News You Might Not Have Seen
… and may be surprised to know.
(Welcome to another installment of Life Its Ownself. If you enjoy reading it, please let me know by hitting the Like button at the bottom, subscribing to this newsletter, and recommending it to others. Also, feel free to comment below.)
The war in Ukraine drags on. Gas prices go through the roof. Will Smith slaps down Chris Rock. You’d be forgiven if you thought you were taking crazy pills.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the deluge of new stories. But the raging river of information has other, slower currents running through it. Here is a carefully curated set of news stories which, if they don’t restore your faith in humanity, will at least keep you company as you day drink today.
Matthew McConaughey On His Aborted Run for Governor: “It Would’ve Been Messed Up If I Did.”
Rolling Stone, March 28
Matthew McConaughey sits in the high-ceilinged living room, gazing out over the Hill Country landscape. Outside, his children cavort in the swimming pool with his smoking hot wife, Camila. He’s in a reflective mood.
“I postulated running for Governor as a way to boost book sales, but then, damn if I didn’t start to read my own press. For a while, I convinced myself that I wasn’t monumentally unqualified for the job. And in Texas, if you’re not monumentally unqualified, you’re good as gold.”
Need a new truck? It’s easy: survive a tornado
KVUE, March 28
FORT WORTH, Texas — After a video of his red pickup truck went viral for being flipped over by a tornado, an Elgin teen got a new truck from a Fort Worth-based Chevrolet dealership.
Bruce Lowrie Chevrolet in Fort Worth told WFAA that they contacted 16-year-old Riley Leon and would give him a brand new 2022 Chevrolet Silverado.
Hot Air Balloons Stack Up Over Austin As Airport Sees Delays
Austin American-Statesman, March 29
As Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) experienced a third day of chaos caused by long lines, delayed TSA screening, and a shortage of jet fuel, hot air balloons stacked up over the southeast Travis County airfield.
“It’s a perfect storm,” said ABIA spokesperson Patricia Mancha. “Between the Texas Relays, the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and NASCAR races at Circuit of the Americas, we were trying to shove too many people out of town the first part of the week.”
While hot air balloons typically make up a tiny portion of ABIA’s passenger volume, a temporary shortage of jet fuel led many passengers to select the older technology to travel home. This created long lines at the balloon rental counters and crowded airspace in the skies above the airport’s runways.
“It actually makes the problem worse,” said Mancha. “A balloon can only carry two or three people in addition to the pilot. And they land and take off much more slowly than jet aircraft.”
Todd Wilson, who came to Austin for the Dell golf competition, was frustrated as he awaited his chartered balloon to take him back to Dallas.
“Y’all can handle one event at a time pretty well here. More than one, though, not so much.”
Longtime Austin resident Sandy Bullock had this advice for visitors: “Stay the fuck away.”