Last Day of November Swimming, Hiking, Texas Fire Danger

It has been very windy here in North Texas this last day of November. Due to the wind and the low humidity and overall dry conditions we are under a Red Flag Alert here, meaning, be careful not to start a wildfire. I'm careful not to do that, even without an Alert.

We are having gusts up to 33 mph. The overnight low was 45. I went swimming about 8am. I stayed in it longer than yesterday. At the start of November I made a video of me swimming and wondered if I'd still be able to do so come the start of December. I guess a video will need to document swimming on the first day of December tomorrow.

This afternoon I went hiking at the Tandy Hills again. I talked on the phone while I hiked. The gusts made that a bit difficult. And then towards the end of hiking I got an incoming second call and I was able, once more, to successfully answer the incoming call without disconnecting the first call. This skill has been years in the making. For a long time I did not even try to answer a second call. Then someone told me to hit the green button. That worked. The switching back to the first call can still vex me. Today it did not work.

Miss Puerto Rico called a bit ago, wanting me to go to Dillards with her to get a new outfit for Friday's Christmas party. Last year her 'new' outfit was wearing one of my shirts. I don't know why a new outfit is needed this year. What I do know is there was no way I was going clothes shopping with Miss Volatile Latina.

When Outrage Is Out To Lunch

Fort Worth's Foremost Activist, Don Young, is in the news again. This time in the Shreveport Times.

Don Young had this to say regarding the article and the controversy it covers....

Fort Worth has never been known a hot-bed of activism, but when the City of Fort Worth foolishly approved a High Impact drilling permit near Scott Avenue it was expected that area homeowners would be up in arms - that civil disobedience would take root - that the "tipping point" had been reached - that things might get ugly. Scott is a narrow street in an historic neighborhood next to an endangered prairie. This gas well pad-site would lead to the first UN-odorized gas pipeline in a neighborhood. Citizen outrage was a foregone conclusion.

Didn't happen. Why not?

Turns out, most had signed mineral leases with Chesapeake Energy and had cashed their "mailbox money" months before. They watched quietly from their front porches as giant Chesapeake trucks, assisted by the City of Fort Worth, rolled triumphantly down their street like Hitler's invading army.

C'est la vie.

Shreveport, Louisiana will likely be the next big city to allow urban drilling. People say that, the city and its residents will embrace drilling despite environmental and safety concerns. As we have learned in Fort Worth, money and false advertising blinds and deafens common sense on contact. Will Shreveportians gamble their future for mailbox money?

At least they've been warned. The message of common sense has been delivered by The Shreveport Times:

Fort Worth deals with shale environmental issues

FORT WORTH, Texas — Don Young, a Fort Worth resident, had a plan: He could park his van at the end of Scott Avenue. It's a public street, after all, and if enough neighbors joined him, they could legally block the trucks going to the natural gas drill site under construction.

But a funny thing happened. Almost no one came.

"You don't do it thinking you're going to win," Young said of his plan. "You do it to draw attention, to gauge reaction. I think I learned a lot from that too. I expected most of the people who live on the street to join me. But I discovered most of the people signed with Chesapeake (Energy Corporation) ... It was a bit of a letdown for me."

GO HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE SHREVEPORT TIMES ARTICLE

In the Land of the Stupid

No, I'm not talking about Texas. I'm talking about the country Texas is a part of. As in a report from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute on America's civic literacy found that most Americans are too ignorant to vote.

1,800 of 2,500 randomly selected residents, college students and elected officials flunked the 33 question Civics Quiz. Even more scary, the elected officials scored 44% compared to the average of 49%.

I first learned of this Civics Quiz while reading Gar the Texan's fascinating Blog. I was not too shocked to read that Gar the Texan scored 77%. That boy's world revolves mostly around fiction. His understanding of politics and history seems quite limited. When I read that Gar the Texan scored 77% I thought that this was a bad score. And then this morning I read a column by the Washington Post's Katheen Parker all about the Civics Quiz. It was there I learned the average score was 49%. So, Gar the Texan's understanding of politics and history is far better than my judgemental rudeness gave him credit for.

When I took the Civics Quiz the questions seemed rather simple. I was surprised I got 3 of the 33 questions wrong, with a score of 90.91%.

You can go here and take the Civics Quiz and see if you are too stupid to vote.

A couple samples of how simple this quiz is...

In what document do the words "government of the people, by the people, for the people" appear?

