New Year's Eve Roller Blading At Indian Village & Interlochen

I need new roller blade wheels. It is not easy to find the ones I like. Last time I found them on Ebay from a nice lady in Colorado.

It is not very warm today, below 50, when I left to go blading, slightly above now. Brrrr.

I overheated blading, despite the cold. It was windy. Blading into a wind is hard work. And fun when the wind is pushing you.

Today's blading was at Indian Village Natural Historical Area. Or is it Historical Natural Area? I can never remember. I scared a little armadillo today.

The trail through Indian Village eventually exits the Natural Historical Area and enters the Interlochen zone. Part of the trail is along side one of the Interlochen canals. I want to move to Interlochen. I won't put up Christmas lights if I do, though.

I am sure you are wondering what is on my t-shirt. It is Mickey Mouse. Years ago, I took my youngest nephews to Sea-Tac and put them on a plane bound for LA, to meet their Dad and Mom (my sister) and my Mom and Dad, to go to Disneyland. I got the shirt I was wearing today out of the deal. It's Mickey riding a mountain bike.

My pool is still closed. Unless it gets fixed today, I am not going to be able to make my Polar Bear swimming on the first day of the New Year video tomorrow morning. I'm thinking maybe I'll go up to Lake Grapevine to do my Polar Bear thing. Maybe.

The Day Before 2009 In Fort Worth Texas

2009 starts in a few hours. I'm probably not telling you something you didn't already know.

Tomorrow it will be 1 full year since I started this blog.

If you had told me a year ago that I would blog every single day of the new year, I would have said that was ridiculous.

If you had told me that not only would I blog every day, but that the total number of posts would be almost a thousand on this blog you're reading right now, I would have said that was ridiculous.

If you had told me that during 2008 I would create 3 other blogs, I would have said that was ridiculous.

If you had told me that the total number of postings on my 4 blogs would number over 1500, I would have quit listening to you, because that was so ridiculous.

If you had told me that the number of visitors to my blogs would greatly exceed the large number of visitors to my Eyes on Texas website, I would have said that was ridiculous.

If you had told me that by the end of 2008 my blogs would be generating the majority of my ad revenue, I would have told you that was ridiculous.

If you had told me that by the end of 2008 I would have over 200 subscribers to my blogs, I would have told you that was ridiculous.

If you had told me that there would be days in 2008 when my ad revenue would go over $50, I would have told you that was ridiculous. (I used to think it was doing well if it made $5, thinking $50 was not possible)

So, for me, in many ways, on many days, 2008 was the best of times. I made a lot of changes in 2008. All for the good.

I made some mistakes in 2008. Like I should never have gone up to Washington for a month. It took me a long time to recover.

But, even that lemon turned into lemonade, because one good result of being up north, this past summer, is I fixed a problem that had been nagging me for a long time. It has been 4 months since I've been rid of, what I know realize, was a negative toxic poison that had been assaulting my psyche for years, like a chronic illness that had gone on so long I didn't realize how badly dealing with it was affecting my well being.

I've set some new rules for myself. One is I will not willingly, ever again, allow myself to be subjected to the presence of negative, hostile beings. If a person turns ugly, I will quickly make myself absent.

I will never again associate with a hugely obese person. Obesity is a form of mental illness. An obese person is a self-indulgent, self-absorbed, self-loather. A self-loather, at their heart, in my opinion, hates those who are well. Jealousy is an obese person's overriding emotion.

I will never again associate with a person who is addicted to prescription mood-altering drugs. If a person requires a chemical intervention in order to stabilize their moods, this indicates they are inherently unstable. And despite the drugs, that instability can erupt into irrational, illogical temper tantrums that reflect the individuals seriously degraded thought processes and underlying neurosis. If the person is uneducated and ignorant, on top of neurotic, you've got yourself a time bomb that will tick off at any random time.

In the future, if I befriend a person who I later learn is a convicted felon, I will once again extend the chance for that person to show that they have mended their criminal ways. But if I get the slightest hint that that person is still a sociopath, still thinking they are above the law, still being irresponsible, I will immediately cut that person off.

But, I think the best policy is to steer clear of anyone who has done jail time for any reason. It is highly likely that they can not be trusted. Once a thief, always a thief.

Tomorrow, I start 2009 in "better shape," in every sense of the phrase, than I started 2008. And I started 2008 in good shape. I'm looking forward to the next year more than I did 2008. I don't recollect thinking in those terms a year ago. Despite the bad economy and other bad things going on in the world, I'm feeling sort of optimistic in a way I have not in a long long time. Why? I don't know.

Maybe it's because my Mom and Dad are visiting in about a week. Yeah, I'm sure that's what's causing my good mood.....I think I'll go roller blading in a bit under this fine blue Texas sky.

Eminent Dominance: The Denton Record-Chronicle's Excellent Look Behind The Barnett Shale

We have reached the final chapter of the Denton Record-Chronicle's Pulitizer Prize worthy look at the dirty dealings going on behind the Barnet Shale and how those dirty dealings are affecting the lives of Texans.

I'll link to the 5 Chapters below. Read the comments at the end of each chapter and note the embarrassing illiterateness of most of the Barnett Shale Shills. If you feel moved to counter those comments with one of your own, please do so.

Behind The Barnet Shale....

Chapter 1: Neighbors along Britt Drive are approached by land men eager to drill in the Barnett Shale. Some are wary of the impact on their quality of life and question whether the amount of money offered is worth it.

Chapter 2: Urban drilling means these rough-and-tumble workplaces are closer to homes than ever. But its boom-or-bust nature creates a psychosocial environment for the Britt Drive neighborhood that fosters distrust of both sides.

Chapter 3: Cities are trying to preserve their authority to make rules for health, safety and welfare, but the industry is pushing back. Britt Drive neighbors watch one such battle unfold in their backyard.

Chapter 4: A doctrine of exemption allows the industry to develop oil and gas resources without having to study the environmental or health impacts of their work. Britt Drive neighbors worry about how drilling would affect their environment.

Chapter 5: Industry insiders sometimes marginalize gas drilling opponents, but the conversation about where to draw the line in urban drilling persists. The Britt Drive neighbors’ quest to keep drillers away grows increasingly desperate.

The Texas Value of a New Year's Eve Drink

Today is New Year's Eve Eve. In about another 32 hours, give or take an hour or two, a large number of Texans living in damp and wet zones will be downing unseemly quantities of alcoholic beverages as part of celebrating the start of 2009.

Meanwhile, Tee-Totalling Texans like me, and Texans living in a dry zone, will be bringing in the New Year free of any sinful libations. We will wake up January 1, 2009 with hangover free heads, starting the New Year bright, clear-headed and cheerful.

I've mentioned before that Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, sends me a lot of very amusing emails. A couple days ago Alma sent me one titled "The Value of a Drink."

I think the day before New Year's Eve in Texas is a good day to share Alma's wise quotes about "The Value of a Drink."-----

'Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame . Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams .. If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, 'It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.'

~ Jack Handy

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell happened to your bra and panties.

---

'I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. '

~Frank Sinatra

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

---

'When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.'

~ Henny Youngman

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

---

'24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.'

~ Stephen Wright

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.

---

'When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!'

~ Brian O'Rourke

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.

---

'Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.'

~ Benjamin Franklin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.

---

'Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.'

~ Dave Barry

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

---

To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can!

~ Dave Howell

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

---

And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers. One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the ' Buffalo Theory' to his buddy Norm. Here's how it went: 'Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest bra in cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.'

~ Cliff Clavin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

Saddam Punked By Texan

If you don't have Google Earth on your computer, you really should. It's free. Just Google "Google Earth" and download it.

Tonight I felt like doing some traveling so I went to Baghdad via Google Earth. I wanted to explore around town to see how it is looking. Well, Baghdad is looking pretty good. I saw no bombed out buildings.

It is fairly easy to find the Green Zone. Just follow the Tigris or Euphrates River as it winds through town. When you see an awful lot of blue dots you are likely in the Green Zone. The Blue dots indicate pictures. Or information.

There are many pictures of Saddam's former palaces. They were bombed early on. They appear to have been restored. You can check out the new U.S. Embassy. All over Baghdad there is interesting architecture.

Including several impressive bridges, including at least one suspension bridge.

In the Green Zone I did see something that was just a tad embarrassing to me, me being a Texan, with very thin skin, thus easily embarrassed.

A Texan had graffitied a poster of Saddam and put the Lone Star Flag over Saddam's face, writing, "Iraq Good. US Good. Saddam Donkey."

Eventually I tired of Iraq and Baghdad and decided to go to Iran to check out Tehran. I saw no Texas graffiti in Tehran. Or Lone Star Flags. But I did see a lot of impressive freeways and very cool buildings. I saw no Ayatollahs or nuclear bombs under construction. But I didn't look very hard.

Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth, Zorro's Buffet & Getting Hot

I'm having me a day. I've been up since a bit past 3 this morning. I slept well, woke well-rested and have been busy all day and am not tired. Why, I do not know.

I started in on a new project today, the details of which I don't want to talk about right now, except for the fact of starting a new project.

I blogged earlier today about my disdain for what I see as the bad design of the new Fort Worth Convention Center Omni Hotel. Little did I know, when I blogged about it, that I'd be up close to it again a few hours later.

I went hiking at the Tandy Hills today about noon. It was 29 degrees out when I got up this morning. It was almost 60 when I left for Tandy Hills Park. I wore long pants and a t-shirt. I was overdressed. I couldn't do anything about the long pants, unless I wanted another Naked Hiking episode, but the t-shirt had to go. I'd just photo documented hiking shirtless on Christmas and did not feel compelled to do so again 4 days later.

Hiking at the Tandy Hills today made me extra hungry. It's a short distance from the Tandy Hills to Zorro's Buffet. Today is Steak & Shrimp Day at Zorro's. But, along with several types of steak and shrimp, all my favorites from Mexican Day were there too. Plus some new good stuff, like Eggplant Salad.

The route to Zorro's from Tandy Hills is via Lancaster Avenue. You go under the downtown Fort Worth Mixmaster and take a left on to Interstate 35 and head south for a few miles, to Seminary Drive. Driving under the Fort Worth Mixmaster you can not help but admire what an incredible feat of highway engineering it is. Even if it took them over 12 years to build. It is almost like a giant sculpture.

And through that sculpture you can see the new Omni Hotel standing above the Sheraton Hotel with the Omni's goofy balconies clearly on display.

The picture at the top is the view west from a high point in the Tandy Hills, looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. In the picture you can see 4 of what look like skyscrapers. The skyscraper on the left is the new Omni Hotel. It really doesn't scrape to high into the sky. Nothing in downtown Fort Worth scrapes too high into the sky.

It is 73 right now, coming up on 5. I've got all the windows open. I don't recollect being able to have the windows open so much in December before. Maybe this Global Warming thing isn't a hoax.

Fort Worth Convention Center Omni Hotel's Bad Design

On the left, that's an artist's rendering of the new Fort Worth Convention Center Hotel. The new hotel is almost ready to open. The reality only bears a resemblance to the drawing.

I first saw the new Omni Hotel, up close, this past Thanksgiving. The building had puzzled me from a distance, due to what looked like a lot of scaffolding on the sides of the building.

Up close, I saw that the scaffolding was actually huge open air balconies, protruding from the sides of the building. I think there is a good reason I've never seen such a thing on a tall building.

Because it's a bad idea, both aesthetically and practically.

I predict it is only a matter of time before something bad happens on one of those balconies. Something blows off and kills someone at ground level. Or a person falls to their death.

Ironically, the new Omni Hotel overlooks the Fort Worth Water Gardens, where a few years ago the bad design of one of the pools caused 4 people to drown. My own pool is currently closed due to Fort Worth's over reaction to that easily avoided tragedy.

The balconies, that look like scaffolding, add a very odd-looking element to this building. I've not read or heard anyone else having an opinion about it. I don't think I can be the only one who thinks it looks real goofy.

The hotel came about after a lot of wrangling. No hotel builder felt the economics of Fort Worth's Convention Center warranted investing in a hotel. But, eventually, after a variety of tax breaks were offered, to the tune of about $50 million, and after it was agreed that Omni could sell condos in the upper part of the hotel, the deal was struck.

So, in addition to about 600 hotel rooms, there are 97 condos in the new Omni Hotel.

And now this very odd looking hotel is due to open. It will be interesting to see how people are going to react to seeing this hotel up close.

Below is some verbiage I found on a website touting the new Fort Worth Convention Center Omni Hotel. It's this type propaganda, rather than facts, that causes things to go a bit awry here at times.

"The 34-story, 604-room luxury hotel will boast a unique structural design and style that draw upon Fort Worth's strong cultural roots and bold Texas pride to create an unforgettable atmosphere. With artwork adorning the hotel walls, the unique life-as-gallery display will be part of the finishing touch to this new piece of Fort Worth magnificence. "

Oy.

Above on the right is an up close look at the "balconies." Maybe they are what will create the "unforgettable atmosphere" referenced above...

Behind the Barnett Shale

Very good info from Don Young......

Starting Sunday in the Denton Record Chronicle:

"Editor's Note: Behind the Shale, is a five-part series exploring urban gas drilling and one Argyle-area neighborhood's struggle against it."

Denton is a mid-sized university town just north of Fort Worth. (Argyle is a nearby small town.) Gas drilling started in the Denton area about two years before Fort Worth. The DRC has been has been at the forefront in reporting on the many dangers associated with natural gas drilling. They were the first to report on the presence of NORM in drilling wastes. The next four parts of this series should equally as educational.

Click here to read the first part of the five-part series....

Below is an excerpt from the Denton Record Chronicle article...

Jennifer Cole stepped across the parched ground of a North Texas autumn, past her dirt-caked backyard swimming pool, inching closer to a roaring machine. She watched it force its way through the earth, pushing dirt from side to side in waves like an ocean’s tide. Day by day, the bulldozer was remaking the lot behind her home on Britt Drive near Argyle, changing a sloped meadow dotted with oak trees and cattle into a flat and lifeless expanse. She shivered when she thought about what would fill the void.

Since the dirt-moving process began, dust clouds became so thick that her boys couldn’t make sense of them. “Mom, look! A sandstorm,” one said. Her sons didn’t understand why she wouldn’t let them use the pool or play outside after school. She looked down at the pool where a layer of grime clung to the bottom like black frosting, then back to the rolling bulldozer on the other side of the barbed-wire fence.

Cole didn’t know that what was happening behind that fence would consume the next three years of her life. She did know what the bulldozer meant, though. A gas rig was coming. It was Dec. 4, 2005 — a Sunday.

“Sunday,” she said above the roar, “is no day of rest.”

Sunday Sunny Texas Roller Blading at Quanah Parker Park

Tootsie Tonasket got me on the phone while I was on my way to Quanah Parker Park to roll on wheels. Tootsie had a lot of Tonasket Soap Opera to discuss. Tonasket is the Washington equivalent of Peyton Place.

Tonasket still has not exited being in a deep freeze, but at least they are above zero, which is a better spot to be than they were in last week.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, it is nearing 60, this fine Sunday afternoon. With the return of solid blue sky. My case of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) has pretty much gone away. For now.

I've got a pork roast in the oven that I got yesterday at Sprouts. I've no idea if I cooked it right. I probably should have consulted someone. I found a lot of broccoli in the fridge that looked like it needed to be cooked. And so I did. And then put an awful lot of cheese on the broccoli. And then there are sweet spuds roasting in the oven along with some weird skinny spuds that Miss Puerto Rico gave me.

If it sounds like I'm trying to put on weight, you probably guessed correctly. I need to eat more.

I also need to get a new camera. I broke the battery cover of my current camera last week. My temporary solution has been a Totally Texas one. Duct Tape. But, that's getting old.

I've narrowed down my choices to a Canon Powershot SD 880 or 890. Or an Olympus 1050 SW. The Olympus one would be a cool one to have because it can go 10 feet underwater and survive a 5 foot drop and sub-freezing temperatures. But it's optical zoom is only 3X. The Canon 890's optical zoom is 5X. That would be good. The Canon 880 is 4x. But it has Digic 4, where the 890 is Digic 3. Digic 4 apparently is a good thing.

I hate shopping.

My Out Of Control Cingular AT & T Text Messaging

I hadn't bothered to look at my cell bill til this morning.

Before I get to that, I have to tell you I don't send text messages. I have gotten a text message or two. But I've never sent one. I don't know how to send one. I don't want to know how to send one.

So, when I looked at the bill I saw there were $3.05 in toll charges. What fresh hell is this, I wondered? Then I found the Toll Call Detail section of the bill. For Text Messages.

As you can see in the above scanned version of that part of the bill, on October 30, from 12:41pm until 1:10pm, the bill is alleging I sent or received 15 text messages. One of them International. Several were to the same number, some within the same minute, to the same number.

During the entire billing period it is only during this 29 minute time frame that text message tolls occur.

Clearly, something is wrong.

And then there's the Green Thing. Last month a new charge showed up on my bill, that being $1.79 for the "Mailed Bill Option." This was the first I'd heard of the "Mailed Bill Option." Supposedly there'd been messages telling customers to switch to electronic billing or they'd be charged to have a hard copy mailed to them.

So, I switched it to electronic bill pay, last month. But the bill still came via hard copy and still with the $1.79, "Mailed Bill Option," added on.

Another thing, my one longtime reader may remember that I go hiking regularly at the Tandy Hills. Unless it is raining, which it rarely is, I go there every Thursday, from around noon til past 1. The day those 15 text messages occurred was a Thursday, during the time frame where I would have been at the Tandy Hills. Apparently text messaging like a possessed teenager.

Gas Price Falls and the Texas Wind Blows

I started the day with a heavy rain and tornado warning. By noon I was having lunch at Costco. After that I went to the Horseshoe Trails on Lake Grapevine to go on an 8 mile walk. My hiking boots do not make good walking shoes. I'm assuming that's why my feet hurt.

As you can see in the picture, Lake Grapevine is running a bit low. I don't remember the last time I saw this dock floating. This is the exact location where a snapping turtle disguised as a water moccasin tried to kill me in July of 2002. At that point in time the dock was floating.

I would have gone swimming in Lake Grapevine, today, if the dock were floating. And if it weren't so windy. It was so windy you had to lean into it at times to keep moving. As you can see, in the picture, I was having to hold my hat on at the lake's edge due to the wind being so much stronger there.

For the most part the leaves have totally left the trees, particularly the oaks have now been totally denuded of their foliage. I think the bare oak trees are very spectacular works of Mother Nature.

I don't know why the Grapevine Parks people have added street signs to the Horseshoe Trails intersections.

After walking way too many miles in way too strong wind, I went to Sprouts Farmers Market for my weekly stocking up on good stuff.

And then heading back here, south on Davis Boulevard, I think still in Southlake, I came upon a QT with the lowest gas price yet. On the way north, to Lake Grapevine, I saw a QT in Hurst with what was then the lowest I'd seen, at $1.31. But then the QT in Southlake broke that at $1.29. 20 bucks got over 16 gallons.

This is the lowest gas has been since 2001. I remember driving back here, from Washington, the week before 9/11. Gas had been $1.19 in Amarillo on the way north. A month later it was $1.42. More than what I paid today.

At this rate I'm expecting gas to go under 1 buck soon. Of course, like I always do when I get gas, I called my Mom in Phoenix. She's been ailing since before Christmas. She's still ailing. And still determined to head here on January 6.

Negative Fat Female Barber

Like I've said before, Alma, the Port Aransas Night Club Singer, sends me a lot of funny stuff. Like this one this morning....It struck me as amusing due to me having been acquainted with an extremely fat negative type person who sounds a lot like the extremely fat barber in this story....

This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. So, remember this story the next time someone, who knows nothing, and cares less, tries to make your life miserable.

I was at my extremely fat barber's, getting my hair cut for a trip to Rome. I mentioned the trip to my extremely fat barber, who responded; "Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed my extremely fat barber." That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on the Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further! I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and they're overpriced. So, whatcha' doing when you get there?"

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed my extremely fat barber. "You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, returned from Rome, I went to get another haircut. My extremely fat barber asked me about my trip to Rome.

