Arrrghhhhh - New Computer!

The old computer died, never quite sure what it was dying of until the end and, yes, it was the hard disk dying. But some other things had gone bad too like the sound system but that turned out to be the old speaker set up. The old speaker set up dates from Argyle and was pushing 10 years of use, carpped out the other day.

Got a new Dell, it is spiffy but . . . Yes, the ever present but. The but is Vista, crappy software by Microsoft. I find it arrogant. Presumptuous solitaire, a defrag program that only lets you know it is running by a silly little circle turning round and round. The old defrag program had graffs, colors and shows what percentage is complete and so on. Not this one, just a silly little circle turning round and round like it is loading a program.

I guess I will get used to Vista but I surely do not like it. To much change from the old expected norm.

And Vista does not recognize my WiFi card, gives me a code 10 error. Yes, I checked on the Internet and it seems to be a common problem. NetGear makes the card and says they are compatible, but it don't work. One of the forums users said that he removed two giga bytes of memory from his motherboard and all was happy at that poi int. That harks back to a problem I had loading Windows 98 in Arglye. It was the Internet forums that gave the way to load Windows 98, remove one of the two sticks of D RAM. When I did that, Windows 98 loaded up without crashing. Then I reinstalled the memory stick and everything was okay. I suppose it had to do with some memory location assignment. Told Microsoft about it then and they said for $75 an hour they would fix it. I said shove it, I got it to work without your help. All I am trying to do was provide some help to Microsoft and you want me to pay you to fix your program? Get serious!

So I am connected to the Internet via a ethernet cord from the DSL modem to the Dell. That works but that is not the objective. The objective is to go wireless. Later today I will try the memory thing and see if it works. That will be interesting if it does. AndI do not want to pay for another WiFi receiver card of different origin to fix the problem, the old one worked with XP why wont the card work with Vista. Answer - Microsoft - stupid!

Meanwhile, the antivirus has been moved over to the Dell and it works. But I can not get my backup disk to restore all my other stuff. That is BounceBack and it has always been screwy. Sent them a message, we will see what I get back.

Had to get some new speakers. Got a cheapo set up from Wal-Mart. Wires so short I had to set the speakers up under the desk so that all could be connected. But it works, really does not matter where the sound originates as long as it works, right?

I am thinking I will have to try to set up the old computer one more time to transfer data over to the new one. Got to give that some considerations to how and when to do it.

The new Dell is smaller, more compact. Big hard disk - 500 Giga bytes. Seems to have a smaller back up disk - could be just a partition, don't know. There is a device that looks like it may be a small back up disk in the Dell. And the Dell has all these new cables, not ribbon cables connecting things. There seems to be one ribbon cable slot and I will install the floppy there. There is provisions for a floppy on the front and yet another empty bay. There are two PCI slots (one being used by the NetGear Card).

So it is not Dell's fault but they are the ones that put this crappy software on it. Maybe they have an answer, I will ask.

Dreary Day . . .

Overcast casts a pall over the sky, little breeze and ever present threat of rain. We had several strong squall lines come through yesterday, thunder, hard showers and a bit of blow. Did this at least three times.

The first line through was mostly mist. Drizzle and damp. I was at the Parker County Sheriffs Posse rodeo grounds. There was a big to do about fire fighters, and a Bar B Q cook off. Got there about 11:30, displayed my Big Stik and it started to drizzle. Went looking for something to eat and had go back and pay an entrance fee to get food. It was just so so. And the drizzle got steadily worse.

I had to pick the plane and put it in the Mountaineer and leave. On the way home the drizzle got pretty bad. Almost rain.

At home now, Judie took off for Wal-Mart. Not five minutes after she left I got the Weatherford Severe Weather alert via telephone. We agreed to that city service, it is just a phone call, not a siren like the Tornado warning systems use. So Judie was at Wal-Mart and there was this threat of severe hail storm. Well she did not get hailed on (nice new car got by after all) but did sit out a big rain storm. That was about 2:30 PM.

