Several months ago a new blog showed up in town, calling itself "Star Telegraph." I do not know who is behind the Star-Telegraph blog.
Due to how I have, at times, made a little fun of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I have been asked, a time or two, if the Star Telegraph is my blog. It definitely is not. But I wish I'd thought of that name.
Whoever it is who writes the Star Telegraph, he or she or they, have really good taste and a highly discerning eye for clear, high-quality thinking and writing.
Just this past Friday was the following blog post in the Star Telegraph...
This was not the first time the Star Telegraph showed such good taste in singling out something in this blog. I can't remember when or what, right now, but thought I'd mention the latest.
Some mornings when it is time to get up I think to myself, why bother? Today was one of those mornings. But, I got up anyway.
About 6 I had my regular impulse to go swimming before the sun came up, but that why bother impulse struck, so I didn't bother going swimming.
After I didn't bother going swimming I got an email desperately seeking my help fixing an Internet related problem. My first impulse was to think why bother, but I overcame the impulse and fixed the problem.
After fixing the Internet related problem I thought of blogging, but I had nothing motivating me to blog about, that and I thought why do I bother with this blogging thing? Really? What is the point? Why bother? Even though I felt like not bothering, I bothered anyway and blogged. About what, I do not remember. That was this morning, it is now afternoon. How can I be expected to remember what I did this morning? I suppose I could look, but why bother?
Around noon I was really feeling tired of this hell I'm living. But I really did not feel like going to the bother of going to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Fortress of Solitude Area to get in my usual mood-lifting, endorphin producing, fast hiking up and down hills.
I sort of thought to myself why do I want to bother feeling better by forcing some endorphins into my bloodstream? Against my negative nature I forced myself to go to the Sanatorium.
After a mile or two of hiking I saw the wildflower you see at the top. It looked unusual to me. By then I started to feel a bit less bothered by the feeling that I didn't want to bother.
I learned yesterday that the last time Martha and Big Ed went hiking on the Tandy Hills they saw a tarantula. I have only seen one of those bugs once since I've been in Texas. It was on a trail in Cedar Hills State Park. Cedar Hills State Park is by Lake Joe Pool near the southwest side of Dallas.
Along side the paved biking/hiking/blading trail, in Arlington's River Legacy Park, there are signs telling you what wildlife to look out for. One of the signs tells you you can find tarantulas in the park. I've seen all the park's wildlife, depicted on the various signs, except for a tarantula.
That's all I feel like bothering to blog about right now.
Facebook can be entertaining. When I first signed on to Facebook I figured it'd be like MySpace and I'd not like it and see no use for it.
Instead Facebook has me talking to people I've not talked to in in a long time.
Facebook has exercised my lazy brain due to me trying, unsuccessfully, to beat the Scrabble Queen of Washington, known as Scrabble Queen Karen, or SQK. Currently I have a slight lead in one game. That lead won't last.
Facebook is constantly suggesting that this that or another person may be a friend of mine. As you can see in the Facebook screen cap, currently among the many suggestions, is Sarah Palin. Now how did Facebook find out I knew Sarah back during her short stint in school in Idaho? It feels like some sort of Big Brother thing.
Also on the list is my ex-sister-in-law and the namesake of my ex-sister-in-law's grandson, Spencer Jack, with the namesake being my ex-wife, Loretta. How did Facebook know to put Loretta on this list? I have not seen Loretta in over a year. We don't email. How did Facebook know I know Loretta? Even if Loretta and I exchanged emails, that Facebook could somehow snoop, she doesn't use her Loretta name in Internet World. She calls herself Otterpengu.
On the list of possible friends is someone who would, in reality, be on my Enemies List, if I had such a list. How did this person get on a list of my possible friends? We did not go to the same school.
Years ago I made a website for a guy, here in Texas, named Lewis Shallcross. He is on the list of possible friends. I have never even met the guy. His website is not on this computer. How did Facebook make this connection?
Anyway, Facebook is fun and perplexing. And don't get me started on Farmville.
For months Big Ed has been working on what I thought was a blog. I looked at it a few times during it's genesis and it didn't make me cringe as bad as I often do when reading something written by Big Ed. I've only looked at a little of it. It is likely there is something in there that will cause cringing.
Big Ed's blog, or website, I can't tell what it is, I thought it was a blog, but it looks like a website, anyway, it is called Our North Texas Community. It is now ready for primetime.
There is a list of Recent Posts. I see one titled, "What Turns You On?" I don't think I'm gonna click on that one.
The internet has this thing called Alexa Rankings that are sort of like the Nielsen Ratings. Only it is the popularity of a website that is being ranked instead of a TV show. The goal is to get into the top 100,000 of websites. If you do that, you've made it in Website World. It's like having a hit TV show.
Big Ed's Our North Texas Community currently has an Alexa Ranking of just over 500,000. Alexa's stats have Big Ed's visitors staying over a half hour on average.
Of my blogs, the one you are looking at right now has the highest Alexa Ranking, something in the 1,200,000 zone. The average stay of my visitors is under 3 minutes. I get a lot of comments on this blog. Big Ed has gotten 1 comment.
So, now I have yet one more thing to be perplexed about. Alexa Rankings. And our north Texas community.
That is the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium's roof above the FINA station. The view is looking northwest from the industrial blight area southeast of the stadium.
Several events have now taken place in the new stadium, including one or two football games of various sorts. I have seen no reports of traffic or congestion problems related to stadium events.
That surprises me, due to the fact that that area can be a bit congested, due to all the road construction, whenever I drive through the area.
I got feedback to my Eyes on Texas webpage about America's Team from someone who attended the first football game in the new stadium. The Dallas Cowboys call themselves "America's Team." This seems to be some sort of local delusion. The feedbacker was not happy about something he did not see.
Eyes on Texas,
What I noticed about the first game was what wasn't seen. No United States flag during the whole affair. Very little participation of players and fans when the national anthem was rendered. Some America's Team !!!!!!!
— Ray Pettigrew
And then this morning, in the Sunday Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there were 2 letters to the editor from a couple Arlington residents not at all happy with the new stadium. Both letters are below....
Stadium not disability friendly
Now that the world has said all its superlatives about Jerry Jones’ stadium, what does a handicapped veteran think?
When I bought my ticket, I asked about handicap parking. I was told to use the Rangers parking lot, where a courtesy cart would pick people up. There were three carts that could handle two people at a time for 78,000 fans, some handicapped. I waited with eight other handicapped people for 40 minutes. No cart.
I decided maybe I could walk. Along the way, I counted about a half-dozen people in wheelchairs being pushed up the hill by family or friends. I also saw numerous people using canes to help them walk. I talked to people who said they waited about an hour for a courtesy cart that never showed. It appeared that Jerry’s people had carts running here and there to pick up fans who were seemingly healthy enough to walk.
Once I reached the stadium, my knee was killing me so I asked the attendant if I could I go in the door. He looked at my ticket said sorry but my gate was on the back side. Once I got to the gate, I had to walk half way back to find an escalator to get upstairs.
I was unable to find a handicap stall in several restrooms. Aren’t there federal laws about handicap parking and restrooms? Did Jerry’s facility slip below the federal radar?
— Senior Master Sgt. David A. Fitzwater, retired, Arlington
Prisoner in own home
My home is cut off by barricades and if I want to go anywhere, I’m routed all over the place because I happen to live about a half-block from the new Cowboys stadium. Helicopters were overhead the entire day of the first game.
I have been subjected to this harassment many times this summer. Paul McCartney’s concert brought Excalibur Towing, parking two tow trucks in front of my house. Nobody else can park here, but it seems the tow trucks have priority, whipping their big trucks up and down this little street.
We had a buyer for our property, but when the buyer tried to get zoning for a parking lot, the Arlington City Council said, "No way!" The deal fell through. Now I see in the Star-Telegram that the council is going to approve the use of the city lots for Cowboy parking.
It’s becoming clear why they turned us down! They didn’t want the competition.
The city has ruined my and my neighbors’ chances of getting out of the rat race that this stadium has brought to our little neighborhood.
I am 74 years old and have been hospitalized twice this summer for surgeries, including an aneurysm, and I’m sure that I’m an unimportant person in your eyes. But I have lived here for many years and intended to live out my life here until the city plunked the stadium about 500 feet from my house. Now they’re making sure I’m stuck here.
Every summer since I moved to Texas I've lost weight. Except for last summer and the summer of 2004, because those summers I spent a month in Washington.
Last summer in Washington I only gained a few pounds, even with the boarding house matrons, who ran the place I was staying at, insisting I eat dinner, despite me repeatedly saying I don't eat dinner. Big breakfast, big lunch, something light at night. But no dinner.
When I got to Washington, last summer, I think I weighed about 170. If I remember right I weighed 178 when I got back here. So, they did manage to fatten me up, somewhat. I suppose I caused some fatten me up motivation when I remarked that I weighed less than any of my adult female relatives.
So, why am I going on with this boring subject you're sitting there wondering? (if you've read this far) Well, I had not stepped on the scale for awhile. This morning I stepped on it to see I've hit a new low. As in 168. I have noticed that going up the Tandy Hills has seemed easier of late. And now I know why. I'm hauling less of me up those hills.
I've also noticed lately that I have very little floatibility when I'm swimming. The most I've ever weighed is 217. With all that fat I was my own air mattress. I could just lay on my back and float. I try that now and I slowly sink.
I knew I'd been losing weight and have been trying to eat more. I've observed the feeding habits of people who know how to pad themselves with thick layers of adipose tissue. But ice cream, bag of chips, butter on everything and lots of bacon just do not appeal to me.
This morning, as part of my stop the shrinkage campaign, I had a 3 egg omelet with lots of cheese, two slices of whole wheat toast and hashbrowns. And a banana.
I see a lot of really BIG people here in Texas. There are many reasons Texas is known as a BIG state. It seems to me it must be miserable carrying around all that heft in high temperatures. Then again, you really do not see the real Biggies out and about much in the outdoors. They are probably masters at going from one air-conditioned venue to the next.
So, why does the Texas summer make me skinny? Well, heat depresses my appetite. I'm sort of addicted to enjoying going out in the heat. I burn a lot of calories out in the heat. That's my simple skinny Texas diet. Eat less and go out in the heat. Anyone can follow this easy diet. Well, you do have to move to a place where it gets hot. But, other than that, easiest diet ever.
I saw some wildlife whilst hiking the Tandy Hills today. There were several birds that looked like eagles circling above me, trying to decide if I was a rodent worth grabbing, or not.
Apparently I did not look like a good dinner, so the birds of prey did not prey on me.
I rarely see humans hiking the Tandy Hills, other than the humans I bring with me once in awhile. Today I was lost in thought in the peaceful solitude when I was startled by a man and his son.
I startled them too. The man said he'd been hiking the Tandy Hills for years and rarely sees a human, so it startles him when it happens, too. The man and his son had been fossil hunting in a dry creek bed. He told me there are a lot of fossils to be found.
It got into the low 60s overnight, in the 80s when I went hiking. There was a slight hint of cool in the breeze that sort of felt like September is almost here. Swimming this morning was noticeably cooler. Very pleasant.
About 10 minutes after my encounter with the fossil hunters I heard voices. I don't often hear voices while in the Tandy Hills Natural Solitude Area. I looked the direction of the voices and saw the fossil hunters making their way up the hill I'd made my way up minutes before. I zoomed in on them and got a bad picture of one of my rare human encounters in the Natural Area.
I have had me a rough few days. Savagely, brutally attacked by hackers, twice. In between hack attacks I got a text message from my mom and dad that caused me to collapse while hiking the Tandy Hills Natural Area's mountains.
Today was my first day back stomping on the Tandy Hills since I got battered and banged by rough rocks. I was slightly concerned that there might be another fall. Apparently falling down is a common malady of the elderly, I learned this morning from Nurse Martha.
We had a good storm last night. A lot of thunder, but not a lot of water. Today, for the most part, the Tandy Hills were mud free. But whatever rain fell, it made for extra humid hot air. But it was not too bad because it was not even in the 90s. I think our 100 degree days of the year may be over. Overnight it is supposed to get down to 65. That should make the pool refreshing in the morning, for the first time in a long time.
It is almost September and there are still wildflowers coloring up the Tandy Hills prairie. I do not remember seeing flowers this late last summer. And I was back on the Tandy Hills by this time last year, using strenuous hiking and its attendant endorphin release to help mediate the pain I was feeling from all I endured in Tacoma. Maybe I was too distracted by all I was aggravated by to notice something like a flower.
I am thinking about moving to San Manuel, Arizona. That's a mining town. There is a house there waiting for me. It is semi-close to Tucson, with a semi-good buffer from my brother, sister and parental units. I'm sure they'd call first before dropping in for a visit.
My therapist, Dr. L.C., sent me an email this morning with the word "love" in the subject line. That sort of word in the subject line always makes me a bit nervous to open the email. Turned out there was nothing I needed to be nervous about. The "love" in the subject line was the first line in a sentence continued in the body of the email, as in "love the blog!!! you rock."
I like it when someone uses teenage type lingo directed at me. It does not happen very often.
That is my Facebook friend, J.D. Granger in the picture, guzzling down some beer. J.D. is the son of Congresswoman Kay Granger. Kay Granger represents the district Fort Worth is in.
Sometime late in the last century a vision came to Fort Worth that became known as the Trinity River Vision. That vision foresaw building a little lake at the confluence of two forks of the Trinity River on the north end of Fort Worth's downtown.
As the vision grew brighter 3 signature, fancy bridges were added. After awhile the vision started to see some canals. As the vision grew clearer the price tag kept rising. A way to pay for the vision had to be found.
And so an unneeded flood control diversion channel was added. With the unneeded flood control diversion channel added, Federal dollars might more easily be secured. To secure help in that regard, Kay Granger's son was put in charge of the vision, even though he had no experience with such things, but it sure gave his mom a reason to be an ardent supporter of the vision.
The Trinity River did flood real bad back in the 1950s. To make sure that did not happen again massive levies were built, likely with help from the Federal government. Those levies have kept dry parts of Fort Worth from getting wet for over 50 years.
On August 24, 2009, the Fort Worth Business Journal had a very interesting, sort of bizarre article about the Trinity River Vision. The price tag has now inched closer to $1 billion, with the latest price tag being $909.6 million.
In the article, and this is one of the bizarre parts, J.D. Granger explains that the cost figures are based on 2021 dollars. Huh? How is that done? In our mixed up economy someone is able to say what the dollar will be worth in 2021?
The $909.6 million price tag being based on 2021 dollars, is, according to J.D., "A move few projects make because of its shock value."
The above and below quotes from Granger are excerpted from the FW Business Journal article.
