A Very Angry Woman

Something about this video reminded me way too much of my month up in Washington.

Redneck Tanktop

Tootsie Tonasket sent me the above. According to Tootsie, the woman was going to a Flea Market in front of the Gardendale, Alabama Wal-Mart. Tootsie says you can get a 3 pack of men's briefs at Wal-Mart for $6. So, this makes for a very good bargain priced tanktop. Seems like you'd have to be a very small woman or find some really big briefs to make this work. Tootsie is heading to the Omak Wal-Mart this afternoon to get her some tanktop fixin's.

Going to a Funeral

This morning I was floating in water, contemplating my present moment. As I pondered, I realized I'd been relieved of a tiresome burden of late that I had not realized was so tiresome til I was relieved of it.

It's like I've gotten an extra 30 minutes or more a day due to not being stuck on the phone with what I now realize was a noxious pest.

I was channel chasing last night and at one point on some channel I heard the cliche, "you're dead to me."

That made me think that there are points in ones life when you know there is no way you'll ever see some individual again, that they are basically dead to you. So, I'm thinking in such a case one should hold ones own little private funeral and sort of mentally bury the person, mourn the loss and move on.

R.I.P.

UFO Over Fort Worth

I was over at Miss Puerto Rico's last night. Sitting outside on her balcony watching the world pass by. On the ground and in the sky.

When an unidentified flying object came into view, hovering in a static position and sending what appeared to be a beam of light towards the ground.

Was this over one of the ubiquitous natural gas drilling sites, we wondered?

We did not wonder long as our attention was diverted by police cars and fire trucks attending to some event on the ground unrelated to the object in the sky.

Jessica Simpson Pregnant With Tony Romo's Baby

Tony Romo is the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. That's a football team. Jessica Simpson is a cutie pie from Dallas. She sings. She was married to a guy named Drew, or Nick. They came to fame on an MTV reality show called, I think, The Newlyweds. By the end of season 2 they were heading towards splitsville.

Last year during a short break before a playoff game, Tony Romo took off with Jessica Simpson to a Mexican resort. This seemingly harmless trip erupted into a scandal here in the Dallas zone.

And now the rumors are flying that Jessica Simpson is knocked up. She was spotted sporting what appeared to be a baby hump under a baby hump disguising outfit. Since Jessica's been seen a lot with Tony Romo, it's assumed that he would be the Baby Daddy.

I like Tony Romo. I'm not a big fan of sports jocks, mostly I think they are very stupid and it's appalling they get paid so much for playing games. But I saw Tony Romo at an event in Dallas and he seemed real smart to me. And real likeable. And I really like Jessica Simpson, she's both cute and funny. Not all that smart though.

Last year Tony and Jessica showed up at a Dallas rock concert thing. A band I'd not heard of, Metal Skool, was playing. Somehow Tony and Jessica ended up on the stage with Metal Skool. Singing. You can hear Tony Romo singing in the below YouTube video.

I hope these kids get married soon if Jessica is in the family way. Her dad's an ex-preacher and would seem to be a stickler for such things.

September Swimming

I see it's in the 50s in Western Washington this morning. And in the 40s on the east side of the mountains.

East side of the mountains, or east of the mountains, is Washington-speak for east of the Cascade Mountains. Washington is pretty much divided in half by the Cascade Mountain range with several mountain passes connecting the two sides of the state.

Here in Texas we don't have many mountains requiring passes to get over them.

It was a chilly 79 when I went swimming this morning. Heading to the 90s again by this afternoon.

Charter Dis-Communications

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I returned from Tacoma to find I could no long find Turner Classic Movies or Bravo on my TV. I called Charter Communication and got some foreigner speaking gibberish from an off-shore, non-U.S. customer support center that provided no customer support, just the aforementioned gibberish.

So, yesterday I saw one of my favorite movies, The Night of the Hunter, was on TCM. So, I decided to go to the Charter Communications website and see if I could find any info or an email customer support address.

I found several customer support options, including email. I took the email route. The first reply came today. And it was gibberish. It's obvious that Charter also has non-Americans doing their email support. What is the point of them spending money on this type of customer service?

What follows is the email exchanges, 2 of them, first my question, then Charter's answer, then my follow up question with Charter's next answer.

I came home from a trip to find I no longer get TCM or Bravo. I then learned TCM has been moved from 49 to something like 78. However, when I tune to 78 I get a blue screen. What gives? And how do I get the missing channels, that I thought I was paying for, back?

Thank for contacting Charter Communications. My name is Susan. I'll be walking through your concern today regarding your favorite channels.

First of all, thank you for your e-mail submission. I understand, how frustrating it could be that we can't view our favorite channel. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. In line with the 2009 cable digitalization of service, your favorite channel is no longer available in Basic and Expanded cable sesrvice. It was transferred to digital service. I am very sorry for this short notice.

You may check our website at www.charter.com for all channel changes. Click on the ; ; . TV Guide Channel, Guide button on remote control. If you have additional concern please have a live chat with us. You can also call 1-888-438-2427 if this is more convenient for you. If there is anything further I can assist you with please let me know.

So how do I view the channels that have been moved to digital service? And why am I being charged the same amount if my service has been reduced?

Dear Mr./Ms. Durango:
Thank you for contacting Charter Communications. My name is Mae. It's my pleasure to reply to your email.

