Navigating Charities

Before giving your hard earned money to charity, look it up at this site. LINK  I just chose the alphabetic page at random for a starting point. You can look up your favorite charity alphabetically or type in the name to see interesting facts and figures, such as officers, amount going to the cause, amount going to fund raising, etc. It also has many school and church fundraising efforts.

You can also use GreatNonprofit LINK to look up personal reviews of various charities.

I looked up St. Mark's School in Dallas and noticed its headmaster's salary was surprisingly high. Also checked SPCA and was stunned at the bad news about the non-profit organization. These sites are great for your personal caveat emptor.

Twenty Texas Facts

The great state of Texas is interesting and its people have always liked to brag. Here are some interesting facts about the great state.

1. Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles - Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles
2. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
3. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, July 4, 1883.
4. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America that was built over water.
5. The Heisman Trophy is named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston.
6. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
7. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
8. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
9. The first word spoken from the Moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston."
10. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
11. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43 inches in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July, 1979.
12. Texas is the only state to enter the US by treaty, known as Constitution of 1845 by Republic of Texas to enter the union, instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag, and allowed to divide into 4 States.
13. A Texas Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1,500 years old.
14. Caddo Lake, a 25,400 acres lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana is the only natural lake in the State.
15. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. (There is no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper)
16. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia, Austin.
17. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. that is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet).
18. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.
19. The State animal is the Armadillo. Armadillos always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.
20. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.

World's Biggest Happy Meal

Where else but in Texas could you find the world's biggest anything. Dallas is home to this one.

The McDonald's PlayPlace is in the box, and the building is adorned with gigantic hamburgers, French fries, Cokes, and a Ronald McDonald. The exterior is the only Happy Meal-shaped McDonald’s in the world. The interior has Austrian crystal chandeliers, Ralph Lauren wallpaper, granite floors, and mahogany booths. It is at 13105 Montfort Drive, Dallas.

Eight 7-Eleven Facts

Now for something bigger.

7-Eleven is operated under the Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd.
US headquarters is in Dallas, Texas.
The busiest location Is in Samutprakarn, Thailand.
The largest drink is sells is the Team Gulp at 128 ounces.
It has 39,000 stores globally (more than McDonalds).
It released two propriety wines, Yosemite Road brand, in 2009.
7-Eleven's birthday is on July 11.
All of the stores originally operated from 7 a.m. to 11.p.m.

Another Google Search Tip

Use a minus sign right before a word to eliminate it from your search results. For example, if you are looking for cowboys, but not the team, you would type "cowboys -dallas -football" without the quotes. This trick goes a long way toward eliminating information that you are not interested in reading.

Deep Fried Onion Rings

According to most sources, the onion ring was invented when a careless cook at a Pig Stand in Dallas accidentally dropped an onion slice in some batter then pulled it out and tossed it in the deep fryer. The Pig Stand also claims to opening America’s first drive-in, inventing Texas toast, and being one of the first restaurants to advertise using neon signs. After consuming a batch, you might consider the following post.

In-N-Out Burger Dallas

Speaking of burgers, how did I miss that the West coast In-N-Out chain is coming to Dallas suburbs? News is that it is planning a second meat packing plant in the Dallas area and will be opening at least six locations to begin. Alas, it is not imminent and no specific dates set yet. Can't wait for the 8x8 (8 patties and 8 cheese slices) and those fresh chopped fries that are cut from real potatoes, just before plunging into the hot grease. Yumm!