I took these photos and a few more a few years ago; It was a beautiful spring day and I was driving past when I noticed two nuns sitting in front waiting on their orders. I stopped, approached them and told them exactly what I wanted to do with the photos if they allowed me to take them. They both giggled and gave their consent.
They told me their names, but I can't remember them now after a couple of years. I'm pretty sure one was "Sister Mary" or maybe "Sister Teresa" but maybe I'm just hedgin' my bet with those guesses.
On a related note, the building was repainted, thank God. Seriously, thank God that it was repainted, thank God it changed hands. The burgers were horrible then after the change of ownership. The building is back to its original white and the food is back to being delicious again, especially the burgers.
About the only thing it had goin' for it, I guess, was that the customers were good.
The court reviewed the all the evidence and found that the results would have not been favorable to Skinner. The statement says if the evidence had originally been available during the original trial Skinner would have been convicted anyways.(sic)
The latest numbers:
The total cost to Gray County for his case is $341,200. This includes the cost of the original 1995 trial, the 1996 appeal and DNA testing that was performed in 2001.
Skinner has been incarcerated since March 31, 1995, which calculates to:
While a spokesman with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice could not say the cost per day of housing a death-row inmate, he said the average cost per inmate is around $50. Based on that number, taxpayers in Texas have spent about $347,250 to house Skinner on death-row.
They test the system ea. Sat. at noon, except when there is stormy weather in the area or during high school commencement ceremonies. They also break in on all cable channels with a test message preceded by a different sounding and extremely loud and harsh-toned siren, interrupting my Martha Bakes program on PBS.
That is NOT a good thing.*
*Just in case you aren't familiar with Martha Stewart, "That's a good thing." is a signature phrase she uses.
One of my favorite movies. The movie takes place around the time I was born, but I can identify with the characters growing up in a small Texas town.
I haven't been to the movies in years, not since Titanic. (the movie, not the actual voyage) I love movies,though, and have a fairly large collection of DVDs, mostly being my favorite movies which I gleaned from the Wal Mart bargain bin. The majority of them are still in the wrappers, unopened and I'm saving them for a rainy day. Or when I don't have Internet. Or forget to pay the cable bill.
When I was a kid, my two older sisters and I used to go to the movies fairly often, nearly every Saturday. Our folks would drop us off there on a Saturday afternoon and go do Lord only knows what, but they'd be gone a long time and we'd not only watch the movie once, but sometimes sit through it a second time waiting on our parents. Even then, concession prices were outrageous so we'd smuggle candy in and use whatever money was left over from buying tickets to get soft drinks. We'd usually have a big carton of Whoppers malted milk balls, my oldest sister's favorite candy. My other sister still says my big sis would dole them out: "One for you, one for you and two for me....one for you, one for you, two for me." I don't remember it quite that way and I'm sure my sis gave me more than my share to keep me from fidgeting and whining.
At that time, there were two theaters here in town, the La Vista Theater (recent photo) and the Capri Theatre.
The La Vista was an older movie house, but some seats were reclining and they also had a "crying room", a small soundproof room with a huge picture window so mothers could take cranky infants inside and not disturb the other patrons. I used to like to go in there sometimes just for the novelty of it. Some of their seats however were threadbare and crooked, the padding compressed by thousands of movie goer's butts over the decades. I can't remember when it closed, but the last time I was in there it was very run-down and dirty, the floor permanently sticky from thousands of gallons of spilled drinks, the once-beautiful art deco marquis in front showing its age.
The other theater, the Capri, was new, but lacked the style of the LaVista. The seats didn't recline, but at least they had padding. It's closed now as well, a victim of both a new multi-screen theater in the shopping center and the advent of home VCRs.
I remember my folks speaking of La Nora Theatre with fondness, but that was before my time. According to what I read on the 'net, it burned down in 1960.
I don't recall my parents ever going to the theater with us, but I do remember all of us going to the drive-in. At one time there were two of them here in town, both long since gone. One of them had a playground right under the huge screen and I guess I was about six or seven and looking up and seeing the shower scene from Psycho, the knife ripping through the curtain, as large as a car from that perspective. I opted for baths for years after that.
