Sleepless in Midland

This crazy obsession with red light cameras

The outgoing mayor here in Midland, Texas, kept bring up the subject so often one had to assume that red light camera industry lobbyists must have really been after him. It would be interesting to see results of an open records request for all correspondence between him and anyone with an interest in or working for the red light camera industry.

With an election coming up voters will be looking at the candidates' take on it. It was a relief the other day to read that two of the four mayoral candidates, Dan Anderson and Kathy White, have come flat out against red light cameras.

Unfortunately, the two front runners were less committed. Jerry Morales pointed out some of the negatives but left an awful lot of wiggle room. And John James was silent on the subject, leaving us to assume it is definitely on the table if he gets to be mayor.

There seems to be this obsession with red light runners. When we think of red light runners we picture someone who deliberately runs an unambiguous red light. But that's usually not the situation, in fact, that's probably quite rare. Instead it's the driver who runs a yellow light that turns red while he/she is still in the intersection or that maybe turned red before he/she entered the intersection. As it is, when a green light turns yellow the driver is faced with an immediate decision. Stop or keep going.

But if the intersection has a red light camera that will encourage the immediate stop irrespective of the car following. Thus more rear end collisions.

There are two easy solutions which together could solve the perceived problem. One is longer yellow lights. The other is a visible countdown so drivers can anticipate when the light is about to turn yellow and adjust their speed accordingly.

Then there's the money making aspect. Politicians don't like the complaints they get when they raise taxes, so they fall all over themselves trying to explain that they really don't like to raise taxes. So the red light camera is their solution. It raises money and they can still claim to be in favor of low taxes. In fact, it raises so much money that it has led many to believe that's the main reason municipal governments want them. It's all about the money.

This isn't the first time we've talked about this. See A good idea for red light camera proceeds and Beware of elected officials driving in traffic.

Finally, for evidence that red light cameras increase accidents see the studies listed at motorists.org.

Scooter Brown offers viable alternative to downtown skyscraper

Energy Related Properties principal Scooter Brown was a guest yesterday on the newwstalkkcrs.com morning drive radio show. And the topic was the skyscraper ERP and the city council want to build in downtown Midland, Texas.

Setting aside the issue of demolishing the old courthouse, a major issue with this is the huge taxpayer subsidy they want. So it was a relief to hear Mr. Brown say that the tax money wasn't a deal killer. If they didn't get the money, he said, they would simply move the project to the outskirts of town and build it on their own. What a simple and perfect solution. Everybody gets what they want. The taxpayers get to decide for themselves what the best use is for their money, and the developers can get all the benefits of owning the energy tower they want to build. That's an offer the city shouldn't refuse.

It's the win/win solution that should make everyone happy.

Well, I guess the only unhappy group would be those in the downtown revitalization movement. But maybe someday they'll set their own interests aside and acknowledge that a free market without influence from government subsidies is better for everyone. It's for the common good.

Great suggestion in letters to newspaper editor -- build a Cosco instead of monster tower!

Local taxpayers are bewildered by the Midland, Texas, city council's movement to demolish the courthouse and give taxpayer money to a builder to construct a skyscraper. Although they give some excuses for it, such as revitalizing downtown. Most of us suspect that the secret motivation is to build a monument to demonstrate how fantastically awesome they are.

So along comes a brilliant letter to the editor in this morning's Midland Reporter Telegram. It's not online, so an image is provided on the side. Click on it to enlarge the print size.

It's from Janice Courtney, and her point is brilliant. Instead of subsidizing someone to build a monster tower, build a Cosco Wholesale Club. Brilliant! There I've said it twice. If it's downtown activity they want, a Cosco will bring them in.

Non-subsidized builders are ready to build outside the downtown area. So maybe the government shouldn't interfere with the free market. Crony capitalism isn't good for anyone except the cronies.

Cowboy mounted shooting at the Midland County Fair

The Midland County Fair is going on currently in Midland, Texas. And one event that is always fun to watch is the Cowboy Mounted Shooting. They ride on horseback as fast as they can around a circuit that has lots of turns. And they shoot at balloons. The guns are loaded with blanks that make a lot of noise and shoot out nothing but red hot powder. Here are a few pics:

The muzzle flash lasts a split second, and it's a challenge to capture it on camera.  You can get an idea of their range from these.

The ladies were quite good.

