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POWER TALK
LETTERS
Willie Story Leaves Him Cold
You let Joe Nick Patoski write a boring, one-sided piece on Willie Nelson’s visit to his hometown and the Abbott Methodist Church (“The Gospel According to Willie,” May 2008), but it doesn’t tell about Willie, the man, or his feelings about life or anything else for that matter. And the reference to “the putrid skunk aroma” of Willie weed coming from the bus was totally inappropriate in such an article.
Chris Burnett
cburnett@ectisp.net
Hooray for Heat Pumps
There is legislation in Congress to outlaw the resistance electric light bulb and require use of fluorescent bulbs. But if you are going to save energy, you have to go to the heat pump. Congress should require every new house that is going to use electricity for heat to be built with heat pumps. Property owners should be required to notify their tenants about the source of heat used in their buildings.
John D. Bennett
Pedernales Electric Cooperative
No Wolves, Just Coyotes
I am pleased to see your announcement about Mineola Nature Preserve on the Sabine River in the April issue. However, there is one error in the article. Unfortunately, there are no longer any wild wolves in East Texas, but coyotes are common.
Ray C. Telfair II
Certified Wildlife Biologist, Cherokee County Electric Cooperative
‘Run Like a Rabbit!’
Your article, “A Permanent Memory,” in the April issue was a blast!
My mother gave all our neighbors perms, but when it came my turn every six months, she was so afraid that she might damage my short, thin hair. Once, she accidentally dropped the glass bottle of neutralizer. In those days, moms didn’t drive, so she yelled for my brother, Don, to “run like a rabbit” to the store and buy a new permanent kit. Until he returned, she held my head under the kitchen faucet. Everything turned out fine.
Love your magazine.
Joanne Covey
Pedernales Electric Cooperative
Mesquite Makes Music
I can’t help but respond to the letter in June from Guy Matthews saying, “mesquite wood’s most useful purpose is its embers, which flavor Texas barbecue ...”
Maybe mesquite’s purpose of flavoring Texas MUSIC has not been considered before turning it to embers! I’ve been building guitars out of mesquite for about 10 years. It has proven to be a great sounding tonewood, not to mention its natural beauty and durability.
Vince Pawless
Cooke County Electric Cooperative
How Could You Omit The King’s Inn?
Oh, my goodness! How could Camille Wheeler, in the June 2008 edition, take the trip from Corpus Christi to the King Ranch without stopping at the best restaurant ever—The King’s Inn at Baffin Bay? I wouldn’t consider a trip to Corpus with stopping there for dinner!
Ann-Marie Holle
United Cooperative Services
June 29, 2008
Use Pedal Power
Your article in the July 2008 issue titled “Good Vibrations” stated: “Harnessing energy from human and natural activity is a growing enterprise. Don’t be surprised if someday your workout at the gym will help power the facility’s air-conditioning system.”
This sounds very similar to an idea I had a short time ago, an idea that I think would be truly great if I had any clue what to do with it. I have one of those flashlights that is powered by spinning a turning crank that not only generates but stores the power to light the LED bulbs. My idea was that if the turn crank could be an exercise machine, such as a manual treadmill or stationary bike, and if the flashlight could be a standard electrical plug, we would have the ability to put in a good workout and reap some benefits in the form of electrical power, maybe enough to run a modest-size television or computer—power that would not appear on your electric bill.
There’s a reason we have more overweight people in America now than we did 100 years ago: More things were done with elbow grease back then. Maybe this is a way to get back to that. I for one would be gladly willing to work out regularly if it would contribute to powering my household, lowering my bill, and, more importantly, reducing the strain on conventional supplies like fossil fuel and coal and helping the environment. If you have an idea who might know what to do with this suggestion, please pass it along.
