ShowMeBlog

TXU Customer Support? Call in sick today.

  I am very happy with TXU Energy.   I think the price is good and I like their web site and that I can see how much power I am using each day, week, month etc.
  I know how much my bill is going to be even before I get the bill.
Pretty neat.
  But this week they messed up!  Not sure if Leap Year was the cause but I got the email below and it shows that for one day  (Tuesday) that I used 5833 KW of power!  So my electric cost for that one day would be $508.00

  I am sure their computer messed up.  In fact I already paid the bill for the month they are talking about and the total cost for the month was $30.95

  So if you are a customer support employee for TXU energy in the Fort Worth area you may want to call in sick today and miss work.  I am sure I am not the only person that got an email like that and there are going to be some upset and screaming and worried customers calling today.
 

Here's the weekly Electricity Usage Report that you requested. It shows your energy usage patterns and costs, as well as the temperature variations that impacted both during this time period. We hope this information gives you better insight into your electricity usage so that you can manage your consumption and lower your costs.

Your Electricity Use At-A-Glance

kWh

Dollars

Actual Usage for Week of 02/20 - 02/26
6055
$508

Projection for Billing Cycle Ending 02/29
8555 - 8565
$718 - $719

As you review the graphs below, please keep in mind that weather and lifestyle changes can impact your electricity usage.

Weather temperature data for the 76116 zip code is based on information received from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

Usage information provided in the Electricity Usage Report is based on estimates provided by the Smart Meter Texas Portal. Usage data may not be available on occasion. If there is a short disruption in data communication, your summary may reflect missing data. If data is missing for a prolonged period of time, we may suspend sending your report until sufficient data can be collected. Your monthly bill provides your actual usage and costs.

 

 

George Rivas of the Texas Seven to die Wednesday

  All my life I have objected to capital punishment.  I have given those reasons in my BBS and then my blog for years.  Most of you, I think, do not agree with me on the issue of capital punishment.  I can understand your reasons.

  One point that I have always made over the years is that if the state can not keep someone that is a killer in jail then I think the death penalty should be used.
  I also feel that anyone that kills another person should get life and never get out. 

  Back in 2000 I was not living in Texas when the Texas Seven broke out of a South Texas prison.  They then killed a Texas police officer.  You may remember the story.  It was big news on TV.  I said then in my blog that I guess Texas needed to use the death penalty because they could not keep killers in prison.

  Escapee who killed Irving officer in 2000 is ready to die

“BY DARREN BARBEE

dbarbee@star-telegram.com

In 2001, after Texas Seven escapee George Rivas was

captured in Colorado, Star-Telegram reporter

Darren Barbee got an exclusive jailhouse interview

with him. This month, Rivas said he would talk

only to Barbee about his pending execution.

LIVINGSTON -- In the months leading up to his 2000 escape from a South Texas prison, George Rivas had made up his mind that he would gain his freedom or die trying.

Roughly 11 years later, the mastermind of one of the most daring prison escapes in Texas history is just days from execution. His attorney has told him that his appeals are exhausted and that a reprieve, unlikely for a cop killer, could come only through clemency…”

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/26/3763227/escapee-who-killed-irving-officer.html#storylink=cpy

Snow in Fort Worth

FrackNation vs GasLand

  Fracking is big in Texas.  I saw the documentary GasLand and that is about the first time that I learned about fracking.  I had seen some stories about problems here in Texas with fracking and with the corporations refusing to tell about the stuff they were pumping into the ground.  There was also reports of it being done next to schools and parks.  So little pipes were sticking up from the ground and no one knew there were even there.
  But I learned a lot from the GasLand documentary.  Now I am not a Republican so I don’t take anything I see as fact until I hear other points of view and do some research on my own.

  I guess the right and the fracking people are going to put out their own documentary called FrackNation soon.

What is wrong with these two photos?

  My Canon G12 camera is one of the best cameras for taking photos with very little light and I just love taking those sort of photos.

  I took these two photos last night.  Do you see anything wrong?

  United States Flag Code says that the flag should be illuminated if displayed at night.  Of course this is Texas ( ) and Rick Perry was thinking about taking the state out of the union. 
  The flag is flying at number 23 Fort Worth fire station.  
  A lot of people do not follow the flag code.  Plus with trying to hold down budgets and electrical costs is it a good idea to do it now days?

  I just feel if the building was not a fire station and say it was an ACLU office or a union office you would have a mob of red neck Texans with torches and pitchforks outside screaming that the flag of our nation was not being treated with respect because they were a bunch of Communist. 

  But back to the subject of my camera.  There was very little light out when I took these photos.  The camera works great with little light.  But you also get the true feel for everything. 

Best Places to Retire 2012

  I saw that the AARP site had a list of “10 Great Sunny Places to Retire.”  That sounded good to me.  You know I love the sun and warm weather.  I decided to check it out.

