April 04, 2008
Anne's Xmas Music Stand
Back in Oct. of 2007, Anne ordered a custom music stand from a fellow in Idaho who offered them on the Internet. The stand was not inexpensive, so she ordered it as her main Xmas gift.
It finally arrived today!
She ordered a free-standing, wide top stand that has the capability of being a small desk as well as holding full sheet music and items in the lower cubby.
Close up of the music stand.
Posted by Steven at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2008
I Can Cook After-all
Anne is in Houston this weekend, and I am doing Mr. Mom as best I can as a result.
Saturday Night Special: Dad's Self-Standing Tacos (l). Alanna "enjoying" my cooking (r).
As you can see, I was able to produce a remarkable facsimile of a taco dinner. The cost of the raw material approached what this meal costs at Taco Blecho, so I'm not sure this was such a great savings. Still, the exercise was challenging and I survived it.
Posted by Steven at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)
March 11, 2008
Got Llamas?
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Posted by Steven at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2008
Caucusmania
Here's what tonight's Democratic Caucus for Precinct 12, 131 and 149 looked like:
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| No doubt about it, I need a bigger hat! |
Tonight I chaired the Texas Democratic Party caucus for Precinct 12 (and hosted 131 and 149). I stood up in front of 500 voters and (at the top of my lungs) belted out the instructions for the evening's caucus vote. We ended up supporting Barack Obama 3:2 over Hillary Clinton on all three caucuses. It was sheer madness dealing with all these voters.
Two years ago, I was the election judge for Precinct 12, and the caucus consisted of myself and the clerk, who at the time was the Precinct Chair for 12. This was about as far from that as one could get. We didn't even get started until 8pm because it took that long to close the polls.
There was some weirdness going on between the Clinton and Obama camps, but after a while, I had convinced them to calm down and that neither side was going to get an unfair advantage. ("I'm the arbiter, my word is law!") Apparently the Obama camp had sent out folks to grab the Precinct Chair packets before the chairs had even come in; I had to hunt around for mine.
We managed to get through the nominal election of permanent chair (me) and secretary (Shelly Williams). Then the delegate process brought out the mathematician in a few of us, and the final tally for Pct. 12 was twelve delegates for Obama, and six for Clinton.
I went to the Elections Office to see if I could help Bill Baumbach there, but he was doing just fine without me, so I called a few friends with the info from the night, and went to the DPCC gathering in North Plano, where we watched the results come in until around 12:30am. It was a long, exhilarating day.
Posted by Steven at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)
Snow Overnight
We got four inches of snow overnight, making the morning commute so much fun! Alanna got to drive into school two hours later today, but I had to hit Central and it's countless bridges before the ice on them melted. Joy!
Posted by Steven at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2008
Foreclosure Country
Great news, sports fans! My ZIP code was the 8th highest foreclosure region in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Check out the foreclosure map here. With 270 foreclosures last year, we rock! Interestingly, there were far more foreclosures in Wellington Village (in Stonebridge Ranch) than in my Quail Creek Village. Makes you wonder what they are doing at the top of the food chain.
Posted by Steven at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2008
Boardwalk VW Coming to McKinney
One of my fervent wishes for McKinney is that it become home to a VW dealership.
Today I was at Boardwalk VW in Richardson, and several of the staff there confirmed that they are opening a franchise dealership this year in McKinney.
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!
I'll finally be able to get my car serviced in my home town instead of having to go to Richardson or Dallas or Irving.
It's a dream come true (sadly, yes, a dream come true)!
Makes me wonder if the VW dealership will beat a new big-box book store?
Posted by Steven at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2008
Okada Hibachi in McKinney
Took lunch at Okada, a new hibachi restaurant in McKinney. This place opened in the still-warm body of what was previously the Citris Grill, behind the Rockfish and Saltgrass Steakhouse on El Dorado Parkway and US 75. I was really looking forward to trying out this new hibachi restaurant after the disappointment of the last hibachi place that opened on El Dorado, behind McDonald's. Unfortunately, this place really didn't live up to my standards.
The new decor is very attractive, and somewhat reminiscent of the Irving Benihana when it first opened. The hostess approached me at 11:50am and peevishly told me to come back after 12:00 when they opened. I got back in my car and drove over to Sprint to inquire about rates, and then came back at 12:15 to a place that was already bustling with customers.
I sat at a hibachi table by myself (later to be joined by a couple who didn't realize the hibachi food was prepared at the cooking tables, not the dining ones), and ordered my usual: hibachi chicken. They delivered a can of Dr. Pepper (a bad sign), and a very, very salty miso soup. The salad was uninspired (about the only thing that disappoints at Hibachi Rocks in Allen) with a very sugary dressing.
The chef came out and introduced himself. He went into the whole "show" that I find tedious at this point, and made some very lightly fried rice. Then they took a major hit when they put ginger sauce in one tray and mayonnaise in the other -- instead of mustard sauce. Ugh. The chicken was not as dry as most places, but when I asked for a teriyaki sauce, they put a light amount on the meat that I could barely taste. By this time, I was on my third can of Dr. Pepper and wondering if they charged for each one.
They do. Another huge negative. I was charged $7.50 for drinks -- it was like I was in Europe or something.
I left feeling pretty dissatisfied with the place. It's new and clean right now, but already the food is dull (duller than normal, I'm sure Anne will say) and the service -meh- ish.
Joe Bob sez "don't bother checking it out."
The good news is that Hibachi Rocks is opening their third restaurant at Custer and SH 121!
Posted by Steven at 12:44 PM | Comments (2)
September 04, 2007
McKinney Forest Destroyed by Suburban Virus
Check out this report by WFAA-8. A nearby parcel of land has been strip mined of trees ahead of putting in high density housing (much like my neighborhood, but we kept some of the trees). The suburban virus continues to claim land, trees and native grass.
Posted by Steven at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2007
100,000 Miles of Golf
Today, four and one-half years after buying my Golf TDI, I rolled 100,000 (160,900 km) miles:
After driving this car the last year at DG Systems, and then to Canada, Mass. and Austin before settling down to driving mostly around McKinney, it's still a great ride. Sure, the struts are squeaking and the clutch has been savaged by me, but it still gets 45 MPG on the highway. And it still looks pretty new on the inside and out, despite dozens of SUV door dings and cloth seats.
Posted by Steven at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2007
"Weird Al" Concert
"Weird Al" Yankovic performed in Garland, TX today at the GISD Special Events Center, a sports auditorium that reminded me of the Bronco Bowl in Dallas, where I last saw Al perform.
The concert was very professional, entertaining and of course, silly. Al had several (at least a dozen) costume changes, and covered songs from his entire career, focusing on the most recent album and it's hit "White and Nerdy". I had hoped he would debut his Segway scooter, and he did, riding it for the first part of that song on stage. The old favorites were there, too, like Fat and Yoda.
The seating, and especially the reserved seating, was a big mess. Sidebar Entertainment really screwed up on this, after selling reserved seats and then all but abandoning them when we got to the arena. The venue changed -- twice -- from Myers Park in McKinney to the Third Monday Trade Days (where I saw The Orchestra with Leo), to just off Garland Rd. and SH-190. Other friends who attended were cheated out of better seats because they were far back in the line that waited over an hour to get in. The concert started an hour late, at 9pm, and finished just before 11pm.