Alan Schriver
United Cooperative Services
June 29, 2008
Phooey on Heat Pumps
RE: Letter from John D. Bennett in the July 2008 issue. There is no heat from heat pumps. I built a house three years ago and did everything possible to make it energy efficient. The only mistake was installing a heat pump. In the winter all it does is blow cool air, and what little heat comes from the small heating coil in my system. The compressor runs and ices up in cold weather. So now I switch to the emergency-heat setting, which bypasses my compressor in winter. I have also purchased a small room electric heater so I can take off the winter coat I have to wear inside. We keep our upstairs bedroom at 58 degrees and downstairs at around 70 degrees. If you need heat, don’t buy a heat pump. You will be sorry you did when it really gets cold out.
O.R. Jordan
United Cooperative Services
Boo for Heat Pumps
I had the misfortune of owning a house in North Carolina with a high-efficiency heat pump and was sadly disappointed with its wintertime performance. The air coming from the vents was only a few degrees warmer than the ambient air in the house. With the thermostat set at 68, the return air was about 72 degrees—at its warmest. It was drafty and uncomfortable, and the house was always cold. The only time the air was warm was if the auxiliary or emergency heat was operating, and the electric meter on the side of my house spun like crazy. Whenever we had freezing precipitation it would melt down into the fan and compressor and impair its already poor performance.
Letter writer John D. Bennett’s recommendation that Congress mandate their use is an insult to our freedom of choice.
Marshall Valentino
Comanche Electric Cooperative
June 29, 2008
Wolves Exist in Northeast Texas
Credentials such as “certified wildlife biologist” in the July 2008 letter from Ray C. Telfair II do not make a person experienced with Texas wildlife. Only living here in the country for a long time and being observant can do that. I have lived in rural Northeast Texas for only 40 years, but I have seen many gray wolves, red wolves (which are a cross between gray wolf and coyote) and of course, many coyotes.
One day recently, a group of large gray wolves walked out of the woods about 100 feet from my back door. Looking straight at me, they advanced until they heard a rooster crow at a neighbor’s place. They turned off toward the chickens, giving me a chance to get back into the house. Natives to this area have told me that gray wolves have always lived around here. It is comforting to know that my little grandchildren have two large dogs to protect them.
B.C. Wicker
Fannin County Electric Cooperative
May 5, 2008
Bravo to Joe Nick Patoski
What a great salute to Willie Nelson’s 75th birthday (May 2008, “The Gospel According to Willie”). Bravo to Joe Nick Patoski. I loved the photos, the layout of page 9. I love Willie’s music, and I truly enjoy getting our monthly co-op edition. Texas Co-Op Power articles are fun and informative.
I have baked many of the recipes, and Around Texas is great way to map out weekend trips.
Sandy McDaniel
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative
June 8, 2008
A Bamboo Fan
Regarding the March 2008 issue and the article on bamboo: I enjoyed the article very much. One aspect not commented on by anyone in the article or in letters is the value as a food. We enjoy bamboo shoots every spring, especially in the wet years. As to recent comments about this being a useless grass taking over everything, the Asians value the clumping bamboo not only for food and construction materials, but they make clothing accessories from shredded bamboo and they often plant their climbing vegetables in the bamboo patches because the leaves produce good mulch.
Running bamboo is not all that bad, either. It is best to put metal barriers in the ground if you don’t want it to spread, but it is easily removed by small dozing (earth-moving) equipment if you want to wipe out a field of roots. I prefer this plant, which tolerates extreme high temperatures and has proved to still make it through near-zero winters. You can also make a lot of garden trellises and fishing poles from the running bamboo.
The only bad thing I have heard about this bamboo is that if a dog chews it, it can cause stomach ulcers and slow death. I have only seen one suspected but unconfirmed case.
Fred Marvin
June 8, 2008
Bouquet from New Reader
Just wanted to throw you a bouquet. After reading your magazine for the first time (May 2008 issue) at a friend’s house, I was delighted: Not only an article about Willie Nelson, but a wonderful recipe for strawberries in balsamic vinegar syrup. It doesn’t get any better than this! Good for you, and please keep up the good work.
