TexasBob.com Blog

Finland in February - Ice Station Zebra

2010-02-10T08:07:00.002-06:00

We managed to leave Bush International at 4:25 PM on Monday just ahead of a cold front. The first third of the 9.5 hour flight to Schiphol (Amsterdam) was pretty rough even at 30,000 feet. We had a two hour layover at Schiphol before boarding a flight to Helsinki, Finland. As far as I know the flight to Helsinki was uneventful. I slept during the entire 2 hour and 15 minute flight. At Helsinki we had a 4 hour layover. Then we boarded a bus that took us out to a small commuter prop plane. This was my first introduction to Finland in February. For some reason I was the last one off the bus and consequently the last one on the plane. As the 40 plus people slowly climbed the stairs, selected a seat wedged their carryon luggage into small overhead compartment (I had a 1968 Chevy with a glove box bigger than those overheads), and then wedge themselves into the little seats, I stood on the tarmac at the end of the line in sub freezing weather. It was cold. The flight to Pori, Finland was a short 45 minutes. We landed in Pori on Tuesday at 6:35 PM Pori Time, 10:35 AM Texas time. Total travel time 18 hours and 10 minutes.
When we landed in Pori, or course I was the last one off the plane. As I walked to the terminal building I noticed that another passenger had turned around and was taking a picture of the plane with his cell phone. I turned around and saw the photo opportunity. This picture reminded of the old 1968 movie “Ice Station Zebra” staring Rock Hudson. Of course this was when we had a “Don't ask, Don't want to know” policy…

Passing Through Holland

2009-10-10T07:36:00.002-06:00

I just spent a couple of days in The Netherlands, not much to say about that. I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Leiden. Leiden is a nice medium size town with a windmill museum and some wonderful restaurants. However this is a working trip and every night my colleague and I stop in the Hotel Bar and ate a cheese burger, the best I’ve ever had on the continent, went to our rooms and promptly began writing reports until about 18:00 then went to bed, got up and started over.

The last day we were there we were in Delft , NL. At the end of the session, about 15:00, we raced back to the hotel in Leiden to pick up our luggage and then on to Schiphol Airport. We confused the cab driver a bit when he asked, “Which airline” and we told “none, drop us off at the train station.”

Did you know that they actually have a special lounge for first class train customers to wait on the train in? I didn’t either.

At 18:45 we boarded a bullet train for Paris. I was a very nice experience, lots of room and it had a WiFi internet connection on the train that was free.

The trip was about 4 hours long. I think it would have been better in the daylight. The only bad part of the train trip was a group of 5 drunken Americans who were very obnoxious. The term “Ugly American” came to have a real meaning for me. On top of that their train tickets were all messed up. After the very good train staff helped them with their tickets they had to move to another car. One French woman comment to me, “I know all Americans are not like that.” I thanked her for that observation and apologized for my fellow Americans. Soon my car was full because everyone was move out of the car with the drunks moved into my car.

We arrived at the Paris Nord Station about 23:45. As I was loading my bags into a cab one of the Drunks spotted me yelled as if he knew me, “We made it!”

Ignorance is bliss and 1 Euro is worth $1.47.

The Greening of Aberdeen

2009-10-07T12:31:00.005-06:00

Tuesday evening in Aberdeen I had a little walk about. That’s when I found the neighborhood store to get my junk food dinner (see below).

I saw a lot of other stuff too. One of the more interesting things about Aberdeen are the houses. Most private residents are constructed with granite. There are even streets paved with granite. Why? Because It is readily available and very strong. I’ve been told by the locals that the gray color on most of the buildings and some streets around town with only a few hours of sunlight in winter and what sunshine is available reflecting off gray, gray and more gray is somewhat depressing.

Aberdeen and the rest of the United Kingdom are also getting very green. They already have small uncomfortable fuel efficient cars but now you see solar panels, water saving bathroom fixtures, and passive heating systems. The office building we visited was new and had many energy efficient aspects designed into the building. The building has room for 900 workers and only 300 space in the parking lot. Most workers ride the bus.

