ROSENBERG (Houston Business Journal) – Nissan Motor Co. is set to become the first tenant at the 800-acre CenterPoint Intermodal Center–Houston metro hub.
Railroad operator Kansas City Southern (KCS) and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) have agreed to establish a finished-vehicle distribution center at the 800-acre intermodal and automotive logistics park located 35 miles southwest of Houston.
The center will act as a regional automotive distribution center for Nissan in Texas.
The new facility will allow European-based WWL to provide Nissan vehicle distribution services in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma from a single site.
Completed in June, the park is a joint development project of Illinois-based CenterPoint Properties and KCS Railway Co.
NEW YORK (Forbes.com) – Dallas, Houston and Austin are among the top four U.S. cities in which to earn a living, according to Forbes Magazine.
The magazine found Dallas to be the most desirable city in the nation to live and work, while Houston was second and Austin came in fourth.
Among the best reasons to take up residence in Houston or Dallas, according to Forbes, is the number of top-ranked companies headquartered in each city: 38 and 15, respectively.
The rankings were determined by median income, cost of living, job growth and the quality of the business environment.
Bus Stop In a crowded city at a busy bus stop, a beautiful young woman who was waiting for a bus was wearing a tight mini skirt.
As the bus stopped and it was her turn to get on, she became aware that her skirt was too tight to allow her leg to come up to the height of the first step of the bus.
Slightly embarrassed and with a quick smile to the bus driver, she reached behind her to unzip her skirt a little, thinking that this would give her enough slack to raise her leg.
Again, she tried to make the step only to discover she still couldn't.
So, a little more embarrassed, she once again reached behind her to unzip her skirt a little more, and for the second time attempted the step, and, once again, much to her dismay, she could not raise her leg.
With a little smile to the driver, she again reached behind a third time to unzip a little more and again was unable to make the step.
About this time, a large Texan who was standing behind her picked her up easily by the waist and placed her gently on the step of the bus.
She went ballistic and turned to the would be Samaritan and yelled, "How dare you touch my body! I don't even know who you are!"
The Texan smiled and drawled, "Well, ma'am, normally I would agree with you, but after you unzipped my fly three times, I kinda figured we was friends!"
GALVESTON (Associated Press) – A year after Hurricane Ike destroyed thousands of homes in Galveston, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has announced a $135.4 million plan to fight beach erosion and defend the coast against hurricanes.
Patterson said the plan marks the biggest effort of its kind in Texas history.
Work will begin immediately on 26 projects spanning the Texas coastline. The biggest will be a more than $46 million beach renourishment that will replace sand over a six-mile stretch from the west end of Galveston's seawall.
Other projects include $32 million to restore dunes along 20 miles of beaches that protect the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, $18.3 million to rebuild dunes on Bolivar Peninsula and a $1 million test project on South Padre Island that will place concrete-filled tubes underwater in beaches on the north end. The tubes will slow erosion by retaining sand usually lost to waves and currents.
Patterson said the state is allocating $25 million for the effort. Matching funds from local communities and the federal government bring the total to more than $135 million.
Washington County Fair, Brenham Texas. Sept. 16-19th. Oldest County Fair in Texas since 1868. Below is my 2008 Dairy Judging Team. Having won 1st place in 2007 and 2008, hoping to make three in a row this year.
A Texas Rancher in the Dallas Morning News and found it online too. Great story about what a Texas rancher has endured in the past year. I do hope that after all these years he can survive.
Old Cowboy An old cowboy sat down at the Starbucks and ordered a cup of coffee.
As he sat sipping his coffee, a young woman sat down next to him.
She turned to the cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'
He replied, 'Well, I've spent my whole life breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences, pulling calves, bailing hay, doctoring calves, cleaning my barn, fixing flats, working on tractors, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy.'
She said, 'I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about naked women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about naked women. When I shower, I think about naked women. When I watch TV, I think about naked women. It seems everything makes me think of naked women.'
The two sat sipping in silence.
A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'
He replied, 'I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian. '
ROSCOE (Abilene Reporter News) – Phase IV of the Roscoe Wind Complex began operation Thursday, making it the world’s largest functioning wind farm.
Equipped with 627 turbines capable of generating more than 780 megawatts, the wind farm is the flagship project for E.ON North America.
The Roscoe Wind Complex first began generating electricity in February 2008 when Phase One was complete. Phase Two went live one month later, and Phase Three began operations in March.
