some of the opportunities to get involved. More on that in a future post. But we shouldn't be surprised to learn that there are citizens all around the country who are trained and willing to come to the aid of others in an emergency.

But in the meantime, let's all hold Judge Judy up as an example of how arrogant and selfish a person can be in a disaster and declare that we will not like that ourselves.

Cuil.com - a new search engine

Just about every internet user who had a gut reaction to the news about the subpoena ruling in Viacom v. Google has been on the lookout for a search engine with a high enough regard for users' privacy that the users don't have to wonder if their search history will ever be made available for the world to see. See Court Ruling Will Expose Viewing Habits of YouTube Users.

Our lives are becoming less private by the minute, and if we use electronic gadgetry then there is probably a computer somewhere that has a record of it. According to some, all of that information may be available to the government at Fusion Centers. But let's address that another time.

The above mentioned subpoena involves Youtube, but we all know that Google keeps the information derived from searchers' use of the service, and most of us have wondered what they plan to do with it. So it's encouraging to see a new search engine come along. See Ex-Google engineers debut 'Cuil' way to search. They are claiming to index more sites than Google, but it's not clear from the article whether or not they do. Some excerpts:

A search index's scope is important because information, pictures and content can't be found unless they're stored in a database. But Cuil believes it will outshine Google in several other ways, including its method for identifying and displaying pertinent results.

Rather than trying to mimic Google's method of ranking the quantity and quality of links to Web sites, Patterson says Cuil's technology drills into the actual content of a page. And Cuil's results will be presented in a more magazine-like format instead of just a vertical stack of Web links. Cuil's results are displayed with more photos spread horizontally across the page and include sidebars that can be clicked on to learn more about topics related to the original search request.

I've always thought there must be a better way to rank pages than the way Google does it. The page with the best and most accurate information on a subject may be buried so deep in a Google list that the user may never get to it.

But here's the part I like:

Finally, Cuil is hoping to attract traffic by promising not to retain information about its users' search histories or surfing patterns - something that Google does, much to the consternation of privacy watchdogs.

It's cuil.com, and here's what the opening paragraph of their privacy page says, among other things:

Privacy is a hot topic these days, and we want you to feel totally comfortable using our service, so our privacy policy is very simple: when you search with Cuil, we do not collect any personally identifiable information, period. We have no idea who sends queries: not by name, not by IP address, and not by cookies (more on this later). Your search history is your business, not ours.

And that's fine with me.

Updated: A not so positive review. See "Cuil" Search Engine Launches, Kind of Doesn't Work.

He said, she said. You be the jury.

He proposed. They set a date. He canceled. She sued.

She said -- After being a "couple" for several years, she broke it off and moved to Florida where she got a job paying $81,000 annually. He came to Florida, presented an engagement ring and proposed marriage. They agreed on a wedding date, and she moved to Georgia to live with him. Three days before the wedding date he left a note in the bathroom canceling the wedding but not the relationship. She moved out. Two months later he told her he needed more time to decide. And a month after that she discovered he had been seeing another woman. She had to become financially dependent on him but had to file for bankruptcy after the marriage was canceled. She sought judgment to satisfy her pecuniary loss, mental anguish, humiliation, injury to health and psyche, costs and attorney's fees, and punitive damages. See Gainesville News with link to the Complaint (pdf).

He said -- He gave her the engagement ring, and he paid $30,000 of her debt. But when he learned she owed even more money, he decided to end things.

What would you say? If you said he should pay her $150,000 then you've agreed with the jury.

Via Metafilter.

By the dawns early light

They're still here.  Jimmy Patterson and J. P. Hearn are still in the lift, blogging and photo editing away. The money has been raised, and they met the goal of $10,000 for Midland Fair Havens, and even exceeded it by a small margin.  Congratulations guys, great job!

So right about now the guys are getting pretty tired, and they are talking about unplugging, folding up, packing, cleaning and hauling out of here.  So I'm going sign off and enjoy the sunrise.  You do the same.

Blogging from up high

Here we are atop a cherry picker blogging away for the Midland Fair Havens blogathon, er uh, Blogging for Midland Fair Havens. And as a fund raiser, it's going swimmingly with $7,870 pulled in as of now, according to Jimmy Patterson, the guy who thought this up.

