JasonOverstreet's Blog

Storm chasing today, it was clear North Texas nearly missed a read weather disaster.  We followed a super cell moving from over Lewisville Lake toward Frisco.  It rotated and looked like it was about to drop a tornado several times.  If it had, the neighborhoods just south of highway 380 would have been right in the path.  It was a bit frightening to watch from our vantage point near the Rough Riders ball park.  Thank goodness the storm weakened just in time.

I need your help.  I will never hear the end of it if Fil beats me in the Snowman Showdown.  I'm trailing in the voting, but I think we can make a come back before Good Day.  Let's here from the Metro North and beat Tarrant County!

VOTE FOR JASON'S SNOWMAN!

Now I have a better appreciation for how the losing candidate feels on election day :)

We saw the aftermath of a foreclosure as part of our story today.  What a mess!  It’s sad to see people lose their homes, but it’s also sad to see such little care for how they leave the property.  This was a nice Plano house that we found filled with trash, fast food wrappers and broken glass.  The former occupants also decided to empty their fire extinguisher all over the house.

I guess, frustrated homeowners getting evicted from a house think they are getting back at the bank by trashing the place.  Maybe they don’t realize, the bank never sees the property.  Constables (paid with our tax dollars) and movers hired by the bank deal with the mess.  Then the property goes up for auction.  Nobody who cares sees the aftermath of the temper tantrums thrown by these homeowners.

Sadly, the biggest losers in these situations are other property owners nearby who not only face having a vacant house on their street, but a trashed vacant house.  What a nice gift to leave behind for your neighbors.

Of all the disasters that take people’s homes, I think wild fires may be the worst.  At least usually in hurricanes, floods or tornadoes there is something left to recover.  Fire often leaves nothing… no photos no memories… zero.  My heart aches for all the people suffering with this week’s fires.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Anthony Bond and his family.  Covering the story of Billy Bond’s tragic death on Thursday was very difficult. 

I know some viewers questioned whether we should have been talking with Mr. Bond when the emotions of losing his brother were so raw.  We all hear every day about traffic wrecks and rarely give it a second thought.  Had it not been for Mr. Bond having the courage to speak with reporters, most people would have viewed the incident as just another wreck slowing traffic on the tollway.  It’s about time we stop looking at car wrecks as “accidents” and victims as nameless victims. 

Hearing Mr. Bond speak put a lump in my throat.  I couldn’t sleep last night.  You will never see me drive aggressively or put someone else at risk on the road.  I hope after seeing Anthony Bond’s tears, some of you feel the same way too.

So much is made of the day after Thanksgiving being the first big day of the holiday gift shopping season.  Just an observation, but I think Black Friday is not so much a gift day as it is a shop for me day.  Most of the people I spoken with waiting in line to get deals over the years were not braving the cold for to get something special for their kids or family, they were buying for themselves.

For the record, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with getting a great deal for you.  I’m just making an observation that big shopping day sometimes doesn’t feel like it’s in the spirit of giving.

We stopped at a restaurant for lunch today and they had Christmas music playing in the dining room.  I enjoy getting into the holiday spirit, but it seemed a bit odd for an early November day when it’s 80 degrees out.  Maybe business could hold off until Thanksgiving, or at least when it gets cold enough for a coat before playing Jingle Bells.

Ok… I want to finally leave the dark ages and get rid of my old beat up brick phone that’s been weighing me down for years.  I have been looking at getting a smart phone, but the options are kind of overwhelming.  Any advice out there about phones you like or hate?

Today we reported on a story about new Collin County Community College campus that will offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees.  In talking to students, it’s clear many of them are very stressed out about the cost of college.  It’s interesting how families have different values about helping students out with the expense of college.  Some students have their parents pay the whole bill for them, others are on their own.

What do you think a parent’s responsibility is when it comes to helping with college costs?  Do you think parents are doing more or less to help today than they did ten or twenty years ago?

Can someone enlighten me?  You can buy a Pizza in Dallas with Mexican Pesos, but U.S. Dollars on American Airlines might not be acceptable soon?  What the heck is going on?  

I wrote a blog about this a couple of weeks ago after flying a discount airline that refused to accept cash on board (only plasitc) and now American is going to test the concept too.  You can read details in the business section of our web site.

I would love to hear from business experts what the rationale for this is.  Do the airlines expect people will spend more money if they can only use plastic?  Does it take so much time to accept cash that flight attendants are unable to perform their other duties?  Is there an example of this premise working elsewhere? 

Engineers for NTTA promise the extension of the Dallas North Tollway through Frisco will be open on September 28th. 

Is it just me, or do toll projects seem to always get done on schedule while other construction often drag on?

Call me old fashion, but I prefer paying for most things with cash.  I find it’s much more difficult to overspend using cash and I don’t have to worry about identity theft or unauthorized charges on my cards.

When I took a trip out of town over the weekend, I received quite a surprise trying to buy a beer on the plane ride.  When I tried to hand the flight attendant a five dollar bill for the drink, she wouldn’t take it.  It’s now the policy of this airline not to accept cash!  They only take credit or debit cards.

I don’t have an M.B.A., but what kind of business model is it to turn down cash from customers who want to buy a product from you?

Needless to say, I was not about to hand over a credit or debit card for a five dollar drink.  I guess the airline industry is making so much money now they don’t need my cash.

I know many of you are very passionate about politics.  Here’s an opinion question.  Would you call these political principals/goals representative of a liberal or conservative point of view?

1)      Sustaining and strengthening the economic growth that brought opportunities to so many Americans.

2)      Paying attention to the aspects of our lives that cannot be measured in economic terms but which have a deep impact on our everyday existence.

3)      Protecting America's security wherever it is endangered and promoting democratic values around the world.

4)      Ours is the party of liberty, the party of equality of opportunity for all and favoritism for none.

5)      Our children deserve to grow up in an America in which all their hopes and dreams can come true.

I’m curious what you think.  I’ll tell you where I found the statements on Friday.

Over the past few weeks the stock market has given back roughly all its gains for the year.  The experts say the problem is that so many people are defaulting on their mortgages that it’s taking a toll on the whole economy.

Who do you think is to blame for this?  Banks?  Mortgage Brokers? People who bought homes they can’t afford?

            After doing dozens of stories about frustration over gas prices, I finally decided to do something about it.

            This weekend, I bought a hybrid.

            I learned a couple of facts that you might be interested in during the process.  First of all, dealers are willing to cut prices on the hybrids more than some of the web sites like Edmunds are indicating.  I found more than one willing to go just a few hundred dollars over invoice.  Also, keep in mind tax credit on some models can be over $2,000. 

When you do the math it can be a decent buy, plus filling up less feels great!