Every town has a history, and at this time of year, I thought it fitting to explore a little history in the form of visiting a very old cemetery in Round Rock
The Round Rock Cemetery, also known as the Old Sam Bass Cemetery, was established in the early 1850’s and is the resting place for many old pioneers, bandits, heroes, and of course, children. In fact, the first resident of the Round Rock Cemetery is said to be a young girl around age 11.
A quick look around, especially on a cool, cloudy day, ensures you this is a peaceful place. The stillness almost invites to listen to the whispers of the dead as they tell their stories etched in stone. Some are quite readable, while some stones are deeply worn.
This is the resting place of A.W. Grimes, a local lawman killed in a shootout in downtown Round Rock in 1878. It’s also the eternal home of Sam Bass, the outlaw responsible for the death of Grimes, and who also died as a result of that shoot out. You’ll probably recognize both of those names from the roads named after them.
Being a very old place, there are signs of disrepair, but there are also efforts to bring things back. And it isn’t unusual to see a new grave among the old. Out of respect, the new grave sites will be left out of this blog.
Walking through history like this is a humbling, yet peaceful experience. Although as peaceful as it in the light of day, I really would not want to be here at night.
Round Rock Cemetery is located on Sam Bass Road, just west of Chisholm Trail.
There are other types of pretty well known scam stories. Just recently I received a call from someone claiming to be with the FBI and that my Social Security card had been used in connection with a crime. This one always goes the same way. They ask if you’ve ever visited Texas. (No, I just live here…but whatever). No matter what you answer, they then go on to tell you that a car was rented in your name, some crazy amount of drugs were found in it, as well as weapons (sometimes), and blood (usually). And all this is somehow connected to your Social Security card. Makes no sense, but they will get aggressive to try to intimidate you into believing this bad fiction. The scam here is pretty sketchy. They demand payment to lift a warrant for your arrest. I mean, don’t federal officers demand payment not to apprehend you for a crime on a regular basis? No, this one just falls apart.
A brand new scam just popped up the last few days that is similar to the Social Security scam calls, but a lot more aggressive. In this one, a person claiming to be from Homeland Security calls you claiming several packages in your name were stopped at the USPS and you are on the hook for some really bad things regarding this packages (the “illegal content” changes from call to call, if they are even clear). The caller becomes quite aggressive about the fallout from the illegal activity and you will be urged to react very quickly or face immediate arrest. What do they urge you to do, exactly? Gift cards!! You can stop your immediate “arrest” by buying them gift cards. In one call, the scammer actually specified Target gift cards. Classy.
Yet another type of scam is the Tech Support/Computer support scam. These scams are normally targeted at older folks who the scammers assume have limited knowledge of computers and digital security. They will claim your virus support has run out on your computer, but for the low, low price of $299 you can get a whole 3 years of 24/7 support! Note: McAffee and Norton, legitimate anti-virus programs, cost far less and are actually reliable.
Another computer scam is the “Windows Refund” scam. Now this one gets a teeny bit confusing. There are a lot of steps. First they will tell you that you overpaid some moderate amount on something they think you may remember having purchased for/on your computer a few years ago, and now they want to refund you the unused amount. To complete this process they will ask to get into your online bank account and have you authorize or verify a dollar amount. While you do that, they have used a fake window on your screen to show that it now looks like the amount of your refund is now 10 times that, is in your account now, and you owe all that money back. So you can fix this by…you guessed it…buying gift cards to repay the amount (that doesn’t exist). I know this one sounds a little confusing, but it’s actually pretty entertaining to hear.
Travel scams are similar to computer support scams. You’ll be given a great non-existent deal on travel, and an option to pay a suspicious amount for travel insurance. If they succeed in convincing you, you will be out a significant amount of money, and no trip!
I encountered a really strange on last week. Russia called me. No name. No location. Just “Russia” and a phone number. They left no message, and haven’t called back. I’m a little insulted, actually. But, and this is a new one for me, the scam happens when you call back to a line that charges YOU, BY THE MINUTE for the call, and the scammer will keep you on the line for as long as possible. It’s kind of an old scam with the 976 numbers from the 80s, with a modern twist.