The World Series!

More drek. More slop. More swill.

Red Raiders Take On Oklahoma!

Is there some way they could both lose? What a waste of time, money and energy. The NFL discovered that football is such a stupid, boring, excuse for a sport, that they had to juice it up. Have you noticed that most of the time, in any football game you care to mention, that nothing is happening? Kill the inane commentary, kill the crowd noise, kill the hype, and you've got not much left. And it means NOTHING. The games signify NOTHING. The sport proves NOTHING. The spectacle is pointless. Sound and fury. I've never been able to understand the appeal.

TTU Overview

Here are some pics overlooking part of the Texas Tech University Campus, taken from an upper floor at University Medical Center. You can see Covenant hospital across the way, and some of the high-rise dorms on campus, as well as part of the Marsha Sharp Freeway. 

Slaton Oktoberfest

Last weekend we attended the annual October fund-raising sausage meal in Slaton. There was a good crowd and by all accounts it was a success. Great German food! Slaton is kind of a "closed" community, in which a few old, founding, families dominate. If you live in Slaton and you are not a Catholic, doors close to you. And if your family name is not Kitten, or Heinrich, or Bednarz, you will never be a leading light. It's just like that. And if you are a member of one of those three prominent families, you will find that exceptions will be made for you. Banks will be more than willing to loan, local law enforcement will be inclined to look the other way. You are better than everyone else, and you will accept that as your due. I base this on my wife's experiences. She lived in Slaton and tried to operate a business there. She knows. She saw. She heard. Slaton is a nice place to visit, but I would not want to live there. That's just our opinion, but it's an opinion based on hard experience. Well, actually, to be honest, my wife's experiences in Slaton led her to HATE the town. She wouldn't live there if you PAID her. Having heard her side of things, I wouldn't live there either. But maybe others have better experiences...

Here are a few pics:

It is time to say goodbye to Floydada...

... with a final flurry of pics. In these pics you will see not only pumpkins, but gourds as well-- and to tell you the truth, if those gourds were not the work of God, the local DA would confiscate them and arrest the people selling them. Cast something like that in latex and put a vibrator in it and in THIS neck of the woods you are in a world of hurt. But no, these are only God's innocent fruits, and they don't wiggle. You will also see a neat old orange VW bug. 

And that is all. We hope to return next year, for the next festival.

Continuing Floydada...

As you can see, I finally got to the pumpkins. A really big one would set you back $100. You'd need a forklift to carry it and a semi to haul it home. You could hollow it out and cut in some doors and windows and have one of those micro houses that seem so popular these days. Cut a slice out of a wall for a quick meal, I guess...

Floyd County Archives

The first two photos are of a model of a tent meeting tabernacle that used to stand in downtown Floydada. I used a macro setting to make the model seem "real". This model is located in the Archives building, right next to the museum.

And the rest are more pics of downtown Floydada during Pumpkin Days...

I still have not come to any of the pumpkins!

 

Floyd County Historical Museum

More pics from the Floyd County Historical Museum, taken during Pumpkin Festival...

This museum documents local history. 

Back to Floydada, again...

... and I hope to have nothing to rant about for a while!

Above, you see a bunch of Tea Party enthusiasts-- just kidding.

A nice old tin ceiling...

More to come.