One more Air Show...

The 2007 version of the CAF Air Show is a done deal. I'm always excited when Air Show weekend arrives and equally glad when it's over. I had some great friends, new and old, help me out with my responsibilities all went well and we all had a great time. I got some great photographs from the ground and in the air....

The Big Gold Dog...

This week marks one year since the passing of Tres, The Big Gold Dog. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about that sweet big dog and all he meant to me. When he slept at night in the hallway, sometimes his paws would be touching the wall and when he was dreaming his feet would make a running sound as they brushed the walls. Sometimes I think I can still hear that sound as I go to bed at night. It is sad, but most of all he makes me remember what true loyalty, love and friendship is all about.

Destroy it and they will come...!

It's very interesting to me that some people, and frankly some that I know quite well, seem to think that tearing down buildings in downtown Midland is the solution to redevelopment of the area. Especially when the replacement is a parking lot.

Having been in the office building business in a prior life I know from an economic standpoint it is hard to redevelop some of these older buildings; still with some vision it has been done in other cities and quite successfully.

But perhaps my friends have a vision too. Midland as the parking capital of Texas. I suppose they see people from Dallas, Houston and Austin coming to Midland to park. Locals too. "Say Honey what do you want to do tonight"? "Well Bobby Sue let's go to downtown Midland and park, I hear there are some real parking bargains down there".

Off and running....!

Some projects that you undertake reach a point at which you know, "this is the break through". Today was that day in our efforts to restore the Chaparral Racing test track back to it's important place in auto racing history. Today we got owner and racing legend Jim Hall's enthusiastic approval to begin.

Our first goal will be to host a regional competition of the Society of Automotive Engineers Formula SAE competitions. Several years ago I had met Midland native Dr. Ron Matthews, the Formua SAE's founder and director of the University of Texas' General Motors combustion engineering research center. Formula SAE has grown to be the largest student engineering competition in the world with over 300 universities around the globe participating. In a strange twist, Jim Hall was one of the first judges of the competition in 1983. Today Dr. Matthews flew out to visit with Jim , the first time they'd seen each other since the original event and the reconnection was immediate.

Hosting this event next summer will require the track to be resurfaced and draw national attention to the Chaparral facility, a good start to further plans.

Life....!

If you don't already, I hope that you have the opportunity to live in the same city as your aging parents. You'll enjoy the experience.

This afternoon at 2:58 my cell phone rang, showing my mother as the caller. You'll learn that when aging parents call your cell phone in the middle of the day, nothing good can come of it. In that microsecond when you see their name in the caller ID you pray that nothing serious is happening then wonder what the hell is wrong now.

Today it was a flat tire. "Hell-o, I must have run over something, I'm in a parking lot and my tire is flat. I wonder what I should do"? You think......"gee Ma I wonder too" knowing full well that I'm on my way to change a tire. So after I changed clothes there I was. Luckily she was on a good flat surface and not in the middle of the street. So after reading the manual on jack placement etc. for that car I got started. Lug nuts loosened, small doughnut spare tire out of the back, car jacked up. So I go to put the spare on and its as flat as the doughnut that it is named after.

My Dad came to the rescue once again. He had had a micro air compressor in his car which I, luckily, took for my own when we sold his car. It actually worked very well. As I was changing the tire I noticed that there were some severe scruff marks around the edge of the original tire, then I spied the valve stem.....completely chewed up with the end broken off.

I asked Ma if she had hit a curb anytime recently. "Well", she says, "I did just now as I was pulling into the cleaners. I like to get real close to the drive in window." And indeed she did! "I did hear a hissing sound but I thought it was the steam cleaners inside the laundry".

But all is well now, I got the tire changed and followed her over to the Exxon station that still has full service, and in a twinkling of the eye they had the valve stem changed, the tire was OK and off to home we went to await the next "event". And I have no doubt that this is God's plan, payback for all those telephone calls from me when I was a kid, when they undoubtedly thought in that microsecond...."What's wrong now?"

Attention racing fans....!

I've been away, been busy and had out of town company. Not a whole lot of interesting news there.......but. One of the things that I've been interested in for the last several years is revitalizing the old Chaparral Racing test circuit, Rattlesnake Raceway south of Midland. This Friday I hope the dream will start to come true.

Late last year I was invited to be on the advisory board of the Chaparral Racing Museum at the Petroleum Museum, thus allowing me to "officially" start talking to people I had met who were interested in preserving this piece of racing history. Friday some of these interested parties are coming to Midland to discuss details and talk about development plans with owner Jim Hall. Should be fun, but more importantly productive in once again having world class racing machines, including the Chaparrals, back on the track.

Happy Labor Day..!