Granger said, "You'll not find another project done that way. Funding estimates for projects are always done on the front end. They're always done based on the year in which the estimate was made. But we wanted a clear picture of the end amount for this project. I don't know if anyone will ever do it again after we've done it, but the public said it wanted it, so we did it and we'll see how everyone likes it. Everyone is still watching us to see how it turns out."
J.D really likes to use the word "it" a lot. How did he find out the public wanted it? I am part of the public. I didn't want it. With it being the cost figures being based on 2021 dollars. I know other members of the public and I've heard none of them say they wanted it.
I have heard a lot of the public verbalize concern over this boondoggle, particularly with the 2021 price tag going up and up, while the vision fades, with the signature bridges gone, replaced by bridges designed by a local architect. The canals are gone. And the lake has shrunk. The FW Business Journal says it will be a 33 acre lake with two islands. I had not heard of the islands before. A couple weeks ago the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had an article about the growing boondoggle which said the lake had been shrunk from its original size to something like 17 acres.
I don't know if 17 acres qualifies as a lake. Sounds to me like the lake vision has turned into a big pond with a big price tag.
Google is no longer telling people that my website is a threat to humanity and their computers. That's a relief.
Yesterday's hack attack wasted a few hours. After spending an hour on the phone with my web host tech support person I was able to combine what she told me with the confusing Ukrainian written instructions and figured out how to add to files to the root directory of my website.
Below is what was added that supposedly makes it impossible for bad guys to penetrate my space.
The numbers above have been changed so that any of you bad guys reading this can't attack me.
I agree with what one of my Facebook friends had to say about my hack attack...
"I never could understand why somebody would do that kind of stuff. In my mind, the only people that have something to gain are the "anti-virus" people. Without viruses, they would be out of business."
This morning I got a message telling me that Google was warning searchers, once more, that visiting my Eyes on Texas website could harm their computer. I quickly did a site:durangotexas.com check and saw no problem.
Shortly after that I found out I did have a problem. Again. Last Saturday's hacker attack was from something called metastatic.net. Today's is from mega-tracker.net.
I checked my Google Webmaster Tools to see the red "This site may be distributing malware" warning. When I click for details it says upon further review the website was found clean. This was before I'd found and removed the infection from the 10 pages Google listed.
After I removed the infection I called my web hosting company to try and find out why this is happening. After Saturday's debacle I'd changed my passwords, making them way more complicated. I'd made other suggested security changes. Today I was told to make changes to my FTP permissions. It was confusing, but I think I've made the changes.
The day started off real nice, with a long swim in the dark. It has gone downhill ever since then.
Because I was in downtown Fort Worth yesterday afternoon I thought I'd also go to the Fort Worth Stockyards, which are a couple miles north of downtown. I had not been to the Stockyards in awhile. The most recent time was months ago when I pedaled from Gateway Park to the Stockyards. Previous to that it was with my mom and dad, BBQing at Riscky's BBQ, way back in January.
The Stockyards may be my favorite tourist spot in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It's usually the place I take out of state visitors that they like the best. I think because the Stockyards fits a Texas stereotype with its Cowboys and Longhorns.
I expected there would be more tourists than I saw yesterday. On the weekends the Stockyards are real busy. But in the middle of the week, on Wednesday, the place was not the hopping spot it will be on Saturday and Sunday. I did see some tourists. I sat there thinking us Americans really need to stop dressing so weird when we are in tourist mode.
And it wouldn't hurt to have the Stockyards security guys cowboyed up a bit more than just a cowboy hat.
I watched a particularly strangely attired couple walk into the Visitors Bureau. When they came out they walked to where I was sitting by the misters. And then I hear them talk. They weren't Americans. They were foreigners. German. A half hour later another group of Germans got misted. They were not dressed goofy. I think no one with a gut should wear a t-shirt. And no one over 21 should wear a t-shirt that says anything on it. Like this other group standing by the mister. The older mister of that group had a t-shirt that said "North Cascades Highway Washington." So, I asked, "Are you from Washington?" He said, "No, why do you think that?" To which I said, "Because you are wearing a Washington t-shirt." To which he said, "No, we are from Texas." That's the misters and the Texan with the Washington t-shirt in the picture.
When I first set eyes upon the Fort Worth Stockyards it was after dark. The place lights up real nice. Back then daylight allowed you to see that the Stockyards needed some sprucing up. Over the years, that I have been here, there has been a lot of sprucing up done. Yesterday I saw a lot of sculptures have been added. One sad thing has not changed at all, that being the New Isis Theater. Ever since my first day in Texas this theater has been boarded up with the marquee saying "Coming Soon The New New Isis Theater." A couple years ago I got email from a guy who said he was restoring the Isis and that he was selling the original theater seats because they had to be replaced because Texans' butts have grown a lot bigger since the Isis last sat people.
I like Stockyards Station. I think it used to be where they put cattle before putting the cattle on trains. Which is why a train track runs through Stockyards Station. Now the Tarantula Train uses those tracks to take tourists to Grapevine and back. I have not ridden the Tarantula Train. Trains do not appeal to me. I got nauseated from motion sickness, which I'd never had, before or since, riding Amtrak from Seattle to Portland and back. Stockyards Station also looked spruced up yesterday. But there were very very few people in there. Ghost town.
It's been years since I've gone to the Stockyards after dark. I should do that again someday, if I ever decide to do something for fun again.
I had to, I mean, I got to be in downtown Fort Worth this afternoon. I don't think I've been there since my mom and dad were here in January.
I'm about to utter words I've never uttered before. Fort Worth was looking pretty good this afternoon. I saw 2 new buildings by the Convention Center that I liked. That is one of them in the picture, next to the AT & T building.
I'd not driven by the new Convention Center Omni Hotel since the road opened between it and the convention center. At first I did not realize what it was, then looked to my left, oh, convention center, looked up and recognized the Omni Hotel, though not by the ridiculous balconies that stick out too far, those I could not see. I can see why having that new hotel right next to the convention center might add to the appeal. I've still not heard about many conventions being in town. I wonder how the new hotel is working out?
Lancaster Avenue now looks real good. It was such an eyesore for so long. Something has changed with the Water Gardens, maybe a wall has been removed, I don't know, but I don't remember being able to see into the main swirling drowning pool before, while on the road.
There are parking meters all over downtown Fort Worth now. It used to be easy to find free parking. It's not quite as bad as Seattle, but it's getting there.
I followed one of the Fort Worth Trolleys along Main Street. Something seems forelorn about them to me. I didn't see anyone on board. You don't see Fort Worth buses running around downtown. I wonder why? There are buses running all over downtown Seattle, both above ground and below. And they are free to ride in the downtown area. But you really do not see all that many people on the downtown Fort Worth streets. Likely the heat has something to do with that.
I was surprised by how far along the construction is of the now defunct new Tarrant County Community College on the banks of the Trinity River. Coming back from the Stockyards, on Main, the TCCC building looks impressive. It sort of bookends where the college ended up locating, that being in the defunct new Radio Shack Headquarters. From what I saw of the TCCC building, it re-inforced what I originally said, that this had the possibility of being Fort Worth's first signature building, something in Fort Worth that people elsewhere recognize as Fort Worth.
Heritage Park is still an eyesore of chainlink fence. Recently numbers to fix it, like $7 million, have been bandied about, with an over a $1 million study. I'll solve it for downtown Fort Worth for free. Take down the cyclone fence, then take down the wall that closes off the park from street view. Install lighting. Don't worry about the water features for now, that can be dealt with later. Install alarm buttons so people feel secure. Install camera surveillance for more security. Have members of the Fort Worth Gestapo, who are in the building next door, walk through the park regularly. Connect the park to downtown via a pedestrian bridge. The bridge would be the only large expense.
When I first saw Heritage Park it was the first thing I'd seen in Fort Worth that impressed me as being quite cool. As in very. That it has been allowed to get to its current sad state is bizarre to me.
When I went to bed last night all was calm in Facebook world. By morning I learned it was a calm before a storm.
In Facebook there is this "share" thing that asks "What's on your mind?"
At 5:26 pm I wrote what was on my mind, that Durango Jones "had a bruising falling down accident, on rocks, when his mom and dad texted him, telling him to 'be good at noon.' It was the directive to 'be good' that likely caused the collapse. Hours later, all makes sense again, yet the bruises remain."
At 7:19 pm Alma commented, "r u ok? U can get pretty hurt from a fall."
To which I replied at 8:13 pm, "All is good now. No aches. Thanks for caring." Soon after that I left the computer for the evening.
At 8:32 pm Beth commented to my comment, commenting, "she didn't say she cared..."
And that is when the fun started. I did not see Beth's comment or all those that followed til I looked at email messages. this morning, and saw way too many status comment ones from Facebook. When I read the emails none of it made sense to me. I didn't know what they were talking about.
So, I went to Facebook. Then it all made sense. Somehow Beth's innocuous, totally true, little joke turned into an angry debate about caring, not caring, to much mothering, how long someone has known me, how old someone is, who needs to simmer down, who's juvenile, someone being retarded, people living in Hicksville, someone needing to buck it up, someone being a buttinski and one person swearing at me in French.
All in all, quite an amusing wakeup on Facebook this morning. After the Facebook amusement, it was still dark. I went swimming.
That is a zipliner at NY TX Zipline Adventures. That is not me on the zipline. The zipline is located in New York. New York is by Athens in the part of Texas called the Piney Woods.
When I first learned of NY TX Zipline Adventures Eco-Friendly Zipline and Canopy Tours I blogged about it, because it sounded like a fun thing to do.
I then heard from Connie at NY TX Zipline telling me if I came to New York they'd give me a zipline tour.
Then when I was up in Washington last summer I heard from Connie again. And now another year has gone by, I've still not made it to New York. And I've heard from Connie again.
Once more telling me, "I have not read you blog in some time. If you are still coming my way, call me for your zipline tour. It is a blast! Your two free tickets are waiting on you."
The last time I heard from Connie I asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to go ziplining with me. If I remember right Gar the Texan volunteered. But, when I got back from Washington, last summer, I had so much stuff going on I totally forgot about New York.
Max and Blue are both being coneheads, but they are still keeping up with their blogging. Blue is feeling better. He did some jumping, against doctor's orders. Blue is going to get his surgical staples replaced. Stapling a little poodle seems wrong to me.
Max's condition sounds less dire than Blue's. Blue is a bit more delicate than Max. Blue is a purebred. Max is only part poodle, but it's the dominant part.
Both my sister, who, incidentally, Blue and Max take care of and Gar the Texan informed me that that text message from my parental units that said, "be good at noon" likely was intended to say, "be home at noon." Something about the text predicting function. I don't do texting. All I know is how to read one if someone sends me one.
I called the PU's Arizona landline about half past noon, my time. They weren't home, so I left a message saying I had been good at noon, but now that it is half past noon can I start being bad again.
My back continues to be pain free, but I've found other injuries from this morning's brutal fall. I landed on my right side. It was very rocky. Somehow I got a big bruise on the top of my forearm. I believe I tumbled and rolled onto my arm, reaching out to stop the fall. There are cuts on my thumb, too. I don't know why I did not notice these injuries til hours later. Post-traumatic stress, most likely.
I had a bike wreck back in the late 1990s, up in Washington, out on some National Forest land on the Olympic Peninsula. Worst bike wreck ever. When I hit the mud my thumb got bent back. It took at least 6 months to quit hurting. The same thumb took the hit today. The pain is slightly deja vu, but this is not going to turn into a long term pain. I hope.
Below is YouTube video from last summer in Tacoma. Blue and Max like McDonald's Cheeseburgers, but I was told not to give them any while they were in my care. I always do what I'm told...
I had my bad brain freeze up this morning. That has not happened in a while. With a bad brain freeze I'm unable use my imagination. It just goes blank.
As I was walking along, on a downhill, rocky path, my phone went off with a text message noise. I reached for the phone, flipped it open and slipped on the loose rock, totally falling down, hitting hard on my right hip, wrenching my back real bad.
When I got back vertical my back was in full backache pain mode. I thought, first total brain freeze, and now my back is out. Yet more misery in this hell I am living. My back has not gone out in a long long time. I was telling someone, just a couple days ago that I never get backaches anymore, due to, I thought, yoga, stretch and exercise ball routines I do religiously. I thought when I said that that I was possibly jinxing myself.
When got stable enough to walk, it was very hard to get to the top of the hill. Each step brought a gasp of pain. I got to where the trail is relatively flat and the walking became less painful. I was pretty sure I'd put my back out. That can take a long time to recover from. So, I'm happy, now, a couple hours later, to be able to type that my back is not out. No pain. And the brain freeze has melted.
And what was the text message that caused all this havoc? Well, it was from my mom and dad. It said, "be good at noon." What in the world does that mean? It perplexes me.
Before I forget, Spencer Jack's grandma sent me a link to a video of Spencer Jack driving to Costco while singing the Beach Boy's Barbara Ann. What a cute kid, but he's too young to be driving. And he was not wearing a seatbelt.
I've been up since around 4 this morning. I was in the pool around 5. It was very dark. This made for minimalist swimming attire, which is my preferred mode.
Around noon, after way too many hours spent on the inner workings of the Internet, I took off for the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Sauna Area to get in some HOT HUMID hiking. In the picture we are looking north. The white building is a bit north of Town Talk, which is where I went when done hiking.
As I slowly drove away, with my seatbelt on, one of the Fort Worth Gestapo was driving rapidly south on dead end Ben Street, barely stopping at the intersection with View Street, where I was stopped.
I found some odd stuff at Town Talk today. Jars of soy butter. For 50 cents. I got some more Cascadian Farm Organic Spinach. It seems an odd thing to find in a Fort Worth surplus store.
On the spinach package I read, "Back in 1972, we started growing fine organic fruits and vegetables on a small farm in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State."
The box also invites the spinach eater to stop by Cascadian Farm in Rockport, WA. Or visit their website, www.cascadianfarm.com. I have driven by there many a time. But I've never stopped. Also on the spinach box it says "distributed by Small Planet Food, Inc., Sedro Woolley, WA."
It is a Small Planet. I lived in Sedro Woolley for a short time. It's about 5 miles east of where I grew up, in Burlington, and about 5 miles northeast of Mount Vernon, where I lived before moving to Texas. Yes, I lived in a Metroplex in Washington, cluster of towns on a much, much smaller scale than the D/FW Metroplex. But with a lot more fruits and vegetables, so much so that spinach gets sent to Fort Worth all the way from Sedro Woolley.
I just remembered, I heard from someone in Sedro Woolley this very morning. And the morning before that, now that I'm thinking about it.
Yesterday I think I mentioned that my favorite great nephew, Spencer Jack, was not letting me look at his blog. It was by invitation only.
Well, today Spencer invited me to his blog. Spencer has grown a bit since I last saw him. That is Evie, with whom Spencer is enjoying a Popsicle.
