Dialing Dear Doctor Durango

Last week upon finishing a non-fiction book I was curious about the current status of the subject.

Googling I soon found myself at a website called The Wayback Machine, which archives websites all the way back to the early days of there being a thing called websites.

I was curious if any of my original websites were archived. I looked for As the WWW Turns, to no avail. That actually was not my website, but I was closely associated with it. That one was picked as Cool Site of the Day, back when that really meant something.

The first website which was totally my own, sort of, well, the title and idea was not mine, but creating and doing the HTML was all me. That one was called Dialing Doctor Durango. Dialing Doctor Durango lasted for a couple years.  One day it was picked as Funky Site of the Day. Being Funky Site of the Day was not as cool as being Cool Site of the Day, back in the day when such things were even remotely funky or cool.

Dialing Doctor Durango was supposed to be a sort of parody thing where my Doctor Durango character was this know-it-all who would answer anyone's question about anything.

But, way too many people, all over the world, thought Doctor Durango was a real doctor. It was how I met Miss Wee of Singapore, when she wrote Doctor Durango a lovelorn question. A university in Munich, Germany picked Dialing Doctor Durango as one of the Top Ten medical websites on the Internet, which was clearly ridiculous.

It was a question from the UK, a serious question suited for a real doctor of the OB-GYN sort, which had me confessing to being a quack, and then pulling the plug on Dialing Doctor Durango

After killing Doctor Durango I morphed my website into The Durango Files. The Durango Files lasted til I moved to Texas.

And, The Wayback Machine does have The Durango Files archived, for the most part. Images are gone, but the text is still there, for the most part, including a webpage which made the transition from Dialing Doctor Durango to The Durango Files. That is a screen cap of part of The Durango Files home page you see at the top.

One of the links on that The Durango Files home page goes to Dialing Dear Doctor Durango,  which is a webpage which made the transition from Dialing Doctor Durango to The Durango Files.

You can read the text from that one webpage below. It's been over a quarter century, so I have little memory of writing any of this, other than recognizing it is me doing the word spewing...

DIALING DEAR DOCTOR DURANGO

Dear Doctor Durango,
Are you a medical doctor, a psychiatrist or just a college professor?

Signed, Credential Checker

Dear CC,
There really is no adequate label for the sort of doctoring which Doctor Durango is licensed to practice. Suffice to say Doctor Durango has never been sued for malpractice, has never had his license revoked and has never ever lost a patient.

Dear Doctor Durango,
I read you are close friends with Bill Gates and that you advise him all the time. So what is Bill really like? And can you give me his phone number?

Signed, A Microsoft Employee

Dear MS Employee,
I have known Bill for years. I am not comfortable violating the privacy of our relationship. I will tell you that it was I, not his lovely bride, who remade his unkempt image and turned him into the well-groomed figure we see today. Bill can be fairly mono-minded, but when he decides to have fun he really lets go. I could tell you stories, but I won't. I will say, I do not treat Bill in my professional capacity, so no doctor/patient confidences have been violated by my sharing these gossipy tidbits with my readers.

Dear Doctor Durango,
I cannot understand why there are now advertisements on some world wide web pages. Why should I suffer through waiting for some ad icon to download? These advertisements are just a waste of bandwidth, and for who's benefit?Signed,

Signed Steaming Mad

Dear Steaming,
I agree. These unwanted advertisements are an outrage!

Dear Doctor Durango,
I have tried to find the fun in this World Wide Web stuff, but hard as I try, I still prefer clicking on the TV, or reading a magazine or just reading the newspaper, and I really enjoy just talking to people face to face and not through this cyberspace stuff.

Signed, The Internet Sucks

Dear Sucks,
I know whereof you speak. You click on an interesting sounding link, you wait til the link gets contacted, then you wait for a reply, then if you are lucky the host will send you some data, bit by bit by bit. And finally you see something, but its boring, so you click again and start the same process over again. Picking up a magazine seems far more efficient. Can you imagine reading a magazine, wanting to turn the page and having to click a button, contacting the magazine host, waiting for a reply, and then, finally, the page turns?

Dear Doctor Durango,
Don't you think you should try a little harder to 'get a life' rather than spending energy on this lame stuff?

Signed Get a Life

Dear Get Life,
In my capacity as a trained observer of the human condition I do not believe I can think of a cliche' more indicative of a socially maladjusted mindset than that favorite of the do-nothing class, i.e. 'Get a Life'. It has been my long time observation that individuals using this terribly judgmental cliche' are usually very unhappy with their station in life and are very jealous of the lives of others. In a classic case of projection, these sorts of sad individuals transfer their own feelings of total inadequacy onto those who's lifestyles cause their feelings of inadequacy. You can test this theory yourself with the Doctor Durango Butt Test. It has been my longterm observation that there is a correlation between people who judge other people's lives and the size of the judger's butt.

Dear Doctor Durango,
My best friend's twin brother's first wife, Wanda, is mad at me because Wanda thinks I told my friend, Lulu, that Wanda was consuming too many liquid refreshments prior to sending e-mail, and that consequently Wanda's e-mailings tended to be the long-winded ramblings of a classic dipsomaniac. I'm sorry, but it is true, Wanda sends bizarre e-mail. One day she'll go on about her lunch with Sylvester Stallone, the next day she'll tell me she got her head stuck in a hornet's nest, the next day it'll be about some emergency surgery removing some diseased body part. And if I reply to her e-mail, by the next day she always acts as if she doesn't know what I am talking about. But I did not tell any of this to Lulu. Just this morning Wanda called me a 'butt boil on the backside of humanity'. What should I do? Why does Wanda think I gossip about her? Is Wanda wrong to be mad at me?

Signed, Wanda's Husband's Brother's Best Friend

Dear Wanda's Friend,
Has no one told you that sending e-mail is not a secure, private way to communicate? Just in this letter to Doctor Durango you have been explicitly detailed about poor Wanda. You have broadcast the secrets of Wanda's world to potentially 50 million people and you wonder why Wanda is mad at you? Apologize at once to Wanda. And in the future do not express your slanderous opinions about your friends via e-mail. You sound like a fool.

