Bag of Randomness for Monday, July 11, 2016

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  • Sorry folks, I did the old AM/PM thing when scheduling this post.
  • I think Mayor Mike Rawlings and Police Chief David Brown have performed admirable and said exceptional things to the media. The humility and grace they’ve displayed come in marked contrast to the political posturing elsewhere. I also thought Gov Abbott was respectful and dignified.
  • CNN had a great article on Cheif Brown’s career.
  • I’m surprised, in a good way, FBC Dallas’ Robert Jeffress or John Wiley Price haven’t found a way to garner any of the spotlight over the weekend. But our Lieutenant Governer is another story.
  • I’m also a bit surprised there isn’t a popular hashtag or slogan that has popped up. Boston had #BostonStrong. I’m not saying I think there should be one or I’d like one, I’m just surprised in the world we live in something hasn’t popped up. EDIT: I saw something about a Dallas Stong event. Double EDIT: The Dallas Morning News has a meme generator – #MyDallasIs
  • I guess one can compare any decade to another, but this weekend I felt we were reliving the Sixties. Random comparisons off the top of my head –  First black Supreme Court Justice – first black U.S. President; UT Sniper – Sandy Hook or the sniper in Dallas this weekend; bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham – Charleston church shooting; Mississippi civil rights workers’ murders – police shootings; LBJ’s war on poverty – Obamacare; Vietnam War – War on Terror; tensions with Russia; hippies – hipsters; the popularity of marijuana; NASA reaching new frontiers.
  • A lot of folks were surprised the Dallas Police Department used a bomb attached to a robot to kill the suspect. Somewhat related, Bud Kennedy of the Star-Telegram tweeted a link to an article about the Philadelphia police dropping a bomb from a helicopter on a house to end an armed standoff 31-years ago.
    • After nine days of deliberations, the jury said the city used excessive force and violated Move’s constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure when the authorities dropped a bomb from a state police helicopter onto the group’s fortified row house in the West Philadelphia section on May 13, 1985. The bomb ignited the fire, which destroyed 62 row houses in a black working-class neighborhood of schoolteachers, merchants, ministers and police officers.
  • We gave LeafGeeding a good little range test on Sunday. We drove from Lewisville to our church in Irving, and then to Hutchin’s BBQ in Frisco by way of LBJ and the tollway, and then back home taking Preston to Sam Rayburn (121). Nissan’s website allows us to see our driving stats, and it said we drove 60 miles. We made it home with the range gauge saying we still had 23 more miles to drive until empty. I’ve noticed highway driving and maxing out the AC will decrease the range rapidly, but I really didn’t hold back on this test.
  • The grounds of GeedingManor had some storm damage over the weekend. Yesterday I busted out the chainsaw and felt like George W. Bush clearing brush at the Crawford ranch. Seriously, it felt good to be outside and work up a good sweat, like I was doing something manly. I can totally see why he did that sort of thing when out of Washington, but I wonder if he still does that sort of thing.
  • D-Magazine has ranked Neighborhood Services as the best restaurant in Dallas and their burger is also ranked one of the best. We decided to give their burger a trying on Saturday. It was one solid burger, but it was so big you couldn’t get a good bite. It’s important for me to to get all bun, bread, and everything else in my mouth. I also found it too juicy, which is normally a good thing, but with the size and all the juice, it was just one sloppy experience. And before any of you comment, get your mind out of the gutter.
    • But I did think their Addison location has some cool Texan and patriotic decor
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  • It’s 7/11 which usually means you can get free Slurpees at 7-Eleven.
  • The pop-culture fad of the summer of 2016 will be remembered for Pokémon Go. It’s everywhere. But this meme is relevant to me.
    2culn8h
  • Last night on ABC a revised version of the old game show ‘Match Game’ aired with host Alec Baldwin. It’s hard watching Baldwin as a television host because I kept thinking it was an SNL bit. I do thoroughly enjoy his podcast though.
  • If you are a fan of the show, this is a clever piece of marketing – Mr. Robot season premiere ‘leaked’ on social media by show’s creators
  • Weatherford news – Texas Inmates Break Free from Cell to Help Jailer Who Suffered Heart Attack
  • WWII veteran reunited with dog tags lost on Italian beach 70+ years ago

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Bag of Randomness for Friday, July 8, 2016

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  • What a horrible day for our community nation last night.
