5.31.2015

Country Club Fight!




I hope everyone is OK.


at 2:08 PM

5.30.2015

We Got Us A Couple Of Middle Aged Wise County Outlaws!


Hang on guys, I'm coming to help! There has to be something in the Bill of Rights to protect you from being chased off government land by a government employee while you are simply watching water (which has fallen from Heaven, mind you!) being released because of a governmental decision.

But I'll give the deputy credit for just running you off.  This silly concept of "you break the law and you will be arrested and prosecuted" without any consideration of for the facts, circumstances, common sense, and common decency is lost on many people theses days.  Or maybe that's just my old Wise County roots talking.
at 4:29 PM

View From Highway: Two Miles West Of Bridgeport


at 12:40 PM

Tweet From Tea Party Darling Rep. Jonathan Stickland

But has much as I can't stand that guy (because he has no idea what he is doing), that was better comedy he just threw down than a certain Texas judge always tries to attempt.






at 12:25 PM

5.29.2015

Oklahoma Man Bitten By Snake Taking You Into The Weekend

at 5:02 PM

Lake Bridgeport Right Now




at 1:20 PM

One More Dallas Flood Photo


This is truly amazing. As drivers have been stuck for over six hours due to flooding, they are removing the barriers to allow traffic to do a u-turn.
at 12:47 PM

Dallas Flooding This Morning






And now it gets serious . . .


And if someone from Wise County doesn't have an opinion on this, I'll be disappointed:


Edit: And this from noon:

at 10:48 AM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • I've got a fancy weather app which has arrows showing the direction a storm is traveling and at what speed. I knew there was a problem last night when that line of storms hit the metroplex and, when I checked back 30 minutes later, I noticed it was moving backwards at five miles per hour.
  • Watched the last two standing in the National Spelling Bee last night and was happy to see that one of them was Vanya Shivashankar - a girl who I followed for weeks on the show Child Genius. It made me unjustifiably feel smart. 
  • Few minutes ago: "Sachse Fire-Rescue is trying to get an officer out of his squad car. He is stuck in high water." Photo.  Hey, turn around, don't . . . . Dang it, I can never remember that phrase.  Edit: Of course they rescued him with a helicopter.
  • BagOfNothing referred to a Punky Brewster episode of a kid getting locked in a refrigerator. I don't think I ever saw a single episode of that show but being warned about playing arpimd an abandoned refrigerator was a huge public service campaign back in my childhood. Which now has me thinking: Was there an epidemic of abandoned refrigerators back in the day? 
  • Saw FBC Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress embarrassing his church again by going on a political rant on Hannity.  I almost expect the IRS to try and take away the church's tax exempt status because its leader is more of a political pundit that a religious leader.
  • Lake Bridgeport is 2.27 feet high this morning, and I believe the spillway is open.
  • There were pictures released yesterday allegedly showing Jerry Jones partying with a couple of women. I don't think that's Jerry. 
  • Official Liberally Lean Baseball Player Chris Davis has 11 home runs this year but I haven't mentioned a single one. 
  • The Open Carry bill is now back on track with the amendment of "police cannot detain to check for a CHL" language taken out of it.  It's absolutely amazing that Tea Party favorites Konni Burton and Jonathan Stickland have been going on rants saying the legislature has no respect for the 4th Amendment for striking that language. That shows a complete lack of understanding.  The bill's amendment provided greater protection than the 4th Amendment -- a state can do that. But with the bill's amendment gone, it is the 4th Amendment which will control what police can and cannot do when they see an openly carried handgun. 
  • Three of the Waco bikers have been released once their bonds were reduced to $25,000.  But innocent people who were arrested without probable cause sit in jail down there. Amazing. 



at 8:38 AM

5.28.2015

That Storm Last Night Parked Itself Over Saginaw and Blue Mound


at 9:10 AM

Lake Bridgeport Time Lapse



I'm not sure what's more impressive: The lake's rise or the filming of it.

What's the story behind this? I can't tell if a plane, helicopter or a drone was used.
at 8:52 AM

