Pheaturing Phile Alum Jeff Trelewicz

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you doing? Talk about having a bad day. An Australian man definitely did not see this coming when he was caught with 600 pounds of methamphetamine after he literally ran his transport van into two cop cars. His little stunt has now earned him more than six years in prison. Simon Tu was driving a Toyota HiAce with drugs worth more than $145 million when he plowed into the two control cars that were parked outside the Eastwood Town Police Station after drifting to the wrong side of the road. Basically, this man made it easier for him to get arrested. Obviously afraid of the outcome, he decided to make a run for it in high gear, but police were able to catch him about an hour later. When they caught up to him officers noticed he was nervous and was visibly shaking and fidgeting as he told officers he had experienced a microsleep. Which let’s be real, this man was clearly probably high on meth and knew they would bust him because of the number of drugs in his back seat. Also, how do you not notice two cop cars? When cops searched Tu’s van, they found multiple cardboard boxes filled with crystal meth. He was transporting 260.47 kilograms of the substance with purity ranging from 71.5 to 80.5 per cent. According to Detective Glyn Baker of the Ryde Police, “This would be one of the easiest drugs busts that NSW Police has ever made... incredible, absolutely incredible.” Earlier this year the Australian man was guilty of supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug. District Court Judge Penelope Hock in New South Wales decided to slam the dumb drug lord over here with a jail sentence this Friday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Tu will be eligible for parole in July 2023. Hock gave him 6 and a half years on a parole period of four. He was also convicted on two lesser charges of failing to give particulars to police and negligent driving. During a hearing this week, Tu’s lawyer, Phillip Boulten, described his client’s action as “negligent and shambolic.” She stated, “His driving is what gave it all away, and his role was to drive, so that in some sense it was a hopeless execution of the task he was asked to perform.” Despite him being arrested, Tu refused to confess to Australian police where the drugs came from or who told him to pick them up. The court also heard that he has a heavy history of gambling, uses cocaine, and owed money commercially and personally.  

Listen, bears crave chips too. Can you blame them? They are delicious, so there is no harm in eating one or two bags here or there. Which is why this hungry, hungry bear was on the hunt for some delicious tortilla chips. Yes, a black bear was seen craving junk food and wandering into a California grocery store, leaving with a bag of Tostitos chips in its mouth. Luckily for us, it was all caught on camera, and it is so cute but terrifying at the same time. Here's a screen shot...

The video was shot at a Safeway grocery store in Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe by a woman named Adina Baidoo. Baidoo was walking out of the grocery store around 9:30 p.m. when she witnessed the very odd encounter. Apparently a shopper had screeched when Baidoo unknowingly walked right into the bear outside by the trash can. She then took a video of him eating garbage at what appeared to be a safe distance. You can then hear her say, “This actual bear, right there, that I almost walking into has gone into Safeway and decided… that he is going to go shopping.” Honestly, this woman deserves all the awards because I would have yelled and sprinted back in my car. Not this woman though, she needed that viral cell phone video! She eventually decided to go back to her car but captured the bear making his way inside the grocery store. A few seconds later the bear is seen nonchalantly grabbing the bag of chips and crawling back out. Because bears need comfort food too, damn it! Let him eat his chips. Luckily, no one was hurt during the whole robbery, but by gosh. Can you just imagine minding your own business, on your way to get some lucky charms and on your way to the produce section for avocados, and then turning left and seeing a freaking wild BEAR right next to you? Eek. No, thank you.

