The 1970's

Where has it all gone?

Dad move us here to ___ in 1973.

___ was a nice, independant little town.

We had the only little red Valient station wagon around.
Everyone knew mom from her car...

The bank was on the square.
As was the movie theater.

Chevy claims to be the "heartbeat" of America.
Chevy is full of crap.

For ____ the town square was the heart.

The post office?
behind the square.

Church(es)?
just off the square.

The bakery?
on the square.

Department store?
on the square.

Police department?
Next to the square.

Fire department?
On the square.

Need a quick burger and a hand made shake?
Next door to the department store.

News paper?
Town square.

Library?
Just down from the square.

Entrance to the City Park?
Just 1/2 mile from the square on Main.
(just past the Library)

Grocery store?
Next to the bank,
on the town square.

Football stadium?
Down from the square.
(past the Park)

Lions Center?
Two blocks from the square.
(past the grocer)

Back in those days ___ had a M.E. Moses five and dime.
A Safeway.
A Hallmark store and an Eckerd's drug.
Those were the days of the "Blue Laws" in Texas.
You could shop on a Sunday, but only for certain things.

Wow...
My brother and I shop lifted flashlights from the Eckerds.
(Later we were caught by my sister and made to return the items...)

Dad worked at the Gibsons Hardware store next to the department store.

One Saturday a month there was a flea market.
Where?
Why across from the
square!

And when the carnival came to town, it was of course,
set up on...
the square...
***

In the late '70s the bank moved down the road.
The drive through blocked trafic in the square and the local merchants asked if they would move.

Being good neighbors, the bank said, "yes".

People no longer made the trip down town and businesses started to move away or fade.

In mid '90s, the square was struck by a natural disaster that took still more businesses.
And worse yet, the homes and families who had lived closest to the city center.

___ has never recovered...
***
Today we have a "super" WalMart out by the freeway.
The locally owned five and dimes went out of business. (see WalMart above)
The locally owned halmark had to close. (see WalMart above)
The Town Square burger joint (which was run by the same two women for over 20 years, having a single bar with a simple grill) was destroyed in a storm.
Safeway pulled out of north Texas (after a hostle take over bid out of Canada.)

(The grocery by the square later moved into Safeway's space. I stopped in after being away from ___ for many years and I'll be darned if the new grocer hadn't put everything they had in the same place Safeway had had their's. I didn't have to hunt all over for what I was looking for because the marketing department had decided that moving items periodically helped boost impulse purchases.)

Today, the square grocer is still around, in yet a new location.
But all the other grocers have closed down. (see WalMart above)

the police station move away to newer digs.
as has the firestation...

And so has the Library and the civic center.

Ironically,
the police station,
fire station,
library,
and civic center

followed...

the bank

up the road

with in 1/4 mile of each other...
***
Unfortunately,

you can't walk to all of them as you once could,

across the square and up the road,

passing the movie theater,
barber shop,
department store,
furniture store,
gas station,
burger joint,
drug store,
and a number of homes

in only 3 minutes...

Thoughts

Since Z and I moved in, and are no longer totally "anonomous", I find my entries are more audience focused.

I think that stunts my creativity...

****
I worked late a couple of weeks ago on a Friday night getting area percentages for a facade submittal to the city of College Station.

It was tedious and got me to thinking...
"What right does the city, any city, have telling me, a designer, paid by a client (and not the city) that I have to spend time telling them exactly how much of a particular material I have on a building face?"

Code tells me I may only have 30% wood on a secondary facade. Once I meet that, I should be fine.

The city costs me time and my client money for something they can't verify from a drawing.
And frankly, once I meet the maximum area for a restricted material, it's none of their business how much glass I have or brick or other material not specifically mentioned by code I have on a side.

You want to know? Hire me to calculate it after you have decided for me what my building should look like!

I could see a city telling developers that they want all buildings in the city to have "x, y, and z" charateristics, say, to help it look like a midevil Italian hill city.
This would describe the materials, keep a sense of "place" (unlike the same McDonalds on every corner).
Then the designer could take this "feeling" of a place and put their own spin on it to keep things hopping...

Taking control and freedoms happens so slowly...

So much for "land of the Free"...
it doesn't exist anymore...

but as long as I keep telling you that you are free...

Memories

Personal blog.

The church just turned really old this month.
We had a big party of sorts. Over two hundred people maybe?

Saw lots of former members I haven't seen in over ten years.
They shared with me some of their memories and it sparked some of my own.

And I remembered the old building.

It was as if it had never existed and I was trying to capture a dream...

I miss it.
The old church building.

And with it, the old church members...

Wow...

It must have been helped by my trying to tell Zelda about the old building.

I don't like the new one...

The shell of the sanctuary with the people, the humanity ripped out...

