Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal Part 8

The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal has sort of faded from my memory. I don't remember when I last drove by the new stadium.

The Dallas Cowboy organization was in the news this morning due to announcing plans to build a parking lot west of the stadium. I assume they have successfully bought the houses to do so. I know months ago there were a few holdouts and the City of Arlington made clear there would be no more eminent domain abuse by the city on the Dallas Cowboy's behalf.

This morning I got feedback from someone in Austin who thinks what was done in Arlington was a perfectly legit use of eminent domain. But then the guy didn't know how to spell eminent, so, I'm thinking he likely could not explain how it is properly used. The feedbacker also thinks the new stadium will be a huge economic engine for Arlington, generating jobs and new money.

Somehow that type revenue generating boon didn't happen where the Dallas Cowboy stadium is currently located, in Irving. It's a bit of a blight around the stadium. In all the years that stadium has sat in Irving it hasn't spawned hotels or restaurants or much of anything that I've seen.

One of the feedbackers comments was really wrong-headed. And I've heard it stated before in various ways. That being that the area where eminent domain was abused was crime-ridden. And thus deserved to die. This "crime-ridden" area had many homes in which people had lived for decades. People tend not to remain living in crime-ridden areas. And right in the midst of this "crime-ridden" area sits one of the nicest Super Wal-Marts I've ever seen. I don't think Wal-Mart builds its more high-end Superstores in crime-ridden areas.

The feedbacker does not understand why Jerry Jones gets demonized when it was the people of Arlington who voted for this stadium. However, the part about using eminent domain was not on the ballot. Jerry Jones has been demonized because he has shown absolutely no sympathy for the thousands of lives his private business disrupted.

Anyway, below is the feedback from a guy in Austin. I didn't fix his misspellings below. On my Eyes on Texas website version I did fix the misspellings....

There was an election on this issue right? So if a majority of the community thought that the stadium was a good idea, then why are you demonizing Jerry Jones? The people who are unhappy that they were forced out should be complaining about their neighbors, not the tam and its owner.

The city of Arlington figured that putting a revenue-generating stadium in the place of a crime-ridden neighborhood would be a wise move. The new stadium will bring in new money for local businesses and new jobs for the pepole of Arlington. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. This is what emminent domain is all about, and I don't see any "abuse" in this case.

James
Austin, TX

Durango Texas World Update: Swimming & TV

I got an email this morning from one of my two readers asking why I didn't go swimming yesterday, wrongly assuming that I had not, due to me neglecting to mention that I had.

So, yes, I did go swimming yesterday. It was cold. But not as cold as this morning. It barely got into the 50s all day yesterday and with the overnight temps being in the 40s it made for some chilly water at 7am.

But I somehow managed to stay out there for about 30 minutes. You can see by what's on the TV screen that it is yet one more sunny day here in North Texas. Sunny and warmer than yesterday, with it already being warmer than it got all day yesterday, as in it is 56 out there right now, heading to a high today of 75. So, tomorrow morning the pool should be warmer. But after tomorrow the prediction is for temps in the 30s.

Speaking of TV, my web stats have gone way up the past 5 days, with yesterday my total number of visitors being 4,675. Of those 3,477 were visitors to my TV Blog. Previously the most Blog visitors I've ever had in one day was around 1000. This morning the TV Blog is being even busier than yesterday, with 677 visitors so far, when I looked at the stats at 9am. So, today should end up being a bigger number than yesterday.

Go here and you can see the bizarre phenomenon of people all over the country coming to my TV Blog due to Googling after watching a TV Show. Aren't there more important things to be curious about?

Durango TV Has Exploded

A couple weeks ago it crossed my mind to make a TV Blog, because I thought it might be a good thing and might get a lot of hits.

Well. It's only been a couple weeks and I've not had a blog on fire before like this TV thing is.

The fire is caused by The Real Housewives of Atlanta show on Bravo. And the search for who "Big Papa" is, among other things. Right now I'm hearing the hit beep going off about every second.

Go to my Durango TV Blog and scroll down til you see the Live Feed Stats thing. Click view in Real Time and you'll see and hear the noise I'm hearing.

The Internet is such a strange, entertaining world. It's addictive. Like coffee. Which I've currently cut back on. I'm not cutting back on my Internet addiction. No matter what it does to my blood pressure.

Don't Mess With Texas At The Tandy Hills

Texas has an anti-litter campaign that tries to convince Texans to stop throwing garbage on their great state. The anti-litter campaign's slogan is "Don't Mess With Texas." Unfortunately a lot of people do mess with Texas. There is so much litter here.

Washington has kept Washington Green for decades now with its anti-litter campaign. You see so much less litter on the ground in Washington and Oregon. It gets a bit messier by the time you get to Southern California.

Maybe it's a function of too many people, so here in the D/FW Metroplex and in Southern California you have too many people willing to toss their McDonald's bags and beer cans out the window.

At Tandy Hills, hiking today, I saw a big mess of litter that must have washed into the park from last week's big rainstorm. Huge mess. That's what you see in the photo above.

In the second photo you see the new low price at the Tandy Hills Gas Station. $1.77. I didn't need any so I got none, so mom did not get a call telling her I got gas.

Am I Going To Ecuador?

On Sunday Miss Puerto Rico told me she wants to take me to Ecuador for 2 weeks sometime in early 2009. Two weeks far south of the border with a volatile Latina? Yikes. I've barely recovered from dealing with too much exposure to volatility when I was in Washington last summer.

