Life in the 21st century
Dec 19 2006
Congratulations to my friend, John Little on winning the 2006 Weblog Award for his Blogs of War site. John is a pioneer in the blogging world and has helped many of us start our own blogs. He continues to experiment with techniques to improve the reach of his blog while also refining his writing style.
This award is very well deserved and long overdue!
Congratulations John!
Dec 15 2006
Arguably the greatest player to ever wear an Astros uniform has announced his retirement today:
After 15 seasons, Jeff Bagwell put an official end to his stellar career on Friday, confirming what has been considered as inevitable for several months. Bagwell, the greatest hitter in the 45-year history of the franchise, announced that he is retiring from baseball.
Thanks for the memories Jeff.
Dec 15 2006
You know, this is the type of story you would only hear about in Texas. A local Houston real estate agent has decided to step-up the incentive to buy a new home.
Instead, [Julie Upton] placed an advertisement offering a pistol with the purchase of any home worth at least $150,000 in the city police department’s monthly publication, “Badge & Gun.”
The free guns are only for those in law enforcement, said Upton, who is married to a police officer.
OK. Only for law enforcement. Police officers have the ability to buy their own guns and a new Glock costs between $450 – $550. That seems like a reasonable incentive for cops who want to buy a house. It certainly caught my attention:
“It’s attracted a lot of attention,” she said of her ads in Badge & Gun, the monthly publication of the Houston Police Officers’ Union. She said she came up with the idea with help from Blue Cat Creative Consulting and Design.
Upton has given away two Glocks. “So (the ad) has already paid for itself,” she said. But not all of her law enforcement customers have been interested in another gun.
I’m just reminded of advice I was given when moving to Texas. “If someone cuts you off, don’t honk. Chance are, they have a gun in the car with them and you don’t want to make them mad.”
Nov 28 2006
I had the good fortune to be at this game and witness Sam McGuffie live.
Check this out:
McGuffie rushed for 376 yards that night with 8 touchdowns. Oh yeah, he’s only a Junior.
Sep 25 2006
I took this picture last night as Roger Clemens pitched in his final regular season home game.
I suspect this could be the last time he pitches in Houston. If you need further proof, check out that sunset!
Aug 14 2006
School districts are facing a problem; filling classrooms with teachers. One logical solution to this problem would be to work hard and retain the valued services of experienced, district-trained teachers. These are teachers who have been indoctrinated to district methodologies as well as the policies and procedures. What is the cost of not retaining your employees?
As most HR managers know, the cost of turnover adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company’s expenses. While it is difficult to fully calculate the cost of turnover (including hiring costs, training costs, productivity loss), industry experts often quote 25% of the average employee salary as a conservative estimate. For example, if the average salary is $20,000/yr the cost of one employee turnover is $5,000.
In school districts, 25% of $41,000 is $10,250 per teacher. Business has learned this lesson and it makes logical sense to apply the same principle to schools. Right?!?
Wrong. Take a look at some example salary schedules of local Houston school districts and their salary schedules according to their own web sites:
In these 5 districts, starting teachers average $40,754. Not a bad start to a profession. However, after 10 years of experience, the average salary has only gone up to $45,227. That means after 10 years, teachers can look forward to a service pin and a whopping $4,473 raise over their un-experienced colleagues. On top of that, these teachers are expected to mentor the younger teachers; after all, they are just learning the job.
Most offensive is Spring Branch ISD where a teacher with 6 years of experience earns $707 more than their unexperienced peers. Why on earth would someone want to stay with a district that so clearly is looking only for new employees?
Note to Spring Branch parents: What type of teacher would you rather have teaching your children, brand new or exprienced. Remember that at the next board/bond election.
Why are districts having problems holding on to teachers? Try valuing your resources and realizing that service can and should be rewarded.
Local school district salary schedules:
Aug 14 2006
A study conducted by the Appleseed Foundation is showing that the cost of being the most neighborly city in the world is starting to mount.
Houston took in 150,000 evacuees — the most of any U.S. city — after Katrina struck on Aug. 29. Houston police believe the evacuees are partly responsible for a nearly 17.5 percent increase in homicides so far this year over the same period in 2005.
About 21 percent of Houston’s 232 homicides through July 25 involved an evacuee as either a suspect or a victim, according to police, who attribute much of the bloodshed to fighting among rival New Orleans gang members.
Why is this such a problem for Houston? The Houston Chronicle explains:
Houston had more evacuees, most of them people who couldn’t get out of New Orleans and had to be rescued after the storm hit. The city received a lot of New Orleans’ poor who did not have the resources to evacuate on their own, and many arrived with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Many were also physically or mentally ill.