A 13-year-old boy did what not many other kids his age would ever do. At the start of their teenage years, kids tend to become a little more selfish and spoiled. They think the world is against them and over-dramatically think their worlds are over when they don’t get want or things don’t go their way. But if we had more teenagers like William Rabillo, maybe things would start to change more efficiently. It had been a tough few weeks, hitting low points and rough patches for Krystal Preston, a single mom from Nevada. However, this single mother had raised such a good kid, better than she could’ve ever realized. As he watched his mom make ends meet, he decided to work just as hard to help her. Krystal’s son William became a money making machine doing yard work. As he was cleaning yards to make a little extra money, he took to social media, primarily on Facebook marketplace, to help his mom find a new car. He found a woman’s car that he saw he could afford, and messaged her. William had bargained with the woman for her 1999 white Chevrolet Metro, but that wasn’t all he was willing to give up. The 13-year-old kid offered up his own Xbox in a heartwarming exchange, showing his big heart in willing to give up trivial teenage boy things to help ease the issues that had troubled his mom over the last couple weeks. “It was really cheap, so I asked if I could trade the Xbox or earn it. At first she said no, and then, she thought about it, and then she said yes,” Preston’s 13-year-old son said to ABC News. And in a simple transaction, William had bought his mom a white Chevy Metro. “I lost it. I bawled so bad. There’s no way. What 13-year-old buys their mom a car. I don’t know any. I can’t express it. There’s no words that can express my gratitude and how proud I am,” Preston said in what she also stated was “the shock of my life.” The complete shock comes from how this teenager didn’t hesitate to help his mother out. Krystal, you raised one hell of a son, and I’m sure he’s going to turn out to be a wonderful man when he gets older. The family has a GoFundMe page set up that goes into detail about their struggles and how they have prevailed. It’s so beautiful to see such good rising up from seemingly troubling beginnings.

A New Jersey’s business is now on fire after a sign was posted on their front window reading "Speak English or pay $10 extra." Check it out...

The sign was posted by a business owner in Clifton and has now sparked outrage with some calling the message racist. Dave Feinberg has been sharpening knives at his business, Cutters Edge, in New Jersey since 1975 and remained as the city’s demographic shifted for 50 years. But for customers, the note posted on the window is deeper than his talented craft. For over two weeks now, the New Jersey business has been receiving numerous phone calls by angry customers demanding that local officials close down the store. Social media and Twitter users have also attacked the store, calling them racist, begging people to boycott it. The shop was even attacked on Yelp after customers ripped on the shop by giving them a negative one-star rating, asking people to “ignore the establishment.” Secenty-one-year-old Owner Dave Feinberg had reportedly put the sign up recently after a frustrating 10-minute encounter with a customer. He stated, “I couldn’t understand a word he was speaking in Spanish… He made absolutely no attempt, none whatsoever, to speak to me in English. I figured $10 at 10 minutes was a fair number.” The shop owner had initially thought it wasn’t a problem as people came in and started “laughing and giggling,” until the phone calls began blocking his phone line and they started getting angry voicemails. After several members began to criticize the knife shop and started speaking negatively about him, Feinberg put up a new sign that shows his apology. It read, “Sorry about the speak English sign. Please [accept] our [heart] felt sadness it may have caused.” The 71-year-old owner did want the public to know that he apologizes for any “misunderstanding” and wants them to know that he is not racist. He also noted that he gets along with his new Arabic and Latino neighbors. He spoke with the New York Daily News, saying he was surprised by the swift criticism after he wrote the sign, he stated, “I guess the frustration factor got to me, but it had nothing to do with speaking English or Spanish or any other language,’ he told the publication. It was about when we’re here, we are able to understand each other.’ According to Clifton Council Member Rosemary Pino, the sign was at odds with the town, since it prides itself on its diversity, saying people from the city speak different languages. She stated, “Messages like this put us back centuries.”