Identify a right or freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. Only 27% of elected office holders got that one right. 43% did not know what the Electoral College does. 46% did not know that the Constitution give Congress war declaration powers.

I don't believe the majority of my acquaintances would do very well on this Civics Quiz. One thing I've long noticed, while living in the Land of the Stupid, is that the stupider they are the more defensive they are about being stupid. Saying things like "I'm not interested in subjects like that." Or, "I find that subject boring." Or, "Why does anyone need to know this stuff." Or, "I don't need to know history, I'm only interested in today and tomorrow." Or, "I have too much already in my brain, I can't add any more extra stuff."

I can't help but wonder how George W. would do on this test. I think we all have a pretty good idea. On an encouraging note, regarding people so stupid they should not be allowed to vote, one of the more stupid people I have ever known is banned from voting. Now if we could only get more of them banned.

Icy Swimming Again In Texas

As you can see quite clearly in the photo I am not the only person in the world who enjoys swimming when it is icy cold.

But this morning's frigid dip really tested my limits. It was cold all day yesterday, no sun. It was 40 this morning when I went to the pool. It felt colder. The water was warmer than the air, so it was easy to get in the water.

I lasted 5 minutes, tops, before it seemed like a good idea to get in the hot tub. I know I've mentioned it before, but it so strange to go from the cold water to the hot. It takes several minutes before I actually feel the heat. Instead it feels cold. It must have something to do with the way the skin's nerves transmit cold info to the brain. The switch from icy cold to hot must cause confusion in the internal information processing center.

It dripped all day yesterday and is still cloudy. Yet for some reason the Weather Service has issued a dire fire warning through tomorrow. I would think the tall grass would be too wet to easily burn. Maybe the rest of North Texas did not get dripped on like we did here in Fort Worth.

Black Friday Wal-Mart Stampedes and Shootings

The day after Thanksgiving is a very dangerous day to shop. Unless you go to downtown Fort Worth where you'll find very few shoppers because there are very few stores.

Stampeding shoppers at a Long Island, New York Wal-Mart at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, knocked down a Wal-Mart worker and then trampled over him.

Police gave the trampled man CPR to no avail. He died a short time later. One cop said, "When the doors opened, all hell broke loose. The dead man had been trying to restrain the incoming onslaught when he was knocked to the ground at 5:03am.

I was at my nearby Super Wal-Mart yesterday around noon. It was very busy. But there were a lot of checkers, so there was no line to wait in. I saw no stampeding. I did hear some very loud chanting. Dozens of Wal-Mart workers were having some sort of pep rally. It sounded very chaotic.

I've never participated in the day after Thanksgiving shopping madness. However, my mom and sisters have been known to. For years a former friend of mine, known for her habitual lying, told me she'd seen my mom and little sister on a Seattle TV news report about the Black Friday shopping, in which my little sister said something like "every year on this day we go shopping to get our year's supply of socks." A couple years ago my little sister and the person who told me the socks news story were in the same room. My little sister confirmed that it was true, and not only that, she continues to get socks on the day after Thanksgiving.

And people wonder why I've had DNA testing done to see if there was any chance I'm not actually related to these people.

The video of a Wal-Mart Stampede, below, is not from yesterday's deadly Wal-Mart Stampede, it's from another Wal-Mart Stampede were shoppers got knocked to the ground and trampled. Christmas shoppers are such an unruly mob. What would Jesus say about this behaviour one can't help but wonder.

Texas Beauty Queen Felon Julie Steen

Yesterday I was a bit surprised to get the news that one of Big Ed's nephews, up in Washington, got himself a ton of newspaper notoriety when he was arrested for the 14th time in 16 years for driving under the influence. The nephew has previously spent a lot of time in jail. This time he is going to spend 2 years in a state prison, rather than the county jails he previously spent time in. And this time, due to a new law, his crime is a felony.

If this boy was caught driving drunk 14 times, you can't help but wonder how many times he drove drunk and didn't get caught.

In today's Texas News a former Miss Texas contestant, Julie Witt Steen is in jail preparing for her 3rd felony theft charge in 8 years. Her previous thefts include stealing blank checks from a bank where she worked and turning them into cash to the tune of around $9,000. Working as a paralegal Steen managed to steal over $35,000 from a young widow. She got sentenced to 10 years for the young widow theft. The jurors gave Steen the maximum penalty after hearing evidence she took $70,000 from another widow and $75,000 from another employer.