Whoa, watch where you point that thing.

This guy looks familiar, dude.

So you want to build a skyscraper

This obsession with a skyscraper in downtown Midland, Texas, is looking more ludicrous with each new revelation. Thursday the morning paper told us that the developer may seek as much as $75 million dollars from taxpayers to make it happen. At least the city council hasn't yet rolled over for him. With an election coming up one would hope at at least one of the two council members who are running for mayor would come out of dreamland and apply some logic to this.

The local economy goes through boom and bust cycles, and it's currently in the mature stage of a boom cycle. And maybe that's why the local government wants to tax and spend like there's no tomorrow.

If office space is in temporary short supply it would seem that there would be a better way to alleviate that problem. A spectacular skyscraper is an ego thing. But I think that could backfire. A lot of Midlanders are a little bit self conscious of our region and slightly insecure about how outsiders view us. One outsider referred to Midland as "F Troop," harking back to an old TV sitcom about a fictional remote army outpost stocked with misfits.

Note the obsession the local government has over development along the corridor between the airport and the city. Note the obsession over making the duck pond look like it's full of water. Appearances are everything.

Here's a challenge for those elected officials who think a new skyscraper is what the taxpayers want. Suppose there really is $75 million in taxpayer funds for the taking. How do you best serve the residents of the city? Fix the roads? Put better traffic control at high accident intersections? Coordinate the traffic lights so traffic would flow better? Solve the water shortage? Sock it away for when the state relinquishes control of major roadways?

Naw, raze the courthouse and erect a monstrous skyscraper in its place, yeah, then the F Troop will finally get some respect.

The neighborhood foxes -- baby makes three

Regular visitors to Sleepless in Midland may have seen some photos of the wild foxes that prowl around the neighborhood while the city sleeps. (Links added below.)

Two is the most that have been captured on camera at this location up til today. But early this AM there were three. Presumably they are a mom, pop, and their young'un.

The one in the background is the youngster.

As you can see, junior can't keep still, and a moving target isn't very photogenic. Must drive the parents crazy, but you can bet they are glad the little one is old enough to go out and forage with the adults.

Previously:
Nocturnal neighborhood scavengers
More pics from the critter cam
Fox scat and
Foxes visit the urban back yard.

Fox scat

The other day I posted some photos of one of the foxes that was prowling around out back. See Foxes visit the urban back yard. While this might not be everyone's cup of tea, one of those visitor left something special for urban animal trackers -- fox scat. Maybe someone visiting this blog might be able to use the following photos to help identify a deposit found in a yard somewhere.

As you can see, he/she is getting lots of roughage. While these wild animals live in an urban environment, the consistency is very much different from that of a dog on a commercial pet food diet.

Newsflash! It's NO ONE'S "cup of tea!" It's CRAP, for crying out loud! -- Robo-ed.

Well, sometimes you just have to stop and smell the daisies. -- Sleepless.

Foxes visit the urban back yard

Last winter a fox scavenged my back yard for food, and he/she got caught on camera. See pics at Nocturnal neighborhood scavengers.

Occasionally during the dark morning hours in the spring I caught a glimpse of a furtive fox hiding in the bushes in the area. One morning it scampered across a street carrying something in its mouth. Could it have been a momma taking food to some little ones?

Well, this morning around 7:30 there were two in my back yard. If I had known they were coming I would have put out some food and drink.

They looked like adults, but they weren't nearly as skittish as the winter fox. I suppose they could have been brazen youngsters out on their own. In any event, it's nice to see the urban wildlife thriving in spite of the drought.

They are pretty good climbers. The first one I saw this morning was in a tree, so fences won't separate them from something they want. One has to wonder if they might mate with domestic fertile canines. If so, that might make for some unusual pups.

Bonus! Click fox scat to see pics of something one of them left behind.

All our children are below average

Many of us watched as the Midland, Texas, Independent School District Superintendent stumped for a mind boggling $163 million bond for building new schools last year and wondered if voters would allow the local government debt burden -- the legacy to be passed on to those youngsters now in school -- to increase to an even higher level than it already was. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs issued a report to remind Texans about the huge local government debt loads burdening Texans. See Your Money and Local Debt-PDF. But that didn't stop voters. The bond passed, and the press heaped accolades on the superintendent for this increase of the debt burden as if kids can't get a decent education in an old building.