Hope you and yours have a happy Labor Day. I'm taking my Mom out to dinner and then we thought we'd visit the local Teamsters Union.

The Big Ride...

Like most dogs, D. Daphne loves to hear the word "ride". She may be having second thoughts in the future though. Her normal "ride" is to the store or post office so she couldn't quite comprehend how a "ride" turned into a 900 mile trek where she slept in various locales without coming home. But she did well and had some grand times having never seen mountains, streams and cows and horses up close. All in all Daphne's big adventure...

Be back soon....

Streams will be closed temporarily...we've gone to New Mexico. Be back shortly. Please come again...!

Mississippi Kites.....

If you've never seen a Mississippi Kite in action....come to the 1400-1600 blocks of Country Club, Bedford and Harvard. I counted at least 14 birds hovering and hunting this morning, they've been here most of the week; mornings and evenings are best for viewing. Thought not rare, they are not too common in the US and to see this many in one spot is an experience. Kites are falcon-like hawks that eat mainly insects, but with 14 overhead they are causing quite a stir among the dove population. They're pretty amazing as they hang in the air then fold their winds back and dive bomb insects at 6000 mph...or somewhere thereabouts. They've also been known to dive bomb golfers at Midland Country Club who get too close to their nests...

The Night Sky..

I have just returned from the semi-darkness of the Sibley Center grounds where we went to watch one of those events in the night sky that is not all that spectacular unless you consider what you are seeing, then it becomes pretty amazing.

At 10:04 pm, both the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle were in view as they sped over West Texas. Not only in view but one [the shuttle] pretty much right behind the other [the space station]. Flying in tandem at around 18,000 mph they were only clearly visible for less than a minute. It is, I suppose, rather natural, but still sad that so much of the population has become so blase about the thought of two huge man made objects flying together at 18,000 mph in space.

In 1996, courtesy of my brother at NASA, I had the opportunity to be in the VIP seating area, three miles from the launch pad, for a night time space shuttle launch. I think truly the most amazing, spectacular and awe inspiring thing I've ever seen in my life. I try not to get too blase after that. Sometime soon I'll describe what it's like seeing an object the size of an office building go from zero to 6000 mph in one minute....

Meet the Dawgs....

A large crowd of media, family and fans was on hand on a beautiful night to meet the 2007 Dawgs!

My, how things change...

Cody Parker is one of the players on the MHS Bulldog football team who is expected to make a difference this year. Cody is a nice kid. A big one too, to be that athletic.

I had a nice talk with Cody's mom tonight at the first Bulldog Booster meeting. She's very nice also, a teacher. Although I've seen Cody at the first practices, I still asked Mrs. Parker how her son was doing.

"Well", she said, "he gained some weight over the summer but he's lost 25 pounds, he's back down to 317 pounds". Down to 317......Lordy!

Man that's a big kid! In my ancient days, we had one kid on our football team who weighed over 200 pounds and he struck fear into opposing teams. Luckily for the Dawgs, Cody is not the only one breaking the 300 pound mark....by my count with have 3 more!

Fooootball

Fooootball season.......is here again.

August 11th...

Today is my Dad's birthday, the first since he's been gone. He would have been 84 years old. It's a strange feeling knowing that this is a special day, but that the special person is no longer here. It's best to try and remember loved ones as they were at their best. My Dad loved Golf, Football and Tennis.

Shangri La update...

I haven't mentioned it of late, but I've still been working on my proposed trip to Afghanistan I mean Shangri La. And this week I got the go ahead to represent a local TV station; sending images, stories and perhaps some videos back as an embed.

Obviously, there is much to be done yet in order to make the trip come to fruition, like waiting the long wait for a passsport these days, but the press credentials were the first big hurdle passed. My contact in Bagram says that if I wait much longer I'd better repack my vacation luggage, switching from shorts and luau shirts to wool pants and parkas, from golf clubs to skis. It, apparently, gets quite cold where I would be going.

Erroneous Reports...

It's a horrible and powerless feeling when you get an email from two great old friends who are touring Germany telling you that they've heard that another great old friend has died.

It's a really great feeling when you finally get an email from the supposed deceased, telllng you that he is still quite alive. A bad three days until that happened though....

I owe my Mother....

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
"Because I said so, that's why."
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7. My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My mother taught me HUMOR
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door, you'd think that you were born in a barn"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

And my Dad taught me about medical science! Whenever I would whine about some small thing he would always say....
"That dripping you hear is my heart bleeding for you".

Knowing my Dad would be laughing, I brought this point up in the eulogy I delivered at his funeral.

Drainage: it never rains here....

Why spend money on basic drainage systems....it never rains enough here to warrant the expense. I suspect that these people, like me, disagree.

A word of thanks......