Richard Meek

Steve, I read an interesting blog on Chron.com this morning about bullying. It seems you can be in trouble with authorities if you fight back or if you teach your child to defend themselves. In Australia a boy was suspended when he fought back after being punched in the face several times. He got the same punishment the instigator did. You can't form a valid opinion since you don't know all the details but it is interesting. Closer to home a mother in California is being charged with child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after she encouraged her son to beat up a boy that was bothering him, according to authorities. Anyway it's kind of thought provoking that school administrators and authorities want kids so conditioned that they won't fight back. What is the kid supposed to do when they get bullied away from school? There is a video attached to the blog. For some reason I couldn't open it. Some of the responses posted on the blog are interesting. Go on line and read them. Thought provoking.

Richard Meek

GOOD AFTERNOON WALTRIPIANS. tHERE WILL BE A MEETING OF THE WHIRLD AFFAIRS AND BURGER EVALUATION COMMITTEE NEXT FRIDAY, APRIL 1ST (SEEMS APPROPRIATE, DON'T YOU THINK) 11:45 @ FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES, N. SHEPHERD AT LOOP 610 NORTH. WE WILL ATTEMPT TO SOLVE SOME WHIRLD PROBLEMS BUT FOR SURE WE WILL ENJOY SOME BURGERS & FRIES. ALL ARE INVITED. COME ON OUT AND ENJOY GOOD FOOD AND GOOD FELLOWSHIP! wE'LL BE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!!

Anita Marbury (Marbury)

Just flew in from Maui and Maui beaches. What a spring treat for me. The weather is cold and snow maybe coming to Durango Sunday.

I entered the race for Durango City Council on Jan.17th. This has been an interesting journey for me. We have mail in ballots and the last day to vote is April 5th. I hope you all will be voting for me.

I've knocked on many doors during the winter so I'm glad to see a change in the weather. There are two open seats on Council and 4 of us running.

Will keep you posted on the results win, lose, or draw I've loved every minute of the campaign.

Richard Meek

DON'T FORGET THE WHIRLD AFFAIRS AND BURGER EVALUATION COMMITTEE MEETS TOMORROW APRIL 1ST (APPROPRIATE FOR THIS GROUP). LOCATION IS FIVE GUYS BURGERS & FRIES AT N. SHEPHER & LOOP 610 NORTH, 11:45. ALL ARE INVITED. NO AGENDA, JUST GOOD FELLOWSHIP AND GOOD FOOD. COME JOIN US, YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID AND SO WILL WE!!!!

Linda Webster

I want to apologize to all my fellow Waltripians for my lack of participation these last couple of months. All I can say is I have been under the weather as well as my computers, and also had some personal issues that I have been dealing with.

After my move at the end of this month all things should be much better.

Everyone just keep up the chat. 

Stephen Ray Puckett

My wife does not like to shop much, preferring instead to go just enough to pick up what she needs instead of browsing around. I guess that is a benefit because she doesn't buy that much.   I like to 'shop' (i.e. to browse) on occasion, especially when I was able to wander around the markets when overseas: Fun!  Mom didn't go 'shopping' much (as I recall) - I think I got that trait from my Dad who would get me to go with him on occasion.  For example, we spent hours at FedMart (on Hempstead?) to see what they had every few weeks or so. Sam Walton said he was inspired to create WalMart after he spent some time in a Houston FedMart in 1960.  Dad lives near a Costco now and goes there at least once a week. 

A place that we spent even more time was the Bargain Gusher in the Heights, which seemed to be a discount remnants place. I think it was on 19th and not far from the Heights Theater. Just before school started Dad would take me there to get 'school clothes', hopefully not too drab or out of fashion. I was able to successfully resist getting 'apricot shoes' (brownish old-fashioned dress shoes) which I considered something only an old man would wear.  If we couldn't stock up there, Mom would then take me to Penney's, Sears, etc.

"See you at the Bargain Gusher!"

 

Kay Watters (Greene)

Well group,  I am needing to hear from ya'll!  Jennie, BJ, Stephen, Richard, Robert, Ingrid, et al, come on!

Since we can't talk about the rain, there is none here in Grimes county, Spring is beautiful, bluebonnets, bikers, both kinds, trail riders, home tours.....etc.  Always something to do, see.

