Hopefully Tomorrow's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Happy Hour Inner Tube Float Will Be Corpse Free Along With Clean Swimmin' & Dirty Livin' Free Koozies

Yesterday a woman was found floating, dead, at the location where the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube floats take place.

Some have suggested that tomorrow's floating should be canceled, due to a body being found floating where the inner tubes congregate.

Others opine that it is no big deal, people turn up dead all the time.

We don't shut down a freeway because someone died in a car wreck.

We don't shut down a roller coaster just because someone got tossed off it to their death.

Oh.

Well, anyway, tomorrow's J.D. Granger floating show will go on as scheduled.

Not only will the floating show go on, despite bodies found floating in the floating zone, tomorrow if you buy one of J.D.'s classy "CLEAN SWIMMIN' DIRTY LIVIN'" tank tops you will get yourself an equally classy "LET ME HOLD YOUR CANS" can Koozie for free.

What a deal.

And the band providing the music for tomorrow's inner tube float?

"Dirty River Boys".

Perfect.

And people wonder why it is that J.D. Granger now has a world wide reputation for being the world's best inner tube happy hour music event promoter....

I Was A Hot Mess In North Texas Ignoring A Heat Advisory & Air Quality Alert

I drove to my neighborhood Walmart Supercenter around 4 this afternoon. At that point in time the temperature was not over 100, except for the Heat Index version of the temperature.

On the way to Walmart the air-conditioning part of my motorized vehicular transport made a disturbing noise. The temperature quickly rose.

By the time I made the long 3 mile trek to the Walmart parking lot I was a HOT mess, rushing inside Walmart to get cooled.

I got what I was getting at Walmart and then left the Walmart air-conditioned comfort to return to the outside furnace.

I started up my motorized vehicular transport, began moving, turned on the A/C and felt cool.

Even though I felt cool, after I turned on the A/C, I was still a HOT mess by the time I made it back to my abode.

And now, coming up on 7 in the evening, we are being heated to 101, with the Heat Index feeling like 107.

But I am no longer a HOT mess, because A/C is blowing cold air directly on me....

I Found No One Floating In The Trinity River When I Biked In Gateway Park Today

In the picture it looks like my handlebars are looking at a lake.

But that is no lake.

It is the green Trinity River, as viewed from a cliff in Fort Worth's Gateway Park, today, around noon, with the temperature a few degrees below 100.

Yesterday, a few miles upstream, the body of a woman was found floating where the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube floaters float.

I don't know if tomorrow's scheduled Trinity River Inner Tube Happy Hour Float has been cancelled pending the results of the investigation into what caused a woman to float dead in that location.

On a happier note, I saw no one floating, dead or alive, in the part of the Trinity River I looked at today.

I had a fast pedal on the Gateway Park mountain bike trail today. Most of the trail is heavily shaded, which makes for a much cooler experience than being directly under the blazing HOT Texas sun.

When I finished pedaling I continued on to Gateway Park's neighbor, Town Talk, hoping to get some more packages of Chorizos and bags of Poblano Batard  bread. I was successful on both counts.

I Refuse To Eat The Fish I Catch In Fort Worth's Fosdick Lake

Upon arrival at the Oakland Lake Park parking lot I saw the guy on the left catch and release a fish back in to Fosdick Lake.

I was standing on Fosdick Dam, looking south across Fosdick  Lake, when I zoomed in to take a picture of the bucolic fishing scene you see here.

A crowd of spectators, in the form of humans and ducks, were spectating the fishing.

I've never enjoyed fishing. Even though the fishing gene runs strong in my relatives, like Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey.

Joey catches fish he can eat, caught in water that is not polluted.

One is advised not to eat the fish one catches in Fosdick Lake.

I would think that a town that felt compelled to post such warnings about fish caught in the town's water would be motivated to clean up the town's dirty water to make the fish safe to eat.

The town of Bedford has a stocked fishing lake in Chisholm Park that is quite popular.

Bedford is only a few miles from Fort Worth.

Maybe Fort Worth could send a study group to Bedford to find out how it is that Bedford has a lake from which one can consume the fish one catches.

Spencer Jake Riding The Great Seattle Wheel Reminded Me Of The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

No, that is not an artist's rendering of what little Pond Granger will look like if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle ever becomes something anyone can see.

What you are looking at in the picture is my Great Nephew, Spencer Jack, and his favorite girl friend, Brittney, in Seattle, high above Elliott Bay in a gondola attached to the Great Seattle Wheel.

I blogged about Spencer Jack and the Great Seattle Wheel, this morning, on my Washington blog in a blogging titled Spencer Jack & Girl Friend Brittney Take A Spin On The Seattle Great Wheel.

Looking at the above picture did get me to thinking about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. To the left of Brittney we can see a small slice of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Alaskan Way Viaduct is getting replaced by a tunnel. The world's biggest tunnel boring machine, christened Bertha by the locals, has started her boring job.

The new transit tunnel is scheduled to be operational sometime in 2015 or 2016.

Does anyone know when some aspect of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, other than a drive-in movie theater, a restaurant, a wakeboard park, inner tube floating parties and a lame music venue, is scheduled to be operational?

Like when is that celebrated flood diversion channel scheduled to finally start protecting downtown Fort Worth from a flood?

Has anyone seen an artist's rendering of what that flood diversion channel will look like?

Is the flood diversion channel, if it is ever built, going to be a big cement lined ditch? Empty of water except when a flood comes to town?

When can we expect to be seeing cruise ships docking on Pond Granger? This decade?

Have any of J.D. Granger's thousands of Magic Trees been planted?

Over two years ago we learned that those Magic Trees had to be in place during a flood to slow down the Trinity River after it shoots at high speed through the flood diversion channel. Shouldn't those trees be planted by now? Giving them plenty of time to get well rooted before they get  hit with a flood?

So many questions. Never any answers....

A Wreck On The Way To Mallard Cove With A Scary Cliff Above An Upside Down Car In The Trinity River

I came upon the disturbing scene you see on the left on my way to Mallard Cove Park to pedal my handlebars.

When I took a turn to the right to head east on Randol Mill Road I saw the road blocked by a firetruck, police cars, emergency vehicles and a lot of flashing lights on the west side of where Randol Mill crosses I-820.

One lane was getting through to the east. As I waited for the light to turn green I snapped the picture. Though I thought not at first, the guy on the ground was still alive. I saw an EMT guy talking to him and then changing his focus to another injured guy, on a stretcher, being moved to an ambulance.

The light turned green and I proceeded on to Mallard Cove Park.

The paved trails at Mallard Cove Park are fine for a couple loops. But then I exit the park zone to explore via beat up old access roads. At one point I came to the view you see below.

A narrow trail came to its end. I could see the view you see above. I assumed the Trinity River was  flowing towards me. But then I slowly stepped to the edge of the precipice to see I was wrong in my assumption.

