Mar 28
Brazil Anner, austin, Austin Texas, Capitol, Comedic Tour, over, Part, Rolls, state, State Capitol, Texas, Texas Capitol, Texas State Capital, Texas State Capitol, Zach 25 Comments
Zach Anner Gives a comedic tour of the Texas State Capital! Check out more videos here: www.larkthebeard.com
Mar 20
Texas Electricity, energy, power, Texas No Comments
It’s time to take advantage of the Texas power cost reduction that has seen electric costs decrease significantly over the last year or so. Unfortunately, not all consumers have done so, yet. The reason that these costs have dropped so much is because the industry became deregulated.
So, that leaves consumers able to choose between electric providers and benefit from the lower costs. There are various offers available with different lengths of contracts to take advantage of. In most cases, there is no charge to switch from one corporation to another. Certainly, there is no need to question whether there will be a loss of power during the switch, as this is not the case whatsoever. In fact, switching is easy and fast.
If you are worried about anything negative happening if you do decide to switch, you can relax. Think back to when telephone companies became extremely competitive and were offering better rates for their services. Many people took advantage of these huge savings and still had quality. That’s because the same telephone lines were being used.
The only thing that really changed was the company that sent you a bill. So, in essence, there won’t be anything different between the scenario with the telephone or with the power company.
Isn’t it time that you took advantage of this deregulation and start saving some money? If you want to see how good the deals are, all you have to do is look online. So, all this could be done in your leisure time, without interrupting any of your responsibilities. Doing a little research will show you exactly how much money you could save.
Each deregulated area has at least 10 providers, in giving you a good selection. Smart shoppers know that comparison-shopping goes a long way when it comes to saving money and getting great deals, regardless of whether it is for your business or your home.
About the author: Jerry Dyess has been in the Electricity business for the past 7 years and has published many articles on Business Electric news.
Mar 19
Texas astros, baseball, hobbies, houston, mlb, pitching, recreation, sports, Texas No Comments
When he was in Philadelphia, Ed Wade acquired a reputation as a builder of bullpens. Now the Astros’ general manager, Wade has continued that tradition. He seems to love crafting a bullpen the way he loves running triathlons. When he first got the job in Houston, it didn’t take Wade long to overhaul the relief corps. Gone were Brad Lidge and Chad Qualls. In came Jose Valverde, Doug Brocail, Oscar Villarreal and Geoff Geary. At the trade deadline last year, he added LaTroy Hawkins.
Wade’s strategy is very clear, and it involves a deep bullpen because of his belief that every bullpen is full of its disappointments. Building around this expectation helps to maintain depth in a department that is crucial to a team’s success. The problem with this strategy is the enormous price tag that it comes at.
The Astros are paying over $18 million in salaries to their bullpen pitchers in 2009. The only team comparable to the Astros here are the defending champion Phillies. To the Phillies, this makes sense since they won a World Series with such a talented bullpen, but teams with more success than the Astros are paying considerably less than the Astros are. The Dodgers and Cardinals, for example, are paying $7.2 million and $6.2 million respectively. This is the difference between one or two exceptional players.
To be fair, I don’t think Wade planned it to work out this way. His idea last winter was to trade Valverde after he had already re-signed Brocail and Hawkins, probably believing the two would compete for the closer job in spring training. When the economy collapsed and no market seemed to exist for Valverde, last year’s NL save leader, Wade decided it was smarter to keep him and bite the bullet financially. That decision had a trickle effect that cost the Astros Wolf and Ty Wigginton. I’m not arguing here that Wade made the wrong decision, only that those were the cards he chose to play.
The Astros bullpen has been a failure by all standards in 2009. With the second highest number of blown saves (only second to the Nationals of all teams) and a team bullpen ERA of 4.28, the bullpen in Houston has hurt the team more than it’s helped it. Cecil Cooper may be to blame for at least part of the woes in Houston’s bullpen.
Partly due to injury and partly due to a lack of confidence in his pitchers, Cooper rode Sampson and Hawkins hard for the first three months. By the All-Star Break, it was clear that both were running on empty and it was no surprise that both landed on the disabled list before July was over. Sampson, Hawkins and Byrdak lead the club in appearances but Byrdak has often been used to face just one or two batters. Sampson and Fulchino lead in relief innings pitched but Fulchino has often been the mop-up pitcher in blowout losses. There are some baseball thinkers who believe spending starting pitcher money on a closer is a bad idea. Why spend so much on a guy who might get in 70 innings when a starter should amass close to 200 innings?
Good minds can disagree on whether it makes more sense to have four bullpen pitchers averaging $2 million a year or one starting pitcher making $8 million a year. Mistakes can be made either way (see Jason Jennings and Woody Williams as recent examples where spending on starting pitching didn’t work out well). Given the Astros’ budgetary constraints, Wade needs to decide whether relief pitching counts more than starting pitching and spend accordingly. There doesn’t seem to be enough in the till to feed the need of both the rotation and the bullpen.
