Nuon batteries = Junk

I've blogged before about the poor quality of rechargeable batteries; much of what's available for sale is just So Much Junk. I have another to add to the list: the Nuon brand sold by Batteries Plus.

In late September, I took a chance and bought four (4) 4-packs of Nuon Rechargeable NIMH batteries. By April, I found that at least four of the cells will no longer hold any charge. My BC-900 simply registers "Null" when I tried to charge those cells last week. It's not like these have been doing heavy duty, either .. this particular set was in a clock-weather gadget that communicates to a remote unit (outside) to provide correct ("atomic clock") time & temperature.

Yesterday, I stopped by the local Batteries+ outlet to see if they knew how bad these things really are (25% failure rate in 7 months!) and thinking maybe they'd even exchange them. Not only did they profess ignorance about the poor quality, but wouldn't exchange them without a receipt. This was particularly distressing since Batteries Plus is the exclusive North American distributor of Nuon batteries.

UPS: $45. UPS battery: $1030

Tuesday afternoon, I bought a very expensive UPS battery, although that wasn't the plan.

After the Nth power outage this year (queue thunderbolt) I decided to replace the battery in one of my Uninterruptable Power Supplies, since it was only giving me about 5 minutes before shutting down the system (the others give me at least 15 minutes each). So, deciding that the light rain wasn't bad, I proceeded to drive west on Beltline and fetch a replacement from Batteries+. Big mistake. I should've gone to any of their other locations. Why?

Well, at the same time I was driving (35 mph limit area) so was one of those F250s pulling a welded-metal gardener's cart. He's in the left lane, I in the center, and .. well .. BOOM! My driver's side window just exploded - no warning. I can only guess that his Gardener's Cart veered into my lane, or he opened fire. Fortunately (tempered safety glass) I wasn't cut or injured, but

1. my car door was gored;
2. my mirror destroyed; and
3. my window was GONE

Shaken, I tried to find a parking lot to pull into, hoping that the gardener would follow. He didn't. Technically, this is what's called a Hit And Run. The next day, I called the Addison TX Police, hoping there may have been a witness who got his license number - no such luck.

So, being only about 2 blocks from the battery store, I collected my nerves and got that %^&* replacement battery ($30). It was then that I opened the door and saw the 6-inch gash in the side of my car, and realized that this could've been much worse. Being 5pm on the day before a holiday, I had to wait two days to see the repair guys (I'd already called my insurance company to obtain The Procedure). I have a $1000 deductible, so that'll be my out-of-pocket cost. My last accident was in 1992 when I lived in Los Angeles, so I've forgotten some of the Subtle Nuances in the ensuing 15 years.

The repair guys say this will take 10 days and ~$3100 to fix. Happy happy joy joy?

fish tacos

I finally got around to trying Taco del Mar in Addison (at the corner of Beltline and Quorum) and was pleasantly surprised with all the choices. I opted for a couple fish tacos with corn tortillas with shredded cabbage (think cole slaw) and pico de gallo. And oh yes, a side of black beans and rice. All for about $6. Verdict: yummm.

Since they are directly below Addison Improv, they have challenges with parking, especially on Friday and Saturday night. Fortunately, they have two reserved spaces that make it easy to slip in and out even when the nearby valets are charging $4 to put your car most anywhere - including violating the "no parking in fire lane". I guess the Addison Fire Department is just looking the other way.

The Deli News Conspiracy

HayJax and I fed at Deli News Too this morning. It's a self-proclaimed "New York style deli" which is about as authentic as you can get in Dallas, now that Gilbert's went under.

I've been generally happy with Deli News, except for the hash browns. Call me mistaken, but aren't real hash browns supposed to be thinly chopped potatoes? The ones Deli News serves are more like their usual sliced (1/16? 1/8?) potatoes .. nothing special. Otherwise, they do try hard to please .. special orders seem to be the norm here, and the kitchen staff does a credible job.

I was mildly surprised how busy they were on a Sunday morning, smack dab in the middle of Labor Day weekend. Several of the usuals were there, along with several families with small children (what a disturbing trend!). Jill-Bob would hate the place for additional reasons: no cheese fries anywhere on the menu, and no beer.