Due to my bad photography skills I was not able to accurately capture how high the above cliff is. Or how fast the Trinity River was flowing, making rapids. As I walked towards the precipice I thought the Trinity River was flowing towards me and that when I got to the edge of the cliff I would see the river continuing on to my right, heading east. Instead I got to the cliff's edge and looked down to be very startled to see the river directly below me and flowing in the opposite direction I assumed it was flowing.

It took me awhile to figure out that the Trinity River was making a big oxbow turn at this location, with the turn having the river head back west before making another turn to the east. I need to look at Google Earth to see how the  river manages to do this at this location.

And then from the same view there was something disturbing in the middle of the river.

The disturbing thing in the middle of the river appeared to be an upside down vehicle, sort of a continuation of today's car wreck theme. And also continuing with today's car wreck theme, sort of, is the scene I came upon below.

Dozens of abandoned tires of various sizes. Why do people dispose of tires in this manner in so many locations I come upon in the D/FW Metro Zone? This tire collection is located a short distance west of the western boundary of Mallard Cove Park.

UPDATE: Just as I thought it might, Google Earth solved the mystery of how it was I was confused by the direction the Trinity River was flowing today. As you can see the river takes an Oxbow turn at the location I saw it whilst standing atop a cliff, heads west, before turning back east to continue its journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Continuing Quest To Find Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption

Last week I blogged about wondering who it was Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption? In that particular blogging it appeared that Fort Worth Wheeler Dealer, Jim Lane, was at the Center of the Culture of Corruption, graphic-wise.

Moments ago I had reason to re-read another blogging from last week titled Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About Replacing Kay Granger With Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher Or Elsie Hotpepper in which I mentioned I had read a very amusing paragraph that mentioned both Jim Oliver and J.D.Granger in an article written by Clyde Picht in the Fort Worth Business Press....

Needing a director for the TRVA with high qualifications – someone versed in construction, engineering and hydrology, to name a few essential skills – the water district’s general manager, Jim Oliver, went for the best. This being potentially a billion dollar project, Oliver zeroed in on the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office and found a tier 4 law school graduate working as an assistant DA. Selecting J.D. Granger to head TRVA was rather fortuitous because his mother, Kay Granger, happened to be a member of Congress and federal money was required for the key requirement of building a bypass channel and dams and hydraulic locks and all the really expensive stuff.

Re-reading what Clyde Picht wrote about J.D. Granger being picked as the guy to run the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is why at this point in time, in the graphic above, I have J.D. Granger at the Center of Fort Worth's Culture of Corruption.

Re-reading what Clyde Picht wrote got me thinking about TRWD board member Mary Kelleher's quest to get TRWD documents available for Mary's, and the public's perusal.

Thinking about TRWD documents got me wondering what sort of documentation exists of the communications between J.D. Granger and Jim Oliver regarding hiring J.D. to run the TRVB project.

J.D Granger was working as an assistant District Attorney. So, what happened? Did J.D. get a call one day, during a break from prosecuting, from Jim Oliver? An email? A personal meeting?

When Jim Oliver suggested to J.D. Granger that he was the man he wanted to run the TRV Boondoggle, what did J.D. say?

Did J.D. say to Jim Oliver I have absolutely no qualifications for such a job? Did J.D. ask Jim Oliver why are you thinking I could, or should, take this job?

What was Jim Oliver's explanation, to J.D., as to why Jim Oliver thought J.D. was the man for this particular job?

When the selection of J.D. Granger was made to run this billion dollar boondoggle, how was this selection presented to the TRWD Board? What discussion took place? Did Jim Lane or Marty Leonard or any of the other board members inquire of Jim Oliver as to what J.D. Granger's qualifications were?

Should there not be rather detailed records regarding as important a subject as the hiring of the person to run such an important, uh, flood control project?

Has the Fort Worth Star-Telegram or Fort Worth Weekly or anybody ever directly asked J.D. Granger how he is qualified for his Trinity River Vision Boondoggle job?

That seems as pertinent a question today as it did back when J.D. got the job, what with the Trinity River Vision project now clearly, solidly into boondoggle mode. And with that being the case, who do you blame?

The unqualified guy hired to do the job?

Or those who agreed to hire him?

Or the Culture of Corruption that permits such things to take place?

An Indian Ghost Walk With A Giant Great Dane & Mexican Hot Dogs

In the picture you are looking at one of the two spots designated as being a Wildflower Area in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Today the Wildflower Areas were not looking too colorful.

This morning a couple hours after my morning swim I drove up to Hurst to ALDI. It had been two months since I'd driven up to the Hurst ALDI.

Since my last drive to the HURST ALDI the highway construction at the 820/121 junction, and beyond, has grown even more adventurous than the last time I navigated this obstacle.

Somehow, within the past 2 months, at the Precinct Line exit off of 121, a new Outback Steakhouse has sprouted up and is open. When I drove by this spot 2 months ago all I recollect seeing was a big open space where, I think, a grocery store once stood, with nothing under construction.

In Texas some things are built amazingly fast, like some road construction projects and restaurants, like this new Outback Steakhouse. Whilst other things, like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, seem to be built on a slow motion time table.

The most interesting thing I saw walking with the Village Creek Indian Ghosts today was a Giant Great Dane and the lady walking the Giant Great Dane. The Giant Great Dane was an extremely friendly dog, who seemed to be smiling. The lady walking the Giant Great Dane was also extremely friendly.

But what made the lady walking the Giant Great Dane interesting was what she was wearing. Tie dyed leggings with a tie dyed top that matched the tie dyed leggings, with a matching tie dyed bandanna. I would think wearing leggings on a HOT day would be extremely HOT. Aren't leggings sort of like wearing long underwear? Only tighter?

I used to know an extremely large lady who stuffed herself into leggings, with the leggings frequently splitting apart due to the stress of containing more flesh, under extreme pressure, than any fabric can withstand. It also perplexed me as to why an extremely large lady would want to stuff herself into tight leggings. Is it to show off that voluptuous figure?

Speaking of stuffing something into something.

Yesterday I mentioned getting Poblano Batard Bread and Chorizo at Town Talk and that I was going to see if those two items, together, made for a tasty Mexican Hot Dog.

Well, lunch is now history and I can report that the next time I'm at Town Talk if Poblano Batard Bread and Chorizo are in the Town Talk freezer I am buying some to stick in my freezer.

From Wee Cheng's Son We Learn Vice-President Biden Is In Singapore Buying Fresh Lime Juice

On the left you are looking at a screen cap from Facebook. A screen cap of a posting by Wee Cheng that amused me.

Wee Cheng is a Singapore native of Chinese descent. Wee writes and speaks English, in addition to Chinese. Singaporean English is known as Singlish, due to the way the locals mix Singapore in to their version of English.

My lessons in Singapore culture came from Wee Cheng back in the last century.

My first website was birthed in the mid 1990s. In either late 1994 or 1995. My first website was called Dialing Doctor Durango. At that point in time Doctor Durango was sort of a know it all blowhard soliciting questions from people seeking answers to any type of question. Being a know it all blowhard was a real big stretch for me.

