Bag of Randomness

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Posted in Personal | 5 Comments

Bag of Randomness

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  • I was informed my doppelganger was at the State of the Union last night.  The ‘CBS Evening News’ had a story on him last night, he lost both his legs on patrol in Afghanistan in 2012 when he took a knee and set off a roadside bomb.
  • Actually, here’s a somewhat recent picture of me with a shorter beard.  Oh, who am I kidding, I look more like this.
  • I’m still not over my illness and visited made my second trip to the doctor this year.  This was the first time I was tested for the flu, and it hurt like the dickens as he shoved a very, very long swap down one of my nostrils.  Thankfully I tested negative.  I’m also going to start getting allergen immunotherapy as it appears I have really severe allergies all year long.  Right now, mountain cedar is kicking my arse.  So for the next three to five years, once or week, I’ll be going in to get an injection of the stuff I’m most allergic to in hopes of building up a tolerance.
  • At the grocery store yesterday an older lady rudely cut in front of me in the 10 Items or Less line.  It didn’t really bother me as I was in no hurry, but I did raise an eyebrow when I counted she actually had 12 items.
  • I got a second email from AOL stating my GMail email address was being used as an alternate email for an AOL account.  Once again I didn’t click any links in the email (which look legit per hovering over the links and seeing the URL tool-tip) which stated “Yes, I made this request.” and “No, I did not make this request.”  It’s actually two different AOL email addresses that have done this.  I contacted AOL and all they wanted me to do was forward it to their fraud department.  Weird, and a bit unsettling.
  • My employer decided to use a new FSA provider this year.  With the old FSA, if I used my FSA card at a medical facility or their website, there wasn’t any need to provide an itemized receipt, and I thought the new FSA provider would have a similar policy.  However, my claim for for the ER facility with the new FSA was denied because I didn’t provide an itemized receipt with billing codes even though I paid for it online.  I look through my paperwork, but their invoice doesn’t list any billing codes and Explanation of Benefits from my insurance didn’t exactly match dollar amounts.  Since the ER facility is nearby and next to Whataburger (which I was craving) I thought I’d just drop by and ask them to print a quick receipt.  It turns out a simple request to just print a receipt falls under billing, which means I actually have to contact their billing office in Houston.
  • With the news of the New England Patriots possibly deflating their own footballs, I’m surprised how many people, especially sports columnist or reporters like Rick Gosselin, didn’t know that each team use their own footballs on offense.  For the longest time I’ve known it’s been that way in Texas football, college, and the NFL.
  • That Waco meteorologist that got shot came back on the air and wore a Superman t-shirt.  Dude, your shooter is still on the loose, don’t tempt him.
  • I wonder if IHOP even contacted her – Golfer Brooke Pancake signs endorsement deal with Waffle House
  • Craig Miller of The TICKET recently lost his dog, Lucy, of 15 years and wrote a touching blog post about her.  What he doesn’t mention, and I’m sure it was part of the bond, was how Lucy was there before his marriage and after his divorce.
  • Galveston cop pulls over girlfriend to propose
  • A chance to watch ‘Princess Bride’ at Alamo Drafthouse with Mandy Patinkin
  • Buzzfeed – I Crashed A North Korean Wedding And Things Got Creepy
  • Buzzfeed – State of the Union Batting Average – Every year the president asks Congress to pass a lot of stuff at the State of the Union address. What if we treated each request like an at bat in baseball and measured how successful each president was? – So far Obama has a .304, GW Bush a .427, Clinton .444, and the highest on their list is LBJ with a .529.  Ford comes in last on the list, but it’s not like he really stood a chance with what he was up against and his short tenure.
  • A veggie burger? – Whataburger gets hit with inconceivable petition from school nutritionist
  • J.C. Penney Brings Back Its Print Catalog, After A 5-Year Hiatus
  • It’s like A-Rod is a part of that SNL “Bad Idea Jeans” sketch – Barry Bonds tutoring A-Rod at Bay Area facility
Posted in Political | 3 Comments

Bag of Randomness

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  • The Dallas Morning News had a photojournalist at the smoke camp I attended last night.  So if you happen to see a bearded-half-Asian in a blue shirt sucking in his gut, that’s me.
  • Part of the event included a free beer and beer tasting.  This is is about the third time I tasted beer, and I still don’t like it.  The beer tasting focused on stuff from Revolver Brewery from Granbury and I also tried Santo from Saint Arnold Brewing.
  • The Lockhart Smokehouse in Plano uses two smokers that cost $30,000 apiece and controlled by Smokey Jesus.
  • I thought it was “a piece” and not “apiece”, but I used this as my reasoning.
  • During the smoke camp, the pitmaster and owner would often reference techniques used at Franklin’s, Pecan Lodge, and others, which I found helpful.  It also seems like the owners and pitmasters of all these places all have a good respectful relationship.  However, the pitmaster didn’t have favorable things to say about Hard 8 and Riscky’s.  Neither seemed to like the Dallas Morning News food critic, saying she only critiques on the surface.  For instance, she overlooks the tradition of not using sauce or utensils that’s associated with Central Texas smoking and will ding them for that.
  • Something else I appreciated at the smoke camp was how they told us they would cook differently for a competition, for mass consumption such as a restaurant, and what they’d do if they were cooking in their backyard.
  • All their leftover ash is actually bought by a blacksmith.
  • High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Secretly Got A Name Change – TLDR – “fructose” or “fructose syrup”
  • TLDR – Too Long; Didn’t Read
  • Leno seems open to going on Letterman’s show and I’ll have to agree with his assessment, “I think I’m a better stand-up than a host, and I think Letterman is a better host than a stand-up.”
  • Hooked ‘Em – University of Texas tops list of students with ‘sugar daddies’ – And they’re the only Texas school on the list.
  • Dolly Parton: a musical career expressed through language statistics
Posted in Personal | 2 Comments