The personally known demished Mr. K[G]rugger...
Two of my pet peaves about Internet activity are, Number 1, SPAM, for all the time wasted and the inability to stop most of the cretins who do it. Number 2 is AOL, just for general principals, at AOL it's "my way or the highway". But the one good thing that AOL does have is competant SPAM filters. Which brings me to today's subject. Entertainment SPAM, no not SPAM about entertainment, but spam that entertains. And the only real example of that is "Nigerian 419 SPAM".

For the unitiated, or AOL users who probably don't see it, Nigerian Spam, is from friends you don't know you have in Africa who want to do you a favor and send you $5 million, and the only thing you have to do, is to send them $50,000 first. What a deal. The 419 stands for the Nigerian penal code that outlaws this. The letters are the entertainment in themselves. Some are in fairly good English, some are just plain bad, but all are hugely comical. And they all have several things in common. Among them is some really wild story purporting to have gotten your name and email address from some high citizen of Africa who has met you somewhere along life's way. [Gee, I don't remember being in Ghana, but if they know me...I guess I was]. The other commonality is the twisted convuluted trail of how so much money came available and just how you were selected out of the world's billions to help them get it.
I received one just today that was on the low end of quality English but was high on entertainment value. Among my favorite parts is:

I AM WRITING IN RESPECT OF A FOREIGN CUSTOMER OF MY BANK, OPERATING A
DOLLAR /DOMICILLIARY ACCOUNT NO. 00-14-255-018 UTB WHO INCIDENTALLY DIED
IN A PLANE CRASH PANAM-AIR FLIGHT OVER LOCKERBIER IN 1988.
FOLLOWING THE DEMISH OF THIS PERSONALLY KNOWN CUSTOMER MR LAMBART
KRUGGER, I HAVE MADE SEVERAL EFFORTS TO TRACE THE NEXT OF KIN OF MR GRUGGER
WITHOUT SUCCESS.

I am truly sorry about the demish of this personally known customer, but I'm even sorrier that they can't seem to get his personally known name right. Which is it, Krugger of Grugger. I'm not sending $50K unless I know!

These personal pleas, are entertaining and so insane that you wonder why they take the time to send them out. Who would ever believe these. Well, I'll tell you. Morons, and apparently boatloads of them. Never count morons out. The US Secret Service says that hundreds [yes hundreds] of millions [yes millions] of dollars have been lost in these schemes and the number is growing. What was even more interesting about the Scam Mail I received today was that the problem is so bad, that the senders ISP tacked a message warning of Nigerian 419 SPAM right onto the bottom of this actual Scam mail!

I find this sector of the Internet world interesting and entertaining. So much so that I am in the process of compiling Nigerian SPAM Scam emails for a new website dedicated to the morons who fall for this. In fact here's a complete copy of today's mail from Mr. Kwesi Boateng, Froreign Bills Dept. and don't forget to visit the Secret Service webpage linked at the bottom.

Invited Guests...
The plain unvarnished truth is this. President George W. Bush and wife Laura call Midland, Texas home. As do Secretary of Commerce, Don Evans and General Tommy Franks of Afghanistan and mid-east fame.
Now the city fathers like to take advantage of these connections and rightly so. But I think they're pushing it now. Just this last Sunday night a big patriotic assemblage was organized. Rejoice! it was called. Held at our new public stadium with a private name, brochures, fliers and TeeVee ads were in abundance touting the event and the all star guest speakers list. Pictured prominently on the ads were George W., Laura, Gen. Franks and Commerce Don among other motivational and patriotic people of lesser ilk. The kicker to all this was the smallish print which read
......"Invited Guests".
Now I believe Gen. Franks and Commerce Don probably did RSVP in the positive and in fact, did attend, but the chasm between "hey I'll be there" and "Invited Guest" is huge. I really don't think George W. et ux, ever planned to attend. But there they were smack dab, big as life, on the poster as "Invited Guests". Maybe the city fathers thought that even though they hadn't commited to come, maybe, just maybe they'd be sitting around the White House on Sunday afternoon with nothing to do, and just pop on down.
George W. to Laura.

"Honey, there's not much going on in the world today, and the war with Iraq appears to be on hold, let's go on down to that Rejoice deal in the old hometown...what say baby? And maybe after we can call my old admin assistant Julie and we can go out for Baskin-Robbins"

I think truth in advertising slips fast and loose with the city fathers. But I like their marketing savvy. It has me thinking. This is bad.
So with the Rejoice! campaign as a model, I've decided to host my own event. I've prepared my brochure and flier material below.

And as a postscript to the city fathers and their fast and loose advertising I'd like to relay the following letter from a distraught reader and mother. Shame on you city fathers, you have destroyed a child's trust!

"Amanda was apparently the only person in Midland who thought that the Bush Family was going to come out to El Rancho Grande. The first thing she said when she walked in the door last night "I'm so mad! George and Laura didn't come tonight and the paper said they were." I wonder if you have to have a particular size of hair net to work fast food for the rest of your life... If I hadn't personally brought her home from the hospital, I'd swear she wasn't mine"!

Ms. J.B
[mother of little Amanda]

Train of thought....
I've recently become infatuated with shooting images of trains. I have always been intrigued with them, perhaps because my grandfather had been a vice-president with the Frisco Railroad and we were brought up with them. I used to ride the train for free as a child, and even remember the railroad tracks by the grandparents house in St. Louis, where occasionally a steam powered locomotive still ran. Probably one of the last, it was magic to listen to it go by late at night in their grand house near the tracks.
The new interest arose one night when Julie, her kids and I where out and happened to get stopped at a rail crossing. I had my camera and on a whim jumped out and positioned myself about 10 feet from the tracks as the train went by at high speed. The shots really didn't come out, but it was a real experience having the train go by so close at 50 m.p.h. So much power, the wind will almost blow you down and it shakes the ground. I was disappointed but went back to that same spot the next week and took some daylight shots one of which is seen at The Tracks East of Town.

So tonight with Julie and Jack, we tried once again, but were faced with the same darkness. Although tonight I did turn on the flash, which yielded some interesting results such as capturing individual cars and their colors. Unfortunately with digital photography I don't have the good option of slowing the shutter speed to capture the movement. The photo below is taken of a train going at least 50 m.p.h. with the lights of the city to the right.

RR "X"ing, can you spell that without any "R"s?

Money for schools...forget it!
Well the results are in on our big school facilities improvement bond election. The voters say resoundingly, "hell no, we don't want to fix our schools up!" The bond package was, admittedly large [up to $160 million], and somewhat convoluted in it's wording, but at it's core was the need to fix up our school infrastructure. Many of the schools are basically the same as when I attended them some years, OK, decades ago. The voters were asked to approve several different levels of work to be done, and if my addition is correct, they approved.......none. These are the same voters who just 3 short years ago had no problem in saying, "hell yes" to a brand new state of the art Sports Complex costing $48 million. What does this tell you?
It confirms my belief that most people are morons and the world is going to sports hell. My bumper sticker which goes into production soon follows.

Open Air Dreams
We have had several days of thunder storms surrounding our area, but alas only a modicum of actual rain on the estate. But the real beauty is that it has cooled dramatically. Summer is much too long in West Texas, sometimes starting in April and running thru September. But now it is changing. Today the high was only in the mid 70's and tonight, well tonight I sleep with the windows open for the first time in five months. It is going to be near 60° for a low.
Sleeping with the windows open is a treat as the house, which was built in the mid last century, has lots of windows that all open. And a large glass door in my bedroom that opens to the patio. And the beauty of this in Midland is that it is Quiet! In Dallas, or any big city, with the windows open there is a constant hum of traffic. Here the only sounds I hear are the crickets and in the morning blue jays and cardinals at the feeder.

And the trains. I love trains. Although the tracks are one mile away, I hear the trains as they come into town, blowing their whistles at major road intersections. And if the light wind is right, I can even faintly here the "click-clack" of the wheels on the track. Distracting to some, such as the famous author I had as a guest last year. He awoke and said, "did you hear those trains..they sounded right next door". Well not really, but coming from a railroad family I don't care, I love to hear the trains on a cool night with the windows open.

Waxing Nostalgic
I was watching Austin City Limits tonight and the featured performer was David Byrne, of the old Talking Heads fame. Now as I grow older I like the more "quirky" performers and David is that. Or maybe eclectic. And he's about my age. So I started walking down memory lane, thinking of the time several years ago I was asked to tour as a backup with several other quirky performers.

Merle and Me

Merle Haggard is a kind and soft spoken man who has seen it all and been thru some tough times. And like me has come out the other side a better man. I enjoyed playing this gig with him.

The Cocker!

Joe and I hit it off from the very beginning and I love his music, and being part of it. Strange since he wasn't one of my real favorites in the 60's when he was hot stuff. And like me he's over his "indulgences" in exotic beverages and has become a better performer for it. I love his moves. I was thrilled to hit these licks with him for the several dates we played.

Obsession.......Fore!
Being a fan of Minature Golf in real life, I have become somewhat attracted to this well put together cyber version. Well OK, obsessed. This Putt-Putt version is by some genius at Harvard so you know it's good. Not perfect, but good. I take exception to the ball action on hole #18. It doesn't seem to go where it, by the laws of physics, should. Coincidentally it's the hole that keeps giving me the most trouble and keeps me from beating my best all time score of 32. I'm aiming to get under 30, but this stupid poorly designed [by the laws of physics] hole is keeping me from it. So much for writing here.....I have to get back to playing, and so should you. Check it out. That's Harvard Putt-Putt Golf.

