Lost Cat Giggle

Link.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• The Messenger sent out a tweet of Friday evening after seeing a "double rainbow all the way." Funny.
• Emmitt Smith, known for butchering the English language, did fantastic at his Hall of Fame induction speech.
• Jerry Rice, on the other hand, did not. (It was like listening to a little kid read a book.)
• The Rod Blagojevich jury has been deliberating almost two weeks? Really? Any of those folks heard the term "reasonable doubt?"
• I tried to eat at a new Mexican restaurant off of Western Center Blvd in Fort Worth on Friday night (near 377 and named Fogata(?)). Worst experience ever. Everyone (staff and customers) seemed hostile. Customers complaining everywhere. We left before even being seated.
• It's funny to see all the cities scramble to ban the sale of "K2". Please, government, save us from ourselves!!!
• It's cricket season.
• Tim Tebow's shocking "welcome to the the NFL" haircut.
• Fall from grace: Baylor alum Mark Hurd resigns as CEO of Hewlitt Packard after an investigation revealed "improper relationships."
• Don't feel too badly for him. He made over $100 million over the last three years and is getting a severance package of over $12 million.
• Five exhibition games for the Cowboys? (One of my longtime favorite lines comes from Dale Hansen when doing color for a preseason game in the 1990s: "When I'm on my death bead, I hope they replay the last quarter of this game because it'll feel like I'm living forever.")
• I don't care, but a lot of people do: Emma Watson chopped her hair off.
• I was in a Decatur grocery store on Sunday where the cashier never said a word. Not a greeting, not the price, not a thank you. Incredible.
• Did some more moving stuff out of Mrs. LL's house on Sunday. What a beating.
• President Obama will visit Dallas today and attend a fundraiser at the home of Russell Budd. Budd has become rich in the asbestos litigation world and is the former partner with Fred Baron (who died last year but became infamous for funding the housing of former presidential candidate John Edwards illicit lover.) I would distance.

And Another Thing That Won't Make You Happy

Story.

The 14th Amendment: All persons born . . . in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside . . . .

Random Denton County Book In Photos From The Weekend

Vintage: Fan Almost Falls Out Of Stands

First Lady In Spain

I just got a kick out of spotting the Secret Service agents.

Update On Recent News

You Can't Even Depend On 911 Any Longer

Savings Account Talk: Limit Of Six Transfers?

This came up when I googled "banker" so I'm rolling with it

I was approached yesterday by a young gal (happens all the time) that wanted me to complain about something I had never heard of: There is a limit of the number of times you can transfer money out of your savings account. I thought, "Huh?" But then she told me she had both been charged fees and had a savings account closed (and reopened with a new number) when she exceeded four transfers.

Then she said it was a "federal regulation."

I thought, "Baloney. It's your bank screwing you around."

But, lo and behold, there is a federal regulation that limits the transfers (what is defined as a "transfer" is kind of complicated) to six per month. (It looks like a bank can make the number less and create its own fees for violations, but the reg is silent about that.)

I had no idea.

Friday Morning Pick Me Up

Gemma Merna

Former Wise County Resident

Link.

Random Baseball Call Last Night

It's hard to tell, but it looks like the ball bounces outside the line BEFORE it gets to third base and then lands inside the line AFTER it passes third base. Does it have to go OVER third base?

See the clip here (they finally get around to the replay at the :54 mark,)

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The bus crash in Missouri yesterday was insane. This link has the story and the picture of the bus which is on top of a truck cab. What you might miss is that there is a crumpled car under the bus.
• Randy Galloway accussed Mark Cuban of taking kickbacks from the lenders in the Rangers auction to drive up the bid which prompted an angry Cuban to call in to Galloway's radio show. Delicious.
• Supposed to hit at least 100 over the next seven days. Kill me.
• Tiger Woods shot a 74 yesterday at a tournament he's owned over the years. Man, if he's lost it, it'll be the biggest Fall From Grace sports story ever.
• Trim painting in the game room and my painting projects are done. Note to self: Remove trim tape shortly after painting next time. Letting it remain on there a couple of days isn't good.
• The First Lady is on a pretty high tone vacation in Spain.
• I didn't even know a red light was going up in front of Devon on 380 until I drove by it this week. If someone had told me as a kid that would happen at "the Pleasant View road on the highway", I would have thought they were crazy.
• Buying carpet from Home Depot is an ordeal. Pick it out, order it (where you learn of a thousand incidental charges), have someone come out and measure, have someone call with a quote, pay for it, and wait for a contractor to call to schedule installation.
• The Petroleum Club in Fort Worth got the go ahead to create a 40th floor balcony. It dawned on me I don't know a single member of that club.
• A Lexus SUV hit a pick-up by my office yesterday. Pick-up guy was not happy.
• Nerdy stuff: Find out how many people you follow on Twitter do not follow you back.
• You'd think by now every kid would have a GPS bracelet on them or something similar.
• The USA Today/Coaches College Football preseason poll has been released.

Kitten Sells It With That Scream. A Born Showman

University Of Georgia Orientation Video 2010

How those good-ole-boys-from-the-South ever allowed this thing to be produced is beyond me. Somebody over there needs to put down his mint julep, get off the veranda and get this thing taken down before the rest of the SEC begins the dog pile.

(But I'll rate it as mildly entertaining on a very slow news day.)

Edit: Not that you want to, but since my embedded video crops out the right side, you can see a full version here.

When Did Hilary Swank Turn Into A "Hey, Now?"

More.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• The boss in the British version of The Office, Ricky Gervais, might possibly replace Steve Carrel who is retiring from the American version of the show. I think he's the only one who could do it.
• Whatever happened to kitchen trash compactors?
• A California federal judge struck down the state's gay marriage ban yesterday. Opponents say the ban was voted in and was the "will of the people." Well, so was black and white water fountains at one point.
• I guess this heat is worth a generally pleasant winter. Maybe.
• Kevin Kolb will start at QB for the Philadelphia Eagles this year. I think he spent a handful of years in Decatur before he graduated high school somewhere else.
• The Ranger auction last night, which the Ryan Group finally won after upping their original bid by about $88 million, was a newspaper's deadline nightmare.
• Sorry individual: After being paid $32 million over the last year, Redskin Albert Haynesworth fails three conditioning tests and then claims a sore knee which has kept him out of practice for eight days.
• ESPN's Erin Andrews has a hot sister?
• Four funerals listed in the Update today and all were in their 50s.
• I completely missed out on the announcement that Decatur was getting a Wendy's. But that's all we need: Another reason for people to clog that area of FM 51.
• I wonder if this family drove through Decatur on their way back from Dallas before being involved in a tragic wreck in near Vernon.

Ranger News

Although no one knows what the heck all of this means, the first round of the auction was finally completed (it took almost all day) with the Mark Cuban group outbidding the Nolan Ryan group by $25 million.

It sounds like the Ryan Group is griping about whether Cuban submitted a "valid bid" and it also kind of seems like they don't have any more funding to raise the bid. Maybe.

This guy has been doing a good job following the proceedings on twitter.

Edit: In the middle of the night, the Ryan Group won the auction.