Grocery Store Employee Fired for Chasing Theft Suspect

This one hits close to home...literally. The grocery store this happened at is near my hood.

It cost him his job at a Round Rock Randalls, but Troy Schafer, who was fired last week after chasing a purse snatcher out of the grocery store, said he didn't have much choice.

It was about 2 p.m. July 21, and Schafer had just walked in from finishing a sandwich and chips in front of the store when he heard 52-year-old Ann Welch screaming for help. Welch had been standing at the deli counter with her purse resting in her cart when someone ran past her, grabbed her purse and ran out the door.

You can read the rest at The Austin-American Statesman. John has been loving the comments on this article.

What do you guys think about it? Or will this be like most other posts and I'm talking to myself?

Has Daniel been in Austin lately?

Gang link suspected in unprovoked 'punch-and-runs' on Sixth Street

It doesn't get into whether people were being slapped in the back of the neck, but maybe there's a connection.

Austin police said they have received at least eight reports this year in which Sixth Street revelers were punched in the head or mouth, unprovoked, while standing on the sidewalk or walking down the street. The attackers fled.

Spotted at Wal-Mart today

James has a future at Macaroni Grill

Club for Deebo

We all know the Deebo likes 'em young. Looks like he might want to take a vacation up to Rhode Island where it is apparently legal for 16 year olds to work as strippers. You can read about it at CNN.com:

A shocking legal loophole discovered by authorities in Rhode Island.

While teens can’t pump gas or climb ladders on the job because of protections in workplace laws, there is nothing on the books keeping 16- and 17-year-olds from stripping – as long as they’re home by 11:30 on school nights.

Authorities discovered this loophole during a police investigation into a 16-year-old runaway found working at a strip club in Providence.

At 16 she might even be willing to accept your business card as a tip. Remember that time at Sammy's in B'ham?

Dixon Arrested

From ESPN.com:

It's not the kind of start to the week Dan Mullen or anybody at Mississippi State would have wanted, especially with SEC media days approaching.

But star running back Anthony Dixon was arrested over the weekend.

Sweet! Sounds like we're off to a great start.

Girls in Party Hats

Back in college I remember Luke and Eric checking out a site called Fat Chicks in Party Hats. Yesterday, we were at Carl's Jr. for lunch. A group was sitting behind us and they had two rather large chicks with them that were both wearing dumb looking fedora hats. I know that the fedora is not actually the party hat that is used on the site, but these chicks were loud as crap and every time I heard them cackle all I could think of was Fat Chicks in Party Hats.

Santa Comes to Texas

My upper-half finally arrived on Friday after about a five month wait. I don't have any cool, extra goodies to report about. But I'm still happy it finally got here.

White People Gonna Riot

This is awsome... I think it's hilarious how he keeps refering to Obama as the long legged mac daddy and a half-breed. I wonder how many people follow this guy?

Bridge Builders

I laughed in this guys face the other day when he handed me his business card... I thought some of you may get a laugh too. (my scan was shitty, his business is called Bridge Builders)

A Must Have For John

Check out the cup holder accessory.

Fashion Tip of the Week

Sorry, no beauty tip for you today, but I did want to mention a new find in the world of crew neck t-shirts. I've had a hell of a time over the years finding white t-shirts that meet my preferences of generous length and a snug neck. It always seemed to be a hit-or-miss proposition on whether the Fruit of the Loom or Hanes I picked up would work out or not. I took a chance recently and bought a pack of 5.11 Tactical Utili-T Crew, and so far I'm impressed.

Thanksgiving in Vegas

Starting to work on plans for another Vegas trip. Right now we're looking at heading out there for the Thanksgiving holidays. We (Nunnrey, Shey, me) did this in 2007 and it was great. We ate a buffet for t-day dinner and watched a lot of football while at the tables and slots. It wasn't very busy which made it even better.

Right now it sounds like JT and Lisa are in and Nunnrey and Kaci are in discussions. Anybody else interested?