Once, I asked why it's not named Deli News Also instead of Deli News Too, and didn't get a satisfactory answer. I smell a conspiracy. And it doesn't smell anything like real hash browns.

Speaking of The Saucer Crowd, only Tim, HayJax and I made it to Fish on Fire this past Friday. It's been open for several years and usually has a full parking lot, so a couple of us decided to give it a go. I had the [Wild-Caught Salmon Burger] which wasn't bad, although something other than French Fries would've been nice. It's casual .. reminds me of The Flying Fish in Addison a bit, except .. Fish on Fire kept the prior tenant's drive-thru window. It's the only seafood restaurant I know with such a feature*.

*Long John Silver's doesn't qualify; their "food" is mostly deep-fried breading with a little bit of fish/clams/chicken buried somewhere in the middle.

Meanwhile, there's this insignificant news item.

Blogger's Block

spotted on Non Sequitur a day or so ago:


Unrelated: I've been to GoFish (seafood restaurant) twice now. For the past 18 months or so, they're been in that awful location behind the Addison Improv, where many restaurants have failed due to being inconspicuous.

In Texas, "inconspicuous" is defined as "can't see it from the cab of my F350 travelling 30 miles above the posted speed limit"

the curse of Joe Btfsplk

It's gotta be JB's fault.

Today, we met for lunch. We decided on Souper Salad in Plano: a place we'd been before. Or so we thought. Using hindsight, we'd met previously at a Fresh Choice salad place, which has closed* and is now a Potbelly location (maybe split with a T-Mobile store). When I arrived and saw Potbelly's sign, I called 411 and soon connected with Souper Salad. "Did you move?", I asked. "No; we've been here 12 years."

It was only a mile or so away, so our rendezvous at Souper Salad - behind a Chipotle on the 75-Central access road - wasn't painful. Even so, I'm starting to wonder if JB has a curse on places - this is the second time within a month that we've found a restaurant destination closed!

*The Fresh Choice in Addison (in front of Sam's Club) converted to a WingHouse several months ago, so I assume their Plano location went away at the same time.

A couple of us used to meet at Big Dog's in Addison for lunch - until they stopped serving lunch. Then we'd meet at LongShots, until it was gutted and replaced with .. uh .. something else. Maybe it's just the fickle nature of the restaurant business. Or maybe JB is a distant relative of that infamous character from Li'l Abner after all?

last-minute theatre

I got a little culture today, sorta. With 30 minutes before the show, my phone rings. Judy-Bob wants to know if I can meet her at the WaterTowerTheatre (at the Addison Theatre Centre) for a play.

"Oh, is that today?", I whimper.

(frosty) "Yes. Now get over here!".

Thus began my journey to see

Dishing it Out .. written and performed by Paul J. Williams

One actor playing six characters in a cafeteria. Starting with a food server who seems to know everybody who comes through her line, each of these people inevitably become the other characters in the show, as we get a glimpse into the daily goings on of the lunchtime patrons of this Southern gathering place.

This cast of characters (in a one-man show) was all about Luby's, which is as pure a Texas tradition as there is, if'n you ain't gonna count Whataburger. Okay, okay .. so I was mildly entertained. Anyone who can perform a one-act, one-man, one-hour play in front of 75 people on a Sunday afternoon gets my approval. You could tell that several audience members had seen Paul J. Williams' work before, and were comfortable as he turned to the crowd for some ad-lib action.

While I had an immediate hankerin' for a real visit to Luby's (a place I have yet to visit, along with it's competitor Furr's), The Rest of The Gang wanted Mongolian BBQ, so we moseyed over to Genghis Grill and relaxed in the near-emptiness of a 4pm Sunday tea-fest. There are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon, I reckon.

schlepping and shopping in da rain

Yesterday, I found a location* where I could sign the petition to put Kinky on the ballot, and added my name to the (hopefully 44,999+) others who'd like to see Governor PrettyHair sent back to the farm, where he can't do any more damage.