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • Amazon is hiring another 450 people in Haslet. And it looks like Facebook will probably occupy a 750,000-square-foot data center nearby. That's a lot of jobs close to Wise County.
  • Great clip yesterday of Ann Coulter, with contempt, refusing to hug an undocumented immigrant at an event. (Yeah, there are a ton of reasons not to do so in that environment -- safety being one of them.) But being mean is what she does -- and it sells books.
  • That slow speed chase yesterday ended with a ton of cops pulling the guy out of the car. One of them immediately takes the butt of his rifle/shotgun and slams it down on the guy. Another cop behind him immediately pulls him off realizing that  the force used was unnecessary and that any idiot should know there are cameras on them.  Edit: 54 second mark to 58 seconds here.
  • TV critic Ed Bark was on the radio this morning and said that one of the four local stations might get better ratings in the future if it had refused to cover the chase and then led its nightly news broadcast with a note that they didn't believe it was newsworthy.  (I don't think Bark will get a job as a consultant any time soon.) 
  • Republicans Rick Santorum and George Pataki entered the race for President yesterday. Man, that field is crowded. By the time all is said and done, even Wordkyle will be taking part in the first televised debate.
  • Back during the silly TCU football team "drug bust", the morning boys on The Ticket were talking about  it and two of them were adamant that marijuana users may not need to be locked up but those "dealers" sure did. Gordon Keith asked, "If your roommate just gave his buddy $20 for weed and you ask the roommate if he could have his buddy get you some next time and you give the roommate $20, is the roommate now a 'drug dealer'?" 
  • Trying to figure out the status of the Open Carry bill in the Texas Legislature has been next to impossible over the last 24 hours. If it is dead (and I'm not sure that it is is), it's because of the amendment prohibiting cops from detaining and checking an open carry participant for a concealed handgun license. 
  • "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.'' - Stephen Decatur (the namesake of Decatur, Texas.) History of that quote is here.
  • There was a story yesterday of a 17 year old in Irving allegedly choking his ex-girlfriend to death. Fox 4 referred to the her as his "estranged" girlfriend. I guess that's technically correct but just seems weird. 


at 8:39 AM

5.27.2015

Texas Flooding



Wow.

at 4:46 PM

I Think The Slowest Police Chase Ever Is Going On Right Now



But we love bits . . .
Edit: SWAT Team tank? Rammed. And a police army jumped out!



at 3:15 PM

Dog vs. Fence: Who Ya Got?



I don't know why it's so funny to me, but I love how he looks briefly at the camera at the :17 mark.  Just a dumb expression of, "What? You've never seen a dog climb a fence before?"
at 12:02 PM

Extra Random Thoughts

  • Regarding the iTunes password that I keep forgetting. I keep a password manager on my computer (fantastic idea, by the way) but for some reason it works only for browsers and not for the stand alone iTunes program. So why don't I just write that one down (especially since I am a notorious notetaker and documentor)? Because I'm now in a loop where I have to reset about once every three months when I want an app/music/book right then!!! After I go through the beat down of resetting it, I'm so happy to get my app/music/book that I just do the ol' "I can remember it" trick.
  • I was almost killed yesterday at the four way stop at Hale and Trinity at Decatur.  I pulled up to the stop sign right before the car going from my left to right arrivesd. We exchanged the wave to confirm I had the right of way. (Thank you, sir.) I pulled into the intersection to execute my left turn and then out of the corner of my eye I saw a car coming from the right to left. It seemed to be going pretty fast. I quickly took my foot off the gas and gently hit the brake in the intersection. Yep, that car blew right through the intersection at a speed of at least 40 miles per hour. My cat like reflexes saved me again.
  • I took this picture last night with my phone pointed straight up.  Suitable for framing. (And I'm almost serious about that.)



at 10:04 AM

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • I'm not familiar with Padera Lake alongside U.S. Highway 287 in Midlothian, but its dam is about to break this morning. (Photo.)
  • And let the word go forth, over the last 24 hours Lake Bridgeport has now become full -- the first time that has happened since August, 2010. (It's .10 feet over to be exact.)  The Tarrant Regional Water District said this morning that it will open the gates when it hits .20. That's surprising because Lake Worth is full, too.
  • Thanks for all the advice on my backstop project. Lots of options to look at. Bird nets. Mosquito nets. Professionally designed nets made to order. But, whatever I decide, I'm expecting the first test softball throw to make it all go tumbling down. I've got a lot of Clark Griswold in me. 
  • "AUSTIN - The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety [Steve McCraw]  today apologized for an embarrassing lapse by the Texas Rangers that ended with a confidential witness interview being released to the press."  McCraw is having a heck of a Spring.
  • The only time I hear the word "torrential" is when rain is mentioned. I don't think it is limited to just that subject.
  • All the northbound traffic on 287 was detoured to residential Decatur this morning due to a truck fire. Flashback: Remember when 380 actually sent all of its traffic, including tons of rock trucks, right by the courthouse before the bypass was built? 
  • The Supreme Court has decided to hear a "One man, One vote" Texas case.  This is really pretty interesting. A conservative group challenged the way districts have been drawn for Texas legislator elections based upon the fact that the districts were drawn using total population instead of eligible voters. Using a crazy hypothetical, if there is a district with a million people in it but only 100,000 eligible voters, those voters have more power than a district of a million people with 500,000 eligible voters. 
  • Hey, iTunes: When I want to buy something and I can't remember my password it's because you make me reset my password every time I forget. And  since you won't let me use any password I've used in the last year, guess what? I keep using passwords I can't remember!!!!!


at 8:38 AM

5.26.2015

What Could Go Wrong?



Spoiler alert: Actually nothing,

And I'm now depressed because the guy who came up with that plan could probably do a better job than me on a high school electricity project or a backstop project. (Although our design concepts are very similar.)
at 12:28 PM
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