I Am A Grammar Nazi

Everyone makes a grammar mistake every once in awhile. Even I have made one. Or two. I know we are not all blessed with the same level of either brain power or education. But most of us made it through high school. By the time most of us got out of high school we had been subjected to many many hours of English classes.

Unfortunately, for some those English classes did not do a lot of good. What is perplexing me right at the moment is how can someone write a sentence with the following mistakes....

"If your gonna ask what there doing why dont you just do what there doing if your so curious?"

How hard is it to remember that "they're", "their" and "there" have 3 different meanings? And to use them appropriately?

How hard is it to remember that "your" and "you're" have 2 different meanings?

Now, I am totally cognizant of the fact that it is easy to make the mistake of typing "your" when you mean "you're". I've made that mistake myself. But when I make it it is a fluke, a typo.

I am aware of someone who has seriously degraded thinking, she's on the left side of the IQ Bell Curve. She made it through high school but any higher education was not feasible due to acceptance standards. But still, how does one write paragraph after paragraph of barely coherent sentences verbalizing barely coherent thoughts and not realize that the word they are looking for is "you're" not "your"?

I get the concept of making your own rules sometimes when it comes to grammar. I do that. Like I think the correct thing to do when using quotation marks is to do this, "quote." As in the period goes inside the quotation mark. I put it outside. Why? I dunno. I think it makes more sense, I guess. So, this is a conscious choice, not something that occurs because of degrading thinking.

Anyway, if me writing about they're, there, their, your and you're causes just one person to pay attention to this all too common mistake I will have done my bit to serve humanity for the day.

But now I must go serve my own humanity by going swimming. It's only 48 out there. I hope it's doable. Yikes, that's another one. "Its" and "it's". "Its" is a possessive pronoun, "it's" is a contraction of "it is". How hard is that to remember? I suppose I shouldn't be so judgemental. It can't be easy to go through life with degraded thinking.

Yikes again. That's another one. "Through" and "threw". Even with degraded thinking how can one mix up those two words?

Debating the McCain Palin Feud

It got a tad nasty on the Republican side, in more ways than one, as the election drew to a close. The worst of the nastiness seemed to be being directed from the McCain side, not towards President Obama, but towards that lil' ol' Diva, Sarah Palin. What an unseemly spectacle....

Texas Gas Under 2 Bucks, Car Wrecks & Roller Blading

About noon I had to go to Washington Mutual again. On the way, on I-820 near the Northeast Mall, I saw my first bad wreck in a long time. A van and a car had a bad meeting. Both looked totalled. But I don't think anyone was injured. The drivers were out of the vehicles, the passengers were still inside. The police had arrived. There seemed to be no worrying about the condition of those in the vehicles.

Cars have gotten so much safer, what with air bags and better designs. 30 years ago I don't think anyone would have gotten out of a wreck like I saw today without bad injuries or, most likely, dead.

After I was done at the bank I headed back south and went to Village Creek Natural Historical Area to go roller blading.

Yesterday's heavy wind caused the trail to be covered with leaves in places. Leaves are not a roller blader's ally. But I negotiated them without a fall. The armadillos were being real busy today. They also are not a roller blader's ally.

As you can see from the photos, gas has fallen under 2 bucks all over my zone of Texas. And there are no long lines. Just a couple weeks ago when it went under 3 bucks in a nearby gas price war, the line of cars extended out on the road.

Just a couple months ago, when I was in Tacoma, the Puyallup Tribe lowered the price at their Reservation Station to $3.99, causing lines of cars to back up onto I-5.

Okay, that's my report from my zone of Fort Worth for the day. Did I already remember to mention I went swimming again this morning at 7am? It got down to 45 last night, the high at midnight was 60. The water seemed way warmer than the air. I swam a long time.

Follow the Money-Brick Road to Chesapeake Energy Way

Fresh Incoming Info From Don Young........

It wasn't enough to have bought-off elected officials and institutions eating out of their hands.

It wasn't enough to cover our billboards, buses, newspaper pages and airwaves with their propaganda.

It wasn't enough to buy and pillage our most sacred land for their dirty deeds.

With Chesapeake Energy, too much is never enough. (apologies to Mae West)

In their latest display of arrogance, to sear their filthy brand on Dirty Ol' Town (aka: Fort Worth, Texas), Chesapeake Energy has arranged to rename a public street. (see photo above) Formerly known as Pier 1 Place, the street has been re-branded as, Energy Way.