For those interested in my son and daughter-in-law:  They are still at home, but becoming more mobil and life-adjusting to their loss of Michael.  Baseball has started again and Todd was asked to throw out the 1st ball of the season and Michael's team members and coaches wear Michael's number "5" in remembrance of him.  Todd and Cheli are included and enjoy the company of all Michael's team members and parents and have many friends their ages that continue to take them out to dinner, events and church.  They have home phy. therapy, but looking forward this week to out-patient phy. therapy in Bryan, they consider it the best for them.  I'm looking forward to when they can go back to work, as this helps to get back into the game of life, maybe around May.

Richard Meek

Good afternoon Waltripians, Spring has sprung. My pecan tree is leafing out so we are pretty safe any more freezing weather. Ah yes the consistency of things. The grass is starting to grow, the azaleas have bloomed, flowers are blooming everywhere, the Astros have lost four of their first four games. I'm going to see the home opener on Friday I sure hope they get to winning. Going o Minute Maid Park is always a great outing. Particularly on Friday nights. They put on a spectacular fire works display after the game, win or lose. We're supposed to have good weather so the roof will be open. To heck with healthy eating, beer, hot dogs and peanuts coming up on Friday. If you're I town go to the ballpark, you'll be glad you did!

How about those Lady Aggies last night? A national basketball championship. If you're a true Texan you can't be anything but happy for one our own teams! Gig'em!!!! I'm hoping I'll be around for HBU to win a national championship! they can do it and it doesn't have anything to do with pigs flying.

Get out and enjoy this spectacular weather!

Keep on dancing,

Richard

James King

Stephen Ray,

The FedMart was located on Wirt Road @ Kempwood near the intersection of Hempstead Hwy. and 34th.  Best place to buy cheap beer to take to White Oak Bayou on Saturday night.

Kay Watters (Greene)

I'm so disheartened about our America.....Costa Rica is looking more welcoming!  Pleeeesssse throw out all em, we'll organize our own America.  Beau and Burge, ready to sign up???? Somebody's got to do it!  Headquarters will be in TEXAS!  Maybe in Normangee???  Bet Rich would be interested!

Oh well, come on out to the country, where you can get some real vegetables, homegown; real yard eggs homegrown;beef butchered from the farm homegrown; but unfortunately the gasoline is at it's highest.  Darn, I sold my horse already. The wind is at it's highest here too this weekend!  I'm going to try canning some of those veggies this summer.  Maybe catch and eat some catfish too.  Bet Rich would be interested!

Maybe it's time to take a trip to Louisana and try our hand at the Casinos...never been, could win enuff to buy some gas for the summer, you think?  ChiliFest in Snook, is coming up as well...I'm brain-dead this morn.  Grandson and great grandson kept me up til 2:00 a.m.  then I started watching something on PBS?  about Gen. Ulysses Grant, Robert Lee, and the war, excuse my ignorance as they had all kinds of names for each battle.....thousands slaughtered unmercifully, and Americans fighting Americans for goodness sake....made our circumstances look a bit more merciful.....yesterdays leaders making  decisions just on a "whim", etc. etc.... doesn't look like we've learned anything yet!  Finally, I thankfully went to sleep.  Coffeepot broken, I beat it to death yesterday to make it work, went to Kott's Cafe for a good necessary cup of Joe! 

Well, this is my story, and I'm sticking to it.....Bet Rich would be interested!  Anybody?????

Richard Meek

Hey Rob, who helped you manhandle a Kamado (a clay smoker that has re-emerged and is being marketed and The Big Green Egg) that weighed about 400 lbs. (thank goodness that was the late 60's when we were were young and strong with good backs). Picked it up at Pier One as I remember it. Then had to unload it on Dumbarton. We had to take it out of the packing crate so it would fit in the car. It had no handles to grab and was slick as glass. Also as I remember it you took a hammer to it years later and beat the stuffing out of it to get rid of it. It's a good story now to laugh about. We may have set a record that day for foul language. We did a pretty good job of by not dropping it and breaking it.

Kay if you study the history of our country, we have been muddling along pretty much just like we are now. I would agree with you it is much better that our politicians no longer settle disputes with duels and we're not fighting a war over differences. You are also correct that it is confusing about most battles having two names. Each side generally called them something  different. As an example the first battle of the war was called Bull Run (re:: Bull Run Creek) by the North. It was called Manassas (for the nearby town) by the South. To make it more confusing there was later another battle at the same place. Both sides just added a II to the previously used names. I believe I'm correct in this but if any of you more learned folk have different info, speak up. They even called the war different names. The North called it the Civil War. The South called it the War of Northern Aggression. I hope we never resort to settling differences that way again. Almost a million men died in that conflict. It sounds like more fun to catch some catfish.

