A Super Bowl Sunday Walk With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts While Chili Simmers

Village Creek Unpaved Trail

Around noon I felt the need to leave my giant simmering pot of Super Bowl Chili to go walk with the Native American Ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

I don't know if the Indian Ghosts were as cold as I was today.

Soon upon hitting the ground I found myself jogging to try and warm up.

It was barely 40 degrees when I communed with nature. Only 43, right now, about 2 and a half hours before the Super Bowl starts bowling.

I forgot to previously mention that last night I went to Wal-Mart to stock up on Super Bowl supplies. Saturday night is always, reliably, the most entertaining time to visit Wal-Mart.

Every once in awhile Betty Jo Bouvier emails me a collection of photos titled "People of Wal-Mart."

Last night, for the first time ever, I saw someone worthy of being in Betty Jo's "People of Wal-Mart" collection.

It was a plus-sized woman, walking with a man in army camouflage attire. The woman was wearing ultra-short shorts that left the lower third of her buttocks exposed. Almost all exposed flesh had tattoos, including the exposed part of the buttocks. A large area of her breast zone was also exposed. And tattooed.

When I described this appalling spectacle to someone later, I said if I were a cop I would have arrested her for indecent exposure.

This woman was walking out of Wal-Mart as I walked in. The looks on the faces of my fellow shoppers told me I was not the only person appalled at the spectacle.

Now, I must cease thinking about last night's spectacle at Wal-Mart and finish setting up the buffet table for my Super Bowl Party.

At The Village Creek Bayou Thinking About Killing Indians In The Battle Of Village Creek & Wal-Mart

That is the Village Creek Bayou in Village Creek Natural Historic Area in Arlington, you are looking at in the photo, today, around noon.

In 1841 many tribes, like the Caddo, the Waco, the Waxahachie, the Wichita and others had a series of villages along both sides of Village Creek, extending about 5 miles.

The Indians grew around 300 acres of corn.

And then the Texans decided they wanted the Indian's land. And so they took it in the Battle of Village Creek in 1841.

I think I've mentioned before the history of eminent domain abuse has long been the norm in this part of Texas.

Change of subject. My mom called this morning. Mom and dad are getting an iPad. Mom asked me if I wanted their computer. I may be going to Phoenix in late March. My favorite aunt, she being my dad's big sister, is going to be there.

Change of subject, again. My aggravation with First Inconvenience Bank got less aggravating this morning when I saw my Google Direct Deposit had finally shown up in my account. Four days after Google made the Direct Deposit.

Change of subject, again. Having lost my latest aggravation I needed something new to be aggravated about. So, I went to Wal-Mart after finishing with being natural and historic at Village Creek. I needed coffee. I bought 5 items.

Only 5 items.

One of the items was Wisconsin Sharp Cheese. Price on the shelf said $1.98. Rang up $2.18. As soon as I saw that I stopped the checker and told her the price is wrong. And now I don't want the cheese.

It's the principal of the thing. How can Wal-Mart make mistakes like this so often? With nothing being done about it.

So, the checker finishes checking the 5 items. I hit the ok button on the debit machine. Then when she handed me the receipt I saw she'd not removed the $2.18 for the cheese.

She yelled across to Customer Service for someone to come over when they had a minute. I decided it was not worth it to wait, at that point in time, so I told the checker to just give me the damn cheese.

I have my ways of making things right with Wal-Mart.

How is it I have never had a pricing error at ALDI Food Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Town Talk or any of the Asian grocery stores I go to in Arlington? I have lost count of the number of times I have bought only 5 or 6 items at Wal-Mart to have one of them priced different than the shelf price.

And then to add insult to injury (or is it injury to insult?) the cheese ended up being not remotely sharp.

I really need to re-think going to Wal-Mart.

Up Late On A Hot 84 Texas Morning Thinking About My Nephew, Anonymous Relatives & Adult Diapers

The August 12 sun got up before I did this morning. I was up late indulging in Happy Birthday related activities suitable for a 68 year old geezer.

I think I'll be skipping swimming this morning. I believe as one slowly declines into ones Golden Years physical activity gradually slows til one barely moves at all and rides one of those electric carts when shopping in Wal-Mart.