Janice Mundy
BEWARE OF CON ARTISTS OR THIEVES POSING AS UTILITY WORKERS
Sam Houston and CoServ electric cooperatives in Texas and a major utility in Iowa have reported that scam artists posing as collection agents have been calling utility customers and demanding that a payment be sent by check or the Internet to the scam agency to preclude disconnection of service. Sometimes they ask for a credit card number.
Most cooperatives do not use collection agencies. And electric payments should go only to your cooperative. If you receive a questionable call, please contact your cooperative or law-enforcement authorities.
While we’re on the subject of people preying on trusting folks, from time to time we hear of someone posing as a utility employee and wanting to gain entry to a home to check electric service. If you let someone into your house without verifying credentials, you may discover later that cash or a small valuable has disappeared.
Be on the safe side:
1. Always ask for company identification or an employee identification number.
2. Don’t provide any personal or banking information to anyone who calls you. Instead, you should dial the co-op or other business to ensure you are talking to a legitimate party.
3. Employees may, on occasion, be dispatched to a customer’s home for an unscheduled maintenance call. If a visitor or caller is unable or unwilling to provide his or her name or employee identification number, please call your cooperative and report the incident.
HAPPENINGS
Don those swimsuits and spring into Spring Ho, Lampasas’ annual festival that invites participants to make a big splash while enjoying events galore, such as a carnival and county fair.
The 36-year-old festival, scheduled for July 7-13, honors the rejuvenating powers of Lampasas’ mineral springs.
One of the coolest—or coldest—ways to celebrate during the festival is to jump into the Hancock Free Flow Swim Area, a spring-fed swimming pool. Meanwhile, there are so many activities scheduled, festivalgoers won’t know what to dive into first. For example, there’s the Spring Ho Beauty Pageant, the Hayloft Party Talent Contest, the Kiddie Fishing Derby, the Keystone Square Museum special exhibits, a pet parade, a barbecue cook-off, a 10-kilometer race and the Spring Ho Dance on the Square in the National Registered Historic District in downtown Lampasas.
For more information, call (512) 556-5301 or go to www.springho.com.
THE QUEEN OF THE GULF
Weathering hurricanes and economic downturns, the Hotel Galvez has stood proudly for decades on the south shore of Galveston Island, offering elegant accommodations to thousands of visitors. The hotel, built in the mission/Spanish revival style, opened in 1911 and was instrumental in helping rebuild the island city’s economy after the devastating 1900 hurricane.
The “Queen of the Gulf,” which had faded after a tourism downturn sparked by raids in 1957 on the city’s illegal gambling establishments, was restored to its former glory in the mid-1990s and now gives guests magnificent views of the Gulf along the city’s protective seawall, just blocks from the historic Strand District.
—From Historic Hotels of Texas: A Traveler’s Guide, Texas A&M University Press, first edition, 2007
FUTURE TALK: GOOD VIBRATIONS
The next time the floor vibrates beneath your feet, think of it as renewable energy in the making. You’ve probably experienced this phenomenon someplace such as a multistory shopping mall during the Christmas rush. Thousands of shoppers walking the corridors at the same time can create a mini-earthquake. Buildings are designed to withstand this motion, which structural engineers call “dynamic load.”
A London architectural firm has unveiled a proposal for capturing all that footloose energy and converting it into electricity. Plans are under way to build an energy-harvesting staircase with small hydraulic generators embedded in the floor of a London subway. Estimates are that each footstep can generate 3 to 5 watts of power. Multiply that by tens of thousands of walkers each day, and you could light an entire building.
Harnessing energy from human and natural activity is a growing enterprise. Don’t be surprised if someday your workout at the gym will help power the facility’s air-conditioning system.
WHO KNEW?
There were no PR people around when these places were named (counties in parentheses).
Calamity Creek
(Brewster)
Cow Trap Lake
(Brazoria)
Deadman Creek
(Callahan)
Devil’s Sinkhole
(Edwards)
Fool Creek
(Glasscock)
Shorters Defeat
(Cherokee)
Stampede Creek
(Bell, McLennan)
Starvation Creek
(Hutchinson)
Swindler Creek
(Newton)
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