Dear Doctor Durango,
I have an annoying friend who breathes loud, through his mouth, like an elderly cocker spaniel. I can barely tolerate being in the same room with this ill-mannered slob. I bought this drooler a case of nose drops, but he refuses to use them. I'm not the only person who notices this irritating habit, in fact, his entire family is well-known for their mouth breathing.

Signed, I Enjoy Quiet

Dear Quiet,
You have really struck a chord with Doctor Durango. At this moment in time I can not think of a single thing I find more offputting than mouth breathers. They can not be reasoned with. They have no empathy for the suffering they cause. They won't take their medications. It is best to simply avoid such people and pray that as humanity evolves the mouth breathers will be weeded out of the gene pool.

Dear Dr. Durango,
My first husband's twin brother's best friend has been sending me the antagonistic e-mail of a classic delusional schizophrenic. After months of e-mailing back and forth, suddenly he claims that I sound like a raving dipsomaniac. Apparently, I have been having way too much fun with my e-mail. He thinks I am mad about the way he told my friend Lulu, before he told me, that he thinks me a dipsomaniac. He has never been very tactful, but what really offputs me is that he will not stop telling me just how incoherent he has found my correspondence to be. What should I make of this? Am I wrong to be offput? Why didn't he tell me he felt this way before? What could be the basis of this sadistic lashing out? Should I just refrain from e-mailing him? Why do I keep coming back for more of this abuse? Am I being an enabler?

Signed, The Friend of Wanda's Husband's Brother's Best Friend

Dear FWOHBBS,
I don't think you should make too much of the classic delusional schizophrenic ramblings of an antagonistic demented e-mailer, but at the same time, you must protect yourself from this e-mail abuse You have not given me sufficient information to determine whether, or not, you are an enabler. But I do think if you have been having fun with your e-mail, you should continue to do so, despite the antics of this demented joy-sucker who seems to be tormenting you so.

Dear Doctor Durango,
Could you be so kind as to give me Bill Gate's e-mail address so I can ask to borrow a couple million dollars and to ask a Windows95 question?

Signed, I Need $$$$$

Dear Broke,
Bill gets annoyed at me everytime I give out his e-mail address because he is such a soft touch and he just can not say no to anyone asking him for money. So just click on the blinking dollar signs $$$ and you will be able ask Bill anything you want. And Doctor Durango guarantees you will get an answer.

Dear Doctor Durango,
Last Fall I went on a private cruise with a group of my dearest friends. While we were cruising through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, one of our party, a flabby Mid-Baby Boomer, took to wearing these disgusting thong bikinis. I wouldn't have minded if his wife had worn these fashion disasters, but seeing this guy in such eyesores, well, it just conflicted with the wonder works of Mother Nature, forcing us to view one of her accidents of Nature in all his flabby glory. He made us look like a boat full of tacky Canadians.

Signed, Men Should Not Wear Bikinis

Dear Bikini Man,
Doctor Durango does not quite understand your Canadian reference, though several years ago I was hiking into Grand Canyon, resting at the first oasis, and up walked a pair of sweaty Frenchmen wearing nothing but bikinis and black leather shoes with white socks. We were all eating lunch and the unseemly spectacle sort of ruined our appetites. So I can understand how bikini eyesores cause visual conflict when viewing Mother Nature's best work. Surely if you make your feelings known, if this person is truly your friend, he will respect your perfectly reasonable wishes and will refrain from wearing bikinis. I just hope such a trivial matter is not stopping you from being able to plan another adventure with this person.

Dear Doctor Durango,
My husband spends hours on the Internet looking for the sexy stuff he's read about in the paper. But he can't seem to find anything. Can you help

Signed, I Wish He'd Look For It At Home

Dear Wish He'd Look,
You should help him hunt. Net surfing can be fun and very stimulating. I am willing to give you the link to Playboy, since that site is fairly wholesome for one that's is supposedly for adults.But instead of wasting your time looking for the 'sexy stuff' on the Internet, you should be warned that despite the myths to the contrary, the sexy stuff is not that sexy. You would have to be pretty darn lonely to spend much time watching pix show up on your computer screen. Or a teenage boy. But teenagers should not have unsupervised access to the Internet, just as teenagers should not go to see every movie that comes along. Parents, do your job. As for you, Doctor Durango agrees with your signature, tell your husband to look for the 'sexy stuff' at home.

Dear Doctor Durango,
I was a sophomore in college and I never thought it could happen to me. I couldn't believe my eyes when the auburn haired beauty walked up to me and unzipped......... whoops. Wrong forum!! Anyway, I've got this boss who is just driving me insane. I don't own any firearms and I don't like explosives or sharp objects. I'm thinking a Voodoo curse would do the trick. Do you do Voodoo? If you do do Voodoo do you mind giving me a curse?

Signed, Bogwana in Benjaka

Dear Bogwana,
I kinda liked where the first paragraph was going and then you had to go and ruin it with that Voodoo curse stuff. I am a full-service Doctor, so if you would like to explore your difficulty with that auburn-haired beauty, well, I'm listening. I am very intrigued to know what exactly was unzipped and what happened next. I have absolutely no imagination. But, if we must deal with your Boss problem; you are a grown man, at least I assume you are, if you have a job. If your job is causing you so much anguish you are engaging in homicidal conjecture, even if only in jest, and if you are actually considering employing cultist rituals to do your Boss harm, well, Doctor Durango thinks you should quit your job immediately. Let me know when you take my advice.

Dear Doctor Durango,
I am not a computer novice. I have worked with computers for years. But, often when I have need of a computer expert's advice, like when I call for technical support, or recently when I received a call from my Internet Server, these people seem so rude. I could not get the Internet guy off the subject of mispronouncing my name. When he was giving me my directory name he said a word that sounded like 'matilda', then he had a virtual emotional crises when I asked him what a 'matilda' was. As if the entire population of the planet, but me, knew a *'matilda' was the squiggly ~ symbol on the keyboard.

Signed, I Hate TechnoNerds

Dear Hate Nerds,
Well, you have managed to ring one of Doctor Durango's bells!! My theory of the phenomena you describe is as follows: The vast majority of those whom you so eloquently call 'technonerds' are socially maladjusted. These sorts have trouble with what you and I would consider normal social intercourse. They feel socially-enabled by what they imagine to be their areas of expertise. Technonerds condescend because that is how they feel the world treats them. And, ironically, it is how the world treats them, because they are so socially inept. So don't take offense. Be kind. But for the grace of God you could be a technonerd!!*Doctor Durango has been informed the proper term for 'matilda' is 'tilda'. Like anyone cares.