Speaking of Wal-Mart, I was in one yesterday, in Hurst, across the street from the ALDI Food Market. I was in the Pharmacy area, looking for a bottle of Vitamin D, among other things, when I was subjected to a disturbing conversation.

This lady, maybe 70, or older, in shorts too short for one of that age, with just about the spindliest, scrawniest legs I've ever seen, and with a Texas accent as exaggerated as something you'd hear on Hank Hill, was asking a hapless Wal-Mart employee, a guy about 18, questions about adult diapers, which she was buying for her mom. The spindly legged lady was quite graphic about the extent of her mom's incontinence. Eventually I'd heard enough and walked away.

My mom guessed that my Anonymous relative who commented on my blog, yesterday, from Oak Harbor, was my eldest sister. This particular sister lives in Kent. But, over the weekend she'd been in Anacortes for the annual Anacortes Arts & Crafts Festival. Anacortes is on Fidalgo Island. Oak Harbor is on Whidbey Island. Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island are connected by the Deception Pass Bridge. My sister owns property on Whidbey Island, near Langley, which is south of Oak Harbor.

I discounted my sister as an Anonymous possibility due to the fact that she has told me she does not read my boring blog. However, last night my sister sent me an email in which she said....

"That is good news about JR, he is way too young for health issues but sounds like is going to have them if he does't listen to the Dr........When did you skip the 60's and go straight to 70 y/o? Lol...."

The fact that my sister referenced the 68 years old thing, indicates she'd seen my blog, thus shooting her to the #1 suspect spot as my Anonymous Relative.

The good news about JR that my sister is talking about, was yesterday's best birthday present in years. Nephew Jeremy got the results of the tests on his heart and the results were good. Jeremy has a very very low resting heart beat rate. This somehow makes his heart very vulnerable to even a minor stimulant, like caffeine. Jeremy was a drinker of those awful high caffeine energy drinks that have other stimulants in them as well. Ever since the first doctor visit Jeremy has not consumed anything with a stimulant in it and he has not had any more heart incidents.

Well, I have way too much to do today and way too little time to do it. So, I must cease wasting time on this blog right now and go do something constructive.

Another Cold Foggy Wet Day In Fort Worth Texas

It is not even winter yet and I've grown tired of that particular season this second Tuesday of December in Texas.

That is my balcony view when I returned from swimming around 8 this morning. The fog was so thick it was pretty much a drizzle getting everything soaking wet.

It is a relatively balmy 40 right now in foggy Fort Worth. I suspect the swimming water was a few degrees warmer.

My new swimming shock therapy method is to run into the pool til I'm in swim mode, swim to the end, swim back, run to the hot tub. When I get in the hot tub I feel no heat for a couple minutes. Then it gets feeling too hot. I then get back in the pool where it takes about 2 minutes to feel too cool again.

I heard from the Mad Texas Grandma a couple times last night, emailing from her cruise ship somewhere in either the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean. We still have not found out who actually owns A-AARLINGTON ABANDONED VEHICLE or how it is they tow cars from the Stadium Wal-Mart with Wal-Mart claiming they have no towing contract with the mysterious company.

It is going to be a long day.

Hot Eggplant On A Freezing Texas Day

Today, apparently, eggplants are my world. You are looking at the finished result of the uncooked version I showed you earlier today.

I have now consumed the finished result. While this eggplant cooking was not a massive failure like my first attempt, years ago, I don't know if I see some nice purple eggplants tomorrow that I'll be buying them.

Then again, it was pretty tasty. But, then again, again, I've always said you can pretty much make anything taste good with Parmesan, butter and bacon. This had no butter or bacon, but it did have big slices of melted Parmesan.

I'm thinking maybe making this again and adding bacon and butter might turn the eggplant into a really tasty thing.

I did not venture to the pool this morning. Can you tell I'm being cranky? I did not feel like putting on several layers and going for a walk in the near freezing temperatures. So, I went to Wal-Mart and loaded up a cart and pushed it around for 45 minutes.