But there's a nagging little problem lurking in the weeds like a truant child hiding from the teachers. The students may not be learning. The headline STAAR scores for Midland ISD below state average drove home to us that all our children are below average.

After the last two presidential elections many of were left wondering what kind of education the kids were getting that caused 60% of voters under 30 to support a president who wants to increase government dependency, discourage individual initiative, and stifle dissent.

They must be picking it up in government schools.

A couple of years ago a state teachers association rep was quoted in the morning paper as opposing legislation that would switch their retirement program into a 401K type program, the kind that most everyone in the free market has. And the rep was attempting to educate teachers about how difficult it would be for them to personally deal with a 401K retirement plan.

Teachers comprise a big voting block, and the reason they wanted to keep it in the government is because they can easily convince legislators to give them a larger share of tax payers' money should their pension fund's investments lose value.

However, the reason given to teachers, at least publicly, was that it would too difficult for the individual teachers to handle their own retirement funds. Though not actually said, the message seemed to be that teachers weren't as smart as their counterparts outside the government when it comes to money. I would like to think that's wrong and that our teachers are the best and brightest, after all, my mom was one. But there is that nagging fact of the underachieving test scores.

Meanwhile, the economy in the Permian Basin cycles between boom and bust, and we're currently still in the boom part of one of those cycles. Builders go crazy during boom times, and they pay the piper during the bust times. And now the school superintendent wants to get into the business of government housing. What could possibly go wrong with that?

The streets ran wet with beer

This happened yesterday morning at a busy intersection in Midland, Texas.

I was driving toward the intersection and noticed a commotion ahead. As I got closer it became apparent that there were hundreds of cans of Bud Light loose out in the street. Apparently, the driver of an overloaded pickup truck hauling cases of Budweiser beer hit a bump, swerved or something, and a portion of his load left the vehicle on its own.

It was quite a scene. Beer cans everywhere, people scrambling, cars blocking the street.

I scurried home and retrieved a camera, but by the time I got back all that was left was a bunch of cans on the island and the hapless driver gently placing them into the back of the truck. We don't know what happened to those cans. Did they get discarded? Put in someone's fridge? Put on the store shelves?

At any rate, if you attend a party this Independence Day, and the unopened can of beer in your hand shows some road rash, be sure to point it in a safe direction before flipping the tab.

Spuds McKenzie, go home boy,  go home!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

How come electricity suppliers can't keep up with the demand?

Sometimes it seems we're paying first world prices for third world service. Yesterday (6/26/13) was a hot day in Midland, Texas, government weather reported 109ºF. But, the heat index was only 103ºF, so we had that going for us.

It was a heat wave, the type that happens in Texas several times every summer. So why can't the electricity providers keep up with the demand? Newswest9.com told us at 4:30 PM yesterday the following:

Numerous NewsWest 9 viewers are calling into the NewsWest 9 newsroom about power outages in Midland and Odessa.

The first power outage is in Midland. According to the ONCOR Stormcenter website, over 2,900 customers are without power on the west side of Midland.

Power is anticipated to be back on by 6 p.m.

Who is to blame? Why it must be the customers, because Oncor has asked them to cut back.

Tell ya what. We're paying sums in three figures per month for electricity. So how about the power company try to keep up with the increased demand that everyone knows comes every time there's a heat wave, year after year.

If they can't keep up with an ordinary heat wave, it doesn't sound like they would do well if something really significant happened, a Carrington Event or an EMP, for example.

Refill the duck pond with its own water

This would make a great cartoon if only I could draw. Sigh.

Picture this. It's a government person sitting in a boat in a pond. He scoops out a bucket of water, then empties it on the other side of the boat. A duck floats by and asks, "What are you doing?" He says, "The pond is going dry, so I'm filling it up." 

That's basically what's happening with the duck pond at Wadley Barron Park in Midland, Texas. The local paper has been all over this. Seems that the city is in the process of drilling a couple of water wells near the pond with the stated purpose of refilling the pond to historic levels. The problem is that the pond if merely the visible part of the reservoir that sets the pond water level. So pumping water from the ground nearby simply takes from the same reservoir and puts it back by way of the pond.

Those of us with trees that nourish themselves from the underground water worry that eventually all the local people who are pumping water from that reservoir to dump on their yards will eventually deplete the reservoir and kill our trees. We talked about this a year ago as we worried about the undesirable consequences of too many straws sucking out of the same soda.

