Meanwhile in Texoma........

[sugar magnolia]

They were doing trunk or treat in Dallas when we moved there in 1986. You could also go from store to store in the Galleria to trick or treat.

[Volkonski]

Rain. Temperature now is 38F. High today will be 42F. A week ago the high was 91F.

This week our SIL is visiting his brother in Colorado.

Mrs. V. left yesterday to visit our younger daughter, SIL and grandson in Dallas and attend a concert at the Dallas Recorder Society today. She also pack the minivan with the dining room table and chairs that we promised to that daughter as soon as they got their own home with a dining room which they now have.

Just 11 miles out she got a flat tire. Our daughter headed out to rescue her mother. I phoned around to find a tire place that was open on a Saturday afternoon. Most aren't. AAA towed the minivan to the Discount Tire in Wichita Falls. Despite getting there at 4 PM (DT closes at 5 pm) they repaired the tire and got her going again. No charge.

By then she felt it was too late to head to Dallas so she came home and will head down today.

The three of us went out for sushi after an exciting day.

[AndyinPA]

The sushi sounds like a good idea! Hope she has a better trip today.

[Volkonski]

The sushi sounds like a good idea! Hope she has a better trip today.

Yes, the freezing rain, which is coming, held off. She is in Dallas now.

Our SIL visiting Colorado is getting snow.

[FiveAcres]

The sushi sounds like a good idea! Hope she has a better trip today.

Yes, the freezing rain, which is coming, held off. She is in Dallas now.

Our SIL visiting Colorado is getting snow.

We got snow here in Colorado Springs last night. I spent the night at a friend's house: she is recovering from surgery and needed a "responsible adult" to stay with her. (I kept looking around trying to locate the responsible adult.) This morning I had to decide: drive home on icy roads, or wait until later when conditions might be better. Except, they were forecasting the possibility of more snow, and snow on top of ice can be even worse that just ice. Fortunately, my Subaru Forrester did a fine job of getting me home, though I did pass one accident on a main road involving at least two cars and an impressive amount of emergency equipment.

[AndyinPA]

Getting to be that time of year again.

[Volkonski]

Days of rain result in small improvement.

Lake levels are getting lower still but now we are having 2 days of rain which should help along with lower temperatures.

[Volkonski]

Texas is famous for big things but Wichita Falls is famous for a little thing.

Boom, Bust, and the “World’s Littlest Skyscraper”
The discovery of oil near Wichita Falls in 1911 not only brought money to the Texas town, it brought a swindler who promised the sky(scraper).

https://daily.jstor.org/boom-bust-and-t ... kyscraper/

In the 1910s and ’20s, Texas and Oklahoma experienced a boom. In 1911, oil was discovered in Wichita County. By 1918, three oil fields had been discovered in the small Texas county that bordered Oklahoma, leading to an influx of prospectors looking to get in, get rich, and get out. New refineries opened, new railroads were built. Things were looking up. As historian Jahue Anderson explains, “a Wichita Falls citizen could stroll through downtown, catch the street railway car, pass irrigated fields […] take a leisurely cruise across the lake, or enjoy dancing to touring music acts.”

But with the arrival of new residents and establishment of new businesses, space was at a premium, particularly in one boomtown, Wichita Falls. Pre-boom, Wichita Falls had around 8,000 residents, but between 1910 and 1920 the population expanded five times over, to about 40,000. And though growth represented new opportunities for workers, it also represented new frontiers for scammers. As Roger M. Olien and Diana Davids Olien describe in their historical study of oil promoters, the discovery of new oil fields also mean a boom in the industry of confidence games. But one conman who made his way to Wichita Falls left more than empty pockets in his wake. He also left the town with one of its notable landmarks—the “world’s littlest skyscraper.”

Wichita Falls needed more office space to house new ventures. Oilman J. D. McMahon had a plan (some sources note that McMahon may not be his actual name; many details of his biography and his plan have been lost to history): he’d build a skyscraper, a huge building in the city’s downtown, big enough to house the offices of all the newly rich business executives.



McMahon effortlessly sold stock in his business venture, raising $200,000 from investors who hoped that this could be their opportunity for riches. He even had blueprints in hand, grand plans that showed the majestic building rising in the city’s center. But as legend has it, the scale of the blueprints was off. The 480-foot building was actually 480 inches. The resulting building was a compact four stories high and about twelve feet wide and twenty feet deep. Hardly the Empire State Building. By the time it was completed in 1919, McMahon was long gone, leaving his miniature skyscraper as a memento.