"It was wonderful," I said, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, so they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a beautiful 21-year-old stewardess who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered my extremely fat barber, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me. Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say?"

He said, "Where'd you get that horrible haircut?"

Recording Breaking Texas Temperatures & Tornadoes

We hit 83 degrees yesterday, breaking the temperature record here in Fort Worth. Overnight, a cold front blew in, chilling us down to a bit under 60, Saturday morning, at 10. With heavy rain, at times. That's my view of this morning's biggest downpour in the photo. The rain overwhelmed the gutters.

Earlier this morning the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Watch Warning for North Texas. So far I've heard no Tornado Sirens.

Much of the rest of the country is covered by snow. The Puget Sound zone is in thaw mode now, with the avalanche danger extremely high. Elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, specifically, Portland, had record breaking snow reaching almost 2 feet. Rain is more the norm for Portland in winter.

As far as I know, Snowzilla still stands in Anchorage. While in Seattle, it appears that a Seattle Snowzilla has grown in front of the Space Needle.

If it had remained balmy, my intention today was to go swimming in Lake Grapevine. Last week Lake Grapevine was being crystal clear. When that lake is not crystal clear I will not get into it, due to some of the things that lurk underwater. Like garfish and snapping turtles. I was attacked, in July of 2002, by a mad snapping turtle in Lake Grapevine. I think it was the closest I've ever come to a heart attack. I thought it was a water moccasin when the head popped up in front of me. It was only after I'd safely reached shore that I saw that it was a snapping turtle that was terrorizing me.

With this inclement weather I may have to somewhat alter my Saturday walking plans. Currently I intend to go to Southlake Costco for my regular Saturday lunch of free samples, then go walking at one of the Lake Grapevine parks, then go to Sprouts Farmers Market. These plans could be drastically altered should tornadoes make an appearance.

Day After Xmas With Texas Blowing Hard

All day long, this day after Christmas, it has been blowing hard, real hard. Windiest since the fringes of Hurricane Ike nicked Fort Worth, way back in September.

That is the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony at about 3 this afternoon. You can't tell it from the picture, but the trees are swaying heavily in the wind.

And litter is flowing freely. It's a mess of flying plastic bags out there. Somehow the "Don't Mess With Texas" plan has escaped the notice of way too many.

Meanwhile, Miss Puerto Rico is monitoring the storm on her computer while watching Grey's Anatomy.

Grey's Anatomy sure makes Seattle look nice. Not that that is difficult to do.

I wonder why no TV shows are ever set in Fort Worth? Maybe once the Trinity River Vision becomes clear Fort Worth will be deemed a worthy backdrop for a TV series.

I wouldn't want to be betting on that prospect, though.

Wal-Mart's Tattered Flag & Other Problems

It is very windy today in North Texas. The wind is coming from the south, blowing away the last remnants of the cold nastiness from the north we suffered from a few days ago.

It is humid today, the temperature right now is 78, with the Heat Index making it feel like 80.

I've got the windows open and am in comfortable Matthew McConaughey playing banjos mode.

It was warm yesterday and again today. That means my currently closed by the City of Fort Worth pool would have warmed up enough that I could have had a long swim this morning. If this heat wave continues that closed pool is going to start making me cranky.

Due to the wind, I ruled out a bike ride, blading or hiking today. I don't like trees or limbs falling on me.

So, I went walking in Wal-Mart.

As you can see in the picture, once more the U.S. flag at my neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter is tattered and hanging on to its pole by a shred.

I only bought a few items, and once more one of the items I intended to buy scanned incorrectly. Whenever I see "Price Rollback" I know there is a good chance that the price has not been rolled back.

Wal-Mart has these "Can't Find The Price? Scan Here" signs around the store. So, I scanned the Sharp Cheese that supposedly had its price rolled back from $2.68 to $1.50. What a shock. It scanned at $2.68.

I used to find it amusing to go ahead and buy the wrongly priced item and then go to the misnomered Customer Service and go through the hassle of getting my money back and the item for free. But, that is a lot of bother.

So, now I get my revenge by blogging about my experience.

Wal-Mart seems to be having some problems. Like running out of products. Empty spots on the shelves. And of late, this wrong price problem. Wal-Mart used to be the best at the price thing of any stores I shop at. I don't know if it just the 2 Wal-Marts I frequent, or if it is a system-wide meltdown.

One of the ugliest and fattest people I used to know made a rare visit to a Wal-Mart recently and pronounced the store "ugly." I don't know why that amused me. Maybe it was something to to with the idea that I would think an ugly person would tend to avoid using that word. A pot calling the kettle black type thing. Then again, this particular person is so addled and deluded, she may think she's beautiful. It wouldn't shock me.

Post Xmas Blues & The Dallas Morning News

It's the day after Christmas and my second day of getting The Dallas Morning News. I don't know if this is gonna work out. This morning the paper did not arrive until 7:30. That is too late to be of morning coffee drinking use to me.

And another problem is there is so much more content in the Dallas paper that it takes a long time to read, particularly compared to the content weak Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I've only got 2 days to judge by, but so far one huge improvement over Fort Worth's failing paper is the physical quality is much better in the Dallas paper. The type is clearer, the contrast brighter, the color photos are high quality. The Star-Telegram often had blurred print problems. Or the paper would have a wrinkle. In a word, The Dallas Morning News is "slick." In a word, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is "sloppy."

A HOT MERRY CHRISTMAS

I am having myself a very Merry Christmas, so far, here in Texas, this year.

Blue sky has returned. Freezing temperatures are a distant chilly memory. Tomorrow it will be almost 80.

Today, it was so warm, whilst hiking the Tandy Hills, that it was necessary to shed my shirt. But I kept my Santa hat on.

I've got a chile relleno casserole baking right now, as I type. With a lot of extra cheese. The rice cooker just finished making the Mexican rice. The refried beans are ready in the microwave. A cherry pie sits ready to go into the oven.

From the above information you can figure out that, unlike Thanksgiving, when I pigged out at Zorro's Buffet, on Christmas, I decided to not go to a restaurant.

I'll be bringing Miss Puerto Rico her Christmas dinner a bit later. She thinks I'm a Top Chef. I'm not.

I called my Mom and Dad in Phoenix, this morning, to do the Merry Christmas thing. Dad answered. Mom is ailing. So, they won't be going to my Phoenix sister's for Christmas. I asked if this Mom ailing thing affected them coming to Texas in January. Dad said they're assuming Mom will quickly get feeling better.

Meanwhile, while we suffer with balmy warmth down here in Texas, my sister in Kent, Washington is so snowbound she can't make it the 20 miles to my sister in Tacoma for Christmas today. They are in Day 12 of ice and snow in the Puget Sound zone of the Pacific Northwest. With no end in sight. A new cold front blows in in a few days, knocking the temps possibly below the teens. More snow is expected.

So much for Global Warming. The Pacific Northwest winters are usually very mild. You can go year after year with no snow in the lowlands of the Puget Sound. What's happening up there right now is far from the norm.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, I hiked shirtless today on Christmas.

Galveston Police Beat and Arrest 12 Year Old Black Girl They Mistook For A White Hooker

Way too often something happens here in Texas that makes me feel sort of sick. Usually these turn into national or worldwide stories that makes the rest of the nation or the rest of the world feel sort of sick.

Around 2 years ago, at a little before 8 at night, Emily Milburn asked her 12 year old daughter, Dymond, to go outside their Galveston house to reset a breaker switch.

Unbeknownst to the Milburns 3 plain clothed Galveston police had been called to the area due to a call they'd received that 3 white prostitutes had been soliciting a white man and a black drug dealer.

However, the cops were in the wrong area, they were 2 blocks from the house they were looking for, when they saw a little girl outside her house who they thought was a hooker due to the so-called "tight shorts" she was wearing.

Just as Dymond reached for the breaker the cop's blue van pulled up and the 3 cops rushed out and grabbed her, saying, "You're a prostitue. You're coming with us." Dymond grabbed onto a tree and started yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." One of the cops covered her mouth to shut her up. The other 2 beat her on the face and throat. Dymond's dad, Wilfred, came to her rescue.

After the beating, Dymond was hospitalized with black eyes and throat and ear drum injuries.

And now here's were it gets totally Texas weird. Three weeks later police went to Dymond's school, where she is a top student, and arrested her for assaulting a public servant. Three grown men, not dressed as cops, assault a little girl, trying to take her away. She fights back. And she gets accused of a crime?

Not only did Dymond get arrested, so did her dad. Prosecutors actually had the gall to bring this to trial. Where the judge declared a mistrial on the first day. Even more sickening, a new trial is scheduled for February.

There is one smidgen of good news in this. The victims have filed a lawsuit in Galveston Federal Court against the officers. That these cops are still on the job is so obviously wrong. Why have they not been charged with assault? Tried, convicted and thrown in jail.

Dymond has constant nightmares where cops are raping and beating her and cutting off her fingers.

Regarding the lawsuit, the cop's lawyer had the raw gall to say, "Both the daughter and the father were arrested for assaulting a peace officer. The father basically attacked police officers as they were trying to take the daughter into custody after she ran off."

And, "The city has investigated the matter and found that the conduct of the police officers was appropriate under the circumstances," It's unfortunate that sometimes police officers have to use force against people who are using force against them. And the evidence will show that both these folks violated the law and forcefully resisted arrest.""

Even if these morons identified themselves as cops, before they began the assault, which they didn't, a little girl is going to be scared to death. We teach kids to fight back if this type thing happens.

If you hear your little girl screaming "Daddy" and you rush out to see 3 men beating your little girl what Dad wouldn't fight the perpetrators?

This latest Texas Outrageous Nonsense needs national exposure NOW. Sometimes the only way these people look in the mirror is if the rest of the nation shames them into looking.

Merry Christmas From The Dallas Morning News

This morning, sometime after 6, I got my first copy of The Dallas Morning News. My first Christmas present of the day.

It'd been a bit bumpy prior to the arrival of the first paper. I was thinking I'd likely be asking for my money back before I ever got a paper.

When I was convinced on Saturday to subscribe I was told delivery would start on Thursday, as in tomorrow. But then I got called by The Dallas Morning News customer service center on Tuesday and asked if I was getting my paper on time.

I told the caller that delivery wasn't supposed to start til Thursday. She told me, no, it was supposed to have started on Sunday.

I told her I've not seen any papers. She read me my address. They had it wrong. I gave her the correct address. She said delivery would start on Wednesday.

Wednesday came. No paper. So, I called the number I'd been given to call if a paper didn't show up. After going through a sophisticated phone tree I got a real person, explained the problem. And once more found they had the address wrong. Corrected it again. Was told delivery would start this morning and credit would be applied to the missing days.

So, I finally got a paper after way too much interaction, including, what I assume is my delivery guy, calling hours after I'd called customer service, to ask what my address was. At that point I sort of figured I was dealing with massive incompetence, worse than the Star-Telegram, and that I'd never see a paper.

Speaking of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I know I can't make any final conclusion based on reading one day, and that day being Christmas, about The Dallas Morning News. But, based on just this one day, The Dallas Morning News is HUGELY better than the Star-Telegram. It took me twice as long to read as the Star-Telegram's biggest day, that being Sunday. The Dallas Morning News has WAY more content. WAY more local stories. A lot more color pictures. More detailed Weather Page. The type on Doonesbury is big enough to read without squinting.

The Dallas Morning News, at least today, was like reading the Seattle P-I. It is a Big City newspaper. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is not Big City worthy. It's a small town paper. A bad small town paper. That I'm well rid of.

Christmas Eve: Texas Drunk, Post Office Clunk & No Snow

The last time I went to Oakland Park the trees were still being colorful. Now, a week later, there is little color to be seen. Killed by deep freezes. I went to Oakland Park after visiting my regional Post Office..

Why did I have to go there you ask? Well, for the 2nd time in 2 months, the mailman has put a card in my mailbox telling me he was sorry he was unable to deliver a package. That I could request re-delivery. Or pick it up myself.

Requesting re-delivery has never worked. I learned that last Christmas. Last month it was a frozen thing shipped from Houston. There is no excuse that makes any sense for not leaving a package. There are locked parcel boxes next to the mailroom. Many a time a package has been left there.

So, I called the regional Post Office to complain. I got the Postmaster. He sympathized with my pain. He said, "Can I be honest with you?" Sure, I said. He told me he was Old School, that he would never do such a thing, but the new mailmen cuts corners all the time, to make their jobs easier.

Long story short, I was on my way to my destination, I would be sort of in the area, so I dropped in at the regional Post Office and got the package.

I've always thought the Post Office gets a bum rap. I don't think I've ever had a letter lost. And it only cost 43 cents to mail an envelope thousands of miles. But you pay the Post Office a lot more than 43 cents to ship something and you don't know what's gonna happen to the package you carefully wrapped.

So, after the Post Office ordeal and after going on a walk at Oakland Lake Park I was driving down Randoll Mill Road and I saw the Holiday Liquor Depot. It has a big parking lot. The parking lot was totally full. People were parking on the sides of the entry driveways.

I'd never seen it like this. Was Christmas and all the bad economic news driving people to drink?

Holiday Liquor Depot sits on the border of a wet and dry zone. Just north of the border it is dry. This means there are 3 liquor stores at the first freeway exit to the wet zone, Holiday Liquor Depot, Majestic and Big Daddy's. The first 2 were very busy. Big Daddy's not so much.

Out of curiosity I felt I had to check out what the inside of Holiday Liquor Depot was like. It took awhile to find a parking spot, but people were coming and going fast, so it wasn't all that hard. I walked in to find the place packed. There were at least 10 cash registers working, each with long lines.

I had no idea Christmas drove so many people to drink so much. Christmas doesn't drive me to drink. The only thing that drives me to drink is being trapped with annoying people. It can put me in a better mood. And to sleep.

That's the Holiday Liquor Depot parking lot in the picture above. Under the Holiday Liquor Depot sign it says, in capital letters, "UNBEETABLE." Were they drunk? Or did they mean to make that mistake?

World's Biggest Butt At Wal-Mart Supercenter

I just finished blogging about Snowzilla up in Alaska. The giant Snowman put me in mind of something I saw yesterday, that being Christmas Eve Eve, at my local neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The store was packed with so many unseemly looking characters it was like being on some sort of set for a science fiction movie. So many of the people seemed like caricatures. Some looking like they were trying out to be the poster person for White Trash of America.

One was a throwback to the 60s. Long hair, beard, tie-dyed shirt, looked dirty, a stereotypical Hippie. The only thing of this century about him was he was ranting into a cell phone.

Yesterday's Wal-Mart anthropological expedition saw the biggest concentration of Texas Big Hair that I've seen in a long long time. Texas Big Hair is often coupled with really bad, heavily done makeup that looks like you'd need a trowel to scrape it off.

One old lady looked like Bette Davis in her last years. Painted on eyebrows, garish makeup, Grand Canyonesque wrinkles, unnatural looking brown hair that must have been a wig.

But the thing I saw yesterday that will forever linger in the dark recesses of my mind, that being the location where things get stored that I wish I'd never seen, was what was the Biggest Butt I have ever seen in my long long life. This may have been the Biggest Butt in the World.

This Big Butt defies description. But I will try. The Big Butt was on a short woman, maybe 5 foot 2. I turned a corner and came face to butt to it. I'm sure my jaw dropped.

The Big Butt stuck way way out, like several feet from the woman's back. As the woman walked the Big Butt did this strange motion of bouncing up and down. Slowly. This created the illusion that her legs were very short.

I really do not understand how this Big Butted woman was able to walk. It appeared as if the weight of that humongous Big Butt should pull her backwards.

Looking at that Big Butt raised all sorts of questions. Like how did she get those stretchy looking pants on? How did she get in a car? That Big Butt was so Big you'd need a hole in the ceiling for your head. It'd be like sitting on a 5 foot tall cushion. It had to be a convertible. But it was so cold yesterday. Then again, with all that insulative adipose tissue it's likely impossible to get cold.

The Big Butt woman was with a man. A classic Jack Spratt. Skinny little guy. He was pushing the cart. If they'd not been moving so slow I would have kept them under surveillance til they left the store, so I could see how the Big Butt could get in a car.

Why does one let oneself get in this type condition? It's one of the more perplexing questions (for me) of our times. Almost as perplexing as where the hell did those billions of bailout dollars go? See, I've got my priorities in proper order. The economy comes first. Then Big Butts.

I need a real small spy type camera so I can photo-document it when I see something like the World's Biggest Butt. In the meantime, I may go to Wal-Mart again today. It's actually highly entertaining, in an Anthropological Expedition sort of way.

Snowzilla in Alaska

For days I've been reading about this giant snowman---up in the only state bigger than Texas, known as Alaska---that's been dubbed "Snowzilla". Supposedly appearing overnight, with no one taking credit for rolling the balls to make the man.

Snowzilla has appeared the last 3 years in the Anchorage front yard of a junk dealer named Billy Powers. Billy claims to know nothing about Snowzilla. However he seems quite smitten with this year's mystery Snowman, asking a reporter if he'd "seen him." And telling the reporter that "he's handsome." He being the Snowman, not the reporter. Maybe the reporter is also handsome, I don't know, that wasn't part of the story.

Each year, when Snowzilla appears, he's bigger, and apparently, more handsome, than the year before. This year he has grown to being 25 feet tall.

Due to all the Alaskans wanting a personal look at Snowzilla, it creates a serious traffic jam.

This year the city said Snowzilla was a public nuisance and a safety hazard, due to being so big he could become an avalanche. A cease and desist order was issued and tacked to Power's door.

City officials said Snowzilla increased traffic to the point of being dangerous and that Snowzilla, itself, was unsafe. Due that avalanche danger, I suppose.

Anchorage's Mayor, Mark Begich, issued a statement saying the city stands behind its moves to take down Snowzilla, saying, "This property owner has repeatedly ignored city attempts to find ways to accommodate his desire to build a giant snowman without affecting the quiet, residential quality of the neighborhood. This is a neighborhood of small homes on small lots connected by small streets. It can't support the volume of traffic and revelers that are interested in Snowzilla."

The mayor's office claims that for 13 years Powers has been running an illegal junk and salvage operation from his home in violation of land use codes. And that he owes Anchorage more than $100,000 in fines and other charges.

Powers claims it is the city that is the problem, not him. That he's jumped through every goofy hoop they've sent him, that he's never been confrontational, that some of the city's charges are unfounded and just plain outrageous.

The city says it will take no further action against Powers. Til after Christmas.

Meanwhile, here at my location in Fort Worth, no snow, not freezing and no chance of a White Christmas tomorrow.

Home Zone Phone

I had very helpful, pleasant phone time with one of my favorite bright lights, from my old home zone, this morning.

It's a mind clearing thing to talk to someone who has observed the same phenomena, as I have, to find you both perceive the phenomena in the same way. This leads me to believe that others who have observed the same phenomena have likely come to similar conclusions.

People up in my old home zone are trying to dig out from the worst winter storm in a long long time. The old home zoner I talked to this morning is snowbound until the big thaw comes. The big thaw may start up there today. That's when it gets nasty.

I remember losing my downspouts during a big thaw. They came down with a huge crash. Awhile later, as the thaw progressed, there was an explosive noise followed by the sound of water. A pipe that I did not realize was frozen, with the freeze causing the pipe to crack, began spewing water at high velocity when it thawed.

This was inside the house, in the basement, but outside the heated part of the house, sort of an exercise room, storage room combo. It was fairly easy to get the water shut off and the pipe isolated. After the disaster passed, I put in a shut off valve in the ceiling so the water to those pipes could be cut off during a freeze.

By the way, that's a small part of the Skagit Valley in the photo. One of the most beautiful spots on the planet. If you've never seen it, make plans. But not in the winter. Aim for spring so you can see all the flowers, like tulips, in bloom.

Alan Young, GMC Dealer Closed Down

In the first instance, besides Washington Mutual failing, of myself actually seeing an example of the economic meltdown, today's news brought word of another business, with which I had done business, failing.

The Alan Young GMC dealership in North Richland Hills was shut down on Monday after General Motors Acceptance Corporation cut Alan Young's credit, stopping him from being able to buy and finance cars from GMC.

