Walking A Wal-Mart Parking Lot With #23, Oregon Christmas Trees & OC Burgers

I had a half hour to kill. I was in Hurst, after having been to North Richland Hills. I forgot that I was supposed to look at a big pipe today in North Richland Hills. Or was it Haltom City? I hate my age-related memory woes.

So, with a half hour to kill, and after having gotten what I wanted to get from ALDI, I went across the street to the Wal-Mart Supercenter.  After I got garlic powder and peanut butter I decided to walk around the Wal-Mart parking lot and enjoy the brisk refreshing temperature and see if I could find anything of interest to look at. Or something odd.

Sadly the tour of the Wal-Mart parking lot rendered not a lot of oddness. But, there was the vehicle you see above. All its windows, except the front windshield, had a message on them. Apparently a football team named the Chargers won a football game. Which evidently had these people wanting to insist that their window viewers have a Happy Christmas.

Now, what amused me is that the football player is #23. So, on dad's driver's side window a square box is drawn in to frame dad's head, with the message saying, "#23's DAD." And behind dad is seated #23's Brother. On the other side we had #23's MOM and #23's Sister. #23's DOG Cajo sits in the back.

Next on my tour of the Wal-Mart parking lot I came to Wal-Mart's puny display of 5 Christmas Trees. Priced ranging from $30 to $60. And, just like the Christmas Trees at my neighborhood Kroger, these trees came from the Pacific Northwest. Kroger's were from Washington, Wal-Marts from Oregon. Noble Mountain Tree Farm based in Salem, Oregon, to be precise.

Why does Texas not supply Texans their Christmas trees? I've seen plenty of pine trees growing in the Piney Woods Region of Texas.

A few months ago, to some small fanfare, a California based franchise named OC Burgers opened in Hurst, adjacent to the Wal-Mart parking lot. OC Burgers did not last long. I noticed it closed last week. Most of the OC has been stripped away, except for the drive-thru menu.

I assume OC stands for Orange County. I've no idea why OC Burger failed. The burgers, as depicted on the menu, look tasty, except for the California Avocado Burger and the Jalapeño Burger.

This week In-N-Out Burger, also based in California, let it be known that they are opening an In-N-Out in Hurst, also on Precinct Line Road, just a couple blocks south of the now dead Hurst OC Burger.

I hope the OC bad burger outcome in Hurst does not bode ill for In-N-Out Burger.

There you have it, my very eventful, exciting walk around the Hurst Wal-Mart parking lot.

Missing Caulkers With A Drought In My Pool With Salvation Army Bell Ringers & Christmas Trees At Wal-Mart

With the passing of today, November 10, a third of November will already be history.

I went to the Beach Street Wal-Mart Supercenter yesterday after inspecting the Tandy Hills and was appalled to be greeted, not by the elderly Wal-Mart greeter, but by a Salvation Army bell ringer.

And inside Wal-Mart there was a tall Christmas tree, already totally tarted up with balls, lights and glitter.

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, this morning, you can see neither my pool or hot tub is being blue this morning. But I'm feeling blue, due to their being no water in either.

So, no swimming for me this morning. Which means I will be suffering endorphin and shock chill thrill withdrawal soon. I will not be able to fix that withdrawal problem til sometime in the late afternoon, due to needing to be in the north part of the D/FW Metroplex in the noon time frame.

Caulkers were supposed to show up yesterday, after pool drainage was complete, to do some caulking repairs. But, the repairers failed to appear. More urgent caulking must have been needed elsewhere.

Chicken and lasagna with tomato salad is on the lunch menu today. It will be late, a bit before 2. Show up on time or the lasagna will be all gone.

104 At 2 In The Afternoon In North Texas Targeting Target & Wal-Mart

As you can see, the temperature hit 104 around 2 this afternoon, heading to a high of 106. 106 is currently the Heat Index temperature. The humidity has dropped, so it doesn't feel as HOT out there.

I think I mentioned yesterday that a cool Washingtonian was sending her now HOT husband to LA today. To Monroe, Louisiana.

I figured Monroe was likely hotter than here. As I so often am, I was wrong. Monroe is east of Shreveport about 60 or 70 miles on Interstate 20.

Right now, with it 104 in Fort Worth, it is 95 in Monroe.

But.

In Monroe the humidity is at 53%, compared with 22% here. Consequently the Heat Index in Monroe is 116. 116. That is HOT.

I've been in HEAT that HOT before, in Nevada. 124 or more out in Death Valley, 117 in Las Vegas. But that is dry desert heat. A Heat Index of 116 has to be pretty miserable.