[Volkonski]

MSU named most beautiful campus in Texas

https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/lo ... n3dDQWFjSU

The university that has called Wichita Falls home for over a century has been ranked at the top of a list of the most beautiful college campuses in the Lone Star State.

According to the website The Travel, Midwestern State University has been named the most beautiful university campus in Texas.

The list ranks the top 10 most beautiful university campuses in the state. It includes some of the largest public and private universities in Texas, such as the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and Texas Christian University.

The Travel noted that MSU Texas has blossomed into a world-class university since it was founded as a junior college in 1922. It also stated the buildings on campus feature tiled roofs on top of arched facades and signature red brick exteriors.

According to The Travel, the campus sits on 255 acres and contains 70 buildings, along with several on-campus attractions like the Sunwatcher, The Gates of Hercules, and a replica of the Liberty Bell.

[Volkonski]

I know that most of you, distracted by what the MSM thinks is big news, don't see much Texoma news. Fear not. Your intrepid Texoma reporter is here to keep you up to date. I know you can't hear the dancing in the streets here just now but there is Big news!



Get ready: Another dollar store is coming to town

https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/n ... 437434007/

The dollar store boom in Wichita Falls appears to be continuing.

City construction permits indicate a new Dollar General will be built at 6303 Southwest Parkway. The location is near the intersection with Allendale Road.

While much of Southwest Parkway is one of the city's busiest corridors, the new store would be located near where the parkway curves to the north and runs by largely residential neighborhoods.

The area where the store would be built was converted from residential to commerical zoning by the City Council in 2018. Some residents in the area complained to the Planning and Zoning Commission the change would open the way for increased traffic, noise, and trash overflowing into their quiet neighborhood.

This would be the third new Dollar General to open in Wichita Falls in recent months, with one constructed on Seymour Highway and another in a largely underserved area on East Scott Avenue.

Dollar Tree and Family Dollar recently opened a joint location in the former La Michoacana market at Midwestern Parkway and Jacksboro Highway. (This is just 0.4 miles from us.)

Wichita Falls has at least 17 chain-operated dollar stores.

USA Today reported that between 2019 and 2021, Dollar General opened 3,025 new stores nationwide. Dollar Tree, owner of Family Dollar, opened 464 new stores.

In 2022, Texas led the nation in dollar stores with 1,802.

We're Number 1!

[neonzx]

Hm. So they can build a new store there but cannot get the store near me fixed from Ian damage? Some electrical problem during the hurricane fried all the coolers and freezers and the HVAC system. AC is working again and two coolers -- the beer coolers.
Ugh.

So I have to drive further to grab eggs or milk.

[Volkonski]

In this land of BBQ and Tex-Mex food they have to give away fresh organic produce.

Free local produce offered at community garden

https://www.texomashomepage.com/events/ ... ty-garden/

If you need to stock up on fresh, organic produce for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, an event on Monday should be on your calendar.

It’s the first ever Harvest Day Celebration hosted by the local health district, All Hands Community Center and Abilene Recovery Center.

Besides being locally-grown, organic produce, the best thing is it’s free.

These vegetables and herbs are grown with no chemicals by volunteers of the Health District, Community Center and others, and are also used in the district’s free cooking classes.

The garden will open at 11:30 Monday morning, November 6, at the garden at 302 Tulsa.

[Volkonski]

In these parts burritos are serious business.

Man who pulled knife after stealing burrito sentenced

https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/cr ... sentenced/

A man who tried to stab a grocery store employee over a stolen burrito is going to prison.

Alexander Williams pleaded guilty Friday, November 3, 2023, in the 30th District Court on two charges.

He was sentenced to two years in prison for robbery and one year for identity fraud. The two sentences will be served at the same time.

He was arrested last March when police were called and told that several people were holding down a man who had tried to stab a loss prevention officer and other people at the United Supermarket on Iowa Park Road.

Officers found Williams near the bathroom being restrained by employees.

Employees told police Williams had come inside, and a customer bought him a burrito because Williams said he did not have any money.

They said Williams immediately ate the burrito and started to leave, but then came back in the store and took another burrito and walked out. The loss prevention officer told him to stop and said Williams backed away, so he grabbed his arm and the two fell to the ground and began struggling.

The officer said Williams pulled out a knife and swung it at him, but he was able to knock it out of Williams’ hand.

If it had been anything other than a burrito............

[Volkonski]

Do our local lawbreakers compete to commit a "Crime of the Week"?

Crime of the Week: Maurine Street Pursuit

https://www.newschannel6now.com/2023/11 ... t-pursuit/

Two men are behind bars after police say they led officers on a pursuit down Maurine Street and through surrounding neighborhoods. The men were finally arrested after police used spike strips in order to get the driver to stop.

