Wal-Mart's Milk Price Is Still Wrong

It seems like weeks now since I first blogged about Wal-Mart's Supercenters having big $1.98 signs above their milk, with that same $1.98 price repeated on the shelves for each type of milk, whole, 2%, 1% or skim.

I last bought milk last Friday, and blogged my two cents worth, along with a picture of the two cents I got for complaining to Wal-Mart's misnamed Customer Service.

It was on that day I learned why Wal-Mart is now making a lot of pricing errors. Because they no longer have a motivation to be careful, due to dropping their refund policy when they are caught making a mistake.

I do not know if it is true, or not, but one local told me the Texas State Legislature changed the law regarding pricing mistakes, removing the refund penalty that had provided a motivation for stores to not mislead their customers by putting one price on the shelf and charging another price at checkout.

Scandalous.

And now, today, Tuesday, 4 days after I last got milk at Wal-Mart, I did so again. This time fully expecting it to still ring up at $2, but this time I was armed with my camera to take a picture of the big $1.98 sign. The other picture is, obviously, today's receipt. Unlike last Friday, I did not go to Customer Service to get my two cents. There was a line. I wouldn't have bothered even if there had been no line. I was hungry and wanted to go home and make tacos.

I wonder how much money those 2 extra pennies, or 1% surcharge, has added up to for Wal-Mart.

Flat Bobcat Encounter at River Legacy Park

Well, I've had me a day. I got up well before the sun did today. That had me in the pool early. About 11 I decided to try and ride the River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trail. I figured it's been enough days since Friday's rain, that it should be dried out.

The first time around was uneventful, wildlife-wise, except for one brief encounter with a skinny green snake.

Somewhere between the 3 and 4 mile mark I came upon a turn off to a new trail. I'd just been there last week and saw no sign of this new trail. The trail twisted and turned, tracked back and forth, I had no idea what direction I was going. And then after about a mile of slightly slow going, due to the new trail not being broken in yet, it rejoined the original trail. I think I maybe gained 50 feet after twisting and turning around for a mile.

On the second time around I quickly came upon the biggest, as in overweight type big, guy I've ever seen on a mountain bike. No, I did not get a picture. I asked if I could pass. He was pleasant. I don't see how that guy could manage some of the ups and downs.

About a mile later my front tire suddenly went wobbly. It quickly went totally flat. It was not long before the Big Guy came up behind me. I was surprised. I think he'd taken shortcuts. He offered to help. I said thanks, but I'm just gonna walk it out. There are those shortcuts, I figured it'd be about a mile of pushing the flat tire. I was right.

About a minute after the Big Guy's offer of help, I came upon my first bobcat in a long time. He was a big one. He did not seem too nervous about me. I talked to him and he seemed to be doing some sorta growling thing. I was able to get my camera out and take a lot of pictures. Eventually he slowly walked away from me as I continued to snap pictures. He only walked about 10 feet, to sit in the shade of a small tree.

So, I ended up going about 7.7 miles with my bike today, with 1 mile of it being on foot. I did not like being on foot. It is a very warm day. The sort of very warm spring day that brings out the snakes, like Copperheads. It is not easy to spot a snake in the grass. Especially when it is tall green grass.

2009 Fort Worth Prairie Fest Urgent Request

It is just 6 days til April 25 and the 2009 Prairie Fest.

Don Young has sent out an Urgent Request for help. If you can help there something thirst quenching in it for you.

Below is Don Young's Urgent Request

Success has caught up with Prairie Fest. The biggest little green fest in Texas has grown about 30% larger than last year and is still growing. We need your help pronto.

Canopies, also know as pop-ups, are urgently needed. Size must to be 10' x 10'.

If you can loan us one or two, please contact me immediately. There's a beer/wine ticket in it for you.

Thanks a mil!

Don

If you can help, call 817-731-2787 or email.

Luling Watermelon Thump & Watermelon Medicinal Value

For quite some time I have noticed a big drop in the number of spam emails I get from people offering help in improving the condition and performance ability of a special part of me.

Speaking of that, did you know that a Texan has discovered a Natural Viagra? Watermelon. Bhimu Patil, director of the Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center at Texas A & M University, at College Station, claims watermelon has more citrulline than previously believed.

Citrulline is an amino acid that relaxes and dilates blood vessels, the body converts it to the amino acid arginine, which is a precursor for nitric oxide, an oxide which is a key component in a key male component.

