My wife and I experienced something this afternoon that really left us pissed off and a bit frazzled for a while. We went into The Rim to run into the JC Penny's before heading out to Boerne. By chance, I pulled into a parking spot just in front of the Kirklands.
As I was getting out of the truck, I happened to look down in the car parked beside me and saw a dog sitting in the back seat. I did a double take because the first thing I realized was that the windows on the car were rolled up. I snapped a few pictures before whipping open my phone and calling SAPD. Meanwhile, my wife ran into the Penny's to ask the staff there to call The Rim security, which of course they did.
I stood by the car because I was going to wait for the police and if the dog appeared to have the least amount of stress, I was going to take great joy in busting one of the windows on the car.
Now let's be clear. The owner of the car was gone when we pulled in, so we really have no idea if the dog had been left in the heat for a minute or an hour. So when the lady walked up to the car and saw me taking pictures of her license plate, she had sort of a weird smile on her face as if she realized why I was standing there. I asked her if she realized she had left her dog in the car with the windows rolled up. She didn't look shocked at all but rather pulled off one of those, "Oops, I thought I left the windows down" excuses. The lady is lucky my wife was still in Penny's.
I then said to her, "Well why don't you at least open the door so the dog can get some air?" and she immediately opened the back door and said, "Oh, he's fine." Again, the lady is lucky my wife was still in Penny's. Not that she has to apologize to me, but for Christ's sake, show some concern or remorse, if only pretend.
I just shook my head in disbelief as the lady climbed into her car and pulled out. It was obvious that the police call probably hadn't been made at this point, but I was hoping for a quick arrival by security. I called SAPD back and told them that the lady with the dog had left so they may as well not bother, but I did give them the car description and the license plate number.
So, As I am walking toward Penney's and my wife is walking out to tell me security is on the way, we turn around and see that the lady has now pulled into the fire lane in front of Kirkland's to have some stuff loaded. When she saw us stop to look at her, it looked to me as if she had changed her mind about leaving the dog in the car again, and this time, pulled the dog out on his leash (Thank God he was okay), and then yelled to us, "It's okay, you don't have to watch me."
I despise a scene or any drama, but my wife yelled back at the top of her lungs something about don't worry about us, you should worry about your dog and stupid people shouldn't be allowed to have pets etc etc. Had we been closer, I think we might have had a situation.
By the time we finished our quick stop in Penney's (four $40.00 shirts for $6.97 each), the security lady had arrived and my wife showed her the pictures I took along with the license plate number. The security lady told us it was definitely a felony and the lady was lucky she got out before the police got there, or she probably would be going to jail.
We're just glad the dog was okay. Look, anyone can make a mistake or become forgetful, but how many times do we have to see on the news that dumbasses in Texas, where on any day it can soar into the high 90's, keep forgetting their kids and pets in locked and sealed pressure cookers? I honestly hope this lady won't make the same mistake again, for the sake of the dog.
Oh, and I guess the obvious question is, why the hell does one take a dog to The Rim in the first place?
I had heard about this little event that takes place once a month in San Antonio called the Houston Street Market & Fair, and thought my wife and I ought to take a little investigative trip downtown to see what all the hullabaloo was about. We went, had a grand old time, and I present to you the pictures we took.
This event takes place the last Saturday of every month along a portion of Houston Street and extends to in front of the Alamo. Think of it as a place for the city and the the county to set up informative booths for the purpose of educating citizens, then, combine that with performers doing things like singing or doing some reenacting of old times, and then add in a mix of vendor booths so you can purchase stuff, or pretend that this is a mini-Fiesta, and get a few beers or Margaritas to chase down some funnel cakes and flautas, and you've got yourself the Houston Street Market & Fair.
The price was right - free. We paid $7.00 for parking on the next street over, and walked around, enjoyed the sights, took pictures and such, then (what else would you expect) went to eat.
Oh, and were you aware that the COSA now has an official mascot for Code Compliance? I had no idea until I met up with, The Enforcer. I suddenly had the urge to mow my yard and get the truck on blocks off the front of our lawn after seeing this spirited fella.
Here is an interesting tidbit. Have you ever heard that expression about "Getting hit by a bus"? You know, people tell you to plan for your family or train co-workers to do your job because you never know, you could step off a curb and get hit by a bus. Then what?
So my wife pointed out this little seal placed in concrete above a sewer drain on Commerce Street. She tells me I ought to take a picture of it. I have to tell you that when I am downtown looking for things to look at, I am often just in my own little world. So, I stepped off the curb into the street, pointed the camera at this little disk and took the picture, then stepped back up unto the sidewalk. As I looked up to continue walking, this huge tour bus was maybe three feet away from me and the driver gave me the official look of, "You sir, are a complete and utter dumbass, and they have a saying for people like you and it involves getting hit by a bus."
