Thieves at the Pump

Crime Alert!  Thieves at the Pump. 

No, I’m not talking about big oil jacking us for nearly $4 dollar a gallon gas, I’m talking about common street thieves.  It turns out consumers should not turn their back for an instant.

The high price of gas is fueling a crime wave.  Unsuspecting drivers who leave their car while the gas is being pumped are falling victim at record numbers.  The thieves take your hose from your vehicle and start filling up their own car, while your inside buying a coke.  Outrageous!

It’s bad enough to pay $60 to fill up, I’m not paying for some hooligan who doesn’t want to suck it up like the rest of us and pay for his own gas.  Next time we catch one of these schemers send him to jail.  As one gas station owner put it, “that’s where the next hose he sees won’t have a nozzle on the end of it.” 

UPDATE: Tax Rebate Spat Over Nothing

 

Again, Not to give away my family finances, but my boss was quick to point out Amy and I will NOT be receiving any tax rebate this year.  Apparently we make TO MUCH! What a Federal Load of Hog Wash!

I would like the Federal Government to know, I can spur the economy just as well as anyone else. If I can stimulate Amy (mentally that is), why not the economy?

I pay taxes, a lot of taxes, and it appears my family is going to get hosed. Believe me, I would have spent that money, not saved it!  Sorry honey, so much for those Donald Pliner pumps. 

Tax Rebate Leads to Marital Spat

Without giving away my family’s yearly income, my wife and I should receive around $600.00 for our share of the Economic Stimulus tax rebate package.  That’s money I didn’t have, and I am happy for it. 

But here is the downside.  We filed our taxes jointly, so who gets to spend it?  There are plenty of things I must have now.

A new set of Callaway X-20 Tour Irons with Project X rifle shafts.   Cost $700.00

Tickets to Vegas, Hotel room and Entry into the World Series of Poker Main Event  Cost $15,000

1971 Mercedes 280SL Convertible  Cost $25,000         

That’s a total of $40,700 dollars worth of stuff I need now.  I’m afraid the $600 isn’t going to go very far, especially if my wife and I split our rebate.  I asked my wife Amy if she agreed with my needs.  She didn’t.  She had a list for me, very different then mine.

12 New Boxer shorts to replace the ones with holes in them.  Cost $96.00

12 pairs of dress socks to replace the pairs that are mismatched.  Cost $40.00

1 Haircut (From my man Chris at Salon Orea)  Cost $35.00

1 Light bulb to replace the one above the front door (Energy Efficient) Cost  $6.00

Dog Food for Bella  Cost $55.00

A new Doorbell that doesn’t ring my neighbors doorbell when pressed.  Cost $65.00

Milk (1 Gallon)  Cost  $3.00

Total Cost  $300.00

“Perfect” Amy said, “that leaves me my $300.00 for a pair of Donald Pliner Pumps from Nordstrom.”

The Mavericks Are Misfits

So the man who was supposed to win us a championship “this year” gets ejected!  Jerry Stackhouse and the rest of the crew can’t make a shot.  Only Dirk and The Jet showed any signs of playing like they were supposed to last night.  Bottom line, the Mavs have reached the depths of being pathetic.  I am disgusted when watching them.

After all the hype of the game three win against the Hornets, we get to watch a romp last night.  We really only have to look to game three to realize why the Mavs got blown out.  In game 3 they got lucky.  Yes, I said LUCKY!  In game 3 all the Mavs shots were falling, while the Hornets couldn’t buy a bucket.

Game 4, back to reality.  The Mavs don’t shoot well, the Hornets make shots when they have to.  In the third quater when the Mavericks cut the lead to 5, I thought this may be the start of something.  30 seconds later, I was about to shut the TV off.

I have said it time and time again, the Mavericks play like a bunch of school girls and I blame Avery Johnson.  There is no way this team wins three in a row.  And as the old saying goes, “If you can’t win three in row, Avery must go.” 

The Smart Car

 

One Look at the Smart Car makes you wonder, where are all the circus clowns that go with it?  Drive up to Canyon Creek and they all emerge.  My first response was to laugh at the tiny vehicle that looks more like a wind up toy for Dirk Nowitzki then an actual automobile.  There is no way I would be caught dead driving one of those, I have an image to uphold.  I drive a Hummer H3, which my friends are all quick to point out is actually the girl version of all the Hummer models.  Still, the Smart Car makes my smallish H3 look like an Abrams M1A1 Battle Tank.  While giggling at my good friend Joe Redmond’s sporty new matchbox, I spotted him laughing. 