As an outsider looking in I think I discovered a energy source that the Aberdeenians are missing. I think that in each of those granite houses there is enough NORM* in the granite blocks to light up the house and it's inhabitants.

* Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material.

My last meal in Aberdeen, UK

2009-10-06T14:03:00.003-06:00

Anyone can eat the local fare and I have tried a few things. Last night I had a British staple, Fish & Chips with mushy peas. I’ve passed on the haggis and blood pudding. I have discovered that there is a much larger selection of “chips” or crisps as they call them here. They have plain potato “crisp” although they are not too easy to find but for lunch I had broasted chicken flavored crisps. They also have Doritos with all kinds of pepper flavoring.

I went for a walk just before sundown and came upon a small neighborhood market and decided to select local junk food for dinner. Here are my selections. 1) Diet Coke, bottle in Scotland, 2) a snicker bar, packaged in Edinburgh,3) a chicken salad sandwich, made by the in store staff, but my greatest find was 4) Kettle chips with Sea Salt and Crushed Peppercorns. Mmmmmmmmmmm---Good

Tree Top Hilton – Aberdeen, UK

2009-10-06T13:30:00.003-06:00

I like the people that work at this hotel, there nice and attentive to your needs and always smile but if I ever come back I think I’ll stay somewhere else. I stayed here about three years ago and it was my first trip to Aberdeen and it was a charming place but now it’s just old. I think it must have been a private mansion at one time and then it was converted to a hotel and rooms were added and added and added. There are long dark halls, fire doors and fire extinguishers everywhere.

On Monday afternoon they have fire drills. Do they know something I don’t? Yes I think it is a fire trap. I’ll be leaving in the morning. Yes, I’ll miss Clara the desk clerk, Edwardo, the bellman and Anyah the Russian waitress in the restaurant, but I shall not return. I look forward a few modern conveniences like a shower bigger than my travel trailer shower. There are two things that I will not be able to find in hotel this side of the Atlantic and it’s a common problem. That is ice and A/C. The A/C is not necessary in Aberdeen and ice? I guess when you have two seasons, winter and July ice is the last thing you want to see.

Lament of a Business Traveler

2009-10-04T08:14:00.003-06:00

I always arrive early at the airport. I don’t want a 9 car pileup on the Katy freeway ruin a trip that took months just to plan the logistics alone. Upon arrival I learn that my flight to London Heathrow airport had been delayed by 40 minutes. That’s OK, I have a two hour layover before my plane leaves leaves London for Aberdeen and a 10 hour flight can easily make up an hour. We finally get a board and we wait, and wait, and wait. Then the captain comes on and says, “Houston, we have a problem”. We have a hydraulic pump not running and normally with multiple redundancies that would be OK, but one of the backup pumps is not running either. So we wait some more. Later comes on and says “we’re ready to go”. Then we get in the 9 plane traffic jam getting to a suitable runway.

On many flights there is a video screen that tracks the plane progress, altitude, speed, and estimated time of arrival. As woke up from my 3 hours nap that is supposed to represent my Saturday night’s sleep and it's was obvious that we have made up little or no time. I checked the itinerary and deduced that we had 1 hour from touchdown to takeoff on the next flight. Sounds like a lot of time but as aliens entering a foreign country we had to go through the British Passport control and another security check.

Surprisingly at this major international airport the plane stopped and they drove a stairway up to this jumbo jet and off loaded us onto busses.

To rush through customs, immigration and security has its own peril. Last month when I was is Singapore I was in a rush trying to catch up with my group and got hung up because I could not remember the Hotel I was staying in. My secret weapon, smile a lot. We made it to a Aberdeen plane just before they shut the door, sat down and waited for a half an hour on the tarmac.
We did make to the Aberdeen Hilton just in time to find out our rooms were not ready.

So if anyone wants to know what I saw in London, it wasn’t Big Ben or Buckingham Palace. All I saw was the inside of this bus.

