Woodlands Texas does rank among the best

The Woodlands was just ranked 14th by Forbes in The place to move. We beat out all but four other Texas locations on criteria mostly related to "relovilles". In other words, we rank high on the list of ultimate living destinations for people outside of this area. Other Texas locations on the top 25 include #6 Frisco, #9 McKinney, #12 Carrollton, #19 Allen, #24 Roundrock, and #25 Plano. Large metro areas of Texas represented include Houston(The Woodlands), Austin (Roundrock) Dallas(Carrollton, McKinney, Frisco). Sugarland was close to being in the top 25.

Forbes article

Have less money, looking for coupons?

Some of us are in this boat, some not. The good news is that businesses everywhere are offering more coupons and deals these days. So what do you do with less money? You spend less money, but doing it wisely is another story. One way to help ourselves is to spend a little time looking for what we need, getting the best deal and consciously prioritizing what we wish to purchase. One place that fascinates me is the website below where you can search stores for coupons. I have found a couple of deals there lately worth a few dollars.
Dealhunting

I'd be interested in any other ideas you may have. Other readers would probably also.

Pesty House Flies - declaration of war

We asked ourselves, "where are all these flies coming from?" I have not thought much beyond that until today when a friend, clear out of the blue, said exactly the same thing. This is a bad year, caused by lots of water at just the right time, followed by a lengthy dry season. House Flies live for three weeks. That is a long time to have them tickling the hair on your arm! I have decided to do something about this around the house. I am not a person who avoids all pesticides, but I do not like to use them either. Flies like to find places where there is food (our food does just fine, thank you), and where the temperature is more comfortable. You guessed it. Air conditioning! Yes, they love temps about 80 degrees, right along with other household pests, such as mealworms and roaches and such.

So you have a few options. Put all exposed food in the freezer or fridge below 60 degrees, put the heater on in the house to live in 100+ degrees, freeze the home by keeping it below 60 degrees, or maybe use a pesticide and maybe clean up everything outside and put traps inside. Some people will say go totally with the traps. That is fine if that is what you want to do. Maybe you have guessed what I am going to do.

Stop chasing and swatting. If you insist on swatting, do to it music. It is a lot more fun that way. I had one of these bothersome creatures land on the tip of my nose. My kids got even with me and swatted it. Trust me, it is better to manage the situation a different way!

So pesticides are on their way to the porches (they hang out there waiting for you to open the door - cool air here I come), the pantry boards (waiting for an open package), on the windows (they hang out there looking for a crack to get in), around the lights outside (fools them - they think it is air conditioned).

I will spray around and inside the garbage can and the compost pile. Then put pout some fly traps in the house. I am trying not to change the bird feeding. My wife insists that the sugar in the hummingbird feeders is THE source of the problem. Sorry, I disagree. Never seen a fly on the feeders, not once. I want to minimize the impact to the environment but war is war and I have declared war!

I ran across some interesting websites but nothing that substantiates any reason for the this years number of houseflies. I did confirm my own knowledge before I wrote this, but don't know which sites had the pertinent information. Although a naturalist, I am not a fan of houseflies. They are just a human pest! Going to get the cannons and set up a fire line right now.

Digital Television in The Woodlands

This also pertains to Tomball, Spring and probably Conroe, Texas. Today I jumped into this ocean of digits and found that I like it! I sort of stumbled into it by buying a converter and then a digital antenna. Since my daughter was moving in back with us for the summer or even longer, her HDTV was the first experiment. As it turned out, all I needed was a small $30 antenna, just rabbit ears essentially. At first I thought this device did not work, because when I programmed the channels, I got noisy reception just like before. It looked the same - static reception, because we are so far away from the Houston broadcasting towers. But then I tried something, just out of intuition and curiosity. Wow! I found another signal source on the menu of the television set that was digital. The other source was the old analog broadcast method. The world of TV changed in an instant! Now I have perfect reception for those channels which have already converted to digital broadcasting. And when I mean perfect, I mean perfect! Essentially cable TV through the airway!

