This Does Not Look Good

Last night there was a report of a missing Frisco fitness instructor.

This morning they found her car.

Now they've found a body.

Wow: Forgot There Were Other Texas Fires Going On

Heck of a photo. (On Facebook.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Opened my sock drawer yesterday and looked down to see the Family Cat. She looked at me like I was intruding. 
• The Cowboys released their 2011 schedule yesterday with the big storyline being they would play in New York on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 in a nationally televised evening game on NBC.  Unfortunately, I bet that game never happens due to the current lockout.
• Note to local sports talk shows: Going through the new schedule and saying "I predict win" after every game is a tired bit. (Greg Williams did it on The Fan at around 6:05 p.m. and then Mike Rhyner did it on The Ticket about ten minutes later. I'm sure Randy Galloway did it on ESPN Radio but there's no way I'm listening.)
• Edit: Deleted reference to fire investigation and fund raiser. Different fires.
• It will make you nervous, but mint.com is an amazing budget/finance site. It actually sucks in data from your credit card and bank accounts in order to track and categorize every purchase. Throw in a couple of automatically created pie charts and suggested budgeting, and it's pretty cool. 
• I still wonder how all the hotels in Decatur stay in business.
• The history of 420. (That sentence either caused immediate acknowledgement or a question mark to form over your head.)
• While the Messenger first ignored the proposed creation of the new legislative Texas house district 88, it has now gone crazy with nicknames for it: First it was the "Great 88" (dumb) to "Crazy 88" (A Kill Bill reference?) to now "The Dairy Queen District" (an obvious Liberally Lean trademark infringement.)
• There was a 50 car pile up in Arlington yesterday blamed on the sun reflecting off the wet pavement. I'm surprised you don't see more of that.
• Mavericks are up 2-0.  I'm still not convinced they win this series and, as I predicted before the season, they definitely won't get out of Round Two. 
• Lots of bottled water and supply drives being held to benefit the firefighters to our west. I bet they'll be overstocked if they aren't already. (Palo Pinto isn't Haiti.)
• Bridget Marquardt is still a Hey, Now.
• "Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs’ law firm will collect the city’s delinquent property taxes for at least another year." That seems wrong. .
• After three years of use, I think the iPhone is a technological marvel. (And the Droid has already become what Windows was to the Apple operating system.)
• Edit: University of Texas female rugby player dies after injuries sustained in game (although it wasn't a UT game.)

Palo Pinto Evacuated

Which might have been a little premature, but I can understand why everyone's on edge. But I noticed on the news that Wise County had a police presence in the town.

Wise County Sheriff's Office Car With Loud Speaker Telling People to Evacuate

This Guy Reminds Me Of Some Actor And It's Driving Me Nuts. Ed Norton?

Come On, Pete. Give Us Something!!!

Thunderstorms? Softball size hail? Tsunami? You know there has to be something that Wise County is in imminent danger of!!!

If that man doesn't go into panic mode in the next two hours, I'm going to lose all faith in guys who know how to read reports from the National Weather Service and act like it's their own personal work.

Edit: Sooooooo close, yet so far @ 3:40 pm:

Just An Average Tuesday Morning For A Six Year Old. Wait. What?

Link.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• I watched The Bridge a while back - a documentary about suicides of people who jump off of the Golden Gate Bridge. With a survival rate of only 2%, a 16 year old girl is lucky after she jumped on Sunday.
• I really don't see how high humidity plays a significant role in deterring wildfires.
• There's a Burn Ban today in Wise County: Let me suggest that anyone dumb enough to create a fire outside today is too dumb to be aware of a Burn Ban.
• I'm not certain it starts today, but a trial of a Wise County inmate who has made verbal outbursts at docket calls for the last few months is about to be tried. For months he wanted to represent himself but had a change of heart at the last minute. 
• Upper 90s today? (Nope, it's no proof of global warming, but I wonder where the skeptics are that always post when it's an unseasonably cold day.)
• Update on the Texas deputy killed yesterday: The victim was a part-time female deputy and the alleged shooter was a 21 year old inmate with mental issues. He was caught about an hour later. 
• I dread my water bill and electricity bill if the weather doesn't change.(And did we really have to be recreating Antarctica when I walked in the door last night?)
• President Obama kind of jumped on a local Channel 8 reporter yesterday. (It made USA Today, but doesn't seem to be that big of a deal.)
• I've given her a chance, but I think Fox 4's Lauren Przybyl is to Good Day what Angela is to The Office. (Both went to Baylor, by the way.)
• The headline all over the place yesterday was "45% of Americans Pay No Taxes." For a while, I thought that meant that 45% of Americans owed no additional taxes above their withholdings on tax day. But, nope, the story means no taxes.
• Baylor cheerleaders in the pool. Hey, now. 
• The stripper who falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape has been arrested for murder. 
• Easter and Mother's Day sure are close together this year.
• Girl builds life sized Barbie --- with the exception of that small head, she's kind of hot. 

Possum Kingdom

I have no idea of the people involved or where "Hells Gate Loop" is at PK Lake, but this photo taken this afternoon is insane.

Texas Deputy Killed By Inmate This Afternoon

As I was watching a tense hearing involving a Wise County inmate this afternoon,  a tragedy was happening elsewhere in the state:

The University Of Texas Just Took Possession Of 6,643 Gold Bars?