Most people got the satirical sarcastic nature of Dialing Doctor Durango. But, two things happened that caused me to stop being Doctor Durango and change my website in to The Durango Files.

One of the things that happened was a Munich, Germany medical university's website listed Dialing Doctor Durango among the Top Ten medical websites on the Internet. Soon after that I got a very earnest, very serious gynecological oncology question from a lady in the UK.

After the gynecological oncology question I decided it was time to shut the Doctor Durango clinic.

Now, what does any of that have to do with Wee Cheng?

Well, back when I was still enjoying  being Doctor Durango Wee Cheng emailed me asking for lovelorn advice. Lord knows I am the go to guy for that type advice. Wee Cheng's former boyfriend, Teck Seng, was returning to Singapore from an assignment in London. Teck Seng wanted to see Wee. Wee was reluctant. Wee's mother thought she should give Teck another shot.

I agreed with Wee's mom.

During the course of the following years Wee and I exchanged emails constantly. Wee asked for my phone number and called me a couple times while I still lived in Washington and once or twice after the move to Texas. Wee mailed me cool stuff, like antique Singapore postcards, that I webpaged. Those postcards must be in this abode, somewhere. Wee mailed me a cool silk sarong type thing she got in Japan.

When Wee was in Japan she went into a Walmart where she got something called Easy Cheese. Disgusting fake cheese sprayed from a can. This delicacy was not available in Singapore, so Wee asked me if I could ship her some Easy Cheese. I bought 3 cans of the stuff and shipped it to Singapore. If I remember right it cost about 10 times more to mail than the Easy Cheese cost.

I don't remember if it was before I moved to Texas, or after, but, I got an invitation to Wee and Teck's wedding. I did not make it to Singapore for the wedding.

Wee continued emailing me until just before George Bush invaded Iraq. Prior to that Wee told me if America invaded anymore Asian countries she was done with all things American. I then asked if that meant she'd be giving up using the Internet.

After that exchange I did not hear from Wee again for years, not til she sent me a Facebook friend request. After Wee Facebook friended me I was quite pleased to see that she was now a mother with two boys.

It was one of those boys who provided me Facebook amusement this morning with the following...

Yap Wee Cheng
Son:  Mum, do you know US Vice President is in Singapore?
Mum:  Yes. Not bad yah, you know about it. Do you know the reason for him to be here? 
Son:  For good food lah, he went to hawker center to buy fresh lime juice. 

Mum can't help but laugh hysterically.

"yah" and "lah" are examples of the aforementioned Singlish.

An Almost Chilly Walk Around Fosdick Lake Before Finding Poblano Batard Bread At Town Talk

That thin slice of blue in the middle of the picture is Fosdick Lake. In this view we are on a hill in Oakland Lake Park, looking west.

My Saturday norm, of late, has been to go biking at Gateway Park and then on to Town Talk.

However, yesterday afternoon a deluge dropped some water which likely rendered parts of the Gateway Park mountain bike trail muddy.

When I mountain biked in the Pacific Northwest biking through mud was quite common. But Pacific Northwest mud does not have the glue-like consistency of Texas mud. And so I avoid biking on Texas mud, if I can help it.

Today there were a lot of people enjoying walking around Fosdick Lake and playing in Oakland Lake Park. I think the large number of people enjoying being outdoors is explained by the temperature being unusually cold for the last Saturday of July in North Texas.

As in, the air was only heated into the low 80s when I went walking. Low 80s with a wind blowing. It was almost chilly. I probably should have kept my shirt on.

I had better treasure hunting this week at Town Talk than I did last Saturday.

Today I got a couple bags of Romaine Hearts, 4 bags of Spring Lettuce Mix, a case of Greek Honey Yogurt, Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese, a bag of something called Poblano Batard Bread, Whole Grain Bagels, Chorizos and dozens of Chicken Legs.

I am not sure what to do with Chorizos or Poblano Batard  Bread. But tomorrow I think I will see if paired together those items make a Mexican Hot Dog.

Pondering The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Al Capone Mary Kelleher & Me

Til I read the quote on the left, brought to my eyes this morning by the Fort Worth Connie D, I had no idea I had anything in common with Al Capone, besides being late paying my income tax a time or two.

This morning I learned, via Elsie Hotpepper, that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has made a 180 degree turn in its covering of the Tarrant Regional Water District board controversies.

You can read this turnaround yourself in an editorial in today's Star-Telegram titled Uncomfortable times ahead for water district.

Basically the Star-Telegram opined that the people spoke, turned out in record numbers, elected Mary Kelleher with the most votes of any candidate.

And that the other board members need to get on board.

The first 5 paragraphs of the Star-Telegram editorial give you a good idea of how big a change this is in the Star-Telegram's coverage of this issue...

The main thing the four multi-term members of the Tarrant Regional Water District board of directors must remember about recently elected member Mary Kelleher is that she won.

In fact, she won the May 11 election handily, pulling in more votes than any of the seven candidates in this year’s race for three spots on the board. Board President Vic Henderson and now-Vice President Jack Stevens were re-elected to the other two seats.

If that’s not enough to make the veterans respect the rookie, they should note that 59,889 people cast ballots in the water district election this year, up 61 percent from the 37,286 who turned out in 2010, the board’s most recent previous election.

That means a lot more people were interested this time around, and Kelleher’s place as the top vote-getter signals great voter interest in her message.

That message, voiced by Kelleher and two other candidates who were not elected, was clear. Putting it mildly, they said the TRWD has some explaining to do. Voters need to know more about how the board and the district operate, and they want to know whether it’s the most effective and efficient operation it can be.

Just like with Al Capone, weak is not what you are going to get when you are not kind to a well regarded person like Mary Kelleher.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram antidote known as the Star-Telegraph made note of today's Star-Telegram editorial in a blog post titled Who is the Tool?

In that blog post the Star-Telegraph summed up the issue quite succinctly with...

Mary has been flooded, railroaded, threatened and bullied. She's not going anywhere and neither are the people that elected her.

That's a fact, Jack.

Finding Ma & Pa's 50th Anniversary Party Is A Bit Depressing

I think I've mentioned I've been going through all my web files, making changes.

I have been making web files since the early 1990s. Web files created since around 1998 still exist, for the most part, and are located in hundreds of folders stored in my durangotexas domain.

Going through all the web files I am finding all sorts of things I'd forgotten I'd done. Such as making a webpage with a few photos that I took at my mom and dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party, back on August 11, 2001.

No one, but my two oldest nephews, knew I was driving myself up to Washington for mom and dad's anniversary. This was to be the last time I have driven back to Washington.

Even though the 50th party was on the 11th, my mom and dad's actual anniversary is August 6, the same day an angry America dropped the world's first atom bomb on a town in Japan named Hiroshima.

My mom and dad always seem to have their significant anniversary parties on August 11, rather than Hiroshima Day. I remember the 40th was also on August 11, out on Samish Island.