Last summer, Todd Fassler was bitten by a rattlesnake in San Diego, California. While the video of his rattlesnake injury went viral, his hospital bill for the rattlesnake bite care will put the fear of God in you. All $153,000 of it. While getting bit by a rattlesnake isn’t as uncommon as we’d all like to believe, rarely does the story end at a bite for the victim. While trying to take a selfie with some rattlers, Fassler got bit. He expected some pain and swelling. What he didn’t expect though, was this massive $153,161.25 bill. Mind you, the date of the statement is July 13th, 2015. The date payment is due? July 27th, 2015. That’s only two weeks to pay this massive bill or for insurance to step in. Why is the bill for a rattlesnake bite so high? It has to do with the necessary medical attention. In particular the antivenin, which is required to treat a venomous bite. It is included under the pharmacy cost portion of the bill, which was $83,341.25. There’s only one commercially available antivenin for “treating venomous snakebites in the United States... CroFeb, manufactured by U.K.-based BTG plc,” according to The Washington Post. There are no other competitors in the market, and because of that, in 2014, BTG closed out around $100 million. For one hospital vial, the price is around $2,300. A typical treatment dose? That requires four to six vials. So for a single, smaller rattlesnake bite that would need four vials of antivenin, the cost is $9,200. It’s estimated that 7,000 to 8,000 people in America become snakebite victims each year. Snake venom can cause nausea, vomiting and difficulty breathing, and the results are even worse if you have an allergic reaction. Even nonvenomous snakes leave puncture wounds and cause tissue damage. So hesitation in seeking medical attention caused by worrying about the cost when you need life-saving medical help could potentially have devastating results. In the photo of the bite above, it’s evident that this man required a helluva lot of antivenin for a rattlesnake bite that intense. So is this bill set in stone? Not quite. A hospital bill is more of a breakdown of all applicable charges and works as a way of communicating between the insurance company of the patient and the hospital. It’s one giant paper trail from which all deductions can begin. Regardless, try not to get bit by a rattler this year. Or any year. If you have $153,000 burning a hole in your pocket, go buy some delicious BBQ, a boat, and a 30-rack of beer instead. You’ll still have $140,000 after that.

Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this record...

Nah. Never mind. Here's a pic of a guy hanging out at his friends gender reveal party...

Hahahaha. You know, if I had a TARDIS I would go to see a football game in London. I'd probably end up being part of a good tempered football crowd at West Ham, London passing a young boy over our heads to the front so that he can see the game better.

As I've been saying, in many places, masks are mandatory, so you as well make it your own. There's a mask for every fashion and fandom, and there can also be a mask for every face. People order custom-made masks with photos of their face on them to try and achieve a realistic look. Try being the most important word.

Here's another creative sign telling people to wear face masks...

Viva Las Vegas. Did you see the dress the Fist Lady wore at the RNC a few weeks ago? 

Hahaha. So, there's a new Barbie that just came out for your kids. I'll show you...

You know Prince was a great guitarist, but did you know he played a slug as well?

Hahahahahaha. That just made me laugh. So, I was thinking of getting a new tattoo but someone had the same idea I had...

Hahaha. So, sugar-free gummy bears might seem like a great idea in theory. But, like so many things being sold to us in a capitalist society, there is a catch. Anyone who's ever tried (or worse, binged) on sugar-free candy knows exactly what that catch is. If you're not sure, just check out this review on an Amazon listing for a one pound bag of Haribo SUGAR FREE Classic Gummi Bears...

Hahaha. So, doctors are protesting and no one knows why...

Hahahaha. That looks like "Weird" Al. It's pumpkin spice season and some companies are going a little bit too far with it this year...

The pandemic has brought financial strain to a lot of people, millions of people are unemployed in the U.S. alone, and many with jobs have reduced hours. While the pandemic has hit people hard in every industry, restaurant workers largely paid in tips have faced distinct obstacles as most indoor dining has been limited or shuttered. All this is to say, it's tough out there, and staff take home a fraction of their old pay as restaurants open up for outdoor dining, takeout, delivery, and limited capacity indoor dining. However, facing financial frustration still isn't an excuse to lash out at strangers and make assumptions about their lives. In a recent email to the Phile, a woman asked if she was wrong for snapping at a waitress after a tense encounter. 

