Around the Bend

I took this photo specifically for tanty and Kim, who when they saw the river drained requested a photo of it filled up once again. This is taken from the same vantage spot as the one I posted on January 2, specifically the bridge on Augusta street. When I took the photo of the empty river originally I thought it would be a good place to do some racing on, and when I saw these two boats, that's what it looked like they were doing so I couldn't resist getting a capture. This is a couple of days after the river was filled again (January 11), but it's the first time I remembered to get a snap of it. It was cold and misty this day I was worried my camera would get wet, but a request is a request. :D Enjoy ladies.

Freeman Printing Co.

This building is on McCullough I think. I'm not sure if it's still in operation, but I like the sign. I'm not sure if I've ever noticed it before. If I have I've never taken a pic so today I took my chance. I was in the car, hence the bit of blur.

Freddy's Frozen Custard

Freddy's Frozen Custard is under construction on the southside of San Antonio, right next to South Park Mall. I'd never heard of this eatery, but I googled/flickred it and there it was. Apparently this won't be the first location in San Antonio. I think it's either the second or the third, and there's also one in Selma, which people pretty much consider San Antonio also. I'll have to try their burgers when they are open for business.

Coming in for a Landing

Back in June of 2006 I took a photo of the AirLife helicopter on it's helipad. This shot is if it coming in for a landing. Not sure if they have a passenger or not, as I've never seen them flash lights like EMS, fire trucks or the police do when on an emergency run. It's heading for the helipad on top of the parking garage that is connected to Baptist Medical Center by a sky walk. To the right of the parking garage is the Southwest School of Art and Craft Navarro campus. The columns in the foreground belong to the Central Library in downtown San Antonio. The infamous Enchilada Red color of the library is not visible in this shot.

Objects in the Sky

With all the talk lately about objects or UFO's in the sky in northern Texas, I thought I'd post this photo. I've been taking a lot of sky photos lately-clouds, jetstreams, sunsets, etc. When we were kids my sister threw a screaming fit and couldn't sleep because she saw colored lights in the sky and thought the aliens were coming for her. I have never really seen anything like that, I only see ghosts. :D

Just Another Brick in the Wall

Saw this the other day as I was going home. I wanted to get a pic of it, but I just kept missing it or it was too blurry. Finally got this shot as I was walking back from lunch. This is the Southwest Art and Craft Center Navarro campus. I blogged about it back in August. This spot is to the right of the entrance, pretty much on the corner of Navarro and Augusta. One of the reasons this caught my eye was because it reminded me of another blog I read Strange in San Antonio. He blogs about odd things that happen in San Antonio including cars crashing into houses. I can't be sure this is what happened here, but it could have been. Anyone know the story?

Oh and Happy 11th Abs. :)

The View Out the Window

This was the sight that greeted me as the elevator doors opened. It kind of makes you take a step back and go huh?! I can't climb too high because I get all vertigoy and I was trying to figure out how this guy was secured. I pretty much figured out that he wasn't tied down at all. He was just standing on the ledge and bending down and reaching up to clean the whole window. I don't know how he did it. I probably would have been splattered on the ground at my first attempt, either that or I would have been pretending to be a window cling. :D

This Way to the Bloodletting!

Today there was a blood drive at the Central Library. The City of San Antonio holds a few blood drives throughout the year, I think usually in the summer and the winter. This year there have been many blood drives throughout San Antonio. Maybe I haven't paid attention in the past but it seems as if there are blood drives almost every day now, and I know they are needed. The statistics for how much blood is needed any given day are staggering. I don't like giving blood because it scares me, but much like donating my hair its something I do because I can. The last couple of times I haven't been able to because my iron is too low, but I always at least try. I'm also registered as a marrow donor since I know minorities of which I am one are sorely needed on that list.

U.S. Army All-American Bowl

The Alamodome gets all gussied up for various events. I haven't seen too many of these or maybe I just haven't noticed, but when I do see them I try to get a pic. Since we're usually zooming along the highway with the windows up I have to contend with motion and the damn flash. I would have loved to get to the game or even the preshow to get some shots, but I had to settle for this pic. The US Army puts out some stuff around the dome so people can play weekend warrior. I think this year they had some fist person shooter games and they also were going to do recaps of how you performed. They also were going to have soldiers there to answer questions.

Draining of the River Walk

On January 2, the River Walk began it's yearly cleaning/maintenance cycle. They drain the river for three miles so they can inspect the walls, clear debris and do other task as required. Every year they find all sorts of stuff down there-on the news I saw a chair sitting on the bottom. The River Walk should be back to it's beautacious self by January 11th.

Happy 2008!