Google Cooking!
If you are like me [and I know that you are], you may be at that stage in your life where you have an ample supply of groceries in your pantry but nothing sounds good. You've used every recipe you have till your bored stiff with food. And even just throwing things together doesn't yield results. Well I have the answer for you. It's Google Cooking. Simply make a short inventory of several of the food items in your kitchen that have been there the longest, then go to search engine Google and enter these to retrieve an assortment of recipes from around the world. Say I have old cans of corn, beans, and a moldy squash. I would enter recipe* corn, beans, squash [the recipe entry keeps you from getting articles on corn and bean blight etc.]. And Voila...I find an enchanting recipe for Cranberry Beans with Corn and Squash , the perfect healthy dinner for me. Tomorrow I think I'll enter recipe*, bread, miracle whip, peanut butter. The gourmet world at your fingertips!

The demise of Pedro
Alas poor Pedro is gone, long live Pancho. These are referring to the change of my main email address. So for all readers, remember that it is now Pancho -at- this domain.com. I had Pedro for many years, so long in fact that many real world friends and some other worldly friends, had taken to calling me this. So I will miss Pedro, but the change was necessary thanks to all the criminal spamming scum of the world who wanted to sell me herbs, lower my mortgage or my Nigerian friends whom I didn't know I had but wanted me to send them $50,000 so they could give me $10 Million. In tribute to these fine Africans I, sometime soon, will post all the great letters they sent me........and possibly start a contest to create the best Nigerian criminal spam letter. The prize being a trip to Lagos.

Electronic Malfeasance
Well now, just when I am used to the DVD and the stereophonic magnificence of my surround sound speakers, my tuner which controls the whole system goes on the Fritz! It seems that some piece of digital minutia has gone haywire resulting in only one stereo channel working properly. This gets my goat! I like things to work properly the way they're designed to do. And this tuner is only 10 years old.....tuners ought to last for......well I'd say 50 years. And to get one fixed is almost as much as a new one. But I'm letting it rest in the hopes that it can cure itself. You laugh. I have had my computer do this, I have had this very BLOG do the same thing as documented here months ago [*archives:7/30/2002 10:18:23 PM] . Sometimes electronic things just get tired. Give them a break and in a week or two of good rest, they're as good as new.
But the real digital revelation today was that I saw the electronic device of my dreams. A 57" rectangular flat-screen HDTV. I gotta' have one. I think I could hang it on the wall, or maybe over the fireplace. That's almost five [5] feet of screen!! And if every person who reads this journal would send a mere $5US...I could come up with the $2300 for it very quickly. You would be invited to watch, of course.**

**Reservation necessary, bring your own popcorn.

DVD's and Me...
And now I wax poetic about DVD's. Being a digital guy it's no surprise that DVD's have finally caught up with me. But unlike some, I can wait a little while for most new technology.....not too long, just long enough that every teenager has it. I really hadn't been itching to get one....and in fact don't have a player, but Julie does. I hadn't checked in to pricing, but was astounded that they are so reasonable now. Julie got her's mainly so that we could watch We Were Soldiers, the true story of my pal Joe Galloway's book. And I know many of the real life characters. Some such as, Hal and Julie Moore, and Bruce Crandall, very well...they are good friends.
What was great about this DVD is that besides the movie, there are many hours of interviews with my friends, and with producer/director Randy Wallace who I've met and respect greatly. And then there is the sound......we have the player hooked into my stereo TV and thence into my home sound system. SoundSound combat action....it's truly amazing...and somewhat scary!

Public Service
It's been a busy week, performing Internet public service, and I have neglected my daily drivel on Streams. I have been working on two [2] websites for a non-profit group Midland Math Science Boosters Club and a church, True-Lite Christian Fellowship both of which are not complete by any means. A third for the Sibley Nature Center is yet to be started. I enjoy doing these "gratis" for people, but don't let the word of my kindness get around.......I have an image to protect!

My next Streams edition will feature my discovery of DVD! We watched We Were Soldiers, the true story of my good friend Joe Galloway's book We Were Soldiers Once and Young. Man o'man hooked up to my stereo system it was too much. More later.

A hot one....!
Well for the first time this summer, it's been hot. I mean really hot, hotter than a two dollar Mexican pistol. 105° in the shade today, and there ain't much shade. This is the part of the country where we have a town named Notrees. Named as such for a reason. But really, you know, 105° coupled with very dry humidity isn't all that bad. No it only felt like it was 103°. And with a strong breeze all day that was very iritating. Like having a fan blowing on you from your oven. The kind of day where, if you had cheese in your pocket, it would melt ruining your pants.

But then, much in contrast to the forecast, storm clouds appeared late in the afternoon from the West. These meandered over the city and some rain did come down, but mainly as virga, not hitting the ground. Well, nowhere except my car which was parked at Outback Steakhouse for Amanda's [Julie's daughter] birthday celebration. This in combination with the dust in the air did a fine job of creating big dusty sploches on my nice clean car. Then some thunder rumbles. And I have to say, that thunderstorms when it is that hot, create some very strange looking clouds. It was eerie.

This is the current church bulletin

Good Day Sir......May I cut down your tree?"
Direct marketing has filtered it's way down to the lowest echelons of the economy. One of my four trees in the front yard is showing signs of the drought, or possibly just old tree age, and has lost most of it's leaves. It's not a "good" tree, although all trees are my friends but I'm going to wait until next Spring to see if it might come back with more moisture from the winter snows. But I am prepared for the worst.

But what surprises me is the aggressiveness of our local "tree surgeons". In the last two [2] weeks I have had three [3] tree trimmers knock on my door and offer to cut it down and haul it off. "Good Day Sir, Just passing by and noticed your tree is a blight on the neighborhood and a personal reflection on your self worth.....want me to cut it down and haul it off?" These visits have all occured around five o'clock which is my nap time, but these look like hard working citizens so I have been pleasant enough.

But what is really starting to worry me is..."Where will this lead?". If a tire on my car is low or perhaps a little bald, will the Discount Tire guy knock on my door? "Good Day Sir, I'm Jim Bob from Discount Tires and I was just passing by and noticed that your tire is a little bald and will probably kill you...may I put a new one on for you?" Or my yard light burns out..."Good Evening Sir, I know it's 11 o'clock but I'm with Basin Electric and was just passing by when I noticed that your light is out....very dangerous sir, I have a supply of bulbs in my truck, may I up your wattage to the 200 watt model?" But I suppose that this is better than email Spam...at least I can look at these people in the eye and tell them to get lost.

Mosquitoes
This is purely a rhetorical question. but.......where in the damn hell do all the mosquitoes in West Texas come from? This is a semi-desert climate where so far this year we've gotten about five [5] inches of moisture. We have no streams, rivers, marshes or swamps. Yet when I step out on the patio for so much as 3-4 minutes I have 5-6 bites on my ankles. And this is serious business now what with that Wet Smile Virus going around. I think, perhaps, it's my slovenly neighbors who can't keep up their yard. They probably have five gallon Crisco cans strewn about their back yard with water in them.
I just might sue them......and I would too if he weren't the Assistant District Attorney!

LATE FLASH: RE BELOW......
I believe that Heather and I have worked out or differences and I have been reinstated per the latest update Into the Gloom! Therefore I have removed and edited some of the comments below as originally printed.

How I came to be banned from the Mirror Project
The image above has caused me to be banned from the Mirror Project by owner, Heather. I look for no sympathy here, nor do I apologize to you. The banishment came not from profanity, bad behavior, lewd sexual innuendo or off color comments. No it came because of humor, actually the lack thereof by owner Heather. To explain I must digress.

Last Saturday, I made some effort to achieve a picture of me taking a picture of me in the DiamondVison screen at our local ballpark [available on request]. The picture was great and although not fitting the technical rules of Mirror Project to the exact "T", it was a work befitting the spirit of the project. Well not to Heather, as I received a short rejection note from her. OK, her site, her discretion. But I thought other "rejectees" might enjoy a bit of humor about our rejection. Thus the image above with a short narrative something to the effect of "After my rejection, I thought I'd get back to the basics of the Mirror Project". No accusatory tone, no resentment on my part. Shortly after submission I received a note from Heather to the effect of "if you got a problem, take it up directly with me Squirt". Being not quite a moron I picked up an angry tone.

At this time I must point out, that over the course of my Mirror Project career, I have sent this same Heather a nice note almost everytime my photos were added, telling her thanks and how much I appreciated the work she obviously put into the site. But, I thought, "I've offended poor Heather". So I wrote a very sincere note of appology telling her that no offense was meant, that again I appreciated her work and that if ever I was in San Francisco she could kick me really hard. I think most people would accept this and move on....but not our Heather. Today I submitted a tame no frills mirror shot, only to receive a "Rejection" almost instantly. xxxxxxxxxx [deleted items]. I mailed back asking if there was a problem with the photo. No she said, "the problem was me, and she could reject anyone she damn well pleased". Again I detected some bitterness.

So that's it. International banishment. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [deleted items]. Oh and Have a Nice Day :>]

A name to be proud of.......!
We in our fair mid sized city have a brand new High School football stadium, which costs the taxpaying citizens $48 Million. That's $480 per man, woman, baby and dog. So let's say around $700 per person not including non taxpaying baby's, dog's and a few women. I want my money back.
I didn't vote for this stadium...it was too expensive considering we need new schools, books, streets, more cops. But being a civic booster I had gotten somewhat used to it. We needed a new stadium, but perhaps not a Taj Majal facility.