WOW!

What a great way to raise money for a great organization. Well, that's Jimmy the genius. A one man fund raising machine.

The technology was a little baffling at first. But J. P. Hearn loaned us his MacBook Pro to use up here, so we've got two bloggers going at the same time. Exiting huh? No? Don't worry, it won't last much longer.

I thought I would have to write it all out in long hand. For those out there who may not remember, long hand was a writing style involving paper and pen or pencil, and it was the way people communicated without talking or painting on the cave wall.

Anyway, I should sign off and let J.P have his computer back. Thanks J.P.!

They're at it!

It's the big Blogging for Fair Havens fund raiser. I had to see it for myself, and sure enough, Jimmy was up there in the clouds typing away.  And Jeff McDonald was on the ground, both raising that money for Midland Fair Havens.

Go see for yourself. (And drop off a few bucks.)

Let's pitch in a little something for Midland Fair Havens

Visit the Midland Fair Havens website and see if you aren't moved. "Midland Fair Havens serves women with pre-teen children who are homeless or who are in danger of becoming homeless," their website says. And here's something every nonprofit should have: success stories.

It's a worthy organization, and it deserves our support. When they help homeless mothers and children then we all benefit. And we can help them by giving them the money they need to provide those services. So let's all do what we can.

Click to donate.

Or come on out to the big Blogging for Fair Havens event at the H-E-B parking lot at 3325 West Wadley, Midland, Texas, during the 24 hour period from July 26, 2008, from 7 a.m., until July 27, 7 a.m. and watch Jimmy Patterson as he blogs away atop a hoist, going higher and higher as each milestone is reached.

The goal is $10,000. And with your help, it will get done. So come one out. Or if you can't make it, at least visit the official Blogging for Fair Havens website to see how things are going, and visit J. P. Hearn's Bleu Chocolate for photos.

Jimmy Patterson has the schedule all laid out at Sticky Doorknobs. Time it right and you'll get to see some of Midland's most lovable bloggers, like the entertaining Jeff McDonald who often gives us a peek at the personnel changes at the local TV stations at Archaeotexture. War veteran, dog lover, and all around good guy Wallace Craig of Streams will be there. Also, everyone's favorite mom, the delightful Janie Snelson who blogs at Sounding Forth will be there. And we no one will want to miss the mysterious Ospurt, ordinary citizen by day, masked blogging crusader by night of Jessica's Well. With a lineup like that what's not to like?

I'll be there too, for a short time, but don't let that discourage you.  If no one withdraws his/her donation while I'm there then I'll consider that a success.

Be there or be square!

A miracle on the Obama media bus

"It's a miracle." "It's a miracle," the reporters spoke in hushed, reverent whispers as they stared in awe at the coffee cup. Some knelt. Some prayed. They felt such devotion to the image.

It happened on a media bus full of American reporters following Barack Obama on his European and Middle Eastern tour. Somehow an image of Barack Obama magically appeared on a styrofoam coffee cup. Was it a coffee smudge? Was it a miracle?

A lone skeptic said it appears to be a smudged cup. And the image is barely visible, he said adding, "No rational person would put any significance on this - it's akin to a UFO sighting." But the skeptic couldn't explain how it got there or why it looks like Barack Obama.

The reporters weren't fazed, and they treated the image as a true miracle. One reporter said, "With evidence like this there really should be no doubt that he is the true messiah. Is it OK to say I love Obama?  There, I said it.  I plan to dedicate my career to helping him get elected."

[Inspired by the recent events.]

He's at it again!

I'm talking about Mr. Jimmy Patterson, local hero, all around nice guy and celebrity showman. He's our equivalent of P. T. Barnum, and he's at it again. But he doesn't do it for himself, he does it to help others. What a guy!

It's his annual fund raiser for Midland Fair Havens. It was once called a blogathon, and our blogging friend Eric Siegmund was the brave pioneer who first did this a few years ago, staying up all night blogging, and raising money for MFH. Hats off to Eric for being the first to have the confidence and courage to take on such an endeavor.