Altogether, the complex can provide power for 230,000 homes.
SAN ANTONIO (Associated Press) – Anheuser–Busch InBev has sold SeaWorld San Antonio — along with the nine other theme parks under Busch Entertainment Corp. — to private equity firm Blackstone Group for $2.3 billion in cash.
Busch Entertainment, the second-largest U.S. entertainment park operator, attracts about 25 million visitors a year and employs 25,000 people.
The entertainment unit generated about $1.4 billion in revenue in 2008.
Blackstone will add various clerical and other positions that were vacated by Anheuser–Busch InBev employees and maintain existing headquarters in Orlando, Fla. For now, the Busch name will also be kept.
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Two plans to reconstruct the University of Texas’ 350-acre Brackenridge tract into a living, working and playing space were presented Wednesday to the UT System Board of Regents by New York–based Cooper, Robertson & Partners LLP.
The first, the Village Plan, would add 15 million sf of residential, office and other space, including 8,698 housing units, to the green canvas. The university’s 82-acre biological field laboratory would be relocated to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s McKinney Roughs site in Bastrop County.
This option, preferred by Cooper, would cost $3.2 billion and include $130 million for streets, parks and other infrastructure.
The Park Plan, estimated at $2.6 billion, would retain but downsize the field lab and add 12 million sf and 6,645 housing units.
Both of the architectural and urban planning firm’s plans would erase the 141-acre Lions Municipal Golf Course and two student apartment complexes, and a university-owned apartment complex off Sixth St. would be enlarged.
The report will be reviewed by a special committee of regents established in August, and a public comment session will be held between now and the end of the academic year.
James Huffines, chairman of the regents, has stated that it could be months, or even years, before the board decides how to proceed, and he has emphasized that Cooper's recommendations are just that and are subject to modification.
Old Tascosa
Tascosa (from atascosa, boggy) is truly a ghost town. The only things left are the cemetery and the old courthouse. This was one wild town! Pat Garret, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holiday all graced it with their presence, however briefly. Cowboys drinking, gambling, and whatever else; outlaws with attitudes; and drifters from all over made a volatile combination.
This site was historically used as a river ford for centuries by Native Americans, Comacheros, buffalo hunters, and Charles Goodnight and other cattlemen. The town only lasted 40 years (but one monument puts its life even less) but had a turbulent history of killings.
Boot Hill was a copy of the Dodge City (KS) cemetery in name. The list of the interred and their cause of death is notable for the ones which died of natural causes!
Tascosa was only a day away from Amarillo (after 1887) by horseback if you could cross the Canadian River. But many times, floods would come sweeping down from storms in the mountains of New Mexico and make it impassable. Normally it was muddy and shallow.
Tascosa had two lives. The first was no different from the early cowboy town with its saloons, red light district, boot hill and its share of violence. It also was the first true town in the western Texas Panhandle. The town thrived during the 1870s and early 1880s becoming the seat of government for Oldham County in 1880 that lasted for thirty-five years. As has happened so many times before when a railroad bypasses a town, it dies. A few residents remained until 1939 when they departed and Tascosa became a ghost town. In that same year the town was reborn when Bivins Ranch donated 120 acres to become the site for a home for boys to be known as Boys Ranch on the very site of Tascosa. It has developed into a major facility consisting of residence halls, a school, dinning hall, athletic fields and homes for staff. Beginning with twelve boys, it now numbers over four hundred. Serving as historical monuments from the past and open to the public are the old stone courthouse and the 1889 schoolhouse. Tascosa is located at the east end of Texas Highway Spur 233.
Prior to her trip to Texas , Buffy (a blonde New Yorker), confided to her co-workers she had three goals for her trip to the Lone Star State:
1. She wanted to taste some real Texas Bar-B-Que.
2. She wanted to see an honest to goodness REAL Texas Rodeo.
3 And last, but not least, she wanted to have sex with a real cowboy .
Upon returning, the girls were curious as to how she fared.
'Let me tell you, they have a tree down there called a Mesquite and when they slow cook that brisket over that Mesquite , it's ooooh so good. The meat is unbelievably tender and the taste is fantastic!'
'And I went to a real rodeo. Talk about athletes... Those guys ride BULLS and they wrestle full grown steers! They ride horses at a full gallop, then jump off the horses and grab the steer by the horns and throw them to the ground! It is just incredible!
