Category Archives: Rancho Roly Poly

On a wing and prayer

Posted on October 2, 2006 | Comments Off on On a wing and prayer

Flying out tomorrow morning to Baltimore and thence by car to western Virginia for the niece’s wedding. Will try to post from there, but the only known computer available has a phone line connection. So?

Comments Off on On a wing and prayer

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly

Flight jitters

Posted on September 26, 2006 | Comments Off on Flight jitters

Just a week to go before I fly out of Texas to Virginia for the niece’s wedding. So, naturally, the shocking airplane stories are starting to appear. Fortunately we’ll not be crossing any oceans nor flying British Airways.

"The British art of understatement found its expression in this article about the British Airways pilot / management decision to press on with the flight despite a fire in one of the engines."

Via Simply Jews 

Comments Off on Flight jitters

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly

Tagged , ,

Wash your hair

Posted on September 25, 2006 | Comments Off on Wash your hair

You don’t have to fly dirty anymore. They’re letting shampoo and other liquids and gels back on commercial airliners again. Which is good news at the Rancho where we are all flying out next week for Virginia.

"’We now know enough to say that a total ban is no longer needed from a security point of view,’ said Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration, at a news conference at Reagan National Airport."

UPDATE  Actually, it’s not that simple. Seems you can carry three-ounce bottles of liquids and gels onto planes, so long as all items fit into a single quart-size zip-top plastic bag. Also got to have your baggie out for inspection at checkpoints.

Comments Off on Wash your hair

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly

Tagged , ,

Shana Tovah/Happy New Year

Posted on September 21, 2006 | Comments Off on Shana Tovah/Happy New Year

And while you’re dipping your apple slices in honey for a sweet and wonderful year ahead, you can click on a joke via Snoopy the Goon in Israel, and read a brief essay on what the service (and more ordinary ones) are like in a synagogue by Meryl Yourish in the capital city of the old Confederacy.

Comments Off on Shana Tovah/Happy New Year

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly

Tagged , , , ,

Pitter, patter, thump

Posted on September 19, 2006 | Comments Off on Pitter, patter, thump

The landscapers are on the roof, cutting back the encroaching live oak branches of long standing. Their chainsaws sound, for some reason, like giant buffers. At a distance the sound also reminds me of the wavering theme song of Half Life 2. It must be my head cold. Oh, wait. That’s the blowers pushing the leaves off the shingles. I don’t really want to know how they’ll get the dangling dead wood of the red oak extending out over the pool without falling in themselves.

Comments Off on Pitter, patter, thump

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly

The AC is (was) out

Posted on September 4, 2006 | Comments Off on The AC is (was) out

Home from the sea to discover the AC not working, despite pushing the restart button on the compresser and switching the fuses on and off (is that like kicking tires? or does it make any sense?), so we opened all the windows on this 80ish evening, and then, about thirty minutes later the AC quietly came on. Huh? Well, the techs are all booked, but one promises to come tonight or tomorrow, so maybe we’ll find out what’s going on. Otherwise it’s the work of the AC Fairy. Could have been worse. Could have been another Red Oak down, this time straight through the house.

UPDATE  The tech came, pronounced the problem an aging electrical connector whose parts were not making reliable contact, and replaced it for $140. He also checked the Freon, which he said was fine.

UPDATE  Less than 24 hours later, the AC quit again, this time for four hours before coming back on, under the direction, presumably, of the AC Fairy. The tech is due back tomorrow (Thursday) morning for another diagnostic. I suspect the ACs end is near. After two fallen oak trees, and working to keep the deer out of the backyard, of course I would think the end is near.

Comments Off on The AC is (was) out

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly

Tagged , , , ,

The coast is clear…

Posted on August 31, 2006 | Comments Off on The coast is clear…

PortAransas.JPG

Port A in 2002/via Austin Air Sports

 …of hurricanes or other storms, that is, so we’re headed that way in the morning. Adios central Texas, buenos dias THE BEACH at Port Aransas, on Mustang Island, northeast of Corpus Christi. See you manana (actually Monday night, maybe). Not a big enough fish to have guest bloggers take over, so we’ll just ring down the storefront and hit the rodeo. Be sure to check out the video of the Nahal patrol. Especially if you’re a groundpounder past or present. Just scroll down a ways to find Night Patrol.

UPDATE Port A has grown a lot since the first time I saw it in the late 1970s, even more since the picture above was taken, with several new large condos along the dune line. ‘Course being there on Labor Day Weekend would make any resort look crowded, and the one grocery and half a dozen convenience stores in the little town best known for its Marlin sport fishing, were packed. The beach, normally almost empty just three weeks into September, was wall-to-wall tailgaters under tents. Fun anyway. Even the ferry rides, as always.  

Comments Off on The coast is clear…

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly

Tagged , , ,