Eric handed the ball to Jimmy who has run with it ever since. Last year Jimmy came up with the idea of riding a lift way up into the sky and staying there for the duration of the 24 hour event. To see his blogging efforts of that night click Blogathon 2007. I tiptoed onto the scene around 3:30 a.m. thinking I might catch him snoozing, but no, there he was, wide awake, chatting with a policeman who was eyeballing the night owls at the Whataburger drive-through lane. See photographic evidence on these pages at He Did It!.

The next one is coming up this Saturday, July 26, 2008, from 7 a.m., till July 27, 7 a.m. at the H-E-B parking lot at 3325 West Wadley, Midland, Texas. Jimmy tells us all about it here and here.

It's a good cause. MFH provides a very good service to the people who need it. Take a look at the Success Stories -- something every nonprofit should have, by the way -- and see for yourself.

He has recruited some celebrities and one local bum (me) to assist with the blogging for the duration. I'll be there while the rest of the world is in quiet slumber so as not to scare away the real donors (picture Quasimodo). But go there to see Jimmy and the celebrities. You are sure to be inspired to give big, so plan ahead and bring your checkbook!

Can't make it? Give directly by going to Midland Fair Havens webpage, scroll to the bottom, and follow the instructions for giving online.

Surfing the web on a Sunday afternoon

A couple of cool sites:

The food pornographer -  Take a look at this site just before a meal if you really want to kick start your appetite. Her "about" page says she lives in Perth, Australia, and while she's not a professional photographer, "She takes her camera everywhere with her. Her workmates have grown accustomed to their lunches being photographed." Via A Welsh View.

Spill.com - A movie review site, via Crimlaw who sums it up thusly: "I just wasted over an hour of my life watching raunchy, animated movie reviews on this website. It's hilarious. Not work friendly. Not family friendly. Just fun." Agreed.

Doctor Rotations

One of my volunteer jobs involves a weekly trip to about a dozen doctors' offices. So it's always nice to know just where those offices are. They've pretty much settled down now, but recently there was a mass doctor rotation as Midland Memorial Hospital plowed up and paved over land where several doctors' offices once stood in order to make room for the new 87,000 square foot medical office building.

The MMH medical office building is a sprawling two level structure, and it's a long walk and possibly an elevator ride from any outside door to most of the doctors' offices. Allison Cancer Center is on ground level, so at least the cancer patients get a break once they get to the building. But first there's the long walk from the parking lot to the building door. But not to worry, there's valet parking.

Valet parking? Yep, for two bucks. For the cancer patients the $2 probably seems trivial.  Once a person gets diagnosed with cancer all of those concerns about a stranger driving the family car probably no longer seem significant. And even the newly imposed valet parking fee might not seem that bad considering the alternative.

But there was one move that probably left many patients scratching their heads if not clutching their chests. It was the prestigious Permian Cardiology. They had a nice ground level office suite at 2405 W. Missouri Ave. which is about a half mile from the hospital. It had lots of parking and a patient friendly short walk to the front door. To the casual observer it looked like a very nice medical office building with a spacey and well equipped workout room for the recovering heart patients. (The architect has it on display here). So one has to wonder what precipitated their move to the MMH's new medical office building. Did they get an offer they couldn't refuse?

Maybe so. Insiders know all the details, but the taxpayers and patients have to dig through the public records. And a look at the Midland County real property records reveals that SKMB LLC dba Permian Cardiology conveyed the property to the Midland County Hospital District on 4/15/08. And two days later a lien on that property, which was secured by a note for $1,820,575.00, was released.

Did MMH overpay? That's a lot of money, and that's just the old lien, so we don't know what the full price was. Maybe the cardiologists figured that the real estate market was near the top and that was the right time to sell. Or it's possible they felt that their patients needed more exercise, and the forced march from the parking lot to the new office was just what the doctor ordered. But not to worry. It's hike or pay as the patient confronts the $2.00 valet parking, at least until MMH decides the market can pay more.

CSI Midland, plus what to do with that Bad Boy Blast money

I can never remember, does life imitate art or is the other way around? In any event, there seems to have been a name change for an important group within the Midland Police Department. For the longest time they were called by the confusing name of Identification. What did they do? Here's what the MPD website says:

IDENTIFICATION (FORSENICS) UNIT
This unit is comprised of a Civilian Supervisor and four (4) Technicians. They are responsible for the evidence collection from crime scenes, the processing and analysis of crime scene photographs and fingerprints and the comparison of evidence to known offenders and suspects.