Update: 2nd Annual Backtoms Football Tailgate

As mentioned in April, some of us are planning on making it back for the Florida game on October 24. Here is what I know so far:

• Shey and I have plane tickets arriving in Jackson on Thursday and leaving on Sunday. We are planning on staying in Philly to make some money to pay for the trip.
• It's my understanding that hotel rooms have not been secured at this time. It is being worked on.
• Single game tickets go on sale today for Bulldog Club members. I am planning on purchasing 8 tickets. If you would like in on those let me know. I doubt there will be a problem getting more, but I simply don't want to be stuck holding the bag on extra tickets.

Today is a good day to learn how to comment if you would like to sound off with your intent on attendance (and if you want one of the tickets I'm buying).

Ole Miss Train Wreck Article

Article from Paul Finebaum at The Mobile Press-Register about the hype around Ole Miss this year.

Hello, my name is John, and I live in the hood.

Stefanie noticed a Constable putting a note up next door last week.



And sure enough, this is how the house has looked since Friday evening.



As James can attest, we haven't had much luck with the inhabitants of this house. Let's rewind years ago to when James was fresh out of school and living with me. We're sitting around kicking it one day and notice some folks moving in next door. Later that day a woman comes by and asks to borrow the phone. No big deal, they just moved in and don't have service yet, or so we thought. Well, her call happens to be to the police (I guess she and her boyfriend were in one of their many upcoming fights--curiously requiring police intervention).

Anyway, we have the fighting couple along with a healthy number of kids. As I recall, they had no transportation. This is a problem in and of itself since we're in the 'burbs, and there's not a lot within easy walking distance. I've lost track of the timeline with this crew, but I want to list a few of their antics:

1) They're chronic borrowers. I'm not sure they owned anything. After the elders had worn out their borrowing accounts at every house on the block they resorted to sending the kids out to ask for stuff (playing the pity angle I guess). Sampling of things they requested just from us:

-rake
-edger
-tomato
-corkscrew
-ice
-aluminum foil
-bread
-salt
-broom (which they didn't voluntarily return)
-knife
-screwdriver
-envelopes

We started keeping a list at one point because it had gotten ridiculous. I know a plunger was borrowed from the guy across the street (I'll call him GATS for the purposes of this story).

2) The boyfriend, BF, had no job. BF asks GATS if he knew of anything he could do. GATS worked in some construction-related stuff and asked around. GATS tells BF that he's found something for him, show up at place X on Monday morning.

Monday morning comes around and BF shows up at GATS house asking for a ride (as BF has no car). GATS tells BF he's not going to place X, and inquires as to how he expected to work anywhere if he didn't have reliable transportation.

3) While they had no steady vehicles of their own, plenty of peeps constantly showed up to work on their car stereos and whatnot.

4) This was around the time when you could start searching online for sex offenders in your neighborhood. I tested it out, and saw an address that was pretty close to mine. Turned out it was really close. The early-teen boy next door was a registered offender. Guess he was into young boys or something.

I'm leaving out some stuff like the nights James would see blue lights flashing outside his window when things got a little rowdy over there, maybe he can comment if he remembers anything funny. GATS informs me that the owner of the house was renting it to these jokers under Section 8, but I've never verified. Regardless, I'm against the program in principle.

At some point they leave or get kicked out. The house gets renovated (e.g., granite countertops). A new couple move in with their kids. Things start off pretty good with them. They have a ton of cars over there frequently, but hey they have a lot of family and friends. Good for them.

A while back we realized we hadn't really seen much of the guy for a while. I later found out why. He was busted in a raid on a heroin trafficking organization. The chick and her oldest son don't seem too big into yard maintenance after the guy's imprisonment. I also start having the pleasure of occasionally throwing empty beer cans back over my fence. Not sure how often they stayed at the house around this time (maybe just long enough to toss trash into my yard). Towards the end of their stay they buy/adopt a large, mean dog to neglect in their backyard. I think one of the other neighbors finally had animal control come rescue it at some point (may have been locked up in garage). So I think they've been gone since last year. They had some people show up one day to grab what they wanted (including the 3 ceiling fans from their back patio--who takes ceiling fans???). The stuff you see in the yard is just the junk they had no interest in.

I can't wait to see who we get next.

