With the crew that went in and chopped down some overgrowth and brush complete, we now have folks moving the limbs and branches into an area that can be collected into a big container for mulching.Thursday, July 31, 2008
More Greenbelt News: Progress...
I couldn't help but notice the progress in the greenbelt area of the Great Northwest near the Soccer Fields this afternoon as I was driving by, so I had to stop with my camera to take a few pictures of the ongoing action.
With the crew that went in and chopped down some overgrowth and brush complete, we now have folks moving the limbs and branches into an area that can be collected into a big container for mulching.
I only mention this because on Saturday, if you'd like to come out and help collect some trash (easy stuff - cups, papers, cans and such) it will give you a chance to see what great progress has been made. We are going to meet at 9am and will wrap up around noon. Come anytime during that period and do as much or as little as you'd like. You can park at the Lodge and you'll find us out in the greenbelt. Dress appropriately.
With the crew that went in and chopped down some overgrowth and brush complete, we now have folks moving the limbs and branches into an area that can be collected into a big container for mulching.Offensive Indian Update: Where is Cibrian?
I just happened to be stuck in traffic at the right location on Loop 410 near Red McCombs GMC place, and once again, found that Council Woman Diane Cibrian had yet to put a halt to the offensive and vulgar Indian statue exposing his wiener for all of San Antonio to see (in broad daylight no less). How will we explain this to the kids?
And at minimum, could we at least put a bikini top on the exposed chest, Ms. Cibrian? I know for a fact that there is a car wash on the lot.
And at minimum, could we at least put a bikini top on the exposed chest, Ms. Cibrian? I know for a fact that there is a car wash on the lot.River Walk Construction Update...
I had to make a short but meaningful trip downtown to my office today and it occurred to me as I strolled by the spiffy looking staircase leading down to the dirt floor of the river, that I hadn't provided a River Walk Construction Update in a while. So, you know the drill...
I have been taking pictures of the progress of the River Walk near the intersection of McCullough and North St Mary's. Perhaps in 50 years, the Express-News lady who answers questions about local history will consult a database containing my Blog, and use these pictures to answer some question from a reader like, "Did the workers building the River Walk addition wear cardboard sombreros?" and she'll know the answer.
Looking towards Alamo Heights, this side the of the bridge is looking good with the railing up on the stairs and such. Of course, the water is still being diverted, and any grass that was planted along the sides has not made it.
Facing the downtown side, they are starting to construct what is probably a second handicap accessible stairway/ramp thing. And you'll note some street lamps are up. I love this style, but we do need a little greenery and some water in the bottom.
I have been taking pictures of the progress of the River Walk near the intersection of McCullough and North St Mary's. Perhaps in 50 years, the Express-News lady who answers questions about local history will consult a database containing my Blog, and use these pictures to answer some question from a reader like, "Did the workers building the River Walk addition wear cardboard sombreros?" and she'll know the answer.
Looking towards Alamo Heights, this side the of the bridge is looking good with the railing up on the stairs and such. Of course, the water is still being diverted, and any grass that was planted along the sides has not made it.
Facing the downtown side, they are starting to construct what is probably a second handicap accessible stairway/ramp thing. And you'll note some street lamps are up. I love this style, but we do need a little greenery and some water in the bottom.Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Strange in 78250: Miley needs a Shave...
So we head off to the Wal Mart to grab some essentials (Chinese products covered in lead) and as we are walking down the aisle that contains youth related products, I come upon some sort of display which requires a big poster of teen idol Billy Ray Cyrus' daughter. I'd tell you her name outright, but technically, who knows what it really is?
She was born Destiny Hope Cyrus, but got that name changed to Miley Ray Cyrus, but goes half-time by the name of Miley Stewart, Hannah Montana and/or Miley Cyrus.
Apparently, someone at Wal Mart has had enough of the name game and has decided her new name is: Senorita Needs-a-Shave.
Strange, taggers really piss me off, but the defacing of that poor child's poster made me giggle. I hope the culprits are caught and punished, severely.
A concert might be in order.
She was born Destiny Hope Cyrus, but got that name changed to Miley Ray Cyrus, but goes half-time by the name of Miley Stewart, Hannah Montana and/or Miley Cyrus.