I remember driving down to the Astrodome the morning after all the victims came to Houston. I, like many of my fellow Houstonians, loaded the car with supplies, waited in line for the throngs of donors, deposited my goods in the astonishing assortment of materials, and spent a few minutes talking with the victims before driving home. Seeing those faces; the shattered looks and hopelessness will stay with me forever and made me incredibly proud of my city. Houston was extending a hand to our neighbors in need and literally giving the shirt off our backs to help out.
At the time, people outside of Houston asked me why we did it. Why did we open our hearts and even homes to complete strangers? Frankly, I couldn’t imagine any other way.
Now, Houston is paying the price and some tough choices are facing our city. What do we do with the growing crime rate? What do we do if we are presented with this choice again? What is the true cost of being neighborly in today’s world? We’ve been removed from consideration (again) for the Olympics in 2016, we continue to be the butt of jokes:
You Know You’re From Houston When…The name “Bud Adams” makes people snarl, and “Bum Phillips” doesn’t mean a bad screwdriver.
and we will never live down, “Houston, we have a problem.”
What do we do as a community? How can the best of intentions turn out this badly? I guess it is actually true, we do have a problem.
Others blogging:
Aug 10 2006
I simply can’t pass this one up. Roy Oswalt, ace pitcher of the Houston Astros, has added a new tool to his bag of tricks, a home run bat.
For the first time in his professional career, Oswalt drove a ball out of the park. It was an eye-high fastball without a lot of fast and Oswalt yanked it to left, into the Crawford Boxes. As Oswalt rounded the bases, he thought of his father:
“I thought about my dad, because he usually gives me grief that I should hit the ball out of the park,” Oswalt said. “I think he finally realized how hard it is. I’ve let him get in the batting cage before and turned the batting machine up 90-something miles per hour to let him see firsthand how hard it is to square it up.
“When my dad played softball, he liked the ball up above the zone, where he could kind of swing up at the ball — I guess like tomahawking the ball. That’s the way he hit, and I feel comfortable swinging at balls that high.”
He rounded the bases, stepped on home, got a high-five from Adam Everett, then headed into a silent dugout. The Astro players gave Oswalt the “ho-hum” treatment as he walked from one side of the dugout to the other. Of course, it didn’t last long. Everyone shared warm congratulations with Oswalt then forced him up for a curtain-call.
Taking a cue from Oswalt, the Astros unloaded the lumber and won 14-1. It was one of those nights that remind you what is right with pro sports; the unlikely can happen, even to the good guys.
Also blogging:
Aug 02 2006
Thanks to tip from blogHOUSTON, I’ve learned that Time Warner Cable is pulling out of the Houston market and Comcast is moving in. The story originated on the KTRK Consumer Blog:
According to the division president of Time Warner Cable cable, the company is giving control of the Houston market to Comcast under an agreement reached back
in 1985.The two companies have been swapping markets recently after closing a deal to buy up bankrupt Adelphia cable.
The Houston cable swap will not take place until January 1st 2007 at the earliest.
Why is Time Warner pulling out of Houston? David Barron, columnist with the Houston Chronicle, wrote this on Monday:
Coming soon, presumably, to your Chronicle: NFL Network’s stepped-up ad campaign encouraging Time Warner Cable customers to de-mand access to NFL Network.
“We’ve gone quietly, trying to get something done, and going quiet with them isn’t working,” said network spokesman Seth Palansky. “We’ve got to get to our fans and let them know about the issue.”
The situation is particularly irksome in Texas, where Time Warner is the primary cable operator in Houston, Waco, Austin and San Antonio, among others. Time Warner also will operate the Dallas system in an assets swap with Comcast, which carries NFL Network, and is expected to drop the network in that market. …
Apparently, the NFL is exerting more force on Time Warner that we thought. Or, as so eloquently stated by The Times’ Sports Free for All:
If the Corleone family is need of a new godfather, they can turn to NFL commish Paul Tagliabue.
Update: The Houston Chronicle’s TechBlog has the story now with latest information.
jkOnTheRun was also out early with Internal memo leaks news of Time Warner Houston dissolving- customers to be switched to Comcast.
Looks like the blog world has been busy again.
Also blogging:
Jul 28 2006
It’s almost over. The long, dark, and quiet time has nearly passed. That missing element is about to return to your life. Yes, NFL Training Camps have begun!
The start of training camp signals the return of the wonder that is football. Sorry, American Football; where we revere the ball enough to actually hold it in our hands. The sport that matches the strategy of master tacticians with the brute force of gladiators. All the raw energy one can handle; packaged in a nice little 3 hour box with 360 degree viewing and instant replay!
Training camp means thousands of hopeful men will be pushing their bodies to the limit with the hopes of grabbing one of the precious 53 roster spots. It’s the chance for this season’s “Rudy” to emerge.
I’ve donned my Texans polo, hung my flag, pulled my Texans lanyard out of the drawer, and feel the stirrings of possibilities again. After all, it can’t get any worse than last year!
