Beautiful Weather: Outdoor Living, Strange…

We got a call from a regular reader here informing us that we must proceed to the corner of Grissom and Timber Path for quite the sighting of Strange in 78250. Turns out, we had witnessed this spectacle earlier. Nevertheless, proof that when the weather is nice like it is today, a refreshing 87 degrees, you can enjoy the day as long as you have the right place to sit (and apparently, the proper decor).

I know, most people bust out a few lawn chairs and take it out in the back yard, but a parking lot on a corner with a couch and a suit or armor? Strange.

KENS-5: YGBSM…

There’s an old Wild Weasel saying, “You Gotta Be Shittin’ Me” or YGBSM which I found appropriate right around 10PM this evening as I watched Karen Grace deliver a live report from San Antonio’s West Side. Turns out some homeowner was suffering from plumbing issues wherein, what went down his toilet ended up surfacing in the backyard.

As my wife and I have spent the better part of the last month preparing our house for guests, and in fact have had our kitchen appear on TV in the past, I think we can offer up a bit of advice for anyone who opens their home to TV cameras:
You might want to use a little Tidy Bowl or employ a swishing device around the commode. YGBSM! I don’t think that’s hard water build-up on the right side bottom of the bowl there. Strange!

Strange on Westoak…

This was the scene across from my Mother-in-law’s house the other day as I was pulling into the driveway.
Sometimes you wonder if things like this are the work of an amateur shade tree mechanic or if this is exactly how they would do it if you took your car to the BMW Dealership. Strange.

Strange in Home Depot…

During one of my many trips to Home Depot this weekend I parked next to this brain surgeon.
I always feel a little queasy trying to haul 12 foot boards in my short bed pick-up but it is doable if you mount them right, tie it all down and use a little flag to alert your fellow road warriors of your extended load. In case you are wondering, the boards this guy has are already in as far as they are going. And if you can’t read my little captions in yellow above, it shows the length of the bed to be about 6 feet. He easily has another 8 feet dangling out the back.

I eagerly watched the 10PM news wondering if I would see how Loop 1604 was temporarily shut down to pick up scattered lumber, but no such luck. Strange.

Strange on Culebra and Potranco….

One of my pet peeves is the rampant tagging that pops up in various parts of our city. Yesterday, I was driving down Culebra when I saw this little gem.

Vandalism for Jesus; your Father would be so proud.

Strange.

Strange on 6th Street in Austin….

Well, that probably goes without saying given the abundance of “Keep Austin Weird” bumper stickers, but at any rate, regular reader Lee reports that he was in Austin the other day and saw this little jewel.
Lee says,

“Took this pic last nite at corner off LaVaca & 6th Street in downtown Austin. SmartCar driver couldn’t find any other free parking, too cheap to pay valet parking @ $6. Valet told me that gal was a regular at Belmont’s restaurant, where I was attending a function.”

Seriously, you’d think the gal would have just pulled up on the walk and chained it to that bike rack.

Strange.

Strange In Crown Meadows…

We were driving down Culebra yesterday and saw this interesting advertising concept.
With a name like “Crown Meadows”, surely there must be some sort of aristocracy involved so naturally, you send out the king to lure in new residents.

Instead of a guy in sandals and shorts, I would have sent out Elvis.

Strange.

Memorial Day Weekend Parking…

If I hadn’t said it before, thanks to all of you who have served in the military and I hope you had an enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend.

While I was out and about, I saw two brilliant parking situations worth mentioning.
This first one was at the Home Depot on 1604 in Alamo Ranch. How do you explain this? Was the guy a member of the “curb-climbers club” suggested by Deep Forest in his comment to my post about trying to make a right hand turn at a stop light? Was it a lady driver? Was it a man driver who doesn’t know how to use his truck yet? Or was it just some liquored up guy who couldn’t keep it between the lines? The funny thing is, there are no cars parked in the next space or the next ten spaces on the passenger side, so it wasn’t a case of someone trying to squeeze in. Who knows?
This next one is the type of thing that simply drives me nuts because there is just no excuse for it. As you can see, I am driving up the lane of an obvious one direction row of parking spots at the HEB. The Mustang in front of me is doing the same thing. If you see the white Excursion or Suburban in front of him, it is an inconsiderate A-Hole driving down the aisle in the wrong direction. Hey, I can see this happening by accident from time to time; it is memorial day and you’ve had several beers when your wife sends you to HEB for some tortillas, hot dogs and more beer. You turn down the aisle and maybe you feel like a jerk. But this wasn’t the case.

This guy was actually parked in the second parking slot at the top of the aisle and he had to do a five or six point turn in order to back out of his space and purposely go the wrong direction while those of us going the proper direction had to wait and then make room for him to pass. He literally could have backed out, gone the proper direction and turned into the next aisle going the proper direction and been out of the parking lot a minute sooner. But no, he was a first class jerk. And he had the nerve to give me a dirty look when I made room for him to pass by me. Strange.

Update: Added some important links at the top…

One Thousand Posts… That’s a lot….

Yes; 1,000. And some of you have been here from the very beginning. Thanks for continuing to come back from time to time over the last three years. It never has been my intent to sell anything, just maybe turn you on to a good restaurant or two or maybe save you the agony of trying a place that is just bad. We can all use a Tasty Treat, and I hope I have turned you on to a few.

One of my favorite things is to share with you the oddities I find during my daily drive. I like to pay homage to Strange in San Antonio, a blog that is more focused than I am on the happenings around town. So when I have found something “Strange in 78250” I hope you always follow the link to even more good stuff around San Antonio. Cars crashing into houses and fences (and mail boxes) must be chronicled.

My layout is purposely big. A large font that is easy to read and pictures that somehow don’t seem to always be centered the way I want them to. I keep threatening myself with changing the format into something a little more contemporary – something more newspaper like, but can you imagine going back and fixing 1,000 posts?

I tried to take a brief hiatus at one point but found that even if I didn’t have the time to write, I still had things to tell. So the brief hiatus was really brief. Instead, I have learned that I just don’t have to post something everyday, and if I go a full week without posting, life goes on. And yet, that small hand full of you continue to come back.

Thanks.

I hope you might consider checking out some of the blogs I link to; either in the Sites for San Antonio, Check This out, or Blogs I Visit sections. All you need to do is scroll down to the end of the page and click. And if you are a regular here with a blog I haven’t linked to, why not shoot me an e-mail so I can add it?

Finally, one of the best things about having a blog is meeting folks. Eva and I have met some folks we consider to be great people and friends simply from the interactions here. Sid & Al, Matt & Leah, Pete & Lydia, Rick, Maureen and several more. Hell, we didn’t even meet Jacque (aka YellowDog Granny) in person, but she hooked us up for dinner during a visit to West, TX. Blogs are great for interacting with folks. If you don’t have one, give it a try and send me the link. Oh, and feel free to follow me. If you have a Google account, you know the drill.

And that’s it. 1,000.

Strange on Culebra: Don’t Forget the Sunscreen…

I routinely find at least one thing to generate a smile (or at least a hearty “WTF?”) as I drive up Culebra each day on my way home from work. Today found me giggling at a stop light at the intersection of Culebra and Loop 410.
Injured? the sign reads. No, but I could use some extra sunglasses to shield my eyes from that blinding white belly. At least the guy is doing something useful while he is on the clock. Today was a perfect day to kick back and enjoy the sun and listen to some tunes. Is that a small cooler there? He is set!
Kickin’ back, sunning himself, doing a little advertising for a retired lawyer. Strange? I say it’s good work if you can get it.