Alan Young is the first dealer in the Fort Worth, Tarrant County zone to go under since cars sales dropped hugely following the Wall Street Meltdown.

I feel a bit sorry for the 55 employees who have lost their jobs. But not all that badly. Because among those 55 are likely Alan Young mechanics who incompetently "fixed" my van on more than one occasion.

Alan Young had to replace the fan control switch for the heater/AC 3 times. Alan Young fixed something to do with the fuel pump, only to have it fail again within a short time, with Alan Young not assuming responsibility for making the repair. Alan Young messed up my transmission and then tried to claim it was already like that.

I complained to GMC about the Alan Young dealership. I do not believe it was an "honest" shop. An employee of Alan Young's told me that there were a lot of problems with repairs.

I really am not a fan of the auto maker bailout.

Freezing Rain Pain in Fort Worth & Wal-Mart Carolers

The photo is what the Tandy Hills will likely look like by morning. Freezing Rain is predicted to start falling after midnight, lasting til a couple hours past daybreak. By morning we could be totally ice-covered here.

It is my least favorite Texas weather thing. I experienced my first Texas Ice Storm within the first week of moving here. We had gone to the Stockyards for lunch, wearing no jackets because it was warm to us who were used to cold northwest type weather.

We came out of a restaurant, the now deceased Riscky Rita's, to find the temperature had plummeted by a lot of degrees. As in it felt like it was freezing. By early evening it was 15. We didn't know what to do with the pool, or the outside water valves.

By morning an ice storm had coated everything with several inches of ice. You went outside at great risk.

On a totally different note. I just got back from my Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. As soon as I opened my vehicle's door I heard loud Christmas music. As I got closer to the source I saw it was live carolers. A group of maybe 12. Led by an old Santa-looking guy. They had a pickup with hay in the back and some sort of keyboard. It was an all-white group of carolers singing in a mostly African-America neighborhood.

Somehow the scene evoked the new spirit in America, at least what I hope is the new spirit. That we are all one, all in it together and all here to help each other. Or maybe the carolers were simply lost. They were packing up and leaving by the time I left the store.

Second Day of Winter in Cold Fort Worth

The low today was 26. It is now almost 5 and 30. As in 5 the time, 30 the temp. The high today was 31. It's been another cold, gray day in Dirty Ol' Town.

That's the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony at about 3 this afternoon.

I forgot to mention, it's windy. Currently the Wind Chill Factor is making it feel like 20 out there.

I could have it worse. This morning I was writing a card to send my aunt up in Potholes, Washington. That's in eastern Washington near the Columbia River. I looked up her current temperature. It was 6 at 9 this morning. With a lot of snow.

Despite the frigid Arctic climate I did my usual hike around the Tandy Hills, today, a little after noon. I'd already been out and about and thought I was dressed warm enough. I wasn't. I didn't have a "hoodie" on, so there was some serious skin exposure in the neck zone. I did not hike as long as I usually do.

Tomorrow the sun is supposed to make a slight appearance with the high being 60. And no freezing. I hope I'm not disappointed by an incorrect forecast.

UPDATE: WeatherBug just went off with a National Weather Service Warning that freezing rain will start falling early Tuesday morning, continuing til 10am. That sounds like an Ice Storm. I don't like Ice Storms.

Leaving Texas To Go Houseboating on Lake Powell

That's me being the Captain of a Lake Powell Houseboat way back in 1994. I was not totally enamored of houseboating. But the scenery more than made up for being in a trailer that floats. Actually, it was more the being in close quarters with marginal personality types that wore on my nerves and made the boat float less pleasurable than it could have been.

You can read all about that ordeal, which I came to call Hell Houseboat, here.

I Captained another Lake Powell Houseboat expedition in 1998. Three of the crew were the same as the previous float. It was the same time of year, but everything seemed different. The boat was ready to be retired, the lake was like it was at flood stage. We took off from Bullfrog Basin Marina in a rainstorm that produced boat rocking squalls. That was fun. Rain is very rare there, so seeing waterfalls flowing over the canyon walls was cool.

On the 1998 float the water was murky. And cold. On the 1994 float the water was crystal clear and warm. And the lake was about 20 feet lower. Both floats occured in early October.

Why am I yapping about houseboating on Lake Powell you are sitting there wondering. Well, the subject came up this weekend with 7 potential floaters all gungho on the idea. I'd be the one planning this, like I always do, and I'm the least gungho. I'm the 8th floater. That's a lot on board.

The Lake Powell Houseboat fleet has been totally upgraded since I last was there. Many of the houseboats have satellite TV. I find this a negative. Lake Powell is so peaceful and quiet. Hearing a TV would be horrible.

Also on the plus side, it is closer to the launching marina, that being Bullfrog Basin, from here, than it was from Washington. It is under a 1000 miles from here to Bullfrog. If I remember right it was about 1,200 miles from my location in Washington to Bullfrog in Utah.

The price has gone up. If I remember right, 3 days of floating and houseboating, last time, cost something like $1,500 for a boat in the 40 foot range. Now it is $2,245 for 3 days on the least expensive boat. It is bigger than the ones we were on before, as in this boat, The Adventurer, sleeps 12 and is 54 feet long. Just the description of The Adventurer's details makes clear this boat has way more features than the ones we'd been on previously.

You can see The Adventurer by clicking here, as well as other houseboats and floating packages.

The Adventurer has 2 state rooms with double beds. 2 gauchos with pullout double beds, 2 lower berths with double beds, cd stereo, a water slide, 2 bathrooms, with showers, an RV size gas stove, 2- 8 cubic foot side by side refrigerator/freezers, an outdoor BBQ grill, a microwave and blender and forced air heat and conditioning.

On the previous houseboat floats we did not have A/C, no stereo, only 1 bathroom, no microwave or blender, no double beds, no separate state rooms. I had to sleep on this awful hard narrow cot like thing. No one else had it any better. I felt like this must be what prison is like.

So, the Lake Powell Houseboats may cost a bit more, now, but you get way more for your buck, or so it seems.

The floaters this time are all fully formed, fully functioning adults with no neurotic issues or temper management problems. As far as I know. You really don't know someone til you travel with them. Or are locked up with them on a houseboat. Or any other prison.

I'm Moving From Fort Worth To Dallas

I mentioned in a blogging, earlier today, that after I had lunch at Costco, went hiking at Lake Grapevine and checked out Gaylord Texan and the Big Balls of Grapevine, I went to Sprouts Farmers Market where something happened that will change my life.

My one longtime reader may remember me mentioning that I cancelled my longtime subscription to the Fort Wort Star-Telegram at the start of the month. I had a lot of issues with that paper. It was constantly shrinking. The ads were getting bigger and more numerous. They raised their rates and shrunk the paper.

When I experienced the Tacoma News Tribune, this past summer, with it also being a McClatchy paper, but one that had not gone bad, like the Star-Telegram had, the News Tribune still had a robust editorial page. Very few ads in the first section. No page after page of full page ads. Way more content.

Now, to be fair, the Tacoma market is a bit, well, uh, more educated than the Fort Worth paper's market, with way more high school and college graduates and a way higher per capita number of book buyers and readers. So, maybe a town gets the paper that matches its readers. I don't know.

So, I walk into Sprouts and this guy started yammering at me, wanting me to sign up for a raffle. I hate being accosted in this manner when entering or leaving a store. It seemed very un-Sprouts-like. Then he said something that had me saying I cancelled my subscription to the Star-Telegram this month. Then I got confused and said, "uh, are you hawking Star-Telegram subscriptions?"

"No. I'm hawking Dallas Morning News subscriptions."

I told him I'd cancelled the Fort Worth paper years ago due to bad delivery, then got the Dallas paper and the delivery was worse, so I cancelled it and went back to the Star-Telegram when they got a new carrier.

So, the deal was, if you paid for a year's subscription you got a big discount plus $85 of Sprouts gift cards. I said, I would not want to pay a year in advance for a paper that might not get delivered on time. So, he then offered me 3 months for $47.25 plus a $20 Sprouts gift card and another $5 gift card just for giving them another chance.

Sounded like a good deal. So, starting Thursday I'm back in the paper reading business. I'm pretty sure it will get successfully delivered because one of my neighbors gets the Dallas paper.

The Dallas Morning News is more like a real newspaper than the Star-Telegram. It'll be like reading the Seattle P-I or Times or Tacoma Tribune again. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is more like my old hometown newspaper, that being the Skagit Valley Herald. Although the SV Herald has a better editorial page than the Star-Telegram. And way fewer embarrassingly dumb letters to the editor. But then again, once more, Mount Vernon is an area with a much higher educational level and number of readers than Fort Worth.

Unlike the Star-Telegram the SV Herald does not make note of anyone in the news or on TV's connection to Mount Vernon or the valley. When the SV Herald mentions Secretary of Defense Bob Gates it does not use verbiage like, "Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, who has a home on Big Lake in east Mount Vernon, has been asked to stay on by President-elect Obama." Everytime the SV Herald mentions Jim Cavaziel they don't use verbiage like "Mount Vernon's Jim Cavaziel plays Jesus in the new Mel Gibson movie."

When Mount Vernon was named the Best Small Town in the USA by, I think it was Rand McNally, it was a legit award, CNN showed up. But Mount Vernon did not have a citywide celebration. Those of us who lived there wondered if a mistake had been made. Don't get me wrong, Mount Vernon is a great town, but best in the USA?

Fort Worth got named as one of the most Livable Communities in America by some lobbying group in D.C. who used the bogus awards to advance their agenda. Fort Worth acted like the ugly girl suddenly finding herself winning a beauty pageant. In other words we had a city-wide celebration. I told this to a Tacoma city official (Tacoma/Pierce County won the same "award") and he chuckled. I asked if Tacoma had a city-wide celebration. "No", he said, "we politely thanked them. And then ignored it."

So, anyway, come Thursday I'm reading the Dallas Morning News. Please please please let there not be anything in there like "Dallas native Jessica Simpson is rumored to be pregnant with Tony Romo's baby." Or "Dallas native Jessica Simpson being pregnant with Tony Roma's baby is making cities and towns far and wide green with envy over Dallas' good fortune."

Winter Starts with a Freeze in Fort Worth

I was stopped by the city of Fort Worth from making a video of me swimming on the first day of winter. It would have been very cold this morning making that video. I'm probably better off.

So, I went roller blading, instead of swimming, for something aerobic on the first day of winter. It was 30 degrees when I took off from here, around noon, to put on my blades. It's now a balmy 35. The sky is back to our norm here, nice and clear and blue.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I can see one advantage to being hugely obese. The most obese person I used to know was constantly getting heavy duty aerobic exercise. Just getting out the car involved using her arms in a sort of pull-up motion to get the heft swiveled towards the door and then lifted to a walking position.

In one extremely aerobic, sort of amusing and potentially tragic incident we were in a McDonald's and the Big One had it in her head that she wanted to sit on one of the tall stools at the tall table. But she could not get her bulk on that stool. I was mortified as I watched her huff and puff and try harder and harder, so determined to get on that stool.

And then she tried a new maneuver which rang alarm bells instantly. She tried to hold on to the table and use her thicker-than-my-legs arms to pull herself on to the stool in much the same manner in which she pulls herself out of her car. Well, the table quickly began to tremble under the pressure of all that weight pulling on it. I insisted she cease at once, before she pulled the table over on both of us. Would you not think, after such a humiliating moment, that one would not proceed to eat 2 Quarter Pounders with Cheese and a Chocolate Milkshake? And Fries?

How does such a person get on an airplane, I can not help but wonder? I know Southwest Airlines is making the Heftys buy two seats. But that does not get them on the plane. I mean, how do they get down the aisle? It's a balancing act for me, due to the carry-on and laptop. But I'm basically a skinny guy. How does someone with a 4 foot diameter get down an airplane aisle that doesn't seem wider than 3 feet? And how is it fair to the other passengers to have such a dangerous clot in the aisle? It perplexes me.

I wonder what would happen if an obese person tried to roller blade? Just getting on the skates would be a challenge. I had to help an obese person put on her shoes once. It was appalling.

Anyway, below is a very short video of me roller blading at Quanah Parker Park on the first day of winter.

Global Cooling Hits Fort Worth and the Rest of the West

Among my many bad habits is each morning I check the temperature in 5 places using a website called AccuWeather. The 5 temps I look at are Fort Worth, Mount Vernon (my old hometown), Chandler (Phoenix zone where Mom and Dad and Sister are), Tonasket, Washington (home of Tootsie Tonasket) and Tacoma (home of my poodle nephews, Blue and Max).

That's Max in the photo, frolicking in the snow in his backyard.

Yesterday, when I checked AccuWeather, Fort Worth was 60, Mount Vernon 15, Chandler 29, Tonasket -12 and Max's Tacoma town was 21.

Right now at 11, Sunday morning, Fort Worth is now the second coldest on my list, at 24. Brrrr. Mount Vernon has warmed up to 30, Chandler 37, Tonasket a balmy 5 and Mount Vernon is 30.

Here in Fort Worth we went from that high of being in the 60s Saturday morning, to an Arctic Blast coming in from the west, dropping us to 21 for the Sunday morning low. This is the same cold front that has brought record breaking temperatures and a lot of snow to the Pacific Northwest, leaving many people snowbound, including my sister and Blue and Max.

This is the same cold front that brought snow to Las Vegas on Wednesday. That does not happen very often. I have been to Vegas when it is raining. I have been to Vegas when it is 115. I have been to Vegas when it is freezing. But I have never seen snow in Vegas.

On their blog Blue and Max have documented the terror they have been going through courtesy of this storm. The long-suffering poodle's furnace igniter broke, leaving them with only a fireplace and one space heater to keep a big 3-level house warm.

Blue and Max photo documented what the thermometer was saying their inside temperature was. 52 degrees.

Well, my one longtime reader may remember I spent a month with Blue and Max in their house last summer. I believe that the first 2 levels of the house rarely got any warmer than the 50s during my entire stay. The only warm spot in that house was where I was incarcerated, up in the area they called The Tropics.

Anyway, we as a planet really need to start working hard to find a way to stop this Global Cooling Crisis before it's too late and we're all one big iceberg.

The Christmas Big Balls of Grapevine

Yesterday, that day being Saturday, I made my now regular weekly visit to Costco for a free sample lunch en route to going on a hike on one of the trails around Lake Grapevine.

This week the Costco samples weren't quite up to last week's cheese overload, but it was still good. The hike this week was once more the Northshore Trail starting at Rockledge Park. It was perfect mountain biking temperature, so there were a lot of bikers. Few hikers.

The day had started out in the 60s, but a cold front blew in throughout the day, making it in the 50s by noon at Lake Grapevine. And 22 this morning.

The town of Grapevine puts on quite a festive Christmas display. Including pairs of Giant Balls at several intersections along the Grapevine Highway. The pair of Giant Balls in the photo is in front of the Great Wolf Lodge, directly across the street from the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.

I drove through the Gaylord Texan complex, hoping to get a picture of Santa in his powerboat pulling his Reindeer on skis. But the traffic did not cooperate. I did successfully get a picture of another Santa in a covered wagon being pulled by his Reindeer. I guess it makes sense to have multiple Santas, but the covered wagon Santa is right across the street from the boating Santa. I fear this might confuse small children. I saw no conventional Santas in a sleigh. But I could only see part of the Gaylord Texas complex. It is huge.

After leaving Santa I went to Sprouts Farmers Market for my weekly stocking up of good stuff. Something happened there that will change my life in about 4 days. I'll save that story for another blogging.

Going to Health Camp in Waco

The previous blogging was, in part, about Durango, Texas and a roadtrip I took to check out my namesake. Thinking about that put me in mind of something I saw along the way that seemed a tad odd.

To go to Durango you exit Interstate 35, in Waco, at Exit 333, to Highway 77. You head east and you'll soon come to a big traffic circle.

At that traffic circle, at 2601 Circle Road, is a greasy spoon type burger joint. That calls itself Health Camp. There were a lot of cars parked at Health Camp. If you click the photo, on the enlarged version you'll see "Malts", "Shakes", "Serving Super Burgers."

Health Camp opened in 1949. Making it older than McDonald's. One of the burgers on the menu is called the "Super Health Burger." With that you get a double-decker bun, 2 meat patties, lettuce, tomato, 2 slices of Old English cheese and "special sauce."

You can also get fries and onion rings at Health Camp.

I suppose you're wondering why this greasy spoon is called Health Camp. Well, seems the original owner, Jack Schivetz, had trouble coming up with a name for his new burger joint. All he could think of was Health Camp. Due to Health Camp being stamped on each egg his mom would buy from a nearby farm when he was a kid. Why couldn't he just call the place "Jack's Burger Joint" I couldn't help but wonder.

There's a guy in Texas calling himself Texas Burger Guy. TBG has a very good blog that's all about burger joints. He'd didn't care for the Health Camp burgers, but other stuff, like the shakes, he liked.

You can check out what the Texas Burger Guy thought about Health Camp by clicking here.

Durango Texas, the Town & the Person

Durango became my Internet Nickname way back in 1994. That year, or maybe 1995 my Durango named was tied to the name, Lulu, in a website Lulu's first husband made called Lulu & Durango In As The WWWeb Turns.

As The WWWeb Turns was soon Cool Site of the Day. Back when that meant something. As The WWWeb Turns was basically the email exchanges between myself and Lulu, with Lulu's first husband adding photos, most altered to give me a big forehead. As The WWWeb Turns may have been the world's first blog.

Lulu's husband soon tired of doing As The WWWeb Turns. One day I was summoned to his house and presented with the initial HTML for a new website, including a logo he'd made. The new website was called Dialing Doctor Durango. By then the Durango character had been established as being this sort of overbearing know-it-all. It wasn't a hard part to play.

Dialing Doctor Durango soon became a monster. I got questions from all over the world. Many of them not getting that it was a joke. When a German medical school listed Dialing Doctor Durango as one of the top 20 medical websites on the Internet, I decided the madness had to stop.

So, I started Durango World which continued after I moved to Texas. Around 1999 or 2000 I decided I wanted my own domain. I figured it'd be Durango something. Since I was in Texas I figured why not durangotexas.com.

When I chose that domain I did not know there was actually a town of Durango, Texas. Unfortunately for the real Durango, Texas, my webstuff sort of overwhelms searches for info about Durango, Texas.

Eventually I took a road trip to check out my namesake. It's a bit southeast of Waco. Durango, Texas has seen better days. It's pretty much off the beaten path these days.

You can go here and see what Durango, Texas, the town, looks like.

All you gotta do is look at this blog to see what Durango Texas, the person, looks like.

Zorro's Buffet and the Fort Worth Cops

Being deeply depressed due to my swimming pool being closed on a day so warm I've got my windows open and the ceiling fan spinning, I went to Zorro's Buffet, again, for lunch.

Friday is Seafood Day at Zorro's. I've decided Seafood Day is my favorite Zorro's day. I didn't care for Thanksgiving at Zorro's. Mexican Day is okay. But Seafood Day is more than okay, as in I liked it as much as my first visit to Zorro's, which was also on Seafood Day.

One thing about Zorro's, that I like, is there are always new things. Today I had a really good spring greens salad that had apples and walnuts mixed in with bleu cheese. There was a couscous type salad. You don't see couscous in many mainstream buffets. The grilled shrimp were prawn-sized, tasted like they'd been grilled in butter with garlic. Speaking of butter. Despite being told twice by commenters that the yeast rolls were excellent, I'd not had one til today. They are homemade, like mom's, well, actually better than mom's. And mom's are darn good. The Zorro's yeast rolls are very light and very buttery.

Anyway, good pigout at Zorro's today.

I like to take the backroads back here from Zorro's. It's like a drive through a 3rd World Country. I take visitors from up north on these type tours and jaws always drop. You just can't see this type scenery anywhere that I know of in the Pacific Northwest.

On the way back from Zorro's, last week, I came upon a long abandoned gas station which still had its gas prices on display. Gas prices which, ironically, match about what we are paying now. So, I wanted to take a picture of this to show you. And so I did.

I snapped several pictures, not realizing that there were 2 Fort Worth cop cars parked under the dead gas station's awning.

