Remember my post in June about the gumball machines? Well, a couple weeks after that article was published, there was one in the Dallas Morning News that Ladystyx and her cohorts stole one! Oh ok, maybe she didn't actually DO it, but she could have been the mastermind! LOL


From Staff Reports

Burleson police were investigating a burglary in which a gumball machine was stolen from a Jeep Outfitter store last week.

Police said the incident occurred the evening of Oct. 15 in the 2000 block of Interstate 35W. Police said it appeared that a person entered the store trying to steal computer equipment, but instead left with a gumball machine, belonging to a charity.

When police arrived, they discovered a broken glass door and smashed computer equipment on the floor.

Police said as many as three people in a dark-colored SUV may have been involved in the incident. Surveillance video show a man in his late teens or early 20s wearing a blue baseball cap, a black T-shirt and tan cargo shorts. The driver was described as wearing a yellow T-shirt. A description of the third person was not available.

Police said this incident may be connected to another burglary at the business two weeks earlier. In that incident, money was stolen from a drawer.

Anyone with any information was asked to call police at 817-447-5300, extension 333, to speak with an investigator.

This morning, after my shower, I opened up my blinds to find this:

A Mourning Dove had decided to perch on the 3-4 inch ledge outside my bedroom window. As you can see, there wasn't much room for his/her tail.

It sat there while I got ready for work. My bed is about 3 feet away from the window, and I was able to sit on the bed to put my shoes and socks on, the bird never moving.

Dumb bird!

Just over two weeks after Iggy posted a picture of a terra-cotta Chinese soldier, this showed up on my day-at-a-glance calendar. I was still convinced I had seen them in a movie other than the previews of The Mummy III. Last night I went searching, further into the depths of the internet than I have ever gone before. Fortunately, Ladystyx was there to pull me out when I got stuck. What I found was: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. (If you enter the site, it brings up the plot, and you can click on another link called "Mythology", then on "Terracotta Warriors" and it will explain their part in the movie. Otherwise, read my bit below.

In that movie, starring Angelina Jolie, she was trying to get away from someone who had quite a few of those terra-cotta warriors in a cave. I believe he had stolen them and was planning on selling them for money. During this scene, she was hiding amongst them and was being chased by a man with a sword, who was smashing them to bits in the process of trying to kill her. I stopped at Blockbusters this afternoon while I was out running errands and rented it, just so I could confirm the precence of terra-cotta warriors.

I'm pretty sure that satisfies my curiosity about where I saw them previously. The scene in the movie played out pretty much how I had thought it would. Now I can move on to other interesting things.

Not much going on around here since I went to 6 Flags. I had a really fun time! Boy I love roller coasters! We were there from 9:30AM - 10:00PM. A very long day, which gave me blisters on my feet, but they've now all healed.



Yesterday I stopped at Target to pick up three new cd's that came out this week. Unfortunately, they only had one there. Yes, Randy Travis has a new cd out, and it' s country music, not gospel! The two Target didn't have that I'll have to look for elsewhere are John Mellencamp's Life, Death, Love and Freedom and Ace Young's self-titled cd.

Here are the tracks listed for Randy's new cd

1. Around The Bend
2. You Didn't Have A Good Time
3. Every Head Bowed
4. Love Is A Gamble
5. Faith In You
6. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
7. Dig Two Graves
8. Turn It Around
9. From Your Knees
10. Everything That I Own (Has Got A Dent)
11. 'Til I'm Dead And Gone

On the front it has a sticker with a review on it: "Randy Travis has recorded the perfect country album" by Robert K. Oermann.

I'll be ripping it to my computer soon, anyone that would like it, just let me know, I'll share!

Tomorrow morning I'm off to ride the roller coasters at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL. Following are my two most favorite rides:

Raging Bull: A hyper-twister steel roller coaster built in 1999, has a top speed of 73 mph, and a first drop of 208 feet.

My second favorite ride, one of only two wooden roller coasters at Great America, The American Eagle features two trains that do a traditional "out and back" route with a helix at the end, and will race each other at times. On special occasions, one is reversed and will take the riders backwards, but I can't do that. Built in 1981, it was at one time the world's fastest roller coaster. Steel roller coasters have easily surpassed it in speed, but it remains the highest, fastest and longest "racing" roller coaster. And Intenseguy will appreciate this, the trains for this ride were built by the Philadephia Toboggan Company. This remains one of my favorite rides to do after dark.