Nunnrey missed his calling

I'm waiting at our rental condo in San Marcos waiting for a washer and dryer delivery. Nunnrey replaced the rollers on the sliding glass door the other day, so I decided to inspect his work. That thing is gliding like a champ. If your door needs some TLC, call nunnrey.

Christmas Gift for Your Kids

If any of you proud papas need a gift idea for your kid.

Maybe we can make the Daniel Neck Slappa version of this?

Christmas in July!!!!!

After weeks of waiting, my LaRue upper finally arrived today. I still lack iron sights, a red dot sight, a cool laser and other accessories, but I am now that much closer. Pics of the upper and completed AR are below. I must add that LaRue also threw in a free hat, a bottle of Dillo Dust Dry Rub, 2 cool bumper stickers and a Dillo Beverage Entry Tool (aka bottle opener). Overall I am very happy with the final product and it was worth the wait.

Hooters Girl Barstool Beer Trick

As someone that has been to a lot of Hooters in my time I don't think I can ever remember seeing this trick.

Free Beer

Just found out that I have to be in Nashville Mon, Tue and Wed next week. If any of y'all are gonna be around I'll buy you a beer.

Miller High Life Innovations

These are funny.

Name Hardee's Biscuit Holes

Hardee's is having a contest to name their b-holes in case any of you creative geniuses are bored.

More breaking news--MS still fat

I'm sure Nunnrey would have posted something about this if he knew how to work this fancy blogger thing.

Study: Mississippi Still Fattest State, But Alabama Closing Gap

My name is James. And I'm a sweater.

From the Austin Business Journal:

With the recent 100 degree-plus temps, this one may be hard to believe. But Austinites are reportedly less sweaty than people living in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, according to Old Spice’s Top 20 All-Time Sweatiest Cities in America poll.

Austin was named the No. 23 sweatiest city, following San Antonio at No. 2, Dallas at No. 4 and Houston at No. 5.

Obviously the good people at Old Spice haven't met me. I alone would probably push Austin into the top 10.

Have a look at the complete list at msnbc.com. LA (Lower Alabama that is) checks in at #25 with Mobile, AL. And Jackson, MS is #26.

Beware of Important Documents Left at My House

Background:

• My wife says I never throw anything away. I'm often reminded that I have mail that I need to go through and to throw away/shred the junk mail. I'm more of a I'd rather do it all at one time sort of guy rather than a I want to sift through junk mail Mon-Sat kind of guy.
• My wife likes to throw everything away. Sometimes without even taking time out to be aware of what it is that is being tossed.
• Like in many places, Texas has an annual vehicle registration. In Mississippi, I believe you got a decal to place on your license plate. Here we get a sticker that goes in the window near the inspection sticker. This requires actually removing the old one which makes me a little slow to install the new stickers.

Last year when Shey's registration sticker arrived via mail she put it on the counter and told me to put it in her car. When I finally decided to do so (well before the old one expired, but probably 1-3 weeks after the new one arrived), the sticker was no where to be found. I was instantly blamed for taking too long and we assumed it must have been thrown out. I would be willing to wager a hefty sum that I did not throw it away.

Fast forward to this year. My registration sticker arrived and I put it on the counter on ready five for installation. My thought was that if I need to get the razor out to put mine on I might as well wait on Shey's to get here and do them at the same time. Last week Shey's sticker arrived. Over the weekend I proceeded to grab my sticker so I could install both. To my surprise my sticker was nowhere to be found.

When I asked Shey about it she said she had not seen it and I proceeded to search the house. Then Shey said something along the lines of, "...I don't remember throwing that away, buuuut... remember when I asked you if we needed to keep the registration receipts for our taxes?" Yes, I did actually remember that and "no" was the answer (and while we don't need them for tax purposes I do typically keep the receipt in a folder for vehicle related documentation as opposed to the tax related folder I thought she may have been inquiring about). I must have responded in Korean because my response was apparently translated into this registration sticker is trash.

I know it's my fault for trying to batch my work (a.k.a. taking too long). But as I searched through stuff on the counter I am left asking myself how is it that we can keep expired coupons, empty envelopes, old receipts, etc, but an official looking TxDOT sticker can be tossed as trash.