After taking the pictures I went down a side street, for a bit, due to seeing an odd scene of a kid on a horse in a fenced yard. These were little houses and little yards. The horse and rider looked way out of place.

I'd made it about a block when I saw a cop car behind me, lights flashing with one toot of the siren. I pulled over.

The cop got out, walked up, asked to see my license. I showed him. "What did I do wrong, officer?" I politely asked.

"Why were you taking pictures of us?" the cop asked.

"Huh? You mean just now?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"I didn't see you. I was taking a picture of the gas price sign."

"Why would you take a picture of that sign? They don't sell gas anymore.

"It's for my blog," I said.

"Why would you put that on your blog?"

"Because I think it's ironic and sort of funny."

"I don't see anything funny about it," the cop said, starting to sound cranky.

"Well, you probably don't wanna be reading my blog then."

"Okay, I'm gonna let you go. Watch what you're taking pictures of next time."

"Thank you, officer, I will be more careful in the future."

So, that's been my day. First Fort Worth robs me of my pool. And now the Fort Worth police are harassing me for taking pictures. What's next I tremble to wonder?

Fort Worth Pools Closed Under Warm Blue Sky

We are seeing our first blue sky in days, here in Fort Worth. That's the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony at about an hour before noon.

It is almost 70 out there. That's good swimming temperatures. But I am unable to swim. Like I told you yesterday, the city of Fort Worth has shut down the pools in town.

Fort Worth has been overreacting to pool issues, mostly drain and pump issues, ever since Fort Worth was successfully sued for a large amount of money, due to 4 out of towners, attending one of the rare conventions to take place at Fort Worth's Convention Center, drowned in an overfilled whirlpool at the Water Gardens that are adjacent to the Convention Center.

Due to that tragedy my pool was drained and new pump safety devices and drain covers were installed. At great expense. The new thing that the city is insisting on has to be installed by a licensed technician. So it may take awhile to get one here due to all the pools in town needing whatever this fix is.

Meanwhile, in the big city to the east, that being Dallas, none of these supposed safety improvements have been mandated. I suspect incompetent boobery is what is at play regarding the pools here in Fort Worth.

I guess the good news for me today is my bad case of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) is temporarily abated by the return of blue sky and warm temperatures.

If I was still living in my old hometown of Mount Vernon, Washington, I would be snowbound today. They are having heavy snow and record breaking temperatures up there, with the ski areas finally able to open. But with severe avalanche danger. Avalanche danger is a danger we don't have here in Texas. My baby sister is stuck in Tacoma, snow and ice bound, unable to get to Olympia.

The lowlands of the Puget Sound zone can go years in a row with no snow. Where I lived we didn't get snow as often as further south, as in Seattle, or further north, due to being in a valley that was protected by mountains that caused what is called a convergence zone to occur south and north of us. But there was a snowstorm in the 1990s that was record breaking. I was snowbound for about a week. I cross country skied to the grocery store.

Click here and scroll down the page to see snow photos of my old abode in Washington.

Fort Worth Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Ban

Yesterday a small army of what may have been illegals from south of the border descended on my zone to attack the fallen leaves. With gas-powered leaf blowers. The noise is deafening, like a dozen Harley's without mufflers.

It seemed like hours were spent slowly blowing the leaves that surrounded the area around the pool up against a fence right below me. And then on top of the constant blower noise the men operating the blowers would yell at each other. In Spanish. Loud. So they could be heard over the blowers.

I thought to myself I can not be alone in thinking the use of gas-powered leaf blowers should be banned, just on the noise issue alone. Add to that the fact that you can smell the blowers exhaust fumes.

What is wrong with using rakes? These guys are so slow at blowing the leaves it would seem raking would be way faster. They end up using rakes in the end, anyway, once the leaves are blown into a huge pile, then rakes are used to get the leaves into garbage cans.

So, I looked into the issue of leaf blowers and learned I am not alone in thinking they should be banned. In fact, gas-powered leaf blowers have been banned in much of the country.

One guy had this to say on his blog......

"Whoever invented the leaf blower should be shot. See here. These contraptions are noisy, dirty, and environmentally destructive. First, they throw dust, dirt, and organic matter into the air, making it difficult for people (especially those with respiratory problems) to breathe. Second, they use gasoline, which pollutes the air. Third, they're infernally noisy. Whatever happened to sweeping or raking? Brooms and rakes are quiet; they don't throw dust into the air; and they don't destroy the ozone layer. They're also less dangerous. Would you want to walk around wearing a container of gasoline on your back? What moron would do such a thing? Nothing symbolizes our wasteful, arrogant, obese age more than the leaf blower. The sooner it is outlawed, the better."

Los Angeles has banned gas-powered leaf blowers. There is a website devoted to enforcing the LA ban. The website's URL is zapla.org. "zapla" comes from Zero Air Pollution Los Angeles. I found the following blurb from the Zapla website amusing...

"Los Angeles Residents, if your neighbors can’t or won’t control their gardeners after your polite requests, REPORT a blower in progress to 877-275-5273 and select number 1, Non-Emergency Crimes."

So, while it pleases me to learn I am not alone in my aversion to noisy leaf blowers, I know there is not a bat's chance in hell they will be banned in what one of Fort Worth's best known citizen activists, Don Young, refers to as Dirty Ol' Town.

So far today, no noise.

Alma's Men

Alma, the Songbird of the South, currently singing down at Port Aransas on the Texas Gulf Coast, sends me the funniest stuff. Some people who send jokes and forwarded things they think are clever, should do some re-thinking. But Alma's stuff is like it's gone through the Alma Good Humor Filter and so it's always worth opening. Alma sent a record breaking amount of good stuff today; disturbing video, a disturbing history lesson, the Redneck Book of Manners, all sortsa good stuff.

And then tonight Alma sent me an amusing thing about men. And how women really don't much need us. I'll copy and paste below...

For all those men who say, "Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free"? Here's an update for you: Nowadays, 80% of women are against marriage. WHY? Because women realize, "It's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage".

MEN ARE LIKE

1. Men are like Laxatives....They irritate the crap out of you.

2. Men are like Bananas.....The older they get, the less firm they are.

3. Men are like Weather....Nothing can be done to change them.

4. Men are like Blenders....You need one, but you're not quite sure why.

5. Men are like Chocolate Bars....Sweet, smooth, & they usually head right for your hips.

6. Men are like Commercials....You can't believe a word they say.

7. Men are like Department Stores.....Their clothes are always 1/2 off.

8. Men are like Government Bonds.....They take soooooooo long to mature.

9. Men are like Mascara....They usually run at the first sign of emotion.

10. Men are like Popcorn.....They satisfy you, but only for a little while.

11. Men are like Snowstorms....You never know when they're coming, how many inches you'll get or how long it will last.

12. Men are like Lava Lamps....Fun to look at, but not very bright.

13. Men are like Parking Spots. All the good ones are taken, the rest are handicapped.

Now send this to all the remarkable women you know, as well as to any understanding, good-natured, fun kinda guys you might be lucky enough to know !!!!!!!!!!

Now, see why I like Alma? She is such a good judge of character. And humor.

Foggy Fort Worth...etc.

Today started of with a zero visibility fog cover which had everything wet with slow motion drizzle, like a stereotypical day in the Pacific Northwest. But from what ocean is this Fort Worth fog coming?

I was in the pool, in the drizzly fog, before 8 this morning. I liked it. The view in the photo is well after the fog began to lift, taken about 2pm from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony. That's my official weather reporting station.

I left here about noon. When I got back here I was shocked, shocked, I tell you, to see "Pool Closed" signs on my pool. Apparently the city of Fort Worth has closed all the pools in the city. Why I do not know. Last summer they were all closed due to the outbreak of some parasite. I was in Tacoma when that happened. But why close them now? No one but me is swimming. I'm taking this very personal.

Neither rain, nor ice, nor bitter cold has kept me from my appointment with my pool. And now I'm to be stopped by the city of Fort Worth?

At noon my destination was Arlington, driving through the fog to Veteran's Park to do some walking and its attendant thinking. Walk/Think time is very important. At Veteran's Park a big statue has been added to the new Veteran's Memorial. It was impressive. Obviously that is what you see in the photo. That and the fog.

After I'd had enough walking I went to Chinatown to the Hong Kong Market. I got a lot of good stuff. There was something sort of disturbing going on in the Hong Kong Market though. The store has the usual piped in Muzak. It is usually Chinese sounding music. Today I could tell it was Christmas music classics. In Chinese. I heard Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, White Christmas, Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. All in Chinese with the music part sounding very country western.

It is supposed to get back into the 70s for the next couple days. In the 70s and me without a pool. Life should not be this difficult.

The Great Success of Texans on Reality TV Shows

As my one longtime reader may remember, I canceled my subscription to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at the start of December. My reader may also remember that I had one or two things I liked to point out and make fun of in that failing newspaper that I thought were goofy or funny or both goofy and funny.

The goofiest and funniest one was over and over and over again in all areas of the paper, including editorials, I'd read verbiage along the line of this, that or the other totally ordinary thing in Fort Worth was making cities and towns and people, far and wide, "green with envy." There were variations of the verbiage, like it could be some lame thing in Fort Worth was the "envy of" cities and towns and people, far and and wide.

I don't have any idea if it is true, but I like to believe that it was my making fun of this embarrassing trait that caused it to end. It's been a long time since I have seen the "green with envy" verbiage. Now that I no longer read that paper, I hope someone out there is monitoring it close enough to report if there is a fresh outbreak of cities, towns and people being "green with envy" over some Fort Worth thing.

Click here to read some examples of what you in the rest of the country have been "green with envy" about.

One of the other things that always struck me as goofy was if there was even the most remote connection between someone in the news or on TV and the Fort Worth area, that connection would be part of the story. It could be that some person on a reality show lived in Fort Worth for 2 months when he was 4. Or someone on a reality show is married to someone who lived in Fort Worth for 3 months 12 years ago. I am not exaggerating.

So, yesterday, or was it the day before, I told you that the banished Fort Worth Star-Telegram had been slammed up against my front door. Well, I read it. Why wouldn't I?

In an article about The Bigger Loser, Michelle Aquilar, winning and being from Fort Worth, the Star-Telegram's TV writer, Robert Philpot had this to say...

"That Dallas-Fort Worth residents tend to get on reality shows isn't unusual, but their success this year---in which So You Think You Can Dance, Nashville Star, Last Comic Standing and The Amazing Race were all won by people who were North Texas residents at the time---has been noteworthy."

"That's the Texans," said Bridget Braxton, another Aquilar supporter at Boston's (a Fort Worth pizza joint were a Biggest Loser viewing party took place). "It's their competitive spirit."

Gray Sky and Thawed Swimsuits in Fort Worth

Today the bone-chilling freeze of Fort Worth lifted. My swimsuit thawed and was once more wearable. It is a balmy 45 at 4 in the afternoon.

We have been covered by gray skies for 3 days in a row. I am slipping ever deeper into Seasonally Affected Disorder. A couple hours ago the gray skies started to drop little bits of moisture. The Weather Service just issued an alert for Dense Fog tonight.

In other words, even though the weather is being a living hell, here in Texas, this morning, unlike yestermorning, I managed to get in the pool. I lasted all of 2 minutes. It was by far the coldest yet. Which, I guess, makes sense, due to the temps not getting above freezing for about 48 hours.

My getting in the pool in the morning is starting to be an issue with the neighbors. I was told, minutes ago, that someone called the paper to tell them they had a crazy Yankee who was going swimming every morning, one of those damn Polar Bear Yankees. I will not cooperate with someone wanting to do a story about a damn crazy Polar Bear Yankee going swimming in Texas in December. Especially if it's the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Return of the Unwanted Fort Worth Star-Telegram

My one longtime reader may remember that at the start of this month I cancelled my long standing subscription to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I had a lot of reasons to cancel. I've not missed reading a morning paper. I thought I would. A couple times this month, out of deeply ingrained habit, I've headed to the front door to get the paper in the morning. I've always caught myself before I actually open the door.

And now, today, the 17th, at about half past 6 in the morning I heard an extremely loud bang on my front door. The only thing that makes such a bang is the arrival of the paper. But it'd never been that loud.

So, I got up and looked out the window. There was a paper laying up against my front door. Maybe it's the Dallas Morning News, trying to get me as a subscriber, I thought, hopefully. But, I opened the door to find that it was the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that had made the loud thump.

Now for the weird part. I took the paper out of its wrapper. An envelope fell out. There was nothing on the envelope, no address, no name, nothing.

I opened the envelope to find a card, the cover of the card said "Christmas Wishes." Inside the card it said "Hope you have a Christmas that's as merry as can be!" Followed by the stamped signature and address of my fired newspaper carrier. Written in big letters under the teeny stamped signature was my fired carrier's phone number.

I've never gotten a card from my paper delivery person before, not that I remember. It perplexes me. I know she's an on her sleeve, constantly blessing you, Christian sort. Maybe she was turning the other cheek. I know some practicing Christians actually know how to do that.

Only Child Syndrome: Part III

Way back when I first blogged about Only Child Syndrome it was one of my ways to try and understand some astonishingly weird behavior I had been subjected to last summer. At the time I wrote about the Syndrome I didn't realize that there are a lot of other people out there equally perplexed by the vexing Only Child Syndrome.

Every day a lot of people come to my bloggings about Only Child Syndrome. They come from all over the world. Awhile back I found that Google has my Only Child Syndrome blogging in the #1 spot. I do not understand why. There is a lot more detailed Only Child Syndrome information out there than my musings.

There has been a lot of research into the Syndrome, a lot of papers written, there's a lot of opinion out there. Strangely, some of the research and opinion tries to claim there is no such thing as Only Child Syndrome. It's likely that that research and those opinions were from Only Children in denial, because the amount of anecdotal Only Child Syndrome info out there, from those who believe the Syndrome is real, because they've been victims of it, would seem to validate the reality of Only Child Syndrome. Many of the Only Child Syndrome victims believe the Syndrome should be treated as a disease with a search for a cure.

The common behaviors that people seem to experience when dealing with this disease is the Only Child is universally self-centered, self-absorbed and lacking in self-awareness. Only Children are insensitive, can say the rudest of things, are often downright mean. However, the Only Child has extremely thin skin, will get upset at the slightest perceived provocation. In the Only Child's world it can do no wrong, can get away with anything. The Only Child will get very upset if someone treats it the way it treats others.

Tootsie Tonasket has an Only Child who exhibits all the classic behaviors. On his MySpace page, in his profile, part of his self-description is, "I am an Only Child, so I expect all the focus to be on me." All the Only Children I've known have that attitude. What is sad, very few have the social skills to cause the focus to be on them. So, it becomes a demand for attention. Or they go to bizarre lengths to get attention and be the focus.

The attention getting behaviors can be things like dressing odd, eating like a pig, getting drunk and obnoxious, committing a crime, overdrafting a bank account, having a fit or assuming an elevated air of accomplishment. For instance, doing some simple task like baking cookies or some handicraft type thing and then acting as if they are a gourmet chef or a creative artist of the top order.

Only Children often tout themselves. They'll tell you what fabulous taste they have. They'll be quick to denigrate the taste of others or say something is beneath their taste level. The Only Child will set itself up on a pedestal from which it will dispense accolades to those it deigns to honor. But it is always self-serving, it is always, in reality, about the Only Child, not about the object of the Only Child's twisted praise.

The Only Child can be a social miscreant of the most venal low-life sort and yet give itself permission to talk about how it warms their heart to see someone doing such good for humanity, giving the Only Child hope for the world of the future. The Only Child is very rarely aware of their flagrant, ironic, hypocrisy.

The Only Child can be the laziest, sloppiest, most unkempt type of individual, basically living in squalor with a filthy floor, unwashed dishes and clutter everywhere. And not hesitate for a second to comment about someone else's standards. The Only Child always has an excuse for the messes in its wake. It is never their fault. The dishes didn't get washed because there was something more important to do. "You can't expect everyone to be like you," the Only Child says when asked why there are so many dirty dishes. "Clean dishes and a clean house are not the most important thing in my life," as if what is important in its life was the point. Turning a question about dirty dishes into the issue having to do with what's important in its life is classic Only Child Syndrome nonsense.

The Only Child can turn an inquiry about a health issue, such as if you ask if a grossly overweight Only Child wouldn't feel better if they lost a few hundred pounds, the Only Child will say something like, "If other people have a problem with me being fat I don't care. I'm happy with how I look." Where a non-Only Child Syndrome person would say something like, "I wish I could get the weight off, it's so hard, I know I'd be happier, I'd fit on a plane better and I'd feel better on a beach. Thanks for caring about my health."

The Only Child can be a grossly overweight slob, homely to a degree painful to the eye, dress like a cartoon character, yet think nothing of commenting on someone else's looks, clothes, or weight.

Only Children are immune from hearing the irony of what comes out of their mouths.

Okay, that is enough Only Children rambling for the day. The next time I blog about Only Children I'll tell you about the worst cases I've ever experienced. And they both have the same first name! Along with many many many other shared attributes.

Foggy Freezy Fort Worth

Anyone who knows me knows it's not my nature to complain. Oh, who am I kidding, whining is the only thing I'm really good at. We are rapidly approaching 48 hours of sub-freezing weather here in usually warm Fort Worth. Just 2 days ago, on Sunday, it got to almost 80.

And now today I came the closest to breaking my neck since I almost fell from a high spot last summer at Mount Rainier. Today I had bundled up as best I could to buffer my sensitive skin from the bracing cold, walking in a very deliberate fashion, when I stepped on to ice.

It was only through the miracle of a hand railing and my George Bush fighting-off-an-incoming-shoe quick reflexes that I was saved from a severe bruising, or worse, as in broken back, neck, leg or foot.

I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a very religious person. Religious about making sure I get a good dose of daily exercise. If I don't attend to my religion I can get back aches and get in a bad mood. SAD sets easily in. SAD as in Seasonally Affected Disorder.

In other words this has been the most miserable day I've spent since I spent an entire month in Tacoma last summer.

I couldn't go swimming because my swimsuit was frozen to a chair. That and it was 22 degrees out there. I could not go on a hike or a walk or a bike ride due to the icy spots. I couldn't do any exercise thing in here due to it being too hot due to the furnace constantly trying to keep it above freezing in here.

My one escape today, that involved physical motion, was to walk over to Miss Puerto Rico's to take a photo, about noon, of how miserable it looks here today from her balcony. I forgot, I did drive to the Post Office too. That was treacherous.

And now the National Weather Service has put North Texas on a fog alert, through tomorrow, which could bring a coating of ice. I fear I have not reached the nadir of my misery. If I can't get my swimsuit thawed, I think I may try to make my way to Wal-Mart to get a fresh, unthawed new swimsuit. I must go swimming in the morning. And afterwards I must not leave my swimsuit outside to dry. Because it won't. It'll freeze dry.

An Iraqi Shoe For Bush? A Fort Worth Boot For Mayor Moncrief?

George W. getting shoes thrown at him at a Baghdad news conference made for one of the weirdest things I remember seeing in a long time. W.'s reflexes were quite quick. As was Iraqi leader Malicki's running interference on the incoming 2nd shoe.

The thrower of the shoe was quite good, too. Great aim and speed. A shoe is not the most aero-dynamic of items to be thrown. It's no baseball, football or frisbee. Yet the thrower hit a bullseye twice, or what would have been a bullseye were it not for George's deft ducking.

George handled it quite well, sort of turning the lemon into lemonade. I doubt many would want to drink George's lemonade, but it was a valiant effort, nonetheless, at off the cuff spin control. You can hear that and see the flying shoes in the video below.

Last night on MSNBC Keith Oberman was running and re-running over and over and over and over again the Bush Shoe Attack. With running commentary. It was sort of funny, in a sort of perverse way.

In the meantime, Don Young sent out an email that suggests that maybe this particular tactic might be used to get the attention of Fort Worth's corrupt Mayor Moncrief, he of the multi-conflicts of interest in the gas drilling business, with the Mayor owning interests in the companies seeking political favor in Moncrief's jurisdiction.

