80MPH on Highway 130 near Austin, TX (WIP)

9/23/13

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2013/mar/09/traffic-fatalities-on-the-rise-in-west-texas-of/

“…Interstate highways have some of the highest posted speed limits and have the most miles traveled of any roadways in the state, but account for the fewest number of fatal wrecks. Spokesman Senior Trooper Phillip “Sparky” Dean said interstates tend to be safer. “Interstates are for the most part pretty straight,” he said. “You’ve got two lanes going the same direction.”

State and U.S. highways were the leading locations of fatal wrecks in Taylor County from 2008-11, accounting for 24 of 68 fatal crashes. Dean said this could be explained by people getting complacent with driving on familiar highways. “People are crashing on a straight piece of roadway,” he said. “A lot of that is the attitude that it’ll never happen to me — This could happen to you. No one is exempt.”

Carol Rawson, TxDOT traffic operations director based in Austin, said interstates are the safest because they’re built the best. “Our interstate highways are built to our highest standards. We have nice lanes, big shoulders. The interstate is your best level of road,” Rawson said.

The speed limit on some interstate, state and U.S. highways was raised from 70 to 75 mph in 2012. U.S. 277 north of Abilene saw the posted speed increase in late 2012. National and state data hasn’t caught up to reflect this change, but Rawson said she doesn’t expect there to be a substantial uptick in fatality numbers because “most people were traveling at that speed anyway.”

Smedley at 90 (90,000 miles) (WIP)

On The Beach

PRK, RIP

Paul Ray Kornfuehrer

14 November 1944 – 23 January 2005

(See my two previous post in January 2005 titled "Death of a Friend" and "1 Story, 1 Confession")

Founding member, Jones-Kornfuehrer Society

Among other good things, I think he finally forgave me 

for putting his new VW Bug in the student lounge that Sunday. 

RIP

PS Friday 31 July 2015: This sprawling oak tree is at the cetner of the Texas A&M campus, a few steps from the old Academic Building. Sull Ross's statue is straight ahead on that sidewalk going under the tree. Paul liked to rest under that tree. -jb  

Message of October 21, 1958

Ever seen a Buc-ee's?

On highway 290 on the way from Galveston to College Station is the largest gasoline station & convenience store ever. See Wikipedia's description below.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buc-ee's

Buc-ee's expanded and opened their first travel center in Luling, Texas at the intersection of Interstate 10 & US Highway 90. Buc-ee's travel centers are large stores that typically cover over 60,000 of square footage with large restrooms that contain over 40 urinals and toilets, fueling areas that range from 32-64 pumps, and a full-service deli that features a wide selection of beef jerky, pastries, prepared sandwiches, tacos, Dippin' Dots and homemade fudge.

In 2012, Buc-ee's opened its largest store in New Braunfels, Texas on Interstate 35. The New Braunfels travel center is the largest convenience store in the world at 68,000 square feet. The store features 60 fuel pumps, 31 cash registers, 4 Icee machines, 80 soda fountain dispensers, tubing and water gear for the Guadalupe River, and a farmer's market that features Grade 1 fruit and produce.

The New Braunfels, Texas store was named the 2012 "Best Restroom in America" by Cintas. 

Julia

More on Julia in a minute....(this written 9/19/13 in Galveston, Tx...

C-stores

Noticed in about 10,000 miles of driving so far this summer:

Major C-store operators are spending large sums of cash sprucing up their stores.

Old small grimy-looking C-stores with 3-4 pumps and minimal canopies are being replaced by big bright 5,000-sq.ft. stores with 16-20 pumps under extra wide canopies that sometimes have "connector" canopies so that customers can walk from the pump area into the store without leaving rain cover.

The old generic food options are becoming, in the more modern C-stores, branded food lines. Pre-packaged coffee makers are being replaced with new brewers that grind the beans as it makes the coffee. The more aggressive operators are also hiring commercial chefs to train C-store employees in Tex-Mex, Chinese, Etc., food preparation.