I took a staggering 1,620 photos, which I'll put online in a day or so.
Posted by Steven at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)
June 30, 2007
Radioactive Remains of ELO in McKinney!
Tonight Leo and I went to see The Orchestra at the Third Monday Day Trade flea market, sponsored by Sidebar Entertainment and KLAK-FM. For those who don't know, The Orchestra is composed of two former members of ELO (Mik Kaminski and Kelly Groucutt) and Lou Clark, the man whom Jeff Lynne hired to do the arrangement for ELO starting with Eldorado. The other members of The Orchestra are the former members of ELO II, an earlier Bev Bevan band.
I had a blast! I can finally say I've seen an ELO concert, even if Jeff Lynne wasn't there. Kelly's vocals, along with the other lads, were spot on. Their harmony was excellent for a live concert. Even the venue, as tacky as it was, worked. Just before breaking into Standing in the Rain Kelly commented on "tempting fate" (I had the same notion as the opening bars of the song started), but it never rained on us. Leo really enjoyed the show, too. He knows the whole ELO catalog and sang along with many of the tunes.
I got the program guide and their new album No Rewind. Joe Bob sez check it out. (The images were taken with my new iPhone camera.)
Posted by Steven at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2007
NTTA Moves Forward on SH-121 Tollway
The Regional Transportation Board has decided to endorse the NTTA proposal instead of the deal offered by Spanish Cintra, S.A. What this means is that the TxDOT is likely (though not absolutely required) to agree and the tollway conversion of SH-121, which runs from Central Expressway in south McKinney all the way to the north end of D/FW Airport, won't be a privately held tollway like the 407 is in Toronto. As a result, the tolls aren't likely to rise as fast, and the proceeds from the tollway will be reapplied to other road projects in Texas, if not North Texas.
Mind you, this is not a great outcome -- merely a less awful one. Gov. Perry is trying to privatize existing roads to pay for their expansion, as well as pay for new roads that the State Republicans know they should fund but won't (all to make sure that the privatization effort seems like our only resort -- fait accomplait as it were). Having the NTTA convert SH-121 into a tollroad means that Plano, TX will be surrounded on three sides by a tollroad, and there is even talk of turning Central into a tollroad, which would also cut McKinney off from Dallas except via tollways.
You'd think the entitlement caste of Republicans living in North Texas would be furious, but they seem to be ignorant of the long term implications, or just so desperate for more roads to office jobs in Dallas and Irving that their normal judgement (government = bad) isn't kicking in. I'm shocked to see public roads and thouroughfares being converted into alternate-tax zones. That's what this is, and it's grossly unfair to working folks as the tolls cost them proportionately more.
I drove on the Cintra-built 407 highway in Canada. It was great -- if you could afford it. And the traffic on it was light -- because Canadians avoided it in protest. We won't be so lucky in northern Collin County -- SH-121 will be the fastest, shortest route to Irving, D/FW and for many, jobs. And paying $10 in tolls round trip everyday -- that will take 10% out of an office worker's salary (5% out of a teacher's). I certainly hope the NTTA doesn't charge that rate (Cintra was talking about 25 cents/mile; NTTA charges around 15 cents/mile making a round trip to Stonebriar Mall something like $1.50 vs. $2.50 for me from Lake Forest Dr.).
This whole kerfuffle is because of the decimation of local rule. The choice of NTTA is a mild step back towards that principle.
Posted by Steven at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)
MISD Cheerleader's New Leader
The MISD has selected a person to oversee the entire cheerleading program in McKinney, largely in response to last year's "Fabulous Five". Let's hope this works better than the previous solutions.
Posted by Steven at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2007
Victor Manuel for Place 3
My good friend Victor Manuel is running for MISD School Board Place 3, which extends from Wilson Creek on the south west side of US 75, north to the border of McKinney, and then on the east side of 75 west of College St. and Rockhill Rd. He's running against a stay-at-home mom who's the PTO President at Burks Elem., daughter-in-law of one of McKinney's wealthy familes.
The candidates could not be more different.
Victor's website is here, and we're waiting for the Dallas Morning News to "Recommend" him for the seat. If you can volunteer on his campaign, we really need your help! Our opponent has poured thousands of dollars into signs and mailings -- stuff we can hardly afford. We're blockwalking and need cash donations (see the website for easy PayPal donation buttons).
If Victor wins, we'll finally have a band parent on the school board, and maybe we'll start to get some of the funding perks that the football program has traditionally had (uniforms, color guard?) instead of having to raise money in the booster club to pay for them.
BTW, I'm his campaign manager, so you can imagine how wrapped up in this I am. Please help! Even $10 or $20 donation will make a difference, and if you are in the Place 3 region, for God's sake please vote and vote for Victor!
Posted by Steven at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2007
"Weird Al" Coming to McKinney!
This July (14th - Bastille Day) Weird Al will be live in concert in ... McKinney! Holy #$^@#$! Literally five miles up Lake Forest Dr. from my house! He's performing at Myer's Park (formerly the Collin County Youth Park) on Saturday. Mark your calendars!
Posted by Steven at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2007
Two New Japanese Restaurants
I've spotted two new Japanese restaurants coming to McKinney. One is next to the Great Outdoors (behind the Albertson's at El Dorado Pkwy. and US 75), and the other is behind the McDonalds on El Dorado Parkway near Hardin Road.
The first place is a "Sushi and Grill" establishment, which distinctly had "sneeze guards" and could be a buffet-style place. We already have two other Japanese themed restaurants, one more a sushi bar than anything, and the other a "truck stop sushi" and hibachi place. The former is too pricey and the latter is too crappy to visit regularly. So hopefully this new place will fill the gap.
The second new place is labled "Kobe" and "Steak" and "Sushi", all very promising words to use in the name of a Japanese restaurant. It's harder to spot (being behind the Golden Arches) but might be the better of the two new joints.
It doesn't look like they'll be open any time soon, however. I'll keep you posted.
Posted by Steven at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
Endgame with RMAA
Today I paid Reid's Martial Arts Academy $1500 to close our three-year contract. Mind you, no one from my family has attended his school since Jan. 2006, and we paid tuition through most of 2006, too. This scumbag of a Tae Kwan Do instructor coerces his clients into three year contracts that have no escape clause for the student if the "Academy" doesn't provide proper instruction. If they fire the teachers and replace them with fourteen year-old students and a karate instructor, you have no recourse.
We and at least twelve other families have all had to pay between $2000 and $3000 to be released from contract with RMAA. This business is nothing short of criminal and I urge anyone in McKinney who is considering using them for TKD instruction to go somewhere else lest you get burned by this thief (Choncie Reid).
Joe Bob most definitely does not say, "Check it out."