Now, now I'm as you say.....incensed. The esteemed city council auctioned off the name to the highest bidder......someone named, Grande Communications Corp. They are not based here and haven't even really started in business here yet. And..a big and. They are an Internet company. As you know Internet companies are the role model for stability and staying power. And the Generation "Xers" at the City Hall didn't even make a good deal with them. $48,000/year. A stinkin' $48,000/year. A great deal for the Grande Bozo Co. They go out of business in two years and they're only out $96K.

This deal may have been legal, but it's morally wrong. Just plain wrong. This is a High School public facility. I think that we need more old geezers in our city government. I can't write anymore..I'm too incensed. Real really, I'm Pissed Off!

Best Seller........
My close friend and business partner, Joe Galloway, tells me today that his book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" is back on the New York Times best seller list at #3! An accomplishment in and of itself, this is even more amazing as it is the third time it has achieved Best Seller status. Once ten years ago when it first came out, then again as a paperback this year.....and now once again in the re-released hardback. Congratulations are in order to Joe and co-author Gen. Hal Moore. And once again a fitting tribute to all the soldiers immortalized in the book, and the feature film.
For the occasion I have been redesigning our website We Were Soldiers which involved reconfiguring the "Shopping Cart" mostly by hand coding. Whew! Don't try this at home.......without some muscle relaxants handy. I invite you all to visit the site and see the images that Joe took during the battle on which the book and Mel Gibson film are based. And after all my hard work........buy something!

Quorn's Abound!
The true value in the Internet is in information gathering. And now, alert reader Jen in Australia sends in the report of yet another Village of Quorn. Jen, like myself, a famous Mirror Project artisté, reports this Quorn to be in South Australia. The Village of Quorn in S.A. must be the hot bed of sports, or perhaps that is all there is to do in Quorn, Australia. Their website, Quorn Sports Central is replete with any sporting activity you might want to participate in on your next trip "down-under". I personally think I'll join the Lawn Bowling Club and the Gyro-Copter crew. They sound like an active lot, eh mate?

I feel that I am now one of the world's experts on Quorn. Both the fake meat and the Quorn villages of the world. I invite all readers to send reports of Quorn villages in locales yet unknown to me for further investigation and listing. I have aleady made the Town of Quorn, Leiceister, England my "Sister City" and hope to contact the residents of Quorn, NSW to bestow the same honor upon them.
Please send all information on Quorn's in your area to:

Quorn-at-biggolddog.com

Quorn Again
Alert readers, or even semi-alert readers, will remember that several days ago I brought up the issue of fake meat made from fungus, better known as Quorn©. Let me make it clear, I have nothing against fake meat, nor fungus. The combination of the two just seemed to me to be a little suspect. Well, not to make a judgement prior to full investigation, I went straight to the source. I cabled The Township of Quorn, England. Why, you ask? Well, it and the meat product were the only two entries to come up on my Google Search for Quorn©.
Well today my diligence paid off with a cable [actually an email, but cable sounds more dramatic] from Mr. Tim Rodgers, personal representative of the townsfolk of Quorn, England. The cable reads as follows:

------------------------------------------------
Hello Wallace,
Thanks for getting in touch with us here.

I think the product was in fact named after our village, but I don't think there is any real connection other than the name.
Certainly the company that manufactures Quorn©, Marlow Foods are not based anywhere near us.

As to gastric problems - no reports at all in the UK that I'm aware of - in fact, we had a Quorn meal in Quorn (if you see what I mean) just last week, and a bottle of Californian red made it disappear very quickly, with no dead animals complaining.

Anyway, should you visit us in the future, get in touch - it would be good to meet up.

Kind regards,
Tim Rodgers
Quorn Village Website


---------------------------------------------
I think that this dispells many of the worries that I might have concerning the ingestion of Quorn© as relates to the ingestors possiblity of death and diaherra. Additionally International reader Lisa of A Blog from A Broad actually claims to like the stuff. But, she adds, we in the US get the deep fat fried versions, while they, being cultured Europeans get the lightly breaded variety.
I would like to thank Tim and the townsfolk of Quorn for all their hard work in emailing their response, and wish them good luck in their Quorn© feasting. Actually the town of Quorn or Quordon, looks like a pleasantly quaint spot, a place you might like to stop to visit and feel right at home while in England. I urge you to visit their attractive website at: Quorn-the-Town-not-the-Meat.Com They have some interesting artists and the chocolate store will set your mouth to waterin'. And enjoy your Quorn©!

Thought for the day
Thoughts for the masses from my self help organization....

"It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us.
When we speak or act hastily or rashly, the ability to be fair-minded and tolerant evaporates on the spot. One unkind tirade or one willful snap judgement can ruin our relations with another person for a whole day, or maybe a whole year. Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen. We must avoid quick-tempered criticism and furious, power driven argument. The same goes for sulking and silent scorn. These are emotional booby traps baited by pride and vengefulness."
From: The Twelve and Twelve

Hail Shower: Late Report
As I sit here at the keyboard, I'm taking my life into my own hands. Hail larger than quarters is falling on my house.....and here I was worried about meteors. I have a 52 year old estate, and they built them to last back then, but I do have three [3] large skylights that I fear could go at any minute. But for you, my readers, I'll stick with it. If I'm kilt, somebody take up the slack on Streams and it's OK because we need the rain, and I'll sacrifice myself for the good of all. And with that lightning just struck not more than a block away! I may be mentally deficient but I ain't stupid, I'm shutting this electric devise dow.................oooooooooooo

Meteor Shower: Early Report
I have just returned from observing the Perseid Meteor Shower. Actually it was more like a Meteor Dribble. I think I saw one. I, however, as most other dopes go out in anticipation of a glorious display of cosmic fireballs the likes of which the earth has never seen before, only to be disappointed. In fact I keep hoping that one will land on my property, I'll retrieve it and get rich like the lucky morons down the road in Monahans, Texas. One fell into the street there and the kids who found it, I believe, got $20,000 cash money for it. After the city fathers sued them to get it back since it fell on a public street.


But Monahans apparently has some extra "mojo" about stuff falling from the sky and citizens getting money for it. Alert readers will remember that Monahans is where, recently, the top secret Stealth fighter dropped it's precision guided smart bomb [practice version] on a citizens home. The lucky citizens got a new home. Anyway, back to the meteors. It will be my luck that a meteor will in fact fall on my property, but will hit the house, disenegrate and burn the house up leaving me with exactly jack squat.

Readers Beware!
In an never ending search to inform and protect you, the reader, I have now come across this:


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A health advocacy group accused the government Monday of allowing fake meat made from fungus to be sold even though it makes people sick and demanded the product, known as Quorn, be recalled.


If you might recall you heard about the dangers of Botox right here, and you probably have not tried that. Now I'm warning you about the dangers of fake meat. This is not hot dogs, vienna sausage or bologna which are reconstituted forms of mystery meat. We are talking "Genuine" fake meat here. And for the love of God, who would buy something called Quorn anyway and use it as meat. "Oh Honey let's have a Qourn loaf for dinner". No sir, not me.
As a general rule I try and stay away from products made from fungus, but will redouble my efforts in an attempt to avoid fake fungus meat. The article further states,

The Center for Science in the Public Interest said it had received reports from 33 people who had suffered vomiting, diarrhea and other ailments after eating Quorn. A North Carolina man broke out in hives and had trouble breathing, the group said.

Another rule of mine, hard and fast, is to stay away from products that cause vomiting, diarrhea and other ailments. I don't eat much meat anymore for many reasons, but I swear to you that I will not eat fake fungus meat. This almost makes Vienna Sausages sound like a health food!! Don't say you haven't been warned!

The Birthday
Today is my Dad's Birthday. He's 79 years of age....seen and done alot including a depression and a World War in which participated to the fullest extent. Although he's slowed down a bit, I'm just glad he [and my Mom] are alive and pretty well, living just several blocks away. Julie and I took them to eat Chinese food and then for cake, ice cream and a sing-a-long of "Happy Birthday to You....!" And I do wish him a Happy Birthday, and many more......he deserves it. And I'm full of gratitude for the life they've allowed me to have!

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Highest and best use......
I enjoy communicating on the web with people all over the world. I enjoy sharing my images and thoughts. But to be honest, much of the enjoyment of setting up webpages, blogs and the like is just plain in the doing. I remember the first webpage I ever created in 19 and 98. It is the Texas History Map. I learned the basics of web design for the most base of reasons........GREED. And indeed I've sold those maps to the tune of five figures. But I remember the power of creating the page, uploading it, not having any idea if it would work or not. And then typing in the the URL and !!Bingo!! there it was. It was magic and I was hooked. I've improved somewhat, to the point now that people pay me to do websites for them, I'm working on a large job The Lerwick Family which is just now under contruction and have several more jobs waiting. I enjoy the challenge of learning new techniques and the latest updates.
Therefore I enjoy recommending sites that have captured the "highest and best use" standards of Internet technology. Two of these are: The Ultimate Taxi an amazing "wired" cab in Aspen, Colorado, and The Icepick House an even more amazing house in the Netherlands.
I have chatted online with techno cabbie Jon Barnes, a nice guy, so I have added him to my Zany Characters links. I have emailed questions to Mr. and Mrs. Ice Pick, but they must be hoity-toity Europeans as they have not answered, so they can go to hell.......but I still like their website.

