Crazy about links

It's a cold and windy day, with lots of time to while away, so I thought I'd share some links I like to use. I'm a sucker for a database.

Texas Unclaimed Property
Texas Crime Records
(List of multiple links)
Texas Criminal History Search
(Small fee for search, less than $5)
Tx DPS Sex Offender Registry
Texas Criminal Dept of Justice Offender Search
Tx Board of Nursing License Verification
Tx Board of Nursing LVN Verification
Tx Board of Nursing RN Verification
Tx Dept of Aging & Disability, Nurse Aide Employability Status
(Employee Misconduct Registry, also includes Medication Aides and other employees at DADS regulated facilities)
Tx Health & Human Services Licensing, Credentialing and Regulation
(Check if Child Daycare or Nursing Homes are licensed, other links)
Tx Comptroller Taxable Entity Search
Texas Sales Taxpayer Search

Fishin' 'n' frackin'

- Sandhill Cranes -

Going down a rabbit hole this week, I discovered that the first Zebco reel was invented by a Rotan man, one R. D. Hull. How this tidbit escaped my dad's encyclopedia of tales, I don't know.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Hull approached Zero Hour Bomb Company in Tulsa with his invention, and they helped him manufacture and market the reel. The company produced electric bombs used in oil field fracturing at the time, in 1949.

I find it interesting when I run across things purported as new that are actually old. I thought all this fracking business was a recent venture, but Zero Hour started in 1932.  Looking back at other articles, fracking seems to have originated in the 1860's, although the materials used to accomplish the fracturing have changed vastly from the first days.

Back to the reel, I have to say that it is an object that has been ubiquitous throughout my life. I have fond memories of fishing off a dock at Lake Sweetwater and taking the kids fishing on local creeks, using simple and cheap Zebcos.

Here's an informational article from the American Oil & Gas Historical Society. There is a misspelled word in there, which usually puts me off, but it's a coherent and well-written documentation of the history of this particular reel, as well as fracking. Make it a game and find the gaff!

This link is just some fun, an article about a house that Hull had built in the shape of a fishing reel.

The photo today is of the incoming migration of Sandhill Cranes that inundate the Mitchell County area each fall. I have a video, but it won't load on here. I only wanted to post it because of the audio. The cranes make a lot of racket with their singing.

I'm wondering-

- questions -

Sometimes I think Google is broken. Sometimes it gives so many answers, I'm overwhelmed. Just one of many love/hate relationships that I'm involved in. Include in that group my cell phone, phone company, and television.

How do people have a good relationship with a doctor? And why do I have to pay the same for a nurse practitioner as a doctor? And it seems like a doctor is only good in an extreme circumstance, such as strep throat or gangrene.

I finally have a good dentist and I am grateful for that. That's a straight up situation. Pull this tooth, it hurts or it's falling out.

Why do magazines think they are my benevolent benefactor? Why do writers think they need to pander to me? Just give me the info, don't tell how to feel or try to lay a guilt trip on me. Work is the same way. Oh, thank you, I was not aware that I shouldn't wear a full wool suit or mukluks and a parka when the temperature is 112 Fahrenheit outside. What would I, a fully-grown person who manages my own life, know what to do without such handy tips?

Why isn't there a place to read a report about what is being sprayed and where by crop-dusters? Why doesn't anyone talk about what goes on at the county appraisal meetings? Why and how do people take over property that isn't theirs and they don't pay taxes on? Why do vehicles seem to be made to where my hand almost fits into a space to turn a screw, but not quite? What is the infatuation with people who have terrible morals and slatternly ways on television? Why does Samantha Bee have her own show? Do people really watch these shows or do the networks just use them as some kind of bad investment write-off? Why are nursing homes so bad but people act like they're fine? Why won't people use their blinkers?

I've become a grumpy old codger. My father would be proud.

Noises in the night

- Tigger? -

The other night, I could hear a pervasive, but almost imperceptive, rumble. I had a stopped up ear, so I couldn't tell if the sound was inside or outside of my head. After a few hours,with the sense that I could feel the sound as well as hear it, I decided to go find the source. I was thinking that fracking must be going on somewhere in the vicinity. It had already gotten dark, so I tried to follow the lights on the horizon, as the sound seemed to be everywhere.