This coming August 6 Hiroshima Day will be mom and dad's 63rd Anniversary, if I am counting correctly.

Looking at the Ma & Pa's 50th Anniversary Party webpage is sort of depressing. Several in the pictures are no longer living. Like my Grandma Vera, Uncle Mel, Glen Youngren, Kate the Brit and her boyfriend, Jack and Rosie the Rat Dog.

And I could see my Aunt Mike in one of the photos. At that point in time Aunt Mike was in good health, still running and biking, looking younger than her years, still a blonde.

And now, just a few short years later Aunt Mike is in an assisted care facility with Alzheimer's.

Like I said.

Depressing.

A Couple Minute Afternoon Deluge Downpour On The Last Friday Of July

You are looking out my computer room window, the afternoon of the last Friday of July of 2013.

You are looking past thick blind blades,  past 3 panes of glass, with the outer pane looking as if it is frosted by ice, but what that outer pane is actually frosted by is the results of a downpour that poured down in the last few minutes.

Hardest rain I've seen fall in recent memory. Though, it did not last long. Maybe this was just the first wave, with more to fall.

So far I have heard none of the predicted thunder booming.

Currently the outer world has returned to dead calm. Calm before a bigger storm?

I suspect not....

Taking Another Tour Of My Neighborhood's Industrial Wasteland With Signage

Rain dropped on me while I was getting wet swimming this morning. More rain is predicted to drop later today, along with lightning bolts.

So far, in the noon time frame, it does not appear that rain will be dropping any time soon.

Today I did not feel like driving anywhere to hike or bike. I'd already acquired sufficient endorphins via aerobic swimming to get me through the day in a state of peaceful bliss.

Instead of driving anywhere I walked to my neighborhood Albertsons.

You know how sometimes you stop noticing something because it sort of becomes background noise that you no longer notice?

Well, in the Albertsons strip mall parking lot north entry off Boca Raton Boulevard there sits the beat up, damaged sign you see above and on the right, that I'd ceased paying attention to because it has been so many years, now, since I first noticed this eyesore.

Would you not think that the businesses mentioned on this sign, including Albertsons, would want to have better signage representing them?

On the other side of this sign the Mr. Jim's Pizza part of it is totally faded. Mr. Jim's Pizza is the nearest business to this sign.

Would you not think that a city like Fort Worth, renowned in the minds of some locals to be one of the world's greatest cities, would have an ordinance that requires signs, such as this, not to become long standing eyesores?

Directly across the street from this sign is the industrial  wasteland I have made mention of previously, that being one of my two neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale gas pad sites.

I'm thinking maybe the sad condition of this sign fits with the industrial wasteland theme we seem to have going  on in my neighborhood....

Biking To A Gateway Park Cliff Above The Trinity River Trying To Get Elsie Hotpepper To Go Floating With Me

Those are my handlebars looking over a cliff at the Trinity River in Gateway Park.

Today was my first time back on the Gateway Park mountain bike trail since recent rains muddied dirt trails in my neighborhood.

The only excitement on the mountain bike trail today, other than pedaling fast, came from a way too close encounter with a squirrely squirrel.

Doesn't the soothing green water of the Trinity River look inviting?

Later today 100s of water lovers will be floating on inner tubes in the Trinity River, at the north end of downtown Fort Worth, where the Clear and West forks of the Trinity River become one. And where a magical island has popped out of nowhere, along with a pavilion, that has propelled Fort Worth to its rightful status of having the leading waterfront music venue in the world.

I may be hyperbolizing. The actual fact may be that this is the leading, I mean, only waterfront music venue in Texas.

I may still be hyperbolizing. Maybe the actual fact is that this may be the only waterfront music venue in Fort Worth.

I think I've blogged about the hubris involved in the inflated claims attached to that which is called Panther Island Pavilion and the Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Floats. I'll see if I can find those bloggings.

Easy to find one of the bloggings. Titled The Propaganda Panther Rocks Tonight With J.D. Granger's Big Dose Of Hubris.

I can't find the blogging where I quoted  J.D. Granger making the claim that the Panther Island Pavilion Music Venue is the only urban waterfront music venue in Texas.

I also have not been able to get Elsie Hotpepper to agree to go to downtown Fort Worth with me this evening to go float on inner tubes in the Trinity River for an hour of being happy whilst drinking Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Beer that only costs $3 a bottle....

Where Funkytown Gets Down Rockin' The River Live On The Trinity With Clean Swimmin' Dirty Livin'

When I saw the advertisement on the left in this week's DFW.com Ink edition I wondered whether these brilliant ads are produced in house by the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, or does the TRVB out source this to an advertising agency.

We are now into the 3rd summer of 100s of people floating in the Trinity River every Thursday.

If I remember right the original version of this activity was called the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float.

For summer of 2013 it is now "Rockin' the River Live on the Trinity".

No mention of "Happy Hour" or "Floating".

However the ad does inform us that the TRVB will sell you alcohol in the form of beer for $3. And that you are forbidden to float your own beer in a cooler.

The slogans in the ad are very clever.

"WHERE FUNKYTOWN GETS DOWN".

"CLEAN SWIMMIN' DIRTY LIVIN'".

I'm thinking "DIRTY SWIMMIN' CLEAN LIVIN'" would make more sense.

When did Fort Worth go from being known as Cowtown to being Funkytown?

Fort Worth is Funky? How? Where?

The ad does mention floating, even if floating is no longer in the name for the event. At the top of the ad we are advised to "FLOAT UP TO FRONT ROW SEATS AT PANTHER ISLAND PAVILION."

Has anyone located Panther Island yet? Or figured out what the pavilion is?

I have to admit, now that we are in the 3rd summer of 100s of people floating in the formerly polluted river, that a few things surprise me.

I would have thought by now there would be incidents of people acquiring a bad rash from being in that water.

I would have thought by now there would be incidents of people getting sick via contact with E.Coli bacteria in the water.

I would have thought by now there would be incidents of encounters with water moccasins, garfish, turtles or alligators.

But, as far as I know, there have been none of the type incidents I thought would likely happen when 100s of people decided it was an okay thing to go floating in the formerly polluted Trinity River.

So, today, with it being Thursday, I am pondering if I want to go Rockin' the River Live on the Trinity tonight and have myself some of that beer and food  available for purchase, mentioned in the ad.

I'll see if Elsie Hotpepper wants to go floating live with me tonight....

Tonight I Re-Learned That Victoria Is The Fort Worth Of Southwest Canada

Tonight I found myself searching my blog, trying to find info from the past, the details of which I have forgotten, hence the search.

A year or two or three ago I was asked about property adjacent to Gateway Park. I'd been asked to meet up with someone in regards to this property. I remember taking a photo of this property from a vantage point on the Tandy Hills.

The subject of property adjacent to Gateway Park came up again today, which is why I have been searching my email and blog.

I tried "lawyer" as the search keyword.

