TOMAGWA Clinic photo shoot

Friday the 27th, I did a video Shoot at Tomball Regional Hospital for Tomagwa. They needed an old long haired cowboy that had been a patient of Tomagwa. Good experience. Tomagwa is a charity clinic that doesn't accept any government funding. They are located at 13414 Medical Complex Drive, Suite 1, Tomball, Texas 77375. If you are blessed and can give this is the place to give. They helped me through some life threatening health issues when I had no other option. The staff is fantastic. This clinic and The Terra Verde Church are two of Tomball's most caring organizations.

Tee Pee Motel Wharton Texas

This is one of the most unique and cleanest places I have ever seen.
The website is http://www.teepeemotel.net

Myspace page

Solar Advocates Trying To Look On bright Side

This is a link to a post on this blog where you can enter all your information and find out the cost to go solar.

High costs, lack of support at various levels cloud its future

By PURVA PATEL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Ralph Parrott is optimistic about the future of the solar industry in Texas.
Since he started a business selling solar systems last year, he's fielded more than 500 sales inquiries.
But he concedes the number of actual sales are much lower.
"It's tough," he said. "Solar electric is still rather expensive. Unfortunately, the state of Texas doesn't have the same level of incentives that California and several other states do."

Solar advocates say high costs, a lack of incentives and resistant homeowners associations are clouding the nascent industry's future in the state.
At stake is an opportunity for the state, already a major player in the oil and gas industry, to have a prominent role in the growing $10.6 billion global solar energy market, a May report by the state comptroller's office says.

Advocates concede solar is not the end-all solution for the state's energy needs. High costs still keep the technology inaccessible to many consumers, though opinions differ on just how long that will last, given the rapidly rising cost of conventional energy sources.
But incentives and rebate programs to help consumers realize a faster payback on their investments would help, solar advocates say.
A typical solar electric system for a home can cost between $20,000 to $29,000.
Consumers can take a federal tax credit of 30 percent of the cost of a system, up to $2,000, but the tax break expires at year-end. Federal lawmakers have introduced a bill that would extend the break beyond 2008, but Congress hasn't agreed on how to pay for it.

Some states — but not Texas — offer rebates funded by a surcharge on electric bills and cover about half the cost of solar systems.
Last year, state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, introduced a bill that would create a similar program in Texas, but it never made it out of committee and faced opposition from the Association of Electric Companies of Texas.

Walt Baum, executive vice president of the association, said the group opposed the bill mainly because it would have put the money to fund the rebates in the same fund that helps low-income Texans pay their electric bills — a fund that previously has been diverted for other uses by the state.
"It had nothing to do with us not supporting the solar industry," Baum said. "We had committed to legislative leadership to getting the fund to where it was supposed to go."

Another try in Austin
Coleman said he plans to reintroduce the bill next year.
"To me it's a no-brainer," he said. "I think it's doable. Almost every company that's a fossil fuel energy producer is investing in the manufacture and sale of solar panels. Shell is, BP is, and so are a lot of others. They understand that they have to diversify their business offerings for a day when fossil fuels are not going to be the biggest part of their business."

Providing incentives at the local level in Texas gets complicated, although some governments do. Austin, through its city-owned Austin Energy company, and San Antonio, through its CPS Energy, are two examples.
What makes the offer of local incentives difficult is the state's deregulated system.
Retail power providers in deregulated markets, such as Houston, don't have a strong incentive to provide rebates to solar power users, said Russel Smith, executive director of the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association.

"In a competitive market, you're trying to sell electricity in a competitive mode," he said. "So unless there's something that evens the field and gives you, as a utility, a break of some sort, you're not likely to jump on that bandwagon."
Immediate payback
More than rebates, a system that credits homeowners for electricity they produce in excess of what they use would help expand the solar market, some solar advocates say. That's because consumers would see an immediate payback on their investment.

Legislation passed by state lawmakers last year allows consumers with solar systems to connect to the state's power grid and measure production, but it doesn't explicitly require deregulated electric companies to compensate consumers for the surplus electricity they produce, nor does it say how.
Such a program could foster competition, because consumers would shop around for a retail electric provider willing to offer the best rate, according to David Smithson, a policy analyst with the Public Utility Commission.

But some solar advocates say a surplus compensation program left to the market would do little to kindle the industry's growth.
"It provides no guarantee of a return to the investor that we're asking to make an investment in the market for solar," said Tom Fitzpatrick, a consultant for Public Citizen. "So we're trying to stimulate a market to work by having taken care of everybody's interests except the investor's? That doesn't seem like the quickest way to get action."

At the very least, he said, consumers should pay a lower rate if they use any solar electricity. That's because consumers generating their own energy during the hottest hours of the day — when high demand for energy pushes up the price retail electric providers pay for the electricity they sell — indirectly save providers money.
By cutting demand, solar power users also reduce the need to build expensive power plants.

"Even if you don't sell to the grid, because you are not taking as much during the afternoon period, you are a more attractive and profitable customer," he said. "The PUC is basically saying the market needs to come forward and provide solutions for this, but we're not guaranteeing it."
Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, introduced the legislation and said he plans to look at stronger wording during the next legislative session.

Incentives will mean nothing if homeowners aren't allowed to install the systems in the first place, said Smith, of the renewable energy trade group.

