Am I the only one checking places like Facebook to see if there are groups popping up with names like "My dog is more qualified to be senator than Caroline Kennedy"?
Or does that argument not work if you have a "D" after your name?
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Follow the Link, Leave a Comment, She'll Donate $1
Hey, check out this link and leave a comment before the 19th at 8pm CST. For every comment left there, $1 will be donated to a food bank. Please go check it out!
And if, while you're at it, you would like to donate something, feel free to leave a couple of bucks in my online Salvation Army red kettle.
And if, while you're at it, you would like to donate something, feel free to leave a couple of bucks in my online Salvation Army red kettle.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Valles to KEYE
I certainly didn't see this one coming: Michelle Valles will be sitting next to Fred Cantu on weekday mornings, starting Wednesday. Congrats to Ms. Valles on her new gig.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
What Might the O-Deal Bring Austin?
The U.S. Conference of Mayors, apparently not wanting to miss out on whatever monies could possibly be thrown to their respective cities by an Obama administration as part of its new New Deal (or, as I've decided to call it, the O-Deal), has hastily thrown together an incredible list of thousands of projects which are "Ready to Go", with info on funding requirements and jobs created by each project. (See the 4MB PDF file for more information.)
Austin, of course, is right in the thick of this group of cities with their hands out, having listed 160 projects awaiting funding. I'm not going to say that these projects aren't going to be helpful (some will), but I have noticed that some of these projects have been languishing for years because the city hasn't given them priority. Why, then, should the feds pay for it, if we won't?
Some highlights from Austin's wish list:
Austin, of course, is right in the thick of this group of cities with their hands out, having listed 160 projects awaiting funding. I'm not going to say that these projects aren't going to be helpful (some will), but I have noticed that some of these projects have been languishing for years because the city hasn't given them priority. Why, then, should the feds pay for it, if we won't?
Some highlights from Austin's wish list:
- Upgrade existing MetroRail commuter rail line: $80,000,000/400 jobs. Shouldn't we, you know, wait for it to actually open and see if it gets the ridership Cap Metro hopes it'll get, before we throw even more money at it?
- Expansion of MetroRail Red Line: $80,000,000/3,760 jobs. Yes, these are two different items. No, I don't think this one's worth it, either.
- Relocation of 6000 LF of 16" waterline on FM 2304 - Ravenscroft to FM 1625 (sic) to accommodate State Highway Improvement project by Texas Department of Transportation: $2,200,000/7 jobs. Translation: they're finally going to widen the south part of Manchaca. Good.
- Brodie Lane Sidewalk Project - Sidewalk on both sides of Brodie Ln. from Travis County line north to Slaughter: $1,500,000/40 jobs. Sidewalks are generally a good thing, particularly on a road such as Brodie, which is too narrow for the traffic flow it has, and which will never be widened. (Now, let's just finish Texas 45, so we can all bypass Brodie and make everyone happy!) By the way, this is listed as a water project, as are many others...I'm not sure if the city checked the wrong box on a lot of projects, or what.
- Westgate Blvd from Cameron Loop to Cohoba Dr.: $2,000,000/65 jobs. Yes, please, finish West Gate, and as soon as possible!
- The Waller Creek Tunnel (WCT) Project: $127,500,000/1,836 jobs. How long ago was this supposed to have been finished?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Let's Solve Two Detroit Problems At Once!
I say let Rick Wagoner (CEO, GM) and Rod Marinelli (head coach, Detroit Lions) switch jobs.
Heck, it's not as if they could do any worse than they've done in their present positions.
Heck, it's not as if they could do any worse than they've done in their present positions.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Online Red Kettle Redux
I'm feeling in the holiday spirit, so I'm announcing that I will match all contributions to my online red kettle, up to a total of $250, made before December 13. Thanks, and Merry Christmas to all.
