It’s a good week for those who like dams. Floodgates have been opened all along the Highland Lakes. The lakes, created by dams in the 1930’s, are the primary method of flood control in the area. They act like huge storage tanks. “Back in the day” (before the dams, and other flood control), neighborhoods would get flooded and bridges washed out. Now it’s much less frequent. The last really bad Austin Flood was Memorial Day 1981, which washed out areas along Shoal Creek (about 2 blocks away from us).
The Max Starcke Dam, which creates Lake Marble Falls. Marble Falls got 19 inches of rain in 24 hours.

Wirtz Dam, which forms Lake LBJ in the Highland Lakes chain.

Mansfield Dam on Lake Travis. The released water flows downstream toward Austin.

Tom Miller Dam floodgates were opened to let additional water into Town Lake.

(Photos by Ralph Barrera of the American-Statesman.)

Tomorrow, the Senate is voting on a new national ID card system. Any time a government official stops you (ex. for a speeding ticket) you would have to present your “Real ID”. Want to apply for a job? Well, you’ll need to present your “Real ID”. (This is getting tacked onto the who immigration legislation debacle.)

I highly recommend that you fax your Senator using this handy site: Stop Real ID. Do it now, since they are voting on this next week.

I’m usually not a tin-foil-hat guy, but I have no intention of showing my “papers” as I drive from state to state. That’s a big reason why I’ve given up flying.

It seems that we’ve brought Puerto Rico rains down to Austin. The last couple of years here have been really dry, but this season has been unusually wet.

So far we’ve seen 27 inches of rain, which is 10 inches more than normal. The airport area has seen even more: 31 inches, 14 more than normal.

Because of this there have been a lot of flash flood warnings (central Texas is the flash flood capital of the world). We’re on high ground, but you can see how quickly the ground gets saturated and how the creeks and streams start flowing. All of the creeks that were dry last year are flowing pretty well now.

And the rain isn’t a usual amount. It really sheets down, just like a heavy storm in Puerto Rico. It really reminds me of the island’s rainy season: hot, humid, and tons of water.

In my responce to an ealier blog Starved Rock, I decided to share one of my past adventures. This adventure is not too far away from Chicago, it’s a day trip to Union, Illinois. So what’s in Union, Illinois? Some of the coolest trains ever. It’s the site of the Illinois Railway Museum. In the summer of 1999, I coordinated a trip for the Viva El Teatro Summer Performance Camp. My group of adventurers consisted of Summer Camp Counselors and Senior Citizens and staff. I took some photos of very large Engines. Nearby was a shaded pinic area were we relaxed, chatted and played games. Also in the Union area is the Wild West Town which unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to explore. We got so wrapped up learning about the history of these good old trains.

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1- Train ride at site 2-Busy day 3- Railway Signals
4- Santa Fe 5- Chicago North Western 6- Union Pacific

Thunder roaring, rain pouring, my apartment feels gloomy as I sit infront of my computer reading. I look over to the window and noticed it was raining sheets. I got up and walked over to the window when it hit, why not takes some pictures. Off I went to get the camera and made a few attempts.

I step out of our apartment entrance and took the first shot. It seems grainy that cause of the rain.

I took another shot, this time just above the pool area towards the trees and even more grainy but in the foreground you can see some good size rain drops.

Finally, I took another shot, this time I walked infront of our bedroom window facing west and zoomed in the corridor. Here you can see the down pour coming off the roof between the palm tree and the balcony. Quite difficult to capture the rain, funny though, to the left photo looks grainy, center clear rain drops and to the right not grainy but somewhat out of focus.

Great day in Austin. Thunders, Rain and Gloomy. Maybe it will clear up towards the evening. Hopefully you’re having better weather today. Cheers.

As you can surmise, it continues to be a busy time for me. I’ve been doing a bit of work for the Conservation District (the “water people”), a ton of work for my old company, and a good deal of work for myself. Add on to that two more potential SQL Server projects and my plate is looking full.

While there is a lot about IT that I hate, there is enough interesting stuff to keep me in the business, but on my terms. I’m pretty much through working any sort of 9 to 5 job. Don’t get me wrong, I’d take one if I needed to, but I’m fortunate enough to have found plenty of part-time / remote gigs to pay the bills.

