Punxsutawney Phil Indicted

Poor Punxsutawney Phil.  I can't believe he was indicted for "misrepresentation of early spring".  Phil is the only weather forecaster I know of who has ever been punished for not getting the weather right.

I think Phil should have his lawyer file an appeal.  He was actually forced to come out of his house and coerced in to making a prediction.

Chris P. Bacon

I heard about Chris on the news last night and he is so adorable.  You have to check out his videos on You Tube.  He is also on Facebook and Twitter.  I have never considered having a pot bellied pig, but this little guy would totally change my mind.

Chris Kyle's Funeral

Today is the funeral procession from Midlothian to Austin for the Ex Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.  I find myself feeling really emotional each time I hear about this story.  My husband and I both have lots of family members who either are or have been in the military and the sacrifices that both them and their family makes is tremendous. 

The pain the Kyle family will go through over the next several months is tremendous, but with the support of their friends, they will make it through this difficult time even stronger than before.  I am hoping the procession goes well today and the anticipated protest group stay away.  This family is going through an extremely difficult time and the last thing they need is someone protesting at the funeral.

Thank you Chris and all service men and women for your dedication and service to our country.

Gun Control

There is a lot of talk about gun control due to the recent tragic events.  I know everyone has a strong opinion one way or the other, and I am no different.  I will be the first to say that I believe in the right to own guns, and yes I do own them; however, I am all for putting a ban on assault style guns.  Those guns were meant for the military and law enforcement.  They were not meant for home protection and definitely not meant for hunting.  I believe that the average person having an assault style gun is the perfect opportunity for trouble. 

I have a friend who works at a gun shop and he said within the first few days after the Newtown events, they literally wiped out their inventory of guns.  Today we were in the shop and the assault weapons were almost completely gone, but the other guns were still plentiful on the shelf. 

I hope they do put a ban on the assault weapons.

OJ Simpson - Is He Innocent?

There is one sure way to get a debate going in our house; simply say "OJ is innocent."  Hubby and I are on opposite sides of this debate.  I have always believed that OJ either committed the crime or hired someone to do it for him.  Well, news came out today that OJ may be innocent.  The story from the guy claiming to have committed the murders, Glen Rogers, seems plausible; but I am still suspicious of him speaking out now.  He has apparently claimed responsibility for other crimes in order to get moved to another facility or to get off of death row, so it makes me wonder if this is just another one of those incidents.  There are lots of news stories today about this guy and it is really hard to sift through what is valid and what is sensationalized.

Regardless if Rogers did commit the murders or not, I find the timing of his documentary to be terrible for the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.  The documentary is scheduled to air the day before Thanksgiving and could cause these families to relive this painful ordeal all over again.

Pennsylvania Boy Urinates on Computers

The DJ's on the radio this morning were talking about a news story out of Pennsylvania where an 11 year old boy urinated on a cart full of school computers causing $36,000 worth of damage.  On the radio, everyone seemed to be focused on the fact that the computers were left on an unattended cart.  My question is why would the kid do something like that?  Was he ticked off at the school or teachers for some reason?  He is clearly at an age where he knows better, so what made him think that urinating on a cart full on MacBooks was a good idea?  And how come no one saw him?

Bastrop Fires

The big news in our area this week has been the fires all around Central Texas and specifically the one in Bastrop.   The residents were evacuated from their homes on 9/4 and still have not yet been allowed back.  As of today, the fire was only 50% contained.  I know of 2 employees at the company where I work that have been impacted, but we are not sure if there have been others.   At the last I heard, there were 1386 homes lost and 38,000 acres burned.  Hopefully the firefighters are able to get the fire contained enough that the families can go back and see what is left.   I commend the firefighters who have been working non-stop.  Some people don't think about how hard or dangerous a firefighters job can be until something like this happens.

Broken Record

In the Austin area, we have officially broken the 1925 record for the most days of triple digit temperatures.  The record was 69 and I believe we are at 72 now.  They are predicting our temp tomorrow to be 108.  That is just to blasted hot.

Graduate Degree

I have read recently in 2 separate reputable magazines that graduate degrees, specifically MBA's, are becoming more of a hindrance than a benefit.  With the changing economy, those looking for work or looking to change job, who have a graduate degree are often overlooked.  The reasoning behind this is because it is believed they will want too much money for the position.  Also, the trend seems to be heading toward looking for more practical experience.  This is kind of concerning to me since I am in the middle of getting a graduate degree.  Will the time, money, and effort I have put in to this degree be beneficial once it is complete? 

10 Year Old Issued Traffic Ticket

This story ran in our local paper on Monday.  The 10 year old was not wearing a seat belt and instead of issuing the ticket to the adult in the car, the officer issued the ticket to the child.  Oops.