Dear Doctor Durango,
I do not like how some of these newer web pages have all this blinking going on. It is very annoying. Is there a way to make it stop? What is the point of all the blinking?

Signed, Blinking Fed Up

Dear Fed Up Blinking,
Doctor Durango has noticed the blinking. I don't find it particularly annoying. It seems to be a new toy and people are playing with it. I imagine the point of the blinking is to draw attention to whatever is blinking. The following letter may provide relief.

Dear Doctor Durango,
I consider myself to be one of those 'technonerds' you have maligned. In connection to your letter regarding 'matildas' and 'tildas', I was wondering........are you sure? I mean is it really 'tilda', or is it 'tilde'? I was just wondering because it seems as if you have some responsibility to make these kind of corrections before you put them on a page on which you claim to know what you are talking about. When it's my first time here and all I can see are those blinking things and incorrect definitions (spellings?) of simple computer terms, well, Doctor Durango let me just say it doesn't go a long way toward building client confidence. I think you are a quack.

Signed, Lulu

Dear Lulu,
You certainly have exhibited your Technonerdness to Doctor Durango!! My Nurses had to severely edit your letter into a printable form. Regarding your classic Technonerd focus on that 'tilda' word, Doctor Durango used the plural of 'tilde' which is 'tilda'. Latin was not a requirement in your Computer Science endeavors, was it Lulu? And Lulu, if the blinking bothers you as much as your numerous letters to the Doctor on this subject would seem to indicate, and if you are as accomplished a 'technonerd' as you portray yourself to be, well, then, Doctor Durango does not understand why you do not know how to turn off the BLINKING. It is so easy to do, I will not insult my patients by explaining the process!

New Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Propaganda Source

Early this morning Elsie Hotpepper text messaged my phone with a message telling me she had emailed me a link to something downright terrible.

What fresh hell is this gonna be, I sat and thought to myself?

Checking my email I found the email from Elsie Hotpepper, with the email consisting of a link and a message saying...

"It must be something in the water. Lead? Total BS with one of the worst articles ever in the Fort Worth Business Press."

I clicked the link to the During hearing, Army Corps officials express Trinity River Vision support article and soon understood what was appalling Elsie Hotpepper.

The Fort Worth Business Press usually does not spew Fort Worth Star-Telegram type propaganda. Usually the FWBP asks cogent questions of the responsible journalism sort.

Let's look at some of what is in this article, but to get the full picture, click the link and read the article in its entirety.

First paragraph...

During a hearing in front of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on March 27, officials from the Army Corps of Engineers testified to Congress about the Central City project, also known as the Trinity River Vision project in Fort Worth.

Also known, in all its multiple names glory as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, or more commonly as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

So a couple officials from the Army Corps of Engineers did some testifying. And in the following two paragraphs we learn the basic gist of what the officials are testifying to...

Responding to a question from Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, two Army Corps officials voiced support for the project and for other projects that have yet to be funded.

“I very strongly support the project and I’m not sure the administration doesn’t support the project,” said R.D. James, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “They’re trying to elevate projects based on their priorities, economic return to the nation, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."

So, the official is not sure the administration does not support the project? That sounds definitive, something you can really bank on. And they are trying to elevate projects based on their priorities and economic return to America?

Well, that criteria alone should doom this hapless project which has been limping along most of this century.

And then there is the statement released from Rep. Kay Granger regarding her commitment to the project...

“The Central City project is my top priority, it is vital to the future of Fort Worth,” she said in a statement. “Assistant Secretary of the Army, R.D. James, expressed his strong support of the project and the Army Corps of Engineers committed to completing Central City.”

An accurate statement from Kay Granger on this subject would be "The Central City project is my top priority, it is vital to the future of my son..."

And then there are the final three paragraphs in this article...

James said he had talked to Granger about the project.

“I have talked with Ms. Granger before and intend to do so again to see if there are other ways or other authorizations this project needs. At this time I don’t know of any.

"It’s a good project. There have been misunderstandings about the project.”

Now that is earth shaking news. James, he being the Army Corps of Engineers official who testified in front of a house sub-committee, reveals he has talked to Ms. Granger, and will do so again. Because talking to Ms. Granger is the avenue to finding other ways or authorizations this project needs, while at the current time he is unaware of any needs.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Maybe someone has not told this James person that this project has never been fully funded, that it has limped along for years, with little to show for the effort. And that Ms. Granger's son, J.D., was given the job of being the project's Executive Director, a job for which years of embarrassing incompetence have made clear J.D. was not qualified.

This is a good project? Really? Then why is this project progressing in ultra slow motion? There have been misunderstandings about the project? Such as what? Not understanding why it was not scandalous nepotism to give Kay Granger's job a high paying job to motivate her to secure federal funds? Misunderstanding why it is taking so long to build three simple little bridges?

Maybe if that sub-committee meets again, with this James guy testifying, he might be asked why the project did not go along with the Army Corps of Engineers design for the Boondoggle's three simple little bridges, with the Corps design mirroring the design of the West 7th Bridge? A design we learned a few months ago was thwarted by J.D. Granger, for what seemed ridiculous, unfounded reasons, because the J.D. engineering and design whiz thought bridges supported by V-piers would really be something cool.

The design mirroring the West 7th Bridge design was approved by the Army Corps. The Corps was slated to cover the costs. Costs which were estimated to be way less expensive than the three simple little V-pier bridges, which have turned into a construction nightmare, beginning construction in 2014, with a then astonishing four year project timeline, which has now been stretched into the next decade.

It would also be a good idea for the members of that sub-committee to ask why, if this project is a vitally needed flood and economic development project, why has it been developed at a snail's pace?

If this project is so vital why was it not sold to the Fort Worth public, asking for support long ago in the form of approving of the project via a bond funding vote, in the manner towns wearing their Big City pants get projects done. Particularly projects touted as being vitally needed flood control.

And one would also think it would behoove that sub-committee to ask why this is a vitally needed flood control project, in an area of the Trinity River which has not flooded for well over half a century, due to flood control levees which have worked ever since they were installed.