Gar the Texan has been pouting on my blog today. That boy is way too needy.

We Are Fixin' To Rain Hard In Fort Worth & Make Macaroni & Cheese

You are looking out my rain covered windshield, heading west on John T. White Road, in far east Fort Worth, coming up on 1 in the afternoon.

I aborted any planned walk soon after leaving here around noon, due to drips starting to fall. I headed to Krogers to find cheese for whole wheat macaroni and cheese that I had a hankerin' to make.

To you Yankees reading this, hankerin' is Texan for "wanting" or "craving" something.

I knew we were in for some predicted rain, but I thought its arrival was not til later in the day, along with a drop in temperatures. Yesterday it got in the 70s, was 65 at midnight and 64 when I managed to have a semi-pleasant swim this morning. It is 53 out there right now, so our predicted temperature drop has arrived.

It is downpouring out there now. I grow concerned for my favorite Haltom City corespondent and the killer creeks she monitors whenever they go into potential flash flood mode.

Krogers was my first stop on my cheese hunt, that ended at Wal-Mart. I saw, well, actually smelled, and saw, something at Krogers which made me sort of homesick. I'll tell you about that later. Right now I'm fixin' to satisfy my hankerin' for macaroni and cheese.

To be clear, fixin' is Texas speak meaning you are about to do something. If you damn Yankees would make more of an effort to learn the language us Texans wouldn't find you so annoying.

A Blimp Leads Me To A Wal-Mart Closed By The Dallas Cowboys

After a quick visit to River Legacy Park I drove towards the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to see why a blimp was hovering in the vicinity. I did not think there was a game today because I thought the Dallas Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving because they are America's Team and for some reason that means they play football on Thursday.

I had not driven south on Cooper Street very far when I saw that the blimp said Direct TV on it. Not Goodyear. I took the picture you see above, that looks like someone has launched a missile to take down the blimp, and continued on towards the stadium.

Evidence quickly accumulated that indicated the Dallas Cowboys were playing football today. I saw dozens of buses, of the commercial sort, like Trailways, parked in one of the new lots that Arlington would not let Jerry Jones take by abusing eminent domain.

Soon I was at the intersection of Randol Mill Road and Collins. It was clearly obvious a football game was happening, due to all the tailgate parties on the corner of that particular parking lot, which you are looking at in the above picture.

Yesterday, that being Saturday, I dropped in on the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to take pictures of outhouses. I was surprised by what I found and blogged about it. There were high school football games going on, with lots of cars parked in the lots. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday, had no problem parking. Wal-Mart was busy, like the day before Christmas type busy. I thought to myself that I thought there had been complaints about Wal-Mart suffering a loss of business when the stadium was being used. I thought, well, one more crackpot making a bogus complaint.

So, imagine my surprise today. I wanted to go to Wal-Mart to get a missing ingredient for the curry thing I was making for lunch. The blimp had led me to the Stadium Wal-Mart so I figured I'd go there. Nope. Could not happen. There were a few cars in the Wal-Mart parking lot, but all entries off Randol Mill were blocked. The above picture shows the west entry blocked.

I figured maybe I could get to Wal-Mart via one of the side streets, and that maybe that was how the few cars in the lot had gotten in. Nope. All roads in were blocked. I was appalled. How is Wal-Mart being compensated for this?


Just past Wal-Mart I saw a pair of Pedicabs with no customers. I was to see maybe a dozen more, all with no customers.

Arlington is notorious for being the largest city in America with no public transit. That's right, the town that has Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor, The Ballpark in Arlington and the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, in what they call the Entertainment District, has no bus system. Except for the aforeseen Pedicabs and the trolleys you see above, that were lined up today by the Ballpark in Arlington, I assume after dropping people off for the game. The trolleys travel around the Entertainment District, stopping at the District's many lodging locations.

In the above picture you are looking past one of the Texas Ranger parking lot's outhouses at some Tailgaters having a BBQ. This particular lot charges $60. It is not close to the stadium. Maybe a 3/4 mile walk. How much did those first Tailgaters pay to park in that first lot I showed you, that is right up next to the stadium?