Alamo Drafthouse

Alamo Drafthouse is a movie theater here in Austin where you can get dinner and drinks while you watch your movie.  I have always liked it because it caters to more of an adult atmosphere and you don't have to contend with crying or screaming kids.  They have always had a policy, similar to most theaters, where you are not allowed to talk on your phone while in the theater (they also consider texting a no no).  The difference is that Alamo actually enforces their no talking or texting policy, while others don't.  One the radio today, they played an audio clip of a voice mail left by an angry ex-customer who was asked to leave the theater for texting during the movie.  The audio was hilarious.  Instead of brushing the incident under the rug, Alamo released her voice mail (no names mentioned of course).  This audio clip has apparently gone viral on You Tube now.  I love the fact that they actually kicked her out.  I wish more theaters would enforce their policies. 

Butt Dialing

Remember that commercial a year or so back where the guy "butt dialed" his girlfriend?  I thought that commercial was really funny.  Well, today I saw online where a guy "pocket dialed" 911 and the police overheard his conversation....of his making a drug deal.  Check out this funny story.

Osama Bin Laden

The death of Osama and whether or not we should see the pictures has been in the new a lot lately.  I have to admit, I was one of the skeptics who wanted to see proof.  After a conversation with hubby last night, I have changed my mind.  When he told me that the decision had been made to not show the photos, I was a little irritated.  Then he asked "don't you trust Obama"?  He went on to say, that surely he wouldn't announce the death if he hadn't seen proof and showing the pictures could potentially cause more issues, so... do you trust Obama?  And the answer to that is, yes.  There is something about him that makes be believe what he tells me.  Had this news come from one of our prior presidents, I would not have had the same trust.  So, I no longer feel as skeptical and feel like I need to see proof with my own eyes.

Applebee's Mixup

Did you hear the story about the Applebee's in Michigan who accidentally served alcohol to a 15 month old little boy?  When I first heard the story on the radio, I wasn't sure if the DJ was making a joke or not.  Check out this story.  If the bartender can't tell the difference between the color of apple juice and margarita mix, they are in big trouble. 

"Snack Distracts Burglar"

Stupid criminal stories always amuse me and here is one from our community newspaper today.  The headline was "Snack Distracts Burglar" 

Apparently a young man, we'll just call him JV, broke in to the City National Bank in Taylor at about 3am on Monday morning.   When the police arrived on the scene, JV had apparently never made it past the first teller booth.  When walking past the booth, he got distracted by a bowl of M&Ms and was still there eating them when the police arrived and arrested him.  He is being charged with a third degree felony burglary of a building along with a class b misdemeanor for the small amount of marijuana in his possession.  I can just hear the jailhouse banter now... "So what are you in for man?"  "Oh, I broke in to a bank and stole some M&Ms.  I couldn't help myself; just as I got inside, I started getting the munchies from the marijuana I smoked." 

The Buried Boat

In the news here in Austin recently was a story about an 8 year old cold case that finally had a break.  Eight years ago a high school senior was killed in a hit and run boating accident.  The driver never stopped and was never found.  Well, the week of Thanksgiving, the police received a tip that they knew the driver of the speed boat and they knew where the boat was located.  The boat was buried on this guys property.  The police went out this week to search for the boat and actually found it.  The boat was cut in to pieces and buried waist high in various places on this guys property.

I think cutting up and burying a boat is a bit over the top.

News Teaser

I heard a news teaser this afternoon that was really strange. It said: "A mother throws her daughter in to traffic, how will this affect the child?"

How do you think this will affect the child. Scarred for life, need therapy, or perhaps hate her mother. Give me a break. I know they are just trying to get people to watch, but come on.

OJ Simpson

Okay, I know this may not be a popular opinion, but I am glad that the justice system has finally caught up to OJ Simpson. Yes, I am one of those who thinks he was guilty the first time and got off because he hired a smart lawyer. Do I think they are going overboard with this case? Possibly, but I don't care. Simply mentioning this name in our household starts an instant debate because hubby thinks he is innocent. I, obviously, think he is very guilty. Karma is a witch and she will eventually catch up to you. Looks like she finally caught up to OJ.

Lance Armstrong

Since Lance Armstrong has a home here in the Austin area, it is not unusual to see his name in the local paper. Typically it is a positive article; however, today he was in the paper for having the most water usage for the month of June. He was number one on the most used list with 222,900 gallons of water in one month. I can't even imagine what he must be doing to use that much water. Granted his home is larger than most, but he used 26 times more than the average household in the city (average use in Austin is 8,500 per month). According to the Utility company who assess a penalty to those who use excessive amounts of water, his water bill for that month was $1630. At number 10 on the list was another local celebrity, Jerry Jeff Walker at 185,000 gallons of water. At least Lance did admit that his usage was unacceptable. Many of the other people on the list would not even respond for comment.