From what I saw on Spencer Jack's blog it appeared he was at my sister Nancy's, in Kent. I saw my mom and dad, brother, his latest wife, my ex-wife and nephew Joey. I don't think I saw Spencer's mom. She must have been taking the pictures.
Evie and Blue and Max take care of my little sister, Michele, and Kristin and Marley. Marley is a new addition. My little sister does not have enough going on so she has foster kids. I can't even take care of myself, properly, and my little sister takes care of 2 little kids and, currently, 2 extremely ailing poodles, while during the day she goes to Olympia and does legal things.
That is Max playing with Marley. Currently both Max and his brother Blue are recovering from being operated on. Blue had bladder stones that could have ruined his kidneys.
Max tore his ACL. I have no idea what that means. But I think, maybe, it has something to do with a leg joint. Whatever it is, Max is currently wearing one of those plastic guards around his head.
Blue and Max are supposed to do no jumping or running for 2 weeks. I have no idea how this is accomplished. I need to ask my sister if she realizes what happens with those poodles when the mail arrives. Utter chaos.
That is a pair of Ukrainian soldiers you're looking at it in picture. I think I've mentioned the Ukrainians before. My webhost, which is based in the United States, has Americans handling customer support if you call. But if you submit a support ticket, it goes to the Ukrainian support center in the Ukraine. The Ukraine is now a country. It used to be part of the Soviet Union.
The reason I submit a support ticket rather than call is because it takes less time and usually eventually the Ukrainians solve the problem. A lot of seriously fractured English is usually involved.
I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but recently one of my websites developed a problem so serious that Google pretty much banned it from the Internet.
So, I contacted the Ukrainians, who I'm sure work in a very secure bunker likely guarded by soldiers like you saw above. Saturday they went right to work on the problem. This morning I got a message from Dmitriy Pavlov. It is not as fractured as they often are. However, following Dimitriy's instructions did not work, because his instructions did not match with the reality on my webhost control panel.
Below for your confusion is Dimitriy's message in which I learn I was hacked by brute force....
Thank you for waiting. Our administrators have completely cleaned your account from all malware. During investigation we have found that your account was hacked due to bruteforce attack on FTP. Due to not very strong FTP password hacker was able to get it and used FTP access for adding harmful code inside your files. To get more information you can check FTP logs in files ftp.logs and wrap.log, which located inside your FTP root directory. You will see that a lot of different IP address were tried to access your account. To protect your account we have already changed FTP passwords for all accounts. To get FTP access back you need to change passwords back. For creating FTP password we suggest to use some password generator like at "goodpassword.com". To change FTP password you should login at manage.9webhosting.com, then click manage button for your hosting plan. After this please click on FTP Manager icon and then click on little notepad icon nearly with caption "password".
Also we have found a lot of files and folders with unsecured permissions. Full list of them you can find in file permissions.list, which located inside FTP root directory. We are suggesting to use 755 permission mask for folders and 644 mask for files in your account. For checking/changing permissions please use following steps:
1 Go to webshell in your control panel 2 Find certain folder 3 Click on little folder icon left from folder name (or simple on file name) 4 At right side you will see permissions table 5 Choose needful permission mask 6 Click change
I have 4 nephews. Of those 4, one has reproduced. The reproduction is the cutest little kid I've ever seen, named Spencer Jack. Spencer Jack has a blog. Since I live in Texas and Spencer Jack lives in La Conner, that being a very cool tourist town in Washington, the only way I have to check in and see how Spencer Jack is doing is to check in on his blog.
But I can no longer do that. This afternoon I went to check on Spencer Jack and was told, "This blog is open to invited readers only."
Yet one more party I've not received an invite to.
The rude message goes on to say, "It doesn't look like you have been invited to read this blog. If you think this is a mistake, you might want to contact the blog author and request an invitation."
I don't know Spencer Jack's email address or phone number. By what means can I request an invitation? This could just maybe be the straw that breaks this camel's back in this hell I am living.
In the picture, that is Spencer Jack being held by his mom, Jenny, and my mom and dad, at Bay View State Park, in Washington, last summer.
In case you were wondering, and I'm almost 100% certain you weren't, Spencer Jack is so named because someone told my nephew you can't go wrong naming your kid after your richest relative. Spencer is the maiden name of my ex-wife, Loretta. She is Spencer's richest relative. Jack is my dad's name. I assume Jack was chosen for the middle name because it just sounds good.
And now, Spencer Jack's favorite Great Uncle, Durango Jones, can't check in on him. This saddens his Great Uncle. But somehow I think this sad situation will get rectified, just like my Google Nightmare did. I hope.
Spencer Jack had his first hot dog on the day I met him last summer. His dad owns a burger type restaurant in Anacortes. With, I guess, no hot dogs.
I don't often listen to one of the Golden Oldies radio stations while driving. When the Beatles became Golden Oldies I realized I was one too. Some things are best not realized.
Today I had a strong need for contemplative solitude. I know of one good location for that, it being the best place to stand in Forth Worth, yes the same place I stood yesterday, the Tandy Hills Natural Solitude Sanatorium Area.
The temperature was only in the low 90s and there was a breeze blowing, but I was getting no wind chill factor. Very humid. Steambath humid. Ten minutes in I was a HOT, sweaty, wet mess.
After getting all wet I went to my Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. For you who don't live in urban zones with 100s of Wal-Marts, the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is different from the Wal-Mart Supercenter, that being the place where a guy rammed through the doors last week, in a hurry to get to McDonalds. I've not been back to see if that entry is still barricaded by upside down grocery carts.
Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market keeps its air-conditioning way too cold. Particularly for someone who is coming in from some ultra-HOT hiking. I was shivering in there.
As I left the Wal-Mart parking lot I turned the radio on. I hit a button and it went to a Golden Oldies station. The disc jockey, or whatever you call them now, it must be something different because they no longer spin disks. Anyway, the guy who tells you what song he is about to play said he was about to play Van McCoy's The Hustle.
I felt vaguely embarrassed as I thought back to The Hustle. I'd been in San Francisco on a roadtrip in a VW van. Post hippie era, but that sounds like a real hippie thing to be doing. The first destination of that roadtrip had been Reno, then, if I remember right, we headed to San Francisco, then up through wine country.
In San Francisco's Chinatown we all bought blue Mao jackets and hats. Home from that trip, back in Mount Vernon, one of my friends knew a Navy guy, fresh in from the Phillipines. In exchange for getting home cooked turkey dinner he would teach us how to do The Hustle. Back then there was this thing called Disco, with all these Disco Dances that you danced to Disco Tunes. It was a very tacky period in our nation's history.
It did not take us long to learn The Hustle. Easier for some than others. Not easy for me. We decided to make our Disco Debut the following Friday night. The four of us who had been in San Francisco decided we'd be real revolutionary and wear our Mao jackets and hat.
We all met up to wait in the line to get into Duffy's, it being Mount Vernon's only Disco. It was a fun place, very popular for a few years. At an appointed hour, I think maybe 8, the disco ball starts spinning and the music starts up. I don't remember how long we waited for The Hustle. Maybe we asked the Disco music guy to play The Hustle, I don't remember.
I do remember the song starting up and about 8 of us hustling out on the dance floor where we did The Hustle. We were quite a coordinated dance team. When the song was finally over there was applause for our stunning performance. At least that is how I'm choosing to remember it. I certainly do not remember how to do The Hustle. Nor would I want to.
I am not a night owl. Night owling is so rare for me I can remember the precise date of the previous instance, that being December 5, 2008, when I did not get home til past 2 in the morning.
Last night I got home this morning, at around 1.
I had a sleep walking incident around 4. Apparently I wanted to go swimming. I made it partway to the pool when I became aware I was walking around wearing nothing but a stocking cap. I made it safely back to bed.
So, I had myself a wild night at the Glass Cactus at Gaylord Texan with Gar the Texan and the Queen of Wink and others. The Queen was more regal than I thought she'd be. Gar the Texan did not have any case of the vapors attacks. I'd not seen Gar the Texan in awhile. He's put on a few pounds, which has him looking healthier than when last I saw him. The Queen is quite the conversationalist and is a bit too quick with the wit for me to keep up with.
Summed up. I don't like waking up with a headache. No matter what the cause.
It has stressed me out all day, this Saturday, having my main website suddenly a rogue menace, flagged by Google as a danger to the world.
I have fussed with this all day. Why I get so overwrought over such things perplexes me. But it's the way I am. Maybe it is because it feels so good when it all gets fixed.
Which it now is. Google is no longer warning people that I am a dangerous terrorist about to explode their entire world.
I am grateful that I am now back in the good graces of humanity.
In the midst of my stress I got an email from Gar the Texan, wanting my help with entertaining the Queen of Wink, in town to see her first waterfall and gawk at ancient hair bands. I'd not looked at my phone in awhile. I see that Gar the Texan also called me. He did not leave a message. Had he left a message I likely would have returned the call.
Gar the Texan's dilemma was trying to figure out how to properly entertain a Wink Queen. I know this would daunt me. What a challenge. It seemed Gar's two options were the Dallas West End entertainment district or Fort Worth's downtown. Neither all that entertaining to me.
So. I suggested that Gar take the Queen up to Grapevine, to Gaylord Texan and the Glass Cactus. Trust me, this is a suitable venue for the Queen of Wink. The photo at the top should ice the deal.
Are there few things sadder than an empty swing? Right now I can think of dozens and they all involve me and this hell I'm living.
The empty swings are located at the civilized part of the Tandy Hills Natural Area, well, I guess it'd be more accurate to say the empty swings sit outside the Natural Area.
Google continues to have my Eyes on Texas website generating malware warning messages. On all of the hundreds of pages. Go here and you'll see what Google is doing to me. This morning Google told me they'd determined my website was clean of danger and the warnings were being taken off. But that it could take awhile.
Meanwhile, I learned from Twister that he'd gone to my website at some point recently and it set off his anti-virus program. My therapist, Dr. L.C. told me about the Google warning, but I made no note of it, just figured it was some random thing. I just learned from my therapist that this could have been up to 2 weeks ago that she warned me.
I'm assuming this will all sort itself out. But I did not need this aggravation.
Hiking the humid Tandy Hills helped a bit. My early morning swim came before I'd learned what Google had done to me. The Tandy Hills were pretty much dried out from yesterday morning's deluge, except for that humidity residue.
I called my sister in Phoenix while sitting in the shade of a tree, by that swing with no one swinging. She was my first live opportunity to vent regarding my Google trauma. I called Tootsie Tonasket first, but she wasn't answering. It is monsoon season in Phoenix. They got hit with one yesterday, just like we did here, only in Texas we don't call it a monsoon. So the Phoenix temps were 20 degrees lower than pre-monsoon, but now with extreme humidity. And a lot of mud.
I continued talking to my sister while I drove to Town Talk. I don't think I remembered to put on my seatbelt. At Town Talk I got some cheese, peanut butter, cinnamon, spinach and raspberries. The raspberries were in a semi-large plastic carton, 12 ounces for $1.59.
A little over a year ago at the Fremont Sunday Market, in Seattle, I got 3 large flats of organic raspberries. For free. 2 of the flats made it to my mom and dad's raspberry canning operation. The third flat went to waste in a fat pig's refrigerator. Despite not wanting to, I had to let that third flat go. I don't like getting into a fight with a demanding fat pig. One could get squished.
I've had a bad bad thing happen. This morning I checked on my Google Webmaster Tools to see a big warning in red, "This site may be distributing malware."
I then Googled a search string that brings up the affected website to see that searchers were being warned that, "This site may harm your computer."
Clicking on the link brought up another warning that sounded dire.
In the Webmaster Tools, under the warning in red it said, "Status of the latest badware review for this site: A review for this site has finished. The site was found clean. The badware warnings from web search are being removed. Please note that it can take some time for this change to propagate."
So far the "badware" warnings are still there. I have been wondering why I've had a big drop in website visitors of late. Usually about 80% of searchers come to the website via Google, followed by Yahoo and Bing. Currently most are coming from Yahoo, then Bing, with Google trailing.
I don't know how long this warning has been scaring people off my harmless website. It seems like recently someone said something about seeing a warning. And someone on Facebook said clicking on a link to a photo brought up a "pollutant" warning.
I looked at the source code for 6 webpages the Webmaster Tools pointed me to. Each had a line of code that I had not inserted. The code is:
Now this is interesting, earlier I'd copied and pasted the troubling code in this spot. Hours later I look at the blog and see white space where that code had been. This must seem some dire, evil code to be removed mysteriously.
I have no idea what megastatistic is, but Googling it I found that Google does not like it. I have now removed that code. I hope I found all the instances of it.
During the course of trying to figure out what has gone wrong and fix it, I learned that on January 31, of this year, Google had a malfunction that put the "This site may be distributing malware" warning on every link on their search engine, world-wide, including Google's own webpages. This was quickly fixed.
I have no idea how much AdSense revenue I've lost due to this. For the past several days I have noticed a decline.
Anyway, very frustrating day. I hate stuff like this.
For weeks now I have been seeing Fort Worth Mounted Policewomen patrolling my neighborhood. I did not get a good photo opportunity until today.
Usually it is a solo cop on her steed that I see, a few times it has been a pair of lady mounted cops.
I have no idea what the purpose of doing this is. I see where they park the big horse trailer the horses are hauled in. Keeping horses is expensive. I know this from personal experience. Fort Worth has a lot of budget woes. The city cut back on library hours. Yet can somehow pay for horsebound cops.
I came upon the Mounted Policewoman today at a stoplight on Woodhaven Boulevard. The horse had the right of way. This gave me an opportunity to get out my camera. That is the picture to the right, taken as she slowly ambled down the street.
The cop and the horse presented a bit of a road hazard, walking slowly, basically blocking a lane. I think I mentioned, previously, that in recent times I was stopped by one of the Fort Worth Gestapo, because I was driving too slow in a quiet residential neighborhood and did not have my seatbelt on.
Well, the Fort Worth Mounted Policewoman was moving slow, on a busy street, not a quiet residential neighborhood. The Policewoman was not wearing a seatbelt. Or a helmet. I know a citizen can make a citizen's arrest. Can a citizen give a cop a citizen's ticket?
To take the picture at the top, I'd passed the mounted cop and looped back around her to take that picture, as she took a left, without signaling, nearly having a head-on collision, clearly illustrated in the photo. I was appalled at the disdain for public safety so wantonly on display.
After I was finished with photo documenting this latest Fort Worth police outrageous behavior I continued on my way to Oakland Lake Park to partake in some high humidity hiking. The temperate was a very pleasant low 80s, but this morning's rain had amped up the humidity.
