Note To Liberally Lean: The New Family Truckster

Saw this car on Top Gear US last night and found this comparison online from The Smoking Tire. Since the Gangstamobile got crunched you might want to consider a replacement Family Truckster.

$65K+/-
Now that's a lot of money, but when you compare the performance to world class cars that cost over 3X the money and can't fit more than 2 people it's a steal.

My Favorite New Ad Campaign

Speaking of advertising...

Littlesister Would Be Proud

I've been needing a new bedroom dresser for quite a while. The stacked laundry basket motif is getting dated and really screwing up my Fung Shui. Since I've been spending money lately like it's growing on trees I decided to go ahead and chop down what was left of the stump and buy a cheap dresser. 

I went to Furniture Superstore next to Pronto's on 380 in Bridgeport. OK, after you stop laughing about "Superstore" and "Bridgeport" being in the same sentence we'll continue.

Seriously, I can wait all day... Don't make me turn this blog around!

To be honest, I was impressed with the inventory. It was sparce, but mostly quality stuff. I was expecting "Pressboard City" but found a decent selection of quality solid wood construction. The owner was quick to help me without being pushy. I told him what I was looking for and he gave me 3 or 4 options to look at. Then he pulled a rabbit out of his hat and showed me the backroom where he had a dandy of a deal.

An Ashley "Camdyn" dresser he just received that had a loose roller track on 1 of the drawers. I took a look and quickly figured out a screwdriver and 1 screw would permanently solve the problem. This was a $700 solid wood dresser with cedar drawers, but I picked it up for $300 (plus 15 cents for the screw).

An Ashley Furniture dresser for $300? America, what a country!

He asked me about how I heard of the store and how his advertising as working. I said "What advertising?, I used to buy lightbulbs here!". So tell 'em the South 40 sent ya! I'm not making anything off it, but a fair deal deserves word of mouth.

If you're in the market for some quality furniture at a more than fair price I highly recommend checking out Furniture Superstore in Bridgeport. Just get all the giggles about the name out of your system before you walk in.

It would be rude to snicker.

Let's go live to Tucker on The Boardwalk

And you thought the girls they send up 287 to stand on an overpass when a ice storm blows in had it bad.

Reporter Gives Update Covered In Sea Foam: MyFoxNY.com

Seafoam? Uh..... no.

MYFOXNY.COM - A local news reporter from Washington, D.C. ended up getting covered in what is probably the remnants of raw sewage as he delivered live hurricane reports from Ocean City, Md.

WTTG-TV reporter Tucker Barnes was providing live updates for stations around the country as a wall of what he described as sea foam poured over him.

Barnes was on the boardwalk as Hurricane Irene hit the coast of Maryland

He noted that he had immersed himself in organic material.  That "organic material" was most likely the effects of raw sewage pouring into the water during the storm.

"It doesn't taste great," he said.

He said it had a sandy consistency and added, "I can tell you first-hand, it doesn't smell great."

A Rare Saturday Off

So just what did I do with it?

Go dancing/ hot girl chasing?
Go gambling/ hot girl chasing?
Go drag racing/ hot girl chasing?

Ummm, no...

Follow up eye exam in Irving.
Quick (as in I doubletimed thru the place like zombies were after me) shopping hike thru Grapevine Mills.
Got a haircut.
Dinner at Arby's drive-thru.
Watched Brad Keselowski win at Bristol.
Now I'm sitting here watching the original pilot episode of Firefly.

No wonder I'm still the most eligible bachelor on The South 40. I'm too much of a party animal.

Speaking of Grapevine, that place is a nightmare to drive thru now. I could not believe how bad the construction was. For you guys that have to drive thru that mess daily, you have my sincere condolences. I started to take the back way out of the mall thru downtown, but thought "how bad could it be?" and took 114 West.

I didn't realise they had routed the freeway onto the service road and a traffic signal that had obviously not been reprogrammed for the load. After sitting for what seemed like forever we crept up on a sidestreet that several were taking as an escape route. I went for it and for a minute there I was feeling a little cocky as I cruised past a mile of gridlock to the intersection of  Tate & 114.

