Play Ball.....

Play Ball.....

Evening update to story below: After staging a dramatic comback, Jack's team lost by one run. A good game....if you could see it. The dust was thick. Temperature with wind chill was in the 30's.
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Well, today is the first day of play for Jack's regular Little League baseball team. This is not to be confused with his select baseball team which started back in January and culminates, we think, in May. Nor is it to be confused with his all star team play, assuming he makes it again, which starts immediately after the regular games and winds up probably in August.

I like the regular Little League. The games are generally at a field very close to our home as opposed to the select games which are in other cities and states. I also get a chance to interact with the "young" people. The "young" people to me being the parents, who are generally 15-20 years younger. I fit in with the young set...and we've met some nice folks over our time in Little League.

When I first started attending Little League games with Jack and Julie it was rather an ordeal. The players had a few problems with the basics of the game mostly in the pitching, fielding and batting areas. A goodly portion of the games was spent watching the catcher chase the wild pitches around the backstop and walks were the primary scoring vehicle. But now, the kids have gotten markedly better and the games have become interesting...more like real baseball.

It should be a perfect day for baseball....60° with blowing dust.

Surf City USA....

I've been surfing the web since 1998 and before the addition of a family and the advent of the world of blogs I had more time to actually peruse some interesting websites. Over the years I have added and culled hundreds. Here for your viewing pleasure are a few of the ones that have won a permanent place on my "favorites" list. I tend towards the quirky and photographic.

Roadside America: An adventure travelogue featuring points of interest discovered along America's highways. I was attracted to the site because an old friend and I trade postcards and snapshots of just this sort of thing..like the world's largest chest of drawers he found in North Carolina and the world's largest walleyed pike I viewed in Minnesota. Currently featured on this website is "Marsh's Free Museum--Home of Jake the Alligator Man, Long Beach, Washington". And don't miss the Muffler Man compendium. I've seen several of these.

On the Road: Join Matt Frondorf as he drives from the Statue of Liberty to the Golden Gate Bridge, his camera clicking at every mile. John installed a 35 mm. camera pointing out the side of his car and synchronized it to his odometer. A picture was automatically taken ever single mile as he drove from New York to California. Interesting stuff and frankly something I would like to try, perhaps in New Mexico.

The Ultimate Taxi: If you're a digital guru you'll love Jon Barnes and his "wired" taxi cab in Aspen. In the early days of his wired cab Jon had his laptop going and logged on to a chat message board so you could "talk" to him in real time as he drove. I did on several occasions. I think that became a little too distracting and so is probably not still functional. Check out some of the pictures of his fares. I once spotted a couple from Dallas I used to know.

Leave it to Beaver: Need I say more. Consistant readers will know that I'm a Beaver fan. I was exactly the same age as The Beav when the program originally aired, had an over achieving older brother and my Mom stayed at home and always had dinner ready on time. I was The Beav. Beaver is now on TV Land every night at 8:30 and is one of the few programs that the bride, child and I consistantly try and watch together.

Under Fire, Images from Vietnam: Catherine Leroy's tribute to the best of Vietnam combat photography. Catherine herself is in that category and was captured briefly by the North Vietnamese Army while getting some of her shots. I've had the privelage of corresponding with Catherine and sending her some of Joe Galloway's photos for future inclusion in her gallery.

Enjoy these....more forthcoming.

The Zen of Napoleon Dynamite...

We had a very nice Easter weekend and we hope that you did too.

My little sister and her family were in town from Pennsylvania to help us celebrate; we only get to see them, perhaps, once a year so it was good to be able to spend time catching up. It is always amazing to glimpse the yearly snapshot of my nephew, Dan, as he quickly grows up. It seems like another lifetime those 14 years ago in Dallas when I first saw him in the new baby viewing window at Presbyterian Hospital. He's now a "too cool teenager". Not too cool really, though he'd like you to think so. You can tell he still wants to do most anything...he just acts like he's too cool to want to do it. Things like watching Napoleon Dynamite. Dan opined that it was "childish" and "the worst movie he's ever seen". I noticed him holding in the laughs.

We are now the proud owners of Napoleon Dynamite on DVD. I have to admit that I knew nothing about Napoleon Dynamite and would never in a million years have gone to the movie theater to see it, but now I have seen it two nights out of three and I am a reluctant convert. Thursday evening, Jack, Julie and I watched it [to humor Jack] while having to restrain young Jack from uttering, "watch this, this is funny" at each new scene. His 11 year old glee was catching however and I, much to my chagrin, found myself stiffling a occasional chuckle...I'm rather too cool too.

