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President George H. W. Bush has passed away


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My story isn't as good, but here it goes nonetheless.

About ten years ago, I attended a conference at the presidential library on the A&M campus. It was a gorgeous Friday afternoon in the spring, so I decided to leave a little early. As I was walking across the atrium to the exit, I noticed a crowd of men in dark suits so I decide to hold the door for them. One of them nudged me along, and I realized they were secret service escorting the former president. 

 

After watching them cross over and enter another building, I walk up to the statue of horses leaping over a piece of the Berlin Wall when I hear a woman behind me shout, "Oh, there she is! You should go over and say 'hi'." I turn around and see a made-up trophy wife talking to her husband, Chuck Norris, who's a really short guy by the way. I then turn around again and see who they're talking about: Barbara Bush. She was watching her dog on a leash looking for a place to piss/shit on the grass. After that, I walk to my car in the parking lot thinking to myself, "You really hit the brush with greatness trifecta today." 

 

 

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I posted this on the old board but I will share it again here.
Years ago my wife and I stopped in to the Blockbuster at the corner of Woodway and Chimney Rock.  It was Sunday right after church and rainy. Nothing was going on so we decided to pick up a DVD and stay inside. 
As I walked into the store and my wife stayed in the truck, I noticed some black suburbans wheel into the parking lot and back into the empty spots right by the front door.  The maneuvers where done with military precision and out popped several dark blue suit / sunglasses clad fellows replete with earpieces and strapped with firearms under their coats. They walked in and scanned the joint observing only me and two Blockbuster employees in attendance as the place had just opened for the day.
I'm thinking "must be 41 dropping in" and sure enough after the "all clear" signal, he slides out of one of the suburbans and stumbles in to Blockbuster.  He drops his returns into the return box and heads off to the stacks.  
I pick up 2 cinema classics and head to the check out.  GHWB has already made his selection and hits the checkout before I do.  So, I'm standing behind him and 2 bodyguards as the clerk looks up, takes the Prez's DVDs and asks for his Blockbuster card; completely oblivious as to who his customer is.  GHWB dutifully and completely unoffended reaches for his George Constanza-like overstuffed wallet and produces the requested documentation. 
The other employee behind the counter is the manager and he shifts on his feet as suddenly he gets a little uncomfortable with the scene unfolding before him.   The clerk runs 41's card, taps a few keys on the keyboard and, while still clueless, blurts out "you have $8.23 worth of late charges."  41 opens up his wallet and fingers out a ten to pay the man.  The manager steps in and says, "Mr. President, we will waive the late fees for you.  Have a great day."  All the while, the other clerk still has no clue.  41 pays for his new rentals and hits the road, thanking both employees for their kindness and bidding them a great day.  And then, he were gone.
For the record, he rented Best in Show and another title I don't recall.
Epilogue:  I got back to the truck and recounted the events to my wife. She said "oh, that's nice.  Hey, I was looking at this coupon from the newspaper and there's a fondue set on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond.  Here, looks at what a great deal it is!"
Ugh. 


Holy cow this is a great great story. I’m laughing my ass off.
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3 hours ago, deadshank said:

I posted this on the old board but I will share it again here.

Years ago my wife and I stopped in to the Blockbuster at the corner of Woodway and Chimney Rock.  It was Sunday right after church and rainy. Nothing was going on so we decided to pick up a DVD and stay inside. 

As I walked into the store and my wife stayed in the truck, I noticed some black suburbans wheel into the parking lot and back into the empty spots right by the front door.  The maneuvers where done with military precision and out popped several dark blue suit / sunglasses clad fellows replete with earpieces and strapped with firearms under their coats. They walked in and scanned the joint observing only me and two Blockbuster employees in attendance as the place had just opened for the day.

I'm thinking "must be 41 dropping in" and sure enough after the "all clear" signal, he slides out of one of the suburbans and stumbles in to Blockbuster.  He drops his returns into the return box and heads off to the stacks.  

I pick up 2 cinema classics and head to the check out.  GHWB has already made his selection and hits the checkout before I do.  So, I'm standing behind him and 2 bodyguards as the clerk looks up, takes the Prez's DVDs and asks for his Blockbuster card; completely oblivious as to who his customer is.  GHWB dutifully and completely unoffended reaches for his George Constanza-like overstuffed wallet and produces the requested documentation. 