They then asked, 'Well tell us , did you have sex with a real cowboy?'
'Hell NO!! When I saw the outline of the condom they carry in the back pocket of their jeans, I changed my mind!'
COLLEGE STATION (Mays Business School) – Graduates of Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School Master of Real Estate program from 2004 through 2012 can now boast a more valuable degree: the program was recently approved by the Appraisal Qualifications Board of The Appraisal Foundation.
The Mays program is one of two programs in the United States to receive approval thus far.
“The significance of the certification approval is that it gives our students a real advantage in the job market,” says Cydney Donnell, executive professor of finance and director of real estate programs at Mays.
This seal of approval was created to simplify the appraiser certification process at the state level, as graduates from approved programs are guaranteed to have the required coursework needed for certification.
The approval process benefits both state appraiser regulatory agencies in their review of an applicant’s qualifications as well as graduate degree applicants seeking a real property appraiser credential.
“It is our hope that this program will relieve the burden on state regulators in reviewing transcripts submitted for credit towards a state credential. In addition, the program will assist graduates in obtaining credit for the work they have done to earn advanced degrees from these institutions,” said Gary Taylor, chairman of the Appraiser Qualifications Board, the organization responsible for evaluating programs.
INGLESIDE (Corpus Christi Caller) – The Port of Corpus Christi will assume control of Naval Station Ingleside in April 2010 instead of September.
Officials say that the ability to begin redevelopment plans sooner is worth the $4 million it could cost to maintain and secure the base five months earlier than originally planned. The early overtake will also allow the port to keep the fire department, which services the City of Ingleside, running.
The port has hired the Texas A&M University System to plan and implement the redevelopment of the base’s 1,000-plus acres, as well as the 433 neighboring port-owned acres.
The Navy has not yet decided how to dispose of 155 surplus acres known as the Electromagnetic Roll Facility.
The Navy will shut down the base in April but remain on it until September.
LUBBOCK (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) – Texas Tech officials have broken ground on a $70 million business college to replace the existing 1960s business building.
The 147,500-sf Jerry S. Rawls College of Business at Ninth St. and Flint Ave. will be the anchor for the north entrance to the campus.
Part of the funding comes from $20 million in private donations raised by administrators, and students will pay an additional $18 per class credit.
Boudreaux and Clarence
Boudreaux live across de bayou from Clarence, who he don like
at all. Dey all de time yell across de bayou at each other.
Boudreaux would yell to Clarence, "If I had a way to cross dis
bayou, I'd come over dere an beat you up good, yeah!"
Dis went on for years.
Finally de state done built a bridge across dat bayou right by
dere houses, and Boudreaux's wife, Marie, say, "Now is you chance,
Boudreaux. Why don you go over der an beat up dat Clarence like
you say?"
Boudreaux say, "OK," and start across de bridge, but he see a
sign on de bridge an he stop to read it and den he go back home.
Marie say, "Why you back so soon?"
And Boudreaux say, "Marie, I dun change my mind 'bout beatin' up
dat Clarence."
"Why dat?" ask Marie.
"You know Marie," say Boudreaux, dey got a sign on dat dere bridge
dat say, 'Clarence 13 ft. 6 in.' You know, he don look near dat
big when I yell at him across de bayou."
TEXAS BEER JOINT SUES A CHURCH.....
In a small Texas town, ( Mt. Vernon ) Drummond's bar began construction on a new building to increase their business.
The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers.
Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.
The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means.
The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court.
As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented, 'I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not.'
A cowboy rode into town and stopped at a saloon for a drink. Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on strangers, which he was. When he finished his drink, he found his horse had been stolen. He went back into the bar, handily flipped his gun into the air, caught it above his head without even looking and fired a shot into the ceiling. "Which one of you sidewinders stole my horse?!?!?" he yelled with surprising forcefulness. No one answered. "Alright, I'm gonna have another beer, and if my horse ain't back outside by the time I finish, I'm gonna do what I dun in Texas! And I don't like to have to do what I dun in Texas!"
Some of the locals shifted restlessly. The man, true to his word, had another beer, walked outside, and his horse has been returned to the post. He saddled up and started to ride out of town.
The bartender wandered out of the bar and asked, "Say partner, before you go... what happened in Texas?"
The cowboy turned back and said, "I had to walk home."