CSI in other words, as seen on TV. Now the name on their vehicle says it all: Midland Police Department Crime Scene Investigation. OK. Glad we got that cleared up.

Moving right along. What should the MPD do with the $33,000 it received from the fund raising Bad Boy Blast shotgun match and about which the City Council said (pdf) "the donated funds will be used to purchase law enforcement equipment and technology ..."? They aren't seeking suggestions, but that's never stopped us in the past.

How about a License Plate Recognition system? A special camera is mounted on the car which has the capability of reading license plates and transmitting it to a database which compares that number with numbers in the system. A stolen car triggers an alert, and score one for the good guys. They are in use all around the country, and apparently they work. Here's a Fox news video showing the system in practice. And here's a simple explanation of how the system works.

How much would one cost? Here's an Agenda Report (pdf) dated 4/22/08 proposing that the City of Oakland purchase six units at a cost of $18,620.00 each with an installation fee of $4,500.00 for all six. So one unit would probably fall within range with some change left over.

However, just as an aside. Since the automobile insurance companies have the most to lose from car thefts then they would have the most to gain with an increased stolen car recovery system. So shouldn't they chip in for such a system? Just wondering.

A tv show for skeptics, maybe

There are a lot of misconceptions out there, and when something happens that isn't easily explainable there are people who jump to the conclusion that it must be magic, paranormal, extraterrestrials, big feet or - shudder - GHOSTS! And there are people who make money off of this uncritical thinking. See, for example, Ghost Hunters: Plumbers by day - ghost hunters by night!

One of my favorite podcasts is The Skeptics Guide to the Universe hosted weekly by Steven Novella, M.D., with a regular panel and an occasional guest. The panelists are always well prepared and ready to dump cold water on some pseudoscience that was reported as news. Being a physician, Dr. Novella frequently takes aim at homeopathy, but they cover a broad range of topics. One recent podcast contained a segment in which a panelist provided tips on how to scam the timeshare scammers - go here to get it. They are always educational, entertaining and enlightening.

So here's the good news. There's a tv show in the works: Skeptologists. Their website says that principal photography has been completed for the pilot episode and that they are pitching it to the networks. I sure hope they can sell it. If only I could find a good luck charm to lend to them, you know, one that really works.

Toyota Tundras, revisited

In late December of '07 we checked in on the local Toyota dealer and counted 67 Tundras on the lot. See San Antonio Toyota factory cranking out those trucks posted in early January '08. Around that time regular unleaded gasoline was going for about 2.96$ per gallon, and I observed, "Too bad they get such low gas mileage. But we'll worry about that another day."

Well, that day has come - what a difference seven months can make. Today regular unleaded is going is for about a buck more per gallon, and buyers are avoiding those gas guzzlers like a salmonella salad. There were 72 Tundras on the lot today, and the sales personnel are probably sweating. Toyota is suspending operations at the San Antonio Tundra plant for three months to let the market absorb all of those trucks. See San Antonio rolls with Toyota changes. Want one of those trucks? You could probably swing a pretty good deal now, but it sure is a trade off with gasoline prices being what they are. Someday the bubble will burst, but no one can predict when that might occur.

Toyota is a great company, but they sure did overestimate how many of those big trucks this market could absorb. The workers in San Antonio are being kept on the payroll, but it's a different picture for the suppliers. In the meantime, hybrids are selling like hotcakes, so that's where the production efforts will be directed.

As for me, I'm holding out for a Tesla once the new car bugs get worked out and the price comes down from the Exosphere.  Better yet, maybe Toyota will make a reasonably priced clone.

Handguns - more accidental discharges

Readers of this blog know that there is a particular brand of handgun that I believe is more prone to accidents than the others. Well, here's something for those who disagree -- two accidental discharges with handguns that aren't Glocks. So here they are in the hopes that the more we can learn about accidents the better we may be able to avoid them.

First - In Mendocino County, California, in the early morning hours of July 3, 2008, the Sheriff's office responded to a call about an accidental discharge resulting in two people injured, but thankfully, no one died. Here's the Sheriff's Office press release for Report Number O08-1878. The local media had fun with it in Woman tries to kill mice, shoots self and later, Criminal charges sought for 'mouse shooter'.

