Uh oh. I think I've achieved one of those milestones along the path to "You know you're in danger of becoming Dutch when..." consciousness.
I read through this post, bemused by it, but I didn't notice until I'd gotten almost all the way to the end of it that part of my mind was still saying, "What's a car?" :-) [QQæªå¾20130409015952] http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/04/09/learning-from-the-netherlands-about-bik\ es/ <http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/04/09/learning-from-the-netherlands-about-bi\ kes/> --- In [email protected], Richard Williams wrote: > > Yesterday I washed one of my cars, with a little help from this dog, Spot. > At our place, we have a garage with two doors with independent > electro-mechanical door openers. That way, when we drive up to the house we > can open the doors and drive in and the dorr will shut behind us with the > touch of a button. > > We like this arrangement because it is convenient and safe. Convenient > because there is a door in the garage so we can carry our bags of stuff > from Whole Foods Market right into the kitchen. Safe, because once we get > inside and the door is down, nobody can rob us and take our groceries if > they were to follow us home from the store. > > The next door neighbor has installed bars on all his windows and doors and > set up remote cameras all around his house. He built a wrought-iron fence > around his entire yard and has a pit bull in the yard. Inside his house he > has a little yapping terrier; a Browning over-under shotgun and several > pistols including a Colt six-shooter and a Glock automatic, all loaded. He > has probably spent over $10,000 on his home defenses. But, he has to stop > at his gate and get out of the car to unlock it, in order to drive in to > his driveway. > > So, I told him that the robbers were probably going to get him when he > stepped out of the truck to unlock the gate, not when he was already inside > the house. He didn't like that. Go figure. > > > On Sat, Dec 28, 2013 at 6:13 PM, Richard Williams [email protected]: > > > We went by this wind farm up by Abilene last Saturday - it's one of the > > largest wind farms on the planet. > > > > [image: Inline image 1] > > > > > > On Sat, Dec 28, 2013 at 6:04 PM, Richard Williams [email protected]: > > > >> Last Saturday we to see this place up by Dad's place. This is one of his > >> oil wells up in North Texas where he has a place with six lots on the water > >> at Lake Possum Kingdom near Graham. I use only Texaco oil in all my cars - > >> most of it comes from either Spindletop, the Permian Basin, or from the > >> Eagle Ford Shale. > >> > >> [image: Inline image 1] > >> > >> > >> On Wed, Dec 25, 2013 at 7:04 PM, Richard Williams [email protected]: > >> > >>> We saw this place today, out by George Strait's ranch. The house in the > >>> photo belongs to a wealthy land owner in Pleasanton. The owner of the > >>> houses daughter's spouse's daughter is married to George Michael. If you > >>> look real close you might see George in the window looking out at me across > >>> the field, probably taking a snapshot of me peering over the fence. Go > >>> figure. > >>> > >>> [image: Inline image 1] > >>> > >>> "Billboard magazine ranked Michael the 40th most successful artist on > >>> the Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists list." > >>> > >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Michael > >>> > >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Strait > >>> > >>> > >>> On Sun, Dec 22, 2013 at 9:39 PM, Richard J. Williams < > >>> punditster@... wrote: > >>> > >>>> We saw this house on a trip yesterday to see Dad up in North Texas. > >>>> I've been passing this place since 1962 and watched it go down over the > >>>> years - it was already in pretty bad shape the first time I saw it. We are > >>>> speculating that it probably took 75 years or more for it to reach this > >>>> state. I missed taking the best shot last year when I passed by - there was > >>>> a mule standing in the fog next to it, but I was in a hurry so I didn't > >>>> stop. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> On 12/22/2013 8:59 PM, Bhairitu wrote: > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> Is that in Sonoma? > >>>> > >>>> On 12/22/2013 06:48 PM, Richard Williams wrote: > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> We looked at this place today, but it will need a little fixing up: > >>>> > >>>> [image: Inline image 1] > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 7:35 PM, Richard Williams punditster@... > >>>> > wrote: > >>>> > >>>>> We live in the country, out by Hot Wells. SAKS Fifth Avenue isn't in a > >>>>> strip mall, it's located at one of the largest inside malls in the U.S. > >>>>> Today the mall was packed with shoppers: > >>>>> > >>>>> [image: Inline image 1] > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 8:33 PM, awoelflebater@... wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> I think you need to get out into the country more. These strip mall > >>>>>> chain stores are bad for the soul. I liked seeing those ramshackle houses > >>>>>> you were posting, they have so much more character. Michael's would have > >>>>>> all those garlands and wreaths and hobby-making stuff you need at this time > >>>>>> of year though. > >>>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>> > >> > > >