>>
>> Snakes, also known as Garter Snakes (Thamnophissirtalis), can be
>> dangerous.
>> Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes. Here's why.
>>
>> A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants. During a
>> recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect
>> them from a possible freeze.
>>
>> It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of
>> the plants. When it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it
>> go under the sofa.
>>
>> She let out a very loud scream.
>>
>> The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked
>> to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the
>> sofa.
>>
>> He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About
>> that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the behind. He
>> thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the
>> floor.
>>
>> His wife thought he had had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told
>> him to hold still and called an ambulance.
>>
>> The attendants rushed in, would not listen to his protests, loaded him on
>> the stretcher, and started carrying him out.
>>
>> About that time, the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency
>> Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's
>> when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.
>>
>> The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called
>> on a neighbor who volunteered to capture the snake.. He armed himself
>> with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he
>> decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in
>> relief.
>>
>> But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she
>> felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake
>> rushed back under the sofa.
>>
>> The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to
>> revive her.
>>
>> The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery
>> store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her
>> husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him
>> out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.
>>
>> The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor
>> lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that
>> the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle
>> of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.
>>
>> By now, the police had arrived.
>> Breathe here...
>>
>> They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a
>> drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the
>> women tried to explain how it all happened over a little garden snake!
>>
>> The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his
>> sobbing wife.
>>
>> Now, the little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of
>> the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit
>> the leg of the end table . The table fell over, the lamp on it shattered
>> and, as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.
>>
>> The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the
>> window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out
>> and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and
>> smashed into the parked police car.
>>
>> Meanwhile, neighbors saw the burning drapes and called in the fire
>> department. The firemen had started raising the fire ladder when they
>> were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead
>> wires, put out the power, and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square
>> city block area (but they did get the house fire out).
>>
>> Time passed! Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was
>> repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car and all was
>> right with their world.
>>
>> A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold
>> snap for that night. The wife asked her husband if he thought they should
>> bring in their plants for the night.
>>
>> And that's when he shot her.
When the white man discovered this country Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, women did all the work. White man thought he could improve on a system like this. - Cherokee
COLLEGE STATION (Mays Business School) – The Real Estate Center has forged a new partnership with the Urban Land Institute (ULI), one of the most respected real estate think tanks in the nation.
The Center has replaced Rice University as ULI Houston chapter’s academic partner.
Center Director Gary Maler, who now will serve as a member of ULI Houston’s executive committee, says this sort of relationship has been his goal for the Center for many years.
The partnership will be valuable to the Center as it will allow for closer relationships within the development community, as well as to the organization as the Center provides them with the latest market research.
The two groups recently sponsored their first annual Forecast Conference in Houston. More than 530 real estate professionals attended.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ULI is the premier organization for real estate developers.
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM -- You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.
FRENCH CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon(tm) and market them world-wide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
A BRITISH CORPORATION -- You have two cows. Both are mad.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION -- You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.
A HINDU CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You worship them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.
AN ARKANSAS CORPORATION -- You have two cows. That one on the left is kinda cute.
ENRON CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.
ARTHUR ANDERSON, LLC -- You have 2 cows. You shred all documents that Enron has any cows, take 2 cows from Enron for payment for consulting the cows, and attest that Enron has 9 cows.
As this year of 2009 comes to a close so very soon, My meditations bring me the dream and the hope, the prayer and the desire that each one of you and those you love will continue to experience good and/or improved heath of body, mind, heart and soul. That your faith, whatever it is or may be will multiply and bring strength and comfort to you.
May your heart be filled with goodness, kindness, tolerance and great love. May your work be a delight and your rest be refreshing and full of comfort and care.
May the new year bring increased tolerance for all of life, honor and respect of nature, vegetation, creatures great and small and for all of human kind as well.
May this coming year 2010, be yet another opportunity for the world to make headway in the care of the earth and it's life in every form and may your lives and love be richly increased and blessed.
This is my wish, my dream for the whole of you. Live well, be blessed, Tina
Aggie
ROSENBERG (Houston Business Journal) – Nissan Motor Co. is set to become the first tenant at the 800-acre CenterPoint Intermodal Center–Houston metro hub.
Railroad operator Kansas City Southern (KCS) and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) have agreed to establish a finished-vehicle distribution center at the 800-acre intermodal and automotive logistics park located 35 miles southwest of Houston.
The center will act as a regional automotive distribution center for Nissan in Texas.
