Life is a Bumpy Road

Austin, Texas. Travel in Texas. Life in General. "Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - - -Dylan Thomas

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Location: Austin, Texas, United States

I am an esteemed alumni of Austin College in Sherman Texas (Class of "none of your business"). I graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts as a History Major. Subsequently, I have worked in the human services field since graduation because there aren't too many jobs out there for history majors. Except for my short incarceration in Sherman, I have always lived in Austin, Texas. That's not totally true, I was born in England and lived there approximately 18 months, but for some strange reason I don't remember living there. I travel through out Texas for my job, every week. So beware Texans, I might be coming to a town near you!! I am happily married to a wonderful guy and have 0 (zero, zilch) children. (We just forgot to have them?) I find life amusing now (I used to find it extremely depressing but that's another story). So here's to Life, which after all can be a very bumpy road!

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." -Albert Einstein

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Patron Saint of Texas


All these years I've lived in Texas and I didn't know we had a patron saint (Of course that's not surprising since I'm not Catholic). I am not sure how a state selects it's patron saint. I mean is it by dictate from the Vatican or does the Legislature vote on it? The patron saint of Texas is Our Lady of Annunciation better known as the Blessed Virgin Mary. I did some research on Mary and it seems she's a pretty busy saint. According to the list i checked, (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm), her patronage includes not only Texas, and the Archdiocese of Austin, but most of the other 50 states, the United States, a lot of other countries, and a whole slew of occupations, diseases and other patronages. That's a lot of prayers to be answering.

Maybe Texas, being such a big state, should have a saint that's a little less busy. Not that Mary isn't a great saint but we could chose a new patron saint that's got more time on their hands and has qualifications related to our own special needs here in Texas. So here are a few of my suggestions for an alternate patron saint for Texas:

Heribert of Cologne, also known as Herbert, the patron saint against draughts. (Actually he is one of many saints against draughts but I figured most Texans could pronounce Herbert, unlike Catald, Godeberta, Solange, Swithun and Trophimus of Arles, the other saints against draughts). We sure could use some help in the rain department here in Texas and it sounds like Herbert might just be the one to pray to for help.

Honorius of Amiens, the patron saint of oil refiners? That might make a lot of people in the oil industry happy.

Brigid of Ireland is the patron saint of cattle, which might sound like a good idea, but knowing how xenophobic some Texans can be when it comes right down to it, a saint from Ireland might not be such a good idea.

Benedict patron saint against nettle rash is another possibility. I am sure that's a big problem here in Texas!

Too bad there's no patron saint of football or we could have had a humdinger of a candidate there.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Travels Around


I travel for a living- all over the state of Texas. Usually, I find it interesting. Sometimes it's boring. Especially if you go to the same city or town over and over again. Occasionally, though, I get to go somewhere new and different. Having lived in Austin almost all my life I was always curious about the other parts of Texas I had never been to, like the panhandle, east Texas along the Louisianna border, or south Texas along the border of Mexico. Now I'm getting the chance to find out what they are like.

This week I am in Arlington. I have been here a lot. It's not very exciting, even though it is the home of Six Flags. In the winter time, Six Flags is a very gloomy place. The parking lots are empty, the rides aren't moving and the lights aren't on. It looks very creepy at night all shut down. That's usually when I get to see Six Flags, at night. I am away working during the daylight hours. It seems like I never come here during the summer when the park is open. So I always try to imagine what it would be like for all the lights to be on, the rides moving and the people screaming.

There's not much else to say about Arlington. It's just another town on the road between Dallas and Fort Worth. One of the many small towns that have grown up to meet other small towns around them. You don't even notice when you leave Arlington and enter say..Grand Prarie. They all blend together. Just like the hotels I stay in.

People ask us,"Why don't you go out after work and see the sights?" We do see a lot cool sights just driving around from job to job but, unfortunately, most of the really unique places aren't open at night. Once in a while, when we are somewhere fun, like on the border or at the coast, we might go out and see the sights. Sadly, when you're in a town like Arlington, there's not a whole lot to see except the eerie skeletal remains of Six Flags at night.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Update on the Dog Ban in Austin

The Austin City Council was going to consider an amendment to the city restaurant code prohibiting dogs on the patios of restaurants at the February 16 Council meeting. However, they tabled the discussion until their next meeting on March 2. Too busy deciding to give the City Manager a raise, I guess.

Anyway, we have two newer Austin City Council members, Jennifer Kim and Lee Leffingwell to thank for backing this proposed amendment to the city's restaurant code. According to Kim, "The state has its own health code and the city just adopted that wholesale, and one of the provisions is they only make exception for seeing eye dogs." Which sounds like a bit of dereliction of duty on the part of the council members. Why didn't they look at the state health code in depth before accepting it lock, stock and barrel? Anyway, the proposed amendment would give restaurants the option to allow dogs on their patios. I know there are several in town who would allow the pets back on their premises. Freddies for one, but also Opal Divine's which apparently has been gathering signatures in support of the amendment.

I did read, though, that in a poll conducted by News 8, a majority of Austinites were either opposed or indifferent to the amendment. I think those are the people who are still bitter from the smoking ban or who never dine outside anyway. Many people indicated that they were afraid of dogs fighting each other or biting people. There are people out there I would be afraid of fighting or biting who are dining on patios all the time! And what about the children with little or no supervision. You know the ones that are in to everything, making lots of noise and annoying every0ne else around them , but apparently their own parents who are oblivious to their behavior. These kids are more of a hazard than the dogs.

