"It is a luxury to be understood."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poster Parody
Monday, December 30, 2002
03:57 p.m.
Wonderful parody - click the title above!

The passing of an authentic American icon
Sunday, December 8, 2002
12:15 p.m.

Mr. Barney Dalton Vardeman

Funeral for Mr. Barney Dalton Vardeman, 73, of Nacogdoches will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Cason Monk-Metcalf Sunset Chapel with the Revs. Glenn Matlock, pastor of Union Springs, and Strafford Harris, pastor of Gravel Ridge, officiating. Burial will be in Sunset Memorial Park.

Born Aug. 16, 1929, Vardeman died Dec. 7, 2002, in Nacogdoches.

Mr. Vardeman was a local radio announcer and D.J. in Nacogdoches for 30 years for KSFA. He was Mr. D.J. USA in 1964 and also performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn. He recorded records in the late 40s, 50s and 60s for a record company in Houston.

He was married to Lamerle Vardeman and she survives him.

Honorary pallbearers include Bob Dunn, Marlin Biggs, Dale Heritage, Chuck Channel and Bill Wallace.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.

"Ol' Barn' " was a staple of Nacogdoches radio and East Texas Country Music long before I came to town or went to work at KSFA. He was a great influence throughout my 16 year radio career. He came to ask for me to 'sit in' on his show (1pm-3pm) when he was on vacation. On at least one occassion I took vacation time from my own job at the State School to do his show while he was on vacation. I enjoyed reciting his opening, I've forgotten the introductory words but the tricky part went something like:..we've got glad'uns, sad'uns, bad'un! Meanest, toetappers, gullyjumpers, eenies, meanies, minies and moes! Then he'd let out one of those Cajun yells "Aaaeeeee!" and start the show with a rousing fiddle tune. He was "The Real Deal", authentic, old time, southern, country radio DJ! He'd play 'instrumentals' on the half hours and going into the news at the top of the hour and always included a gospel song in his show.

As we say in East Texas, I've been knowin' Barney (and his family a long time). I bought my first TV from his son, Don back about '74, bought my latest satellite system from him in '01 and Don's shop fixed my TV just this past summer. Don's shop is "Vardeman TV" in Nacogdoches, TX. Barney's granddaughter, Carmen Nash is the same age as my son, Kris, we often swapped son/grandaughter stories as they were growing up.

I miss him!

Hang up and drive!
Wednesday, December 4, 2002
10:08 a.m.

I had my first "cell phone close call" this past week. Cruising through a local video store parking lot last week I noticed a large SUV backing out of a parking place ahead of me. I proceeded down the driving lane as he continued to back out into it. I stopped, otherwise I would have slammed right into the side of the truck. When the vehicle got far enough out of the space that I could see the driver, I noticed he was chatting away on a cell phone. He backed completly out of the parking space completly unaware of what he was doing with these tons of metal & plastic and its hundreds of horsepower. He never once even glanced in my direction as he was carrying on his animated phone conversation.

Until that moment, I had been tolerant of cell phone use among the driving public and not in full support of efforts to cutail the practice. No longer - this guy has shown me that at least some people cannot keep their attention focused on their driving while using a cell phone. If these folks will not restrain themselves then I have no choice but to support efforts to legally control them for the safety of the rest of us!

I have to wonder also if his obscenely large SUV gave him an exaggerated sense of well being? Of course there are already plenty of environmental and national security reasons to abhor these vehicles, this fellow may have added another.

More storage
Monday, November 18, 2002
03:10 p.m.

No I didn't get a new shed. I have been adding shelving but that's not what I'm talking about. I installed a new hard drive yesterday boosting my anemic 6 gig (just 3 of which were useful) system to over 40 gigs!

It was pretty painless. The documentation said it should take about an hour and it actually took an hour and a half. I had a bit of trouble with the physical mounting then the capacity limitation of the BIOS. I had to disconnect the drive and install a Cylinder Limitation Jumper then reconnect and allow Maxtor's MaxBlastII software to install EZ-BIOS.

