Time is flying by. Christmas is just a few days away. And we are preparing for Master Will's visit along with his parents, of course. They will escape from the frozen North in Wisconsin to the balmy Texas weather.
Son James will bring over Tamales Christmas Eve, so that we can enjoy the luck of the Mexican's. At least I have been told it is supposed to be lucky to eat Tamales around Christmas time, if not for Christmas dinner. Don't think we will do them Christmas Day as the the annual smoked turkey is en route as I write. Sort of a tradition to have a Greenberg smoked turkey from Tyler. Texas. We started getting the smoked turkey when we live in California.
We have ordered up a case of Desert Rose Commentivia Salsa for James. It is getting harder to get, we think the ownership has changed hands again. We first got it when visiting with Pete and Judie Hammerton in Tucson, AZ. Bought it at a swap meet out of the trunk of a car. It was in Mason Jars in those days. Now we get it in jars half the size and twice the price but it is the same formulation.
Soon we will all gather for the gift exchange and the big meal.
Merry Christmas to you all. And to all a Happy New Year!
Geaux Tigers
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
John James Audubon Bridge
The bridge is climbing every day. The concrete piers must be up 5o feet now. They look massive.
The Flatiron consortium now says it will be 2011 when it will be finished.
The piers are about half way up the pole crane. That may be an indication of the final height. Not sure, but with a 1,300 or so foot span, it will be plenty tall. Being a cable tie structure, it means that the cables will be tied off at the deck, string back to the piers. It would seem a like number of tie offs will be equal on both sides of the piers so that the load is focused on the piers. So if the span is 1,300 feet, that means tie backs will occur back from the piers at least 650 feet.
That's probably why the sets of steel piers between the concrete piers and the river banks are so small. They probably were added to provide sway stability of the bridge by pinning the decking on the land sides, not so much as to load bearing duties. The bridge has to rise over the levee on the New Roads side. On the St Francisville side, it comes off the bluffs. Bridges at Natchez, Vicksburg and even Memphis, all have bluffs on the eastern shore and ramps on the western shore, even the old Baton Rouge bridge (aka Huey P. Long Bridge on US 190) comes down on the Baton Rouge side on a bluff. In fact, at Natchez and Vicksburg one has to go down to get on the bridge to cross and climb on the Louisiana side to get on the bridge.
The bridge will be well south of St Francisville, it will be a drive, perhaps 10-12 miles to get to St Francisville. Not as far for New Roads but at least six or so miles depending where and if there are interchanges between the bridge and State Route 1/10 connection at about Hospital Road. One will be able to look down on Waterloo Subdivision on the south and Big Cajun #2 coal fire power plant on the north side. I would suppose Doctor Roberts would roll over in his grave had he known the bridge would cross where it does, almost squarely on his land.
One notes there are several pipe lines crossing the river at the same general location. It must be a narrower section of the river. And the river sort of flows north to south there.
It is said that one can see the smoke stacks for Big Cajun #2 from the new bridge at Baton Rouge, the I-10 bridge, they stacks extend up to 500 feet. I am figuring that the bridge piers will go almost that high. So one can see the new bridge from mid Baton Rouge on a clear day.
There will be a new route to Baton Rouge now. Cross the river at New Roads and turn south on US 65. A little longer but perhaps more fun.
We will miss the ferry. The ferries at Baton Rouge are gone, now the one at New Roads will be gone. I wonder if the ferry will be sent over to do duty at Melville, LA. That's where the old Jefferson highway from New Orleans, to Baton Rouge, to Alexandria goes through. A little history there.
The Flatiron consortium now says it will be 2011 when it will be finished.
The piers are about half way up the pole crane. That may be an indication of the final height. Not sure, but with a 1,300 or so foot span, it will be plenty tall. Being a cable tie structure, it means that the cables will be tied off at the deck, string back to the piers. It would seem a like number of tie offs will be equal on both sides of the piers so that the load is focused on the piers. So if the span is 1,300 feet, that means tie backs will occur back from the piers at least 650 feet.
That's probably why the sets of steel piers between the concrete piers and the river banks are so small. They probably were added to provide sway stability of the bridge by pinning the decking on the land sides, not so much as to load bearing duties. The bridge has to rise over the levee on the New Roads side. On the St Francisville side, it comes off the bluffs. Bridges at Natchez, Vicksburg and even Memphis, all have bluffs on the eastern shore and ramps on the western shore, even the old Baton Rouge bridge (aka Huey P. Long Bridge on US 190) comes down on the Baton Rouge side on a bluff. In fact, at Natchez and Vicksburg one has to go down to get on the bridge to cross and climb on the Louisiana side to get on the bridge.
