29 Degrees Freezing In Texas While Warming Up In A Hot Hot Tub

Well, the Arctic Blast delivered a freeze to North Texas just like the weather predictors predicted.

It was 29 degrees in the outer world when the sun arrived to begin it daily heating duty.

Last night was my best slumbering in a long long time. I don't like running the furnace at night. Like the A/C, it wakes me up when it cycles on and off.

So, when the outer world gets frigid it is time to get into multiple blanket mode.

I had such a pleasant, cold weather enhanced, multi-hour period of being restfully horizontal, that come morning, despite saying I would not, I decided to take a chilly walk to the pool.

With a heavy frost covering the roofs, it was fairly obvious the water in the pool was not as cool as the frigid air. So, I quickly dipped and just as quickly retreated to the hot tub.

The hot tub is big enough that I can get in swimming type exercise, sort of. But, with the hot tub heated to the low 90s, I quickly start feeling too HOT.

Feeling too HOT in the hot tub my solution is another quick dip in the cooling pool.  Sort of the opposite of the norm when I escape to the hot tub to warm up from the chilly pool.

By Sunday, according to the temperature predictors, my location on the planet will be heated to 50 degrees above freezing, at 82 degrees.

82 degrees is almost as HOT as the hot tub....

Getting Educated About ISO With No Heat In My Hot Tub On The 2nd Tuesday Of December

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, on this early morning of the 2nd Tuesday of the last month of 2010, we should be seeing a steamy vapor rising from the hot tub, due to the temperature being only 35.

But, there is no steamy vapor rising. Because the hot tub is turned off, due to a thermostat malfunction.

The hot tub not being hot wreaks havoc with my ability to get into the pool during this less than balmy time of the year. In cold times past I would run into the cold water, staying in it til I neared the frostbite point and then escape into the heat of the hot tub.

And then, after getting too hot from the heat of the hot tub, get back into the cool pool til I started to get bitten by frost again. Then back in the hot tub. Repeating the cycle til I was sufficiently stimulated.

Change of subject from getting cold to getting ISO.

Yesterday I blogged about getting caught on camera overexposed on the Tandy Hills due to having my camera on the ISO setting. I mentioned being unable to find an answer to what it is that ISO is.

Well, the ubiquitous Anonymous commented on the ISO blogging. Well, actually it was not a comment. What Anonymous did was copy a link to a Wikipedia article about ISO.

I had already looked at that article. It was of no help to me. On and on it went about ISO without ever saying what ISO has to do with a setting on a digital camera, like in the blurb below from the Wikipedia article...

"The organization which today is known as ISO began in 1926 as the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA). This organization focused heavily on mechanical engineering. It was disbanded in 1942 during the second World War but was re-organized under the current name, ISO, in 1946."

I guess I now know what the initials stand for. So, progress in my ISO education is being made.

Freezing On A Hot Merry Christmas Eve Morning In Texas

Yes, it was well below freezing when I ventured out to my too cool pool for some hot tub hydrotherapy on this Merry Christmas Eve Morning.

Tomorrow morning I must remember to wear my Santa cap to my morning hot tub dip.

As you can see, the hot tub is big enough to enable swimming action, thus providing some endorphin inducing aerobic action.

However.

The hot tub is hot, which really is not all that conducive to pleasant aerobic action without short pool dips. But, the pool is being too cool, even for my genetically mutated Polar Bear self. So, I overheat in the hot tub, with the necessary cooling provided by stepping out of the pool and standing in the frigid air til I feel a chill and then get back in the hot tub.

I do not think I will be going on a Christmas Eve afternoon hike or walk. I think I will go to Walmart and enjoy pushing a cart through the throngs of fellow lemmings....

A Cold Hot Tub Is Not Helping My Aches & Pains So Linda R Is Meeting Me In Houston

No. I am not at some tropical location, cliff side, looking at crystal clear turquoise water.

What we are looking at here is the eastern edge of my hot tub squirting water into a way too cool pool.

The hot tub is currently in malfunction mode. The hot tub doctor has once again diagnosed a broken pump as the culprit which caused the hot tub to stop being hot.