Deep Freeze Stops Fort Worth Swimming

It has not been above freezing here in Fort Worth, Texas for well over 24 hours. It got to 22 last night. Up to 25, right now, at about an hour before noon.

It had been my intention to test the pool this morning. My usual pattern is to step outside to where I leave my wet swimming suit and wet towel to dry, then come in here and put on the swimming suit.

But this morning the swimming suit is frozen into a big red ball, frozen stuck. I couldn't budge it to take it in here to thaw. I've got a back-up swimming suit, a black one, but it's nowhere to be found. I don't know how it has managed to come up missing. I suspect some nefarious evil-doer is trying to sabotage my swimming efforts.

Our forecast does not have us getting above freezing until tomorrow.

Meanwhile up in my old location, that being the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest, they are having record breaking lows, colder than here. With snow.

When does this global warming thing we hear so much about kick in?

We're Freezing in Fort Worth

Coming up on 2 in the afternoon we are still below freezing here in Fort Worth. As in right now it is 28 with a Wind Chill Factor making it feel like 19. According to WeatherBug.

That's me hiking at the Tandy Hills about an hour ago in the dark photo. It's a snow clouds type sky. The white stuff may fall later today. That happens rarely in this part of Texas.

I had to find my long underwear to make hiking possible. I think I had 4 layers on top, two of which had hoods, both of which I pulled over my wool stocking cap. And I wore two pairs of gloves. Eventually I overheated.

Now, I know you're wondering if I went swimming this morning. Well, wonder no more. A bit before 8 I went down to the pool. The air temperature was 25, with WeatherBug saying it'd feel like 19, due to the wind. It was less windy this morning than when I went hiking, which I guess accounts for WeatherBug's Wind Chill Factor being the same 19 degrees.

So, this morning was the oddest getting in the water sensation yet. Due to the air being so cold the water felt warm. I stayed in it longer than yesterday when both the water and the air were way warmer than this morning. I swam maybe 10 minutes, then got in the hot tub. Did not stay in the hot tub long. I got out and back in the cold water for about 2 minutes.

I think I have gradually desensitized my skin nerve endings. They are so traumatized now that I think they've given up sending signals to my brain telling me that I should feel cold.

Uncertain in Texas

I have often been uncertain in Texas. But I've never been to Uncertain in Texas. Uncertain is about 18 miles northeast of Marshall, Texas. I have been to Marshall.

There are a few Texas towns with slightly odd names. Like Uncertain. Uncertain is a small town of less than 200 people. But there are usually a lot more than 200 people in Uncertain. That is because Uncertain sits on the shores of the beautiful swampy bayous of Caddo Lake.

There are plenty of places to stay in Uncertain. Caddo Lake Cabins, Canoa Cove, Crip's Camp, Hodge Podge Cottages, Hoot 'n Holler, Johnson's Ranch, Moonglow Lodges, Shady Glade Resort, Spattedock Guest Houses, Uncertain Inn and Whispering Pines Lodge.

That is a lot of places to stay in a town of less than 200.

Now, you're likely still wondering how Uncertain got its name. Well, the name came about due to the same reason other towns in Texas got odd names. Like when the town of Reklaw sent in its township application to Austin, with the town desired name being Walker, Austin rejected the name because there was already a Walker, Texas. So the new town's settlers sent in a new application with Walker spelled backwards.

The same thing happened to Sacul, Texas. The settlers wanted to call their town Lucas. But there was already a Lucas, Texas. So, the same solution to this vexing problem, that Reklaw used, was used by Sacul.

As for Uncertain. Well, way back over 100 years ago, when the settlers in what is now Uncertain sent in their application to Austin, they had not decided on a name. They wanted to be an official township, figuring they'd come up with a name later. They did not know what to put in the blank spot where they were supposed to enter the proposed name of their new town. So, they entered "uncertain."

Austin sent the township application back to the new town of Uncertain with the good news that their name had been approved and they were now officially the town of Uncertain, Texas.

River Legacy Park Destruction Surprise

That's me, on my new bike seat, today, on the River Legacy Park paved trail, on the north side of Hurricane Creek.

I had the biggest surprise at River Legacy Park today since a guy laying out Barnett Shale seismic testing equipment almost killed me with his Off Road Vehicle, riding fast, the wrong way, on the one way River Legacy Mountain Bike Trail.

Previously to almost being a Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling fatality I'd been surprised on the same trail by my first encounter with a Bobcat. At that point in time I did not realize a Bobcat is as harmless as a house cat. So, I biked away at top speed, probably screaming like a school girl. That Bobcat encounter was the scariest critter encounter since 2002 when a Snapping Turtle tried to kill me in Lake Grapevine. I have also had an armadillo encounter or two at River Legacy. As well as some close calls with snakes. Neither the armadillo or snake encounters have been life threatening.

Today's shocking surprise at River Legacy was not an animal or human trying to kill me. Instead it was human activity of a different sort.

I know I've biked at River Legacy within the past 3 months. I'm sure of that. But, in the short time since I'd last been there, much has changed. All was fine as I pedaled along the trail that runs along the south side of the Trinity River. As I pedaled across the bridge to the north side I saw that the boat launch that had been under construction the last time I saw it, was now finished and about 20 from the low water river.

About a quarter mile from that point the trail crosses under the Collins Street Bridge. As soon as I came out the other side I was startled by what I saw. Chain-link construction fencing right up against the trail. And bulldozed dirt as far as I could see. The chain-link fencing along side the trail continued for several miles. It is aesthetically displeasing.

But even more aesthetically displeasing is all the dirt that is being moved around. It appears roads are being built. I knew there was to be a development near the Bird's Fort area towards the end of the paved trail, where there is a big buffer of trees. But, this development I saw today is right up against the River Legacy Park Trail.

There are huge piles of huge pipes laying on the ground with the trench for the pipeline being dug. You can clearly see where the pipeline is going to run. Right under the River Legacy Park trail and then across the Trinity River and under a golf course.

One of the reasons I like this trail is it feels like you've left the city. But today I heard loud screeching noises that I thought were some sort of siren. The noise turned out to be coming from a piece of heavy equipment. There were several bulldozer, earth mover type things, with several of them busy working today.

Where this development is taking place I thought was a flood plain. There are several lakes that are the result of when the river floods. Those lakes are all low due to the drought. Both Hurricane Creek and Boyd Branch have been totally dried up for a long time. But when the Trinity River floods I've seen an incredible amount of water running through those creeks to the flood plain. Or what I thought was a flood plain.

How did this come about without me reading about it? How could Arlington let such a special area be ruined? What did the River Legacy Park people have to say about it? I mean, I got a scolding letter from some lady who works for River Legacy Park because she thought I was promoting environmental damage to the park by pointing out the Off Road Trails that are outside of the park. It is the area around the Off Road Trails that I thought development was to take place.

Not out in the open. And not right up against the River Legacy Trail.

Arlington is a town where dirty dealings seem to take place with nary an eye batted. You want to build a football stadium? Well, Arlington will help you pay for it and will go along with abusing the perfectly legit concept of eminent domain to kick thousands of people out of their homes and apartments in the single worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history.

And now, somehow plans got approved that it seems will totally alter what may be the best park in the D/FW Metroplex. Why did the city not buy this land? Or at least a buffer? That land could not have cost much. It's like a wasteland. A beautiful wasteland. That isn't so beautiful anymore.

The Sacramento Bee & Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Yesterday, that being Saturday, December 13, a guy blogged about my blogging at the start of the month about finally cancelling my subscription to the Fort Wort Star-Telegram. Actually his blogging pretty much consisted of linking to mine and copying it on his blog. His blog is called McClatchy Watch with the blog URL being cancelthebee.blogspot.com.

McClatchy Watch describes his blog as "mainly about the spectacular train wreck at The Sacramento Bee and its parent company, the McClatchy Company. But I also post about current events, the Iraq war, politics, and things that interest me. Take a look around this blog, I hope you enjoy it."

Then this morning, yet one more person calling him or herself Anonymous, commented on yesterday's McClatchy Watch. What made the comment interesting, besides being directed at the blogging about my paper cancellation, was the commenter has a Star-Telegram connection.

Here's the comment....

I left the FWST (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) months ago during one of the staff reductions in mid year. The newspaper was paid from my paycheck automatically, so I called to try and get it changed and pay for a year in advance. Three times I called and left messages and I still have not gotten a reply so that is that - I tried.

BTW - I'm still getting the paper - for free.

When they do catch on, I doubt I will continue. The paper is nothing but wire, which I can get for free on the Internet. And this content sharing with the DMN (Dallas Morning News) - no thanks. If I want the DMN, I'll buy it - I don't need them making my decisions. Sad situation - nothing but panic.

Last month I finally got a new job and can see what many others have said about life being better away from the newspaper business.

And then in what must be a related thing, yet one more Anonymous person made a comment. This comment was also made this morning. The comment was made regarding the blogging on December 1 regarding cancelling the Star-Telegram.

The commenter commented....

**crickets chirping**

I'm guessing McClatchy monitors what gets said about their newspapers in the same way Chesapeake Energy does.

Swimming Under Windy Sunday Clouds in North Texas

It has been windy for over 24 hours here in North Texas. This morning when I was in the pool I looked up to see a very strange and beautiful Sunday morning sky.

The wind was pushing low level wispy clouds at a high speed. There were more clouds much higher in the sky, apparently above the wind, because the high clouds did not appear to be moving.

This created a very unique 3-D effect. While I was looking up 3 jets heading to or away from D/FW Airport added to the odd movement in the sky.

It was all quite hypnotic. So, when I finished swimming and hot tubbing I got my video camera to see if it would be able to capture the beautiful Sunday morning Texas sky. Sadly, the video doesn't do justice to what my eye was seeing. But it comes close...

Horseshoe Trails, Lake Grapevine, New Gas Low & Extreme Home Makeover

Well, I've had me a day. Did my usual early morning swim thing. Done with that by 8am. Then I put my new bike seat on my old bike. Pedaled around testing the seat. I liked it. Then I hit a bump and the seat came loose. Back to the tools for some better screw tightening.

A bit after noon I headed up to Southlake and Grapevine. I was hungry so I went to Costco for their extravagant free sample lunch. Today was the best ever. A lot of very good cheeses and breads. Giant shrimp. I had the sweet chili shrimp. Beef stroganoff, pork tamales, cheesecake, fudge, chicken pot pie and other stuff that I can't remember.

After eating too much at Costco I went to the Horseshoe Trails Park on Lake Grapevine. I used to mountain bike the Horseshoe Trails a couple times a week. I used to live closer. That's the view from the Horseshoe Trails, looking out at Lake Grapevine in the photo above. It has been very windy today here in North Texas. It made for a fun hike in the wind. Gusts to 45 mph.

We hiked for about 5 miles, 7 if you factor in the extra exertion required to make headway into a heavy wind.

After hiking I went to Sprouts Farmers Market in Southlake. Got a lot of good stuff, like oranges and broccoli and apples and ham hocks. I'm making pea soup tomorrow.

I mentioned a couple days ago that if I were in the area I might try and find the Extreme Makeover Home Edition house under construction up in far north Fort Worth. Well, I was sort of in the area. So, I left Sprouts and headed west on Southlake Boulevard for a few miles. Took a right on 377 and then left on to Keller-Hicks Road.

Keller-Hicks Road is where I'd read the new house was being built. This area is where I first lived when I moved to Texas so it's familiar territory to me. Except so much has changed. As in new houses as far as you could see.

Eventually I came to a detour with cops blocking any further driving on Keller-Hicks. A sign said "No Walk-Ins." Following the detour I came to another guarded access point to the TV production.

I could see a lot of cars, tents, light poles and someone being loud over a sound system. It did not sound like Ty Pennington.

Finally I got out of the detour on to a main road. That main road was the main access point for "volunteers" working on the new house. They had to drive a bumpy field of dirt to get in and out.

I could see across the field to a better view than the one by where the cops were blocking the road. I could see a lot of people and I think the new house. You can see that house in the photo to the right of the big white tent.

After all that excitement it was time to head back here. Horrible traffic on I-35. So, I got off the freeway at Western Center Boulevard and made my way to Beach Street, stayed on Beach til Randoll Mill, which leads me to where I am now.

I forgot to mention, on Beach Street, near the Beach Street Super Wal-Mart, I saw a new gas low. $1.42 at a Racetrack station. I didn't need any, so I got none, so Mom didn't get a gas call.

Interlochen Christmas Lights Map & Directions

Yesterday when I blogged about the Interlochen Christmas Lights it did not occur to me to tell people how to find the lights.

By this morning I found several emails asking me for directions. And I found that yesterday's blogging comes up #1 when Googling "Interlochen Christmas Lights." Hence the questions.

Below are 2 maps. The first shows you where Interlochen is in relationship to I-30. That's Interlochen with the big red circle drawn around it. You can see the Interlochen canals on the map. The second map shows the Interlochen Traffic Routes.

To find Interlochen all you have to do is exit I-30 at Fielder Road or Eastchase Parkway. From Eastchase head east on Meadowbrook, which becomes Green Oaks. You'll come to a Shell station on your left. Turn right on Randoll Mill Road, at the Shell station. Continue on Randoll Mill til you come to a light. At that point you will likely be encountering a lot of Interlochen traffic. It is pretty straightforward from then on. Just follow the signs.

A more direct route to Interlochen may be found by exiting I-30 at Fielder Road. Go south on Fielder til you come to Randoll Mill Road. Turn right onto Randoll Mill and head west til you are obviously in the Interlochen zone.

From Division Street head north on Bowen Road til it runs into Interlochen.

Interlochen Christmas Lights in Arlington Texas

I'd not been on my bike in a long time. It had a flat that I had trouble getting around to fixing, til this morning, when I came in from swimming and needed something to warm me up.

About noon I went to Village Creek Natural Historical Area to do some pedaling. The paved trail leaves the park after about a mile. You are then in what is called Interlochen. That's an Arlington neighborhood that is famous in these parts for its over the top Christmas Lights.

A couple years ago an Interlochenite was asked by D/FW Airport to tone down their lights due to distracting pilots. To those who have not seen Interlochen that likely sounds ridiculous. How could lights be that bright? Well, like I said, Interlochen is over the top.

Police have to direct traffic. It is very controlled. You can go in only one direction. One lane is kept open for residents. I probably shouldn't say this, but for those of us who live in the area, it's easy to know how to sneak in and avoid the 2 hour or more wait to get to the lights.

Interlochen is so-named, I think, because "lochen" is some language's word for canals. There are several canals in Interlochen. You can take a boat to visit the neighbors. The canals are all lit up as well as the front yards.

Today I got off the paved trail and pedaled some of the Interlochen streets. Christmas decorations have an entirely different look when the power is off and the sun is up. Most people go all traditional, manger scenes, reindeer, snowmen.

I saw a couple of somewhat original displays today. One had Santa kneeling over what I assume was Baby Jesus in a crib.

My favorite was a Pedro's Trailer Park themed display. At least that was my take on it. Santa was sitting in front of his brightly painted trailer, surrounded by palm trees, lots of lights and a big herd of big pink flamingos.

If it wasn't such a major deal to go to Interlochen at night, I'd go back to see Santa and the Trailer all lit up. The last time I went to see the Interlochen Lights was a couple Christmases ago with Miss Puerto Rico. We had libations on board. It was very festive.

CLICK HERE FOR MAPS & DIRECTIONS
TO THE INTERLOCHEN CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Kill The Cockroach Part IV: Cockroach Hall Of Fame

I've not seen a Cockroach in several days. I sort of miss the little buggers. I learned yesterday that I'm not the only person in Texas with a perverse fondness for Cockroaches.

There is a guy in Plano, Texas named Michael "Cockroach Dundee" Bohdan. He is a pest control specialist with a store called The Pest Shop.

In The Pest Shop Mr. Bohdan has opened the Cockroach Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame features dead Cockroaches dressed as celebrities and historical figures. There is David Letteroach, Liberoachi and something called the Combates Motel which is
somehow based on the Bates Motel in Psycho. The Combates Motel is a little roach-sized house with the Cockroach holding a little-bitty dagger.

The Liberoachi display is the most elaborate with the dead bug sitting at a little piano decorated with a little candelabra. Liberoachi is wearing a big white cape.

The bugs aren't all dead at the Cockroach Hall of Fame. There are live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. They are about 4 inches long and an inch thick. If you pick one up it hisses at you.

There is a snack shop in the Cockroach Hall of Fame with only one item available, that being "Larvets Original Worm Snacks" in yummy BBQ, Cheddar Cheese and Taco flavors. Tasty.

The Cockroach Hall of Fame is open Monday through Friday from 12:15pm til 5pm. And on Saturday from 12pm til 3pm. The location is 2231-B West 15th Street in Plano, Texas.

Fort Worth Space Shuttles, Swimming, Hiking & Zorro's Buffet

I did not see the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over me when I was in the pool this morning. I was not in the pool very long. I got up real early, as in before 4, I was down at the pool a bit past 7. I don't know when in the morning the Shuttle lifted off from Fort Worth.

It is supposed to get in the 70s this weekend, followed by an Arctic Blast coming in on Monday that might bring snow with it.

I went hiking at the Tandy Hills around noon. And then on to Zorro's Buffet. It's Mexican Food Day on Thursday. Zorro's has added some new Mexican food since my last Thursday visit. There were tamales, chipolte chicken, chicken mole, BBQ pork ribs and all sorts of other good stuff I'm not remembering right now due to a cerebral bloodflow problem.

The chicken mole looked like chicken covered with thick chocolate. I had to ask what mole meant. I was told it's like BBQ. It was messy, but tasty.

Every other time at Zorro's the nearby gas station has a new record low. But not today. The Tandy Hills Gas Station remains the lowest I've seen, at $1.44. Zorro's gas was $1.48.

But on the way back here I saw a Fina station at $1.43. Trouble was this Fina station appeared to have been closed for years. I don't know if it was ironic or funny that this long closed station's long ago prices are now back what we're paying today. Just a couple months ago I would have seen that sign and thought, those were the days, we'll never see them again.

The World Championship Rattlesnake Races in San Patricio, Texas

On the second weekend of March, Sweetwater, Texas holds its annual Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup. Sweetwater is out in West Texas, west of Abilene.

About the same time, way down in the South Texas Gulf zone, near Corpus Christi, Historic Old San Patricio holds the World Championship Rattlesnake Races.

An eighteen wheeler driver from Alice, named Larry Belcher, had a string of winning the World Championship 3 years in a row with his pet rattlesnake, Sleepy.

You can bring your own snake to the races or use one provided by a local snake hunter. It costs $20 to enter a snake race. There are several heats, with the winner of each heat getting a plaque. The World Champion finals take place Sunday with the winner getting the coveted World Champion Rattlesnake Race Trophy.

To get the rattlesnakes to slither, 5 foot long plastic tubes, called "go-getters," are used to tap the ground, causing a vibration that gets the snakes moving.

Daily admission to the races is $5. There are other things to do besides watching snakes slither. There is a carnival, arts and crafts booths, food, live music, exhibitions, rattlesnake handling and lots of cold beer.

I can't decide whether to go to the Races or the Roundup this year. I've got a 3 months to decide.

Space Shuttle Lands In Fort Worth

Yesterday at 3:10pm the Space Shuttle Endeavor landed at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base here in Fort Worth.

The Space Shuttle is on its way back to Cape Canaveral after bad weather at the Cape brought about a November 30 touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Before its overnight stay in Fort Worth the Space Shuttle and the modified 747 it piggybacks landed at Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss in El Paso.

Miss Puerto Rico's brother, Tito, is stationed at Fort Bliss. Tito safely returned from Iraq in November.

The Space Shuttle is scheduled, weather permitting, to lift off from Fort Worth at sunrise. Maybe I'll see it flying overhead this morning when I go swimming.

On a related note. By far the coolest thing I've seen in all the time I've been in Texas was a Space Shuttle passing overheard. It was a nighttime landing. I did not know what to expect. We'd been told to look low on the horizon to the west. Suddenly this huge fireball came into view. I'd never seen anything like it. It passed very quickly, leaving a strange afterglow in the sky. When the glow faded we ran back inside and watched the landing in Cape Canaveral.