We got another alert at 3:50 or so and decided to drive into Fort Worth. We went to Hulen Mall which has covered parking. We found the place packed and soon figured it out, school kids were out because of the Swine Flu scare, the mall had live music and I guess the rain drove them all into that place. So I guess we got exposed to the Swine Flu with all those kids and parents running all over the place. And yes, it rain a down pour, we could see the water running off the roof from inside the mall. Power flashed and all the escalators stopped.

We ate at the little Greek concessionaire. Gyro salad. I like it. Olives, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, vinegar and oil, one big pepperoni pepper covered with sliced Gyro meat (lamb and beef). Dined deluxe on Styrofoam plates with plastic knives and forks. But it was good - a lot better than the Bar B Q I had for lunch.

After we drove up to Camp Bowie drive and had coffee and tea at LaMadaline's. We shared a Tiramuso. Then to home escaping all possible hail damage on the vehicle.

All that moisture is in the air today. Cooler - yucky - no fun weather. Double ugh.

Time Moves On . . .

We subscribe to the weekly newspaper from New Roads - the Pointe Coupee Banner. It is a source of news that can only be gotten there, like obituaries. And sure enough, this weeks Banner had the obituary of an old neighbor, Louis B. Morgan. He was a veteran of WW-II, son of very well known family and a true family man.

I can remember his father-in-law, Leroy Major, shooting Comorants in his back yard. They seemed to cover the sky at times. And they were not controlled in those days, so there was no limit or season to worry about. It always impressed me but I am sure it must have upset my mother with all the noise and such. Just think shooting a BB gun in town today may be a crime much less a 12 gauge shot gun.

Louis also had a pier and boat house jutting out into the lake. I caught my first fish off that pier, a hefty cat fish that my father skinned and we ate. He had built a boat house for his Higgins boat and Evinrude 25 horse power motor. The walk way to the boat house was lower than the pier and made it easy to get into and out of the lake - False River.

As I recall we were swimming with the other kids, one of which turned out to be Leon Harris (I did not recall he was there but he reminded me he was). At any rate, I was bent on cleaning up the trash off the bottom of the lake. Being a fresh water lake and located in the deep almost tropical south, the water is not clear, it is full of life, much of it microscopic. So it is cloudy and only a couple of feet of it is enough to obscure the remaining depths.

So I was feeling around with my hands, it was quite shallow there next to the boat house walkway, for trash. Old bottles (mostly beer bottles from bass fishermen), limbs and other ditrimous of time. I picked up what I thought was a top to a tin can, at least it was round. I started to throw it toward the shore, then stopped as it was quite thick and heavy. And I knew tin can tops were quite thin and light. So I kept it and put it on the walkway.

Later I took it up the hill and gave it to my mother to evaluate. Little boys trusted that their mothers would not take their treasure not matter what it was. I went off to play and returned to later find that my mother's friend, Lucy Roberts, had cleaned it up (a no no but . . .). It was a Spanish "piece of eight," a silver doubloon dated 1803.

There had always been rumors that there was treasure buried around False River but none had ever been found. Well I found it but it was only one piece of eight. And it was silver to boot, I always thought there were gold (they are not).

Turns out one of the kids swimming with me was Leon Harris. I had seen his sister-in-law Lea Ray nee Mougeot Harris at Nickie's funeral. She told me Leon was in Grants Pass, OR. So I did a Internet search and located him. I sent him a letter and he responded with an Email. He said that he had just told an local friend about me finding a piece of eight in False River.

Time has caused our paths to come near again. Louis' back yard and pier, my piece of eight and contact with an old school buddy. Life is dynamic and the constant is us, the people of the world.

Making Contact . . .

While attending my exbrother-in-laws funeral, I was greeted by one of our old friends, Lea Raye nee Mougeot Harris. Her husband's brother was a childhood friend, Leon M. Harris. So I inquired as to where Leon was and she replied Grants Pass, Oregon.

So I took a stab at his address via the Internet White Pages and looked up Leon. And sure enough there was a Leon Harris listed. So I banged out a letter to Leon in hopes it was the person I was looking for. A shot in the dark so to speak.

This mornig I got an Email response from Leon and yes, it was Leon of my childhood responding. He sounds like he is in great shape, retired very successfully and doing what he wants now days. He ended up in Grants Pass as it is his wife's hometown. That makes sense to me.