Singapore Flyer

2009-09-17T03:44:00.011-06:00

Singapore is a beautiful city/state. I’ve been to other far eastern countries and my 6’3” large frame stood out among the Asian people. Singapore is Asian but it is Indian, and British and many other nationalities so I don’t stand out too much until I open my mouth. It is an expensive city to live in but it is growing to max out its 275 square miles of land. It is a modern city. There are lots of new hotels, transportations and entertainment projects under construction. One that can’t be missed as you drive around is the Singapore Flyer, reported to be the world’s largest giant observation wheel. At 165 meters (541 feet) it is almost three times taller that the Texas Star in Dallas which stands at 65 meters (213 feet). When anything outside of Texas claims to be the “Biggest” anything I feel obligated to check it out. It was a mere 10 minute walk from my hotel so myself and two of my colleagues that convinced that this was important thing to do went along with me. As we approached the base of the wheel it was obvious that this was not the Farris wheel I first rode at the first goat roping and county fair that I went to as a young Texan. The cars had room for 30 people, or enough room for a dinner party of 20 and it was air conditioned. As near as I could tell (count) there were 25 cars. It was a slow ride. It was slow enough that you walked on the car and the wheel never stopped and about 30 minutes later you walked off. As you went around the wheel to could get a good view of the city, the harbor, the new hotels going up and the construct site for a new theme park.

Is it truly bigger than the Texas Star? Maybe they made a mistake in converting meters to feet or something.

An Affront to the National Dish of Texas

2009-09-15T06:47:00.003-06:00

Tonight at the Singapore waterfront I was at the scene of a crime. It seems that the most popular seafood dish in Singapore is a crab the size of a dinner plate covered to what is reported to be chili. One of my colleagues and fellow Texan Bill of Plainview put forth the theory that the mud crabs smelled so bad that they had to something to cover it up to make it more palatable. To further support the “odor” theory the next crab that hit the table was the “Chili” crabs first cousin the “peppered” crab. It had so much pepper on it that it looked like it survived the Valdez oil spill only to be missed by the PETA wash crew.
…and to top it all off! I got chili on the front of my shirt.

Singapore Airlines

2009-09-13T19:42:00.003-06:00

We left Houston at 6:00 PM and arrived at LAX about 8:00 PM California time. All that was left was the 18 hour leg to Singapore. As we boarded it was obvious to our group of seasoned travelers that this was a new Singapore Airline plane. I’m not sure what kind it was but it was big. The entire “ship” was business/first class and the seating was new to me. I basically had a “cube” to myself. All window seats were singles seats and the center had two seats in the “cube”. One of the struggles with international travel is the inability to get any sleep at all, but these seats made out into completely flat beds. These beds are not nearly as comfortable as your own bed at home but so much better than I’ve ever seen on a plane. (I’ve never been on Air Force One.) How much did I sleep in 18 hours? About 5 hours. But I did see the new Star Trek movie and 3 chick flicks. I enjoyed them all.

What did I forget?

2009-09-12T10:28:00.005-06:00

It’s time to dust off the passport and hit the rode. When traveling around the US if you forget to pack your socks you can just go to Wal-Mart and pick some up but when traveling to Singapore you better have what you need. Of course they sell lots of stuff in Singapore but if you’re looking for a 2X Tall shirt there are not very many 2X or Tall folks there. Did I remember my cell charger? How about the adapter to the Singapore 220 volts outlet that is standard there? I’ll only be gone a week but the stuff I’m packing makes me think I’m packing for a month.
I’m leaving my house at 3:00 PM and I’ll spend 2 hours in the Houston airport, 3.5 hours in the air to LAX, 2 hours in LAX and 17.5 hours in the air to Singapore arriving at 5:35 AM Monday in Singapore. Total hours 23.
Then I get to go to work. (Tuesday morning) What fun. I’m home sick already.

Capitol of Texas Park - A Walk through the Birth of Texas

2009-04-11T08:18:00.011-06:00

I stopped by West Columbia, Texas yesterday to check out the progress on that cities latest contribution to the conservation of Texas History. The citizens of West Columbia, the First Capital of the Republic of Texas, will be dedicating a new historical park at 2:00 PM next Saturday. (April 17th, 2009).

