Big Cheese Rodent Factory Has 3 Weeks To Quit Stinking

Last night the Fort Worth City Council, aka Fort Worth's Ruling Junta, gave the owners of the Big Cheese Rodent Factory 3 weeks to quit stinking up their neighborhood.

The Rodent Factory was given something called "planned development" zoning, instead of the "industrial zoning" the Rodent Factory owners had requested.

The new zoning lets the mouse breeders keep on breeding in their Rosemont neighborhood factory in south Fort Worth. The smell must be gone by November 1.

The Big Cheese Rodent Factory sells between 500,000 and 600,000 rats and mice a month. The rodents go to research, zoo food for snakes and birds and other uses.

An investigation by Fort Worth's Environmental Department (I'm shocked Fort Worth has such a department) found that the Rodent Factory's stench violated the Texas nuisance standard for odors.

Apparently the Big Cheese Rodent Factory reeks of an ammonia-like smell.

It will be interesting to see if the Rodent Factory stops stinking by November 1. And what Fort Worth does about it when the problem continues.

I'd blogged about the Big Cheese Rodent Factory previously.

Fort Worth's Stockyard Ruins Went Up In Animal Fat Flames

Adjacent to Fort Worth's #1 tourist attraction, that being the Fort Worth Stockyards, there is an area of sprawling ruins, the site of the former Swift-Armor meat packing plant, where cattle driven to the Stockyards met their final fate.

The Stockyard's Ruins is such an aesthetically interesting looking thing that one would think that something would be done with them. I don't know, maybe preserve the ruins, but build touristy things among them, like restaurants. Maybe they are just too unsafe and it's best to let them continue their gradual decay.

The only creative use I know of, regarding the Stockyard Ruins, is the Fox TV show Prison Break used it as the set of Sona Prison in Panama during that show's second and third season. Prison Break has now abandoned the Stockyards Ruins.

The reason I've mentioned the Ruins today is yesterday I got Feedback regarding them from someone calling himself CM Waring and claiming to have an answer as to what happened that made the ruins.

Here is what CM had to tell me....

"The Stockyards ruins were victims of arson fires, 2, in 1971 and 1973. The amount of animal fat in the buildings left the fires unable to be extinguished. They just let it burn out. I was long interested in how the ruins got in the state it's been for decades. I had to do plenty of digging to get that info, and I couldn't tell you where I finally found it. It was not easy."

I don't know. You don't really see signs of what looks like a big fire at the Stockyard Ruins. It more looks like a massive earthquake shook it all. But they don't get earthquakes here. Maybe a tornado struck it. Or maybe it was a huge animal fat fire. The mystery continues...

Swimming in the Cold in Texas on October 9

The overnight low was 53. The temperature at midnight was 66. When I went swimming this morning the air temperature was 58.

I'm guessing you can intuit from this that the water was cold. And yet I continue to be amazed that once I get past the jolting first minute it then feels good. For about 20 minutes.

I think the initial shock of cold causes an adrenalin rush that makes it work. Maybe followed by some sort of endorphin inflow like what happens after you do something aerobic for an hour. Only this cold water thing speeds it up.

All I know for sure is this is the latest in the year I've continued swimming. It makes me feel real good. And I"m gonna keep doing it. Til I freeze.

When I told my wimpy sister in Phoenix that I was still swimming she told me she'd bailed on her pool when it got too cold when the nighttime lows got into the 70s and the daytime highs got in the low 90s. I told her to give her icy water a try, that she might like it. I doubt she will give it a try though. Because she has access to my mom and dad's heated pool.

School Uniforms in Texas

During my investigative trip to Texas, back in May, 1998, checking to see if this was at all something I wanted to do, as in move to Texas, I was tasked with taking a teenager, 15, to his first day of school.

This was a kid who had been going to Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, Washington.

He was about to experience his first dose of Texas culture shock. He wore what he wore to school in Washington. A t-shirt and cargo shorts and his skateboard shoes. He carried his skateboard with him, intending to ride it home.

I dropped him off. A few minutes later I got a call that I had to come pick him up. He was not properly dressed. He needed a shirt and long pants. And skateboards were not allowed at school. When I went to pick him up I saw a lot of high school girls dressed like they could have been working Harry Hines Boulevard. Of course, at that point in time I had no idea what Harry Hines Boulevard was. I was to much later learn it is an area of Dallas where you can hire ladies of ill repute to do some things best not detailed in this venue.

