"The Stolen Runaway Fire Truck Story" (complete with Police Scanner audio)

Spoken Word with Electronics is an audio series delivering to you a two side recording of unusual stories paired with vintage modular electronic sounds

Hi, everyone, welcome back to the show. This week is somewhat precarious in Texas, where the show is recorded. Our power snapped off at 2AM last Sunday night (or early Monday morning). There's a complicated conversation about why – it's partly due to the insanely cold weather the state is managing, but more about Texas not following years of suggestions to improve and share its power grid. We'll discuss that next week, but for humor, here's the funniest item I can provide: "The Stolen Runaway Fire Truck Story".

Hear the audio:

This is a story about a Fire Truck that was stolen last week in Austin Texas. It's extremely funny, with exception of a Fire Truck being destroyed by the joy rider, and the highway road itself getting torn up by shredded metal being scraped deep into the gravel — but based on plot alone and no injuries, the actual narrative reminds me of a video game. Essentially, the police followed the Fire Truck, and kept shooting it with lasers until it stopped, defeated. As there were no actual bullets exchanged, only a well positioned spike strip, "video game lasers" has to be the only explanation. (I know it was the spike strip) All the same, watch out for the IKEA cameo, which makes it a romantic comedy, along with a barking Dog Cop.

I love Police Scanners, and the Runaway Fire Truck Story is one great example as to why they're great. Learn more about this Area Texas Man Accused of Multiple Charges, including his desire to "honk the horn", "light up the emergency lights", and "make it fly" — in full detail, at this local news coverage. Humorously, he was "currently wearing an ankle monitor as a result of a previous charge" when stopped. Built in GPS!

Rest of the show is the beginning of a tribute to Bruce Haack, which will properly complete next week. The Haack component got partly interrupted by the power outage affecting millions of Texans. See SIDE A for a personal perspective on that. Here's the entire show for this week:

SPOKEN WORD WITH ELECTRONICS #45: STOLEN FIRE TRUCK! And Part One of a Tribute to Genius BRUCE HAACK