Didn't take long to get over that. The light changed.

I sat there and watched as all the cars I was sitting behind cruised past along with another 1000 or so.

I Can See Clearly Now

All I can say is WOW! I should have had LASIK 10 years ago when I chickened out.
I'll have to wear reading glasses now, but I can live with that.

The smell of burning eyeball wasn't that bad, but when he said "everything will go dark now" as he sliced my thick corneal flap when the procedure started I did have heaping helping of second thoughts. My reply was "OK, I'll just lay here thinking about 'Final Destination 5'."

That got a mixed reaction of laughs and one loud "Oh my God!".

Zombie Tractor?

Never underestimate the power of a redneck armed with a tractor and beer.

She ain't pretty. She'll never be the bell of the ball. But she's always there when you need her. I'm not talking about a booty call (unfortunately), I'm referring to my 1977 Massey Ferguson 235. When the nuclear winter is over and mankind hangs on by a thread, it will be riding on that tractor, I kid you not. I've sunk a 12 point chisel as deep as it would go in hard ground and all it did was stand on the rear tires and pull! It's out plowed tractors that are newer and bigger.

I've not been kind to it either. It's sat in the sun and weather since I bought it in '99. The thing is indestructible and will not die.

Can I get one just like it with power steering, a bucket and a cab? OK, ok.. let's not get greedy. But a man can dream. At least it has a beer holder!

The weather was perfect for working the roadbase, but Willie Jack did such a good job spreading it that there wasn't much to be done other than filling the gully working it's way up the northside of South40 Boulevard off 101. We'll see how it holds up when it finally rains.

LOL, yeah right... rain.

Road Work Ahead

Getting a bit of resurfacing done to South 40 Boulevard. Erosion (and getting a loaded 18 wheeler stuck) has taken it's toll on a couple areas. I got Willie Jack's Trucking to haul the base material out today and I'll work it with the tractor and boxblade tonight after work. It's too freaking hot to be out on a tractor right now, but it sounds fun later tonight.

I'll have to pick up some Bud Light on the way home. Remember kids, hydration is very important when operating heavy machinery on a hot Texas night.

Move Over Penicillin, There's a New Kid in Town

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0022572

The brainiacs at MIT have been at it again. Meet "DRACO" (Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizer) , a universal anti-viral drug that may be able to cure anything from the common cold to HIV.

Early tests have had outstanding results in the lab and in mice. 11 out of 15 viruses were killed in dishes and mice were cured of H1N1. The poetic part is the drug causes infected cells to "commit suicide". I like the thought of that for some reason.

Lots of testing still to be done, but if this pans out it may be the biggest leap forward since Penicillin. That might also be it's downfall. Nobody wants to make a one size fits all miracle drug, there's no money in it. They want to make designer cures for specific diseases.

DRACO may go the way of the car that runs on water, man.

Ground Control to Major Tom

Ran across this on a message board I visit.

Weather balloon... check.
Styrofoam... check.
Duct tape... check.
Cell phone with GPS tracking app... check.
Camera... check.

Clear for liftoff!

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

— John Gillespie Magee, Jr

Politically Incorrect... But Funny

A HUGE NSFW LANGUAGE WARNING. View at your own risk.

Reekris?

Makes sense to me

Just hold perfectly still...

Well I finally committed to taking the leap and getting LASIK surgery on my eyes. I have to confess I'm a huge freaking coward about it. The thought of the surgical procedure gives me the willys. Don't explain every step to me, just give me one of those George Clooney head nods, smile and say everything is going to be just fine.

You had me at Hello.

My corneal flap is thick and should make for excellent cutting? Thanks for sharing that. I'll be awake thru the whole thing and may smell something like burning hair? That makes me feel confident about my decision. Honest to God just shut the hell up and tell me to sign here, here and here. I don't have any questions because I've been researching/talking myself into this for 10 years and you are not helping.