Expectations are soaring. Could this be the end of cable TV for us? There will be many questions to be answered soon. Will the value of having piped-in digital reception be significantly lowered? I believe so! Now the question for residents in our area will be, "do I need to have the hundreds of channels provided by my cable TV supplier?" Movies might keep us tuned in, but my son has already found an alternative to that. He has connected his wide-band internet to his TV and now watches on-demand streamed movies from Netflix for a fraction of the cost of cable. I just looked at my cable bill which includes about four paid movies. It is $150, but that includes wide-band internet.

What else might be on the plate? I just looked at my $60 bill for a house phone service. I can purchase equipment for less than $300 to move that service to the wide-band internet without any monthly charges. The house phone will have two lines (two telephone numbers) and one will be the same as I have now. There will be free calling to anywhere in the USA and low cost international call services available, as well as all the telephone amenities we are accustomed to such as call waiting, conference calls, and CallerID. In these times of frugality, I can see equivalent or even better service at much less cost.

Technology continues to offer useful alternatives to quality living, right here in The Woodlands. I am looking forward to the new technology television when the local stations all change their broadcast over to digital on June 12th of 2009. I need to find a place to dispose of my antenna in the attic. I have not used it for years but now it will be worthless. It just takes up space. I will research that issue and share the information with my readers... ps ... after receiving a comment from one of my readers below, I have added a reference on antennas.² Apparently the old antennas will work. I will try out ours in the attic and update this article later.

Now the even better news. We have channels available right now which broadcast only in digital and never have been available for analog TVs. The Houston area is large and there is a wide variety of broadcasters available now. Each analog channel can and will broadcast sub-channels in addition to their current analog mainstream channels. For example, we will have 24 hour weather. I don't have that with my AT&T service except for an application they provide, a slow alternative to direct broadcasting. Of course we will not have a DVR service unless we take the broadcasts through a state-of-the-art home entertainment system or equivalent.

I wonder now how far away from the city one can be and still pick up these channels? There is more research to do. We will point our digital antennas South. I am not sure yet how much we might have to tune up direction to pick up all the channels.The standard network channels all will retain their channel numbers. ABC channel 13 will remain channel 13 for example. Some broadcasting may be on different channels until June 19th. I just previewed all available channels and am having a difficult time picking up channel 45. All others seem to be working just fine. There are three sub-channels for channel 2. Channel 13 had a dedicated sub-channel for the weather. They cover more than just local weather, sort of like the weather channel on cable. I noticed some temporary interference on channel 39. Maybe the weather will affect reception. The television set seems to adjust to fuzzy signals when it loses signal. I checked on reception grade using a website ¹ that will characterize the reception expected in any given zip code; it shows we can expect a "strong" signal, so we qualify for indoor reception. There is a lot to learn. We will dedicate one of our TVs to this new technology and see where we will go from here with the others.

References
¹FCC Information
²Antennas with digital TVs

Vinyl Gloves - Extra Large

Have you ever had an "extra large" moment? A few weeks ago, I walked into my family doctor's office to get the ole annual checkup. I got through this one just fine, so I first thought. By this old age, I have had plenty of practice being checked out! The difference this time is that the doctor had something to say. He said, 'well buddy, I am going to send you to a Urologist. You have an enlarged prostate, nothing very serious, just need to get it checked out." "Well doc", I responded, just like any other God fearing adult male, "why do I need to go if there is nothing to worry about?" "Cause of your family history and your age and you just need to go." ... "ok then, whatever the doc thinks is appropriate to do."

In comes Indian Springs Guy to the Urologist! This is a first. I had to learn how to spell and pronounce that and then go for my visit. OK, I am placed into a small room like other doctors provide. I look around the inspection office. Two pair of vinyl glove boxes! Over the years I have grown accustomed to understanding what those things are used for. Then I notice in smaller letters - "EXTRA LARGE"!!

Oh no!!! My mind is going nuts. I hate these inspections! A truck might as well run over me. But "extra large"?!#%@$ After the inspection, the doc explains to me that indeed I have a problem of some sort although it probably is not serious. "OK, doc, if it is probably not serious, I think I am done with this." (thinking that maybe an inspection with extra large gloves will be a one time occurrence in my life). Doc responds, "you need to have a few more things done. You are not through yet" This is getting to sound like EXTRA LARGE in every way. "But doc ..." "But nothing... you need to have more tests. Tell you what, we will treat your PSA level with antibiotics first, then take a look at the issue again afterward. Sometimes this is caused by an infection." I could tell he did not really believe that. His eyes had vinyl gloves written all over them. Honestly, I saw an "Extra Large" reflection in them!

