While I was out of town spending money in Napa...

...I could have been making some just by hanging out on my local freeway.
Did you guys hear this story? It happened right up the street.

Epilogue- They have footage of people on camera picking up cash and are telling them to turn it in...Or Else.
Just wondering...If I happen to have picked up $3k and returned $1500, how would they know??? (I have a rock solid alibi. Really.)

Suspects toss cash during San Diego freeway chase
Two drug suspects tossed $17,000 onto San Diego freeways during a police chase Thursday afternoon. Motorists stopped to scoop up the bills, but police say officers recovered most of the money.

"I just saw cars stopped and them picking up money from their cars," said witness Nancy Acosta.

Police and federal drug agents were following the suspects' pickup truck when the driver fled on busy Interstate 5 during the afternoon commuter rush. They tossed $20 and $100 bills out the window before surrendering.

Cash was blowing across freeway lanes, Sgt. Kevin Rausis said. Some motorists stopped in traffic lanes to pick up the bills.

"People were jumping the median and stuffing dollar bills in their shirts," according to Cal Walker with KOGO traffic.

Law enforcement officers shut down Interstate 805. Officers following the money trail collected more than $17,200 and some passers-by later turned in cash to police.

Officers believe there is still more money out there, and are warning people to turn it in.

"It is evidence in a crime and they should turn it in to their nearest police station," Sgt. Kevin Rausis said. Officers may look at police helicopter video and Caltrans cameras to identify people who took the money.

A spokesperson for the DEA would not give details about where the money came from, but did say that it was part of a bigger ongoing investigation.

My Reality Show Update

With the help of my trusty little DVR. I've managed to keep up with a few more than usual reality shows this season. And just when one is ending (Orange County Housewives) another seems to be waiting in the wings to take over its time slot and get me sucked in again (NYC Housewives).
Some thoughts on the current crap I've been watching:

Rock of Love Bus - This show going to be *s0* boring without Ashley's commentary. Although, I have to agree with poor heartbroken Bret that still living with your baby daddy is sort of grounds for ending your tour. Am guessing VH1 held back this minor detail so we could have plenty of quality trashy ashley time this season. Stay tuned for Ashley's Rock of Love Bus when she ditches papa in a few months...

Make Me A Supermodel - What happened to Nikki Taylor? Who am I kidding? I tune in to see Tyson Beckford for an hour. But I did like her, and now there's some new chick, and no explanation. And they switched some rules / structure things around this season, but I'm willing to see where it goes. And in the meantime, watch me some Tyson.
This crew has yet to grow on me, but I do see some potential. Apparently they couldn't find guys as hot as Perry and Ben and someone else from last season, but they did set their own bar quite high for a season one.

American Idol - Vocally / Performance wise, I think the top 5 should be, in no particular order...Adam Theatre Guy, Allison Young Rocker Chick, Danny Whose Wife Just Died, Matt Piano Guy, and Lil Girl Can Sing Rounds
On Last week's Elimination - I did think that Alexis chick had a decent chance, but she didn't belt out Jolene the way I expected she could, and the way I do in the shower...and i think Young Allison could have blown the crowd away with that one. So I agree with the judges and would not have rescued her myself. In case anyone is wondering.
On This week: I dig Megan and hope she ends up as some funky jazz bluesy type artist, but let's face it, the show is keeping her around for the pretty face and bc they needed to round out the top 10 for the tour. When did we start calling her Megan Joy? I think her or oil rig guy are going home.
Kris Allen and Anoop have been pleasant surprises.

Celebrity Rehab Sober House- I got pretty into this show and the people on it, and am going to write them each a brief letter in an upcoming post.

Confessions of a Teen Idol - If you missed this season, hopefully they'll do another, or you can catch the inevitable rerun marathon one easy Sunday morning. I thought it would be cheesy at first but found that they explore a lot of interesting avenues about fame and talent and celebrity. Eric from The Grind did some soul searching and grew into an interesting person, albeit dramatic at times. And I think we'll see Christopher Atkins as the next Robert Redford in a leading role in the next few years. As well as David Chokachi, the baywatch hottie. Although my prediction for the Jeremy Baywatch guy is, unfortunately, another round of rehab.

America's Best Dance Crew - I'm slacking this season. Nobody got me as hooked as the JabbaWockeez from seasons past. Still have a few episodes to watch, maybe my opinion will change.
Ditto for Dancing with the Stars -have seen bits and pieces. and am bummed that Steve-O got hurt. Fill me in, please! Is it worth catching this time around?