My hiking today consisted of going shopping at Target and the Wal-Mart Supercenter across the freeway from Target. I don't see how Target stays in business. There are never very many shoppers in Target. Only 2 checkouts needed at the front of the store. Meanwhile Wal-Mart today was its usual busy zoo.

Wal-Mart & Its Possibly Criminal Bad Business Practices

I was having me a good Sunday. Long swim this morning. The successful, 2nd try, concocting of hummus. Another adventure with the Chase Bank ATM, which went better than the last one. A call to my sister in Phoenix, that started with talking to my brother-in-law, then talking to my sister while I walked in Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

And then, needing lemon juice, I went to the Eastchase Wal-Mart Supercenter in Fort Worth where I experienced the Wal-Mart Sucks Problem.

I had not experienced Wal-Mart Sucking for awhile.

But, today I got 6 items, in addition to the lemon juice.

One of the items was a box of 6 bars of soap. I knew the total for what I was buying would be about 11 dollars. When the checkout girl said it was $15 something I knew a mistake had been made. I hit the final button on the debit card thing.

She gave me the receipt. I quickly saw the soap had been added twice. The checkout girl told me she only saw it show once when she scanned the soap. I saw that too on the display facing the customer.

She told me I had to go to customer service to get my money back. In Wal-Mart, customer service is what I believe is known as an oxymoron.

I waited in line for maybe 5 minutes, had to sign a slip of paper, then money was returned to me. No, apology, no sorry for wasting your time, nothing.

As I left it occurred to me that this was a very wrong thing that had happened. I only bought a few items. What if I had a cartful, buying a couple hundred bucks worth of stuff? Would I have noticed something ringing up wrong?

It seems to me that taking extra money out of my bank account, by whatever means, is what is known as stealing. Yes, I got my money back. But I did not get the time stolen from me back.

And what about those people who don't notice that Wal-Mart has stolen from them? With them Wal-Mart succeeded in stealing extra money from their bank account.

I think it is HUGELY wrong that you have to go to customer service to get your money back in this type scenario. There should be someone who's only purpose is to take care of such supposed errors. And have the error quickly investigated to make sure there is not some sort of systematic mistake going on, like when Wal-Mart was not ringing up the correct milk price, system-wide.

I think until proven otherwise merchant errors of this sort should be treated as a criminal act no different than shoplifting.

But, until that happens, all I can do is blog about Wal-Mart sucking. I am not alone. Google "Wal-Mart Sucks" and you'll see what I mean.

The Queen Of Wink Was Lost But Now She Is Found With McDonald's Cheeseburgers

Well.

We can quit worrying. The Queen of Wink has been located.

Calling the Wink Police and asking them to do a welfare check was no solution to the Mystery of the Disappearance of the Queen of Wink.

If I did not suffer from slightly addled memory problems I might have realized there was no mystery to solve.

I'd forgotten that the Q of W had told me she'd dropped her phone into a watery grave, rendering it useless and she incommunicado. I'd forgotten as a consequence all stored numbers were lost. You would think a light bulb would have come on in my memory banks after getting the Queen's voice mail more than once.

And then there's me forgetting about the date of the Queen's San Antonio trip. I thought she was heading to SA in late July for a Top Secret Operation. Instead it was late June for the Top Secret Operation.

I was on my way to Wal-Mart this morning, driving in the heavy, hike-preventing rain, when I decided to call the Queen of Wink again. This time she answered. I told her I'd been worried sick. And then she hung up on me. Or the call was dropped.

With my number now available to her, the Queen of W called me back. It was during the course of the following conversation I learned she was heading west on Interstate 10, leaving San Antonio, after a successful Top Secret Operation, and heading back to her Wink Realm.

For some reason the Queen of Wink mentioned Cheeseburgers. Ever since then I've had me a craving for a Cheeseburger.

I am not too embarrassed to admit I like the basic, simple McDonald's Cheeseburger.

When I finished talking to the Queen I went into Wal-Mart where the first thing I come to is a McDonald's. I was sorely tempted, sorely tempted, I tell you, to get me a McDonald's Cheeseburger. It is a testament to the extreme strength of my willpower that I resisted the temptation.

For now.

I have not had a McDonald's Cheeseburger since the first week of 2009, when my mom and dad were here and we went to one of the World's Most Unique McDonald's, in Dallas.

A couple years ago I made a blog for a pair of poodles who have since run away. Those poodles liked McDonald's Cheeseburgers. On and on they'd go about their McDonald's Cheeseburgers.

