Articles for January 19th, 2009
Only One Liter of Livet In Texas
My husband likes Scotch whiskey. My future son-in-law also likes Scotch whiskey. We were in Mexico this weekend, and Dr. V was intrigued by the value of the Scotch at the duty-free shops. (Get the connection? He’s part Scottish; not only does he like bargains on his liquor, he saves ketchup packets and will squirt them into the fridge ketchup container annually.) Told we could legally take home 4 liters of Scotch whiskey, he snagged 4 liters at the duty-free store in Cabo and hauled ‘em home on the plane. Imagine our surprise when we passed through customs, our purchases clearly marked on the travel forms, to learn that the state of Texas will not allow more than 2 liters of liquor into this state from Mexico — one liter per person. As the customs agent told us, if we were connecting on to another flight to another state, we would have paid a small tariff and gone on our merry. The agents further told me that TABC recently cracked down on them for not being tough enough on Texas liquor law violations. “Do you see any TABC officials here?” asked the customs agent. His message: Texas was asking the feds to do their work, and they did not like it. Well yes, I agreed, I’d certainly rather have you guys checking for drugs and bombs, the really bad stuff, not two liters of Glen Livet. (So, um, can I have my booze and go home now?) Frustrated as they were, no shirking their jobs: $100 worth of Glen Livet was confiscated and poured down a sink at DFW. And we were not the only alcoholics dumb dumbs. Walking into the “serious” customs area, I saw piles of neatly packaged liquor bottles and knew we were in for it.
So I ask: why is Texas so weird about limiting liters of liquor? Why isn’t TABC policing throngs of tourists bringing home bargain booze from Mexico? Why force the U.S. Customs agents to diddle with dumping confiscated liquor down the drain at DFW and let them focus on TRUE contraband. And where do the drain lines at D/FW end up?
My best line during the fiasco: could you at least give it to a homeless person?
DCAD Site Not Working
Got this message while searching properties on DCAD: makes me wonder if the site is down to remove certain “names” from the tax rolls for security purposes?
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Wall Homes Files For Bankruptcy
So reports Adam McGill on Frontburner in my absence here at DD… keep in mind that filing for bankruptcy often gives a company a shot at restructuring debt so it can stay in business. I did a video interview with Steve Wall when they built the Extreme Makeover House in Keller.
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