Easily Offended? Do Not Click Here

The above headline is actually for the NBC5 Higher Ups.  Aka, Bosses.  They tricked me, and now I am calling them a bunch of low down, dirty monkey scratchers.  Imagine waking up Christmas Morning only to find a bunch of boxes wrapped in pretty paper, but when you open the boxes there’s nothing inside! 

I walked into our Fort Worth news room the other day and quickly noticed the NBC5 Weather Radio Display.  It is the same one you can find in most Walgreens across North Texas.  I said to myself, “What a great company, they want us to be safe to and are giving away these radios to employees.”  So I bounced on over to the radio display and grabbed my radio.  Much to my surprise the box was lighter then an empty pack of Tic-Tacs. 

My disappointment hit me like a tornado landing on a mobile home.  Turns out the display was a hoax, a fake, a prop, a phony display meant only to deceive me!  There would be no weather radio for me to take home to ensure my family’s safety.  The boxes were all empty!  I quickly learned NBC5 throws around free weather radios like manhole covers!

Oh well, I ended up buying one for $29.99 at my local Walgreens.  Still a good deal, and actually a great service to the public.  I should of known better anyway.  My 8th grade economics teacher once told me, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.”  Add weather radio to the list.

Storm Warning Comes as Phone Call

The Code Red Weather Warn System uses high-tech computers and old fashioned phone lines.  The system is clearly making some cities in North Texas safer.  Using information from the National Weather Service the Weather Warn system automatically calls those people signed up for the service that are in the direct line of the approaching storm.  It can make up to 3000 calls a minute and it gives people 10-15 minutes advanced notice.  Denton is one of the biggest cities using the system, residents there can sign up online.

Other cities using Code Red Weather Warn:

1. Mansfield
2. Argyle Fire District
3. Melissa
4. Sanger
5. Bridgeport
6. Paris
7. Midlothian
8. Hansford County

I’m told Collin County, Grapevine, Duncanville, Desoto and Cedar Hill are all gathering info on the system.  When seconds count, early warning saves live.  Use the system as one layer of protection.  A weather radio is a good tool and always listen for emergency sirens.

 

 

Storm Brings Out Kindness, Most of the Time

The tiny West Texas Town of Breckenridge is bouncing back.  I am trully amazed how people handle themselves in the face of tragedy.

Jon Blackshear pulled his family out from underneath the debris you see above.  That pile of rubble was once his home.  His wife and two sons emerged with only scratches, bumps and bruises.  Now his community is coming to help him pick up the pieces, literally.

Dozens of volunteers showed up to help the families in need.  Clearly losing your home in an instant takes its toll financially and emotionally. 

J.C. Crawford managed to smile while just after we interviewed him in his living room with the son shining through his roof!  “I have friends,” he said.  To a tornado victim, a friend is a valuable asset.

We made friends too.  The Sheriffs Deputies gave my photographer and I each a sandwich.  The power was out in town and there was nothing open and nowhere to eat.  One store did have the lights on though, Allsups. 

The folks at Allsups, sadly, were not as friendly.  Covering the storms all day, I didn’t expect to be staying the night.  I can manage without somethings, but for a guy who wears contact lenses, contact lens solution is like water in a desert, a necessity.  Above are the two women who refused to open the door for me.  (I snapped this piscture through the locked glass door.) They only yelled, “the register is down!”  I pleaded my case, even offered $20 dollars for a bottle of contact lens solution, telling them they could keep the change.  The just shook their head no, then walked into the back room.

I must say I have been around the country covering all kinds of disasters.  From 9-11, to Katrina, to Wild Fires and yes, tornadoes in Texas.  This is the first time someone ever denied me help when I needed it.  Usually I am arguing with the small shop owner to take the money.  My Photographer asked the two women, “Don’t you have any compassion?”  They shook their head NO.