Some people have mentioned to me that they couldn’t handle not having a “real” job. To that I say: In this economy, there’s no such thing as a “real” job. Whatever you are doing–and I mean whatever–can be automated, outsourced, or shifted to a lower paid goon. There is always someone out there who will do your job for less money.

Once you get over that, and stop worrying about “job security” (what a joke), things get easier. I get nervous sometimes, wondering what I’ll be working on a month from now, but then I think about times like now–where I have plenty of work. Feast or famine, I guess. The key is to save like crazy during the feast times so the famine doesn’t wipe you out.

Easier said than done, I know. I happen to be in an industry that (currently) over-pays it’s people, and I’m taking advantage of that fact. But keep this in mind: Wealth is a matter of spending less than you make. Quit spending money on a bunch of crap you don’t need. Your time and sanity is more important than any “keeping up with the Joneses” nonsense. I learned very early on that the more you make the more you spend. It took me a long time to break that habit, and I couldn’t be happier.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sift through the gadget blogs out there. Here are two things that seemed interesting:

The Alien Abduction Lamp

This is one of those neat-o ideas that is, unfortunately, still in the “concept stage”. Which means it may never get to market. Even if it doesn’t, it’s still a great idea for a lamp. You can read more about it here.

Gear Clock 

I’m always looking out for new clock ideas for Ev. This one, while not fitting into her “light up clock” concepts, was interesting. It’s called the Gear Clock and reminds me of the Steampunk movement in technology.

We just arrived back in Austin, safe and sound. Another trip up to Chicago complete. This leg of the journey, from Fort Smith Arkansas, takes about 8.25 hours, with a couple of brief stops. About 8 hours driving total. Not too horrible, and most of the roads are fine. The sucky part is going through Dallas; I think next time we’ll go a little out of our way and go through Ft. Worth instead.

Now we need to unpack, clean up, and re-stock the fridge. The apartment was a little stinky, but not super hot–I was afraid we’d come home to a broiler. (It’s about 90 degrees out right now and sunny.) Luckily, the apartment is so small that the AC cools down the place pretty quickly.

This past Friday was the last-day on-site in Chicago, so it’s back to Austin for us. We’re stopping for two nights in Arkansas to see an old friend of ours. We’ll be leaving tomorrow (Tuesday) morning arriving in Austin in the early evening–just in time for rush hour.

As you can probably tell, it’s been a very busy couple of weeks. It will be nice to get back home and relax a little bit. The only “problem” is that I’ve got more work than I can shake a stick at. So much for a slow summer! Hopefully I’ll be able to knock out a lot of stuff over the next couple of weeks and then relax for a bit. Then it’s back up to Chicago in early August for my birthday, a wedding, and a fishing trip.

You want to experience a nice day trip, Starved Rock State Park is the place to go. As Ron said earlier in his blog entry “A Tiring Week”, we took a trip out to Starved Rock. At first the weather appeared to be somewhat rainy but it wasn’t once we arrived at the park. The day turned out to be quite beautiful, sunny and warm.

I was hoping to see some bald eagles since they have returned to Plum Island recently. I’m happy they’re no longer on the endangered species list. Ron and I took a nice stroll up to Starved Rock itself. The view from up there was breath taking. Of course, I took several pictures.

I was pleasantly surprised to see stairways and deck as we went up to the top since the last time I was out here there were none. I recall a dirt road trail and concrete/stone walls to guide us to the top. I remember being so scared going up since there were no railings to hold on to and with one badly placed footing– off and away you went– imagine falling off the side of Starved Rock plummeting to the bottom of the Illinois River. I sure went up but I was practically hugging the stone wall. Still the view was indeed well worth it.

After taking some pictures, we returned to Ron’s parents sitting near the river under a shady tree relaxing. They recommended we check out the Lock and Dam on the other side of the Illinois River. We learned that on this side of the Illinois River was much more quite and the view equally pleasing. We went up to the observation deck in hopes of seeing a boat use the locks but it was Sunday, therefore, no activities. Every so oftern, Ron and Marie shows up during the weekday for a nice pinic and watch the boats come and go while using the locks. They say it’s cool to watch the locks in action.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. Stavred Rock State Park has several trails and food court at both the lodge and vistor’s center. If you want you can do a day trip or even rent a cabin and make it a weekend get away. Either way you’ll have fun.