* Dirty Dawgz - they have four locations in the area .. one is less than 3 miles from my home. They provide a nice place to wash your dogs (I'll have to ask if anyone ever brings their cat in for a bath) and I'll have to take Beta the Wonder Dog there sometime.

Today was a good day for running errands -- (shopping) mostly -- because the rain (and the NCAA basketball games) kept most Texans indoors. Judy-Bob and I fed at the usual breakfast dive, but since it was after noon, I opted for the Philly CheeSteak on an onion roll, which was Da Bomb.

Then, I moseyed over to MicroCenter in search of a spare battery for my PowerBook (found it) as well as a laptop cable lock (didn't find it, and got a really puzzled look from the sales guy when I asked if they carried them). After about a 5-second pause, he admitted he had no idea what I was talking about. I strolled around the store anyway, and didn't find one. Heap strange. You'd think people would do more to secure their laptops, but I guess not.

I decided to try the nearest office supply place, and I found the Targus Defcon CL (PA410U) which will work nicely. I hope the TSA is used to seeing this lock-and-cable combo on the X-ray machine.

While at Office Depot, I moseyed around and found a laser pointer which will come in handy when I give presentations, and also found some index dividers for the 12 months (Avery 11127). They had many, many packs of dividers from which to choose and it took a couple passes before I spotted the ones I wanted. It's odd that their website page doesn't say anything to indicate the tabs in the 11127 pack are labeled JAN/FEB/MAR etc.

Finally - one thing I did not find was a place that buys/sells PC memory. There was such a place in Addison on Beltline, but it's apparently gone. Due to some upgrades, I'm the proud owner of 6 strips of Orphan RAM and would like to negotiate a trade (!) for two strips of 128 MB DIMMs to max out my Win98SE laptop (Fujitsu E6530). There was a place on Preston (north of LBJ) called Computer Renaissance but they're also out of business. I guess the Used PC Component Business ain't what it used to be.

IF THEN ELSE

Addison, TX at 7:47 am CST
Sunny , 43ºF
Hi: 72 Lo: 51

Just another chance for me to dig at whoever provides Yahoo! with weather .. can't your programmers adjust the high or low to coincide with the current temperature, if it falls outside the forecast range?

For those of you Just Waking Up, this means that instead of forecasting a low of 51 today, it should say 43 - the current temperature. Is that so hard?

a simpler time

I finally got around to Shaving The Beard today, and then called Bruce The Barber and asked if he'd had any Rita-related cancellations. Indeed, he had.

"There's an opening in 2 hours," he said. "Can you make it?"

You betcha. A barbershop's a good place to be when Something Big is on the way. You can hear the (sometimes weird) opinions of others as they come in, sit down for a cut, and tell their views about Stuff to anyone who will listen can overhear.

I heard about the woman who ran into Sam's Club yesterday with her dire prediction of impending doom: "There ain't agonna be no gas tomorrow!" she shouted (to no one in particular), and then she ran back outside, into the cultural abyss that is Addison.

I listened as several patrons groaned when they heard that Dallas may only get 2 or 3 inches of rain out of Rita's fury. They appeared to be hoping for an instant cure to the recent dry spell. Memo to the clueless: a hurricane is overkill for a drought.

Another of The Cutters said that, yes, indeed .. they've had Katrina Refugees from Louisiana come into the shop(pe) for a cut. "They talk funny," the cutter said, in her finest Texas ta-wang. I asked her if sales of hairspray would skyrocket, now that so many Rita-refugees from Houston are in town, and she affirmed: "yes, that'll probably happen" without understanding the joke*

* Houston women (in particular) love to keep their Big Hair maintained with an unnaturally large amount of hair spray. I suspect it has something to do with that city's (in)famous Humidity.

Alas, it was time to Pay The Piper and make my way home, past the long lines at the gas station where the marquee said "REGULAR $2.79". One day, I will look back upon this as A Simpler Time. Until then, I must feed Beta the Wonder Dog, lest she eat my carcass while I sleep.

burger battle in Big D

Sometimes, the spirit of competition makes businesses do unnatural things. A recent price comparison has made me aware of their other competitors, when I otherwise wouldn't have noticed.

