Huh? Cuidado con las hachas

Being from Laredo, we don't give much thought to the announcements of sales and promotions over the public address system at Wal-Mart, Target or any of the other stores. But  those who might be from up North, or have simply been out of Laredo for a while might react with a puzzled look when they hear "Attention Wal-Mart Choppers"! Some may even look somewhat uneasily over their shoulders.

 As we all know, many of the employees at our local retailers might have a hard time distinguishing between the Sh sound and the often-substituted Ch sound. In Spanish, we use the harsher-sounding Ch sound quite a bit. Words such as charco, chico, chile, chocolate are a few examples. On the other hand, we don't hear the softer Sh sound in Spanish much at all. Although, I have spoken to people from West Texas and they do have a tendency to use it in words such as ocho and noche; thereby pronouncing the words "osho" and "noshe". So, next time you're Christmas chopping, oops I mean shopping, listen closely and you might hear- either a call to buy, or a call to arms........"attention Wal-Mart choppers"! 

You can't call yourself The Learning Channel and feature Sarah Palin



Cuidado, Ay viena la Mondada !!


Lending credence to the notion that the record-breaking audience for Sarah Palin's Alaska on TLC was more curiosity than anything else, this weeks ratings indicate that the show's popularity has already plummeted. A drop of 40 percent from the debut episode is very troubling for The Learning Channel. This is especially true when you look at the coveted 18-49 year old demographic; the main target for advertisers.    

Editor's note. For some reason, I had to "force" our blog to accept this post. Apparently, there must be some filter that attempts to keep out crappy news like this. Still, I didn't mind going the extra mile because I know that Sarah Palin's poster is hanging on many a laredo blog reader's wall.

Candidates avoid debating in new local trend

Not one, but TWO invisible men at Kiwanis Debates

The Laredo Handbook of Politics might just be undergoing a revision. During the general election, it was somewhat strange that District 2 candidate Esteban Rangel did not attend the Public Access Channel debates. Nonetheless, he won his race convincingly. This ability to win without debating might have gotten some of the other candidates thinking. During the taping of the runoff debates, District 3 candidate Alejandro Perez did not show up. Later, at the Kiwanis debates, neither Alejandro Perez nor Charlie SanMiguel showed up for their respective city council seat debates. According to Pro 8 news, the audience at the Kiwanis debate was frustrated with the no-shows. Dr. Michael Landeck, the other candidate in the District 3 runoff race also expressed disappointment with the absence of the aforementioned candidates. Orlando Navarro was the only District 6 candidate showing up.

Cowboys on roll, well sorta of. Odds still against them. No kidding?

What a difference two weeks make. That's how many weeks in a row, the cowboys have won rather impressively. Still, after a devastating 1-7 start, the odds are stacked heavily against the cowpokes. I'm not promoting gambling but I looked up the odds of the cowboys' chances for success for the remainder of this season.

The odds against the cowboys winning to NFC title    are        65  to 1.
The odds against the cowboys winning the Superbowl are      150 to 1.

The chances of a guy wearning a Cowboy Jersey in church     2 to 1   according to La Sanbe.

Like Dirty Harry liked to say "Well, do you feel lucky Punk?"  Ok, forget the "Punk" part of it. I keep forgetting  there's some sort of blog etiquette- I think.

Danny's again? Yea but this time it's something good

A couple of weeks ago, laredotejas reported on the unfortunate increase in the prices at all the local Danny's restaurants. Leading the charge were the famed enchiladas. They were $3.99, but almost tripled in price at $8.99. That no longer being news, we wanted to emphasize that, while prices might be a slap-in-the-face, their service continues to be very good.

As you enter you get a very friendly greeting by the nearest employee. More often than not, this actually means 2 or even 3 "buenos dias/tardes/noches". I like the "pasenle a donde gusten" part of the extended greeting.  As promptly as your are seated, you're asked what you'll be having to drink, another employee comes out with the chips and salsa, with the drinks usually right behind. Now, we're not talking about the menu; that could use at least a little tweaking now and then. But as far as customer service goes, Danny's does a very decent job.

Schools high on nutrition: until after school

Hey Kids! Get your dollars out and Line em up!

First of all, I know I have seen this in the past but I haven't made it a point to notice if the practice continues this school year. What I am referring to is schools raising money by selling pizza and/or ice cream to their students after school. During the school day, the nutritional guidelines are in place and somewhat strict in an attempt to positively impact the health of the kids. However, it seems that after the afternoon bell rings, everything goes. Dominos pizzas are placed out in the hallway where their scent entices the hungry kids and their dollars.

If  this is no longer the case, then I'm glad it has been rectified. If anyone out there knows that stuff like this still goes on in the name of fundraising, then we need to call the school board on it. They either want the kids to eat healthier or they don't. They can't have it both ways. At 3pm, the kids are still in school, therefore, captive customers. The schools should not take advantage of them. Nor, should they be hypocritical about the health and well being of their students.

Laredo Manufacturing: 1.candles.......oh yea and...uh no....ok how bout...no

Not long ago, I attended a city council meeting where I heard Dr. Landeck state a very disappointing  fact about our Gateway City. Actually, when I heard it, and even now, I was hoping that this was an oversight but it does seem that, as Dr. Landeck said "The manufacturing sector in Laredo is all of one candle company". If not verbatim, that was the essence of his words. Perhaps if our town still had a population of 50,000 or so, it wouldn't be as hard to fathom. With estimates of about 250,000 people calling Laredo home, it is a very real problem. I realize that this is the communication age and there is an ongoing electronics revolution in process. There has a been a definite shift in our state and country from manufacturing jobs to service-oriented, high-technology jobs.

Even with all these changes all around us, manufacturing needs to remain a part of our city, state and nation. We have to continue to produce something, even if not in comparison to the levels seen decades ago. It does not bode well for us if we are simply consumers and others control the means of production.