No one knows how much watermelon one must eat in order to gain any possible salubrious affect. Watermelon is 92% water and 8% sugar. It is rich in lypocene, an antioxidant which gives it its red color. It is fat free. It contains Vitamin A, C, and a lot of other things that are good for you, especially citrulline.

While you are contemplating eating some watermelon you'll be happy to know that the 56th Annual Luling Watermelon Thump will take place June 25, 26, 27 & 28 down south in Luling, Texas. Luling is on Interstate 10, about 50 miles east of San Antonio and about the same distance south of Austin. That'd make Luling about 230 miles south of my location in Fort Worth.

Thousands of people come to the Watermelon Thump. There's a Carnival, Beer Garden, Lots of Food, Magicians, Fire Eaters, Street Dances, Arts & Crafts, Melon Judging, a Rodeo, Parade, Watermelon Eating Contest and, of course, the World Champion Seed Spitting Contest.

On Thursday you can go to the Thump for free, including the Entertainment and Dance. On Friday and Saturday it'll cost you $2 General Admission, $20 for the Dance/Concert. Kids under 11 admitted free. Admission is free on Sunday.

Lee Harvey Oswald Is My Neighbor

This coming November it will be 46 years since Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby. The JFK Assassination remains controversial with way too many unanswered questions. Or things that don't make sense.

I have mentioned before that had you told me 15 years ago that in 2009 I would be living within walking distance of the gravesite of Lee Harvey Oswald I would not have been able to imagine a scenario where that would make sense.

But, here I am.

Last week I finished a book titled Oswald Talked by Ray and Mary La Fontaine. It was a rather difficult read, hard to follow the minute details at times. This was no conspiracy nutjob book, it was more of a looking back at investigations and conclusions and running them through the filter of new information released in the 1990s.

Reading this book, now that I'm living in Fort Worth, I recognize the places mentioned, like Ridglea West Elementary or Arlington Heights High School or Montgomery Ward.

When Oswald made it back to America after trying out the Soviet Union and finding it not to his liking, he returned to Fort Worth, with his Russian wife, Marina. They moved to a little house near Montgomery Ward, just west of downtown Fort Worth, near what Fort Worth calls "The Cultural District." I believe that house was destroyed in the 2000 Fort Worth tornado.

One of the key characters in the Oswald saga, one who later contradicted the "official" FBI version of the assassination and Lee Harvey Oswald, was this well-off Russian emigre' named George DeMorenschildt. Years later George DeMorenschildt committed suicide, but not before writing down his opinion about Oswald. George DeMorenschildt felt guilty about betraying Oswald by sort of throwing him under the bus to the Warren Commission. So he wrote "I am a Patsy."

There is an amusingly descriptive paragragh in I am a Patsy that describes DeMorenschildt's first trip from Dallas to Fort Worth to meet the Oswalds.

"Someone gave me Lee's address and one afternoon a friend of mine, Colonel Lawrence Orloff and I drove to Fort Worth, about 30 miles from Dallas. We drove over the dreary, sewage-smelling miles separating the two cities. Texas does have lovely open spaces, but here they were degraded and polluted. After some searching, we found a shack on Mercedes Street in a semi-industrial, slummy area, near Montgomery Ward."

So, in 1962 the drive between Dallas and Forth was like he describes it? Dreary, stinking of sewage? Polluted open spaces? I first set eyes on Dallas and Fort Worth in 1981. On that visit I drove between the two towns. By that point in time I would not have described it like DeMorenschildt does, so there must have been a lot of improvement over the 2 decades that separated my drive and DeMorenschildt's.

Who wants to meet me for a beer at the Ozzy Rabbit Lodge? That's a cozy little bar down by Lee Harvey's gravesite. When my mom was here she was appalled that someone would open a bar and name it after Lee Harvey Oswald.

Was anyone reading this blog, there at Dealey Plaza, that infamous November day? Anyone see JFK and Jackie in Fort Worth that morning?

Only Child Syndrome: Case History #2

I've blogged about Only Child Syndrome several times.

Every day people from all over the world come to this blog seeking relief from dealing with the Syndrome.

Whenever I blog about OCS it seems to generate a lot of interesting comments. Many of them amusing. Some, inadvertently so.