“…To help you with that decision, AARP canvassed the country and found 10 great places where the sun shines in abundance, clear skies accentuate the scenery and the sublime weather gets people outdoors to play — and to meet other like-minded retirees…”

 

  Well here is there list;  Asheville NC, Grand Junction CO, Sarasota FL, Las Cruces NM, San Luis Obispo CA, St. George UT, Santa Fe NM, Bend OR AND Fort Worth Texas! 
  Fort Worth?  My God, why not say the surface of the sun is a good place to live!
  People do not get out side in the summer time to play in Fort Worth.  Not in the summer time.  You stay inside with the air conditioning running day and night. 
  In Fort Worth all summer it is hot.  If you have a day that it gets down to 100 degrees you are happy and think it is a cold spell.  It is hot  HOT   H  O  T and no rain for months. 

  Is the AARP trying to kill off their membership?  

  They do talk about Fort Worth and the other cities.  They do say that it is a rough place to live if you have asthma or allergies (Thanks Gov. Perry).  
  “The metro has rates of heart disease, violent crime and property crime well above the national averages.”

  I could be wrong.  I live here but I do not have a car and I have not been all over Fort Worth.  I do know that the summers are super hot here.  
  I live on the west side of Fort Worth.  I live in a nice apartment complex.  This is a two bedroom and two bathroom apartment.  It cost me $615.00 a month. We do not pay for water or trash.  The electric bill runs $50.00 a month in the winter and $150.00 in the summer. 
  Just a few blocks away are some pretty scary apartments.  If I was living in one of those I would be sleeping with a gun next to my bed. This is a gated apartment unit and the management is very good about keeping things safe for everyone. 

  I hate to talk bad about the place that I live but I do not think that Fort Worth should be on a list of great places to retire. 

Gun shots start 2012

  I live on the west side of Fort Worth (TX).  I went to bed at 11:30 PM and I woke up at 3 minutes after midnight on January 1st to the sounds of gun shots.  For the next 10 or 15 minutes I heard gun shots from different types of guns and in different directions.
  I did hear what sounded like fireworks one or two times.
 
  I hope and pray that no one was hurt.  I did not tune into the police department to see what they were doing at the time.
  Last year I went out side with my digital camera to make a video and get the sound for the video but a police officer pulled into the apartment complex and I decided I better go back inside without making a video.  Did not want some sort of error to take place.  Did not want the police officer to see me pointing a digital camera and thinking it was a gun.
 
  This year I did not get out of bed. 
  What a shame that Americans have to fear being hit by a stray bullet at the start of a new year.

Grandson walked into Air Jordan frenzy

  My grandson is 22 years old.  He has never been in trouble with the police.  He is working.  He works at a mall. 
  My grandson is biracial (half black). 
  When he got home from work he told me what happened today about 0530 hours.  He was walking towards the mall to go to work and a police officer took his arm and pulled him hard back away from the mall.  The officer demanded to know where he was going.  My grandson told him he was going to work.  The officer demanded to see his employee ID card and Russell did not have it with him.  The officer then asked him how he was going to get into the mall and he told the officer and the officer then let him go into the mall and go to work.
  From listening to the RadioReference archives of Fort Worth police calls for that time it appears that there was a very large group of blacks that were inside the mall running around.
  From reading CNN it appears it was happening all over the United States.
  A new version of the Michael Jordan athletic shoes sent fans to malls across the United States to get the shoes!
 
  
  I am not saying the police did anything wrong.  I am not even saying it was racial profiling. They were dealing with a group of blacks.  So it makes sense they would be checking blacks.
  But I love my grandson and I hate to see something like that happen to him.
  I am also glad that nothing bad happened. 
 
  I am not sure if the feelings that I am having are normal.  Some other grandfather might be mad or upset or in a rage.
  But I have been a police officer.  I have was a security officer from 1971 to 2000 in Kansas City.  During that time I worked part-time security at a shopping mall.
  After 2000 I worked security in Orlando (FL), Dallas (TX) and Miami (FL).  For one year, in Miami, I worked full time doing mall security.   So I can see both sides of events like this.

  My grandson was not upset or mad about anything.  He did not come home angry.  He just wanted to tell me about it. 

  I am thinking how stupid of people to go nuts about shoes.  Then I think hell I have seen women going nuts over sales and wedding dresses.  People get crazy over thing they want.

  When things like this happen both sides need to calm down and use good sense.  Things can get out of hand.

OFW pack up your tents and go home

  I went to the Occupy Fort Worth protest today.  I was thinking they might have about 50 people at the protest.  I was thinking that would not be very good but what do you expect it is Texas after all.
  Well there was less than 15 protesters.  To add insult to injury the police did not even have one officer at the protest.

  The Occupy Fort Worth protesters need to pack up their tents and go home.  OH, I forgot they do not have any tents.

One eating place down and …

  I was sorry to see that the location of the Tokyo Steak House is for rent.  They had great Thai and Japanese food but I do not think they had customers.  I was a customer but I could not eat enough to keep them open. 

  No question about it now they are out of business.

  This was the closest eating place to me. 

  Today I went over to Carniceria Y Taqueria Dos.  It is a Mexican store that also has a counter and some tables and will make real Mexican food.  You can eat it there or take it home. 
  I am not sure what I had but it was excellent.  It was big and it tasted good.  Next time I am going to take it home.  I could share with Russell or it would make two meals for me.
 
 

  Carniceria Y Taqueria Dos is at 8631 Camp Bowie West Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76116-601 and their phone number is 817-560-9474.
  Great food but a word of warning this is not a fancy café or eating place.  You do not want to take a date there to impress her.