The other employee behind the counter is the manager and he shifts on his feet as suddenly he gets a little uncomfortable with the scene unfolding before him.   The clerk runs 41's card, taps a few keys on the keyboard and, while still clueless, blurts out "you have $8.23 worth of late charges."  41 opens up his wallet and fingers out a ten to pay the man.  The manager steps in and says, "Mr. President, we will waive the late fees for you.  Have a great day."  All the while, the other clerk still has no clue.  41 pays for his new rentals and hits the road, thanking both employees for their kindness and bidding them a great day.  And then, he were gone.

For the record, he rented Best in Show and another title I don't recall.

Epilogue:  I got back to the truck and recounted the events to my wife. She said "oh, that's nice.  Hey, I was looking at this coupon from the newspaper and there's a fondue set on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond.  Here, looks at what a great deal it is!"

Ugh. 

Wives and the Stupid shit they Say/Do is that way.

Fantastic story.

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14 hours ago, texaslong said:

RIP. Great family man. On a side note, did anyone in the Bush family actually attend A&M? Seems like most of the family went Ivy or to UT. 

One of Bush 43's twin daughters went to UT, but 41's sons and daughter all went to boarding schools in the DC area or in the northeast, and most of them went to college there as well.  Maybe one of them has a graduate degree from UT, IIRC.  None went to A&M.

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Perhaps it's discussed in another thread, but A&M was awarded the Bush 41 Presidential Library probably by default.  UT already had the LBJ and A&M is a major university in Texas close to Houston.  Dallas didn't make sense for a Houston resident since the late 50's.  Rice really didn't have the space and UofH, well, is UofH.

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1 hour ago, HouTex said:

Rice really didn't have the space 

The George W. Bush Library area is about the same size as just the parking lot west of Rice Stadium.  Could have built a garage on another of the several parking lots to replace that capacity.  Better yet, the library could have replaced the actual stadium, with Rice either sharing a high school facility or building a more appropriate downsized stadium.

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3 hours ago, HouTex said:

One of Bush 43's twin daughters went to UT, but 41's sons and daughter all went to boarding schools in the DC area or in the northeast, and most of them went to college there as well.  Maybe one of them has a graduate degree from UT, IIRC.  None went to A&M.

I believe Jeb and his son both went to UT also. 

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On 12/2/2018 at 9:55 AM, bolverk said:

My story isn't as good, but here it goes nonetheless.

About ten years ago, I attended a conference at the presidential library on the A&M campus. It was a gorgeous Friday afternoon in the spring, so I decided to leave a little early. As I was walking across the atrium to the exit, I noticed a crowd of men in dark suits so I decide to hold the door for them. One of them nudged me along, and I realized they were secret service escorting the former president. 

 

After watching them cross over and enter another building, I walk up to the statue of horses leaping over a piece of the Berlin Wall when I hear a woman behind me shout, "Oh, there she is! You should go over and say 'hi'." I turn around and see a made-up trophy wife talking to her husband, Chuck Norris, who's a really short guy by the way. I then turn around again and see who they're talking about: Barbara Bush. She was watching her dog on a leash looking for a place to piss/shit on the grass. After that, I walk to my car in the parking lot thinking to myself, "You really hit the brush with greatness trifecta today." 

 

 

I would pay money to see the former first lady take a dump on the grass.

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8 minutes ago, Hate said:

Is anyone else watching this?  It's absolutely awesome to watch a Presidential funeral procession.  

Absolutely.   Working from home today since the markets are closed.   

It’s history, it’s beyond fascinating and even inspirational.   The stories pouring in have been incredible.   

 

I think its a horrific shame that high schools aren’t showing this today (as far as I’ve heard from my M-I-L, no tvs showing things like this) and it’s a true miss to show students that people can work together.   

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8 minutes ago, NowThis said:

President Carter looks fantastic.  I really like the image of the last 3 Democrat Presidents sitting in a row. 

Yes, that was a striking shot, especially President Carter.  I'm always curious to see how people we remember from years ago have aged.  Not in a good/bad way, just interesting.

Edited by clapclapclap
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Poor W. This may arguably be the hardest thing he's had to do in his lifetime. Anyone who's lost their father knows what he's going through. Now add onto that your father was President of the United States. What a tough day. RIP Mr. President. 

The story of the Bushes' losing their 3 year old daughter still gets me. 

Edited by mdmost
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4 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Poor W. This may arguably be the hardest thing he's had to do in his lifetime. Anyone who's lost their father knows what he's going through. Now add onto that your father was President of the United States. What a tough day. RIP Mr. President. 

The story of the Bushes' losing their 3 year old daughter still gets me. 

This, all of this.   W is already an emotional person, but the gravity of this situation is undeniably massive.   I feel for him 

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