It turns out he was laughing at all of us.  His new Smart Car gets 45 miles to the gallon, I’m lucky to get 16.  I figured since the Smart Car is so small it can probably only hold two gallons of gas.  I was wrong, it holds 8 gallons.  That’s still 360 miles to the tank full.  Adding the the draw, for the low low price of $14,000 this Eco friendly chick magnet will be a major hit with the ladies of Green Peace.  It’s painted with water soluble paint and it’s classified as an ultra low emissions vehicle.

Being so small, I wondered about safety, especially with the man below driving it.  Look closely, that’s Truman Casey, the same guy who recently drove his golf cart into a pond.  I did check the safety record of the Smart Car and it turns out it did very well in it’s high speed collision test.  Not one bug that slammed into the windshield at 60mph did any damage to the vehicle.  Adding to the Eco friendly image, 9 out of 10 mosquitoes used in the test survived the collision. 

Truth is the Smart Car is made by Mercedes and the company prides itself on safety.  Plus the only other car that generated this much excitement from the Gin Players at Canyon Creek was Joe Redmond’s Bentley. 

He Never had a Chin Implant

The question is why does it always take someone from the news to resolve an issue that could be resolved on its own if someone had a little common sense.  Bret Park called me insinsting he NEVER had a chin implant, yet Medical City Dallas continued to bill him for one.

Even the surgeon who performed two procedures on Bret after his throat cancer surgery agreed, He did not implant a chin in Bret.  So why do bill collectors continue to harass a man who has already been through enough?  Becasue no one will listen to Bret or his doctor.  They do listen to a newsman working on a story about the absurdity of the whole thing.

After one phone call to Medical City Dallas public relations office, the issue is now resolved.  That simple.  It only took a few hours for the Hospitol to realize it made a “billing mistake.”  Kudos to Medical City for fixing the situation, but shame on them for not listening to Bret in the first place.

If you have any wacky, hard to believe, customer service issues, email me at grant.stinchfield@nbc.com

A Refreshing Meal

You may not get any lip at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas, but you just might get some tongue.  That is if your adventurous anyway.  And good tongue is hard to find.  In fact in 39 years of living I had never had good tongue.  Remember this is an NBC5 blog, so get your mind out of the gutter.  I’m talking about beef tongue.  

Chef Jeff Moschetti asked if he could cook for my wife Amy and I and he asked if we were adventurous.  Of course being a certified Storm Tracker, how could I say no.  Chef Jeff is the new Executive Chef at the Melrose and he is one of the most talented Chefs I have been around.  He’s worked at The Mansion of Turtle Creek, with Stephan Pyles and Hotel Zaza, an impressive resume.  Needless to say, the meal he created for us was fantastic. 

We started with an onion/morrell mushroom soup that was out of this world.  Next up was the very creative, yet taste bud cleansing sea bass ceviche on a slice of watermelon.  Words can not explain how refreshing that dish is.  For the main course, Chef Jeff simply stated, “I hope you like beef.”  Two slices of beef emerged with a side of Wasabi Mashed Potatoes.  Because I am a carnivore, before I am a reporter (I eat roast beef sandwiches 4 times a week) I snarfed the two slices down faster then a tiger eating an antelope. 

Chef Jeff soon displayed a monstrous smile politely asking, “How was the tongue?”  I replied, “What! that was tounge?! Wow!”  If you never had tongue, I recommend you try it at least once.  It actually tastes a lot like roast beef.

I don’t think the tongue is on the menu at The Warwick Melrose, but maybe of your lucky Chef Jeff will give you some tongue, if you ask nicely of course.

The I-Phone Secret Revealed

If you don’t want to sign up for ATT service but still want an I-phone there is a legal remedy, but it comes with risks. A recent federal copyright exemption allows cell phone users to “unlock” their phones for personal use. Apple doesn’t want you to know that. And they are taking steps to fight the hackers.

Ebay offers nearly 2000 “unlocked” I-Phones for sale. The Internet is full of information on how you can unlock your own phone. This is an interesting article with lots of useful information (Click here).