The bridge will be well south of St Francisville, it will be a drive, perhaps 10-12 miles to get to St Francisville. Not as far for New Roads but at least six or so miles depending where and if there are interchanges between the bridge and State Route 1/10 connection at about Hospital Road. One will be able to look down on Waterloo Subdivision on the south and Big Cajun #2 coal fire power plant on the north side. I would suppose Doctor Roberts would roll over in his grave had he known the bridge would cross where it does, almost squarely on his land.
One notes there are several pipe lines crossing the river at the same general location. It must be a narrower section of the river. And the river sort of flows north to south there.
It is said that one can see the smoke stacks for Big Cajun #2 from the new bridge at Baton Rouge, the I-10 bridge, they stacks extend up to 500 feet. I am figuring that the bridge piers will go almost that high. So one can see the new bridge from mid Baton Rouge on a clear day.
There will be a new route to Baton Rouge now. Cross the river at New Roads and turn south on US 65. A little longer but perhaps more fun.
We will miss the ferry. The ferries at Baton Rouge are gone, now the one at New Roads will be gone. I wonder if the ferry will be sent over to do duty at Melville, LA. That's where the old Jefferson highway from New Orleans, to Baton Rouge, to Alexandria goes through. A little history there.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
And I thought it was Cold . . .
I thought it was cold the other day, not - wrong. It is cold now. It was 23.6 this AM when I got up - about 6:30. It is now really cold.
But it is bright outside and I am sure the Christmas shoppers will be out looking for the bargans. Some sales flyers in the newspaper this AM. All the merchants are trying to tempt you to come in and shop. If their heaters are going they have a chance, don't ya think?
Must be a lot of E-Shopping going on. I made a small order at a hobby place, nationally and internationally used by us RCers and they were extremely slow in acknowledgeing the the order and shipping it. That can only mean they are really doing a lot of business. For them that's good, for me it means a long delay getting the parts I needed. Oh, well, tis the season.
But it is bright outside and I am sure the Christmas shoppers will be out looking for the bargans. Some sales flyers in the newspaper this AM. All the merchants are trying to tempt you to come in and shop. If their heaters are going they have a chance, don't ya think?
Must be a lot of E-Shopping going on. I made a small order at a hobby place, nationally and internationally used by us RCers and they were extremely slow in acknowledgeing the the order and shipping it. That can only mean they are really doing a lot of business. For them that's good, for me it means a long delay getting the parts I needed. Oh, well, tis the season.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Dark December . . .
So much for global warming, snow in Houston and New Roads, cool weather abounds. Today is overcast and spitting rain (some say sleet even). Maybe sleet up North along the Red River. Just seeping in damp weather.
A little slow breeze out of the North. Drizzle.
Well December marches on. Deep winter approaches along with Christmas.
A little slow breeze out of the North. Drizzle.
Well December marches on. Deep winter approaches along with Christmas.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
No Snow Here. . .
No snow, not even a flake. But cold, cold, cold! Judie said it was 23 when she went to bed early this AM. When I got up a 7:15 is was 27 and frost everywhere. Looked like snow but it was just crunchy grass. Saw snow in the Audubon Bridge web page, so New Roads even got snow while we did not. It was 34 there by their thermometer.
Surprisingly, the Weeping Willow trees are still green. I wonder how long that will last? The last of the green in the leaves of the red oaks out front is just about gone. Next the leaves will all come down. Those two trees are getting up there, nice size now, probably 40 feet tall now. Pretty soon they will be only stark bare branches, shut down for the winter.
The wind is ripping out of the south, that means it will warm up. No clouds, so it will get down low again tonight. Maybe the south winds will keep it warm - there's hope.
The deer will be out looking for food. That means if its green, it is gonna get et. But not much green left, everything is burnt or turning brown. All the pansys in the neighborhood are going to be eaten up by the foraging deer. We gave up on planting them for that reason.
Winter is here. Time to hunker down.
Surprisingly, the Weeping Willow trees are still green. I wonder how long that will last? The last of the green in the leaves of the red oaks out front is just about gone. Next the leaves will all come down. Those two trees are getting up there, nice size now, probably 40 feet tall now. Pretty soon they will be only stark bare branches, shut down for the winter.