How quaint.

What strings does one have to pull at City Hall to get a street renamed, anyway?

Hmmm. Not a bad idea.

I think I'll call MaYoR MiKe tomorrow and ask to have my street renamed. Maybe something like.... Just Say NO (@#$%&*!) Way.

Maybe you will do the same.

Mayor's Office
1000 Throckmorton St.
Fort Worth, Texas 76102

Telephone: 817-392-6118
Fax: 817-392-6187
E-mail: mike.moncrief@fortworthgov.org

I Am A Drug Addict

Yes. It's true. I am a drug addict. I've got 2 monkeys on my back. One in the morning. One at night. The morning monkey has plagued me for decades. I've tried to get the morning monkey off my back but the withdrawal headaches are so bad I've never stayed clean for long.

Every morning my day starts off with me laying on the floor, reading a newspaper and drinking 5 or 6 cups off coffee. The current pattern is I get wired up and then go swimming. This morning that happened a bit past 7. Overnight the low got to 45, the high at midnight was 60. The water didn't feel any colder than yesterday.

I used to think I had to drink coffee in the afternoon, by 4pm, or I'd get a coffee withdrawal headache. I long broke free of that habit and I no longer get headaches. The only thing these days that makes my head ache is if I am around annoying people. I know no annoying people in Texas, so I'm pretty much headache free.

My other drug addiction started last summer when I was in Tacoma. I was having trouble sleeping so I started taking Unisom sleeping pills. I continued taking them when I got back to Texas. I hate insomnia and these pills pretty much knock me out, yet I'm able to wake up early without being at all drowsy.

But, I believe the sleeping pills are part of the cause of my periodic high blood pressure. So, last night I stopped taking sleeping pills cold turkey. And I had no problem sleeping

I know the coffee also contributes to high blood pressure. And may contribute to having trouble sleeping. Maybe I could cut back, but there's no way I'm going through coffee withdrawal again.

I may have a 3rd drug addiction. That being an addiction to endorphins. If I don't do an aerobic exercise thing during the day I start feeling not so good. This is why I think I'm liking this early morning ice cold swim. It starts the day off with a good combo of caffeine and endorphins that leaves me feeling a bit sedated.

I don't think I'll give up the exercise endorphin addiction. If anything I may amp it up so as to tire myself out so as to sleep easily without craving a sleeping pill.

It's difficult coping with these addictions, there are no support groups, but I get by, taking it one day at a time.

Fort Worth Gas Below $2

On the way to going to the Tandy Hills to go hiking I go by a gas station that always has the cheapest gas. My regular co-hiker and I regularly guess as to what the latest price will be. There is no prize for being closest to the correct price.

Today as we neared the Tandy Hills gas station I guessed $1.99. My regular co-hiker guessed $2.03. $2.03 was correct.

Then, a bit over an hour later, driving back by the Tandy Hills gas station, the price had fallen by 4 cents and I now had the correct amount.

And now for today's early morning swimming news. The overnight low got down to 54. So, it was a bit nippy going outside. But the water was warmer than the air. I swam for a half hour or so.

Voting on Boondoggles in Texas and Washington

I mentioned last week, or was it the week before, that voting is so different in Texas than I was used to in Washington. In Texas it seems you vote on dozens upon dozens of judges. And a couple other things. I didn't bother voting on the judges because I knew nothing about them. It took me less than 15 seconds to vote in Texas. It used to take way longer in Washington.

I did vote yes on the only to non-human things on the ballot, that being allowing booze to be sold in stores and restaurants in Fort Worth. I did not understand the need for these two propositions because you can already buy booze in stores and restaurants in Fort Worth.

By way of showing the extreme contrast in what the citizens get to vote for in Washington and Texas, three Washington counties, King, Pierce and Snohomish voted in favor of expanding the, soon to open, light rail. And to expand the regional bus system. The light rail will now go north to Lynnwood in Snohomish County, south to Federal Way and east, across the I-90 floating bridge, to Bellevue and Redmond. Redmond is where Microsoft is located.

I can't imagine any combo of the counties that make up the D/FW Metroplex voting on a proposition together for their mutual benefit. When the Dallas Cowboys demanded a new stadium there was no suggestion that all of North Texas vote to fund it, or the towns of the D/FW Metroplex, or even one county of the Metroplex. Instead it fell to the little town of Arlington to vote to tax themselves to build the $billion plus stadium. And abuse their neighbors with the most outrageous use of eminent domain in American history.

