Take the butter off the table

I am starting to really notice that restaurants are serving smaller portions while at the same time using smaller plates.

This is the restaurant where I go on Sundays. The place used to be packed but that too has changed. I can see that less people are coming and it could be because they too have noticed the changes.

Today they brought no chips with sauce, which has been a ritual since I can remember.

In a way, I want to thank them for the changes they are making in order to stay afloat and survive as a business.

According to health officials, our nation has become a nation of obese people with the exception of Portland. So I want to thank the owners of this restaurant for helping me come to my senses by lessening my portions. Now if they could bring me two flour tortillas instead of four that would be great. And take the butter off the table too.

For What Its Worth...the song

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

The meddling Eagle...

Hectic day today in SA. For those that don't know or have no interest in my personal life, I have been in SA for over 30 years and in the last five I have lived in the Southside. The Southside is a lot like Eagle Pass but without el Chisme. The worse you could have been accused of was stealing somebody's trashcan. But now we all have the same city disposal container, which the trash pickup scans when it is lifted by the mechanical arm and dumped inside the truck. I suppose they can tell if you stole it. So that put a damper on that trade.

The first thing I did today was to meet with a neighborhood activist that was having a fundraiser to pay for flyers and posters. He is going up against the San Antonio Independent School District. SAISD wants to close Burbank High (which is my adopted school being that I am no longer in Eagle Pass). He was selling chicken plates and sales were slow cause everyone is selling something at each corner. At one corner you have the Little Bulldogs Football team and at the other you have mini-cheerleaders going to state competition. Anyway, I hope they don't close Burbank.

Next I hung around with the Dawgs from the Burbank Class of 1969 at their Taco & Hot Dog fundraiser. These guys were very easy going. Maybe cause they move around a little bit slower. I spent most of my time with Mike Rodriguez, the designated DJ for their class. He immediately challenged me to name any oldie and he would play it. That’s when I popped out my MP3 and told him that in my 4G-memory card I had more than 2,000 oldies ranging from Bill Haley and the Comets to Crystal Blue Persuasion.

I asked him if he had noticed that at reunions, most don't play the songs of their high school years but instead they go for the current dance music or that Hot Scoching Boogie. I told him that I grew up with KTSA and Ricci Ware in the sixties. I asked him if they played Mexican/Spanish music in the sixties in San Antonio and he said that it was mostly songs from Sunny, the Royal Jesters, Rene & Rene and Rudy and the Rino-Bobs. And in San Antonio the Malt House on West Commerce and Zarzamora was what the Charcoal was to us in Eagle Pass. I had a good time listening to real oldies and I think the Dawgs of Burbank have finally adopted me as a meddling Eagle.

Nothing...just words

Day two of my liberation from my website that I kept up for 14 years. Its hard to break old habits. I find myself checking my email box from time to time. I don’t get any email anymore and I knew that would happen. But I did read some nasty messages left by someone that is upset that the page is not up anymore. But at the end of his message he accuses me of being bought out by politicians. What I will probably miss more than anything is pursuing stories created by “chismosos”. Those are the ones that would post statements like “is it true that they are closing the bridge?” Now, this poster simply wants to start a rumor and wants to see how far it goes.

Last night I went out to Pico De Gallo (in San Antonio) with a fellow classmate and we talked about others from our class. He suggested that we organize a small reunion; “small” being the operative word. At our last gathering, we had about 14. For about two hours we talked about going to the buck night drive in. We talked about the pep rallies on Main St and the bonfires at the vega before the homecoming game, and the wooden floors at Kress.We all said our goodbyes with hopes and promises that we would meet more often, which did not happen.

For the record, Luis and I had our picture taken at Pico De Gallo and we are calling that our classes reunion for this year. So, we had a good reunion, the food was excellent, we had mariachis and the place was packed. There, that takes care of our 45-year class reunion.