According to the report it was a .44 caliber, single action, six shot revolver. How did it happen? Here's segment from the press release:

When she went to draw the revolver from the holster, the revolver slipped out and fell to the floor. Upon impact with the floor, the revolver fired one shot, which passed through her right knee cap, then continued upward and traveled across the front of the 42 year old males pants, where it struck a set of keys that were hanging from his belt loop. The bullet then glanced off the keys and tore a hole in the males pants, and continued to travel between the pants and a pair of shorts he was wearing. The bullet came to rest when it entered the coin pocket of the males pants, where it was recovered for evidence.

That's what any guy would call a "close call." Is that a bullet in your pocket or are you just happy to see the EMT?  Both.

There may have been alcohol involved, and that's a big NO NO when handling guns, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the gun was dropped and it discharged when it struck the floor. What was the make and model? I don't know, and my email and phone call to Lt. Smallcomb of the Mendocino Sheriff's Office remain unanswered.

Modern handguns have safety features that are supposed to prevent a discharge resulting from a drop. However, one old one single action .44 caliber revolver doesn't. It's the Ruger Blackhawk, and Ruger has bent over backward in its efforts to educate people and get that corrected. Here's the Ruger Safety Announcement, and here's their free offer (PDF) to retrofit an old handgun with the safety feature.

It's hard to imagine that there are owners of these old guns who haven't gotten the free safety feature or who don't keep the barrel chamber empty until they are ready to shoot. Some owners of the old guns think they are more valuable as antiques without the new safety feature. However, Ruger will give the owner the parts that were removed in the retrofit, so it shouldn't make any difference to the value.

Well, if there's one thing I've learned from the comments left at some of my accidental discharge posts it's this: Handguns don't cause accidental discharges. Careless people handling guns cause accidental discharges.

Second - Western New York State in 2001. An off-duty police officer went to an imaging center to have an MR imaging examination. He misunderstood directions and carried his handgun into the MR room. He took his Colt model 1991 A-1 compact .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol out of the holster and tried to place it on a cabinet three feet away from the magnet bore when the magnet pulled it from his hand and into the bore where it discharged on impact. Here's an excerpt from the Report (via Say Uncle):

At the time the weapon discharged, it was reportedly in a cocked and locked position; that is, the hammer was cocked and the thumb safety was engaged to prevent the hammer from striking the firing pin. A live round was in the chamber. (Many people who choose this weapon for personal protection will carry it in this manner because it allows them to quickly fire the weapon if needed.)

When the firearm was removed from the magnet, the gun was still in a cocked and locked position. An empty cartridge was found in the chamber. The presence of an empty cartridge in the chamber is highly unusual. If the thumb safety were not engaged and the weapon fired normally by depressing the trigger, the normal backward recoil of the slide should have automatically ejected the empty cartridge, and a new live round should have automatically been chambered. As discussed earlier, the thumb safety performs two functions: it prevents the sear from releasing the hammer, thereby preventing the hammer from striking the firing pin; it also locks the slide in place, preventing retrograde motion of the slide and automatic ejection of the empty cartridge. Thus, the presence of an empty cartridge in the chamber confirms that the thumb safety was engaged at the time the gun was fired. Given that the thumb safety was engaged when the gun discharged, it is also likely that the normal trigger and hammer mechanism of firing the gun was bypassed because the thumb safety would have also prevented release of the hammer.

The gun likely discharged as a result of the effect of the magnetic field on the firing pin block. The firing pin block was probably drawn into its uppermost position by force of the magnetic field. The firing pin block has to overcome only light pressure from a relatively small spring to release the firing pin. The pistol was likely drawn into the magnetic field so that the muzzle struck the magnet's bore first. With the firing pin allowed to move freely in its channel, the force of the impact on the muzzle end was sufficient to cause the firing pin to overcome its spring pressure and move forward to strike the primer of the chambered round.

So what have learned today? Don't handle firearms when inebriated; if you have a Ruger Blackhawk get the free safety conversion; and finally, don't take your guns to the MR room.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" leaves no sacred cow unskewered

Over the past week or so I've watched seasons two and four of Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD, and I can't recall laughing so hard at a TV show.