Spilled Natural Gas Drilling Mud Kills 3 While Wise County Pipeline Explodes

Today's Don Young Report covers several issues. One being Tuesday's pipeline explosion in Wise County. Another being the transportation of drilling mud in Johnson County having caused three deaths.

Before I get to Don Young's message to the powers that be. And you. I'm going to give you 3 links.

You can watch video of the Wise County pipeline rupture here.

Click the above link, then click, "Click here to watch video footage," then hit the play button.

You can read a report of the Wise County pipeline rupture in the Wise County Register here.

You can read a report of drilling mud deadly accidents here.

And now Don Young's message to the powers that be. And you.

Dear Mayor, Council-members and staff-

In addition to Tuesday's pipeline rupture in Wise County, there is also a story from Johnson County that may interest you.

These two reports add to the steady stream of accidents involving gas drilling activities in and around Fort Worth. Hopefully, they will remind you that when you allow such dangerous activity there will be consequences. The only question is when and where and who pays to clean it up.

They should also remind you of your duty to put public safety far above your own self interests or threats from industry representatives and their lawyers. When in doubt, it's usually a good idea to err on the side of public safety and always go above and beyond state and federal standards.

PS: Does the current city budget include funds to clean up toxic drilling mud and other fluids spilled on public streets by anonymous drilling companies? What about hazmat crews to clean up the mud and also, NORM-laced drill pipes that may fall from trucks onto public right of ways? Finally, do FW firefighters and gas well inspectors now carry Geiger counters and hazmat suits in their trucks? How much does that cost?

Sincerely-
Don Young
FWCanDo
P.O. Box 470041
Fort Worth, TX 76147

The View From Miss Puerto Rico's Balcony and My Mom & Dad

This has been one cold day in Texas. I feel like I'm up in Tacoma in summer. It's only 42 at 4:30pm. Blue sky returned today. That was nice. Even if it was a cold blue sky. That photo on the left is the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony yesterday around noon.

The other photo is the same view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony today around noon. I don't know which photo looks chillier.

My Mom and Dad are heading to Texas on January 2. I was informed of this by my Mom on Sunday. She called with a convoluted plot for me to fly to Phoenix to spend Christmas and then ride back here with them. There are too many things wrong with that concept to detail here.

My Mom also told me not to plan anything that involved walking. That is not a lot different from when they were here 7 years ago. I remember dropping them off at Dealey Plaza while I found a parking place. The only place I remember fast walking was when I took them to one of the World's Most Unique McDonald's.

They were here 8 days their last visit. I don't know how long they plan to stay this time. I've no idea what to do with them. Maybe ride the train to Dallas and then ride the DART train. That would take up one day. Gaylord Texan and the Southlake Town Center has been built since their last visit. That might take up one day.

Maybe there'll be a Grand Opening where my Mom can shove her way to get free samples. The last time they were here they saw on the local news that Central Market was having its Grand Opening the next day. So, we went to that.

They'll likely want to do the Stockyards again. They enjoyed the Stockyards. Everyone enjoys the Stockyards. The only thing that's changed at the Stockyards, as far as I can remember, is the addition of The Love Shack. Maybe I'll take them there. The Dirty Love Burger won some sort of best burger in the world or nation type award. Mom and Dad like burgers. Mom used to work at one of my brother-in-law's McDonald's. She was known as McDonald's best biscuit baker.

I could try and think of a list of chores for Mom and Dad to do. But I don't have any chores that need doing. When my Mom and Dad and I were at my baby sister's in Tacoma, last summer, you would not believe the list of chores we all had to do. We were told we had to perform these tasks to pay for our room and board. I think a motel would have been a more restful option.

I don't know why Mom and Dad want to come here in the dead of winter. The last time it was October and a bit HOT at times. This time we could easily have an Ice Storm. Or worse.

When we were all in Tacoma, with us Sun Belters well adjusted to our Sun Belt Heat, Mom and Dad were the only people in Tacoma who could empathize with how miserably cold it was. The others were quite insensitive about our misery. But, then again, I have to say, after my little sister tired of watching me shiver, she bought me a real nice coat. I wore it today. Today was the first day it's gotten Tacoma Cold in Texas.

Well, whatever happens, it'll be interesting. I'll be documenting Mom and Dad's likely last visit to Texas via photos, video and this Blog. What fun I'll have...

Extreme Makeover Home Edition In Fort Worth

Ty Pennington and the rest of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition crew is in Fort Worth building a family a new house, starting today, up in my old neighborhood in far north Fort Worth.

You can read all about this important event
on my Durango TV Blog.

Kill The Cockroach Part III

I've gone three days without a Cockroach sighting. I don't know if it is too soon to declare Mission Accomplished. The Cockroach Army may be re-grouping, planning a new line of attack in some other location in this place.

I don't know if it was the Las Vegas Roach Trap that did the trick. Or was it my aggressive 'Surge' where I purposely, frequently, turned on the kitchen lights at night to the point where the Cockroach Army no longer felt they had free reign to run all over my cooking zone.

I only saw 2 Cockroach Corpses in the Las Vegas Roach Trap. Two big ones. Smaller ones may not have been visible in the coffee/water brew.

If the Cockroaches attack again, I think I'll call in the professionals.

Below Freezing Today in Texas

Yesterday morning my swimming pool had warmed up a lot from the day before, due to it getting into the 70s during the day and the middle 50s at night. So, yesterday I managed to swim for quite a long time.

A cold front blew in all day yesterday and long into the night. Very windy. Power was knocked out for some Texans. By midnight the temperature was 33. By this morning, when I went down to the pool, it was 26.

So, it's obvious the water would be colder than the day previous. However, with the air being so cold, the water felt warmer than the air. A lot warmer. It was easy to get in the water and swim. I think I lasted about 3 or 4 minutes, when the chill started to penetrate too deep. It took a couple minutes for the hot tub to feel hot.

This swimming when the water is cold thing has taught me a lesson. As in don't ever not do something just because you've got it in your head that you can't. You never know if you can or can't until you try.

The Evolution of Unintelligent Design

I finished Molly Ivin's Shrub this morning. The late Molly Ivin's was a Texan who saw Texas the way most non-Texans do. As in confoundingly ridiculous a lot of the time.

Apparently the Texas education system has improved, somewhat, from the bad shape it was in a couple decade's ago. Back then Texans were fond of saying they were thankful for Mississippi, because without Mississippi, Texas would be dead last, rather than the 49th worst state in the education area. And several other areas.

Molly Ivin's details how the RWCF (Right-Wing Christian Fruitcakes) took over the Republican party during the 1990s. And then they took over the Texas school boards. The RWCF would like to have what they call Intelligent Design taught alongside Evolution.

Prior to cancelling my subscription to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram there had been a series of letters to the editor on both sides of the teaching Evolution issue. You'd have informed voices of reason and then the RWCF spouting their ill-informed, ignorant nonsense. Which they totally believe to be true.

Which is to me yet one more example of what happens when your state has the 49th worst education system in the nation.

I'm still reading the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Letters to the Editor via the paper's online edition. This morning's had a particularly amusing example of one of the RWCF's letters on the all-important Intelligent Design Evolution issue....

Why is Genesis account feared?

I continue to be amazed that many people assume that “science” pertains to facts, while “faith” relates to myth, or fables, or unsubstantiated beliefs. They seem to imagine that facts of science support evolution, over billions of years, from a supposed “big bang” explosion at the beginning of time. Then they further suppose that Biblical or Christian beliefs rest on unscientific ideas, fanciful dogmas, that even contradict the basics of science.

Harold Jacobs’ Dec. 1 letter is filled with this sort of erroneous thinking. Jacobs says that some believe that the six days of creation may be millions or billions of years. This cannot be, since evolutionists say that the heavenly bodies were formed in the beginning and vegetation came ages later.

But in the Bible, vegetation was created on the third day and the sun and stars were not created until the fourth day. If the day was a billion years long, the vegetation could not have existed without sunlight that long.

The basic fallacy in Jacobs’ reasoning, however, is that he assumes that science supports vast ages of time, that every living thing came from nonliving chemicals and that matter is either eternal or was self-created (since he doesn’t believe God created it).

Those who believe in intelligent design rightly point out the utter impossibility of explaining creation without reference to an intelligent designer — a Creator. Creationists would go beyond this, offering scientific evidences for creation in the relatively recent past, and strongly affirm that all life forms arose from earlier life forms, not from nonlife.

All living things—animals, birds, fish, insects—were created according to certain “kinds” and there has been evolution from “primitive” forms to more “advanced” forms of life. The blasphemy of Greg McKinney in the same issue is not worth refuting. His referring to “the Flying Spaghetti Monster” as Creator is an offense against all believers in God.

Why do McKinney and the two Jacobs refuse to allow students to see the evidence of science? Is this really true science? Why are they afraid of the evidences of creation?

Do they fear that acknowledging creation will mean that they must acknowledge the Creator?

— Richard Hollerman, Fort Worth

A Hazy Day Today In Dirty Ol' Town

I guess today is Texas Air Pollution Day on the Durango Texas Blog. Don Young started Texas Air Pollution Day with new info about bad pollutants in the Texas air. Don Young's nickname for Fort Worth is "Dirty Ol' Town."

Ironically, the day in "Dirty Ol' Town" started with nice clear blue sky. If I remember right. It was 67 at midnight. 55 when I went swimming at 7:30am. The water had warmed up so much I stayed in it for quite a long time and got back in again after a hot tub break warmed me up.

By the time I got to the Tandy Hills, about noon, the temperature had dropped, blustery gusts made walking interesting. And a smoggy haze had settled in. In the photo that is the smoggy view of Downtown Fort Worth's stunning skyline, looking west from one of the Tandy Hills.

It is now 4 hours later and the temperature has continued to drop. It is now 36.

Regarding all this air pollution and smog. Here goes my second "ironically" in this blogging. As in, ironically, I am reading Molly Ivin's Shrub. I'm at the chapter where she looks at George W.'s environmental record. Or lack of.

At the end of George's time as the Texas governor, as he was in the midst of campaigning to do to the rest of the nation what he'd spent 8 years doing to Texas, Texas was, according to the Tri-National North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation, set up by NAFTA, polluting more than any other American state or Canadian province. Texas had achieved the #1 position in both water and air pollution.

According to records kept by the Environmental Defense Fund, Texas is also Number One in overall toxic releases, recognized carcinogens in the air, suspected carcinogens in the air, developmental toxins in the air (affecting brain and nervous-system development in children) and cancer risk.

So, we've got that info earlier today, from Don Young, about kids being affected by toxic pollution and the amount of air pollution caused by the gas drillers. We add that to yesterday's info about what's in the fracking water that's being injected underground all over North Texas and mix in today's smoggy view of Downtown Fort Worth's skyline and I'm suddenly feeling like I moved to a Third World Country.

Which is, again, ironic, because when I first moved to Texas and would get asked why, I would say, "I wanted the experience of living in a Third World country without having to get a passport." At that point in time I thought I was just making a bad joke and in my mind the origin of that bad joke was the astonishing amount of litter I saw all over Texas. Little did I know, then, that the litter problem was the least troublesome Texas environmental issue.

Is Gas Drilling Killing Texas School Children?

If you'd asked me yesterday if the gas drilling in the Barnett Shale was killing school children I would have said that seems unlikely.

And then this morning I got email from Don Young about schools in Texas exposed to cancer-causing toxins, along with high rates of kids getting cancers.

Read on for today's Don Young Report....

USA Today reported Monday that, exposure to cancer-causing toxins for students near industrial areas is much worse than expected. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, elementary schools in Midlothian, Texas "rate worst in the USA for exposure to caner-causing toxins. The city has three cement plants."

The USA Today study is based on data collected before gas drilling became widespread in the Barnett Shale. Read the entire USA Today article here.

Read more on this subject in the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Now, consider this: There are nearly 10,000 producing gas wells in the Barnett Shale and thousands more have been permitted by the Texas Railroad Commission. In Fort Worth alone, over 1,000 natural gas wells have been drilled inside the city limits within the past three years, dramatically increasing air pollution by at least three-fold, according to a peer-reviewed study by Dr. Al Armendariz, of Southern Methodist University.

As he pointed out in a recent lecture, Barnett Shale drilling activities are the largest source of smog (NOx and VOC), greenhouse gases and air toxic compounds in North Central Texas.

How large?

>>>Substantially greater than all area airports, including, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
>>>Substantially greater than all the motorized vehicles in a nine county region.
>>>Greater than three cement kilns???

Good question.

Read Dr. Armendariz' complete report here. (In a hurry? Read Executive Summary on p.1 and scroll to the Conclusions on p. 34:):

Question #1:
If three cement kilns are putting kids in N.C. Texas at unusually high risk of cancer, asthma and other health concerns what will 15,000 new gas wells do to them?

Question #2:
Why are Fort Worth elected officials and the Texas Railroad Commissioners still issuing drilling permits?

Question #3:
Why aren't they enacting a moratorium on ALL drilling until the men and women who own and operate this dirty and dangerous industry clean up their act?

Oakland Lake Park's Birds & Trees

I stubbed a toe getting out of the hot tub this morning. It is now the same color as the tree you see on the left. The tree is at Oakland Lake Park. I went there to see if I could walk off the pain in my foot. I think walking made it worse.

My one reader may remember that it was at Oakland Lake Park, last week, that I was chased by a pack of wild dogs. That night a nightmare morphed those wild dogs into 6 UGLY FAT WOMEN running after me, looking for dinner. This turned into a 3 day bout of insomnia.

I saw no dogs today except for a hyper dachshund that ran towards me, barking. I don't think I'll have a nightmare about that attack. I hope.

I saw the mutant Goose/Turkey aka Gurkey today. It was still being shunned by the other birds who all flock together. The other birds are very fidgety when you try to get close for a photo, but not the Gurkey. It acts like it hopes you'll let it join your flock.

Among all the extremely colorful trees was one very odd one. My photo skills and crummy camera do not do it justice. The tree has all these deep red berries attached to equally red little limbs stuck to bigger limbs that are not red. It looked artificial, like a big red plastic tree.

Right now it is very windy and in the 70s. The next couple days it is supposed to get below freezing. The colorful trees are likely coming to an end. Could my early morning swimming be coming to an end as well? I doubt it.

What Is In The Barnett Shale Fracking Water?

Interesting natural gas drilling information about the chemicals used in the fracking process is coming out of Pennsylvania.

The upper Delaware region has a natural gas drilling operation underway, drilling into what is called the Marcellus Shale. Here in Fort Worth we call ours the Barnett Shale.

I don't know if Chesapeake Energy is drilling in the upper Delaware region, along with their patented over the top propaganda operation.

While the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection acknowledges that gas drillers may keep their fracking formulas secret, the individual ingredients are public record in Pennsylvania .

So, the Pennsylvania agency supplied a New York newspaper, The River Reporter, with a list of the chemicals used in the fracking process.

The River Reporter asked researchers at The Endocrine Disruption Exchange to analyze the chemicals for their effects on humans and animals.

The results are startling. There are 54 different chemicals used in the fracking process. The researchers broke it all down into charts and graphs representing the degree of health effects.

You can view that information here.

Marcellus Shale drillers claim the fracking process is safe in the Marcellus Shale because the fracking takes place below the water table.

Others say the lined wells have failed in the past, contaminating drinking water.

Here in the Barnett Shale zone, just recently, there were reports of a nursery in Parker County seeing its plants die due to their water being contaminated by a nearby drilling operation. Before that there were reports of a farm family, somewhere west of Fort Worth, the exact location of which I can't remember, having their water supply turn undrinkable, soon after a Barnett Shale natural gas drilling operation's fracking process took place.

I fear there is an environmental disaster of historical proportions in the future for those living above the Barnett and Marcellus and other Shales being drilled and fracked with dangerous chemicals.

Only Child Syndrome & Evil Women

An Anonymous person commented on a Blog I wrote some time back about Only Child Syndrome. He too has been victim of the syndrome.

Anonymous said...

My boss, my boss's boss and one of the assistant's in my team are all only children. They are nice people and I certainly do like them, but they are quite difficult to get on with sometimes in a work context. They get so defensive and possessive! Trouble is, the boss doesn't see that he is messing things up... it is like he can't accept that he has made any mistakes - it is ALWAYS someone else's fault. It is exhausting *sigh*

I came upon a website that listed the "Top 10 Most Evil Women." I don't know how many of the Evil Women were Only Child Syndrome textbook-type cases, but I do know at least one was, she being Mary I of England, the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. When Mary became the Queen of England she was able to give full reign to her Only Child Syndrome tendencies. She became known as "Bloody Mary" due to all the Protestants she sent to the gallows, because Mary, the Only Child, believed everyone should be a Catholic like she was. "Bloody Mary's" Reign of Terror did not last long.

It is a good thing that most Only Children do not get into power positions with execution privileges. I've only known one Only Child in Texas. She was a mess. The Only Children I've known in Washington have all fit the stereotype to varying degrees, with the worst being a mental case, with a sense of entitlement, so elevated, she constantly wreaks havoc in her wake and does not even let legal interventions, like jail time, cause her to question and change her beliefs and behaviors.

The first shrink, Alfred Adler, to identify the condition, believed Only Child Syndrome to be a mental disease in need of treatment. Maybe it should be illegal to have only one kid. That'd probably be a hard law to enforce. Or get made into law. Maybe mandatory therapy is the answer to this pressing problem.

Urgent: It Will Be Windy Today In Texas

When I woke up my computer this morning I was greeted by a flashing WeatherBug telling me that an urgent message had been issued by the National Weather Service out of Fort Worth advising that it will be windy today.

Here's the dire warning....

Urgent - Weather Message National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 400 AM CST Mon Dec 8 2008

... Wind Advisory In Effect Today From 8 AM To 8 PM CST...

.A Deepening Low Pressure System In The Texas Panhandle Will Tighten The Pressure Gradient Across North Texas Today. In Addition... Stronger Winds Aloft Will Mix Down To The Surface. This Will Result In Southerly Winds Increasing To 20 To 30 Mph With Gusts To 35 Mph. The Advisory Area Is Generally West Of A Paris..To Canton... To Hearne Line.

I would hazard to guess that today the windmills at the windfarms out in West Texas will be spinning hard and putting a lot of power into the grid.

Speaking of weather, it has not been below 50 here since sometime before noon, yesterday. This should make the pool a bit warmer. I'll know for sure in about a half hour. I hope it isn't windy. The windchill factor is even more chilly when you are in chilly water.

Gas Hits New Low In Fort Worth So I Went Shopping

I've had me a Sunday and it's barely 2:06pm. I got up early, went swimming for a short duration at 8 this morning.

At 11:30 or thereabouts I was in the Tandy Hills zone and saw that gas at the Tandy Hills Gas Station had fallen to $1.44.

Phone call. I've gotta go. Will be back in a bit and continue with this fascinating missive.

Okay, I'm back. It's about a half hour after I had to attend to an "emergency." Like I was saying, gas was $1.44. So I got myself some. And then, as my one reader may remember, when I get gas I call my Mom in Phoenix. No one answered, so I left a message, which was, "$1.44, got to freezing last night, went swimming anyway, talk to you later..."

After I got gas and called my Mom I headed north to Southlake to go to Sprouts Farmers Market. It was the busiest I've ever seen Sprouts. I keep looking for signs of the 2nd Great Depression, but I can find none. I must look harder. I got all sorts of goodies at Sprouts, black grapes, ground buffalo, white cheddar, I forget what all, but it was more than one trip to haul it all in here.

On the way back here I stopped at the North Richland Hills Wal-Mart Supercenter on Davis Boulevard. It's a nice Wal-Mart. Not like my not so nice local Wal-Mart Supercenter. Wal-Mart was super busy. Wal-Mart may be Great Depression proof.

So, that's my Sunday so far, coming up on 3pm. Miss Puerto Rico called a bit ago. She wants me to come over for a libation. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.

Nice temps have returned so I've temporarily returned to wearing shorts. I like it when that happens.