While I was there workers were putting the finishing touches on the landscaping and the stonemasons were installing the finishing touches on the 19 markers that take any visitor through a complete short course in the history of the early days of the Republic of Texas.

Have you ever wondered what the first congress of the Republic of Texas actually accomplished in the early days of the republic? There is a marker in the park that tells you. This is what it said:

Ratified the constitution
Appointed committees
Provided for protection from the Indians
Provided for the army and the navy
Created the judicial branch
Created the post office
Established a financial system
Adopted an office flag and seal
Defined the boundaries of the republic

(I wish our government today was this efficient.)

What part did the steam boat “Yellowstone” take in Texas History? There is a marker in the park that tells you the answer to that question and many more.

For more information about the dedication service and more go to this website:
Capitol of Texas Park - A Walk through the Birth of Texas

Of course there are many other things to see and do in West Columbia. While I was there I visited the Varner–Hogg Mansion and I also stopped by the Stephen F. Austin death site. There is also a replica of the first capitol building of the Republic of Texas.

...and there is more. While I was there I noticed that West Columbia has a history museum and I’ve never been there. That will have to be another day.
TexasBob

Mission Galveston - My last day

2009-03-20T07:08:00.008-06:00

My part of Mission Galveston is over. We got a lot done in the 4 houses that we worked in however they are not complete. Others coming in after us will do what they can do. There are still hundreds of homes that look fine on the outside but have no sheet rock on the walls. There are many sponsoring groups working in the Texas Gulf coast almost continuously since hurricane Rita. The group that we worked with was “Nehemiah’s Vision”. This group was started in Vidor, Texas to help rebuild New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast after hurricane Katrina (2005). Just a few weeks later hurricane Rita ripped through Southeast Texas including Vidor and Western Louisiana. Then there was Gustav and Ike (2008) their work has never stopped.

As for me I’m very sore. I used a lot of muscles I don’t normally use. I met and got to know a lot of people on my team. We worked all day, car pooled to the work sites and the entire team at our evening meal together. With distances and logistics our days started at 6:00 am and ended about 8:30 pm everyday so even blogging as been a challenge.

If you ever get the opportunity to do something like this, just do it.

Mission Galveston - Day Two - A day for all Ages

2009-03-15T21:00:00.006-06:00

Today was little different, we started the day with our partner church for Sunday morning services, had a great lunch and then it was on to our work places. As for my shower project we managed to install the shower surround and I learned an important lesson, liquid nails adhesive does not come off the skin without some pain.

One group I forgot to mention yesterday is what I call our “Shock Troops” Four young men and four young women ages 14 -18 work on “Special” projects. The four young men spent the first day moving lumber and supplies from a warehouse to the project houses all over Galveston County. The young women sorted and size the hundreds of pieces of donated clothing for redistribution. Today there was a blind woman whose FEMA benefits ran out on this very day. The Shock Troops moved all her furniture to another house.

And then there are the children. They have fun no matter what. But if you need 2000 hotel size bottles of shampoo, bars of soap and a couple 100 tooth brushes sorted by type and size, bring in the kids. It becomes a game and it gets done.

Many times when you go on a trip like this you learn new skills and this trip has been no different. Today I learned a new skill. How to operate the hotel waffle machine.

Mission Galveston - Day One

2009-03-14T21:09:00.006-06:00

I guess I was naïve. I thought just about everybody was back to normal six months after Hurricane Ike. I thought that there would be a few small houses with some problems. What I found was whole subdivisions with an RV in the drive way to live in front of a house and a house that a few short months ago have several feet of water in them. Almost every house was in some stage of construction.

Today our group was divided into four groups.

Group one loaded a large U-Haul truck to capacity with food stuff and clothing. All of which was donated by the folks at Tallowood Church as part of our Worship in Action. After it was all loaded it was delivered to the Galveston /Texas City Ministries. It was then unloaded and sorted by the same group that loaded the truck. There was a lot of stuff and they did not finish but will continue to work on it tomorrow.

