Summer Fading

On some years, we receive a strong cold front, which whisks away Summer, and leads to a morning where there is no doubt the crip, strong north wind heralded the start of Autumn. It's not looking like that will be the situation this year. The afternoon temperatures are still in the nineties, and the morning temperatures are in the low seventies, but they're creeping down. It appears Autumn will not arrive with a bang, but will slowly sneak in with some rain, cooler temperatures, heavy fog, and Winter will appear sometime in November with a cold front that will be surprise with a drastic drop in temperatures. We'll see, but I'll welcome some cooler temperatures, lower humidity, and the lack of the black flies we call "love bugs".

As Though This Just Started Happening

 Tamales are harder to find at many Mexican restaurants.  I've noticed that for a long time. I'm guessing without the cheap labor that was sent home, the cost, and effort, to mass produce tamales isn't something the restaurants want to absorb with the increasing cost of restaurant labor. It's a shame, but in Texas, there are locals that sell tamales by the dozen, and that's all they offer. They're not inexpensive (but what isn't these days?), but to those that know tamales, the cost for the good tamales is worth it. A half dozen, covered with cheese, salsa roja, and some finely chopped onions is what I consider a delicacy. 

Interesting Conversation With a Friend

 I have a friend who raises cattle. He's well aware of the market, how they're processed, and what most affects the price of beef. He told me the current high beef prices are due to a lack of cattle. Between the droughts, and wildfires, the number of cattle to be sold is substantially less, therefore the demand guarantees what is available will cost more. It's that simple, and to increase the supply is a long term event, since calves don't just pop out ready to butcher on demand. Of course, there is imported beef, but that beef requires assurance it meets USDA guidelines, and passes quarantine...if tariffs don't prevent there being any cost savings at the consumer level. 

Will beef supplies increase? Who knows. Range land has been decimated, many ranchers just don't have the money to keep trying, and their efforts will require years to build large herds for sale. We'll see, but the only thing I can do is to only buy what I can afford, and that is much less than in the past. I like beef, but not so much to spend too much of my income to have some.

It Was a Beautiful Morning - Repost 2026

 There are so many young adults that had no personal experience with the events of 9/11. Life went on with their parents, the shock had worn off, and the significance of being attacked by members of a cult that demands the death of those that don't follow their beliefs isn't apparent in today's society. The terror continues today, although you don't find much about in the mainstream media. 

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It was an early Fall. The temperature was in the mid 50's and the skies were crystal clear. I had just finished breakfast and we were driving to the job site in the twilight of dawn. The motel was close to our project site, so the trip was short.

Traffic was light as we placed the advance warning signs and started closing down the inside lane of U.S. 59 in Cleveland, Texas. We had five sections of concrete to pull. We sawed the concrete the day before, drilled lifting holes and now needed to pull the sections of failed pavement and start preparing for the new concrete. The pour was set for 10:00 am.

It didn't take long for the lifting machine to pull the first section of paving. As soon as the broken slab was moved to the shoulder, the crew started drilling holes for the anchors. When the anchors were placed, the crew placed a mat of rebar and moved to the next patch.

The procedure was moving as planned, so all five patches were well on the way to being prepared by 8:00 am. We would be ready for the concrete. I checked the work and started documenting the sizes on a daily report.

Around 30 minutes later, my boss called my cell phone. I assumed he was checking our progress, but he wanted to tell me that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Towers. He didn't have any details. I wondered what failure had led a pilot to fly their small plane into the tower. Bad weather? An error in judgement? I thought about it for a few minutes and then went back to work.

It didn't seem very long after that when my boss called me again, which I thought would be a progress check. It wasn't. He explained that it was a passenger jet that hit the first tower and another had flown into the second tower. He described the preliminary news feeds he was watching on television. I could only stare while my mind raced.

We continued working. My boss kept me informed. It was now clear it was a planned terror attack. He was in contact with the area engineer office for the Texas Department of Transportation. We were working for them and their decisions would decide whether we would pour concrete, which required hours of time to set, or place a temporary material to be removed in the future. The decision was to proceed as we always did, so we prepared for the concrete pour.

Before the concrete arrived, my wife called. She was terrified and wanted me to come home. I told her I couldn't leave until the concrete was poured and we were off the highway. Even then, I couldn't leave if we were to continue with our project. I told her I would come home immediately if the project was shut down, and to go to her mother's if she became too worried.

More information was now available, so I knew there was an immediate call for all air traffic to land. I noticed the absence of air traffic immediately. We were close enough to Bush International in Houston to see the constant flow of air transports, which dwindled and eventually ended.

We poured the concrete and started the process of preparing for the next day. I went to the motel to catch what I could on television. The loops of the impacts, the falling towers and the smoking section of the Pentagon was almost unbelievable. My mind was having a hard time wrapping around the fact we had been attacked and the result was the death of thousands of innocent people.

We finished the day as usual. We were prepared for the next day when we started opening the lane in the early afternoon. I had spent long minutes as we were finishing staring at the empty skies, It was bizarre to not see the heavy air traffic. Contrails from military jets stretched across the skies. I wondered if they were ours, or the jets of an enemy that was in the process of invading.

I had kept in contact with my wife during the day. After I reached the motel, we had a long conversation. She was calmer. I knew she still wanted me to come home, but she understood that it probably wouldn't happen until the week was over. Since I was only about two hours from home, I reassured it wouldn't take long to reach home if anything changed.

Watching television was like watching a fictional disaster movie. I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around the events of the day, but it was becoming clearer that it was a middle eastern terror group. My anger was rising and all I could think of  was how cowardly it was to attack innocents. I wanted our military to bomb half the Middle East to Hell. Kill them all and let God sort them out.

I'll never forget that day. Time stopped and it became apparent that the cruelty in the world is always only moments away. Barbarians had tested our defenses and managed to find a weak spot for their advantage. It wasn't a pleasant thought then and still isn't. I feel no compassion for such people and can only offer their death be swift, although many days I'd prefer they would suffer the agony of those trapped on the upper floors of the World Trade Center Towers.  Even after years, I'm still angry. I'm not ready to forgive, or forget. 

The Luck of the Draw

 A jet, for whatever reason, lands too late, doesn't stop before the end of the runway, slams through a fence, T-bones a crew van, and five people in the van left work for the last time in their life. The NTSB is investigating, attorneys are sharpening their knives, and five families are now adjusting to something totally unanticipated. The families of those that survived in the van are dealing with the horrendous injuries of their loved ones. May God ease their suffering. Prayers are all that is left for them. Whatever happened, the flight crew that survived will have something on their mind that will never leave. 

The video at the following link has an assessment by a professional pilot of what he sees as pilot error for the crash. It's interesting and informative, and doesn't look good for the pilots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm6G7EOP5Qc