Several years went by. The Dropping Pants thing started happening. Gang colors became an issue. And then one year the schools in my zone of North Texas imposed a 'School Uniform' policy. A very strict policy detailing precisely what can be worn. White shirts, tucked in. Jeans properly around the waist. Girls with skirts of appropriate length. No cleavage.

I've seen the kids in their uniforms. While I do get the argument as to why this is a good idea, to me the good is outweighed by the bad. In that it seems totally un-American. In America we are encouraged to be individualistic. To me how you dress is as much a freedom as freedom of speech. It's a form of self-expression.

It seems wrong to me to suppress this form of self-expression.

I do think it is appropriate for schools to have some standards. As in girls can not come to school dressed like hookers. No hot pants. No droopy drawers on boys. No t-shirts with obscenities. But if you want to wear an 'Obama' t-shirt to school. Or an 'I Love Jesus' t-shirt to school, no one should be able to tell you no. Not in a public school.

I can understand why a lot of parents like this school uniform thing. It makes life easier for them. And cheaper. But if I were a parent I would not like being told how my kid had to dress. That would just irritate me.

Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal Comments

The cases of victims of Jerry Jones and Arlington's abuse of eminent domain continue to work their way through the court system. The new Dallas Cowboy stadium continues to grow on top of the site of the victim's former homes.

The sense that something very wrong was done here continues to grow.

There has yet to be any sign that Jerry Jones possesses any form of a normal human conscience. None of the victims, so far, have been invited to the new stadium's opening celebration. Or a football game.

Meanwhile, this week I got a rare pro-stadium comment regarding the comments others have made on my website regarding the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal. Previously pro-comments have been borderline illiterate and hard to understand. But this one was articulate and sort of funny. I also got a semi-pro-comment to my YouTube video of the stadium under construction, from one of the victims. This victim seems happy he was forced to move.

First the comment from my website, followed by the YouTube comment and the YouTube video being commented on....

"Wow what a bunch of whiners... I bet in the long run the people who object about the stadium are probably trying to get something out of Jerry Jones. Why don't you guys just give up and go on about your business. The stadium will be built and nothing you can do or say will stop it now. It's beautiful~ and I'm proud it's in my city. If you live in Arlington you should be proud as well. We live in a society of the majority rules (unless it's the Presidential Election) and the majority of people in Arlington want the stadium exactly where it is being built. You whiners probably live in Dallas anyway and can't figure out how Arlington Texas outmaneuvered in the stadium deal. I'm only hoping Jerry Jones has the balls to change the name to "The Arlington Cowboys" ~ Maybe I'll bring that up at the next town hall meeting."

The following is the comment on the video. It's more the norm of the pro-stadium comments...

"yay no more ranger's field fireworks blasting off right outside my window. city kickin us out had to be the greatest day off my life. mansfield is such a better city"

Gas Price War Breaks Out In Fort Worth

Lucky me. My zone of Fort Worth, that being the eastside, has had a gas war break out down on Lancaster Avenue. As you can see from the photo it's under $3.

There are pumps on both sides of the Race Track gas store. Goofballs coming from the west were backed up onto the street, waiting their turn for relatively cheap gas.

Meanwhile on the east side of the store I drove right up to a pump and started pumping.

Awhile back Gar the Texan blogged about the absurdity of waiting in a long line to save a dime on a gallon of gas, as if your time had no value, nor did the gas you wasted waiting in line.

I suck at math and keep in mind I didn't wait in line. The cheapest I saw gas today, other than the gas war zone, was $3.19. So, I got it for a quarter cheaper than that. My tank holds 25 gallons. Okay, like I said, I suck at math. I need to get the calculator. I saved $6.25 over the $3.19 station. Plus I found a dime on the ground while I was pumping, which brings my total net gain to $6.35.

I was feeling so fortunate, as soon as I was done pumping, I called my mom in Phoenix with my regular gas report. She was also very happy to hear about the dime.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Stutters and Stammers Too Much

Okay, I'll admit I have a personal problem with not liking it when someone stutters and stammers and says 'um' a lot. I always think, why don't you get your thoughts in order before you put your mouth in motion. It really is probably one of my pet peeves.

So, I turned on the TV while I ate lunch. All the cable news stations were covering Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's news conference live.

I have seldom, if ever, witnessed a public figure, in a position of such responsibility, stutter and stammer as much as this guy. It did not inspire confidence. Quite the opposite. Where did George W. find this one? Same place he got that Brownie guy that George thought did such a good job during the Katrina debacle?

I am aware it shows extreme shallowness on my part, but I'm just not comfortable with the idea of letting someone who stutters and stammers oversee the spending of $700 billion with a who knows if it's a good idea plan to save the world from total economic meltdown.

