Visiting the doctor

Dave at Living Out Here went to the doctor, and he got surprised a little.

I'm keeping him in my prayers. Please consider doing the same.

Bee crashes truck

The vehicles run rampant in this town, and often they inflict tremendous damage on unsuspecting houses and fences. What can take them down? What can halt their marauding progress?

The lowly bee.

SAN ANTONIO - A busy bee is being blamed for causing a big accident on the East Side. The driver of an 18-wheeler told police he was swatting at a bee in his cab at around noon Monday when he lost control. The truck rolled over into the median between the frontage road and the main lanes of Loop 410 near W.W. White.

(from WOAI-TV)

Witness apian carnage.



The driver is expected to be OK, but that truck has seen much, much better days.


Bonus strangeness: Holy cow! Look at that temperature in the lower right-hand corner of that image. 106! Fahrenheit! Even for South Texas that's damn hot!

Cars crash into home

Holy cow, house-destroying autos now come in herds!

SAN ANTONIO -- Not one, but three cars crashed into a home early Saturday morning on the city's west side.

Police said a drunken driver hit several parked cars on Shadbush Street around 2 a.m. Saturday, sending three of the cars crashing into a home.

(from KENS-5)

It's really unfair, you know, the way the homes are outnumbered. They don't stand a chance.

A driver who should have thought a little more

About who he brings with him on fast food runs.

Investigators say it was just before 5:00 a.m. Wednesday when a vehicle with three men inside pulled up to the drive-thru and placed an order. Employees told police the vehicle left and then came back around to complain about the order being wrong.

The attendant at the drive-thru window called police when the man in the back seat got angry and started waving a gun around.

Police searched the area for two men who fled on foot. The driver of the vehicle is cooperating with police.

(from WOAI-TV)

Just make sure you don't bring the same guy on a beer run.

Or, maybe do.

Give it a little thought either way.

Not knowing the least bit

About firearms, that is.

A 61-year-old man was hospitalized Sunday after a gun misfired and shot him in the chest.

(from KENS-5)



I hate to break it to you, KENS 5 staff, but if a gun misfires, then nobody gets shot. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite of firing. Here's a link that can help you in the future.

Chupacabra?

Really?

FLORESVILLE -- Robert Salinas said he's seen plenty of critters captured on his Gamecam, but never a hairless dog.

"If that's not a chupacabra, I don't know what is," he said.

Salinas, 31, captured the image of the mysterious creature on a motion sensative camera he had set up on a buddy's hunting property near the San Antonio River and Labatt Road, in Floresville.

(from KENS-5)

Jeez, how badly do people want to believe in this fictional, legendary, mystical, dirty-looking creature that seems to pose no danger to humans? Really, how bad?

Robert Salinas said he's seen plenty of critters captured on his Gamecam, but never a hairless dog.

Well, there's a first time for everything, even the spotting of hairless dogs.

"If that's not a chupacabra, I don't know what is," he said.

I'm going to go out on a limb and take a wild guess, and I'm going to say Mr. Salinas doesn't know what a chupacabra is. I mean, he seems to speak with authority, as if he's actually had prior experience with chupacabras (or at least the Texas variety), and he may actually be a leading figure in chupacabra lore. But I doubt it.

Salinas, 31, captured the image of the mysterious ...

Because dog-like creatures with mange are so rare.

... creature on a motion sensative [sic!] camera he had set up on a buddy's hunting property near the San Antonio River and Labatt Road, in Floresville.

There's part of his problem. No one's going to believe you when you start making up names like "Labatt" Road. Everyone knows there ain't nothin' but county roads down there anyway.

"I know it ain't no coyote," Salinas said. "You know what I mean?"

Hm. OK. That settles it, then.

Car crashes into house

Almost!

The accident happened around 11:30 a.m. Friday at a house on Colorado Street, near Buena Vista. The SUV hit an [sic] palm tree in front of the home. The tree ended up falling over onto the porch of the home.

(from WOAI-TV)



Bonus strangeness: A fence was taken out, too, but how could it not be -- look at how close that fence is to that house!

Saves time on the yard work, I suppose.

Living with screwed priorities

It can be a weird experience to live your life not knowing what should come first. Quite weird.

[A] maintenance worker had stopped by the couple's unit to fix a water leak. The man told police he heard a baby crying, and that's when he discovered a one-year-old child left alone inside one of the apartment closet's [sic].

"After the maintenance man calls police and EMS, the occupants of the apartment returned. At that point they're put under arrest. And the story, preliminarily, is that they left the baby unattended to purchase a mouse for the pet snake," says SAPD's Sgt. Chris Benavides.