Apparently, someone at Wal Mart has had enough of the name game and has decided her new name is: Senorita Needs-a-Shave.Strange, taggers really piss me off, but the defacing of that poor child's poster made me giggle. I hope the culprits are caught and punished, severely.
A concert might be in order.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
New Construction Report: Timber Path Bridge?
On both Thursday and Friday last week, I was coming up Timber Path to the intersection of Grissom Road and noted construction guys with measuring tapes doing all sorts of figuring and annotating their little notebooks. Not a survey crew, but guys measuring stuff.
Is Timber Path next for a bridge like the one they built across the low water crossing on TimberHill near Ingram Park Mall? Oh sure, we need it, but I just wonder if they will simply close off the road while they build it, thereby making it a nightmare to get out of the place.
Is Timber Path next for a bridge like the one they built across the low water crossing on TimberHill near Ingram Park Mall? Oh sure, we need it, but I just wonder if they will simply close off the road while they build it, thereby making it a nightmare to get out of the place.Friday, July 25, 2008
Random Photo Report: Unexpected Parade in Waikiki...
I have an ongoing project of scanning in the hard copy photographs that fill boxes of photo albums throughout the house. As I was going through yet another shoebox full of pictures taken over the years, tossed in no particular order, I came across a picture I took from my hotel room balcony at the Outrigger in Waikiki, Hi.
It just so happened that I was attending a conference in, I think 2000, and by pure chance, I got a room over looking a main street in Waikiki. I was pretty upset at first because the beach was in the total opposite direction. Then, out of nowhere, I heard a ruckus outside the window so I stepped out onto the balcony. A parade celebrating some sort of Pan-Asian Festival was taking place. So, for the next hour I sat on the balcony and watched a parade.
I dig me a good parade.
It just so happened that I was attending a conference in, I think 2000, and by pure chance, I got a room over looking a main street in Waikiki. I was pretty upset at first because the beach was in the total opposite direction. Then, out of nowhere, I heard a ruckus outside the window so I stepped out onto the balcony. A parade celebrating some sort of Pan-Asian Festival was taking place. So, for the next hour I sat on the balcony and watched a parade.I dig me a good parade.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Rain Report: We Got Wet...
After the rip-off of rain (we got a full smidgen yesterday), the aftermath of Hurricane Dolly made some impact on our area in San Antonio this afternoon, so the grass is green, the aquifer is up, and I got some pictures to show!
My wife snapped a few of our back porch as the rain was coming down hard. You can see it begin to pool a little on the tile.
There was a tornado making its way from the Sea World area right over us and into Helotes, so she and the dog were pretty skeered as I sat comfortably in the basement floor of a hardened facility, sipping coffee and watching the weather radar. I may have mentioned it before, but the number one Google search term that brings visitors to this blog is "Jennifer Broome's Breasts". She is the local weather lady, and I guess she is good at it. 40,000 hits and still going strong!
Anyway, by the time I got off work, the rain had pretty much died down, so it was safe for me to take a few pictures of the Greenbelt area, just as a follow-up to my recent report on the area. One local visitor to the blog has made some very solid comments about the state of the greenbelt and I'm sure he'd be kind enough to chime in as he deems necessary to help describe what happens when an otherwise dry creek bed gets wet.
The first thing you might note is that, yes, it is full of water, but really, it doesn't have a flooded look to it. In fact, if you didn't know any better, this could be the normal state of things and it would look pretty nice, at least I think.
This little place caught me completely by surprise. I was on the opposite side the last time I walked through the greenbelt and did not even notice this little work of art. This is at the end of a cul de sac where it appears that the neighbors on either side of the drainage into the greenbelt built a nice bridge and have done some awesome landscaping. Nice work folks. It really does make the cul de sac an inviting place to live I'm sure, but the huge cactus garden probably keeps kids from using the area as a short cut. Who knows?
Here is where we see some leftover brush from the recent trimming. Some people have this idea that the brush will be sent flowing down the dry creek bed and "naturally" become someone else's problem each time it rains. I'm sure this was not a flash flood of biblical proportions, but I think it was enough to demonstrate that the "let nature haul the limbs away" theory is not a good one.