Steen's most recent theft occurred while working for Allen and Melody Shelton, booking weddings for their A & M Gardens business. It's not yet clear how much Steen got away with from the Shelton's. It's believed to be up to $100,000.

The things people do are so perplexing. I've only known one convicted felon. That was a money theft crime similar to Steen's. That particular felon's troubles came about due to a very warped sense of entitlement along with a sense of being impervious to consequences, combined with absolutely no money-sense, as in this person can not keep a bank account open due to chronic check bouncing. And just like Steen and Big Ed's nephew, this felon's behavior was not altered by getting caught and doing jail time. The same fiscal and personal lack of responsiblity and deluded thinking that brought about the BIG TROUBLE is still there, untreated. Likely only a matter of time til, like Steen and Big Ed's nephew, BIG TROUBLE with the law happens again.

Sad, the messes some people make of their simple lives.

Kroger: Right Store Wrong Price

A Kroger is walking distance from where I live. Albertsons is across the street. Rock throwing distance away. Albertsons was the worst of the grocery stores when I lived in the northwest. I was appalled to move to Texas and have people tell me Albertsons was the best grocery store in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone.

I was also appalled to learn, a couple years ago, that Krogers bought Fred Meyers. Fred Meyers is/was a very good, huge department store, that also has/had a good grocery section. Fred's was based in Portland. The Fred Meyers I once knew is no more. It has been Krogerfied.

One of the reasons I do not like either Albertsons or Krogers is the frequency of price mistakes. Never in my favor. Krogers used to have a money back guarantee if the price rings up wrong sign prominently displayed. I don't see that sign anymore.

When the price was wrong I used to enjoy going to customer service and getting my money back and thus the item for free. But that is way too much bother. I get my satisfaction now by Blogging about the bad store.

So, this morning I went to my nearby Super Wal-Mart. I forgot to get popcorn. Air popped popcorn is my dinner most evenings. So, a few minutes ago, with evening rapidly approaching, I did what I don't like to do and went to my nearby Krogers to get popcorn. And cheese. Kroger is one of those annoying stores that has a "Reward" card. Krogers calls theirs "Krogers Plus Shopper's Card." Albertsons dropped the card idiocy, earning points with me. But I still don't shop there.

So, the popcorn had one of those "Krogers Plus" card signs saying that with your "Krogers Plus" card the popcorn was 2 for $3. Regularly $1.99. The cheese was 3 for $5 with the card.

So, I got only 2 items. The popcorn scanned at $1.99, not the expected $1.50. I pondered calling 911 to report the robbery. I've seen shoplifters arrested at this Krogers. I think the Kroger manager should do some hard time in the local pokey.

Ironically, just last week I was in the same Krogers, getting milk. The person with me saw something perceived to be a good buy due to the "Kroger Plus" thing saying it was a certain price. I said, you can't trust anything you see in Krogers, it's messed up half the time. Which tonight, turned out to be precisely accurate.

A Drippy Seattle Like Day in Fort Worth

No hiking or roller blading for me today. It's been dripping and gray all day, so far, today. This is not Texas type rain. This is a gentle dripping Pacific Northwest type of rainy day. Very rare here. In Texas when it rains the clouds mean business, as in heavy downpours that can last a long time.

That is my current view in the photo.

Everything, including the pool, was wet when I went swimming this morning. There was a dry spot under the Magnolia tree where my towel could stay dry.

It's 3pm now. I think I may be suffering from SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder), again. Today is causing me painful flashbacks to my month-long stay, last summer, in frigid Tacoma.

My TV Blog is continuing to go nuts. Due to those Real Atlanta Housewives. It's got to die down at some point, I would think. I need to watch more TV and find some more good controversies to write about. It's so bizarre, now I've got people making comments to the people making comments.

Like this one that just popped up....

To Anonymous.........You're an idiot. Way to let someone have their own opinion that doesn't agree w/yours. Very open minded...NOT! But since you like NeNe, it's not surprising that you think and act like her. Just the fact that you like her...well, that says it all about you now doesn't it?! You talk about all the ladies "faults". Like NeNe did nothing wrong? How 'bout bein jealous 'cause Kim made a new friend? How 'bout talkin trash about your friend? How 'bout gettin drunk and actin loud and obnioxious at someone else's b-day party? Oh yeah, she's a perfect angel. lol

And this one. This person seems to think I'm doing an investigation...