Why should money be wasted on flood control where there has been no flooding, while other areas of Tarrant County have serious flooding issues, deadly, property damaging flooding issues, which are not being addressed, while those who will financially benefit from this bogus flood control project continue to drag this Boondoggle along, underfunded, begging for federal dollars?

Yeah, I can see why Elsie Hotpepper was offput by this article and what appears to be the FW Business Press's dereliction of their journalistic duty...

Encountering A White Pickup Truck Today On The Tandy Hills

Does anyone remember my encounters with Express Energy Services white pickup trucks?

I think those encounters left me with a mild case of post traumatic stress disorder.

Today as I neared the end of my salubrious Tandy Hills hiking, near the top of Mount Tandy, suddenly a white pickup truck was coming towards me.

When the driver saw me he swerved off the trail so as to avoid hitting me, unlike the Express Energy Services white pickup trucks which picked up speed as they aimed directly at me.

As today's white pickup truck passed me I saw it was a Fort Worth Water Department truck. The driver politely howdied me and asked how I was doing.

The encounter did set my nerves on edge. The truck seemed to appear out of nowhere, which is what startled my delicate nervous system.

As I walked on I turned around to see the truck head down the steep part of the descent from Mount Tandy. Then it stopped. Then backed up. The truck sounded as if it was struggling to back up.

So, I walked back to take a picture of my latest encounter with a white pickup truck, which is what you are looking at in the picture at the top. That and the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Slightly warmer on the hills today. Slightly warmer for swimming this morning. But, I heard on the radio that more cold temperatures are on the way, but I think the radio may have been wrong, because I see my computer's weather forecast is for 92 and possible T-Storms for tomorrow.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Pinhead Startling Scurrying Fort Worth Police Cockroaches

I was late in the afternoon today, making it to the Tandy Hills for my daily main dose of aerobicizing.

You can sort of tell I am late on the hills due to the lighting. And somehow that lighting made the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man into the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Pinhead.

The trails on the hills are in great shape, totally recovered from their recent bout of mud and totally ready to be trampled on by hundreds of Manly Men/Wild Women Feet this coming Saturday.

The temperature was nearing 60 when I headed for the hills this afternoon. So, once more, back in shorts and t-shirt.

Whilst moving fast today I snagged a stick and this somehow ripped a big tear in my favorite cargo shorts. These were my last remaining undamaged cargo shorts. This is nothing short of a minor tragedy.

Now, let's back up in time a bit to the point where I arrived at the Tandy Hills. Today I decided to hike from the top of Mount Tandy. When my usual parking place, underneath the Fort Worth Space Needle came in to view I saw two Fort Worth police cars.

Oh oh, this can't be good, I thought.

So, I parked far away from the cop cars, since they were blocking my access to my regular parking spot. As I began walking towards the cop cars one started towards me.

I had instant deju vu of last year's confrontations with white Express Energy pickups.

The cop car reached me. His window was down. He was talking into his microphone, but he stopped where I stood. I asked is there a problem? Is it safe to go hiking?

The cop said there's no problem. He continued on. So did I. Then the second cop car started moving. He drove right by me, driver's window closed. Passenger window open.

I reached in my pocket and got out my camera, turned it on and turned around to snap a picture. The first picture only showed the second cop car, blocking the view of the first one. I waited for the cops to turn to the left so I could get both in a picture.

Well, they drove past my vehicle and then pulled up beside each other again..

Now, why, when I showed up and started walking towards them, did the cops scurry like a pair of cockroaches when a light is turned on?

And why, after they thought I was gone, did they pull up side by side again? To continue talking through those open windows?

Were the two cops parked in this isolated location because they thought they could pass some of their duty time unnoticed? Was there no donut stand nearby?

It was all very very odd.

The Germans Are Coming To Fort Worth & Want To Talk To You About Your Barnett Shale Experience

According to Don Young, Germans will be invading North Texas next week in the form of reporters and photographers from ARD German Television and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

They are looking for people to tell their story about the Barnett Shale.

I don't have a story about the Barnett Shale, that I know of.

Well, there was the time I was almost killed by Express Energy. Was that the name? It's been a long time since I had bad encounters with white pickup trucks.

Anyway, below is the message from Don Young in its entirety, along with the email address to facilitate contacting DY.

Do you have a story to tell about living on top of the Barnett Shale?

Reporters and photographers from ARD German Television AND the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will be in Fort Worth early next week.

They are looking for compelling stories from the Barnett Shale.

If you would like to be interviewed please send me your contact info and time of availability, ASAP.

Thanks-

Don

No Rain Has Fallen But The Trinity River Is Rising

I showed you this same view of the Trinity River on Saturday. At that point in time the sandbar was way bigger. Today, crossing the Beach Street Bridge over the Trinity I saw that the river has risen.

How can that be?

We have had no rain. Though some is predicted to fall tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow.

The river has risen so much it is about to re-float some inner tubes that have been dry docked. Maybe J.D. Granger is reading this in time to send out a rescue team to get the inner tubes before they go back into float mode.

I turned around from the inner tubes, and slowly disappearing sandbar, to look east to the Trinity Dam/Bridge, to see a white pickup truck sitting on the middle of the dam, above where the whirlpool was whirling strong before the water went low. I figured due to the rising water, the whirlpool must be back.

A white pickup truck. My one longtime reader knows I have a really bad history with white pickup trucks. So, I decided to bike on down to the truck and see if I could find myself in some sort of interesting situation.

Oh. It is a Tarrant Regional Water District white pickup. This seemed a bit less nefarious than an Express Energy Services white pickup.

A guy with some power tools was doing I do not know what. He was on the phone with someone, sounding a bit concerned. I thought if I stopped by the truck, with the worker guy right there, that I might get to ask what he was doing. But, he never got off the phone. I stood there taking pictures for a couple minutes and then continued on my way.

Even though the Trinity River was quite a bit higher than it was on Saturday, the whirlpool had not returned. I do not think any water was making it through the dam. Thus the rising water on the one side of the dam and shrinking water on the other side. This must be what the Tarrant Regional Water District guy was working on.

On Saturday I saw that DANGER sign on the next dam upriver, saying that "maintenance was in progress." No similar sign was on the Trinity dam outside Gateway Park.