That brought up way too much about Chesapeake Energy, Carter Avenue and an inept Fort Worth judge named Sprinkle.

Then I remembered that "I-30" would likely have been mentioned in the blogging.

Again, that turned fruitless.

But, during the course of what did pop up, I came upon some amusing bloggings, like the one from February 12, 2010 titled Taking A Snow Covered Tour Of My Zone Of Texas, Fort Worth, The Arctic Of The South.

Above is one of the pictures from that blogging. A pool surrounded by snow, which I swam in for an hour this morning. One forgets, as one is chilled by almost non-stop air-conditioning, that it can get real cold at this location on the planet, naturally.

And then there is this other blogging I came upon, from October 14,  2009, titled Vancouver, British Columbia, The Fort Worth Of The North.

Apparently I have been complaining about the ridiculous Trinity River Vision Boondoggle for a long time.

I have no memory of this particular blogging, which really is a sad commentary on the state of my memory.

I would think I would have remembered this blog post due to the message from someone named Martha and the extremely amusing comment from Steve A.

What did Steve A say?

Steve A said...
Actually, as has been pointed out to me, Vancouver is in the Southwest unless you're an Imperialist American. Further, I'd say Victoria is the FW of SW Canada - Vancouver is Dallas.

Yikes! That seems kind of harsh to suggest that Victoria is the Fort Worth of Southwest Canada. Victoria is a very scenic town. With an extremely well done, well, cultural district....

In Fort Worth The Public Can Not Look At Public Records Without Special Permission From The Ruling Oligarchy

On the left you are looking at this afternoon's version of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's front page, online version.

This morning when I did my daily check of the Star-Telegram to see if anyone has been arrested yet in any of the local corruption scandals I saw a headline link to a report about Monday's Tarrant Regional Water District board meeting.

I read the Star-Telegram article. What I read did not much match what I'd been told happened at that meeting. The Star-Telegram reporter seemed fixated on the absurd defensive assertions, made mostly by board member, Jim Lane, regarding the TRWD's private hunting preserve. And the TRWD's luxury helicopter.

Then this afternoon I read this week's Fort Worth Weekly's take on Monday's meeting.

Fort Worth Weekly's version matched what I'd been told about the meeting.

I then went back to the Star-Telegram to re-read their article about the TRWD meeting. The link on the front page is no where to be seen. I could not find the article anywhere.

Did someone like Jim Oliver or J.D. Granger or Jim Lane have one of their foot stomping episodes, demanding the Star-Telegram get back in sync with the party line, hence the article deletion?

Below is what Fort Worth Weekly had to say about Monday's meeting, in Fort Worth's only real newspaper, in its weekly Static column....

Damming Up Public Records

The Tarrant Regional Water District’s newest board member is learning what Fort Worth Weekly and many others have learned over the years: Getting information from this secretive bunch isn’t easy.

Mary Kelleher was sworn in on June 18, and that same day she requested the water district counsel’s legal opinion on whether the board has been meeting in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act.

“It was ignored,” she said.

Later that month, she asked for public records from a staff member. When she returned for the information, Keller said water district general manager Jim Oliver met her and gave her a red-faced tongue-lashing. (He describes it differently.) Any future requests for information, he said, would have to come through him. She responded by suggesting the water board should ask for his resignation or at least require him to take anger-management training. That request went nowhere.

On July 5, she made a motion that the board seek an independent legal opinion on whether it was complying with requirements for open meetings. She wanted an outside opinion because “I don’t have much faith in our counsel,” she told Static. She was referring to the water district’s lawsuit against Oklahoma over water rights, which was tossed out in June by the U.S. Supreme Court after six years and $6 million in legal costs. Her request went nowhere.

At this week’s meeting, the board discussed a new and convoluted policy that prohibits individual board members from asking district employees for public information. The new policy requires a board majority to justify asking district staff to prepare reports derived from district records. Kelleher is the only challenger who won a seat in the May election, and she now serves with four long-tenured incumbents who are not the least bit hesitant to butt heads with her while resisting her attempts to make the agency more transparent.

“Given the public perception of the secrecy at the Tarrant Regional Water District, denying a board member access to records does nothing to dispel that perception,” she said.

Water district board meetings have been sparsely attended in recent years. Residents describe them as rubber-stamped dog-and-pony shows with little insight or discussion. That’s changing, thanks to Kelleher’s dogged attempts to shed light on this powerful agency with about $160 million in its general fund. The water district is charged with making sure this region has plenty of water in the future. However, it has become known more for using its eminent domain powers to push the Trinity River Vision project, which seems to be aimed mostly at making money for already-rich people while doing little for flood control or any other truly public purpose.

Who Is At The Center Of Fort Worth's Culture Of Corruption?

I don't see TRWD board member Marty Leonard clutching her pearls in the above illustration. But that does appear to be Jim Lane at the Center of the Culture of Corruption.

Today I did not feel like going walking or biking in the HOT humidity. I was already overheated in my abode, due to being annoyed regarding what I was being told about yesterday's Tarrant Regional Water District board meeting.

Apparently, at some point in the meeting, board member Jim Lane berated Mary Kelleher over campaign claims made in mailings in the last election. Lane acted like a hostile bully, disgusting many in the packed meeting room.

It has been a month since the TRWD Olivergate Scandal erupted. I blogged about Jim Oliver's bad bully boy behavior in The TRWD Olivergate Scandal Takes Another Scandalous Turn With Denials, Lies & Cover-Ups.

The Olivergate Scandal came about because newly elected TRWD board member, Mary Kelleher, had the raw gall to request some TRWD records. TRWD employee, Jim Oliver, then had what amounted to a hissy fit, directed at Mary Kelleher.

And now what do I learn today?

A month later and Mary Kelleher has received few of the records she requested.

It gets better.

Yesterday Mary Kelleher's fellow TRWD board members voted in a new operating procedure regarding the viewing of TRWD records.

The new operating procedure requires a board member to get the approval of the other board members in order to view the public TRWD records.

Huh?

What have these people done that they are going to such lengths to keep from being public information?

I am also wondering what it takes to trigger a federal racketeering type investigation. One of those deals where a grand jury hands down indictments, with dozens of elected officials and public employees taken to jail in handcuffs and ankle chains?

Is Fort Worth too much of a remote backwater for the FBI to bother with?

Big Tex & T-Rex Should Not Ride The Range Together In Texas Textbooks

I saw the above, on Facebook, a couple minutes ago, brought to my eyes by one of my favorite Facebookers, Pete Charlton.

Apparently Cretinist Creationists are somehow threatening to bastardize Texas textbooks with goofy nonsense.

A Texas entity called the Texas Freedom Network is working to stop this latest Texas idiocy infection by having people "sign" an online petition to send the following message to the Texas State Board of Education---

Texas students need classroom materials that are based on modern, mainstream science and prepare them to succeed in college and the jobs of the future. That means politicians must stop trying to undermine instruction on evolution and climate change. The State Board of Education must approve science textbooks that are based on sound, peer-reviewed scholarship.

