William O. Pate II's Blog: an examination of free will

FSBO: 2014 Ford Fiesta

2014 Ford Fiesta SE
88,000 miles
Single owner
~30 mpg

$11,4006-speed automaticGreat A/C and heaterPower windowsNew tires last yearFM/AM stereo with CD and auxiliary inputAdditional LED strip brake/turn lights added beneath hatchback lipFord mySync with USB is wonky -- may just need a new fuse and update, thoughAlmost unnoticeable hail damage to roofPassenger-side power window sometimes sticksShift knob replaced

Good little car.

Located in Leander, Texas. Local buyers only.

Interested? Complete the form below to schedule a time to view the vehicle or ask a question.

Hoarding

https://open.spotify.com/track/6jIrbJ... I am learning to let goOf everything I tried to hold"

I'm going through boxes of old papers, pictures, journals, CDs and other detritus from my life so far to lighten the load for our move to Uruguay by discarding unwanted/needed items. I'll share some of my (non-incriminating) finds below.

A mix CD I made for myself and friends for our various trips to Austin, Albany and Boston in the early 2000s. Cover art by Eve Tracy Coker, the first friend I made on the internet way back in the mid-1990s. I don't even have a working CD player now.Yes, I added the songs I could find to a Spotify playlist: albaustony | Summer 2001https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4HB... albaustony | Summer 2001A postcard from New Orleans (I think) from TeriPostcard from Italy from Paul Peterson Katrine Fischer Walsh's undergrad graduation announcementLetter and poem by one of my oldest friends., Dane Ball.Random scribblings I made long ago of our fur- and feather-children.More to come . . .

Uruguay

Going where?

South America? Uruguay?

Where is Uruguay?

Why?

As we watch housing costs continue to rise across the country and especially in Austin, we worry about our ability to maintain a satisfying life when our rental agreement ends at the end of this summer. Without an increase in pay to cover increasing inflation and housing costs, we’re faced with being forced to move somewhere rent is less expensive — whether or not it’s a location with the particular amenities we find valuable. So, rather than select some random U.S. town in which all other costs remain the same or increase except our rent, why not an interesting foreign city — and one that comes with possible financial benefits, to boot?

Consumer Price Comparison: Austin vs. MontevideoConsumer Prices in Montevideo are 17.84% lower than in Austin, TX (without rent)Consumer Prices Including Rent in Montevideo are 40.70% lower than in Austin, TXRent Prices in Montevideo are 70.19% lower than in Austin, TXRestaurant Prices in Montevideo are 28.59% lower than in Austin, TXGroceries Prices in Montevideo are 35.11% lower than in Austin, TXSource: numbeo

Our trip to Colombia sparked these thoughts. Colombia’s even less expensive, but acquiring a visa to stay longer than six months seems to be a bit difficult. Uruguay, however, has a much clearer visa process and, while not dirt cheap like Colombia, is still considerably less expensive than U.S. towns, especially those of comparable size.

Basic Uruguay FactsMontevideo, the capital and largest city, has 1.6 million inhabitants. 3.4 million people in all of Uruguay.Around 40% of the country’s population lives in Montevideo.In 2022, it has a projected GDP of $53.9 billion, with a per capita of $30,148.Uruguay is the most secular country in Latin America.Montevideo is ranked as having the highest quality of life in South America.

Montevideo, Uruguay is poised for the #futureofwork! See the criteria it met to earn the top spot for South America in @Mercer's Quality of Living ranking: https://t.co/dJnmtNVvct pic.twitter.com/0ztmIV7y47

— Mercer (@mercer) August 19, 2018

More to come . . .

Wishes

I wish I were a better artist.

I wish I could draw or paint or sketch or something.

That I’m not very good at these things doesn’t stop me from doing them, I just wish the results were more to my liking.

Colombia

In February 2022, Misty and I visited the Caribbean coast of Colombia for the first time. We booked our tickets on a whim in August of 2021 when flights to Cartagena were cheap, hoping pandemic restrictions would be less severe by take-off.

We flew into Cartagena and spent a few days at a hostel in the Getsemani area.

Plaza behind Public Clock Tower in Cartagena

Then we took a minivan down the Baru Peninsula to a boat that took us to Isla Grande of the Rosario Islands, where we spent a few days at the Secreto Resort Hostel.

Boat ride to Isla Grande

Then back to Cartagena for a night in the Manga before taking a nearly six-hour bus ride to Santa Marta.

Boat ride back to mainland

After a couple of days in a lovely hotel, we caught a ride by 4×4 to Reserva Biologica Caoba in the jungly foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, where we spent four days, before heading back to Santa Marta, then Cartagena and home again.