Above you see an Event Parking $60.00 sign. Along with another sign spelling out the Tailgating Rules. Such as you can only BBQ on the grass. And pick up your litter. Why must a sign tell Texans to pick up their litter?

Heavy Rains Bring Floods To Texas While I Make Chili

That is the rainy view through my windshield during a rainy run for rations at Wal-Mart. I actually had the heat lever moved into the red zone for the first time in a long time.

Due to this sudden winter type weather, as in it is only 69 out there at 10 Saturday morning, I decided I wanted to make chili, hence the Wal-Mart trip.

It was not much colder than it is currently when I went swimming in the rain this morning.

I have not heard from the Haltom City Fossil Creek flood monitor this morning. I imagine she had a long night of creek watching. The bad weather canceled some Friday night Texas high school football games.

I don't know if today's bad weather has led to the cancellation of the 9/12 protest march and rally in downtown Fort Worth. I think it starts at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Maybe it will dry up by then. We are under a Flash Flood Watch til Sunday.

South of here, flooding shut down Interstate 35 between Austin and Salado for a few hours. South of here got way more rain than we have, so far.

Obviously there will be no regularly scheduled Saturday Tandy Hills hike today. I don't know what I'm going to do.

Just checked the chili. It's done. Turned out well. Come over for lunch.

I'm Taking a Hike While Wal-Mart Milk Price Drops a Cent

That's the new observation deck that looks out on a bog at Village Creek Natural Historic Area. The bog used to be more of a pond, but now it's getting so thick with greenery that the greenery is coming up through the deck.

It was in this bog/pond that I saw my first water moccasins. A couple guys were staring at something. I stopped and asked what they were looking at. They pointed towards a small herd of snakes.

There were no signs of flooding, seen by me, when I walked through the park. I've no clue why it was closed 2 days ago, with the sign saying the closure was due to flooding.

It was very humid, dripping wet stuff from the trees today. I sort of liked it.

And on the Wal-Mart Milk Front. My one longtime reader may remember me complaining a time or two at Wal-Mart's milk price on the shelf being $1.98 but ringing up at $2.00 This "problem" had been happening for over a month at various Wal-Marts. Complaining brought no fix. Just a two cent refund.

So, I needed milk. I saw the big price sign had been changed to $1.97. But the price on the shelves still said $1.98. I fully expected the $1.97 milk to ring up at $2.00. And was shocked to see it rang up at $1.97.

The Fort Worth Sound of Freedom

Around 4 this afternoon I started hearing the very loud rumbling of jets. Very loud. About a half hour later I decided to go to Wal-Mart. As I exited my abode I heard jets roaring again, looked up and saw what I believe were a pair of those new F-22 fighter planes flying over.

The F-22's are built by Lockheed here in Fort Worth. Yes, Fort Worth has a big arms supply industry. I did not know this before I moved here. Seems like I've always lived near big plane builders. In Washington it was Boeing and their humongous 747 manufacturing plant in Everett.

In Fort Worth the jets being built are smaller and so are the buildings. But the noise is big.

In Washington I lived near the Whidbey Island Naval Air Base. I don't know if it is still open. There is a billboard near the entry to the base that says something like "Pardon Our Noise. That's the Sound of Freedom." When I'd read that I always thought, no it's not, it's the sound of noisy jets. It was an issue when the Navy was in practice mode, because Washington's most popular, most scenic state park, Deception Pass, is near by. It could be unsettling to be sitting on top of a peak in Deception Pass and have a jet roar overhead.

So, today as I drove the long 2 miles to Wal-Mart, I saw people stopped at the side of the road, looking up. By the time I got to the Wal-Mart parking lot and got out, I was able to see that there were 2 pairs of jets flying a circle that went right over Wal-Mart. It did not take long for a pair of the jets to pass over the Wal-Mart, so I could take a picture.

When I was in the store the Sound of Freedom shook the store 5 or 6 times. I forgot what I was shopping for.

Wal-Mart's Tattered Flag & Other Problems

It is very windy today in North Texas. The wind is coming from the south, blowing away the last remnants of the cold nastiness from the north we suffered from a few days ago.

