A few things I learned about Texas....
Armadillos sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.
There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in Texas.
There are 10,000 types of spiders and all 10,000 live in Texas, plus a couple no one's seen before.
Possums will eat anything.
Armadillos love to dig holes under tomato plants.
Raccoons will test your crop of melons and let you know when they are ripe.
If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.
A tractor is NOT an all-terrain vehicle. They do get stuck.
Onced and Twiced are words.
It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy.
Fire ants consider your flesh as a picnic.
Coldbeer is one word.
People actually grow and eat okra.
Fixinto is one word.
A tank is a dirt hole in the ground that holds water for irrigation,
watterin' the cows, swimming, or a weekly bath.
There ain't no such thing as "lunch." There's only dinner and then there's
supper.
Tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're 2.
Backards and forwards means I know everything about you.
'Jeet? is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat?"
You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is.
You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.
Darn near everyone knows 5 or more cloud types (guess they got to be lookin
out for them there ternayders-translation: tornadoes)
You know you're from Texas if....1. You measure distance in minutes.
2. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
3. Stores don't have bags, they have sacks.
4. You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it,
no matter what time of the year.
5. You use "fix" as a verb. Example: I am fixing to go to the store.
6. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable,
grain, insect or animal.
7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both
unlocked.
8. You carry jumper cables in your car ... for your OWN car.
9. You know what "cow tipping" is.
10. You only own four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco.
11. The local paper covers national and international news on one page but
requires 6 pages for local gossip and sports.
12. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.
13. You find 100 degrees F "a little warm."
14. You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and
Christmas.
15. Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite past-time known as "goin wal-martin" or
off to "Wally World."
16. You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good chili
weather.
17. A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola, or pop. it's a Coke
regardless of brand or flavor. Ex: "What kinda coke you want?"
18. High school football is a way of life.
19. You love Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush
And...
20. You remember the Alamo
Go Cougars !and send me a James Coney Island
More About Texas:
The economy of Texas is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the United States. In 2006, Texas was home to six of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list and 46 overall, more than any other state. Texas has an economy that was the second largest in the nation and the 15th largest in the world based on GDP (nominal) figures. As the largest exporter of goods in the United States, Texas currently grosses more than $100 billion a year in trade with other nations.
In 2008, Texas had a gross state product of $1.224 trillion, the second highest in the U.S. The Gross state product per capita as of 2005 was $42,975.
Texas had the second largest workforce in the United States, with almost 11 million civilian workers. The lack of personal income tax as well as the largely undervalued real estate throughout Texas has led to significant growth in population. Since 2003, the legislature in conjunction with the Governor's office has made economic development a top priority.
Much economic activity in Texas is regional. For example, the timber industry is important in East Texas's economy but a non-factor elsewhere. Houston, the state's largest urban economic enclave stands at the center of the petrochemical, biomedical research trades, shipping, and aerospace (particularly NASA). Dallas/Fort Worth houses the state's predominant defense manufacturing interests and the expansive information technology labor market. West Texas and the panhandle is dominated by ranching and the petroleum industry. Austin's economy is dominated by the State Government, Educational Institutions, and the booming IT Industry.
Texas's growth can be attributed to the availability of jobs, the low cost of housing, the lack of a personal state income tax, the quality of higher education, low taxation and limited regulation of business, a central geographic location, a limited government, favorable weather, and plentiful supplies of oil and natural gas. There are currently 35 billionaires residing in Texas today.
Texas has the highest number of Fortune 500 company headquarters in the United States, fifty-eight. This has been attributed to both the growth in population in Texas and the rise of oil prices in 2005.
In 2008, for the seventh year in a row, Texas led the United States in export revenues. Texas exports for 2008 totaled $192.2 billion. In 2002, the Port of Houston was 6th among the top sea ports in the world in terms of total cargo volume;[10] Air Cargo World rated Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as "the best air cargo airport in the world". The ship channel at the Port of Houston—the largest in the U.S. in international commerce and the sixth-largest port in the world.
Interesting Facts About The Lone Star State . . . . . . .
- The population of Texas is 24 million, not including the 16 million cattle.
- 70% of the population of Texas lives within 200 miles of Austin.
- Texas possesses three of the Top Ten most populous cities in the U.S. - Houston,Dallas and San Antonio.
- Texas' most populous county and third most populous in the United States is Harris county in southeast Texas with 3.4 million residents. The least populated county in Texas and the United States is Loving county with only 67 residents.
- Texas has 215 cities with a population of 10,000 or more.
- The Dallas-Fort Worth area has more residents - 6,145,037 - than 31 U.S. states. For example, Colorado has about 4.9 million residents.
- Texas includes 267,339 square miles, or 7.4% of the nation's total area.
- El Paso, Texas is closer to Needles, California (516 miles) than it is to Dallas, Texas (571 miles).
- Texas' largest county is Brewster with 6,208 square miles. Connecticut (5,544 Sq Mi), Delaware (2,489 Sq Mi) and Rhode Island (1,545 Sq Mi) can fit inside this county.
- The King Ranch itself near Corpus Christi is larger than the state of Rhode Island, includes 50,000 head of cattle and more than 2,000 miles of fence.
- Texas possesses 23,292 farms with 1,000 acres or more for a total of 132 million acres, or 80% of the state land area.
- Texas has 90 mountains a mile or more high, with Guadalupe Peak in West Texas at 8,751 feet being the tallest.
- Almost 10% of Texas is covered by forest which includes four national and five state forests.
- Average yearly rainfall totals in West Texas are less than 8 inches while in East Texas totals exceed 56 inches.
- The average January temperature for Amarillo is 36.7 degrees while in Brownsville the average is 61.4. On March 27, 1984, the temperature in Brownsville was 106 degrees while Amarillo reported snow and 35 degrees.
