Random Saturday Monkey

A 19 Year Old Was Shot To Death In Jacksboro Last Night?

Link. (Emailer submitted.) Edit: A commenter believed the homicide occurred in Fort Worth. It is confusing. 1575 S. Main is the address for John Peter Smith Hospital. So it looks like the incident "occurred" at 310 E. Belknap in Jacksboro with a death later at JPS.

As We Balance Our Check Books This Weekend

There are some HUGE law firms in this country but they are having economic issues just like the rest of us. But they've got a problem because most extended job offers last year for first year associates to begin this fall. It's a problem because now they realize they don't have any work for those newbies to do. So what did one monster firm in NYC do this week? It sent a letter to all those new hires and told them if they want to take a year off before their starting their employment, that's fine with them. But here's the kicker: They'll pay them $80,000 for that year, provide them medical coverage, and throw in a $1,000 a month to help with student loans. And all they have to do is sit home and watch Jerry Springer and eat bon bons. Oh, my.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

Don't Hate Her Because She Loves Books

• My gate on my wooden fence collapsed in the storm. So I went to Home Depot to get a couple of replacement posts and some concrete. Ran me about $26.
• But, of course, this is going to be a home repair disaster.
• I have had the Internet guy (four different ones to be exact) over to do repairs at my house over the last two weeks. As of this morning, it was out again. I'm done.
• Blogger Anobiter is off to New Hampshire for a whole month. Her blog posts indicated that she headed to DFW at 7:34 a.m yesterday. At 2:39 p.m., she still hadn't boarded due to weather delays.
• I've never been a fan of "inspirational quotes."
• I'm thinking of Debbie Gibson.
• One year later, I'm still fascinated by the opening Olympic Ceremony segment of all those Chinese drummers. As Bob Costa's said, it was a little "intimidating."
• Paul McCartney and Wings, even at it's cheesiest, is still better than most of what is going on in music today.
• Sheesh, that makes me sound old.
• My first concert: Boston at the Tarrant County Convention Center where me and my buddies paid a scalper $12 each for the tickets.
• I'm calling Hawkins Funeral Home to reserve a plot.
• Whether it be the WFAA radar or the Dallas Morning News web site that suddenly requires you to register, it's proof that Belo Corp has no idea why it will soon be bankrupt. (By the way, you can cheat the sign-up page by getting a quick username and password at BugMeNot.com)
• Back to my old age theme: I watched a little of Paul Newman in The Verdict last night (highly overrated, I might add) but I noted that all of the six male jurors wore a suit. I've practiced law for 23 years, and I don't recall even one male juror wearing even a tie.
• Didn't the creation of USB port on a computer make things 1,000 times easier?
• For all of you that were jumping for joy over the mentally handicapped kid that was sentenced to 100 years in prison: Aren't you the ones that say, "Every life is precious?"
• The crazy right winger is more dangerous than the crazy left winger (i.e. abortion doctor killer, Holocaust Memorial guard killer, etc.)
• The Irving City Manager makes $390,000 a year?
• "Woman Who Missed Air France Tragic Flight Killed in Car Wreck Days Later". Fate will not be denied?
• There was a weird white powdery substance outside my office door this morning.

Tony Romo's Fake Facebook Page

Genius. (Click to enlarge.)

The Aurora Snakerealis

This email is going around about what happened to a lady in Aurora last night. I deleted the names. I was going to go out on the front porch to look at the weather and I opened the door to find that dang snake wrapped around the bottom of the door not visible as it is in the picture. It fell at my feet in my house. It crawled around my dining room until [my husband] could get it out, very scary. It looks to be about 5 feet long. He put it out in the grass then at about 10 or so last night. The dogs starting going crazy and I went to look and it was back on my door, crawling up it. [Redacted] and I were scared to death. [Husband] said to leave it alone that it was a good snake to eat bugs, rats etc. He wouldn't get it. He went to be and [redacted] and I called the Sheriff's department and they came and killed it. It was so crazy.

From The Liberally Lean Triple Doppler Weather Center

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Those were some incredibly high winds last night. I saw a full sized trampoline in the street this morning - upright.
• I thought for a moment what a crazy scene it would be if I were to get out and start jumping on it.
• One thing about technical service (my home Internet issues are better but still not perfect) is that you have to go through the same phone tree and, when you get a real person, the same script.
• The craziest thing my tech support people say is, "Ok, Mr. Green, I'm going to take ownership of this call so we can solve your problem." Ummkay. Get after it.
• I think I'm going to Costa Rica in February.
• I've got a crazy female friend who throws a tantrum once every six months or so. Her most recent one included "unfriending" me of Facebook. And I've known her for almost 20 years.
• News you can use: There's only one web site authorized by law to provide free credit reports: www.annualcreditreport.com (Or at least that's what the most recent issue of the Texas Bar Journal said.)
• In Paris, Texas, an 18 year old with an IQ of 47 pleads guilty to five counts of sexual abuse of a child and the jury assesses punishment of 30 years, 30 years, 30 years, 5 years, and 5 years. Holy cow. If that's not insane enough, the judge decided to stack the sentences to make it a 100 year sentence. That's Lamar County Judge Eric Clifford who justified his actions by saying, "In the state of Texas, there isn't a whole lot you can do with somebody like him."Can I call a sitting judge an idiot?
• And now I've got a computer virus that is crazy: You click on a google search result and it hijacks the link and redirects to a random site. And that makes it very difficult to google how to get rid of it. Edit: And whoever suggested MalwareBytes is a genius. Good job.
• Edit: Want to hear Boston fans last night chant "You Do Steroids" to A-Rod as he came up to bat?