Every year the City of San Antonio puts together our own little version of the New York Times Square Ball Drop. Ours is called Celebrate San Antonio and it is held in the downtown area, this year on Alamo street between Market and Durango. It's billed as the largest free New Years celebration in the state of Texas...I don't doubt this is so, because San Antonian's love to party. Ours is a bit different than the New York one, instead of a ball dropping, an elevator car rises to the top of the Tower of Americas. I've never been, but I watch it on tv almost every year. This year myself and a few others noticed that the countdown seemed to be a little off/short but what the frell, we can't get it right every year. :D

Colima Food Mart

This is a little food mart on the west side of San Antonio. We used to call the neighborhood store the Tiendita (the little store). This one is off of S Gen. McMullen and Castroville. My sister wanted to stop and get a Big Red. As I waited for her locked in the car I saw a young guy painting over graffiti. When my sister got back in the car I asked her how often she thought they had to do that and she said, probably pretty often. Of course now businesses have to clean up their own graffiti or get fined. I was going to ask the man, but some people get a little freaked when approached. :D

Chinese Neon

This is the food court in South Park Mall, a mall on the south side of San Antonio...in fact the only mall on the south side. I had never noticed before how much neon there was here. I guess because it never really gets dark in the mall. I've eaten before at the Side Wok cafe. I tend to order their rice bowls, which I never finish because rice is just filling. In the past year or so, or at least that I've noticed they introduced chicken teriyaki, so I usually order that as a topping to the rice bowl.

Texas A&M vs. Penn State

Today was the Houston Street Fair and Market. It usually happens on the last Saturday of the month, but because of the Alamo Bowl that was happening on that same day it was moved to Friday. I got a chance to walk further into downtown and check out the action. There was still quite a bit of people down there. I had always wanted to go to one, because they do Adopt a Pets right on the spot, but we gots a dog now, so no need for that anymore. Saw these big megaphones and figured they were put there as a photo op, and I guess they were because I saw some people posing in between them. I tried to get my coworker to pose but he wouldn't.

Riverwalk Mosaics

Back to work after having Christmas Day off. I needed a break so I took a walk with a coworker on the RiverWalk. It was a great day for it, a bit bracing, but I loved it-windy and and the sky scintillating blue.

This is the very beginning of the section of the RiverWalk on accessible off of Augusta. This little area is a bit of an alcove, with what looks like a small place to sit. It also looks like it might be lit at night, but I must admit I've never been down there at night to tell for sure.

All along this stretch of the River Walk you can find many a mosaic piece. Some of them appear to be you are here maps, while others show scenes of San Antonio. You can find more pics from my walk here.

Press Button to Walk

Saw this sticker as I was walking back from a jaunt to RiverCenter. I thought it was a funny play on words, "If you can't run with the big dogs, keep your ass on the porch." posted on a cross walk. I thought back to a few months ago when I saw some travelers with dogs walking in this same area-a blind man was asking for directions to Baptist, and they tried to help, but they weren't from San Antonio, so I pointed the way.

Burger King

Did a late night burger one. One of the nephews had been wanting a robot dog that came with the kids meals. They still had the robots, but what we got were turtles. This was one of those times, when we got through the drive thru pretty quick, but then we had to park and wait for our food to come out to us. I was remembering the new commercial that Burger King has where they tell people they are no longer making the whopper. I wonder if the reactions are true, or if it's all for show. I really wouldn't care if they got rid of the whopper, but damn-nit I sure would notice if they got rid of the double cheeseburger from the big kids meals since that's what I tend to order. :D

Cable Car o'Candy

Saw this little cable car while doing some Christmas shopping at the South Park Mall. I must have seen this before, but I must not have been paying attention. I was going to stop and plunk in a quarter or two, but we didn't stop this time. I hit the bookstore as usual on this trip, but I didn't find anything for myself. I think I'm going to have to resort to ordering online. I did score a Christmas gift though, so it wasn't a total waste.

Nana's Fruit Cups and Floral?

Saw this little shop as we were driving down near Kennedy High School. I had not noticed it before, but I hadn't been down there in a while. There's a bunch of these fruit cup places all over, but I noticed after I uploaded the photo that it also says floral on the right hand side. I wonder if they do fruit and florals or if it's just a left over. Maybe if we ever drop in I can find out.

As an aside, we used to live by there years ago and I was always a bit freaked because we lived right by a cemetery and I was as always trying to keep abreast of a zombie uprising, but that was before Kelly Air force Base became KellyUSA so I figured I could always just run to the base and have the soldiers and their guns take them out.

Lobby Christmas Tree

Saw this tree in the lobby of the City of San Antonio's tech support. I had never seen two ornaments wired together, but I reckon there's a first for everything. I was trying to figure out if there was a specific color scheme to the balls that were tied together but I couldn't see one. I like the snowflake on it. We are so obsessed with snow in SA, since we are lucky if we see any at all every 10 years or so. :D

Buildings in the Mist

It's been really foggy/misty in San Antonio and as we were going home from something or other I caught this capture. I like the look of the lit building in the middle. I've been trying to get a good shot of it, but I always miss it.