Group two was tasked to sheet rock a 1500 square foot house. This work will continue throughout the week. It is a very good crew but it will be hard to complete the sheetrock and tape and bed the joints in the time we have allotted to us.

Group three has two houses adjacent to each other and there is a variety of projects. We are painting, putting down baseboards, cleaning windows, etc. You have probably heard of a house with 2 ½ baths. Well this house has a ½ bath. What I am working on is installing a shower stall in the completely non functioning bath room.

Group four feed all 40+ members of the other teams. They deliver lunch to each of the worksites and prepare and serve an evening meal at our partner church North Baptist Church – Texas City, Texas.

I’m sure I will be sore tomorrow

Mission Galveston

2009-03-13T07:59:00.006-06:00

Six months ago the Texas Gulf Coast was hit Hurricane Ike. Galveston County which consists of the city of Galveston on Galveston Island, Port Bolivar peninsula and many small towns on the mainland were devastated. My own home, 50 miles inland received only minor damage and the inconvenience no power for a day.
Galveston County has had major losses of infrastructure, schools, hospitals and jobs. Galveston was totally destroyed in 1900 and recovered. I believe they will recover again. While the government agency discuss and argue the fate of Galveston County its funding and rebuilding many are still without livable shelter
I, my wife and 40 other members of Tallowood Baptist Church are spending our Spring Break working on three houses in Seabrook, Texas. But it’s more than that. We are part of 1400 other volunteers “flooding” Galveston County this week as part of the Nehemiah Project to do whatever needs to be done to rebuild Galveston.
During the coming days, if I’m physically able, I will blog about the activities of our group. Many of you know I primarily blog when I travel to faraway lands, or about Texas High School Football. This week I’m going to blog about 40 people praying, painting and hanging sheetrock.

Join us.

Surprise in my Soup

2008-11-07T19:03:00.008-06:00

I went from Pusan, Korea to Yantai, Provence China and our host worked very hard to impress us with good food. I was careful not to offend the extremely polite citizens of Korea and China during the time I was in their countries, but I had to draw the line at the multi legged creature I found in my soup. My colleague seated at my right was a vegetarian (I wanted to convert on the spot.) my colleague seated on my left ate his surprise whole, pretty brave for a Missourian who didn’t have to say “Show Me” because it was there staring at him.

As I weighed the possible offence to my guest before I made my decision, I decided that not eating the little marine animal would be less offensive than if he reappeared with the rest of my meal on the way back up.

After 26 hours of travel I’m back in Texas. Today at lunch I went out and had a Whataburger, with cheese and jalapeños. Texas is a very nice place to live.

The Korean People

2008-11-01T00:09:00.003-06:00

I had hoped to take more pictures while in Korea but I've mostly been in Ship Yards during the day and doing paper work at night. The ship yards build everything from container ships to submarines. No pictures are allowed.

It is exciting to travel to different parts of the world but for me it is also part of my job. Not much site seeing.

I can tell you that the Korean People are the most gracious people I’ve ever met. This is a picture of the elevator attendant at the Lotte Hotel in Pusan. She is dressed in a traditional Korean dress. Tradition and structure is a mainstay in the Korean culture. They take a lot of pride in their work. For example our first social gaff in Korea was our attempt to tip the bell man for bring up our bag. That was a bad idea and embarrassed him terribly. The house keeping staff at the Samsung Hotel had their "motto" on their badge. It said, "Our Tip is our Pride in our work". They are paid for what they do and their pay is not dependant on tips. I like it. I wish it were like that in the US.

Tomorrow we leave for China and our last ship yard. I'm ready to come home to Texas

Global Plumbing

2008-10-29T00:46:00.004-06:00

In my travels I have learned that plumbing, primarily bathroom facilities, come in different variations around the world. Sometimes language is a problem. When I was with a group of Americans at a Korean place of business there came a time when we had to ask where the “Facilities” were. So, what English word would you use to ask some Koreans with limited English language skills, "Where is the (fill in the blank)?" I’ll give you a hint “rest room” does not work. As a matter of fact I was visiting their onsite medical facility, basically a small hospital, and I saw a room with the words Rest Room on the door. So I stuck my head in and what did I see, a small room with a bed in it. That makes sense to me. So what English word do Koreans use to describe a small room with a toilet in it? I’m not telling, you will have to find out your self when you come to Korea.

