Christmas

Minor updates added Christmas Eve.

I got my first Christmas present, a cell phone and plan. I was thinking of getting a prepay phone but my sister just added me to her plan. Lots of extra features on the phone. I don't have the USB sync kit and microSD memory card for much music but a nice phone. I am surprised the microSD cards store up to 2 gig now. LG VX8300 for Verizon. The phone was free after rebate and Bill got the same phone as buy one get one free. Bill and Charlene were getting their phone replacements after two years I believe. Charlene got a thin pink RAZR. Verizon's Chocolate phones are nice but she didn't like their controls. Both Bill and Charlene also get other rebates through work.

I also received a belt and some black pants from her and Bill for my new part-time job at Lee College which I started Thursday. A new job was my other Christmas present I guess. I applied many months ago but state agencies take forever.

Lee College in Baytown has a lot of friendly people and a nice campus but fairly small.

The first three things that struck me as odd -

Number one is covered walkways and not. A few of the sidewalks have steel girders holding up what looks like aluminum siding covers about two feet thick over them. These are recent additions. What they had originally is steam pipes and other conduits running between buildings in this same steel girders supporting this aluminum(?) siding. This created covered walkways sometimes parallel to the sidewalks. With all the rain Baytown gets you could walk on the sidewalk and get rained on or walk on the grass under the cover and not but get your feet muddy. They put the same design but wider over some of the sidewalks later. (This could all be lies I'm repeating.)

The campus map on campus shows what appears to be two lakes. This online map labels them better as Lee Park and the Great Lawn. The lakes are only there after lots of rain - which Baytown can get. Mostly they are just grass covered low spots. I wonder if they are required flood abatement measures. Most new construction now requires measures to handle the rain runoff.

Number three is a minor pet peeve. Security has these regular pickup trucks. They only hold two people. Shouldn't they have gotten the extended cab pickups?

Lee College history.

I delayed posting this and just received in the mail a book called Geek Mafia by Rick Dakan. The return address is a Karen Dakan in Sarasota Florida. I've no idea how I received this but I figure I should read it and review it on my big blog. It is also on sale right now at a great price from the publisher. My second Christmas gift from a secret admirer.... later I found that was from my brother - they just didn't put who it was from in the book or package.