That's the show featuring Larry David as himself living the good life in Los Angeles while trying to remain politically correct the whole time. David had his comedy credentials established in "Seinfeld," but "Curb Your Enthusiasm" really locks them in and suggests that he was probably responsible for the funniest "Seinfeld" jokes.

Larry David is a well know Hollywood liberal, and that serves a good purpose in "Curb." Each episode has a few story lines, and many of them have situations in which David inadvertently offends someone on the subject of race, gender, disability, religion, sexual preference or just about anything else that could offend someone. Some of the situations are a bit contrived, but they all work at some level. Only a well known liberal could get away with some of those jokes. And while Larry is always the butt of the joke, they wouldn't work without the hypersensitivity some people display.

I won't spoil the jokes for you except for this one. In the first episode in season four Larry's wife suggests that they renew their wedding vows on their tenth anniversary. Larry doesn't have a problem with that. So she's composing the vows she plans to recite at the ceremony and reads them aloud to him. The vows say something to the effect that Larry and Cheryl will honor and love each other through eternity. Wait a minute. Eternity? The original marriage vows were til death do they part, but now she's changing the rules. And there goes Larry's hope of being single in the afterlife.

Okay, I'll spoil one more for you. Cheryl agrees to allow Larry to have one affair before their tenth anniversary. (Hey, I told you it was contrived, but it sort of makes sense when a flashback tells us that she made the promise before they got married.) Larry finds a smart, attractive, dynamic woman who agrees to take part in the affair, but during the foreplay he discovers that she is a Republican. Oh no. That ruins it for him. He just can't go through with it. Guilt? Fidelity? Religion? Nope, none of those things matter. It's his liberal politics that keep him from having a good time. What a hoot!

Anyway, it may not be for everyone, but it sure made me laugh.

Dog Park Diary

Big dogs, little dogs, young dogs and old dogs. Pedigrees and mixed mutts plus everything in between. That's what you find at the dog park.

Hogan's Run Dog Park is a fabulous park for dogs and humans alike. The humans pal around and chat it up while the canines run, sniff, chase, and do all the things dogs do. It's great fun for everyone.

The dog park was on the drawing board for a long time before the Midland City Council finally gave it the green light, and to those of us who patronize the park that investment really has paid off.

There are various groups of dog park patrons who have become fast friends. But they aren't cliques, they're more like a bunch of soccer moms watching their kids play as we watch those hounds run, explore, or play "queen of the pool." Yeah, someone purchased an expensive looking animal feeding trough and placed it out there for the dogs to use. Fill it with water, and it become a small pool.

People clean up after their dogs, for the most part. But sometimes the ground gets a little spotty, if you know what I mean. When there are a lot of people at the park they get distracted and don't notice when Fido drops a load. Some people will only pick up after their own dog and not other dogs, but other more community-minded people help keep the park clean. After all, one of the rules is to leave the park cleaner than it was when you arrived. And it works. Thanks to all of you community-minded people who frequent the dog park! Thanks for keeping it clean!

There's a new local forum for pet owners, MyWestTexasPets.com, which provides a nifty way for people to discuss pet issues, complain about Fido's barking, or bemoan Fluffy's passing. (The Friends of the Dog Park was a group of citizens who helped get the park going, and that group had a website, but it had fallen into disrepair when I last visited, and it wasn't available when I checked today, so it may be off line.) And here's the link to City's webpage about the dog park where you can see the rules. And to locate the Dog Park see the city map.

Previously at Sleepless in Midland (oldest first):
May 16, 2004 -- Free Range Dog Park in Midland - Update #1
August 20, 2004 -- Soggy Doggy Splash Day
August 04, 2005 -- Soggy Doggy Splash Day II coming August 13, 2005
August 14, 2005 -- Soggy Doggy Splash Day update
August 28, 2005 -- Midland Dog Park - Scooping Up
October 17, 2005 -- A citizen's alternative to an expensive dog park
October 25, 2005 -- Dog Park issue before City Council today (10/25/05)
November 07, 2005-- City Hall -- Dog Park vote coming tomorrow
February 28, 2006 -- Release the hounds!
April 02, 2006 -- Dog Park Almost Complete!
April 02, 2006 -- Three Dog Tales
April 09, 2006 -- Dog Park -- completed but all locked up
August 13, 2006 -- Soggy Doggy Splash Day 3
February 12, 2007 -- Naming the dog park
March 21, 2007 -- Hogan's Run
June 30, 2007 -- A fond farewell to Coy Wills
October 20, 2007 -- Dogs love it!