The wind is ripping out of the south, that means it will warm up. No clouds, so it will get down low again tonight. Maybe the south winds will keep it warm - there's hope.
The deer will be out looking for food. That means if its green, it is gonna get et. But not much green left, everything is burnt or turning brown. All the pansys in the neighborhood are going to be eaten up by the foraging deer. We gave up on planting them for that reason.
Winter is here. Time to hunker down.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Vacuum Cleaner . . .
The vacuum cleaner threw the drive belt - again. An all to frequent event now days. So we have been casting about for a new cleaner. Ugh, none have bags anymore, just canisters to dump (and get dust all over the place). And they do not seem to be self propelled anymore either.
So I took the old vac to the local vacuum cleaner repair guru. We agreed that if it cost more than $65.00 he would call for an okay to repair. I took it in Wednesday and said we needed it back pretty quick. He said if it could be repaired in would be ready by Friday.
Well he called today, Thursday, its fixed for less than $65.00 (but not by much - $58.00). That's a lot cheaper than a new one (with all the draw backs).
I picked it up. It has a new internal filter, a new drive belt, and a new part. The idler drive wheel had broken, that's the new part. It is a simple plastic wheel mounted on a metal ball bearing. The wheel had failed, cracked which allows it to throw the drive belt. So that go replaced. That was the good news.
The bad news is the replacement part is the same plastic drive wheel over a metal bearing. So we can expect it will fail again, down the road. But I guess we will get another 5 years out of it.
Replacing the internal filter will allow it to pick up better too. So it is rejuvenated. Good to go for a while, maybe a five or six years. Good deal.
So I took the old vac to the local vacuum cleaner repair guru. We agreed that if it cost more than $65.00 he would call for an okay to repair. I took it in Wednesday and said we needed it back pretty quick. He said if it could be repaired in would be ready by Friday.
Well he called today, Thursday, its fixed for less than $65.00 (but not by much - $58.00). That's a lot cheaper than a new one (with all the draw backs).
I picked it up. It has a new internal filter, a new drive belt, and a new part. The idler drive wheel had broken, that's the new part. It is a simple plastic wheel mounted on a metal ball bearing. The wheel had failed, cracked which allows it to throw the drive belt. So that go replaced. That was the good news.
The bad news is the replacement part is the same plastic drive wheel over a metal bearing. So we can expect it will fail again, down the road. But I guess we will get another 5 years out of it.
Replacing the internal filter will allow it to pick up better too. So it is rejuvenated. Good to go for a while, maybe a five or six years. Good deal.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Brrrr . . .Its Cold
Brrr . . .Its Cold. Got up this AM, dressed and went into the living room, the great room, did my blood sugar test, put on my shoes, put drops in my eyes and thought, "I wonder if it is snowing?" Went over and opened the blinds and yes, it was snowing.
Wet stuff coming down pretty fast but not sticking to well. Went out and got the paper noting that the streets were clear and the sidewalks were also clear, a lot of dripping going on - the gutters downspouts ringing. Back inside, noted the temperature was right at 32 degrees F and then a half hour later, the temperature was at 36 degrees - rising. Gonna be wet. It quit snowing about 9 AM. Got a little sun peeking out too.
Now the wind is ripping out of the North. Nice and cold out there, outside. I hear the heater going full blast. I just picture the little wheels on the gas meter turning around and around as the heat keeps trying to keep up. Good thing the price of natural gas is down right now.
Some will say, "The Christmas spirit is upon us." I'll just say, "The cold is upon us." Double yuck!
Wet stuff coming down pretty fast but not sticking to well. Went out and got the paper noting that the streets were clear and the sidewalks were also clear, a lot of dripping going on - the gutters downspouts ringing. Back inside, noted the temperature was right at 32 degrees F and then a half hour later, the temperature was at 36 degrees - rising. Gonna be wet. It quit snowing about 9 AM. Got a little sun peeking out too.
Now the wind is ripping out of the North. Nice and cold out there, outside. I hear the heater going full blast. I just picture the little wheels on the gas meter turning around and around as the heat keeps trying to keep up. Good thing the price of natural gas is down right now.
Some will say, "The Christmas spirit is upon us." I'll just say, "The cold is upon us." Double yuck!
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