The aforementioned Pete Charlton summed it up really well on Facebook...

The Texas State Board of Education has begun the process of adopting new science textbooks. If we let the far right have its way, Big Tex and T-Rex will ride together into those books.

The Creationist attitude is beyond arrogance. When, without a shred of proof a idea that is clearly ridiculous is imposed on others, then that is a raw and vicious use of power. 

It is certainly alright for an individual or individuals to want to believe something is true no matter how unlikely it may be. Everyone is entitled to their own illusions and dementia. 

It's another matter to try to impose those delusions on others and boldly claim their is any rational basis for those silly ideas.

Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About Replacing Kay Granger With Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher Or Elsie Hotpepper

At noon today I took a short break from my maniacal website upgrading to go for a walk in the jungle with the Indian ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

Seems like I was at this same location yesterday. Because I was. With the difference between yesterday and today being today I was in bi-pedal mode of the walking type.

Before I left my abode to go on a walk I heard from a fairly reliable source that today's Tarrant Regional Water District board meeting was having the board faced, once again, with a full house. And that full house was full of questions for the board members.

Questions that likely had board member Marty Leonard, she being the Fort Worth Dowager Heiress well known for clutching her pearls, clutching her pearls.

I wonder if any questions were asked about Jim Oliver's bad boy behavior, or about J.D. Granger.

Last week, or was it the week before, I read a very amusing paragraph that mentioned both Jim Oliver and J.D.Granger in an article written by Clyde Picht in the Fort Worth Business Press....

Needing a director for the TRVA with high qualifications – someone versed in construction, engineering and hydrology, to name a few essential skills – the water district’s general manager, Jim Oliver, went for the best. This being potentially a billion dollar project, Oliver zeroed in on the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office and found a tier 4 law school graduate working as an assistant DA. Selecting J.D. Granger to head TRVA was rather fortuitous because his mother, Kay Granger, happened to be a member of Congress and federal money was required for the key requirement of building a bypass channel and dams and hydraulic locks and all the really expensive stuff.

Succinctly stated like Clyde Picht stated it, one can not help but wonder how it is that the hiring of J.D. Granger, to do a job for which he had zero qualifications, is not some sort of crime of the punishable by fine and jail time sort?

And isn't it time for increasingly blue Fort Worth and environs, home of Wendy Davis, to replace Kay Granger with someone less, well, Kay Granger-ish?

I can think of three good Kay Granger replacements. Those being Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher or Elsie Hotpepper.

A Shady Ride Through The Village Creek Natural Historical Area Jungle

It is not the HEAT. It's the humidity. I never understood this particular weatherism til I moved to the Deep South and experienced humidity.

Today, due to that vexing humidity. And the HEAT. I felt like taking my handlebars somewhere shady to get some outdoor relief.

The paved trail in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area is the shady place, closest to my abode, that is bike friendly. And so, that is where I drove to do some pedaling.

Via the picture you can sort of see that the paved trail trails through what looks like a jungle. The sound effects are also jungle-like, though you can not hear them in the picture. Cicadas making a racket, along with assorted birds and other critters, unidentified, making a jungle symphony.

This morning I started the biggest upgrade to my Eyes on Texas website since 2009. It is a vexing task to go through the 100s of webpages, altering them. Vexing, yet strangely relaxing. It takes me an hour or two to get myself into HTML code mode. Once I get in to code mode I am quite fast at the webpage altering.

Back to website upgrading now...

Feeding The Fosdick Ducks Before Getting Swiss Cheese From Switzerland

By the time the noon time frame arrived I decided to opt out of my regular Saturday bike ride at Gateway Park.

One reason for opting out of bike riding was I don't think there have been enough dry days to dry out the mountain bike trails from the recent deluges.

That and the air in the outer world is being HOT.

HOT and humid.

I got myself plenty of ultra wet humidity this morning, swimming with Miss Puerto Rico.

I prefer to swim solo, but sometimes one must compromise and not get what one prefers.

Prior to my regular Saturday treasure hunting at Town Talk I opted to substitute biking Gateway Park for a walk around Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park so I could give the Fosducks a gourmet treat in the form of big chunks of whole wheat bread.

What lucky ducks.

After feeding the lucky ducks it was on to Town Talk for the aforementioned treasure hunting.

Today's Town Talk treasure hunting was pretty much a bust. Except for a case of blueberry Siggis yogurt, I got nothing else memorable.

Just remembered, I also got some actual Swiss cheese from Switzerland....

What Major Malfunction Caused The Texas Giant At Six Flags Over Texas To Kill A Woman?

Six Flags Texas Giant Killer Coaster

I was more than a little appalled to learn this morning that a woman was thrown off the Texas Giant Roller Coaster at Six Flags Over Texas, last night, and killed.

How could this happen?

The sketchy reports indicate the woman was concerned, prior to the coaster car taking off, that the restraining bar had not clicked securely in to place. A park employee assured the woman she was successfully clicked in.

Even if that restraining bar was not secured I don't see how someone would go flying out of the roller coaster car.

And to add to the horror, two of the woman's children, a man and woman, who people watching the horror described as being in their 20s, were screaming when the coaster car returned to start, yelling "My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!"

I have only ridden the Texas Giant once. I hated it. It was just way too rough and jarring. And not in a fun way. Since I rode the Texas Giant, way back early in this century, or late in the last century, it has been re-modeled, with the new version making, supposedly, for a smoother ride.

As I remember the Texas Giant ride the G-forces pulled me down into the seat and back against the seatback. I don't recollect there being moments where I felt secured by the restraining bar from pitching forward and out of the seat.

I suspect this is going to cost Six Flags a fortune. With this particular roller coaster possibly demolished.

I'd already decided I'd never ride it again. If I had not already decided that, the fact that it is now the Texas Giant Killer Coaster would have me never waiting in line to get on board ever again.

It Has Already Been 5 Years Since I Have Exited Texas To Return To Washington

It was 5 years go, this very day, July 20, 2008, that I saw the view you see here. That being the sea of peaks of the Cascade Mountains, with one of the Washington volcanoes sticking up higher than its fellow mountains.

5 years ago, today, around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I drove to Dallas, to Love Field, to get on a Southwest Airlines airplane to fly to Albuquerque on the way to Seattle.

I left Texas with the air heated into the 100 degree zone. I arrived in the Pacific Northwest to find the air cooled to cooler than air-conditioning.

I pretty much shivered the entire month I was in Washington. The shivering was not entirely due to the chill in the air.

I am more than a little appalled that it has already been 5 years since I have been in Washington. When I flew out of Washington on August 20, 2008, I said, at the time, that it'd likely be at least 20 years before I returned.

I have since adjusted that time schedule.

But, unlike 5 years ago, I have no plans to fly up to Washington today. Instead of driving east to Dallas I think I'll drive west to Gateway Park and ride my bike before going treasure hunting at Town Talk.