There are a lot of waterfowl on Oakland Lake. Ducks and geese and others alien to me. People have fun feeding the birds. The birds get used to getting fed. Today I stopped to look at the birds and the pair in the picture were sure I was going to feed them something. They made a bee-line towards me. As I got out the camera, apologizing to them for my lack of food, they figured out I was not reaching in my pocket for food and turned their backs on me and waddled away, making scornful noises as they waddled. I'll try and remember to bring them something to eat next time I visit their home.
A cold front was supposed to bring me a storm last night. That didn't happen. But, this morning the cold front has arrived. It is only 69 out there at half past 8 in the morning.
On my way down to the pool, a little before the crack of dawn, I thought I saw flashes in the distance. But I heard no rumbling. And it was not very cloudy.
I was about 10 minutes into the pool when dawn began to reverse itself with the sky growing dark. Then it got very windy. Still, no visible lightning, no thunder. Then the power went out, making it suddenly darker and a lot quieter, due to the lack of power shutting off the noisy fountain and waterfall.
About 15 minutes after the power went out the storm moved into my neighborhood. The lightning strikes were still about 5 miles away, but I started to think maybe it was time to get out of the water. I've been wary of combining water with lightning ever since I saw a building burn due to a lightning strike a few weeks ago.
So, I got out of the water. The power came back on at the same time the lightning was directly overhead. That seemed odd. One strike was earth shakingly close.
The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch Alert. I suspect this may have some flood weary Haltom City people staying home to keep an eye on their creeks.
The entry to the Wal-Mart I frequent most frequently was barricaded with upside down grocery carts as the first line of defense, with bundled up cardboard as the second line of defense.
From the outside I could not figure out how the car got inside. The doors looked completely intact. I asked the Wal-Mart worker who was stacking bananas if he was in the store when the car crashed in. He said he was. I asked how the car got in, because the doors were intact. He did not know. I told him the Star-Telegram article said much chaos ensued. I asked what the chaos was like. He said there were people running all over and yelling. And that it was real loud.
The interior barricade to keep you out of the crime scene was a string of those orange cone like things Wal-Mart puts on the floor when the roof leaks or someone spells something, plus a shopping cart or two with signs taped on saying, "No Customers Beyond This Area Thank You".
I got my goods and found a check-out. My usual self check-outs were not working due to being in the crime scene area.
I asked the lady checking me out if she was in the store when the car came inside. She said she was. I mentioned the chaos and asked her to describe it. She said it was very loud, with people running and yelling for people to get out of the store. So, she and others ran outside. There she saw police trying to handle the guy who had done the damage. She said he was Asian, small, acting crazy and doing Karate moves on the police. I have trouble understanding the local dialect's version of English, sometimes, but I think she said the guy was running around the parking lot before police could catch him.
I asked her about the doors, asking how did the car get in without breaking the doors? She said the doors were totally destroyed, but that they had someone fixing them right away with new doors. So, that mystery was solved. Yet, strangely, as you can see in the picture, the doors do not look destroyed. And yet the car is inside, trying to make his own McDonald's drive-through.
The headline is "Cold front may bring severe storms to North Texas".
This from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The first paragraph says:
"A cold front is heading our way, bringing with it the possibility of strong to severe thunderstorms tonight."
Reading on, I learned this "cold" front may drop temperatures a whopping 4 to 5 degrees, creating a daytime high of around 94 degrees, which is normal for this time of year.
I guess the air-conditioning will still be running tonight, despite this frigid cold front.
A day or two ago someone commented, regarding me, on Facebook, saying that, "Even though you are bald, old and fat, none of that matters. Because you've got a good heart and personality." To which someone else said, "He may be bald and old, but he is not fat. He's an exercise fanatic".
I did not mind someone saying I was bald, old and fat, because they said it in a very nice way. But, calling me an exercise fanatic? That is just inappropriately rude.
If I were a fanatic I would have gone swimming this morning. But, I did not. But, by noon I was feeling withdrawal pains from no endorphins. So, I went to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Homeless Shelter Area to go on a long, vigorous, mind-clearing hike up and down the hills in the mid-day heat. Does that sound fanatical to you?
Earlier today I blogged about yesterday's Arlington traffic jam that did not happen. I mentioned looking in both the Dallas and Fort Worth newspapers thinking I'd find a followup article about the results of yesterday's first dual event.
A short time after I posted that, Anonymous sent me a comment including the article about the lack of a traffic jam that he/she found, but I could not find. Anonymous suggested that perhaps the Star-Telegram ran the no traffic jam article after reading me complain about the lack of a follow up.
So, I went back to the Star-Telegram, online, to find that article. I still could not find it. But I did see an intriguing new headline, "Chaos ensues as man drives car into Walmart, tries to flee". I was curious where this Walmart is. Texas? Elsewhere? So, I clicked on the link.
After I clicked, the actual headline, above the article was, "Chaos ensues as man drives car into Fort Worth Walmart, tries to flee". So, now I knew it was local chaos. By the first paragraph and the mention of east Fort Worth, the chaos got closer.
This afternoon I plan to go to my nearest Wal-Mart Supercenter. Well, imagine my surprise. It's the one that got hit! The Eastchase Wal-Mart. The Walmart greeter got hurt, but not seriously. The Walmart greeters at that particular entry are always such nice greeters.
Important Update: I have now found that illusive article about the lack of a traffic jam yesterday. That posting time says 12:36 pm. I was looking for it before 8 am. But Anonymous found it and sent it to me before noon. It's perplexing.
Unless I missed it there was absolutely no follow-up in either the Dallas Morning News or the Fort Worth Star-Telegram regarding the traffic situation during yesterday's first experience with events taking place at the same time at the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium and the Ballpark in Arlington.
My research assistant, L.C., reported this morning that the Dallas ABC affiliate, WFAA Channel 8 News, said Paul McCartney fans were kept waiting outside the stadium for 40 minutes, in the extreme heat, because the concert sound check was taking more time than expected. At least 10 line-waiting concert-goers were treated for heat exhaustion.
Both local newspapers gave rave reviews to the McCartney concert.
But, back to the sun stroking. I'd not thought about it before, but there is absolutely no shade outside that new stadium. Both ends of the stadium have plazas where people are expected to pay to be able to stand near the game, though not actually watching it. With no shade. What if it rains?
Methinks a quick solution to this lack of shade problem needs to be implemented. I like being out in the HEAT. But I can not stand standing in the HEAT. I have to keep moving. Waiting in a line in the HEAT would be something I would not long suffer. It's be as bad as being stuck on the tarmac in a plane for an hour. Or two.
This morning I realized it was a year ago today, August 20, that I returned to Love Field to relative sanity after a month of dealing with more insanity than I'd ever previously experienced.
Actually it is not quite a year, yet. I did not get back to Dallas til around 9 in the evening.
It took me quite some time to recover from my month in Tacoma. It took a lot of thinking to come to some understanding of what I'd dealt with and what caused the perplexing behaviors. I used this very blog to verbalize my progress in understanding what I had experienced. It was highly amusing at times, as others who felt my pain, and who had their own experiences dealing with the "problem," sent their condolences and appreciation at realizing there was such a large support group.
When I flew out of there I said at the time I likely would not return for at least 10 years. But as it always does, time heals wounds, so now I'm thinking I might return sooner than 9 years from now. Maybe.
That's a dead tree at Oakland Lake Park. Today I saw it has been marked with an X. I assume this means it will soon be executed. Why? I don't know. I like gnarled old dead trees. It appears to be not presenting any danger.
There were a half dozen of big lawnmowers zipping around the park today. You have to watch out for them. They drive like maniacs. That and they hit things and send them flying. Like today, a golf ball went whizzing by me.
Yesterday was a totally aerobic free day except for running after a piece of paper that got away from me. Today has not been an aerobic free day. I was up real early, went swimming while it was still dark.
I got an email query asking if my Therapist had recovered from her bout of dizziness. This emailer said it sounded like morning sickness. I do not know how one could come to that conclusion. But it certainly is nothing I'm going to inquire about. And yes, my Therapist is back on the job.
After I was done looking at gnarled dead things that surround Oakland Lake I drove Meadowbrook Drive, east, to my local Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. Has anyone else noticed the sort of odd new Wal-Mart packaging? It must be some sort of money saving deal.
When Meadowbrook reached the I-820 freeway I was stopped by a redlight. I looked up to see a round white mountain in the distance. I've been at this spot before and had the same reaction. When you've spent most of your life in a place where there are big mountains in every direction, it's hard to shake that expectation that's buried in your sub-conscious, even after quite a long time spent in this mountain free zone.
After so many years of being conditioned to expect flatness, when I'm back in Washington, the mountains create an almost claustrophobic effect for me, particular going over a mountain pass.
Like I mentioned earlier today, that "mountain" you see in the picture will have Paul McCartney singing inside and a lot of people looking to the Arlington Traffic Command Center to keep them moving in their cars.
Today is going to be the first real-life, non-simulated test of Arlington's ability to handle two big events at once in its always busy Entertainment District.
Six Flags Over Texas is open. Hurricane Harbor is open. And tonight the Texas Rangers play the Minnesota Twins in the Ballpark in Arlington, while a short distance away, my favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney, is going to be singing in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
Somewhere in the range of 60,000 people will be finding their way to the two venues. Arlington officials have activated what they called their Traffic Command Center.
You can go to Dallas Cowboys Maps and enter your ZIP code and your assigned parking area to get your best route past all the road construction and barricaded roads. To park in one of the Dallas Cowboy lots it will cost you $30. To save $18 you can park in a Ranger's lot for only $12. With the short walk to the stadium being a little exercise side benefit, in addition to saving money.
I'm guessing that before today is done I'll will likely be seeing the results of a massive traffic jam as far as my abode. I am so old I remember traffic jams as being something that only happened in the Los Angeles area. I remember our first family trip to Disneyland and me and my siblings being so excited to be in our first traffic jam. We took pictures. Now traffic jams are the norm, not a novelty.
On Friday the Arlington Traffic Command Center gets another test, with the first Dallas Cowboy game in the new stadium. 70,000 are expected. One would have thought the stadium would be full for the first game in the new stadium. A lot of people must have balked at the high cost of renting a seat for a few hours. That $24 parking fee likely irks some, as well.
I have had me a day. In the late afternoon I suffered some absurd bureaucratic nonsense that was brain numbing. I can't describe it because I'd just get all agitated again. Suffice to say, eventually I solved the problem.
Earlier today I got an email from Twitter telling me that Ryan Seacrest is now one of my Twitter followers. I have never had a follower, as far as I know, who makes a minimum of $15 million a year.
A couple days ago, on my TV blog, I had blogged about Ryan Seacrest and the ridiculous amount of money American Idol pays him. Then this morning I Twittered about that blogging, which is what I think led to Ryan becoming one of my ardent Twitter followers.
After Ryan became one of my followers I became one of his. He has some good Tweeting on his Twitter page. I don't know how he finds the time. From one of Ryan's Tweets I got great TV Blog material about crazy Kim from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. As soon as I read it I knew I had to blog it. Those Atlanta Housewives keep my TV Blog on fire.
So, that's been my day, so far, dealing with fascist nutcases and having Ryan Seacrest following me. That and I had a virtual trip to Walla Walla to smell the onions with my favorite Scrabbler.
Well, more accurately, I have finally found a use for Twitter. Previously I was at a total loss as to understanding what Twitter was good for.
I did not understand why I was getting "Followers". What were they following? And why? You only have 148 characters to do your tweeting. I have not come across much that was interesting that others have Twittered or Tweetered in 148 characters.
I did not understand how Twitter played such a role during the recent Iranian unrest. And then I finally noticed the search window. If you enter "Iran Unrest" into the search window you'll have your screen filled with Tweets about Iranian Unrest.
But there is no credibility. Anyone, anywhere can make up a Tweet. To test that I Tweeted "Escaped beating by Iran police. Much blood. Some dead. Much unrest." Then I entered "Iran Unrest" into the search window, and there it was, my totally untrue Tweet. Quickly followed by others that may or may not have been true.
Once I realized what this search function did, I saw how I could use it. I've written bloggings on hundreds upon hundreds of subjects. For example, I blogged about Durango, Colorado last week.
So, I logged into Twitter. I entered "Durango Colorado" into the search window to see if anyone was looking for Durango info. They were. I then Tweeted "Durango Texas Blogged about Durango, Colorado," then pasted in the URL for that particular blogging. Tweeter then changes the URL into something shorter so it'll fit within the 148 character constraint.
I then hit the "update" button. Then I entered "Durango Colorado" into the search window and there it was. My Tweeting with a link to the blog. At some point in the day I will be able to tell from my blog stats if this caused some clickers.
But the main thing, is I finally have a glimmer of getting a little understanding of the usefulness of Twitter.
Brad Pitt and I have a lot in common. And now it seems you can add joining the epidemic of going willingly bald to the list. Although I don't quite know the technique to get to the totally bald point. I suppose I could infosearch for that valuable information.
In that Ghost Rider book I think I mentioned that I'm reading, that the Queen of Wink sent me, well, today I learned that the author of that book, Neil Peart, also the drummer for the Canadian rock band that calls itself Rush, on the 1st of July (me being a boy who grew up near the Canadian border, knows July 1 is Canada Day), well, on that day, every year, Neil Peart has his one and only haircut of the year, shaving himself bald and then letting it grow back til the next Canada Day.
Fourth of July has come and gone for the year, but I think I'll adopt this one haircut a year plan, starting next 4th of July. By then I should have been able to learn how to achieve the totally bald deal. I hope I don't have to buy new tools.
My therapist, Dr. L.C., is ailing with a bad case of dizzy. I hope she's feeling better soon. A lot depends on her not being dizzy.
Another strange night in Durango World. I was real tired, so I went to bed real early. First mistake. But I fell asleep easily. And woke up at midnight. Was this too early to start a new day, I wondered?
After thoughtful consideration, I decided midnight was too early to get up. Thus began 4 hours of tossing and turning that ended at 4, when I did get up.
I was in the pool before 5. I like being in the water in the dark. And with no moon lighting up the place, it was dark.
After I had breakfast I turned into a blogging, webpage making maniac. Except for this particular blog, which is the blog that if I don't blog I get emails or calls asking what's wrong with me. So, far, though, today, no emails or calls inquiring after my well being.
I'm checking out for a couple hours. Talk to you later.
Gar the Texan made a totally inappropriate comment about my new hair-free hairstyle. The poor boy seems to always be about a decade out of sync. He had a mullet, known in the Northwest as a Pocatella-doo, well into this century.
I was appalled when I first met Gar the Texan and saw he had hair that said, hello, I am visiting from 1980. It took all my tactful, diplomatic skills to get that boy to realize the error of his hair choice. Within a year he credited my good advice with causing him both a promotion at work and the acquiring of yet one more wife.
