Obama, Peanuts, Mushrooms and Airplanes

This weekend is shaping up to be quite a weekend full of events.

Starting on Friday, Obama is in town. (which for me and my family means we’re staying home…we don’t like traffic in town)

The Presidential Forum on Service will be broadcast live on KAMU-TV on channel 12.1, Suddenlink cable channel 700 and channel 4, and on campus cable channel 82. It will also be streamed live on the web at http://kamu.tamu.edu “Watch Now” and at www.georgebushfoundation.org.

More info here

Also Friday and through Saturday – Madisonville Mushroom Festival

Wine tasting, dancing, arts, crafts, food, kids zone, 5k run/walk, auto showcase, auction…fun.

[more info here]

Saturday – Grapeland Peanut Festival

The festival is held every year on the second Saturday in October.  The festivities include a parade held on Main Street in historic downtown Grapeland as well as food, arts & crafts booths, live entertainment and more at the Grapeland City Park. The festivities are topped off with the Peanut Queen’s Coronation Saturday evening.

Grapeland is NorthEast on 21 to Crockett, then North on 19 to Grapeland.

Saturday – Coulter Field Air Show

Featuring performances by an acrobatic pilot and formation flights from modern and World War II aircraft.

The event will be held Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, but parking is $5.
There will be food vendors and activities for children.
For more information, call Carl Preston at 412-1611.

Santa’s Wonderland Launches Cool New Site

I know it’s not the Christmas season yet, but I wanted to write abouta new website just launched by a local attraction that’s been here for over 12 years. It’s pretty much a landmark…especially if you drive by at night during the season.

Santa’sWonderland is that place on HWY 6 on the way to Navasota with all the lights and the Old West looking town. You’re sure to have seen it if you drive by during the Christmas Season. It’s a beautiful site. It’s the most lights I’ve ever seen in one place. They actually made “walls” of lights. Pretty cool. Well, if you haven’t been, you should check it out this year. It’s not open yet, but they will be selling advance tickets pretty soon. They are opening on November 20th.

They asked me to help them work on their website…both the Santa’s Wonderland and the Santa’s Town website. The artwork was created by a Santa’s Wonderland family memeber. It’s really a beautiful site. There’s snow falling, flickering lanterns, photos and all the information you need to learn about Santa’s Wonderland.

They’re scheduling live music, they have a mechanical bull, a petting zoo, and of course, hayrides and vehicle tours through the lights.

They told me they added a bunch more lights this year, and have added some LED lights and worked out some of the parking issues as well.

They have shops, a cafe and so much for the whole family. They even play various Christmas Movies at Santa’s Town. Check out the Santa’s Wonderland website for more information.

We’re still updating some of the pages on the site, so check back for more information. I’ll be writing another post once they schedule the live music events for the season, so stay tuned.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Red Light Camera Petition College Station

A couple of nights ago, my wife and I were out on a date and we happened upon a “Red Light Camera Petition” tent. We stopped by (we were early for the movie we were going to watch).

I’ve gotten a ticket…or whatever it is that they call it…over on Harvey and Muson. It was an accident…I mean, I didn’t realize I was running a red light.

When I got the ticket in the mail, I was bummed. Then I had a thought that it was actually a good deterrent, you know, like having to pay money for speeding. Giving away money because I went over the speed limit is for me a good deterrent. No one likes giving their money away. But it makes me not want to speed. I don’t want to pay $75 just for running a red light, so I’m gonna do my best to not run red lights…I haven’t since.

So, yeah, it was lame that I got a ticket ($75) by the way, but whatever. Then I started realizing that whenever I passed that intersection, I slowed down, and got nervous, and even stopped a couple of times at the yellow light…that’s pretty dangerous.

My wife thought it was lame because since there was no one there, there was no way to “appeal” the fine. I disagree with her. Even if there was a cop there handing out tickets, how many times have you been able to NOT get a ticket for running a red light or not stopping at a stop sign…even if you didn’t see it, whatever, you almost always get that ticket.