  • KTVT’s Ken Molestina had a heck of an exclusive during the chaos. When DPD released the suspected shooter’s photo (which was plastered all over the national news and social media), Molestina was able to interview his brother who eloquently stated his brother’s innocence. The brother went on to state that once the shooting occurred, he made his brother hand his AR15 to an officer to avoid being mistaken as the shooter. He further stated the AR15 was unloaded and his brother was just exercising his Second Amendment right. He went on to say his brother’s cell phone was dead (talk about bad timing) and that right after the shooting, his brother was standing next to him when Molestina earlier interviewed him – so Molestina was standing right next to the suspect shortly after DPD released a photo of him. It’s my understanding that the suspect matched the description of the suspected shooter, specifically, the camo shirt.
  • Molestina, a few times, refused to show police on camera because he didn’t want to sacrifice any strategic planning they might be doing.
  • It was interesting watching KTVT last night as anchor Doug Dunbar kept asking for the bottom banner to be removed to get a better picture of what was going on or to showcase something important.
  • The moment Megan Kelly realized the police they were showing on live television might be dead. I’m actually uncomfortable posting a link to that video, and have seen a lot of video on social media last night of Dallas cops actually being shot and killed, but absolutely don’t feel comfortable posting links to those. But if you are a viewer of Fox News, they did air a lot of them.
  • Many on social media were wondering why the crowds remained in Dallas. The best explanation I heard was that so many places were blocked off by the police and public transportation was halted, people had nowhere to go.
  • Another complaint about LeafGeeding, there are no dials, only buttons. Sometimes I just want to crank the volume or air down with a quick turn of a knob, not having to hold or repeatedly pressing a button.
  • I’ve lost my jigsaw, which I haven’t used in years, but yesterday I needed it.
  • BunnyGeeding peed on me yesterday. We ain’t on good terms.
  • I need to find a Google Chrome plugin that strips any website of Taylor Swift. I’m tired of seeing her love life plastered everywhere.
  • Speaking of Taylor Swift, but nothing really related to her love life, I ran across this odd article about a Christian mother who is definitely not a fan, and stop reading from this point on if you are easily offended – World’s worst mom compares her daughter’s vagina to Taylor Swift’s using a sloppy ham sandwich.
    • I came *this* close to posting the sandwich Twitter photo as a single post yesterday (it’s just a ham sandwich after all) but had a feeling some of my more sensitive readers would have been offended. Instead, I just put it in Bag Of Randomness to give anyone the option of clicking it.
  • Buzzfeed – Teens Are Competitively Eating Whole Heads Of Lettuce
  • Bat houses surge in popularity in hopes of preventing Zika
  • How Much You Must Earn to Buy a Home in 27 Major U.S. Metros
  • One of the survivors from The Miracle on the Hudson (US Airways Flight 15490) did a Reddit AMA yesterday, here are a few things that stood out – the context of the question is in the answers.
    • The plane hit hard in the back, the water rushed up the sides making it dark and a terrible sound of metal groaning as it bent.
      • I think that’s one thing I never took into consideration, was the noise that one would actually hear.
    • At first I had lost everything but what I was wearing. I eventually got my luggage back it had been cleaned, packed back meticulously. Every bobby pin was itemized. I was compensated for my lost luggage before I even got back to Seattle. My purse was the only thing not recovered.
    • a big plus was people didn’t really push or shove. There was lots of yelling.
    • After the crash I waited a week to fly home to Washington. I have flown 27 times since. It’s still terrifying but I want to go place and see things so it’s a must.
    • I do have some PTSD. A big trigger for me is the smell of something burning that is out of place. Electrical burning is the worst.
    • The only free flight I got was that one and the one home.
    • There were children on the flight. A family got on with a little girl about 3 and a baby less then a year. The mother had to sit in the front with the baby and the dad sat in the back near me. I remember when we were stuck in the back I was yelling “Move hurry up, there’s a kid back here.” adding in the F bombs when I thought she wasn’t listening of course. I couldn’t imagine the fear they must have felt. I was by myself and didn’t have any loved ones to worry about.