It is humid today, the temperature right now is 78, with the Heat Index making it feel like 80.

I've got the windows open and am in comfortable Matthew McConaughey playing banjos mode.

It was warm yesterday and again today. That means my currently closed by the City of Fort Worth pool would have warmed up enough that I could have had a long swim this morning. If this heat wave continues that closed pool is going to start making me cranky.

Due to the wind, I ruled out a bike ride, blading or hiking today. I don't like trees or limbs falling on me.

So, I went walking in Wal-Mart.

As you can see in the picture, once more the U.S. flag at my neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter is tattered and hanging on to its pole by a shred.

I only bought a few items, and once more one of the items I intended to buy scanned incorrectly. Whenever I see "Price Rollback" I know there is a good chance that the price has not been rolled back.

Wal-Mart has these "Can't Find The Price? Scan Here" signs around the store. So, I scanned the Sharp Cheese that supposedly had its price rolled back from $2.68 to $1.50. What a shock. It scanned at $2.68.

I used to find it amusing to go ahead and buy the wrongly priced item and then go to the misnomered Customer Service and go through the hassle of getting my money back and the item for free. But, that is a lot of bother.

So, now I get my revenge by blogging about my experience.

Wal-Mart seems to be having some problems. Like running out of products. Empty spots on the shelves. And of late, this wrong price problem. Wal-Mart used to be the best at the price thing of any stores I shop at. I don't know if it just the 2 Wal-Marts I frequent, or if it is a system-wide meltdown.

One of the ugliest and fattest people I used to know made a rare visit to a Wal-Mart recently and pronounced the store "ugly." I don't know why that amused me. Maybe it was something to to with the idea that I would think an ugly person would tend to avoid using that word. A pot calling the kettle black type thing. Then again, this particular person is so addled and deluded, she may think she's beautiful. It wouldn't shock me.

Super Bowl Buffet in Fort Worth

It has now been a month since I escaped the verbal and physical abuse Tacoma inflicted on me. And the conspiratorial attempts to fatten me up.

A month of being back where everyone treats me nice has restored me to my former pre-traumatic stress syndrome state of mind. As in I'm happy again.

Just in the last week I've had a nice lady from Dallas tell me that talking to me lifted a burden from her shoulders and made her feel so good she had to call her mom to tell her. In the past month I've been asked if I'm a newspaper columnist and have twice been told I should write a book. I've been told I've lifted the spirits of an Ike survivor. I've been told I'm too easy-going. These are all things I would never hear in Washington. I know really nice people in Texas.

But then, today, a bad thing happened here in Fort Worth. Someone here must be thinking I'm too skinny, just like those who tried to fatten me up in Tacoma. I was taken to the Super Bowl Buffet against my will. This is across the street from where I live. You don't drive there unless it is too hot or too cold or raining or snowing or ice storming. Today was none of those, so we walked.

The oddly named Super Bowl Buffet used to have an even odder name when it was called Super Asia Buffet. It's the best Chinese Buffet I've been too. I've been to a lot of them. Real good sushi too. I ate only the healthy stuff and avoided the deep-fried shrimp and other goodies of a like sort. I'll no more gain weight from this lunch indulgence than any of the attempts to pork me up when I was up north.

Tomorrow I'm going to Sprouts. That's my favorite grocery store. Tacoma needs a Sprouts Farmers Market. There really are no good grocery stores in Tacoma. There is one the Tacoma locals think is good, called Metro, and it is just awful. Way over priced for bad looking produce in a dinky store with narrow aisles that reminded me of Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. I shouldn't say there are no good grocery stores in Tacoma, there is a Trader Joe's. But I didn't get to go there. They do have a Top Foods which is like a downscale version of its parent Haggens store, but it's no Haggens. Tacoma needs a Haggens. And a couple Super Wal-Marts.

It's Snowing in Texas

A little before noon the National Weather Service changed today's forecast from a snow advisory starting about 4pm to a Winter Storm Warning starting at noon. A few minutes after that the white stuff began falling. Before the weather got dire I was getting ready to drive to Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to get cilantro and other things I needed to finish the chili I made this morning in a crockpot using ground venison I got from a local hunter who'd given it to a local Puerto Rican who can not cook.