And just recently Gar the Texan learned he will someday have a house in Germany, courtesy of that new wife. Without my gentle prodding to lose the mullet, none of this good fortune would have fallen Gar the Texans way. But is he grateful? No. Instead he cast aspersions, today, on my advice giving. I'm appalled.
Meanwhile, I guess Ryan Seacrest decided to try out being bald. I don't know how to get to the totally bald point. Nair for Men?
In addition to the self-inflicted baldness epidemic, melancholy also seems to be spreading. Today my physical therapist, Dr. L.C., came down with a bad case of the blues. I tried to get her to come hiking with me at the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area, but she refused. Without my daily boost of endorphins triggered by aerobic stress, I'm a mess. After I get my fix, I'm a new person, before that, not so much.
Tootsie Tonasket insisted she wanted to see a picture of the new, bald me. What Tootsie wants, Tootsie gets.
I'm looking almost as grumpy as I'm feeling.
It's been less than 24 hours since I balded myself. So far I'm liking being bald. I was hoping going bald would have me looking like I belong on Prison Break. Instead I'm thinking I'm looking like a bad John Locke clone on LOST.
This is definitely the worst thing I've done to my hair in years. Almost as bad as early in this century when someone convinced me it would be fun to be blond. She told me I would be a dark blond. Instead I was the color of a very bright banana. The banana was remedied fairly easily. But I was not happy about the entire experience.
I have no one to blame but myself for the current follicle challenge. I prefer having someone other than myself to blame when something does not go quite right. Maybe I'll take a daily picture of my baldness slowly ending, like that cool video of that guy who walked across China that I blogged about earlier in the month.
It is coming up on 2 in the afternoon. I have not blogged today. And no one has emailed or called asking if I'm okay. I've got too many other things on my mind to worry about why no one any longer cares if I'm okay.
I really was not okay by mid-morning. By noon I desperately needed that melancholy antidote known at the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area. It was very breezy today, so there was a good wind chill factor going on.
I saw yet another new wildflower today. A delicate looking one, like a little orchid.
Note in the picture how green it is here. I've been told that Western Washington has turned brown. It was brown when I was up there last summer. Unless some method is found to turn the west side back green, Washington is going to need to re-think that Evergreen State nickname.
So, what stupid thing did I do today, you're sitting there wondering. Well. I have a hair clippers. I thought to myself, how hard can it be to give myself a crewcut? Gary Hart was known for cutting his own hair, and he and I have so much in common, I figured I could do it.
It started off fine. I had the clippers set to a half inch. But, I soon found there are skills involved in operating such machinery that amateurs do not possess. Though the clippers were set to a half inch, a half inch is not what happened when the clippers hit a curved area.
After that disaster I decided to go for a buzz cut. How hard could that be? About an hour later my head looked like a cat with mange. I decided to give up on the clippers. I figured I'd shave myself bald. I've wondered what I'd look like bald and this now seemed a good opportunity to end the wondering.
I had my head all lathered up with shaving cream. And started shaving. This did not work. I took a shower to get the mess off my head.
It was hopeless
I had to call for help. Scissors were used to clip off some of the mange. And then the clippers, eventually, were able to do their buzz cut thing. All in all I'm pleased with the outcome and I don't think I look ridiculous at all. But I won't be going out in public without a baseball cap on for a few weeks.
It was great hiking bald today. I don't consider the Tandy Hills a public place, because I see so few humans there, except for the homeless guy who lives in a tent. He's added furniture since I first mentioned the Tandy Tent.
There you have it, Saturday, so far, in this hell I'm living in Texas.
That is Mark Twain reading a book and looking at the Trinity River in Trinity Park today around noon. Vandals had vandalized Mark with graffiti.
I don't know why there is a statue of Mark Twain in this location. Did he visit Fort Worth? He wandered all over the west and wrote stories about what he saw. I'm sure if he ever saw Fort Worth he would have written a story that used this town's many quirks as story fodder. Maybe Fort Worth was not so quirky back in Mark Twain's time.
I think I've mentioned previously that Fort Worth has some nicknames. It is known as Dirty ol' Town, Cowtown and Panther City. I forgot the Panther City nickname the last time I mentioned Fort Worth nicknames. Why Panther City you can't help but wonder.
Well, way back early in the last century a Dallas newspaper reporter was in Fort Worth. When he got back to Dallas he wrote that Fort Worth is so lifeless that he saw a panther sleeping on the courthouse stairs. At first Fort Worth was quite upset at this latest horrible Dallas slander. But then people decided to embrace the sleeping panther.
Well, today while in Trinity Park I spotted a lazy black panther who posed politely for pictures. He did not seem too menacing.
Near Mark Twain I did see something a bit menacing. A plaque dedicated to Congresswoman Kay Granger. On the plaque it says...
"This View Is Dedicated To Her Love And Vision For The Trinity River Play, Work, Learn, Live"
Well, Ms. Granger did have the vision to see that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle would provide an excellent job opportunity for her son. And she had the vision to know that no one in Fort Worth would object to such nepotism, because it's the Fort Worth Way. The special way only Fort Worth operates.
Apparently it is safe to eat the fish you catch in this section of the Trinity River. You have to have a license and you are limited to 5 rainbow trout per day.
That is Fort Worth's only light rail transit train above. I believe the transit line runs from Trinity Park to the Fort Worth Zoo. And back. Over and over again. All day long.
Yesterday I mentioned I am reading a book the Queen of Wink sent me to make me melancholy, Ghost Riders: Travels On The Healing Road by Neil Peart.
Neil Peart is in a Canadian band named Rush. I remember the band name. I remember no Rush songs.
Neil Peart lost his daughter, Selena and wife, Jackie, within one year. That pushed him into deep mourning. To break out of his sadness he hit the road on his BMW motorcycle, biking over 55,000 miles. By the time his ride was over he was ready to rejoin Rush.
I've ridden with Mr. Peart as far as Vancouver Island now. Starting with 100 Mile House in British Columbia he has been riding on roads I am familiar with.
I was curious about the current moment status of Neil Peart. So, I Googled him. And Rush. Wikipedia has a long article about Rush, complete with song samples that would not play for me. There is also a long article about Neil Peart. Soon after he completed his motorbike journey, on September 9, 2000, Neil Peart married a photographer named Carrie Nuttall.
What a great last name. Nuttall.
In June of 2009 Peart announced the upcoming arrival of a baby. Sounds like he has overcome his melancholy.
I was worried about my favorite aunt. She never misses a birthday. A card and letter always shows up, either the day before or on my birthday. This year the card showed up at the P.O Box, today, 3 days late.
About half the time the cards are mountain bike themed. This year it was bike themed, but not mountain bike.
The mountain bike reminds me I have still not fixed mine. It's been so long it does not cross my mind anymore to go on a bike ride. This must be what senility is like.
I got 4 messages this morning telling me I should become friends with Red Hot Mama. Then a 5th person asked me who Red Hot Mama is. I said I had no idea. She then told me that Red Hot Mama is one of my Facebook Friends. I looked at my Facebook Friends and saw no Red Hot Mama. I know a couple Hot Mamas, but I don't think I know any Redheads.
It's perplexing.
I am going to go see Mark Twain by the Trinity River some time after noon today. That should be exciting. Maybe by the time I get back someone will have told me who Red Hot Mama is.
Earlier today I blogged about the book that the Queen of Wink sent me to make me melancholy. Ghost Rider.
I am a non-observant himbo, with himbo being a word that the Queen of Wink is now claiming she did not use to describe me.
So, with me being a non-observant himbo, I had not paid attention to the cover of the Ghost Rider book, til this morning, when my melancholy state, apparently, made me more observant. It appears to be Monument Valley.
When I first saw Monument Valley, on the book's cover, I thought it was the same view I use as the logo on my Roadtripping Blog, that being a picture I took when I stopped driving and got out my Safari Van manual, because I thought the view I was looking at was the same as that on the cover of the manual.
And it was.
Regarding that melancholy thing. It was suggested to me that walking around on the Tandy Hills can cure that condition. And so I did so. And it did. Sort of.
But then I got freshly perplexed by that constantly perplexing Queen of Wink. She sent me a message asking me to apologize to someone named Lou Landry because he'd sent her an email which she had not seen til weeks later.
None of the Queen's message made any sense to me. And me with that newfound insecurity regarding being a himbo, well, it just made me melancholy again. I'd have a whisky filled chocolate, but those are all gone. Maybe an espresso filled chocolate would perk me up.
One of my local crime partners is off on a bit of an adventure today. I'll just say it is political intrigue. No more details than that, lest 1 and 1 get correctly added to make 2. If I've not heard from my local crime partner by 5, I'm supposed to send out some sort of search party to look for her. Starting along the banks of the Trinity River on the north end of downtown Fort Worth. It is about an hour and a half before I head downtown.
Today I am having a bout of Abraham Lincoln's lifelong problem, as in, woeful, mournful melancholy. I don't know what has brought this bout on, other than the little annoying details of this hell I'm living.
Maybe it's a new book I'm reading that has brought on the woeful, mournful melancholy. The Queen of Wink sent me a book called Ghost Rider: Travels On The Healing Road by Neil Peart.
Neil Peart was the drummer in Canada's most successful rock band. Rush. I'm not sure if I remember Rush or not. Apparently they were quite popular. Recently I found I did not know who Boz Scaggs is. I'm not much of a music aficionado, apparently.
In the course of a year, Neil Peart lost his daughter in a car wreck and his wife to cancer. This had him totally wiped out. After a year, he willed himself to hit the road on his big motorbike. The book is the story of his coming back to life during the course of thousands of miles of motorbiking. So far, I've ridden with him from eastern Canada to Alaska.
I've never ever wanted to ride a motorbike. But, now I'm thinking it seems like something I might like. I am very susceptible to random input altering my pre-conceived notions, apparently.
I was in the pool, again, before the sun lit the place up, this morning. Swimming did nothing to lighten my melancholy mood.
Due to it being almost 11 in the morning, and me not blogging, I've gotten the regular "are you all right" messages. So, I thought I'd blog about how I'm not all right, to let those who are concerned about my "rightness," know that I'm all right.
Today being the first day of my new year I decided I was going to start the new year by radically altering my usual very rigid schedule.
I slept well after the night before's horrible insomnia. I think the sleeping thing may have been helped by the chocolate medicine that the Queen of Wink sent me. It seemed to have an extremely relaxing effect.
I was up about 2 hours before I decided on that plan to drastically alter my normal schedule. Which means I did do my regular early morning swim. Since it was dark when I did so, I got to see the Perseids Meteor Shower sending little sparks of light across the sky. This year's Perseids Shower is supposed to be extra strong. Judging by what I saw, in a sky contaminated by a lot of urban light pollution, the Perseids are putting on a real good show.
About 8:30, rather than do my regular thing of spending several hours on the computer and then escaping for some aerobic relief, I left here and went to the Tandy Hills to do me some early morning hiking. Totally different lighting with the sun no where near high noon. And with the temperature being low enough to let me keep my shirt on. I sort of missed the natural sauna steam bath effect of the noontime 100 degree hiking.
There are still wildflowers coloring up the prairie at the Tandy Hills. Is this unusual? I don't know. We are still quite green here in North Texas. It seems that other summers, by now, the lawns had turned brown.
I parked at the spot I had not parked at since the Fort Worth Gestapo gave me a ticket for driving too slow without my seatbelt on. I parked there because I was going to Town Talk after doing the hiking. Yet one more drastic time shift. At Town Talk I got Provolone, Feta, Tofu, Green Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes. Tofu was a radically different thing to get.
I knew due to my not blogging this morning that I'd get an email or two regarding that. But, I only got one, rudely asking if I was suffering from a hangover due to those whisky-filled chocolates I imbibed in yesterday. I guess asking that was not all that rude. I'm trying to learn to be less thin-skinned and not take umbrage over every little thing.
But, another email this morning was really rude. That rude emailer told me I was a himbo. I took this as some sort of compliment, at first. Then I remembered what a bimbo is. I guess the fact that I did not instantly realize what was meant by himbo, as in male bimbo, does make me a bit of a himbo. I've had worse things said to me, I am sure. But I'm not remembering what those might be right now, making me, I guess, a forgetful himbo.
In the previous blogging I said I found 2 keys in my P.O. Box that rendered a BIG BOX and a not quite as big envelope.
The BIG BOX said it contained heat sensitive material.
When I opened the BIG BOX I was greeted by what appeared to be thousands of white Styrofoam puffy things. Reaching in, carefully, I pulled out something wrapped in plastic that felt cold.
After struggling for awhile with the complex wrapping I came to a freezer pack. I then unlocked another package and inside that were 3 more boxes.
Those are the boxes in the picture. One is Texas Espresso Coffee Non-Alcohol Liquid Center Chocolates. Another is Sam Houston Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky Liquid Center Chocolates. The third is Poteet County Sweet Reserve Blackberry Wine Chocolates.
I can't figure out how to open the cool looking little boxes without breaking the label. This must be the final packaging puzzle.
I'm sure you are wondering who could possibly be so kind as to send me these goodies. Well, these came to me courtesy of that fountain of kindness, the West Texas Monarch known as the Queen of Wink.
Thanks.
Yikes! I broke the box opening code. Sam Houston's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky came as quite a jolt as soon as the chocolate melted. That was good. I don't know if I should have another. I'm feeling a bit tipsy. Oh my, I had another. Those are good, but when that chocolate breaks and the flood of whisky gets out. Wow. Never have had something like this before. Must stop at two. For now. It's not even 5 yet. Scandalous.
Worst bout of insomnia in quite a while last night. While watching TV, prior to trying to sleep, I chipped a tooth on popcorn, which then led to breaking a fingernail. I knew with all this calamity I was going to have a rough night.
I gave up trying to sleep about 4. I was in the pool while it was still quite dark.
Sometime in the morning I opened a birthday card from my mom and dad. There was $25 in it and a coupon for Sweet Tomatoes, with the card telling me to go there for lunch today.
But. I was too tired to go out for lunch. Around noon I took off from here, got gas, then went to the Post Office where I found 2 keys in the Post Office Box. It is quite a puzzle to find the numbers that matched the keys. I was looking for 18 and 19. One would think they would be right by each other, but the P.O. Box numbering system follows its own peculiar logic, that I have difficulty penetrating.
Eventually I found the boxes and saw one had a huge envelope and the other contained a huge box, which said the contents were temperature sensitive. I feared a repeat of last Thanksgiving's melted peach pie. More on what I found at the Post Office later.
When I drove away from the Post Office I called my mom, because, like I said, I'd just gotten gas and I always call my mom when I get gas. They are still up in Washington, now at my sister's in Kent. The one who got central air-conditioning installed during the recent rare heatwave. Which likely will not happen again in our lifetimes. Mom said it is now rainy and cold. So, they are heading down to the Oregon coast were it will likely be rainier and colder.