Saturday, the entire family including my 82 year old parents were in attendance for dinner at our house and, of course, [thanks to Jack] the subject of Napoleon Dynamite came up. My Mother is somewhat of a movie buff so she became interested in the film that we were all talking about. In spite of much dissuasion from the younger crowd she was determined to see it and so we did.

If you have seen the movie you will perhaps identify with our comments. After the first 10 minutes my mother said, "we'll maybe it gets better". The consensual answer from us prior viewers was, "No not really". My Father said, "this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen". Our answer was, "yes just about". Adding further he said, "what's the plot?". The answer had to be, "there isn't any". But that is the brilliance of Napoleon Dynamite, the sum of nothing adds up to a magnificent whole.

The zen of the movie is that it is like life itself. Life, yours or mine, does not have a scripted plot. Mine is mostly just a series of bonehead incidents strung together in an array as mundane, strange and comical as Napoleon's. If there is a moral to the film it's that somehow in spite of all obstacles and strange relatives, we do manage to get by...even the dweebs of the world. And now life imitates art at our house. Not an hour goes by without a quote from the film being applied to the situation at hand. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and hear Jack's renditions of all the major quotes from the movie. He knows them all and is really quite good with the dialects. Jack has a new "Vote for Pedro" T-shirt and I want Jack and his friend Hunter to go out and play "Uncle Rico" with me. This involves them riding their bikes past the house while I throw meat at them.

If things don't change we may go for counseling but for now I leave you with Kips Wedding Song

We met in a chatroom, now our love can fully bloom...
Sure the world wide web is great, but you, you make me salivate...
I love technology, but not as much as you, you see...
But I STILL love technology...

Easter wishes.....

Julie, Jack and Wallace wish you a happy and peaceful Easter......!

Cops finger bad chili....

In this age of so much bad, bizarre and just really sad news bombarding us from all directions it is easy to become jaded and simply pass over many of the stories, even those with some importance. But when I saw the headline, "Human finger found in Chili" I simply had to investigate further. This could have profound implications for me personally.

Thankfully I have never been a big fan of fast food joints, we'll not totally true, I'm a fan, I've just been somewhat protective of my health by not eating there often. Even more so now, after my recent cardiac capers. I have never eaten Wendy's chili and I pledge this to you now, "I ain't never eatin' no stinkin' chili at Wendy's..... ever and for eternity". In fact, I may have grave reservations about ever eating out anywhere again.

And if you're like me and have just a modicum of curiosity, you wonder just how a human finger can end up in a bowl of Wendy's chili in San Francisco. Authorities are launching an investigation.....well duh! What would be the alternative? Tell the finger eating customer that, "hey, you got your money back forget about it". You just have to ponder how someone up the food supply chain can lose a finger and not bother to tell anyone about it? And I thought fingernails in McDonalds hamburgers was disgusting.

Afternoon update: After I had deliberated on this strange case for several hours, a nagging feeling came over me. In yesterdays post I mentioned the Buddy's Drive-In owner who was missing and then located mysteriously in San Francisco. Buddy's is famous for it's steak fingers. And now also in San Francisco, a finger is mysteriously found in Wendy's chili. Coincidence? "Buddy's Steak Finger Drive-in owner mysteriously deposited in San Francisco. Finger mysteriously arrives in San Francisco chili...." You decide.

Anniversary....

It was three months ago today that I entered the hospital to undergo the rebuilding of my heart using spare parts from my leg. I'm doing well, walking a brisk 2 miles a day and grateful to God, family and a great team of doctors. I stopped by my surgeon's office, Dr. Patel, to check in and say thanks. The nurse says that I can stop wearing my stylish orthopedic hoisery and that my five large leg incisions have healed about as well as she has ever seen. Again gratitude for all involved and....

Hospital Bill: $xx,xxx, Dr. Patels bill: $x,xxx, Dr. Suckarieh's bill: $x,xxx, Dr. Browns bill: $x,xxx. Having these fine folks submit all the bills directly to the Veteran's Administration for payment: PRICELESS!

Steak Fingerless....

Andrews Texas is just up the road from Midland, about 30 miles which is our next door neighbor in West Texas terms. Andrews County is one of the richest oil producing areas in the United States, so many of us find ourselves up there on business quite frequently. And when there for the day any oil field guy worth his salt eats at Buddy's Drive-In. It is well known, nay famous, for it's steak fingers, those luscious strips of deep fried meat that people like me can't eat. Oil folks from all over the state are familiar with Buddy's.