Heck, it's almost like a dog park diary.

Oldest Midland Firefighter

He was the second paid firefighter in the city of Midland to pull up the boots and put on the bunkers. He was E. D. (Doyle) Fitzgerald, and he passed away the other day at the age of 102. Here's a link to his obituary.

In the early days, like most communities at the time, the fire department was an all volunteer effort. But as the city grew the elected officials recognized the need to hire some full time people. And Mr. Fitzgerald was the second such firefighter to be put on the payroll.

The city bought its first modern fire truck in 1917 for the princely sum of $5,800 consisting of a payment of $1,160 within 10 days after delivery followed by four annual payments of $1,160 plus 6% annual interest. Engine One and Engine Two can be seen at the Midland Fire Department museum.

Thanks to Asst. Chief Eddie Klatt for the heads up about this.

Bees - are they killers or not?

Last year the bee news was all about Colony Collapse Disorder. This year the little buzzers seem to be everywhere.

It's been almost four years since killer bees have actually killed someone in the area. But it has been only a couple of months since they killed a dog.

Anyway, I'm looking at the overgrown shrubs at the Sleepless Estate, and they are encroaching seriously into the alleyway. I was all set to trim them this fourth of July weekend, but there are all these little bees pollinating, or lapping up nectar, or maybe just stopping to smell the flowers.  (Note the bee's tongue in the photo on the left.)

So how does one distinguish a killer bee from a non-killer bee? (Actually, the politically correct term is "Africanized honey bee," but the bee probably doesn't care.) And the killer bee looks identical to the European honey bee. In fact, the TAM chart uses the same jpg drawing for both. So to find out for sure, one has to gather 50 of them, ship them off to the Texas Honey Bee I.D. Lab, and wait for the results. For more immediate results simply attack the hive and assess the intensity of the counter attack, i.e., see whether or not they try to kill you.

As for my situation, the shrub trimming is going to have to wait until after a hard freeze.

The Urban Explorer ventures into the unknown.

Urban Explorer here, ready to tackle the unknown territories. Today's adventure takes us to a colony in North Midland County, Texas, where a tribe of people live on the fringes of a metropolitan city. Extensive internet research yielded the location of this isolated colony, and a special thanks goes to brave pioneers Eric and his mate who have taken up residence there and are living among the natives. He exposed this colony to the modern world with aerial photos at his blog.

Thanks to the information provided at that site, the Urban Explorer was able to navigate his way to the wilderness outpost although he was not adventurous enough to try to locate our pioneering friend. However, we do hope that said friend is able to keep his guard up out there in the wild.

To explore this area one needs to head North from the city on "A" street and pass what could be either a CIA rendition facility, or a gated community. Do the inmates there have Habeas Corpus rights? Never mind, let's not get distracted.

First, some ground rules. The Code of the Urban Explorer is extensive, but here are four important rules: (1) don't interfere with the cycle of life; (2) avoid encounters with a female and her young; (3) steer clear of man eaters of any species; and (4) always assume that natives are not cannibals unless there is evidence to the contrary.

So here we are at the edge of the known world, and the road leads to two watering holes one of which has a nice creek flowing into it. And you will be pleased to know that it is a very pleasant and reasonably safe experience hiking along that babbling brook.

The brook feeds into a pond, and the clever natives have constructed a pumping system which apparently recycles the pond water back into the stream to keep it flowing. The stream is lined to prevent the thirsty earth from sucking up all the water.

They've stocked the stream with tiny fish as cute as snail darters. But don't let your guard down, those little swimmers could grow into giant man eating leviathans.

Our journey continues. Along the creek path the Urban Explorer encounters a native human female adult with two children. The Code dictates caution when encountering females with their young, so try to appear non-threatening, and maybe they won't attack. These particular natives don't appear threatened or threatening. They were, however, being stalked by a meat eating canine which was following close at their heals. It's sad sometimes, but the Urban Explorer cannot interfere with life's cycles. Not to worry, though, because this canine was not much bigger than a large shoe.