This is where the Silver Creek portion of the greenbelt picks up at Tezel Road. You'll note the large drainage ditch (suitable for your graffiti needs) is not really flowing that much. Just an hour earlier, I suspect the water coming out of there looked like white rapids. When we get a serious downpour, the water shoots through this area pretty good and so any trash that has been tossed into the center of the ditch ends up stuck to trees and brush in our greenbelt. If we can limit the brush, (and maybe not litter), the flow will be enough to keep the trash going all the way to The Gulf of Mexico! Okay, maybe not.
And of course, I very highly suspect that the cardboard 12-pack container stuck in the tree (the picture on the left shows it from a distance) did not come from today's rains. Nor do I suspect the graffiti painted in the tree came from the strom either.
In the end, the water flow through the green belt and the last set of pictures are taken from the opposite end at Timberwilde near the Lodge of the Great Northwest. 
Interestingly enough, I received an e-mail from a person looking to purchase a home just beyond where these pictures were taken (behind Oscar Perez Memorial Park), and they were worried about flooding. I'd say you can see that it is pretty tame. Of course, we have had much higher waters, but really, I'm not aware of any homes being flooded as a result.
So there you have it. Our greenbelt all wet.
My wife snapped a few of our back porch as the rain was coming down hard. You can see it begin to pool a little on the tile.There was a tornado making its way from the Sea World area right over us and into Helotes, so she and the dog were pretty skeered as I sat comfortably in the basement floor of a hardened facility, sipping coffee and watching the weather radar. I may have mentioned it before, but the number one Google search term that brings visitors to this blog is "Jennifer Broome's Breasts". She is the local weather lady, and I guess she is good at it. 40,000 hits and still going strong!
Anyway, by the time I got off work, the rain had pretty much died down, so it was safe for me to take a few pictures of the Greenbelt area, just as a follow-up to my recent report on the area. One local visitor to the blog has made some very solid comments about the state of the greenbelt and I'm sure he'd be kind enough to chime in as he deems necessary to help describe what happens when an otherwise dry creek bed gets wet.
The first thing you might note is that, yes, it is full of water, but really, it doesn't have a flooded look to it. In fact, if you didn't know any better, this could be the normal state of things and it would look pretty nice, at least I think.
This little place caught me completely by surprise. I was on the opposite side the last time I walked through the greenbelt and did not even notice this little work of art. This is at the end of a cul de sac where it appears that the neighbors on either side of the drainage into the greenbelt built a nice bridge and have done some awesome landscaping. Nice work folks. It really does make the cul de sac an inviting place to live I'm sure, but the huge cactus garden probably keeps kids from using the area as a short cut. Who knows?
Here is where we see some leftover brush from the recent trimming. Some people have this idea that the brush will be sent flowing down the dry creek bed and "naturally" become someone else's problem each time it rains. I'm sure this was not a flash flood of biblical proportions, but I think it was enough to demonstrate that the "let nature haul the limbs away" theory is not a good one.
This is where the Silver Creek portion of the greenbelt picks up at Tezel Road. You'll note the large drainage ditch (suitable for your graffiti needs) is not really flowing that much. Just an hour earlier, I suspect the water coming out of there looked like white rapids. When we get a serious downpour, the water shoots through this area pretty good and so any trash that has been tossed into the center of the ditch ends up stuck to trees and brush in our greenbelt. If we can limit the brush, (and maybe not litter), the flow will be enough to keep the trash going all the way to The Gulf of Mexico! Okay, maybe not.
And of course, I very highly suspect that the cardboard 12-pack container stuck in the tree (the picture on the left shows it from a distance) did not come from today's rains. Nor do I suspect the graffiti painted in the tree came from the strom either.
In the end, the water flow through the green belt and the last set of pictures are taken from the opposite end at Timberwilde near the Lodge of the Great Northwest. 
Interestingly enough, I received an e-mail from a person looking to purchase a home just beyond where these pictures were taken (behind Oscar Perez Memorial Park), and they were worried about flooding. I'd say you can see that it is pretty tame. Of course, we have had much higher waters, but really, I'm not aware of any homes being flooded as a result.So there you have it. Our greenbelt all wet.