But mysterious things have been happening at Buddy's lately. One of the co-owners of the Drive-In recently went missing, simply disappeared, for a week or so, many fearing the worst. Then miracuously she was found in San Francisco claiming no knowledge of how and why she was there. I have not seen any follow-up story on the circumstances of this strange case.

And now today on the morning news the question is posed, "Has Buddy's served it's last steakfinger"? The Schiavo case, Iraq, Korea, Social Security....all important news items, but what inquiring minds in West Texas want to know is....."what's up at Buddy's"? Perhaps local newshawk and fellow blogger Jeff at Archaeo Texture can tell us. Some things are just to important not to know.

Ah Spring......

The first day of Spring has arrived in West Texas just as it should, warm and windy. And what better way to greet this first day of the new season than to have my 150 caladium bulbs arrive via FedEx from Mrs. G.K. Spauldings Caladium Farm in Sebring Florida.

Our yard is very shady in most spots so rather than trying to plant flowering varieties of flora as I usually do, and watch them slowly wither, this year we are opting for the caladiums that do wonderfully in the summer heat and shade. We were steered to Mrs. G.K. Spauldings Caladium Farm by my old childhood chum Bill Bynum and the brains behind the outfit....Carol Bynum. They've been ordering massive amounts of caladiums from Mrs. Spaulding for years. We ordered 100 white and 50 red of the species, the white to standout vibrantly in the garden in the front, and the red to compliment the Mexican tile patio in back.

Planting will come soon, when the nighttime temperatures consistantly start to moderate in the 60+ degree range. However there is a problem. Dr. Brown, ace cardiologist, has told me that I can do almost anything in my post operative condition except plant large amounts of caladiums. Therefore if you would let me know in the comments section when you might be available to come perform this chore, I would appreciate it. I have politely asked Carol and Bill Bynum if they would come to show me their tricks to caladium planting. They respectfully declined.

News Note: Sports car legend John DeLorean dead. DeLorean died late Saturday at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, of complications from a recent stroke. More interesting to me than the fact that Delorean later developed his own sports car, was the fact that he was the father of the "muscle car" having developed the Pontiac GTO in 1964. One of my best friends, Ron Hunt, had one of the first '64 GTO's in West Texas in which we used to tool around town at the amazing driving age of 14 years old, legal back then. Coincidentally, my sister was born at Summit Overlook Hospital.

Tidbits and notes....

Light day of Blog reading and gonna' be the same for Blog writing. Julie took Jack to a baseball tournament in New Mexico so I've had a chance to catch up on the yard work and do a few things of interest. Like attending the local Boy Scout Jamboree. I've been wanting to get involved in scouting again...and after talking to some of the leaders today, I just might. Senior advisor to a troop was mentioned. Light on the "senior" please.

Also today, via the Speed Channel, I've been able to follow the live racing coverage of the 12 hours of Sebring, which I must get back to directly....as I write the conclusion will be in about 45 minutes. It was 40 years ago today that Chaparral Racing won the event. Coming directly on the heels of this all day coverage will be live coverage of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang where it looks like the Renaults are doing well again after their surprise showing in Australia. A late night, as the coverage begins at 1 A.M. local time. [Sunday update: a late night indeed, to sleep at 2:45, but worth the effort. A good race with a Renault winning, for the second straight race, but a different car than Australia].

Of note today, I caught an interesting article concerning the volunteer army in Stars and Stripes by my old friend Gen. Dick Cody. Dick and I were 2Lt's together and have remained close friends. I'm proud to say that Dick was the first to phone me in the hospital during my recent cardiac capers.

So long.....it's back to racing.

Chaparral's at Laguna Seca....

This week I, somewhat belatedly, ran across this news release.....

MONTEREY, Calif. (January 22, 2005) - Chaparral, one of the truly great names in American racing history, will be the Featured Marque of the 32nd Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Chrysler August 19-21 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Steven J. Earle, founder of the event announced today. The legendary American marque will be part of the event's overall tribute to the "Great American Specials." While the major manufacturers have long been the dominant force in automobile racing, individual efforts in the American tradition of championing the underdog have produced special cars to challenge the "big guns" over the years. Perhaps, no one represented the ingenuity of this industry more than Jim Hall and Chaparral Cars.

