Counting chickens before they're hatched?  That's not quite it. 

This particular moral tale is about being determined to get the absolute best possible deal for oneself, and instead winding up with nothing.

Fort Worth sits atop a huge natural gas deposit called the Barnett Shale. Apparently the natural gas people had been aware of its existence, but as the gas was trapped in the rock (shale, presumably), it wasn't feasible to get it out.  They figured out a way to do it, however, and began buying property and leasing mineral rights from homeowners and businesses, etc. so as to be able to get the gas out from under 'em.

My, but there's been a flurry of activity about this here in Fort Worth!  Meetings galore, committees working like crazy for over a year, public hearings....it's been intense.  We belong to a neighborhood association that set up a committee to work with the gas leasing people so as to negotiate a group deal.  It wasn't only about money, BTW....there were other concerns, such as well placement, the routes trucks would use, and so on.  A few months ago we were told the association had received a bid of $25000 per acre signing bonus, and such-and-such a percentage once the gas began to flow.  There were still wrinkles to be ironed out, but we were on track to getting a really terrific deal.

Except the financial melt-down has led to not only tight credit, but lower natural gas prices. Now the gas people are retracting bids right and left, not signing any new ones for the foreseeable future.

Don and I are fine with this (though there's no denying the bonus would have been very, very useful), as we were never wildly enthusiastic about the idea of a gas well being drilled not far from our house, which is where it probably would have wound up....on the other side of Montgomery.  Other people are not as sanguine about the matter, from what we've read in the paper.  They are Disappointed with a Capital D, so I wouldn't be surprised if the gas lease committee comes under some heavy fire at Monday evening's meeting.  Look what taking so darn long accomplished, they'll point out (and with a fair amount of accuracy)....far from getting the best deal possible, now we're getting no deal at all.

Which Aesop's fable covers this?  I'm blanking on it.

I know I've mentioned this before, but honestly...!  

The Stupid Commercial of the Day is the one for Beef Jerky that has a fool on a bicycle riding up to Big Foot, deliberately splashing water onto the fire the fictional critter had just finished painstakingly creating.  As might be expected, Big Foot was not appreciative of this bit of juvenile cruelty and took revenge.

So the message sent is "Eat the food that jerks eat.  Jerk eat jerky!"  

I don't consider myself to be a jerk, so why would I want to eat it, then?    

Those "As Seen on T.V.!" gizmos.

I love gizmos.  There.  I said it.  

Have bought enough of 'em over the years to realize they don't usually live up to their hype, but that never seems to lessen the allure...the promise held out that this gizmo will scratch a particular itch particularly well.  Even itches I didn't know existed.  Especially itches I didn't know existed.

Today I was at Linens-N-Things (which is liquidating, only nothing was on sale and one couldn't use coupons and there are no refunds or exchanges...what's up with that?  heck of a way to run a going-out-of-business sale) and was mesmerized by the plethora of ASOTV goodies.  PedEggs!  Steam Buddies!  One Touch Can Openers!  Flat Fold Colanders!   

Every now and again one runs across something that actually does work precisely as promised, such as the Shelf Master Instant Shelves.  They hold up to 10 pounds and require no glue or nails or anything.  I bought a set several years ago and use them to hold speakers, and they work a treat. 

I regret to report, however, that those Debbie Meyer Green Bags (presumably they keep produce just-picked-fresh for an almost frighteningly long time) don't work noticeably well, which was disappointing.  Now the line has expanded to cold cuts bags and bread bags and cheese bags, I see.  Hmmm....I wonder...?  Maybe it's just the green bags that don't quite work properly?  Perhaps the cold cut bags will indeed keep lunch meat fresh and tasty for up to two weeks. 

Hope does spring eternal, does it not? 

After dithering between one item and another  -  it was so hard to choose!  -  I finally settled on the Go Duster, an electric, spinning dusting thing that promises to make dusting "fast, easy, and fun!" and goodness knows I'm all about fast, easy, and fun.

We'll see. 

Nothing much going on, I fear.  However, last night we went to Birdville High School (home of the Hawks!) to watch Brianna act as her cousin, Katie's, "little sister" for a drill team performance.  But first, a photo of our eldest granddaughter, Kirsten, with her new glasses (which she obligingly put on to model for us, before whipping them off again....like she's going to wear them when high school boys are around, right?):

Jason had taken Bridgette off to practice her walking up and down the stairs skills.  He said she'd been trying to shake him off for the past ten minutes, convinced she can do it by herself:

She was wearing pink thermal pj's and pink cowboy boots, and looked too cute for words.  Jason wryly said she's now convinced her name is actually "Awwww!"

Naturally Brianna was at the very back of the group as it performed.  Jessica and Don were able to pick her out, but I couldn't.  She's in there somewhere, in the back toward the middle:

However, here's a picture of her turning and waving to us afterward:

And here she is as we were leaving, with her big sister:

It's October first and I'm just now seeing them.  Still, I saw not just one but three today.  Poor year for them, apparently.

On a wholly unrelated note, I hate sprinkles. No, no, not the watery type that falls from the sky....the small colored bits of sugary stuff that falls from cupcakes, cookies, and cakes. 

I see no point to sprinkles.  They add nothing to the taste, in fact I really dislike the crunchy sprinkles, and simply add to the mess factor.  I've yet to figure out how to eat a sprinkle-laden cookie or cupcake without getting sprinkles all over the place.

A pox on 'em, that's what I say.