Interesting to me that we have a river here that you, apparently, can turn on and off. Except when it is in flood mode.

The only other river I have lived up close to was the Skagit River in Washington. The Skagit River really does not have the off and on feature that the Trinity River has.

Except.

There is a really rugged, wild section of the Skagit beneath Gorge Dam. If you are having fun playing in that section and you hear sirens, you need to make it quickly to high ground, due to water being released. If you have seen the movie, Parallax View, you have seen how scary the Gorge Dam can be. The Trinity River seems fairly benign in comparison.

Except for those J.D. Granger inner tube floats.

Fort Worth's Trinity Falls Disappears Under Trinity River Flood

Last Thursday I went to Gateway Park because I thought Trinity Falls might be flowing loud and large. It was. Today, after seeing how high the Trinity River is due to all the water delivered by the Hurricane now known as Tropical Depression Hermine, I thought it'd be interesting to see how Trinity Falls handles a lot of water. Well, as you can see, the falls has disappeared, as has the dam/bridge that causes the falls. In the blogging from last Thursday I made note of the astonishing amount of litter piled up behind the row club's dock.

As you can see, today, the Trinity is exhibiting a bit more litter than last Thursday. The river has dropped quite a lot from its high mark. I was surprised, as were others checking out the river with me, that the water got so high.

In the above picture we are looking at the location of my infamous encounters with White Darth Vader Express Energy Services trucks, earlier in the year. A Barnett Shale water sucking operation was taking place in a location that would be way under water today. I wonder if the water sucking operation on the other side of the river that I made note of in last Thursday's blogging, managing to pull out in time?


I was not sure I wanted to walk over the litter pile to cross the bridge. But I strongly wanted to see what the boardwalk viewing area looked like inside Gateway Park. I forgot to mention Gateway Park is closed due to the flooding, both entries blocked, but the pedestrian entry from the Trinity Trails was not blocked. On my way to check out the river I saw Quanah Parker Park is closed and flooded. I do not recollect it being flooded before. This means River Legacy Park is badly flooded and my newly re-born mountain biking will be on hold for quite awhile, awaiting the BIG DRY UP.

As I nimbly made my way across the pile of litter I looked down to see dead fish. This was not pleasant. Dead fish quickly become malodorous. There were a lot of dead fish.

Usually in the view above you look at a huge pipe crossing the chasm above a creek. The huge pipe is now under water, with the creek flooded and full of an astonishing amount of litter and debris.

Normally, in the above view I would be looking at Trinity Falls, often hear it roaring, usually seeing someone on it, walking or biking. But, today the falls is flooded.

In the above picture we have crossed the pedestrian bridge and are in Gateway Park, looking at the flooded boardwalk that used to take you to various viewing platforms, with the boardwalk switchbacking down to the river's edge. Both Gateway Park boardwalks have been closed for quite some time, due to neglect and poor maintenance.

I don't quite understand the sign saying "AREA CLOSE TO THE PUBLIC." Yes, the public felt very close to these boardwalks, until they fell into disrepair, but why put this message on a sign? Very perplexing.

Equally perplexing is the disturbing amount of litter in the Trinity River. When I lived in Washington I lived in the Skagit Valley. The Skagit River flows through the Skagit Valley on its way to Puget Sound. The Skagit River is a much bigger river than the Trinity. The Skagit River can go into flood mode that makes what the Trinity is doing today seem minor. And yet, in all the times I saw the Skagit River flood, I do not recollect ever seeing litter line the edges of the dikes when the river receded. Lots of logs, yes. Litter no.

Now, this may have something to do with the fact that the Skagit River starts up in Canada and winds its way through the Cascade Mountains, having no contact with a highly populated zone until it reaches the Skagit Valley flats.

The Trinity River flows through mostly rural areas until it hits the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Is that when it picks up all the litter? I really think an effort should be made to find out where all this Trinity River Texas litter comes from.

Trinity Litter Piling Up Behind Trinity Falls By Gateway Park

Some rain fell last night. So, this morning the Trinity River was flooding over Trinity Falls by Gateway Park. And an awful lot of litter had piled behind the kayak dock.

A week ago, today, 40 some foolishly brave souls were floating on inner tubes in this litter filled river.

Today, along with the litter, a big tree was stuck on top of the dam/trail bridge that crosses the Trinity.

In the distance you can see the Fort Worth Space Needle that sits on top of Mount Tandy. It was likely too muddy to go hiking on the Tandy Hills today. Which is why I took a Gateway walk on my way to Town Talk.

It is in the low 80s, but, that was one humid, muggy walk today. I especially appreciated the Town Talk walk-in cooler. Just a sec, I'll check what the humidity and Heat Index currently is.

Well, I'm surprised. It is currently 84.3, humidity at 57%, with a Heat Index of 88. It felt way hotter than that.

A cold front is supposed to blow in soon. Tonight, or tomorrow, I don't remember.

As I was walking towards the exit from Gateway Park to look at Trinity Falls, a familiar noise came to my ears. The sound of loud diesel engines pumping water. I'd forgotten about the big water sucking operation on the south side of the river.

As I crossed the footbridge to the Trinity Trail, a familiar sight came in to view. Two white pick-ups. I was not close enough to read if the trucks had the Express Energy logo on them. I suspect they did. When I snapped some pictures a guy got out of one of the trucks. It was all seeming way too deja vu to me.

But, I was fairly certain, in this instance, I was in very little danger of having a close encounter with a menacing truck.

Until the vexing wet stuff mucked up the outdoors, my plan today was to go on a ride on my two-wheeled auto-locomotion device. More rain is expected to do some more wetting. I'm sure it will eventually dry out again.

I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I have some other matters I need to attend to. I'll leave you with a look at Trinity Falls, looking west. I am almost 100% certain that is not an adventurous inner tuber that you see out in the middle of the river.

City Of Fort Worth Bulldozing Dam Bridge Building On The Tandy Hills

First off, my return to the Tandy Hills today, in search of my lost sunglasses, was not successful.

But, I found something else. Something that was a bit disturbing. Well, more than disturbing, let's go with troubling and aggravating.

I parked by the Fort Worth Needle, aka Tandy Tower, on top of Mount Tandy.

I walked down the hill, taking a left at the first intersecting trail junction. Continuing on down the hill I stopped to take another picture of my favorite Wildflower, that being the yellow beauty you see in the picture.