I'm headed to the the ballpark tonight. Hope spring eternal as each baseball season rolls around. I think they have plenty of seats available. Boy is that a surprise, duh! Here is a little baseball trivia for you. Among batters who played 1,000 or more games the one who was the hardest to strike out was Joe Sewell. He played from 1920 through 1933 with the Cleveland Indians. He is a Hall of Famer. He struck out only 114 times in 8,329 career at bats-once every 62.6 at bats. His personal best was 1925, when he struck out just 4 times in 699 plate appearances. Those are amazing statistics!

Jennie Anderson, where are you we haven't heard from you for a loooonnnggg time?

Everyone just keep on dancing

Rich

Dance like no one is watching

Stephen Ray Puckett

My .02 about the Civil War.  I was just watching reruns of the Ken Burns series so have been doing a little reading about it lately.  Seems each side named a battle after a striking landmark. To the USA this was typically a natural feature landmark like a body of water but may be a church, etc.  To the CSA this was typically a railroad stop, town, etc.  For example, the USA called a battle 'Shiloh' after a church while the CSA called the same battle 'Pittsburg Landing'.  Some say it was because USA soldiers were urban so what was striking were natural features - vice-versa for the CSA.  This does not seem right to me.  

Similarly, different battle names existed elsewhere.  The British called one 'Waterloo' after the village where Wellington had spent the previous night, the French called it 'Mont St-Jean' after the ridge where there was a lot of fighting, and the Prussians called it 'La Belle Alliance' after the inn that was Napoleon's HQ.  Wellington also thought that Waterloo was easier for his countrymen to pronounce than Mont St-Jean.  There are also other theories...  Can you imagine the ABBA song 'Waterloo' sung as 'Mont St-Jean'?  Apparently the song was originally named 'Honey Pie'.

I grew up hearing The Civil War called The War Between the States (presumably the states of USA and CSA), The War for Southern Independence, or as The Civil War.  I don't recall hearing The War of the Northern Aggression.  Of course, The Civil War is used around here in New York.  I have never heard The War of the Rebellion, apparently common many years ago in the North.  My Virginia family refers to it as The Civil War but I'll have to ask them if this is a recent convention.

On a side note, I recall hearing that slaves were not a big part of Texas life. Last summer I saw a map of percent of slaves by county in the US in 1860. I was shocked to see the significant percentages in many Texas counties: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_texas/slaves_population_1860.jpg

Hope this helps. 

Richard Meek

Steve, I picked up the term War of Northern Aggression when I visited the battlefield at Manassas. I don't think it is used much nowadays.

As an aside to my previous baseball trivia. Who was the easiest batter to strike out with over 1,000 at bats. That would be Rob Deer. He was a power hitting outfielder that played most of his career with the Brewers between 1984 and 1996. He struck out 1,409 in 3,881 at bats. Needless to say he is not in the Hall of Fame. Compare his stats to Joe Sewell in my previous posting .

Hope everyone has a great weekend,

Rich

Anita Marbury (Marbury)

I was elected to Durango City Council on April 5th.  I am installed or take office or go up there and sit on April 18th Monday night.

Thanks for voting for me.

Richard Meek

Conratulations Sweetie. I'm sure lots of hard campaigning brought you the victory. Good luck in the new job. Be sure and post pictures of your swearing in.

Rich

James N (Tam) Siedow

Way to go Sweetie.  It's good to know if we get in trouble in Colorado that we have a highly positioned person to call on.

Best of luck in your new position.  I am sure you will serve the residents of Durango well.

Tam

Richard Meek

Sweetie I agree with Mr. Wallis, congratulations again! Hopefully you won't have to duck any flying objects tonight. That will come later. I'm sure you'll do a great job!

Richard

Richard Meek

Good morning fellow Waltripians. It's time for another Whirld Affairs Committee meeting. In our usual disorganized state we'll convene the meeting at 11:30 on Friday, April 29th. We'll meet at JAX Grill, 1613 Shepherd, just south of I-10. They have a broad menu of good food that's reasonably priced. Come on out and join. There's plenty of food and whirld affairs to evaluate. We'll glad if you come and so will you. All are invited.

Keep on dancing,

Rich

Stephen Ray Puckett

Happy Easter!   

Today we relaxed after a very busy week, especially for Wifey who works at a church. For lunch we got a barbecued chicken from the local grocery store. It was pretty good and sure beats going through everthing to make it myself...though I think I could have made it better, of course. 