So strange those old connections from the past. Other people at the funeral triggered memories too. Pap Baum was there, a member of Nickie's, my exbrother-in-laws name, prayer group. Him along with the likes of Glenn Morgan. Nickie's old brother-in-law, Major Hebert. Major's second wife was a close class mate and friend of Judie's, Sandra nee Roberts (Sadly, Sandra has past on). Glenn was childhood neighbor and his father, Boots, became a close golfing buddy of my father. Both Glenn Morgan and Major Hebert are retired architects.

How we weave through life together, it is amazing. Small town USA is a strong powerful relationship and society. Those of us that grew up there can return and mix in; others who have moved there and lived there for years can not make that transition. I pity those that did not have that small town life to fall back on, a place to go, a place to remember - a place called home.

And everybody has to have a celebrity in the family. Nickie's was/is James Carville. James Carville is a close personal and political advisor to former President Bill Clinton. He showed up for the funeral, went through the line. He turns out to be a man small in statue, not one of those larger than life people like Nickie. Yet even in small statue, he stood out because of who he is and what he does.

Today is Easter Sunday - a day of renewal. Renewed contacts are appropriate.

The Wind . . .

She's ablowing and ablowing! The wind is ripping along, I watch my neighbors Willow Tree swish back and forth and back and forth. Even the Red Oak out side the front window is twisting to and fro even though it has no leaves.

I can even hear it, not a moan but a definite whisper as it gusts along. The Holly bushes short and stiff in the flower bed are charging around in resistance to the wind.

But no clouds, so I guess that is a good deal. Usually this time of year we get severe storms along the dry line. Fast moving thunderstorms that have hail and sometimes tornadoes imbedded in them. The dry line is sort of a Texas phenomena, it is quite definite for in front of the line is calm and the humidity is up and behind it the humidity is down and the weather is violent. There can be a difference of 40 to 60% drier, very noticeable. These storms sweep out of south central Texas fueled by moisture out of Mexico from the Pacific Ocean. This is not a jet stream effect, it is the natural flow of winds west to east across Mexico into Texas.

Another source of fuel for storms are the predominate winds out of the south flowing up from the Gulf of Mexico heading north. This feeds the tornadoes of Oklahoma and further on into the Ohio valley.

We are really located in the bottom of the Great Plaines where the wind always blows. So we get a lot of it. We are also on the edge of desert country, so it is dry in that we do not get a lot of rain. And when El Nino is predominant, we do not get much rain, lawns dry up, the place turns sort brown.

It also means our man made lakes start to dry up. Dallas/Fort Worth depends on man made lakes for water. Even now some metropolitan cities are negotiating with Oklahoma counties for water. These are counties that bound the state line. The target I am sure is access to Lake Texoma - a man made lake that is the Red River Valley north of D/FW area. Lake Texoma is a favorite spot of boaters and fishermen. They do not like anybody screwing around with their lake.

Our little lake, Lake Weatherford, is down 6 feet already. And the rainy season is fast closing. That means water will be pumped into Lake Weatherford from Lake Benbrook. Both are man made lakes, but Lake Weatherford, smaller, is up stream and therefore a more "senor" reservoir. I have already seen Lake Weatherford down 9 feet, seems odd to see a boat suspended in its boathouse of dry land. Water is a big deal around here. And pumping cost money, that means the City of Weatherford will raise the already expensive rates. And as usual, once raised, will never be reduced.

We have a well down about 200, so far the aquifer has held up. It is known as the Pulacsi or Pulacksy Acquifier. There are two strator of lime stone to be penetrated to get to it. The next aquifer is down 600 are more feet. It costs about $20 per foot to drill the well, to put in the pump, pressure tank, and electrical service. After is was all done ours cost about $5,000.00 but due to the cost of city water we have amortized that cost in three years. Some of our neighbors pay $300 to $00 a month just water their yards.

There is talk of regulating the wells. That takes special legislation to do so. For in Texas each landowner owns his water rights on his land. If he wants to put in a well he can, there is some limitations in cities but that does not hamper us much. So we have the well and soon we think others may be to late to drill as the cities and state want to cut them off.

And the wind blows drying out the lawn. Got to water to keep it green. But at least we can water the lawn with our private well.

