WaMu Finally Not KuKu

It's been almost a month since WaMu melted down and caused me woes due to taking way too long to credit a couple checks that'd been deposited.

Today, WaMu finally made good on their mistakes, re-imbursing me for what their mistakes had cost me. And sending letters to those with whom WaMu had caused a problem for me, explaining it was their problem, not mine.

So, I felt better about WaMu this afternoon. And so I deposited the first check since the WaMu Meltdown Debacle.

Was there anything odd about this deposit? Yes. There was. This time the receipt says the full amount of the deposit is available. I'll hold onto that receipt.

Texas Home Invasion Saves Energy

I've had me 2 days in a row of my peace being disturbed by home invasions. It has not been quite as bad as being at my little sister's in Tacoma when roofers ripped off her roof and put a new one on to the loud disapproval of a pair of highly vigilant poodles.

Yesterday I had those AT & T people in here doing all sorts of things. While that was going on there were people in the attic making a racket doing stuff with seals and insulation.

This morning the doors got attacked from the outside with this thick insulation that makes it hard to shut and lock the door. By noon the interior of this place was invaded by a crew of 4 or 5. I came back here, at that time, to find all the lights on, a guy standing in my tub, another on a ladder in the kitchen, all vents and plug covers off and another guy stuck halfway inside the vent hole under the furnace/AC unit.

I had to get out of here, so I went over to Miss Puerto Rico's and used her computer and sat on her balcony watching humanity pass below me. And then a downpour started up that lasted over an hour. I was trapped. When the rain finally let up I ran back here to find 3 people still in here. But they were soon gone.

I thought it was over. But then about 3pm there was a loud knocking on the door. I opened it to find 2 guys with all sorts of paraphernalia. A huge fun, several meters, ladders and, most disturbing, a giant bright orange plastic thing with a hole in it. You can see the two tester guys and their giant bright orange plastic thing in the photo, as well as some of their paraphernalia.

They were in here to seal off the place and then test it for leaks to make sure the previous crew got everything airtight and energy efficient. So, the tester guys sealed up all the vents and then put the big orange plastic thing with a hole in it covering the door.

When they got everything sealed up then the fun started. The first test created a vacuum as this big fan thing sucked the air out of here and out the hole in the big orange plastic thing. That test passed.

Then it was reversed and the big fan thing pressurized the air in here. It passed that test too. The tester guy told me if I opened the sliding patio door there'd be a big whoosh. So I opened it and there was a big whoosh.

As far as I know this was the last of the home invasions. I hope.

This home invasion, energy saving improvement was brought courtesy TXU/Oncor. I'm sure I'll be very grateful when I find it easier to stay warm this winter.

A Beautiful Child's Horror

I've long liked reading true crime books, with Ann Rule being my favorite true crime writer. But, sometimes it is way too disturbing reading these type books.

With Ann Rule's books part of what made them interesting to me is so many of her books are about murders about which I am familiar due to living in the northwest where many of the crimes Ann Rule details take place.

Ironically, parts of the story in the latest true crime book I've read took place here in Texas and Oklahoma, at locations with which I am familiar. The book I'm referring to is titled "A Beautiful Child" by Matt Birkbeck.

It tells the disturbing story of the girl you see in the photo. In the late '80s, that girl, who went by many names, but who for most of her life was known as "Sharon Marshall" was a bright and beautiful high-school senior in Florida. Top of her class and the leader of her ROTC unit who scored well on the SATs, earning a full scholarship to Georgia Tech.

A few years later, she would be dead and the details of her life would gradually come to light, to the shock of the people investigating her death.

In the early '70s, "Sharon" had been kidnapped at the age of 4 or 5 by a psychopath named Franklin Delano Floyd. Floyd raised her as his daughter. But, as the police and FBI investigating her death would come to find out, he was molesting her for her entire life.

A few years after Sharon graduated high school, Floyd took her to Louisiana and married her.

Soon afterward, Sharon gave birth to a son, Michael. Later, DNA testing would prove Floyd was not the father.

In 1990, Sharon was killed by a hit-and-run driver (most suspect Floyd). Sharon did not die from her injuries and was coming out of her coma when she received a late night hospital visit from Floyd. She was dead the next morning.

