Blog Posts - Good for Abilene

To the citizens of the United States from General George C. Marshall.

11/20/2016

They've been called "The Greatest Generation." We owe them big time. In speaking to the Airmen who were being released back into civilian life in late 1945, General George C. Marshall offered guidance for the road ahead. Those words need to be heard again.

On a separate page I've posted a document my Dad received on November 7, 1945. I hope you'll join those soldiers in accepting General Marshall's challenge.

Elections, etc.

10/25/2016

I sometimes wonder if it was easier in olden days when the populace didn't get a say in who would be in charge. I'm convinced that God will remain on the throne regardless of who wins any election.

Our job is to serve the King and love His people.

Jiminy Cricket??

10/9/2016

How do you choose between all these cell phone providers?

Price is a BIG consideration for me.

Availability of signal is next in importance.
Customer service is a consideration but I don't worry about that very much at the start. I expect things to work well enough that I don't need to contact them.

Recently the add-on case on my cell phone started falling apart. Since I wanted to move up from 3g speeds I figured it was a good excuse to get new phones. Yes, phones plural. I'm not the only resident at my house and need someone to call so I can have an excuse to have a phone.
We don't have a landline. Haven't had one for 10 years. Cuts out some of the annoying phone calls and completely avoids all those taxes. If you're still using landline, I'd be interested to see what percentage of your bill is for taxes and fees. I really like the idea of not having to allow for those fees.
I've been monitoring the offers advertised by cell service operators. I guess it was the set price offered by Cricket that captured my attention. Remember I don't like seeing those taxes and fees on my bill.
We don't use much data since most of that can be handled over wi-fi connections. But I don't want to be hit by overages if we do have to rely on cell data some month. Cricket's policy is to throttle data down from LTE speeds if a customer exceeds their limit. I can live with that. Shoot, I have been living with 3g speed until now. Based on history we're using less than one Gig per month -- combined.

The $30 dollar plan looked like a good fit for us.

Cricket wasn't offering the phone we wanted so I ordered those from a supplier. If you aren't bringing your own phone you'll have to adjust this conversation to your circumstances. I went in expecting to pay for 2 SIM cards but found that Cricket was offering free phones for customers porting an existing phone number from another provider.
We paid $60 up front for the first month's service for the two of us. Each of us will get 1 Gig of data per month at LTE speed. They helped us set up our new devices using the SIM cards from the free phones. We walked out with phones that only needed time for the transition to work through the various billing systems. And with 2 new perfectly fine extra Android devices.
I am a happy camper. We did have to go back for some help setting up the voicemail option on one of the phones. But the customer service was extremely good.
I don't want to mislead anyone so let me disclose that I often do work for the conglomerate that "owns" Cricket. But no one has asked for this review or offered any incentive in this regard. I figure one of the things I can do that's Good4Abilene is to share a good deal when I find it.
The title of this post says Jiminy Cricket. Isn't Jiminy the fellow you think of when you think of Cricket characters? I've been trying to figure out why the corporate folks didn't just license the likeness or character from Disney. Seems like a fellow who can serve as Pinocchio's conscience would make a perfectly fine logo. Ok, Jiminy isn't as cute as Lily but he's certainly as good or better than those critters that resemble gummi vitamins.

I was impressed . . .

9/15/2016

Like you, I'm getting older. And getting older means thinking about retirement. In our part of the world this planning business requires some study. In order to make these plans we want to understand something about Social Security and Medicare. This year the financial and health insurance communities began bombarding me with literature and invitations. Where do you go for honest answers?
Most of these invitations bring offers for additional information. But the small print says that I'm agreeing to receive calls from insurance agents if I respond. Since I normally avoid even answering the phone, I'm not keen on giving permission for folks to try to sell me stuff.
I'd been wondering about what resources I might find in the library. (Disclosure -- my family spends LOTS of time at the library. We even signed up as Friends of the local library). In the middle of all this spam I received an invitation to a free meal where I could learn more about Medicare. As we all know there isn't any such thing as a free lunch but this was supper. I signed up to attend. I was impressed. Well, not with the food -- it was regular buffet fare. But I was impressed with the presentation and the people. I did not feel pressured. I was treated to an overview of Medicare and the insurance options available for retirees.
I'm still employed so I don't need to do anything more than register for Medicare part A. But I also have a place to turn when I want more information. So if you're looking for someone to talk to about Medicare supplement plans and options, I can suggest Kirk Stubblefield or Stephanie Tollison at the Texas Medicare Supplement Pros. The agency is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. If you don't get great service from them please let me know so I can take this post down. But I'm pretty sure they'll take good care of us. Or you can just follow this link to read through a pamphlet on Medicare.

Drive on By

7/12/2016

You've done it too, haven't you? A small sign on the highway catches your attention: "Historical Marker ahead." But there's almost never enough interest to actually stop and read the text. Too much to do. Someplace to be.

I've often wished for a website that would provide the information without requiring the interruption of stopping the car. Yesterday, I learned that such a site already exists for our Texas Historical Markers. An entry on the Facebook page for the Abilene Preservation League pointed me to an interactive map listing Texas historical sites. Be sure to allow some time if you do visit the map. Something like that can be addictive.