Real Housewives of NYC - Good to have them back. This crew has more depth than the Orange County crew and fills me with an nyc nostalgia fix as needed. Good to see Simon & Alex are still pretentious wannabe social climbers, even after seeing themselves as such when the last season aired. Their kids are going to have one hell of a time in kindergarten.
As always, I'm looking forward to Bethany's one liners.
The countess writing an etiquette book is a bit of a joke to me. Not sure if it's the editing, but I've seen her violate quite a few big rules, and i'm no Miss Manners.
Ramona is either on something or had a bit too much of an eye lift.
And who is this new chick? Can't she afford a bra?

Tool Academy - I got sucked in and had to watch until the end, but I have, um, a slight feeling that maybe this show may have been a little rigged. (How did they know the one guy had 2 girlfriends in the beginning?) And when it got down to the final contestants, quite predictable. I just couldn't believe they'd have a testosterone freak, who is self-nicknamed "Matsu-Flex" win the show. Although he did have one of my favorite moments this season. Imagine your parents meeting your boy/girlfriend for the first time and saying something like..."during the lie detector test yesterday, we found out that I was sleeping with an Ex." So much for first impressions. But if you're dating a guy who calls himself Matsu Flex what the hell do you expect?

Any other shows that am I missing out on ?

While trying to find out if I was going to die from tainted water, I found this local news story...

March 22, 2009

Motorist smashes into house, reveals pot farm

A 63-year-old motorist was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving Sunday after he crashed a GMC pickup into a neighbor's house in Pacific Beach.

The crash, however, revealed a small marijuana farm within the damaged house, and police said they have a few questions for the residents.

The crash was reported at 3:48 p.m. on Morrell Street, said San Diego police Sgt. David Jennings. After the marijuana farm was spotted through a gaping hole in the side of the house, police obtained a seach warrant and then confiscated more than 20 pot plants, police said.

It was unclear Sunday where the residents of the home had gone, nor when they would return. A neighbor said they had gone skiing, possibly at the Mammoth Mountain ski resort.

Posted by Mark Arner | 11:20 PM

Finally! Some Real Excitement in Del Mar!

Since moving out to San Diego, I occasionally realize how much I miss the drama of NYC news. We have no subway stabbings, no shoddy un-inspected scaffold or crane collapses, and except for that crazy Santa shooting spree last Christmas, we don't have much gunfire. Aside from car chases and the imminent crashes, our emergencies tend to be of a more natural / man interfering with nature variety: earthquakes, drought warnings, forest fires, our armed forces accidentally crashing planes on training missions. That sort of thing. We also have mexicans running/boating/being stuffed into various types of vehicles & transported across borders, but apparently those busts happen so frequently, they rarely get good coverage anymore.
Our most recent leading news story has been a whale that's gotten himself lost, and has just been hanging out in one of our harbors for the past few weeks. That should give you an idea of the general level of excitement we get out here.

I am not at all a fan of being on government lists or in databases...that Clear Pass thing at the airport where I give them my iris and fingerprints totally freaks me out. But I *would* like to know if my block is on fire, so I put my name on the San Diego Reverse 911 list when I moved last year. This morning I got 3 phone calls! Last night we had....drum roll please...a water main break!! I am advised to boil water until further notice. they said for 72 hours, but that seems like an awful long time. I am kicking myself for not getting a new Brita filter this past year because I filled that bad boy up somewhere around 2am and am doubting its filtering capabilities. Note to self- may have to toss Brita. So I guess in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't just buy a new one. And I am trying hard to remember if I drank from that potentially tainted batch. I definitely had OJ around 3. But water? Not quite sure. I am not experiencing any violent stomach symptoms yet, so that's a plus. I think I have to go see what time this all went down... And then make sure my health insurance application gets through ASAP.

Side note - I went to find an exciting photo of the water main exploding somewhere nearby, and this is what I got...
That's the best they could do? What about the explosion???

Name Those Eyes...

She's precocious. And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush.
As I was singing the Kim Carnes song, I found myself wondering...what exactly do Bette Davis Eyes look like? My old glamour movie star mind database is pretty much limited to Joan Crawford and Audrey Hepburn. So in case you too are curious, here they are.

American Idol Gossip Websites

I've gotten sucked into American Idol this season, and as I was watching last night, I found myself making up fun scandals that might involve some of this year's contestants. As Paula is no longer sleeping with finalists, I am hoping someone will step up and create some excitement this season. Surely someone must have told a good white lie on their application or taken some saucy, about to resurface photos at some point in their young life, right? So expect for some of the following websites to make their debuts this spring...

Scott isn't really blind.com
Anoop is the guy from Slumdog.com
Who the hell is this Kris Allen guy.com
Jorge is Elian Gonzalez.com
Simon is Adam's estranged father.com
I'm Danny's Wife, the show made up that whole death thing.com
Jasmine is Pregnant.com
The Oil Rig Guy Got a Lap Band for the Show.com
Buy Lil some better pants.com
Alison is Kelly Clarkson.com
Anoop is Sanjaya.com
Cara and Randy Spycam.com