POTD: Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

"Past and present meet,
Where love was once deified,
Another two stand."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of John and Dessy posing in front of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Roman Forum. "The temple was constructed by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, beginning in 141 AD. It was initially dedicated to his deceased and deified wife, Faustina the Elder. Because of this, Faustina was the first Roman empress with a permanent presence in the Forum Romanum. When Antoninus Pius was deified after his death in 161 AD, the temple was re-dedicated to both Antoninus and Faustina by his successor, Marcus Aurelius."

Dept. Q (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Dept. Q (TV 2025): Scottish police procedural. Matthew Goode plays an insolent cop who gets banished to the basement and told to work on cold cases. He assembles a team of misfits and digs into a nasty case. Great show to watch when Slow Horses is between seasons. B+

Netflix

Richardson's 2025-2027 Key Tactics

Source: Ramsee Consulting Group.

In my fourth installment of what happened during the Richardson City Council's 5-hour goal-setting worksession, I reported this about the tactics the council came up with:

After a lunch break, the council broke into two groups of four (with the City Manager added to the seven council members). They were tasked with coming up with their top ten or so tactics. I was confused. There are 13 strategies, but only 10 tactics? Rick Robinson explained that council will decide the top ten tactics, but staff will come back with a long, full list of tactics. When the council came back together they had eight unique tactics, which I wasn't able to capture. Rick Robinson will take the list and do some combining and type them up. The council as a whole then talked about other tactics they wanted to add. Individual council members offered individual tactics. There was little attempt at voting to accept or reject the ideas offered, only some wordsmithing, as always, so I don't know how this discussion will move forward. It seemed to me they ran out of time to produce what I most wanted, a SMART set of short-term action items for the next two years.

Source: Ramsee Consulting Group.

At the August 11, 2025, Richardson City Council meeting, we got to see more. Not the final version, but more.

Death of a Unicorn (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Death of a Unicorn (2025): Satire in which the billionaire capitalists are idiots, Paul Rudd is a sellout, and Jenna Ortega mind-melds with a unicorn, giving her a psychedelic look into another world. Other than that, the unicorns are monsters. Makes no sense. The CGI is disappointing. C-

HBO Max

Richardson Town Hall at Tzu Chi

Source: Mark Steger.

Mayor Amir Omar and Councilmember Dan Barrios held a town hall meeting at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. About 100 persons attended. I grade the exercise an "A" for turnout, participation, and openness of the mayor and council member in their answers to questions raised by the audience. The two hour time allotted to this seemed right to me, but there wasn't enough time to get to all the questions.

POTD: Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

"First night together,
Rome glows with celebration.
Chestnuts crack and steam."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Piazza Navona in Rome. It was the first night of our whole family being together to celebrate Christmas in Rome. A holiday tradition all over Italy (and in plenty of other places in the world) is roasting chestnuts (castagne arrosto) over open charcoal braziers. They are served piping hot in paper cones. Here, a stranger enjoys the tradition.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: Piazza Navona

"Now the square holds us,
not in flesh, but in recall.
Rome keeps what we lost."

— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Piazza Navona in Rome. It was the first night of our whole family being together to celebrate Christmas in Rome. Little did we know it was to be the last such family vacation. We ate at an outdoor restaurant in the piazza. The piazza "is built on the site of the 1st century AD Stadium of Domitian and follows the form of the open space of the stadium in an elongated oval. The ancient Romans went there to watch the agones ('games'), and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis' ('competition arena')."

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Richardson's Budget Workshop - Day 2

Source: City of Richardson.

The Richardson City Council held a two day budget workshop to set the 2025-2026 budget.

On the first day, they reviewed the General Fund. on this, the second day, they focused on the five other largest funds: water/sewer, drainage, solid waste, golf, and hotel/motel.

The City summary of budget recommendations from Day 1:

• Property tax rate remains unchanged. Because of rising property values, this will result in new tax revenue.
• Senior Tax Exemption increase from $145,000 to $160,000
• 2.5% merit-based pay adjustments for all employees and an additional 2.0% in April 2026 for sworn public safety
• Increasing the minimum starting salary for full-time and permanent part-time positions to $21.00
• No change to the Streets and Alleys Rehabilitation, Facilities Maintenance, or Parks Maintenance Programs
• No change to the Economic Development Fund

The Pitt (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Pitt (TV 2025): Hour by hour, a day shift in a hospital ER in Pittsburgh. Lots of fast talking by impressively talented doctors. Watching each episode is like binging an entire season of another show. There's no overall plot; each patient, each doctor has a story. The whole is so much more than its parts. A-

HBO Max

POTD: Richardson's Budget Workshop - Day 1

Source: City of Richardson.

The Richardson City Council is holding a two day budget workshop to set the 2025-2026 budget. The City summarizes the global economic environment as: "Conflicts, trade restrictions, and geopolitical rivalries are disrupting global supply chains. Political instability and shifting international policies contribute to an unpredictable policy environment, making businesses more hesitant to invest in expansion, new hiring, or infrastructure upgrades. Wars, sanctions, and diplomatic tensions may cause energy price spikes and commodity shortages, possibly leading to inflationary pressures."

The City had three more slides calling out risks and threats to Richardson's economic situation. "Tariffs and Tariff Driven Inflation." "Labor Market Challenges." "Slowing Revenue Amid Rising Costs."

I am pleased that City government, if not the State or Federal governments, knows the answer to the question, how is MAGA working out for us?

And that's before the City gets to what our Texas legislature is up to. "SB 924 reduces FY2026 franchise fees by ~($260,000)." "HB9 will reduce FY2027 property tax revenues by ~($1,500,000)." "SB9 would reduce FY2027 property tax revenue by ~($1,500,000)." We can be sure the impact of that will be cuts to city services. How much of those cuts will show up as more money in in your wallets is much less certain.