Things are looking really good with nice winding walls going up.
At this rate, it won't be long before drunken party goers are urinating along these beautiful stone walls.
Hopefully, someone planned to put in a few public restrooms along the way, since after all, we have taken the time to plan this out - right?
A guy I work with used his cell phone to capture this little act of strangeness while looking for a place to park at Sam's today. 
Parking spots don't seem to be a problem. He just couldn't find a place to put his shopping cart when he was done with it.
This morning I was reading through the Express-News and saw a story on the Lens on South Texas photograph exhibit at the Witte Museum and decided we hadn't had enough culture in our lives recently. Hey, I got the full U-Verse package at my house, but still, sometimes you have to go someplace besides your living room for a little entertainment.
Let me save you some time. If you are not bringing a kid under the age of say, 7 or 8, skip the dinosaurs; they are those weird animatronic deals like you see at Disney or Chuck E. Cheese, but in the shape of, well, dinosaurs, and they don't sing songs or dance, they just make dinosaur sounds. If you want to donate the money for a good cause, great, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Anyway, on to what I wanted to see, and that was the pictures. I guess over the years, the museum has saved quite a collection of old photos taken in and around San Antonio and south west Texas, and here, they have put the images on display with captions. I know, sounds a lot like going through an old family album of strangers, but there is something revealing about seeing people pose at a time when photographs were not the everyday thing they have become in the age of digital cameras and cell phone shots. Back then, it was quite a treat to have some guy make your picture.
The display wouldn't be complete without a few photos of notable citizens of the time. One picture shows the famous Indian Geronimo posing in cowboy boots and a straw hat while being held as a prisoner of war at Ft Sam Houston. Another has Teddy Roosevelt posing shortly before his charge up San Juan Hill. And there are several local names you might recognize as well. Madam Candelerio apparently did some nursing of Jim Bowie at the Alamo. I assume it was medical related. Notice her portly dog and you can see that San Antonio got an early start on the Fattest City in America.
It isn't that I am some photography buff or even a student of history, but as my wife and I watched a slide show of the pictures on display set to some good ol' Texas music, we smiled and giggled at how darn goofy some of the people looked, trying to get all gussied up for the big picture moment. Oh, and lots of folks in the 1800's were cross-eyed.
There was one picture of a little Mexican girl described as being in a sort of border refugee camp who looked like the spitting image of our niece, Erica. It was amazing. And I think it is those sorts of coincidences or the humor that you can appreciate from the old pictures that makes the trip worth it.
But if not, the Witte offers much more. We wandered outside along the beautiful patio to look up a plaque that proudly displays the names of fallen San Antonio veterans of World War I where my wifes uncle is listed.
They have some log cabins with interactive displays to teach youngsters how to build one as well as displays along the edge of the San Antonio River to explain how a river works, I guess.
Kids and adults will love the HEB Science Treehouse. We went inside and messed around with the KENS-TV Weather center where you can make your own weather forecast and learn how Bill Taylor does his headless weatherman trick on Halloween. All good stuff.
The treehouse itself is pretty cool and I can imagine this place alone would keep kids occupied for hours. I especially liked this gate near the side of the patio donated by Frost Bank. It has lots of cool art work including a spider web. Probably looks even better from the front.
Our last visit to the Village Inn left us eager to try it for something besides lunch - specifically, my wife wanted to try the waffles. So after a day full of Internet surfing, TV watching and dog bathing, we decided we should at least get out of the house for a snack. Off to Village Inn.
I'm not quite sure what my obsession is with finding the perfect Reuben and honestly, I don't even know why I enjoy them. Sauerkraut is not a standard menu item in my mental selection and I pretty much lost interest in 1000 island dressing years ago. But for some reason, I need the Reuben!
Unlike the one I had at Which Wich the other day, this was in the proper format. On flat rye bread, the sandwich is layered evenly so with each bite, you experience all the ingredients equally. I just don't think you are supposed to be eating it at 10pm, but who knows.
Anyway, a second visit and another set of Tasty Treats for Village Inn. Eventually, I will have to try the breakfast.
Me on the other hand, I just wonder, who bought these pants and forced JLH to wear them on camera?
Sweet sainted aunt of Bozo the Clown, you could fit an entire circus into these pants and have room for J-Lo's ass and Beyonce's thighs.
I don't participate in any of the post-Thanksgiving shopping madness that would require me to get up at 4am or wait in lines to get into WalMart, so there was really no suitable reason that I should even leave the confines of my house today - and my wife was in total agreement on that. We have a DVR full of TV shows that have gone unwatched not to mention the first sign of cold weather (a chilly 50 degrees is enough to warrant long johns in my mind), so sales on anything Christmas related can wait until I get through the last six weeks of Ghost Whisperer as far as I'm concerned.