AND, I got my rebate from Maxtor today! $30, making the total cost of this drive well under $60 - about $1.40/Gigabyte. Doesn't seem like very long ago that SCSI drives for my Amigas dropped below $1.00/Megabyte!

What a week!
Friday, November 15, 2002
05:06 p.m.

I don't mention my work much - maybe this will make up for it...

It's beginning to dawn on me that after 26 yrs. in my job I've come 'full circle'. I started off in 1976 as a still photographer, primarily putting together what we called at the time, slide/sound presentations. I was hired for my skills/experience in video and quickly changed the focus of the job in that direction. Now, while I still do a lot of video work, I'm also beginning to produce PowerPoint® 'slide' presentations.

Each year we report to our Governing Body about the previous year’s accomplishments. This report usually takes the form of a ‘charts & graphs’ PowerPoint® presentation. This year our administration saw another school’s presentation which included photographs so I was asked to provide info on what events throughout the year I had photographed. After I gave them my list the administrators gave me back a list of things they wanted included in our presentation along with some photos to scan. This was on Nov. 6th and the ‘slide show’ was to be presented on the 14th.

I spent time on the afternoon of the 6th doing ‘fresh’ photography, scheduling a group to have a picture taken and gathering more prints to scan. I was given the OK to work at home on the morning of the 7th where I scanned about 25 photos, burning them to CD to cart back to work. I took the group shot that afternoon and chased around after some more ‘fresh’ shots we needed. On Friday the 8th, I reviewed 6 hours of videotape shot throughout the year and digitized 22 stills from them. I got the last of the needed ‘fresh’ shots with the Mavica®, filling a total of 6 floppies.

I then spent the Veterans Day weekend finishing a project I had started on Memorial Day, digitizing my Dad's photos from his military service.

Tuesday I optimized 86 photos, cropping, resizing, improving contrast, color correcting, erasing imprints and compositing. This involved constant, steady work from 8:30am to 4pm with no more than 20mins of breaks. From 4 to 6 I ‘built’ about half of the presentation! By that time, with all the computer image work I'd been doing my 'point & click' finger was quite sore, so I quit for the night.

Amidst other duties, I was able to complete the presentation before noon on Wednesday; have it burned to CD by our I.S. staff and ‘proofed’ on the presentation laptop by the end of the day. Thursday, it was presented to the Governing Body as scheduled and, by all reports was a big success and I've about recovered (my right index finger doesn't hurt anymore).

Banners for MyFamily
Sunday, November 3, 2002
11:49 a.m.

MYFamily.com, where I administer a couple of sites, has added a new customization feature which allows us to use banners to 'spruce up' the look of our sites. Below are my two most recent creations...

That's my Dad, photographed aboard a 'Victory Ship' shortly after the end of the war on the Veteran's banner!

A great series
Monday, October 28, 2002
11:20 a.m.

It looked for a while this summer as though me (I know it should be "I" but that sounds goofy) and professional baseball might come to a permanent parting of the ways. However, the spoiled rich kids came to their senses and did not ruin yet another season with a strike. They even managed to end the season with series that saw perennial champions bow out early allowing the pleasant surprise of a "Wildcard World Series"! I enjoyed each of the games of the World Series - Even the blowout game 5 since it was the Giants on top. Unfortunately they pretty much 'blew their wad' in that one, allowing the momentum to shift in game 6 which led to an ultimate series win by the 'rally monkey' toting' Angels.

My friend Dennis and I enjoyed game 7. I got to showcase the surround sound broadcast for him as well as a batch of home cooked fajitas. Dennis brought the beer. Dennis can always be counted on to have new, 'weird' beers to sample. He had recently returned from a vacation along the eastern seaboard and brought some interesting east coast ales. We sampled: Carolina Brewing Company's Carolina Pale Ale, Florida Beer Company's Hurricane Reef pale ale and Highland brewing Company's (of Asheville NC) St. Terese's Pale Ale. All were excellent brews - if Kris & Dianne end up on the east coast, I'll have something else to look forward to when visiting!