When got outside I found out it was very icy and slippery. I debated whether I should be careful or throw caution to the snow. The latter option won out. By the time I got on a street and driving up a hill I found I had some traction problems. I made it as far as the Albertsons parking lot and re-debated the wisdom of going cilantro hunting under these conditions. Sure, I could have gone in Albertsons and bought cilantro and likely easily gotten safely back here. But I do not like Albertsons and was in need of adventure.

So, on to Wal-Mart I went. But I needed gas. $3.05 a gallon. Like I've mentioned before, when I get gas I call my mom in Phoenix to tell her how much it cost and what the weather is doing. She had trouble believing I was being snowed on. So did I.

I got to Wal-Mart driving slow like everyone else. The parking lot was not too slippery. Quickly got my stuff. Helped a little old lady with a cane load her stuff into her car. Drove slowly back here, slowly sliding down my hill, gently applying the brakes. Got to my parking place, took the pic you see above, looking out my vehicle window, walked carefully to my entry, got in, turned up the heat, chopped the cilantro and am now in the process of hunkering down til this is over. Everything outside should be covered in thick ice by morning.

Daylight Savings Time starts Sunday, Spring in 2 weeks. Global Warming has yet to arrive in North Texas.

---

UPDATE: It is now about 4pm. Snow has been falling hard for a couple hours. It is freezing. Everything is icing up. Schools have been closing early. People have been leaving work to try and get home before the roads become impassable and impossible. By morning North Texas should be on one icy cold lockdown.

Lulu's Tone

No, this is not about how well-toned Lulu is. I was going to complain about my latest Wal-Mart nightmare, but Lulu trumps Wal-Mart. But, to dwell on Wal-Mart for a second, I don't know why I keep going back. I guess it is convenient when I don't have an incident. Wal-Mart's up in Washington aren't as nightmarish as the Texas ones, maybe because up there they are unionized with the workers paid way more and thus more skilled people are willing to don the blue vests.

Anyway, did I mention I've known Lulu since we were little kids? So, we've known each other a long long time. Lulu has aged more gracefully than I and has developed much more highly evolved social skills than I have managed to develop. Lulu is the epitome of grace and good manners. Lulu collects people. Some are quite interesting. In the past couple years she added this guy named Dick Balch to her collection. Yes, you in the northwest, that Dick Balch, the sledgehammer car smashing infamous car dealer Dick Balch. I had a memorable dinner at an Indian restaurant in Tacoma with Dick Balch. He did not disappoint. Waiter's were harassed, the manager was harassed, big tips were spread around, much hilarity ensued. After that fun, tasty, filling dinner Lulu made us go to Frisco Freeze for a hot fudge sundae. Frisco Freeze is a Tacoma icon. When a politician from Tacoma, Booth Gardner, became governor, he'd send people to get him a Frisco Freeze burger when the craving for grease got too strong.

I keep digressing from Lulu's tone. So, years ago Lulu and I did what is now widely considered by the cognoscenti to be the world's first blog, that being "As The WWWeb Turns with Lulu and Durango". It basically was Lulu and I bickering at each other via email, with photos illustrating what was being bickered about. The bickering got out of control and soon that blog died. The memory has somewhat faded but I think Lulu had tone issues even way back then, all those years ago.

Despite Lulu's serious issues regarding my tone the two of us have managed to travel well together over the years as evidenced by these photos. The one at the top with Lulu showing off her leg is at Crater Lake in Oregon. The photo where Lulu is guzzling Coors beer is at Lake Tahoe. The last photo is Lulu standing next to me at Boot Hill in Virginia City.

Today Lulu's tone issues popped up again. I don't quite know what she's talking about but apparently there is a certain tone I use when I write something about her. Perhaps there is some distortion on my part that I'm not totally aware of. Or maybe I don't quite mention all the facts. I don't know. But it's totally given me a real bad case of writer's block. I'm now overwhelmed with concerns about my tone. I'll probably get over it. But right now this tone concern is even affecting me when I talk on the phone, like today my mom called me and I couldn't stop worrying that my tone might be bad. Just a sec I'll snap a pic of myself so you can see how disgruntled I'm looking over this tonal failure of mine. And then I'm going to bed and hope a good night's rest restores my tone.

