Pull Tight

Picture emailed from cell phone camera, am I getting high tech or what? “When the evening falls, twilight shadows find there beneath the stars…….” from Maiden’s Prayer by Bob Wills There is a little motel on S. Congress Ave in Austin, the San Jose Motel. Within a couple of blocks are 3 live music venues and several restraunts. I stayed here on my trip this week. The rates varied from ~ $90 to ~ $280 per night. The $90 room fit my budget for business travel. The room was as I envision a room in a Scandinavian country. It had a wooden platform with a single mattress on one side and a wooden table on the other with just a desk lamp, TV and wifi access. Floors were all wooden with no rug or carpet of any kind. My room had a tiny balcony overlooking the street. The area is very noisy, so the room came with earplugs; this was only a minor inconvenience. The bathroom was shared with two other rooms and furnished with Dr Brommer’s peppermint soap making the whole place smell great...

The Ride After inviting everyone for a bike ride a couple of weeks ago, I guess I should mention the ride. Everyone had the good sense to decline or ignore my request on a day that would reach over 100 degrees (very good decisions). My advice for riding in N. TX in August. · Start your 8:00 AM ride before 9:30 · Have breakfast somewhere other than Whataburger · Carry more than 2 bottles of water · When the buzzards start circling, head for home The State Farm roads around Paluxy have become amazing popular with motorcycle riders. On the couple of miles I rode on these roads, I saw 10-15 motorcycles. Most of my ride though, was on paved county roads. I biked on these roads for about 2 hours Sunday morning and saw one pickup truck. The county roads are almost as lightly traveled now, as they were 30 or 40 years ago. I hope the motorcyclists don’t discover them. Although the solitude was nice, the only man made sound most of the time were bike tires on the pavement, it was almost...

Weather and Politics I think of something every day I would like to post, but life and work seem to get in the way of sitting down and writing. I originally thought I would avoid writing about the weather or politics. Generally boring subjects, but this year the weather is so consistently hot and dry, maybe it is worth mentioning. And Texas politics; the governor’s race is going to be the most interesting in recent memory, maybe ever. I will probably not be able to resist writing some opinions and would welcome anyone else’s. While my political views are probably slightly to the left of most who might read Pull Tight, I suspect we largely share the same thoughts on politicians.

We were in Norman OK this week moving Lauren in at OU. It was really hot. The previous record for the day was 105. It was 106. The next day I was talking with one of my coworkers in Oklahoma City. Maybe it is because July was the 2nd hottest month in recorded history of planet Earth, but there is a new expression in Oklahoma when it is really hot. In Texas we might say "It is hotter than Hell". In Oklahoma the expression for really hot is "It is hotter than Texas".

I am planning a bicycle ride for August 13, the morning of the Paluxy Homecoming. This will be my 4th consecutive ride on Homecoming day. It is a bicycle ride through time for me as I remember places things happened and the people of the places as I cruise by. On a couple of occasions I have hauled the bike to Morgan Mill and followed the roads along the Paluxy River with and optional loop around by Lanham Mill at the end. Other times I have ridden a circle through Cedar Point and Bluff Dale. Riding through Rock Church and Tolar is an option also. The ride is about 20 - 25 miles long and I usually average about 13-15 mph. If any of you would like to ride with me, contact me. And if you need a bike, I have a couple of 10 speed road bikes I could bring. Depending on the route we could stop in Bluff Dale or Tolar for a cold beverage, but bring a couple of water bottles for the ride. If we start at about 8 or 8:30 we will be through riding about 10:30 or 11:00 (probably before t...