Contrast what was done to Arlington to get a new stadium for Jerry Jones with what was done in Seattle to get the Seahawks a new stadium. The entire state of Washington voted and passed the proposal to tear down the Kingdome and build a new stadium. The population of Washington is smaller than the population of the D/FW Metroplex.

Fort Worth is moving ahead with a, in my opinion, bizarre, likely boondoggle plan, to alter the Trinity River to build a little lake, some canals, a flood control diversion channel and some wetlands restoration. This is called the Trinity River Vision. The main trouble I see with this supposed vision is that the citizens of Fort Worth have not been allowed to vote on this project which will greatly alter their city.

In my opinion it should be against the law to use eminent domain to take property for projects the public has not approved of via the ballot box.

The fact that the citizens of Fort Worth do not get to vote on Fort Worth projects may be why so many of them turn into boondoggles. The Ruling Junta does not have to make its case to the people, they just plow ahead, like a dictatorship. Stalin used to come up with some rather goofy Trinity River Vision type boondoggles. There I would have been likely shot for calling a Stalin project a boondoggle.

Here in Fort Worth I feel relatively safe from the Ruling Junta. Relatively.

The Reddest State in the Union

Slightly edited incoming from Don Young....

Which is the REDDEST state in the U.S.A.? (red from embarrassment?)

Is it Texas? Nope.

Is it Alaska? Nope.

Is it Alabama? Nope.

Is it Arizona? Nope.

Is it Utah? Nope.

Is it Arkansas? Nope.

Is it Wyoming? Nope.

The winner of the honor of being the REDDEST state in the nation goes to Oklahoma! Home of Chesapeake Energy and Aubrey McClendon. And likely Snidely Whiplash, but I'm just speculating on that.

There is not a single county in Oklahoma that went BLUE. Oklahoma voted 65.5% for McCain to 34.4% for our new President, Barack Obama. A larger McCain margin of victory than any of the other 49 states.

Obviously, this is a strictly non-partisan message. That goes without saying, so why did I say it, I can't help but wonder....

Making Juneteenth a National Holiday

I got a comment this morning on a blog I wrote way back on June 19. Before I moved to Texas I'd never heard of Juneteenth. Now it's a holiday in 29 states, including my home state of Washington. There is a movement to make this a National Holiday. I'm of the opinion this is a good idea. Below is the comment I got from "Doc" about making Juneteenth a National Holiday....

Juneteenth is America’s 2nd Independence Day celebration. Americans of African descent were trapped in the tyranny of enslavement on the country's first "4th of July", 1776, Independence Day. We honor our ancestors, Americans of African descent, who heard the news of freedom and celebrated with great joy and jubilation, on the "19th of June", Juneteenth, 1865.

It took over 88 years for the news of freedom to be announced in Southwest Texas, over two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln.

The National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign has worked diligently for several years to establish legislation in 29 states to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or state holiday observance, the District of Columbia, as well as the Congress of the United States. This has been a great accomplishment for the "Modern Juneteenth Movement" in America, reaching far beyond the establishment of Juneteenth as a state holiday in the place were it all began, in Texas, first celebrated in 1980.

Together we will see Juneteenth become a National Holiday in America!

“DOC”
Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D.
Chairman
National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign
National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF)
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC)
www.Juneteenth.us
www.19thofJune.com
www.njclc.com
www.JuneteenthJazz.com

Another Warning of an Upcoming Texas Ecological Disaster

The Weatherford Democrat, that's a newspaper in Weatherford, Texas. Weatherford is in Parker County. Parker County borders Tarrant County to the west. Tarrant County is where Fort Worth is.

Enough of the geography lesson. Yesterday the Weatherford Democrat reported in a report titled "Another saltwater leak found" that a leak has been discovered in a salt-water transmission pipeline owned by Barnett Gathering.

The leaking pipeline runs through property owned by Cole's Plants, Inc. and Harry's Greenhouses, Inc., near the town of Brock. The leak has already killed plants.

The saltwater running through these type pipes is a by-product of the Barnett Shale fraccing process. The saltwater contains chemicals, metals and other materials that are detrimental to the environment.

This spill is the second in the area to come to light lately.

Click to read the Weatherford Democrat article....