A Little Shook Up In Wichita Falls

 A little over a half hour ago, 9:38 AM, on Friday, July 26, I felt something I have not felt in Texas, which I fairly frequently felt whilst living in Western Washington.

An earthquake.

The shaking did not last long. And there was no loud explosive noise like I experienced in my old home zone. 

I soon learned the quake was epicentered near Hermleigh, Texas, about 156 miles from my Wichita Falls location, as a bird flies.

During the 1990s there was a period when multiple earthquakes were epicentered a couple miles east of my abode.

Those were shallow quakes, less than 3.0 on the Richter Scale. But, due to being so close, the shaking was strong, and loud. My windows popped, the tall fir trees shook and swayed, the tile on my kitchen floor cracked.

Today's quake, centered near Hermleigh, Texas measured 5.0 on the Richter Scale. This must have been quite a surprising shock to those living near Hermleigh.

Remembering A Twin Bluff In Utah With The Goobers

The photo you see here showed up in my Microsoft OneDrive Memories of the Day, today.

I know what I am seeing in this photo, and who I am seeing, and when this photo memory happened.

In October. Not July. And, I think the year was 1998.

Booking ending Wanda, in the middle, are the entities known as the Goober Twins, Big Ed on the left, Wally on the right.

Wally is Wanda's first husband.

The trio is standing in the town of Bluff, in Utah, known for the twin pillars you see behind the Goober Twins.

I have not been in Utah for a couple decades. The last time, I think, was whilst driving back to Washington in early August of 2001. During the last decade of the last century, I was finding myself in Utah once a year, usually.

It is a tad odd this photo of the Goober Twins showed up today. Yesterday was the twin's birthday.

Happy birthday, Goober Twins...

Being Cautious About Wildlife Walking Around Steamy Lake Wichita Sauna

With the temperature two degrees shy of 90, with no wind and the high humidity making that temperature really feel like 93, it was to Lake Wichita Park I ventured today for some endorphin acquisition in a natural steamy sauna.

I saw no one climbing to the summit of Mount Wichita today. I think if I attempted such I would likely faint upon reaching the summit.

That sign advising the use of caution due to this being a wildlife area has been added since last I was at this location.

What wildlife? I could not help but wonder. Wildlife of the wild sort wild enough that one needs to be cautious" I have seen a deer or two in the vicinity, in the past. I've seen no snakes, armadillos or alligators.

As you can see, it is an almost totally clear blue sky above Mount Wichita. Then I turned around to take a photo looking the opposite direction, across Lake Wichita.

Where did the blue sky go? I see some little clouds, but no bright blue sky. Due to that aforementioned lack of wind, Lake Wichita is being dead calm, with a mirror-like smoothness and reflectivity.

I am ready for summer to be over with...

Microsoft Remembers Nephews Jason & Joey Taking Me To Las Vegas

Another Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day that I actually do remember, though I think the month was August, not July.

A few months before I moved to Texas my two oldest nephews, Jason and Joey, flew me to Las Vegas for some fun in the sun for four days.

That photo at the top is from the buffet at the Stratosphere Tower and Casino. The day before we'd taken the rickety double-decker elevator to the top of the Stratosphere Tower. Upon reaching the top the elevator doors opened with our ears greeted with a screeching alarm.

Electric power had been cut to the tower. Nothing was moving. The elevator made it to the top on emergency backup power. Dozens were stranded on the stalled roller coaster on top of the tower.

The temperature was way over 100 degrees.

The temperature inside the tower quickly became quite warm. After an hour, or so, the natives started getting restless, demanding to know how long this was going to last. I loudly piped up with how about giving us something to drink to keep us cool. A call was made and permission was given to open the bar, with free soft drinks to the kids, free hard drinks to the non-kids.

If I remember right it was almost three hours we were stuck on that tower. When power returned we lined up for our turn to return to ground level. Upon reaching ground level we were greeted by the manager of the casino apologizing for the inconvenience. I asked him if he could comp us for three buffets because we were heading for dinner when we got stuck and are now real hungry.

So, the manager wrote some script, like a doctor's prescription. We found our way to the buffet, showed the script and got treated like we were special guests.

The buffet had the option to play Keno whilst eating. I had never played Keno. The nephews asked if they could play Keno. So, they filled out Keno cards, which I then had to play for them, since they were not old enough. The nephews won some at Keno and thought it to be great fun.

And so, the next morning, waking up at Excalibur, at the south end of the Vegas strip, the nephews wanted to return to the Stratosphere for the breakfast buffet. And Keno. And so, we did, which is photo documented in the photo at the top, Joey sitting next to me, which means Jason must have taken the photo.