Even though the Chaparrals are kept in top running condition at the Museum here in Midland, it will not be often that one gets a chance to see them running at such a premier venue. I'm hopeful that we will be there. It sure doesn't hurt that Julie has a cousin who owns a beautiful ranch in the hills above Monterrey...where we have been invited!

If you visit the website linked above, be sure and view the pictures presented in the 2003 and 2004 race reviews...impressive!

Pyote....

Last evening we wandered over to Julie's cousin Phil's house to eat birthday cake with his son Dan, visiting for the occasion from Gallup, New Mexico. As happens during these events the menfolk, including my Father-in-Law Don and his brother Leon, eventually wandered into the den to sit before the fire and see where the conversation meandered. I don't remember the trail but we somehow arrived at the topic of the old Pyote Army Air Force base located out near Pecos, Texas. It was fondly and informally known as "Rattlesnake Bomber Base". Don and Leon, were kids in Pyote in the mid to late 40's when their Dad was a civilian contractor at the base. Don graduated from Pyote High School where he was the "Salutatorian". There were 8 or so kids in the class.

When I was a kid we used to pass by Pyote while driving down to the Davis Mountains, the huge hangars appearing as ghostly spectors in the distance as we motored by on Highway 80. Mostly abandoned by the mid 1950's, the buildings now have either been torn down or fallen in due to disrepair. But during WWII Pyote was the largest bomber base in the country with two runways over 1½ miles in length, home to over 6,500 troops and the final staging area before the crews flew off to Europe...many to never return.

Don and Leon have talked about their experiences in Pyote before, rather fondly I might add. But last night they revealed more as we sat and talked. To earn a little spending money they had been "pin setters" at the base bowling alley, the officers bowling alley where the big money was. They were paid 10 cents a line to set pins and Don always adds that they tried to work the fighter pilot groups.....they were more fun and bigger tippers!

I learned that besides the U.S. air crews living in Pyote there was a sizeable population of German POW's who did construction and general work around the base. Don said they were mostly allowed to come and go rather freely, this for two reasons. One, where would one escape to in the vastness of West Texas and two, by the later stages of the war, most German POW's were probably very glad to be in a hospitable climate being treated rather well instead of fighting on the Eastern Front. Don remembered several things about the Germans; that they were great bakers and if there were any children around while they were loading watermelons from the fields they would always "accidentally" drop and damage several melons for the by-standers to enjoy.

After the war Pyote became one of the largest storage points for the aircraft that had won the war. At its peak in 1948 the base housed 2,042 stored planes, mostly B-29s and B-17s, including the Enola Gay, from which the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The Dulin boys say that they had the opportunity to climb around this historic aircraft.

I enjoyed our conversation last night. Being interested in history, and especially the history of my home region, it was good to learn some new facts directly from those who experienced it. Here are some photos of the old Pyote Airfield [large images loading--scroll down for Pyote]

Ronny Hissom.....

Recently I have wondered if I should entitle this publication the Medical, Memorial and Obituary Blog. I won't but I would be remiss in not mentioning the passing of Ronny Hissom. Unless you are a sports car racing enthusiast Ronny's name will not be familiar to you. Even if you live in Midland you may not know of him, but Ronny has a special

place in my memory. Along with Jim Hall and Hap Sharp, he was one of the original partners and drivers in the Midland born and bred Chaparral Racing. Ronny passed away last Thursday at the age of 68. An age that sounds, comparatively, ever more young.

Ronny was an avid sports car enthusiast and a nationally ranked polo player, who driving along with Hall and Sharp, won the 1965 12 hour endurance race at Sebring, one of the first of a string of important racing victories for the Chaparrals. This was during the golden age of American sports car racing when a team comprised of very talented amateurs from a small West Texas town could compete on the world stage with the major entities in the sport like Ford and Ferrari.

As I've mentioned before, while growing up here these young men were idols to us teenage boys in Midland. We used to see them around town, our Dad's knew some of them and we followed their racing exploits around the world with utter fascination. It was a real pleasure to get to talk with Ronny last Spring at the opening of the Chaparral Museum. He is the gentleman in the center in my photo above, seated between other notable Chaparral drivers Phil Hill and Brian Redman. In fact, Ronny was standing right next to me when I took these photos of Jim Hall preparing to drive the Chaparral 2F out of the garage for the last time.

Another loss in the passing of an era.

Humorous update: I had lunch today with several people who knew Ronny Hissom very well. The subject of his passing arose and so did this verified story from some years back.