As the Urban Explorer followed the meanderings of the creek he felt eyeballs staring at him, and sure enough, there was a trio of subterranean creatures watching every move. Walk softly so as not to antagonize these creatures as there is no telling to what lengths they will go to protect their young. Take little comfort in the knowledge that they may not be man eaters as those sharp teeth can bite through pecan hulls.

Continuing down the path we encounter a giant spider stalking a much smaller insect. Such is the cycle of life, and we cannot intervene. And so our journey ends.

It was a pleasant experience, one that maybe you can experience too. Enjoy the outdoors, be safe, and remember the Code.

Urban Explorer out.

Note to readers. Many of you consider these efforts at humor to be lame, unfunny and possibly even offensive. And to you I would like to offer my most sincere apology but also note that there will be no refunds.

However, there are a few out there who actually do appreciate these efforts. And I would like to address you at this time, and specifically, make some generalizations about you. You are smart, creative, unconventional, and have a very good sense of humor. You are active, you are fun to be around, and you are probably successful at everything you attempt. The world needs you. Thanks for all that you do, and keep up the good work.

Black Gold 102

I was a big admirer of the derrick man at the rig on which I worked those long years ago. He was a combination circus acrobat and strong man way up there as he grabbed those three-pipe sections and danced them into a neat vertical stack. He had what it took -- strength, balance and courage, lots of courage. So I was glad that they showed a little bit about that job on the second episode of Black Gold which aired on TNT the other day.

The show seems to be trying to cover many aspects of the job, and it's fun to see all they do. In the latest episode they got the pipe stuck in the hole. And that was a treat to watch as they dropped the hammer trying to jar it loose.

That never happened while I worked on the rig, but the previous shift did twist off a bit one time. They pulled out of the hole, and there was nothing but a twisted piece of metal where there should have been more pipe and a bit. About that time our crew arrived to start our day, so we got to fix the problem they caused, the bums. To a green floor hand hand like me fishing for a bit seemed like an interesting variation in the job, but what a nightmare it was for the company men as all they saw was money going down a hole. To retrieve it we had to screw on a device that would grab the remainder of the pipe and pull it up. It was slow going, but it worked, and the company men were ecstatic.

Other less exiting things happened, like lost circulation. That happens when the drill hits a porous zone that soaks up all of the drilling fluid. I was on the night shift that month, and all night long we carried sacks of stuff to dump into the drilling mud to try to regain circulation. There were sacks of cotton seed hulls which were supposed to stop up the holes, and they were light and easy to carry.  But then there were sacks of the dry powder that when mixed with water makes drilling mud. I don't trust my memory on this, but I think those bags weighed 100 pounds each. Maybe they only weighed 50 pounds, but those suckers were heavy. At the end of the shift we were exhausted, but that didn't stop the smartypants I worked with. One said, "Get some sleep, you might have to WORK tomorrow!" Hardy har har.

Here's a story I heard about fishing for a bit. A rig was drilling a deep hole in another state, and they lost a bit. They fished for a long time and eventually pulled it out. The boss was a big bully, a former college football player, and when things got serious he was no fun to be around. So here they were, cleaning junk off the deck floor immediately after they had spent a day retrieving a lost bit, feeling a combination of joy and exhaustion. But someone left a chain on the rig floor, and the motors were causing the floor to vibrate. They had a video camera aimed at the hole, and my friend was in the dog house or the trailer or wherever they had the monitor. And he said he just happened to glance at the monitor just as that chain slithered like a snake down the hole. My friend had the job of telling the boss, and so started another nightmare day.

Anyway, I don't know if those of us on basic cable will get to see the rest of Black Gold, but I'm optimistic. If it gets enough eyeballs over there on TruTV then maybe we will get the reruns.

In the meantime, check out this comment left by Scotte at my post about the first episode. He had some interesting and insightful things to say about it, and he seems to know what he's talking about.

Previously: Good news for basic cable subscribers - "Black Gold" to be rebroadcast on TNT and
"Black Gold" - it was a want ad for West Texas roughnecks.