An Ozone Alert Has Me Touring Fort Worth's Industrial Wastelands

Today I was not of a mood to drive to any of my regular locations to engage in my regular daily walking or biking or hiking activity in order to have myself some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

One reason I was not of a mood to drive anywhere is because I got myself plenty of aerobic stimulation, via swimming, this morning. Another reason is the area I am located in is currently being blessed with an Ozone Alert, with members of sensitive groups being advised to avoid exposure.

Since I am very sensitive, though not in a sensitive group, I decided it best to limit contact with outdoor ozone infested air, because my eyes were sort of burning earlier this morning. After being outside swimming, I had to resort to eye drops to abate the burning.

Rather than drive anywhere I decided to walk across the street to Albertson's to get a bag of carrots. This is not a long walk, thus limited exposure to Ozone.

Walking to Albertson's I pass the industrial wasteland you see above. With multiple warnings regarding the dangers posed by this industrial wasteland. This particular industrial wasteland is one of my two nearby neighborhood Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale Natural Gas Extraction Sites.

Of my two neighborhood Chesapeake sites only the Albertson's one is clearly visible in all its industrial wasteland glory. The other Chesapeake site is further from the road and somewhat blocked by a brick wall.

As I walked past this industrial wasteland I wondered to myself whether Fort Worth is the biggest city in the world to have so many pockets of industrial wasteland, such as the above, within its borders.

I suspect it is a fact that Fort Worth is the biggest city in the world to have so many pockets of industrial wasteland.

Fort Worth seems to have an industrial wasteland surplus.

The area from the north side of downtown to south of the Fort Worth Stockyards, is largely industrial wasteland. This particular Fort Worth industrial wasteland is what the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle was touted as fixing, prior to the Boondoggle morphing into an Entertainment Production entity creating the world's only urban waterfront music venue with inner tube happy hour floats and 4th of July parties.

My favorite Fort Worth industrial wasteland is the area I call The Ruins of the Stockyards. This industrial wasteland is so scenic it has been used as a set for TV shows in need of something that looks like a third world prison....

Walking With My Mom And The Indian Ghosts Today In Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area

That is the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's former Blue Bayou you are looking at in the picture.

The former Blue Bayou has become the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Green Meadow.

What with all the recent rain I looked at the former Blue Bayou today and wondered where has all the water gone?

My mom walked with me today. I've been calling mom and dad's Arizona landline every couple days of late, checking to see if they made it back from Tacoma's Wedding of the Century.

Apparently mom and dad have been back from Washington for a week. I probably should have left a message saying I called, when I called. But I didn't.

My mom was sounding very chipper, but not all that pleased to be back in the extreme Arizona heat after their brief respite in the natural air-conditioned summer cold of the Pacific Northwest.

My mom also told me that she had a mighty fine time at Tacoma's Wedding of the Century, what with the event being a well planned bout of pleasantness.

Mom told me I should have been there. I told mom I was not invited. Mom told me she was told I had been invited. I then reminded mom of what I'd mentioned earlier in today's walk, that being the fact that I have become so forgetful about things one would think I would remember, like watching a basketball game or getting a wedding invitation.

At least I remembered to go swimming this morning, soon after the arrival of the sun. I'll probably forget tomorrow...

Yet One More Look At Fort Worth's Gateway Park Closed To The Public Eyesore Areas

Those are my handlebars at Gateway Park, today, in front of one of the worst eyesores among any of the many eyesores in Fort Worth's parks.

I think Fort Worth park eyesore #1 is Heritage Park in downtown Fort Worth. I think it earns the number one spot due to the number of years Heritage Park has been a cyclone fence surrounded boarded up mess and the fact that Heritage Park is in the downtown zone of the city some of the locals think is one of the Greatest Cities in the World.

The fact that these type eyesores are allowed to fester, for years, in what is believed (locally, by some) to be one of the Greatest Cities in the World, is quite perplexing.

The Areas Closed to the Public in Gateway Park have been closed for years, ever since the remnants of Hurricane Hermine caused the Trinity River to go in to flood mode.

If I remember right the Gateway Park Boardwalks were already boarded up, pre-Hermine. Due to Hermine sections of the paved trail were lost to the flooding river, with cyclone fence and Area Closed to the Public signs added.

All these years later the majority of the Gateway Park paved trails still have "Trail Temporarily Closed" signs at the entries to the trails. The trail closed signs are basically ignored, with dirt path worn in replacement of the washed out sections of paved trails.

Near the Fort Woof Dog Park in Gateway Park there is a HUGE installation of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle propaganda touting the Gateway Park Master Plan part of the TRV Boondoggle.

Does anyone actually believe that any of that which is touted in the TRV Boondoggle Gateway Park Master Plan propaganda installation will actually come to pass?

Is so when?

If, currently, the city can not even manage to keep the existing park repaired, how in the world can this extremely ambitious Gateway Park Master Plan ever come to fruition?

Go to a blogging from March 31, 2009, titled Gateway Park's Failing Boardwalks & Fort Woof to get a look at the Gateway Park Boardwalks 4 years ago.

Go to a blogging from October, 10, 2009 titled Fort Worth's Gateway Park Master Plan, Abandoned Boardwalks & Dogs for another long ago look at Gateway Park's Boardwalk eyesores.

Go to a blogging from October 8, 2010 titled The Trinity River Vision's Gateway Park Vision for a look at the TRVB propaganda installation.

Go to a blogging from December 3, 2011 titled Walking In The Rain In Gateway Park Looking For Fort Worth City Gas Lease Revenue In Action for another look at the TRVB Gateway Park propaganda and the washed out paved trails still closed to the public.

Go to a blogging from August 13, 2012 titled The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Gateway Park Master Plan Propaganda for another look at the TRVB Gateway Park propaganda.

Go to a blogging from December 18, 2012 titled Biking Gateway Park Freshly Amused By Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Propaganda for more details of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Master  Plan for Gateway Park.

Spencer Jack Rockin' The Water With Happy Hour Floating In Padilla Bay

No, that is not my great nephew, Spencer Jack in the polluted Trinity River floating in a Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float.

Spencer Jack is floating in crystal clear unpolluted saltwater.

This morning, in my incoming email, there were two emails each from Spencer Jack's dad and favorite uncle, my favorite nephews, Jason and Joey.

Both nephews sent  me one photo and one video. With no explanation as to what I was looking at.

Looking at the photo you see here I guessed that maybe the boys were at Bay View State Park, swimming in Padilla Bay.

The audio on the video below confirms I was correct in my guess.

Landlocked Texans, such as those at my current location, not familiar with saltwater beaches, might wonder how anyone could possibly tolerate being in water that must be terribly cold.

Well, I will explain.

Many of the saltwater bays of Western Washington are shallow. When the tide goes out on a shallow bay it exposes a large expanse of sand. If the sun is available the sun heats up the sand. Then when the tide slowly returns the water, that water gets heated. The best location that I've ever experienced this phenomenon is at Birch Bay in Whatcom County, up near the Canadian border.