Things to do
We all have things in our lives that we mean to do. Things we've been putting off for days or months, perhaps even a year. I have a very nice piece of furniture, a two drawer chest of drawers. My problem is that I've been meaning to clean out this chest for the last twenty years. That's good intentions dating back well into the last century. This chest with two big deep drawers contains nothing but "T" shirts. These are mainly shirts dating back from three decades ago. Shirts from my running days and my life in Hawaii.....6.2K race shirts, Marathon shirts, Hawaiian canoe team shirts, surfing shirts, Army shirts. Most I have not worn in decades. Most would not fit me now. They do hold special meaning, but why in the name of God I can't seem to get the nerve to move them and free up this space I don't know. It is, I believe, a moral failing on my part.
I walk into my bedroom everyday and think how nice it would be to have this space for my current wardrobe. How easy it would be to put the shirts in plastic storage boxes and stow them away for safe keeping. But there the shirts still lie, cloth monuments to a bygone life. I did take them all out four years ago........to refold them and put them back in the drawers. Outwardly this did make me feel like I was making progress, but deep inside I knew this was a sham, I was just stalling.
So, if you read this, please leave a comment urging me to take action, do something, take back this space from the shirts. You will make me feel a whole lot better about myself.

Letting Go
Sometimes I think that the overriding emotion in my life is sadness. Sadness for the people no longer in my life, for lost opportunities with people and just plain missing some people from different eras in my past. These feelings seem to be triggered by insignificant thoughts or transient glimpses of things on TV, or smells, or songs. I had one of these moments this morning. I had no plan to think the thoughts that came from some ad on TV, no idea that this liltle snippet of advertising would start me thinking about the past. I cannot even remember the ad or the product, but there it was changing my brain chemistry in an instant.
These feeling don't make me despondant, don't keep me from going about life's business, but they change my day at least for awhile. I wonder the "what if's" the "why not's" and the dangerous question of "can I recapture the friend and the moment". Being a believer in the "Serenity Prayer" I know the meaning of "Accept the things I cannot Change", but damn I want to try. Honestly, I just miss a lot of people...very much.

TV Land
Well I try and force myself to watch at least a little TV each and every night. Sometimes I catch snippets of The History Channel, or PBS, or perhaps something on A&E. But if all else fails I make myself watch at least one half hour of the educational programming known as Leave it to Beaver. Pure pablum, escapism, frivolity you say. Damn right I say. But.....the Cleaver household was my own. This dates me. Beaver and I were the same age, and I had an older brother for whom everything came easily, and in whose shadow I seemed to live. My Mom was a "housewife" always home homemaking and waiting for Ward...er Wally, my Dad, to come home. Just like the Beav, we heard, "wait till your father" gets home.
The 50's appliances in the kitchen on Elm Street [the old Cleaver house] look like old friends to me. We sat down to eat homecooked food as a family every night. The boys room looks like mine, we hung college pennants on the wall. This was a great time for kids. What we did for fun was roam, we made forts, we rode our bikes, we went fishing after school. We didn't have "planned activities" ad infinitum. We created our own fun with our inventiveness. We went to vacant lots, we set small fires, we got into minor trouble.
And the cast of characters on Leave it to Beaver......We had them all as friends, my older brother and I. We had your goofy Lumpy's, we had the nerdy Tooey's, and of course there was an Eddie Haskell. My friends were the Gilberts, the Richards and the Larry Mondelo's of the world. Larry Mondelo...the quintessential role model for my childhood. Larry almost brings a tear to my eyes remembering the times my own personal real life Larry and I had.
But, of course, we all grew up into mostly responsible adults with our share of problems and the need to face the realities of life. Perhaps the parents of Rusty Stevens, the young actor who played Larry, knew this. After about the 4th year of the show, his father was transferred to Ohio. The parents told Rusty that his acting days were over and they all moved on and that was the last of Larry, who turned back into a real person.

Changes
It's starting to feel like changes are in the making, that summer could be slipping into Fall in the not to distant future. This is fine with me; Fall is my favorite season. Yes, it's still hot in West Texas, although unlike many other parts of the country we've had a very acceptable summer. Cooler [comparatively] than the last several and with just enough rain at crucial times to keep things alive. High School football is a key indicator of the change. The teams are doing "two-a-days". That's practice twice a day, in the anticipation of the start of school here, in just two weeks. The TV stations are doing "spots" on how not to die of heat prostration during "two-a-days". The high school seniors are registering for classes today. Though most of the seniors seemed most excited about registering just so they could get prime parking spots [some things never change].
But the real reason the progress to Fall seems close at hand, is that somehow, overnight, the light seems to have changed. Here in the Southwest the light in Fall has a magical quality. Just as on that one certain day I wake up and know that today I need a haircut, today I noticed that the light had changed.

Eleven Wow, Eleven!

Man O'Man I can't believe it's eleven weeks, can you? And how lucky I am. I mean look at the photo above.......Julie is beautiful, charming, vivacious and so Ooo la la. And Me, I'm used dog food, a broken down wretch. How truly fortunate I am that Julie hit here head while flying and doesn't know what she's doing. How else can this be explained. Well, no matter, it is what it is and I will just have to accept this. And not too hard a thing to accept it is. Next week the big Three Month Anniversary.

And while you're here, with apparently nothing better to do, I ask that you go to The Yellow Bug News and take part in a scientific survey now being conducted on the use of Suppositories. There has been a debate raging concerning their use among the Blogging community. Remember this is a Scientific Survey and your help is needed!

Same Ol' Same Ol'
Well not much news from the town of Midland today. Except the seven [7] houses and one apartment building that caught on fire last night from the Xtreme lightning during the storm. And the trees, walls and mobil homes that were tumped over.
[editors note: if you are not from Texas, "tumped" is a legitimate word here. Formed from -tipped- and -dumped-.......most commonly used in accordance with a beverage accident. i.e "Hey Honey, I tumped my iced tea over...would you bring me another one?".]
Oh yes the other occurance was the kid who lost control of his car at an estimated speed of 100 mph and hit an Exxon station at 2:00 A.M this morning. Unfortunatly he was incinerated. Like I say not much news.

Rainy Day People*
Tonight was to be our semi-weekly miniature golf outing, a hot and mainly clear evening. A small thunderstorm was some distance out, it didn't appear to be a problem. But, problems can and do grow on us. A few rain drops blew in from a mile or so away, and I told the family, not to worry, no problem it's a small storm. By the 3rd hole it was raining enough to get us wet, and when lightning came from not to far away, we took shelter. Again, it looked like a 5 minute delay. The delay grew to 20 minutes, with lightning striking nearby. OK, we decided to head for the house in town, about 5 miles away, where it looked to be bright and sunny. We drove thru downtown where, strangely some streets were just about flooded, then several blocks away.....completely dry.
By the time we got home, it was constant thunder and pouring buckets. The Big Gold Dog who is "sensitive" to thunderstorms was more than glad to see us. Although he had had a "problem" on the floor in my office. Clean that up. We sent Amanda to Julies to get the Sorry game.....she almost didn't make it back. Then while Julie, Jack and Amanda were watching a baseball game, Amanda said she heard a drip, drip, dripping that sounded all too close. And it was. It was inside coming from one of the fireplaces. A big leak caused, I think, because the rain was coming from the Southeast, which it almost never does. Take down the art....fetch the buckets. By then the Bell family decided that they had had enough, and ran to the car screaming due to very close lightning strikes. They barely made it home thru the flood. But all is well now, and we needed the rain desparately though it was a very strange storm. We must have had 2" or more.
*Rainy Day People courtesy of Gordon Lightfoot....a great song.

Watch that remark...
Well today I read an article that will change the way I view "comments" on Streams. The article concerned the lengths to which some public and private institutions are going to make sure that no one's feelings are hurt. Being the sensitive sort, I was absorbed by this article like spilt milk to a sponge.
It seems that some organizations are worried about childrens sef-esteem and some adults are getting their feelings trampled by the majority in everyday life. Like the poor teenagers in Connecticut who broke into their Prep School and vandalized it. They were expelled. Now some of the parents of the offenders are suing the school stating that, the poor kids now had feelings of, get this: "feelings of unworthiness" and had their "self-worth impuned". Or take the housing project in Maine where the residents were made to take their Christmas decorations down because.....some residence tend to get depressed around Christmas and the "Happy Holidays" might make these people feel excluded. I ain' t makin' this up! The Sholom Middle School in Manhattan put the nix on Mother's Day [Mother's Day for God's sake!] because some kids didn't have a Mother at home [they had two Fathers] and the school administrators thought that celebrations "might not be a positive experience".
So for those posting messages on my comments, I want to make it clear. Though I am of a sensitive nature, I do stand behind the right to free speech, so leave any comment you want......but be sure to include your attorney's name and phone number. I won't stand idly by while you impune my self-worth, damage my psyche or make me feel unworthy with your snide remarks.

Just Bill Me!
Darn, heck, woe is me and alas. It's happening again. I'm having trouble paying my bills. No, not that kind of trouble, I've got way enough money. It's just that I'm having a hard time...Paying My Bills, as in getting them where they're supposed to go. After yesterday's travails, here they come again. While checking the mail at lunch today, what should appear in my mailbox, but the cable bill I mailed yesterday, and not returned for a bad address, but because it was mailed to me by, apparently.....Me. I could make excuses and say that the cable company sent me the wrong return envelope, but I won't blame others that I'll have to make amends to later. I apparently put the cable bill in the wrong envelope, sending it to myself. As we say in a self improvement organization that I belong to, "You are looking at the problem in the mirror".
So, if anyone in BlogLand would like to take over the job of paying my bills, please step forward. All the better if you use your own money.

