In The Vortex

Category: General Talk

  • Explosion Video Release Update

    My apologies for the lack of posts lately.  The difficult chase season this year, combined with the explosion, destruction of the old chase vehicle, building of the new one, etc etc etc  finally wore me down and I had to disconnect a little while and do some other things.

    I wanted to post an update about the status of the explosion video for those that inquired about getting a copy.

    First, because of a contractual arrangement with a production company, I can’t release it until a certain program airs, so that is the reason I haven’t had it available as fast as I thought I would. It will be as soon as it airs. (No, I can’t say which one yet either).

    Secondly, the cost of getting a copy…

    I had full intentions of making this freely available on a DVD for any official fire department who wanted it.  What I didn’t take into account and completely underestimated was the sheer amount of requests I would receive.  Well over 500 at this point.  This basically makes it economically impossible for me to give them away free of charge.

    My alternative is a minimal charge that covers cost to produce them and shipping. With that in mind, that is the best I can hope to do and still be able to get a copy to everyone that wanted one.  I don’t have the final cost yet, but it will be very minimal and should easily be within reach of anyone (think less than $10). My apologies now that I am unable to do a free one are in order, but as you can see, the postage alone would be a significant amount.  This wasn’t a decision I wanted to make or take lightly.  But it had to be done nonetheless.

    Once I am able to release it I will make a big deal about it here and do my best to let everyone know that emailed about it that it is available.  The fire departments that were involved in the fire still will get free copies.

  • Lubbock, TX Does Not Exist says Associated Press

    …or so it would seem they think so anyway.  Below is a quote of a recent AP story:

    HOUSTON (AP) – Texans hitting the road for Thanksgiving are finding retail gas prices at levels to give thanks for.

    The weekly AAA Texas gasoline price survey released Wednesday found self-serve, regular was averaging $1.75 per gallon. That’s 13 cents lower than last week.

    Nationally, the average price per gallon fell 16 cents to $1.86 per gallon.

    The most expensive gasoline this week was in El Paso, where it averaged $1.92 per gallon.

    The cheapest gas is in Amarillo, at $1.66 per gallon.

    AAA Texas spokeswoman Sarah Schimmer says the auto club expects 7.8% of all U.S. travel during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to be in Texas. Schimmer says 2.5 million Texans plan to be driving.

    Note the line I bolded there.  Currently gas in Lubbock, which is easily checked at texasgasprices.com, is averaging $1.50/gal.  So obviously Amarillo does NOT have the cheapest gas in the state.

    I could understand not checking lots of small towns, but Lubbock is at least as big as Amarillo, if not bigger, and certainly has received plenty of national attention in the sports arena lately.

    Normally I would have passed this off as a slip up or even rushing to do the report and not having complete facts, but every time they release one of these, which seems to be weekly, it’s the same thing.

    What gives AP?