Only Children who developed the Syndrome make the funniest comments. Always denying the existence of the Syndrome, while at the same time exhibiting, verbally, classic OCS attitudes.

And then you have the Only Children who get it and are working on it. I like them.

Now, I have never said that all Only Children develop the Syndrome. But, all the Only Children I have known have had the Syndrome to varying degrees. But, I'm sure if I knew 100 Only Children that there would be several totally Syndrome-free. Some parents are good parents, no matter if they have One Child. Or a dozen. Other parents have One Child, and, though they may mean well and not realize they are creating a monster, that is what their bad parenting does.

Two of the worst Only Child Syndrome cases I have known were very similar in how the Syndrome manifested itself in them. Which was ironic, because they had so many things in common in addition to both being Only Children.

They had the same first name, they both had alcoholic fathers, they were born within days of each other, in the same month, they were both overweight, with one being morbidly obese, they both had a history of imaginary boyfriends. They both were infatuated with me. (shudder) They both were unkempt, and, well, let's just say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this eye always saw the opposite of beauty when his eye beheld this particular pair.

And how did Only Child Syndrome manifest itself in this pair? They both required a lot of attention. Both had at least 2 personality modes. One being a semi-normal acting mode. The other being what I would call performance mode, as in acting up to get attention. Both were extremely neurotic, bordering on being paranoid much of the time. Both lacked self-awareness, with no sense of how others viewed them.

As it is with a lot of Only Children, a big deal must be made over birthdays, even well into adulthood, when most of us have reached the point where we prefer the day to be ignored. Both were known to throw elaborate parties for themselves. Homage had to be paid, or you risked a rage.

Which is another thing this pair of Only Children shared in common. Anger management issues. Both could fly into nonsensical rages when some random present moment thing would trigger a neurotic reaction. Very unpleasant to be around.

Both had a highly evolved sense of entitlement. That could lead to any number of bad things.

Both were extremely over-bearing, very opinionated, but both lacking the intellectual ability to reason their way out of the arguments they created. Both using the foot-stomping temper tantrum method of getting their way in a disagreement.

Obviously, I see neither of these particular Only Child Syndrome cases anymore. Which is a good thing.

Wind Chimes Need To Be Banned

Way back in December of last year I blogged about how much I dislike the noise pollution caused by windchimes. And the fact that there seems to be no awareness, here in Texas, that the things unfairly impede upon the peace and quiet and privacy in ones own home.

More enlightened parts of the world, like cities and towns in west coast states, ban the noisemakers from being used within a certain distance, like 300 feet, of a neighbor's ears.

I really don't know how anyone can be so cluelessly rude as to impose this type irritant on their neighbors.

Anyway, the reason windchimes are fresh on my mind is not because I've got my windows open and am hearing one, all I'm hearing is a lot of melodic birds chirping. The reason the windchime pet peeve is fresh on my mind is because the ubiquitious Mr. or Ms. Anonymous commented on what I wrote previously about windchime noise pollution. I thought the comment was amusing, so I'll repeat it below...

I bought an inexpensive sounds of windchimes CD and sent it to my neighbor asking if they could take down the chimes and instead listen to this in the privacy of their own home. Still waiting to see what happens as these windchimes are HUGE.......they hang from a post on their back deck that looks like a hangman's noose device. If my diplomacy doesn't work....I'm going Navy Seal on the thing.

Something Not Natural About The Tandy Hills Natural Area

The picture does not do justice to how colorful this part of the Tandy Hills Prairie was looking today. The Tandy Hills has only 6 days to get fully bloomed in time for Saturday's 2009 Prairie Fest.

I hope I remember to go to Prairie Fest, unlike what happened last Saturday when I totally forgot I was going to go the Main Street Arts Festival.

I saw a couple unnatural things today whilst hiking around the Tandy Hills Natural Area. The most disturbing unnatural thing was up by the tallest tower, right by the Tandy Hills Litter Shrine. Flags had been stuck in the ground and orange stripes sprayed marking an electric power line route. It would appear this means there will be some digging soon. I doubt the Shrine will survive.

The other unnatural thing I saw today was also flag related. All over the park I saw red flags stuck in the ground, with all but one saying "Long Route." I've no idea what this means. The red flag that did not say "Long Route" said something Latin and "Buttermilk Primrose." The Latin term for the yellow flower made me think that Don Young was behind that flag. He seems to know the Latin name for everything.