It seems that Ronny and some associates from Midland were in New York decades ago and were having lunch at the famed "21 Club". When Ronny visited the men's room, he found himself face to face with none other than the legendary Aristotle Onassis. Ronny approached Mr. Onassis and said, "Sir, I'm Ronny Hissom visiting from Texas with business associates and it would be a great honor and enhance my standing among these men if you would come to my table and act like you know me. My close friends call me "Hiss".

Sure enough several moments later Mr. Onassis arrived at the table and announced, "Hiss good to see you, where have you been....give me a call sometime soon". Whereupon "Hiss" said to Mr. Onassis, "Ari, dammit can't you see we're busy right now, please don't interrupt"!

My kinda' guy....

Hospital notes...

It was a good day at the hospital, as all turned out well. After a day of fasting, and drinking toxic liquid designed to put everything inside one's intestines outside....Julie was ready to get her "procedure" over. She was a brave soldier as we got her checked into the hospital, a place we've become quite accustomed to. At her wish I attended the funeral for our friend George O'Brien while she attended to business at the hospital.

At about the time I had finished up at the services for George, she too had finished with medical business and the news was very good. A growth found and removed, time taken: about one hour. A routine biopsy will be done to be on the safe side. After a reunion with the family and a short recap of her adventure, the next order of business for the bride was eating. Dinner at 4:45 tasted awfully good to her.

We are most appreciative, once again, for the great quality of medical care we have in our smallish burg. And I got to show my appreciation for the care I received two months ago during my cardiac capers. While we waited to check Julie in, I took the opportunity to track down and thank Dr. Rea. The head of the emergency room, Dr. Rea was very much on the ball last December in quickly diagosing my back ache and shortness of breath as a cardiac problem. His personal attention and care was extraordinary, even stopping by after my operation to check on my condition.

Julie and I both liked him very much, and now I have an inkling why I had an affinity for him. He's a Vietnam Veteran, having been an Air Force aircraft crew chief in his days before Med School. There is something about Vets of that era that binds us together in special ways. After Julie checked out, I dropped back by and saw the Doc and left a personal little memento of Vietnam that he seemed to appreciate.

George O'Brien, Medal of Honor......

I knew that George O'Brien had recently had some health problems, but frankly I was rather floored when I learned that he had passed away on Friday. George was a friend, a longtime neighbor of my folks and a Korean War Medal of Honor winner. Oops sorry George, I mean awardee. George never liked to be called a MOH winner. In fact he didn't really like to talk about "the award" all that much to begin with. He usually had to be persuaded to talk about "the award" in public as he did on Memorial Day 2002 in the picture I took of him at left.

There are now only three living MOH awardees in Texas.

As described in The Midland Reporter-Telegram by another friend, Frank Cahoon, George was an extremely humble guy. The type of person who lives up to the honor. In his office were mementoes from the Marine Corps and pictures from the oil business. Nothing about the Medal of Honor. He considered the award one for his entire unit not just himself.

I met George through his wife Sandy who is a member of an organization abbreviated by two letters that I belong to. I used to see them together and walk with them occasionally and it was some time before I knew that George was in fact a MOH awardee. I would stop in and see George in his office downtown from time to time to talk mainly about the oil business and the military in general. The only time he ever spoke of his MOH experience to me was several years ago when he finally returned to Korea for the first time since the war. He had been apprehensive about going, but after the fact was so glad he went with several other men from his unit.

George will be missed greatly, as a role model, but more importantly as a friend and great guy. In his honor the Commemorative Air Force is building a Texas Medal of Honor Hall at our headquarters.

Take a moment to read the citation awarding the Congressional Medal of Honor to George O'Brien.

Bloggers in the night....

As is sometimes our custom on Friday the Bride and I stepped out for a bite tonight. A simple, yet elegant dinner was our goal. We almost succumbed to custom and partook of the oriental delights at Kuo's Chinese, but we had been wanting to try the new Pizzeria Vente cafe almost next door, so there we were drawn.

I had ordered our salad and, as it turned out, a rather large pizza made with all natural ingredients from Italy including Italian water....or so they promise. Julie had secured our seating and as I walked from the ordering station back to the table my eye was met by a somewhat familiar eye....with face attached. It was none other than crosstown blogger of note Eric from the Fireant Gazette. Although I feel that I know Eric well, we had met in person only once previously while attempting to perform a little webpage community service. So I was appreciative that he stood up and made the connection tonight as well as inviting us to join his lovely bride and him at their table.