"Am I wrong for snapping at the waitress that everyone is affected in this pandemic, not just her? This happened a few days ago. Restaurants can operate at 50%. From what I noticed, people are leaning towards delivery and aren't eating out much. I finished work and was about to go home. My roommate texted me that the stove wasn't working and there was nothing to eat. I was already tired and hungry and I have to cycle for another 30 minutes to reach home. There is a burger place near my apartment. Nothing too fancy but it isn't McD either. I called and placed an order (four burgers, two fries, two drinks). They asked me whether I wanted to pick it up or have or delivered. The restaurant is only a 15-minute detour from my usual path. So, I told them that I would pick it up. I tip delivery drivers, so I thought I would save the money. I am a college student working as a desk clerk in a hotel. I am not broke by any means but I do try not to waste money. By the time I reached the restaurant, my order was ready. I paid the money in the counter and they directed me somewhere else to collect. There was a waitress in the counter. She had the order in her hand, but didn't give it to me. She mentioned that since the pandemic started the restaurant has been encouraging tips for takeouts. I was surprised and I took out my wallet and asked her if 10 percent was okay. She told me that standard is 25%. I was shocked and she could also see it in my face. She started telling me that, 'It's a pandemic. Do you know how much servers are affected? You know that servers live on tips, don't you? You are young but that's no excuse to be so selfish.' At this point, I am feeling like she is being unnecessarily condescending towards me. So I told her a little curtly, 'The pandemic has affected everyone, not just you. The only difference between me and you is that I don't expect people to give me money when I haven't actually worked for it. Can you please hand me my order?' She scoffed, rolled her eyes and then handed me the order. I left without leaving a tip. Now, I genuinely don't know whether I was in the right or wrong. I mostly tip 20-25% when I eat out. I have tipped less than 10% very few times, but that was always only in case of extremely bad service. I tip 20% to delivery drivers, 25% if weather is bad. I generally don't tip on take-out orders or for counter services. I haven't actually gotten any take out since before the pandemic started (safety reasons and I was being frugal in case I got fired). So, I am not sure if the rules have changed since then and I am just unaware. Now, I am conflicted. Am I wrong for snapping at her?" I thinks you were acting completely within your own rights. She was basically holding your food hostage and trying to force you to give her money. Forced tipping through social shaming is such an odd thing. I'm happy to tip when the service has been good, but restaurants should not be paying starvation wages and offloading the financial responsibility on to customers. At the end of the day, this exchange just points out how badly American leadership is fumbling this pandemic by not extending more financial support to workers in all industries.   

  

Okay, you know I live in Florida, right? Here's another story from this crazy state...

Well, this is truly one crazy and gross way to get arrested. According to authorities, a Florida naked woman is accused of stealing a sex toy and began using it inside the store. Straight out of a TV Show. Fort Pierce police were called to an undisclosed address for a disturbance when they ran into the little problem. Emergency dispatchers reported that a woman was sporting a purple shirt and had no pants inside the store. Employees stated that the woman removed the sex toy from the packaging and was completely naked (and probably high on drugs.) According to an employee, the woman went into the store’s stockroom so nonchalantly, thinking it was her home. But nope, she indeed wasn’t. When police arrived they found the unnamed 36-year-old woman sitting in the office chair. According to the arrest affidavit, the woman had a pink-colored penis-shaped sex tody she was using in a “masturbatory manner.” After the police officer went inside the room where she was, she quickly dropped the “personal accessory,” because well, she was probably embarrassed. The woman also reportedly opened and tried on a piece of clothing, as far as what that item was, who knows. I bet it was some sort of lingerie. The total value of the two stolen items came out to $45.98. So, as expected, she was quickly arrested and given a misdemeanor charge of larceny and indecent exposure. Now, sharing my two cents here, I have to give it to this woman for really trying. But, why in the world would you decide to steal something and then stay in the store? The least you could have done is ran and then used it in the parking lot or something. Not in the store, rookie move lady, rookie move. This woman must have been so horny and so high to do this in public, she wants it NOW. Also, she went inside the store with no pants, who does that? You know she was ready to do what she had to do. I wonder what this woman is feeling now. Can you imagine having to tell your family and friends that you basically got arrested for masturbating in public AFTER stealing a freaking dildo? Yikes. The guts and bravery of this woman are beyond the roof. Also, of course this happened in Florida, keep staying classy people!