While I was taking pictures I heard the rumbling noise of a motor. Usually the only motor noise heard in this location is the distant rumbling of the vehicles on I-30.

I got to the bottom of the hill, and instantly my attention switched from trying to figure out where the motor noise was coming from, to seeing that the Tandy Hills earth had been moved. The trail passes over a creek bed. That creek bed had been filled in with dirt bulldozed from the side of the trail, leaving huge gashing messes.

The creek bed had been filled in with no culvert to allow the flow of water. The new "bridge" was topped with crushed rock.

Before I continued on, I turned my attention to the motor noise. Backtracking a bit I could see a big white pickup truck. Deja Vu flashbacks of my earlier encounters with White Darth Vader Trucks made me wary. I went back up the hill, then went off trail and got to where I had a view of the side of the truck.

It was a City of Fort Worth truck. Not Chesapeake Energy or Express Energy Services.

I took a picture of the City of Fort Worth truck when I got back on the trail, with it now coming towards me.

The truck stopped. I kept walking south. I came to the second creek crossing. This one had also been "bridged".

With a much bigger mess made. And this creek was running water. By the time I again walked over the new "dam," about an hour later, the creek was within about 6 inches of breaching the dam.

Where that white pickup is in the picture, that is on the other side of a cable that was stretched across the trail. The cable had a sign attached which said "Foot Traffic Only."

To get around this cable one of the supporting posts had been knocked over, so that the cable. And sign. Could be driven over.

My pictures of the damage and the dams do not do justice to what I saw today. At the location of the second "dam" a huge chunk of Tandy Trail had been chopped off, to use for fill for the "dam". Previously that particular trail came off the hills to connect to the flat trail with the newly added dam bridges.

The brightly lit area at the top of the picture is the Tandy Trail coming off the hills to join the trail with the new dam/bridges. This has now been bulldozed to provide dirt for the dam, rendering the trail no longer a usable trail.

To get good pictures of this Tandy Tarnishing I need to be on the hills later or earlier in the day. The sun, at noon, does not make for good pictures in my unskilled hands. The above is the bigger of the 2 new dam/bridges. Covered with crushed rock. The one you are looking at is the one that is creating a reservoir that is likely now running over the top of the new dam.

So? What is going on here? If the City of Fort Worth needed to get a truck into this location, and needed to get over the creeks, how is this a sane, responsible, proper way to do so?

It is less than 48 hours since Prairie Fest celebrated the prairie. I was so appalled by what I saw today that when I got back here I called Fort Worth's and the Tandy Hill's #1 Watchdog to tell him what I'd seen. I figured if some Bad Boys are doing some Bad Deeds, the sooner the Watchdog watches, the better.

If I could muster the energy I'd go back around 5 to check out the creek flowing over the new dam/bridge.

Brought to you by those same fine folks bringing you a Trinity River Vision.

A Trio Of Snowmen In Fort Worth's Gateway Park With Trinity Falls In Mini-Niagara Mode

These snowmen were found today in Gateway Park. Proof that at some point in time someone had some fun playing in the snow in this park.

But today, with the return of blue sky and the snow still being perfectly playable, I saw no playing. I think Texas kids are so unused to the white stuff they don't know how to have fun in it.

That and who is going to have a sled in these parts? I only saw one sled during our latest white period. And it was dinky little one. Maybe some of the parks that have hills, like Veterans Park in Arlington, got more action.

Another problem with Gateway Park and kids having fun playing in the snow there, is the access problem. As in none of the roads that lead to Gateway Park have sidewalks. What sort of lamebrain town builds a nice park, but does not have sidewalks that kids might use to safely walk or bike to the park? That is just irresponsible on the city's part, in my opinion.

The Trinity River is running a lot of water, I assume it's snow melt. I could hear Trinity Falls roaring well before Fort Worth's Niagara came into view.

The melting run-off found a nice path way to the river, provided courtesy of Express Energy Services and the ruts left behind after their recent Trinity River water removal operation.

A lot of erosion is taking place, where previously no erosion took place, because grass protected the underlying dirt from the ravages of fast moving water, but the protective grass was replaced by deep ruts. And a lot of mud.

Speaking of fast moving water, there was a lot of the stuff flowing over Trinity Falls today, rendering the dam/bridge passable only to water. So much water is in the river that it makes the falls shorter.

There are a lot of negative ions released by a waterfall, or so someone told me once. It felt real good in this location today. And the air smelled fresh, as if it had had a good scrubbing.

More snow is in the forecast.

Why can't winter in Texas be warm like it is up in Washington? Everything is being backwards. The Northwest is being warm, Vancouver has a snow shortage, while here in the South, we are cold with a snow surplus. I don't know how much more climate change I can take before it starts to make me cranky.

The Snow Is Melting & Me & My Fellow Texans Are Out Driving Around Breaking Rules & Being Scofflaws

You are looking east on Randol Mill Road in east Fort Worth, Friday afternoon around 3. As you can see we have had some snow melting.

I'd been outside enjoying the Winter Wonderland in walk mode, but, when I realized the roads were easily doable, I quickly went and did them in fully mechanized mode.

When I got the wheels turning, first, I needed to go to the Post Office. There I found a mysterious, thick envelope from the Queen of Wink. I've not opened it yet. I'm saving it for a special moment. I also found something else that once more sent me to the Chase Bank on Beach Street.

I did not even consider the possibility of having me one of my regular walkabouts on the way to the bank, which would be my regular pattern.

I left the bank and saw that the Trinity River is flooding over Trinity Falls at the infamous location of the Express Energy Services Trinity River Water Withdrawals. It looked so different, all white, with the rutted up, muddied levee, looking all pristine and clean.

I then went to Town Talk. Fewest cars I've ever seen there. Got some good stuff, cheese, hummus and apple cider. Really good apple cider.

It was when I left Town Talk I encountered the Road Closed sign on Randol Mill Road.

I think being all cooped up due to being snowbound had the scofflaw side of my makeup all revved up. I wanted to see what was closing Randol Mill Road. Something dire, I assumed. Maybe the old bridge, that crosses the Trinity River, had finally given up. It's had trucks banned on it for years, which I've also seen ignored, having had encounters, mid-bridge with both big UPS and Fed-Ex trucks.