Apple insists it has patches that are automatically downloaded when you update software that renders an unlocked phone useless. Still many people are taking the risk. Mostly because the don’t want a long term contract with ATT so they use the phone with T-Mobil.

The fact is Apple needs to stop trying to control the market. I believe they would see many more phones if they were available at all the cell phone providers. The only one who really benefits from this monopoly (yes, I believe that is what it is) is ATT.

The Mac magazine Mac World has what most experts call the leading instructions on unlocking an I-Phone. It’s complicated but even Apple quietly acknowledges it can be done.

Story on nbc5i.com: Lawyer Says Unlocking iPhones Not Illegal

Golf Carts Do Not Float

Most golfers know, golf carts do not float.  In fact, they are prone to sinking faster then a titleist missing the green on Sawgrass’s 17th.  But that didn’t stop one Canyon Creek legend from testing the waters with what he mistakenly thought was an amphibious cart.  It wasn’t.  The EZ Go is not a Hovercraft.

While searching for his golf ball that apparently was sitting dangerously close to the water in front of the number 8 tee box at Canyon Creek, Truman Casey drove dangerously close to the pond.  He said he was easing along when the tires slipped spinning the cart around.  Fearing the cart would crush him, Casey jumped, belly flopping into the pond. (That’s Casey below, not happy about me taking pictures)

Witnesses tell a different story.  They say Casey looked more like Burt Reynolds playing Hooper the Hollywood Stuntman.  His golf partners insist Casey was racing towards the pond at top speed, jumping the cart path curb then slamming on the breaks throwing the EZ Go into a controlled skid all while talking on the phone.  That controlled skid quickly got out of control, launching the cart into the water and Casey into the air, flipping him into the pond.  When he emerged from the muck and grime, Truman Casey looked like the creature from the Black Lagoon and smelled even worse.

The lesson, don’t drive a golf cart on a steep wet embankment next to a creek, but most of all don’t let Truman Casey drive.

The PGA is Arrogant

Thanks to my good friend Bob Somers, I had the opportunity to play in the 1st Pro-Am of the Byron Nelson Week.  Sadly we did not play at TPC Las Colinas, instead we played at TPC Craig Ranch.  Even though the tournament will be played in Irving, the PGA forced us to play the Pro-Am Classic in McKinney.

Craig Ranch is a wonderful course and a terrific, beautiful layout.  But it is not “where the pros play.”  And at $2500 a man, players deserve to play “where the pros play.”  All of us were thrilled Bob paid for 8 of us to play, but even he was upset when he heard the news The PGA did not want anyone playing on the course where the Nelson would be played.

The PGA needs to realize, by moving the first Pro-Am, it did a disservice to the people and companies that pay thousands of dollars to experience the PGA Tour.  I hope the PGA loses it arrogance and goes back to letting the amatures play where they should be playing, at the course where the tournament is played.

With all that said, we had an absolute blast playing at Craig Ranch, and we can’t thank Bob enough.  In fact the course is so nice, The PGA should consider moving the Nelson there.  (But I’ll reserve judgement on that until we see how the course at Las Colinas plays this year after the major overhaul.)

Here are some pictures from our day of golf at Craig Ranch Yesterday: 

That’s Scotty “Hoy-yo-doo” Hajdu, looking a little windblown, but very happy.  

The reason he is so happy is because his caddie, the famed Golf Course Superintendent, Jay Stine, is on his way with more beers. 

While most of us spent our time looking for our golf balls, Scott spent most of the round looking for his caddie who seemed to always disappear when the lovely cart girl Ashley Shavers showed up.  Though I think Jay was wasting his time, Ashley is married. 

One man who wasn’t wasting his time was University of North Texas Golf stand out Joey Quirk.  He is such a star on that team that while his team mates were practicing for a big tourney, Joey decided to caddie for me.  As you can see, he is still in training.   The beer he had for breakfast wasn’t bad so he had one more for dessert.

My only regret is not getting a picture of our gracious host Bob Somers.  Who just happened to eagle a par five by chipping in his third shot.  Not to be outdone, his son Andy drove the Green on #14 and made the put for an eagle on a par four!  Still, our 15 under Par was not good enough for victory.