Funny how things embarrass you when you're a kid. I absently mindedly scratched my butt once in the hallway at school and one of the other guys said "Hey, Mike....you goin' to the movies?" Puzzled, I shook my head. "Jes' wonderin'." he snickered. "You were pickin' yer seat." My face turned red with the howls of every kid in earshot. He didn't think it so funny when I poured vinegar into his chocolate milk later at lunch. I'm not sure what was more funny; the look on his face when he swallowed or watching it come out his nose. The lesson I learned best that day wasn't in reading or writing, but "don't get mad, get even."
I haven't been to a drive-in since I lived in Denton. A buddy and our girlfriends would load up and go, especially on the nights when it was "bumper sticker night"; if you had the bumper sticker on your vehicle of the radio station that sponsored the night, the entire carload got in for just a few dollars. The movies usually weren't all that good, but it was fun to get there early and watch the college kids drive in and unload eight or ten out of the car and sometimes several more out of the trunk. We usually went in my friend's El Camino, parking backwards in the space and sitting in lawn chairs in the back, drinking beer and enjoying the soft, warm North Texas nights more than we did the movie.
Thinking of how much fun it was to go to the movies when I was younger reminded me of a girl I went to school with. She was a couple of years younger than me, really cute, but...well, let's just say she wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree, ok? A classmate of mine took her to the movies one Saturday evening and told us about the date on the following Monday. She lived way out in the country, so he left early to pick her up as so to be able to get to the first showing of the movie he planned to take her to. She wasn't ready - I really don't think she was too good at telling time - and they got to the theater after the movie started.
They sat through the movie and the intermission after it was over. This was back when they didn't clear the theater after the showing (and that was why my sisters and I sat through two showings of a movie when we were kids) and there were local commercials, cartoons and coming attractions before the feature started. My friend and his date watched all of that, then watched the first of the movie that they had missed.
My classmate said several minutes of what they had seen had gone by and he was ready to go. He kept glancing over at the girl, but she was engrossed in the movie as if she had never seen it before. He waited a few more minutes, trying to be polite, thinking that she'd finally catch on that she had already seen that part of the movie, then leaned over to her and whispered:
"Where did we come in at?"
She looked at him like HE was the stupid one and with a mouth full of popcorn turned around and pointed:
There were several others, I just couldn't get them all in the shot.
Taken Sept 07 at the horse lots, just west of the Pampa city limits.
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Originally posted September 12, 2008.
UPDATE: I had forgotten this post and photo; I really need to get back out there to check on "my" mules. I got to "know" these mules fairly well in the half-dozen or so times I was out there then.
The two smaller mules on the left have been photographed and been the subjects of several other posts in this blog. They are a pair of females that pulled a wagon and sometimes could be seen in parades here in town. They always were together and when one moved, so did the other. They weren't as tame as some of the others, but would come up to me and let me feed them unsaleable apples or vegetables I had convinced the produce mgr. of a local grocery to give me. The way they moved and always in the same order convinced me that must be the exact same way they were harnessed to the wagon. I called them "Sally" and "Sadie", seemed appropriate.
The next mule was always a little standoffish and didn't like taking the fruit out of my hand but would eat it if I pitched it over to him. He, like the two mentioned above, didn't like me touching them. I named him "Shiloh". (shortened to "Shy")
The brown mule wasn't affectionate, but he would eat the produce out of my hand. Most mules looked sad, but he especially did. He also had the largest ears of any creature I've ever seen in person. He looked like a "Luke" to me.
The big mule on the right was my favorite; the owners had told me what her name was (which I forgot), but I called her "Molly". I don't know why I named her that, I've only known one Molly in my entire life and she wasn't mule-faced or particularly stubborn. She was a sweet old thing (the mule, not the girl I knew named Molly), enjoyed the treats I'd bring her and liked being patted on the jaw or neck. To be honest, I don't know if she liked the affection or just suffered my pats because of the attention I gave her.