Today was "afterward" day. Here I was at the Urologist office again (see, I did learn to spell that). I review things in his office again, since once again I am waiting for him. I am reminded of his gloves as I see the same two boxes. I think to myself, here we go again. Extra Large! Please just don't do that again, realizing that the meaning of "extra large" may be totally different today. I get blood drawn - no problem, anything but the gloves. Then the doctor comes in. I grimace. He says, "have I explained to you the biopsy process?" Nope, not to me. He hands me a brochure and explains it. He makes out that there is nothing to it. Then no vinyl gloves today - whoopee! "We will get the results of the tests today in about a week. Then I will be able to advise you if you need to have the biopsy. We have to drop your PSA level 2.5 points for you to get out of this." I thought "but if I had known that earlier, I would not have run, or done anything else to aggravate the issue. I want as many percentage points as I can get."

Oh well. Now I know what the "Extra Large" really means and I am cringing on the thought of a next step at this very minute. So do you have your vinyl glove moments? I wish I could get out of this one.

Country Marathon and Half Marathon in Nashville

Some Tennessee people asked me "what's it like running 13 miles?" Well, for one it is 13.1 miles, and I guarantee 0.1 miles makes a difference! Real living is to put health and stamina into your life. That is what I try to do, that is, take a talent that I have been given and make it something to look forward to and enjoy. So what is there that makes an agonizing run something enjoyable? I guess that is a matter of definition. I can't say I really enjoy the "pain" while on the 13 mile course. Normally, there is no actual pain. It is all simply hard work and sweat. Isn't that what we must do to live? Life is full of hard work and sweat. Some say, "no pain, no gain". Well, I go for that. Running in competition is running for self improvement, not to "beat" someone else, but in retrospect, I always compare myself with others to benchmark my own performance. I never set out to "beat" the time of anyone.

This time around, the race was not local as in my past races. I went to the third largest marathon race in the country - Nashville, Tennessee. They call it the "Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon". And that it is! Music that is. In its 10th year of existence, there was a country band on stage every mile, and added to those, there were private bands of bars along the way, also playing for the runners and spectators. And were there specators and runners!! 31000 runners on the course and no telling how many spectators! The streets were lined with them the entire half marathon, during the time I ran. We were cheered by high and intermediate school cheerleaders (in competition themselves), families and residents along the way. Many wanted to give "high fives", and I accomodated them. It helped push me a little. Some said "almost there" - big lies, yet I tried harder each time to get me quicker to the finish line.

Managing 31000 contestants could not possibly be an easy task. There were 32 corrals each containing about 100 contestants, leaving the start line about 2-3 minutes apart. Some people had to wait an hour to start the race! I was in the sixth corral, determined by my projected time to complete the course. At the start, there was a sudden energy rush, knowing that it had actually started. You are now on the clock I thought. I watched my heartbeat rate and keep it under 170. My doctor says to keep it under 160. I don't tell him that I factor up his limit. Maybe he already knows that, but I think I am pulling the wool over his eyes. So I press the button on my watch to start monitoring the heart. It starts a little high because of the adrenelin, but settles quickly as I pace myself as I had trained on the little hills of The Woodlands.

I looked ahead of me and behind me - a sea of humanity. There was no end to people dressed in shorts and funny looking stuff for as far as I could see. That is where the big question was asked - "What have I got myself into?". Too late to stop! Shortly into the race, I ran up on two guys wearing long stockings and asked them directly "what is the story behind those things?" "We lost a bet with his mom. We have to wear her stockings as a result." Sorry I asked. Thought I might learn something... Now ISG, grind it! Let's get on with the race. One foot ahead of the other. That is what I was told. What I was not told was much more important however. Tennessee has real hills. Now that translates to real pain! Why am I telling you that anyway? I guess to justify the outcome. I have to set expectations here. It would be silly to let you think I was going to be a real athlete, be awarded a prize, be on TV and all that stuff. OK, now that you know I did not win the race, I will be more apt to tell the truth.

