Still haven’t had a chance to get out and photograph the bluebonnets. And won’t for a while, now that Mrs. C. has me double-checking her tally of our taxes. We are not among these folks who, don’t you know, probably vote for the Dems who keep raising the taxes of the rest of us. See what the Tea Party is upset about? This shot of the blue carpets is from a friend who lives out near Washington-on-the-Brazos. Illustrates what a great crop there is this year.
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Posted in Mrs. Charm, Obamalot, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana
Tagged Bluebonnets, Income taxes, Tea Party, Washington-on-the-Brazos
Finally getting around to posting some Comfort, Texas, photos. Had so much fun on our stay there, I didn’t take many, but I liked this limestone cottage on main street. Except for the useless gutters. Either rain here is too light to need them, or heavy enough to overwhelm them.
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Posted in Mrs. Charm, Scribbles, Texana, Weather/Climate
Tagged Comfort, High Street, limestone house, Texas, useless gutters
When I was young, the answer was unambiguously yes. And, indeed, in terms of future employment, as recorded here, with one you have been much more likely to be employed and remain so since 1992. Leaving aside how long it took you to recoup the money spent on getting one in the first place.
Now, ideally, education teaches you how to think. But if you haven’t picked that process up in twelve years, you’re not likely to do it in four more. Or five more, as is the average nowadays.
Why shouldn’t we, instead, I said the other day to Mrs. C., encourage Mr. B. to become, say, an electrician. Every time we’ve tried to get an electrician to come fix something, it’s been hard, they’re all so busy. Most people (including me, to a certain extent) are afraid of electricity and so will hire even the relatively simple installation of a ceiling fan, rather than try it themselves. So why not do it Ace’s way:
“…if a kid a started an electrician’s apprentice program at 18, he could get his full Electrician’s license within 5 years. And if his parents had saved even half the money that would have gone for tuition, they would have enough to bankroll the kid setting up his own electrical business. For a lot of kids that’s a much better start to life than getting a bachelors degree in sociology or art history and wondering what now.”
No kidding.
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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles
Tagged Ace of Spades, Chart of the Day, do you really need a college degree, electrician, employment
Let’s see, I plan to make stuffed salmon tonight for me, Mrs. Charm and her mother, who is descending from Fort Worth this afternoon to stay with Mr. Boy for the weekend. This being Thursday, he gets his favorite macaroni and cheese. For grandma I still have to change the bedsheets and tidy up the guest room. Mrs. C. and I are off tomorrow afternoon to Comfort in the Hills.
I’ve done several Google searches but failed to find the origin of Comfort, Texas’ name. Onetime Angora (goat) Capital of The World? Check. Home of Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot in the 1942 Tokyo Raid? Check. Has obligatory Hollywood actor resident? Check. Founded in 1852 as a cooperative by German Freethinkers who opposed formal government and religion? Check, check, check. But only one snide remark that the name must have referred to fancy houses and whiskey. Well, maybe. It was a stage stop.
It looks like the weather will be nice. Highs in the 70s, lows in the 40s.
UPDATE: Got home late Sunday afternoon. Not even the locals know how Comfort got its name, unless it’s a description of the easy livin’ on the banks of Cypress Creek. The town has grown a lot since we were last there in ’92. But many shops have closed and their buildings are for sale or rent. The economy, I suppose, unless it was too much optimism on the locals’ part. Plenty of B&B’s, though. Ours, the Meyer, was full Friday and Saturday. More later, with a picture or two.
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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate
Tagged Angora goats, Comfort, Freethinkers, Jimmy Doolittle, Texas, Tokyo Raiders
Of all the B&B’s in the Hill Country, Gasthaus Meyer is the only one I’m aware of that began as a stagecoach stop more than a hundred years ago. Today it’s a collection of buildings, most old, but a few new, backed up to Cypress Creek in the historic little town of Comfort. Mrs. Charm and I will be spending some time there in mid-March, leaving Mr. B. at the rancho with his grandma down from Fort Worth. Something we used to do every spring before he was born. Just in time for the wildflowers, we hope.
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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana
Tagged B&B, Comfort, Cypress Creek, Gasthaus Meyer, Hill Country, stagecoach stop, Texas
With Microsoft, that terrible monopoly according to the Starbucks crowd, there’s always a solution. With Apple, there’s always a roadblock.
Trying to move Mrs Charms’ iTunes files from the old computer to the new one requires a free utility called iTunes Export. So far so good. Which leads me to its compressed download which leads me to the alert that Stuffit needs to download its latest version which leads me to the news that this latest version, without which Export will not open, costs $49.99. I hate Apple.
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Posted in Library, Mrs. Charm, Science/Engineering, Scribbles
Tagged Apple, iTunes, iTunes Export, Microsoft, Stuffit
It’s not just because of the name’s congruence with a certain brand of female hygiene product. The real joke is that it hasn’t got the features of a 10-year-old, ebook reader bought on eBay for $60. Which doesn’t surprise me. Apple has always been about style and buzz, not about features.
When Mrs. C. got her iPhone, she gave me her old iPod shuffle. It’s nice. I filled it to the max with Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and old swing tunes. But it’s neither as convenient (needs a computer to recharge) nor as easy-to-use (has no display to tell you what’s playing) as my old iRiver MP3 player which I bought used for $20. Haw.
UPDATE: Well, I see the new shuffle tells you, in a voice, what the tune is and who’s playing it. But it still needs a computer to recharge.
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Posted in Blogosphere, Library, Mrs. Charm, Scribbles
Tagged eBay, Indie Author, iPad, IPOD, iRiver
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 