I felt sorry for all of them and for almost all the rest of the animals out there. These mules aren't neglected as were many of the other animals, the other mules, the pigs, goats and horses. These were fed well enough it looked, but I always shuddered at the condition of the pens. The owners did a fair job of keeping the waste shoveled out, but I still thought it not healthy for them to have to stand on damp ground.
I love dogs and would like to have one, especially a large one, but town is no place for a larger breed. They need room to run and I'd think a mule would be the same. I don't know how intelligent a mule is, but I'd think they're smart enough to need some mental stimulation and enough acreage to roam. They definitely need some grass to graze.
I know I've bored people with my dreams of winning the lottery and what I might buy with the money, but if/when I ever did win and got a small ranch, these mules would be the first thing I'd try to buy. I don't know why I got so attached to them, but I do know one of the reasons I quit going out there and "visiting" with them...I felt so sorry for them. Like I said, they're not being mistreated, but they certainly deserve a better life than to be cooped up in a small pen like that.
For the entire weekend, my cable has been breaking in at least once an hour with emergency test messages. These tests are usually limited to once/week, along with the weekly Saturday noon test of the emergency broadcast system. (the last time I complained to them was when they preformed the weekly test when the National Weather Service was warning of a possible tornado in the storm that was going on at the same time. After complaining to the cable company, I found out it was the city that used poor judgment in testing the sirens during the storm)
The message shows up only for a few seconds (it's still doing it), but it's done it at the most annoying times. The final straw was last night when I was watching Pawn Stars and the owner told a customer "I'll give you...." and then came the message. I didn't miss but ten seconds of that program, but it was a detail I didn't want to miss.
It made me so p.o.'d I went to the CableOne website and left a message and got an email from them an hour or so ago. (at least I got a reply) Here's what they said:
Thank you for submitting your online inquiry. Unfortunately we are unable to discuss your issue via email. Please call us at 806 273 5258 for further assistance with this matter. We look forward to resolving your issue.
I immediately fired back a response:
Well, I don't understand why it can't be discussed via email; in fact, I
don't really care to discuss it at all, I only want it fixed.
I wonder why it couldn't be discussed in an email? Even if I called them, I figure they would just apologize and tell me it was a glitch and that there was no one on duty due to the holiday weekend. I guess I was the only one who complained. I certainly don't see how it could be MY fault. Maybe it's the city's fault again and maybe I'm complaining to the wrong people. Regardless, it's darned annoying.
This was the Today in History entry from the widget in the right-hand column:
I've been to McDonalds less than half a dozen times in my life. A couple of times was when I was with my sister and her then-husband when we were in Amarillo. He loved the franchise and I never understood why. OTOH, he thought macaroni grew on trees, so.... Another time was after work and a co-worker asked if I wanted to go eat breakfast and that he'd buy. I jumped at the chance, but would have turned it down if I had known he wanted to go to McDonalds. Another time was when I was going to go the the movies but knew I didn't have time to eat anything but fast food. The McDonalds was just a few hundred yards from the theater so I got a burger there and wolfed it down in time to catch the flick.
I also ate there a few months ago when I got a craving for french fries and a chocolate milk shake. (I like to dip the fries into the shake - better than ketchup!) They DO make good fries and shakes, but I prefer burgers from just about anywhere else. Pampa has a couple of locally owned hamburger joints that make MUCH better burgers than McD's. I stopped at Sonic the other day and asked the girl who brought me my food if they were always that busy. She mentioned that McDonalds hadn't finished their new building - I then remembered they had torn down the "old" one (probably ten years old or so) and was building another one. It looks like the same size as the last one. Hmmm....