Back at the hotel, it is always a challenge to try and figure out the shower controls without scalding yourself. Whatever you know about hot on the left, cold on the right, right is off, left is on, forget it. It may not be true. I just get in the shower, with my glasses on, and figure it out.

I’ve always been fortunate to visit countries with modern infrastructures; you know the basics, water, electricity, flush toilets etc. But my room in Korea had something I had not seen before. It had a toilet that had a control panel that looked like it belonged on a Maytag washing machine. I’ve seen toilets with a “washing system” but never one with an electronic control panel. Did I mention I was staying at the Samsung Hotel? It had buttons, lights and controls like “Water Temp”, “Wash”, and “Dry”. I can tell you that it is a nice alternative for "John Wayne" toilet paper. (Ruff, Tough, and doesn’t take nothing off anybody.)

I think my bathroom at home is due a remodel.

당신 좋아한다 그것을 가진 튀김을 하고자 했는가? (Would you like Fries with that?)

2008-10-25T05:04:00.011-06:00

In the past ten months I done a lot of traveling, I’ve been to Akron, Ohio; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Oslo, Norway; Dubia, United Emirates; Posan, Korea; Ulsan, Korea and in a few days, Yantai, China.

In my travels I’ve gotten a good education. The first thing I already new but only on faith but now I know through experience that Texas is home.

The second thing that I learned was something I thought I knew then I found out I was wrong. If I were to ask you, “What is the most common food in the world?” you might have believed as I did that the correct answer is “Rice”.

In volume, rice probably is the most common food available in the world, but I have learned that most consistently available food around the world with very little variation is a Big Mac from McDonalds. I’ve seen the Golden Arches everywhere I’ve been and many times a Burger King nearby and occasionally a Pizza Hut.

Anyone that knows me knows that I have seldom darkened the door of a McDonalds. I don’t really like their burgers and if I’m going to eat a fast food hamburger it’s going to be a cheeseburger with jalapenos from Whataburger, that great burger chain based in Corpus Christi, Texas since 1952.

At home I’ve not been to a McDonalds in years but when I travel overseas I usually eat at McDonalds at least once. The reason I do is because when you are in a foreign land there is something about those golden arches and a Big Mac in a box that reminds me of home. Step into a McDonalds off a street in Ulsan, Korea and you will see the same signage and goofy cartoon characters that you would see in Anycity, U.S.A.

It is kind of sad that the U.S. exports to the world some of the unhealthiest food in the world, but then we have also developed and exported the latest technology in heart bypass surgery.

We’ve had a lot of experience in both areas.

Chopsticks

2008-10-24T15:38:00.005-06:00

Our Korean host took us to fine Chinese Restaurant on the top floor of the Hyundai Department store in Ulsan, Korea. The table was finely set with white linens, small white teacup, a large spoon and a pair of chopsticks.

Our server came out and served steaming hot tea that was about the color of a brown chicken egg, just a little bit of brown color to it. It was almost too hot to drink but I drank it. Then out came a small bowl of what I would call “relish” but not finely chopped.

I’ve always been taught to use the right tool for job, don’t use a pipe wrench for a hammer (unless you just can’t resist), don’t use a screw driver for a pry bar, and don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. That said, I picked up my chopsticks attempted to eat my “relish” and although the young man sitting next to me was thoroughly entertained with my lack of chopstick skill, I thought I did well.

The next course was a bowl of “stuff” which contents was not fully known to me, except for some small shrimp. As I pick through the different bits and pieces with my chopsticks there were some black pieces that I could not pick up. I notice that my colleague, who had lived many years in the Far East, was not eating the black pieces, so I quit trying. We discussed each course in an educational sort of way and the conversations turned to the black pieces. I don’t remember the Korean name for the black pieces but I think loosely translated it means, “One who eats off the bottom of the fish bowl”. I don’t think that it was catfish.