The First Saturday of December at Fort Worth's Botanic Gardens

Fall colors are being spectacular this year in Texas, due to several factors, like low humidity, a drought and no hard freezes. Last week I read that one of the best places to see a wide variety of colorful leaves was Fort Worth's Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden is located in what Fort Worth calls its Cultural District.

I'd not been to the Botanic Garden since October of 2001, if I remember correctly. So, on Saturday I thought it'd be fun to walk around Fort Worth's best gardens.

There's been a huge new thing added to the Botanic Gardens that is very impressive. It's called the Texas Native Forest Boardwalk. Which describes it well. It's in Texas, it's a boardwalk and it's surrounded by native forest.

The purpose of the Texas Native Forest Boardwalk is to educate kids. In a fun way. It's also designed to be fun and educational for grownups. I'm grown up and I found it fun. There is education and fun off the boardwalk, that is also part of the Texas Native Forest exhibits.

You can walk balance beams, crawl through hollowed out trees and visit a log hotel. On the Boardwalk there are several listening tubes where you can whisper to someone at another section of the Boardwalk.

For me, the coolest thing on the Boardwalk, other than how cool the elevated Boardwalk itself was, was the "Name That Tune" exhibit. There were 10 buttons to push that when pushed a bird would warble. You guess what type bird it was and then lift the flap to see if you are right. The only 2 I had a clue about were the turkey and the owl. The cool part was how realistic the chirping was. It sounded like it was coming out of the trees, in stereo. Very well done.

A slightly weird, yet somehow amusing thing on the Boardwalk was one of the questions posed. As you walk the Boardwalk you come to signs that pose questions. You lift a board to reveal the answer. The slightly weird, yet somehow amusing question was "Do Trees Poop?"

You can see me revealing the answer to the "Do Trees Poop?" question on the right.

The Fort Worth Botanic Gardens has several totally landscaped, not natural, formal type gardens that are very well done. The formal or demonstration gardens are the Japanese, Rose, Perennial, Fuller, Trial, Four Season, Water Conservation and Cactus Gardens.

In addition to the landscaped gardens and the Boardwalk, there are several totally natural, unpaved, for the most part, trails, like the Pecan Promenade Nature Trail and the Sugarberry Nature Trail. One of the 'nature trails' was paved with flagstones, but still managed to be very natural. The flagstoned trail is called the Rock Springs Trail. It's the location of the biggest pecan tree in the Botanical Garden.

So, if you live somewhere within driving distance of Fort Worth and want to take the kids and Grandma to a fun outdoors experience that manages to be good exercise for both the body and the brain, you should haul yourselves to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

The Botanic Garden is very easy to find. They are about 1.5 miles west of downtown Fort Worth. You can just follow the signs to the "Cultural District." Or get off Interstate 30 at University and head north on University Drive. You'll soon come to the first entrance to the Botanic Garden. Take the second entrance and it will lead you to the Garden Center where the Conservatory is located.

The Conservatory is like a greenhouse on steroids that contains a tropical garden. The only entry fees charged in the Botanic Garden are for the Conservatory and the Japanese Garden.

Don Young's December Tandy Hills Prairie Notes

REMINDER: Prairie Fest is April 25, 2009. Applications for Exhibitor space are now being accepted. Brave Combo is already lined up as our musical headliner.

Most of you have probably noticed the rather late and colorful autumn tree foliage in north central Texas. Ideal weather conditions are, apparently, responsible for this phenomenon.

One doesn't usually associate vibrant fall color and trees with tall grass prairies, but Tandy Hills Natural Area (THNA) is Unique with a capital "U". Experts have noted that, the range of elevations, soil types and other factors have conspired to make THNA an ecological rarity. They point out that THNA has more botanical diversity in the smallest amount of space than anywhere else in the state of Texas.

Right now, the Oaks, Cottonwoods, Elms and other trees that inhabit the drainages and lower elevations of THNA are at peak Fall color. (The photos were taken just before the recent frost.) The native but invasive Ash trees, now leafless, allow panoramic views of the towering bottomland hardwoods.

December is also a good time of year to appreciate the "Hill" part of Tandy Hills. Over the years, I have attempted, unsuccessfully, to express in words or capture in photographs the essential profundity of the hills. Their soft, grass-covered contours and (mostly) gentle slopes are elemental to THNA. I view them as the essence of the place even more so than the 500+ plant species they nurture. The most reverent sense of the timeworn phrase, "Mother Earth", comes to mind.

These hills are or have been home to a surprising variety of wildlife, considering the proximity to I-30 and downtown. I have personally seen Red Fox, Wild Turkey, Coyote, Wolf, Bobcat, Cottontail Rabbit, Great Horned Owl, Screech Owl, Coopers Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Buzzard, Roadrunner and many other bird species.

This past October, when Chesapeake Energy completely removed one of the nearby hills, it affected many of us like the death of a loved one. The thought that they also own 50 unblemished acres of the Tandy Hills greenbelt is especially difficult to accept. I'm keeping a wary eye on that hill.

I have a treasured memory from the late '70's of a Red Fox, its long tail fully fluffed, the setting sun catching the red highlights as he scampered up the same, lovely hill that Chesapeake recently obliterated. It is observations and memories such as these that can inspire one to activism.

Come to the meadow - FAST - and catch autumn's fading color wheel and see with your own eyes where the Red Fox once ran free and what words and photos cannot capture: the irreplaceable essence of Tandy "Hills" Natural Area.

DY

"Be as I am a reluctant enthusiast...a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here."
~Ed Abbey

Polar Bear Plunge in Washington & Texas

No. That is not me running into Lake Grapevine in Texas as part of a Polar Bear Plunge.

Instead, it is a group of Polar Bear Plungers running from Matthews Beach Park into Lake Washington in Seattle yesterday. The Polar Bear Plunge was an event hosted by EarthCorps to bring attention to environmental issues and the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Poland.

Meanwhile, I did my part here, in Fort Worth, to bring attention to environmental issues by doing my regular Polar Bear Plunge into a very cool pool. I got home at 2am, yesterday morning, and was up and in the pool by 8am.

Regarding me being a Polar Bear Plunger, I neglected to mention, in my blogging about Friday's Austin Ranch Christmas Party, that the subject of me getting in icy water came up several times. One amusing lady asked if I was one of those Polar Bear people.

Yesterday I had a great time at Fort Worth's Botanic Garden. I'd not been there in a long time. I think the last time was way back in October of 2001 when friends from up north, Chris and Nancy were here. There was a very cool new addition to the Botanic Gardens and some very colorful foliage that I took pictures of that I'll likely get around processing today.

At midnight it was 39. The low this morning has been 31. It is currently 32.2. I don't see a lengthy time in a pool in my future this morning.

Texas Dude Ranch Christmas Fun

I've gone to 4 or 5 of Miss Puerto Rico's company Christmas parties. Last night's was, by far, the best. Last year's was a disaster. It was held in cramped quarters at a place called Dave & Busters. Basically Dave & Busters is a Gameworks wannabe. The food was real good, but other than that, no one liked Dave & Busters as a Christmas party place.

So, this year it was back to the town of Grapevine to a place called Austin Ranch. On the way to Austin Ranch Miss Puerto Rico and I drove down Grapevine's Main Street. Grapevine is a very well-done tourist town. So, its Christmas lights were over the top. Then we took a left to the Gaylord Texan Convention Center and Resort complex. I've never seen a place with Christmas lights as bright as Gaylord Texan. It out-brighted the brightest of Vegas. And, in the water feature in front of the main entry, Santa was in a power boat pulling his reindeer on skis.

After looking at the Gaylord Texan excess it was time for some Austin Ranch excess. Austin Ranch, obviously, is very Cowboy/Texas themed. Cowboys wander about in full cowboy gear. A huge fireplace warms up one end of the huge room. A stage is in the middle. A bar is opposite the stage. The buffet is in another room, made to look, sort of, like you're entering a saloon.

It was not a full-service bar. The choices were several wines, Shiner Bock on tap, beer in bottles. And Margaritas. The buffet was basically steak and baked potatoes, along with things like asparagus and a stuffed pasta. And real good pecan pie. Before the buffet opened there was a big cracker and cheese table with raspberries and blueberries and other stuff I don't remember. The raspberries were good.

After the food part of the night was over the guy emceeing the thing indicated it was time to play bingo. What fresh hell is this, I wondered? I don't like playing bingo. But this turned out to be fun. And didn't last too long. Next there was this Conga Line thing that didn't end til everyone was in the Conga Line.

After a raffle for the employees, the dancing part of the evening began. Last year, at Dave & Busters, there was no dancing because there was no room to do so and no music. Previous times, at Austin Ranch, very few people danced. And those few who did were just some of the girls having fun.

Last night was totally different. When we arrived an older couple was already two-stepping, quite gracefully. I instantly thought of Dancing With the Stars. What happened the rest of the night convinced me that that show, being top-rated, has changed people's dancing.

At one point some Merengue type music caused a large group to start doing, I guess, Merengue dancing. One guy shimmied out onto the floor to the sound of people applauding. There was spontaneous dancing taking place off the dance floor. At one point, I looked to my right, to the surprising sight of my friend Shelley, dancing with her formerly, not a dancing type of guy, husband. After the Conga Line, another funny friend, Susan, she being a 50-something who says she can't dance, did so, to the slight embarrassment of her daughter.

At one point that awful Macarena song that spawned a dance craze that even Al Gore managed to learn, started up. One of the company execs, along with one other person, did the whole Macarena thing, quite well. I do not have the ability to remember that type thing.

And in the weirdest Dancing With the Stars affected moment, Shakira's Hips Don't Lie song started up. I like that song. I'd just stood up to head to the bar for another Shiner Bock when Shakira started singing. I'd previously told those at my table that I don't know how to dance. Which isn't the truth. Anyway, when I stood up I did a little Hips Don't Lie wiggling. Susan said, you dance good. To which I said thank you.

Next thing I know Miss Puerto Rico and I head to the bar. I started shaking my hips again. There was some clapping and then I turned all Maxsim Chmerkovskiy (dancer on Dancing With the Stars). Only me and Miss Puerto Rico were shaking to Shakira. I'm pretty sure we would have gotten at least one 10 if the Dancing With the Stars judges had been there.

As the evening wore down our group was pretty much the last to leave. We got a really good hint that it was time to go when Happy Trails was the last song played. Followed by silence. Susan went around collecting all sorts of chocolate and stuffed them in my pockets. She also filled her own pockets.

So, that was my night. I didn't get home til 2am. My one longtime reader may remember that just days ago I was having a bout of insomnia that had me getting up at 3am. I got up at 7am this morning, which I guess means I got only 5 hours sleep.

I'm going to Fort Worth's Botanic Garden today. And then to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Photos and video to appear later.

Picasa 3 Sucks

I'd gotten quite used to using Picasa. That's Google's freebie photo management program that does all sorts of good things. I'd use it to quickly process a lot of photos. Picasa made it very easy to crop and to enhance a photo. It'd become one of my favorite programs and one of my most frequently used.

Until today. Picasa is no longer on my computer.

When I closed Picasa, yesterday, a window popped up telling me that an upgrade would be installed the next time I started Picasa.

I took some pictures this afternoon of the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. I took them off the camera and started up Picasa, which, without asking me if it could, began upgrading it. I had no input.

When it finished the upgrade, Picasa re-started. With a whole new look. I instantly did not like it. But went ahead cropping and enhancing the photos. Soon my the Windows Task Manager was telling me that Page File Usage had gone to 100%. And then the overheating fan came on.

I closed Picasa and my computer calmed down.

I then tried to re-start Picasa, but the start up icon said it couldn't find the .exe file. I then saw a new program had been installed. Picasa 3 had replaced Picasa 2 and removed the Picasa 2 files.

There was an un-install option. Since Picasa 3 was worthless to me, I thought maybe if i un-install Picasa 2 would be restored. That did not happen. So, I am now Picasa free.

I need to find a replacement.

New Dallas Cowboy Stadium & Chinatown

I had not been to Chinatown in Arlington in many a month. Nor have I seen the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium up close since the last time I went to Chinatown.

That's the new stadium behind the FINA station. The area surrounding the new stadium is rather forlorn looking, rundown industrial stuff and low end houses.

So, today I went to Chinatown to go to the new Saigon Taipei Market. And to Hong Kong Market Place. I got all sorts of good stuff.

Since I was in the neighborhood and I had a list of stuff to get at Wal-Mart, I decided to go to the Wal-Mart across the street from the new stadium. It's a super-nice Wal-Mart Supercenter. But by the time I got there it was past 2. I was hungry. The stuff on my Wal-Mart list could wait. I needed food.

The new stadium is nearing completion. It's a mess all around it of road construction. I had to follow a bulldozer going about 5 miles an hour for what seemed 5 miles. It appears that the entire area from the Ballpark in Arlington to the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium is going to be a parking lot.

It'd been so long since I've been in this area I was surprised to see the new Collins Street bridge over I-30 is completed. Three huge, fancy bridges are going to span I-30 connecting both sides of Arlington's Entertainment District that includes Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, The Ballpark in Arlington, the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and a lot of restaurants. With the new bridges it will be very pedestrian friendly to cross the freeway with covered walkways on both sides of the bridge.

It was sort of distracting looking up trying to figure out what was looking so different. I should have taken a picture. But like I said I was hungry.

Durango World Is Going Up While Gas Keeps Going Down

Another beautiful cold Fall day in Texas. I went swimming, as usual, this morning. It was cold. I did not last long. I went hiking at the Tandy Hills again today. It was too nice a day not to. That's from today in the photo. Very bright red leaves on the oak trees today.

Every day there seems to be more bad economic news. But in Durango's Contrary World things seem to be going in the opposite direction.

I went to the China King in Bedford today about 2pm. I'd not been there in a long time. My fortune cookie said, "An enjoyable vacation is awaiting you near the mountains." Did the fortune cookie foresee my likely roadtrip to Seattle in a couple months? Spooky. Those Chinese have special psychic powers.

Friday I'm going to a Christmas Party. It's at a place called Austin Ranch. That's a Dude Ranch up by Lake Grapevine. Last year's Christmas Party was at this awful place called Dave and Busters. Everyone hated it. So, it got moved back to Austin Ranch. Austin Ranch is a lot funner. There's a big open bar, lots of food, a DJ, casino gambling. And dancing. I will be forced to dance. I hate it when that happens.

I came the closest I've come to a wreck in a long time, this afternoon up in Hurst. I was using a Texas Turn-Around to switch from one side of the freeway to the other. A merging lane came in at an odd angle. I'd not seen the yield sign. Brakes had to be used along with a deft swerve. It was scary. I came really close to running into another car. That would not have been a good thing. Particularly when I'd been having such a good day.

I didn't need gas today, so I didn't get any when I saw the Tandy Hills Gas Station is now down to $1.58. A couple hours later I saw the stuff for $1.56 at a QT in Bedford.

Kill The Cockroach Part II

I told you yesterday I'd update you on the Cockroach situation.

The good news is this morning when I turned on the kitchen light I did not see any Cockroaches. The bad news is when I looked in the Las Vegas Roach Trap, that I told you about yesterday, well, I could not see any Roaches trapped in the trap. They may be in there, drowned in the coffee slurry. I'm not going to reach in and find out.

There are around 4,000 species of Cockroaches. Of those 4,000 only 30 Cockroach species like to live with humans. Of the 30 types of Cockroaches that like to live with humans, only 4 of the species are thought of as pests. I guess that make the other 26 pets instead of pests?

The pesty Cockroaches are the American, the German, the Asian and the Oriental Cockroaches.

Cockroaches are nocturnal critters, running away when exposed to light. Some Cockroaches hiss. I've not heard mine hiss. Other types of Cockroaches make chirping noises. Mine don't chirp, either. Maybe they are not Cockroaches.

Cockroaches can remain active for a month without food. They can live off the glue on a postage stamp. Some can go without air for 3/4 of an hour. I've flushed 2 down the drain and turned on the garbage disposal, only to watch them crawl back out when I turned the water and disposal off. Only brute force dispatches them. Garbage disposals aren't brutal enough. I had one hop into my fridge's freeze. I thought, he's a goner. The next day, when I opened the freezer, the Cockroach quickly sprinted out.

There is a popular myth that Cockroaches will take over the planet if the human beings destroy the world in a nuclear war. It is true Cockroaches have a greater resistance to radiation than humans. But the same is true of most insects. The reason a Cockroach can survive a heavy radiation dose is because their cells divide way more slowly than humans. It is when a cell divides that it is most vulnerable to radiation.

Well, that's enough about the Kill the Cockroach project for today.

National Cookie Day November 4

Did Congress actually pass some sort of legislation designating today as National Cookie Day? If so, why? Some National Days I sorta get. But a National Cookie Day?

I rarely consume Cookies. But there is one type Cookie that I really like, that being White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.

Years ago I knew a nurse who was known as The Fat Lady. She was a very good cook. And she made these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that were even better than White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. It's been at least 16 years since I've seen The Fat Lady. The last I heard of her she'd married a Russian Pharmacist who she'd met through one of those Find the Desperate a Mate services.

Back to the subject of National Cookie Day. History was my major in college, so let's talk about the History of the Cookie. Persia was one of the first places on earth to cultivate sugar. Way back in the 7th Century those future Iranians started baking the world's first Cookies. I don't know what type Cookies the Persians made. I suspect dates were involved.

An appalling Cookie statistic is Americans eat over 2 billion Cookies a year. That averages out to 300 Cookies per American per year. I had a big Cookie last summer when I was up in Tacoma. I think that's the only Cookie I've had this year. I know a person or two who makes up for my lack of Cookie eating, helping, greatly, to add to the national total.

The word "Cookie" comes from my ancestral homeland. That being Holland. Cookie comes from the Dutch word "koekje" pronounced "Cook-yuh." Dutch Cookies are real good too. I forgot I liked them in addition to the Cookies already mentioned. Dutch Cookies use a lot of butter.

The most popular Cookie in the United States is the Chocolate Chip Cookie. It was invented in 1937 by Ruth Graves Wakefield in Whitman, Massachusetts. Ms. Wakefield ran the Toll House Restaurant, hence the name of a famous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, as in Toll House Cookies.

Peanut Butter was not used as a Cookie ingredient until the 1930s. I don't know who made the first Peanut Butter Cookie.

So, there you go. That is all the Cookie History I know. Now go out and support National Cookie Day by forcing yourself to eat one.

P.S. Here's a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Recipe...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together until smooth:
1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat and add:
2 eggs

Mix together and add gradually:
2 1/4 c. unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda

Stir in:
1 pkg. white chocolate chips
1 jar chopped Macadamia nuts

Drop batter by well-rounded teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in moderate oven (375 degrees). Be careful not to over bake!

Now get cooking to celebrate National Cookie Day.

Texas Fall Most Colorful Ever

Longtime Texans are saying this is the most colorful Texas Fall ever. The North Texas weather conditions have been such that the foliage result is pretty much Vermont-like.

The brighter colors are caused by a late summer, cool nights and dry and clear days. We are running about 5 inches below the norm for rain this year. Botanical experts claim that the lack of freezing temperatures in the D/FW Metroplex has allowed the leaves to last longer and develop deeper colors.

The leaf experts claim the coldest it has gotten here was 34 on November 16.

I beg to differ. I know it's frozen already here, because I saw frost on the roofs and had to scrape ice off my windshield.

The colorful leaves in trees you see in the photos were taken this afternoon at Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Kill The German Cockroach

Last week I watched 24: Redemption. A memorable line uttered during the show was, "Kill the Cockroach."

When 24: Redemption ended I went to my kitchen, turned on the lights and saw a big bug trying to hide. It was hard to track down. But eventually I executed it.

When I Blogged about 24: Redemption, I mentioned the irony of finding and killing my first Cockroach after 24 ended. But, I thought I was taking poetic license. I did not really know what type of bug it was.

But. Ever since that first one there have been more. They are kind of amusing the way they try to escape as soon as the light comes on. I sprayed some all purpose bug spray thinking that'd get rid of them. It didn't. They survive a direct hit of the bug spray.

This morning, like I said earlier, I was up by 3am. When I turned on the kitchen lights, to make coffee, there was one of the bugs to greet me.

I decide it was time to Google "cockroach."