The weather today is about as perfect as it gets in Texas. 80 with low humidity. The pool was perfect this morning. I suspect it will be even more perfect tomorrow morning.

People are coming to this blog from all over the world, again, looking for help with Only Child Syndrome. Why does this and the search for the World's Biggest Butt go in streaks? Maybe I'll muster the energy to blog about Only Child Syndrome again. If I can help just one victim deal with the syndrome, I'll have done a good thing today.

Fort Worth Stockyards Saunders Park

Yesterday I made mention of a seldom seen part of the Fort Worth Stockyards, that being the Marine Creek Linear Park and the part of the Linear Park known as Saunders Park. I said this spot reminded me of Venice, but the photo I used didn't really do a good job of showing what this park looks like. Hence this followup blogging.

I'll use the verbiage from my Eyes on Texas website webpage about this part of the Stockyards.

Most Fort Worth Stockyard's visitors do not realize a river runs through it, well, actually a creek, Marine Creek, which a short distance from this point will join the Trinity River. In the above photo we are standing under the bridge which most people walking on Exchange Avenue don't realize they are on when they are in the White Elephant Saloon or standing near the Fort Worth Stockyards sign. There is a paved trail called the Marine Creek Linear Park of which this location is a part.

Now we are in the aforementioned Saunders Park, overlooking Marine Creek. This is a very attractive, scenic part of the Stockyards that few see. There is a sign on the south side of Exchange Avenue pointing visitors to an alley that leads to the park, but that one sign seems to be the only effort made to direct people to this location. Tim Love's Lonesome Dove Bistro is the only Stockyards venue to take advantage of this asset. The Lonesome Dove has a deck overlooking the park where diners can enjoy the view.

When you explore around the Saunders Park zone you can see signs that at some point in time it was bigger, with trails eroded and rockwork fallen apart. The Stockyards area and North Main Street seem to have a history of projects that don't quite get finished. I think one of them is called something like La Gran Plaza. Basically an alley was fixed up, sort of Mexican themed, but it didn't get finished. I think the Rose Marine Theater was part of that renewal attempt.

Another thing about Saunders Park. It was in the tunnel part of this trail that I saw the biggest snake I've seen since I was in Texas. That was very unsettling. I think it was a water moccasin. But when I get in snake panic mode my snake identification skills tend to suffer.

Sunday Bike Ride to the Fort Worth Stockyards with Beer

I mentioned earlier that I thought I might pedal the Trinity Trail from Gateway Park to the Fort Worth Stockyards today. Mister Twister quickly requested that I thoroughly photo document this bike ride.

I always do what people ask me to do. So, I ended up taking over 60 photos. 20 of them I've used.

As you can see on the distance odometer part of my bike speedometer I pedaled 18.961 miles today. It was very windy. Pedaling into the wind I was lucky to go 10 mph. With the wind pushing me I easily sailed over 20 mph. That was fun.

I do have some very good news to report. I have never seen so many people biking and walking on this trail before. I tell you, Texans are getting in shape.

Just a little bit east of I-35 I saw something that made me realize I made a big mistake this weekend, actually two mistakes. I'll get to that when I get to that picture.


What you see above is one of the Trinity Falls. You see this soon after leaving Gateway Park via a long bridge. I'm at the west end of the bridge in the picture.

A closer look at this particular Trinity Falls. It can be a bit exciting crossing this when it's running a lot of water. It's very noisy and you get going quite fast heading down towards the dam, and then it's a sharp turn. If a brake broke, right then, you'd go flying into the falls. That would be unpleasant. I had this happen before, the brake breaking part, not the falls falling part, at Cedar Hills State Park. When the brake cable breaks, on a steep downhill, it is like you've had a booster shot which quickly causes a wreck.


There is what amounts to being a very small lake above Trinity Falls. There is a Kayak Club that has a storage garage here. I don't know if this Trinity River lake is bigger or smaller than the new Trinity River lake that may be built further upriver.

In Texas, when you get arrested for littering, you may be sent to a Correctional Facility, where on weekends you may be sent, via bus, to pick up litter on the banks of the Trinity River, like the inmates you see here.


Here you see a message, painted in orange, visible from Interstate 35 to southbound drivers, directing them to Mayfest.org. When I saw the Mayfest sign I instantly remembered that this weekend was the Main Streets Arts Festival and I'd totally forgotten about it. My Saturday plan had been to take the bus to the Rahr Brewery Tour and then go to downtown to the Arts Festival. It was real foggy on Saturday, as was my brain, apparently.