Rainier reminds me, it is a year ago, today, that I drove to Mount Rainier National Park and actually saw The Mountain up close for the first time ever.
I talked to mom all the way to Village Creek Natural Historic Area. I was hoping for a nice, relaxing walk, hoping to see something interesting, like an armadillo herd or a big snake. But the only new thing was the bench in the photo at the top. It's made out of that lasts forever, made out of plastic bags, fake wood material that is used more and more. Apparently the bench was donated by someone.
A plaque by the bench says,
"In Loving Memory JIM KUNDE 1937 - 2009 Come and find the quiet center"
That is what I wish I could find. My quiet center. It's illusive.
Fort Worth has at least two nicknames that I know of. One is "Dirty ol' Town". The other that I know of is "Cowtown". This past weekend Fort Worth lived up to its "Cowtown" nickname.
A brown and white Longhorn Bull escaped captivity twice this past weekend. After the first escape, on Saturday, the big bull was caught and returned to its place of residence.
But by Sunday the unnamed Bull had escaped to freedom once more. Some people called police to report that it was one of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's pet Longhorns that had escaped. For some reason not known to me, the Star-Telegram keeps 3 Longhorns, including their mascot, Rusty the Longhorn, at their south Fort Worth publishing plant.
But, the escapee was not one of the newspaper's pets.
When the Longhorn Bull escaped on Sunday it charged at cars on surface streets, with police trying to corner him and attempting to block off traffic. Then he made it on to Loop 820. That is a freeway that circles Fort Worth. He charged back and forth until one unfortunate small car driver was hit. The driver was injured. The Longhorn Bull died at the scene of the accident.
The dead bull's owner showed up at the accident scene where a wrecker loaded the dead Longhorn on to the owner's truck.
The owner of the marauding Longhorn did not get a ticket, despite having been responsible for creating a situation that required a lot of police action and danger to the public. Unlike someone driving ultra-slow in an ultra-quiet Fort Worth residential neighborhood, without clicking their seatbelt.
I had to be in Grapevine today. Grapevine may be my favorite Texas town. I can't think of anything I don't like about Grapevine. It's got a great lake in Lake Grapevine. A huge attraction in Gaylord Texan. A huge mall in Grapevine Mills. A huge waterpark in Great Wolf Lodge. And a very well done downtown with an awful lot of historical markers.
There is extreme attention to detail paid in Grapevine. Much of it having to do with the grapevine theme. Even the public library, which is excellent, is grape themed in shades of purple.
I walked around the north end of downtown Grapevine this afternoon. I came upon a statue of Benjamin Richard Wall. That is he you see in the first picture. Born in 1876, lasting til 1955, Mr. Hall was mayor of Grapevine multiple times. He was an ardent do-gooder who greatly impressed his fellow Grapeviners with his do-goodiness. When the hurricane of 1900 struck Galveston, Mr. Wall hurried south to help.
That's another statue in Grapevine. A judge sitting on a bench in front of a bank. I don't know what his story is. But he looked very thoughtful.
That is the Grapevine Liberty Bell swinging in the HOT summer breeze. City Hall is on the other side of the street. I don't know what the statue represents on top of city hall.
Today I learned the Gaylord Texan Trolley trolls through downtown Grapevine, picking up tourists to take them to the giant Convention Center Resort on the lake to watch Friday night fireworks. Sounds fun. I want to do that.
This morning I found out what was going on at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium yesterday. I learned in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Sunday was the Open House Day that had been announced weeks ago. With the stadium being open to residents of Arlington who helped pay for it, but likely will never be able to afford to attend an event there.
The Star-Telegram article had a dose of that peculiar verbiage that I have made note of previously in that paper. Only this peculiar verbiage was in quotes from Arlington people, not peculiar verbiage coined by the Star-Telegram writer.
A pair of friends from southwest Arlington, Brad Rodgers and Mike Jones (no relation to Jerry) said they voted for the stadium because they wanted to bring prosperity and recognition to the city.
Rodgers said, "People from all over the world will come here. There doesn't even have to be a game. People are going to make Arlington a destination just to see the stadium."
I wonder upon what in depth research Rodgers based his statement?
Jones added, "Just getting the Super Bowl will bring a huge economic boost to the whole Metroplex."
Again, I wonder upon what in depth research the above statement is based? Irving sure did not fight too hard to keep the Dallas Cowboys playing in their town. Irving must have somehow missed out on the economic boost brought by the old stadium.
Around 30,000 Arlingtonians visited the stadium during the free open house. They got to check out the seats, the pro shop, the concession stands and the giant video board. They were barred from checking out the luxury suites and the locker rooms.
Another Arlingtonian, Michael Douglas, said the Cowboys Stadium "has definitely brought residents some bragging rights. It's put Arlington on the map."
Bragging rights? I've been in Texas for almost 10 years and I still don't quite get the Texas concept of bragging rights. What is the circumstance where one has the right to brag about that stadium being in your town? How does one verbalize the brag? Do you say something like, "I am from Arlington where the Dallas Cowboy Stadium is?"
I also don't quite see how the new stadium has put Arlington on the map. Maybe if they insisted it be named Arlington Cowboy Stadium. Or changed the name of the team to the Arlington Cowboys.
I also think that some Arlington residents are likely going to be a bit disappointed when the national press starts looking at the new stadium. I've already read some descriptions in publications outside the local propaganda zone. One described the rundown nature of the area where the stadium sits, mentioning all the pawn shops and other blight. Another described the massive structure as looking like a futuristic spaceship, totally out of place.
I really don't think people all over the world are going to be making Arlington a destination just to look at that football stadium. That's just goofy.
Due to being near the Ballpark in Arlington, where a team called the Texas Rangers play baseball, the Wal-Mart Supercenter had a baseball theme to it. With big baseballs on the fences that surround the property. And on the Wal-Mart building.
I've made mention a time or two, on this very blog, that with the new Dallas Cowboy stadium being directly across the street, it would seem some footballs needed to be added.
Well, today I saw that footballs have been added. Quite a few of them. And the scoreboard inside the store has been modified for football. I think football season starts soon.
Judging by all the cars in the Cowboy Stadium parking lots, maybe football season started today.
Between all the road construction disruption on the I-30 freeway, building new bridges, new roads and I don't know what else, traffic is not an easy thing in the area around the new stadium. I don't think they did a very good job anticipating what was going to happen when a huge increase in cars hit that area.
I don't know how well Seattle handles football and baseball traffic, what with the 2 ballparks being even closer to each other than the 2 Arlington ballparks. In Arlington you also have Six Flags added to the mess. Last summer, when I was in Seattle, a Mariner game started in the early evening. I used the bus tunnel to get across town. The tunnel was packed with buses and the buses were packed with people. I assume some heading to the game.
Arlington has absolutely no mass transit system. Except for a quaint little trolley that runs around the Entertainment District. It seems like a DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) train would make sense, zipping people to the ballparks and Six Flags. The Dallas Cowboys built their stadium in Arlington, not Dallas, so why not run a Dallas DART line to Arlington and Tarrant County?
Ride with me in the Seattle Bus Tunnel, in the YouTube video below. It starts with a walk through Westlake Center, then escalatoring to the basement and the bus tunnel. It all looks very futuristic compared to what I see in these parts, except for that new Cowboy Stadium that looks like a giant spaceship has plopped down on an American slum.
No. That's not the deck in my backyard. It's a deck in the Xeriscape Garden at Veterans Park in Arlington. I went Cicada hunting there today. I was unsuccessful. I heard the noisy buggers, but I saw none, nor the remains of one.
Today there were way too many Disc Golfers filling the air with spinning little flying saucers. Those things can fly quite a distance and make no warning noise. I've only been hit once and have had a couple close calls.
There was a poster stuck to a sign in Veterans Park. Someone lost their Brindle Boxer named Daisy. She being a 10 year old with a graying beard. If you know Daisy's whereabouts, call Steve at 817.944.1559. There's a reward.
When I was done Cicada hunting I went to the Hong Kong Market in Chinatown. I always feel like a giant when I'm there, today more so than usual, because a pair of really tiny Chinese ladies seemed to be following me around. They were speaking Chinese. I guess it could have been Korean. Or Vietnamese. It's not like I can tell the difference. I liked listening to them. Their voices were very high pitched and melodious. I often see Chinese, well, let's just call them women from Asia, since I realize I don't know what Asian country they are from, dressed in native garb when I'm in Chinatown, with their faces made up real nice.
When I left Hong Kong I went to the Dallas Cowboy Wal-Mart Supercenter. But, that's a separate blogging.
Another Sunny Sunday in Texas. With me falling deeper into that rut I must like falling in to.
That rut included the usual morning swim, though this morning's was longer than the norm, so that was slightly out of the same old rut.
I'm going to Arlington's Chinatown today. This is another thing I seem to do over and over again. On the way to Chinatown it is pretty predictable that I will go to Veterans Park and walk around for awhile.
I'm going to look for some cicada corpses at Veterans Park. Ever since I watched a video about cicadas I've wondered why I've seen no corpses. I thought the cicadas were done mating for the year because I've not been serenaded by them of late while in the pool. But yesterday the cicadas were in full cacophony mode at the Tandy Hills.
Since I'm going to Chinatown today, part of that rut is I go to the Wal-Mart across the street from the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. The last time I did that I had myself all sorts of traffic woes that had me heading towards Dallas when I wanted to go the opposite direction. I hope I remember not to make that same mistake today.
In the picture you are standing on the best place to stand in this locale, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.
It was barely 90 when I took off out of here to go hike around the Tandy Hills for awhile. A good wind was blowing, so the wind chill factor made for a very comfortable temperature. Which is rare this time of year in these parts.
When I came in here after lunch and checked email, there was one from Miss C showing one of the world's biggest aquarium tanks. It's located on Okinawa. Some say it's the biggest, others the 2nd biggest. It looked plenty big to me. But what I got out of it was I miss saltwater and the creatures that live there.
There is saltwater where I'm living right now, but it's not natural. It's this toxic saltwater brine, oozing with dangerous chemicals, that the Barnett Shale gas drillers inject into the thousands of holes they've poked in the ground here. Somehow the toxic brine cracks, well, the Texas-speak for this is fracks, the hard shale, shattering it, somehow releasing natural gas.
Besides introducing a lot of toxic saltwater into holes in the ground, those holes have been causing another thing rare in these parts. Earthquakes. I've not felt one. They are rather puny earthquakes.
Below is the YouTube video Miss C sent me. This is one cool looking aquarium.
I am back in I miss Washington mode again this morning. That is Snoqualmie Falls in the picture. If you were a Twin Peaks fan you likely recognize the Falls and the Lodge above the Falls, from that TV show.
The Queen of Wink has never seen a waterfall. When I saw this picture of Snoqualmie Falls this morning when I logged into Facebook, I felt compelled to swipe it and blog it to show the Queen what a big waterfall looks like.
Before I forget, I must credit Mike Bullock for the photo. It was from him I swiped it.
This picture appears to have been taken from the Park/Overlook. I have been at this location when the Snoqualmie River is in full flood mode. The only more powerful acts of Mother Nature I have experienced was a 6.5 earthquake and a volcano exploding.
When the Snoqualmie River is flooding the Falls has the ground shaking, the roar is deafening and so much spray is in the air you end up as wet as you'd be in a downpour.
Snoqualmie Falls is only about 20 miles east of Seattle, a short distance north of I-90. North Bend is a couple miles to the east. You can go there to the Mar-T Cafe and get some of that famous Twin Peaks cherry pie and coffee. I have had the Mar-T Cafe cherry pie and coffee. It really was not all that good. I don't know what Agent Cooper was thinking.
Below is a YouTube video of Snoqualmie Falls, taken on January 9, 2009, when the Snoqualmie River was in flood mode. And another YouTube video is below the flood, showing Snoqualmie Falls and the surrounding park area like it's looking right now, in summer...
Someone calling him/herself Dynamo Hum Tweeted or Twittered me, or whatever you call it, with the suggestion that I take a long walk across China, like the guy in the above video did. The guy walking is a 27 year old German from Hanover named Christoph Rehage. He was a China Studies major in college, which may explain why he started his walk in Beijing. His goal was to walk all the way back to Germany, passing through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Armenia, Turkey and then a couple Slavic countries before getting back to Deutschland.
Sadly, real life intervened with personal issues bringing Christoph back to Germany before he was done walking. He is now back going to school to finish his degree and made the video you see above. It starts off a bit slow. Stay with it til it speeds up. You'll be glad you did. For the best viewing, click the full screen option. It's to the left of the word VIMEO on the lower right.
That is Oakland Lake, also known as Fosdic Lake, in the picture. I have not been able to learn why it is called Oakland Lake Park, with another sign talking about the ecological issues involving Fosdic Lake.
I'm losing my enthusiasm for going swimming every morning, though I did so this morning. I had a rough night. Nightmares about giraffes birthing babies.
A friend of mine, who specializes in interesting, but disturbing videos, sent me a link to a video of a Masai Giraffe giving birth. First the hoofs come out, then the head, then the baby drops 6 feet to the ground. I've never been a farmboy. I've never seen such a thing.
The giraffe birthing was not as disturbing and sleep disruptive as the video from a week or two ago of the guy pulling a woman apart, with the upper half pushing herself away using her arms.
I am guessing that the 'Free Hug' video the disturbing video specialist sent me this morning is going to give me nightmares tonight.
I virtually went to Durango this morning, among other places, before escaping from here for a bit to bask in the natural sauna.
Watch the YouTube video below if you've not attended a giraffe birthing before. It's a pretty impressive work of Mother Nature...
I've heard from another Only Child. This ones name is Drew. Drew is doing research into Only Child Syndrome. I think I've mentioned before that I've managed to become, inadvertently, one of the world's experts on this subject.
Drew seemed quite upset at what some people had to say about the syndrome. And just like other Only Children who have commented, Drew demonstrates the syndrome right in his comment.
Here is the Internet's Urban Dictionary's definition...
Only Child Syndrome
A terrible disease that typically effects only-children, but can occasionally strike people with siblings. It may also effect children whose parents divorce.
Symptoms include: playing mind games with members of the opposite sex, a crippling desire for instant gratification, the inability to compromise or share, and a total disregard for anyone's thoughts or feelings but their own.
Below is Drew's comment about one of the bloggings about Only Child Syndrome...
ok im doing research on overcoming part of my only child syndrome...sure we have issues....some of us more than others.....but everyone else has issues as well.....im trying to make myself a better person and understand why i do some of the things i do.....to be honest, i am taken aback by the amount of bias and criticism some of the people here have to say..... to make a statement saying that people who have noticed the symptoms of being an only child are angry and not articulate is silly, dont you think? ....this world has no absolute truths.....honestly that may be one of the most ridiculous stereotypes ive ever heard....nobody is perfect.....everyone has their issues......not every only child is like that....