We live in scary times. Meanwhile I got gas today for under 3 bucks a gallon.

John McCain's Rage is a National Security Concern

Fort Worth Dumbness About ZLB Plasma

I recently learned yet one more thing that makes me cranky about how the Ruling Junta of Fort Worth runs things in this backwater town that doesn't know that that's what it is.

In one neighborhood of Fort Worth the residents can not get the city to shut down something that is making them miserable due to the smells coming from the Big Cheese Rodent Factory. Yes, the city is allowing a mice breeding operation where people live.

Meanwhile in my area of Fort Worth a company named ZLB Plasma has a branch office doing a good deed. They are so successful they bought a nearby bigger building to move their operation to so they could do even more good deeds.

But, the city of Fort Worth's Ruling Junta thinks this business attracts an unsavory crowd that lingers in McDonald's and the bus stop and make residents nervous. At least that's part of the excuse given to denying a permit to open a bigger clinic in a bigger building which would attract even more unsavory characters.

ZLB Plasma extracts blood plasma from willing donors. Plasma is used to make products that treat patients suffering from bleeding disorders, immune deficiencies, shock, trauma and burns.

There is an urgent, critical need for products that can only be made from plasma.

Every day, but Sunday, 100s of people show up at my neighborhood ZLB Plasma clinic to do a good thing. They are paid $25-$40 per donation. If you donate plasma a second time in one week they give you $40, one time you get $25.

So, you've got all these people, healthy people, well-tested before plasma is drawn, willing to do this good deed. You've got a company willing to locate in Fort Worth to do this good deed.

And you've got an idiotic city bureaucracy that does not work with them, instead, works against them. ZLB had no idea what sort of backwater place they were dealing with. They naively went ahead and bought the new, bigger building. Likely because the company had never been located in a place where permission to make a move to a bigger building would be denied.

Someone needs to overthrow Fort Worth's Ruling Junta and install a working democracy. I think maybe the Ruling Junta is running a WMD operation at the Big Cheese Rodent Factory. Time for some pre-emptive striking for the greater good of the good citizens of Fort Worth. America, please takeover this town. You'll be welcomed as liberators. I'm almost certain of that.

Disneyland and Six Flags Over Texas

Since my first visit when I was 13, Disneyland has been one of my favorite places. There was a time when I'd go to Disneyland just about every year. In the Los Angeles zone I also had fun at Knott's Berry Farm and Magic Mountain. I was a theme park fan.

When I moved to Texas I thought I'd be getting an annual pass to Six Flags Over Texas and go there multiple times during the year. But that was before I actually went to Six Flags Over Texas. Sadly, it is no Disneyland.

That old bald man you see above is sort of Six Flags mascot. While Disneyland has Mickey and Minnie.

Disneyland creates its own world, with the outside shut out. Walls keep you from seeing the outside world at Disneyland. At Six Flags Over Texas you can view the outside world through cyclone fence topped with barbed wire. Like a prison.

The entry into Disneyland is very efficient. You pass through the gates and walk under a railway and suddenly you are looking at Main Street with a castle at the end of the street. You know you're somewhere special. At Six Flags you go through a clunky entry that opens to a little plaza with an old Carousel spinning around.

Disneyland is neat and tidy. No chipped paint. No litter. Everything bright, shiny and clean. Six Flags has water with litter floating, broken TVs hanging above you while you wait in line, areas in need of paint, dead landscaping.

Six Flags Over Texas is very odd with the theming. The area that is supposed to be France is the closest Six Flags comes to Disneyland's quality level. Mexico has some stuff that looks Mexican and other things that seem out of place. I don't know in which 'country' the log ride is, but it is one disturbing ride. Because it's supposed to be in a north woods type setting, the water is dyed an unnatural shade of blue. Disneyland's log ride is quite elaborate, Six Flags is barebone.

The first visit to Six Flags I got in for free. A few years later I got another free pass. That was the year the Titan Hypercoaster opened. There had been some improvements. More flowers, less things in need of paint, cleaner. But the landscaping for the new Titan ride appeared to be dying due to lack of water. I've never seen anything dead or dying at Disneyland.

After the first visit to Six Flags I never again entertained the notion that I'd like an annual pass. I don't know that I'd go again even if I got paid to go.

A one day pass to Disneyland costs about $70. Six Flags Over Texas is under $30 if you buy online, $49.99 if you buy your ticket at the park. You get what you pay for. Compared to Six Flags, Disneyland is a bargain. Only 20 bucks more for an excellent high quality experience, vs. a glorified carnival.