Also, just east of the I-35 bridge over the Trinity, is this little rest stop. Since I've last biked here a new trail to a park I did not realize existed, and signage, has been added. And even more important than that, the water faucet finally works. This oasis had been a cruel torture for at least 2 summers when I'd stop, empty of water, over 100 degrees, and the faucet not running water.

On both sides of the river there are these rocks embedded into the ground with big plaques like you see above. This one, among other things, tells you that once alligators swam here. The info on the plaques is very good. Like one near Marine Creek tells you that that is where a big Indian encampment was located, back in the days when Fort Worth was actually a fort, well, a camp. I believe these plaques must have been added way back over a half century ago when the levees were built. I think that because they are rather randomly located. Such as the one you see here, when I first saw it, there was no paved trail going by it, just a dirt horse path. Some of the plaques are not where there is a paved trail.

Here you see a couple of big birds trying to stop me from crossing one of the many dam/river barriers that the paved trails use to get from one side of the river to the other. Just prior to this I was harassed, harassed I tell you by several giant eagle looking birds. I'd just watched Hitchcock's The Birds, so those Big Eagles made me nervous. I quickly pedaled on instead of getting my camera out.

After the birds finally let me get on my way I was on the side of the river where Fort Worth's very minor league baseball field is located. So, I pedaled up to take a look. It has been greatly improved since it first appeared. Back then I made a webpage making fun of it. I did that because I was annoyed at yet on more iteration of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's green with envy verbiage. As in, I think it was in an editorial, it said something like Fort Worth is the envy of its league due to its stupendous ballpark. They play in a league with some towns as small as 12,000 population! And you brag about your little ballpark? That was just embarrassing.

The trail continues on over a bridge that crosses where the aforementioned Marine Creek runs into the Trinity River. I think this may be part of what will be destroyed if Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision ever gets clear. I went over the bridge on the way back from the Stockyards. On the way to the Stockyards I went off the paved trail to go in a back way.

And now you are looking at the aforementioned back way into the Stockyards. That is a railroad bridge. I believe the Tarantula Train goes over it on its way to Grapevine. I may be wrong.

That's a warning sign letting you know that these are real tracks and a real train uses them, that being the Tarantula Train. What you're looking at here is the Iron Horse Trail, this very well done walk through the history of Fort Worth and the surrounding area. It is kept up well, but I have never ever seen anyone but myself here. Nothing in the Stockyards directs you to it. That's a shame.

That is Saunders Park in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Just like the Iron Horse Trail, few people take a look at this. Marine Creek runs through here and it reminds me a bit of Venice. The creek runs right under where the iconic Fort Worth Stockyards sign is located. The Lonesome Dove Bistro is directly to the left in this picture. The Ruling Junta really should try and come up with a way to make better use of this park.

And now I'm on the Stockyard's main drag, looking at the aforementioned iconic sign. I don't think Fort Worth has any other iconic image type things. Not that I can think of.

I always think the longhorn crossing sign is amusing. There were a lot of people at the Stockyards today, just like there always are. Awhile back a friend from Washington was visiting, we were at the Stockyards and she commented that it's just like Reno. Huh? I asked. It was all the people wandering about drinking beer. A lot of places have no open container laws. Apparently Fort Worth, or at least parts of Fort Worth are Extra Wet. I saw a lot of people at the Stockyards today walking around with beer bottles. To me it totally fits the western theme.

That reminds me, The Amazing Race is on tonight. I've never done one of these maze type things. I guess I don't see the attraction of the attraction.

This reminds me, Prison Break starts up again tomorrow. I probably won't watch. I was surprised to see that the guard towers were still standing at the part of the Stockyard Ruins that were used by Prison Break to simulate a Panama prison.

And now I'm at the end of my bike ride, back in Gateway Park, looking at the #1 (according to Dog Fancy magazine) dog park in the U.S. We are so proud. But no city-wide celebration was held. There were a lot of people with a lot of yapping mutts there today. I had a herd of yappers yapping at me and chasing me the entire length of the fence.

So, fun bike ride, most people ever on the trail. Even a record breaking number of homeless bums, 4, under the bridge favored by that minority. Near the homeless shelter on the south side of I-30.