To see the channel lineup in your address, please access this link: http://***charter.com/Visitors/Channels.aspx. In addition, if you want to know what programs will be aired in your favorite channels, please go to http://***charter.net and click on the "Tv" tab on the upper right side of the main window; then, you'll be routed to another window wherein you'll be prompted to enter your Charter Account user name and password or, if you're not yet registered, you can just enter the ZIP code in your area.

If you have any additional questions and needs further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again through chat at www.charter.com for further assistance. You may also contact us by phone at 1-888-438-2427.

Thank you and Godspeed.

Mae

My favorite part of the second reply is the "Godspeed" part.

Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs

One of my favorite all time TV shows is The Rockford Files. That show had many a good episode, but the best that I recollect was a two-parter called Lions, Tigers Monkeys and Dogs.

Lauren Bacall played a lady named Kendall Warren. Kendall Warren was the best friend of Princess Irene Rachevsky, played by Dana Wynter.

Someone had tried to kill the Lauren Bacall character, hence the hiring of Jim Rockford to figure out who wanted to do Lauren in.

Turns out Lauren and the Princess were originally from the LA area, but had escaped the horrors of Simi Valley decades before. They went to Europe and created fake personas for themselves. Irene married a Prince, making her a Princess.

At one point, when talking to Rockford about her relationship with the princess she says something like "Ours is the sort of friendship where no matter what happens or what problems come up, the bond of our friendship is never broken. Is that as rare as I think it is?" she asked Rockford, to which he said something like "Pretty much extinct."

Trouble is, it was the princess who wanted to have Lauren killed. The princess felt she could never be totally free of her Simi Valley past as long as Lauren was there to remind her of it.

As for the Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs. Well, Lauren made some remark about someone being a Monkey. Rockford said "huh?" To which Lauren explained how she and the princess classified people's social standing. Royalty are Lions, leaders like Harry Truman are Tigers. Someone like Mick Jagger is a Monkey.

And then Rockford goes "You don't need to tell me who the Dogs are."

I've never known a Lion, Tiger or Monkey before. But I sure have known a lot of Dogs.

Weed Attack at Tandy Hills Park

It's in the 90s again today here in Fort Worth. I went swimming real early. It was not in the 90s then. It was barely in the 70s and the water wasn't much warmer than the air.

By a bit past noon it was hot enough to go on a hike. So, I went to the Tandy Hills. It's my favorite place to hike. When I discovered this hilly place way back in October of last year I thought there'd be no way it'd be hikeable when the super hot days of summer arrived.

But, the heat hasn't stopped the Tandy Hills hiking. A couple times I have gotten pretty much blinded by water oozing out of every pore. I was in icy Tacoma when they had a string of 100 degree plus days here. I guess I'm glad I missed that.

There is a sort of annoying addition to the Tandy Hills trails that popped up while I was up north. That being these giant weeds or mini-trees with little white flowers on them. These things are right at the edge of the trail in places, some of them over 6 feet tall. Today it was a bit windy and that gets these weedy mini-trees thrashing about. It's like being whipped by a bunch of skinny straws.

There was one sort of odd scene at Tandy Hills today. A mom and dad and 4 or 5 kids were on the trails. What made it odd is one of the kids was being pulled in one of those little red wagons, I forget their name. Radio Flyer, is that it? The Tandy Hills trails are not conducive to such a vehicle. But they were on the downside of a bit of steep terrain when I came across them.

One More Objection to Urban Gas Drilling

This morning's paper had yet one more good letter to the editor objecting to the poking of thousands of holes in Fort Worth and the laying of miles upon miles of underground pipelines to transport the odorless gas.

That's the satellite view of the Chesapeake Energy drilling operation that's my neighbor in the photo.

Below is this morning's letter to the editor......

Drilling, pipeline moratorium now

How did the residents of Fort Worth become the last thing to be considered rather than the first? Residents are being treated as if they live in a Third World country. City leaders elected to protect our public welfare are ignoring major issues involved in the gas-drilling process.

The most obvious instance is that your home is no longer your home. Texas law is allowing pipeline companies to use the right of eminent domain under the guise of public utilities. Residential property owners don’t stand a chance because they don’t have the money or legal precedent to fight pipelines from coming through their property. What happens to the value of your home when a gas well or pipeline is built near it?

Based on pipeline explosion data provided by the Texas Railroad Commission, it is estimated that if the city of Fort Worth has 3,000 gas wells and associated gathering lines in place, there will be a significant pipeline incident every six months.

The gas industry is exempt from provisions of most federal statutes regarding our health and the environment.. Due to the number of approved and requested wells in Fort Worth and our proximity to them, we will not be able to escape serious health and environmental consequences.

Even though the insurance industry hasn’t yet raised rates because of the location of raw gas pipelines on or near residential properties, it’s just a matter of time. Once they can establish actuarial figures, homeowners insurance may be increased or could even be canceled if you have a raw gas line on or near your property.

The Fort Worth Coalition for a Reformed Drilling Ordinance (CREDO) says it’s time to return to common sense. We need a moratorium to give our city leaders time to have legitimate discussion of these issues in an open forum and to let them get out in front of all the issues, not the other way around.

— Charlie Murphy, Fort Worth