The latest from our friends at Time Warner
A quick rundown of what's going on with Time Warner Cable:
Time Warner continues to alienate their analog customers. If you don't believe me, go check out Diane Holloway's 30-Oct blog entry on the KLRU2 debacle, where people are still complaining as recently as this week. Time Warner has put up the lame defense that most subscribers aren't affected. (And the rest of us apparently have no standing.) Also, I had forgotten (since I only have basic and didn't have these channels to begin with) that Time Warner has also bumped the weather radar (channel 44) and the National Geographic Channel (channel 51) to their digital tiers as well. Some people haven't, though, as the comments at Ms. Holloway's blog entry reflect.
Also per those comments, apparently some Time Warner representatives are telling people who call to complain about the KLRU2 move that KLRU itself requested this change. Ms. Holloway states flatly that they did not request the change, which is also what KLRU told me.
(Of course, to hear this misstatement, you have to get to a phone rep, and Time Warner has no "push 0 for an operator" or "for all other requests" options on their automated menu. I almost feel as if they don't want to talk to me when I call them.)
In the meantime, I promised an update on the free converter box statement still available at this page. Per a phone rep at Time Warner (which means the reader may want to take everything following this with a grain of salt, or five), yes, basic/standard (analog) customers can get a free converter box (with no $7 per-month charge, either). However, they must request the box by telephone and hook it up themselves, as having a TWC service call to install a box is about $42.
And once they get this wonderful converter box, analog customers can get the soon-to-go-digital-only channel 19 (the ACC channel, which I watch often for about 0.3 seconds at a time, when I'm flipping between C-Span and WGN) back. So, that means analog customers will also get KLRU2 back, right? Wrong. The converter box allows analog customers to get one more channel than they would with a cable running right from the wall to the TV. Big deal.
Reminder: the last paragraph-and-a-half (with the exception of "big deal") were all courtesy a Time Warner telephone rep, so the veracity thereof may be in question, depending on what you think of Time Warner phone reps.
Off-topic reminder: Please donate to my online Salvation Army kettle!
Time Warner continues to alienate their analog customers. If you don't believe me, go check out Diane Holloway's 30-Oct blog entry on the KLRU2 debacle, where people are still complaining as recently as this week. Time Warner has put up the lame defense that most subscribers aren't affected. (And the rest of us apparently have no standing.) Also, I had forgotten (since I only have basic and didn't have these channels to begin with) that Time Warner has also bumped the weather radar (channel 44) and the National Geographic Channel (channel 51) to their digital tiers as well. Some people haven't, though, as the comments at Ms. Holloway's blog entry reflect.
Also per those comments, apparently some Time Warner representatives are telling people who call to complain about the KLRU2 move that KLRU itself requested this change. Ms. Holloway states flatly that they did not request the change, which is also what KLRU told me.
(Of course, to hear this misstatement, you have to get to a phone rep, and Time Warner has no "push 0 for an operator" or "for all other requests" options on their automated menu. I almost feel as if they don't want to talk to me when I call them.)
In the meantime, I promised an update on the free converter box statement still available at this page. Per a phone rep at Time Warner (which means the reader may want to take everything following this with a grain of salt, or five), yes, basic/standard (analog) customers can get a free converter box (with no $7 per-month charge, either). However, they must request the box by telephone and hook it up themselves, as having a TWC service call to install a box is about $42.
And once they get this wonderful converter box, analog customers can get the soon-to-go-digital-only channel 19 (the ACC channel, which I watch often for about 0.3 seconds at a time, when I'm flipping between C-Span and WGN) back. So, that means analog customers will also get KLRU2 back, right? Wrong. The converter box allows analog customers to get one more channel than they would with a cable running right from the wall to the TV. Big deal.
Reminder: the last paragraph-and-a-half (with the exception of "big deal") were all courtesy a Time Warner telephone rep, so the veracity thereof may be in question, depending on what you think of Time Warner phone reps.
Off-topic reminder: Please donate to my online Salvation Army kettle!