(A final note: My faith in mankind is renewed.  A woman outside Allsups heard my pleas.  She drove over and gave me a brand new bottle of contact lens solution!  It amazed me that someone at 11:00pm had a bottle to spare, it didn’t amaze me that she was willing to save a stranger.  Most people with compassion are willing to do just that.)

Let the Madness Begin!

March Madness is here!  No, not basketball.  I’m talking about the spring storm season.  With storms now starting to pop off to the west, I am gearing up for the chase.  There is nothing like the site of an awe inspiring monster storm.  Just ask my managing editor (that’s news room speak for boss), Shannon Hammel.  She is a professional ”inter-net” storm chaser.  She can read and interpret a radar image faster then Elliot Spitzer can book a train ticket to D.C. 

She is keenly adept at calling the shots from the warmth and comfort of her news room cube.  She lives vicariously though her minions in the field.  As she moves us from Gainesville to Hillsboro like Louie DePalma moves Taxi cabs through New York City.

 

Yes, that’s her with the “Talk to the hand, the face ain’t listening pose.”  It’s clearly her way or the highway.  Today that’s could be highway 377 to Granbury.  

For the record, last Monday I told Shannon to mark March 17th on her calender because that would be the day big storms move in.  Guess what, “THEY’RE HERE!”

Everything’s Cheaper in Gainesville!

The snow storm was actually a blessing in disguise.  I got to spend the night in Gainesville at the Holiday in Express.  When I arrived I asked if they had any rooms available.  “No, sir replied the clerk.  The weather has us sold out!”

The only other hotel choice in Gainesville was some joint where they rent rooms by the hour, no thanks.  I said to the clerk, “Are you sure?  Can you fire up that computer and see if you have anything?”  He looked me in the eye, clearly with remorse and declared, “Nope, nothing but suites.”

 Seeing that the last time I checked, a suite IS a room.  I said, “I’ll take it.”  “Oh you don’t want that!” he replied, “it’s $129.00 a night! You can find cheaper down the road.”  I turned to him and said, “I’ll take three!”  I figured my photographer and Sat truck operator ought to have a place to sleep too. 

I Jinxed Us, Sorry

After writing how winter in North Texas is a “Breeze,” we now have another “winter blast” on the way.  Apparently Mother Nature was not happy with me calling her out on her winter lameness.  So over the next two days we will get to see just what she can throw at us.  

People think I am crazy because I believe in the “Jinx.”  But I also believe in the “Reverse Jinx.”  For example, today, if I say, “I am sure this winter storm is going to be the worst we have ever seen in years.  Brace Yourselves!”  That is actually me just trying to counter-act the original Jinx.  It all stems from the core belief that whatever I hope for, the opposite will happen.

It works great in sports.  If Dirk goes to the line, don’t ever say, “He will make theses, no problem.”  You have to say, “I know he is going to miss, no way he drains these.”  That is the reverse Jinx at work.  By saying he will miss, he actually makes them.

The entire theory stems from spending my life as an “optimistic pessimist.”  Someone who is 100 percent sure everything will go wrong.  So this is for you North Texas, “It’s going to snow like mad today and there is no way the Mavs beat Houston tonight!”

Winter Here is a Breeze

Winters in North Texas are a breeze.  Maybe a 40 mile an hour breeze, but the fact is they don’t get much easier.  Take yesterday’s snow event.  I mean come on!  That’s all Mother Nature can muster?  What joke!  I could have done my live shot in flip flops and a Speedo.  As Rocky Balboa once said, “You ain’t so bad!”

I admit, ice storms can get pretty hairy.  But we didn’t get one of those this year.  The most ice we saw was the ice poured over Hilliary Clinton’s campaign.  We got a “dusting” of snow, but when I woke up at 7:30 this morning it was gone!

 

That’s me getting the paper at 7:45.  Notice I’m in my Tony Soprano robe and there’s not a flake left on the ground.  Where did it all go? Lame, all I can say is lame. 

Did I mention I’m going to go hit golf balls before heading in to work tonight.  I love Texas!