Before the pair of Cheeseburger loving poodles ran away, I made a video of them trying to get a bite of a Cheeseburger from me. Now, when Betty Jo Bouvier. the Wild Woman of Woolley, saw this video she thought it was terribly mean to tease the hungry poodles in such a manner. Rest assured, in the end, they got their Cheeseburgers...

The Rain Is Downpouring In Fort Worth, Soon To Be Freezing Rain

I managed to get in my daily early morning pool dip. But by the time of my usual daily aerobic habit the sky had turned dire, here in my zone of North Texas, soon wet stuff began to hit the ground.

So, I decided to get my daily walk by pushing a grocery cart at my neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter.

On the way to Wal-Mart I needed gas. As I was pumping, an ol' geezer pumping from the adjacent pump asked me a question.

As in, "What's the difference between this gas station and Jesse James?"

I said, "I dunno. One's dead?"

"No," the ol' geezer said, "Jesse James used a gun to rob you."

Or something like that. I gave the ol' geezer a courtesy laugh. But I was not amused. In a public restroom I don't want the person using the adjacent urinal talking to me. I feel the same way when I'm pumping gas. Unless it is a being flirted with scenario, that I don't mind. But, no jokes when I am pumping gas.

As my one longtime reader knows, when I get gas I call my mom and dad in Phoenix and tell them how much it cost. But they were not home, so I left a message.

After about a half hour of pushing the heavily loaded grocery cart around in Wal-Mart it suddenly became very noisy, like a pounding roar, which it was, because the rain had shifted into downpour mode.

I checked out and on my way out of the store I asked the Wal-Mart greeter if she could please walk me to my car under an umbrella? The Wal-Mart greeter gave me a polite courtesy laugh. I was glad I'd anticipated a possible downpour, so I parked close to the door. Usually I do not park close to the door.

Right now it is 54 out there. That number is supposed to begin to drop, going below freezing sometime early tomorrow. I'm thinking it is going to be a real slippery mess in Fort Worth and North Texas soon. I hope it does not go into Ice Storm mode. Ice Storms wreak havoc with power lines. I don't want to lose power.

I forgot to tell you, the picture at the top was taken near the Handley Post Office, heading east on Ederville Road, with one of the flyovers that connects I-820 to I-30 overhead.

I must make a beauty named Elsie a map before lunch. Make that after lunch, I just heard the lunch is ready noise.

The Dallas Cowboy Wal-Mart Supercenter Continues To Perplex Me

See that white rectangle in the upper right of the picture? That is the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter.

This picture was taken in July of 2004. I was flying up to Seattle and when I realized the plane was going to fly directly over the worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history I got out my camera and started snapping pictures.

This was very early on in the project. The last house standing is still standing in this picture.

Now, why is the Dallas Cowboy Wal-Mart Supercenter on my mind this morning? Well, you may recollect me mentioning that the Wal-Mart parking lot is blocked off on Dallas Cowboy game days. On Saturday I saw the entries off Randol Mill Road were blocked off during the Cotton Bowl. And dozens of buses were parked on the lot.

When I found the parking lot blocked during a Dallas Cowboy game I figured it was just Randol Mill Road that was blocked. So, I tried to get to the entry on the north end of the parking lot, but found all roads leading there to also be blocked.

On Saturday we saw people walking in to Wal-Mart. So, it was open.

And now this morning I got a perplexing comment from the ubiquitous Anonymous claiming to work at the Wal-Mart in question.

"Perhaps you should have looked closer.

That Walmart doesn't close during games. The North entrance of the parking lot is open.

How do I know? I f*$%ing work there."

I don't know what to make of this. I know what I saw. Blocked roads. And on Saturday dozens of buses parked on the Wal-Mart lot. Do they pay to park there? When other vehicles get towed if they park there during a game, when signs say "No Event Parking?"

If it is true that the north entry is not blocked, then what is the route to that entry? And what is the reason Randol Mill Road is blocked?

It's very perplexing.

A Cold, Foggy, Drizzling Day Descends On The Morrison Ranch In Fort Worth Texas

Fosdic called around noon wanting to go on a walk. I did not realize we were being pummeled by an ocean-like drizzle this afternoon, here in landlocked Fort Worth.

So, I aborted on the outdoor type walk and went with the pushing a cart around Wal-Mart option.

There were so many human spectacles today at Wal-Mart. It's like some sort of natural Fellini movie.