According to police, once the pair was in custody more than a thousand grams of methamphetamine were found to be in their possession, and with that much weight, police say, the drugs were clearly destined for the streets.

“On October 13 officers with our special operations unit tried to stop a vehicle,” WFPD Sgt. Charlie Eipper said.

Instead of pulling over, the driver 45-year-old Nicholas Darcus took off and a brief chase ensued. The passenger 35-year-old passenger Dmetrius Brooks jumped from the speeding car, but not before officers saw him tossing something out the window.

“It ended up being over a thousand grams of methamphetamine so they were able to arrest the guy that had gotten out of the car and then they finally got the vehicle to stop,” Sgt. Eipper said. “We were able to slow down the vehicle with our stop sticks and that’s the device we use that is a very safe device that is built so that the driver does not lose control of that vehicle and it can come to a safe stop,”

Once police had the two men in handcuffs, it didn’t take long for an officer to recognize the suspects.

“They are well known by us, many of us have dealt with them in our careers so it wasn’t something that surprised us when we were able to seize such a large amount of narcotics from them,” Sgt. Eipper said.

Nicholas Darcus is being held in the Wichita County Jail on a $140,000 bond on three charges related to the incident, and Dmetrius Brooks is being held for at $141,000.

As I mentioned in an earlier post we get a lot of drug trafficking here because highways from all directions intersect in our city.

[Volkonski]

Our rollercoaster weather continues. Sitting out on the patio now before it gets too hot. High today 88F. Tomorrow 90F. Wednesday 86F. Then Thursday 62F.

No rain for over a week now so waiting for today's lake level report with interest. Very breezy yesterday and today which increases evaporation.

All the trees here still green. If it wasn't getting dark earlier now you wouldn't think it was autumn.

[Volkonski]

Headline here today-

"Explosion in Wichita Falls home hospitalizes one"

Story says that yesterday evening the fire department responded to an explosion in the XX00 block of YYYY Road.

We live in the XX00 block of YYYY Road!

Didn't hear anything, No explosion. No sirens. Nothing.

Well, the XX00 "block" of YYYY Road is a third of a mile long and we live just one house from the western end. If the event was near the eastern end of the road we probably wouldn't hear much.

The "explosion" was likely really a deflagration. Deflagrations aren't very noisy compared to explosions.

The locations of the nearest fire station and hospital are such that emergency vehicles would have come and gone to the east and to the north, not anywhere near our house.

Still seems a bit strange that something like that could happen and we not be aware of it.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I think there must be an engineering scale with "explosion" and "deflagration" on it. Any of you engineering types care to share?

[Volkonski]

I think there must be an engineering scale with "explosion" and "deflagration" on it. Any of you engineering types care to share?

Probably should have said "detonation" rather than "explosion".

In a detonation the pressure wave moves faster than the speed of sound. In a deflagration the flame front moves slower than the speed of sound. A detonation goes bang! A deflagration goes whoosh.

The loudness depends on the amount of flammable mixture, the amount of damage to structures, how close the listener is, etc.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Volkonski]

The destroyed house. Woman is in ICU but expected to recover.

[Foggy]

That looks more like a bang than a whoosh. The roof is broken!

[Volkonski]

That looks more like a bang than a whoosh. The roof is broken!

A whoosh can do that. A bang (wave front speed over 770 miles per hour) would have collapsed the walls.

[Foggy]

Wait, there's a one-story home in the first photo, and a pile of debris and a two-story home in the second one.

[Foggy]

A whoosh can do that. A bang (wave front speed over 770 miles per hour) would have collapsed the walls.

OMG, I hope this isn't gonna be on the quiz. I forgot all the stuff you taught us about explosions when the little town of West, Texas done blew up. I think it was West, Texas. It's all in Formerly Fogbow somewhere, but I'd have to look it up.

[Volkonski]

Now that you've got me started-

Natural gas is mostly methane(CH4). In air at standard temperature and pressure the LEL (lower explosive limit) = 5% (=50000 ppm) and the UEL (upper explosive limit) = 15% (150000 ppm). So the force of an air/methane explosion will vary greatly depending on the methane concentration. At the UEL there would be 3 times more fuel per unit volume than at the LEL.

Since the woman who ignited the gas/air mixture by turning on a light switch in the house survived, I would think the methane concentration was closer to 5% than 15%. Also she left windows open while she was gone. It was a breezy evening which probably prevented build up of a higher concentration.