Taking A Trip With TRIP To A World Of Whimsy & Confusion

I mentioned earlier that the TRIP (Trinity River Improvement Partnership) website was back conscious after spending several weeks in a coma.

The TRIP website has not been restored to its full original glory, but, at least you can now watch the award winning documentary, Up a Creek.

When the TRIP website went comatose I was asked if I could help revive it. I asked basic questions like who is the host? Where is the server? Who registered the domain?

I could get no answers. I used WHOIS to find out the domain's name servers had been changed to point to a server in Karlsruhe Germany.

I tried to help, really I did, but everything I got told was really goofy.

Like...

I can give you what info I have to possibly get us back up and going.  But as of now, it appears that our webserver was compromised by a hack that made us an unwilling node of a botnet that attacked Facebook.  Fun stuff.  

Webserver hacked? By an unwilling node of a botnet attacking Facebook? Huh? Was it Al-Qaeda?

I then said if the webserver/host was hacked then the webserver/host should take care of the problem. But, no one seemed to know who or where the webserver/host was.

And then there was this....

The server is rebuilt, I have installed Wordpress. All the settings should be the same. Let me know what I can do to help, I was able to download files, but without a database structure, they are almost useless. We can use those files to copy and paste old information, but the table structure needs to be recreated. I do have all the graphics, and that should help, let me know if I need to send them to someone. I assume that we'll need to re-upload all the files we have via FTP. Being unfamiliar with the architecture of server file systems, I don't know if you can just re-upload everything you have and it'll all be in the right place or what. (I wish I could be more help). Will the host provide any support? This seems to be a lapse in security on their part.

I agree with the last sentence. But that first sentence? The "server is rebuilt"? No one knows where the server is, but it has now been rebuilt? How do you rebuild a server? I have no idea. Files were downloaded, but without a database structure they are useless? Unfamiliar with the architecture of server file systems?

I've been making websites since the early 1990s. None of this stuff I was being told made any sense to me. At one point I said if I got the FTP login info I could easily make a simple website with the movie on it. I was then sent FTP login info. That did not work.

I still don't know what happened to the TRIP website that caused this woe. TRIP's domain's Domain Name Server (DNS) now points to a server in Wayne, United States. That info comes from WHOIS. Where is Wayne? I've no idea. The domain's name servers are still coming from Germany.

This experience with TRIP reminded my of a painful experience that started in 2004 when I made a website for an elderly man in Tacoma. The elderly man did not understand websites or the Internet. But he was full of ideas about what he wanted. A lot of it was pure fanciful magic. And there was a fixation on making font sizes too big. Among many other annoying fixations.

When a new product was added to the website, rather than just sending me the URL, the elderly man would send me an email that said something like "type in 'Dotties cottage chocolate bunny', then click on the 4th item on the list (meaning the Google search results), then click on 'chocolate', then go to the 5th page and get the picture of the 7th bunny from the top."

I am not exaggerating.

In 2006 I was sort of relieved when I got an email from the elderly man in Tacoma telling me he'd decided to have a local guy work on his website. That local guy totally messed up importing the webfiles. The website remains messed up to this day. And looks really outdated. I get some sort of poetic justice pleasure from this.

Now that the TRIP website is back working I hope someone somewhere can figure out who the server/host is, who has control over the domain and the real reason why the TRIP website went comatose.

One more thing, the TRIP domain expires on October 14, 2012. Someone somewhere needs to figure out who registered the domain and get it renewed before the expiration date, or it will go comatose again. But, I will know the reason why, this time.

Singing The Billion Dollar Boondoggle Blues With J.D. Granger At TRIP's Botanic Gardens Trinity River Vision Forum

I got an invitation in the mail this morning from the Trinity River Improvement Partnership, also known as TRIP, inviting me to a Trinity River Vision Forum on Wednesday, October 12 at the Lecture Hall in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden's Conservatory.

I have attended two or three TRIP events. The two or three TRIP events I have attended have been very well done events.

I will be attending the upcoming Trinity River Vision Forum, for certain. You couldn't keep me away if you wanted to.

Because, among those on the panel for the Trinity River Vision Forum is my favorite bar hopping, billion dollar boondoggler, J.D. Granger.

I do not know if J.D.'s mom, my favorite Congresswoman, Kay Granger, will be on the Trinity River Vision Forum panel.

But, my favorite ex-Fort Worth mayoral candidate and Tarrant Regional Water District Board member, Jim Lane, will be sharing his visions.

In addition to J.D. and Jim on the panel, there will also be a City of Fort Worth Representative, who's identity is a tightly guarded secret. Along with several TRIP Board Members and other guests.

My rock and roll band, Durango & the Harplets, have not agreed to perform our hit song, "The Billion Dollar Boondoggle Blues" yet. We're a difficult act to book.

A Reminder To Take A Trip To A TRIP Meeting On Wednesday

Just minutes ago I got an urgent email from TRIP infoming me of a meeting on Wednesday where I am expected to give a speech and sing the National Anthem. I can not guarantee I will do what is expected of me. I seldom do.

Below is the TRIP message....

Dear Friends of the Trinity River,

Worried About Water In Tarrant County?  Maybe You Should Be.

Over the past ten years, North Texas has seen record population growth while our water supply levels have consistently fallen.  There seems to be no real plan to solve the problem and as we're beginning to see the dry lake bottoms baking in the sun, it can only get worse.  But this is nothing compared to what we're facing.  Where is the money that can be used to solve this problem - and where should it be going?  John Basham will tell you.