We capped off the evening with something completely different from the opposite coast: Pumpkin Ale from Buffalo Bill's Brewery of Hayward, CA and Portland Oregon. Pumpkin ale was indeed 'weird beer' but actually quite good - it is spiced with Pumpkin Pie spices making it a great seasonal, dessert beer!

Thanks Dennis & MLB for a great autumn week.

Another good Cartoon from Ben Sargent
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
12:39 p.m.
Click the title of this entry to view the Sept 26th, 2002 cartoon (for now). It seems 'ucomics' has gone commercial and archives are no longer accessible for free. This means all of my previous links to their cartoons no longer work. The 'ucomics' subscription plan seems reasonable, 10 bucks a year for a ton of comics and a lot of display/delivery options. I support the concept of web commerce and will probably sign up for this service. When/if I do you'll see it here!

Loosin' it!
Sunday, September 22, 2002
11:24 p.m.
Tuesday evening I went to the store to get some re-wet drops for my contact lenses and some Rolaids. I decided to go to a store which is not my usual because my usual has not had my favorite chips (Baked Tostitoes) lately. The store I went to had them so I bought a couple of bags along with my sundries. Upon getting home I discovered the bagger had not put the Rolaids or eyedrops in the bag with the chips so I got home without the main things I went for! Last night I took my shower curtain liner down and into town to wash it along with my other laundry items. After bringing the laundry home, I discovered I had somehow gotten home without the liner. I went back this morning but it was not there. No biggie, I had gotten it at Wal-mart so I'd just go get another. Well, my local Wal-mart no longer carries the washable, fabric liners. Oh well, I loose.

Local remembrance
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
09:47 p.m.
We had a nice little gathering at the flagpole this morning before work. We observed a moment of silence at the time of the first impact a year ago today, 7:46am (CDT). It was low key and short but reverent. Somehow that seemed appropriate while many big events/observances seem self serving if not exploitive. Nature provided a beautiful backdrop with the sun rising behind a cumulus cloud and casting rays of light into the morning haze. We had 30-35 folks circling the flagpole and it was nice to feel connected. More important to me however, was that I was awake. I had been asleep last year at this time but I am now awake.

Name dropping...
Monday, September 2, 2002
4:18 p.m.

I met the Governor today. The Texas Public Employees Association of which I am a regional and chapter officer hosted a Labor day rally for Rick Perry who is running for re-election. I shook the Governor's hand and got a picture with him after listening to him extole the virtues of government service. Governor Perry has in the past done more than talk, during his term he signed the largest increases in state employee benefits in the last decade. Its going to be a tough election season with an even tougher Legislative session to follow!

Guy Clark at he Americana Festival
Monday, September 2, 2002
09:44 a.m.

The local (area wide) public radio station (network) put on a music festival this weekend. The Americana Music Festival was a wonderful occassion for our sometimes sleepy little town, it brought a bunch of us 'oldtimers' together for the first time in years. There was A LOT of GREAT music presented throughout the day, good enough to make you forget about the heat of an East Texas August day for a while!

The headliner and highlight for me was Guy Clark. Guy Clark is a legendary Texas singer/songwriter and a great wordsmith - I thouroughly enjoyed listening to the wit and wisdom of his words. I had known many of his songs for years but didn't realize they were his. His set list this evening included:
Black Diamond Strings
The Cape
Cold Dog Soup
Desperados Waiting for a Train
Hangin' Your Life on the Wall
Homegrown Tomatoes
L. A. Freeway
Out in the Parking Lot
Ramblin' Jack and Mahan
Rita Ballou
Stuff that Works and
Watermelon Dream

The song that resonated with me the most was:

Stuff That Works
I got an ol’ blue shirt
And it suits me just fine
I like the way it feels
So I wear it all the time
I got an old guitar
It won’t ever stay in tune
I like the way it sounds
In a dark and empty room

I got an ol’ pair of boots
And they fit just right
I can work all day
And I can dance all night
I got an ol’ used car
And it runs just like a top
I get the feelin’ it ain’t
Ever gonna stop

Chorus
Stuff that works, stuff that holds up
The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall
Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel
The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall

I got a pretty good friend
Who’s seen me at my worst
He can’t tell if I’m a blessing
Or a curse
But he always shows up
When the chips are down
That’s the kind of stuff
I like to be around

Chorus

I got a woman I love
She’s crazy and paints like God
She’s got a playground sense of justice
She won’t take odds
I got a tattoo with her name
Right through my soul
I think everything she touches
Turns to gold

Chorus

If you ever need to touch base with something that works click the link above (the title of this entry) and read some of Guy Clark's words. It's the kind of stuff I like to be around!