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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, July 7, 2016

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  • That’s a picture of my friend Jimi during our high school years. I’ve known him since kindergarten. We roomed together in college, and then worked for the same company out of college, and our cubes were literally across from each other at work and yet we still cohabitated together. Heck, we even roomed together another time before I got married. Today he starts a new chapter in his life and is moving to Chicago. I’m remarkably happy for him, and a tiny bit jealous I never took the opportunity to live out of state and experience something different. And in an effort to be transparent, I’m actually a bit sad. We’ve always been near each other since kindergarten, college, and in our adult lives. During football practice, he was a defensive end and I was a tight end, so we always competed against each other. We’ve played more Madden games than there are hairs on a rabbit. No other friend knew and appreciated my parents like he has, and no one knows me better than him. We’ve had our ups and downs, and more fights than you can count, but all of that built up substance which can’t be replicated or exchanged and made something beautifully unique. As he leaves Texas today, I’m going to feel like a part of me and a major part of my life will forever be gone. He has plans to return in three years, but we know how life can throw any plans in a thousand unpredictable locations.
  • Other notable things about Jimi
    • No one loves The Breakfast Club more than him, and he loved that movie before it was cool. He can literally quote it from beginning to end.
    • No person has accomplished more with less effort than Jimi, he’s got a photographic memory and able to comprehend things as if he’s John Nash.
    • He spent the night at my house the night Baby Jessica was rescued from the well. He also was the banker in a game of Monopoly with me and my mother and he ran that think like it was Enron.
    • His mom is hot. Her name is Cindy, and I always say it like Sin-dy when I talk about her to him.
    • When I speak at his funeral, because we all know he’s gonna die in a freakish but comedic way before all of us, I’m going to say that anyone that knows Jimi knows he likes to make people laugh, and if there is ever a lull in a conversation, all you have to do is bring him up and you have stories galore.
    • He loves to do impersonations and he’s horrible at them, but nobody will tell him, but you can tell he knows he’s bad.
    • His mom once beat him with a bicycle chain for doing something bad to his sister.
    • His super power is the ability to name a spare but hot actress in any movie.
    • He won’t touch a wooden spoon because he can’t stand how it feels.
    • He’s most responsible for getting me involved in the church.
  • A few more items about buying my 2014 Nissan Leaf
    • Big complaint – small cupholders, I feel like Homer Simpson.
    • My concern about battery life lessened when I found Nissan’s warranty against a capacity loss of nine bars (approximately 70% of the battery pack’s original capacity of twelve bars) for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles. Even at nine bars, you’re still looking at a 46-mile range.
      • Because of this, I’ve discovered a lot of folks are looking for used pre-owned Leafs that barely fit the criteria. VINs are easy to obtain, they are available on every used pre-owned vehicle website I’ve looked at, and those websites also display how many capacity bars display on the dash. They then call Nissan to confirm the battery is still within warranty, buy the car, then arrange the battery swap. What really works in their favor, especially if the Leaf is a 2011 or 2012 model, is they get an updated battery with better capacity and range.
      • My latest search on AutoTrader.com for a 2012 Leaf shows them in the $8,000 range with miles ranging from 30,300 to 34,600. I believe all those are at 10 bars, and that’s with first generation battery.
    • I chose a 2014 model because it has the most up to date battery in terms of technology, range, and capacity, other than the newest model. It looks like a full charge will realistically get you 80-75 miles, not the advertised 100.
    • Nissan offers free towing if you ever run out of juice. There are warning galore as you start to get low, and it will provide directions to the nearest charging station.
  • For you local folks that are aware of how our local media operates and a fan of The TICKET – Mike Doocy is filling in for BaD Radio and told Norm during the mix and mingle that when Norm dies, his death will be the lead story on Fox4….unless there’s bad weather.
  • Interesting real estate data from D Magazine, unless you live in Lewisville and didn’t make the list. Maybe one day I can afford to move my family to a legit ZIP code.
    • The chart shows North Texas home sales from January through April 2016, and compares them to figures from the same time period last year. Also, we compared the prices to those from the same period in 2013.
  • The kids of Jesus Camp, 10 years later
    • The controversial 2006 documentary about an evangelical church camp outraged secular audiences, but its subjects have mixed memories
  • Jim Douglass of WFAA is retiring. I always thought he and SNL alum Kevin Nealon looked alike.
  • Buzzfeed – People Are Melting After Watching This Dog With Headphones Watch A Dog Video
  • Buzzfeed – Nickelodeon’s “Double Dare” Is Coming Back For One Week 
    • In honor of the show’s 30th anniversary, Nickelodeon’s The Splat is having Marc Summers host a special live edition of the game show on Friday, July 22, during San Diego Comic-Con.
  • A NASCAR Team Is Building The First Internal Combustion Engine To Go Into Outer Space
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