I get so tired of so many people thinking I need to be cured of my hug aversion. I don't think it is an ailment in need of a cure. Miss C sent me a YouTube video this morning about a guy on the opposite side of the hugging spectrum from me. I found it amusing. And a bit disturbing. Hugging so many strangers. That is way too much contact with way too many potential germs.
That is the tree tunnel on Barnett Street, looking west towards the Tandy Hills eastern entrance and the beautiful skyline of downtown Fort Worth in the distance.
It was a bit on the HOT side hiking on a Texas prairie today. I was a wet mess by the time I made it back to the air-conditioned comfort of my vehicle. And I did not put on my seat belt til I wanted to. Being really HOT makes me willing to risk being caught, again, by the Fort Worth Gestapo.
Who was this Barnett person who has his/her name on so many things, like this street and the shale that is under this street?
Yesterday, or was it the day before, I mentioned what I see to be a shortage of flowers here in North Texas. But, even though it is now August and we have had plenty of very HOT days, there are still wildflowers blooming on the Tandy Hills.
I was not here at this point in time last summer, I don't think I'd discovered the Tandy Hills by the summer preceding last summer, but time flies so fast, I may have, but I sure do not remember seeing wildflowers anywhere in Texas this time of the year, any other year.
The above is one very convoluted sentence. I wonder if it will make sense to anyone but me?
The purple flower is a new wildflower that's been blooming of late on the Tandy Hills. Dozens of them.
So, that's been my day today in Texas. Up early and swimming, HOT hiking at noon and a lot of computer frustration between escapes.
Today is the day my mom and dad got married, some time back in the last century. I was born 5 days later. A few years after they got married.
I think this picture may be the last time all my siblings, nephews, spouses and mom and dad were all together at the same place at the same time.
My brother has changed wives since this picture was taken. I'm holding nephew Jeremy. My one longtime blog reader may remember Jeremy from a couple days ago, playing on snow on Tabletop Mountain.
I got gas today. As that one longtime blog reader may remember, whenever I get gas I call my mom. So, I had 2 reasons to call. That Happy Anniversary thing, and the gas. But their cell phone generated an out of range message. Which must mean they are out of the Puget Sound zone. Maybe they are on the Oregon coast. I know they were staying on the coast for 8 days on their way back to Arizona.
In that picture we are up in Lynden at my aunt and uncle's house for the annual combo Christmas/Grandma's Birthday Party. The aunt and uncle no longer live there and grandma has been gone for a long time now.
My relatives ended up in Lynden because my great-great grandpa came to America from Holland in the 1890s. Along with my great-great grandma and their two kids, one of whom was my great-grandpa. Once they all got to America they tried several locations, including a very short stay in Texas, just north of where I now live.
I think they were in Ohio when word came of a town way out west, about as far as you could go back then, in America, without leaving the country, this area up in the new state of Washington, where a lot of Dutch people had moved to because it reminded them so much of Holland.
So, my great-grandpa was sent, by train, to Lynden to see if it would be a good place to move to. He stayed through a summer, working on a farm. He returned to his mom and dad and sister eager to get them to move to Washington. He brought them a piece of bark off a fir tree to show them how huge the trees are. He brought them some apples and told them there were plenty of apple trees. He told them about the berries that grew wild and free. And all the farmland available.
And so they moved and started a farm. That farm exists to this day, though no longer owned by relatives of mine. The road that the farm is on is still named after my family. And no, it is not Jones Road.
Now I'm sitting here thinking to myself, my ancestors went through so much to get the future generations to one of the nicest places to live on the planet. And then I, the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son of the relative who decided to move to America, moved to Texas? What's wrong with me?
Anyway, Happy Anniversary, Ma & Pa. Hope you're having fun wherever you are today.
Mister Twister pointed me to a very interesting BBC YouTube video this morning, all about Cicadas. I had no idea there were so many of them making all that noise, that currently seems to be silenced for the year. After watching this video I am perplexed as to why I have not seen the remains of at least one of the little beasts.
The most important information I got from this video is when the male Cicadas are making their mating noise do not snap your fingers. Unless you want to have a Cicada try to mate with you.
We've gone into triple digits for the first time in a couple weeks. And just as WeatherBug turned the temperature red, which it does whenever it gets over 100, the little bug also started flashing and chirping. Nothing I do seems able to stop this.
But, this time it was a more serious weather warning than telling me something I already knew, as in it is HOT. This flashing and chirping was due to the NWS Storm Prediction Center issuing a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10:00 CDT tonight.
I'm blogging about this almost at the same time I got the warning, so that a particular Haltom City resident has plenty of time to alter her plans for the evening, in case she feels the need to do some flash flood watching.
Below is the NWS Warning....
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 10:00PM CDT
Urgent - Immediate Broadcast Requested Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 664 Nws Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 325 PM CDT Wed Aug 5 2009
The NWS Storm Prediction Center Has Issued A Severe Thunderstorm Watch For Portions Of Extreme South Central Oklahoma North Central Texas.
Effective This Wednesday Afternoon And Evening From 3:25 PM Until 10:00 PM CDT.
Hail To 2 Inches In Diameter, Thunderstorm Wind Gusts To 70 Mph, And Dangerous Lightning Are Possible In These Areas.
The Severe Thunderstorm Watch Area Is Approximately Along And 65 Statute Miles North And South Of A Line From 60 Miles North Northwest Of Fort Worth Texas To 80 Miles East Of Dallas Texas. For A Complete Depiction Of The Watch See The Associated Watch Outline Update.
Remember, A Severe Thunderstorm Watch Means Conditions Are Favorable For Severe Thunderstorms In And Close To The Watch Area. Persons In These Areas Should Be On The Lookout For Threatening Weather Conditions And Listen For Later Statements And Possible Warnings. Severe Thunderstorms Can And Occasionally Do Produce Tornadoes.
I was up late, slept in late, well, til 6. Didn't feel like getting wet so I stayed out of the pool.
I got some good blogging fodder from one of my best Washington corespondents. I like getting good blogging fodder. Or any type of fodder for that matter.
Speaking of fodder, my therapist, Dr. L.C. wants me to go to a Hugging Aversion Therapy Meeting with her tonight. I am averse to any type of meeting, particularly when any type of hugging is involved.
We are under an Extreme Heat Advisory today and tomorrow. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with such advisories, so I decided to go on a walk at Oakland Lake Park and ponder what I should do about the heat.
One of the first things I saw upon arrival at Oakland Lake was what appeared to be an alligator slowly making its way northward in the middle of the lake. Other lake life, like the ducks, seemed to be avoiding whatever the partially submerged moving big thing was. You will need to click on the picture to see the possible gator.
Another odd thing. It has not rained in several days. Usually this means the creek, or ditch, or whatever it is that feeds water to Oakland Lake is pretty much dried up. But today, as I neared the creek/ditch I heard the sound of wild rapids.
When I saw the source of the sound I wondered where all this water was coming from. The whitewater rapids almost made me want to go home and get my inflatable kayak and do some rapid running. But the urge passed.
Tomorrow is my mom and dad's anniversary. I should remember to call. They got married on the same day Hiroshima got nuked. Not the same year, but the same day.
That is a Brugmansia busy blooming in the picture. It grows in the home garden of Miss C in the town of Sedro Woolley in Washington. It's a big white flower that grows on a bush that will eventually get as tall as 12 feet. Make note of the big man hand on the left of the Brugmansia to get an idea of how big that flower is.
I've long made note of the summer fact that way fewer flowers bloom here in Texas than I would be seeing up in Washington right now. I don't think this can be explained by the hotter temperatures in Texas, because the town in Washington where you would likely see the most flowers is in Eastern Washington, in Leavenworth. Eastern Washington rivals and often exceeds HOT Texas, temperature-wise, in summer.
Just a couple days ago Tootsie Tonasket was baking at 117 in her town near the Canadian border.
In Washington most towns hang big flower baskets in their downtown zones. And big flower pots on the sidewalks. I've seen an isolated flower pot or two in Texas. And some flowers planted in the ground. I've seen few flowers hanging in pots here. Maybe it's a watering issue. I can see where that would be a bit more difficult here.
But. I am still seeing plenty of wildflowers blooming on the Tandy Hills. So, it's obvious some flowers can handle the water situation here. Texas does get a burst of color from all the wildflowers every year. Those are nice to see.
Those are not yellow Texas wildflowers in the picture. Those are also flowers from Miss C's home garden in Sedro Woolley. I believe they are sunflowers.
I wonder what a Texan thinks, if they are visiting towns in Washington and they see all those flowers. Do they wonder why their Texas town doesn't color itself up in summer? Or do they think that all those flowers must be expensive, I'm glad my town doesn't waste money on such a thing?
Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, currently warbling in various venues in the Port Aransas area regularly sends me good stuff. Like this morning. Darrell Powers was a member of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne, you know, those guys known as the Band of Brothers.
Well, Shifty died on June 17 after yet one more battle. This time not against Nazis, instead, this time, the enemy was cancer.
A guy named Mark Pfiefer met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport a few years ago. Below is his account of that meeting, along with the request that Shifty's story go viral on the Internet as a fitting memorial. So, I am doing my part....
Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.
I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.
Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.
Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . " at which point my heart skipped.
At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.
I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland, into Arnhem." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.
I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.
I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.
He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.
Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.
There was no parade.
No big event in Staples Center.
No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.
No weeping fans on television.
Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.
It is already 4 years since the Eastside Rabblerousers started shaking up the status quo, in hard to change Fort Worth where the Ruling Junta exerts considerable influence to make sure things continue to be done the "Fort Worth Way." As in not a participatory democracy, but instead a semi-Fascist Oligarchy, not accountable to the people, due to only 6% of those people can manage to unshackle the kowtowing long enough to vote.
That's enough from me, now on to the FWCanDo 4th Anniversary message from Don Young.
August 4th, 2009, marks the fourth anniversary of the founding of FWCanDo (Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Operations). Like all four year olds we've been bratty at times but not without provocation. We only mean to take a harmless machete to your intellectual thicket.
That's four years of Just Saying No to irresponsible gas drilling. Four years of delivering important information and commentary about a complex subject that affects everyone in north Texas. Four years of trying to squeeze some justice out of crooked politicians. Four years of telling it like it is whether "it" is pleasant or not.
Four years of watching the residents of my hometown go from ignorant bliss to disbelief to shock to outrage to apathy and finally, resignation. Public sentiment has gone from,
Early on, it became clear that the City of Fort Worth, the Chamber of Commerce and the local daily newspaper were in cahoots with the gas extractors. Our civil efforts to be heard fell on deaf ears. Lacking the unlimited ad budget of Big Gas, we were forced to use "whatever means necessary" to make our case. Nor were we afraid to point fingers at those whose main concern was how much money they could take to the bank.
My family enthusiastically turned down $25,000. per acre bonus money and a hefty royalty offer from XTO Energy. Like everyone else, we could have used the "free money" but we refused to do business with environmental criminals. (The notion of free money is a lie told by liars.)
We all watched as elected officials handed the Keys to the City over to Chesapeake and XTO. We watched in amazement as gas drillers spent millions of dollars on unprecedented green-washing campaigns featuring the likes of actor, Tommy Lee Jones. We watched in horror as the "Fort Worth Way" transformed Cowtown into Dirty Ol' Town.
We withstood being branded as radicals, fanatics and rabble-rousers while Mayor Moncrief and others made dirty back-room deals, wallowed in conflicts of interest and approved drilling next to schools parks and homes. We answered their campaign of lies with truth, facts and science that cannot be ignored for long.
We remain undeterred. Efforts by elected officials and gas drillers to marginalize our efforts have only fanned the flames of our resistance. We take great pleasure in exposing their misconduct while pushing for broad reform of this dirty industry. As pipelines, compressor stations, eroded air quality and possibly earthquakes slowly emerge public sentiment is likely to flip. When it does, FWCanDo will be ready to help tear down the monuments to greed that continue to jeopardize the victims of the shale.
My hat is off to all those comrades who have stayed the course, done the research, walked the 'hoods, sent the emails, made the speeches and held the picket signs. You are the true leaders of Fort Worth. Thanks for your continued support and for enduring 659 FWCanDo Updates since 2005.
Okay, I am back on my Washington theme for the day. Earlier today I showed you some Seafair fun from this past weekend on Lake Washington.
Then I showed you some hiking fun on a mountain in the North Cascades. That particular hike did not take place this past week.
But the cowboys and cowgirls on a horseride in the picture, that did take place this past week, also in the North Cascades, but on the east side of the mountains, in the Pasayten Wilderness Area, which stretches north to the Canadian border.
I know the rider who is bringing up the rear in the picture, though obviously it must be the picture taker who is actually bringing up the rear. The cowgirl in the back is Miss K. I was impressed a lot when I learned that Miss K went on long Harley rides, way up into Canada. That is something I do not believe I could do.
But, even more impressive is this annual trek out of Winthrop in Eastern Washington. A 7 hour horse ride to get to the camping destination. The longest I have ever lasted on a horse was about 10 minutes before it evicted me. It has been a long long time since I went camping and slept in a tent on the ground. It was at Alta Lake State Park, also in Eastern Washington and also somewhat near Winthrop.
I lasted one night. I needed some sort of thick pad between me and the hard ground. Years later I found myself similarly miserable on a hard cot on a houseboat.
And then there are the things like showers and restroom facilities. If a 7 hour horse ride didn't kill me, sleeping on the ground, with no 'conveniences' would surely do me in. I guess it is true, what one of my few critics said this morning. I am just one big ol' whiny wimp.
Okay, I am now off my Washington theme for the day, at least for now. My Fort Worth Underworld Spy I call HottsieTottsie sent me a link to a video about a March and Rally to take place here in Fort Worth the day after the upcoming 9/11. Lately we've been doing so much protesting here in Fort Worth. Up til the Rainbow Lounge incident and its resultant uproar, I did not think the locals knew how to hold a good ol' loud, disruptive protest.
And now this 9/12 deal. Started by Glenn Beck. I only learned recently, from my favorite TV star, that Glenn Beck grew up in our old zone, that being Mount Vernon. What is it about the Skagit Valley that grows so many cranky people and TV and Movie stars? Is it the rich soil? The pure drinking water?
Below is the blurb off YouTube describing, in brief, this upcoming Fort Worth March & Rally...
Join the 912 Project Fort Worth for a March and Rally in Downtown Fort Worth on September 12, 2009. We are tired of our voices not being heard, come be heard. Wake Up America and come protect unalienable rights of life, liberties and the pursuit of happiness as we take back this country and preserve the U.S. Constitution. The 912 Project was started by Glenn Beck in early 2009.