I do not know when the hot tub doctor will be returning to perform pump surgery on the hot tub. I suspect it will be sooner rather than later.

Speaking of malfunctions, and who isn't, I am currently suffering from a personal malfunction. I don't know what I did, but I've somehow caused my abdominal zone to be extremely sore, with occasional sharp pain pangs.

I don't think the cause of the pain is the plank thing the Queen of Wink convinced me to do to get rid of my swollen gut. The plank thing ceased being a pain long ago, along with the disappearance of the swollen gut. The swollen gut has now been replaced with what is commonly called a six pack.

I think the cause of the sharp pain pangs may be related to overdoing the bike riding a couple days ago when I rolled my wheels all the way to Quanah Parker Park, with several steep hill climbs along the route.

All I know for sure is ibuprofen is not being much help and I want this ache to go away, which I am sure it will, eventually. In the meantime, I am taking it easy. For the most part.

Changing the subject from my personal litany of woe, this morning I heard from one of my oldest and dearest friends, going all the way back to 1st grade, Linda R.

Linda is coming to Texas, to Houston, in a couple months and was wondering if I could make it there so we could have a visit. I indicated that that might be doable.

Since I have been in Texas I have only been to Houston twice. I really liked Galveston...

Taking My Cane On A HOT Walk With The Village Creek Ghosts

I got out my walking cane and used my senior citizen's pass to take the bus to Village Creek Natural Historic Area today.

I felt like communing with the wise elderly spirits of Indians long gone.

You can not tell it by today's picture taken via the Village Creek photo mirror, but it was being horribly HOT in the noon time frame today. HOTTEST HOT yet.

The HOTTEST HOT yet had my cold tapwater feeling HOT. Previously the cold tapwater had warmed to being warm, but never HOT.

I called my mom on my way to Village Creek to wish mom a Happy Birthday, due to the labor my mom went through today, all those decades ago, to deliver a very little me to the world. Mom was not home to receive her Happy Birthday call.

So, I left a voice mail.

As you can see via the picture of the Village Creek Jungle, the jungle is beginning to show signs of lack of water, as in, drought strain. Leaves are falling as if it were Fall. Green is turning brown.

Tomorrow if we hit 100 it ties the all time record for days in a row getting that HOT. Something has happened in the past hour or two that has me thinking that the 1980 record may not be broken.

We have dropped a lot of degrees in the past hour or two. As in it was over 100 when I wilted with the Indian ghosts, but it is only 84.7 now, at half past 3. Clouds have arrived. Along with a forecast for some possible storming....

An outflow boundary continues to push southward across North Texas with scattered thunderstorms to its north. The boundary could reach a Comanche to Ennis to Greenville line around 4 PM. Look for north winds of 15 to 30 mph and temperatures falling into the 80s behind this boundary. Rain and thunderstorms just north of I-20 to the west of Fort Worth will continue to follow the boundary southward this afternoon. These will move across Eastland...Earth... Hood... Somervell and Johnson counties by 5 PM. Gusty winds...heavy rainfall and dangerous cloud to ground lightning will occur from the strong thunderstorms. Rain and isolated thunderstorms along the Red River counties east of Gainesville will continue to spread east and southeast through 5 PM. This rain will spread through Collin... Hunt...Delta and Hopkins counties by 5 PM. Elsewhere...it will remain hot and dry with temperatures in the upper 90s and lower 100s under mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies. Heat advisory in effect until 9 PM CDT this evening...

Forbes Magazine Hot Royals

Why would Forbes Magazine want to designate who they think are the World's "20 Hottest Young Royals?" With only unmarried royals under 35 qualified to be considered for their Hotness.

That is the world's #2 Hottest Royal in the photo, Hot Harry. So hot he had to take his shirt off.

Harry is the son of the late Princess Diana. I don't believe any DNA testing has been done to determine, for certain, who the father is.

UK Royals took the Top 4 Hot Spots. I've only heard of the first 2. I'd heard of none of the World's other Hot Royals either.

