Late Saturday Night -- Nothing To Do With The Bakken -- Just Chillin' -- July 23, 2016

Such elitism. This guy has lost all credibility.

I wonder how cool he keeps his hotel rooms. I wonder how cool the conference rooms are kept. I wonder what his monthly air conditioning electricity bill from all his houses adds up to. 

Here in Texas, I don't think it's air conditioners as much as a) lawn care services; and, b) outdoor barbecuing. My hunch is that air conditioners in the states have gotten quite efficient and folks use them judiciously. On the other hand, the lawn mowers I see, the leaf blowers, the edgers, etc., seem to be about as inefficient as ever and way overused. I remember the good ol' days when the only noise caused by mowers was on a Saturday morning for a couple of hours. Now it seems, lawn care is all-day, every day. 

Thank goodness for YouTube to take my mind off nuts like the elitist above.

Surf Riders From The Swamp, Messer Chups
The Munsters theme by Messer Chups.
Surfer Joe Summer Festival, Livorno, Italy, 2015.

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More Surfing

After watching The Endless Summer for the umpteenth time, this video means a lot more to me. I understand a whole lot better the whole "concept" of surfing. I still say it was a shame that The Endless Summer could not have been filmed in high definition.

Pipeline, The Chantays

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Muscle Shoals

By the way, another "shout out" to the reader who introduced me to "Muscle Shoals." You have no idea how often I come across Muscle Shoals music. In a most obscure YouTube video (with all of 342 views), "Almost Persuaded" with this little gem: "For 46 years and two months, no #1 song matched the chart-topping longevity of "Almost Persuaded" until Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" notched its ninth week atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart the week of December 15, 2012." I think "Almost Persuaded" was a signature song of my coming-of-age years.

"Almost Persuaded" was written by Glenn Sutton and Muscle Shoals songwriter Billy Sherrill and first recorded by David Houston in 1966.

And that's why I love the United States: every locale in "America" has something to be proud of, something to be known for, and where anyone can "hit it big."

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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

A huge "shout out" to John Boykin.

The Man Who Liberty Valance, Gene Pitney

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Social Media

I think I've written about this before. A lot of folks don't like Twitter; a lot of folks don't understand Twitter. At one time I fell into both categories.

But, if one understands Twitter, it's an incredible tool. The most important thing, I think, for anyone with a life, is to minimize the number of hash tags one follows. But that doesn't mean staying in a rut. When something is trending, join in, and then when it falls off the radar scope, stop following. For example, right now, our Southlake, Texas, water polo teams (male and female) are participating in the National Junior Olympic competition in San Jose, CA. The boys left Friday and are out there playing now; the girls leave this next Wednesday.

To keep up with what is going on, the water polo team has a Twitter account. Photos and updates are incredible. And most important, the coach can easily remind players when and where to report. Every team member no doubt has a smart phone, and is following along on Twitter.

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Notes To The Granddaughters

Speaking of Livorno, Italy

Your mom and your aunt had a number of trips to Italy when we were assigned to Germany. I do not recall if we ever made it to Livorno; if not, it was one of the few major destinations in Italy we did not visit.

We did so much while we were in Europe for thirteen consecutive years, 1983 - 1996. I can say unequivocally I do not regret having not done more. Having said that, I can think of a lot more things we could have done. But no regrets. 

Without question, the best family "trip" to Italy was when I was sent to Aviana, Italy, a small air base north of Venice, Italy, to provide medical coverage for a full month. It was the first time in my life, if I recall correctly, that I had "banker's" hours, and "no call" after the clinic closed for the day. The clinic closed precisely at 4:00 p.m. every day. The clinic was not open on weekends. It was July, and very, very hot.

Every day, for a full month, I rushed home at 4:00 p.m. and then we headed up into the Dolomite Mountains to cool off. I don't recall the names of any of the villages we visited in the Dolomites. All I remember was how incredibly cool the mountains were and how wonderful the food was. And inexpensive.

Generally when tasked to provide coverage in a temporary setting, families do not accompany the active duty member. But the air base was very accommodating. They provided us a "family suite" in temporary lodging on base. That must have been in 1986.