If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, call the National Drug Helpline at 1-844-289-0879. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we?

Not a whole lot going on there. 

Okay, let's laugh...

Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would say, "Esther, I'd like to ride in that  helicopter." Esther always replied, "I know Morris, but that helicopter ride is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars." One year Esther and Morris went to the fair, and Morris said, "Esther, I'm 85-years-old. If I don't ride that helicopter, I might never get another chance." Esther replied, "Morris that helicopter is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars." The pilot overheard the couple and said, "Folks, I'll make you a deal. I'll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word I won't charge you! But if you say one word, it's 50 dollars." Morris and Esther agreed and up they went. The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word. When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, "By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. I'm impressed!" Morris replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out, but you know... 50 dollars is 50 dollars." 

 

Okay, this is different. Today's guest is a good friend who has been on the Phile many of times to talk football, or to be interviewed about his novels such as The Paranormal Contact series, 

The Time Traveler's Journal, and The Object Of My Obsession. Now here's here to interview me about my first novel... Blaphaus Maximus and the New Galaxy Day, which is the 135th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Please welcome back to the Phile... Jeff Trelewicz.

Me: Hey, Jeff, welcome back to the Phile, my friend. So, let’s go over some football stuff real quick. First, do you think there’s gonna be a full football season? 

Jeff: I would honestly be surprised if we saw a full season at this point. I'm looking at the struggles of MLB to keep players healthy and it's not a full contact sport like football is, so I think we're going to see a spike in cases before we get even close to a full season.

Me: What do you think of this Redskins name thing? 

Jeff: Honestly? I can see both sides, but with everything going on in the world and in the U.S. right now is that really the thing we need to worry about? But it's easy for me to say that because I have 0 percent Native American blood in me. I have no horse in the race. 

Me: Can you believe Tom Brady is playing on the Bucs? What do you think of that? Is this his last year playing? 

Jeff: No. I can't. I figured if he was going to leave New England it would go to a team that was good recently, not the Bucs. He automatically makes them a contender though. It's hard to tell if it will be his last season. It depends on how good he is in Tampa and how far into the season we get. 

Me: Okay, as you know I published my first novel. You were a big help and I hope you’ll help me with the sequel. Let’s switch places and you can interview me about the 135th book to be phestured in the Phile’s Book Club... Blaphaus Maximus and The New Galaxy Day. 

Jeff: First of all, I gotta say it feels weird to be in this seat. I'm used to answering questions, not asking them. Does it feel weird to you too? Or is it just me? 

Me: No, it defintely feels weird. I did one short interview for someone else's blog and I have another one coming up soon... but nothing is as cool as you interviewing me, my friend, on this blog.

Jeff: Secondly, I just want to congratulate you on the success of your first book. How does it feel to say you're a published author? 

Me: It feels weird, I have written stuff over the years but nothing I had the balls to get published, or even knew how. I like having a book I wrote in my hands and I like signing books. Haha. 

Jeff: What inspired you to write? 

Me: Weeellll... with this book I wrote the first scene in my sleep on Notes on my phone, I woke up wondering what the hell it was. I do weird stuff in my sleep. I thought as it was quarantine/furlough time I might as well see what happens and came up with a whole book. 

Jeff: The name of your book is Blaphaus Maximus and the New Galaxy Day, it's definitely a unique title. Where did you come up with the name? 

Me: Blaphaus Maximus was the name I came up in my sleep... no idea where it came from. The rest of the title came later... I was gonna call it just Blap but decided a longer name would be cool. JK Rowling has long names for her books. 

Jeff: Tell us a little bit about the book. If you had to describe the book in two or three sentences, how would you do it? 