I'm so ignorant I didn't know that Sweden, Germany, Greece or Denmark even had royals. I knew the Arab countries were big on having Kings and Queens. 2 of them are Hot. I'm not totally fluent in Arab, but I think one of the Hot ones is a boy and the other a girl. I can't tell by their names, but #6 is a Sheik. I'm thinking that is Arab for Prince. And then at #17 we have a Sheika. Which I'm guessing is a girl Sheik.

The Sheik is from Dubai, the Sheika from the United Arab Emirates. #18 is also from an Arab country, Jordan, but she isn't a Sheika, she's a Princess. Africa has only 1 Hot Royal, coming in in last place, a Princess from Swaziland.

Here's the entire list for you to commit to memory.

01. Prince William (Britain)
02. Prince Harry (Britain)
03. Zara Phillips (Britain)
04. Princess Beatrice (Britain)
05. Charlotte Casiraghi (Monaco)
06. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum (Dubai)
07. Princess Victoria (Sweden)
08. Prince Azim (Brunei)
09. Prince Carl Philip (Sweden)
10. Andrea Casiraghi (Monaco)
11. Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis (Germany)
12. Princess Madeline (Sweden)
13. Princess Theodora (Greece and Denmark)
14. Prince Wenzeslaus (Liechtenstein)
15. Princess Tsuguko (Japan)
16. Princess Sirivannavari (Thailand)
17. Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum (United Arab Emirates)
18. Princess Iman bint Al Hussein (Jordan)
19. Prince Philippos (Greece and Denmark)
20. Princess Sikhanyiso (Swaziland)

My Favorite Aunt & Red Hot Mama

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.

Enjoying The HOT 102 Degree Tandy Hills Sauna Steam Bath

In the picture you are midway down Mount Tandy, looking west across a Texas prairie at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

What you can not see in the picture is it is hot, very HOT.

The actual temperature is not all that HOT, at 89 degrees, but as it so often does, the humidity has the outer world feeling hotter than the thermometer indicates.

As in, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device, right now while it is a relatively chilly 89 degrees, it feels like 102.

Whilst doing some strenuous, windless hill hiking, it felt HOTTER than 102 to me.

Today marks the first time in 2013 I felt the salubrious benefit of getting my endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation in a sauna steambath. Don't knock this activity til you try it, because once you get past the fact of being an ultra sweaty HOT mess, it feels real good.

Before I left my abode to do some hill hiking the plumber arrived to do some upgrading to my shower. The upgrade was done upon my return. The upgrade is quite an improvement. I am totally cooled down now.

The pool was less refreshing than my shower, this morning. This will only become more so as we approach the ultra HOT days of summer.

As I did my HOT hiking I had cause to ponder how and why it is that some people end up so brittle and humorless as they get older, rather than becoming more easy going, with a well developed sense of humor.

This type thing perplexes me. And no, I am not talking about you....

Naked in Seattle

Each morning after I read the hard copy Fort Worth Star-Telegram I then read the online version of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to get a, well, more intelligent version of a newspaper. I miss the daily hard copy of the P-I. In all my years of reading the P-I I don't recollect anything about it annoying me, or finding a mistake. I've lost count of the mistakes I've come across in the Star-Telegram. One would have thought I'd spot a mistake or two in the P-I, since I lived in its coverage zone for my entire life, til moving to Texas. Yet, even with me not all that familiar with the coverage zone of the Star-Telegram, I find errors. I think one can extrapolate from that that there must be a lot more errors that I don't spot because I'm not familiar with what's being written about.

Anyway, this morning whilst reading the P-I I was struck, yet again, by how starkly different the West Coast is from Texas. I knew prior to moving that it would be much more conservative, overall, in the Buckle of the Bible Belt. It's not a secret that the West Coast, and Washington in particular, and certainly Seattle, is much more liberal than Texas.

Washington is also way less repressive and, I dunno, free-spirited might be the words I'm looking for. Like in today's P-I on the front page there's a photo of a nudist swinging on a rope over the Ballard Pool. That's the photo above. I can't imagine such a photo appearing in the Star-Telegram. Let alone an article about a local pool's nude swims.