The new facility will allow European-based WWL to provide Nissan vehicle distribution services in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma from a single site.
Completed in June, the park is a joint development project of Illinois-based CenterPoint Properties and KCS Railway Co.
Sep 3, 2009
Aggie
Swine Flu Paranoia!
Sep 3, 2009
Aggie
NEW YORK (Forbes.com) – Dallas, Houston and Austin are among the top four U.S. cities in which to earn a living, according to Forbes Magazine.
The magazine found Dallas to be the most desirable city in the nation to live and work, while Houston was second and Austin came in fourth.
Among the best reasons to take up residence in Houston or Dallas, according to Forbes, is the number of top-ranked companies headquartered in each city: 38 and 15, respectively.
The rankings were determined by median income, cost of living, job growth and the quality of the business environment.
Sep 9, 2009
Aggie
As the bus stopped and it was her turn to get on, she became aware that her skirt was too tight to allow her leg to come up to the height of the first step of the bus.
Slightly embarrassed and with a quick smile to the bus driver, she reached behind her to unzip her skirt a little, thinking that this would give her enough slack to raise her leg.
Again, she tried to make the step only to discover she still couldn't.
So, a little more embarrassed, she once again reached behind her to unzip her skirt a little more, and for the second time attempted the step, and, once again, much to her dismay, she could not raise her leg.
With a little smile to the driver, she again reached behind a third time to unzip a little more and again was unable to make the step.
About this time, a large Texan who was standing behind her picked her up easily by the waist and placed her gently on the step of the bus.
She went ballistic and turned to the would be Samaritan and yelled, "How dare you touch my body! I don't even know who you are!"
The Texan smiled and drawled, "Well, ma'am, normally I would agree with you, but after you unzipped my fly three times, I kinda figured we was friends!"
Sep 10, 2009
Aggie
GALVESTON (Associated Press) – A year after Hurricane Ike destroyed thousands of homes in Galveston, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has announced a $135.4 million plan to fight beach erosion and defend the coast against hurricanes.
Patterson said the plan marks the biggest effort of its kind in Texas history.
Work will begin immediately on 26 projects spanning the Texas coastline. The biggest will be a more than $46 million beach renourishment that will replace sand over a six-mile stretch from the west end of Galveston's seawall.
Other projects include $32 million to restore dunes along 20 miles of beaches that protect the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, $18.3 million to rebuild dunes on Bolivar Peninsula and a $1 million test project on South Padre Island that will place concrete-filled tubes underwater in beaches on the north end. The tubes will slow erosion by retaining sand usually lost to waves and currents.
Patterson said the state is allocating $25 million for the effort. Matching funds from local communities and the federal government bring the total to more than $135 million.
Sep 17, 2009
Aggie
Washington County Fair, Brenham Texas. Sept. 16-19th. Oldest County Fair in Texas since 1868. Below is my 2008 Dairy Judging Team. Having won 1st place in 2007 and 2008, hoping to make three in a row this year.Sep 17, 2009
Aggie
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/091309dntexranch.3fef61c.html
Sep 18, 2009
Aggie
As he sat sipping his coffee, a young woman sat down next to him.
She turned to the cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'
He replied, 'Well, I've spent my whole life breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences, pulling calves, bailing hay, doctoring calves, cleaning my barn, fixing flats, working on tractors, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy.'
She said, 'I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about naked women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about naked women. When I shower, I think about naked women. When I watch TV, I think about naked women. It seems everything makes me think of naked women.'
The two sat sipping in silence.
A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'
He replied, 'I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian. '
Sep 23, 2009
Aggie
Oct 1, 2009
Aggie
ROSCOE (Abilene Reporter News) – Phase IV of the Roscoe Wind Complex began operation Thursday, making it the world’s largest functioning wind farm.
Equipped with 627 turbines capable of generating more than 780 megawatts, the wind farm is the flagship project for E.ON North America.
The Roscoe Wind Complex first began generating electricity in February 2008 when Phase One was complete. Phase Two went live one month later, and Phase Three began operations in March.
Altogether, the complex can provide power for 230,000 homes.
Oct 2, 2009
Aggie
Oct 5, 2009
Aggie
One of my former Aggie classmates.
Oct 5, 2009
Aggie
Oct 7, 2009
Aggie
Oct 8, 2009
Same Ol' Randy
Say, any good college football games this weeknd? Just wonderin' ... heh
At least this week ... HOOK 'EM! Send those Okies packin'!
