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DANCES WITH SNAKES

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"CONSUMER ACQUISITION SITE"

 

 

 

McRocks "The Gathering"

July 4th - 9th, 2006

Spruce Pine, NC

  What could possibly possess nearly forty seemingly sane people to drive for hundreds of miles to gather covertly atop the Blue Ridge Mountains in a secluded glade miles from civilization? Rocks... Nuthin' but rocks, pure and simple... Well, that's the common interest anyhow. I suppose the real reason is to spend time with friends, really great friends from all over the country, and indeed even the other side of the globe!

  Once again the members of McRocks gathered at Bear Den Campground just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway north of Spruce Pine, NC for fellowship, food, fun and yea, ROCKS! This being the 4th year for the gathering, and my second time in attendance, I have to say that meeting with all of my friends has to be the highlight of the trip. I was honored to finally meet some of those whom I have known for several years now, but only just met at the gathering this year. There were some new faces this time, but no strangers, not with this bunch! If I took time to name all the new faces, I'd fill this page with 'em! Instead I'll link to Mike Streeter's Group Photo page, use your browser's back button to return here for the rest of the report!
  My wife (Regina) and I left from Broken Arrow, OK around 2:00pm on July 4th and headed for Spruce Pine. Our plan was to drive at least to Memphis and stop for the night so we could check out a Miocene exposure for Selenite crystals that both fluoresce, and phosphoresce on Wednesday morning before continuing on to Spruce Pine. As hoped, we were able to drive to Jackson, TN that evening, where we spent the night. The following morning we got an early start and got to the site in short order.

 We spent nearly an hour searching the site for crystals to no avail. It had just rained most of the day before and that morning, in fact, we seemed to following the rain eastward. After looking and not finding any Selenite, I began noticing some small concretions in the washes of the shale that seemed to be more than just concretions. I found one that was split in two, and to my wonder, I found it contained the claw of a Miocene age crab! Hey! I never found any crabs before, this was even better than the Selenite! I found several more that contained claws, and collected many complete concretions to work on at home.

  Just as we were about to give up on the Selenite and head back to the car, I suddenly discovered a small area strewn with them. In short order, we collected fifty to seventy-five fairly good crystals. By now it was around 9:30am, and due time to get headed for Spruce Pine! We cleaned up the crystals in a water puddle and wrapped and stored them appropriately for the extended trip and got on our way once again.

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HAVE YOU BEEN THE TARGET OF A SCAM LATELY? DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!

AUGUST 20TH, 2008 - BROKEN ARROW, OKLAHOMA

 

    If you are not on your toes all of time, you could be the target of a scam or con. Last evening while filling up with gas at QT in Broken Arrow a blue PT Cruiser pulled across in front of my truck. A casually dressed black man stepped out and in a hushed voice asked if I was interested in buying a laptop computer. He proceeded to tell me he had three or four of these for sale for $250 each. Claiming they were brand new Sony Vaio laptops. My first question was "Are they hot?" and I informed him I wasn't interested. He pressed on asking if I would pay $200, then $150. "I don't buy merchandise from the trunk of a car" I informed him. He then asked how much I would be willing to pay, and went back to his car, retrieving a package from the back seat that appeared to be a box about the size of a laptop, wrapped in brown paper, taped up excessively with packaging tape, and a photocopied ad from Office Depot advertising a Sony Vaio for $2099. In the process of getting the package from his car, he covered it with a sheet before bringing it to show me.... A lot suspicious... He handed me the package and returned to his car to retrieve a laptop from the back seat, again covering it with the sheet so no one else could see what he was doing. The laptop was an older Compaq, that he claimed a lady had dropped, but the ones in the packages were Sony. He very quickly returned it to his car, not letting me see more than a glimpse of it under the sheet. Meanwhile, I was hefting the supposed "new" packaged laptop, the entire time suspecting a scam more so than stolen merchandise. I strung him along a little while, squeezing the package (it was too lightweight, and compressed easily) Now knowing I was actually holding a package with nothing substantial inside, I told him I might be interested if he showed me what was in the box. He very quickly retrieved it from me, still trying to get me to pay $150 for it, as he gradually put distance between us getting back to his car. That pretty much ended the conversation. I told him again, "show me what's in the box, I might be interested." No go, he got back in his car and quickly went looking for another mark.

 

    I had meanwhile finished filling my tank, and drove to a strategic location in the parking lot to watch him and his accomplice as they drove about the lot, approaching literally everyone coming and going, I quickly dialed 911 and reported their activity, gave a description of the vehicle and what they were doing, stressing that I firmly believed they were scamming people with empty boxes. I waited for police to arrive, but before they did, the vehicle exited the QT, and drove down the street. I followed at a distance, again calling 911 dispatch to report they had moved to another location, near Chili's and Buffalo Wild Wings. Actually, they had gone to the Lowe's parking lot and by the time officers arrived, had already approached several patrons in the lot. As an unmarked Dodge Charger pulled into the BWW lot, I pointed them to the Lowes. Two other marked units quickly converged on the lot, and as the PT Cruiser approached another mark in front of the store, they hit the lights and surrounded the vehicle! Too cool! I watched from the lobby of Lowes as they talked to the "suspects", and got the passenger out to open the back of the vehicle. After some minutes, a couple came out of the store and saw that the police were questioning the pair, and hollered at them "What are they doin'? Tryin' to sell ya a laptop?" One officer motioned them over and asked if they had been approached, to which they answered yes. The officer asked if they would be willing to make a statement, and a citizens arrest on suspicion of fraud. When they said they would, one of the suspects started cursing at them, this just added resolve to the couple, and they immediately made the citizens arrest. (This was necessary because the officers had no evidence of a crime otherwise.) At this point the two were arrested on fraud charges.

 

    As it turns out, the packages were Fed-X boxes filled with newspaper... They had empty boxes, brown paper bags, tape, scissors, and flyers in the back to make more fake packages. Officers also found bolt cutters and a few personal items in the vehicle, along with three or four bogus packages, and the old, useless Compaq laptop they were using as a prop for their con. They did not find any weapons or drugs fortunately, but the passenger had a felony warrant for his arrest in Florida (the officer said that unfortunately, Florida would not extradite). Officers said they also had a fair amount of cash on them, leading officers to believe they were semi-successful with their con game. Both suspects were from Alabama, and the PT Cruiser had Alabama plates. Both are now sitting in the Broken Arrow jail, the PT Cruiser is impounded, and at least for now, they are off of the street.

 

    Do you think those who paid $150-$250 for a box of newspaper will report it to authorities? Probably not.... Wouldn't you feel a bit foolish for falling for the scam? How about the fact that anyone with common sense would know they were about to purchase stolen merchandise, had the package actually contained a new $2000 laptop...

 

    If you buy merchandise, especially new or near new expensive merchandise off the street, or from the trunk of someone's car, for pennies on the dollar, you should know you are about to buy stolen merchandise, and will be supporting crime. So don't do it! Don't be a victim! Report this kind of activity and save some other fool from making a mistake. These are tough times and if we don't stand up as citizens and do our part, then we are part of the problem!

 

    In all honesty, it felt good to help get these two apprehended! And yes, I gave a written statement, and if asked, would gladly testify against them in court!

 

Virgil

 

 

© 2006 - DANCES-WITH-SNAKES.COM        

VIRGIL G. RICHARDS

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