Posted by Steven at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2007
New Dining Room Cabinet
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This weekend, Anne selected a new cabinet to store her crystal in, to replace the black melamine storage shelves we've had since 1988. Amazingly, we bought this unit at Ikea. Equally amazing is that Anne adores it. She wanted to get something to replace the black monolith we've had in this corner of the dining room since we moved here, but hadn't found anything close to what she wanted. We were anticipating spending thousands for a real, antique piece that had drawers and a glass door front. She was amazed to find this item on the Ikea showroom floor. Equally amazing is how long it took to build. I spent most of the afternoon on Sunday putting this together, along with a narrower companion bookshelf. I had the NON lights that illuminate this from an earlier visit to Ikea with Bosney, and they work fabulously well illuminating the crystal. We just stood there and looked at it for hours after we got it installed. I couldn't be more pleased with the quality of the item, and the price was far less than "thousands". |
The funny part was (once again) driving home from Ikea in Frisco with stuff sticking out of the Jetta Wagon. Another long, slow drive up Preston to Virginia Parkway (The two legs of the right triangle route home), letting anyone catching up to me go around. Good times. [Right] A close up of the illuminated shelves, and Anne's family crystal goblets and other items she's collected over the years, which we could never see in the black cabinet with no lighting in it. Ikea is so cool. |
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Posted by Steven at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2007
In My Little Town ...
I'm sure everyone on Earth now knows that Alanna's former High School, McKinney North, is in the news. We are at Boyd High School now, and are very glad to be there, thanks for asking. Alanna sez she never saw the "Fab Five", and that doesn't surprise me (other than at games) because 'Heathers' and Band Geeks don't mix. I feel bad for the North students who are being tarnished by this -- I've heard of band students reluctantly acknowledging that they attend MNHS. The taunting is beginning, and now that this story has national legs, it's only going to get worse for MNHS, and for the MISD (which I have to editorialize: handled the whole problem very poorly -- why these girls weren't thrown off the squad years ago is a mystery).
Posted by Steven at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2007
"Fab Five" MNHS Cheerleader's Fifteen Minutes Poorly Spent
Mike Jones tipped me off to this Newsweek article about the out-of-control cheerleaders at Alanna's former (yes, former) high school.
The pictures posted on MySpace.com looked like the latest installment of "Girls Gone Wild." In them, cheerleaders from McKinney North High School in Texas exhibited all variety of bawdy behavior. One shot showed a bikini-clad girl sharing a bottle of booze with a friend. Another featured a cheerleader and several other girls in risqué poses offering glimpses of their panties. But the most infamous photo of all was taken in a Condoms To Go store. Five smiling cheerleaders dressed in uniform posed with large candles shaped like penises. At least one of them appeared to be simulating fellatio.
When I got a copy of the Jones Report (no relation to the Staton Jones Report!), I told Anne that it was missing only two words at the very beginning: Dear Penthouse. I'm just shaking my head over how these five could have gotten so out of control, and at the same time, I'm very glad that we're not at MNHS anymore.
And by the way, blowing your "fifteen minutes of fame" this way is rather ... Paris Hilton of them. But that was probably their inspiration.
Posted by Steven at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2006
Christmas Party Season Has Arrived
Anne and I are attending a bunch of events in the next few days ... and then it's going to get very quiet around here.
Tomorrow my company is hosting a holiday lunch at the Benihana in Irving (Anne won't be there).
Friday night Alanna's high school band is having it's first party exclusively for the students ... and they've asked me to DJ. Zounds. I'll put on my glowing-lace quads ...
Saturday we have two parties ... Martha's oppulent feast, and then later that night, Simon's infamous "fur lined codpiece" Xmas party and White Elephant Gift Exchange *featuring* said "thong". It can get pretty wild.
Sunday we are attending the Schmalzried's first house party in the afternoon.
Then ... nothing, until Christmas Eve when we have some neighbors over, and the next day, it's just us at home for the first time in a long while.
I'm technically on vacation starting the 20th, but I will be "on call" all holiday and I'll be working on a bunch of projects, some work related, so I'll stay busy.
Posted by Steven at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2006
Two Years Ago ... and Seventeen, and Twenty
Two years ago, I came home from Boston, Mass. after working out of state for nine months. They were hard months for Anne and the kids, and while I couldn't avoid the absence, I've tried to make up for it since then. I pulled into the garage in my Golf, which hadn't been under a roof for 270 days (a record, of sorts), and read the sign on the door with great relief.
Seventeen years ago, Anne and I pulled up to our new and first home, and pulled out enough items to have a make-shift bed upstairs in the loft. The heat was off, so it was a cold night that first night we arrived in our home back in 1989. But ... it felt great to finally be moving into the house. I've never looked back at apartment living -- never again. My neighborhood in Stonebridge has not lived up to the hype we were told when we moved here, but it's still a lot better than most neighborhoods and almost any apartment complex I can imagine. We bought an affordable home in a good area, and accidentally landed in the right spot w/r/t middle and high schools, to boot. Not bad for a wild guess so long ago!
Twenty years ago, my roommate in Nyack, NY and I met our upstairs neighbor's daugther, Anne Gerard. We shared a Thanksgiving dinner with Barbara and her kids (Anne, Paul and Stephen), and later that night we (seperately) went to see Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. That was my first "date" with Anne ;-). We watched the whale episode of Star Trek two days ago, to remind ourselves of that special day and also of how bad the film was!
That's a lot of personal history to pack into Alice's Restaurant Day.
Posted by Steven at 01:15 AM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2006
Anne's Boyd Bike Racks
Anne had her first victory with the MISD last week. She sent an e-mail to the front office at Boyd HS requesting they provide some kind of bicycle rack for the students (we keep harboring a fantasy that Alanna will ride her bike to school), and lo and behold, they bought them:
Posted by Steven at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2006
School Starts
Tomorrow morning, the academic year at MISD resumes.
About $%#$% time.
Alanna is continuing HS with her sophomore year at a school with only three grades, so she's a "virtual junior". In the band, this means she is already a band officer, a role rarely available to a 10th grader. She's starting at the new Boyd HS in McKinney, which will likely take months to debug and become a fully functioning facility (if the band hall experience is any indication).
Leo is starting middle school, and is full of trepidation about it. He's got a lot of extra help from the STC program, but he will still have to face a newer, meaner crowd in the form of middle school bullies. He's starting to take band, too (saxophone) so we hope that will be something he pursues into high school.
A door closes -- we're not in the elementary schools anymore. This is a big change for Anne, who's done more of the heavy lifting on Leo that I did. High school with Alanna has been great ... she's a great student, and a strong band performer, so we rarely have any problems. Middle school will be a bumpy road, but we'll get through it!
Posted by Steven at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2006
Home!
Pulled in at 8:45pm after 1,600 miles and 24 hours of driving over two days. Glad to see the house ok ... web and mail server needed reboot but otherwise ok ... will finish posting other events in next few days.
Posted by Steven at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2006
Is it over yet?
Just an insane weekend, coming on the heels of an insane week.
This week we had TKD tests, a band concert and banquet, and I had to sit in the Cage (my employer's NOC) all morning (early!) and into the afternoon on Sunday.
Just getting the band presentation finished in time was a nighmare. Then I got the crazy idea of making a DVD for the Seniors (18 of them) at the last minute, so that they would have a copy to take home in their gift bag.
I'll try to catch up on the ole' blog today and tomorrow ... stay tuned.
Posted by Steven at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2006
Second Belt Test at Vu's Studio
Today Leo earned his advanced green belt, and Alanna earned her first "gup" black belt.
