Archive: June 2008
« May 2008 | Main | July 2008 »
Saturday - June 28, 2008
9999
I drove out to Bastrop today ('had a great time out there!) and had to fill up before heading east. And, noticed the following:
![[9999]](http://www.joanna.org/pics/9999.jpeg)
Hmmm...9,999 miles in 10 months. That's darned close to 1,000 a month, eh? If I drive out to NM in August, I'm gonna bust that average up, eh? By the way, I'm averaging about 36 mpg these days. I'm still very happy with my new car.
Monday - June 16, 2008
Campus Watch #48
From today's Campus Watch crime report:
Student Services Building (100 W. Dean Keeton)
Assault: A UT staff member was slapped in the face by a UT student after the student passed by the staff member while walking along Dean Keeton Street. The student felt the staff member should have moved out of his way as he passed her. The incident was witnesses by two other staff members who came to the victim's aid and reported the incident to the UT Police Department. Occurred on 06/13/08 at 8:05 a.m.
Wow. I'm frequently amazed when I walk around campus at the attitude of a certain segment of the student population. You better watch out or they will knock you down as they walk down the street. If there are three or four of them walking along, they'll block the entire sidewalk and expect everyone in their path to step off the sidewalk to accommodate them. I don't step off the sidewalk. I'm usually walking along one edge or the other but if not, I'll move to the edge and then I will stop and let them go around me if I think they'll run into me. And, they look at me like I'm insane for not jumping into the bushes or the gutter to let them pass. If they acknowledge my presence at all. I wish I could say I was surprised at the report above but, sadly, I'm not. I'm just saddened.
Tuesday - June 10, 2008
Our politicians (not) at work
Read this: The politics of oil shale. Politicians. What a bunch of jack asses. Claiming to care about the little guy...the guy who's struggling to get by with gas going for $4 a gallon...and then blocking all attempts to put cheaper gasoline at the pumps. They hold hearings demanding that the oil companies do something about the price of energy and then block all attempts to meet those demands. No oil shale. No new refineries. But, also: no wind farms and no new nuclear power plants. Jack asses.
Thursday - June 5, 2008
My grandparents' generation
On my mom's side of the family, her parents and all of their siblings are long gone from this world. Her dad was born in 1900...her mom in 1905. My Mom's father died when I was in high school; her mom died when I was in college. I have many fond memories of visiting them in the summers of my childhood. They were ranchers. It was a different life.
What brought this all to mind? The last of my father's paternal aunts passed away this weekend. She was 96. On my dad's side, there's one person left from his parents' generation: his mom. His father passed away when I was a baby. I don't remember him. I've seen photos of him and it looks like I inherited his teeth. He had a gap between his two front teeth. I used to have a gap between mine. But, in 9th grade, one of my front teeth was knocked out in a stupid floor hockey accident. So, when I got a new tooth, the gap disappeared. I talk to my grandmother 4 or 5 times a week and visit her once a year. She lives in New Mexico. She turned 91 in December. And, she lived on her own into her 90th year. She's a little bitty thing. She's something fierce, though. Nobody's ever gotten away with anything when she was around.
Ah well. Here's the obituary for my great-aunt Maria:
Aragon, NM -- Maria C. Aragon, 96, a resident of Albuquerque passed away on May 31, 2008, at home with her loving family at her side. Mrs. Aragon is survived by her children, Patricio Aragon and wife, Rosie, Victor Aragon and wife, Virginia, Alberto Aragon and wife, Alicia, Emma Montoya and husband, Valentin, Theresa Sanchez and husband, Patricio, Tobias Vicente Aragon and wife, Katherine, Amalia Mora and husband, George, Grace Price and husband, Robert, Benito Aragon and wife, Paula; a very dear friend, John Paul Stein; her sisters-in-law, Frances Castillo and Severa Aragon; 44 grandchildren; 73 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Mrs. Aragon was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Vicente Aragon; her daughter, Bertha Aragon; and many other loving family members; Mrs. Aragon was a member of the Catholic Church, St. Edwin Catholic Church, the Sacred Heart Society, the Legion of Mary and the Miraculas Medal Society. Visitation will be Tuesday evening, June 3, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at St. Edwin Catholic Church, 2105 Barcelona SW with a Rosary to be recited at 7:00 p.m. by Father Bill Sanchez. Final visitation will be Wednesday at the Church from 8:30 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 9:00 a.m., Father Bill Sanchez, presider. Interment will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Bernadette Gutierrez, Richard Aragon, Aileen Aragon, Val Montoya, Mark Villegas, Vicent Aragon, Steven Mora, Vicent Price, and Loretta Aragon.