We headed over to the I-10 and Huebner location but I understand they have one being built closer to the HEB Plus on Potranco and 1604. The concept of this type of sandwich place is awesome. I have said before that we are given way too many choices and what happens for people like me is, the waiter comes around and suddenly, your mind goes nuts and you can't decide what you want and you order something you don't want or you forget what you came for etc.
Even at a place like Quiznos or Subway, even if you know you want the ham and cheese sandwich, you have to decide on white or wheat, what type of cheese, what type of toppings, toasted or untoasted, dressings, seasonings, foot long or half, it is a damn nightmare I tell you, especially if some hungry guy next to you in line is practicing what he is going to order.
At Which Wich, you still have to decide but they have come up with a way to let you think about your order at your own pace, mark down what you want, order it and get it exactly how you want it. No pressure at all! You put your name on the bag, grab another little card to order a shake if you like or some freshly baked cookies, and off you go to the register.
The wait was not long at all. I ordered a Reuben Sandwich which was very acceptable considering the sub-type bun. Had that part of it occurred to me, I might have gone along with my son's selection, the Wicked which for a buck more, you get 5 meats and two cheeses. But even though, I was not unhappy with the Reuben. 
The shop itself was no more exciting then any of the chain type places but I did notice that it was a WiFi spot and they seemed to try to get customers to make it "their" place by posting some artwork done on sandwich bags. We noticed a few bands had even used the bags as a way of promoting web pages for their groups.
My mother-in-law and her oldest son.
Pulling into the parking lot at work this morning was like returning to the scene of a crime. Where I might normally be scanning the lot for an open space to park in, I instead focused on the remaining outline of stained asphalt directly next to the parking spot I had occupied just Monday. 
What happened to all those federal persons with disabilities acts or the promises to get some sidewalks going? And don't businesses have any responsibility at all to provide sidewalks along the frontage of their property?
I made the short trip down the street to attend the meeting of the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association board of directors this evening. Herewith my notes, but first, I really need to make something clear to those folks that live in the community who read my take on things.
Having said that, read on and hopefully I'll write something that falls into your faction!
I should tell you at this point that the continuing display of the "Rules" must have been working as there were no real outbursts by audience members or board members alike.
The meeting got to the budget discussion at which point in apparent protest (or not - I don't know for sure) several residents (or members of a single faction if you choose) got up and left. Too bad. The fact is, in just a short period of time, the new CM and (once again) temporary accountant have gone through and weeded out a boatload of items that were either mis-categorized or wrong. The budget looks a lot better than it did a few weeks ago. And, because there were hardly any procedural disruptions from the peanut gallery, the department heads were able to address questions the board and other audience members had.
Just a quick follow-up to my previous complaint about the slow going on Tezel Road...First of all, Tezel Road is a city roadway and the City of San AntonioShe also responded to another concern:
did the original planning for this work.
During the planning process, TxDOT (and COSA) consults with all utility
agencies prior to construction in order to get the best (and I emphasize
the word "best") blueprint of all utilities. It is a misconception that
comprehensive as-built plans exist. Many companies can check their
records and TxDOT receives the best possible location to include in
design plans. But, once crews dig underground, it is anyone' guess what
will be found — gas or electrical lines that were not on the plans,
water and sewer lines that are not where crews expect them to be,
abandoned lines that forces crews to stop and determine who the
responsible utility company is and whether these lines are active or
not, etc. The work then stops until the appropriate utility company
comes in and lets TxDOT know what is to be done in that instance."This poor planning does not give us a whole lot of faith in TxDOT'sIn other words, City Plans it, TxDOT manages the work while taking no responsibility for the poor design or planning, then hands it back over to the city when they finish (assuming it does get finished). What is the value added to that to the taxpayer? Seriously, at least if the city was managing this abortion, we could complain to them. As it is now, the city can simply shrug their shoulders and say, "TxDOT is managing the project and trying to convince you to support toll roads."
ability to manage the roads" — Mr. Stone, the planning and the design
on Tezel Road was done by the City of San Antonio engineers and/or their
engineering consultants. Through an agreement with the City and because
of use of federal money for the project, TxDOT provides oversight of the
construction to make sure that the work is done according to plan
specifications. Tezel Road is not on the state highway system and will
return to the City of San Antonio for maintenance.
Though TxDOT does have plenty of construction projects that are
designed and construction under TxDOT's authority, to be judged for work
that was designed by another entity is not right.
In fairness, the lady who e-mailed me was very nice and extremely professional, but frankly, her answers seemed to avoid any responsibility or solution, other than to apologize for any inconvenience.
Thanks...