Author: Dick

“Quote the Raven: Nevermore.”

A really good reason exists why I have this picture of a couple of grackles sitting on the bed of my pickup truck as seen from my outside rearview mirror. Unfortunately, I don’t know what that reason is.

This is among the photos I took during a week’s comp time back in January in which I cut a wide swath across Texas and Louisiana. The photo was taken as I waited to catch the ferry in Cameron, Louisiana. That’s back when I had a job. It seems so long ago.

Oh yeah, now I know. Truck. I wanted a photo of my truck and this is all I have digitally. I was going to use a picture of my ’98 Toyota Tacoma to pontificate on how doing it yourself doesn’t always equal doing it right.

I set out to do two tasks that should be relatively simple for even someone as ignorant about automobile mechanics as I am. That would be changing the air filter and changing the PCV valve. What do these things do? Well, let’s see. The air filter, I suppose, filters air. It collects all the dust, tumbleweeds, marijuana, Corn Nuts and assorted other paraphernalia before such objects wind up in your automobile’s gisdetta. PCV stands for pernicious composite voltage which doesn’t at all explain its function because I made that up, just like gisdetta. But whatever the function of these creatures are they, like babies, need changing from time to time. Fortunately, you usually don’t encounter baby crap while changing a PCV valve or air filter just as you don’t usually experience busted knuckles and grime changing babies’ diapers. Okay, some of you may. I’m not saying everyone doesn’t.

The air filter was literally a snap, or literally four snaps. But I couldn’t get the PCV valve out. I tried and tried and tried some more resulting in blisters on five fingers, three of which are now bandaged. Finally, I couldn’t take it any more. I took it to this shop where this nice man yanked out the old valve in about 9/10 a nanosecond. “You just wanted someone to break it out,” he said. Which I did, but I just didn’t have the skin left to do it. He didn’t charge me anything, the most decent thing that happened to me today. I guess the least I can do is plug his garage: Winslow’s at the intersection of Calder and Kennedy in Beaumont, Texas. Many thanks.

It appears Tropical Storm Cindy knew I wouldn’t be at home if she came knocking so she decided to go in the other direction. The latest forecast discussion from the National Hurricane Center says:

“THE STORM APPEARS TO BE MOVING DUE NORTH…AND A WEAK SHORTWAVE
TROUGH APPROACHING THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IS EXPECTED TO INDUCE A
TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST WITHIN 12-24 HOURS. THEREFORE THE
OFFICIAL TRACK FORECAST IS ADJUSTED SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT OF THE
PREVIOUS ONE.”

That previous track had been to the east of where they figured the storm would go Monday afternoon, which was somewhere along the central Louisiana coast. That was after the previous forecast that it could hit somewhere along the Texas-Louisiana border.

It is somewhat disappointing. Not that I want to get a direct hit from a tropical storm, but the fact we probably won’t get any rain or temporary relief from these hellish temperatures. Do you know what you call the downside of living in Texas? July and August. But we don’t do much winter around here. That’s an upside.

For the time being, at least, I’ve installed a counter at the bottom of my blog. I don’t know how good these things are at measuring traffic. But it’s something to do. It is kind of like the highway department counting traffic.

“Yep. That’s 20,140. Yep. That’s 20,141. Yep. That’s 20,142 … “

But like the dog chasing the car, what does the highway department do with the traffic count? They make maps. And charts. And they come up with ideas of what kind of road they would build at that specific location if only they had the money — which they don’t.

What will I get from the counter? Who knows. It says I’ve had 7 visitors in the past 24 hours. That’s reassuring. Somehow. Maybe I will build a better blog using this information. Maybe I will just stay in bed.

Let’s swim out of here guys, the media is up there

You sometimes hear someone say: “The news is always negative. Why isn’t there more positive news?” Ha. Ha. Ha. Funny one. That person isn’t dealing with reality and needs to be attacked by a shark. Not really but it is kind of naive wishful thinking. You see, the news gives the public what they want. If the public wants wrecks and fires and shark attacks, the media is only happy to give those stories to them.

When sharks attack it is news. You have conflict between man (or woman or child) against shark. Sometimes man wins. And sometimes not. Why have a story about someone turning 102 years old when you can have bloody conflict? Well, when the sharks go, then is the time to find someone turning 102. But you have to work those stories pretty fast, if you get my drift. Or, if you have someone who just happened to turn 102 at the beach and she beat off a shark attack with her cane, that would work even better.

It thus was not surprising that when a school of sharks were spotted near Sea Rim State Park in our county over the weekend that the story was prominent both on television and in the daily newspaper. KFDM-TV is reporting on its Web site that another school was spotted this morning near Sea Rim. It is July 4th weekend and you figure a lot of people are going to the beach, so while you may not yet have a big story you have a big story waiting to happen.

Certainly I don’t advocate sharks attacking humans. I don’t think that even reporters are that twisted. Okay, I stand corrected. Some are that twisted. But the majority of sane people don’t want anyone to get et by a shark. Hopefully we will make it through this summer without a shark attack in Jefferson County. But if it does happen be prepared to read and hear a lot about it. ‘Cause it’s news.

Disclaimer: I am not working as a reporter for anyone right now. I am, however, receiving a hefty amount of grouper from the sharks lurking off our coast in return for my kind words about their benevolent activity.

The tropics are so depressing. Not really, but a tropical depression has caught my attention. Tropical Depression 3 as it is called could become Tropical Storm Cindy or maybe even Hurricane Cindy. It is over the Yucatan Peninsula right now. Forecasts for hurricanes can be tricky, particularly at this stage. But if it follows the path that forecasters expect the storm could within a couple of days barrel northward through the Gulf of Mexico, head up Sabine Lake into the Neches River and take a direct pathway westward down my street, walk up the stairs and knock on my door. In such a case I probably won’t be at home. But I might.

But for real, the path it might take could hit around here somewhere on either the upper Texas or western Louisiana coasts. So I am keeping an eye out. Well, I’m not really keeping an eye out. That might be gross. I am being somewhat vigilant though.