The big event was a group composed of two families who have stayed with Mr. Vu through the whole saga this last year, all of whom earned their black belts. The O'Brien and Slayton families celebrated and rejoiced in finally reaching this plateau in Tae Kwan Do. Mr. O'Brien earned his belt with his two oldest daughters, one of whom was in school with Alanna at McKinney North.
It was a great day at Vu's studio as his most devoted students, people who stood beside him and helped him start his own studio, finally reached black belt.
Alanna is still his most advanced student, and has another nine months to go before her next major belt.
Posted by Steven at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2006
Jury Duty
I have to report to Jury Duty today. I'm quite apprehensive ... I can't really afford the time that Linda Pope lost on the infant murder trial that came to town in a media circus last month, and which ended in a hung jury. On the other hand, it's unlikely I'd get picked for any jury.
Wish me luck.
Favorite quote about jury duty:
Any twelve people who can't get themselves out of jury duty are not my peers.
Can I go home now?
Posted by Steven at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2006
Alanna's First Prom
Tonite Alanna is going to the MNHS Senior Prom with Junior Cedric Muoneke. She's got the dress, the shoes, and today, she'll have the hair-do and other girlie stuff. Allegedly, I'm driving her and Cedric to the prom, and will take some photos. I'll post them as an update to this entry later tonite.
Update
I did drive them to the Prom in Anne's Station Wagon. We got a great parking spot, but walked the long way around to the entrance. In the main hall of the Frisco Convention Center I took this photo of them:
The main ballroom was dark, with three or four food stations (including the "chocolate fountain"), ten or so craps tables, and the dance area. I sat with the kids at the first table near the entrance, and was able to photograph a few of the Band students when they came in.
Alanna was home at midnight -- she and Cedric didn't dance but rather just played Blackjack all night. I guess the Romance wasn't all there between them -- two friends going to the Prom. I still suspect Cedric cares more about her than she realizes.
Posted by Steven at 11:03 AM | Comments (1)
March 24, 2006
Ghengis Grill
On the way home (on the Bennett bus) I spied that Fast Eddie's hamburger joint was closed, and that a new tenant was moving in. Mind you, Fast Eddie's had only been there for eight or nine months ... turn around in this area is fierce. Anyway ... the new tenant is probably my third most favorite restaurant chain: Ghengis Grill.
Yes, I'll finally have Mongolian Barbeque in my home town. Will the miracles never cease?
Posted by Steven at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2006
The Great Outdoors
Another restuarant rumor (this time, the source is the vendor). The Great Outdoors is coming to McKinney, in the same shopping area that Snuffer's recently opened in. Expected opening date is this summer!
Woot! My two favorite HS restaurant chains are finally coming to McKinney. It's almost too much to hope for.
Posted by Steven at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2006
Judge Staton's First Election
Yes, you read that right. For the whole day, I was Judge Staton. Election Judge, that is.
I volunteered to do this months ago, with no flipping clue as to how much work it was going to be. I went to both an election law class and a Diebold™ training session that I could have taught myself. Today was the acid test, however. We had to be at Ruth Dowell MS at 6am to being the long day's vote.
Judge Staton holding up his lame Election Judge sticker (right).
All day long the MISD McKinney policeman kept wandering in and out of the polling place. Technically, he's not invited, and some election judges order any police to leave the polling area (it can be construed as voter intimidation). At precinct 12, 131 and 149, this really isn't an issue, so I let it slide.
One thing that I changed mid-day was the location of our "Texas Democrats Vote Here" sign. We had it inside, on the wall. After a while, Don mentioned that it might not be visible to Democratic voters. I quickly moved it to the door, beside the smaller GOP sign. The net result was a more clear indication that both parties were voting here.
The more clearly marked Democratic Primary sign on the door (right).
The electioneering was pretty aggressive all day, at least for the GOP. Two young women were walking around with a black labrador puppy covered in buttons (they came into the polling place and we shoo'd them off). A fairly large crowd spent the entire twelve-hour day outside in the wind. That was just crazy.
The highlight (which I completely failed to get on camera) was when Congressman Sam Johnson (R-Evil) came around to the polling place. He had been earlier admonished (I later found out) for entering a polling place and gratuitiously shaking the hands of the election volunteers, so he stayed outside the yellow marker signs. The funning thing is this put him right alongside the backside of my car, which had a bumper sticker of his opponent, Dan Dodd (D-Good Oleboy) on it! It must have been rather annoying to be out there and seeing that man's name on the nearest car! I really enjoyed retelling that story at the Democrat party later after the polls closed.
The brave, windburned GOP electioneers (right).
At the end of the day, I had thirty-four voters in our primary. This election was across three precincts, and the total registered voters are nearly ten thousand strong. We got a microscopic vote, but the GOP did only eleven times better (399 votes -- 0.3%). The turnout was, simply put, awful.
One bright moment was discovering my neighbor is a Democrat!
All day long I glared at the @#$%@#$ Diebold machines. Here's what they looked like at the end of polling:
I don't trust these machines, and I never will. Closed source electronic voting is no more democratic than what the Soviets did when they had "elections".
After we closed the polls, it was a mad dash to get the paperwork done. I felt like I was doing my Federal Tax return ... in thirty minutes. It turns out I did a pretty good job of following directions and was in and out of the county elections office within an hour of arriving.
We had a post election party in Plano, and I even drank a Margarita! Zounds!
Now I hear we have a run off in April ... oh no, not again!
Posted by Steven at 11:11 PM | Comments (2)
March 06, 2006
Here Come the Judge
Tomorrow I'll be working the polls, literally, as Collin County Precinct 12 Election Judge for the Democratic Party Primary at Ruth Dowell Middle School. Come by and see Judge Staton (for the day, I am legally a "Judge" and you will address me as such!) spending a vacation day sitting in the gym hallway watching all the Republicans come to vote for Rick "Goodhair" Perry like brainwashed robots (we share the hallway with the GOP).
So if you live in Pct. 12, and vote Democratic, you're probably just my wife as this is very, very small set of people (I know, I have the voter database). But we Dems. are making a stand and manning all polling places in Collin County (one of the most GOP infested of Texas) ala the Alamo.
Remember the Dowell!
Posted by Steven at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
March 01, 2006
At Last, Snuffers in McKinney Opens
The miracle that has taken a year to come to fruition is now here: Snuffer's opened today in McKinney.
Situated on the southbound service road of US 75 at El Dorado Parkway, Pat's newest restaurant is the first to be built from the ground up. The good news is that the place is laid out the way they wanted it, but on the whole, it most resembles the Plano location in that it is one large room with a bar off to the side.
I'm personally looking forward to the Patio outside ... I've never eaten on the Patio at the Greenville (original) restaurant, but I look forward to this one.
Anne noted that the bar is probably one of the better ones in McKinney, and none too soon as the town slowly becomes wetter and wetter each year. The restaurant has top-of-the-line Samsung plasma wide-screen TVs that are visible from any seat in the house. Clearly this is a good place to catch a game and get a hearty meal.
And the food? It was smack on. They've brought up their finest chefs from the older stores and also stocked the floor with experienced wait staff. We were waited on hand-and-foot. It was great!