Spontaneous Remission
And on the computer scene there has been a miracle! For weeks this very Blog...Streams has been generating an Error 503 "Template Screwed Up". But just last night without any changes, additions, or alterations by me, it cured itself and is now fully functioning, unlike it's human counterpart.

An Amends
An organization I belong to, recommends that we acknowledge our mistakes and make amends to those we have harmed. This is it in writing. Several weeks ago, I received a phone call from Tracy, my friendly bankerette at Pioneer Savings in Roswell, New Mexico......my mortgage holder. Tracy politely asked, "where the hell is your mortgage check?". I replied not to worry, I had not run off with the house, and that I had mailed the check the previous week. I consulted my checkbook and sure enough, I had paid most of my bills earlier in the month. I did, however, send another check post haste. Then several days ago I checked my bank statement online, only to discover that several other bill payments had not yet cleared. HHHhhm, thought I. I mailed all those bills the same day. My conclusion was that, obviously, some pyscho postal employee had run off with them to buy arms and ammo to shoot up a postal facility. I was P.O.'ed today. I was going to get to the bottom of this.
And strangely I did.....God works in mysterious ways. While straightening up the credenza where I keep my We Were Soldiers photos, I lifted up a stack of images and there I found.....a whole stack of bills, addressed, stamped and ready to be sent. Including the mortgage payment and the city water bill.
So here I offer my profound appologies to the Postal Dept. and it's fine staff. I make amends for my thoughts. If one of their fine employees shoots up a facility it won't be with my money. And I did immediately rush over to pay my water bill, which was three weeks late. They are not nearly as understanding over there as Tracy in Roswell. They informed me that they were ready to shut the H2O off. This is a friendly city, but one with no sense of humor about not paying for water. And now I'm worried, thinking you paid your bills, only to find them in your office three weeks later is, I believe, one of the first signs of Oldheimers Disease

No wonder I'm tired!
Well here I sit [which I do a considerable amount of the time, unless I'm lying down], but I always feel tired. Why? Well now I know the reason!
I have recently read some startling facts. As I sit here, the earth is turning at a rate of 1041 m.p.h. Ok, kid's stuff, but also the earth is traveling around the Sun at a rate of 60,000 m.p.h. I'm gaining some speed here, but our Universe is moving thru the Milky Way Galaxy at the astronomically amazing rate of 530,000 m.p.h. All told just settin' here in my chair I'm zipping along at an incredible combined speed of 591,041 m.p.h. Man o' man.....I need some more rest, I really believe I deserve it and need it to keep up this pace.
And now some good news for the economy in West Texas. The Onion Ring Manufacturing Plant in Pecos, Texas has been rescued from closure. No small potatoes this.....they employ 700 souls down there. And you always wondered where onion rings came from......now you know. [I wonder if they have a wholesale window.......I like onion rings]

Ten, that's what it is!

Yup ten weeks that Julie and I have been an item, coming up soon on three [3] months, which is one quarter of a year. Pretty nice. No, real darned wonderful!

Jumpin' Geejosephat.....it's hot
I just got thru mowing the lawn in 100° heat. Now most people of my ilk wonder about me, "Why don't you get a yard person", I hear. I've thought of that, but really I don't for two reasons. One is rather personal, almost spiritual if you will. I think that in this modern world, in western society, we all really have too much stuff and that unless we take personal care of our stuff we tend not to appreciate it. It wasn't too long ago that thru my own actions, I didn't have any, zippo, nada....stuff, especially a grand estate to call my own. So, I don't mind a little hard work, to remind me to appreciate what I have.

The second reason is that, 2.5 hours of yard work in 100° heat is damned good excercise. And spending way too much time bringing mirth, frivolity and wonderment to my cyber-clients, I need some damned good excercise. It really gets me, those same people who ask me, "Why don't you get a yard guy". Their reason for having a yard guy is that doing the lawn themselves takes up too much of their valuable time, and that it's too hot and hard to do it. The same people who pay $50 a week to spend 2 hours a day in the gym, sweating and lifting. Go figger!

It's summer and I know that many of you from many lands will be wanting to visit West Texas. But be forewarned, don't go down the 100 or so miles from here to Ft. Stockton, Texas. Why you ask?
I'll tell you. Animals are attacking humans. Now personally I don't see anything wrong with this for I like animals more than most humans. But some people differ from this opinion. And for those, Ft. Stockton Texas is a living nightmare. Just this week a boy was attacked by a Fox, his father having to strangle the fox to get it to let go of the boys leg. And now, today, the report that a javelina was in town sowing havoc. And, a javelina is nothing to be triffled with. Mean, they are just plain mean, and have the equipment to back this mean streak up. Teeth, or rather tusks, really, really sharp tusks. So stay away from Ft. Stockton. You might be wise to chose Wink or Notrees as your destination. The animals are more placid there.

Wow man o'man this redesign is making me work! For some reason my CSS editor doesn't like the format and keeps putting new -DIV- tags at the bottom of the page making the element appear in that little "Archive" Box. So.....Pedro gets to hand code, rearrange and make the dinguses go where they're supposed to. But it's what keeps me sharp as a tack, Jack!

Dear Bloggers and Bloggettes. Because of my vast array of computing skills I have been selected by YACCS commenting systems to "Beta Test" their newest upgrade to their fine product. They explain it as.....

FTP/SCP is a new feature of YACCS. It allows you to have YACCS upload the comment counts to your server, instead of loading them from the YACCS server. This means that the loading of your page can never be slowed down by YACCS, even if the server is down.

With this great honor I have taken the opportunity to redesign "Streams" my sometimes almost daily journal of daily life in a smallish West Texas town, and my wildly exciting adventures therein. And hopefully more stories of interest, such as.

Just the other day, the US Air Forces' most super sensitive weapon the F-117 Stealth fighter made a stunning "kill" in a practice bomb run in our area. The top secret Stealth fighter practices in our clear skies quite often to hone their razor sharp skills. Using laser guided smart munitions the F-117 lined up it's target and in perfect precision let go the 25lb. practice bomb and hit within inches of it's intended target. Unfortuneatly that target was a small home in the town of Monahans. The bomb penetrated all the way thru the foundation of the house, scaring the BeJesus out of the occupants. Luckily no one was hurt, and the Air Force quickly offered to pay all damages. They did, however, have quite alot of explaining to do........and as it turns out, the pilot thought he was making only a "photo bomb run". He didn't know he actually had any ordnance on board. But as we learn, we should always check our vehicle before leaving home!

S'Wonderful.....S' Marvelous!

Yes indeed, listening to the Diana Krall CD Julie gave me for our Nine [9] Week anniversary this song says it all. It is marvelous and wonderful with Julie. The evening started off with a romantic dinner for two at a chic local bistro.....Murray's Deli, where Julie had the Reuben and I had a marinated grill chicken sandwich. It was the height of haute cuisine in Midland and perfect for such an anniversary occasion. The romance continued when we returned home to Pedro Manor and walked Tres, the Big Gold Dog. A splendid walk on a moonlit evening, along the starlit way we call our alley.

Then upon our return home we had our customary pastry prepared by pastry genius, Little Debbie. A memorable moment diminished only slightly when the combined heat of the candles melted them all down causing a fulisade of smoke and wax which melted all the icing. No mind, there was magic in the air.......!

Family Reunion!

My brother, his wife and my two darling nieces were in town for several days, not long enough however as they live in Mississippi and I have not seen them in two years or so. In fact, I have never met Claire, the youngest. Life is too short to see family and close friends so seldom. So many of my close friends are in environs far flung...email, digital pictures and websites help but are not the same all told.
But we made somewhat the most of the time we had on this visit. Dinner Monday and lunch with my Dad and Brother [male bonding] today. The family all came over to the Pedro Estate this evening, and Julie prepared a nice after dinner assortment ranging from the healthiness of fresh fruit to the king of calories......eclairs and fresh homemade whipped cream. Devine. The girls got to feed my turtles and after getting over the fact that the Big Gold Dog is twice as big as they are.....yet sublimely gentle, had a great time with him.
The picture above is the moment when niece Katie discovered that among her many talents, Julie had been a tap dancer! A tap dancer......I didn't know this, but I should have suspected it, she had also been a cheerleader. And in Texas cheerleading and tap dancing go hand in hand.
Julie and I must have made a good impression on the girls. As they were driving away, Katie said "Why couldn't we live with them--forever?" Why not indeed.

Weary Travelers Return Home!

Yes, Julie and Jack returned late Sunday evening from a whirlwind world tour. Well, maybe not "world"........they went to Houston. After a trying storm delayed trip they are welcomed at Midland International Airport by a joyous crowd. OK maybe not a real crowd.......but I was sure joyous. The Big Gold Dog and I missed them.

The trip was worth the missing though as they had a grand time attending a Houston Astros game, visiting with family and friends and eating at Hooters. [Hooters??]. Well they wanted to get me a "T" shirt. I'm glad they had a good time, but am even more glad that they're home!

Seventh Anniversary!

That's right.......Lucky Number Seven. And I'm the lucky one to have someone as kind, nice, sweet, smart, affectionate and beautiful as Julie. And I know it. And it was a very special day to boot, as we had over an inch of rain in just several hours. Sorely needed rain. It was the first big rain we've had in .........well honestly I can't remember, but definetly the most moisture since a big snow last November. A perfect romantic evening capped off by a photographic expedition outside to capture some rain shots.