Recently, I stopped at Burger Street (probably for a cherry limeade - yum) and got their usual Comment Postcard with my order. Along with this was a chart comparing their burger (1/3 pound = 5.3 oz), French fries and milkshake prices with no less than 15 competitors. Naturally, their comparison shows they have the lowest price for a "combo meal" among everyone:

6.37 Burger Street
7.89 JC's Burger
8.25 Ball's Hamburgers (8 oz)
8.28 Purdy's Richardson
8.45 JG's Burger
8.47 Steak n Shake (6 oz)
8.65 Gazeebo Burger
8.95 Fuddrucker's
9.13 Chips
9.23 Chuck's Hamburgers (7 oz)
9.24 EZ's Burger
9.20 Cheeburger Cheeburger
9.28 Purdy's Addison
9.32 Scotty P's (6 oz)
10.75 Snuffers (8 oz)
10.97 Chili's (7 oz)

The ones in bold are the ones I've patronized.

Their chart doesn't contain the usual "4 point type" legal disclaimer, so I'm left to wonder:

how do the portion sizes compare? ...
1) French fries?
2) milkshakes?

what about the nutrition in the ...
3) hamburger?
4) French fries?
5) milkshake?

6) what about the type oil used for the fries? Can you say "transfat"?

7) what about the condiments on the burger? are they normalized with the same amount and quality of lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard?

8) are all the buns made of nutrition-challenged white bread? do they contain poppy seeds, which could make me test positive on a drug test?

9) do the milkshakes contain all sorts of unnatural ingredients whose sole purpose is to increase shelf life (while making the shake taste like a soggy bowl of cornflakes)?

Lessons learned

0) A lot of places sell burgers.

1) It's cheaper to eat in Richardson (than Addison). The price difference must be due to the ambiance.

2) I need to check out Ball's Hamburgers (Midway @ Northwest Highway, or Snider Plaza) because they have a bigger (8 ounce) burger at a good price, and we Americans have been trained to seek out the best value. Was that what Burger Street was trying to tell me?

3) By omission, they're telling me who they don't view as competitors: the national/regional burger chains! Nowhere did they say anything about Burger King; Denny's; Jack in the Box; McDonalds; Wendy's or Whataburger. Nor did they mention the King of Cheap Burgers: 7-11 Stores. Hmm. Nor did they mention Jill-Bob's favorite: Addison Pointe (must be that ambiance thing again).

get on your marks, get set, queue summer

Ah, what to do on this first official weekend of summer? I see that the Cavanaugh Flight Museum is holding their annual "Warbirds over Addison!" event, which means there will be lots of strange-sounding aircraft overhead through 5pm Monday. I could also mosey over to ARTFEST 2005 at Addison Circle park, but much depends on the weather, which may actually be nice (82ish highs, 68ish lows, with a 40% chance of rain each day to cool things off). Then again, I could crawl into the bagged ice freezer at Tom Thumb, until someone complains and I'm throwed out of the store.

Unrelated #0: I stumbled across a reference to "Hizb'Allah" (Party of God) and knew it sounded familiar. Turns out it's the same as Hezbollah (the Lebanese terrorist organization). I wonder whether the English spelling of the name was intended to omit the "Allah" part, or if it's an artifact of the way it was translated. Hmmm.

Unrelated #1: So, the US Senate finally approved Justice Priscilla Owen, in a compromise by some "centrist Republicans and Democrats" (who have now been - probably - excommunicated from their respective parties for acquiescing ("givvin up", in TexasSpeak)). One web site describes her as "(a)n Extremist Jurist – Even by Texas Standards” which made me guffaw. Let's see how long before she finds a way to make decisions acceptable to her boss (Karl Rove).

Unrelated #3.14159: Calm down; the Sundry on Thursday blog is updated, for the 51st week in a row.