Those were his exact words, (had he said them), given to me with his grumpy bus driver look. Do you suppose he sees this type of thing often? My question is, why didn't he blast me with the horn so I could have had a heart attack and fallen beneath his tires? Who knows?
Oh, the seal was some sort of warning not to pour oil down the drain. Geeze, I hope we didn't spend a lot of money on that. A person could get killed.
Okay, I'm sure you have either been to the Alamo or at least seen it via Pee Wee's Big Adventure. The basement is a must see. What you not have seen was a bunch of actors recreating life around the Alamo back during the times that it was getting famous.
Sure enough, as part of the HSM&F, they had a bunch of period actors living it up amongst the tourists and locals.
Good stuff. 
Feeling somewhat cheated, what with me having a special moment with "The Enforcer", my wife took a moment to pose with some of San Antonio's finest. I like to see a large police presence downtown. They do a good job during Fiesta, so handling the small and well behaved crowd here was not even worthy of a good tasering. Good times, either way.
Did you get a chance to do anything fun this weekend? Tell me about it, or leave a comment.
My wife and I attended the meeting of the Great Northwest Watch this evening and enjoyed a nice dinner provided by Grady's before the meeting started. You can never go wrong with Grady's as far as I'm concerned.
I took just a few notes worth passing along but I think they are important things to consider as we see an increased incidence of mischievous behavior in the area, primarily in the form of graffiti.
Chief Roger Burton of the GNW Security "Courtesy Patrol" as one resident pointed out, presented two winners of the National Night Out event. These residents held parties that had the most participation, and they were given gifts from great sponsors as a result. Ms. Betty Hood (who is the NNO coordinator for the GNW) had the biggest party attendance, and she received free Sea World passes. The second largest party was held by the Garza Family, and they received a check for $50. from Jefferson State Bank. It is always nice to see the local merchants come through in support of the community.
Chief Burton introduced us to SAFFE Officer Robles who gave us a brief update on the graffiti situation and on ways to combat the problem. He mentioned the importance of victims of this crime to immediately paint over or clean up the graffiti within 24 hours, and to do so every time it occurs. Equally important, he suggests that if you have a privacy fence in an area prone to graffiti, the best bet is to simply paint the entire fence, then, when the taggers do their "art work" you can cover it in the matching color of the fence. This looks better and definitely beats the appearance of an off color patch of paint on a nice wooded fence. If you get tagged, report it. Take pictures of it, and if you see the little bastards, try to figure out who they are or at least where the live. Surely you have an idea of the kids who roam up and down your street - don't you?
Next Officer Atkinson from SAPD gave some explanations about police response times, what they can and can't do and some information on ways citizens can get involved.
I was very interested in what Officer Atkinson had to say as my neighbors and I have talked often specifically about the graffiti issue at Oscar Perez Memorial Park. I have been a proponent of calling city hall and complaining that we need more attention paid to these little son's of bitches and their artwork. But Atkinson gave some pretty interesting and sobering statistics.
When he joined the SAPD force in 1987, there were roughly 2,000 officers. He said it was common for a dispatcher to report that they had three or four calls on hold and asking if any officer could respond. That is, several people who had called 9-11 to report a crime had to sit and wait while officers responded to higher priority calls. So, if you reported a theft or something, you were going to have to wait until more urgent matters were handled, then the police could get to you.
In 2007, the SAPD has, according to Officer Atkinson, about fifty more officers on the force, yet the city has grown by about 350,000 residents. Further, he said it is not unheard of for the dispatcher to report that they have fifty calls in the queue. Now imagine if you call in to 9-11 and report that some snotty little Rembrandt has tagged your fence. Guess where you are in that queue of 50 compared to people who have real crimes like stolen cars, robbery, dope deals gone bad and Senators trolling for perverts in the airport restroom.
To give you some perspective, the City of Dallas has 3,400 police officers yet they have 200,000 less residents than the city of San Antonio. ((I know, a lot of people think Dallas is a lot bigger, but the DFW Metroplex has multiple police forces))
I can only assume that Officer Atkinson was making a plea, and he is right to do so, for us residents to call upon Ms. Sheryl Scully and our city council to hire more officers, but I took away a more important point that he was making; when it comes to non-life threatening, nuisance crimes such as vandalism, tagging and disturbances (loud music and barking dogs), calling 9-11 is just creating a larger queue. Where we as residents can help ourselves and help the police and city help us, is to call the right people for the right crime.
San Antonio has an incredible 311 system which my wife and I use regularly. If it has anything to do with the city services that you pay for via your tax dollars, you can learn more about or report through by simply calling 311. They also have a web site here that has loads of information. If we can avoid having granny call the police every time a dead squirrel ends up squished on the street in front of her house, perhaps we can free up the police to help in more important endeavors.