It was heartening to see photos of mom in the "our history" display.

'73 to '01.

I regret not having played a bigger role in the life of the church...

Maybe I should visit more often... though I am Methodist now...
And how would that fit in with Zelda...?
I know she would not want to attend often...

Man I miss the old building...

It had a mystery to it. A human touch in the craftsmanship of how it was made and laid out.
It had History.

Stain glass in memory of such and such.
Proof of those who came before me.

I know it was good intentions that lead to the remodel and design.
And I know the Architect didn't mean to kill it.
But he did.

Ripped the soul right out of it.

All the little touches of People.

The above stained glass.

The great old stairs in the Narthex (that wonderfully would never meet code today).

The captivating window in the east wing class room that came down to the floor in such a way that caused me to wonder, "What is it about this window that causes me to pause and wonder about this question?"

The wainscot that ran down the hall.

All the quiet places that are now gone, because this new building has no quiet spaces to find, to explore and discover.

If a building can represent a quest for a faith, the old one did that for me.

It connected me, like the religion that it was built for, to that which came before, the generations of people who were the church.

And as one room lead to another and then on to still more, with doors opening at every turn, bringing me to where I had been, or to new undiscovered passage ways, it discribed in physical form, the journey I was and would take spiritually.

It was familar.

Where I grew up.

Where Mom and Dad
were still alive...

History...

I miss it...

In the realms of what's important

and what's not.

Zelda and I celebrated our first anniversary last weekend.
Thus the lack of blogging.

We bought bikes to go riding a couple of weeks back.
Now we are waiting for the weather to cool down enough to be healthy to ride.

Though riding in 104 F temps must be a lot like a sauna...
Look for the trail of water long the bike path.

(You'll find our bodies at the end of it.)

I made reservations at my client's restaurant, one of his higher end shops.

The service was excellent!
The food was delicious. (Zelda's steak! Wow!)
And we were treated like VIP by the staff.
Good evening Mr. Bunny, the owner wants to give you a bottle of champagne.

Very nice...
***
Zelda received a bonus from her last company.
After taxes she had enough to buy her long awaited IPod.

Good for her!

Well it's Saturday and we have a dead line so I'm here at work.

A client and landlord are quibbling over what light fixture to use to light the tenant's sign.
Sigh...

Gotta go!

Amused

I amuse myself somethin' fierce sometimes...

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." Carl Jung.

Being all upset about a tv show that I cain't do nothin' about.

"Preoccupation is the most common form of failure."
Harry Emerson Fosdick

I get so caught up in the emotion that I forget myself and focus outward on the 'problems' of someone else.

"Venting is problem identification, not problem solving".
Harry E. Chambers

It occured to me that I should focus on the possitive of,
in this case,
the tv show,
rather than the negative.

And focus on how I can learn from what tweaks me.

Shaun was hired as a cowboy.
He stepped up to solve a problem not created by anything he did.
(Mr. Cook's fired the cook and failed to ask about any new help from anyone...)
And to his credit, when he was shafted by his "bosses",
Shaun didn't pout,
nor complain,
nor stomp is feet,
nor focus on himself,
nor go to the boss,
or any such thing.

He stepped up and did possibly the most difficult job of anyone,
and continued to cook for the cowboys.

While the women cried 'sexism' and focused on "what I want and damn anyone else".

He went from "man's" work to "woman's" work.
That same work the women didn't feel "important".
He asked himself,
"What's the best thing for
my friends?"

Good on ya Shaun!
***
Lemonaid...

Having just been affected so strongly by people who, like us all, got wound up in their own personal 'truth', I found myself doing something similar at work.

I got caught thinking about a site plan problem and "saw" what I perceved to be the reason for the condition.

So I paused,
changed tasks,
and spent some time thinking differently.

With in minutes I realized that I was creating a problem where there possibly was none.

But in the mean time I had cried,
"the sky is falling!",
and had to run damage control...

So,
there is advantage
to watching
such a train wreck...

Texas ranch house

is fucked!!!

I spoke with my sister about it and she told me she would not watch it again.

This is gonna be that last time I watch it too.

The crap the Cook family does to the cowboys, the total disrespect, the arrogance, and 20th century thinking .....


YUCK!!!

The women of the ranch house are not about "what's the best thing for the community", but "what is My aggenda", "how do I get what I want? (and fuck the others!).

Very Very modern thinking.

And what sucks,

some of the women use sexism and feminism as a reason.

They all had roles to play to make this work.
They all agreed to certain roles before they started.
Rather than doing the hard work of figuring out how their role bennifited the whole, they spent too much time worrying about "what they are doing".

"they aren't working hard enough"
"they get the 'fun' job".

Pisses me off.

Mora and Mrs. Cook,

shame on you...