But that's life in the desert when people think it's an oasis.

Hey, here's an idea! Much of the water that comes out of our faucets is pumped from lakes several miles away. Those lakes are depleting too, so maybe we could form a bucket brigade. Fill up the buckets from our faucets, then pour it back into the lake. Repeat until full.

Eye on Midland -- Fire trucks at fire stations

There was a big brouhaha about the Midland, Texas, Fire Chief's decision to post a squad (pickup) truck at Fire Station #5 to replace a fire engine. Since 90% or more of the calls to the fire department are for something other than fires, that made sense.

But a fire a few blocks away from Station 5 demolished a house, so a small group of citizens took it upon themselves to draw attention to the fact that the station had no fire engine with which to respond to a real fire.

The Chief tried to explain that the 5:25 minutes it took for a fire engine to get there was a typical response time. However, the Chief eventually relented and put the engine back at the station.

There were three things missing from the public discussion.

First, the Chief put together a slide show a while back to show that there was a small part of the community where response times were a little bit slower than elsewhere, and that called for a new fire station to be built. I don't have a copy of the slide show, but if I recall, the response times that justified the new station were about the same as the response time at the fire in question. So why weren't the response times in that slide show used by either side of this dispute to bolster their case?

Second, another goal of the Fire Chief is to demolish Station 5 and rebuild it from the ground up. The excuse was that the new fire trucks the department wants are too tall to fit through the garage door. So to say that Station 5 doesn't need a fire engine would be saying the station structure is just fine the way it is.

But, the demolition/rebuild is already in the plan, and if the momentum to spend the money is there, then no department head is going to turn it down. Perhaps that had something to do with the decision to put the engine back at the station.

Third, fire prevention is the most important aspect of fire fighting. If you're old enough, you'll remember Smokey's admonition about who can prevent forest fires. The fire in question was supposed to have started in the garage. But what started it and how could it have been prevented? Whatever the cause, it has been kept a secret from the public.

Eye on Midland -- parade/train collisions dropped 100% since the new law

Parade permits -

Looks like the Midland, Texas, city council is going to "OK" the Juneteenth parade this year, a parade that has taken place along the same route for many, many years, perhaps decades. But this time is different.

Last year a train hit a different parade, and the shifting into high gear of the city council's instinct to exert control follows tragedy like a caboose follows a train. There just had to be a new law. Now no parade can cross the tracks unless city council grants an exception. But to their credit, train/parade collisions have dropped 100% since they passed the new law. Never mind that the one collision was a once in a millennium event, you can't argue with statistics.

So along came the Juneteenth organizers following the new rules and seeking the council's permission to cross the railroad tracks. All but one of the council members said "OK," which leaves us to speculate that the one dissenter must think the trains are hiding in the weeds, waiting for some unsuspecting parade to cross the track or that parade participants are incapable of stopping on their own. Maybe that's a good example of the bigotry of low expectations.

Typically, city police officers man the parade route, so one has to assume that one of them will be posted at the RR crossing to watch for trains. The officer could stop the parade if a train comes along. But the city council had the opportunity to make an imprint, and so they did.

Previously on these pages: New parade permit rule - minorities hit hardest.

An easy fix - just paint lane markers in the intersections

The city of Midland, Texas, is experiencing some growing pains, and among those pains is an increase in the number of traffic accidents. Instead of wringing our hands while waiting for the city to come up with something, let's point out a common sense thing that could help without the need for an expensive consultant. Paint the lane markers.

The photo spread below is the same photo spliced together. The intersection is Midland Drive and Andrews Highway which, depending on the time period under review, is either the worst or near the worst intersection in terms of traffic accidents. One obvious problem is that a driver can turn left from two lanes, but once the driver enters the intersection, it's no-man's-land in terms of lane separation. And drivers in either lane, whether they realize it or not, tend to change lanes in the middle of the intersection. A little bit of white paint would cure that and maybe reduce the number of accidents.

The photo shows the intersection on the left as it appeared Saturday morning with lane markings barely visible due to wear and tear from heavy traffic. The same photo on the right contains some photoshopped lane markings to show what it should look like.

This problem is obvious to anyone who has entered that intersection, but it may take a high priced consultant to get the attention of the decision makers.