We had a great time catching up verbally rather than digitally for a change and both Julie and I hope we can connect with them more often. Like tomorrow Eric. We still have half that pizza!

Live from Afghanistan......

In case you haven't run across it yet there is a new Blog, billed as "The First Blog from Afghanistan". Afghan Warrior is written by a 20 y.o. young man working for the US Army as an interpreter. As he suggests the magnitude of change in that land is sigificant to say the least.

"During the Taliban we didn’t have internet system in Afghanistan but now there are about 25 net cafes in Kabul, and also some in Herat, Kandahar and Balkh provinces. People are really interested to use the internet"

Why not use your Internet and stop by to lend Waheed support.

Doctors out the kazoo...!

Just when we get good news about my post operative condition other pressing medical matters arise. I had a post ready about an interesting day yesterday talking to the Doobie Brothers manager about setting up a concert in Washington DC for Veterans Day. Somehow that lost it's meaning when Julie visited the doctor today. As she describes the situation in The Yellow Bug News

"It being National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and all, I decided I'd check into a problem that presented itself Friday night. I won't mince words...there is a growth".

She is due to undergo an exploratory procedure next Monday, that hopefully will solve the problem. We ask your prayers as the day approaches.

As I learned on Wednesday, December the 22nd when Dr. Brown announced that he was going to "crack me open..pronto" acceptance is the key to one's serenity in cases like this. Acceptance that what is....is God's unfailing plan for us. I also learned that modern medicine is an amazing thing and if my experience is any indication we'll be looking back on these several months as just another of lifes trials that we must endure with as much grace as possible.

Good day at the Doc....

Today we visited Dr. Brown, my cardiologist, for my 2 months+ post-op check up. I was heartened by the results as the nurse did the initial checks.

NURSE: "Hmmm blood pressure, 127 over 73"
ME : "Is that good?"
NURSE: "That's good"
NURSE: "Let's see now, heart rate 62."
ME: "Is that good?"
NURSE: "That's really good".

And then the affable and dually degreed Dr. Brown arrived. Dr. Brown has both an M.D. and a PhD. in Immunology. Personally I like doctors fooling with my heart to be as well educated as possible so this is good. Dr. Brown asked me how I felt. "Really very good", I replied. Dr. Brown then listened to several points of interest on my chest with the stethoscope and pronounced...."Everything sounds very good".

Sounds good to me too!

Eleven [11]......

Today is March the 6th, the day that the Alamo fell. And so did I, but in my case a fall that was followed by a rise from the ashes. It was today, eleven years ago that I escaped the grips of alcohol and became a sober and somewhat sane individual. The anniversary of our sobriety is a big deal to many of us, though we usually celebrate it in a spirit of humble gratitude.

And so big deal that it is, I'll simply say that the victory did not come cheaply nor easily and that without the help of some very special family and friends I would not be here today...literally. On this my birthday, I cannot help remembering one of my closest childhood friends, Rufe, who in spite of our efforts did not make it out of the grips of alcohol and who drank himself to death at the age of 50. There but for the Grace of God go I, and I try not to forget that. My life depends upon it.

Newsworthy......?

Welcome to curious West Texas newspaper readers drawn here by Stewart Doreens riveting and hard hitting exposé on Web Logs.

For out of town and International readers the online version can be found here, at the Midland Reporter Telegram. Names are named including several local luminaries of dubious repute!

Thanks to Stewart for his hard work over several months........

A day late and a shilling short.....

The London Times has finally made it to Midland and reports in a somewhat condescending article about the home town that made the President what he is today. Although the article has a slightly different subject and tone I may have to write to inform them that their counterparts from the BBC were about two years ahead of them in their journalistic inquiry interviewing some other local luminaries in an April 8, 2003 article. Better late than never I suppose.

And by the way, Brits.....concerning your reference, "where nodding donkeys silently extract oil from the ground". We call them Pump Jacks. Don't get cute.

Thanks for the tip from alert reader Don Dulin.

$80 oil.....

An OPEC spokesman says he believes that there is a chance that oil prices may hit $80 a barrel sometime within the next two years. Which is why we've spent the last several months in Andrews Co. recompleting this well.

I took these photos on Tuesday as we injected 5000 gallons of acid into a well to fracture the geologic formation to allow oil to flow. The oil business is an exciting way to make a living...if you don't go broke first.

By the way, the OPEC ministers don't believe that oil would stay at $80/BBL. for long...it would probably drift back to the $50 range as higher prices brought on increased production.