Not many people would knowingly pay more than $35 for a cup of coffee. But far too many people are getting saddled — with no warning — with outsized bills for minor purchases, under a…

After months of days on end with no rain hitting the ground at our home here south of Houston I was beginning to despair. But the last week has finally seen a small amount of…

…the public — struggling with the worst economic downturn since the 1930s — is looking on with great anxiety and confusion. If the drug companies and the insurance industry are smiling, it can only mean…

A good book is a good book whatever the weather or temperature. But summer brings with it the illusion of more free time, and just about now — when the demise of August makes free…

Cheney’s disappointment with the former president surfaced recently in one of the informal conversations he is holding to discuss the book with authors, diplomats, policy experts and past colleagues. If there is anything that could…

I realized yesterday about noon that it was exactly six months since my birthday. Since this was an auspicious anniversary being as how it marked fifty-five point five years on the planet, I decided to…

I have been incredibly blessed to be able to combine this love of calloused hands with dramatic and verbal skills. And that is why I promote direct marketing. Too often parents whose children express an…

I was sitting here contemplating the books piled on my reading shelf the other day and noticed an remarkable thing has happened…What once was predominantly fiction has become almost entirely not. Now bear in mind,…

It is mid day here in southeast Texas. The temperature is pushing 90°. The clouds outside my kitchen window are growing black and rumbling with a bit of thunder. In other words, we are back…

For many years, if anyone asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I’d say I wanted to “build websites”. As I kept reinventing the job I did for the company I spent…

In the afternoon of summer, sounds come through the window: a tractor muttering to itself as it pivots at the corner of the hay field, stalled for a moment as the green row feeds into…

LONDON — In America, the health care debate is about to come to a boil. President Barack Obama has put pressure on both houses of Congress to pass versions of his flagship domestic legislative program…

There is a reason I plan to relocate to the Appalachian Mountains in the next year or so…And the following is a big part of it… Second warmest June on record The globe recorded its…

Today was mowing day around this place…Last time I mowed I picked up a bunch of nails in the tireson the Deere so the first order of business was pulling out the nails and plugging…

It was time for a bug fix upgrade yesterday. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have so many places to run the “automatic upgrade”. And every upgrade of WP brings with it a…

I haven’t vanished from the face of the earth…I haven’t taken ill from the heat and lack of rain…I haven’t been shipped off for failing to amuse my wife (though I’m sure see is thinking…

The grill was running for most of two days…Smoked meats for a 4th of July family feast. Brisket (this is Texas afterall), salmon, and sausage made up the choices…Pinto beans, slaw and potatoe salad for…

After watching rain showers bypass us on Tuesday, we managed to be in the way of a passing cloud yesterday. With an hour of steady rain, the ground soaked up every drop as fast as…

I  spent almost all day Tuesday installing a new database and reinstalling WordPress and importing the old posts over at North Carolina Mountain Dreams. I am still working at putting all of the pieces back…

@BlueRidgeblog How about a hot air balloon or a helicopter…Or you could attach a camera to a radio controlled plain. in reply to BlueRidgeblog # Powered by Twitter Tools.

New photoblog post: Mustang Grapes on Mustang Bayou http://bit.ly/mhIwG # Powered by Twitter Tools.

If only there was a court to try the cases in… So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement. But 212 representatives voted no… And as I…

New NC Mtn Dream blog post: Appalachian Summer Festival Video http://bit.ly/SkY1M # Powered by Twitter Tools.

New blog post: New Leaves http://bit.ly/LC6zm # Powered by Twitter Tools.

The weather outside my door makes me happy to be inside. An August preview in June does not a happy Texan make. Blue Ridge Mountains please! # Powered by Twitter Tools.

These clouds are moving south just west of us this evening. We have already had an hour or more of heavy rain…All soaked in. Nobody was anticipating this. The temperature after the rains moved through…

Currently (on Thu 5:53AM CDT from Pearland Regional Airport) Cloudy Temp: 81° (Heat Index 87°) Dewpoint: 75° Wind: Calm MPH I stepped out on the back steps this morning as the coffee pot dripped and ran into a…

I stepped out my back door as the thermometer passed 100° F today and snapped this picture. The prognosticators say we had a heat index of 108° and it will be as hot tomorrow… Statement…

It seems the culprit in my WordPress upgrade problems was a plugin called “Events Manager” Version 2.0rc1. Once I disabled this plugin my menu problems went away on my North Carolina Mountain Dreams Blog. Now…

I find myself spending more of my time outside than I am used to. Yes, it’s hot out…And dry. It almost reminds me of my summer in south Texas back in the early 1970’s. Unusually…

My neighbors across the street have been makin’ music for a few years now. For a while my youngest son played bass with them on some of their local gigs. These days they seem to…

There are times my hometown newspaper makes me proud…This is one of them. In an editorial yesterday they laid out the argument for health care reform and touched many of the  reasons that what is…

Support the Broadband Internet Pricing Fairness Act: http://bit.ly/hG6Li # Quiz: Should I see the critically-acclaimed documentary ‘Food, Inc.’? http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-16-quiz-food-inc/ # Powered by Twitter Tools.

It looks like the recent round of upgrades to both WordPress and Advertising Manager has screwed up the layouts of my blogs totally. Originally, I was using Adsence Manager as a Widget Control Panel. Paste…

After months of fighting with signal strengths on the different televisions scatered around the house I was already starting to dread the day when a analog signal was no longer available as a backup. So…

@fred1st I'll take a try at Thymer if you still have a beta key # @fred1st If you want to really confuse yourself check out the numbers reported by Google analytics…even more, different numbers. in…

After a dozen years on this farm, I can name most of the plants and nearly all the birds. But what’s the word for the wake the pileated woodpecker leaves as it dips, flying across…

Growing up, we spent many summer days visiting my grandparents house in Orchard, Texas. Every evening, after supper was over and cleaned up, we would all grab a folding lawn chair off the back porch…

@fred1st Do they still work? If so, try a school or church… in reply to fred1st # We finally got a good soaking of a rain that did more than wet the top layer of…

Philosopher Buckminster Fuller said that although we are all born geniuses, the process of living tends to de-genius us. That’s the bad news. The good news is that 2009 is one of the best years…

Light rain has decided to bless us today. The clouds and rain are keeping the temperature below 80° so far…Though… I am sure the rain is making the mosquitoes more than happy… ◊≡◊≡◊≡◊≡◊≡◊≡◊≡◊≡◊ A pot…

Taking a morning walk this morning, I noticed that the heat was already heading up into the 80’s. Warm and getting warmer…A great way to start hurricane season. Over the weekend the the mosquitoes returned…

Today was John Deere day on the homestead here. Spent the early, cooler half of the day out doing the Texas pinwheel. You know what I mean…’round and ’round she goes. Luckily, the wind was…

Paul Hawken: The New Great Transformation This talk is quite long…but quite good. Take a bit of your day and be inspired…

Down here on the Gulf Coast of Texas barbecue season starts not too long after it ends. This year I was a little late…I fired up the smoker on Easter Sunday. Today I put a…

From Facebook… Priscilla Ahn’s brand new performance of ‘The Boobs Song’, recorded live in London! There is something about this young lady’s voice that just grabs me. I could listen to her sing any time…

Can someone explain the connection between Credit Card Reform and the right to bear arms in national parks? Now don’t get me wrong, I was raised to be a hunter, I bought my first guns…