Thursday, December 04, 2008
2008 Christmas List
As 2008 draws to a close, I have started to think about what I would like to get for people for Christmas. (Actually, Mrs. Snowed does most of this, which is a good thing, seeing as I'm only just starting to think about it.)
This year, I want to give the following:
Have a Merry Christmas season. Love you lots!
This year, I want to give the following:
- For the Austin American-Statesman (heretofore known on this blog as the "unwanted daily"): relevance
- For the Austin Chronicle (heretofore known on this blog as the "worthless weekly"): objectivity (perhaps you can also share it with a few other organizations)
- For Barack Obama: best wishes and a hope that he will govern from the center, and a promise from me not to contract Obama Derangement Syndrome
- For Bob FM: an expanded library
- For Bush Derangement Syndrome/Palin Derangement Syndrome sufferers: a life! (That especially means you, Andrew Sullivan. No, I'm not giving you a link.)
- For Capital Metro: some knowledge regarding just how far south Austin really extends
- For the Dallas Cowboys: a playoff win already! I'll take one in early 2009. I'd prefer four.
- For everyone currently "underwater" with their mortgages: Financial Peace University
- For GM: Chapter 11 bankruptcy and an accelerated schedule for the 2010 Chevy Volt
- For Ignite Consulting: just go away!
- For Jammin' 105.9: flip the format already and put it out of our misery!
- For Jennifer Kim: decency in campaigning
- For KVUE: an end to those annoying "we've won the Edward R. Murrow award for overall excellence x years in a row" spots, which always make me laugh when they air right after some technical (or other) difficulty (and it happens way too often)
- For KXAN/LIN TV: lousy ratings (Granted, NBC's helping to grant this one for me.)
- For MSNBC, particularly Keith Olbermann and Chris "Snugglebuggle Kissyface" Matthews: Valium
- For Sarah Palin: better handlers, better interviews, and a Reagan-like rebound paralleling his rise from the 1976 ashes
- For the staffers who slammed Sarah Palin: obscurity
- For Time Warner Cable: a little respect for your customers, maybe?
- For the United Auto Workers: an immediate and permanent end to the Jobs Bank, some severely restructured contracts, and a dose of humility
Have a Merry Christmas season. Love you lots!
Monday, December 01, 2008
Online Red Kettle
The Salvation Army now allows virtual red kettles to be set up for easy donation. Feel free to check out the one I just set up here, and feel free to make a donation there.
A Tale of Two Turkeys
Warning: the following entry may cause apoplexy for those not secure in the knowledge of where the meat they eat comes from.
(2nd Warning: the preceding warning may cause apoplexy for those inclined to virulently hate all grammatical errors. But so would this one.)
Thanksgiving morning brought a very chipper 5-year-old into our room at way too early a time. Said 5-year-old was very excited about eating turkey. A very tired Snowed (who has a somewhat questionable memory about things that early in the morning) joked about having a turkey running around the house, or something like that. The 5-year-old very adamantly told us that she did not want a live turkey; she wanted "a dead turkey without a head". We all had a good laugh, and we did proceed, later in the day, to have such a turkey, and we even managed to finish in time for the Cowboys game.
With all that said, I find it interesting that my 5-year-old seemingly has less of a problem with the origination of her Thanksgiving turkey than the on-air talent at MSNBC.
(2nd Warning: the preceding warning may cause apoplexy for those inclined to virulently hate all grammatical errors. But so would this one.)
Thanksgiving morning brought a very chipper 5-year-old into our room at way too early a time. Said 5-year-old was very excited about eating turkey. A very tired Snowed (who has a somewhat questionable memory about things that early in the morning) joked about having a turkey running around the house, or something like that. The 5-year-old very adamantly told us that she did not want a live turkey; she wanted "a dead turkey without a head". We all had a good laugh, and we did proceed, later in the day, to have such a turkey, and we even managed to finish in time for the Cowboys game.
With all that said, I find it interesting that my 5-year-old seemingly has less of a problem with the origination of her Thanksgiving turkey than the on-air talent at MSNBC.
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