The child is alright and currently is in care of Child Protective Services.

Police also say while they [sic] the toddler was left crying in a closet, the young couple took their pet snake with them on their trip to the pet store. Officers found it loose in the back of the suspect's vehicle.

(from KENS-5)

I suppose it's a good thing they didn't leave the kid and the snake behind together, for the baby's safety. Of course, it would have been just as safe to, you know, take the kid instead.

Does that really have to be said?

"Shooting Victim's Sister Seeks Meaning Of Graffiti Quotes"

This is a tad weird.

SAN ANTONIO -- Besides sharing a name, Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara and San Antonian Raul "Che" Gonzalez were killed four decades apart -- Guevara by the Bolivian army in 1967; Gonzalez by an unknown shooter on June 10.

Now they are linked by two of Guevara's famous quotes.

Someone left the first message at the crime scene soon after the 32-year-old father and music producer was shot in the face and chest behind a strip mall at Ingram and Callaghan.

Gonzalez's sister, Sandy Levy, said she can only speculate why someone first scrawled, "Go ahead and shoot, coward, because you're only killing a man. I am Che."

"It made me sad because it made me realize how much my brother meant to this community," Levy said.

The second Guevara quote appeared most recently at a laundromat at Wilson and Cincinnati, near where Gonzalez's mother still lives.

Levy said their mother was taken aback when she went there to dry her laundry and saw what was crudely scrawled at the entrance, "I don't care if I fall as long as someone picks up my gun and keeps on shooting. I am Che."

(from KSAT-12)

I doubt this has anything to do with the shooting victim. I think someone is using Che Guevara as a pitiful source of inspiration for the mysterious graffiti, but the similarity to San Antonio's Che Gonzalez is purely coincidental. Someone's trying to be clever and edgy (if references to Che Guevara could ever be "edgy" anymore), and Gonzalez's family sees meaning in it, but I don't think they have anything to worry about.

San Japan

Did you catch the show at the Rivercenter Marriott?



Did you find your way there?



If you didn't, don't worry. KENS-5 took some pictures for you.

Strange at Cowboys Camp

Just as long as he doesn't ask about the basement in the Alamodome.

Pee-wee Herman made a surprise appearance at Dallas Cowboys training camp on Thursday night and posed for pictures with various front office members, coaches and players. No reason was given for the visit, so we'll assume it's because he was invited by Dez Bryan.

(from Yahoo Sports)


AP photo

Actually I think he was in San Antonio as part of a shoot for one of the Food Network shows that's taking place at The Pearl. As to why he made an appearance at the Cowboys' practice, I don't know, but I think it's kinda cool.

Car crashes into house

More carnage, this time on Grosenbacher Road.

Miguel Martinez had just finished changing a light bulb in the bathroom Monday morning when he heard a loud crash at the opposite end of his West Bexar County home.

Martinez, 41, said he tried to stay calm, gathering his two daughters who were with him on the same side of the house at Grosenbacher Road and White Birch Street and sending them to a neighbor.

“By then I knew what probably happened,” he said. “I could hear the driver moaning. I came out and saw him.”

...

Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dale Bennett said [James Anthony] Gonzales was driving south on Grosenbacher when he dropped his cellphone on the passenger side floorboard.

When he reached down to grab it, his knee got stuck beneath the steering wheel, and he lost control of his truck, Bennett said.

(from the Express-News)

And the errant vehicle did this much damage ...



... after taking out a utility pole! That's one sturdy truck.

Someone who needs to start thinking. At least a little.

If you got arrested for, say, committing a burglary, you'd want to make sure all that stuff they allege you have stolen is well-hidden, right? Who can blame you? But you might want to make sure it's all hidden before they actually pick you up.

Police say they picked up Sean Simmons on [a burglary charge] Monday, July 25th. While he was in their custody, he reportedly made a call to someone asking them to hide some stolen guns and televisions he had at his home. Police later recovered those items.

(from WOAI-TV)

Sometimes they make it so easy for the police. And for that, I'm grateful.

Alcove crashes into River Walk

This definitely something that you don't want happening on your world-famous tourist attraction.

SAN ANTONIO -- Crews on Monday were removing large chunks of limestone after Saturday's collapse of one of two slabs over an alcove for a decorative fountain on the River Walk, just down from Main Plaza.

Paula Stallcup, director of downtown operations, said the slabs overhead are 8 to 10 feet long, 14 inches tall and about 2 to 3 feet thick.

She said no one was injured.

Stallcup also said an engineer will look into why the collapse occurred as well as make certain the remaining slab is secure.

(from KSAT-12)