« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
Interesting story in Sunday's DMN about the continuing struggle the city is having trying to make Dallas restaurant patios pet-friendly while also providing some modicum of regulation governing cleanliness and health conditions. A year ago, the council agreed to allow pets on patios with a couple of caveats, including: provide a separate patio entrance, install "air curtains" to separate the patio from the restaurant's interior, clean the patio every 30 minutes with animal-friendly chamicals whenever a dog is present, don't let food handlers pet animals, and keep dogs off chairs.
Restaurant owners complained that the rules are too complicated, the "air curtains" are too expensive (up to $1,000) and cleaning a patio every 30 minutes is just a hassle, so a year after making dog-on-patio permits available, not one restaurant has applied for one (which apparently doesn't mean that patios don't accept doggy diners, just that they're not worried about the city enforcing the rules).
Next month, the council will consider revising the ordinance, including dropping the "air curtain" requirement and possibly lengthening the time between patio cleanings.
Something else the council might consider: Not worrying about the issue altogether. People who like pets are going to find out about pet-friendly restaurants and frequent them. People who don't want to dine with dogs are going to find somewhere else to eat. The self-selection process gives restaurant owners the power to make their own decisions (and reap the economic rewards or losses), unfettered by city regulations that probably aren't going to be enforced anyway.
Saturday, the Lake Highlands High School wrestling team placed fifth in Texas at the state wrestling championship competition. Coached by Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame member Pete Grieder, the team competed admirably, facing schools from all over Texas at Austin's Delco Center.
I admit that wrestling is not my favorite sport (I'm a soccer fan), but I loaded some LH sophomore boys into my suburban and made the trek to support their fellow sophomores Isaac Grieder, son of the coach, and Isaac Kinsella. Kinsella made it all the way to the finals, ultimately placing second at 125 pounds, and Grieder finished sixth in his category. It was an impressive finish for two sophomores, who can now add "all state wrestlers" to their resume. Also there to support the team were about 25 senior students, boys and girls, who participate in everything on campus from football to student government to cheerleading to soccer to Wranglers. I think it's cool to see the kids support each other in this way, although I admit to saying a few "Hail Marys" in hopes that these student drivers would make it home from Austin in one piece.
Returning state champ Austin Cordova and returning state placer Josh Marx had the misfortune of facing the ultimate champions in the semis, but they finished 3rd and 4th respectively at their weights. Senior captain Luis Granados placed 6th. I congratulate all the boys who competed well, and I applaud the student supporters who invested time and money to attend the competition. I especially celebrate the wonderful work of Coach Grieder, who this year was voted Regional Coach of the Year, and who continuously uses positive interaction with his players and students to uplift and motivate them to achieve great things.
If you pay your water bill online, you will notice over the next billing period that we have a new online payment system. Being in IT myself, and having overseen multitudes of online systems in past, I thought that the previous one was a exercise in "how to design the worst possible user interface known to mankind." Well, this one now ranks as number two.
First of all, you have to register all over again, and you now have a new water account number. Registration for a new online system is often required, but a new account number too? Secondly, when you go to save the login page as a favorite (or bookmark) it is saved with the name User Management, SAP AG. SAP, from Germany, is a global systems supplier of corporate software, and our city is obviously using it for this. Did nobody have the common sense to give it a user-friendly, Dallas City-based name?!
Once you are in the system, it is a confusing, long horizontal list of things that requires 4 looks to understand. They give you the list option to view the past months or year, but it doesn't work. You have to look at the bottom for Account History Prior to February xx, 2008 instead. Whereupon they send you to the old system. When you pay by credit card, you have to explicitly check a box to "Do not store payment type information." Which, I assume, means "no way on earth do I want my credit card data stored in a city computer like this." Any modern online system does not save credit card information by default -- you must opt in, not opt out.
The final thing, and the best reason to ensure you are careful to opt out of that credit card storage, is the confirmation email you get for registering with the new system. It has this big disclaimer which begins with (bolding is mine): The City of Dallas does not warrant or make representations or endorsements as to the quality, content, accuracy, or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links, and other items contained on this server or any other server. Such materials have been compiled from a variety of sources, and are subject to change without notice from the City of Dallas as a result of updates and corrections.
Enjoy your next transaction with them.
Recent Comments