Bag of Randomness for Monday, July 18, 2016

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  • There’s been an internet outage in my area for most of Sunday, and as of 11:59 PM, it hasn’t been restored. So I’m just going to try to wing it and see what I can do with my phone. Most of you are already used to typos, misspellings, and bad grammar, just expect it to be ramped up this morning. Sorry for the lack of links to this and that, today is basically just going to be a rehash of the weekend.
  • It was one busy weekend for FamilyGeeding. WifeGeeding’s birthday was on Sunday but we basically made it a birthday weekend for her. Funny thing, nothing really was planned, all of this was pretty much done on the fly.
    • Once the kids were put to bed on Friday, I decided to surprise WifeGeeding. A few months ago I found a new massage table for sale for $50 and have been hiding it. When she walked into the master bath after saying one final “good night” to the kids, she found a candlelit room, massage music playing, and the table all set up for her for an hour-long massage, provided by me, of course.
    • I woke up earlier than normal on Satuday morning and decided we all should go visit the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. We drove LeafGeeding and took advantage of their electric vehicle parking, which means free charging, closer parking, and free parking. After a few hours at the museum, we left with a full charge in search for brunch.
    • We ate at The Common Table which was less than a four-minute drive away from the museum, and that place rocked. The weather was nice enough to eat outside on their large and lots of customers had their dogs with them. The waitstaff would bring out water bowls for the dogs that said things like “Vodka” on them and 90’s hip-hop was playing the entire time. The crowd was young and preppy, and I couldn’t figure out if I felt out of place or “cool” for being amongst them. The food was beyond excellent, and all made from scratch. WifeGeeding thoroughly enjoyed the Skittles Sangria. Here’s a picture of a breakfast flatbread entree I ate. The bottom layer was covered with white country gravy, with scrambled eggs, grilled onions with green and red peppers, cheese, and skillet potatoes.
    • Saturday afternoon was spent at a local theater watching “The Wizard of Oz”. The performers were available for pictures after the play, but stated they had to remove some makeup and parts of their costumes to avoid some sort of copyright infringement.
    • When we got home, a parent of one of DaughterGeeding’s classmates invited us to their lake house on Lake Grapevine for a swim. I was out of my element at this three-storied house.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen chickens roam free on a property.
    • On Sunday morning I woke early again thought I’d take WifeGeeding and the kids to Hash House A Go Go in Plano for a birthday breakfast. It’s another one of those trendy places with huge portions made from scratch that’s been featured on Food Network, and it didn’t disappoint. Here’s a pancake the birthday woman ate.
    • On Sunday afternoon we decided to take advantage of the Medival Times special where kids get in free with the purchase of an adult ticket, and they loved it. I was too much of a cheapskate to pay $18 extra per person so WifeGeeding could get her name announced for her birthday. The kids loved the idea of no utensils being provided, “There were no utensils in medieval times, hence there are no utensils AT Medieval Times.” Surprisingly, our kids didn’t ask for one single souvenir and the food portion was large and quite good. They had a bad guy as “The King in the North” and some ‘Game of Thrones’ fan sitting near us kept screaming “The King in the North” every opportunity he got. Dude, I get it, you watch ‘Game of Thrones’, so does the rest of the world.
    • Since we were just a few miles away from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and members, we thought we’d visit again. Remember, it’s huge, 180,000-square-feet, and the kids have a few favorite interactive sections they love to visit over and over again. Once again we took advantage of the free parking and free charge.
    • After the museum visit, WifeGeeding decided she wanted some birthday cake, so we made the four-minute drive to the Cake Bar at Trinity Groves a half-hour before they closed. She got some cake to go and then we walked over to Offsite Kitchen for dinner.
Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

New York police officers overwhelmed by Texas hospitality

During their stay in Dallas, the New York officers went to dinner at a steakhouse to eat as a family and celebrate the memory of their fallen brothers. 

People at the restaurant came to their table to take pictures, give thanks and share their condolences.

When the officers picked up their tab, they were overwhelmed by Texas hospitality. Each table at the restaurant had tried to cover the officer’s tabs, the Bronx officer told News 8.