Poisonous things, too close for comfort...
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
10:01 p.m.

I'd have to paraphrase Jim Stafford's "Spiders & Snakes", I don't like poisonous spiders and snakes yet I've had to deal with both this past week. 1st was a rather large Black Widow spider who took up resience in a corner of a window. I'm used to uncovering these spiders in many a shadowy haunt but this dark lady was unusually bold nesting out in broad daylight. At first I was inclined to let her be and watch her through the glass, then I remembered the Black Widow I kept in a jar when I lived on Sweetgum Street. I was gonna introduce her to the Scorpion I had in another jar and film the results. I never got to satisfy this budding nature photographers dream because the widow's egg sac hatched out and I came home to find hundreds of tiny spiders streaming out of the air holes in the jar and spreading throughout my room. The air holes were too small for 'mama' to get through but I had not considered the diminuitive size of her progeny!

My curent house is not real tight but I knew there were no gaps in that window large enough for this adult spider. Then too, I know how small her offspring would have been and I'm sure many of them could have found their way inside. Oh, btw this one had three egg sacs!

Tonight I had company coming and in the process of straightening up the place I was replacing some of the tools I'd used in the recent plumbing job. I entered my out building and switched on the light over my desk which revealed a large coil of snake like flesh surrounding a paper bag on the desk top. Closer examination (actually further examination as my initial reaction had been to quickly move further from the desk) revealed it to be a moderate sized "cottonmouth" Water Moccasin.

I ain't no "Croc. Hunter" so grabbing its tail was out of the question and I wasn't too keen on pinning its head and grabbing it by the neck either. My desk and indeed the entire out building is so cluttered I was sure if I just disturbed this snake it would slither for cover and I'd be left to find more skins and perhaps encounter it next time without seeing it first.

Well, to be sure of killing it on the first blow I'd have to shoot it (that's why firearms are a necessity out here in the wilds) but he was on my desktop! I rattled the paper bag a bit and got the snake to raise its head a bit and was able to line up a head shot with his body and a box of old papers behind. I took the shot. His body and the box bore the brunt of the .22 caliber bullet but I'd failed to allow for the nearness of the target and the parallax of the rifle sight. The only part of his head I hit was his lower jaw. This seemed to make the snake mad and I didn't want a wounded snake "stalking" me so I shot him twice more (dinging the desktop with both shots-I didn't think about 'rat-shot' till later) before he lay still and I was able to remove him.

I've been meaning to repair the large gaps in the out building wall fo several years. What you wanna bet I get it done this fall? I hated finding a poisonous snake within my living area but still I hated having to kill it. It's more to my liking to just wall them out!

DV an increasing priority!
Monday, August 19, 2002
03:39 p.m.
In an attempt to keep my old, analog, full size camcorder operational, I recently bought a new battery and charger. As luck would have it, the first time I tried to use the new battery the camera's viewfinder/monitor went out. I haven't even looked to see if a replacement is available, this camera is pretty old! It's so old it doesn't even have an LCD screen I could use for a backup. It does have a hotshoe and a baseband video output so I can use the stand alone LCD monitor I use at work. Of course, this just makes an already large camera even more cumbersome. Hmm, seems as if there may be a DV camera on my Christmas List this year?

Making ice again
Sunday, August 11, 2002
08:19 p.m.
Yea!! After three harware store trips and four seperate repairs, the convenience of automatic ice making has been restored. The flow is now optimized through a new saddle valve, the water is clean through a new filter and delivery from the electric valve to the ice maker has been restored with a new line. I was so inspired by this repair and its results that I even changed the filter on my tap water supply. It supposedly has a guage to indicate the filter life but it had not changed during the entire time I owned it. By the good clean taste I'm now enjoying I can tell that it was time for a change!