Well, let's keep good thoughts and maybe (for once) the City Council will do the RIGHT thing.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

February 11, 2006 Austin, Texas: Land of Restrictions

First it was the smoking ban. Some people applauded it, some opposed it. The bars on sixth street have virtually ignored it. But it was a restriction none the less. If you haven't heard about it, in a nutshell, it prohibits smoking inside any public building, restaurant, bar (yes, bars!), etc. and it prohibits smoking outside within 15 feet (or maybe it's 20) of the entrance to any public building. Whew. On Sixth Street, 15 feet puts you in the middle of the road, since all the entrances to the bars are so close together. That might be why they are ignoring it. Many bars are advertising smoker friendly patios, but it's hard to warm up to that idea when it's 32 degrees outside at night.
Oh well, smoking is bad for you, so maybe it's for the best (but check out the website The United Pro ChoiceSmokers Rights Newsletter). But this latest restriction has the fur up on our backs, literally!! They have now decided to enforce the ban on dogs on the patios of restaurants or businesses that serve food!! Puleeease!! One of the coolest things was to be able to go for a walk with man's best friend and stop off at your local coffee shop for a cup of joe and a bowl of water for the pooch. Many of the shops had dog bowls ready and waiting. Some of the friendlier places even had doggy treats they would bring out to give to your pet. Now our city has decided they must enforce a state health regulation. Dogs on the patio are a health hazard!! Health hazard? If we are choosing to eat outside we are already risking our health from the bird poop and the car exhaust!! What difference does a dog or two make? This city has become the land of restrictions!!
Many of our dog loving citizens pleaded with the City Council to do something about this, but to no avail! However, a few restaurants are fighting as noted below. We need to take back our city and our easy going way of life before it's too late!!

By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Cowed by the enforcement of a state health rule that bars animals from restaurants, several dog-friendly Austin eateries have recently closed their patios to canines.
But beginning a week ago, in a peculiarly Texas version of civil disobedience, a restaurant owner decided to deputize his customers as members of a kind of diner posse to get around the rule.
Fred Nelson, the owner of Freddie's Place on South First Street, pays dog-owner customers a penny apiece and issues them "badges": stickers that read "Freddie's Official Security Officer." In Nelson's view, that satisfies a section of the state restaurant code that allows "patrol dogs accompanying police or security officers in offices and dining, sales, and storage areas."
A state restaurant code bars live animals from a restaurant's premises, and inspectors in Travis County apparently decided that included pooches on the patio.
No guns or uniforms are distributed at Freddie's, and it's not clear just what the dogs or the customers would protect, but when a Saturday afternoon brings a dozen dogs puppying around, running randomly in circles or lying quietly beneath their owners' tables, Freddie's does indeed seem one of the most fortified restaurants in the state.
"Apparently it is OK to have a grackle crap in your food but not OK to have your pooch alongside your picnic table," reads a defiant flier at Freddie's Place that employs some surefire South Austin bubba logic.
Nelson said that twice in the past month, health department inspectors had warned him that dogs would no longer be permitted on the restaurant's spacious dirt patio.
Bob Flocke, a spokesman for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, suggested that the Freddie's Place strategy might not hold up.
"The test would be if a reasonable person would believe these are security dogs," he said.
Several restaurants said they have recently barred dogs from their patios after visits from health inspectors.
"Initially we were dog-friendly," said Crystal Hoffman, the manager of the Austin Java Company on Barton Springs Road. "But then the health department said no dice."
Defiance was too risky, she said. "Dogs are a pretty big score on the restaurant test."
Flocke said a violation involving dogs results in the loss of a "critical point" in an inspection. Critical points are reserved for violations that may lead to disease transmission, but losing one point doesn't automatically lead to a failing score on its own.
Nearly three weeks ago, Mozart's on Lake Austin Boulevard said it got a warning, too.
"It's kinda crazy to try to control dogs out there," said Jack Ranstrom, the general manager of the cafe, which has a wide deck overlooking Lake Austin.
"I asked the (health inspector), kind of sarcastically, 'What about the birds?' And he literally said, 'You can't have those, either.' "
Some restaurants are saying they have never been ap- proached by the health department on this point before, but Flocke said the county's interpretation of the state rule had not changed recently.
"There's no crackdown, there's no different enforcement," he said.
Restaurant proprietors said the enforcement of the rule made for some sticky situations with customers.
"You think smokers are bad when you tell them they can't smoke," Ranstrom said, "There's nothing worse than not being with your dog. It just gets awkward when you tell them (the dog can't be there). They don't sympathize with the plight of restaurant owners."
While sipping a Diet Coke on the porch of his restaurant last week, Nelson admitted he backed into his strategy.
"Initially my reaction was to ignore (the health inspectors)," he said, chuckling. "Then I thought, hell, I can't do that."
That's when he decided to saddle up the dogs.

asherprice@statesman.com; 445-3643

Redevelopment of Robert Mueller Airport

Been watching the redevelopment of Robert Mueller airport for as long as it has been going on, since I live right around the corner. It has been interesting. The day they opened the road between 51st street and Airport Blvd. was a landmark day. To be able to drive across the old airport was a weird feeling. All my life it was a big plot of land fenced off and inpenetrable. Now you can actually drive across it AND there are buildings on the land that used to be runways! It is totally amazing.

So, I was cruising the internet and found this map of the planned development. I don't know how recent it is or if the plans have changed but it is mighty fascinating.



















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