The dishes, I think there were eight courses, became more difficult for me to manage with what I regarded as an improper tool, chopsticks, but I was pretty determined to complete the meal in a traditional manner. Sometime during the long meal I think my gracious Korean host must have signaled the server because she brought me a fork and a “Coke Light”.

It was a wonderful meal with new friends. Even with the language barrier we got to know each other much better.

End of a Long Day

2008-10-21T16:01:00.005-06:00

When the call was made to board Continental Flight 7 non-stop from Houston to Tokyo, we all scurried down the ramp as if it were a one-hour flight to Dallas. It was as if we could not wait to sit down for the 13 hours. In the end, a dead end I might add, we could not wait to get off that plane.

The passengers of Flight 7 to Tokyo, was a unique mix of businessmen from the Far East and Texas good ole boys complete with gimmie hats. In a very small area of a very big Boeing 777 I saw one University of Texas cap, two Texas Tech University caps and one Acme seed cap. What are these guys doing on this plane? It’s not the Southwest Airline non-stop to Midland.

On the Boeing 777 if you removed the seats and the partitions it’s not quite big enough for a Rodeo but I do believe it could host a six-man football game between Penelope and Abbott.

I had an on time arrival in Tokyo and was exhausted. The realization that the day was far from over made my fatigue wear like a heavy lead coat, slowing every move. I have a four-hour layover and I’m trying to stay awake. I boarded Northwest Flight 6 to Pusan, Korea with a different mix of passengers. Asian businessmen, Korean citizens returning from Holiday, and teenage Korean girls returning home from a school event, this was what I expected when I left Houston. The seat next to me was empty until a group of Americans from a delayed flight out of Los Angeles boarded the plane. The passenger next to me had left Katy, Texas about the same time I had. He was also wearing a lead coat.

I arrived at the Pusan airport and as I was going through customs I came to the realization that in the general scheme of things in this world people come in all sizes…and I am a big guy.

The Pusan Lotte Hotel is very nice but all I want to see now is the insides of my eyelids.

…more later.

Home of the Mythical Unicorn - New Braunfels, Texas

2008-09-27T08:39:00.008-06:00

It’s Friday night and the Winston Churchill Chargers came to the home of the New Braunfels Unicorns. The first thing I noticed on arriving at the stadium was the terrible parking situation. They do provide a shuttle service from a nearby church parking lot but it is still bad. The parking for the buses is very tight. The second thing that I noticed is that both bands had 18 wheelers to haul all their junk from event to event. That’s nice but it adds to the parking problem at Unicorn Stadium. Did I say that parking was bad…?

Other than that, the stadium was a pretty nice place to watch a game. The crowd was a respectable estimated 5,000 fans. The game opened with recognizing Unicorn players for coaching a flag football league in the community. The flag football players were on the sidelines with their suited up coaches. The school songs were played, the national anthem was sung by all in the stands and we were ready for the kick-off. Then I realized that I never saw the unicorns do any warm-up drills. Did I miss it? I don’t think so, I get to the game very early.

The game did not go well for the Chargers so I did something I seldom do. I had arrived early so I was park deep in the bowels of the New Braunfels High School campus. I didn’t know how long it would take to get out of this parking quagmire; the score was mounting up against the Chargers so I left early.

Final score? Unicorns 23 – Chargers 0

Did I mention that the parking was bad?

Six-Man football in Penelope, Texas.

2008-09-19T22:04:00.020-06:00

I try to make a six man football game every year. It’s exciting, it’s different and it is a refreshing view of life in the smallest of Texas towns. This year I had a trip planned to Waco for another football game and I used that opportunity to find a six man game to attend. There are a lot of six man football teams around Waco so I went to sixmanfootball.com and looked through the schedules. I decided to go to the Penelope Wolverines – Abbott Panthers game. It was reasonably close to Waco and I had heard of the Penelope from Carlton Stowers book, Where Dreams Die Hard: A Small American Town And Its Six-Man Football Team .

