Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Henri Mazza and Sarah Pitre Wedding May 5, 2012
Camp Balcones Springs is located about 825 feet above sea level in the foot hills of west Texas. It is a summer camp for young boys, with water type sports.
Unfortunately, I had motion sickness by the time we arrived, we did not do any of the water sport that Henri and Sarah had plan for their guests to enjoy doing before the wedding.
While the camp site looked real nice and the wedding was good, we look forward to heading home to Lake Jackson.
Fortunately, one of my brother-in-law told us that traveling into Marble Falls, then during south along the west side of Austin was probably a lot better than the way we came. And it was.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Habitat for Humanity of Southern Brazoria County
Dedication of House 82 is on Sunday,May 6, 2012, at 2PM. This weekend we worked on the Landscaping of House 82. About two dozen people showed up the help.
I took about 70 pictures and post them to Flickr. Unfortunately, because the sewer line has not been connected we could finished the landscaping. Hopefully it will done on the Saturday before the Dedication. Of course, this not the first time Habitat did a house dedication with the home not 100% per cent ready. But Habitat will finish the home.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Rude, crude and sneaked-in food - Bakersfield.com
Most people who go to the movies are pretty courteous.
Then there are the exceptions.
Michael Armendariz, the manager of Starplex Cinemas in Bakersfield, has seen slightly rude, overtly rude and audaciously rude.
Like virtually all cinemas, Starplex discourages customers from bringing in their own food, but on one occasion even Armendariz was amazed by the audacity of movie-goers when he entered a theater to find two large pizza boxes discarded by customers.
"I always wondered how someone managed to sneak in two full boxes of pizza," he says, laughing. "I mean, how do you do that?"
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Habitat for Humanity of Southern Brazoria County House 81
This Habitat build is sponsored by St. Michael's Catholic Church of Lake Jackson.
At this point on most of the volunteer work is done and contract labor have begun.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Vality 40 years ago
Bill Levin’s voice had to bounce off the giant five panes of glass windows with their two dozen or so artificial squares with the fake froze sprayed in each bottom right hand corner. Back to the “Ski” store, for he had used the sound intercom in the courtesy booth, to make his announcement, so voice boom threw out the four corners of the store. “So Vality employees can spend Christmas Eve home with their families! This store was now closed!”
But his words fall on deaf ears as the customers continued to shop. It was about this time, Mr. Grillo sent me from the Camera Department out into the snow to help clear the parking lot of shopping carts.
It had been snowing all day long. Now after the sun had set, winter winds still blowing snow flurries around. I push my first dozen or so of shopping carts in the store, passed the courtesy booth, turning at the Jewelry counter and down the middle of the store. Then a hard right into the railing was facing the snack bar. It did not matter where the first shopping carts landed, because the second group of carts would push them in to place. It was only as I left the second group of carts I heard Bill Levin yelled at me, “Come on, Bartolomeo! Push those cars, Bartolomeo!” I quickly fled back into the park lot and turned with more carts. “Come on, Bartolomeo! Push those cars, Bartolomeo!” Levin’s voiced egg me on. Bang! The Third group of carts, now one row of carts was done. Now for the second row of carts, “Come on, Bartolomeo! Push those cars, Bartolomeo!” Mr. Levin’s voice was beginning to piss me off. Bang! Second…and third groups of carts, “Come on, Bartolomeo! Push those cars, Bartolomeo!” Bang! Finally the group of carts I ram home as Bill Levin called out. “Come on, Bartolomeo! Push those cars, Bartolomeo! Let’s moving it, Bartolomeo!”
By now I was becoming really pissed as I rammed home the last group of shopping carts. I was tired and going on 50+ hour that week, but there was Bill Levin still egging me on. I look across the shopping carts at Bill Levin standing at the snack bar with most of the Vality management staff and his wife and two step kids. For reasons only know to God and maybe Charles Dickens, I called out to Bill Levin in my best fake English accent, “Merry Christmas, Ebenezer!” And then I left to get more shopping carts.
Maybe I just too tired the think, or just too tired to care at the time, but it never occur to me called the president of store, “Ebenezer!” was not a good thing to do. Never mind I did not called him, “Ebenezer Scrooge!” just “Ebenezer!” which looking back these forty years maybe, just maybe I could apologize and say I am sorry. But that was not in the cards that Christmas Eve.
Being Eighteen or Nineteen years ago at the time, I wore the blind faith of native stupid around my neck. So as I pushed the next group of cart into the store, Mr. Bill Levin standing there by the jewelry cases. Now maybe I really did not care or I as just too tired to care when he started with, “Bartolomeo! I am going to fix you! So you can not call me a cheap Son of Bitch!”
Why I did not keep my mouth shut I will never know. Maybe it was the stupidly of youth shining through. Instead my mouth was running on autopilot. “Sir, I never, ever called you cheap!” Which was true I never called Mr. Levin “cheap”. Nor did I ever called him a SOB, either seem to get lost there, too. But I will never know what he was going to say next, because Mr. Levin had spun around and called out, “Grillo, come talk to your employee!”
Now the idea that I had crossed the line somehow slowly began to dawn on me. Like the Ghost of Christmas Past Grillo descended upon me. He basically told me to behave myself and quit picking on Mr. Levin. Then he returned to the Christmas party. But yet his eyes, I swear, were laughing at me as he left.
The next two gentlemen I ran into by the greeting card display were not Ghost of Christmas Present. Nor they were any other Christmas spirit. Somewhere in their childhood someone had stolen their sense of Christmas spirit. And that saddens me.
By the time I reached the Camera Department ran into The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. With his reading glass on his head, he was picking on Ralph, the Camera manager. He told me to behave my self and not to pick on Mr. Levin. Then he invited Ralph to join the Christmas party. He also told me to get out of my wet snow coat and join the Christmas party, which I did.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Starplex Cinemas 14 Christmas party
The food was what locals call Tex-Mexican Cuisine, some enchilada, and tamale with rice & refried beans. [I was glad that I brought a pound of cooked shrimp to this feast. I ate the last few of the shrimp before the kids ate the rest of them.] I only stay a hour and before headed home to bed.
Sadly to say but someone stole one of our Chipmunks display. Yes, Some customer [I presumed, a customer and not employee] stole Simon, the older Chipmunk early last week. The really sad thing is watching all of the little kids standing around of their mother takes their picture with the two other remaining Chipmunks knowing that we are missing Simon. Ah, yes the wonders of the I-pod !
UPDATED DECEMBER 31,2011
All three of our Chipmunks display are gone!
The sad thing is after a week or two, the person who stole them will trash them because they are now bored with the them.
sign