The Astros do have some talented young pitching in Bud Norris and Felipe Paulino, not to mention Wandy Rodriguez, whose contract expires after the season. Players like Hunter Pence and Michael Bourne have rising contracts, and Miguel Tejada will be an undertaking in its own class. With this all said, there seems to be no way the Astros can hold onto such an expensive bullpen without making sacrifices in other departments.
Seeing Ed Wade’s track record, he may very well opt to continue focusing on the bullpen.
If you’re in the mood for more great MLB talk, come and visit the Houston Astros forum and the general sports forum at RootZoo Sports both some of the most active forums on the web.
Mar 17
Dallas Dallas, Dallas Cowboys, fantasy football, football, hobbies, Nfl, recreation, sports, Texas No Comments
I know T.O. is a very talented WR, but I think the Cowboys will be fine without him. Not all the pressure has to be on the WR’s to make up for the loss of him. The Cowboys have 2 very good offensive TE’s in Witten and Bennett, and have one of the best RB groups in the NFL. Getting Felix Jones back will play a big role in making up for T.O.’s production. Just keep all that in mind as you read this.
1. Roy Williams. He’s no Terrell Owens in terms of flash, but he’s easily one of the more capable wide receivers in the sport, and has always been viewed as a top receiver on a horrible team (the Lions). Health issues aside (he’s generally known to miss a few games per year), Williams has as much raw talent as nearly any receiver in the game. As his chemistry with Tony Romo builds, I expect him to be a legitimate number one WR in Dallas.
2. Patrick Crayton Age:30 (6’0″ 203 lbs 4.58 40 yard dash according to USA Today). I don’t know about you, but when I think about Crayton, I have trouble getting over the dropped pass in the playoffs a couple seasons ago. But we have to put that behind us. He has good strength and hands, and has only missed 1 game the past 3 years. In those 3 years, he has been very consistent with his production. He has produced between 500 and 700 yards each season, while notching 15 touchdowns during in that time. I like Crayton, just not as the #2. I think he is the type of guy that is perfect for the slot. He can find the openings in defenses, and isn’t afraid to go over the middle. If he can put up another 500 yard season, and get a few touchdowns, I think he has done his job well. Lets just hope he is still getting better at the age of 30. We may only have a couple seasons till he starts to decline, which isn’t good for a guy who is a role player.
3. Miles Austin. Austin possesses more upside than Crayton due to his age, as well as his big playmaking ability. Austin had a very high average yards per catch in 2008, and while there weren’t so many catches (he wasn’t a starter for the team), he showed his ability to make big plays and to find the end zone.
He can easily score quite a few touchdowns in Dallas this season due to his presence in the end zone. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Austin will be the #2 receiver in Dallas before the end of the season.
4. Sam Hurd. A young wide receiver, just 24 years old, Hurd is making waves in training camp (just like he did in 2008). Many say that he’s making great plays in practice and see this receiver coming into his own in 2009.
There really isn’t much else to say about him, he just needs to stay healthy, and keep up what he is doing in training camp. Let’s hope it translates into regular season production. I could see him putting up 400 yards, and a few touchdowns, as the 4th receiver. Now, I know he is in the battle just as much as Crayton and Austin, but I just don’t see him moving up the depth chart till next year at the earliest, barring injuries of course.
Short of these four wide receivers, I don’t see anyone else at the position making much of an impact in Dallas next season. There’s some talent to be tapped into, and a top NFL quarterback passing them the ball. Hopefully this will be enough to win some games.
To see more football articles, view threads at the best Dallas Cowboys forum online, and answer over 50,000 sports trivia questions, make sure to visit RootZoo Sports.
Mar 17
Texas Electricity, energy, savings, Texas, Tips No Comments
With electricity Texas has some of the highest cost when it comes to energy bills. A lot of it has to do with the very hot temperature in Texas that require you to find ways of getting cool by any means necessary. During the winter months you may find yourself adjusting the thermostat a lot because of the temperature changing so much.
Every one wants to save something thing which is more than understandable in our society today. Below you will find a variety of tricks and tips that will increase your chances of saving money. The best thing about these tips are that they are simple and easy to do.
Start these little things now while it is still spring and you will begin to see the different you are saving right about the time summer arrives.
One of the first someone looking to save money should do is take a long look at the filter inside of their air conditioning unit. A clean filter could be the difference in you saving money on your energy bill and you losing money.
If you start to have your meal done on the grill outside instead of the stove in the kitchen you will see a decrease in your energy usage as well. There more you do things outside the house the more money you are saving on the inside of your home. Which is the result we are all looking for.
Remember it is going to take a lot of determination on your behalf if you want to see a drop in your electricity bill. So take full advantage of the weather by doing simple things. Open your windows and leave the fans and a/c off, try to use the sunlight instead of a light bulb.
No matter how you do it saving money with your electricity Texas and other hot states have the right idea by staying cool by any means, but the weather will always feel better when your saving money doing it.
About the author: Jerry Dyess has been in the Texas Electricity business for the past 7 years. He has published many articles on Texas Electric rates.
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