On one of the Vegas mornings I read in the local newspaper that conditions were such that Death Valley might break its temperature record that day. I asked the nephews if they wanted to get real HOT in Death Valley. They answered in the affirmative.

I've driven Death Valley several times when it is the HOT time of the year. You don't sweat. The moisture evaporates before you have a chance to sweat. You have to constantly be drinking liquids. Previous times I have followed the signs suggesting not to use A/C, as such may overtask the engine. That and no A/C lets one enjoy the overheated experience. 

But, the nephews insisted the A/C stay on.

We got to Badwater, and walked out into the flats a couple hundred feet below sea level.

It was HOT. There is a thermometer at Badwater, advertising the temperature, as this is the location where the temperature record can be broken.

I believe the above photo was taken at Badwater, with the nephews contemplating if they really do want to walk out onto the dried salt flats. Eventually they did so, but I have no photos documenting this.

Another day we drove to Hoover Dam. This was before 9/11 and so you could easily walk across the dam, to Arizona, with no overbearing security.

After playing on the dam, we were a bit overheated, and somehow found our way to a park slightly north of the dam, with swimming access to Lake Mead.  That is Joey next to me, in Lake Mead, which, again, means Jason must have taken the picture.

I webpaged the Nephews taking me to Las Vegas as part of my Nephews in Danger series of webpages....

Cloudy Semi-Cool Breezy Walk Around Sikes Lake

With a cloud covered sky, the temperature in the low 80s, with a wind blowing, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured this Monday morning in July, for a walk around the lake, hoping not to need to dodge lightning bolts, which are on the weather menu for today.

But, so far, no sky drippage, no lightning bolts, just a pleasant cloudy day respite from getting seared over 100 degrees.

In the photo documentation, you are looking north through one of the Sikes Lake gazebos, strategically placed around the lake to give walkers a respite from the sun, or rain, if needed. 

That is a drinking fountain you see in the foreground. Drinking fountains are a rare amenity in park locations in this town. I know of none in Lucy Park or Lake Wichita Park or the Wichita Bluffs Nature Area.

Today is day two of being back feeling optimistic about the outcome of the upcoming election. I prefer feeling optimistic to the opposite of feeling optimistic...

Why Does Hell Have No Fury Like A Scorned Woman?

 Googling the well known phrase...

‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ is an idiom adapted from a line in William Congreve’s play, The Mourning Bride. The line from which it came is ‘Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”

‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ means that there is no greater anger than that of a woman who has been rejected in love.

Oh so totally pitifully true. That the scorned is scorned for good reason does not lessen the level of the fury. I imagine it is not pleasant to be scorned. But, one cannot help but wonder why those prone to experience scorn do not adapt their scornful behavior so as to avoid experiencing scorn...

Amazon Prime Delivers New Air Fryer But No Herfy's Hefty Burger

A week ago my air fryer died. This was my second air fryer to die. I had grown used to using the air fryer frequently.

The same week my air fryer died, the latest iteration of Amazon Prime came to be. And among the Prime bargains was an air fryer.

That new air fryer arrived at my doorstep, via UPS, yesterday.

I did not get around to un-boxing the new air fryer til this morning.

Now that I am borderline elderly I no longer enjoy figuring out new things. Just unpacking something like an air fryer is a tad daunting.

But I did so. Read the instructions. Did as instructed.

But, when I touched the touch screen the only items to react were the rotate function, the light function, the start function and the cancel function.

I tasked an assistant with contacting Amazon to make the product return arrangements, whilst I continued to try and see if the problem was human error, and not the fault of the air fryer.

After perusing the manual which came with the air fryer I found the troubleshooting section to be of no use.

Then, looking closely at the control panel it looked like there might be a film of some sort covering the control panel. After a few attempts at getting a fingernail under the edge of the control panel, I quickly realized my fingernail was under the edge of a plastic film covering the control panel. I pulled it completely off to find the control panel now brightly shining, such as you see above.

Below is the plastic film which was making me think I had a malfunctioning air fryer.

Now, would you not think that in the set up instructions that mention would be made of this plastic film which needed to be removed before the air fryer could function properly?

Today in the air fryer I am frying fish, in order to make a replica of my all time fish burger, that I used to get, decades ago, at Herfy's.

Herfy's Hefty Burger and Herfy's Fish Burger were the best of that type delicacy I have ever had.

When my cousin Scott was in the army, stationed in Vietnam, his unit became homesick for a Herfy's Hefty Burger. Somehow it was arranged to put some Hefty Burgers on dry ice and ship them to Vietnam. I do not recollect being told the Hefty Burgers were edible upon arrival.

But, I am sure the effort was greatly appreciated...