10:26pm update: I went to see Crash (2004) this afternoon, due to the wonders of the Bargain Matinee (or BarMat, as it says on the ticket stub). There were only 20 or so people in a theatre that holds 500, so good seats were still available. I give the movie an A, although you must be able to track about 7 story lines simultaneously. aside: I would've gone with Judy-Bob, but she's been told (in no uncertain terms) by Joe that she has to wait and see it with him. There's something to be said for longevity, so .. far be it for me to balk.

The Wrong Amendments

It won't be much longer until we find if the WeatherPeople were (w)right .. it's possible that we'll tie a heat record for This Date In History (96F).

7:30pm update: well, I think we officially tied for the hottest May 21st on record, but that's only because the official temperature is at DFW International Airport, which is odd because I don't know anyone who lives at the airport (queue cymbals). It was a few degrees cooler at DFW than the (much nearer) Addison Airport, which clocked in at 100F Friday.

Speaking of (w)right, I wandered across the websites competing for our Hearts And Minds regarding the Wright Amendment, which reigns in Southwest Airlines at Dallas Love Field. The competing sites are Keep DFW strong (pro) and Set Love Free (con).

Speaking of corrupt (?) I wandered across Clean Up Texas Politics.com which is an exercise in futility. Cleaning up Texas Politics is neither possible nor feasible (how else do you explain Karl Rove, Governor PrettyHair, and President Quagmire?).

The Texas Legislature's winding down its session (end of May) and it'll be awhile before we know what damage these uneducated sociopaths have wreaked upon us. A common tactic is to take your special-interest bill and attach it to a piece of (ha!) related legislation. The fact that it adversely affects the other 99% of Texas doesn't mean an armadillo's eyebrow to these (un)professional lawmakers. The legislators are then forced to vote for the initial law, lest their rider be killed by association.

No surprise: it appears that the so-called "sunshine law" which would make their votes part of the Public Record, is likely to die in committee. And the cycle repeats.

going organic

I went to the monthly meeting of the Dallas Sierra Club tonight. The guest speaker was Howard Garrett a/k/a the Dirt Doctor™. He is totally into organics, so if you even think chemicals are the only way to treat your lawn, then it's time to stop listening.

Stuff I learned:

• "Garrett Juice" is Howard Garrett's concoction that can be bought, if you don't want to make your own. It's a liquid fertilizer;
• Texas Organic Research Center
• Tierra Verde is an Arlington golf course that's about 80% organic;
• United States Green Building Council;
• local organic success stories include Frito Lay's Plano headquarters ("organic since 1989"), Radio Shack - 38 acres in Southlake, and also Sabre Corp;
• Soil Foodweb;
• tree advice
  1. remove all ivy
  2. trees are supposed to FLARE as they exit ground (otherwise, roots are too deep)
  3. use "compost tea" to eliminate unhealthy (yellowing) plants and oak wilt disease (see "sick tree treatment")
• Lambert's (214-350-8350) is an organic landscape contractor, and a member of the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. Lambert's is affiliated with the Moore Tree Company;
• air spade - "fancy sand blaster" for dirt;
• 1000 year old tree - 3 miles north of Waco;
• Garrett's best-selling books: Texas Bug Book and Texas Gardening - the Natural Way;
• regarding mosquitos : the MosquitoNix™ misting system is okay if used with "plant oil" (BiOrganics and EcoEXEMPT™ are neurotoxins to invertebrates only) and they have a nice vanilla scent;
• pyrethrum - very bad for kids with asthma, but used by City of Dallas as a spray for mosquitos (West Nile Virus);
• spinosin (apparently the seeds and leaves of Ziziphus Spinosa) is a good fire ant bait. It appears to be Texas A&M's new recommended treatment
• garlic tea - 30 day mosquito prevention;
• Roundup™ is not as safe as it's marketed! (a new study shows it kills amphibians);
• Green Light®'s goal is to provide effective, environmentally responsible products;
• Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a good way to get rid of tent caterpillars;
• lawn scalping only good in fall except in prep for overseeding;
• philoremediation - removing toxins from soil;
• hardpan is an impenetrable layer of soil, mostly due to compacting;
• beneficial nematodes & molasses - fix grubworm problem (not organic gardening problem)
• Safer (brand) products (not the same as the Safer Pest Control Project);
• Garrett - "i've had no fireants in 12 yrs". He uses a mix of 20 pounds of dry molasses (per 1000 square feet) and says it provides "great fireant control". Also mentioned: orange-oil (but, it will burn grass);
• George "Evil Empire" Bush's Crawford Ranch is 100% organic - this must be a closely guarded secret, lest his cronies in the chemical industry find out
• after the monthly meeting, the Dallas Sierra Club often gathers at Papa's Pizza (on Beltline, in Addison)