New this year is the Dark Knight indoor roller coaster. From slashfilm.com: According to Six Flags, The Dark Knight Coaster will “transform guests into citizens of Gotham City - caught in the middle of a city under siege and torn apart by The Joker.” The Dark Knight Coaster’s will use storytelling, physical movement, video, sound and special effects to bring guests a one-of-a-kind dark ride experience.

It will be interesting to see how popular this will be at Six Flags, known for the thrill of fast coasters with big drops.

This is curtesy of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page:


A dentist accused of fondling the breasts of 27 female patients is trying to keep his dental license by arguing that chest massages are an appropriate procedure in certain cases. Mark Anderson's lawyer says dental journals discuss the need to massage the pectoral muscles to treat a common jaw problem. . . .

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Phillips gave [administrative law judge Jonathan] Lew three new complaints, including one from a 31-year-old woman who said Anderson fondled her at least six times over two years.


My first question is, how do pectoral muscles relate to your jaw, which is a bone?

My second question is, why would anyone allow someone to ILLEGALLY fondle them one time, let alone six times? I'd be SO out of there after the first time.

I'm finally home. Whew, what a busy weekend!

Friday night was the barbecue and fireworks (with a k) in Cherry Valley, IL. I mapquested it, and the quickest and most direct route, although not the shortest, is 71.91 miles from my home. During those nearly 72 miles, I saw twelve out-of-state license plates. I'm used to seeing some, as the roads I was on are routes from Illinois to either Iowa or Wisconsin. However, I saw some plates from just about all sides of the country. To make this interesting, I found images of all plates on the net, so you can see all the states that were represented during my drive. In alphabetical order:

California plates are interesting because they stay with the car, for the life of the car. So all the really old cars from the 60's and 70's have very different plates. The most common "old" plate you see in CA is black with yellow lettering.

Obviously, this is a sample plate. This is the current style issued to passenger vehicles. As you all are aware, states now offer dozens of styles for just about anything you can think of. Colorado even offers one for Horseless Carriages.

This is the most common Florida plate I've seen. Some states still have the state nickname listed on the bottom.

I like how they put the peach for the "o" in Georgia. This state has the respective county listed at the bottom.

Iowa is one more state in the U.S. that has made their plates more representative of their state in the last few years. According to the Iowa License Plate database, when I moved to IL in 1982, the Iowa plates were dark green with white letters. Then they went to dark blue with white letters in 1986, and in 1997 switched to the image you see above.

Kansas is a plate I see commonly, since Interstate 88 in IL meets up with Interstate 80, the main route through Iowa before heading south to Kansas. They have a new design that will be coming out in 2010.

Michigan has a variety of styles available, I see several of them, so I always have to do a double take to make sure I'm reading the state correctly. In addition to this Great Lakes Splendor, they have a white one with a blue banner across the top where the state is listed, and the state's website is listed at the bottom; the other one is the Spectacular Peninsula plate, also with a picture of the Mackinac Bridge on it, with a cityscape and pine trees.

Missouri's famous state motto: The Show-Me State. According to their website, they have also had a re-design, with the new plate showing an outline of the state, with the state bird underneath it, and the motto on top underneath the state.

Mississippi is the Magnolia state, so it makes sense for them to put a big 'ole Magnolia blossom smack dab in the middle of the plate. They also include the respective county on their plates.

On the top left is Niagara Falls, and on the top right is New York City, the two most well known places to visit in New York State. And they just happen to be at opposite ends of the state. I wonder how NY got the nickname The Empire State?

Pennsylvania was the first state to include their website on their license plates. That was back when the internet was first invented by Al Gore. I remember thinking how silly it is to put their website on a license plate. Although, with all the people who have internet access these days, I bet it helps the state residents remember where to go for information about plates and registrations.

Wisconsin, America's Dairyland. Or as those in Illinois like to say, Home of the Cheeseheads. Drive through southern Wisconsin, and you see dairy farm after dairy farm after dairy farm. There's no shortage of them. I see Wisconsin plates almost every day, as my commute to and from work is on a main route between Wisconsin and Illinois.

There you have it, the 12 different license plates I saw on Friday afternoon. It was interesting looking up the history of some of these plates. I hope I didn't bore anyone.

Happy Independence Day! I'm going to a barbecue this afternoon, fireworks tonight, and will be gone all day tomorrow and most of Sunday painting with my aunt. Have a great weekend everyone, talk to you Sunday night!