After Wal-Mart I was driving John T. White Road and I remembered a very odd thing I'd seen on Morrison Road, that I'd previously mentioned to Fosdic.

Celebration Church. It looks like a movie theater bowling alley type place had slammed into a regular church. But what caught my eye, this time, that I'd not seen before, is why Morrison Street is so-named, I assume, because directly across the street from Celebration Church is Morrison Ranch, complete with horses.

The southern border of Morrison Ranch is Interstate 30.

Morrison seems like a good Texas name. I used to know a Morrison up in Washington. Last I saw her she'd grown into a really big girl. I don't think she could possibly get on a horse. Maybe a Clydesdale with a lift assist.

I've lost track of the Morrison girl. I've no contact with anyone who maintains contact with the Morrison girl. Maybe she's slimmed down, moved to Texas and opened the Morrison Ranch for all I know.

Highly unlikely.

Getting My Dallas Cowboy Merchandise At The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart

I did not know if the Dallas Cowboys were playing in their shiny new stadium today, or not. Which means I did not know if the Dallas Cowboys Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter was open or not.

I have still not received an explanation as to why the Stadium Wal-Mart shuts down during Dallas Cowboy home games, while all the other area businesses appear to remain open.

So, after I was done with Arlington's Chinatown I headed north on Collins Street to the Stadium Wal-Mart, which was open, with no football game being played across the street.

Inside the Wal-Mart there are a lot of flat panel TV's hanging down from the ceiling on which it appeared a Dallas Cowboys game was being played.

Inside the Stadium Wal-Mart there is an extraordinary amount of Dallas Cowboy merchandise taking up a lot of floor space. Like you see in the picture, with the game playing overhead.

I have not heard from the Mad Texas Grandma since December 15. You remember the Mad Texas Grandma, I am sure. She was mad because she and more than 50 others had their vehicles towed off the Wal-Mart parking lot on November 21, believed by the Mad Texas Grandma to have been towed illegally.

Wal-Mart denied knowing anything about the towing, or about A-AArlington Towing or about the dozens of taxis that showed up to take people to their hijacked vehicles.

The last I heard the Mad Texas Grandma was unable to reach the actual real manager of the Stadium Wal-Mart.

My best guess, as to what is going on with that Wal-Mart, is the manager, on his own, made a deal with A-AArlington Towing and the Taxis, with the manager getting a cut of the towing take.

Then, in a separate deal with Jerry Jones, the manager gives up a lot of store floor space to Dallas Cowboy merchandise, of which the manager and Wal-Mart gets a cut, along with Jerry Jones.

How all this wheeling and dealing between the local Wal-Mart manager, Jerry Jones and A-AArlington ends up with the Stadium Wal-Mart being closed during Dallas Cowboy home games continues to be a mystery.

Christmas Eve Blizzard Of Blowing Snow Hits Fort Worth & North Texas

Yesterday was warm, almost 80. Overnight it got cold. This morning it started snowing. By the time I got out of here, at noon, it had turned pretty much into a blizzard out there.

The temperature has now fallen to 29. I just heard a long screeching skidding noise out there. The snow continues to fall fast, being blown horizontal by the wind.

Just looked out the window. The snow is starting to stick. This is going to pile up fast now unless the snow stops.

When I escaped here it was to go to the Post Office and Wal-Mart. I have never seen the Wal-Mart/Sam's Club parking lots so full. Inside the store it was a zoo. I don't believe I've ever seen it so busy.

The blowing blizzard added an almost surreal element to the throng of last minute Christmas Eve shoppers.

One thing I'm not understanding is I've still not had to turn on the heat in here. Has that icy water swimming done something dire to my internal thermostat?

Below is a YouTube video of part of my drive to Wal-Mart through the blizzard.

The Mad Texas Grandma Gets New Info From Arlington Police Regarding The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Parking Lot Grand Theft Of More Than 50 Autos

I have heard from the Mad Texas Grandmother regarding what she learned from the Arlington Police regarding the November 21 incident where more than 50 vehicles were illegally towed from the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart parking lot.

You may remember, the Wal-Mart co-manager, who called MTG, told her that Wal-Mart had no contractual relationship with A-AArlington Towing, that Wal-Mart did not ask for the vehicles to be towed, that A-AArlington Towing is owed by the City of Arlington.

So, what did our Mad Texas Grandma learn from the Arlington Police?

First off, the police spokesperson told MTG that the City of Arlington does not own A-AArlington Towing.

Second off, Wal-Mart has a contract with A-AArlington Towing.

Third off, the police spokesperson told MTG it was Wal-Mart who authorized the cars be towed.