I could have driven all night, because it was a circumstance of take your pick. There's drilling going on everywhere, but it's not so noticeable during the day. Not in Hobbs proper, but along US 180, south of Camp Springs. I've been driving right by the pictured lease and not noticing it. I drive long distances to everywhere, and I tend to automatic pilot from point A to point B.

The location on the Rail Road Commission map indicates this might be Tigger, but I'm not quite sure how to read the legend on the map. The permitted site is across the road from the well. I don't know the rules.

The brilliant Ms. Barr, or perhaps Mr. Werner, or Ms. Gilbert

This article had nothing to do with Hobbs, except that it is written by someone from Hobbs. Just a spin in this author's mind.

The last episode of the original series of Roseanne was very poignant. It's something I think about often.

The show was a product of it's time, even as it was a departure from other series that ran during that era. There were some After-School-Special aspects of a few episodes that I didn't appreciate. I lost weekly focus after they won the lottery. Whether that was due to lack of interest or the ability to watch more than three channels, I'm not certain. I don't even remember if I saw the last show when it originally aired, or in re-runs.

It was simple fare and ground-breaking at the same time, and easy enough to watch. It was also what I was watching when my kids were little. It's familiar and nostalgic for me.

When I heard there was going to be a 2018 continuance of the series, I had mixed feelings. I wanted to watch it (I needed a John Goodman fix), but I didn't see how the writers could resurrect Dan without ruining my affinity for that last episode. I went ahead and recorded the new show on my DVR, just in case I could see a way around it.

Then came the thing that Roseanne said that made everyone upset. I think comments made online are akin to passing notes in eighth-grade. I don't give much credence to them. On the other hand, I don't want to hear any political conversations or mentally involve myself in anything political. The articles that my eye could not avoid made the new show out to be very political. I think politics uses distraction to keep the everyman from looking at real data. With that, the new Roseanne was something I wouldn't even consider watching. I mulled over deleting the recordings after the show was cancelled.

One night last week or so, I was watching tv, one of those three original channels I used to watch in the old days, and a commercial came on and said that Goodman was going to be on the late night show after the news (I guess ALL ads aren't bad). I tuned in just to see him. He was talking about a new show called The Conners, a continuance of the continuance of Roseanne. I was struck by the way he spoke well of Roseanne and deflected any bashes that the host tried to lead. This piqued my interest in the newest show, and I wondered how they would deal with the disappearance of Roseanne. John didn't spoil it by giving details. I put the show on the DVR list, just in case.

Last night, I couldn't find anything to watch, so I pulled up the list and scrolled through. The second episode of The Conners was on there, but not the first. I thought I remembered seeing it on Hulu, so I went there and found it. After watching it, I was surprised and satisfied with the way the absence of Roseanne was dealt with. The new dynamics of old characters was interesting. I zoomed through the two episodes that have been on television so far.

There were some storylines I needed clarification on, though. Thankfully, I found the entire Roseanne reprise series tucked away in my DVR. Again, I was surprised and satisfied, this time with the way Dan's comeback was handled. "Of course!," I thought. I'm not going say exactly what I thought, because that's a spoiler. It was well-crafted and it didn't take anything away from that special last airing in 1997.


I don't think politics is what the show was about. I think it was about a family having the same types of conversations that I would find typical in my family. I heard the political stances from my parents over the years and learned to let it flow over my head, for the most part (Hah! I didn't talk to my mom for several weeks after a blow up over President Bush II). Learning to navigate all topics and not lose my mind is something I have striven for, not always successfully, in my familial dealings.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the second series, and I feel like I have found a jewel in the newest incarnation. I don't know if the grandstanding over the show was intentional or not, but the back and forth of emotions and opinions couldn't have been more carefully orchestrated to lead me to it. I have been drawn in.

I understand that all these shows can be watched somewhere on streaming television, but I think I'm going to go old-school, and enjoy The Conners one week at a time.

The names in the title of this article are all people who have been involved in the production of one or more of these various shows.

Hobbs homecoming time

Hobbs Homecoming will be held October 20th, 9 a.m., in the Hobbs School auditorium. Kyndra Lee will be performing during the ceremony. Lunch will be served in the Hobbs Gym annex afterward.

