Biz-scheme 1: "Sidewalk surveillance"...

In my various travels around Austin on bike, I tend to use the sidewalks as my primary travel lanes. Unfortunately, not all sidewalks are "bike friendly" - there's the occasional unramped curb, or the sidewalk breaking up due to underlying tree roots, or even too narrow of a space to navigate due to intervening poles, fences, and shrubberies... or, worst of all, there's no sidewalk at all to speak of.

Sooo... I have the following idea:

Why not create a company that cooperates with city governments and land owners to fix up the sidewalks to where they become "bike-friendly", and, as a side effect, "wheelchair-friendly"?

One way I envision this, is to have a surveying crew that will go out and navigate the sidewalks in different neighborhoods with GPS equipment. Should they come across a trouble spot, they forward that spot's GPS coordinates back to the main office for further investigation. The office can then get a couple of bids from concrete companies to repair the problem; and then present those bids to the paying authority -- I'm just not sure if that authority would be the city government, or the landowner, or a mixture of both...

...biz-scheme 2: "Share your I-pod!"...

This thought struck me last night, while I was drifting off to sleep -- inspired by the touchtune jukeboxes I've seen in bars, and the "I-pod random shuffle Q&A posts" I've seen in facebook...
Wouldn't it be neat if we could share our I-pods?

For example, a club could offer to showcase your I-pod for a nominal fee (say $5/hour), either in shuffle mode or using some of your pre-created playlists. You would just pay for the time that it'll play, and the club then plugs it into their stereo system to either entertain or torment everyone there. (Note: I'm notorious for picking horrific playlists while playing pool in the past)

Alternatively, maybe you could swap your I-pod with a friend, or even rent it out to those less fortunate friends who do not yet have them... Going one step further with this swapping path, each of you could add some songs to the loaned pod(s); perhaps not even telling the owner(s) what those songs are. (Heh! "Hide and Seek!")

another night at the saxon... (yahoo cross-post: 1/4/08)

So, originally, tonight I was supposed to work 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. at the old 7-Eleven. However, my co-worker calls me at 6 p.m. saying he had just woken up, was wide awake and willing to work, and wanted to know if I'd like to swap shifts. I was kind of cool with that, but wanted him to clear it through our manager first... and about 10 minutes later, he calls back, saying, "the swap's on." That left me with a wide open evening, also wide awake, although not so willing to work. I went down to Alligator Grill and had some crawfish quesadillas (sp?) and 2 dozen peel-'n-eat shrimp, and I thought, "well, might as well see what's up at the saxon and alamo..."

Take the bus up there, and I noticed I missed the 7ish showing of "Juno", and most everything else at 7ish is sold out at the Alamo. I make a note that the next showing of "Juno" is at 9:25, and head over to the Saxon to see who's playing. Eight hours later finds me at this computer, posting this post, with a brief intro to the 3 bands seen: Carolyn Wonderland, George Devore, and Ramsey Midwood.

For some reason, Carolyn reminded me of Janis Joplin, although I haven't ever seen footage of Janis. I'm not sure if it's her vocal styles or her head movements; but she did put on a really good show especially since she said she's fighting a 102 degree fever right now... Here's two clips I found on youtube - the first being "I'm the Man" (which she said she wrote after getting a call from a telemarketer) and the second being "Come Together" - posted on youtube by hoopinman and milkriverfilm, respectively.

Next, we have George Devore, who I actually know from many a happy hour at Alligator Grill and late night snack runs on his part at the 7-Eleven. This is a video from his tour in Europe, posted by youtube user dbarnes001.. I talked with George a little as the evening wound down, and he said he had gotten kind of complacent and content this last year, and had some management problems... so he's in the process of rebuilding, with a 5th CD due out in February, I think? That, and he's also singing/playing with Paula Nelson (Willie's daughter..).. anyway, here's the video:

Finally, we have one of the hardest to remember names of the night (I literally had to go to the Saxon's web page to remember it for the 6th time, when I couldn't look at the board in the pub), Ramsey Midwood. This is a band from South Austin (Manchaca area)... One of the comments from Catalina (the lady who sat next to me for a little while) was that his mouth wasn't moving, and I'd agree. Now, the youtube search came up with RamsAy Midwood, but the songs I heard sound real similar in style and timbre to who I heard last night, and the guy looks about the same... maybe the Saxon just screwed up the spelling of his name? Anyway, this is "Monster Truck" posted by youtube user imlegion:

another random listing.. this time - goals (from 2008, updated in 2009)

I wrote the following at the beginning of 2008, and I'm adding "progress updates" in italics, now at the beginning of 2009:

Over the next year, I plan to:

• change careers to one that better uses my B.S. in Mathematics from UT Austin,
  So, I'm doing "easy" tech support, at least for a couple of months, now - a little closer.. took 12 jobs to reach it...
  
• become more involved in community volunteering, starting with Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic and SXSW,
  I think I volunteered 4 hours with RFBD last year, 'cause I was derailed by job instability. I did earn a platinum badge at SXSW (80+ hours)
  
• develop a meditation/exercise practice, drawing on Zen Buddhism, yoga, and Tai Chi,
  Since this summer, I've been attending an un-ritualized Buddhist sitting group (Dharma Punx) on a fairly regular basis -- still, I'm only on a weekly sitting practice, and not yet up to a daily practice
  
• reconnect with my Catholic heritage,
  eh... I think I can count the number of masses I attended last year on one hand. I got to be the train conductor at the church's Fall Festival, though.. ;P
  
• expand my circle of friends in South Austin, (one reason for internet dating)
  I expanded my circle of friends, but mostly through my connection with AA
  
• look up some old friends who I've lost touch with,
  I have reconnected with some high school classmates, primarily through facebook... would still like to find former French House members...
  
• become a better player of Texas Hold'Em,
  I placed sixth in the city-wide tournament at the beginning of the year, but have not really played regularly since...
  
• and get out to see more movies, music, and plays.
  Here's where that unstable job situation blind-sided me again. ...that, and my dad moved to Houston, so I lost my primary "movie bud" **SIGH**
  

In five years, I would have liked to:

Errr... one year down, four to go...? (No significant progress made yet in any of the following...)

• spend at least one month in another country,
  
• found a fulfilling relationship with a lady I could grow old with,
  
• earned a master's or doctorate degree, most likely in the cognitive sciences.
  Well... I have been looking into furthering my education here and there...
  

Fifteen weeks...?

Another poem developed on a bus ride -

Tried to stick close to iambic pentameter,
a couple of rhyming schemes,
added a first letter vertical summary,
and attempted some engaging of all five senses...

Not too sure how successful I was in all that, but here it is:

-----------------------------

Let me describe for you, a lovely rose:
Its scent so sweet - it just tickles your nose.
Vibrant reds attack your eyes as it grows;
Each petal peels away with soft breath blows...

Velvet sheets crumble 'tween rough fingertips;
Impaling thorns stick out 'long the long stem.
Bedecked with drops of August morning dew
Rained upon it with this summer's dawn drips.
Ants line its lower leaves -- breakfast for them?
Not one sound stirs this scene 'tween I and you --
Taste these words, like honey along your lips.

Reclining now, under summer's bitter heat,
Our rose, she does bend, stoop, wilt, and wither.
Summer's gone, petals fallen -- lone stem remains;
Ethereal was that bloom, now long gone.

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