Today's chicken was every bit as good (to me) as the chicken I got a coupla weeks ago from the new Dinosaur BBQ that opened up here, part of a Northeast chain supposedly a Texas-style 'honkytonk rib joint'. They opened up last Fall on the Hudson River bank, reusing a building that housed an earlier restaurant. There is a big smoker outside near the front door that lends a smoky enticing atmosphere to help lure in customers. Inside was covered over with aged wood to try to make it look, I suppose, like a 100-year-old Texas bbq joint. It has a small stage in the corner for a band to play on the weekend. It has been very popular here, with typical waits of an hour or more - too long for me so I go when it opens or to the takeout.  I've tried just about all the different meats - a little bit smoked with emphasis on several kinds of sauce. It is about 2 miles north of me so close enough.

Up the highway about 3 miles farther is Tex's Pig Pit, owned by a guy from Dallas.  The meat is much more smoked - more desireable for me - and cheaper, perhaps because it has much less 'atmosphere'. I like it just fine. He also has some mexican food. The last time we were there Lil got a taco salad which was just fine and had Fritos just like mama often made! That brought back old memories!

Near downtown Albany is Capitol Q BBQ, run by a guy from Oklahoma City. This has my favorite bbq in the region and also includes 'soul food' like wonderful collard greens, fried okra, Hoppin' John (blackeyed peas), etc.  I like the way the meat is smoked. Yumm!

Further away are some other bbq places that are also OK, just a bit too far for frequent visits.

I feel very fortunate to have decent bbq and mexican restaurants around for this Texas Boy!

Richard Meek

GOOD MORNING FELLOW WALTRIPIANS. JUST A REMINDER THAT TOMORROW IS THE MEETING OF THE WHIRLD AFFAIRS COMMITTEE. tHE MEETING IS AT 11:30, JAX GRILL, 1613 SHEPHERD JUST SOUTH OF I-10. GOOD FOOD,, GOOD FRIENDS AND GOOD CONVERSATION. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START THE weekend. ALL ARE INVITED. COME JOIN. WE'LL BE GLAD YOU AND SO WILL YOU!

KEEP ON DANCING,

RICH

Bernard Brady

Hello my brothers and sisters!

April 2-13 Susan and I cleaned up her Dad's home and property for his estate auction on Saturday May 7. It just looked great in Harvest AL.  On Wed. April 27 at 4:25 in the afternoon it was hit by an F4 tornado.  90% of property and trees are GONE. To where, I do not know. Her aunt and uncle lived next door. He was killed; she was seriously injured. Firemen had to dig 'em out of the rubble. Whole neighborhood took a direct hit. Would have killed her Dad if he had not died last June... Ain't life strange these days.? We are fine. Hope you all are too, BJ

Kay Watters (Greene)

BJ,

My sympathies for you and your wife's family.

This El Nino (?) has really changed all our weather patterns, and really devastated so much.  Never would any of us ever dreamed of these horrific events.  Have to say Texas is hot and without rainfall, but I feel we should be thanking our lucky stars we haven't suffered more.  It just seems to continue, doesn't it?

So sorry for your loss, please keep us posted on your family's status.

Bernard Brady

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and phone calls. Susan is past her initial shock and grief and seems to be handling it all okay. Now she has to deal with the State Farm Insurance adjusters and I helped her with that task. I think all will work out fine. I am very grateful for all of you in this matter. Love, BJ

Talley Hudson

Hi all, just wanted to share that I lost my dad on April 23 (four months short of his 100th).  Yesterday Mary Louise Goyen passed away, so my boys lost both of their remaining grandparents within two weeks.  They both have very long, fulfilling lives, but I am sad for my boys today.  My dad's memorial service will be on May 29 in Wimberley.  I don't know what plans will be made for Mrs. Goyen. 

Richard Meek

Good morning fellow Waltripians. The Whirld Affairs & Burger Evaluation Committee (WABEC) will have it's irregularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, May 18th at the Hickory Hollow Restaurant at 101 Heights Blvd. near Washington @11:45. Everyone is invited. There is no agenda and no program, just good food, good friends and good conversation. The 18th is Waltrip day at all Hickory Hollow locations. Just tell the cashier that you're from Waltrip and the Waltrip Alumni Association will receive a percentage donation from your check. The manager of the Heights location is a Waltrip Alumnus so we're getting double the donation there. So come on out and have lunch. Then take a large to go order back to your office and/or home for dinner! Come out and join us. You'll be glad you did and so will we!!!