Pics of the Midland County Courthouse before it gets demolished

The local powers want to demolish the old courthouse, so I wanted to get a few photos before it gets reduced to rubble.

For starters, this is the sign commemorating the 1974 remodeling. Maybe some old photos will surface of the original courthouse before they put on the facade. The local newspaper probably has some, but they might not want to risk stirring up a hornets' nest of nostalgia.

This one shows the West and South side (front).

Here's the North (back) side.

This one shows the East side with an event tent obstructing the view. Don't know what event will be celebrated there, but most likely it will be a champagne sipper where the people who hope to make money off it will toast the elected officials who made it happen for them. (Updated: The event tent is probably for the Arts Council's upcoming April in Paris event.)

The pedestal where the statute once stood.

Are they still watching?

A couple of miscellaneous photos.

Finally, a space-for-lease sign in the window across the street suggesting that office space isn't that hard to find.

Out with the old -- progressive Midland, Texas, government wants to demolish old courthouse

A small group of conscientious citizens have banded together for a petition drive to try to stop the city council from demolishing the 50 year old court house. It's a David vs Goliath battle, and the odds are against the citizens.

If the past is any guide, once the council members make up their minds on something -- tax hikes, expenditures -- it's a done deal. Citizens have a voice. But that's all they have, and aside from a few web posts and maybe a few letters to the newspaper editor, its a weak weapon against a progressive political establishment convinced they know what's best for us.

The city council has all the power. With a complacent electorate and a compliant news media, there's little to stop them.

They were elected to represent the citizens, but there's a phenomenon that afflicts elected officials. At some point after getting elected they become convinced that they aren't representatives but leaders and that they are their constituents' "betters." Only they know what's best for the people.

Throw in record levels of tax revenue, and the cocktail of money and power is intoxicating. At some point their objective becomes less about representing the people than about leaving a mark. So when faced with the question of how to make life better for Midlanders, their answer was to give the old, newly acquired county courthouse to a developer how would replace it with a skyscraper.

The only way to sober them up is to vote them out of office. But there we are back to the David vs Goliath scenario. Incumbents get so much free publicity that once in office each subsequent election is a cake walk. Term limits just mean they rotate chairs every once in a while.

What's the solution? I don't know. When Goliath is sitting on your chest and giving you a thorough beat down it's hard to come up with anything.

Post Script. The photo was taken Christmas day 2011. The other day the morning paper said the statue in the foreground has already been carted away. Before too much longer photos will be all we have left of this piece of Midland history.

A city of two tales -- socially conservative, fiscally liberal

The city of Midland, Texas, is unique. It's a city out in the middle of nowhere and somewhat like the rural community it once was.  But it's also a lot like the larger urban cities.

Around 75% of voters vote for Republicans in national elections, however the city government elected officials don't have to declare a party. And what we've ended up with is a progressive local government. Add in the socially conservative constituency, and we have a unique home brew of fiscal liberals and social conservatives.

How could that happen?

In The Real Reason Cities Lean Democratic, Emily Badger speculates that urban dwellers are fiscal liberals because residents being stacked on top of one another makes them appreciate money being spent on the common good. Maybe.

In Midland's case it's a matter of spend-it-while-ya-got-it. With unemployment low, incomes high, and housing in short supply, residents are complacent about the rising taxes. And they seem to be looking to government for relief from the housing shortage. Elected officials are eager to comply, especially those seeking reelection or a higher office. Mix in the intoxicating effect of coffers overflowing with ad valorem, sales and motel tax revenue. The only problem they contemplate is how to spend it all before the good times end.

So we see news reports about how the city is going to buy the old county courthouse and the land it sits on and give it to a developer to build a sky scraper. It looked good to the council on paper, and the city has cash burning a hole in its pocket. So they splurge. It's all for the common good, you see.

It's too bad there's no politician on the local political horizon who wants to give the money back to the people from whom it was taken.

Televised city council meetings

There was a teaser in the Midland, Texas, City Council wish-list that showed up in the paper the other day.

On the first day, the council came up with a list of ways to make the city more technologically advanced. The council listed possibilities such as public Wi-Fi, electronic site plan submittals, a better smartphone app and televising City Council meetings.

[Emphasis added.]

With record dollar amounts rolling into the city coffers through property and sales taxes the money is burning a hole in their pockets. They'll spend it, that's for sure. Unfortunately, they'll probably make long range commitments on the assumption that the good times will last indefinitely.