Not all the markers denote the exact place of the event they mark. Here's a segment from a marker southwest of Abilene: "One mile southeast to Fort Chadbourne. . . " The marker at Coronado's camp is honest enough to say: "In 1541, the Spanish explorer Coronado is thought to have passed this way en route from New Mexico to the fabled Indian villages of "Quivira", though his path across vast Texas plains is now difficult to determine." But at least none of them say: "On this spot January 13, 1333 absolutely nothing happened."

If you're looking for information on nearby buildings with interesting history, try the Abilene Preservation League's site. Membership information is available at the site.

Parents -- KEEP OUT

4/18/2016

Sounds like the sort of thing a 12 year old would post on a bedroom door. But this is the message one elementary school is sending to parents.

_No Parents Allowed._

I'm amazed. Just speechless.

Dining Out

12/8/2015

My wife is generally the cook at our house. This means that I am the dishwasher. Seems like a fair division of duties. Since I prefer to not wash dishes we're among the millions of Americans who "eat out" on a regular basis. We're trying to cut down but who wants to have to be creative enough to plan meals for every day?
I've suggested that we begin to search for the best deals in Abilene. More specifically, where can we share an entree? For instance, at Abuelo's we normally share the Grande. This is plenty for the two of us. It is more than we'd usually spend for a single entree. But sharing it brings the price per person to a level that's more acceptable. I like Abuelo's for the setting. My wife's favorite Mexican food place is Los Arcos [burned recently and we're waiting for it to be rebuilt]. But we don't share those entrees. We'd have trouble deciding who gets the cheese enchiladas.
I think this could be a popular feature. Do you split any menu items locally? Where and What? I'd really like to know what's most popular in Abilene.

Aggravating Facebook posts.

8/28/2015

Alternate title = "Nobody ever reads my status" and other self fulfilling prophecies.
In the olden days there were chain mails promising wealth and other good things if you would just send that letter to 10 other people. If you did not then the missive threatened dire consequences. Now we get the same thing on Facebook.
I am perfectly capable of choosing what I want to like or share. Please do not try to guilt me into doing something just because you did. I've also chosen not to play games on that platform so there's no need to invite me to join in what I am quite sure is an entertaining pastime. Yes, I do realize that you probably did not actually invite me to play that game since my invitation was most likely generated by the promoters/programmers of the game itself.
I'm happy to consider your friend suggestions. But I'm not likely to act on them. I've already got more connections than I can keep up with as it is. An invite from someone I know is a different situation.
One of my managers hosts a "town hall" meeting twice a month. He invites questions about the company. His main rule is: You can't trash other people or organizations. That's a philosophy that would be a great blessing to social media (and talk radio). It is really just a philosophy we all learned years ago from Thumper's mother. "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all."

Hacked on the Highway

8/25/2015

Look for a new word coming to our dictionaries--"Hi-Hacked." You're right. I just made it up to describe a present reality. A recent episode of Scorpion showed both the good guys and the bad guys hacking into an on-board computer to take control of an expensive RV. In an incident of real life imitating art, a recent New York Times (July 24, 2015 - New York edition, page B6) published an account of two technology researchers hacking in and taking control of a vehicle ten miles away. This was not designed to be a "driver-less vehicle."

According to the report:
"As the Jeep Cherokee barreled down a St. Louis highway at 70 miles an hour, the driver . . . was rendered helpless to control the air-conditioning fan, radio, windshield wipers and thee car digital display. The two hackers, sitting with a laptop in a basement 10 miles away, took control of them all, even cutting the engine at one point and bringing the Jeep to a stop as traffic whizzed by. Later they also cut the brakes."

The hackers weren't able to steer the car, but this car wasn't designed to be driven remotely. The hackers accessed those functions by going through the internet connection (think entertainment and phone systems). Worldwide, over 25 million vehicles have connections to the internet. That number is expected to triple within 7 years.

We've known that our bank accounts and identities were at risk. Apparently our cars are at risk, too.

This isn't a Luddite cry about doom and destruction. Automaker Fiat Chrysler has already announced a patch to plug the access point used by the hackers. But it is a reminder that life is filled with mixed blessings.

Earlier this month Abilene was blessed with over 8 inches of rainfall in one day. It was a relief that resurrected a hungry mosquito population. Okay, it did more than that. The resulting floods were destructive. Across Texas several people drowned after being washed away by the rushing waters. But our region was refreshed by the rain and some of our sources of drinking water received a very welcome infusion. Fire is both blessing and curse. Even the opposites of Yin and Yang are normally represented with light within dark and dark within light.

Post Script.
Auto manufacturers are now positioning themselves as blameless for incidents of "hi-hacking." They begin by reminding us that nobody blames the car maker when a vandal slashes a tire. In the same way, the car maker shouldn't be held responsible for damage caused by hackers. Definitely something to think about.

We've been praying for rain

7/7/2015

Looks like we got it. The airport is reporting 6.37 inches today. And it's only 11 am.