It wasn't the quality of their food that kept me away from McDonald's, though, but rather a political reason. It was the early 70's and I was becoming politically aware. Nixon was President and I was starting to work my first real, paying jobs. When I first started working, the minimum wage was $1.90/hr. then it was raised to a whopping two bucks an hour. Whoopie! I worked for the county mowing the graveyard and courthouse lawn- we were allowed to put in 50 hours/week, but the county, being a govt. entity, was exempt from having to pay overtime. That meant we could make a hundred bucks a week. Even back then that wasn't a lot of money. (At least it didn't seem that much then, but it could probably buy as much as three times that amount now. Gasoline was .28 cents/gallon and you could rent an apt. in my home town for fifty bucks/month)
I was in the school library during study hall and was reading the paper and read an article about Ray Kroc having Nixon on his yacht. The article said it happened quite often and questioned their relationship. It made me question it too and made me do some more research.
This was long before the Internet, so I had to dig through all sorts of periodicals, but I eventually found that Nixon had vetoed several minimum wage increase bills sent to him by Congress. I also found out that the largest employer of young people was McDonalds...young people who also comprised the vast majority of minimum wage workers. It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was more to the Kroc/Nixon connection than appeared on the surface.
Since that time, however, I've come to conclusion that the min. wage isn't necessarily a good thing. A free market should set wages, not Congress or unions or Presidents. Even if there has to be a minimum wage, I think there should be a provision for training wages and an exemption for the youngest workers. (the young me would be furious at the me I am now) The best thing of all would be for government to stay completely out of regulating prices or wages or subsidizing any industry.
The wife of Hank Skinner, a man awaiting execution on death row in the US for a murder he says he did not commit, is leading a campaign to give him the chance to prove his innocence.
However, as time passes Skinner is beginning to see death as more of a relief than a form of punishment.
Thirteen people have been executed so far this year by the state of Texas. Hank Skinner narrowly avoided becoming the fourteenth. He was granted a stay of execution minutes before he was due to be put to death for murdering his girlfriend and her two sons, a crime he says he can prove he did not commit.
“They won’t give me access to the evidence I need to prove my innocence, and meanwhile they are trying to kill me. All the evidence that we’re asking them to test, by the way, is evidence that they have identified as being important in the case,” Skinner says.
waxing\WAK-sing\ , verb; 1. To increase in extent, quantity, intensity or power. 2. (Of the moon) to increase in the extent of its illuminated portion before the full moon. 3. To grow or become.
The moon has been waxing full over the last couple of weeks and we're now in a full moon. I might need to howl tonight. (Correction, the full moon is Saturday night, my birthday as it happens. I probably won't howl, though.)
The way I tell if the moon is waxing or waning is to see how the moon's "shape" corresponds to the letters "D - O - C" If the moon looks like a filled in "D", then the moon is waxing or coming full. When it looks like the letter "C", then the moon is waning.
(If someone tells you it's waning, they might not be talking about the moon. It could very well be Elmer Fudd caught in a thunderstorm)
The procedure is reversed if you're in the Southern Hemisphere; the letters are "C-O-D". This is better explained at Moon Phases - Names and images of the 8 phases of the moon I wanted to include a moon widget, but the darned thing takes over the entire post and "wraps itself" around my comments. I signed up at the site to get the code, but then had to jump through hoops to find it. I also wanted to nab the code for the image (and not javascript) version, but it never let me sign in. Oh well. Life's too short to waste time on such crapola.
The old reliable Wunderground still offers up all sorts of stickies for your blog or website, including this moon graphic:
According to the radar, this line of storms that just popped up is heading nearly due north, which would put it to the west of me (white dot) Most disturbing is the pink part of the storm near the very end of it with what might be a hook from rotation.
I can hear the thunder and feel the gusts of wind which are coming from the front. If the storm decides to head just a little bit to the east, it might mean some severe weather for my vicinity.
It's getting closer and I may very well shut down this computer, even unplug the TV. Sometimes these storms are not only dangerous, but a major PITA.
Before I close, I want to add that I can feel the pressure as it increased, and now it's fallen a substantial amt. (not sure where the barometer is) It's gotten cooler and is very dark outside and very still, much diff. than earlier. More thunder rolls across the sky...
An Amarillo radio station has been playing some ads of Thomas' "Zach's Club 54" gym, saying they're re-opening after a million dollar overhaul. I hope he makes a ton of money and wish him nothing but the best.
