Lee Ann Womack As Seen By God & Me

My friend Don responded to my Toby post about taking his kids to see Lee Ann Womack at the rodeo on Saturday and damned if I wasn't there too! I actually BOUGHT tickets and took my youngest and we had a good time. We sat in the "endzone" at the club level....sort of a God's eye view of the rodeo!


I wanted to see what the club level was like. It's cool having your own snack bars and alcohol bars with only the people on the 3rd level allowed in. Much easier to use the ladies room too as there was never any waiting for a stall. It wasn't the best place for taking pictures however and this is the best one I got of Lee Ann Womack onstage...



I met up with my good friend Matt and his children...

I Can iPod!

That title sounds like I've learned how to can peas for something, but it means I broke down and bought myself a 4GB iPod Nano and I've been having fun putting music (MP3s) on it and trying to figure out all the nuances of the care and feeding of same. I've played with it long enough now to be able to tell you what I think.....

First, Apple needs some serious help writing their instruction booklets. Like a great many "techie" folks they don't remember what it's like to NOT know "techie" stuff. They assume, I guess, that everyone knows "stuff" and all they have to do is point them in the right direction. They'd be wrong. Now I don't want to brag, but I know some stuff. I'm comfortable around my computer, etc. and I've even been asked a time or two for help or advice, but by no stretch of even my imagination am I technologically literate in the finite sense. I like to say I know just enough to be dangerous to my CPU. In truth I know enough to scream for "help" when I'm out of my comfort zone. I do know how to "Google" and search my butt off online and that's what I ended up doing to master the iPod monster.

Second, Apple needs to be ashamed to sell a tiny box that holds much, much less than the 1,000 songs advertised without the ability to DELETE individual songs off of it without having to start from scratch. It took me "forever" to figure out that you can't delete songs off the thing. "They" don't tell you that anywhere in the alleged instructions.

However, all gripes aside, it is truly amazing that such great sound quality comes out of such a tiny package. It's doing just what I wanted it to do.....it's easy to tote and it holds all my favorite songs. I can walk around the house and pretend to be cleaning while dancing and singing....thank God the windows are heavily tinted and the walls are thick. Me and my Nano are quite the pair. It works flawlessly with iTunes too and that's the main reason I bought $i$t$ and not something more reasonably priced.

I'm going to buy a better set of headphones for it as I can't abide the "earpods"...my ears aren't shaped right or something and the "pods" are just annoying. I've got some headphones I've been using that proved to me that was the way to go and now I want something new and perhaps smaller or foldable. I'd also like a pouch to hang around my neck to put the Nano in. Ideally it'd be easy to see the dial for sound tweaks and such and keep the cords out of the way, but the main thing would be not having to worry about dropping the iPod and yet still use the earphones. If anyone knows of such a holder, please let me know. I might have to end up designing and constructing what I want. Uck. ....... or......

Better yet would be if "they'd" make some earphones that fit into the iPod "slot" and had the lanyard ability and then it'd be one neat little useful package. One could just hang the lanyard around their neck and put on the headphones and boogie! I'd like that a lot. Anyway, bottom line, I like the iPod Nano despite a wart here and there.

Toby Keith Can Sing *AND* Chew!

Toby Keith is amazing. He put on a first rate show last night at the rodeo. He sang EVERY one of his songs that I love and one I don't care for at all. The one I don't care for is Whiskey Girl ... it's got a good melody, but the whole concept is stooopid IMHO. He'd do as well to sing a song about a guy named "Rummy the Dummy".

His show is as different as daylight and dark from George Strait's. George makes you want to slow dance and snuggle with someone you love. Toby makes you want to get drunk and hurt a stranger in a bar! The music was loud, but Toby was heard just fine over it all. I had trouble hearing George from time to time because the music was too loud at his concert. I don't know why "they" think your ears have to bleed for it to be effective.

The odd parts (and you KNEW they'd be odd parts) were a) he never introduced the members of the band, just the band as a whole and b) he CHEWED GUM the ENTIRE time he performed! I've never seen anything like that. I wanted to march on stage and hold out my hand for the gum like the nuns used to do in grade school. 'Course I'd of never made in over the fence much less onto the stage, but I could see me doing it in my mind. The gum didn't seem to affect his abilities, but it was..... I dunno.... rude maybe. Certainly not "professional" and yet Tobe is the consummate "outlaw" so I guess if the Wriggley fits..... or different chews for different you's...

I took my rusty, trusty Olympus C-740 and got some decent shots. I could of done better if I'd of taken my "big" camera, but I didn't feel like dragging it to hell and back. If Garth Brooks ever comes back to concerts, that would be like dying and going to heaven to see him, but in the meantime, Toby Keith is the best there is for putting on a great show and I'm so happy I got to be there! Thanks, again, Paula and Larry!

March Is Social Work Month

And in my family it's also "Social Worker Month" because my niece is the author of this article entitled Saving A Daughter. Good work, as always, Jennifer.

Will CC Wake Up When The Last Deputy Departs?

Chron.com | Low pay could force deputies to join HPD

Come on, Commissioner's Court! Get the lead out! No offense to the good deputies staying behind, in fact, God bless you for staying, but at this rate all we're going to have left is the old heads who aren't about to break a sweat and the new hot heads who've yet to be seasoned! It's not rocket science.....just pay these folks a decent wage and give them some real overtime and quit scrapping off so much off the top for health care. Raise our taxes if you must, just make damn sure that increase goes into the pocket of the deputies and not into the pockets of the CC, etc. We can't afford not to give them a raise or increased benefits to make them stay and be able to lift their heads with pride once again!

Harris County Deputies Deserve Better Pay NOW