Fourth off, the Arlington Police Department is aware the Wal-Mart towing warning signs are not Texas legal posted signs.

The night that the vehicles were being illegally towed, in other words, the night that over 50 acts of Grand Theft Auto took place, the Arlington Police were called by distraught victims. But, when the police arrived they simply stood by, said they could do nothing, while the vehicles were taken from a parking lot that, we now know, the police knew did not have Texas legal signs posted.

The Mad Texas Grandma Is Off The Boat & Back On The Case

The Mad Texas Grandma is back on dry land, at her headquarters in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Unable to get a straight answer from a woman claiming to be the co-manager of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart, in Arlington, MTG is calling the Arlington Police today to try and get a simple question answered.

As in who authorized the towing of her vehicle and more than 50 others from Wal-Mart's parking lot on November 21?

The Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart did not ask that the cars be towed and that Wal-Mart has no relationship with A-AArlington Towing, that being the entity that did the towing.

There has been a problem in the D/FW Metroplex and Texas with Rogue Towing Operations. Was this a Rogue Operation?

Without Wal-Mart's knowledge did A-AArlington have agents on the Wal-Mart lot, looking for parkers who walked across the street to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to watch high school football games?

Since Wal-Mart denies having a relationship with A-AArlington Towing, if that is true, then there are only a few possible other scenarios. One being the scenario already mentioned, that being the Rogue Towing Operation, with A-AArlington in cahoots with no one.

Another scenario would be the Arlington Police were behind the towing. One of the choice items the Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG was that A-AArlington was owned and operated by the City of Arlington. Looking at public records that does not appear to be true.

Another scenario would be that Jerry Jones has someone monitor parking, determined to make money off as many people as possible. Don't want to pay $40 to park on his lots? Trying to park for free on the Wal-Mart parking lot? Is it Jerry Jones who contracted with A-AArlington?

MTG has determined that this was an illegal towing operation due to the fact that Wal-Mart's towing signs do not meet the criteria as defined by Texas law.

It will be interesting to hear what MTG learns from talking to the Arlington Police today.

Message For The Mad Texas Grandma & Wal-Mart

I have not heard from Mad Texas Grandma for a few days. She left on a cruise last Saturday. I assume she is still lost at sea.

If you missed who the Texas Grandma is mad at, you can read all about that here. Short version, the Mad Texas Grandma believes her vehicle was towed illegally from the Stadium Wal-Mart on November 21 while she attended a high school football game at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

The picture is one Mad Texas Grandma took of the sparsely parking Wal-Mart parking lot the day after her vehicle was stolen.

I heard from another victim of A-AArlington Towing, I'll call Ryan J. This victim had his pickup stolen by the towing company from its perfectly legal parking position somewhere in Fort Worth. Somehow, during the course of towing the pickup, A-AArlington lost the pick-up bed's cover. A cover that costs around $2,000.

Ryan J. did not even have to go all legal on A-AArlington. Presented with the fact the towing was illegal and that they caused substantial damage to Ryan J.'s vehicle, A-AArlington cut him a check to cover the damages. I don't know if he got extra for pain and suffering. But he did find a replacement bed cover cheaper than the original.

Yesterday I got an interesting email regarding the towing of over 50 vehicles from the Stadium Wal-Mart Parking lot. I'll copy it below...

I think it's pretty obvious to anyone that the people who's cars were towed were trying to save a buck. They did not want to pay the ridiculous parking fee being charge at the lots around the stadium. Walmart has signs telling people "No Event Parking."

It would be my guess that those signs stop most people from attempting to park for free. On that Saturday night of October 21 over 50 drivers chose to risk parking on the Walmart lot.

My thinking is this. Those people parking on the Walmart lot did not hurt Walmart at all. I live near that Walmart parking lot. There is always plenty of parking available. On that Saturday night there would have been a lot of parking available, especially by midnight.

Why would Walmart want to risk the goodwill of all those potential customers? Of those 50 plus who were towed, had any gone into Walmart and bought something before walking across the street to the game?

Why doesn't Walmart take advantage of the situation and sell parking spots like so many other area businesses do? Wouldn't that make better business sense than putting so many of their customers through the misery and expense of retrieving their cars? Or have someone at the parking lot entry had out a time stamped 2 hour parking pass to all incoming cars, charging a fee if more than 2 hours pass before they check out of the lot.

Surely there must be a more sensible, more business-wise solution, from Walmart's view, than what was done to all those people that Saturday night.