“Honestly, when we learned people in the restaurant (each table) attempted to pay every portion of our tab my eyes started to water,” said Donato.

Donato said that he appreciates everything this state has shown him as a visitor over the past couple of days.

Full WFAA Article

Posted in DFW, Texas, Touching | 1 Comment

Bag of Randomness for Friday, July 15, 2016

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  • Another week, another tragedy. Actually, it’s more than just weekly.
  • I was watching the ‘CBS Evening News’ when the French tragedy in Nice was developing. I have to hand it to Scott Pelly for stating several times that “the information is not as reliable as we’d like‏.” Too often, it seems the news, especially CNN, likes to roll with whatever they get and throw it out there.
  • I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t like wearing sandals when I got out in public. I tend to make sure I wear good shoes that give me the ability to quickly move around if something crazy should happen.
  • This may be a first for product placement, but DC Comics threw in a Snickers in the middle of a Batman and Superman fight against Doomsday.
  • It wasn’t until earlier this week that I knew what to call that thing when people stick out their tongue and blow to make a sound of flatulence causing saliva to spray. I was informed it’s called a “raspberry”. It never occurred to me it had a name. I also thought a “raspberry” was when you press your lips on a kids belly and blow, tickling them and making the sound of flatulence.
  • The more I look at this picture of the Bushs and Obamas, the more I smile and laugh.
  • Well, I was totally wrong about Trump picking Newt for his VP. Overall, I think he made a real solid choice in Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. I’m not saying I endorse the ticket, but with Pence’s experience in Congress, as a governor, a  calm demeanor, and a Tea Party like candidate before it blew up, it’s good politics. It was also good politics, and simply the right thing to do, for Trump to cancel the announcement with the tragedy in Nice.
  • I’m curious to know if Pence is required to wear the red “Make America Great Again” hat or if that was a potential sticking point.
  • A new Pew Research Center survey conducted June 7-July 5 finds that about six-in-ten Americans (59%) feel exhausted by the amount of election coverage, while 39% say they like getting a lot of coverage about the election.
  • How the Windy City became the doughnut capital of the country
  • The folks at Comedy Central must be depressed – The Daily Show Fails to Net Emmy Nomination For First Time in 15 Years‏
  • Homeless teen bikes 6 hours to get to college, sleeps in tent
    • Officers found the teen sleeping in a tent over the weekend outside a local college. Instead of giving him a ticket for trespassing, the officers listened to his story – and that’s where this amazing story begins.
  • When It Comes To Sports, Photographers Train Almost As Hard As The Athletes
  • On the local news, I saw that one of the slain officers will be buried in Detroit. The news stated Southwest Airlines was going to add an extra flight from Dallas Love Field to Detroit, and any police officer that wanted to attend could fly for free. They also allowed cops in other cities to fly to Dallas for free to attend any local funeral. Gosh, I love that company.
  • After the Orlando shooting, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines both offered free flights to Orlando for families of victims.
  • Bereavement fares have disappeared on most U.S. airlines
    • Among the largest U.S. airlines, only Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines still offer so-called bereavement fares. Those tickets, however, come with a big caveat.”They are a very small discount off the walk-up fare” — a costly unrestricted ticket, said George Hobica, founder of the airfarewatchdog.com site. “Even if you can find one, they are not any cheaper.”
    • A spokesman said Virgin America offers 40 percent off, but the policy is not listed on the website of the smaller carrier, which flies to only 21 U.S. airports.
    • American Airlines and United Airlines ended bereavement fares in 2014. Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air don’t offer them.
  • I miss those old cartoony looking maps you’d see of cities and amusement parks, here’s one of Dallas from 1985.
    • The map shows two Cityplace towers so I’m guessing it’s a map of what was projected to be.
    • Before Hurricane Harbor, there was Wet ‘n Wild, before that there was White Water.
    • The map was from the Old San Francisco Steakhouse, which I hear was quite a thing back in the day, something about a trapeze performer while you ate.

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Posted in Personal | 6 Comments