There are a few nudist colonies in Texas and a nude beach called Hippie Hollow down by Austin. The West Coast has nude runs, nude swims, nude bike rides & nude hikes. Vancouver has Wreck Beach, that's a huge nude beach where thousands congregate on a hot summer day. I've been there once. It was fun. But I got sunburned in unfortunate places. Near where I lived in Washington there is a nude beach called Teddy Bear Cove. I remember many a fun night at a natural hot springs near the Mount Baker volcano. It is a short hike through old growth forest to Baker Hot Springs. On a weekend night there were often dozens of nude hot springers having a real good time. Early in the Reagan years orders came from Washington to shut down Baker Hot Springs. It has since been restored to its former glory.

There is a Seattle neighborhood called Fremont that seceded from the Union and declared itself the Independent Republic of Fremont. Fremont has an annual event called the Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant. Thousands attend. A highlight is the nude bike ride. A few years back there was an attempt by some prudes to force clothes on the bike riders. That attempt failed.

I can't imagine a parade in Texas featuring a nude bike ride. If one wanted to go on a nude hike in Texas I don't think it'd be much of a problem because there are a lot of fine parks with fine trails and very very very few Big Texans out hiking on them. Regarding that I'll just say this, for the same reason it is pleasant to swim in the buff it is also pleasant to hike sans outerwear.

Below is a video of a pair of Canucks crossing the border, legally, and heading to Baker Hot Springs. In the video they erroneously name Baker Lake as Mount Baker Lake. I point that out lest you visit the fine state of Washington and want to seek out that scenic lake. There is no one but the Canucks in the hot springs and this pair of Canadians broke the rules by keeping their clothes on. Shameless scofflaws.

Below the video is today's fresh goofiness from the Star-Telegram.



Okay, today's Star-Telegram goofiness is once more that bizarre policy of supposedly making a story local unlike the evil paper in the evil city 30 miles east of Fort Worth, by pointing out any remote Texas connection to someone being written about. On the TV page, in a blurb about a show on FOX called Bones, we learn a guy from American Idol will be on tonight's show. And "fellow Idol grad---and former University of North Texas student---Brandon Rogers also appears and Burleson's Kelly Clarkson gets name-dropped."

Wow! Burleson's Clarkson gets named dropped and some guy who dropped out of a Texas college is on the show! I'm sure glad we got reminded for the umpteenth time that Kelly Clarkson is from Burleson. I almost forgot.

And then on "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire The Colony's (that's a Dallas suburb) Janelle Newland goes after the big bucks today, and she's not the last North Texan we'll see during the next couple weeks." Oh thank God, a reason to go on living.

If that is not enough excitement, on American Gladiator, "competition begins, with the challengers including Dallas' Jeff Davidson and his wife, Ally..."

North Texas Ice Closes Roads Leaving Motorists Stuck & Me Slipping

What you are looking at on the left is the fountain that spouts water into the cool  pool I usually go swimming in, weather permitting.

To the left of the fountain is the hot tub I use to get hot if I get too cool in the cool pool.

This morning, what with it being a measly 16 degrees, I thought some hydro-therapy in the hot tub might have a salubrious effect.

It did.

My original plan had been to get in the hot tub and then try one dip in the cool pool, curious was I as to how that would feel, what with the water being much warmer than the air. However, the ice cover had grown more slippery overnight. I did not think it a good idea to try and walk, barefoot, from a hot tub to a cool pool over thick ice.

Whilst in the hot tub I noticed the icicles you see in the picture. After finishing the hot tubbing I returned to my warm abode and outfitted myself in proper attire suitable for not getting cold in air chilled to 16 degrees, then returned to the outer world to take the above picture and to check on the icy condition of my motorized transport device.

Well.

It was on my way to that aforementioned motorized transport device that I discovered I'd made the right decision not to walk barefoot on ice. I was barely on the ice, with my slip resistant waffle stompers over my formerly bare feet, when I had myself a sudden fall from the vertical position. I had a fairly smooth landing and am fairly optimistic no damage was done, other than startling me out of my peaceful frame of mind.

