It’s hard to believe that there was a time not that long ago, when there wasn’t 943 satellite channels to sway our boredom, we didn’t have 18 video game systems for each TV in the house and the only thing we knew about computers was that Mathew Broderick could change his grades with one. Yes, it may seem like the dark ages compared to today, but there was always one thing that we could depend on to ease the pain of our primitive existence… the board game. Granted, the board game was not a tool you used often. In fact, it may have only been a weapon of last resort saved only for that grim time in between after school cartoons and Knight Rider. They may not have seen a lot of action, but they did their job well, keeping you occupied for a solid 27 minutes until you completely lost interest. But the 80’s board game specifically was a thing of beauty; you didn’t just have a board, a few game pieces and a couple dice, you had electronics, mechanical devices and 3-dimensional structures. They were indeed magical creations packed neatly in a flat cardboard box. So enough of my pointless rambling, here’s my top 10 1980’s board games.
Lufkin man gets electricity bill from TXU for $12,864 on his 14- by 60-foot trailer house
Employee error could be to blame for a $12,864.51 energy bill a Lufkin man received this past week, according to a TXU Energy spokeswoman.
Leeland Temple, who lives in a 14- by 60-foot trailer house on Post Oak Road, said he was in disbelief when he opened up the bill, which stated his electricity would be cut off if the amount wasn’t paid by May 3.
“They’re crazy. They have lost their minds,” he said Friday. “They’re even crazier if they think I’m going to pay that.”
After phoning customer service with his attorney, Temple said the company told him he would have to pay $50 for it to conduct an investigation.
Temple said he contacted a lawyer after he first called the company on Thursday and was told the same thing.
“When someone mistreats me, I get after them,” said the 68-year-old.
A spokeswoman for TXU Energy who responded to an inquiry by The Lufkin Daily News apologized for the response Temple received from customer relations and admitted the company had made a billing error.
“That was a mistake on our end,” said Lacy Walker. “We made a mistake in the billing. We dropped the ball in this one.”
Walker said Temple’s electricity will not be cut off on May 3 as the bill indicated.
She said the company did not expect him to pay the bill.
“There were no intentions of us ever thinking a customer would pay that,” said. Lacy Walker. “It’s probably a human error, not a computer glitch,” she added.
Walker said the company is investigating what caused the incorrect bill. She said the company is not ruling out the possibility that other bills it sent this month may be wrong too.
For Temple, this was not the first time he has received an incorrect bill. Last month his electricity bill was $5.02.
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The 10 Hottest Sitcom Moms
For many of us, the sitcom was our first non-cartoon introduction to the adult world. My fondest sitcom memories were of watching the potent NBC comedy lineup of Diff’rent Strokes and Silver Spoons on Friday night.
And as ridiculous as it sounds, the sitcom was also one of my first introductions to the world of beautiful women. Sure the women in sitcoms were usually less provocative than their soap opera or primetime drama counterparts, but as a 10-year-old boy, there was nothing finer than seeing Erin Gray make her weekly entrance on the set of Silver Spoons. And in the sitcom hierarchy, there is nobody hotter than a sitcom mom (case in point: Justine Bateman or Meredith Baxter-Birney – if you even hesitated with that answer your manliness credentials are seriously in doubt buddy!).
So with Mother’s Day coming up, this is my ode to the gorgeous sitcom mom. They are the babes that hold the fictional families together and hold our attention until the next commercial break…
I can totally relate to his Erin Gray observation, and as I kid, I thought she was also the girl in Knight Rider.
An orchestra that uses vegetables as instruments
For once it’s OK to play with your food and not to eat your vegetables.
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