photo credit: verdi

Long distance relationships, while undoubtedly worth the effort, have their share of caveats. High phone bills, long drives, and tired Mondays all contribute to the stress of extended love affairs. Thank goodness however, on the trek from Austin to Houston, there is a welcome reprieve in Giddings, Texas: Buc-ee’s Gas Stations.

For those who have yet to experience this oasis, imagine if you will the following scenario: Having traveled down the highway late at night, filled with sadness at having to part yet again, you glance down at your gas gauge and notice it’s close to empty. You decide to stop, to refuel not only your vehicle, but perhaps yourself as well, but the thought of stopping at the gas stations you commonly pass makes your stomach turn: seedy, dirty stations with cobwebs on the gas pumps, unsanitary restrooms and unkempt personnel are not the respite you’re longing for. Then, you notice a billboard for a Beaver Crossing, and before you can formulate your quandary, you see another and another – catchy slogans, all touting a place named Buc-ee’s. Then, off to the distance, glowing lights reveal this ramblers refuge.

Intrigued, you venture forward…the outside of the station looks distinctly different, clean gas pumps (and plenty of them), manicured lawns, brick buildings, all welcoming you warmly into the Buc-ee’s store itself. Upon entering, you do a double, and then a triple-take…is this really a gas station? Was I really just greeted by an attendant who was pleasant, well groomed and polite?

The Buc-ee’s experience is a phenomenal one. Where else except the great state of Texas can you find a gas station that offers fresh sandwiches, homemade jerky, jams, jellies and gourmet snacks, meat smokers, souvenirs and hotel quality restrooms, besides proffering the traditional gas station fare. With 24 locations around the state, it’s possible (and highly encouraged) to plan your next adventure with strategic stops at the closest Buc-ee’s to your route.

[ed. This article was submitted months ago, but -- having never experienced a Buc-ee's -- I thought it sounded too much like an advertisement. I recently stopped by the new Buc-ee's in Madisonville, and now understand what all the hubbub is about. My apologies to sojourner.]

According to KBTX:

A Lubbock legislator has filed a bill that would end red-light cameras in Texas, and a local driver is offering help.

Lubbock did away with its red-light cameras last year when the citizen group that oversaw the cameras, determined the cameras hadn’t made Lubbock’s streets any safer.

At that time, the cameras also hadn’t made Lubbock any money. A College Station man is supporting that Lubbock legislator; he says money is what the cameras are all about.

More here.

I can see unique trailer hitches becoming a reoccurring theme here at DWT. I saw these in Austin awhile back (sorry for the grainy photos; iPhone + moving car). What you can’t tell from the photo is that whenever the brakes were pressed, the deer would start to move it’s legs up and down frantically. Tasteless? Maybe. Hilarious? Yes.

Baldy and I stumbled upon this in a parking garage outside of the loop. It is quite possibly the coolest motorcycle sidecar I have ever seen. I especially like the lone headlight (tinted the shade of the windshield!) and four turn signals.

Makes me wonder what Batman’s sidecar would be like…

I’ve only just recently seen these awesome beasts at Target (check out the disc brakes!). I assume they’re for chasing down fleety shoplifters, but they bring up so many questions.

Is this really necessary? (this particular Target was in one of the more upscale neighborhoods of Htown)

How fast do they go?

How many times did something occur that they decided a tricycle was necessary?

What do they do if they catch someone? Side ram him Ben-Hur style?

Is there a siren? (there just has to be)

I’m tempted to camp out in front of the store to see one in action.

Is it me or do other state signs just look flat out funny? Whenever I travel outside of the state lines (don’t worry, I take a little bit of Texas soil with me) I find myself staring at their highway signs.  I shot this while venturing into Arkansas a bit ago, it just looks so alien. 

For those who were raised here, then moved off, do you ever get used to the oddly shaped signs? Is it conditioning or is the Texas shape just purty?

Tell me I’m not the only person who thinks that all the traffic police hired to “aid” the flow of traffic around the Galleria during Christmas aren’t making the problem worse! Yesterday, it took me 15 minutes to go travel between Sage and Post Oak on West Alabama because the several officers along the route were stopping traffic at random intervals to allow cars to exit the garages. I would bet that over the course of a day the unpoliced flow of cars down West Alabama and in/out of the garages exceeds that of the policed flow.

photo credit: Alex Steffler

As someone who has been rear-ended at a camera-monitored red light, I’m highly suspicious of the value created by red light cameras. A new study by Rice University argues that although accidents have increased at camera-monitored intersections, that increase is almost entirely attributable to increases in the unmonitored directions. The mayor supports this argument by claiming that there’s been a spike in accidents at all intersections across the city, although there’s no data to support this claim.

One question I have is how are these accidents reported? Are they based on police reports? What percent of read-end collisions are reported? Were the police reports cross-checked with insurance claims for accuracy? I would expect that a lot of rear-end collisions aren’t reported simply because it takes less than five minutes to exchange insurance information and drive away.

Then I want to call attention to the graph in the report titled “Monitored vs. Unmonitored Approaches by Implementation Month”. The accident spike in unmonitored approaches seems to begin at the same time that the cameras went into production. Now correlation is not causation, but it’s highly suspicious. It’s incumbent upon the researchers to explain this divergence.

photo credit: j-e-m-s (dos chicas)

Now every time I curse somebody on their cell phone, I’ll consider the alternatives. (Once again, thanks be that we don’t live in California.)

The Houston Chronicle has a cool interactive map that shows where all the red-light cameras are located in Houston and gives information on the number of tickets issued at each light. It even has video for some of the lights.

photo credit: j-e-m-s (dos chicas)