What I also took from Officer Atkinson's talk was that we as citizens can and should do more. They have a few programs he outlined, specifically Cellular on Patrol (COP) and Citizens Police Academy. In both these classes, you learn what is important to notice, what is important to call the police for, what you should not call the police for etc etc. I don't think anybody is suggesting that we take up arms and take to the streets to do battle with the 14-year-olds who lack parental supervision; though at one point during the meeting, I did suggest we find the little hooligans and whip their asses, (even if my wife was outraged at my suggestion). I think the officers are suggesting that we can and should be more vigilant in our communities.
And what is wrong with that? How many of us could use a walk in the evening, just around the block? Why not take note of who belongs on your street and who doesn't, and why not kick their ass if they don't belong there?
So anyway, back to the meeting...
Let me leave you with a few thoughts, especially if you are one of the few readers that live in the area. You should really know that the GNW Watch meetings are a treat. Chief Burton is a very capable speaker with a down to earth southern drawl and an ability to communicate his message of safety and security. With PowerPoint slides of maps of the neighborhood, he shows where different calls to the "Courtesy Patrol" originate, which streets are problem areas, and every so often, details of the call. I especially enjoyed the highlight of a major theft reported to him - the loss of a trash can lid.
One area we may need a little work on though, is understanding what you should not do at meetings of this nature; give little anecdotal reports about your particular street or neighbors. In other words, raising your hand during the question and answer session of a neighborhood-wide meeting to report that you think the neighbor kid plays the stereo too loud is not an appropriate use of the time*.
* Suffice it to say, I'm being very diplomatic here: I could write an hour's worth of questions or "reports" that if people are worried about, they should contact security, 311, or their congressman via e-mail or the phone, but not prolong the meeting because they have a captive audience.
Close to forty folks ventured out from their air conditioned homes, away from important television viewing and Internet surfing, and braved the elements of a setting sun, a very warm breeze and the potential for the dreaded Texas-sized mosquitoes that have taken over our fair city, all to meet with friends and neighbors, enjoy some hot dogs and chili, fruits, chips and lots of great deserts. 
And in taking this brave alternative to a normal Tuesday evening in San Antonio, they helped in a greater cause shared by other participating citizens all over the country to, as McGruff the crime dog might say, take a bite out of crime.
We were spared rain and the brutal heat that is usually common this time of year and for the most part, even the mosquitoes tried to be civil towards us. this combination of good luck made the setting for our group to sit around and enjoy chatting with neighbors who we always seem to wave hello to but never really get a chance to talk with.
Thanks to Mrs. Betty Hood, the Great Northwest National Night Out coordinator, we received several gift certificates to area merchants that were raffled off. These merchants included Flowers Plus, Simply the Best Pro Cuts, Chick-fil-a, Red Lobster, Marie Callenders, Sportsman's Warehouse, IMAX, Crumpets Restaurant, and McDonald's Hal-John Inc. Additionally, my favorite grocer ever, HEB provided lots of pastries and cakes and such. Finally, as you may know, Target is the national sponsor for the National Night Out program. We had a really nice banner provided by Target and we got a special visit from Yvonne Rios who provided the kids with pinwheels and activity books.
Other prominent guests to our party included Mr. Lee Besing and Ms. Sigrid Long, both Directors on the Board of the GNW Community Improvement Association, and Mr. Jose Morlett, the acting community manager for GNWCIA. 
Mr. Morlett was accompanied by members of his staff and the Passages Newspaper.
We were especially pleased to have visits from Chief Roger Burton and several of his officers on the GNW Security Force, San Antonio Police Department, Constables office, and San Antonio's Code Compliance department.
We never did have a specific agenda of events such as games (watermelon spitting contest?), or speeches from the local dignitaries who visited, but some of the younger children were happy to assist with our makeshift raffle for the door prizes. Others enjoyed the use of colored chalk on the driveway, so as to practice their future tagging skills (just kidding).
Perhaps next year, we can bust out some of those padded outfits and do front yard sumo wrestling. Given my girth and the number of hot dogs I ate last night, I doubt I'll have to wear one of the fat suits.
In the end, I think everyone was pretty pleased with how things turned out. We held a party last year but did not bother to go through the registration process. I'd say that the added bonus of the police visits and of course, all the goodies provided for the party made it that much better. So, mark your calenders now because we are ready to do it again next year.
Here are a few more pictures to take a gander at.
More members from the Constables office swing by looking for potential suspects!
As I was getting out of the truck, I happened to look down in the car parked beside me and saw a dog sitting in the back seat. I did a double take because the first thing I realized was that the windows on the car were rolled up. I snapped a few pictures before whipping open my phone and calling SAPD. Meanwhile, my wife ran into the Penny's to ask the staff there to call The Rim security, which of course they did.
I stood by the car because I was going to wait for the police and if the dog appeared to have the least amount of stress, I was going to take great joy in busting one of the windows on the car.