Oct 12, 2009
Aggie
SAN ANTONIO (Associated Press) – Anheuser–Busch InBev has sold SeaWorld San Antonio — along with the nine other theme parks under Busch Entertainment Corp. — to private equity firm Blackstone Group for $2.3 billion in cash.
Busch Entertainment, the second-largest U.S. entertainment park operator, attracts about 25 million visitors a year and employs 25,000 people.
The entertainment unit generated about $1.4 billion in revenue in 2008.
Blackstone will add various clerical and other positions that were vacated by Anheuser–Busch InBev employees and maintain existing headquarters in Orlando, Fla. For now, the Busch name will also be kept.
Oct 12, 2009
Aggie
AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Two plans to reconstruct the University of Texas’ 350-acre Brackenridge tract into a living, working and playing space were presented Wednesday to the UT System Board of Regents by New York–based Cooper, Robertson & Partners LLP.
The first, the Village Plan, would add 15 million sf of residential, office and other space, including 8,698 housing units, to the green canvas. The university’s 82-acre biological field laboratory would be relocated to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s McKinney Roughs site in Bastrop County.
This option, preferred by Cooper, would cost $3.2 billion and include $130 million for streets, parks and other infrastructure.
The Park Plan, estimated at $2.6 billion, would retain but downsize the field lab and add 12 million sf and 6,645 housing units.
Both of the architectural and urban planning firm’s plans would erase the 141-acre Lions Municipal Golf Course and two student apartment complexes, and a university-owned apartment complex off Sixth St. would be enlarged.
The report will be reviewed by a special committee of regents established in August, and a public comment session will be held between now and the end of the academic year.
James Huffines, chairman of the regents, has stated that it could be months, or even years, before the board decides how to proceed, and he has emphasized that Cooper's recommendations are just that and are subject to modification.
Oct 12, 2009
Aggie
Tascosa (from atascosa, boggy) is truly a ghost town. The only things left are the cemetery and the old courthouse. This was one wild town! Pat Garret, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holiday all graced it with their presence, however briefly. Cowboys drinking, gambling, and whatever else; outlaws with attitudes; and drifters from all over made a volatile combination.
This site was historically used as a river ford for centuries by Native Americans, Comacheros, buffalo hunters, and Charles Goodnight and other cattlemen. The town only lasted 40 years (but one monument puts its life even less) but had a turbulent history of killings.
Boot Hill was a copy of the Dodge City (KS) cemetery in name. The list of the interred and their cause of death is notable for the ones which died of natural causes!
Tascosa was only a day away from Amarillo (after 1887) by horseback if you could cross the Canadian River. But many times, floods would come sweeping down from storms in the mountains of New Mexico and make it impassable. Normally it was muddy and shallow.
Tascosa had two lives. The first was no different from the early cowboy town with its saloons, red light district, boot hill and its share of violence. It also was the first true town in the western Texas Panhandle. The town thrived during the 1870s and early 1880s becoming the seat of government for Oldham County in 1880 that lasted for thirty-five years. As has happened so many times before when a railroad bypasses a town, it dies. A few residents remained until 1939 when they departed and Tascosa became a ghost town. In that same year the town was reborn when Bivins Ranch donated 120 acres to become the site for a home for boys to be known as Boys Ranch on the very site of Tascosa. It has developed into a major facility consisting of residence halls, a school, dinning hall, athletic fields and homes for staff. Beginning with twelve boys, it now numbers over four hundred. Serving as historical monuments from the past and open to the public are the old stone courthouse and the 1889 schoolhouse. Tascosa is located at the east end of Texas Highway Spur 233.
Oct 13, 2009
Aggie
Tractor ladies!
Oct 13, 2009
Aggie
Hallettsville Texas, found the following in a culvert, tastes like chicken.
Oct 16, 2009
Aggie
Oct 19, 2009
Aggie
Oct 20, 2009
Aggie
1. She wanted to taste some real Texas Bar-B-Que.
2. She wanted to see an honest to goodness REAL Texas Rodeo.
3 And last, but not least, she wanted to have sex with a real cowboy .
Upon returning, the girls were curious as to how she fared.
'Let me tell you, they have a tree down there called a Mesquite and when they slow cook that brisket over that Mesquite , it's ooooh so good. The meat is unbelievably tender and the taste is fantastic!'