A dreaded chore...
Sunday, August 4, 2002
10:58 p.m.
I dread plumbing chores! Cleaning up a downed tree or installing professional audio/video equipment I look forward too like a kid does Christmas but I hate to see a plumbing job coming. Two weeks ago I noticed my ice maker had quit making ice. Hopeing it would not require major repairs I tapped on the saddle valve a bit in case there was just a little corrosion blocking the line. No luck. There was visable corrosion around the valve so, reluctantly I set aside some time Saturday to replace the valve. When I got it off I discovered it had indeed corroded. The new one passed water to the ice maker line quite nicely so I sat back and awaited ice production. There was none all day and this is why I dread plumbing jobs - they always are or become worse than they look at first. Today I discovered the filter was clogged, too! I was lucky that Wal-Mart had a replacement and within an hour I had it installed and was again awaiting ice. There was none by late afternoon so out came the refrigerator revealing a broken line between the electronic valve and the ice maker (and of course a puddle since water was now reaching the valve). I tried to splice the line but it is old and brittle so that did not work. It did deliver what water it did not leak to the ice maker so I'm sure when I replace the line that it will work. It will have been a typical plumbing job, three days and two (or more) trips to the store and will have deepened my dread for the next time.

No more recommending Amtrak!
Saturday, July 27, 2002
09:42 p.m.
I guess I'd better quit recommending Amtrak. I've taken their trains on three seperate occasions over the years and yes there were things that were not ideal and yes they are perpetually late but I always had an overall positive experience. Not so for everyone I've ever recommended them to. I just went to the nearest station to pick-up a friend who had a horrible experience including missed connections, lost luggage and a bus shuttle because tracks were not available for the train to make several stations! A number of years ago my parents took the train and had a rough time as well. Both of these were on the Texas Eagle to and from Chicago but so were two of my positive trips. I think Amtrak needs more consistency if nothing else.

The Ferry Moon!
Saturday, July 20, 2002
08:22 p.m.
On the 4th of July, while dinning aboard a Princess tour car on the Alaska railroad we were surprised to see a line of maybe 20 to 30 folks with their bare buttocks exposed toward the train. It wasn't "the Wallace salute from Braveheart" just the "Ferry Moon on the 4th"! Seems the whole town of Ferry comes out on the Fourth of July and 'moons' the Alaska Railroad tourist trains. Well, they can't have fireworks, it doesn't get dark! Anyway, it appealed to the Merry Prankster in me and I feel priviledged to be one of the relatively few people in the world to have witnessed the "Ferry Moon".

Blew it!
Monday, July 8, 2002
01:53 p.m.

Billy: "We did it, man. We did it, we did it. We're rich, man. We're retirin' in Florida now, mister."
Captain America: "You know Billy, we blew it."

I'm just back from two weeks in the Pacific Northwest. Included in my trip was an Alaskan Cruise. I am dissapointed because I failed to maximize the learning opportunities offered on the cruise. The cruise line (Princess) offered a book & map set which detailed the history, geology and environmental aspects of all the places we passed. (Much like the AT Guide I had for my Appalacian Trail hike a number of years ago) I failed to purchase the cruise guide in advance and didn't discover it on-board until several days into the cruise. Consequently, I missed seeing several interesting sights. Also, the cruise featured an on-board naturalist who narrated much of the trip. I heard him while on-deck but didn't realize his narration was also featured on the TV in our stateroom so I missed a lot of his comments as I watched the scenery slip by the room. I also made the mistake of signing up for a scheduled dinner time and therefore missed out on the sights that passed at those times (including a whale sighting).

If you ever take an Alaskan Cruise, go on Princess, buy the book, don't choose traditional, fixed seating dining and enjoy the narration on-deck and in your room. Don't blow it!

My trip, of course, was far from a wash out and having witnessed the "Ferry Moon on the 4th" puts me in very privileged company!