Well. I'd only seen one Cockroach, previously, in person, that being a dead one out in the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce Tourist Center. It was big. My bugs aren't big, which is why I didn't really think they were Cockroaches.

Til I Googled. I now believe I have what is known as the German Cockroach. I don't like Germans, but I'm glad I have been visited by German Cockroaches and not the American or Australian Cockroach. They are huge. My Germans are little things compared to the Americans.

Wikipedia had a solution to getting rid of the pests that is supposed to be very successful. It is called the Las Vegas Roach Trap. Following the directions I took a canning jar, smeared petroleum jelly on the inside, put coffee grounds and water in the jar. And then put duct tape all over the outside.

The Cockroaches are supposed to be coffee addicts and so will follow the smell. The duct tape gives them traction to get up the jar. They can not climb on glass. The petroleum jelly is a back up in case, for some awful reason, the Cockroach falls into the coffee and gets such a buzz it's somehow able to climb the glass wall. The bug will stick to the petroleum jelly.

I will report tomorrow on how many Cockroaches I have trapped in my coffee jar. What if it is full of roaches in the morning? That will be truly disgusting. But, I'll take a picture and share.

Driving To Paris & Seattle

If the Seattle Space Needle were in Texas it'd likely wear a cowboy hat, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Texas. There is no elevator or stairway to the top of the Paris, Texas Eiffel Tower. Since there is no way to get to the top there is no revolving restaurant spinning under the cowboy hat. That's a shame. An equally shameful irony is the fact that there are no French restaurants in Paris, Texas. Several restaurants sell French Fries, though.

I've had another bout of insomnia. I've been up since a bit past 3am. I think this morning is an improvement over yesterday's early wakeup that'd been caused by a horrible nightmare where I was chased by 6 Giant Ugly Fat Women who were trying to eat me.

At midnight it was 58. It is 60 now. The pool should have warmed up a bit from yesterday's frigid ice.

My Mom and Dad are coming to Texas in January. So, I've decided not to go to Phoenix for Christmas.

Speaking of road trips. Despite having said, and totally meaning what I said, that being, that it'd be at least 10 years before I returned to the Pacific Northwest, it looks like I'm going to be up in the Seattle zone in January or February. Likely after my Mom and Dad leave Texas.

The last time I drove up to Washington was in August of 2001 for my Mom and Dad's 50th. I got back to Texas a few days before 9/11. A month or so later Mom and Dad were here for a week.

When gas cost in the $4 a gallon zone it seemed ridiculous to drive 5,000 miles. But now, driving is cheaper than flying. And way more fun. It only takes 3 days of easy driving to get up to Washington. First night, Pueblo, Colorado, second night, Twin Falls, Idaho, early the next day's afternoon, Seattle.

I've only driven north in the dead of winter, once. It was awful. That time the route went north through Oklahoma and Kansas. In Kansas there was a lot of snow and ice on the freeway. It was slow going. So, for the drive back, that time, I decided to get the driving south part done by taking I-5, which only gets icy in southern Oregon and northern California, but usually is not too bad. That time there was no ice. Mom and Dad lived in Yuma then. That was the last time I spent Christmas with them. That was a fun Christmas.

A Fat End To A Long Day In Texas

I've already said this was Durango Texas Politically Incorrect Day, that and I'm real tired, due to being awake since 2am. So, my good taste judgment, faulty even when well rested, is likely in total failure mode at this point in time.

I talked to my favorite Arizona Sister a little while ago. I told her my TV Blog was being an out of control monster. She told me our favorite Washington Sister was enjoying doing her Blog where she pretends to be a pair of poodles named Blue and Max.

My favorite Arizona Sister said she's gonna start a Blog now that it seems to be the thing all her literate siblings are doing.

In the meantime, while waiting to see my favorite Arizona Sister's Blog, I am still traumatized by last night's horrible attempt to eat me by the Gigantic Ugly Fat Women. I can't even type that without shuddering.

Below is video of one of those Gigantic Ugly Fat Women eating, not me, but turkey. Better the turkey than me.

Majority of American Women have Histrionic and Narcissistic Disorders

Okay, I mentioned in a previous blogging that I guess this is going to be Politically Incorrect Durango Texas Day due to me being awakened at 3am by UGLY FAT WOMEN trying to eat me.

So, the Attack of the UGLY FAT WOMEN led me to a website called No Marriage.

One of the pages on the No Marriage website is titled "Majority of American Women have Histrionic and Narcissistic disorders".

To me the behaviors described fit my experiences with Only Child Syndrome. But the No Marriage website leads me to realize I was also dealing with a Histrionic and Narcissistic Disorder, masked, poorly, by powerful psychotropic medications.

What follows is copied and pasted from the No Marriage website...

We are talking really serious stuff here. Most American women have at least two serious personality disorders. And having personality disorder(s) and being a good wife are mutually exclusive things. That means American women are completely unfit to be wives and mothers.

Histrionic disorder: manipulative, attention seekers, dominate the conversation, use grandiose language, seek constant praise, dress provocatively, exaggerate illnesses in order to gain attention, exaggerate friendships and relationships, believe that everyone loves them.

Narcissistic disorder: self-centered, seek attention and praise, take advantage of people, fantasize about success and power, expect favorable treatment, exaggerate achievements, have difficulty maintaining long-lasting relationships, expect others to recognize them as being superior.

Many American women also have Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Borderline disorders.

Think about the women you dated and see how many of them had the combination of: mental/biological/genetic problems (defects), tried to kill herself, depressed, mood-swings, arthritic, psychotic breakdowns, unhappy, nutcase, every condition known to man, deranged attention whore.

The only reality which exists for the narcissist is their own, and even when they are repeatedly shown to be wrong or misinformed about something, they will maintain their original stance, despite all contradictory evidence, no matter how compelling.

They have no interest in understanding reality, or others. Instead, they project themselves onto the other: - in lieu of internalising the other, they externalise and generalise themselves.

It has often been noted here that it is difficult to tell whether the narcissist is stupider or madder, as there are such strong elements of both in their disposition.

And the madness is real. The narcissist will twist and distort reality to infinity in order to place themselves at the earth's center. No amount of objectivity shall be allowed to interfere with this. This is their prime objective, and they will talk any amount of nonsense to achieve it. They don't care. There is only them, and their prison is a familiar, comfortable zone. It has walls padded with velvety self-deception.

So the narcissist is not just weak, stupid, vain and unrealistic. Because if their condition was just a composite of common character flaws, they could change, grow out of it, be reasoned with. Nor is it just an act of will, for when they are shown that their interests are not best served by unflinching selfishness, there is no change.

Narcissism is a mental illness - a psychological disease which shares many characteristics with schizophrenia. It is a 'self' trapped in and constructed solely by infinite self-reflections reiterating to infinity.

It cannot change. It cannot be treated. When the window of internalised other closed in childhood, it jammed shut - never to let light in again.

NoMarriage.com manual has a comprehensive test to help you determine if your girlfriend will make a good wife. Personality disorders is one of the 10 things that make women to be unfit wives and mothers.

Politically Incorrect Tuesday In Texas With Ice

Yes. That is an ice cube. It got down to 29 last night. I had a horrible nightmare last night. Yes, I know I mentioned that in a previous blog. But it traumatized me, so I'm repeating it. I was wakened by GIANT UGLY FAT WOMEN trying to eat me.

Due to the attack of the GIANT UGLY FAT WOMEN, I came upon a couple very, well, politically incorrect, yet amusing, or so it seems to me, somewhat on target, websites targeting American Women.

Both seem to believe their American Women attributes apply universally to all American Women. That seems harsh. But some of it sure applied to some of the more disturbing American Women I've experienced behaving badly. I'll try and muster the energy to copy and paste some of it.

So, I've been up since 3am. I did not seem to suffer any withdrawal symptoms from not having a newspaper to read this morning.

Yesterday I got myself a bunch of books to read instead of reading too many details of each day's little bits of life's traumas.

I got Bob Woodward's new book The War Within. I found his State of Denial to be shocking. This new book covers the next 2 years of Bush's inept presidency. Speaking of George W., I also got Molly Ivins' SHRUB. She is one very funny lady. When she died it left one huge hole in the already holey Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I got a funny book about this state I'm living in called Texas Curiosities. I've found some good stuff in there. Then I got a couple true crime books, one titled Shattered Hopes, the other The Serpent's Tooth.

It was barely above freezing when I went down to the pool this morning. I was shivering before I got near the water. I lasted less than 2 minutes.

Insomnia Caused By Scary Ugly Fat Women

I have been up since a bit before 3am. Today is my first morning of Newspaper Withdrawal following yesterday's cancellation of my Fort Worth Star-Telegram subscription.

I had a horrible nightmare and I could tell I was not going to fall back asleep. So, I got up. I think the nightmare was caused by yesterday's incident where I was chased by a pack of wild dogs at Oakland Lake Park.

In the nightmare the dogs morphed into 6 versions of a homely over-sized former acquaintance of mine who has temper control issues. In the nightmare I could not get away from the 6 grotesqueries yelling at me and chasing me like rabid dogs. They kept gaining on me. Seeing all that heaving flesh getting ever closer was horrifying. I knew they were going to eat me.

I woke up right after a giant fat hand grabbed me by the neck, pulling me towards an enormous head, sitting on top of a no-neck monster, with a huge open mouth. It is still causing a shudder when I think about it.

Looking for images to illustrate my nightmare horror, I Googled "ugly fat women." I am forever scarred by some of what I saw.

One link intrigued me, so I clicked on it. It was a forum with a thread the title of which is "Why are American women so fat and ugly?" I thought to myself, this guy is gonna get burned bad for bringing up such a subject.

Here's the initial post from a guy calling himself Mr. Money...

I can't help but notice American women are so fat and ugly compared to the rest of the women in the world. Also it seems American women have a lot of mental problems and are gold diggers. Has any other guy been outside America to see this? Maybe we can find out why American women are such fat pigs with no class, compared to say, European women, who are so beautiful?

To which someone replied...

They eat like it's goin' out of style, that's why.

To which Mr. Money replied...

No seriously...I have met many, many women from all over the world and they look and act like real ladies. American women are really screwed up! American women are fat, man-like creatures with an attitude to boot! I can't be the only one who notices! This needs to be brought to light...for the fat ugly American women's sake. Maybe there is some hope. I just did a quick check on the internet and found two really good websites that seem to ask the same question: AmericanWomenSuck.com and Nomarriage.com. As you can see, I am far from alone with wondering why American Women are effed up!!!

Those 2 links that Mr. Money supplied are pretty funny. Some of American Women Suck and No Marriage seemed somewhat reality based. However, others were not quite charmed by Mr. Money's point of view. Like this lady calling herself Whatidiots...

Mr. Money: I can't help but think, while reading your post, that someone as refined, intelligent, and sensitive as yourself could not help but attract the most fastidious and beautiful women. It must be hard to keep them off of you. Nothing attracts a beautiful intelligent woman more than a man denigrating women in general. Especially one with exceptional grammar, spelling skills, and the ability to spot a mental condition at ten paces. You, my dear sir, would be a fine catch for any woman and I'm sure that somewhere there is a thin, gorgeous woman with your name on her forehead. If only I were single I'd be walking the streets of Florida right now, searching high and low. Alas...

Okay, that's enough about Ugly Fat Women. I need to change the subject or it'll give me more nightmares if I'm ever able to sleep again...

Chesapeake Energy Soon To Be Bankrupt?

Chesapeake Energy continues to spend a lot of money in the Barnett Shale zone in its ongoing, relentless propaganda campaign. Late the day before Thanksgiving, likely hoping people would be too busy to notice, Chesapeake Energy filed documents with the SEC (Security Exchange Commission) attempting to raise up to $1.8 billion through stock sales in order to fund its drilling, exploration, propaganda costs and to help cover the impact that lower natural gas prices is having on Chesapeake's cash flow.

In its filing with the SEC Chesapeake had to be truthful about its dire financial state. Reading through most if the filing it seems to me sort of obvious that Chesapeake is drowning and likely will soon have to take dire measures. As in bankruptcy.

Here's a key paragraph from the SEC filing that gives a real clear picture of how dire Chesapeake Energy's situation is....

"The continued credit crisis and related turmoil in the global financial system may have an impact on our business and our financial condition, and we may face challenges if conditions in the financial markets do not improve. Our cash flow from operations, our revolving bank credit facility and cash on hand historically have not been sufficient to fund all of our expenditures, and we have relied on the capital markets and asset monetization transactions to provide us with additional capital. Our ability to access the capital markets has been restricted as a result of this crisis and may continue to be restricted at a time when we would like, or need, to raise capital. The financial crisis may also limit the number of participants in our proposed asset monetization transactions or reduce the values we are able to realize in those transactions, making these transactions uneconomic or harder or impossible to consummate. The economic situation could also adversely affect the collectability of our trade receivables and cause our commodity hedging arrangements to be ineffective if our counterparties are unable to perform their obligations or seek bankruptcy protection. Additionally, the current economic situation could lead to reduced demand for natural gas and oil, or lower prices for natural gas and oil, or both, which could have a negative impact on our revenues."

You can read the SEC filing in its entirety here...

The First Thanksgiving Was In Texas, Not Massachusetts

I've been here almost a decade and Texas still has surprises for me.

Today, just days after Thanksgiving, a holiday that Yankees think started when some Pilgrims in Massachusetts put on some funny hats and invited the neighboring Indians over for a dinner to give thanks to all their good fortunes, I learned I've been wrong, for so many years, about the first Thanksgiving.

Apparently, the real First Thanksgiving took place on April 28, 1598, 22 years before the Pilgrims came to shore at Plymouth Rock. On April 28, 1598, a group of Spaniards, led by Spanish explorer Juan de Onate, put on big hats and feasted on the banks of the Rio Grande near what is now El Paso.

The Spaniards had made it through a 350 miles journey from Santa Barbara, Mexico, across the Chihuahuan Desert. so they had reason to be thankful and celebrate. However, no Indians were invited. The Spaniards did not treat the Native Americans very well. Long before the Americans came along. I don't know what the Spaniards ate at their Thanksgiving. I doubt it was turkey. Likely a beef product, it being the Texas Thanksgiving. Probably BBQed turkey.

Now, here is where it gets totally Texas funny. In 1990 the Texas legislature passed a resolution recognizing San Elizario, Texas, on the outskirts of El Paso, as the site of the first true Thanksgiving.

However, I don't recollect us having another Thanksgiving Day, here in Texas, on April 28. It's probably a big holiday here and I just haven't noticed. I can be oblivious at times.

Chased By Pack Of Wild Dogs & Mutant Turkey in Fort Worth

It is very windy and cold in Fort Worth today. So, I put on several layers of my Pacific Northwest type outerwear and went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around what I thought was Oakland Lake, until today, when a new sign informed me that I was walking around Fosdic Lake.

Where is Oakland Lake then? Why is Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park? Fort Worth and Texas can really confuse me at times. Don't get me started on how Texas changes the names of roads as you drive around. Green Oaks Boulevard changes to Dottie Lynn Parkway. But you're on the same road. This type thing happens all over this D/FW Metroplex zone.

So, today at Fosdic Lake the first disturbing thing I saw was a very friendly bird that looked like it was the result of a Goose having an affair with a Turkey. The Turkey Mutant was standing alone, just to the left of all the birds you see in the photo on the left. It appeared to me that those Bigoted Birds were shunning the Mutant Turkey. The Bigoted Birds were birds of varied color and type. Geese flocked together with Ducks, very harmoniously. While the sad Mutant Turkey seemed like it was hoping I would be its friend. (that's the Mutant Turkey in the first photo above)

And then on the opposite side of Fosdic Lake I saw something even more disturbing than the Mutant Turkey. At first I thought it was boulders. But I've been at this location on many an occasion. There are no boulders. As I got closer I could tell it was 3 animals of some sort. The 3 were huddled together. I began to think they might be 3 cougars, well, panthers is what they are known as here.

It appeared to me the 3 animals were dead. I saw no movement, no breathing. Did someone kill them and dump them? My camera beeps when I take a photo. On the 4th beep one of the animals lifted up its head.

A dog's head.

Then the other 2 woke up. They started barking. As I started to back off, the pack of wild dogs started to chase me. I've not moved myself so fast since I was attacked by a vicious turtle in Lake Grapevine in July of 2002. I did not realize I could move so fast. I was pre-murderer OJ running through an airport. The dogs were gaining on me, ahead was a fence. I could climb under or go over. I chose the latter. I had no idea I could vault over a fence like some sort of Olympic Gold Medalist. All the while holding my camera.

The dogs abandoned their attempt to kill me after I got over the fence. I did not stop running til I was halfway across the dam that makes Fosdic, or is it Oakland Lake.

On my way back here I called 911 to report that there was a pack of wild dogs rampaging around Oakland Lake Park. And that the other birds were being mean to a Mutant Turkey.

Venting Safely & Effectively: Buzzworm Exhibition of Protest Art in Fort Worth

REMINDER:

Artists, Illustrators, Photographers, Sculptors, Filmmakers, etc. from all over the USA are invited to submit works to this exhibition of protest art in Fort Worth.

The possibilities are endless. If you need a kick-start, check out the FWCanDo.org website or the FW-Credo.com website for inspiration.

Vent away for a good cause: Your own health and safety.

I Cancelled My Fort Worth Star-Telegram Subscription

For decades virtually every morning my routine has been to lay on the floor and read a morning newspaper while drinking coffee. When I lived in Washington it was the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In Texas it's been the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, except for a short bout with the Dallas Morning News, which was unable to reliably deliver the Dallas paper. So, I went back to the Star-Telegram, even though I preferred the superior Dallas paper.

It will be strange tomorrow morning to not open the front door to look for a paper. But, change is good.

My final straw with the Star-Telegram came when I got the bill for November. On the bill the carrier had highlighted via asterisks, "Remember, Star-Telegram distributors are independent contractors in business for themselves and have paid for the newspapers delivered to you." And, "If your subscription is paid, please disregard this statement. Thank you."

Well. The implication is that I'd been late paying for the paper. One thing I'm never late paying for is the paper. I well remember what a pain it was to collect when I was a paper boy.

In addition to highlighting the 2 items I already mentioned, the carrier billed me, ahead, for December, making the total bill $35.00.

Now, I think I know the reason the carrier may think I don't pay on time. The check is made out to the Star-Telegram and mailed to the Star-Telegram. Not the carrier.

Each month the check written to the Star-Telegram does not clear my bank account til about the middle of the month. I'm guessing that the carrier is paid after that. Why the Star-Telegram sits on the check for so long, I've no idea.

I also think the carrier may be strapped for Christmas money. Last January on the second day of the New Year, she called me, saying she was "clearing her year end books", whatever that means, and she wanted to know if I'd sent in my payment for December. Yes, I told her, it was mailed 4 days ago. I found that phone call so annoying I almost cancelled then.

On Friday I emailed Customer Service at the Star-Telegram, basically telling them the same thing I've said above and telling them I'm cancelling my subscription. I included the scanned image of the bill that was my final Star-Telegram straw. That's the bill below. I did not hear back from the Star-Telegram. This morning it was no huge surprise to find a newspaper outside my door. So, I just now called up and cancelled, again. I didn't get the satisfaction of explaining why I cancelled, because the Customer Service person didn't ask and didn't much seem to care that they'd lost a long time subscriber.

December 1st Swimming in Fort Worth, Texas

A month ago, when I made a video of myself swimming on the 1st day of November, I really did not think it was likely I'd be able to do the same thing on the 1st day of December. But, as I often am, I was wrong.

I'm not gonna tell you it wasn't cold. Because it was. It barely made it into the 50s yesterday and got in the 30s overnight. Tonight the low is predicted to be 35. On Tuesday it's supposed to warm up to almost 70. So, the pool water should warm up a bit again.

But, this morning it was so cold I only lasted about 5 minutes before I had to escape frostbite by getting in the hot tub. It didn't help that it continues to be windy. It blew hard all day yesterday, calmed down a bit when the sun went down and now, with the sun back up, it's blowing again.

I guess another month will pass by and I'll be getting in the pool and video documenting my first swim of the Near Year on January 1, 2009.