According to what I read the Mad Texas Grandma say, she claims Walmart denies employing A-AArlington. Who told them to tow then? Why doesn't the Mad Texas Grandma contact the Arlington police, telling them she wants to know who was behind authorizing her car be towed.

Anonymous

Usually I hear from Anonymous via comments to this blog, in email I don't recollect anyone being Anonymous before, because, well, I can see their email address, which in Anonymous's case was still pretty anonymous.

Anyway, I agree with Anonymous. Good questions he/she raises.

Still No Answer To Who Authorized A-AArlington To Steal More Than 50 Cars From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Parking Lot

Yesterday I told you that the Mad Texas Grandma had received a phone call from a person claiming to be the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart's co-manager.

The co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart has no towing contract with A-AArlington, that being the towing company that stole MTG's car on October 21.

If Wal-Mart does not have a contract with A-AArlington to tow vehicles off their lot, who does?

A-AArlington has a website. On their website A-AArlington clearly explains that they have 2 tiers of customers, with their primary customers being businesses, and their secondary customer being those whose cars they hi-jack.

I'll copy what A-AArlington says about their 2 tiers of customers....

At A-AArlington, we serve two tiers of customers. Our primary customers, property owners and managers are key to the business and our longevity. Their businesses are apartment communities, manufactured home complexes, hotels / motels, industrial properties, everyday retail stores, shopping centers (big and small), and privately-owned lots.

Our secondary customer, those who have had their vehicles towed by A-AArlington, are also important to our business, And, our treatment of them, in their most unfortunate situation, is one of the more significant ways that A-AArlington can, and will differentiate itself from the competition.

So. How is it that Wal-Mart is a customer of A-AArlington with Wal-Mart's co-manager claiming that Wal-Mart has no contract with A-AArlington?

Who authorized A-AArlington to go on Wal-Mart's parking lot and remove over 50 vehicles?

I also told you that the Wal-Mart co-manager told the Mad Texas Grandma that A-AArlington is owned by the city of Arlington. From what I've seen I don't see how that can be. Unless Straw K, Inc. is somehow a business set up by Arlington. I could find no info about Straw K, Inc. beyond the fact that it exists, located in Arlington and is doing business as A-AArlington Abandoned Vehicle.

The Mad Texas Grandma Hears From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Regarding The Dozens Of Auto Thefts

I have heard from the Mad Texas Grandma again. You may remember me telling you about the dozens of grand theft auto thefts that occurred on October 21 at the Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart in Arlington.

In that blogging I said I was not sure I remembered the facts correctly that MTG had told me over the phone and that I was awaiting confirmation. Turns out I was mostly right. MTG says it was at least 50 cars stolen, the taxi to the stolen car was a $10 ride and the troll toll to get the stolen car back was $244.00.

I did make one glaring error. I said MTG had her 5 year old grandson with her. When in fact it was MTG's 6 year old granddaughter. I'm feeling as factually challenged as a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter right about now.

Yesterday I told you that MTG had had no luck reaching the Stadium Wal-Mart's manager. So, she called Wal-Mart corporate headquarters. Headquarters told the local manager to call MTG. MTG had learned that the Wal-Mart local manager's name was Matt.

But it was a woman who called MTG and identified herself as the manager of Wal-Mart. MTG told the woman she couldn't be the manager because he was a man named Matt.

The woman then said she was Matt's co-manager. MTG asked where is Matt? He is not here today was the reply. This was the same reply MTG has gotten every time she has called the Stadium Wal-Mart trying to speak with Matt.

Matt's co-manager denied that Wal-Mart has a towing contract with A-Arlington.

MTG told Matt's co-manager that she'd found 3 different names listed as owners of A-Arlington.

At that point Matt's co-manager, who had denied that Wal-Mart had a towing contract with A-Arlington, told MTG that the City of Arlington owns the towing company!

MTG asked Matt's co-manager how the taxis knew to be sitting and waiting for the grand theft auto victims. She said the taxis don't sit and wait.

Matt's co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart's towing signs were legal and that Wal-Mart had never lost an appeal in court.

Speaking of court dates, MTG's is December 21 at 1pm. I'll get more details in case you'd like to attend.

Regarding Wal-Mart's sign. They say "NO EVENT PARKING VEHICLES MAY BE TOWED AT OWNER'S EXPENSE."

Texas Occupations Code 2308.301(b)(5) stipulates that the following precise verbiage must appear on the sign...

"Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed at Owner's or Operator's Expense"

Go here for more details about Texas towing laws and the crimes committed by those violating them.