So, we talked to the guys at the petition signing thing, and yeah, we signed it. Mostly just because apparently, the city of college station, I mean the people, didn’t get to vote on the installation of the cameras. They told us it had gotten piggy backed to another more important bill.

As I was talking to them, they mentioned that running a red light wasn’t a criminal offense. I stopped them, “It’s not a criminal offense to run a red light?” He said it was not if you don’t get caught.

I disagree with that statement as well. In fact, that almost made me scratch out my name from the petition, but I left it on there. I mean, that becomes a moral issue of integrity and deception. I am making a huge effort to teach my kids that just because I’m not in the room, it’s still not OK to hit their brother or sister.

Here’s what they state on their facebook group:

Problems with red light cameras:

*Decrease Safety
*Increase Collisions
*Remove right to appeal
*Remove officer discretion
*Remove the right to face your accuser
*Force one to choose between safety or fines
*Remove opportunity to explain extenuating circumstances to jury
*Create a special risk to motorcyclists, to whom a rear end collision could be fatal
*Create an unequal standard for the same offense depending on whether it was witnessed by an officer or a camera
*Have been constantly shown to only be the first step towards further camera monitoring, ranging from vehicle registration or insurance checking to speed limit enforcement.

Honestly, I agree with some of those, but when it comes to “unequal standard” and “extenuating circumstances” and “face your accuser” and even “right to appeal”, the argument falls flat for me. It’s either legal or illegal. Fairness has nothing to do with it. (and the “further camera monitoring” isn’t really an issue either, unless you are trying to hide something, right?)

I’ve known people who smoked pot and justified it by saying that they weren’t harming anyone, they were doing it in private, etc. My response is that it’s illegal. That’s it. They find it on you, you are busted.

It seems like lately it’s all about how you can get out of a responsibility. So, you ran a red light, but you were reaching back to put the seat belt back on your four year old who just figured out how to push the button and unstrap himself. You still ran a red light. What if you had ran over someone crossing the street? Solution: get through the intersection, pull in to the closest store, strap him back in, figure out a way to keep him from doing it again.

I know someone who is in jail because he killed someone while driving drunk. He’s in jail for like 5 years. I’ve also know many, many people who have made it home from a party just fine even through they were very intoxicated. The effect does not justify the action.

My wife an I played an April Fool’s joke back in college that turned bad. It could have been worse though. We faked that she fell off the balcony at the art building…she laid down at the ground floor. People looked over the edge and one student ran to a phone and called 911. Well, the cops and ambulance came full speed, through the quad, lights, sirens, everything…through parking lots, etc. The cop had to read us our rights, he didn’t arrest us. He told us that if they had caused an accident on the way here, or ran over someone in the quad or something, or even wrecked the police car or ambulance, we would be liable for that.

So, the part of me that doesn’t like giving my money away doesn’t want the red light cameras. If it’s true that they are causing more accidents, then that obviously doesn’t work. Is there a graph? I’d like to see a pretty graph.

I’m not sure that signing a petition to get something on the ballot to vote on in November is going to change anything. How many people vote anyway, really…but that’s another issue altogether.

The city does NOT get revenue from the cameras. The money goes directly to the company in Arizona that installed them. It is not a traffic violation…apparently. So, for a vote to get them torn down, it’s not so much about the vote. This is a company that is making money. It would be like trying to get all the adult video stores out of town. It’s been done, but it took quite a bit of work.

Here’s another quote from their facebook group:

We are part of the petition drive to place the College Station Red Light Camera program on a ballot to receive an up-or-down vote. Whether you support or oppose the cameras, it seems only fair to let the citizens of College Station decide whether or not we want them in our city.

Seems only fair? What is “fair” anyway? Will a vote get them torn down?

Anyway, go check out their facebook group, and go talk the them where they’ve set up their tent. They are really great people, well informed, and will answer all your questions.

And by the way, they told me that none of the “staff” were red light runners. They are standing on principle.

I would say that a better approach would be to do your best to not run red lights…always…not just at the intersections where there are cameras. This way, they will take them down because they can’t be paid for. I think this is better than a vote. Proof is in the pudding, right?