Reading the news this morning I should have realized the level of slipperiness had amped up overnight, what with the news that I-20 west of Weatherford had turned into a treacherous thick ice impassable mess after the melted ice re-froze.

I-35 north of Denton, to the Oklahoma border, also had to be closed, with a lot of travelers stranded on those sections of road, and other locations.

So, for the first time in a long time I will not be going on my regularly scheduled Saturday treasure hunt at Town Talk.

Today I don't think it is safe even to take myself on a neighborhood walkabout. I don't think I could make it to Albertsons without falling.

Wal-Mart Really Does Suck

I do not really understand how Wal-Mart overtook all other retailers to become the planet's #1 store. It's based in Arkansas. One would think that would be a cautionary sign right there.

What perplexes me is how does Wal-Mart do so well? Yes. I shop there. Why? It's convenient and many things are cheaper in price, yet, unfortunately, also often cheaper in quality as well. And there are other issues.

In the D/FW Metroplex, in which I am currently incarcerated, there are dozens of Wal-Marts, mostly Super Wal-Marts, which is your regular type Wal-Mart after a steroid injection. And then there are the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets. One of those is almost walking distance from where I live. Very convenient. 3 miles from my abode is a Super Wal-Mart. Adjacent to my abode is the carcass of a dead Wal-Mart, killed when that new one opened 3 miles away. Oh, I forgot, most of the Super Wal-Marts here have a Sam's Club next door, Sam's Club being this sort of downscale copycat of Costco.

I like Costco's $1.50 hot dog and a drink deal. It's a good hot dog. If you are vacationing in Maui it's a cheap lunch to eat at Costco's Cafe 150. Sam's Club totally copied the Costco cafe concept. And then totally yucked it up. Example. I was in a brand new Sam's Club in west Fort Worth. I ordered the $1.50 hot dog deal. The Sam's girl brings me my dog and asks for $1.27. I said "huh?" I want a drink too. She tells me the drink machine is broken. I see people getting drinks. I ask for a cup. She tells me she'll have to charge me for it. I'm thinking I clearly asked for the $1.50 hot dog and drink deal. Then she decided to just give me the cup. I went over to the drink machine, hit the ice dispenser, causing a geyser-like eruption. I tried to just get water, but did not like the color. I tried one of the soda dispensers and quickly realized there was no carbonation. I gave up on the drink and concentrated on my hot dog. I pumped the mustard dispenser, but it just passed gas, no mustard. I cranked the onion dispenser to see onion juice, I assume it was onion juice, come out of the grinder. I gave up and resigned myself to trying to eat a mustard-less naked hot dog on a soggy bun. And resolved, as God was my witness, to never sit foot in a Sam's Club again. That resolve lasted a week or two. I needed a printer. But no more hot dogs.

More on Wal-Mart in future blogs. I have other issues with Sam.

Freezing In The Hot Tub Worrying About Incoming Snow & Ice In North Texas

On the left you are looking at a screencap from Facebook, a WEATHER UPDATE from the most reliable and detailed weatherman from whom I've experienced receiving weather reports, John Basham.

This morning the outer world was chilled to freezing at my location for the first time this freezing season. I think we beat my old home zone of the Skagit Valley for first freeze of the year.

With this morning being the first freezing morning of this freezing season I had my first frozen bout in my newly restored to HOT hot tub.

The newly HOT hot tub was not so hot that I felt compelled to cool off with a quick dip in the likely way too cool pool.

If the wind dies down, and I suspect it won't, I think I'll go on a neighborhood bike ride today. Unless the wind dies down the wind chill factor makes that freezing temperature feel like 22 instead of 32. Combined with the rapid speed at which I roll my wheels that would be way too chilly a bike ride.

As you can read below, in John Basham's latest WEATHER UPDATE, a chance of snow and sleet is a possibility in the days ahead. I am not in the mood to go slipping and sliding. I've only recently recovered from the post traumatic stress of last winter's scary slipping and sliding incident....