Now, from what I've read about Texas towing issues, the parking lot owner, which is Wal-Mart, has to have contract with a towing company. Yet Matt's co-manager says Wal-Mart has no such contract. A towing company can not randomly show up on someone's property and start towing cars. Someone, somewhere had to authorize it. Was it the City of Arlington monitoring Wal-Mart's parking lot?

Why does Wal-Mart not sell parking spaces like virtually all the other business in the stadium area do during events? I've never seen the Stadium Wal-Mart's parking lot anywhere near full.

Why is the Stadium Wal-Mart totally barricaded, with no entry possible, during a Dallas Cowboy home game? What is the agreement between Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart and the city of Arlington that makes the closure happen?

It's all a perplexing mystery.

Dozens Of Cars Stolen From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart In The Middle Of The Night

You are looking at a blocked off entrance to the Wal-Mart Supercenter across from the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium on Randol Mill Road in Arlington, Texas during a Dallas Cowboy game on November 22, 2009.

All entries to the Wal-Mart were blocked, thus closing Wal-Mart.

There were cars parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The parking lot was maybe a third full.

Unlike most of the other possible parking lots in the area around the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, Wal-Mart puts up no "Event Parking $60" sign. One would think they would, if they are going to close the store, with their lot being so conveniently located.

So, what I am curious about is how did it come to be that Wal-Mart is shut down during Dallas Cowboy games? How is Wal-Mart compensated for this? In an area where Jerry Jones is charging up to $60 for parking one would think Wal-Mart's compensation must be hefty.

I was also at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium the day before, to take pictures of the Dallas Cowboy Outhouses. On that day, November 21, high school football playoff games were taking place in the stadium. On that day the Wal-Mart Supercenter was open.

So, I parked on the Stadium Wal-Mart's parking lot. I saw a few signs that said something like "No Event Parking. Violators May Be Towed." I now know these were not warning signs that meet the criteria for such signs as defined by Texas law.

When I was parked at that parking lot it was maybe 1/2 to 2/3's full. The store was extremely busy. I saw people walking from the parking lot across the street to the stadium.

There were no security type people that I detected watching the Wal-Mart lot.

The last of the football games finished a bit past midnight. I have asked my source to confirm the numbers, but have yet to get that confirmation. But, I believe around 50 people exited the stadium and walked to the Wal-Mart parking lot to find their vehicles missing.

A line of taxi cabs was waiting for the people with the missing cars, offering to take them the short distance to where their vehicles had been impounded. I believe the fee was in the $10 zone.

When the people arrived at the impoundment place they were told it would take 20 minutes to process each vehicle. And cost something like $240 to get back in their vehicle.

My source, a Grandma who was with her 5 year old grandson and the grandson's pregnant mother, was able to persuade the impounder to process her quickly. She made it home sometime after 2 in the morning.

According to Texas State Law a vehicle can not be impounded unless specific verbiage, on easily seen signs, is installed on the parking lot. An impounder taking a vehicle from a lot without the proper signage is considered to have committed auto theft. The victim can recover any losses and have any damage to their vehicle paid for by the improper impounder.

What we are trying to find out is who really owns the auto impounder, Straw K, Inc. doing business as A-AARLINGTON ABANDONED VEHICLE. The property manager, that is Wal-Mart, had to have entered into an agreement with the towing company. Was this done on the local level? Or from Arkansas?

What is the arrangement with the taxi cab company? Who calls them and tells them there will be some distressed people looking for their vehicles?

If there were 50 towed vehicles that Saturday night, at $240 each, that's $12,000. Who gets that money? The towing company? Wal-Mart? The local Wal-Mart manager? Jerry Jones? Who?

The Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart & Arlington Should Not Mess With A Texas Grandma

Yes. I know, the parking lot scams and crimes have made a bit of news in Texas for awhile now. In Dallas, at the State Fair of Texas, the parking lot scams were particularly nefarious.

Today I learned we've got some nefarious parking lot scamming going on in Arlington. Courtesy of the Dallas Cowboys, Wal-Mart, with the ringleader possibly being Jerry Jones.

Earlier today I blogged this....

On a totally unrelated note, I just got email from an Arlington Grandma who wants my help in solving a mystery involving Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart and an Arlington Storage Facility. Sounds intriguing. She gave me 2 numbers to call. She says she has done some digging and has uncovered some good stuff. But she needs help writing it all out.

I was erroneous in indicating this was an Arlington Grandma who contacted me. It was a Grandma from some other Dallas suburb.