Staying with my Washington theme for the day. Let's go back to Tabletop Mountain again. I took you to the top of Tabletop Mountain yesterday, with the only picture being my all time favorite. Today I'll show you a few more pictures of my nephews, Christopher and Jeremy, on Tabletop Mountain.
Some years, the road to the parking lot, you see here, does not open. The Mount Baker area gets one of the world's deepest accumulations of snow. Some years it does not melt enough to open the area you see here. The road to the Tabletop Mountain parking lot goes past the Mount Baker ski area. If you saw this location in winter you would have trouble believing you could drive here in late summer. Trails lead up Tabletop Mountain and on to Mount Baker from this location.
That is our destination in the distance, the top of Tabletop Mountain. You pick your way over snow and rock til you pick up the trail.
This is a classic Northwest Washington type mountain trail. That is Mount Shuksan off to the right.
Now we are at the top of Tabletop Mountain. If I remember right Jeremy was contemplating throwing a snowball at me. Which he soon did. He missed.
It did not look too dangerous, so when Christopher asked if he could slide down that little glacier, I said sure, not realizing Chris would pick up quite a lot of speed that sent him quite a long distance. I had some concern I was being an irresponsible uncle. I had a reputation for getting my 4 nephews into what came to be known as Nephews in Danger episodes. The worst of those was when nephew Joey and I climbed Sauk Mountain in a snowstorm.
Chris had fun sliding down the glacier, so Jeremy had to give it a try. Being an expert skateboarder, Jeremy was able to do this much more gracefully than his brother. That is the north side of Mount Baker that Jeremy is heading towards. If we were climbing up the south side of Mount Baker we would be able to see steam coming out of the volcano. I was able to see Mount Baker from my kitchen window in Mount Vernon.
So, there you go, you've now been on a virtual hike up a Washington mountain in September. And I'm still whining about being homesick for a real mountain. And some blackberries.
I guess today on my blog I am continuing my "I'm Homesick" theme. That body of water you are looking at is called Lake Washington. Lake Washington has 2 floating bridges that cross it. Seattle has an annual event that lasts for weeks called Seafair. Seafair starts off with a big event called The Torchlight Parade. I blogged about that very parade when I was in Seattle last summer.
Another part of Seafair is hydroplane races. I've never quite understood the fascination with watching those boats go fast, but thousands of others do, lining the shores of Lake Washington, or floating on the water, on various devices, to watch the big boats go fast and spray a lot of water.
At some point during Seafair, I think it's during the hydro races, the Blue Angels put on a show, making an awful lot of noise.
My one reader may remember me mentioning, a week or so ago, the re-discovery of a lost memory about going swimming in the moonlight at Bay View. Me and 2 others, in our undergarments, though only one of the perpetrators remember this.
Well, the party who remembers that swim is the party I refer to, for privacy sake, as Miss C. Well, I told Miss C that anything she sends me I may use as blogging fodder. Miss C sent me the above Seafair photo this morning. Miss C's daughter, who I'll call Lil' Miss C, due to both misses having first names that begin with 'C', is the young lady on the left in the picture.
I am almost certain the 3 girls are wearing swimsuits and Lil' Miss C is not following her mom's penchant for swimming in a warm Washington lake in her underwear.
By the way, Lake Washington is a huge, natural lake. It was not built as part of any sort of vision damming up a river to make a little lake.
Earlier today I was lamenting about all the places I used to stand on in Washington. As much as I like the Tandy Hills and as much as I think they are a rather unique location in an urban zone, it really is due to a shortage of great places to stand that this is the best place to stand in Fort Worth.
Today I came upon something I'd never seen at the Tandy Hills before. Someone had set up a tent. Maybe the person figured if this was the best place to stand it must also be the best place to camp. I don't know. The conditions are rather primitive.
There is running water, in the form of creeks, but this campsite was not near any of the creeks. I did not look in the tent to see if there were campers inside.
It is past 10 in the morning. If I don't blog something soon I'll start getting emails and phone calls asking what is wrong with me. Well, there is plenty wrong with me, but I don't care to talk about it.
That picture you're looking at is my all time favorite photo. But, it vexes me because I can not find the originals of that photo. Those boys are my nephews, Jeremy and his big brother, Christopher. They are sitting on top of Tabletop Mountain. Behind them is Mount Shuksan. Christopher is looking south at Mount Baker. Mount Baker is a volcano.
You get to the top of Tabletop Mountain via a fun trail that gets to the top via a series of switchbacks. I think I'll make a separate blogging with other pics from that day.
Lately it has crossed my mind a time or two that I think I'd like to move back to the Northwest. I miss the mountains. I miss the saltwater. I miss the seafood. And fresh fruit and vegetables. Right now I could be picking all the blackberries I wanted to pick. For free.
When I moved to Texas there was a house waiting for me. My house in Washington was sold in 2002. So, there is no house waiting for me, right now, in Washington. So, moving back is not quite as easy as moving here. It's vexing.
That's me laying on top of Hidden Lake Peak, looking down at Hidden Lake, deep in the North Cascades. Mount Baker and Tabletop Mountain are about 30 miles to the north.
Scenery like this was only a few miles east of where I lived in Washington. I am several hundred miles from any scenery that comes remotely close to this at my current location.
Today I'll try to cheer myself up by going to the "Best Place to Stand in Fort Worth." That being the Tandy Hills. Hiking on the Tandy Hills is a pretty pale substitute for the type of hiking I regularly did in Washington.
The above video shows what looks like billowing smoke and fire coming from a natural gas well in the Barnett Shale. What you are actually seeing is plumes of invisible hydrocarbon emission through the filter of a high-tech video camera, making the invisible visible.
Seeing this video makes it easier to understand how it is that these operations belch around 200 tons of smog into the North Texas air every day. This is the dirty stuff that Al Armendariz, a Southern Methodist University chemical engineer, first brought to public attention, initially to scorn, from some, eventually validated as accurate by part of the state government of Texas.
The video was brought to you by TXsharon and FWCanDo! for BS Guinea Pig Productions.
Please visit their websites and The Daily Kos for more information.
I've been to the Runner-up Editor's pick, that being Randol Mill Park. And I've stood on, looked at, hiked on and marveled at the Grand-prize winner, Tandy Hills Natural Area, submitted by Don Young.
The Star-Telegram heavily edited Don Young's essay, making the case why the Tandy Hills were the best place to stand in North Texas. I'll copy the entire essay below...
Tandy Hills Natural Area is a special place simply because it is still here.
Over 99.5% of all native prairie, in the USA, is gone - even more in the Metroplex. The parkland is adjacent to I-30 and surrounded by a neighborhood in the heart of Fort Worth, a place crawling with developers and gas drillers. For this oasis to have survived is more than remarkable, it’s a precious gift.
The 160-acre natural area is a living, postage stamp sized snapshot of what the entire region once looked like before settlers arrived. The number of wildflower and grass species that cover the hilly terrain at THNA is wildly more than anyplace else in north Texas, except maybe another prairie remnant.
In 1880 when the population was less than 1% of the current 700,000, people still remembered the natural beauty of the land they settled and nicknamed Fort Worth, "Queen City of the Prairie." Those days would soon end, taking with them the very thing that drew settlers here, namely, the blackland prairie and its rich cornucopia of life.
The good news is, we still have Tandy Hills. The Spring wildflowers are more breathtaking here than anyplace else in the Metroplex, attracting lovers, families and butterflies. In the Fall, tall native grasses sway mysteriously in the wind, inspiring poets, painters and philosophers. The sunsets and moonrises seen from the tops of the many hills are often jaw dropping. The sky above THNA is filled with birds and swarms of migrating, Monarch butterflies. If you're lucky, you can even catch a glimpse of a rabbit, fox, lizard, wild turkey, roadrunner or bobcat scampering across the landscape.
All this and its only 5 minutes from downtown Cowtown. The price? Free.
Tandy Hills Natural Area was donated to the people of Fort Worth in 1960. 2010 is the 50th anniversary of this public parkland.
It is in the 90s and humid here today. Which had a bunch of turtles seeking refuge on a log in green Oakland Lake, around noon today. Where do all the turtles go in winter? Someone must know.
Tootsie Tonasket took the walk with me today. Tootsie lives up near the Canadian border in Eastern Washington, where she has been sizzling with much higher temperatures than relatively cool Texas.
Relatively cool Texas. I do not recollect using that phrase before.
After I was done walking and talking to Tootsie I called my sister who lives in Kent, Washington. I'd not spoken to her since the first week of January when she called while my mom and dad were here and we were trying to get out of the car to go to the Dallas Farmers Market. When I called my mom and dad on the day Seattle broke the century mark for the first time, my dad told me my Kent sister had to work that day. Usually she takes a day off for just about any reason. She is a UPS delivery girl.
My sister survived that day, and the HOT ones prior and since, by having with her 6 liters of icy water, packed in ice, plus Gatorade, plus a towel dipped in icy water that she wraps around her neck while driving. She said it wasn't all that bad.
But, coming home to a HOT house was bad. So, on Monday she is having central A/C installed. This likely means that tomorrow the temperatures will plummet back to normal.
Usually the majority of my immediate family members are not in Washington, usually it's just my sister in Kent and my sister in Tacoma who are up there. But right now my mom and dad and my brother are in the Northwest, all of them convening at my sister's in Kent for the second day in a row of BBQing. Almost makes me homesick. Then I remember my last two visits home and that feeling fades.
So, that's been my mundane Sunday in Texas. Swimming early, walking and talking at noon, with a slight tinge of homesickness that quickly passed.
My favorite TV Star sent me a rather inspiring video this morning. It's basically about an 89 year old youngster named Rachel and her special love affair. With her Comet Caliente, which she bought new, 45 years ago, that she has driven over 540,000 miles.
Including driving solo to her 70th class reunion, which was an over 3,000 mile road trip.
Rachel is one sharp lady. I wish I paid as much attention to vehicle maintenance as Rachel does. She buys all replacement parts with a lifetime guarantee. Rachel has gotten 16 free battery replacements from Penneys, even after Penneys shut down their Auto Centers, passing off the guarantees to Firestone.
Below is a YouTube version of the video my favorite TV Star sent me this morning....
In the years since I moved to Texas, from Washington, the state, I have been asked countless times. Why? I've never had a really good answer to that question. And the actual story of how moving here came about is a painful, long story for me to tell. Which I avoid telling.
Just this Saturday night in Texas, well, Fort Worth, is instructive as to why this place has such a hold on me. Now, tonight, if I were in Washington, I might be at a beach, enjoying a fire and roasting hot dogs. Then watching the sun set over the Olympic Mountains, while listening to the waves lap up against the shore, all the while smelling flowers and evergreen trees scenting the air.
Contrast that boring Washington Saturday night with Saturday night in Fort Worth, Texas. Here we have attractions and things to do that you just don't have in boring ol' Washington. Like tonight I'm thinking of going to Jaguars to see Little Sassie Cassie, she being the World's Smallest Stripper, at a diminutive 2 feet 10 inches. I have seen a stripper, or two, during my time on the planet. I have never seen a really little one.
Today, being August 1, it is my last chance to see Little Sassy Cassie. At least for now. She'll probably be back.
However, a new issue has arisen. One that is another reason Saturday night weenie roasts in Texas can be a bit dicey. I hear thunder booming in the distance. It appears to be building to a storm out there. Which is why it is so nice to have venues, like Jaguars, that one can retreat to on a Saturday night, to see wholesome entertainment one can not see in the boring ol' Pacific Northwest.
I didn't realize I had not done my usual early morning blogging duty til I got missives from my therapist, Dr. L.C. and the Queen of Wink and others, asking what's wrong with me.
Like I'm going to go into the details of all that is wrong with me.
I had blogged this morning, but it was not on this one, it was on my TV one. On Thursday the new season of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta started up. During its previous run I did multiple bloggings about that show that got linked all over the place, causing that blog to go on fire. That started happening all over again on Thursday. I'm talking thousands of visitors a day.
Now, I would have thought that to be a good thing, that there'd be a lot of ad clicking. But no, yesterday there was a grand total of 4 clicks. And on this very blog you are reading right now, there were about 700 visitors yesterday, with no clicks. Meanwhile my non-blog website gets a lot of clicks all the time. So, which am I more motivated to pay attention to? Even though the subjects are not as easy to write about.
And don't get me started on my Roadtripping Blog. That one generates great ads when people come to a specific blogging from a search engine. But it gets hardly any visitors, with me unable to think of a way to catch that blog on fire like I have, at times, with this blog and the TV one. It's vexing, because the Roadtripping one was fun to do. I thought it had potential.
So, this morning I got up early, swam early, blogged about those damn Atlanta housewives, that I'd said to myself I was not going to waste anymore time on. But they are so funny.
Then about noon I had my regular inclination to get outside. It'd rained hard, post-swim, so Tandy Hills was out. I knew Quanah Parker Park would be dry, even though the heavy rain amped up the snake and alligator dangers. And I knew at the end of the paved trail I would be facing this huge Chesapeake Energy installation of buildings, and lately a drilling operation at the end of Oakland Avenue, that would be picture and blog-worthy.
This site, previous to Chesapeake taking it over, was a park with several ballfields. I have no idea what deals were made to lose the ballfields to build Chesapeake buildings, and now a drilling operation, which today was in full shrieking noise-making mode. The shrieker is seen in the photo at the top.
After my walk, I went to Town Talk. The place was packed. With 2 Fort Worth Gestapo Agents on guard. Each time I go to Town Talk I'm amazed at the stuff I find. Today I got really good, really fresh asparagus, for only 99 cents for an awful lot of green stalks. To me this place is not about the bizarrely low prices, it's about the good stuff you can get. The red peppers I got a few days ago are the best I've ever come across. Super sweet. And the tomatoes? I've not had ones this good since I grew my own in Washington. What stores is Town Talk getting this stuff from? Today, among other stuff, I got 4 huge, really top quality looking, green peppers for only a quarter each. The turnover of produce is so quick, every time I go, there it is a lot of new stuff.
And another Town Talk thing. The checkouts. They are the old-fashioned kind. No scanners. But so FAST. I don't know how these people do it. It's like they automatically know the prices. I think I've complained before about Wal-Mart's, Kroger's and Albertson's chronic price mistakes. With scanners. Town Talk has not made a single mistake. I tell you, just watching the Town Talk check-out people whiz through a stack of stuff at high speed is worth the admission price. Which is free.
So, there you go, that's been my simple little Saturday in Texas. Did I mention it rained? Making it 91 and very very very humid.
Today I was shirtless whilst walking at Quanah Parker Park. But last December 21 it was below freezing, so I wore a few more clothes, as you can see in the below YouTube video...
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