I suspected if the bridge was the reason for the closure, the Road Closed sign would have been more dire sounding, as in, "Danger Ahead Bridge Out."

I was not long past the Road Closed sign when I encountered an incoming car. I thought maybe they were coming out of the north entrance to Gateway Park.

And then more incoming cars. I got to the infamous Randol Mill Trinity Bridge and encountered the oncoming car you see in the picture.

Prior to this incoming car I saw what I think had the road closed. Some snow damaged tree material was leaning over the road. I hit some when I could not swerve around it, due to one of those incoming cars I mentioned.

I met so many incoming vehicles I assumed only the eastbound lane of Randol Mill was closed. I was wrong. The westbound lanes were more seriously blocked than the eastbound, as you can see in the picture.

Why were so many Texans scofflawing today? Usually we are such a docile people, living in fear of an encounter with the taser wielding Fort Worth Gestapo Stormtroopers and never, ever breaking any rules.

Visiting Fort Worth Trinity River Ghosts, Sinkholes & Rutted Levees

When I took off out of here around noon for my daily constitutional I did not know where I was going, except for the Post Office. Sometimes there is something at the Post Office that determines where I go next.

Today the Post Office sent me off towards Beach Street to a Chase Bank. Since I was on Beach Street it made sense to park at the spot where last month I had fun with Express Energy trucks and go for a walk on the Trinity River Levee to see how the ol' girl is doing.

Well, she is still messed up and rutted, in several places, between Beach Street and the site of the recent Express Energy water removal operation.

The Trinity Sink Hole is still in play and seems to be growing slightly bigger. Someone commented that kids have been known to fall into such things. Currently it would take a very small kid to fall into that hole. A horse stepping on that hole would seem to not be a good thing though.

The thing that caught this Texas boy's eyes today was not holes or rutted up river levees. It was the astonishing amount of litter on the banks of the Trinity River.

My pictures never, even remotely, do justice to how bizarre the mess of litter looks.

Maybe, if I crop out a closeup of the litter in the first picture, it'll give you a better idea of how the bank of the Trinity River looks like a garbage dump, in some locations.

Those are not white birds you see in the tree. Those are white plastic sacks, you know, those things you bag your groceries in. From the vantage point from which the picture was taken, the bags look more like white ghosts, waving in the wind, than birds.

Why does it seem that so much litter roams wild and free in Texas? Where I used to live, in the Skagit Valley of Washington, I never saw all that much litter, certainly not on the banks of the Skagit River, which, incidentally, is a much bigger river than the Trinity, and thus could handle a large volume of litter, if someone forced it to.

In Washington I never saw flatbed trailers, loaded with garbage, driving down the freeway with litter flying away. A very resourceful disposal method, which must be sanctioned as appropriate, because I've seen it happen so many times while driving the highways of Texas.

It the litter problem here in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex a function of so many people living in a relatively small area? As in there are more people living in this Texas Metroplex than the entire state of Washington.

But, in areas of Washington where it is densely populated, such as the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett Metroplex of about 3 million, there are several rivers flowing through the populated area, none of which I ever recollect seeing Trinity River levels of litter.

It's very perplexing to me. Texans seem to like their state. Many Texans are quite quick to let you know how proud they are of Texas and that they truly believe it to be a special place. Then why do so many Texans see nothing wrong about trashing up the place?

I have rambled on long enough that I have space to show you a picture of the current state of the Express Energy Services damaged Trinity River Levee on this, the first Saturday of February. In the background you can see some of the litter "ghosts" that I showed you, closeup, above.

It's coming up on Saturday night. I'm fixin' to have myself a fine time in Texas tonight. See you tomorrow. Or sooner.

Chesapeake Will Try To Stay Out Of Imagination-Challenged, Cliche-Ridden, Vulgar, Moronic Shill Territory With Me

As if I needed any further proof that I both blog too much, and that, right now, I am way too tired, after I published my last blogging, I went to Twitter it, (or is it Tweet it?) and saw that Chesapeake had done an @durangotexas message. That's a Twitter thing where a Twitter person comments, mentioning another Twitterer. Or is it Tweeter?

I can explain it no better.

So, I get an @durangotexas from Chesapeake, that's the screen shot of it above, saying...

Chesapeake @durangotexas We'll try to stay out of "imagination-challenged, cliche-ridden, vulgar, moronic shill" territory. Good to connect with you.

Okay, like I said, I'm really tired. I read the above and knew it was a reference to something I'd written, directed at the Express Energy shill. But I did not remember it was something I'd written in the very blogging that preceded the one I'd just finished, that being the blogging in which I said Chesapeake Energy was now following me on Twitter.

I really need to schedule a session, soon, with my therapist, Dr. L.C. I'm a mess.

Chesapeake Energy Is Following Me With Cornbread For Lunch

I just returned from being up north in the Grapevine zone. Rain began dripping on the way back south to my current location, that being sitting in front of my computer monitor, waiting for cornbread to finish baking, so I can have cornbread and chili for lunch.

When I woke up my computer and checked email I saw one from Twitter telling me that Chesapeake Energy is now following me on Twitter.

So, now I've got an imagination-challenged, cliche-ridden, vulgar, moronic shill from Express Energy Services stalking me on the very blog you're reading right now. With Chesapeake Energy now following me on Twitter.

What's next? Jerry Jones following me?

Well, since Chesapeake Energy is now following me, I'll have to try and see if I can come up with something nice to say about them.

In the meantime, the cornbread is ready.

Giant Blobs Of Foam Appear On The Trinity River In Fort Worth

No. That is not an Iceberg floating in the Trinity River. It's a big blog of foam, several instances of which I saw yesterday when I went on a newly un-muddied walk on the Trinity Trails out of Gateway Park.

I saw the foam before I found the Hole in the Trinity River Levee.

Speaking of the Trinity Hole. When I blogged about the hole I included a comment I got from that brave soul who calls himself Anonymous. I opined that Anonymous was likely an Express Energy shill.

Well the shill read that blogging and made another illiterate comment. One part of the comment said, "...and next time post my whole comment. dont edit it." First off, I didn't post the comment, I stuck it in a blog. And the only editing was the removal of profanity. I touched none of the spelling and grammar errors.