WEATHER UPDATE: 445AM WED NOV 12 2014 - North Texas Including the DFW Metroplex - Brrrrr A cold morning with much of the area already below freezing and windchill values in the teens. Tomorrow morning (Thursday) we will see clouds, freezing temps, and yes even a little light sleet is possible. The good news is most of the ice that will fall will not make it to the ground, but a few pellets of ice on your car Thursday morning are not out of the question. Now, the bigger issue, the third in a series of disturbances will rotate across North Texas on Sunday and forecast guidance does NOT agree on what this will cause. Prior to it's arrival, and the subsequent VERY STRONG cold front that will push across the area Sunday, we will see the return of Southerly winds as well as moisture in more than just the surface layer of the atmosphere. It would seem that the moisture return would not be sufficient to cause any wintery precipitation on Sunday once the disturbance and cold front work to cause lift, but timing is crucial. That in conjunction with the relative strength of the approaching system would lend pause to any monster amounts of wintery precipitation, BUT some model data suggests over an inch of snow is possible across a large part of North Texas. At this time, I am only willing to put snow/sleet into the slight chance category for Sunday, but I am watching it very closely. It very well could be an interesting and white weekend for much of North Texas... In the mean time, bundle up.. it's cold! THIS IS NOT AN NWS PRODUCT. John Basham

A Person With Any Common Sense Would Not Be HOT Hill Hiking Today In Texas

This morning when I found Don Young's Prairie Notes #80 in my inbox I realized it has been weeks since I have been on the Tandy Hills.

So, with today scheduled to be HOT enough to have a good sauna steam bath I decided to drive to the summit of Mount Tandy and have myself a HOT walk.

As you can see, looking west, across the wagon train trail that leads towards the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, the air does not appear to be all that smoggy, despite the air quality alerts.

It did not take me long walking to realize maybe I should pay heed to all the warnings I hear advising the elderly to stay inside during these troubling HOT times.

When I began to be blinded by the copious amount of moisture leaking from me I cut short the hiking, down to only 3 hills from the usual 5.

In addition to being HOT I had to contend with getting around the trail block you see in the picture below.

Just north of the currently dry Tandy Falls, where one takes a left to a shady trail up to the View Street Trail, a big tree has fallen across the trail.

I do not know what the policy is regarding windfalls in the Tandy Hills Natural Area. Is it like a national park, where the tree remains where it fell, unless it is blocking a highway or causing a hazard?

I am thinking for the duration of this 100 degree plus HOT time of the year, my mode of getting aerobic stimulation will be my morning swim, shady walks and bike riding, saving the Tandy Hills for the cooler time of the year.

This current plan is subject to change.

Not Talking To Frita Fremont While Hiking Hot Hills & Making Tofu Chili

This morning was spent up north, in Hurst, on a scouting expedition. That went well, except for the fact that each week the drive through the 820/121 construction zone seems to get more treacherous.

When I got back to my abode I made Tofu Chili using the red hot and yellow hot chili peppers I got at Town Talk on Saturday. The hot peppers were not as hot as I thought they'd be. They are plenty hot in their raw state, but lose a lot of their hotness when cooked.

I guess I'm assuming that it is the application of heat that diminishes the chili pepper heat. I suppose this could be caused by the Tofu. I suspect not, though.

After I was done making Tofu Chili I let it sit in simmer mode while I took off to the Tandy Hills for a pre-lunch bout of salubrious, endorphin inducing hill hiking.

On the drive to the Tandy Hills I was talking on my telephonic communication device when I got an incoming call. Due to my technological ineptness I am unable, usually, to manage two calls at once.

When I arrived at the Tandy Hills I terminated talking and then saw that the called I missed was from Frita Fremont. I don't much like talking on my telephonic communication device whilst doing hill hiking, so I did not call Frita back. Figured I'd do so later.

After I was up and down a few hills I came to the collection of mushroom benches I've made mention of before. I sat down for a spell to enjoy the view from a non-vertical position. In the distance I saw what, upon closer examination, I was to later learn, was a family of four, mom, dad and two kids, hiking the hills.