Email Submitted: Tonight's Wise County Rainbow

Thanks, Tony. And the rare Double Rainbow:

Sheesh

AP - Austin: Three workers died today after falling from a construction elevator on the 11th floor of an Austin condominium project -- when the equipment collapsed.

Authorities said two of the men plunged more than 120 feet to their deaths, while the third was rushed to the hospital after hitting a garage overhang on the sixth floor. He later died at a hospital.

A fourth man, apparently suspecting the scaffolding was about to give way, managed to jump off the platform and survived. He was treated at the scene.

The men were doing construction about halfway up a condominium project known as Twenty One Rio, a high-rise building near the University of Texas.

I'm a huge contemplater (?) of life and death. Of fate. Of chance. Of luck. Man, this freaks me out. And then I look around the Internet about this place and see that a 681 square foot apartment rents for $1,632 a month, and I feel superficially freaked out by that as well.

Wow

Full Service Sheriff's Office

The Wise County Sheriff's Office is caring for Bambi this afternoon. Source.

Reporter Dunks On Kid .....Kid Whines Like A Kid

My two favorite parts are the anchor back at the studio saying, "What's wrong with you?" and the mom (?) looking like she's ready to go off on the reporter after the fact. But I'm with the reporter. Kids are soft. Suck it up, Tyler. It won't be the last time somebody dunks on ya.

New Hampshire Bikini Car Wash

Reason #3,476 to appreciate Texas. More here. (And this was sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts.)

Funny, But Probably A Lot Of Truth There

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Got my Internet fixed last night. Then woke up this morning to find it down again. I'm no technician, but replacing the router/modem two times in one week has not fixed the problem.
• I forgot to mention, no one struts more than the high school track athlete.
• Seeing a kid's chalk art on a sidewalk makes me smile.
• It's rare for KRLD not to steal the news from some other source, but they are the only ones that posted about a "gruesome accident" that occurred this morning in Lewisville.
• Taser Fun: A 72 year old granny and a mouthy motorist. Here. I love the taser over the firearm to diffuse a situation, but cops seem to be a little quick on the trigger with the thing.
• Taser should be spelled Tazer. It's cooler.
• I've never seen Palo Dura Canyon.
• I'm reading a book on the collapse of Bear, Stearns. I'm not much of a business guy, but it is fascinating. (And it made me feel a little insignificant when I read the part of one silk suited lawyer picking up the phone and dialing the number of the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank at his home - and the guy taking the call.)
• Another earthquake in Cleburne last night. That makes four. Can't we have at least one up here?
• At least one lawyer is reporting that the Tarrant County judge who was arrested for DWI last year (but who had the case thrown out for a defective search warrant) will not be running for re-election.
• How did GM go bankrupt? I mean, look around at all the GM cars that are on the road.
• And this GM bankruptcy/nationalization can't be good for business. I'm not sure things aren't going to get worst for them.
• I wonder if I'm too old for a Nissan 370Z?

Tuesday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Murder-Suicide Update: They Were Brothers

From Sheriff David Walker: June 8, 2009 at approximately 11:30p.m. Wise County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a family friend of Jeremy Stanford. The caller reported that she had not heard from Stanford and that it seemed to be out of character for him not to return her calls. The caller reported that Stanford was living at 3893 N US HWY 287 with his parents and brother Jason Stanford. Responding to conduct a welfare concern, Deputy Travis Waddell observed blood on the front porch of the residence, and subsequently located two bodies. Investigators, along with the Texas Ranger, are investigating this case as a questionable death: probable murder-suicide. Two deceased males were located inside the residence, with one victim having an apparent stab wound. Investigators were able to determine that the two deceased victims were brothers, which had been in an altercation prior to their deaths. Evidence found at the scene indicates that Jason Stanford inflicted the injury on his brother which caused his death. There were no obvious signs of cause of death regarding Jason Stanford. Investigators will work with medical examiner to determine the official cause of death on both victims. Justice of the Peace Terri Johnson pronounced both victims deceased at the scene and ordered an autopsy. At the present time, Wise County Investigators, as well as Texas Ranger Jim Holland are attending the autopsy. Identity of the victims are: Jason Stanford DOB:11-16-1975 Jeremy Daniel Stanford DOB: 04-09-1982