Pat welcomed us personally to his new restaurant.
Seeing all the managers from all these years at one place (our Snuffer's!) was great. Everyone greeted me by name, and Pat even teased me about not wearing a Tux to my first meal at his new restaurant. Anne shot back that we'd dress formally for the "official" APE meal this weekend. Nice save! I had my Snuffer's T-shirt ready earlier in the week when I thought they were opening, so it wasn't available to wear today. My bad!
Views of the main room with the requisite antique photos on the wall.
All the tables are large bench format, just like the original store, but slightly wider so that six can comfortably sit in a booth. There's alot of seating inside, but I can see the place filling up on the weekends as the pent-up demand for a new restaurant in this town of 100,000 is enormous. I hope I can get in on the weekends!
Pat's picture is on a Miller Lite beer ad featured at the table (left).
One new innovation is a huge table for large parties right next to the kitchen so orders are quickly brought to this table (right).
They've added a huge, double-double wide bench that probably seats thirty or more. It's great for large groups, but one of the managers mentioned that it was a chore to pass food up and down the extended length! I expect this will be a popular seat in the restaurant on Soccer Saturdays.
You cannot miss the big green sign on US 75 south of El Dorado Parkway as you enter McKinney from the south. Just take the El Dorado exit, and loop over the highway and back under the overpass. Come down the service road to the big green sign and pull in. Paradise awaits!
Posted by Steven at 01:56 PM | Comments (3)
February 22, 2006
Snuffers Update
The current best-guess date for opening the McKinney Snuffer's is next Monday, the 27th.
You may now return to your normal broadcast programming.
Posted by Steven at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006
New Cat Today
We're expecting our second new cat, Minuet, sometime today. Details as they arise.
Posted by Steven at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)
Still Got Virus?
Yeah, still got virus. My stomach and I have been at war, and naturally, I'm losing. No actual worshipping at the porcelain altar, but lots of nausea at night and day, and wooziness. Yesterday it felt like it was over, and then I ate some spaghetti for dinner. Now I don't want to think about spaghetti. Ugh.
The only bright side? I'm below 185 lbs. for the first time in quite a while. I may just stay sick until I hit 180 :-(.
Posted by Steven at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2006
What's Your Home Worth?
Following a link from Political Animal, I discovered a new web service called Zillow that will tell you what your home is worth.
It's pretty amazing to see what is public info about one's castle. Oh wait, that's terrifying, not amazing.
Posted by Steven at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2006
Successful Predators in Stonebridge Ranch
You think this is about Yuppies? Nope, today a rabbit (probably living under my neighbor's pool) bought it on the street right in front of our house. Around 2pm Anne called up to me to tell me that a hawk was eating it.
I took 139 photos of this critter ... mostly of him tearing strips of flesh from the carcass. Rather remarkable raptor, isn't it?
Posted by Steven at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2005
Monse's Quinciñiera
Alanna attended Monse Garcia's quinciñiera today after she finished earning her black belt. The main event started around 4pm so we scrambled to get her home and cleaned up. The photo on the left, hopefully, speaks to the success of the brief time we had to get her 'gussied' up.
(Just in case you don't know, the quinciñiera is the traditional fifteenth birthday "coming out" party for Mexican girls. The family throws a huge party for their daughter to let the whole town know she's old enough to be married.)
The event was held at The Cotton Mill, a repurposed (what else?) cotton mill off Elm St. in downtown McKinney, just east of McDonald St. The look of the place is kind of rough, but I assume that is intentional. It's rustic, to be blunt.
Monse greeting us at the door.
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(left) "Cupcake" Monse.
(right) Alanna surprised to see Lauren Falkenburg and Monse's dress.
(left) Monse's escort, Josh. (right) Mel "Big Red" Corrigan and Monse.
Closeups of Monse looking radiant.
Posted by Steven at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2005
First Icestorm
We're experiencing our first sleeting icestorm of the year. I'm so glad I didn't stay in Austin through today, even if it is Leigh Anne's birthday (she's 35-- 0x23 -- years old today). Happy birthday, lil' sis.
Posted by Steven at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
November 30, 2005
100,000
The Dallas Morning News ran a story today proclaiming that the population of McKinney was now over 100K. A couple who had just moved here were selected to be the representative 100,000th residence (they didn't believe the city official when he called with the good news). What's truly amazing is that McKinney was barely 20K residents when Anne and I moved here in 1989 (almost 1990). By 2000, the population had increased to 50K (more than doubled from 1990) and now at 100K, it's doubled again in only five years.
They think McKinney will top out at 300K residents, which may happen before 2010 at this rate!
Posted by Steven at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2005
Red State Anniversary
Today's the first anniversary of my return from Toronto/Boston in 2004. After two days of relatively easy driving (once I left the snow belt of MA/CT/NY), I was home and hoping to start a new job with an Irving, TX based debit phone company. Little did I know how bumpy a ride that would be, but it's turned out for the best.
Huzzah for Home, where ever it is.
Posted by Steven at 10:01 AM | Comments (1)
November 13, 2005
More and More, It's Boyd
I saw three zoning maps that are under consideration for the MISD and it's new High School, Boyd. In all three maps, the heart of Stonebridge Ranch and surrounding neighborhoods are rezoned to Boyd HS. So that's that, next year Alanna will be at Boyd HS, which apparently doesn't have an auditorium, a gym big enough to seat even half the students, a band practice lot nor a full band hall with uniform and instrument storage (heck, the new HS has no instruments or uniforms).
At least it looks like Kelsey will be back with Alanna at the new HS.
Posted by Steven at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2005
McKinney Neighbors
The Dallas Morning News ran the new McKinney Neighbors insert today in the paper. On pages seven and nine one finds the band photos I submitted for inclusion. On pages fourteen and fifteen you can find the AnimeFest 2005 photos I submitted. I am all over this issue! If you don't live in McKinney, you didn't get the insert. (they did one for Allen, Plano and Garland, at a minimum).
Posted by Steven at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
News Flash! Ninjas Invade McKinney!
McKinney, TX - A Stonebridge Ranch woman called 911 today around 9:10pm to report that she was being stalked by a ninja. [Ed. Note: obligatory Dave Barry disclaimer here] I am not making this up.
Police K-9 units, a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter and a teenage boy got everyone in one local neighborhood ready for Halloween early.McKinney Police Capt. Randy Roland said police had to set up a perimeter complete with police officers and a helicopter around 9 p.m. Saturday for a 911 call from a woman walking in the 3200 block of Hudson Crossing who said she thought she was being followed by a man dressed in black with a machete.
But it turned out to be a 13-year-old boy playing ”Ninja“ in a costume with a plastic sword.
McKinney Police Capt. Randy Roland said dispatch received a 911 call about a suspicious person at 9:18 p.m. Saturday from a young woman who was walking her dog down Hudson Crossing.
According to an e-mail written by McKinney Assistant Police Chief Rex Redden that was sent to several city and police personnel, she said she thought she was being followed by a male suspect dressed in all black and carrying what appeared to be a machete. She was able to stop some other people for help. They were watching the man who turned and ran through a nearby apartment complex.