Hey, if you blast yourself on National TV and boast about money and the good life which money can bring you in Atlanta, then you should show for it. Obviously, whoever anonymous #6 might be a little bitter for some stupid reason? Good job on the investigation!!! For you anonymous #6 you get a job and leave this blog site alone if you are too hurt and bitter to read it. Now you have a good day!

Well. What can I say? I have no idea.

Al Hayne & the Texas Spring Palace Tragedy

My first year in Texas one afternoon I was exploring downtown Fort Worth. On the south side of downtown, at that time, an elevated section of Interstate 30 was above Lancaster Avenue, just south of the Fort Worth Convention Center and the Water Gardens.

I drove under the elevated freeway and saw what appeared to be some sort of statue. I was driving my van. I parked and got out to check out the statue. Suddenly I saw dozens of men running towards me. I did not know, at that time, that in Texas you can hire day laborers, likely illegals, who are desperate for work.

After the men figured out I wasn't hiring I proceeded to check out the statue. It appeared to be suffering from years of neglect, hidden away on the wrong side of the freeway. It quickly became obvious the statue was a memorial.

I was very pleased on Thanksgiving to discover that this memorial is now in a setting worthy of a memorial.

It's a memorial to a British man named Alfred S. Hayne. He was born in London, August 1, 1849 and died in Fort Worth on May 31, 1890. One of the messages on the memorial says, "In Honor of the Hero of the Spring Palace Fire Al Hayne who, unselfish as brave died that others might live." That message is one clunky sentence.

Spring Palace? Yes, I was curious too when I read that the first time. The Texas Spring Palace opened on May 29, 1889. It was sort of an agricultural fair. It was a huge success, attracting attention all over Texas, America and the World. Only the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. surpassed the Spring Palace's massive center dome.

The Spring Palace's second season began May 10, 1890. On May 30 several thousand people, including Al Hayne, were attending a dance in the palace. A flash fire swept through the building. Al Hayne helped dozens of women and children escape the burning building. Al Hayne did not make it out of the fire and became the only person who died in the Spring Palace fire.

The memorial to Al Hayne is near where the Spring Palace was located.

When we saw the memorial yesterday someone had placed flowers on it. I made the comment that there are likely quite a few descendants of those Al Hayne saved and one of them must have put those flowers there. The party to whom I said this got all weepy.

The memorial has some strange gargoyle like things on it. I've no idea what they are supposed to be.

Go to my Eyes on Texas website for a lot more about the Texas Spring Palace.

Fort Worth Omni Hotel & Lancaster Avenue Renovation

It has been a long time since I've been to downtown Fort Worth. For months, when I've gone through the I-30/I-35 downtown Fort Worth Mixmaster (mixmaster is Texas-speak for a humongous freeway exchange), I've been wondering what was sticking out from the sides of the under construction Fort Worth Omni Hotel, looking like scaffolding.

Well, today on the way to Zorro's Buffet for my Thanksgiving pigout, I decided I was going to wonder no more. That I would go to downtown Fort Worth to look at that new hotel.

The scaffolding turned out to be huge, scary-looking cantilevered balconies. How in the world did this get past building codes? It gets very windy here. It wouldn't be safe to have much of anything, like a chair, or even a human, out on one of those high up balconies.

The last time I was downtown it was to take pictures of what an awful mess the area south of the Fort Worth Convention Center continued to be, along what is known as Lancaster Avenue. Years before, an elevated section of I-30 blighted the south side of downtown FW. It was removed and relocated, with I-30 moved a bit to the south. Lancaster then became an eyesore of weeds and garbage.

What bothered me the most on that visit was to see that the Haynes Memorial was surrounded by cyclone fence and weeds and litter and was in an even worse state than when the old overhead I-30 separated the memorial from downtown. This is an important memorial to a very significant moment in Fort Worth history. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

The first photo above is the view looking northwest from behind the Haynes Memorial, looking at the Omni Hotel.

I was happy to see that a lot of improvement has come to the formerly blighted section of Lancaster Avenue. It no longer will scare potential convention bookers away from using the seldom used Fort Worth Convention Center. I was very pleased to see that the Haynes Memorial now sits in a park-like setting with grass and benches and trees. The only piece of litter I saw today on Lancaster Avenue maybe was not even litter, it was a single high heel Liz Claiborne shoe. You can see it and the now much nicer looking Lancaster Avenue in the photo on the left.

For some reason there was no water in the Water Gardens today. I found that disturbing. Other than that, downtown Fort Worth was looking good today.