'And I went to a real rodeo. Talk about athletes... Those guys ride BULLS and they wrestle full grown steers! They ride horses at a full gallop, then jump off the horses and grab the steer by the horns and throw them to the ground! It is just incredible!
They then asked, 'Well tell us , did you have sex with a real cowboy?'
'Hell NO!! When I saw the outline of the condom they carry in the back pocket of their jeans, I changed my mind!'
Oct 20, 2009
Aggie
COLLEGE STATION (Mays Business School) – Graduates of Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School Master of Real Estate program from 2004 through 2012 can now boast a more valuable degree: the program was recently approved by the Appraisal Qualifications Board of The Appraisal Foundation.
The Mays program is one of two programs in the United States to receive approval thus far.
“The significance of the certification approval is that it gives our students a real advantage in the job market,” says Cydney Donnell, executive professor of finance and director of real estate programs at Mays.
This seal of approval was created to simplify the appraiser certification process at the state level, as graduates from approved programs are guaranteed to have the required coursework needed for certification.
The approval process benefits both state appraiser regulatory agencies in their review of an applicant’s qualifications as well as graduate degree applicants seeking a real property appraiser credential.
“It is our hope that this program will relieve the burden on state regulators in reviewing transcripts submitted for credit towards a state credential. In addition, the program will assist graduates in obtaining credit for the work they have done to earn advanced degrees from these institutions,” said Gary Taylor, chairman of the Appraiser Qualifications Board, the organization responsible for evaluating programs.
Oct 23, 2009
Aggie
INGLESIDE (Corpus Christi Caller) – The Port of Corpus Christi will assume control of Naval Station Ingleside in April 2010 instead of September.
Officials say that the ability to begin redevelopment plans sooner is worth the $4 million it could cost to maintain and secure the base five months earlier than originally planned. The early overtake will also allow the port to keep the fire department, which services the City of Ingleside, running.
The port has hired the Texas A&M University System to plan and implement the redevelopment of the base’s 1,000-plus acres, as well as the 433 neighboring port-owned acres.
The Navy has not yet decided how to dispose of 155 surplus acres known as the Electromagnetic Roll Facility.
The Navy will shut down the base in April but remain on it until September.
Oct 23, 2009
Aggie
LUBBOCK (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) – Texas Tech officials have broken ground on a $70 million business college to replace the existing 1960s business building.
The 147,500-sf Jerry S. Rawls College of Business at Ninth St. and Flint Ave. will be the anchor for the north entrance to the campus.
Part of the funding comes from $20 million in private donations raised by administrators, and students will pay an additional $18 per class credit.
Oct 23, 2009
Aggie
Boudreaux live across de bayou from Clarence, who he don like
at all. Dey all de time yell across de bayou at each other.
Boudreaux would yell to Clarence, "If I had a way to cross dis
bayou, I'd come over dere an beat you up good, yeah!"
Dis went on for years.
Finally de state done built a bridge across dat bayou right by
dere houses, and Boudreaux's wife, Marie, say, "Now is you chance,
Boudreaux. Why don you go over der an beat up dat Clarence like
you say?"
Boudreaux say, "OK," and start across de bridge, but he see a
sign on de bridge an he stop to read it and den he go back home.
Marie say, "Why you back so soon?"
And Boudreaux say, "Marie, I dun change my mind 'bout beatin' up
dat Clarence."
"Why dat?" ask Marie.
"You know Marie," say Boudreaux, dey got a sign on dat dere bridge
dat say, 'Clarence 13 ft. 6 in.' You know, he don look near dat
big when I yell at him across de bayou."
Oct 29, 2009
Aggie
In a small Texas town, ( Mt. Vernon ) Drummond's bar began construction on a new building to increase their business.
The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers.
Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.
The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means.
The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court.
As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented, 'I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not.'
Oct 30, 2009
Aggie
Oct 30, 2009
Aggie
Oct 30, 2009
Aggie
Some of the locals shifted restlessly. The man, true to his word, had another beer, walked outside, and his horse has been returned to the post. He saddled up and started to ride out of town.
The bartender wandered out of the bar and asked, "Say partner, before you go... what happened in Texas?"
The cowboy turned back and said, "I had to walk home."