The cost of televising City Council meetings is pittance compared with what they'll spend, but there's still a way to do it economically. The city already owns some cameras, there are employees and volunteers who either know or could easily learn how to operate them, and Suddenlink provides a government access channel to them. (That channel currently broadcasts a pretty black screen with a pleasant white noise.)

I stood up in front of the council on two occasions asking if they would televise the meetings but got a cool reception both times. So I can't complain if they finally do it. If only they weren't so accustomed to doing everything the most expensive way.

Previously: Tall City TV Should Broadcast the City Council Meetings and City Should Televise City Council Meetings.

More car wrecks

With the economic boom comes traffic jams and car wrecks. The city released some stats the other day, which MyWestTexas.com passed along to us, which tell us that traffic has increase 10.07% and traffic accidents have increased 13.5%.

Maybe that's a good time to repeat a truism: The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.

The city council intends to put stop to that. Another MyWestTexas.com article tell us they plan to seek a traffic study to address solutions to traffic problems. Hopefully, some of those solutions will help traffic flow -- like coordinated traffic lights -- rather than slowing it down.

(Apology: I intended to reference some of the prior traffic reports to note that the intersections with the most accidents are not always the same from year to year, and maybe include a good wreck photo. But that will have to wait due to time restraints and a 2012 report that didn't contain as much intersection information as the previous ones. Hopefully, the company that gets the contract won't focus only on the intersections topping the 2012 list.)

Police doing a great job in Midland, Texas

The City of Midland released the crime stats compiled by the MPD which compare 2012 with 2011. As follows:

Crime	2011	2012	Change
Murder & Manslaughter by Negligence	4	4	0%
Forcible Rape	20	23	15%
Robbery	58	52	-10.34%
Aggravated Assault	252	321	27.38%
Burglary	715	559	-21.82%
Theft	2,435	2,313	-5.01%
Auto Theft	137	136	-0.73%
Total Part I	3,621	3,408	-5.88%

Note that aggravated assaults are up. That has to be a hard one for the police to get a handle on. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to commit an assault. But an aggravated assault means the assault must have caused serious bodily injury or involved a deadly weapon. (Picture a drunken brawler breaking a bottle on the bar and wielding it as a weapon. I know, I know, I watch way too much TV.) Anyway, that's behavior that's hard to foresee and prevent.

Burglaries are down significantly. And the police department should get accolades for that. It probably took a lot of policing to catch the burglars they caught. And for every burglar sitting in the slammer, that's a number of burglaries that didn't happen.

Keep up the good work you guys and gals in blue.

A square mile in Midland, Texas

Received an email from Mr. Carl Crum about a PBS TV show about to start filming (or whatever they call it now) a television series featuring stories from within designated square miles in various Texas cities. The image you see on the right shows Midland's square mile.

From Mr. Crum:

We are not looking for tourist's perspective of this square mile, but rather a first person perspective of what it is like to live in this community on a day-to-day basis.The five themes we will be filming in this square mile are:

Community - What role does community play in this square mile. How do residents interact and socialize? Is community involvement centered at the school, the barber shop, the cafe or the home?
Family - What is the role of family in this square mile? What is it like to live, grow up or raise a family in this square mile?
Work - How do people earn a living in this square mile?
Food - How is food a part of the culture in this square mile?
Future - What is the future of this square mile?

We are looking for the obvious and the obscure. Anyone within the community can make a suggestion on the OSMTX website at:

http://www.osmtx.com/tv/Midland.html.

OK, no fair answering every question with "Walmart."

My favorite yard ornament got the Christmas spirit

It's Moulding Our Future, a beautiful sculpture by D. Haskew that's planted on a lawn at a private home here in magnificent Midland, Texas. The lad has been sporting a Christmas stocking cap on his bronze noggin this holiday season helping spread the Christmas spirit. As we approach the new year I expect the cap to come off soon. So here for your enjoyment is a photograph.

If you want sculpture like this of your own shop online here or here. To read more about the piece go here.

Merry Christmas, kiddo. And learn to spell.

The bariatric room

Yesterday the expensive new nine story patient wing of the Midland Memorial Hospital held an open house to display the new building. The rooms had pretty much what one might expect in modern hospital rooms, including computer monitors with Windows XP logos roaming around the screen.