One summer during my teen years I was at Bay View State Park. I had a snorkel and goggles. I was in the water as the tide came in. Very warm. Peacefully floating along with my head in the water, watching the sand flow below me as the tide moved me along, breathing through the snorkel tube. About a half hour later I surfaced to find that I had traveled quite a distance. This required returning to Bay View State Park via walking barefoot alongside the road to the park. That was likely the last time I ever snorkeled.

Below we see  Spencer Jack doing something I have never done......

Suddenly This Summer A Severe Storm Has Popped Up At My Location In North Texas

I left my abode around 6 to make a quick trip to the Post Office. As soon as my view through the windshield was looking east I saw a massive black cloud looking menacing, spewing lightning bolts that also looked menacing.

I should have stopped to take a picture of the menacing black cloud, but figured that could wait til I got to the Post Office.

But, by the time I got to the Post Office it was too late for a picture of the menacing black cloud because the menacing black cloud was then overhead dropping water in copious amounts, along with those aforementioned lightning bolts.

Then the wind began to blow hard along with the down pouring rain.

I quickly returned to my abode, expecting to find the power knocked out. That expectation was not met.

Yet.

I put my camera under its Popabrella and snapped the picture you see above that does not even remotely due justice to the stormy action the picture should be depicting.

When I woke up my computer to take the pictures off the camera my computer based weather monitoring device was flashing RED. I clicked it to learn....

..SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR... SOUTHWESTERN DENTON COUNTY EASTERN HOOD COUNTY WESTERN JOHNSON COUNTY EASTERN PARKER COUNTY EASTERN SOMERVELL COUNTY TARRANT COUNTY EASTERN WISE COUNTY

AT 6:26 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW BOUNDARY THAT EXTENDED FROM NEAR HIGHLAND VILLAGE TO NEAR DOWNTOWN FORT WORTH TO SOUTH OF CLEBURNE AND WAS MOVING WEST AT 25 MPH. GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM THIS BOUNDARY.

CITIES IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE ALEDO...ANNETTA... ARGYLE...AURORA...AZLE...BARTONVILLE...BENBROOK...BLUE MOUND... BOYD...BRIAR...BURLESON...CLEBURNE...COPPER CANYON...CORRAL CITY... CROWLEY...DENTON...DOUBLE OAK...EAGLE MOUNTAIN...EDGECLIFF... EVERMAN...FOREST HILL...FORT WORTH...GLEN ROSE...GODLEY...HALTOM CITY...HASLET...HURST...JOSHUA...JUSTIN...KEENE...KELLER...KRUM... LAKE WORTH...LAKESIDE...NORTH RICHLAND HILLS...NORTHLAKE...PECAN ACRES...PELICAN BAY...RENO...RICHLAND HILLS...RIVER OAKS...ROANOKE... SAGINAW...SANSOM PARK...SOUTHLAKE...TROPHY CLUB...WATAUGA... WESTWORTH...WHITE SETTLEMENT...WILLOW PARK AND CLEBURNE STATE PARK..

VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS.

Currently, about a half hour into this little storm, the rain has let up, the wind has let up, the thunder still booms.

And I have not lost power.

Yet.

Walking Around Fosdick Lake With A Cowboy Attacking A Log

The rain break and the cool temperature, barely in to the 70s, had a lot of people out and about at Oakland Lake Park today.

Are we currently in full moon mode? I ask because I saw some loony behavior today whilst walking around Fosdick Lake.

Like the cowboy you're seeing in the picture. He was attacking old decayed logs, breaking them apart. For no reason apparent to me.

And then there was this guy and girl, singing loud as they walked along, as if practicing for a bad American Idol audition.

Then there was this couple, who I think thought they were hidden from view, who appeared to be practicing that thing married people do that sometimes results in the production of a baby.

Keeping an eye on the Fosdick Lake lunacy was the big white bird you see below.

Looking at the picture of the big white bird it looks like you can almost see how humid it is today, like there is a very thin fog of moisture hovering in the air.

Even though we are currently not HOT at my location on the planet, I am running the A/C just to get rid of that vexing humidity.

And now is that time of day where the vexing task of making lunch arrives. Salad and grilled cheese is on the menu for today.

Circa 1980s Blast From The Past From Spencer Jack's Dad

Lately with disturbing regularity I find myself unable to remember something I would think I should be able to remember.

I have had two incidents of memory lapse this morning. One lapse occurred when I read a reference to the Ronde-Voo Drive-In in Lynden, Washington. I remember this drive-in by name, but can not remember where it is, or was, in Lynden.

Lynden was pretty much my second hometown whilst growing up in Washington. This is the town where both my grandma's lived.

Then there is the photo above, emailed to me from Spencer Jack's dad. The text in the email....

Lucky number 13 appears to be a relative. I do have vivid memories of watching her play basketball. And softball. And I'm pretty sure that mural still exists at B-EHS.

I remember lucky number 13 playing softball. I remember watching lucky number 13 be named Most Valuable Player in the state softball championship tournament in Wenatchee.

But, I do not remember ever watching lucky number 13 play basketball. I remember watching both of lucky number 13's older sisters play basketball.

Basketball watching is just about the only sport I have ever had any tolerance for spectating.

So, I either never watched lucky number 13 play basketball. Or I did watch number 13 play basketball, but do not remember doing so.

I suspect the fact of the matter is I did watch lucky number 13 play basketball, but have no memory of it.

Is this a sign I am sliding down a slippery slope to senility?

Keeping It Real Without Being A Cruel Maui Cabana Boy

This morning I saw that which you see on the left on Facebook, brought to my eyes by Miss Sampson.

I really have only rarely slightly disliked anyone who I thought was jealous of me.

It never occurred to me that those legions of people who are jealous of me feel that way because they think I am better than them.

This was all new enlightening information for me.

Speaking of making people jealous.

Miss Sampson and her BFF, Delilah, are flying to Maui in November for an extended stay. Sampson and Delilah think it would be a good idea to take me along to be their Cabana Boy.

I am seriously considering this Maui Cabana Boy proposal. I am awaiting further details as to what it, exactly, is that a Cabana Boy does. Is cleaning fish, cooking and window washing involved?

In the last 24 hours I came upon another good quote, but I don't remember where it is I saw it....

'All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness.'
Tennessee Williams

I read the above quote just about the same time I was pondering the ironic fact that the most cruel person I have ever known often complains of others being the most cruel person she has ever known.

This particular cruel person also advertises her false pride in what she thinks is her outspoken frankness. This particular person, in outspoken frank mode, is usually being judgmental and tactless and stupid.  And, like I already said, cruel.

I have seen this cruel person put a false spin on one of her outspokenly frank episodes that then has people who don't get what a cruel, tactless, stupid person she is, praising her for "keeping it real."

One can keep it real without being cruel. I am a paragon of that particular virtue.....