Loco Coyote

Bay City, Texas

Weather: low 69 degrees, high 75 degrees, mostly cloudy skies

When I looked at the baseline schedule today, I realized that the outage is on schedule. In some areas, the work is finishing up. On our project, I think much of the work will finish ahead of time, and the only thing that might slow us down would be crane issues. Hopefully, we’re past those problems.

One of the things that I like about the business I retired from and keep finding myself being drawn back to is the people. The vast majority of them are hardworking, dedicated professionals. They understand the complexity of the technology we work with and the responsibility we have to perform our jobs as well as we can. The social aspect of the work place can make the job easy or difficult. It has been my pleasure to work with great people over the years, which has made going to work every day easy. The proof lies in the fact that I came back to work when I thought I was retired. If I didn’t like the people I work with, I wouldn’t be here. Having said that, I think I’m not working any more after this project is finished. Now, let’s see if I can remember this when the next phone call comes asking me to help on a project.

Texas has many good places to eat. One place we really liked while living in Glen Rose was The Loco Coyote, an old farmhouse that has been converted to a restaurant. Calling it a restaurant is actually making it sound more impressive than it is. The inside walls are covered with newspaper and advertisements for country music shows. The tables are rough bunkhouse style with benches. The floor is covered with sawdust. A swamp cooler is used for cooling, but seems to make more noise than cool air. The front door is a piece of tin nailed over a frame. The windows are covered with screen so if the weather is nice enough they can be opened. Outside, the roof and walls are covered with tin, and there is a large porch with tables and benches where you can drink and eat, if you don’t mind the flies and heat. The restrooms are about 100 feet away from the building and look like the old outhouse style, but have half way modern plumbing. A bandstand is set up outside for those times when they have live music. The restaurant is located about ten miles outside of town, and if you didn’t know where it was, it would be hard to find.

The first time we went there, we were amazed that something like this was still around. It looked like all the stereotypes you would think a restaurant in the country would be like about 100 years ago. On top of that, the food was good, and there was so much of it, there was no way you could eat all of it. Last year, I went with some people from Florida as part of a dinner meeting. They were overwhelmed with the experience, and one of them said that was what he always imagined Texas would be like.

Now, having said how good the food is, we went there one night with friends from the park. This is not a large restaurant. We thought that if we got there around 1700 hours, we would not have any problem being served fairly quickly. In addition, Texas was playing Oklahoma plus other activities were going on that we thought would lessen the number of people who would be there. Boy, were we wrong. There were a lot of people waiting, and it took us over three hours to get seated, served, and to eat. One of the problems was that the way they take care of people is so inefficient. In addition, they did not have enough help. That's the worse experience we've had there, and it was awhile before we went back. If any of the readers are in the area, it might be worth the trip to experience a real Texas eating place.

Thirteen days left at work, and I'm outta there.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Little Rock, Arkansas: River City

Not all who wander are lost.