Mr. Peabody Awards

In the "Betcha Didn't Know That!" department: the George Foster Peabody Award comes from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. They recently announced their 64th Annual Peabody Award winners, which included one of my newfound favorites, LinkTV's Mosaic: World News From The Middle East.

Maybe I appreciate good journalism, after having been in that industry (fresh out of college, eons ago). That mini-career started in high school, when I somehow found myself as Sports Editor (and photographer) for the school paper. I think that was after someone stuck a 35mm camera in my hand and said "here - do this!" Eventually, they looked at my English grades and found I could write, and there ya have it.

In college, I earned a double-major, of which half was Broadcast Communications. Then, I landed a job for a few months as a "staff announcer" on a smalltown radio station, before leaving the microphone open one time too often (!) and being escorted out the door. It was the best thing that could've happened, since I despised that job. I ended up a few miles away, working as a news reporter for a radio station next to a major military base. I enjoyed myself, even acting as an investigative journalist a few times (when the situation merited). Being on the "deadline end of the mic" gives me appreciation for some reporters, and contempt for others.



Disclaimer: the Peabody Award was invented long before the Mr. (Hector) Peabody cartoon character from Rocky & Bullwinkle.

Unrelated #0: last week, I attended a Candidate's Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Dallas. A crew was there from Dallas Community Television (seen on Comcast cable 27A), but it has yet to air. I got an email from a DCTV staffer today saying that they're adding subtitles, etc. and it will be a few more days.

Unrelated #1: I lunched with Drew-Bob and Roger-Bob at the Addison Pointe today. From the moment I walked in the door, I could smell the cigarette smoke, which made their burgers taste like an ashtray. Ah, the ambiance.

day late, dollar short

You, my faithful readers, will be ecstatic to know that I updated the Sundry on Thursday blog one day early. Yeah, I know: WOW!

Judy-Bob told me about the "Wings of Freedom Tour" at Dallas Love Field's Frontiers of Flight Museum. Too bad I didn't know about the WoF Tour until after the fact. I wonder how that museum compares to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum (Addison Airport). Maybe I should call SkyHigh Airlines and book a flight today?

peak oil: blow like the wind

I was mildly amused to see free-roaming peacocks on the Greenhill School campus (where the Sierra Club meets). There were 3 speakers this month:

Patrick Kelly (with the EPA) gave a presentation called "Partnering with Energy Star" and had some interesting insights. In no particular order:

• it takes up to 3 yrs to get an Energy Star rating;
• 50,000 Energy Star homes in Texas;
• success story: Midlothian Independent School District;
• R410A (new) vs R22 old: CFC 11/12

Next, a geologist in Addison - Jeffrey J Brown - spoke about "peak oil" where he explained the theory that world oil production has peaked (and consumption has not), to the point that we're now faced with a future of (much) higher prices for the remaining supply. Apparently this is hotly rebutted by the oil companies, and the SUV Owners of America (their theory is: the more we drive, the more oil we'll find).