However, the most striking thing about the rooms was the attention paid to bariatric patients. "Bariatric" is the polite word to describe someone with an energy retention system so efficient that the stored energy becomes a burden. The less polite word would be "fat."

Each patient room had double doors and a Guldmann lift to get the patient up out of bed. There were no demonstrations yesterday, but this Youtube video shows how one works.  And the photo on the right shows one hanging in the background.

The standard rooms had GH3 units with maximum lift of 250 kg / 550 lbs., each powered by its own 24v NiMH rechargeable battery. Then there was one room on the tour map called the "Bariatric Room." That one had a GH3+ unit with maximum lift of 350 kg / 770 pounds. That lift was powered by two batteries.  See a closeup below, right.

It's "goodbye sore back" for the beleaguered hospital staff.

Bonus -- if anyone needs a suggestion for a new year's resolution, here's mine: Keep the weight below 550 pounds, 770 tops.

P.S. I thought Microsoft was going to quit supplying updates for the XP operating system. Oh well, if the system gets a virus, what better place for treatment than at a hospital?

Village of the Damned plays high school football

Maybe someone who follows West Texas high school football knows the story behind this. Take a look at these two photos from the Midland Reporter-Telegram issues of 11/24/12 and 11/26/12. Notice anything unusual about the players?

All of those young men seem to be sporting blond hair. Is that a coincidence? The odds are against it being a natural phenomenon.

They are identified as Greenwood High School football players, but they look like adolescent kids from the Village of the Damned, minus the scary eyes.

Maybe their mothers were impregnated by one of those fertility doctors who used blond sperm to impregnate his patients. But that's even more unlikely.

Perhaps the boys bleached their hair to intimidate their opponents.  Gorgeous George would be proud.

What they need now is a good Haka dance to really intimidate their opponents, perhaps to the tune of a Beach Boys song. Or they could just use their Village of the Damned powers to cause turnovers. Either way.

[How did you miss Bleach Boys?  Robo-ed.]

a train, a parade float, four dead

The eyes of Texas were flooded with tears yesterday evening as news broke that a Union Pacific train barreled through a trailer/float loaded with war veterans and their families in Midland, Texas. News report can be found at Midland Reporter-Telegram. Some post-crash photos can be found here. (Browser note -- the photos load better with IE than Firefox.)

The Union Pacific spokesperson was reported as saying the crossing gate and lights were working, although it seems unlikely a test was performed in the few hours between the time of the crash and the publication of that statement. But just because it's a self serving statement doesn't make it false.

So the question on everyone's mind one day later is still, "How could this have happened?" Crash investigators are being very tight lipped so as not to tilt the question of liability too soon. All the rest of us can do is speculate, and it's hard not to suspect that in the excitement of the parade the truck driver might have forgotten section 2.12 from the Texas Commercial Driver Handbook:

2.12 RAILROAD CROSSINGS
Railroad crossings are always dangerous. Every such crossing must be approached with the expectation that a train is coming. ...

What a tragedy. The folks at Show of Support were simply trying to help wounded warriors, and this happens. What a tragedy.

Updated 11/28/12: Various reports identified Dale Andrew Hayden as the driver. And as for one possible explanation for the accident, see WSJ.com quoting the lawyer for Hayden's employer which owned the truck:

But Mr. Hayden assumed Midland police were controlling traffic at all intersections along the parade route, Mr. Fletcher said, citing his interview with Mr. Hayden and the driver of a second parade float.

But then from a later WSJ article:

AUSTIN—The railroad crossing in Midland, Texas, where four veterans died after being hit by a train this month was designed to give motorists at least 30 seconds of advance warning, according to a review of records filed with the Texas Department of Transportation.

A federal investigation has found that warning lights flashed and bells sounded for 20 seconds before a freight train struck a parade float carrying veterans and their families.

The plans date from an upgrade of the crossing that was completed in 1991.

Union Pacific Corp., the owner of the train, said the Texas transportation records are outdated and "do not reflect current conditions" at the Midland crossing. It added that federal investigators found that the parade float "proceeded onto the tracks eight seconds after the red flashing lights and bells activated" and that the crossing met federal requirements.

Lots and lots of finger pointing.

