Here Comes The Sun

From 2015 03 05 Snow

Weather in Richardson, Texas, at noon today: 33 degrees and sunny.

Today's weather triggers an old and pleasant memory. Believe it or not, in Wisconsin a day like today (sunny, melting snow) is a welcome sign of Spring, not Winter. Once when I was in college, on a day just like today, everyone was outside enjoying the "nice" weather. A classmate opened his dorm window, put his stereo speakers on the window ledge, and blasted the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" to the whole campus. Good times.

And by the way, I hate to date myself, but that event was so long ago that "Here Comes the Sun" was at the time just recently released.

OTBR: Ice in Estonia

Latitude: N 58° 32.784
Longitude: E 023° 22.398

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Regional Quarterfinals: Berkner 59, Skyline 53

In the third round of the State UIL basketball playoffs, the Berkner Rams men's basketball team defeated the Skyline Raiders 59-53 at Garland's Curtis Culwell Center. The win gets Berkner into the "Sweet Sixteen," the surviving teams in Class 6A out of the 128 who started the tournament.

The Rams win was all the more impressive because their leading scorer and playmaker Torey Everett missed most of the game with a sore ankle. The rest of the team more than stepped up, working the lead to fifteen points and then holding off a late charge by Skyline to take the win.

It's a great time to be a Ram!

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Sorry the photo is kind of blurry, but I was kind of excited.

Repeat Tweets: Little Shop of Horrors

Repeat tweets from February, 2015:

• Feb 1 2015: Little Shop of Horrors at BHS: So much to praise, including orchestra, tech, Audrey II, Mr Yartym, Doo Wop Girls and Audrey's awesome voice.
  
• Feb 1 2015: Mike McCarthy just blew Pete Carroll a big kiss. #CoachingMalpractice #SuperBowl #SB49
  
• Feb 2 2015: Headline: "Ex-Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel enters rehab." The Justin Bieber of football.
  
• Feb 2 2015: Headline: "Chris Christie: Scientists Have a Point About Vaccines, But So Do Crazy People"
  
• Feb 2 2015: Headline: "Obamacare’s not so bad after all, business leaders say." This from a business journal in Texas. Really. bizjournals.com
  

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Barely a Ripple in Richardson Elections

Only two places out of seven will be contested in Richardson's May 9 City Council elections and of those, only one won't have an incumbent running (Kendal Hartley declined to run for re-election.)

Place 1: Bob Townsend (incumbent), Rick Wilder
Place 2: Mark Solomon (incumbent)
Place 3: Scott Dunn (incumbent)
Place 4: Claudia Tatum, Mabel Simpson
Place 5: Paul Voelker (incumbent)
Place 6: Steve Mitchell (incumbent)
Mayor: Laura Maczka (incumbent)

The RISD school board ballot will have no contested races. In fact, there won't even be an election. Only one candidate filed for each of the three positions up for election in 2015, so those three will be elected by default.

Place 1: Jean Bono
Place 2: Kim Caston (incumbent)
Place 5: Eron Linn

Congratulations to all the candidates who volunteer to serve.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.

Source: Theodore Roosevelt.

Snowpiercer (2014)

IMDB

Snowpiercer (2014): Think Coors Silver Bullet train meets Hunger Games with Gandalf and zombies. Absurd. Illogical. Cheap. Dreadful. D-

Agenda Watch: Food Trucks

The following item appeared on the agenda for the cancelled February 23, 2015, Richardson City Council worksession:

REVIEW AND DISCUSS FOOD TRUCK REGULATIONS

Source: City of Richardson.

As usual, there is no hint of what prompted this agenda item (I've never understood how agendas are put together, but that's another topic). But my guess is that the reason this was on the agenda wasn't because some council member thought that existing regulations are too restrictive, maybe resulting in Richardson not having as many food trucks as a modern, vibrant urban city ought to have.

You know, like Plano...

Playoffs: Berkner 65, Jesuit 62

The Berkner Rams men's basketball team fought off a challenge from the Dallas Jesuit Rangers in the first round of the UIL state basketball playoffs Tuesday night at the Richardson High School gym. The Rams came back from a nine point deficit in the third quarter to win 65-62.

It's a great time to be a Ram!

Neighbors (2014)

IMDB

Neighbors (2014): Gross, tasteless, raunchy, sophomoric, derivative, unfunny. Boy, I am so the wrong demographic for this movie. D+

CAFR's Upward Trend is Real

For city finance wonks, Christmas comes twice a year: once in August when the city budget is set and again in February when the city financial audit is published. The budget specifies the city's cash flow (its planned revenues and expenses). The financial audit details the city's assets (the value of city property, bank accounts, etc.) and its liabilities (outstanding debt, pension obligations, etc.).

After the jump, a quick look at this year's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).