Amarillo, Texas: Streets Feel Emptier as Blue Icons Disappear

Things used to be simpler in Amarillo. Do you remember the good ol' days of our city? When we didn't have to worry so much about bad people. Yes, I know they are all over. Not just in Amarillo. They certainly have always existed.

It's just that with social media, we find out about it a lot more. There are scams all of the time. People who are trying to one-up without doing all of the work. They think it makes more sense to lead a life of crime instead of doing things the right way.

All of the scams and theft have left us to always have our guard up. Heck, it has made our lives a bit more inconvenient. Remember back in the day when we needed to mail something out?

You could leave it innocently outside your front door. Sometimes, now you worry about that. The red flag up on your mailbox can lead to people wanting to steal your mail. It used to be easy to find a mailbox around town.

Yes, you can always go to the post office. They have great employees who will weigh, stamp, and ship out whatever you want. They even have mailboxes outside their facilities that get emptied quite regularly. So you don't have to get out of your car, but you can also trust your mail will get there.

The Missing Mailboxes of Amarillo

There used to be spots in Amarillo that would house a little blue box where we could drop pre-postaged envelopes. It was a government official's mailbox, so we felt confident. That was until the thieves started really getting brave.

There were more stores coming out about mail theft. More stories of people being caught.

That is when the mailboxes around town started disappearing. The one I used to use was outside the Texas Panhandle War Memorial near I27 and Georgia. It's been missing for a while, but I just started to notice.

That is the fate of many standalone mailboxes in Amarillo. The ones outside the post office are still there. This is just another case of the bad people ruining it for the rest of us.

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Gallery Credit: Dan Patrick

12 Shrewd Email Tactics Hackers Use To Rip You Off

Computer hackers are working full-time nowadays --not only to hold major corporations hostage with ransomware -but they're also hard at work trying to gain access to private computers and personal information of unsuspecting victims. Surrendering access to these schemers could have disastrous consequences, but sometimes it can be difficult to tell what's legitimate and what's not. That's why I'm sharing 12 emails I've personally received that appear to be as bogus as a three-dollar bill.

No doubt, you have received very similar emails in your inbox and wondered if they were legit. A good rule of thumb to follow is when you receive an email from an unverified source - do not, under any circumstance click on anything in the email or download any attachments. That is exactly how hackers can gain instant access to your computer and your information.

Gallery Credit: Zane Mathews

Filed Under: Amarillo Texas