7-Up Christmas Cheer

We were out shopping looking for some gifts and I saw this green Christmas tree. I've seen Christmas trees made up of lots of stuff, but this is a first. Recently I also saw a pile of green books made into a Christmas tree shape, and of course there's the old standby garland wrapped around a shaped wire hanger (NO WIRE HANGERS!)

Hanging Window Mobile

I've always liked the look of this art piece in the window. You can find it at the downtown campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio. I've never been to this campus, only the one at 1604, but I do like what they've done with it. This was the campus that a while ago, some of the building material was falling off of. Not this building, but one to the right and front of where this one was at. It was bounded by fencing while they were fixing it, and they must have, because I haven't heard anything else about it.

Bulbs on a Wire

We whiled away a couple of minutes at On Main Off Main, before heading back to Justin's Ice Creams for knit group. I love this store. You can find so much things here. I always want to buy at least half the store. The proprietors are nice, the music is usually good and the decor is to die for. The man behind the counter even knows how to translate my pig-latin speak. :D

Central at Night

This is the first shot I've taken at night that I've been halfway satisfied with. Taking a bad photo of Central is kind of hard to do anyway, so it's nothing much to do with me. I really liked the softness of the photo and the colors.

A Carpet of Leaves

I just love how in the fall the ground is carpeted in leaves. I like the way they look and the way they sound. A couple of years ago, we moved into a house and the first night we were there I was rudely awoken from sleep as I heard footsteps coming up our drive. I jumped out of bed with my heart racing, when I realized it was dogs walking up and down our leave strown driveway. That house was really drafty I woke up a number of times thinking someone was trying to open a door when it was just the wind pushing at it.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

Today was one of those days that was all misty and humid and such. I was either going or coming from breakfast and saw this building entombed in mist.

80 Degrees in December

We were out and about this day and I just had to get a picture of the external temperature. I can't believe it was 80 degrees in December. Now granted I remember at least once delivering Christmas gifts in shorts and tank top, but still this is ridiculous.

Poking It With a Stick

Saw this on the way to work one day. I have no idea what this guy is doing. All I know is that he was poking that stick into that hole.

Olmos Tower

I've always liked the look of this building. It's got a sweet location, overlooking Incarnate Word and Trinity if I'm not mistaken. I like it's color. I looked it up one time and the rents are a bit steep for me. I think they are condos or some such.

Shadowed Places

I saw this image one day out of the corner of my eye and just reached for my camera and took the pic. I never know if shadows will come out or not...this one did. Extra points for anyone who can guess the location of this shot.

Now That's What I Call Service

Saw this sight on McCullough street one morning. I almost missed it too, but my sister pointed it out. This is the sister who's always on my case about taking photos and such, but still every once in a while she assists in my endeavor to take a pic of all the San Antonio minutia. I'm not sure if this was a garage worker or just someone working on their own car, but it gave me a welcome laugh so early in the morning.

Not a lowrider

I saw this car on San Pedro Avenue. It's a Buick named Donkey Kong (painted on the door). Not sure where one gets tires for wheels like that.

Antennae Toppers

Don't know how far Jack in the Box extends, but we have a few here in San Antonio. I don't stop there too often, because they take for-ever. I've tried their ultimate cheeseburger, something or other on sourdough and also some kind of breakfast sandwich. A couple of the boyos I work with speak highly of their steak burgers. One of those boyos went there for lunch today and brought me back one of these Jack heads. What I liked about this one is that it had a little suction cup attached to it, so I didn't necessarily need to spear it onto my antennae. A couple of years ago, my nephew was obsessed with getting these balls when they were reindeer and such and another boyo of mine say this and said that his mother always has to get them too. I wonder how many people out there are as acquisitionally challenged as those two. :D

Sandwich Day

I love me the Thursdays. On Thursdays it's sandwich day at Baptist Hospital. I usually get the 6 inch on wheat with turkey and ham, mustard and mayo, lettuce, pickles and tomato. The only thing that could make it better would be some bacon. On Thursdays I'm usually torn because they also usually serve Chicken Pot Pie, which I'm partial too.

Two Hotels Side by Side

This is a view I see almost every day going home. The hotel under construction on the left is going up pretty quick. At first it was just a hole in the ground, but now it almost reminds me of a Christmas decoration, because at night it's all lit up.

SAFD @ SAPL

Today the fine members of the San Antonio Fire Department made a stop at the Central Library. I was on the move in this shot, so it came out kind of blurry, but still. I love the red suspenders and how shiny the material is on the cuffs of his pant.