I chose Dr. Tylock in Irving. He's the guy that does all the corrective surgery for the Rangers, Stars and Mavericks. There's signed jerseys from each of the players he's treated in the hallways of his clinic including Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Hamilton. He's also got the latest and greatest equipment available. If the NBA and AL MVP's trust him to slice open their eyeballs, then he's the guy I'm going to use.

Just do us all a favor and quit telling me what you're going to do to my eyeball, m'kay?

I wonder if they will let me listen to some Pink Floyd when it's go time. I used to love laser rock shows.

Ooh That Smell!

I woke up to an unfamiliar sound... thunder. It is a freakishly cool 95 at noon and you can smell the rain in the air. How sweet it is!

Now comes the tricky part, actually getting any rain! Once again it looks like we are going to miss out the good stuff and the storm is going to stay North of The South40.

I'm thinking of renaming the place if it will help.

Update: Got a nice 20 minute shower! I don't have a rainguage, but it was around a tenth. Now just have to hope the sun doesn't burn it off this afternoon.
Update Part Deux: The sun did come out and burn off a lot, but I think we'll see something from the rain. I predict a bright green field of coastal for about 30 minutes tomorrow morning before it turns back to brown. During the shower the temp dropped to 70. I was doing my best Lt. Dan in the front yard.

Rick Perry's A&M Transcript

Rick Perry's Texas A&M Transcript

To be fair, nobody ever accused him of being a genius.

A's- 2
B's- 18
C's- 25
D's- 8 (including Economics)
F's- 1

A Cry For Help

No, I'm not perched on a ledge. But, I do desperately need your help! I've been searching for a photo of Oscar's Bar B-Q on NW28th Street in Fort Worth and I can't find one.

The place was an icon with a Cessna crashlanded into the roof and the name across the wings. World's greatest BBQ with sawdust on the floor, giant frozen goblets of beer and tender juicy brisket that melted in your mouth in a near spiritual experience. The sliced sammich came with a pickle spear, a slice of sweet onion and no sauce. You didn't need any, but there was a squirt bottle of Oscar's private recipe on the table along with a bottle of  Louisiana sauce if you wanted to ruin perfection.

Oscar Thurmond (sp?) once ran for Ft. Worth city council. I remember seeing his campaingn posters hanging on the walls...  I usta koodint spel barbakue king, now I iz wun!

Your task is at hand, find that pic!

To quote Steve Martin "But first, a little Foggy Mountain Breakdown!"

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys!

I think the one in the orange shirt is their tour manager.

These kids are AWESOME! I'd never heard of The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys until I caught a Letterman rerun last night.

WOW!

Hanson they ain't. These brothers aren't some marketing gimmick slapped together to fit a demographic, they are 3 gifted brothers that have legit skills. Probably the reason why you haven't heard of them before. Did I mention they've only been playing for a little over 3 years?

Serious tip of the South 40 Resistol, boys.

And before you get the Deliverance jokes going, these boys are from... New Jersey?

Git a rope.

Here we come, walking down the street...

No this isn't a Monkees revival. It's a welcome to the scam revival. ERCOT  says demand outweighs supply and threatens to start rolling blackouts to prevent a systemwide crash. What they don't tell you is if they switch providers to keep you online and what those providers charge for service.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Texas on it's own electric grid because we had more generation than usage and if the national grid collapsed Texas could stand on it's own?

Don't Mess With Texas

This year is the 25th anniversary of the famous CAF Don't Mess With Texas public service announcement. It was IMHO, the best one of the bunch and they had some pretty good ones in that ad campaign. But I always thought the B-17 looked so low because of wide angle lenses, zoom and camera angle.

BOY, was I wrong!


This behind the scenes video shows just how low they actually got. That's some ballzy stuff in a 50 year old warbird! I kept waiting for a propstrike on that van. It also looks like the Fortress pilot had more huevos than the fighter jocks. The Pony and Wildcat didn't make the final cut.