Beautiful Mosaics in Bryan, Easy to Miss

So, I’m on my way to a meeting on the other side of Wellborn and Villa Maria and I notice that the underpass is finished by the golf course. I hadn’t driven over on that side of town for some time and was glad to see that I wasn’t being diverted over the railroad tracks anymore.

The new underpass is at Welborne and Villa Maria.

“This looks nice,” I said to myself. Then I noticed that there were what looked like colorful paintings or something on the walls and pylons under there. I set myself to check on them on my way home from the meeting.

The truth is, I almost missed them again…I had to turn around and go back. Well, I got a better look and they were mosaics in the walls. I barely saw a flower and a cow I think.

Well, I found the closest place I could to park (which was in an apartment complex at the top of the hill) and parked and started the trek.

At least there’s a nice wide sidewalk.

Well, it turns out there are 20 mosaics under there. There is in fact a cow, and flowers. There’s a bluebonnet, some lilies and maybe a Mexican Hat. Well, there’s also a train, an Oil Pump, a water tower and even a capital building. They are huge, and they are beautiful.

It’s the coolest thing to see them up close and see that they are made out of hundreds of little centimeter square colored blocks of glass tile. They are just so pretty. I love that little pieces make a large finished piece. It’s really a great picture of what a community should look like.

The problem is that most people will not ever see them. I probably won’t ever get to take my kids to see them because, well, it’s kinda dangerous, there’s 3 lanes of traffic going each way under there.

I guess it’s for the people who walk under there, but I’m just not sure how many people are going to walk under there. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there’s a bunch of people walking under there…or there’s a plan for the future…I don’t know.

Maybe there’s a bunch of traffic there during rush hours and the drivers now get to look at pretty pictures. That’s nice.

Anyway, I’d say it’s most definitely worth a trip. It looks like they are well lit at night, and you’ll have to park up at the apartments. I can’t suggest any ice cream shop or place to eat around there, well, because there really isn’t any. There’s a golf course, some apartments, a neighborhood and a rail road track.

Well, it’s still worth the trip.

Here’s the Eagle’s article on it.

It looks like this was a pretty big project. Nice. Here’s a map of the area.

Automatic Red Light Cameras in College Station

I’m a pretty safe driver. I don’t attempt to run red lights, and for the most part either slow down or stop at yellow lights. OK, so I’ve been known to stop at green lights and put my turn signal on when the road is just curving, but aside from that, oh, and the occasional speeding ticket, I’m a pretty good driver.

Well, needless to say, I was sure surprised to get a letter in the mail with pictures of my car running a red light.

So, my wife and I try to figure out what day it was, what we were doing in town, etc. We’re pretty sure it was me driving (not my wife), which actually makes more sense. My wife rarely gets speeding tickets because she can somehow always pay attention to speed limits and traffic signals

Anyway, that’s my story. So, just so you know, there are several red light cameras around town.

Harvey Road and Munson Avenue, Harvey Road and George Bush Drive East, Texas Avenue and Walton Drive and Wellborn Road and George Bush Drive. Another one is proposed to go up at Texas and Hwy 6.

The City of College Station site explains a little more why they put them up…here’s an exerpt:

Program revenue will be used first to pay the vendor, American Traffic Solutions, which will install and maintain the cameras at no cost to the city.

The company charges $4,750 per camera. If the full amount is not recouped during the company’s five-year contract, the city will not have to make up the difference.

Once the $19,000 has been paid to American Traffic Solutions, College Station will subtract the cost of running the program and divide the remainder equally between the city and state. Funds that go to the city will be used to pay for traffic safety improvements.

The initial four intersections were chosen based on a December 2006 study by American Traffic Solutions. According to the study, the most violations occurred at Texas Avenue and Walton Drive, where 43 people ran red lights in a 12-hour period.

Mine was at Harvey and Munson.

The company sends you a citation with a couple of pictures of your car in the intersection, one close-up of your license plate, and a link to their website where you can even watch a video of the violation. Funny.

So, there you have it. Now I’m totally nervous when I’m driving through intersection…not just the ones with the cameras on them.