Local Harvest

Saturday as I sat at the book store studying while Zelda got her hair cut, (she got two hairs cut).

I took a break and read through a business magazine.

I came across an article that was interesting.

It included a web site, see link above, for supporting local farmers.

It links consumers with local farmers who offer 'subscription' for produce.

Save the planet, support your local farmers and ranchers.

Cuts down on green house gases too.

blog spot

At the sign in for blogspot there is a rotating list of blog links.

I'm not sure the ryhme or reason for why they are showcased, but they are.

I clicked on one thinking it would lead to a discussion on spirituality and things religious.
Instead I was suprised to find it took me to a "romance" blog.

Touchy feely emotional poems and long letters to and from fans about "what is love".

I agree that sexuality is a part of who we are as beings, and this should be embraced, I am not sure this guy is being realistic.

His mission statement sounds like a woman's wet dream.
I'll let you read it for your self if you'd like. Mainly he wants to be married.

I have to admit I have tried to read some of his poetry, but it does nothing for me.

To angst filled and lovey dovey.

What of course does catch my attention is the beautiful and tasteful nudes, mostly black and white he has sprinkled through his entrys.

Maybe he types 200 words a minute, but I would think that if his goal really was to find that soul mate, it would be better accomplished out in the real world meeting real women...
and not surfing the web for nudes and videos.

what ever, I wish him the best of luck....

http://connecttospirit.blogspot.com/2006_06_21_connecttospirit_archive.html

kitty update

Snoopy had his stitches out Thursday.
We counted 7 little stitch marks.

We think he must have contacted a kitty bug at the vet as he had some sneezing troubles last Sunday.

This weekend, Gaea woke me with little kitty sneezing.

***
Coach is a huge baseball fan, played for years, talks in sports terms, bought 4 season tickets for the office. Rows 2 and 3 on third base.

He was going to be out of the town for the forth so he gave the tickets to the north end of the office. No one on the north end was free, so they came to me.
I made some calls and invited Metoody and fishybob.

Texas, as has much of the south, is in a drought. So we need rain.

Mother nature decided that the holiday was the day to rain.

Being optimistic, we had lunch here and watched some of Eddie Izzard, Dressed to Kill, while waiting for the time to leave.

The seats are the best I've had at the ball park.

A good time was had by all.

Even if we did get wet...

alas the Rangers lost that night.

***
Zelda and I are thinking of heading down to Waxahachie next weekend for the farmers market there.

In the mean time, she wants to visit a local bead shop for supplies and I want to do something I haven't in years.

Look through a hobby shop!

I am interested in trying remote control airplanes.

Something cheap.

So when I crash it,

I won't cry...

too much...

cowboy and internet

Cowboy has a short memory.

Seems he can't remember that surfing the web, specifically IMing girls during business hours, is unprofessional.

I have now had three jobs I've had to pull off to clean up his mistakes due in no small part to the internet. (I've only been here 5 months)

Due to this, I was not able to get a project finished, (which ironically, went to him as it was "simple", because Old Man and I have a complicated job that must get out quickly.)

I made my opinion known to the boss.

(I'm going to continue to push to have his internet connection cut, hey, it's better than getting fired)

Although the secretary is about fed up with him and wants to see him fired...

Old man is very forgiving and he is directly affected by Cowboy's fuck ups.

No one else in the office will work with him.

Frustrating because I could use the help, but I'm not about to wipe his butt.

He should know better.

Happy Fourth

Had an enjoyable weekend and holiday.

We met Metoody and fishybob in the Farmers' Market where we wondered through the produce barns and made purchases.

Zelda made yummy "vegitarian" lasagnia.

We also got peaches for home made ice cream for Independance Day.

From there we walked across to the plant houses and Zelda rattled off some new work speak.
(Four inch pots, eight inches on center).

After that we drove over to Uptown where we had a snack and caught the trolley to down town to see the Tiffany exibit at the DMA.

Some beautiful stuff.

No wonder everyone knows his work.

Then we trolleyed back to the auto and treated Metoody and fishybob to Hero sandwich shop.
(Subway can't touch it)

Then Z and I went home to prep the house for the Fourth party.

We were able to move the spare bed into the back room.

This opened up the living room.

I worked to get the "life" clutter picked up.
(mail, dishes, magazines, etc.)

The house is looking good.

More work to be done...

Well I'll be....

damned.

Got the response back from my Architectural Registration Exam I took in June.

Expecting I knew the inside, I took a look through the envelope, it's slightly transparent.
What does "Failed" look like? How do they word it?

To my delight, it didn't say what I expected.

I PASSED!

I must have had enough correct answers that it was not fatal.

I can get registered by my birthday!

***
It's very nice working with Zelda in the office!
She's being nosy, got's to go!