Still, this Ecuador thing sounds intriguing. I've never been any further south than Mexico. So going all the way to South America and being in a country that straddles the equator would definitely be doing something new and different.

Miss PR has quite the itinerary planned out. Anyone who knows me knows one of my pet peeves is pointless, endless itinerary discussions. So, the fact that an itinerary seems to be well thought out is a plus. She has us landing in Quito and staying in something called Hotel Patio Andaluz in the center of the historic Old City of Quito. This was one of the first places UNESCO designated as a World Cultural Heritage site.

Quito is at about 9,350 feet above sea level. I've only stayed overnight that high once, spending the night in Silverton, Colorado. It was very easy to get winded. My hotel room was on the 4th floor, no elevator. It felt like 20 floors. And one beer in the saloon hit like 6.

Quito is built on the eastern slopes of the Pichincha volcano. The scenery, from what I've seen, reminds me very much of Western Washington.

Miss PR has a rafting trip planned, floating down the Quijos River. It goes through a jungle and ends at Papallacta Hot Springs. I don't know if it is a clothing optional hot springs. I hope so.

Then just to please me there's a bike ride. To get to the biking destination you drive the Pan-American Highway through the "Avenue of the Volcanoes." The avenue leads to the entry to Cotopaxi National Park, which is where the bike ride begins. There are Inca Ruins in the park and great views of Cotopaxi Volcano.

She's got a lot of hikes planned. One that sounds scary ends at a hut on the Cotopaxi Volcano. The hut sits at 15,748 feet above sea level. I'll be gasping for air. But it gets worse. From the hut we hike to the summit. At 19,347 feet. Yikes.

After the volcano overload there are several days planned doing various things in the Amazon Jungle. Apparently there are a lot of monkeys there. And you can fish for piranha and take a dip in something called the Cuyabeno Lagoon. I assume there are no piranha in the lagoon.

So that's the trip as it's been explained to me. Miss PR wants to add a sidetrip to the Galapagos Islands, but that adds a lot to the cost. The Galapagos are part of Ecuador. There are big turtles there.

Texas Twilight Roller Blading

I was feeling aggravated due to too much time wasted fiddling with annoyingly aggravating webpage stuff.

And so at a bit past 5pm I pushed myself away from the computer and out the front door.

I drove the 2 miles, give or take an inch, to Quanah Parker Park and went roller blading. By the time I was done the sun was setting.

You can see me, sort of, in the line of trees, as darkness falls. I'll likely do this again. I came back here in a much better mood.

Odd Creature Spotted At Indian Village Natural Area

Over the years I've seen many critters at Indian Village Natural Area in east Arlington. I've seen possums, armadillos, rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins, turtles, lizards of various sizes, many bugs and way too many squirrels and birds.

Today I came across a critter I'd not seen before. Very pre-historic dinosaurish.

It was sort of cute, way smaller than an armadillo. But I had no inclination to take one home with me. I've got all the pets I need or want.

A Very Cold Monday Morning Swim

Yesterday it was barely above freezing when I got in the pool. The water felt warm compared to the air.

This morning it was the opposite. It was 48 when I went outside this morning. The air temperature felt warmer than the pool water. So, this morning it was a bit more bracing than yesterday.

I got adjusted to it though and swam for almost a half hour. I continue to find it odd that I can get in the hot tub for a few minutes and then get back in the pool with it way less bracing than when I first get in it. That's the hot tub I'm heading towards in the photo.

My privacy was violated this morning by a surprise visit by Miss Puerto Rico. She was bundled up like she thought it was going to snow. I got out of the pool and chased her with the threat of a wet cold hug. But that turned chilly for me so I jumped back in the water.

Rats Are Taking Over North Texas

No, I'm not referring to someone like Jerry Jones, I'm talking about the real deal, the rodents known as rats. The rat population of North Texas is booming, bringing a lot of work for North Texas Pest Eliminators.

People are finding rats in place like their swimming pools, bird feeders, attics and dog houses.

Usually what the Pest Eliminators call "Rat Season" does not begin til the weather gets cold and the rats start invading warm spaces. But with the rat population boom the Pest Eliminators have been getting calls all year.

The rat problem is not limited to any particular part of town. The nicest of neighborhoods have rats. They are everywhere. Some blame the rats showing up in new locations on all the Barnett Shale gas drilling disrupting the rat's homes, forcing them to move. That doesn't sound too plausible to me.

Other than stopping a nearby gas drilling operation, to protect yourself from rats you can make sure you don't have any holes in your house. A rat can squeeze through a quarter-size hole. Don't put any food outside for your pets. Don't have any thing growing up against your house. Rats love living in ivy. If your house has been invaded don't battle the rats yourself, call in the experts.

I've not heard if anything has been done with the Big Cheese Rodent Factory. The city of Fort Worth had given the rat growers til the first of November to quit stinking up the neighborhood.

Paris Hilton & Jesus Christ For President

I live in Fort Worth. Fort Worth is in Tarrant County. Tarrant County is in Texas. In Texas write-in candidates for President have to register with the Texas Secretary of State before Election Day. If someone writes in a name that is not on the Secretary of State's list their vote does not count.

This did not stop over 350 Tarrant County voters from wasting their vote for President on people and non-people, living and dead, like Jesus Christ, Paris Hilton, Bugs Bunny, George Orwell, Jerry Jones, Mickey Mouse, Ozzy Osborne, Ross Perot, T. Boone Pickens, Willie Nelson, God and Larry the Cable Guy.

You can go here to read the entire ridiculous list of who some Tarrant County voters voted for for President...