Please join us for a screening of one episode of Chasing the Tide at UHCL Bayou Theater at 2700 Bay Area Blvd, Bayou Building. This episode features the Galveston coastline, right in our back yard.
After the film we will have a panel discussion moderated by Sandra Metoyer, the executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston. Panelists are as follows:
Jay Kleberg: Founding executive director of The Gulf Trust, Conservationist & filmmaker Adrian Garcia: Harris County Commissioner of Precinct 2, with a major focus on parks and wildlife Suzanne Simpson: Ecologist, wildlife biologist, author, and natural resource manager Michael J. Turco: General Manager of the Harris-Galveston and Fort Bend Subsidence Districts
After the film and discussion there will be a reception with snacks and an opportunity to meet the panelists.
Well that sucked only because I am a Canelo fan and he lost in a 12 decision.
The Fight If you want to watch a fight watch it at home. If you want to experience a fight see it live. Unless you are within 100 feet of the ring you will probably be focusing on the big screens which have a crystal clear picture. That’s what I did as did most in my area. I had a front row seat on the 3rd level. It was great view.
Besides the fight being uneventful (I’ve been to better fights) the event itself was fun. I was disappointed in the fight as well as the lack of playing the National Anthems. The stadium was full of Mexican Nationals and if you have ever heard them sing their anthem you know they sing with pride and LOUD! I was looking forward to it but no anthems were played. That was strange.
Vegas If you want an inexpensive, fun, vacation go to Cancun. Vegas is expensive. Period. $10 beer (12 oz). $20 burgers (no fries). A traditional eggs, bacon, hash browns and coffee will run you $36 which includes a $5 tip. Gambling is way out of my league. I like playing Craps but $25 minimum bet table means I would be betting about $100 for every roll of the dice. I did find a $10 minimum bet table but the thrill was gone and I passed. I joined others at the sports book and watched football prior to the fight. That was fun.
Crystal Mountain Ski Resort. Great view of Mount Ranier.
Visiting other states makes me wonder what the hell I am doing here.
We visited a number of national parks in the area, Cascades, Olympic, Mount Ranier, and Crater Lake. We also visited the cities of Seattle and Portland. Pictures are below. Here are some interesting notes.
VRBO Ghost. OMG. We had 3 couples, 4 bedrooms VRBO house. Every single one of us experienced a double KNOCK KNOCK on our bedroom door and nobody was there. On the last day I was in the kitchen and my door slammed hard enough for people to come out of their rooms wondering who the hell slammed the door! That was very strange!!! When the knock happened to me I said “Come in!” then immediately realized what was happening. There was no one there. Yeow!
Seattle Underground Tour We went on this tour 30 years ago and it is still great! Interesting history of Seattle. If you are in the area take 90 minutes to learn about Seattle and why there is an underground. It is a very interesting tour and very affordable.
Seattle Needle Of course we made the trip up the Needle. It was a clear day and we had some beautiful views! We were told the chowder at Ivar’s was the absolute best in the world. They were right! A bit expensive but the chowder was really good!
Whale Watching We booked a whale watching tour and saw a couple of Orcas. The boat ride was just beautiful. Sunny day. Cool. Just perfect. We took a ferry to Bainbridge. That was interesting because there were two military ships being paraded through the area by tugboats spouting water. The sailors were all lined up on the ships.
Portland My main reason to go to Portland was to visit my good friends son who manages a comedy show venue. My friend and I have known each other for over 50 years. We surprised the hell out of him and watched a real good comedy show. The venue hosts some top entertainers including James Austin Johnson who plays trump on SNL. If in Portland go see a show and ask for James! Portland Helium Comedy Club.
Status of the Parks The only thing I can say I noticed was the maintenance of the bathrooms. Many were not working. Many were not clean to the point people walked into the woods instead of using the facilities. Other than that I didn’t see any impact to the cuts in funding.
Instead of working to settle our stock market our Senators are working hard to bring one of the Space Shuttles to Houston. It’s not like we miss it, because we really don’t and it may not be all you think it might be. Houston failed in their bid to house a Shuttle back in 2010 when the program ended. From what museum experts tell me, it is a museum piece and the bid had to show how it would attract visitors and how it would be paid for. For Houston, failure was an option. (Ugh) And they failed spectacularly. According to the Houston Chronicle:
One went to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, another went to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Space Shuttle Discovery went to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Virginia.