As I got back vertical, to continue the salubrious hiking, my phone rang again. It was Frita Fremont again. This time Frita left me a message saying she urgently needed to speak to me. Well, as soon as it is convenient, I think, is what Frita actually said.

I think I am driving to Walmart in about an hour. I will call Frita at that point in time.

By the way, the Tofu Chili turned out to be really tasty.

And now, let us talk about the weather.

I've got my windows open. It was in the 70s when I went hiking today, nearing 80 right now in the middle of the afternoon. The only outerwear needed today was shorts and shoes. I do not remember this happening in January before.

As you can see below, this short taste of Summer comes to an end tomorrow...

We're Back In HOT Grilling Mode Breaking Temperature Records In North Texas

Another Temperature Record Breaking Day In Texas

Earlier today I blogged about today's predicted temperature whilst relying on out of date information. Thusly I was erroneous when I said we were scheduled to be heated to 99 degrees HOT today in North Texas.

Around 5 this morning the National Weather Service added 2 degrees to today's scheduled heat, taking us over the century mark again, plus one, to 101.

If the temperature as measured at the official North Texas temperature measuring station at D/FW Airport does reach 101 today it will be yet one more temperature record in a summer of record breaking temperatures, with today being the hottest September 12 in recorded North Texas history.

We have not hit 100 in North Texas since September 3, lulling us into a false sense of relief.

The reason we are back HOT again is the upper level high pressure HOT zone that had been moved out of town by an upper level low pressure cold zone, has returned with a vengeance.

The low pressure cold zone is expected to come back fighting, later in the week.

So far in 2011 North Texas has had 68 days of 100 or higher. One HOT day short of the record set in the infamous summer of 1980.

It seems fairly clear that 2011 is going to go down in history as the HOTTEST in North Texas history. A record that will likely fall in 2012, what with this ongoing Global Warming thing we've got happening.

One nice personal side benefit for me due to the return of HOT temperatures. My pool had become a bit cool. It should be a bit warmer by tomorrow morning than it was today.

Sitting In Texas & Thinking About Hiking Around Mount Baker & Losing My Clothes At Baker Hot Springs

I read the online version of my old hometown local newspaper every morning. It's called the Skagit Valley Herald. For reasons unknown to me the online version is called Go Skagit. There used to be an online version that looked exactly like the printed version. Maybe that still exists and I lost track of it.

Anyway, Go Skagit has a Hike of the Week feature. These tend to make me a bit homesick. This week's is about the Dock Butte Trail and the fact that snow is beginning to close the trails in the high country.

That is Dock Butte in the foreground of the picture, with Mount Baker hovering over it. Mount Baker is a volcano. One of 5 in Washington's Cascade Mountains. When Mount St. Helens started going into erupt mode Mount Baker also started acting up, so much so that access was closed to some areas of the Mount Baker National Forest. I remember you could not go to Baker Hots Springs til Mount Baker calmed down.

Baker Hot Springs is, or was, a clothing optional little oasis reached after a hike through an old growth forest of Douglas Fir trees. During the Reagan years someone prudish was put in charge of Mount Baker National Forest. In an effort to stop the fun at Baker Hot Springs the wooden box that turned the burbling spring into a pool was destroyed.

Soon a makeshift pool was made using rocks to hold in the hot water. But that did not work too well. I suspect by now Baker Hot Springs has been returned to its former glory, likely restored during the more libertine Clinton years. That man came from Hot Springs, after all.

Already Hotter 'N Hell In Wichita Falls

Yesterday, the first Wednesday of August, the temperature was nearing 100 at the time of my regularly scheduled communing with nature via fast walking somewhere outdoors.

But, with the outer world being so HOT, I opted to drive to Walmart for my nature communing and anthropological observations.

Then, yesterday, around 5 in the afternoon, I decided to get HOT again, via driving to ALDI.

As you can see via the photo documentation, above, the temperature, as measured by my vehicle's temperature measurer, was way over 100 degrees HOT.

124 degrees.

That is a Death Valley level of HOT.

The biggest Wichita Falls event of the year, the Hotter 'N Hell 100, takes place the last week of this month. This is a big event. People come from all over the world to ride their bikes 100 miles in super HOT conditions.