Suggested reading #1: Peter Huber & Mark Mills co-authored The Bottomless Well

Suggested reading #2: M King Hubbert's Hubbert's Peak

Among the other Oily Terms I'd not heard before:

1. Tar sands
2. MMBOPD (millions of barrels oil produced per day)
3. Light, sweet crude
4. heavy, sour crude

Finally, Tom "Smitty" Smith is the Director of Public Citizen, and spoke at length about peak oil, and windmills (their footprint is 1/20 acre). Smith stated that if 1/16 of all Texas land used windmills, it would supply enough power for all of the United States. Naturally, that won't happen anytime soon (problem: lack of big transmission lines from west Texas wind farms. Interesting site: Renewable Texas (Texas has dropped to 14th in renewable energy).

worth a glance: Texas Carbon Dioxide Emissions Data

Several cool projects were mentioned:
1. Germany's target: 100% renewable energy by 2025
2. City of Austin - plugin hybrid car program

George Ure's How to Live on $10,000 a year (or less!) costs $10. I wonder if the author suggests writing a book?

lazy days and Saturdays*

Yesterday was one of those "woke up, got outta bed" days, minus the comb. Why use a comb when you have a nice new gimme cap? So, I fulfilled my duty and rendezvoused with HayJax and Jill-Bob at The Londoner in Addison (on Midway, a bit south of Beltline, SE corner). It was mostly a day to sit in sunny 75F weather and plan our Turkey Day feast (my motion for turkey bologna on a Ritz died, for lack of a second).

When I returned home, I noticed that one wall plug, one light switch, and the cable TV were out. I could understand if it were just the cable, or just the light switch, but to have them fail simultaneously is odd. I suppose a squirrel in the attic could've gnawed through the cable, then fried her/himself on the power. I checked the circuit breaker and none had been tripped. Hmm .. a mystery.

What was not a mystery is how Beta (the Wonder Dog) reacted to her new Apple Banana Bark Bars from Petropolitan. Yee haa .. I've seldom seen her as giddy as when she was munching on one. Then she came over, laid her head in my lap and wagged her tail. What is it, Lassie? Did Timmy fall down a well?

* no relation to the Carpenters' "Rainy Days and Mondays"

The case of the missing pralines

Our server at Cantina Laredo (in Addison) said they had cabrito last night, so I ordered it. He returned a few minutes later and said it was all gone! Argh! I've never had it before. This weekend is the (31st) annual World Championship Barbeque Goat Cook-off in Brady, TX (a 5½ hour drive).

Michelle was visiting relatives in Louisiana and is transporting goodies to her folks in Los Angeles. One such package was a box of pralines, but .. we neglected to close the door to the guest room while @ dinner. When we returned, a very smirky Beta the Wonder Dog awaited us, with a massive sugar fix. Only a single praline survived. Today, we'll try to find replacements (Central Market? Whole Foods?).

of seafood and bureaucrats

HayJax and I lunched at Remington's in Addison today; I had the trout almandine which was cooked to perfection, and chowed down on the steamed broccoli (but passed on the apple pie). Ah, seafood bliss. I read on the web that Adam Remington has taken over management from his father, and that the restaurant was called Oyster's until about 10 years ago.

---

Tuesday, I went to the Dallas County Clerk's Office - in the Records Building (next to Old Red - the landmark courthouse built in 1890 and recently refurbished) to get a copy of my Deed Restrictions from the Dallas County Clerk's office.

The Records Building was easy to navigate; before going, I heard that the County Clerk's office was on the second floor, so I took the elevator (never could find a stairway!) and asked someone at the long counter where to go. They sent me to the far left where the real estate stuff is kept in microfilm canisters (none of this stuff is online), and a clerk quickly located the 4-page record I sought. She then instructed me to look in their database for any updates/addendums/whatever (there were none) and then charged me $1 per page and sent me on my way. While there, I marvelled at the amount of paper they use : truly unbelievable.

My neighborhood was built in the early 1960's in two large waves of 500 or so homes each. As such, there are two primary sets of deed restrictions, although there are several instances of deviations. There are only a few "teardowns" (and subsequent rebuilds) so far, but these will certainly increase over time. The new ones tend to stretch the deed restrictions to the limit: 6500 square feet homes on a half-acre lot leaves little room for error .. and they look very out of place.

Some Deed Restrictions have eleven sections, others have more .. but they all begin the same way: Section I says the homeowner cannot sell to non-whites (this was struck down by the courts in the mid-1960s). Now, such wording looks quaint and laughable.