Another, the Enterprise, went to New York and was put on the Intrepid aircraft carrier. The Enterprise never flew. It was used only for gliding and landing tests. It had no engines. You can view it on the carrier (above), walk underneath it, and observe it from a platform. Like the other shuttles you can’t touch it. You can’t walk in it. You can’t look into the cockpit. It is all hands off. But….Space Center Houston received the Woody.
The Woody is a replica of the Shuttle and was housed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was moved here after Kennedy’s winning bid to secure a Shuttle. Woody sits on top of a 747 at Space Center Houston and is actually a very interesting exhibit. You can walk through the bay, look into the cockpit, and actually touch it unlike the other ones.
Sure it would be great to have a real Shuttle but at what cost? Who will pay to move it to Houston and mount it on the 747? Is that even possible? It would have to be removed from the Smithsonian, moved to an airport, mounted on a modified 747, flown to Houston, removed from the 747, moved to Space Center Houston, and then mounted on the 747. The Woody would have to be removed and either dismantled or moved to another location. It ain’t going to happen.
Cornyn was in office in 2010. He should have paid more attention to the bidding process so Houston could have secured a Shuttle.
It’s the second time SpaceX blew up within a few months. This is not normal.
One of the last classes I took at NASA was a course concerning Root Cause Analysis. It was a class teaching how NASA conducts an investigation to determine the cause of an accident. NASA has standards to determine if an independent RCA is to be conducted. At the time I believe the standards included the loss of life, or injury to an individual, and/or the loss of a mission that is over $1 Million. The Challenger and Columbia accidents are examples. Unlike these two SpaceX accidents did not result in a loss of life but they have all resulted in huge economical impacts.
At the time of the class SpaceX had just experienced one of their many accidents. I asked if NASA would be involved in this RCA. The instructor was reluctant to address this because the contract between NASA and SpaceX allowed them to self investigate their accidents. So SpaceX has investigated over and over again and yet their RUFUS continue. Something is truly f***ed up.
As with any other NASA investigation an independent group of experts perform a deep dive into the accident and will issue a detailed report. Have w never seen a detailed report from SpaceX? All we read about the accidents are what SpaceX gives to the media and then the accidents continue.
Maybe one day SpaceX will stop learning from their fuck ups and start learning how to prevent their fuck ups. This isn’t a fucking game. This explosion cause air traffic to stop on the east coast. I spewed debris over the launch area. If the root cause of these accidents is not adequately investigated what else could we lose?
For the last 5 years or so I have managed a friendly Super Bowl pool. All money paid out. $10/Square. Instant winners with squares 2-2 5-5 8-8 or 9-9 $25. $200/Qtr $100/Final Pick a square. Send me money! Good luck! paypal, venmo, or zelle johncoby@sbcglobal.net CashApp johncoby2. Once all squares are taken and paid for I will live stream the numbers.
Check the link below periodically for available squares:
This was my “after the wedding” trip. It was absolutely awesome!
My wife and I took a trip to Italy to visit Rome, Venice, and Milan. It was one of those touristy trip, hitting all the highlights, the Coliseum, Pompeii, Herculaneum, The Vatican, The Pantheon, the canals of Venice, and the Duomo di Milano. All of the tours we took were just incredibly interesting. It’s all a must see. Here are my notes and travel tips.
Lessons Learned. The hard way. My packing lists has extra clothes in my carry on. I forgot and it cost me. Do yourself a favor and put that on the top of your packing list.
American Airlines. You can’t fault an airline for rerouting you because of the weather but when they lose your luggage for 4 days and there is no way to call customer support for help (because they do not have customer support) it is pretty frustrating. Try calling AA and talking to a real person except for making and paying for a reservation. They will quickly take your money but good luck when you have a problem. Very frustrating experience. I fly Southwest for domestic travel and I can talk with customer support within a minute or two.
Bathrooms. Keep $5 in euros in your pocket because most bathrooms, except for restaurants, charge a euro. Seriously. The airports did not but the train stations did, the public bathrooms, bathrooms at the various tourist attractions did. LOL. You have to love the Europeans!
Accommodations. We stayed a half a block from The Pantheon. Very nice. The Dimora degli Dei. Yes, it is in the touristy area but it was so convenient to all the attractions. Walking distance to most. The staff was wonderful! In Venice we stayed at the Ambassador Tre Rose in San Marco. It was a very small, but clean and comfortable, room. We had a laugh at how small it was. The staff was just outstanding! We have nothing to compare it to but it was small. In Milan we stayed at the Brunelleschi Hotel. It was just around the corner from the Doumo. Beautiful room. Great staff. We returned to Rome and stayed in the Donna Camilla Savelli. Beautiful, wonderful staff, top notch!