Remembering Pooling With Nephew David In Arizona

The Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day, arriving in my email a few minutes ago, was definitely not from this day in July.

This particular memory happened one day in March of the year 2019.

Over five years ago.

That would be me lifting nephew David out of my sister Jackie's pool in Chandler, Arizona. I think David is 15 years old now, which would have made him 10 when I was able to lift him. I doubt I could do that now.

I can not remember when last I got wet in a swimming pool. I do not like the pool at my current location. No shade and the water gets way too warm.

The cold snap, which last week was predicted for this week, never much materialized. I think one day this week managed to stay in the low 90s at the hottest. 

My Friday walking venue was once again Walmart.

The Walmart anthropological observations are particularly interesting when the temperature is way too HOT, and way too many attire themselves in way too skimpy, ill-fitting clothing, revealing way too many garish tattoos, and other things best not seen in public.

Do some people not own mirrors?

Flying Google Earth From Texas To Visit My Old Washington Home Zone

Last night I flew Google Earth from my current home zone to my old home zone of Washington state. It had been a few years since I had flown home via this method.

I first checked out the town I grew up in, Burlington, going down Fairhaven Avenue, that being the main drag through town. Much had changed, including what looked to be a lot of new landscaping at the area train tracks intersect with, I think, Highway 20, that being the rode which takes you to North Cascades National Park.

When I got to my old home, across from Maiben Park, I saw something which clued me as to why I find a certain aspect of Texas to be a bit appalling.

That being the sad state of sidewalks in the Lone Star state.

The sidewalk in front of the house I grew up in is wide, with a grass median between the sidewalk and the road. A feature I rarely, if ever, have seen in Texas. And now a sidewalk has been added on the park side of the street.

The house I grew up in is the one in the middle. Seeing the sidewalk, with the median between sidewalk and road, I understand why I find the Texas sidewalks so appalling.

After several minutes in Burlington I headed south to Mount Vernon. The first thing I checked out in Mount Vernon was the Riverwalk along the Skagit River.

The Mount Vernon Riverwalk was built as part of a flood control project. Previous to this new flood control method sandbags were used to build a walk to keep downtown Mount Vernon from being flooded. Now a temporary wall can be assembled quickly by just a couple wall builders, not the hundreds of volunteers it took to build a sandbag wall.

The Texas town I used to live in, Fort Worth, has been trying to build a new flood control method in an area which has not flooded since the 1950s, because flood control levees already prevent such from happening. Fort Worth's slow-motion project, limping along for most of this century is known as the Trinity River Vision, purported to be a vitally needed flood control and economic development plan.

So vitally needed that, so for, the only major part of that Vision which can be seen is three simple little freeway overpass type bridges, built over dry land, to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

The river that flows through Fort Worth is the Trinity River. This is not a Skagit River type river. As you can sort of see in the above photo, the Skagit River looks like it is flowing clean, clear water. The Trinity River looks like flowing mud, and in flood mode that flowing mud is covered with litter.

That photo at the top is the house I lived in before moving to Texas. Built in 1985 for only $65,000. Sold in 2002 for $132,000. And recently I saw the house has been sold again for a little under a hall million bucks. 

Such seems so bizarre to me. That anyone would pay that much for that house. Only three bedrooms, two bathrooms. And no walk-in closets. The decks in front and back were rather nice, there is that. I had a great roof top garden in the front patio, with two big blueberry bushes, among many other vegetative things, including a lot of basil.

I'm appalled to see a garage door has been added to the open carport, not matching the look of the rest of the house. I see the stairs leading to the front door have been totally re-done. And why is there what looks to be a big plastic tarp above where my bedroom was?

I guess it really is true, you can't go home again. And expect all to be the same as you remember it...

Cool Lake Wichita Visit To America's Third Dirtiest Lake

A cold front blew in overnight, dropping the high today to somewhere in the 90s.

It was in the 80s, with a strong wind making it feel cooler, when I ventured to Lake Wichita this morning for the first time since some American federal agency designated Lake Wichita with the honor of being the 3rd dirtiest lake in America.

Lake Wichita is a shallow lake, and not a natural lake, but a reservoir created by a dam, which is what I walked on to get to the long fishing pier boardwalk you see above.

At the end of the long pier boardwalk I came upon the little guy you see here, holding a fishing pole. I asked how many fish he'd caught. His dad, sitting to the left of the kid, replied, not a bite, and we've been here over an hour.

I did not feel like asking if they knew they were fishing in the third dirtiest lake in America.

Another guy was fishing on the other Lake Wichita dock, a short distance away. I did not get the chance to ask him how many fish he'd caught.

It is being a nice relief having clouds back, well, a few, blocking some of the sun...