Last year the weather did not cooperate, with the temperature being lower than 100 degrees.

This year I suspect the weather will be cooperating.

And it will be HOT.

I have not attended the Hotter 'N Hell event at the MPEC (Multi Purpose Event Center) since before COVID. It is quite entertaining, with multiple things to see, and a lot of people.

Just the triage tent where all the injured bike riders get treated. 

There are dozens of vendors vending various products. Others giving out free samples of this that and some other thing. Bike related artworks. Music. A HUGE beer garden.

And, I suspect there may be a political component this year, what with it being election season...

Another HOT June Thursday Morning In Texas

As you can see, in the Thursday morning view from my computer room window, there is not a cloud in the sky.

And, at barely past 9 in the morning, it is already 84, heading towards a predicted high of 98, with the Heat Index making it feel like it is over 100.

If I had Audio-Vision, right now you'd be hearing an awful lot of banging and sawing. My patio balcony is getting changed from solid wood to a wrought iron-type railing.

I think I'll like the change, but I'm not liking the noise.

Yesterday I did not blog about hiking on the Tandy Hills, even though I did. Hike. I made it to the hills a little before 3. It was HOT. Too HOT. I got so HOT I forgot to take a picture documenting yesterday's HOT hiking.

I was on the HOT hills for almost an hour and a half. I don't think I was able to drink enough water to keep up with what was oozing out of me. The end result had me feeling really good, but a bit, well, loopy.

By the time I made it back to my vehicle all I could think of was the walk-in cooler at Town Talk. So, I made my wobbly way to that cooler. After spending too much time in the cooler, I exited to find boxes of sweet potatoes for 29 cents a pound. So, I got a lot of sweet potatoes.

Lunch today is mashed sweet potatoes and BBQed pork chops. Promptly at one. Or not. Don't be late.

In Fort Worth Texas God Is Good Hot Beef Stew

It is Sunday. Sunday is the day of the week when I feel more religious than the other days of the week, but only slightly so.

Several times a week I drive down John T. White Road. I think it is at the intersection with Sandy Lane, on the northeast side of the intersection, that there is a rundown, old strip mall. With a gas station, a barber shop, maybe a couple other stores. And a restaurant.

I think the name is Kountry Kitchen.

For weeks, both heading east and west, on both sides of the sign you see in the picture, it says, "GOD IS GOOD HOT BEEF STEW."

I likely am exhibiting how simple-minded I can be at times, but I find this sign amusing.

Is it saying that "God is good hot beef stew?" Or is it saying "God is Good." And then mentioning that the restaurant serves "Hot Beef Stew?"

I prefer to think the sign is saying "God is good hot beef stew." I like hot beef stew. Like my mama used to make.

Speaking of my mama. I got gas today, so I called my mama to tell her I got gas, just like I always do. Got the answering machine. I don't know if they are still in New Mexico or have returned to Phoenix. I think they should be back in Arizona by now.

Hoping To Prevent A Hot Texas Tamale From Accidentally Shooting Herself

As soon as I saw that which you see here I knew I needed to share this information as a sort of cautionary tale directed at a certain Hot Texas Tamale, who I shall not name, who legally packs heat due to having one of those concealed weapon permits that are so popular in the part of the planet.

I have been at an event, a time or two, with the aforementioned Hot Texas Tamale and have inquired if she was currently armed and potentially dangerous, to be informed that she was armed and potentially dangerous.

On one of those occasions the Hot Texas Tamale was wearing what I think is called a cocktail dress. A slinky black deal. Maybe cocktail dress is not the correct term. Anyway, on that occasion the Hot Texas Tamale sort of implied, when I asked where she was concealing her concealed weapon, that her dainty pistol was located in the same location you see that pistol located above.

With this news that a woman in St. Joseph, Michigan accidentally shot herself to death whilst adjusting her bra holster I really think it would behoove the Hot Texas Tamale to go from concealing her weapon, to openly carrying it, via a holster attached to a belt around  her waist.

It is always wise to be cautious....