Statewide, homeowners have tussled with restrictive homewners associations that say the panels are unsightly, hurt property values or violate deed restrictions.
Thwarting restrictions
Last year, the solar industry backed Senate Bill 358 by Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, and House Bill 1651 by Rep. David Leibowitz, D-San Antonio. Both bills would have thwarted a property owners association's ability to restrict the installation of solar energy devices.
Though both bills failed to make it to a vote, both lawmakers plan to reintroduce them, staffers for both have said.

Despite all the hurdles, Parrott remains optimistic.
"We are working or waiting on the right message and environment to make the right customers come to us," he said. "Wilbur and Orville Wright failed hundreds of times, and now we all ride airplanes."

Interesting Facts about Texas

Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas .

1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles

2. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles

3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America
built over water.

6. The Heisman Trophy ws named after John William Heisman who was the
first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston.

7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in
North America .

8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only
remaining flock of whooping cranes.

9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.

10. The worst natural disaster in U.S . history was in 1900, caused by
a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island .

11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was ' Houston .'

12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island .

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43" in
24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979.

14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the
Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union )
instead of by annexation. (This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the
same height as the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states.)

15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.

18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington -on- the Brazos,
Harrisburg , Galveston , Velasco, West Columbia and Austin .

19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is
taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).

20. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas'
meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas .

21. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia
about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one
egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four
females.).

22. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston .

Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in
Fairlie , Texas :

(1) Just one God.

(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.

(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.

(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.

(5) Put nothin' before God.

(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.

(7) No killin'.

(8) Watch yer mouth.

(9) Don't take what ain't yers.

(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff

Need to be cheered up?

Go to . . .

Happy, Texas 79042

Pep , Texas 79353

Smiley, Texas 78159

Paradise , Texas 76073

Rainbow , Texas 76077

Sweet Home , Texas 77987

Kingwood, Texas 77339

Comfort, Texas 78013

Friendship, Texas 76530

Love the Sun?

Sun City , Texas 78628

Sunrise , Texas 76661

Sunset, Texas 76270

Sundown, Texas 79372

Sunray , Texas 79086

Sunny Side , Texas 77423

Love the Water?

Bay City, Texas 77404

Baytown, Texas 77520

Bayview , Texas

Beach City, Texas

Clear Lake, Texas 77062

Crystal Beach, Texas

Want something to eat?

Bacon , Texas 76301

Noodle , Texas 79536

Oatmeal , Texas 78605

Turkey , Texas 79261

Trout, Texas 75789

Sugar Land , Texas 77479

Salty, Texas 76567

Rice , Texas 75155

Sweetwater, Texas 79556

Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!

Arlington, Texas 76099

Atlanta, Texas 75551

Bellaire, Texas 77401

Boston , Texas 75570

Cleveland , Texas 77327

Colorado City, Texas 79512

Detroit , Texas 75436

Dayton, Texas 77535

Deadwood, Texas 75633

Denver City , Texas 79323

El Dorado, Texas 76936

Georgetown, Texas 78626

Hideaway, Texas

Klondike , Texas 75448

Nevada , Texas 75173

Memphis , Texas 79245

Miami, Texas 79059

Santa Fe , Texas 77517

Reno , Texas 75462

Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861

Feel like traveling outside the country? Don't bother buying a plane ticket!

Athens , Texas 75751

Canadian, Texas 79014

China , Texas 77613

Dublin, Texas 76446

Egypt , Texas 77436

Ireland , Texas 76538

Iraan Texas 79744

Italy, Texas 76651

London , Texas 76854

Nederland, Texas 77627

New London , Texas 75682

Paris, Texas 75460

Turkey , Texas 79261

No need to travel to Washington D.C.

Whitehouse , Texas 75791

We even have a city named after our planet!

Earth , Texas 79031

And a city named after our State!

Texas City , Texas 77590

Exhausted?

Energy , Texas 76452

Cold?

Blanket , Texas 76432

Cool, Texas

Frost, Texas

Winters, Texas

Like to read about History?

Santa Anna , Texas

Goliad , Texas

Alamo , Texas

Gun Barrel City, Texas

Robert lee, Texas

Jackson, Texas 75954

Need Office Supplies?

Staples, Texas 78670

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus

Venus, Texas 76084

You guessed it..it's on the state line..

Texline , Texas 79087

For the kids...

Kermit , Texas 79745

Elmo , Texas 75118

Nemo , Texas 76070

Tarzan , Texas 79783

Winnie , Texas 77665

Sylvester, Texas 79560

Other city names in Texas , to make you smile.....

Frognot, Texas 75424

Bigfoot , Texas 78005

Hogeye, Texas 75423

Cactus , Texas 79013

Notrees , Texas 79759

Best, Texas 76932

Veribest , Texas 76886

Kickapoo, Texas 75763

Dime Box , Texas 77853

Old Dime Box , Texas 77853

Telephone, Texas 75488

Telegraph , Texas 76883

Whiteface , Texas 79379

Twitty, Texas 79079

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City

Kilgore , Texas 75662

And our favorites...

Cut n Shoot, Texas

Gun Barrell City , Texas

Hoop And Holler, Texas

Ding Dong, Texas and, of course,

Muleshoe , Texas


Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas...

If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they don't work
there, you
may live in Texas ;

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Texas ;

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed
a wrong number, you may live in Texas ;

If you know where Luckenbach, Texas is and have been there, you may
live in Texas.

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend,
you may live in Texas;

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas;

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may
live in Texas ;

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave
both unlocked, you may live in Texas ;

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use
them, you may live in Texas ;

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and
everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas ;

If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas ;

If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your
Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas .
Sure would like someone from each of these towns post a comment.