I'm not sure I understand this, but I think it's because a guy who made half a billion dollars on credit default swaps in the mortgage meltdown told them to. His reasoning (I think): If everyone who owns gold on paper actually asked to have that gold delivered, there would be a huge run and there wouldn't be enough gold to go around. So UT better get while the getting's good. The value of the Evil Empire's gold bars is almost $1 billion.

As the value of the metal reached an all time high today of $1,489 an ounce, something feels very apocalyptic about this.

It's Not Antoine Dodson Quality . . .

. . . but Eric Hubbard explaining at the 30 second mark what the tornado did with his tasty burger is pretty funny.

Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Wait a second. Is that McLovin? Twenty-one year old McLovin?

Source.

Baby News

Texas Ranger Colby Lewis skips the series with the Yankees to be with wife:

NBA player Shane Battier must have won a playoff game yesterday, but skipped the birth:

And I heard Messenger editor Brian Knox and wife just became parents to a 10 pounder. Yep. 10 pounds. Congrats. (No word yet whether Brian was out playing sports.)

(See what I did here? I'd post the baby pic if I had one)

Not Sure What The Reaction To This Story Is

I don't know if the public will be outraged, apathetic, or supportive.  I know online poker is big business (although I don't think I have a single friend who plays it), but most of these companies moved their operations overseas.  Now the U.S. shuts down their sites, issues indictments, and tries to confiscate their money.

Not to mention the millions of citizens who had credit balances with these companies who will now never get paid.

Since this is Tax Day, perhaps legalizing it and taxing it might be a better idea?

(Source).

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I don't think I recall a wildfire burning for four days in Texas like we have to the west.(But I do remember a really bad one around the Parker/Wise County border several years back that went on for a couple of days.)
• It is kind of ironic for Gov. Perry to basically run on an anti-federal government/State's rights platform, but is mighty quick to ask the government for federal aid in wake of the fires. 
• You would think one of those smart cars would blow over in this wind. 
• I didn't go to the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth this weekend but that had to be like a wind tunnel. 
• Nicolas Cage was arrested over the weekend, but it was pretty funny when some gossip web sites used this book-in photo from Raising Arizona.
• Success of the weekend: I managed to drill three drainage holes in the bottom of a ceramic pot without shattering it.
• Failure of the weekend: Mrs. LL's hard drive on her laptop gave up the ghost. Recovery install wouldn't work.  And pulling it out and trying to access it as an external drive allowed it to be recognized but not read. Now New Hard Drive vs. New Laptop decision time. 
• I don't care about the NBA or Kobe Bryant, but I'm fascinated by this hi def screenshot of when he almost got injured yesterday.
• I didn't realize that Wise County would be the largest county in the new proposed Texas House District 88. And speculation has already begun regarding potential candidates. Who is the Wise County Republican Party Chairman again? Oh, yeah.
• The Update finally mentions the new district in today's issue.
• Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has a new goatee and is killin' it in a Vegas pool. 
• Wrong way head on collision in Grapevine last night. How no one died is amazing. 
• Any of you Northside hanger-outers familiar with Randy Rostetter who died in a freak DWI incident as he was walking home? Edit: Picture.
• A prosecutor calling you with "new information" about a pending case is normally very, very good or very, very bad. And it doesn't matter how good an investigation was, something always seems to come up when one is headed to trial. 
• After two experiences of looking like we'll never be seated and leaving, we finally went back to Fogatas on Friday evening. I think we were seated in the bar area where one guy was playing live music. #AlwaysGetWorstTable. (But there was absolutely no wait which is not a good sign.)
• Mrs. LL disassembled a great deal of a shower in a massive cleaning project. The reassembling part has become a massive construction project. And I'm pretty sure we've got every type of tub, tile, caulk, and general goo remover known to man up there. 
• Sports Illustrated estimated that the government's pursuit of Barry Bonds cost $6 million and that was before the trial began.  Talk about government waste.

More Proof That I'm A Modern Day Nostradamus

Friday's Random Thought:

Today's Paper:

Careful With The Word "Only"

If you've ever seen Mimi Coffey's billboards, you might get a kick out of this.

"Make up your mind. Decide to walk with me. Around the lake tonight."

Actual WFAA story and video link here. (Just a graphic above.)

Some have referred to a Stephens County fire and a Possum Kingdom fire but it looks like they are one and the same. (I think.) It has destroyed at least 30 homes. Fox 4 has helicopter up there this afternoon.  Amazing pictures. That fire is HUGE. Edit: It's two fires. Sheesh.

I've griped about the wind all Spring, but today is a doozy. The walls are rattling.  But I don't think we have any Wise County fires reported -- a nice change.

Edit: We've got a pretty big Boonesville fire at 1:15 p.m.  


Edit: Power lines down in Boyd.


Edit: Sheriff's Office just told me there was a guy who was burning leaves in Briar. 


Edit: Now with a report of people burning limbs on Hwy 51 south of FM 2123. Goofy, goofy people.


Edit: Bridgeport High School's gym roof severely damaged.


Edit: Fire north of Decatur reported around 4:30 p.m. 


Edit: Hide you wife, hide you kids . . . .