Later, Floyd kidnapped Michael from his school, and killed him a few days later. Following the kidnapping, photos were discovered in a vehicle Floyd had stolen in Dallas which revealed the true horror that had been Sharon’s life. Photos of Sharon being sexually abused and molested from the age of 4 or 5 til her early teens.

Floyd is now on death row in Florida for the murder of an exotic dancer in the mid '90s, a conviction made possible due to other photos discovered at the same time as Sharon’s molestation photos.

Floyd had been convicted of and imprisoned for the rape of a 4 year old girl in the early 60s. He was let out of prison a few years later. To me that is as great a crime as any other part of the story. Child molestation should get the death penalty in my Draconian world view.

"Sharon's" true identity is still unknown. Somewhere in America there may be a mom and dad still wondering what happened to their little girl. They would not be wondering and "Sharon" would still be alive, if Floyd had never been allowed back out of prison. Appalling. And it happens way too often.

401 Keg Retirement Plan For The Bad Economy

Port Aransas's #1 Song Bird, Alma, sent me some amusing retirement advice this morning. This is likely old advice for a lot of people, but I'd not seen it before.

I think this is a plan I can get behind.....

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago you would have $49.00 left.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00.

With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

It's called the 401-Keg.

Texas Gas Price & AT & T U-Verse Email Sending Problem

I thought the installation of my new AT & T Internet/TV system had been successful. So, I took off, unaware I was leaving an email problem behind.

On the way to my destination I needed gas. Yesterday I'd seen it at $2.57. There was a long line to save a few cents on a few gallons of gas. So, today I paid a bit more, but had no line. I think it was $2.65.

As my faithful readers know, when I get gas I call my Mom and Dad. Usually my Mom answers. Today it was Dad. We talked for a long time. Dad hears well when he's on the phone. I don't think my Mom and Dad have heard from my little sister in awhile. I fear they feel she's ignoring them. I mentioned that she's real busy taking care of Little Evie. I try to call Mom and Dad at least once a week. I'm what you call the stereotypical perfect son that most Mom's and Dad's dream they'd have.

I got back here and checked email. I had an email that required a reply. But I could not send. With Charter this was never a problem, but near as I can tell, AT & T is in some deal with the devil known as Yahoo and somehow their email is entwined like some demon marriage that produces evil spawn.

I Googled for help. I am not alone. I think AT & T and Yahoo want to make it difficult so you'll use the Yahoo email program and thus be exposed to ads. I, in my innocent, ignorant naivete, thought that AT & T was a legit ISP, that they were just my broadband portal to the Internet. I didn't realize they also were going to play the role of Internet Spam Nanny Cop.

That's what I read more than once. The send blocking is intended to filter spam. I can go through some bizarrely byzantine process to validate up to 10 non-Yahoo email addresses from which I would be allowed to send email via the AT & T/Yahoo connection.

Why was I not informed of this? Does anyone have a solution? Besides begging Charter for forgiveness. But I like the TV part of this deal.

Bye Bye Charter Communications, Hello AT & T U-Verse

Exactly on time 2 AT & T installers showed up, a guy and a gal. Everything about them reeked of quality. They even put on these plastic bootie things when they came inside, so as to not to muddy up the carpets. Even though it isn't muddy outside.

Initially they said the install would take up to 3 hours. But they were done in way less than 2. My entire old network system is gone, including the new router I bought 3 weeks ago. The new system is wireless.

The DVR thing looks like it will take some getting used to. But it isn't like I watch a lot of TV. I like the picture in a picture option. That seems useful. The picture quality is much better too.

After the AT & T people left I had the pleasure of calling Charter Communications to cancel them. I got an American on the phone rather quickly, rather than some random Joe in a foreign land. The customer service person tried see if I'd stay if she could sweeten the deal. I told her, honey, it's already done, I'm using AT & T now.

She had the nerve to ask why I switched. As if she didn't know people aren't happy with Charter. So I told her I didn't like losing things like TCM and Bravo along with a rate increase, that AT & T I-verse was cheaper and I got way more, as in 2 DVR player things, a wireless system and way better service.

