Texas Chili

 Hey I want some Texas chili. Just made some over the weekend, not Texas chili though as spicy. Might utilize this recipe.

Hat-tip Instapundit

This post is really just an excuse

 

[VIDEO] I'm sorry I missed this last month. Remember seeing a post here about Amtrak opening a new train depot in Ft. Madison, Iowa it was over the past summer/fall perhaps August/September but then again it didn't open right away.

Last month the depot opened. And it's been cool to see trains finally stop there since Amtrak used to pass it up since I've been watching the webcam via Virtual Railfan. If you had been watching the webcam you might have seen them working to lay a new boarding platform for Amtrak passengers. Now you can see them get off to stretch their legs or then board or detrain.

BTW, this brief video afflicted with vertical video syndrome is my excuse to unveil my new railcam page which I constructed on another space featuring other webcams via Virtual Railfan along the route of Amtrak's Southwest Chief. Basically cams in Galesburg, Illinois; Ft. Madison, Iowa; LaPlata, Missouri; Santa Fe Junction in Kansas City, Missouri; Flagstaff, Arizona; Barstow, California; and along the Cajon Pass also in California.

Hope you enjoy and as an added convenience I found and posted a link to a Southwest Chief schedule online since Amtrak no longer publishes pdf files of schedules. You can go here before your trip to print a schedule that is very convenient for you. You can at least see where your train will stop and the exact schedule of your train.

I hope you enjoy! 

States I've visited

More accurately, states I've either visited or passed through. Will I ever visit all 50 states?

Click above photo so that you can also share a map of all states you've visited or if you wish passed through.

Dave Ramsey: 20 things the rich do every day...

I wonder if this is true. The list you will read at DaveRamsey.com, does the rich truly engage in these many behaviors? Better yet, I would wonder if this has less to do with your income as the individual. Successful people engage in these behaviors from the day they were born wether or not they grew up poor or wealthy. To be sure this list is certainly one way to start with making your New Year's resolutions.

I know it's Christmas so, hopefully you would consider this your early Christmas present.

YouTube Blog: Mashups, parodies and lip dubs: Ask a legal expert...

YouTube Blog talks about Fair Use and how YouTubers are able to take clips from other media sources without being sued for copyright infringement.

Another "original" YouTube cited fair use in one of his videos. I used "original" to say that he posted videos people watched starting a short 8 years ago. Man it's unbelieveable how long ago that was.

Kaskaskia: First Capital of Illinois

[VIDEO] Earlier this month the Tribune took a trip to the town of Kaskaskia, IL

As noted the town of Kaskaskia was the first state capital of Illinois located along the southwestern border of Illinois which is essentially the Mississippi River. According to the Wiki article about the town the population is only 14 as of 2010. It is the least populated area of this state.

Kaskaskia was the state capital until 1819. Illinois became a state in 1818 so it was only a year where state government was located. After 1819 thru 1839 our state capital was located in Vandalia, Illinois. As a matter of fact a State House was built in hopes that state government would remain in Vandalia.

Unfortunately for Vandalia, state government would move again to Springfield, Illinois where it has been since 1839. Also note that a future President of the United States, one Abraham Lincoln, was instrumental in moving the state capitol from Vandalia to Springfield.

More history of Illinois' state capitols can be found here. That page is part of a website @ http://www.ilstatehouse.com/ which is dedicated to promote the current state capitol building in Springfield.

Check out these wallets

This first wallet is from the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Gift Shop:

The Mighty Wallet is printed with the licensed graphics of the CTA and is not only functional for quick transfer info on the go but it also adds a level of stealth that safeguards your valuables from theft. Mighty Wallets have actually evaded theft in real life situations through their uncommon stealthy design.

Made from Tyvek (think express mail envelopes), the Mighty Wallet resists tearing because of thousands of interlocking plastic fibers spun in random patterns giving the wallet incredible strength.

This might be very cool. Such a wallet can foil theft attempts, especially if a potential pickpocket thinks that this is merely a CTA Map.

Also check out this second wallet:

A dot-matrix wallet from ThinkGeek. The description doesn't mention foiling thieves, but it does mention that it's made of a similar material to the CTA Mighty Wallet. The fact that it's a dot-matrix wallet should ring a bell to old-time computer geeks.

Some of the other wallets you might find at ThinkGeek may have some added features that may foil criminals. Although the hazard isn't necessarily to think of actual pickpockets or theft as opposed to a theft of a different type.