Nov 2, 2009
Aggie
Nov 5, 2009
Aggie
Nov 5, 2009
Aggie
Nov 12, 2009
Aggie
Nov 13, 2009
Aggie
Nov 13, 2009
Lori
>> Snakes, also known as Garter Snakes (Thamnophissirtalis), can be
>> dangerous.
>> Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes. Here's why.
>>
>> A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants. During a
>> recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect
>> them from a possible freeze.
>>
>> It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of
>> the plants. When it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it
>> go under the sofa.
>>
>> She let out a very loud scream.
>>
>> The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked
>> to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the
>> sofa.
>>
>> He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About
>> that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the behind. He
>> thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the
>> floor.
>>
>> His wife thought he had had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told
>> him to hold still and called an ambulance.
>>
>> The attendants rushed in, would not listen to his protests, loaded him on
>> the stretcher, and started carrying him out.
>>
>> About that time, the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency
>> Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's
>> when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.
>>
>> The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called
>> on a neighbor who volunteered to capture the snake.. He armed himself
>> with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he
>> decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in
>> relief.
>>
>> But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she
>> felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake
>> rushed back under the sofa.
>>
>> The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to
>> revive her.
>>
>> The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery
>> store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her
>> husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him
>> out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.
>>
>> The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor
>> lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that
>> the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle
>> of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.
>>
>> By now, the police had arrived.
>> Breathe here...
>>
>> They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a
>> drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the
>> women tried to explain how it all happened over a little garden snake!
>>
>> The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his
>> sobbing wife.
>>
>> Now, the little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of
>> the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit
>> the leg of the end table . The table fell over, the lamp on it shattered
>> and, as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.
>>
>> The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the
>> window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out
>> and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and
>> smashed into the parked police car.
>>
>> Meanwhile, neighbors saw the burning drapes and called in the fire
>> department. The firemen had started raising the fire ladder when they
>> were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead
>> wires, put out the power, and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square
>> city block area (but they did get the house fire out).
>>
>> Time passed! Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was
>> repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car and all was
>> right with their world.
>>
>> A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold
>> snap for that night. The wife asked her husband if he thought they should
>> bring in their plants for the night.
>>
>> And that's when he shot her.
Nov 15, 2009
Aggie
Nov 16, 2009
Zickbee
Nov 24, 2009
Aggie
When the white man discovered this country Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, women did all the work. White man thought he could improve on a system like this. - Cherokee
Nov 24, 2009
Aggie
Nov 25, 2009
Aggie
COLLEGE STATION (Mays Business School) – The Real Estate Center has forged a new partnership with the Urban Land Institute (ULI), one of the most respected real estate think tanks in the nation.
The Center has replaced Rice University as ULI Houston chapter’s academic partner.
Center Director Gary Maler, who now will serve as a member of ULI Houston’s executive committee, says this sort of relationship has been his goal for the Center for many years.
The partnership will be valuable to the Center as it will allow for closer relationships within the development community, as well as to the organization as the Center provides them with the latest market research.
The two groups recently sponsored their first annual Forecast Conference in Houston. More than 530 real estate professionals attended.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ULI is the premier organization for real estate developers.
Dec 2, 2009
Lori
Dec 6, 2009
Aggie
Dec 7, 2009
Aggie
Dec 10, 2009
Aggie
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM -- You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.
FRENCH CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon(tm) and market them world-wide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
A BRITISH CORPORATION -- You have two cows. Both are mad.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION -- You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.
A HINDU CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You worship them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.
AN ARKANSAS CORPORATION -- You have two cows. That one on the left is kinda cute.
ENRON CORPORATION -- You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.
ARTHUR ANDERSON, LLC -- You have 2 cows. You shred all documents that Enron has any cows, take 2 cows from Enron for payment for consulting the cows, and attest that Enron has 9 cows.
Dec 15, 2009
Tina
May your heart be filled with goodness, kindness, tolerance and great love. May your work be a delight and your rest be refreshing and full of comfort and care.
May the new year bring increased tolerance for all of life, honor and respect of nature, vegetation, creatures great and small and for all of human kind as well.
May this coming year 2010, be yet another opportunity for the world to make headway in the care of the earth and it's life in every form and may your lives and love be richly increased and blessed.
This is my wish, my dream for the whole of you. Live well, be blessed, Tina
Dec 21, 2009
Aggie
Dec 22, 2009
Aggie
Dec 29, 2009
Tina
Dec 31, 2009