Next week, the Big Number 2......Two Months. {note: we did have the customary Little Debbie Anniversary Cake, and have the customary Little Debbie photo.....available upon request}.

Independence Day *The 4th of July*

It's Independence Day in the United States, and a day to have extreme gratitude for all the freedoms bestowed upon us. The freedom to say most anything we want no matter how trivial or even hateful. The freedom to come and go as we please, even if that means going to Wal-Mart and buying yet something else we don't need. The freedom to read what we want no matter how perverse or even moronic. The freedom to elect the officials that we chose, even though we love to comment on how bad our choices are or even openly critize our government. The freedom to worship...or not, as we see fit and in our own way.

The freedom to assemble whenever we chose, dressed as we wish. The picture above with Julie, Jack and Amanda and dog Daphne, is at the Courthouse Square for our annual childrens 4th of July parade. We have assembled with people from all cultures, races, creeds and religious beliefs to show our gratitude for being able to live in a free society. So Mr. Jefferson, Gen. Washington, Mr. Adams, Mr. Hamilton and all the other founding fathers we salute you and thank you for this gift!
And I ask you to remember that freedom is not free, and hope you will remember those who have perished to help us to stay free!

Oil of Ole...!

The climate is very dry here in West Texas, and Julie was good enough to bring over "Oil of Olay©" for me, that rich French Moisturizing Body Wash. It is fragrant and reeks of the Gallic touch and secret romance, of Paris, of culture and refinement. Even the packaging is seductive......"Gel Hydratant Pour Le Corps, utilisez tous les jours avec la douce eponge nettoyante Olay©". Wow, I love it when they talk that French talk!
I can see myself on the left bank, near the Sorbonne, with echoes of Toulouse Lautrec and the Moulin Rouge dancing in my soul. I will be transformed into a great impressionist, the next Cezanne. I will be refreshed with the Gel Hydratant. I will be the sophisticate out on the town á la rivè gauche.
As I prepare for this new life, I look further at the package and see.........
Oil of Olay© Le Gel Hydratant made in MEXICO.

Mexico! My thoughts run wild, is Le Gel Hydratante made of petroleum products, of used tamales, of goat cheese, or of menudo by products. Ah globalization, it has condemned me to be just plain Ol' Bubba. Tres Mal!.....OLE!

Sixth Anniversary!

What's this......only one candle on anniversary night? Yes, but take a close look, it's a very expensive "Six" candle indicating 6 wonderful weeks with Julie. This was necessitated by the fact that our exclusive pastry chef, Little Debbie, does not make a cake big enough to hold 6 small candles.
However, don't try the expensive "Six" candle at home unless you are a professional! The flame is tremendous and almost set the hair and clothes of one of the celebrants, Julie, on fire.

Tres' New Chapeau

While at home for lunch today, a mysterious package was dropped thru the mail chute by Art the Postman. Flat, and resembling a CD mailer, I at first thought it was the images that my contacts at Paramount Pictures© were supposed to be sending. But no, it was from Alabama home of the Crimson Tide, humidity and kudzu. The return address simply said, "Elvis" so I knew right away that it must be from "Bus Girl", as I think I heard that Elvis is deceased. Sure enough, it was from Vicki of the Harpersville Valley PTA in Alabama and, by Gawd, it was a brand spanking new hat for the Big Gold Dog©.....hisownself.
As you can see in the image above it is simply stunning and Tres tried it right on, he loved it and wanted to go for a drive to show it off. But I had to point out that it was of a small size, perhaps meant for a Peek-a-Poo and he is after all the Big Gold Dog© with a size large head. So, with graciousness of heart, which characterizes his breed, he will give it to Daphne, Julie's dog who we are sure will wear it with pride........

Fifth Anniversary!

Count the candles on that Little Debbie Stawberry Cake. Yessiree there's five [5] of 'em. Five wonderful weeks with Julie....and they just keep getting better. Julie, ever thoughtful, gave me a hanging mobile incorporating two things near and dear to my heart. A dog's head wire frame hanging from which are a series of small glass mirrors. Perfect for taking Mirror Project shots!
Last night we dined at the world famous Carumba's Restaurante with The McCommon's, Julie's old friends who now live in The Woodlands©. It was nice meeting them, and suckering, explaining what Mirror Shots are and having them participate.

Here they are, my two best buddies in the whole world. I took a series of shots today with Julie and Tres, the Big Gold Dog and as usual the best shots are spontaneous and unposed. I wanted to get these because Julie's dress was a dead ringer, colorwise, with the gladiolas we had for our big One Month Anniversary over the weekend. I will have the photo shot series on display at Gold Dog Imaging soon.

In a real surprise, I checked on my server situation this evening and found that I have only used 14Mb of my 50Mb allotment. I really need to start putting more pictures and movies up....and maybe do 20-30 more websites. People who already think that I'm crazy will love that. Man O'Man things have changed in the internet/hosting business. When I started putting things up on the web in 1998, you were lucky if you got 5Mb for a hefty price. Now, I'm on the economy program with Server 101 for a mere $8.95/month. This gives me the 50Mb and ten email accounts.........more if I want 'em because I'm well loved at Server 101.

I'm making meat loaf, for Fathers Day with My Dad, Mom and Julie.

I am blessed that my Dad is still here, and living with my Mom only 4 blocks away...in the house I mostly grew up in.
My Dad, a child of the "depression", working from aged 12 to help support his family because that's just what people did and he didn't consider himself special, but his Mom and Sister did.

My Dad, the soldier, left for Europe and didn't come home for 3 years. His best Army friend was killed right beside him on the first day of combat in Italy. My Dad who endured many months of hard combat, and was evacuated only after his feet had frozen in the Alps. My Dad who came home, and didn't talk about it all for another 40 years, because it was too hard, and because as an American it was simply his duty to perform.....and that's what everyone did, so he didn't consider himself special. But we do.

My Dad who really worked way too hard to send three sometimes ungrateful kids to the best colleges while forgoing things he had dreamed of all his life. I only suspect this because he never mentioned it and didn't consider himself special....but we do.

My Dad who watched a son descend into the hellish pit of alcohol, but never had a harsh word, only good advice. And had the patience to wait years for this advise to sink in and didn't consider himself special......but I do.

My Dad who has always been there for everyone in the whole family, put everyone else first and always did the very best he could because that's what Dad's do and didn't consider himself special........but we do!!

A family outing with Julie and Jack to Green Acres, the premier miniature golf course between Abilene and El Paso. A cultural icon in our fair city and virtually untouched since my boyhood days. The course was in immaculate condition with new plastic turf and the Castle Gate newly repaired. We take our miniature golf seriously and play by "Jungle Rules"...one mulligan allowed per round. The Mulligan is needed as there are three [3] "Ant Hill" holes, which as you know are the most difficult in all of miniature golf. The score was realitively close, but so as not to embarrass a child and his mother......the score and the winner will not be announced.

Three wonderful weeks with Julie!! To celebrate we went to eat at an old Midland favorite, Wall Street Bar and Grill. Trout for me, Grilled chicken for Julie. Very good as usual. Then we watched what many [well me] rate as the most significant western film ever...."Shane". Great authentic scenery, the forces of good and evil, plots on several levels and great character actors. And how about that evil personification of the western bad guy...Jack Palance in one of his first starring roles.

I find out more about Julie all the time....and just love what I find. A girl who likes to read historical literature and takes walks with me and the Big Gold Dog. It all seems to good to be true......but it's quickly sinking in,
it is!!!

What a wonderful two weeks with Julie. Our affection for each other was apparent from the beginning and has only grown. We knew that we would learn more about each other and what I have learned only confirms my feelings. After all only in the last several days I have learned that Julie is probably the only other person on earth that likes Worcestershire Sauce so much that on occasion she will "chug" it straight from the bottle. I also have a propensity to "chug" Worcestershire sauce, but have kept this a well guarded secret. No more.....I have a soul mate to lean on in this odd behavior! And Julie has not only tolerated my Mirror Project photography, she has taken it to heart and is now a master of the reflective image. Julie is the sweetest kindest person I've ever met.....and shares her feelings about me daily, something that makes me feel like the most special person in the world.

In honor of our two week anniversary we had a sumptuous meal highlighted by a very special pastry treat. Please view beautiful Julie and the special pastry treat at: Julie's Special Pastry Treat.Com

I have been remiss in posting new events for Streams.......but I have a very, very good reason.
Sometimes wonderful events happen in our lives that we never could have predicted or forseen. One of those has happened to me. Her name is Julie. I could never have imagined that someone could enter my life that would have this great an effect on me or the way that my life will be altered. For now, I will say only that Julie is the most kind and true soul mate that I could have hoped for and it's indeed a blessing that I do not deserve. For a beautiful photograph of a beautiful person go to: Julie.Com

Days ensue since the last entry.......... I have been busy, too busy with web affairs, trying to convert more websites into CSS format. It's so much more versatile and once one design is up, much easier to change. Just drag the text box to a new location using, of course, my handy dandy CSS software, "Layout Master". Here's a sample of plain jane boxes, a site I'm going to use to put Mirror Project movies up Movie.Com There is a movie there now.......done as a sample and for my web friend Mia who resides near Darmstadt Germany.
Now Darmstadt is another subject entirely. Darmstadt is where my Grandmother's family came from, Darmstadt is where my partner and friend Del was born.......and now I know Mia from Darmstadt.......what's up here??