Some officers were dispatched to the scene who began searching for the man. Another witness said they observed someone with a similar description jumping the fence of the apartment complex and heading towards Gabe Nesbitt Field. Police established a perimeter with additional officers, and called in K-9 units and a DPS helicopter since the search area was large and filled with heavy woods.
Nearby residents came out of their homes to see why a police helicopter was circling over their houses. Monika Arris said nearly everyone on her block was standing outside.
”They were just trying to see what was going on,“ Arris said. ”The helicopter circled overhead for 45 minutes to an hour. You couldn't see what was going on. The traffic back there at Hudson Crossing, there was quite a bit of it. There was more there than normal for that hour.“
Collin County spokeswoman Leigh Hornsby who also lives nearby said the traffic caused by the 20 drivers she counted brought out the carelessness in some of them.
”There were so many residents who got into their vehicles trying to find the source of the incident traveling through my neighborhood, a couple of them even made U-turns through my lawn as they were looking for source of this,“ Hornsby said. ”That was my point of my frustration .“
Douglas Vining who lives on Drake Circuit said he also heard the helicopters but he wasn't worried about their reason for being there.
”It's not first time it's happened,“ Vining said. ”I wasn't locking my doors and hiding by any means. I have protection.“
Redden said in the e-mail that one of the K-9 dogs found a scent but eventually lost it. He also said the helicopter searched the wooded area with a ”Forward Looking Infrared“ or thermal camera but no one was found.
Just as police were about to call off the search, officers received a dispatch call from a man who said his 13-year-old son had been playing with his Ninja sword in the area and believed he might have accidentally scared the lady. Officers went to the man's home had ”a nice little chat with the father and his son,“ Redden said.
No charges were filed and no arrests were made. Since no report was filed on the incident, the young woman, the father and the 13-year-old could not be identified, Roland said.
Either the local police have nothing better to do (judging from the success of the recent speeder crackdown, I'd say they don't), or they're a bunch of rubes. Either way, literally tens of thousands of dollars later, they didn't get their Ninja. Imagine if it had been a real Ninja!
Kudos to Charles F. for pointing out how incompetent my local police are, and how paranoid my neighbors are.
Posted by Steven at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
Café Brazil Parrots
I did my usual brunch at Café Brazil today, and when I left to head home, a couple was dining outside with their parrot.
They told me that they've had this critter for eight years, and that they've already requested their children take care of it in their will (the bird will out live its owners). They were traveling out of town for the weekend, and naturally, the bird must travel with them.
Clearly, Café Brazil is an appropriate place for them to dine with a tropical jungle bird, but even so, it was rather surprising to see it. Fortunately, I chose to carry my Nikon with me today, otherwise I would have missed this opportunity to take photos. I didn't ask them how much attention the bird gathered, but from the crowd that formed after I made a big deal about the bird, I'd say it was probably quite a lot, even without the Monty Python jokes thrown in.
McKinney, despite itself, is getting cooler every week.
Posted by Steven at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2005
La Madeline
Looks like La Madeline is building a restaurant at El Dorado and US 75. This will be a welcome addition to McKinney's burgeoning international palette of restaurants.
Posted by Steven at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2005
Leo's First SLR Photo
On Eldorado Parkway, the west-side of McKinney's first high rise office building is going up. Leo snapped this shot of the crane used to erect the steel on the Nikon D70s.
Posted by Steven at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2005
Home Again, Home Again
Spent a week in Austin for Maskina (taking one for the team), starting with a wild Saturday night company dinner at Maiko Sushi and ending with my bailing on ArmadilloCon 27 to swing by the office and do some more work on Sat. afternoon. Last Sunday we had a "come to Jesus" company meeting at the Barton Creek Country Club, which was just over the top. Having to play a round of putt-putt golf there was hilarious, and the dinner at the County Line BBQ was kinda cramped as we squeezed into too small a big table.
The highlight of the week was meeting the Icelander and Norwegian co-workers I'd only corresponded with by e-mail. We had a few dinners and lunches during the week and I got to know the guys; we seem to work together well. I spent much of my time internationalizing our product for the Icelander language ... it's not like anything I've seen before.
I went to ArmadilloCon for barely 12 hours, arriving Fri. evening and bailing around lunch time on Sat. It is clearly a Very Small Convention (of course, compared to Noreascon or A-Kon, what isn't?) but I found some old Star Trek books I never had, caught up on Myth Adventures, discovered Denver is bidding for 2008, and bought a rather clever piece of art titled The Fellowship of the Submarine (I'll post an image later).
The drive home as well as down was uneventful. I stopped at Yanni's to get some keftetes and their olive dip that is so good for dinner tomorrow. Mmmmmm...
Posted by Steven at 06:16 PM | Comments (0)
McKinney (City of) Billboard
For many trips back and forth from Austin, I've obsessed over spotting the elusive City of McKinney billboard. I remember reading that the McKinney tourist board (?!?) decided to pay for a billboard on one of Texas' interstate highways, but the location they chose is baffling.
A scant 190 miles south of McKinney on I-35, just north of Georgetown (and only visible in the northbound lanes) one finds the following apparation:
I know that I saw this, I'd rush for another 190 miles (skipping Temple, Waco, Carl's Corners and even Dallas) to reach this obvious mecca of civilization.
As if. Sure, we now have a Cafe Brazil and possibly a Snuffer's (new estimate is late December), but it's still just another small town in tornado alley.
Posted by Steven at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2005
Cafe Brazil Opens in McKinney
I went by the new Cafe Brazil today and was shocked to see it was open! This is at the southwest corner of Eldorado Parkway and US 75 (Central Expressway), where the Snuffer's is being built (the latest info on that is they plan to open Dec. 15th).
Woot!
Update
It just gets better. They have WiFi in the restaurant! A laptop, a cup of joe, and McKinney's first real brunch restaurant (Le Peep, where did you go?) just raised this town's "livability index" a notch.
And (yes) I am entering this on my iBook in the Cafe Brazil.
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| (Above) Main restaurant room, which wraps around the corner of the building. (Left) Anne relaxing in the Art Exhibit section with the colorful wall and wide bench. |
Posted by Steven at 04:51 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2005
World's First "Green" Wal-Mart ... here?
 | Wal-Mart (aka Megalo-Mart) opened it's experimental eco-Wal-Mart in McKinney today. Apparently it made the headlines in the WaPo and other major media outlets. The project had been announced long ago, but it wasn't until a yesterday that I noticed that a wind turbine was running north of US 380 at Central. Turns out, it's Wal-Mart's wind turbine. The fact that the first wind turbine in McKinney is erected by Wal-Mart really messes with my head. Update Went to see this Space Age&trade Wal-Mart and was not impressed. The number of video cameras in the parking lot made me feel like I was on the set of A Clockwork Orange: Bentonville. I don't see what the big to do is ... it's still Wal-Mart and its crappy "Not Made in America" merchandise. Even the 120 ft. turbine was not turning. Is it just a prop? |
Posted by Steven at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2005
No Water!
A water main break (fifteen miles from McKinney in Wylie) is shutting down all water to McKinney and Allen (and possibly Plano and Frisco). We have about eight hours of reserve, apparently. I ran to the local grocery store and bought 20 gallons of bottled water ... damn this feels weird. I'm going to really miss showers come tomorrow (let's not even go into the "no flush toilet" scenarios).