Also - What is TMDL and what's the status of our TMDL?  TMDL is the Total Maximum Daily Load.  Sounds like just another government alphabet soup acronym, but it actually refers to the levels of PCBs in the Trinity River. PCB or Polychlorinated biphenyls, are highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical compounds that river tubers, wake-boarders and others enjoying a dip in the Trinity have been exposed to.  The North Central Texas council of Governments is involved in a study of the maximum allowable levels of PCBs in the Trinity.  Since they hold their "public" meetings during business hours (when most people are at work), we attended for you and will give you the lowdown. Of course, you can ask US tough questions!  Because we like asking tough questions ourselves.

Get updates on the increased costs of the Trinity River Vision and how it will impact you. 

Then, take a look at some alternative plans.

We'll have many guest speakers - -You won't want to miss this one!

Join the Trinity River Improvement Partnership (TRIP)

Wednesday, September 14th @ 6:30 PM

2501 Ludelle, Fort Worth (Map Below)

And remember - our water is a non-partisan issue!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at TRIP

TRIP's Enhanced Version Of Durango Rockin' The River With JD Granger & His Mama

The screencap on the left is from the Trinity River Improvement Partnership website.

TRIP.

TRIP advocates a sane alternative to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Of late I have been surprised a time or two to see my blog being re-posted by some entity other than myself.

Last night it was TRIP which surprised me.

TRIP has a blog on which I found my blog.

I likely told the TRIP people to feel free to use anything they want of my stuff. What made this use of my stuff interesting is my stuff was "enhanced." Arguably for the better.

For example, the opening sentence says....

From “Durango, Texas”, Saturday, July 9, 2011, where he asks, “Don’t algae and amoebas like it when the water gets warm like this?”

What I actually said was...

Is the Trinity River turning green due to the water warming up, due to the HOT weather, causing algae and other bad stuff to grow?

Now, when I wrote the above, I tried to think of another thing that grows in hot water. Amoebas did not occur to me. So I used the banal "bad stuff." I would have used amoebas had it occurred to me, just for the alliteration alone.

And then, under the ad for Rockin' the River on my blog, I have no caption. TRIP added the following caption...

Float in various germs, contaminants, bio-hazards and turds.

I would not have written this because the word "turds" is not in my vocabulary. I believe "turds" is Texas-speak for fecal matter.

The last 2 sentences in my blogging about Rockin' the River were...

Are J.D. Granger and his mom, Kay, going to be in the Trinity River on Thursday? If not, why not?

After those last 2 sentences TRIP repeated some of what I had written, including the 2 above sentences, and then added a lot more, which is pretty good verbiage, but not quite what I'd say, in the way I'd say it.

You can read the TRIP augmentations below...

WARNING!  DO NOT BECOME A FLOATER IN THE TRINITY! ELEVATED FECAL COLIFORM BACTERIA CONDITIONS PRESENT!

Are J.D. Granger and his mom, Kay, going to be in the Trinity River on Thursday? If not, why not? When our ‘friends in the government’ are trying to persuade folks that all is great in the Trinity.  In fact, grab a tube and  join them in a float down the river!   PLEASE  remember this:

    * This is a media stunt, aimed at showing people having fun in the ‘clean enough’ waters of the Trinity ONLY!
    * These promoters care LITTLE for your health and well-being, apparently.
    * This is a taxpayer funded frat party (complete with drink specials for those that participate)
    * Federal and state studies warn us NOT to eat fish caught in the Trinity due to elevated PCB levels (a known carcinogen) and other harmful legacy (aka – BANNED) chemicals.
    * Industrial and agricultural waste runoff have only INCREASED since those tests
    * This portion of the Trinity is home to alligator gar and more importantly a growing population alligators.  They don’t mind sludgy, polluted swamps.  They have thick skin and murky water makes it easier for them to do their hunting.
    * Did we mention that this frat party was being paid for BY YOU?!?!?  Did you sign up to pay for this?

Real flood control is being ignored, water cleanup is claimed as unneeded and your health is at risk.  Demand some accountability!

I have no idea who I have to thank for so greatly enhancing my meager words. So, I'll just thank TRIP.

TRIP The Trinity River Improvement Partnership's Fort Worth Rebels

It has been brought to my attention that a group of rebels has formed with the goal of trying to Save the Trinity River from its current course of being severely altered by the myopic Trinity River Vision Billion Dollar Boondoggle.

It is risky business rebelling against The Fort Worth Way in these parts.

In the picture of the pair of Trinity River Inner Tube Happy Hour imbibers there is a "Vote NO! Save The Trinity" sign.

That is a bit misleading. In Fort Worth the voters are not allowed to vote on massive public works projects in their city.

The Rebel Group calls itself  the Trinity River Improvement Partnership (TRIP).

On Saturday, March 5, 2011 TRIP is hosting its premiere event at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. Unlike voting on public works projects, the Fort Worth public is invited to this event.

At the event you will find hors d’oeuvres. Hors d’oeuvres is fancy French-speak meaning food. In addition to food you'll also listen to speakers and view a film. I don't know for sure what the film is. It may be the infamous J.D. Granger UTA video. I've not seen this video, but I've been told it is highly informative.

TRIP has a website where you can learn more about plans to "Save a River...Save a Billion!"

Go to the Star-Telegragh to learn more about Saturday's meeting and to RSVP to make sure you reserve yourself a seat.