Jason Moore wins Unsung Hero award

Known in these parts as Captain Watchdog, Jason Moore has been an inspiration for frustrated taxpayers for many years. And it's great to see him get a national honor. The announcement appears at AmericansForProsperity.org which tells us he is the recipient of the The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation’s Unsung Hero Award:

The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation will award a $25,000 check to Jason at the State Policy Network’s 20th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Amelia Island, Fla., on Wednesday, November 14. Many excellent candidates from around the country were nominated for the award, but Jason stood out for his efforts as a “citizen watchdog.”

Jason vigilantly attends city, county and school board meetings with his camera in hand to hold public officials accountable on how they are spending tax payer dollars. His latest effort is to educate the public on the large local debt in Texas ($322 billion) and the local bond initiatives on the November ballot.

The $25,000 prize might help provide a cushion for him when we hit the fiscal cliff. But if nothing else, it certainly should move him up to "Sung Hero" status.

Congratulations, Jason! Thanks for all you do!

City council meetings on twitter -- a good baby step

The city government website tells us that citizens can follow the city council meetings on Twitter. Midlandtexas.gov, shows a news release, as follows:

City Council Meetings Now Available by Tweet

Residents can find the agenda online at the city website, then follow along with public comment, council motions, and city actions with the click of a mouse. Read More.

[The "Read More" link was 404 last I checked.]

But it's a one way street. People can follow on Twitter, but they cannot give feedback. Twitter Terms of Use:

The City of Midland will not respond via Twitter to press inquiries or other citizen matters. While we hope you will follow us on Twitter, we are unable to respond to questions on Twitter.

Anyway, it's a good first step. Ideally the city council meetings would be video recorded and broadcast on Tall City TV, the city's very own TV channel. This blogger has asked the city council to do that on two separate occasions, most recently on 8/17/2010, but the timing was bad. The suggestion was that they could use volunteers to operate city owned cameras and get the results without spending a dime. Unfortunately, the council members that day, while polite on the surface, were unified in a "No soup for you!" frame of mind due to their commitment to raise taxes while facing a room full of citizens imploring them to please not raise taxes.

But now we can follow the council meetings on Twitter. Baby steps. Baby steps.

City government: Sorry we made you use less water, now can you please pay for the water you didn't use?

Oh the irony of unintended consequences.

They cajoled, they scolded, they threatened, they raised the rates. The Midland, Texas, city leaders did all they could to get residents to use less water due to the shrinking reservoirs and the on-going drought. It worked. People took the matter seriously and curtailed their water usage like the good citizens they are.

Now the city is crying because the revenue from the residents' water bills isn't high enough.  The bureaucratic solution is to make residents pay more to make up for the short fall. So now citizens have to pay for the water they didn't use. Sigh. The citizens just can't catch a break.

Sometimes the jokes write themselves. If I weren't so lazy I would learn how to draw cartoons:

First panel: Mayor looking straight out at you and saying earnestly: "We are very proud of our ability to take a long range view and solve potential situations before they develop into problems."

Second panel: Mayor looking through the wrong end of a telescope at a glass of murky water. "It's half empty. No, it's half full. No wait, it's half empty."

Third panel: Mayor looking earnest again: "There is no temporary crisis that can't be cured by a permanent hike in your taxes, fees, and rates. You can thank us later."

Move over Garry Trudeau.

West Texas needs another gun range

There's a cool new indoor shooting range under construction at Lewisville, Texas, called Eagle Gun Range that when finished will have 24 indoor shooting lanes. It looks like a good deal for shooters, too.  From their website:

Daily Pricing:
$20 Per Lane, all day
$5 Off Additional Shooter Same Lane

They enlarged their profile recently with the news that they would be hosting birthday parties for kids -- not a bad idea as all children need to learn good gun safety lessons even if there are no guns in their households.

It would be nice to have something like that out here in West Texas. And according to a KWES report Tony Grijalva is behind a project that might make that happen. The first part of his endeavor is to take a survey to gauge the interest in an indoor range located between Midland and Odessa.

Currently the Midland Shooters Association owns the only ranges open to the public in the Midland/Odessa area. And business is good. It has been so good they doubled the membership dues in February from $100 to $200 per year, and their budget reflects that they anticipate income exceeding $850,000 for the fiscal year ending in the Spring of 2013. That's a nice piece of change. So nice, in fact, it's a wonder someone hasn't already built a competing range.