Geez. I found out there were people running with me from all over the world. I am running in a world class race? Yep. $20,000 to the first one who crossed the finish line first. Well, one thing I know for sure - that aint gonna be me! Maybe a Kenyan, maybe an American lady. The ladies were given an 18-minute head start to compensate for the normal capability differences between genders. As it turned out, many women passed me about mile 10, and I started getting a complex. Some 2000 women crossed the finish line before me. As it turned out, the Kenyan outraced everyone. I saw him heading towards the finish line a little after I arrived halfway in the half marathon. There were two Kenyans at that time running and accompanied by a motorcycle in front of them with a camera mounted on the back of it for the media. That made me feel like an athlete? NOT! There was no cameraman in front of me or the 5000 people ahead of me! Just imagine that. Cameras zooming in on the grimace on my face and the panting with my tongue hanging out!

I have to say, I enjoyed the bands along the way. You could probably see me on local TV dancing to the music like some crazy fool. I can't help it. I like to dance! Well, maybe I should confess to mile 9,10,11,12 and 13. I know I did not dance in front of those stages. I don't even remember hearing the bands. I remember the water stands and the fruit and that refreshing water being sprayed by the residents, but music? I remember the hills really well along those miles. Three of them won! I could not run to the top of those steep inclines without walking, especially those in downtown Nashville. I have never walked in a running race before! How embarrassing! Felt like hiding from everyone.

Sadly, there were contestants who did not fare as well as I. One literally did not live to see another day. A 25-year-old soldier competed in the half marathon with me and collapsed after crossing the finish line with a heart attack. This was a very difficult course under challenging conditions. The young man died in the hospital a short time after being carried there by an ambulance. It was the first fatality ever in the history of this 10-year-old event. He crossed the finish line after I did, so I was completely unaware of his family's tragedy until the evening concert. I witnessed one young lady, twenty something, also who had collapsed on the course. An ambulance was summoned. I said a little prayer for her. The temperature was in the 70s, about 15 degrees higher than expected. I felt it and was totally cognizant of that fact throughout the race. Even though I was highly hydrated the day before, the race obviously dehyrated me at a rapid pace. I drank at the water/energy drink stations, consumed fruit where I could, everything I could think of to cool myself and maintain some sort of momentum. Yet I nearly collapsed at the end myself.

I hate to admit this, but when faced with the cameras at the finish line, I went into full stride at full speed so that I would look good on camera. It was the 400 yard dash! Now I imagined what it would be like to be the first contestant to break the ribbon and cross the line. That is pure ego of a dreamer, is it not? Sure, I passed a few people while doing that, but face it. That made no real difference at all and only threatened my health. As it turned out, there was little space to cool off, so I was faced with overcoming the consequences of that little act in very little space. I am going to complain about that. What were these people thinking anyway? I need to jog for 0.1 miles to cool off, but I had to abruptly stop right after the finish line! Even my tongue felt like it was going to cramp. My calves were cramping and thighs wanted to cramp as I searched for a place to stretch out the muscles. This sensation with the tongue was completely new. I immediately started to think my throat could cramp up, and I could lose the critical ability to breathe. Trying to eat was also a risk it seemed, so I tossed the bagle and ate only fruit. I wanted desperately to have a free beer, so I got in the only long line I could find. Turned out to be the exit line to rendezvous with family and friends. After exiting the runner protected area, a contestant could not return. Wish I had asked what line I was in. I just assumed it would be the beer line! Oh well, now I could go home without my free beer, but where was the truck? When I got there at 5am, there were not 1000's of cars in the parking lots and all I could think about then was racing. Geez! But I got lucky. I parked close to the exit and found the truck without any trouble at all. Got in the truck and wham! Immediately one of my calves locked up in a cramp. Dangerous I thought - to drive in this condition. So I took the keys out of the ignition and waited for another 30 minutes (with stretching) until the muscles stopped their insane twitching and cramping.