I arrived in Penelope about an hour before kickoff and it didn’t take long to find the school and the stadium behind it. There were already a lot of cars and activity. The FFA was having a fund raiser selling sausage on a stick and burgers right off the grill. Inside the field house was the added bonus of an ongoing volleyball game between the Lady Wolverines and the Lady Panthers. I could write a book on the funny adaptations of masculine Texas high school mascots to girls’ sports teams but I’ll save that for a later time.
I sat in on part of the volley ball game and enjoyed a sport I have to confess I know very little about. I can tell you it is hard played and competitive.

I left the volley ball game and went out the back of the field house to Wolverine Field located directly behind it. I bought a couple of cookies and a program from the student council. As I headed for the stands I kept looking for a ticket seller, actually that’s how I ended up with cookies because I thought they were selling tickets. Apparently games at Penelope are free. This is in stark contrast to Katy ISD that currently charges $12.00 for tickets purchased at Rhodes Stadium.

The stadium has stands for about 125 fans on each side. Before the night was over I would estimate that the crowd swelled to about 400 sitting in the stands, in lawn chairs in the south end zone (Next to the FFA Barbecue pits), and of course along the fence on both sides.

The pregame activities were interesting. The first thing I noticed when the Penelope cheerleaders entered the sideline was, “I know these girls” that’s when I realized that for the most part the volleyball team and the cheerleaders were one in the same. Next the visiting teams school song sung unaccompanied from the far side stands. Then in turn the Penelope school song sung in the same manner by the home town fans. Then to top off the pregame program the PA announcer led the crowd in Frances Scott Key’s “Star Spangled Banner” with gusto.

Six man football by nature is exciting and this game was no exceptions, but unfortunately this was not the game to win for the Wolverines. With the scoreboard clock only 1:31 into the third quarter of play the Abbott Panthers scored leaving the final score: Panthers 58 – Wolverines 13. In six man football if one team is 45 points ahead after half time the game is over. Even with the game ending with a 45 point deficit I never felt that the Wolverines were out of reach of a victory.

TexasBob

I Don't Like Ike

2008-09-11T11:06:00.004-06:00

Even though I was born in the Truman administration the first president I remember was Dwight Eisenhower. I remember the campaign slogan “I Like Ike”. There was a lot to like about Texas born Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of the European Theater Allied forces in WW II, humble, friend of the solder and American hero. He was a such a typical American apolitical career solder that when he was first encouraged to run for president he had to decide with which political party he would run. A great solder even though some consider him a mediocre President.

So why did they have to defame such a great man by naming a hurricane after him! I have just spent all morning boarding up my windows. And here I sit waiting for “IKE” to lay vengeance on me and my “Stuff”. I liked it better when they named hurricanes after women, there not Hissicanes ya, know.

Pray for all of us on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Cheese Burger at 37,000 feet

2008-08-13T20:47:00.006-06:00

The Scene:
Continental Flight 40 Houston to Newark, New Jersey.

The Altitude: 37,000 feet

The Time:
2 hours into the flight.

The Question:
What would you like for lunch, a chicken salad, or a Cheese Burger?

I could not believe my ears. I started having flash backs of the time I ordered "Mexican Food" at a Traverse City, Michigan Italian restaurant. (That is another story in itself.)

Continental Airlines is now serving cheese burgers? Did they have a little grill hidden behind a latched silver door in the galley? It sounded like a crime was about to be committed against one of my food staples. To me Cheese Burgers represent a balanced meal originating from the food groups: bread, vegetables, dairy, beef and onions. Continental Airlines was about to cause irreparable harmed.

I've risk my arteries and taste buds to test some excellent burgers. I was there for you to test the "Watts Burger in Odessa, Browns Drive Inn in Kerrville and many others. I felt it was my "duty" to make the sacrifice on your behalf.

I tried it. I would not recommend it. However I did not get food poisoning. (but I think I'm growing a sixth toe.)

TexasBob
(On the Road)