Managers and owners are investing time and money on "customer-centered" training for employees that used to be hired and put to work with little if any coaching how to deal successfully with customers. In the next round of improvements, we'll probably see drive-thru features in C-stores so that parents with kids strapped into car seats can drive by a window to get stuff inside the store, without  even going in the store.

There is a lot of money being invested in these new stores, sort of like all the capital McDonald's has spent recently sprucing up their thousands of stores.  

Next time your are driving across the country, notice Kum & Go, Circle K, Ideal, BP, Shell.

More later.

Grace practices for learner's permit; Ansley considers

December 2012

Ansley thinks about Grace being on the road on a Harley.

Isaac's Storm: 1900 Hurricane at Galveston, TX

1:03pm Wed Sept 18, in Galveston, TX (on the way to College Station from Tallahassee)

I stopped here because I recently read Erik Larson's "Isaac's Storm," about the 1900 storm that hit this place. The Gulf beach here is only a block from my hotel, so as soon as I finish this I am headed for the water. The weather is favorable.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane

"The Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on September 8, 1900, in the city of Galveston, Texas, in the United States.^[1] It had estimated winds of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h) at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale.^[2] It was the deadliest hurricane in US history, and the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history based on the dollar's 2005 value (to compare costs with those of Hurricane Katrina and others).

"The hurricane caused great loss of life with the estimated death toll between 6,000 and 12,000 individuals;^[3] the number most cited in official reports is 8,000, giving the storm the third-highest number of deaths or injuries of any Atlantic hurricane, after the Great Hurricane of 1780 and 1998's Hurricane Mitch. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. By contrast, the second-deadliest storm to strike the United States, the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, caused more than 2,500 deaths, and the deadliest storm of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, claimed the lives of approximately 1,800 people..."

Deadliest United States hurricanes

Rank	Hurricane	Season	Fatalities
1	"Galveston"	1900	8,000–12,000†
2	"Okeechobee"	1928	2,500+†
3	Katrina	2005	1,836
4	"Cheniere Caminada"	1893	1,100–1,400*
5	"Sea Islands"	1893	1,000–2,000†
6	"Florida Keys"	1919	778
7	"Georgia"	1881	700†
8	Audrey	1957	416
9	"Labor Day"	1935	408
10	"Last Island"	1856	400†
†estimated total Reference: Deadliest US hurricanes

Costliest U.S. Atlantic hurricanes 1900–2005
Total estimated property damage, adjusted for wealth normalization^[32]

Rank	Hurricane	Season	Cost (2005 USD)
1	"Miami"	1926	$157 billion
2	"Galveston"	1900	$99.4 billion
3	Katrina	2005	$81.0 billion
4	"Galveston"	1915	$68.0 billion
5	Andrew	1992	$55.8 billion
6	"New England"	1938	$39.2 billion
7	"Cuba–Florida"	1944	$38.7 billion
8	"Okeechobee"	1928	$33.6 billion
9	Donna	1960	$26.8 billion
10	Camille	1969	$21.2 billion
Main article: List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes

Adventures in Miles Per Gallon

As of Wednesday 18 Sept 2013

Honda Civic (4-cylinder gasoline powered) MPG:

Date purchased: 2 Feb 2013
Total miles since purchased: 16,303
Overall MPG since purchased: 41.2

MPG overall on July 2013 6,700 mile trip to and from Vancouver Island from Mass.: 47.3

MPG on September MA-PA-KY-FL-TX-KY-MA outing:
a. At 55 MPH w/o AC:  52.1
b. At 55 MPG w/ AC:  48.8
c. At 60 MPH w/o AC: 50.3
d. At 60 MPH w/ AC: 45.4
e. Overall trip (as of 9/18): 46.1

Oliver Savage Barry b. 9/15/13

Tallahassee, Florida 9/26/13 et seq.

Pat and Liz report the arrival of their first child, a big event that happened to catch both of Pat's siblings and parents in the same place - in Tallahassee for the FSU-Nevada football game. So it's now 3 girls and 1 boy so far. The gatherings will be louder and more fun now.