Hotel Casa Carolina, Santa Marta, ColombiaJungle mountain bridge near Reserva Biologica Caoba, Paseo del Mango, ColombiaSunset on Isla Grande, Rosario Islands, Colombia

Jeff

Jeff in New Orleans, the photo used to create the iconic sticker and T-shirt

We adopted Jeff from Austin’s Town Lake Animal Center in early 2008.

I don’t know what month he was born in 2007, but he’s definitely nearing in on 15. When people ask his age, I just tell them 15 now. He’s earned it.

He’s lived with us all over Austin and in Horseshoe Bay, San Antonio and New Orleans. He also lived with my parents in Leander for a bit while we were in New York and New Orleans.

He’s kind and curious and has never attacked another dog or person, despite having scars from mean dogs at dog parks. He aggressively sniffs new dog friends. He’s welcomed tolerated our bringing six other dogs into the household during his lifetime.

He loves going for car rides, hanging out at coffee shops and by turns sleeping and people-/animal-/car-watching.

In 2015, his bladder exploded. After emergency surgery and a hospital stay, he fully recovered. In 2017, he had a mast cell tumor removed from his leg.

In early February 2022, we learned Jeff has thyroid cancer — most noticeable by the large lump on his neck as if he had an engorged Adam’s apple.

Previous Writings about Jeff

He’s also started freaking out at night with what seems like extreme anxiety attacks, likely due to the pain and cognitive decline (doggy dementia).

It’s clear our time to say goodbye to Jeff is rapidly approaching. I’d hoped not to have to make the choice to help him along, but unless the increase in medication dosages we’re trying calm him, I’m afraid I will.

Many people have fallen in love with Jeff. Quite a few have stickers of him on their laptops. Some folks even have T-shirts with his face on them. At least one person has asked for more pictures of him. So, I’m posting a bunch of him below for posterity.

If you didn’t get to meet Jeff, you missed out on a great guy.

Pictures of Jeff [image error] One time, a woman pulled up next to us and complimented Jeff on his smile at a stoplight. [image error]

In the Archives: Texas Freedom Network

I was recently made aware that boxes full of documents providing the details of the organization with which I started my professional political life, Texas Freedom Network, have been donated to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

Not expecting to find much as they’ve only just been donated (and boxes remain outstanding to be sent), I searched to see what had been digitized, if anything, about TFN. 

One hit for “Texas Freedom Network” came up in the search on the site, but it’s a good one. It’s from a 2000 interview with Adlene Harrison, the first female mayor of Dallas and a former regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, archived with the Conversation History Association, Texas Legacy Project records. 

The interviewer, David Todd, opens by describing Harrison:

[I]t’s October 17, year 2000. We’re in Dallas and we’re at the home of Adlene and Maury Harrison, and we have the good chance to, to be interviewing Adlene Harrison, who has had many roles in public service on behalf of the environment, of having served on the City Council here in Dallas, as Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, being administrator for Region 6, EPA, and for being on the board and chair of DART, the mass transit agency here in Dallas, and many other roles that she’s played. 

Not until the second part of the interview is TFN mentioned, in response to this lovely question from Todd:

David Todd: What is your advice for people who care?
Adlene Harrison: Get involved with, either run for office where their vote can count or their voice can count or join groups that care about it and swell the ranks. I mean, I’m going to give you a group I think that’s made more progress, I’m talk, not talking necessarily about the environment, they care about that too, is the Texas Freedom Network. Do you know about that?
DT: (?)

AH: The Texas Freedom Network was started by Ann Richards daughter. She was transferred with her husband out of state. A young woman whose last name is Smoot(?) runs it now out of Austin. They have increased their membership tremendously and they send out a newsletter with facts in it. There’s no bull in it and they make you aware of what’s going on in this state, okay? That kind of group is worthwhile to give to and to join. They care about public issues. They care about health issues and health issues are environment. They fought like crazy for that Children’s Health Insurance Program. So you got to find groups like that that are very vibrant, that are very courageous, and be part of them. Because, as an individual, that’s how you find your voice. You you cant just find it by yourself. I mean, I had a voice but how did I have it? I was, you know, I worked on bond issues first. I worked with senior citizen organizations, with homeowners. I helped start the full first homeowners association so they’d have a voice. I got elected so your name gets out there. You’re on television, people recognize you, they hear you so you got to make your choice of where you’re going to do that. If you cant run for office or you don’t want to, then help these organizations that are good. Research them. Get involved. When you go back to Austin, is that where you live?DT: Uh huh.AH: You ought to talk to that woman at the Texas Freedom Network. I mean, you know, you can give her issues that the state should be doing or whatever and, if it fits in, I mean, she’s a voice. And Republicans and Democrats alike belong to that. Its not a partisan group. So that’s the only thing I can say on what you do. I’ve never given up but, by gosh, I know how to open doors and, and I started way back there, I didn’t know how to open them. It takes a lot of hard work if you’re willing to work.