In today's comment Anonymous asks, "so if you almost got ran over by this truck with no license plate, why dident you call the police?"

How does Anonymous know if the police were called or not? Why does Anonymous think the orange traffic cones showed up to keep the Express Energy trucks off the Trinity Trails?

Anonymous also makes the suggestion to "get a real life."

There are two cliches I find annoying, one is "get a life" and the other is "you must have too much time on your hands." It has been my experience that these cliches are used by ignorant, unimaginative sorts who have no life and consequently have too much time on their hands. I have a relative who frequently uses these cliches. She's the dumbest relative I have. And the most boring and boorish.

Anyway, back to the Trinity foam. What makes such a thing? I know people put all sorts of things into the long suffering Trinity River.

Things as bizarre as the mayor of Fort Worth, Mike Moncrief, pouring grape kool-aid in the river, thinking this would color it purple.

But, what would make thick foam? The first Foamberg was about 50 feet below Trinity Falls.

Another big Foamberg was at the location were Express Energy had its water sucking pipes stuck in the river. I believe the foam was collecting there due to a small creek entering the river and causing the flow to slow.

Anyway, I found the big blogs of foam to be very perplexing.

Is The Trinity Hole A Trinity River Levee Sinkhole In The Making?

I know I've mentioned it before, but to refresh your memory, 2 Saturday's ago I had a weird run-in with an Express Energy truck at the site of a water pumping operation in Fort Worth, on the Trinity Trails that run into Gateway Park.

After I had the run-in, I blogged about it, with pictures of the Express Energy truck barreling towards me on the paved pedestrian, no vehicles allowed, trail.

Soon after I blogged about the ugly incident, orange traffic cones were placed on the trail, with a sign saying "Utility Work Ahead." The traffic cones blocked the Express Energy trucks from driving on the Trinity Trail.

This morning I got a comment from "Anonymous" to the blogging about the Saturday Express Energy truck incident.

Anonymous said...

"DO ANY OF YOU HAVE A REAL JOB? walking around a park? huh? if your worried about the pavement being muddy? start by picking up the trash and dead bodies that are at the end of the hill... wheres the pics of that?"

Dead bodies? At the end of the hill? The hill reference sort of indicates this is an Express Energy person, aka shill. It's been pretty clear someone at Express Energy has been reading what I was saying about them every since I started saying stuff about them.

The best example of that came when I blogged about there being no permits posted. I then got a comment telling me there were permits posted, among other things. I quickly checked the site, to find no permits. And had my first encounter with Express Energy trucks.

After reading today's rather illiterate comment (I Ieft it as written, except for removing profanity) I decided I'd not been to the Express Energy 6 pump Trinity River water sucking site in awhile. So, today that is where I took one of those walks, which Anonymous finds perplexing that someone would do such a thing. In a park.

Well, there has been no attempt to fix the muddied, rutted, Trinity River levee. Maybe the water suckers are coming back, so what would be the point of fixing anything?

As you can in the picture, the levee got rutted up some more due to the Express Energy trucks being blocked by those orange traffic cones.

But, it was not the mud and ruts that surprised me today. Those I expected to see.

It is what the geologist, who walked with me today, found that was a bit unsettling, and, well, strange.

If you look at the picture at the top you will see a large hole. This large hole is about 100 feet west of the pedestrian bridge that takes you to Gateway Park. The large hole is on the north side of the paved trail, slightly south of the new "road" muddied in by Express Energy.

The Trinity Hole was weird to look into. My first reaction was how do I know that I'm not standing on a very thin layer of earth, with the Trinity Hole just being a little eye into the cavern?

My geologist co-walker said it looked like the beginning of a sinkhole. That it appeared that water had found its way into the levee and had eroded the hole.

The Trinity Hole is near where there was a leak in the pipeline, during the Express Energy water pumping. I took a picture of that leak on the Saturday I had the face-off with the Express Energy truck.

Looking in to the Trinity Hole it was too dark to see anything. So, I aimed my camera down the hole and took a flash picture. It looks like there's a bottom to the hole. Or maybe that is mud. It's such a perfect circle it looks as if something mechanical bored the hole. But why would anyone be boring holes, like this, into a river levee?

Very perplexing.

Express Energy Pumps Not Sucking Trinity River Water At Gateway Park Trinity Trail Location

I'm often surprised by what I see when I cross the Trinity River, heading north on Beach Street. Today there were no white Express Energy Services trucks to be seen.

Maybe because, except for cleaning up after themselves, their water sucking operation, at this location, seems to have ended.

The pumps have been drug up from the river's edge. I assume this means they are done.

I could tell that the Express Energy Services trucks had not driven on the paved trail. All the orange traffic cones were knocked over and scattered, but there was no fresh mud on the trail.

I can't help but wonder how it came to be that the Express Energy people were told to quit driving on the paved trail?

A "UTILITY WORK AHEAD" sign remains up, with no utility work appearing to be happening.

It will be interesting to see how well the muddy, rutted mess on the Trinity River levee is cleaned up. Then again, this may not be the last of the water sucking from this location. This had been the second iteration of a pumping operation at where Gateway Park meets the Trinity Trails.

In the second picture you are looking south, towards the Trinity River, from the east side of Beach Street. You can see the Express Energy pipelines on the left and right.

This is the access point for what I was calling the White Darth Vader Trucks. A little bridge took the trucks over the pipelines, then, before they were stopped from doing so, they'd take a left on to the paved trail, quickly having it thickly covered with mud.

That mud was cleaned up when the "Utility Work Ahead" first appeared.

Below are most of the links to the bloggings about my experiences with Express Energy Services. I hope that subject is at an end...

Mess of 6 Pumps Getting Ready To Steal Trinity River Water?

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Or One Of His Lackeys Thinks I'm A Clueless Reactionary

The 2010 Cold Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

I Have Had Me An Orwellian Big Brother Encounter With Express Energy On The Trinity River in Fort Worth

More Questions In The Increasingly Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

West Texas Chief Operative CT2's Report On Express Energy Services

A Sunday Surprise At the Fort Worth Beach Street Trinity River Gas Driller Pump Site

Another Visit With Express Energy Services At Gateway Park Where Water Is Now Being Removed From The Trinity River

A Saturday Shootout With Express Energy On The Trinity River In Fort Worth