Me: That's the hardest thing... it took me a few tries to write what the book is about for the back of the book. In a nutshell it's about this Toonberosum species named Blaphaus who is a driver for a company called Ultra, kinda like Uber, and he picks up a Governor of the Cyrakuse species and the next thing Blap knows he's involved with the galaxy government, which he doesn't like. 

Jeff: Tell us who Blaphaus Maximus is. 

Me: He is a Tooberosum, which is a rare species that not many beings have seen in the past... which makes him get used as a political pawn to bring all the planets together in there galaxy to be part of the Cabinet, which is a group of Governors from each planet. 

Jeff: Do you have plans to release more books after this? 

Me: Yeah. I'm writing the second book now, then there's gonna be a third. It'll be a trilogy. 

Jeff: Take me into the process of writing. In talking to you, it all seemed to come very quickly. Were you surprised how quickly the story came to you? 

Me: Yeah, in fact all three books are planned out pretty much. I write the book on Notes, then emailed it to my email then transferred it to Pages on my computer then as you know transferring it to Word. You were a big help with this, Jeff, and I hope you'll help me with the other two. 

Jeff: Where does writing your own book measure up to some of your legendary interviews? Blaphaus or Paul McCartney rank higher to you? 

Me: Oh, man. Oranges and tangerines. There's no comparison. Interviewing different people is cool, some cooler than others, but having my own product out, be it CD or book is cooler. I want to be interviewed and center of attention. Haha. 

Jeff: Let's take a moment to look at some of your accomplishments in the past few years. You're a published author, you have a well known blog that you interview some amazing people, you released an album with a band. Is there anything else you really want to do? Perhaps appear on a friends' podcast? 

Me: I love to appear on a podcast... yours or anybody's. I have no idea how to do that. The two albums I had released... as Strawberry Blondes Forever and Null and Void are both cool... but the book I wrote is cooler just a smidge. I don't know what I want to do next. I think writing books for a few years will be cool. Maybe I'll strike gold and Blaphaus will be made into a movie or Netflix show. 

Jeff: You recently posted about your book being included on a list. What was the list for? 

Me: Ahhh... I have no idea how that happened. Twenty-eight best new galaxies eBooks to read in 2020 on Bookauthority.org. My book was Number 5... check it out...

Me: It's cool, but odd. 

Jeff: What was your reaction when you saw that you were included on a list like that? 

Me: How the fuck did that happen? 

Jeff: What was the easiest part of writing the book? What did you consider the hardest? 

Me: Easiest is coming up with a story line... hardest... the whole publishing part and coming up with character names. Some came naturally, others were changed many times. For example Romana was originally called "Alex." Oh, and remembering names and planet names... I took notes. 

Jeff: What words of encouragement (or discouragement) do you have for anyone else who is thinking about writing their first novel? 

Me: Be patient, write what you'd like to read and not what you think someone else would like to read and don't expect to hit gold. 

Jeff: Was it easy to create your own world like this? All my books take place on Earth. I'd think writing about new worlds would be quite the task, especially in the first book. 

Me: I think it's easier to write in a made up universe... you make up the own rules. Maybe I will write a book that takes place on Earth one day. But my whole thing is to expand this "world" I created, and write stories based in the same galaxy. 

Jeff: If you were approached about adapting this for television or for movies, would you agree? How would you like it done? As a cartoon or live action? 

Me: Live action... I would do it in a heart beat, but would want creative control. I also have a few different actors in mind for different characters. 

Jeff: I believe you might be the only person in the history of books to throw a shout out to Wawa in their "About the Author" page. Has that lead to any freebies yet? 

Me: Nope. And the Wawa thing was totally an inside joke. 

Jeff: Once again, congratulations on your successful first book! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to interview you for once! 

Me: Thanks, Jeff, for doing this and sorry that there's gonna be no Phootball Talk this year... the season sprung up on me. But I will have you back to talk football here and there. Take care and thanks so much for coming up with some great questions. You rock!

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Jeff for being on the Phile and interviewing me. The Phile will be back on Friday with Katy Perry. Spread the word, not the turd to virus. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Kiss your brain.