Cooler weather and reading real books

- Stormy windmills -

During July and August it seemed as though we were under a curse. The penetrating heat went on and on, like it would never end.

Now we are being treated to cooler weather and rain, one day more pleasant than the next. The windmills I've photographed are between Hermleigh and US 180, just as a cold front rolled in yesterday.

I began keeping a record of each day last October, jotting down bills paid or items bought. I looked back to see what the weather was like this day a year ago, but I didn't start noting that information until the end of October. By the 21st it was getting cold in earnest, and the first frost was November 9th, as my record reads.

I've been perusing a few books about some of the most media-exploited crimes of the 1980's and 1990's. What strikes me most in the reading of these books is that many of the people don't seem to be able to speak cognitively. There are so many broken sentences, and putting what should be at the end of the sentence at the beginning. It makes me wonder if we all really talk that way and we subconsciously add in the "and"s, "but"s and "or"s that are missing.

Another thing that bugged me was vagrant inconsistencies, especially in the Downs books. The changing description of the car, for one, kept me turning back the pages (much easier to do with a paper book than a kindle) to confirm that the previous account of the vehicle was different from what was now being offered. Was it a Nissan or a Datsun? Who knows?

They're good, fast reads, though, and if you would like to take a look at them, they are about Wanda Holloway, Diane Downs, and Candy Montgomery. I'm also reading fiction in between. You know, where people speak in a clear and concise manner.

The Templetons of Hobbs

- Templeton family, circa 1946 -

In this photo, from the left front, are Mickey, Haskell, Jimmy Don (Stapleton), Daisy (holding Jimmy Don), Les, then to the back, Johnny (Templeton) Stapleton, Imogene (Templeton) Taggart, and Barbara Taggart.

My grandparents, Daisy and Les, and their four children and the two grandchildren that existed at that time. All are now deceased.

I have this photo in my living room, where it will remind me of the people who came before me. I ponder their lives, and their deaths, and try to divine the meaning of life from their yester-selves. 

You can see that Dad, far left lower, and his niece, Barbara, upper right, were very close in age. Born the same year, in fact, and are only one name apart, alphabetically, on the list of births in Fisher county in 1940.

Dad told me that his mom was embarrassed that she was pregnant at the same time as her daughter, Imogene, and at the age of 38, how scandalous! The grands were given the nicknames Bitty Mother and Big Daddy in an effort to avoid confusion, I guess. I only referred to my grandmother as Daisy, but I saw cards and photos with Bitty Mother written on them. My grandfather died the year before I was born, but there was a lot of talk about Big Daddy when I was growing up.

I was going through my dad's baby book and found that he was called "Michael" when he was born. They referred to him as "Mickey" from the very beginning, but his birth name somehow migrated to "Mitchell". If Dad was here to tell me how that happened, I'm sure it would be a lively story.

Fall fake out

- Lizard with attitude -

Yesterday was the first day of fall, and it lived up to the hype. It was nice and cool. I even turned off the air conditioning and fans.

Today, though, the sun returned with gusto. I'm now sitting here with a sunburn and several mosquito bites after an all day mowing session. The mornings and nights are cooler, which is nice. I guess it's the same as every year, but I still like to comment on it. Safe small talk.

I saw a Texas Spiny Lizard as I was doing my rounds the other afternoon. He seemed to have a more severe expression than the usual lizard. Maybe I was in his path to somewhere.

El Capitan 63 has no equipment on it. No pump or tanks. It looks like no boom is imminent.

Relief from heat

- Well on the hill -

Or so I thought, until I went to mow my yard this afternoon. It's hot and humid and full of mosquitoes out there. There was a mosquito in my truck yesterday, so big I hit it with a stick! I wasn't going to fight hand to hand with that sucker.

They've been back on the hill, working El Capitan 63. It was pretty busy the other day, but now it looks lonely and abandoned. According to the Railroad Commission completion report, it's a shut-in producer. Now y'all go look at all that mess and tell me what it means.

I discovered last week that George Gantt died back in July. I talked to him in April or May and wondered why I hadn't heard back. Boy, that time is flying, ain't it. Another entity gone. Another page in the book of Hobbs dotted with a definite period,