Several dozen people braved the weather Friday to break ground on the newest medical addition in Gray County that's being touted as a lifesaver.
Dr. James Hall, president of the Emergency Services Foundation of Texas, the parent company of Pampa EMS, said the $550,000 Gray County Heliport Facility to be built near the Pampa Regional Medical Center will house the LifeStar ambulance helicopter that now serves the eastern Texas Panhandle.
Two LifeStar helicopters serve the top 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle, the Oklahoma Panhandle, eastern New Mexico and the very southeastern part of Colorado. Last year, local LifeStar helicopters made about 896 flights, said Stewart Jackson, assistant director of LifeStar.
The majority of the heliport project, or $500,000, will be funded by the Texas Department of Transportation's aviation division thanks to a measure added to the state's general appropriation bill by state Rep. Warren Chisum. It gave Gray County the money to build the 8,000-square-foot facility at the hospital. Roughly $56,000 will have be funded locally as part of the grant stipulations, said Karon Wiedemann, director of grant management for TxDOT's aviation division. Read the rest at Amarillo.com
Not the original; I cropped a bit out. Shorpy has a clearer, altered version.
I remember a joke about two Yankees who came to Texas to find work at one of the many carbon black plants that used to surround Pampa. A few days later they were back home up north and their friends asked them why they had not stayed to work.
"No need." they replied. "The plant had burned up".
A joke isn't funny if you have to explain it, but the gist of the joke was the men had thought the coating of carbon black on the plant meant it had caught on fire.
One of my first jobs was at the Cabot Machine shop just outside of town; the lady personnel mgr. told me the carbon black plant paid nearly a dollar an hour more and that's the job I wanted, but she told me I probably wouldn't like it. I probably wouldn't have because I didn't like the machine shop, either.
pablum \PAB-luhm\ , noun; 1. Something (as writing or speech) that is trite, insipid, or simplistic. 2. (capitalized) A trademark used for a bland soft cereal for infants.
Maybe I should have named this blog "The Pampa Pablum".
HOUSTON — A condemned inmate set to die next week for a triple slaying 16 years ago in the Texas Panhandle has had his execution date put off for a month.
Henry Watkins Skinner, 47, faced lethal injection Feb. 24 for the 1993 New Year's Eve killings of Twila Jean Busby, 40, and her two grown sons at their trailer home in Pampa.
State District Judge Steven Emmert on Tuesday reset Skinner's date to March 24 to resolve what lawyers said was a timing problem with the original death warrant.
The judge said the paperwork was not completed properly within 10 days of when he signed the warrant last November and Skinner's attorneys had filed a motion to have the warrant dissolved.
"I figured the safest bet was to back up and start over," Emmert said Wednesday.
From the Texas Tribune: Case Open
Twila Busby was Hank Skinner’s soul mate. “We just fell together. We just clicked, man,” he says. The two were hardly apart after they met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. They would kiss in public and cuddled up on the couch to watch thrillers. They were “sick in love,” Skinner says through a telephone receiver behind a Plexiglas window on Texas’ death row unit in Livingston.
A jury found that Skinner was so sick in love that, in a jealous rage, he strangled Busby, bashed in her head and face with an axe handle and then stabbed to death her two mentally disabled adult sons on New Years Eve 1993. He was sentenced to death for the three murders. His execution is scheduled for February 24.
The 47-year-old doesn’t deny he was in the small house in the tiny West Texas town of Pampa on the night of the murders or that the blood on his clothes that night belonged to 41-year-old Busby and her sons. But Skinner and his lawyers say there’s no way he could have killed anyone; he was so loaded on vodka and pills that he was nearly comatose. They argue that his appointed trial attorney, a former district attorney who had previously prosecuted him for theft and assault, failed to adequately investigate other potential suspects. They insist Texas is about to execute an innocent man — and the state has evidence that could prove it. Read the rest of the story
UPDATE: The 2nd part of the story: Case Open: The Investigation