I called Grandma this afternoon. She quickly told me the short version of her issue. Car towed from Wal-Mart parking lot while attending high school play-off game in the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

I'm thinking, well there are signs suggesting event attendees not park there. And I say so to Grandma.

And that's when it got interesting. See, this particular Grandma is a real firecracker. She kept layering on the points of her issue til she had me totally getting it.

It is now pretty clear to me that Wal-Mart is pretty much breaking the law as defined by the State of Texas. That's serious business in these parts. You do not Mess with Texas. It's in our constitution.

According to Occupations Code 2308.301(b)(5) if you were towed from any parking lot without your consent and the parking lot's signage failed to contain the exact correct legalese, then you were illegally towed. Towing companies face stiff administrative fines for towing with illegal signs posted, but get away with it, everyday, because victims (motorists) fail to file a complaint.

Wal-Mart's signs are clearly not up to code.

There is a lot more to this Wal-Mart Illegal Towing/Dallas Cowboys Stadium Parking Scandal.

Jerry Jones may have a hand in what seems to be, well, a bit of racketeering. There is the appearance of some fresh dirty dealing.

Minimally there are some questions that are going to be asked that are going to need some answers.

More details to follow, as one very annoyed Grandma takes on Wal-Mart, Arlington, the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones.

East Fort Worth Wal-Mart Taken Over By Birds

I think a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds may be being filmed down at my local neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter.

As I drove towards Wal-Mart I made note of a large glowing object in the late in the day sky. I wondered if this could possibly be the "Special Star" I blogged about earlier today, that is supposed to herald the second coming of Buddha, known as Maitreya.

As I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot it did look like something supernatural was happening. I have never seen so many birds in one location. I am talking thousands of birds.

Birds in the air, in trees, lining the roof of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Birds on cars, one huge group of maybe 1000 standing on an open spot til spooked, causing a mad chain reaction. After the mad chain reaction the birds re-roost til re-stirred.

People were running into Wal-Mart like they were in The Birds, hands over head for protection.

The birds made a cacophony of noise that added to the surreal scene. Why do these birds hang out at a busy with humans and cars zone? Why not go to a nearby park like Village Creek Natural Historic Area?

I must turn on CNN now and see if Maitreya is having that promised televised news conference to announce his coming to America along with his bright star.

And, apparently huge herds of birds.

Riding The Horse With The 2 Amigos To Wal-Mart To Get A Turkey Fryer Picture

A few minutes ago I drove to my nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter to get some vittles. Vittles means food items.

My route to Wal-Mart goes down a 4 lane boulevard called John T. White Road. It's got a wide median between the lanes.

This afternoon there were 3 amigos riding their horses on the John T. White Road median.

Is median the right word? My brain is being fuzzy right now.

The horse on the right was way too frisky, darting back and forth. I was concerned the horse would dart out on the road.

I remember previous recessions, recessions that were supposedly not as bad as the current one. During the previous recessions you would notice a big difference in customers in stores, as in way fewer of them. This afternoon Wal-Mart was a madhouse of people buying stuff, carts loaded. I do not remember a previous recession where I would see so many people yapping away on cell phones. Seems a luxury, like a cell phone, would be the first thing to go when times get tough. I guess cell phones have become a necessity, not a luxury. How could one get by not being able to call from Wal-Mart to ask what brand of beans to buy?

Speaking of things to buy. Wal-Mart had a big stack of Turkey Fryers Sets and Peanut Oil by the frozen foods. Do Turkey Fryer Sets show up in stores up north these days? Are they on the west coast? I'd never heard of frying a turkey or a Turkey Fryer til I came to Texas.

Click here to read everything I've learned about frying a turkey.

My Wal-Mart Supercenter Super Car Stopping Posts

A couple weeks ago I blogged about my nearest Wal-Mart Supercenter getting attacked through the entry doors by a car heading to the McDonald's inside.

The destroyed doors were replaced within hours. The inside seems to be taking awhile to fix, though the damage was slight.

Last week heavy duty car stopping posts were stuck into the cement outside all the entries to my nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter.

After seeing the car stopping posts at the site of the attack I was surprised to see the posts added to my nearest Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

Is Wal-Mart adding these car stopping posts to Wal-Marts all over? Or is just my neighborhood at risk for car attacks through Wal-Mart doors?

One car going through the doors incident and this sort of rapid response? Something seems ridiculous about it. Right next to my nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter is a Sam's Club. Sam's Club does not have the car stopping posts. Then again, Sam's Club does not have a McDonald's inside.

It's perplexing.