Once again, Streams has suffered due to busy-ness and business. Monkey business and web business. I am so busy working on redoing some of my websites and a new one for an advertising agency that I don't have time to do my duty to my own personal journal. But I did accompany my Mother out for the "Mother's Day Event". Which is pretty much the same as every other Sunday ...going out to eat. Now I do love my Mother and appreciate her, and am grateful that both she and my dad are still with us and in fact live only 4 blocks from me. But.......sometimes my Mother drives me crazy with her preconceived ideas on how life is supposed to be. This has been growing for oh let's say the last several decades. And it has gotten worse, because everyone in the family has "tiptoed" around her knowing that disagreeing would not be the thing to do for family harmony. So, since no one has ever said anything, this has only made her think that her ideas are right since no one disagrees.
Oh, my sister has tried to disagree, which resulted in my Mom and Sis barely speaking for several years. My brother doesn't have to worry about disagreeing since he rarely visits and just puts up with it for several days and then is gone again. Leaving me 4 blocks from the scene of the action to put up with it. Well, I hereby go on record as saying "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore".......probably or not.

Life has been uneventful in Stream Land. Though I suppose uneventful is better than eventful, if the events are bad, sad, or life threatening. Sometimes we just get up, do our duty and carry on. But as one gets older, one gets the feeling that one might be missing something. But, from past experience, most everyone's life is rather like being in a war. Long periods of normality, daily routine and boredom interrupted by periods of intense activity, fright, delight and change.
For those of you who have forgotten what I look, like well here I am in real fake digital color at: Pedro in Fake Digital Color.Com

Well after having a 70% chance of rain and storms this Sunday evening we got the grand total of.....none. Pitiful......just pitiful. We can always use the rain. Maybe tomorrow.
In some interesting news I had a nice long phone conversation tonight with Benny Enriquez, who the the First Sergeant of my Army infantry unit. His grand-daughter in Hawaii found my name on an old Army Message post from almost 4 years ago. She was kind enough to forward Benny's number in Arizona. I hadn't talked to Benny in 30 years......but human voices are funny. Once I heard him speak it was like I was standing before him all those years ago.......

Once again I apologize for being remiss in my Streams entry duties. But, I've been otherwise web engaged, working on several website projects for people. Most notably being The Lerwick Family.Com a site of mammoth proportions on which I am just starting and have reconfigured into CSS from plain HTML. You understand. Plus....I have scanned approximately 75 photos of the famed Lerwick family all the way from Norway to Wyoming. It will be a thing of beauty in several years when it is finished. I have just begun.
In addition I feel it is my duty to the world to add reflective images to The Mirror Project including my latest The Trophy Head, I know you understand.

Well, is it hot enough for ya? Well, it's stinkin' hot enough for me, 93° today and probably 100° tomorrow, which will make it one of the earliest 100° days on record. This after a fall in which the heat in this house wasn't even turned on until late Oct. What's up here? Well it's called Global Warming and in spite of what our beloved Presidential administration says it is a reality. And if we don't do something quick, in 5-7 years we're all going to be burning in the hellfires of Perdition! By my calculations 10 years from now the average temperature is going to be close to 150° in August. But don't believe me and don't waste more of your valuable time reading my diatribe, you go to Global Warming.Org and find out for yourself.......if you don't melt first.

I have been otherwise engaged and very busy the last several days with projects that take me away from Streams. My work with The Mirror Project has had me on the digital road looking for that perfect reflective image. And in addition, I have downloaded a new software package making my life in CSS [Cascading Style Sheets] web design more fluent and easy. Being a genius of some degree I was able to master this in one intense day.
Now I am back on the Streams schedule. But I did take timeout last night to hobnob with one of America's true heroes, Gen. Chuck Yeager. Chuck is in town to speak at the CAF and we had a reception to honor Chuck and his WWII wingman Bud Anderson, a great test pilot in his own right. See Pedro and Chuck at: Chuck and Pedro.Com

Life, you can't live with it, you can't live without it. Not much text for today's Streams, more of a visual exerience today. I have been preparing some of my work to be published on the world famous photo website The Mirror Project. This is one of the most important artistic endevours currently available to the reflective photographer. Go to The Mirror Project and in the search feature type in the secret code word "Wallace" to view my works.......numbers 6004 and 6005.

Well I believe that I have almost all of my Spring flowers in....and hopefully they'll survive the summer.They're getting a good start with the warm and humid weather we've been having. Today it was planting more caladiums and finally some peppers and tomatoes. And I acquired some Yarrow which I knew little about. It's an herb, that purportedly will cure most anything that ails one, including high blood pressure. And....it grows like a weed, so I shall have lots of curative power available. Perhaps I'll go into the Yarrow illness curing business.

Ho hum......another day in life. Humid, that's what it's been, and although I moved from Dallas to get away from humidity I must say that sometimes in Midland Texas it is welcome. It certainly helps the yard, trees, flowers and other botanical friends. When the flower beds and lawn are watered, they stay moist. The greeness is noticeable. Now if the stinkin' live oak leaves would stop falling, life would be neigh on perfect in the ecological department.
And speaking of photography......here's a guy who drove from New York to San Francisco and who took a photo every single stinkin' mile. Automatically of course. See all 3300 plus images at: Guy Who Took A Stinkin' Picture Every Mile.Com

Well, today was Thursday, much like many other Thursdays. Sleep deficit still not made up. Mowed the lawn today and for the first time in many months I got "green grass" instead of residual dead brown grass.....a milestone. But perhaps the most exciting part of the day was reading about a 50 year old bird that has flown, they think, not having been with the bird all 50 years....in excess of 5 million miles. Now I'm proud of that bird, 5 million miles is a long way in my book! Probably your's too. Read about the 5 million mile 50 year old bird at: 5 Million Mile 50 Year Old Bird.Com

I am here to report that I am tired.......just bone tired. The old Army "humpin' the boonies" kinda' tired. Where you could fall down in 100° heat on rocks and be asleep in 3 seconds. My sleep deficit is at an all time high after having had not enough sleep for weeks. I didn't journey to slumberland the last two nights until after 1 A.M. and both nights woke up at around 2 A.M. with dreams being the cause. Not bad dreams or nightmares.......just dreams. I think that since consciously trying to get up and write these down, my inner self wakes me up to do so. Then last night I thought that I heard the dog roaming around at about 4 A.M. he wasn't but I was up again. Not to mention that I've been sleeping with the doors in my bedroom open to the outside, an enjoybable experience, but the thousands of grackles in the large pine tree tend to make very strange grackling noises which sound very much like banchee's wailing. Grackles are very strange....quiet for what seems to be hours and then one starts his grackling and all the rest join in, then quiet again. All dead in the middle of the night. What the hell are they thinking? But anyway it has all worn me out. I feel I really need to go spend time with the Benedictine Monks in Pecos NM. Read about them at: The Restful Benedictines.Com
But I have much to do today, so I'm going to force myself into action [something I'm good at....the Army training] and head out. But, I promise myself that tonight I'm going to bed early.....perhaps 11:30 P.M.. I promise.
I'll send you an email at 1 A.M. to tell you how it worked out.

My what a pleasant surprise! We had us a nice little $5 rain storm. I say $5 storm because that's how much it saved me, in watering fees tonight. Some lightning and thunder, enough to dissuade the Big Gold Dog from walking too far, but not a terrible storm. However I had just completed blowing yet more oak leaves and pecan tree fluff when the storm hit. In the front this was peachy because the SW wind blew the botanical debris over into the neighbors yard, but on the patio the same wind filled the Mexican tile once again with fluff. So, being a normal person I went out after the wind had subsided and hosed the patio off in the rain. Wouldn't you? Of course you would......if you were obsessive/compulsive about leaf cleanliness.
And now the storm has passed, the air is cleansed, the lawn is watered and the Big Gold Dog is in the bathtub.....all is well!

OK, I admit it, I'm compulsive about yard work. I feel like if I'm not out there during this beautiful weather something is amiss. Today I was simply going to plant 12 more Salvia in the bed abutting the patio. But then......I thought, well maybe I'd better turn that bed over while I'm at it. And then having the shovel out, I reasoned that I might as well turn the other herb garden bed. And while turning the beds I notice that some of my fern-like plants had dead material on them so I needed to remove that. And while removing dead material from the fern-like plants I saw excess leaves under a hedge......you get the point. I spent 3 hours on these chores when I had planned just to chill out on a Sunday afternoon.
but I did get a good start on this years tan. It's hot out...well hot for the not quite mid part of April. Hot, but sure is making the grass green up on the quick!! And my you should see my patio area. With no wind today it's just gorgeous. For 12 hours or so until the wind comes again.

Blow and mow, that's the order of the day. But first thing this morning the Big Gold Dog and I went on our usual walk. As we were trundling down Bedford Dr. a voice came from a house on the walk. The voice said, "hey". It was our friend Liz, which is the Dogs favorite house. He will not pass Liz's house without going to the front door and sitting like the RCA Victor dog, with his head cocked listening for sounds of life. He just likes Liz's house. Perhaps that's because when we are invited in, Tres gets a bird encounter of the 1st kind. Liz has a Cockatil, which she claims has 49 words in his vocabularly. The vocabulary words I have heard the bird say are.......0.
Well we stayed for coffee, and Tres had his usual bowl of water provided by the gracious hostess and off we went.....home to blow leaves and mow the lawn. It was quite exciting and now I feel guilty because I'm thru and there is still daylight out.