Was it worth it? It was! I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish and got to enjoy much of the race and the included concert that night. OK, time to brag! Even with all the issues, I still finished in the top 15% of my age group among people accustomed to running on HILLS! Of course we could be extra egotistical and say fame and excellence is just a part of our expectations, but that would be a little white lie. I was pleased at finishing number 33 in my age group of the 220 contestants in that group. I also can say finishing number 5112 of the 31000 runners was also not too bad. Now I can say I did enjoy it and it was worth the while.

All in all, counting the children, there were 36000 runners in this marathon. Running with predominately local Tennessee folks was a privilege and a pleasure. I love country people and these folks were friendly as well as polite on the course. If you get the chance, take up this challenge, meet these people, run this race. You will be liv'n as I am, with great satisfaction of accomplishment among folks who respect you and what you are doing. I once thought it would be impossible for me to do this. My recommendation? Do it! Make a realizable goal and work until you reach it. Then make another goal. Eventually and in not much time at all, you will be able to do the same. Also, do it safely. Make sure the doctor gives you a physical in advance but not far in advance of the extreme exertion dictated by running competitively. Take precautions and monitor your vital signs. I do not receommend listening to music. I recommend listening to your body when under extreme exertion.

Related Links
1. Family Athletics Blog - notebook of keeping fit
2. Newspaper report on death of sargeant
3. Official site of the marathon race

Generations of Texans - Happy Birthday!

Today, some 172 years ago, was born a proud, unique and independent nation on the North American continent. Diversity was its trademark. Vastness was its reputation. A door to the western frontiers was opened for the USA making it have a great impact on the entire world. As a nation, it subsequently earned the right when voted into statehood, to fly its flag alongside of the USA flag. There is no other state that has such a profound privilege.

Texas became the state of the cowboy, with prairies having such a huge expanse of sky that the horizon appears to have no end. Texans are Texans if they live here and will pledge allegiance to the flag of Texas. If they do not pledge that allegiance, they are simply visitors. If born in Texas and living outside of Texas, they have not abandoned their state. They will return. Like John Steinbeck said, "A Texan outside of Texas is a foreigner,". Who wants to be a foreigner? We do return to our native place, even if we leave it for work. Yup, we are a different people. We talk difrant; we eat difrant; we luv difrant; we live difrant. We eat Haumburgers, not hamburgers. We proudly deliver our words with a drawl. We eat Barbecue from our ranch heritage. Our state food is called "Mexican Food" but it isn't really Mexican. It is TexMex, derived from ancestral Indians, Tejanos and Anglo Americans. It is a Tejano food, or "Texan" as the name implies (Tejas was the original name of Texas).

What other state defended their country like our Texans did? A lad from South Carolina fought to his death on March 6th at the Alamo to make the Mexicans pay the price for their ethnic cleansing of our state. He killed as many Mexican soldiers as he could to weaken their confidence of eliminating the national pride of Texas. Where would we be without the determination and sacrifice of William B Travis and Stephen F Austin? From that time forward, we Texans have cried "Remember the Alamo". That has great significance to a Texan! The slaughter of 417 Texans (as recorded by the Mexicans) by Santa Ana's troops on March 17th raised the cry for Goliad also. Side-by-side, Tejanos and gringos alike, fought for their rights to live here and determine their own destiny. The Mexicans enraged the Texans at the massacre near Goliad; the Mexicans failed to honor a written agreement of truce by murdering those 417 brave Texans who surrendered to an army six times their size. Col Fannin did not ever manage to join up with Sam Houston as he dies there, but was instrumental in bringing to light a cause and a determination to fight the Mexicans to the bitter end. That generated a fierceness in the troops of Sam Houston that certainly made headlines on April 21st when the Texas yelled out in an attack on Santa Ana at 3:30PM, "Remember La Bahia" and "Remember the Alamo". Vengeance is mine, proclaimed those warriors. They took them in 20 minutes and killed 630 soldiers and captured 700 in the process.

So today we remember our nation now state, and fly our flag proudly. Texans we are. Texans, we stand. We are, not we were.

Remember the Alamo! Now you see why we fly the Lone Star flag. Happy birthday Tejas!!!