Posted by Steven at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2005
Fillings Bite
I had a wisdom tooth filling replaced this morning.
I forgot that wisdom teeth are 10^6 nerves packed in a not-so-insulated package. I forgot that I (apparently) require two shots of novocaine (or whatever they give you nowadays). I forgot that the needle stays in your gum for thirty @#$%#% seconds while the dentist shakes your head like a rag-a-muffin.
I wish I could forget the sensation of my wisdom teeth nerves being sprayed with cold water and air.
Anyway, it's done, and I have a new filling and (according to the dentist) "really nice teeth", which oddly enough, he'd love to extract.
Damn you, high fructose sugar sodas!
Posted by Steven at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2005
Tony Kuehler
Sunday morning I went to have breakfast with an old friend from Stonebridge Ranch, Tony Kuehler. We met at a Bob Evans restaurant near the Kansas Speedway, a pantheon to NASCAR and as Tony put it, "Bubba".
It was great seeing him after all these years. He's been diagnosed with diabetes and had lost a lot of weight as a result. He told me he manages his diabetes with diet, portion control, and exercise. He's a good model of what I should be doing.
We talked about family and kids. We talked politics, and he was especially angry about the GOP shenanigans with the CPB. He thinks PBS would be better off without the CPB, and could start doing real reporting as a consequence. He figures they'll get the money from progressives fed up with the MSM (mainstream media). I think he's on to something with that.
We didn't have a long time to chat, but I'm glad I got to see him.
Posted by Steven at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2005
Neighborhood Demolition Derby
Around 10pm on Saturday, I was watching Koyannisqatsi with Leo (ironically appropriate, given what was happening outside) when I heard a terrible tire squeal and a crunching sound. I had just made myself a bowl of ice cream, so I wandered out of my house, bowl in hand, in time to see a black Toyota Tundra come tearing around the corner, cutting his lights and diving into a cul de sac next to my house. He was being pursued by my wife's friend's husband, who has a very peppy Dodge Neon TSX (or something).
The truck was driven by a local kid who used to live down the street, but who's folks moved away because of constant harrassment (on both sides) with another neighbor across the street. Apparently this guy is on the edge, and does loud and obnoxious things at night, and doesn't keep his yard up (a capital offense here). The ex-neighbor's kid, however, keeps the flame going by making a ritual out of harrassing and/or vandalizing this guy's house. He did so this evening, and the neighbor had had enough.
It looks like what happened is he tore out of his house, dived into his black Cadillac, and gave chase. I guess the kid wasn't expecting that, but unfortunately for both of them, they were well armed in the car engine department. V8 vs. V8 time. There was another kid in another pickup, too, and he was throwing things at the neighbor's car as he chased them, at highway speeds, up and down Quail Creek Dr.
One kid took off in one direction but the ex-neighbor's kid couldn't shake the neighbor. He finally caught up with the kid around the corner from me on Glenn Lane, about two houses up. From the skid marks, it's clear he rammed the truck at a pretty good clip. I'd guess they were going nearly 40 MPH. The kid must have lost control at that point, or locked his tires, but in any case, he slid right up into someone's yard, narrowly missing entering the front of the house, sideways, in his truck. The cadillac driver went a couple more houses down the street, and then stopped. His front end was wasted.
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| The destroyed Cadillac. | The kid's truck skid marks across the yard. |
I went back in and grabbed my camera, figuring no one else would have the sensibility to document this mess.
The kid was in my front yard, panic'd and thinking that my wife's friend's husband was chasing him. What my wife's friend's husband said was he saw some of the accident, and went after the kid figuring he started it. It sure looks that way.
Meanwhile, the entire street emptied out on to the sidewalks. This never happens. We all start gossiping and I find out some of the back story on this kid, his family, and the guy he set off. Everyone wants the crazy neighbor gone, but there is a subtle consensus that the kid was Trouble and he Got What He Deserved.
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| The rear of the Tundra. | The Man showed up (finally). |
About the time the police are talking to the neighbor, who (by the way) has on the regulation Cops outfit of shorts and nothing else, the parents show up. The guy is drunk, messed up, and has clearly screwed the pooch. His car is severely damaged and, yeah, he's going to jail.
The father is a brute who drives a dually pickup like it was an Alfa-Romeo. He starts screaming (at the cops) that he's going to kill the neighbor. The mom isn't any more subtle, and they both cuss up a storm in front of the older kids who came out to see what was what. I'm sorry to say it was hilarious. This is a classic Texas Disfunctional Family. I later found out that they had just given their precious son the Tundra (which I estimated cost $30K) the week before. They clearly enabled the crap out of his behavior.
The dad climbed back into his truck and then drove like a banshee all around the neighborhood for ten minutes or so. We could hear his truck like a Tyranosaurus Rex in heat, tires squealing and hemi thrumming. Clearly, he must need to answer some of those penile spam ads he gets in the e-mailbox.
The cops cuffed the neighbor and (so I heard) booked him on vehicular assault, which was fair enough. He's a mess, but no one cares and so he'll probably continue on his death spiral until he kills or is killed. God I love the suburbs!
Note: because the parent's were threatening lawsuits right and left, I have not used any names in this posting, which has forced me to use the phrase "wife's friend's husband" far too many times!
Posted by Steven at 10:40 PM | Comments (1)
May 14, 2005
Ikea Comes to Frisco
Imagine my surprise when I opened the Dallas Morning News and read that Ikea is opening a store in Frisco, about ten miles from my house, this summer. I can just hear Bosney saying, "You don't deserve it!" ;-). Bill, you're right. Let me know what you need and I'll get it to you ...
Posted by Steven at 11:28 AM | Comments (1)
May 11, 2005
Chimney Repair Complete
The L&H Construction team (husband and wife Len and Helen Orsak) finished installing Hardiplank® siding on our chimney exterior today. They finished caulking around noon, and applied two coats of paint this afternoon. They even replaced the rotted wood on our garage door frame, which has been languishing for some time now.
There were some problems with the existing framing of the chimney which resulted in the trim planks not being absolutely true to the corners, but with caulk it's not at all obvious. On the whole, it looks fabulous, especially when compared to the neighbor's rotting chimney.
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| Our shiny new chimney. | The neighbor's crappy original chimney. |
We have "before" and "after" beauty shots here:
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| Original chimney with my attempted "repair". | The new Hardiplank® painted to match old color. |
Hardiplank® is essentially concrete impregnated fiberboard. It's essentially cement planks, and cannot burn. Consequently, the insurance people love it. It will break if hit hard enough, but since the builder was hammering nails into it I can only assume that's a pretty severe impact we're talking about here.
My architect friend James West highly recommended it, too. He says the stuff that is originally on my house is not holding up as long as it was supposed to; I've got the entire second floor rear siding to replace at some point. Ouch. Such is the fun of home ownership, right Dad?
Postscript
The Stonebridge Home Owners Association Materials and Construction Review secretary called today to tell us that the plan we submitted for construction was approved. On the same day it was finished. Len, the carpenter, said, "Damn, I'm fast!" We had a good chuckle at that, while I silently cursed the SB MARC under my breath.