Travel. We flew. Took a train from Venice to Milan and Rome to Naples. Rode the boats to Venice. Took a bike tour. And used uber/taxis for travel. When you use your Uber app they will list taxis also. They are cheaper and if you do not have luggage it is a great option. Just an FYI. If you don’t use the app at the airport and get into a taxi line, make sure you have cash to pay the driver. Good tip: Use the Uber app. BTW the drivers in Italy are aggressive!
The trains between Rome and Naples and Venice to Milan were fantastic! If you arrive 30 minutes ahead you are probably going to be early! We had to wait for the train number to be posted on the TV screens which usually was 15-20 minutes before departure. We spent a little more and booked a first class ticket and enjoyed the lounge while waiting. Tickets are checked like the old days, on the train while it is moving.
Food. We tried the pizza. Once. It is not like American pizza and certainly not like Chicago pizza. It was boring. Try it. Once. The lasagna was so much better than the US but don’t expect a lot of meat in your meat lasagna. All the other pasta plates were very different and good! Breakfast was mostly pastries. It made me wonder if the diabetes rates were higher than the US. (They are not) Inflation didn’t seem to have taken over Italy like in the US. We thought everything was very well priced. And coffee was European. I’m not an espresso fan. An Americano was a small cup of instant coffee. They charge for refills. LOL. Even the Starbucks screwed up American coffee.
Rome. We booked tours via Viator. We have had good experiences with them. All the tours we took, except for the boat ride in Rome, were outstanding! Again we did the touristy stuff and toured the Coliseum, The Forum, The Vatican, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Pantheon. Skip the boat ride in Rome. It was uneventful. Boring. Everything else was just incredible!!!!
Venice. Unlike the other cities there are two ways to travel in Venice, boat or foot. That is it. There are no bikes, scooters, vespas, cars, nothing but boats and feet. We took a walking tour of Venice which is highly recommended. There is a mall that used to be a trading center for Germans that has a roof top viewing platform. It’s free but you have to have a ticket for a 15 minute viewing.
Milan. We stayed just around the corner from the Duomo di Milano. What a beautiful cathedral! Our tour through Milan included the painting of the Last Supper. That was interesting. The two paintings in the room were painted using different methods, fresco and dry. The dry painting of the Last Supper is faded and has required restoration. The other painting is pristine. Beautiful. Tourists are only allowed to be in the church for no more than 15 minutes.
Put on your walking shoes and visit Italy. Next stop for us, Tanzania!
The Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is proposing to widen the waterway of Horsepen Bayou running through the west end of Bay Oaks. Much like Exploration Green it will provide flood control as well as a beautiful area for hikers, bikers, and families. HCFCD has a great record of achievement thoughout the area with new trails, trees, and flood mitigation. It’s a win-win for everyone, but there are those who are against progress and improvements.
Unfortunately in this day and age misrepresenting the facts has become a very powerful tool much like the Big Lie about the 2020 elections. Much like those who opposed Exploration Green the Bay Oaks a group within the Community Association has sounded the alarm about the development. Whether they are misrepresenting the facts or not will be determined later but it’s clear they do not want this development to happen. According to their latest newsletter it’s gloom and doom for the area including displacing wildlife and “bald eagles” and ignoring an alternative design much like the Friends of the Old Golf Course proposed when opposing Exploration Green.
I found this to be very interesting for a number of reasons. It’s like Exploration Green all over again only with an anti-government twist. The very existence of the HCFCD is to control flooding as their name says. This project is to do just that and more. It’s good to have a healthy mistrust of government but it has to be fair and truthful. Yes, just like Exploration Green the development of the area will be uncomfortable but the result will be worth it. With all the great work the HCFCD has done in the last 10 years it is hard to think they are purposing destroying the natural habitat of the endangered Country Clubber.
This should be interesting to watch. From the Bay Oaks Community Newsletter:
A Million Miles Away tells the story of Jose Hernandez, a migrant turned Astronaut. Hernandez is played by Michael Pena. It’s an amazing story of Hernandez coming to America as a child with his family to work the fields in California and eventually being picked by NASA to fly as a mission specialist on the Shuttle.
At times it’s a bit corny and there are scenes at Johnson Space Center that are not at Johnson Space Center but most people will never know that. Hernandez has a cameo appearance in the movie. It’s a great movie to kick off Hispanic Month.
BTW. Hernandez wife, Adela, opened a restaurant across the street from JSC Credit Union outside the north gate of JSC. My club would have weekly lunches there. We loved Adela!
If you have Amazon Prime, take some time to watch it.
Posted by johncoby 
Bay Area Houston 