Alamo Plaza Christmas Tree

For the past couple of years me and the girls have made a trek to downtown to snap some pics of the Christmas tree in downtown. This year it was a solo trip, with the girls being in Seguin and Indiana. It was a nice cool day, with clear blue skies. There was a few people around taking pictures around the tree and the Alamo. I took a couple of shots that can be found on my Flickr account, but I chose this one because of the contrail in the sky and how the angle makes this look like a huger tree than it is. I also noticed that there were a number of cameras at the top of the tree along with the star. Not sure if it's a tree cam, an Alamo cam or what.

Angel Tree

This was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The family was finally home and my sister needed to go pay some bills. She asked if I wanted to come and I was like yeah if they have a bookstore. So off we took and of course I got three books I think. They also had this Angel Tree. I think the way this works is you grab one of those angels on the tree and buy whatever is on there. Those items are then given out to those in need. In this season there are many such programs. In San Antonio, we have Adopt a Family (celebrating at least 25 years), Toys for Tots (celebrating 60 years), Angel Tree and Elf Louise to name a few.

Not So Chocolate Kiss

This is the gate that fences in the Southwest Art and Craft Center. I was across the street trying to get different vantage shots, of what else, the Central Library. I was looking for interesting little things to take a pic of and I saw these little things. They remind me of little caps, but I reckon they are the tops of those nuts that I see all over the ground. Someone told me they were acorns, and what the frak I'll take their word for it. :D

Feather in the Sky

I have this fascination with the sky and clouds and apparently the Central Library, these things you can tell by browsing through the pics I've posted on this blog and the pics that I post on flickr. :D. This day I just had to take a few snaps of the feathery white clouds on the blue sky. I ended up added a splash of red courtesy of the Central Library to spice up the image a bit.

Hardware Signs

These old signs are on a stretch of McCullough that runs through Olmos Park. This is one place that you don't want to be caught speeding or breaking any other kind of law. If you continue along this street you'll run into the traffic round or whatever they call it. It seems a bit confusing to me, but I guess it works for some people, since they are putting another one on Blanco close to Hildebrand I think.

RE YY?

On the way to drop off the kids today we passed by this usual air walk I'll call it. It's in between the Incarnate Word High School and College campuses. I had never noticed letters on it before. I have no idea what the RE and YY stand for. We usually see students going one way or the other on it, usually its some joggers, sometimes its a gaggle of girls in their catholic school skirts.

Silos on the Sky

This isn't quite in San Antonio, but it's close enough that I'm counting it. It's on Highway 181 and I've always wanted to get a pic of it, but this is the best I've ever taken, so I figured I'd take what I could get. I'm calling them silos, but I'm not quite sure that's what they are. I just like the look of them and as I pass them by, I wonder at the number of things they could be used to store.

Convenient Advertising

We stop by this convenience store every once in a while when we've run out of snacks or drinks for the kiddos at home and need something quick for school. Today I noticed all the neon signs. I don't know why I didn't notice it before, except for maybe we park in different areas where they aren't visible. Of course of the five visible neon signs, four of them are for beer. :D

Getting Ready for the Vote

This was the scene at the Central Library today as the voters got ready to cast their ballots. I'm not quite sure what they were voting on this time, but there was Vote Here, Vote Aqui signs all over the place. There's also a bunch of signage letting people know how close they can stand to a polling place and also what to do if you think you are being messed with when it comes to your voting rights.

San Pedro Playhouse Sign

I've been passing this sign for a few months now. It really caught my eye when they started advertising the Zombie Prom. Before this I think they advertised some Pillow Man play or something like that. That also caught my eye because I read a book that had that exact title. I've never been in the playhouse but I think down this street is located Big Kahuna's, a great Vietnamese restaurant. Try it out if you get a chance. Oh this is also across the street from SAC (San Antonio College), and in the same tract of land as San Pedro Library.

Princesa Pinata Party

A backyard party on the southside, complete with pinata. I thought everyone knew what pinata's were, but apparently some people don't know about them. This one was shock full of candy I'm sure. You got to be careful around pinata's because usually the hitters are blindfolded and swing crazy. When I was a wee bit young one I saw a kid get whacked in the head.

El Tropicano

This hotel is right off the RiverWalk and pretty much across the street from the Municipal Auditorium. I love the design of the backdrop. It's so retro, one of these days I need to find time to head inside. The trolley line I take passes by this hotel and many a tourist come and go on it.

Blue

Here's one for theme day. This was way too early in the morning and I'm not sure what it's picking up. I'm assuming trash, but I could be wrong, as I've never seen this color truck picking up trash before. It was cutting through one of those per pay parking lots, this one is not as expensive as some of those closer in to downtown. It's across the street for the Southwest Art and Craft Center and the Central Library Garage.