The Charter person told me I needed to return the modem that apparently I was leasing. I told her she could have someone pick it up. She was not cooperative with that concept. But what are they gonna do? Cancel my service? Nope, that's already been taken care of.

Mineral Wells Baker Hotel May Be Saved

In my first year in Texas, when it was still all new to me and I was still enjoying going out and about and exploring my new world, I came upon the town of Mineral Wells, about 40 miles west of Fort Worth.

Before driving into Mineral Wells I went to Mineral Wells State Park and discovered my first scenic thing in Texas, that being Penitentiary Hollow. Penitentiary Hollow is a maze of cliffs and caves where a lot of rock climbing takes place.

After I was done exploring the state park I drove into Mineral Wells. Ahead of me I saw this giant, totally out of place, building. When I got back to a computer I quickly learned it was the infamous Baker Hotel. A resort hotel that sprang up in the 1920s which attracted all sorts of celebrities, drawn to the supposed curative powers of what was called Crazy Water.

Years later, in the 60s, it was discovered that Crazy Water's curative powers came from the naturally occurring lithium present in the water. The government shut it down. The Baker Hotel gradually died.

Over the years there have been attempts to restore the Baker Hotel. Always with good intentions. But it always falls apart. The latest attempt was announced yesterday. It seems like this attempt might be viable. The plan is to remodel the Baker Hotel into a mixed use building with various levels of senior type housing and elderly care.

I'm guessing that once the renovation plan is costed out the people interested will decide it's not viable. I hope not, though.

Dallas Cowboy Con Job

Yet one more letter to the editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from a disgruntled Texan cranky at what was done in Arlington to get Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys a new stadium.

I particularly liked the heading on this letter. "Cowboy Con Job."

Here's the letter.......

Cowboy con job

The latest Pacman Jones debacle has the silver-tongued Jerry Jones describing it as a personal thing. This is the same silver-tongued mega-wealthy man who conned the Arlington taxpayers into paying for a new mega-stadium for him. No matter that eminent domain displaced many out of their homes for a mega-stadium parking lot. The emperors of Rome offered free bread and games to keep the masses happy, so it follows that the Arlington taxpayer will get the same benefits.

Jones will charge mega-prices to watch his band of not-so-merry men, and not one dime will arrive in the taxpayers’ mailbox in the form of a royalty check. It seems that Jones will hire anybody if it means winning a Super Bowl.

-- Alexandra W. Wolf, Fort Worth

Getting Rid Of Charter Communications

If all goes well, by later today I should be able to report that I am rid of Charter Communications and that my new AT & T U-verse Internet and TV cable system is working.

Charter annoyed its customers across the country in July when they arbitrarily moved several popular channels, like TCM and Bravo to new locations not accessible without some sort of converter.

Calling Charter about the missing channels got you to some foreign land where gibberish was spoken and the call quickly became an attempt to sell Charter phone service.

Last week to compound the aggravation Charter had the gall to send a letter detailing a price increase! Lesser service now at a greater price.

With this AT & T U-verse thing I get a DVR, whatever that is, that can record 4 channels at once. I can't imagine having 4 things on TV at the same time that I'd want to watch. And I'll have TCM and Bravo back viewable. Just in time for the new season of Top Chef.

Chesapeake Energy Cancels Shale.TV

Falling prices has Chesapeake Energy and the other gas drillers doing some major changing. As in stopping the poking a hole in the ground process at some locations. I've seen one pull out in my neighborhood.

And now Chesapeake Energy is cancelling their controversial Shale.TV show.

A well known Dallas/Fort Worth TV news guy named Tracy Rowlett had been hired to be the face of Shale.TV. There was a lot of local derision about his decision to be a shill for Chesapeake Energy. Rowlett becoming a Chesapeake shill had closely followed the ill-fated Chesapeake ad campaign that used actor Tommy Lee Jones. That ad campaign caused a lot of controversy due to its over the top ridiculousness.

Jerri Robbins, Chesapeake's public relations manager, said the move comes in response to the “economic challenges” faced by the country and the industry.

I wonder if we'll get to see all the Chesapeake Energy signs removed from the Fort Worth buses soon? That'd be nice.