Well today was a day like any other day. Get up put on clothes and go to the office. But like most days I wish I didn't have to shower and decide what to wear. Life was much easier while living outdoors in the Army. Number one, you didn't really have to take your clothes off to go to sleep. And most of the time it wasn't advisable to take your clothes off. Usually one had to get up suddenly while sleeping on the ground. So, even if you did take some of your clothes off, you still didn't have to decide what to wear on arising. The choice was lying right there next to you. A green ensemble. No fuss, no muss, put on your jungle fatigue shirt and ! Voila ! you were dressed and ready to go. Boil up some coffee in an old "C" ration can and ! Voila ! there's breakfast. It was all so easy.
But I did the civilized thing......I did take a shower and put on regular clothes and go to the office. Where, much to my surprise I did all the accounting on my wells, which is very tedious and makes me prone to procrastination. I did this acounting virtually the day I received the data on the wells. Glad to have that over for the month.
Thanks for listening, and as a reward here's a groovy web experience.... LedPants.com

Lawn and Garden Report: Things are starting to look up on the gardening scene! The grass now has more green than stale used brown and in important news, the nastertiums are shooting their little seed heads up out of the ground. I know you are as excited as I am. More geraniums are in the pots on the patio [Shocking Red] and I remembered that I had put salvia [again Shocking Red] in late last year and it did well in the semi-shaded areas...so more this year. Now that the sun is out again and temperatures are warm, the purple wisteria is starting to send out vines that are already one foot up the wire espalier I constructed for their use. Hopefully by the end of summer they will have started to reach their intended goal........the top of the patio Trellis!
I can't wait until morning to see how all the new additions are doing!

Work Report: Well here it is 8:45 and I have just finished one of the most odious and disgusting tasks there is. I did my biannual master bathroom drain unclogging. For those not use to W. Texas drains.....they clog often. It's the calcite in the water. It forms plaque that traps everything and then turns into a cement like substance. Just like a bad heart. Now the plaque is really only around the drain. When one gets further back into the drain, their is a mung-like substance that looks strangely like petroleum and I suppose given another couple million years, might very well become petroleum. None-the-less it is a job that stagnates my mind and makes me wish I was married. This sounds like a job a woman would really enjoy or maybe a slave or an indentured servant.
Now the disgusting drain cleaning came after blowing the driveway and then the upper terrace free of leaves with the atomic powered blower/sucker. Oh yes, and then chasing the dog clear down the to the duck pond a long block away. He's discovered that he doesn't like the blower/sucker either.....reminds him of thunder. And people wonder what I do with my free time. Well after vacuuming now, I hope to catch at least a half an hour of Andy of Mayberry. If I'm lucky........

The Midnight report covering Monday and the first nine [9] minutes of of Tuesday. Monday was OK, but these nine [9] minutes of Tuesday are a drag. A very uneventful day, save for the fact that the lawn sprinkler man came back early this morning to finish repairing of all things.........the lawn sprinklers. And a fine job he did too! Now all eight [8] stations are functioning as scheduled and the one in the back flower beds is not digging a hole every time it comes on. This is exciting news to me and I know you feel a tinge of delight also.
The other exciting news is that the Girl Scouts© came to the door selling left over Girl Scout© cookies. It occurs to me, that the damn Girl Scout© cookie boxes are getting awfully small. Chinzy really. They used to be big hummers. Perhaps the rest of Tuesday will be more exciting.

Well here it is 1:45 or is it 12:45.....or perhaps 2:45? Who knows when they change the time twice a year. Is this Daylight Savings Time or Daylight Unsavings Time? Who can keep up. All I know is that know instead of dark coming at a regular feeling time like 7:30 it will now fall at 8:30. Which means I have to slave in the yard an hour more a day. And by the end of the summer in W. Texas it doesn't get dark until 10 PM. This daylight savings time was originally foisted on the American public with the thought that farmers could work more hours and school children would not get killed walking to school. Well sports fans, we ain't got too many farmers left and when was the last time you saw a child actually "walking" to school. Farms are automated these days, and so if a couple of school children are stukk run over each year. In my opinion we have too many school children and they're ungrateful wretches anyway.
I will once again [as every year] present the plan for Pedro Savings Time. Which is.........dawn will come at 7:00 AM each and everyday of the year. Every citizen will be issued a digital watch tied into the National Atomic Clock and therefore will always have the correct time which will be adjusted each morning at dawn. Obviously some days will have a shorter number of minutes, but this will change gradually and people are generally stupid and won't know the difference.
And.......here is a story that generates some hope for me of mankinds goodness toward dogs. Dog Rescue.Com

Wow! What a nice day! A cajun cookout and rain. Not hard rain and wind, just drizzle all day. Something we rarely see in West Texas and excellent for the lawn and all the newly planted flowers. Although the dampness and humidity has sure confused the Big Gold Dog. Being a good W. Texas dog, when he sees rain and clouds, he's expecting thunder and lightning so he has spent the day in the bathtub. His refuge. Hopefully it will be clear tomorrow so he can come out.
And the Cajun cookin' ......whoo doggies Boudreaux! 50 pounds each of shrimp and crawfish cooked with all dem good spices. All the boys at EGL Resources, Inc. couldn't even finish it all. We had just decided to get together and have a cook out. And a perfect day outside in the drizzle, just like Louisiana. I ate so much I got to go lie down...........

Friday Update:

This just in from a flight attendant in the picture Flight Attendant.Com:
"I am so glad we influenced your life. The Best is yet to come?"
Your Friend,
50 Year Old Flight Attendant

It came late last night...the email that changed my life. I wasn't expecting it, but change usually comes knocking at our door when we least expect it. It was a blow, not really frightening, but none the less one of those moments when we know our life has changed. There was a picture attached. The picture showed an image of flight attendants, 50 year old flight attendants. I know several of these flight attendants. That's when it hit me, I know 50 year old flight attendants.
Now I have nothing at all against 50 year old flight attendants, and the girls in the image are lovely as you can see for yourself at Flight Attendant.Com. But how did it come to this? How did all these girls suddenly become older than I? When I last cavorted with flight attendants it seems like they were all in their 20's. Does Einsteinian physics apply here. Do women in a constant state of high velocity flight age more rapidly than those of us earth bound? No, I believe Einstein's principle works in the opposite manner. More accelerated motion slows time and makes an object or flight attendant age more slowly than the earth bound.
These questions present a need for deep introspection on my part. Who am I? Where am I going in life? How old am I?

Dog Rescue:
The main website Big Gold Dog.Com [your one stop Internet spot] is not named that out of whim. No, Big Gold Dogs are a way of life. They seek out those who love them. One of those moments came to me today as I was driving home for lunch. On "A" Street, a busy thoroughfare I espied a young Golden Retriever darting across the street. Not a good situation for a young pup. So I wheeled the sedan onto the side street and corraled the pup who seemed more than happy to join me in the front seat. On calling the number listed on the tag, I got no answer, so home the pup came with me.
Tres very much enjoyed the company and the two dogs cavorted on the lower terrace while I located the owner. See dogs cavorting at: Dogs Cavorting.Com The owner was delighted to hear that "Pearl" had been found and rushed over for a happy reunion. Well, a reunion after we caught Pearl again after a wild foot chase down Bedford Dr. Pearl is now back at home..........

Wednesday Midnight News:

Well some days are just average. We just get up, do our jobs, take care of our dogs and go about our business. Such a day was today. Very plain vanilla, ordinary and without incident. Oh, except I saw a flying saucer. Well not really a saucer, more like a cigar shaped object. I don't know where it was from but I did see humanoid personnel inside the cigar shaped object. They were flying the cigar shaped object quite low and they actually waved. I say waved, more like extended their abbreviated digits in a salute. They seemed quite friendly, although they didn't offer me a ride, which I can understand I suppose as I believe a cigar shaped object landing would have created quite a stir among the local populace.
I presume they were not of this world although the Roswell UFO Festival© is coming soon, and it might have been a promotional cigar shaped object. But I reckon they were from another world or perhaps another dimension in time. I don't know if I really believe in aliens in cigar shaped objects, even after seeing one, but I do have a Roswell UFO Festival© Official T-Shirt. Read about this years UFO Festival at: Roswell UFO Festival©.Com

[Editors Note: this is all true....after all it's on the Internet. It must be true]

An Abstract Poem

Wind and dust,
Wind and dust,
It's a bust.

A beautiful day,
A beautiful day,
gone astray.

Wind and dust,
Wind and dust,
Really suck.

Evening Edtion: What a glorious day after Easter, and really turning a tad warmish this afternoon. Such a beautiful day, it was time to plant the petunias. Shocking pink and white this year, after last years red, white, and blue motif. Petunias, I've found, do the best on the patio with it's mixed alternating heavy shade and bright sun. And in a stoke of faith, I have strewn nasturtium seeds hither and yon. But those fur bag squirels keep digging them up. They'll sing quite a different tune when I warm up their butts with Ol' Betsy my trusty BB gun. It's an amazing thing that 20 years ago there wasn't a squirel within 100 miles of town and now the little rat-like creatures are overruning the place. I've given them their warning, talked mean to them and now if I have to resort to violence..well I have no recourse.

And speaking of pests....have you ever had 7000 crackles in your pine trees. Well you just march over here and I'll show you a sight you never want to see or hear. I just took a break from writing this edition to go out in the dark and try to scare them away. Well when I made a noise and heard 14,000 wings flappin' in that tree..... I saw Hitchcock's "The Birds" and I wasn't gonna' stick around there in the dark...no sir.
Read more about Petunias at: Petunias.Com