The Annual Trip

We're back! Got back early Sunday but we were worn out, too much travel for me. The drive to and from New Roads was uneventful, fast and on good roads. We zipped into New Roads, to Bergeron's to get pecans and then back to the camp. Found workers jacking up the structure and had to let them in to check the doors.

Later Mark did not seem to happy with the work and the mess they left. They did jack up the low side of the house but left all the protective sheeting out. Said it was to hard to put back in without breaking it. Mark labored hard to put it back, it was simple but time consuming.

We went early to the plantation and helped a little bit in setting things up. As usual Walter and his beloved wife did a magnificent job of feeding us. We had chicken and sausage gumbo and salad with garlic bread. Chris had the house all cleaned up.

Both Walter and Chris were pleased with the tractor they had bought. Chris seemed to know the entire history of the machine. Between them, they had chopped up the surrounding area, and will drag it level later. Then they will have to acquire a bushhog mower for the tractor. That will come a little later. There is about 10 or 12acres around the out buildings that need to be kept up. In the past, the farm had being paying an absorbent fee to cut the grass. Now with the tractor and mower, we can do the work and save the cost. The up shot being that we will also now have a operable tractor to do that and other work around the place. A farm needs a tractor, doesn't it?

The meeting was more sedate this year. Not much going on. We had Dianne and Richie, David and Chris, and Joe; Herrise with Aletha and Byron in tow; we had James and Joan, Jamie and Amanda Grace. Walter's son Jeff was there with two little fellows - Mathew and Jude. Walter's had yet another son, Bubba, drove in from Jackson. Margaret and John were also in attendance. We missed Camille but we had Ann and Don and with them was Mitch and Cammie and Jack Gonzales. Of course, I missed a few but it was a quite meeting.

We met, Walter passed out checks, we conducted old and new business. The house had been washed and the tractor purchased and repaired (power take off problem had to be fixed to run the later to come mower).

Later that night we had Amanda Louise and Georgie, Paul, Richard, Mark, James, Joan and Jammie at the camp. We ordered up eats from the Tiger Inn, and dined deluxe on styrofoam. I had cat fish, the others mostly had fried shrimp.

We stayed at Morel's rather than at the camp since James - Joan etal were going to be there. Just not enough room for all o fus at one time. Morel's was okay, quaint, small but adequate. And it was clean.

All in all we had a good time together.

We did not mention Aunt Bobbe's untimely passing but it was in the back of all our minds all the time. We miss her dearly.

Until next year. . .

Judie . . .

Judie has disappeared int the "Frozen Nawth" to visit with Jake, Anne and Will (well mostly Will).

Since she has left - no mail on Saturday. I know the USPS has announced the change in service but I did not know it would start so soon. Today, Sunday, no newspapers, no Star Telegram and no Democrat - how did they know she was out of town? Called up the circulation department and they said no more deliveries and that we would get credit for the missing paper. Hard to read credit!

Got the new battery for the old laptop and it is cooking along okay. The new PCMCIA card arrived and I fought the thing all day Saturday. Seems the card is programmed to operate with Windows 9X, XP and Vista - skipped ME/2000. Guess what, the laptop uses Windows ME. Crap, I will have to send the card back, they will not like that but they advertised the card would work with Windows ME. I guess they did not bother to check it out. Any rate, I am waiting for replies from the merchant and from the maker of the card. Maybe there is some secret hand shake that will allow it to work.

To cold and windy to fly. Good news is that the wing I ordered, and sent back to Tower Hobbies, has finally been replaced. So I can put that together and be ready to fly when the weather allows. Not a difficult task, just glue together and swap the servos out of the damaged wing. Then I will be ready to fly.

House is quiet with Judie off visiting. I hunker down in the den and shut everything down. Automatic thermostats keep me warm and I have the task of figuring out where I want to eat. Lots of place but most are not appealing to me. Some I will only go to with Judie, so it looks like Wal-Mart for a pizza or something frozen to eat.

LSU beat Kentucky to become the SEC Basketball Champions out right. They are 13 - 1 in conference play having only lost to Bama early in the season. Since then they have not lost a conference game. Means they will enter the SEC tournament with a bye. It also means that they will go the NCAA tournament.

Life goes on . . . .