Wal-Mart Really Does Suck

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

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

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

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

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

Chinese Garlic

I had not been on my bike for a couple weeks, due to cold, not of the viral sort, but of the temp sort, and rain which renders my favorite mountain bike trail a muddy mess. But today I saw by looking at the DORBA website (Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association) that the trails had dried up.

I must digress. Yes there are mountain bike trails in Texas even though there are, for the most part, no mountains. I thought upon moving here that I would be giving up mountain bike riding. Instead I've pedaled thousands of miles on Texas trails. My latest bike odometer is up over 4000 miles. And it's my third odometer since I've been in Texas.

So, with the temps being a bit above freezing when factoring in the wind chill, I layered myself up and ventured off to River Legacy Park in Arlington. This park is really picky about kids having fun making trails for their stunt bikes. Go to the River Legacy page on my Eyes on Texas website and you can read the rude email I got from a park official who somehow thought I was promoting bad behavior.

I got to the park about noon. It was cold and very windy. The trail is one-way, meandering over 3 miles through woods. I usually go a minium of 3 times around, my record is 6. Today I made it one time around. I did not stop due to the cold. I stopped due to it not being fun being all bundled up and overheating. And I wanted to go to Wal-Mart and Chinatown.

Drove to the Ballpark in Arlington Wal-Mart. It sits across from the Dallas Cowboy stadium monstrosity. You can read all about the Dallas Cowboy scandal here. I am up close to the stadium every other week or so. This time I saw they've added a sign bragging about hosting the 2011 Super Bowl. The neighborhood to the south of the stadium is an industrial wasteland adjacent to a ghetto of old small mostly rundown houses. It will be interesting what those attending games think of this when they take in the view from the upper tiers. I don't think the view was taken into consideration when deciding upon a stadium location. There will be no downtown skyline to look at, no distant mountains, no body of water, nothing, unless you enjoy looking at what may be the world's most upscale Super Wal-Mart. It is decorated with giant baseballs, due to also being near the place where the Texas Rangers lose baseball games. Giant footballs have yet to be added to the Wal-Mart. I'm sure it is only a matter of time. They are likely being fabricated even as I type.

It's ironic. The Dallas Cowboys have not played in Dallas for decades. They play in a Dallas suburb called Irving. But at least Irving is in Dallas County. They will soon be playing in another Dallas suburb, that being Arlington. But Arlington is not even in Dallas County, it is in Tarrant County. Fort Worth is the county seat of Tarrant County. Fort Worth sort of feuds with Dallas, with Dallas not seeming to notice or care, as evidenced by Dallas not caring about their new stadium being in Fort Worth's county. Many in Fort Worth will not cross 360. That is a highway that runs north and south, sort of dividing the D/FW Metroplex, as if crossing to the east side of 360 is venturing into enemy territory. One of Fort Worth's most famous citizens, Amon Carter, founder of the Star-Telegram, would resist having to do business in Dallas, and if it could not be helped he would bring a sack lunch so he could avoid leaving even the money it would take to buy lunch behind in the enemy city. I am not making this stuff up. Just go here and read the Wikipedia article about this notoriously odd Fort Worth booster.

I spent 15 minutes at the Stadium Wal-Mart and then drove south to Chinatown. That's an area of Arlington settled by many Vietnamese and Chinese. There are several Asian and Middle Eastern markets. It's a good place to get good produce. Today I wanted garlic and red peppers. And a few other things. When I got to the garlic zone I was perplexed and vexed to see the packaging clearly indicating the garlic was from China. Up til recently I would have thought nothing of this, but now it concerns me.

But the Chinese garlic did not concern me too much I guess, since I've just finished 4 cloves of it with sharp cheese and grapefruit juice whilst sitting here typing. Now, make fun of this behavior all you want, but keep in mind, I've put over 4000 miles on my latest bike odometer. How many have you put on yours?