Posted by Steven at 03:25 PM | Comments (2)
May 01, 2005
Restaurant Update
I know a lot of you think I'm obsessing on this, but for sixteen years I've had to drive a minimum of 15 miles to get to a decent restaurant (or at least, to one like these two). That's Troy to Albany, or Whitney Point to Binghamton, or ... you get the picture. So here's the current state (as of May 1st) of my two great restaurant hopes in McKinney:
Snuffer's has broken ground just south of El Dorado Parkway at US 75.
Caf Brazil is building out in the shopping center that currently holds our Half Priced Books store.
Both restaurants are within walking distance of each other, which is peculiar. If a Great Outdoors opens in this plaza, we may have to move closer.
Posted by Steven at 08:54 PM | Comments (1)
Home Repair
Friday and Saturday a two man team rebuilt the front fence at the house.
Not a lot to add here other than the guys worked pretty hard since they didn't bring their nail gun, and the geometry in the ground made the project more challenging than it needed to be. But it looks nice.
The next big project is the chimney exterior, which is rotting off the building.
We've got a contractor lined up to repair it for around a grand -- hope this goes as well as the fence did. You can see how well my "patching" did from a few years back ... that T-31 plywood doesn't like getting wet anymore than the masonite that was originally used does. Feh.
Posted by Steven at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2005
Accord Pie
We sold the Accord tonite. Finally.
For such a rare and popular car in such good condition (we had two different mechanics look at it), it sure took a long time to sell. This was probably easier to sell than either the Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo (didn't have a copy of the title) or the Honda CR-V (original model was underpowered and waaay unsexy when newer models came out), but it still felt like pulling teeth.
I ran an ad on cars.com (see below) and started getting calls that Monday morning.
The first couple was from Ft. Worth, and they drove all the way to my home to see the car. They loved it, and said they wanted to buy it. I made plans to drive it to Irving so we could close on Wed., all the while taking other callers phone numbers. Wednesday was a no-show ... they couldn't finance the car unless I was willing to sign over the title and then use their "new car" as collateral. No dice.
The second couple opted out as they couldn't buy before next week.
The third couple wanted to offer $3700, which was well below asking ($4500). No thanks.
On the way home on Wednesday, I stopped at the fourth couple's parent's home. They were looking for a car for mom, who is in her early thirties. She was very familar with the Accord Wagon and specifically wanted one -- bonus points. the husband looked the car over and checked all the fluids. He was quite pleased with the condition of the vehicle and found no flaws test driving. We spoke briefly about the price and agreed on $4200, which was down from the asking but which took into account the gasket work that was needed.
He wanted me to take it by his mechanic in the morning, which I agreed to. The second inspection was quick and it also resulted in a very good grade. I thought that we would close that day after lunch, but instead the husband shut down for a while (he's a drummer in a band and works late at night -- I was wrecking his sleep pattern for the day). It also turned out that he didn't have ready access to the cash from his insurance check (a hold was on it).
I was kinda pissed at this turn of affairs -- I assumed he would buy the car immediately. So I called the next guy on the list who turned out to work in Irving. We met at lunch and he drove the car with the same result -- he wanted to buy it. But he turned out to be car shopping for his younger brother who just destroyed his last Honda. This wasn't who I wanted to sell this car to -- he wasn't looking for a wagon, and the actual buyer was barely older than a teenage boy. The older brother called back and offered $4000; I told him $4200 or no deal. He didn't call back.
I had to pick up Anne's mom from D/FW so I just drove home in the Accord and worked from home the rest of the afternoon. Around 3pm, the couple from Wed. evening called saying they found the money and were coming up to buy the car.
Finally.
They arrived around 6:40pm and we had a nice visit, exchanged check and title, and I took a photo of them with their new "pre-owned" Honda Accord Wagon:
Weren't a Chevy, weren't real heavy,
but you never left us high n' dry.
And lots of folks tried to buy you by and by ...
but this is where we say, good bye.
This is where we say, good bye.
We owned this car for nine years, nine months and nine days.
Posted by Steven at 10:47 PM | Comments (1)
April 01, 2005
Cafe Brazil Coming to McKinney
Another startling breakthrough in McKinney ...
In the same shopping center that the new Half-Priced Books store has opened and where Snuffer's will open in Sept. is now a sign announcing that Caf� Brazil is coming soon! Woo hoo! Now if only Brook Mays would open in town, next to a VW dealership ...
Posted by Steven at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2005
McKinney Becoming "Livable"
This comes as quite a shock to say, but McKinney is becoming a place I can stand to live in.
We have seen (or will see) the addition of the following services/stores in this year:
- Half Priced Books
- Wine and beer at the grocery store
- Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream
- Snuffer's Restaurant
- Market Street (like Central Market) grocery
- A French bistro restuarant
- A Vietnamese Restaurant
I'm quite in shock. I can buy ice wine at the local World Market. We're getting retail beyond big-boxers like Home Depot and Mega-Lo Mart. The city is growing up and getting a touch of class. We even have a gaming store and an authentic English pub.
I thought this was a Red County in a Red State?
Addendum
What's missing? A VW dealership. A Barnes and Noble bookstore. A Great Outdoors sub shop. Real liquor stores. A decent Indian restaurant. An alternate route to Dallas (highway-wise). On the "out beyond the edge" are a Fry's and a Benihana's restuarant. And some Democrats. That would be nice.
Posted by Steven at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2005
Ruby Update
Anne has scheduled surgery for Ruby next Tuesday. We're going to have the "radical chain" done ... where the vet removes the malignant tissue and all the other tissues associated with the (in Ruby's case) right side. The cost is a little more than just a lumpectomy, but will (if she survives the operation and recovers) buy her more time.
We're on pins-and-needles as Ruby has been ulcerating more and more. Anne has some special cat food intended to boost her body weight (around 5 lbs.) before surgery, to help with the anesthesia and recovery.
Posted by Steven at 11:57 PM | Comments (1)
December 06, 2004
Loft Finished
This weekend Bob West came out and finished the counter tops in the loft.
For the last year, the loft work area was unfinished. I took two Container Store table tops (that used to be kid's desks) and reattached aluminum legs to them so that I could prop them against the central cabinet to form two worktops. The laser printer sat in the middle, largely unsupported by the melamine tops.
I called Bob's brother Jim (the architect) and asked him to for some ideas on how to move the tabletops to be alongside the cabinet at a more convenient height. He suggested I contact his brother, so I did.
We talked about the layout and the resources, and at one point decided to ditch the melamine for hardwood, but expendiency won out over fancy, and so this last Saturday he came over with tools and we mounted the tabletops as desktops (as you can see in the image).
I found a kitchen cutting board to use as the top cap for the central cabinet, which Bob mounted with just two wood screws. I drilled cable holes in the table tops and voila, had a finished work area in the loft.
I found two $8 lamps at Target, replacing the floor lamp and two strip lamps I had been using to illuminate the desk.
I put the Linux server and my WinXP desktop on the right with the KVM, wireless keyboard/mouse, and Sony 17" LCD screen that I bought when I went to Toronto. On the left is the new iBook 12" that Transcom bought me.
The tabletop scanner, film scanner and photo printer are on the left side.
Posted by Steven at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)